A thoroughly uncritical May 6 AP account of the controversial Dead Sea "recovery" program portrays the new progress on the project as a straightforward victory for diplomacy in the interests of ecology. Some excerpts:

GHOR HADITHA, Jordan — Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Arabs are slowly pushing through the tangle of their disputes and suspicions in a race to save a biblical and ecological treasure, the Dead Sea.

Combatants of Hamas’ military wing, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, have ended their five-month truce with Israel, firing 61 mortars and 30 rockets into Israel [April 24]. The group described the attack as in response to Israel having failed to respect the cease-fire, having killed nine Palestinians over the weekend. [AlJazeera, April 24] Palestinian interior minister Hani al-Qawasmi submitted his resignation on Monday after the failure of his administration to stem the increasing lawlessness gripping the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh refused to accept al-Qawasmi’s decision, who has agreed to remain in his post for the time being. [The Guardian, April 23]

Tucked away on the April 21 letters page of the UK Guardian, 130 British doctors are calling to boycott the Israeli Medical Association. Dr. Derek Summerfield, who wrote a scathing report on Israeli war crimes in the Oct 16, 2004 British Medical Journal, makes the call along with colleagues in the form of a letter supporting the UK National Union of Journalists' (NUJ) decision to boycott Israeli goods:

Marijuana is not kosher for Passover, Israel's pot-friendly Green Leaf Party says, advising Jews who observe the holiday's special dietary laws to take a break from smoking the weed. The Party, which has made several unsuccessful attempts to win election to the Knesset on a legalization platform, announced that products of the cannabis plant have been grouped by rabbis within a family of foods such as peas, beans and lentils that is off-limits to Ashkenazi Jews during Passover. But it said the rabbinical ban for the holiday beginning at sunset Monday could be a blessing in disguise. "Logic dictates that if the rabbis say cannabis is non-kosher for Passover, it is apparently kosher during the rest of the year," Michelle Levin, a spokeswoman for the party, told YNet news.

Did you happen to catch this one? What a sad story. This Miss Israel contest really does represent the culture of narcissism and objectification, as well as an oppressive colonialist state. But young Ms. Fares seems to have had few other options—and those opposing her choice seem to also represent something rather oppressive. From the Toronto Globe & Mail, March 15:

We've noted before in the US anti-war movement's factional jockeying, how the sectarian-controlled International ANSWER has used Palestine as a "wedge issue" against the more legitimate United for Peace & Justice (UFPJ) coalition—which really has been timid around the question. Now, at long last, UFPJ is seriously addressing Palestine. The Forward may not be happy about this, but we are. Daniel Treiman writes, Feb. 2:

From the Palestine Solidarity Project (PSP), Feb.9:

Israeli Occupation Forces Shoot 6 Children in Beit Ommar
After prayer today at approximately 11:30, residents of Beit Ommar held a non-violent demonstration against the Israeli construction work that is threatening the structure of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. There were similar demonstrations across the West Bank today in what has become a growing movement protesting Israeli excavation of the holy site. At least three Humvees and four jeeps of the Israeli Occupation Forces invaded the village and attacked the demonstrators without provocation. For six hours, the IOF shot large amounts of teargas, Rubber-coated steel bullets, and live ammunition at youth.They stopped Palestinians in their cars in the street and used the cars, with Palestinians trapped inside, as shields while shooting. Six children between the ages of 9 and 16 were shot with live ammunition, including one straight through the thigh and another in the head. Both of them are in critical condition. A Palestinian member of PSP was shot in the leg with a rubber-coated steel bullet from close range while helping Eyad Sabarneh, age 12, who had been shot through the thigh.

J. Zel Lurie writes the following for the South Florida Jewish Journal (via Kibush), Feb. 15 edition:

Military rule of West Bank surpasses South Africa's apartheid
Abe Foxman, the ADL chieftain should stop crying gevalt over Jimmy Carter's best-seller Palestine: Peace or Apartheid and start discussing the apartheid issues imposed for almost forty years on the West Bank Palestinians by their military rulers, the Israel army.