Today on EA (4 January 2010)

Iran: Leaks abound relating to Iran. Is Washington "genuis punditocracy" putting pressure on Israel relating to nukes and sanctions? EA's Scott Lucas' reaction is here : he wonders whether the policy may be "too clever by half" but guest writer Gary Sick praises President Obama's "strategic leaking".

We have a guest commentary from Babak Siavoshy of Georgetown University which defends Mir Houssein Mousavi's "5-Point Plan".  Meanwhile, five expatriateIranian intellectuals have followed Mousavi's statement with their own 10-point list of demands from the Iranian Government.

Saeed Habibi from the Committee of Human Rights Reporters is in hiding  in Iran. Britain's C4 News interviewed him last night, see have the video here.

All the latest news is on our timeline blog which also includes links to other stories from EA and other news media.

Israel: There was a hullabuloo in the Channel 1 studio last Thursday when Jamal Zahalka was removed following a heated argument with host Dan Margalit. See the programme video here. Zahalka subsequently accused the state media of "surrendering to the state".

Israel's Parliament has passed a bill on a  "loyalty oath" to the coalition leaders but, more importantly, rejected another proposing the state enforce equal allocation of land to Jews and Arabs.

USA: We have the video and a transcript of President Obama's weekly address to the American people on 2 January concentrating on the "War on Terror".

Video: Israel's Tension Within --- The Gaza Argument on Channel 1

Last Thursday, Jamal Zahalka, a member of the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) was removed from a Channel 1 studio after a heated argument with host Dan Margalit over Israel's military operations and economic blockade of Gaza.



Two days after the programme, Zahalka accused the Israeli media of surrendering to the state and of running an "incitement campaign" against him. He said his party would continue to work to reveal "the war crimes of Israel, whose hands are dipped in children's blood."

Israel: Loyalty, Lives, and the Arab Population

Palestine: Protesters Meet at Gaza's Border

Approximately 1000 Israeli Arabs, including members of the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, gathered Thursday on the Israeli side of the Gaza border to protest Israel's continuing blockade of the area. They were "met" by about 500 people, including 100 international activists, on the Gaza side.

The rhetoric was far from muted. Israeli Arab MK Jamal Zahalka said that Defense Minister Ehud Barak enjoys "classical music and killing children in Gaza" Following his criticism, Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh declared that Gazans were "much stronger" a year after Israeli's invasion in Operation Cast Lead. He added, "We have overcome the occupation, and will meet at the Aksa Mosque in Jerusalem, which will remain Arab and Muslim."