http://un-truth.com This blog hopes to shed some light on the workings of the United Nations and of issues that are discussed at the United Nations Sat, 05 Jul 2008 08:41:28 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Standing on Jaffa Road with a group of journalists waiting for transport to Tel Aviv for a briefing by senior former Israeli military analysts about "Alternatives to a Two-State Solution", we saw first a black security motorcycle with two black-helmeted and clothed men riding on it, racing in the direction ... http://un-truth.com/israel/what-exactly-is-not-clear-about-this-story On Tuesday evening, at almost the very last minute, I received a press invitation to attend a reading by the enormously important and iconic Palestinian poets, Mahmoud Darwish, in Ramallah. I had just returned from Ramallah -- and experienced the worst traffic situation I had ever been in, around the fortress Qalandia ... http://un-truth.com/israel/i-told-him-anything-is-possible My friend and colleague Robert J. Parsons, a journalist in Geneva, sent me the news item below-- a report from the Inter Press Service (IPS) about what happened to one of its correspondents. Angry Arab also has a link to the Gaza Today blog here which picked up the same ... http://un-truth.com/israel/gaza-journalist-forcibly-undergoes-stripping-and-full-body-cavity-search-by-israelis-at-allenby-bridge "Tensions may be heating up again about Israeli reconstruction plans for a damaged ramp leading from the Western Wall Plaza in the Old City of Jerusalem, where Jewish worshippers pray at Judaism’s most sacred and revered site, up to the Mughrabi Gate entrance to the Haram as-Sharif mosque esplanade, the ... http://un-truth.com/uncategorized/israeli-revised-plan-for-rebuilding-mughrabi-gate-ramp-may-be-approved-soon An unusually-sensitive U.S. State Department official has noticed North Korean sadness. Yes. The North Koreans were sad at having to blow up a cooling tower to show that it was sincere about "disabling" its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon. That's what you get for testing nuclear weapons after withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty ... http://un-truth.com/north-korea/a-sensitive-state-department-official-notes-north-korean-sadness Some interesting details on the Shebaa Farms issue from Nicholas Blanford in The National, an English-language paper published in Abu Dhabi : "Securing the liberation of the Shebaa Farms has been a cornerstone of Fouad Siniora’s diplomacy since 2005 when he headed his first government. Mr Siniora said he believes that ... http://un-truth.com/lebanon/some-background-on-the-shebaa-farms There is something very awful about this. The "tahdiya" or cease-fire or truce that Egypt negotiated between Israel (which refuses to talk to Hamas because of conditions that Israel said the UN has imposed) and Hamas was supposed to lead -- after a halt in violence from both sides which started ... http://un-truth.com/israel/israel-keeps-gaza-border-crossings-sealed-again-thursday An article reported from Gaza by the Christian Science Monitor on 16 June informs us that: "...Severe fuel shortage has forced motorists to buy soybean oil to replace the diesel fuel and gasoline that Israel now provides to Gaza at a severely diminished quantity. Cooking oil sells for around $8 ... http://un-truth.com/israel/womens-undergarments-are-highest-demand-items-for-gaza-smugglers Despite the spin from both sides, it is not entirely clear what happened in a one-hour summit meeting on Tuesday between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. An Israeli official told journalists who were waiting at the summit site as the meeting was underway that he expected ... http://un-truth.com/israel/the-spin-in-sharm Here are glimpses of the press at work -- covering the summit meeting today in Sharm as-Sheikh between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Egyptian President Husni Mubarak: http://un-truth.com/uncategorized/journalists-at-work-covering-the-olmert-mubarak-summit-in-sharm-as-sheikh