Studies show that US coverage is Israeli-centric. The main bureaus for CNN, Associated Press, Time, etc. are located in Israel and often staffed by Israelis. The son of the NY Times bureau chief is in the Israeli army;"pundit" Jeffrey Goldberg served in the IDF; Wolf Blitzer worked for AIPAC. Because the U.S. gives Israel over $8 million/day - more than to any other nation - we feel it is essential that we be fully informed on this region. Below are news reports to augment mainstream coverage.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Israel deports Palestinian to Gaza, says society

Ma'an – A Palestinian man from Beersheba was deported into Gaza on Tuesday evening, the Wa'ed Prisoners Society said, after Israeli authorities invoked a controversial military order allowing the expulsion of Palestinians broadly defined as "infiltrators."

The society said Nasser Al-Jarushah was detained late Tuesday night from his home in the southern Israeli city and left at the Erez crossing into Gaza, leaving behind his wife and children.
A statement said the latest expulsion indicates Israel's intention to deport Palestinians with Israeli citizenship in particular and said 17 Palestinians from the West Bank and Israel had been expelled under military order 1650.

The number of Palestinians detained and expelled under the order remains unclear, with various rights groups and societies estimating between seven and 20. In May, a Palestinian from Hebron was deported to Jordan under the order.

Israel announced that it would enforce two amended military orders on 13 April, expanding the definition of an "infiltrator" to include any person residing in areas under Israeli control without Israeli permission. Rights organizations and governments from around the world have condemned the move.

One Tulkarem native was released from prison on in late April and dropped off at the Erez crossing; he was not permitted into Gaza and remains stranded at the crossing He said he would remain there, in a protest tent set up by the de facto government, pending intervention by rights groups.

A second Palestinian man, born in Gaza but residing with his wife and children in the Palestinian community of Yaffa, in Tel Aviv, was detained from a hospital and transported to Gaza. The decision, however, was later reversed for unknown reasons, and he was permitted to travel back to his family.

A Hebron man was deported to Gaza two weeks ago, and a Beersheba resident visiting a Jerusalem eye clinic was also detained and sent into Gaza, a decision later reversed by Israel.

The new orders, by substantively changing the definition of an “infiltrator,” HaMoked said in a statement "effectively apply [the term] to anyone who is present in the West Bank without an Israeli permit," noting "the orders do not define what Israel considers a valid permit," and that "the vast majority of people now living in the West Bank have never been required to hold any sort of permit to be present therein."

The amendments apply to a 1969 order issued following the start of the Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and Jerusalem. The order was first amended in 1980, when an infiltrator was defined as "a person who entered the Area knowingly and unlawfully having been present in the east bank of the Jordan, Syria, Egypt or Lebanon following the effective date."

In the latest order, an "infiltrator" is defined as: "A person who entered the Area unlawfully following the effective date, or a person who is present in the Area and does not lawfully hold a permit."

The presumption that the orders will be used to clamp-down on Palestinians participating in popular protests against land confiscation and the construction of the separation wall follows a series of failed measures by the Israeli army to stifle the increasingly broadly supported actions.