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Pro-Israeli campaigners appear to be hunting for another scalp in their assault against free speech. The victim this time is a tenured Columbia university professor whose crime was nothing more than to speak out against Israel.

A network of pro-Israel activists surged against comments made by Iranian Professor Hamid Dabashi on social media. The professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at the New York University posted remarks criticising Israel for its campaign against the Iran nuclear deal. It’s speculated that Trump was heavily influenced by Tel Aviv in his decision to pull out of the dealwhich is universally seen as a good thing for global security. Continue reading →

A Palestinian businessman who is affiliated with former Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan is planning to buy real estate in the Old City of Jerusalem on behalf of the UAE which is helping the occupation expand its illegal settlements, the deputy head of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Sheikh Kamal Khatib, warned yesterday.

Khatib posted on Facebook that “an Emirati businessman very close to the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed Bin Zayed, is planning to buy houses and properties adjacent to Al-Aqsa Mosque in particular, with the help of a Jerusalemite businessman who works for Dahlan.”

“They offered a resident of Jerusalem $ 5 million to buy his house which is adjacent to Al-Aqsa Mosque. When he refused, they raised the offer to $20 million, but the attempt to lure him was unsuccessful.”

Khatib warned that these moves as similar to those which took place in 2014 when “Bin Zayed’s regime” purchased houses for settlement institutions in the Silwan ??and Wadi Hilwa areas in occupied Jerusalem.

He added: “Under these dangerous circumstances, we advise our honourable people in Jerusalem not to deal with any attempt to sell homes or real estate to any party and under any cover … Rulers of the Emirates are a cancer destroying the body of the Ummah.”

This is not the first time that Sheikh Khatib has accused the United Arab Emirates of buying Jerusalemites’ properties for the benefit of the Israeli occupation, especially those near Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Khatib warned of this danger in previous statements published in the Qatari newspaper Al-Sharq in September, where he asserted that “the UAE buys the homes of Jerusalemites through American Jewish associations based in the UAE. These come from the UAE directly to Israel, through Palestinian brokers who facilitate the purchase of Jerusalemites’ real estate, especially those which are very close to Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

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Jeremy Morlock, 23, tells US military court he was part of a ‘kill team’ that faked combat situations to murder Afghan civilians

An American soldier has pleaded guilty to being part of a "kill team" who deliberately murdered Afghan civilians for sport last year.

Army Specialist Jeremy Morlock, 23, told a military court he had helped to kill three unarmed Afghans. "The plan was to kill people, sir," he told an army judge in Fort Lea, near Seattle, after his plea.

The case has caused outraged headlines around the world. In a series of videotaped confessions to investigators, some of which have been broadcast on American television, Morlock detailed how he and other members of his Stryker brigade set up and faked combat situations so that they could kill civilians who posed no threat to them. Four other soldiers are still to come to trial over the incidents.

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The case is a PR disaster for America’s military and has been compared to the notorious incidents of torture that emerged from the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. This week the German magazine Der Spiegel published three pictures that showed American soldiers, including Morlock, posing with the corpse of a young Afghan boy as if it were a hunting trophy.

Some soldiers apparently kept body parts of their victims, including a skull, as souvenirs. In a statement issued in response to the publication of the photos the US army apologised to the families of the dead. "[The photos are] repugnant to us as human beings and contrary to the standards and values of the United States army," the statement said.

Morlock has told investigators that the murders took place between January and May last year and were instigated by an officer in his unit, Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs. He described how elaborate plans were made to pick out civilian targets, kill them and then make their deaths look like they were insurgents. In his confession Morlock described shooting a victim as Gibbs tossed a grenade at him. "We identify a guy. Gibbs makes a comment, like, you know, you guys wanna wax this guy or not," Morlock said in the confession.

Morlock now stands to be sentenced to at least 24 years in jail but with eligibility for parole after seven years. That has come about because Morlock struck a plea bargain that will see a lighter sentence in return for testifying against his fellow soldiers.

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Authorities set curfew to combat new wave of violence directed at the country’s Muslim minority.

Sri Lanka imposed a curfew in a central town popular with tourists after days of unrest between religious communities with a Buddhist man killed and Muslim businesses set ablaze.

Police said on Monday there had been riots and arson attacks since the weekend in Kandy district, while sources told Al Jazeera the violence was spreading throughout the South Asian island nation.

"The curfew was imposed to control the situation in the area," said police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera.

Police officers were placed on heightened alert in Kandy to ensure the "situation does not spiral into inter-communal conflagration", the government said in a statement. Continue reading →