# Bethak - The Desi Lounge > Freedom Castle >  :icon_sadangel2:  Palestine Peace a dream?

## Shades

Israeli Authorities Blackmail Palestinian Patients Date : 11/11/2008   Time : 17:13

GAZA, November 11, 2008 (WAFA)- Al-Meezan Human Rights Center denounced, Tuesday, the blackmailing policy followed by the Israeli Authorities, to make Palestinian patients in the Gaza Strip collaborate with them, in exchange for permissions to receive medical treatment outside the Strip.

The center said in a statement issued, Tuesday, that Khaled Abu Shmaleh 38, died because he was not allowed to exit the Gaza Strip for treatment after having refused to collaborate.

The center explained that this is not the only case of this kind, and demanded the international community to be up to their responsibility towards Palestinian citizens, and to help end the siege on the Gaza Strip.

The center pointed that more than thirty Palestinian patients were not allowed to exit the Strip because they refused to provide information about Palestinians to the Israeli Authorities.

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## Shades

GAZA CITY: The Gaza Strip was hit by major power cuts late yesterday, threatening a blackout throughout the territory within 24 hours, Palestinian officials said.

More than 30 percent of the electricity supply in the Gaza Strip could not be guaranteed this evening, Jamal Al-Kudari, head of a committee campaigning to end Israeli sanctions, told AFP.

The town is at risk of being left completely without electricity within 24 hours because our fuel reserves are on the verge of being exhausted, he said.

Kaalan Obeid, vice-chairman of Gazas energy authority, said: We have reduced power supply by 33 percent this evening and, in the absence of fuel, electricity will be cut off completely in the whole region from 1600 GMT today. An Israeli army spokesman said all crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip were closed yesterday following Palestinian firing of rockets toward the south of Israel. Peter Lerner, coordinator of Israeli activities in the Palestinian territories, said: We received a request (from the Palestinians) for deliveries of fuel to resume and we forwarded the request to the defense ministry in Tel Aviv.

Most of the fuel and gas supplies needed by the Gaza Strip usually goes through the Nahal Oz terminal between Israel and the Palestinian territory.

A flare-up of violence last week has threatened a truce brokered by Egypt in June between Israel and Hamas which controls the impoverished Gaza Strip.

 With input from agencies

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## Shades

UN warns over Gaza food blockade
Palestinian worker carries a bag of flour at a UN food aid distribution centre in the Shati refugee camp near Gaza City (10 November 2008)
Unwra warned said its food distribution operations would end on Thursday

The UN in the Gaza Strip says it will run out of food aid in two days unless Israel's blockade - which it describes as "shameful and unacceptable" - eases.

The UN refugee agency Unwra, which distributes food to half of Gaza's 1,5m people, called the blockade "a physical as well as a mental punishment".

Israel is now allowing a limited amount of fuel across the border, but it is still blocking food deliveries.

It says it tightened sanctions because of rocket attacks by militants.

The Islamist group Hamas, which controls Gaza, said the rockets were a response to an Israeli raid that killed six gunmen on 4 November.

Gaza's only power plant was closed on Monday, after Israel stopped fuel deliveries.

Aid agencies estimate the new deliveries of fuel will run out within a day-and-a-half.

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## Shades

Fawzia al-Kurd, 52, raises her black cloak to show the bottoms of the pyjamas she is still wearing several days after she and her wheelchair-bound husband were forced from the home he had lived for five decades.

She had no time to change or gather her possessions when the Israeli police arrived in the early hours of Sunday morning.

In borrowed shoes, she shows us around the tent that she now calls home near the single-storey, two room house in East Jerusalem.

Jewish Israelis who had already moved into the extension the Kurd family had built for their son, have now taken over the rest of the flat.

'Never forgive'

Mohammad al-Kurd, 55, who is partially paralysed and suffers from heart and kidney problems, diabetes and high blood pressure, is now staying with relatives.

He had lived in the house for 52 years when the Israeli Supreme Court served an eviction order on him in July.

"I will never forgive the Israelis for what they have done to me and my sick husband, kicking us out of our own house in the early hours of the morning. I may forgive other things they have done, but not this," said Mrs Kurd.

Israeli flags on house in Shimon Hatzadik/Sheikh Jarrah
The Jewish-occupied houses are adorned with Israeli flags

The eviction is the culmination of a decades-long legal dispute between the Kurd family and organisations seeking to boost Jewish residency in the Israeli-occupied east of the city.

The case, followed closely by international activists, goes to the heart of one of the most hotly-contested issues in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks - the status of Jerusalem.

Palestinians fear an Israeli drive to create "facts on the ground" in the part of the city where Palestinians are the majority and want to locate the capital of a future state.

Israel considers all of Jerusalem its capital and has annexed to the east of the city and extended its municipal boundaries into the West Bank.

But the international community sees it as occupied, along with the West Bank, since the 1967 Israeli-Arab war.

The few houses draped in blue and white Israeli flags with their own armed guards, amid a cluster of cream stone, Arab-style properties are therefore considered illegal settlements under international law.

Their inhabitants will not speak to the media.

'Not forced out'

But Daniel Luria of Ateret Cohanim, an organisation which promotes Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem says "nobody's forcing anyone out - the courts ruled they [the Kurds] were living there illegally".

Front door of original house and extension built by Kurd family (Image: ISM)
The Kurds' lived metres from the Jewish settlers who moved into the extension (Image: ISM)

The Kurd family were among some 700,000 Arabs who fled or were forced from their homes in what is now Israel during the 1948 war that followed the creation of Israel.

Jordan, which controlled the West Bank and East Jerusalem after the war, and the UN housed them and several other families on the plot of land.

But after 1967, a Jewish association laid claim to it in the courts on the basis of Ottoman-era documents.

An Israeli lawyer working for the Kurd family agreed to relinquish their ownership claim to the land in exchange for "protected tenancy status".

The family maintain they were unaware he was doing this and fired him as soon as they found out.

July's court ruling followed a labyrinthine legal battle, but was apparently based on the Kurd family's refusal to pay rent to a trust fund established in case the Jewish claim was finally validated.

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## Shades

Blockaded Gaza 'faces disaster'
Israeli troops remove Palestinian rocket
Israel has blamed rocket attacks by militants for the blockade

The UK-based aid agency Oxfam has warned of catastrophe for Gaza and nearby areas of Israel if a truce agreed last June is not maintained.

Oxfam called on world leaders to do everything they could to break Israel's blockade of Gaza and urged Israel to resume supplies without delay.

Israel has shut border crossings in response to rocket attacks from Palestinian militants in Gaza.

Earlier Israel fired missiles at targets in northern Gaza.

Two Palestinian militants were injured in the attacks, while one Israeli was injured in militant attacks on the town of Sderot.

Palestinian rockets also hit near the Israeli town of Ashkelon, 15km (nine miles) from Gaza. No injuries were reported.

'Peace endangered'

Oxfam said both sides would suffer if fighting continued.

"If Israelis and Palestinians alike don't exert every effort now to maintain the truce which has held since last June, the result could be catastrophic for civilians both in Gaza and in nearby Israeli towns," the agency's executive director, Jeremy Hobbs, said in a statement.


Gaza map

Gaza shut to fuel and journalists
Guide: Gaza blockade
He said Gazans had been routinely denied unhindered access to fuel, medicines and essential goods for the last year-and-a-half.

"Failure of the international community to act decisively will only exacerbate human suffering and could further endanger chances for peace," Mr Hobbs added.

On Thursday, UN officials said aid for 750,000 Gazans would have to be suspended until Saturday at the earliest.

Israel earlier denied entry to a convoy carrying humanitarian supplies. It has prevented the transfer of all goods into Gaza for nearly a week, blaming continuing rocket attacks by Palestinian militants.

The current round of clashes and rocket fire began on 5 November when Israeli troops entered Gaza to destroy what Israel said was a tunnel dug by militants to abduct its troops.

Hamas responded with a barrage of rockets fired into Israel. There has been intermittent rocket fire since.

A truce between the two sides declared on 19 June had largely held. Both sides have accused the other of violating the truce, but maintain that they remain committed to it.

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## Shades

The United Nations is forced to suspend food distribution in the Gaza Strip as Israel has kept border crossings with the Strip closed.

"They have told us the crossings are closed today. At the end of today we will suspend our food distribution," UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) spokesman Chris Gunness was quoted by AFP as saying.

"Our warehouses are effectively empty," Gunness said adding that "Pushing people to the brink of desperation every few months and forcing UNRWA into yet another cycle of crisis management is not in the interest of anyone who believes in peace, moderation and stability."

The regime has kept its border crossings with the coastal strip closed over the past week in response to what it called 'rocket attacks by Palestinian groups'.

It also cut off European Union-funded fuel supplies to Gaza's sole power plant on Thursday, prompting it to close down for want of diesel.

"It is completely shut down," Palestinian Energy Authority official Qanaan Obeid told AFP.

The plant, which provides between a quarter and a third of Gaza's power, shut down on Monday after Israel cut off fuel deliveries.

"Every day the situation is getting more and more precarious for Gazans," ICRC mission Chief Katharina Ritz said, adding that there was a desperate need for medical supplies.

Israeli defense ministry spokesman Peter Lerner however said the tight siege on the coastal territory will be continued.

Gaza residents have been subject to an Israeli blockade since June 2007. Israel has restricted the entry of vital goods, including food, fuel, medical supplies and construction materials into the coastal strip.

As a result, a number of Palestinian patients die every month because the siege prevents the sick from getting help from outside the impoverished region.

Source: Press TV

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## Shades

CAIRO  Amid warnings of an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged Gaza Strip, calls are mounting for Israel to lift its months-long, chocking siege to allow food supplies to the 1.6 million Palestinians in the strip. "This is a disastrous situation, and it's getting worse and worse," John Ging, director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza,, told the Washington Post on Saturday, November 15.

"It is unprecedented that the UN is unable to get its supplies in to a population under such obvious distress.

"Many of these families have been subsisting on this ration for years, and they are living hand-to-mouth."

Israel has banned the UN and other aid agencies from bringing supplies into Gaza, forcing the UNRWA to halt food supplies to half of Gaza population.

The closures also left the strip short of fuel, forcing Gaza's main power plant, which supplies a third of the territory's electricity, to shut.

"I call on Israel to reopen the crossings for humanitarian and commercial flows, in particular food and medicines," said EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

"Facilitation of fuel deliveries for the Gaza power plant should be resumed immediately."

Oxfam and Amnesty international also urged Israel to end the Gaza siege.

"World leaders must step up and exercise all their political might to break the blockade of Gaza," Oxfam's executive director Jeremy Hobbs said.

"As a matter of humanitarian imperative, Israeli leaders must resume supplies into Gaza without further delay."

Israel, backed by the US, has been closing the Gaza Strip's exits to the outside world since Hamas took control of the territory last year.

It has completely locked down the area since January, banning food, medicine and fuel shipment supplies.

Helpless

Amnesty International said that Israel was enforcing a collective punishment policy against innocent Gazans.

"Israel's latest tightening of its blockade has made an already dire humanitarian situation markedly worse," said Philip Luther, deputy director of the London-based body's Middle East and north Africa program.

"This is nothing short of collective punishment on Gaza's civilian population and it must stop immediately."

A leaked report by the Red Cross said that the Israeli siege has led to a steady rise in chronic malnutrition among the 1.6 million Gazans.

"Chronic malnutrition is on a steadily rising trend and micronutrient deficiencies are of great concern," said the report seen by The Independent.

The report says the Israeli restrictions are causing "progressive deterioration in food security for up to 70 per cent of Gaza's population".

It says increasing numbers of Gazans are selling assets, slashing the quality and quantity of meals and cutting back on clothing and children's education to provide for household.

In the urban sector, in which about 106,000 employees lost their jobs, about 40 percent are now classified as "very poor", earning less than 500 shekels (£87) a month to provide for an average household of seven to nine people.

"Since then I earn no more than 300 shekels per month by sewing from time to time neighbors' and relatives' clothes," a former owner of a small, home-based sewing factory says in the report.

"I sold my wife's jewellery and my brother is transferring 250 shekels every month.

"I do not really know what to say to my children."

Pre-history

Many Gazans now feel they are living in pre-history ages; thanks to the Israeli siege.

"When I look around, it looks as though people have gone back in time," Awni Sawafiri, a 37-year-old taxi driver and father of three, told the Post.

"With no electricity, more and more people are burning wood to make a fire to cook."

Hana Bardawi, who lives in the Shati refugee camp, survives with her seven children on UN food handouts.

"If the UN assistance stops, I will have to take my two oldest sons out of university, because I won't be able to afford it," she said.

"Now with winter coming, we also need jackets and warm clothes for the children."

Nearly 750,000 Gazans depend on UN aid.

"People just feel hopeless; we don't see any solution to this situation," said Ahmed Abu Hamda, a journalist.

"They say, 'What the hell is going on here? I just want to live."

Source: IslamOnline

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## Shades

HRC Denounces Forbidding Muslims from Entering the Ibrahimi Mosque Date : 17/11/2008   Time : 18:56

HEBRON, November 17, 2008 (WAFA)- Hebron Rehabilitation Committee  (HRC) denounced, Monday, the Israeli Occupation Authorities decision to forbid Muslims from entering Al-Ibrahimi Mosque in the city of Hebron on Friday and Saturday, November 21-22 2008 to enable Jewish colonizers to perform their rituals on the



In a press release published, Monday, the Committee affirmed that the Ibrahimi Mosque is worship place for Muslims, and that colonizers have absolutely no right to it. It added that the decision is illegitimate and breaks all international laws and the human rights conventions.



In the same context, the Committee demanded the Israeli Occupation Authorities to be more strict when it comes to dealing with Jewish colonizers aggressions against unarmed Palestinian citizens; the last of which was the abduction  of 10 year old child from his familys front yard, near Kiryat Arba Colony, north of the city of Hebron.   Source: AJP

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## Shades

UN chief Ban Ki-Moon urges Israel to allow UN aid workers into the Gaza Strip, expressing concern about the humanitarian situation there.

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon told Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Tuesday that he was deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and urged Olmert to ease the delivery of humanitarian aid in the territory, his office said in a statement.

"The secretary-general today telephoned to express his deep concern over the consequences of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza," the secretary-general's office noted.

"He strongly urged the prime minister to facilitate the freer movement of urgently needed humanitarian supplies and of concerned United Nations personnel into Gaza," it added.

On Friday, Ban Ki-moon also called on Israel to open the borders to allow humanitarian aid to reach Gaza residents. In the statement, he said measures that increase the suffering of Gaza civilians "are unacceptable and should cease immediately."

Israel has toughened its siege on the Gaza Strip and carried put military operations against the Palestinians settled in the area since nearly two weeks ago, killing and wounding a number of them.

More than 1.5 million Palestinians in the area are without basic supplies including food and medicine. The region is currently suffering a wide-spread blackout and hundreds of patients are in danger of dying.

Israel has vowed to keep the crossings closed, despite international appeals to the regime to allow in food convoys and to resume fuel supplies to the coastal region.
Source: Press TV

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## Shades

"People in Gaza are waiting in lines for almost everything, and that's if they're lucky enough to find something to wait for," says Bassam Nasser, 39.

An aid worker in Gaza City, he, like so many others there, including the UN relief agency, says living conditions are the worst he has ever seen in the strip.

"People queue for two or three hours for bread, but sometimes there's no cooking gas or flour, so no bread.

"People wait in line for UN food handouts, but sometimes there aren't any. The suffering is reaching every aspect of life."

As well as working for an American development agency, Mr Nasser is a Gazan, and a father.

"I've got three young children. It's difficult to explain to them that it's not my fault we don't have electricity and that it's not in my control."

'Severely stretched'

Since June 2007, Israel has allowed little more than basic humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip.

Many there hoped that policy would change, five months ago, when Hamas and Israel agreed to a truce.


Gazan family eating by candlelight, 17.11.08

Gazans describe life under blockade
But while there were some increases in the amount of aid allowed in, Israel's strict restrictions on the movement of goods and people into and out of Gaza largely remained.

Two weeks ago, an already fragile humanitarian situation resulting from the mounting effects of months of shortages, saw a dramatic downturn.

The fighting resumed, with an Israeli army incursion into Gaza and a retaliatory barrage of militant rocket fire. With that, Israel all-but shut the Gaza Strip.

Although there are some goods being smuggled into Gaza through tunnels from Egypt, little else is reaching the territory.

Serious fuel shortages have led to widespread power cuts across Gaza City. That, in turn, has caused problems in pumping water to homes, and sewage to treatment plants.

Israel is preventing many aid workers, and all journalists from entering Gaza too, so our interviews have had to be conducted over the telephone.

It's so hard to see where the hope is, and so hard to stop these conditions breeding more hatred
Bassam Nasser, aid worker, Gaza

"I never thought we would see days like this," says Monther Shublak, head of Gaza's water authority.

"The water system was severely stretched even before this crisis, but now, things are much worse.

"For the last four days, around 40% of people in Gaza City have had no access to running water in their homes at all."

"People ask me 'When will we get water?' I simply can't answer them," Mr Shublak says.

"But we are putting all of our resources into sewage pumping. The health consequences of that system totally failing are too worrying to think about, but it could happen unless things change."

Alongside attacks by its military, Israel's government says its Gaza closure strategy aims to deter Palestinian militants from firing rockets across the border at Israeli towns.

It also wants to choke Hamas, the Islamist faction in charge of Gaza, an enemy Israel sees as one of its most deadly.

But the rockets keep being launched and Hamas shows few signs of losing its grip on power.

Question of blame

There is much discussion among Palestinians as to why this sudden increase in pressure on Gaza is happening now.

Some say Israel is preparing for a big invasion; others feel there is an element of political posturing ahead of an Israeli general election in February.


Gaza map

Guide: Gaza under blockade

Many will tell you that they feel a time of deep division in Palestinian society is being taken advantage of.

Few take Israel's explanation, that it is only protecting its citizens from the horror of rocket attacks, at face value.

"Isn't it enough that their army kills the people who fire rockets?" asks Mr Nasser.

"We are not responsible, so why are we all being punished? It makes no sense."

He talks of the long-term impact on children in Gaza, including his own, aged six, five and two.

"It's getting harder for us to answer our childrens' questions about the situation, without instilling hatred in their minds about the people responsible for our suffering," he says.

He does not just mean the Israeli government.

"People here see everyone as responsible for their miserable lives. They see Israel closing Gaza, but they also see people around the world doing nothing.

"They see Hamas making things worse by using the blockade as an excuse not to be accountable, and they do whatever they like.

"People see the silence of the PA, [the Fatah-dominated Palestinian government in the West Bank] and blame them too," he says.

"It's so hard to see where the hope is, and so hard to stop these conditions breeding more hatred."

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## Shades

Israeli tanks enter Gaza City
Thu, 19 Feb 2009 01:01:40 GMT
Israeli tanks crossed the border into the Gaza Strip.
Israeli tanks backed by helicopters have crossed the border with the Gaza Strip, triggering clashes in Gaza City.

Witnesses told AFP that the military forces entered Gaza City early Thursday with Palestinian fighters exchanging fire with them.

The military forces however left the strip after the fighters fired antitank rockets at them.

No casualties have been reported in the attack.

There was no comment by the Israeli military on the incident.

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## Shades

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM  Israel's security cab voted unanimously on Wednesday, February 18, to condition a Gaza truce on the release of its soldier Gilad Shalit, a move criticized as a setback for Egyptian efforts to broker a long-term ceasefire. "The security cab unanimously decided that the release of the soldier Shalit is a condition to any agreement with Hamas and the opening of border crossings," Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit told journalists after the meeting.

"It would be unthinkable for anybody to reach an accord with Hamas, whether through Egypt or not, without the release of Shalit."

Israeli outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Saturday, February 14, that Israel would not agree to any truce with Hamas without the release of Shalit, who was taken prisoner by Palestinian groups in 2006.

The new position throws a spinner into Egypt's efforts to mediate a truce between Israel and Hamas since the end of Israel's three-week war on Gaza, which killed nearly 1400 people and left a rail of massive destruction.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stressed earlier this week that Shalit's fate should not be linked to the ceasefire talks.

"Egypt will not change its position on the truce, the matter of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is a separate issue which can in no way be linked to the truce negotiations."

Hamas has always maintained that the release of Shalit be negotiated as part of a separate prisoner exchange involving hundreds of people held in Israeli jails.

Blackmail

Israel's new conditions for the truce drew rebuke from its chief negotiator Amos Gilad.

"Suddenly, the order of things has been changed. Suddenly, first we have to get Gilad," the Maariv daily quoted him as telling an associate.

"I don't understand that. Where does that lead, to insult the Egyptians? To make them want to drop the whole thing? What do we stand to gain from that?" he fumed.

"The Egyptians have shown extraordinary courage. They've given us maneuvering room, they're trying to mediate, they're investing efforts, they're showing goodwill of a kind they've never shown before," said Gilad who visits Cairo frequently for the truce talks.

"Mubarak has been fair and courageous...What are we thinking? That they work for us? That they're a subordinate unit of ours?"

Hamas also lashed out at the Israeli government for changing the rules of the negotiations.

"Hamas vehemently rejects Israel's conditions," its spokesman Fawzi Barhum said in a statement.

He insisted that Shalit's release shall be negotiated separately as part of a prisoner exchange involving hundreds of Palestinians jailed by Israel.

"This Zionist position imposes new conditions at the last minute. This completely contradicts the Egyptian and Palestinian positions."

Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal also lashed out at the Israelis.

"A truce can come about only in exchange for a lifting of the blockade and the reopening of the crossing points," he told Agence France Press (AFP).

Israel has been closing Gaza's six crossings since Hamas took over control in 2007, leaving its 1.6 million population without food, water, power and sewage services.

"It is unacceptable to combine the truce issue with the question of Shalit."

Source: IslamOnline

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## Shades

BBC News, Gaza

Hundreds of Palestinian schoolchildren used to come to the Gaza Zoo every week, but not now.

Tanks rolled through the area during the Israeli offensive. Much of the zoo was badly damaged, most of the animals died.

Cage after cage lies empty.  Ostrich feathers are strewn close to a crater in the ground, beside the mangled steel bars of what was the birds' pen.

The burnt carcass of a camel by its former enclosure is one of the few sets of remains that have yet to be taken away.

"Some were killed in air strikes," says the zoo's manager, Emad Qassim, "but some of the animals were shot dead."
The burnt carcass of a camel at Gaza Zoo
The camel's remains are almost unrecognisable

"Thank God our two lions survived, but we used to have over 400 animals and birds, now there are just 10 left."

Many of the animals died of starvation.

The zookeepers say that for more than two weeks, Zeitoun, the southern suburb of Gaza City where the zoo is located, was simply too dangerous to access because of the presence of troops and tanks.

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## Shades

Israeli TV's blasphemous show sparks outrage
Thu, 19 Feb 2009 01:39:14 GMT
Pope Benedict XVI
Christian and Muslim leaders have called on Pope Benedict XVI to cancel his trip to Israel after an Israeli TV channel aired a sacrilegious show.

The TV show hosted by comedian Lior Shlein contained blasphemous material against Jesus and Virgin Mary (PBUT).

Religious leaders denounced Shlein as Christian lawyers mulled over taking legal steps against the comedian and Channel 10.

In a letter to lawyers, Shlein has pledged to publicly apologize for the show.

Christian leaders said the show was "hurtful and humiliating to Christianity."

Pope Benedict XVI is scheduled to visit Israel in May amid worsening ties between Tel Aviv and the Vatican.

The Vatican's decision to lift the excommunication of Bishop Richard Williamson who denied the Holocaust sparked a row between the two sides.

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## Shades

GAZA CITY: US Democratic representatives Brian Baird and Keith Ellison expressed shock at the plight of the war-shattered Gaza Strip during a visit to the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave yesterday.

The amount of physical destruction and the depth of human suffering here is staggering Baird said in a statement issued jointly with Ellison during their visit which coincided with a similar trip by US Senator John Kerry.

The visits were the first by US lawmakers since Hamas took control of the territory in June 2007.

Ellison, a representative from Minnesota, harshly criticized restrictions on the delivery of desperately needed goods into the coastal strip that has been under a crippling Israeli blockade imposed after the Hamas takeover.

People, innocent children, women and non-combatants, are going without water, food and sanitation, while the things they so desperately need are sitting in trucks at the border, being denied permission to go in, he said.

The stories about the children affected me the most, said Ellison. No parent, or anyone who cares for kids, can remain unmoved by what Brian and I saw here. Baird, from Washington state, said the situation he saw was shocking and troubling beyond words. The personal stories of children being killed in their homes or schools, of entire families wiped out, and relief workers prevented from evacuating the wounded are heart wrenching, he said.

Ellison, the first Muslim elected to the US Congress, hailed US President Barack Obama for acting quickly to send much needed humanitarian funding to Gaza for this effort. However, the arbitrary and unreasonable Israeli limitations on food, and repair and reconstruction materials are unacceptable and indefensible, he added.

Ellison and Bair both stressed that their visit did not have the official sanction of the Obama administration.

They said they held talks with civilians and relief workers, while Palestinian officials stressed they did not meet with any representatives of Hamas.

During their visit, the pair visited Izzbet Abed Rabbo, a community in northern Gaza devastated during the deadly 22-day Israeli offensive that ended on Jan. 18.

An estimated 14,000 to 20,000 homes and other buildings were damaged or destroyed during the military offensive in which more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed.

The first and most urgent priority must be to help the people in Gaza. At the same time, the rocket attacks against Israeli cities must stop immediately, Baird and Ellison said in their joint statement.

Just as the people of Gaza should not be subject to what they have experienced, the Israeli civilians should not have to live in fear of constant and indiscriminate rocketing, they added.

Today, the two plan to tour the Israeli towns of Sderot and Ashkelon, which are regularly targeted by rocket attacks from Gaza. ¬
Source: Arab News

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## Shades

Israeli troops kill two Gazans
Sat, 21 Feb 2009 08:18:38 GMT
Israeli troops have killed two Palestinian men in the village of Juhr al-Dik southeast of Gaza City, Palestinian medical sources say.

The two men were killed by Israeli shelling and gunfire in the village, according to Muawiya Hassanein, the head of Gaza emergency services, who identified the men as resistance fighters, AFP reported.

Israel continues to hit targets in the Palestinian sliver on a regular basis after it announced a so-called "unilateral ceasefire" on January 18 which helped Tel Aviv divert media attention away from its three-week offensive into the long blockaded region. The military operation killed at least 1,330 Palestinians and wounded 5,450 others.

On Friday, Hamas condemned Israel for hampering efforts for truce by linking a prisoner exchange negotiation to the ceasefire.

Hamas insists opening of the crossings into the blockaded Gaza Strip as one of its main demands for truce but Israel has refused it.

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## Shades

RAMALLAH: The Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners Affairs yesterday strongly condemned the decision of Israeli military courts to deport Palestinian prisoners holding Arab and foreign passports from the Palestinian territories.

The ministry said that the Israeli courts issued a decision to deport two Palestinian brothers, Omar and Talib Oudeh, from Jenin to Jordan, after they served their jail term despite the fact that they are holding Palestinian IDs.

It added that the Israeli courts also decided to deport Marwan Farraj from Bethlehem to Jordan. The ministry said that Farraj refused to sign the expulsion decision and the prison administration is exercising huge psychological pressure against him to force him to sign the court decision.

The ministry said Ibrahim Hamdiya, was separated from his wife and children, who live in Jenin, and was deported to the Gaza on the pretext that he had resided in the West Bank illegally.

The ministry said that the decisions are a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention which forbids Israel as an occupying power from altering the demographic composition of territories it has seized, either by expelling Palestinians or by settling Jews there.

The ministry called on international human rights organizations to urgently intervene to put an end to this Israeli policy of deportation which is backed by a legal cover provided by the Israeli High Court of Justice in order to pass violations against Palestinian civilians, warning that the international communitys silence encourages Israel to deport more Palestinians.

Meanwhile, a senior Hamas official said yesterday that his movement is not ruling out the possibility that some so-called heavyweight Palestinian prisoners will be expelled to Syria should they be released by Israel in the framework of a possible exchange deal for captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Mahmoud Al-Zahhar told the Arabic-language daily newspaper Al-Hayat that the movement was considering the issue of expelling the prisoners from the West Bank. Any such decision will be implemented with the prisoners consent, he said in the interview, published Saturday.

Media sources said that Israel has accepted Hamas demand to free eight heavyweight prisoners, but insists that four of them be deported to Syria.

The sources said that Israel has prepared a new list of Palestinian prisoners it is willing to release and is ready to relay it to Hamas as quickly as possible in order to further a possible swap arrangement, after a cabinet decision on Wednesday to make Shalits release a precondition to any new cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip.

The four prisoners slated for expulsion are: Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) Secretary-General Ahmad Saadat; Ibrahim Hamed, Hamas military commander in the West Bank; bomb-maker Abdullah al-Barghouthi and Abbas el-Sayed of Hamas military wing.

Zahhar said Israel has issued fresh demands in the ongoing Egyptian-mediated ceasefire negotiations, including tying the truce to a prisoner exchange deal that would see Shalit returned to Israel.

The Israelis are in the midst of a major crisis regarding the establishment of the new coalition, he said. In any case, we are not desperate to reach a ceasefire agreement, and the prisoner swap has its own special price tag.

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## Shades

RAMALLAH: An Israeli police dog yesterday attacked 105-year-old Salem Bani Odeh during an arrest raid in West Bank town of Tammoun, family sources said.

The sources said that the Israeli soldiers raided Bani Odehs house, to the south of Jenin, in search for wanted Palestinian activist.

They added that the dog jumped on the handicapped Odeh, biting his chest and chewed off his left ear. Odehs son said that his father was rushed to Rafidia Hospital in the city of Nablus for treatment. The soldiers arrested two Palestinians during the house-to-house search.

Palestinian Minister of Health, Dr. Fathi Abu Moghli, condemned the incident saying, It is an Israeli crime against Palestinian people and humanity. He said the Israeli police dog dragged Bani Odeh from his bed and attacked him for 30 minutes.

He said that on arrival to the hospital, medics found that the victim was suffering from deep wounds in the shoulder, scratches on his face, body, and a chewed left ear which necessitated a surgery to reconnect it.

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## Shades

RAMALLAH: As part of Israeli attempts to Judize the disputed city of Jerusalem, the Jewish-dominated Jerusalem Municipality may offer to voluntarily relocate some 1,500 Palestinian residents of the citys Silwan neighborhood to alternative lots in East Jerusalem, Arab residents said.

The daily Haaretz said that the option was brought up by city council and East Jerusalem portfolio holder Yakir Segev, in meetings with the Arab residents. The 88 houses at issue were allegedly constructed without permits in the Al-Bustan area of Silwan and are slated for demolition by Israeli authorities. They stand in an area known as the Kings Garden, defined as being of great archaeological importance by the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Silwan, a Palestinian neighborhood of 10,000 people, is set in a beautiful valley just outside the Old City walls, Jews claim it to be there ancient city. Therefore, according to the Jewish National Fund, it is historical justice that only Jews should live on this land.

The nasty and obviously racist battle to cleanse Silwan of non-Jews is under way with a vengeance. Palestinian residents call it house-to-house combat. According to attorney Ziad Qaawar, the last meeting took place in early February and saw Segev proposing two alternative locations, one on a different hill in Silwan, and the other in the neighborhood of Beit Hanina, in the northeast of the city. The proposition was unanimously rejected by the residents.

Fathi Abu Diab, a member of the residents committee, said that they told him (Segev) that these were lands we inherited from our parents, and we were not going to give them up. We were born here, and our children were born here too.

Abu Diab added the families would be happy to cooperate with any development of the area that does not harm the houses. But forcing us to evict will never work, he said. Haaretz quoted Segev as saying that no compensation plans was in place.

These houses have been issued with demolition orders, to which we have to comply, he said. This was just an idea that came up in the talks. However, Palestinian participants in the meeting said most of it focused on the voluntary evacuation issue.

The demolition orders have been in place for several years, but have yet to be carried out, with international pressures running high. An alternative plan proposed by the residents was rejected by the citys planning committee.

Israeli left-wing activists said the demolition orders were fueled by settler activists seeking to take over the land, in particular by the Elad association, which promotes the Judaization of East Jerusalem by settling of Jews in Silwan.

Elad has been operating in East Jerusalem for about 20 years. It has acquired and received many properties belonging to Palestinians in Silwan and manages the national park on behalf of Israeli government.

The policy of house demolitions and settlement building in East Jerusalem are being used by the Israeli authorities and Jerusalem municipality to increase Jewish presence and manipulate the composition of the population in order to gain more control over the city prior to final status talks with the Palestinian Authority.

In those talks, the issue of Jerusalem looms as the stumbling block of all stumbling blocks. More than 2,000 houses in East Jerusalem have been demolished since its occupation by Israel in 1967, and several hundreds are slated for demolition to Judize the city.

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Source: Arab News

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## Shades

Israel-Hamas arms embargo urged
Palestinians run for cover during an Israeli strike over a UN school in Beit Lahia, 17/01
Israel has denied allegations of illegal use of white phosphorus rounds

Amnesty International has called for a freeze on arms sales to Israel, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups following the recent Gaza conflict.

The human rights group said it had evidence both Israel and Hamas had used weapons sourced from overseas to carry out attacks on civilians.

It called for the UN Security Council to impose the embargo on all parties.

Both Israel and Hamas have rejected the conclusions of the report, in which Amnesty accuses each of war crimes.

In the report, Israel is accused of illegal use of white phosphorus and other armaments supplied by the US in Gaza, while Hamas is condemned for launching unguided rockets into Israel.


[Israeli] attacks resulted in the death of hundreds of children and other civilians and massive destruction of homes and infrastructure
Donatella Rovera
Amnesty International

Israel defends use of phosphorus
Q&A: White phosphorus injuries
Israel has denied the allegations.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told the BBC: "The IDF, the Israeli Defence Forces, only use weapons that are in accordance with international law.

"We did not use any such munition as an anti-personnel weapon; we are investigating ourselves."

White phosphorus, which is used to lay smokescreens, is legal for use on open ground but its use in built-up areas where civilians are found is banned under international conventions.

'War crimes'

Donatella Rovera, the head of an Amnesty fact-finding mission to southern Israel and Gaza, said: "Israeli forces used white phosphorus and other weapons supplied by the USA to carry out serious violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes.

Palestinian Qassam rockets are fired by Hamas militants from Gaza towards Israel, 6 Jan 2009
Amnesty said the firing of rockets from Gaza into Israel was a war crime
"Their attacks resulted in the death of hundreds of children and other civilians and massive destruction of homes and infrastructure.

"At the same time, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups fired hundreds of rockets that had been smuggled in or made of components from abroad at civilian areas in Israel.

"Though far less lethal than the weaponry used by Israel, such rocket firing also constitutes a war crime and caused several civilian deaths."

The charity's report said it had found fragments and components of artillery, tank shells, fins from mortar rounds and aircraft-launched missiles and bombs in school playgrounds, hospitals and homes in Gaza.

Israel's weaponry predominantly came from the US, the report said.

In southern Israel, meanwhile, the remains of rockets fired indiscriminately at civilian areas by Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups were also recovered, the report said.

'Tainted' report

Mr Regev told Reuters news agency the Amnesty report was "fundamentally flawed" and "tainted" because it used data provided by Hamas.

He said Israel made every effort to avoid civilian casualties.

"The report ignores the fact Hamas deliberately used the Palestinian civilian population as a human shield," he told Reuters.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum called the report "unfair", telling Reuters there was no comparison between the Israeli forces' weaponry and Palestinian "people who defend themselves with some rifles and other primitive means".

He denied that Hamas had acquired weapons from other countries.

Around 1,300 Gazans and 13 Israelis died in 22 days of fighting last month.

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## Shades

The BBC News Website looks at case studies of some of the weapons and tactics used in the recent Gaza conflict that human rights groups are concerned may have been violations of international law.

Interviews by Aleem Maqbool and Heather Sharp in Gaza City.


GENERAL ALLEGATIONS

Human rights investigators have been trawling through the rubble in Gaza and gathering testimonies in an attempt to piece together a picture of the way both sides fought and the weapons they used.

International law demands that a distinction is made between combatants and non-combatants, and civilian casualties proportionate to the military gains from the attack in which they occurred.

But Amnesty International has concluded that some Israeli attacks "were directed at civilians or civilian buildings", while "others were disproportionate or indiscriminate".

Dinstinctive white phosphorus shell bursts in Gaza
Amnesty has dubbed Israel's use of white phosphorus as a war crime
As well as the way Israeli forces used white phosphorous in the conflict, which Amnesty has dubbed a war crime, the organisation has also raised concerns about other weapons and their use.

These range from the firing of high explosive artillery shells, which have a large margin of error, in populated areas, to concerns that Israeli forces were trigger-happy in their use of more precise weapons such as tank shells.

There has never been any doubt that Palestinian militants' use of rockets to target civilians in southern Israel was a violation of international humanitarian law.

Human rights investigators are also certain that the militant groups operated from civilian areas, although Amnesty and HRW are yet to publish detailed reports on the issue.

"The testimony and forensic evidence clearly shows Hamas was endangering the civilian population with its tactics," says Marc Garlasco, a senior researcher and military specialist with Human Rights Watch.


The violations of one side do not allow the other side to fight in an illegal manner
Marc Garlasco, Human Rights Watch
He says there were cases of Hamas firing from abandoned Palestinian homes.

"I myself saw Qassam rockets rise up from populated areas, likely fired from between homes," he adds.

Israel says the blame for civilian casualties lies with Hamas for using such tactics.

But Mr Garlasco - echoing the views of several other human rights groups - says this "in no way justifies what Israel did".

"The violations of one side do not allow the other side to fight in an illegal manner."

Israel has not yet responded to the specific allegations, but says it acts to minimise civilian casualties, and that its interpretation of international law is in line with that of other Western nations.

The Israeli military also says it is conducting internal investigations into some of the claims and individual cases, including regarding the use of white phosphorous, that rights groups have raised.

Back to the top

FLECHETTE SHELLS

Flechettes recovered after fatal attack on Wafa Abu Jarad
Muhammad Abu Jarad still has a flechette lodged close to his spine
Flechette shells contain several thousand razor-sharp, nail-like metal darts, each about 4cm long.

The shells explode in the air scattering the darts over the surrounding area - in a cone-shaped pattern 300m long and 90m wide, according to Human Rights Watch.

They are not banned under international law, but human rights groups say their indiscriminate nature makes them illegal if used in built-up civilian areas such as the densely populated Gaza Strip.

Although they were not widely used by Israeli forces in the Gaza conflict, Amnesty International has documented several incidents and says their use "contributed to unlawful killings" of Palestinian civilians.

The black darts can still be seen in the walls above the spot where Wafa Abu Jarad, aged 21 and three months pregnant, was fatally injured on 5 January 2009, outside their home on a residential street near Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza .

Her husband Muhammad, 24, said they had just had breakfast on the steps of their home, with their two-year-old son Khalil, and were walking among the lemon trees in their garden when they heard an explosion a few blocks away.

As they ran for cover in the house, Wafa with Khalil in her arms, there was another explosion above them. "All we could see were nails," said Muhammad, in reference to the flechettes.

"We were both thrown to the ground. She was bleeding from her head and chest," he said. "She fell unconscious immediately."

Muhammad Abu Jarad holding a photo of his dead wife, with Khalil, aged 2
Young Khalil Abu Jarad has not yet been told his mother died in the attack

Flechettes hit Khalil in the legs, Muhammad in the leg and back, and flew through the open door hitting Muhammad's father in the shoulder, he said.

Wafa died in hospital three days later.

The clean white line of a flechette can be seen close to a vertebrae on an X-ray of Muhammad's back. He says he cannot sleep because of the pain, and sometimes finds his right side temporarily paralysed.

"The doctors are afraid to take it out, it is too close to the nerve - they are afraid I could be completely paralysed," he says, as Khalil clings to his leg and breaks briefly into a howl.

"What can I tell him when he cries 'Mummy, Mummy'?", he asks. "Where am I supposed to bring his Mum from?"

He tells the toddler Wafa is "travelling". "But yesterday he picked up a picture of her, and was saying 'Mummy, Mummy' and kissing it. He said she had been hurt in the explosion."

In similar cases, Amnesty International has documented the death of a 16-year-old boy, another woman and a paramedic, and numerous more injuries.

Israel has used flechette shells in Gaza for several years. In 2003 Israel 's High Court rejected a petition to ban their use, saying it considered the military's guidelines on their use to be adequate.

Back to the top
TANK SHELLS

The Amnesty report says "tank rounds are precision munitions".

"The killing of so many civilians, many in their homes, indicates that these munitions were, at best, used in a reckless or indiscriminate manner," says the report.

Haider al-Eiwa
Haider al-Eiwa cannot understand why his house was hit
Human Rights Watch military analysts say tank shells are so accurate they can be fired into a window from a distance of a mile (1.6km).

Both Amnesty and HRW investigators say there appeared to be a consistent pattern of Palestinian families being killed by Israeli tank shells fired into their homes, apparently as they approached windows or stepped on to balconies. Haider al-Eiwa, 42, walks through the ruins of his family's top floor apartment in the eastern part of Gaza City .

Everything in the living room, dining room and kitchen has been reduced to a mangled, dusty mess.

A few weeks ago, he says, four of his children, aged between seven and 13, were playing by the kitchen window, looking out towards the Israeli border.


KEY STORIES

'Phosphorus wounds' alarm Gazans
Who can probe war crimes claims?
Gaza conflict: Timeline
Gaza conflict: Who is a civilian?

He says that, without warning, a tank shell crashed straight through the same window, killing his wife, and all four children.

"Of course they played near the windows, they are children," Haider says. "And the tanks were well over a kilometre away.

"They have destroyed my life. Why did they choose my house?" he says. "I am not Hamas, I don't belong to any group. They must have known there were children here."

Marc Garlasco of Human Rights Watch says: "I saw dozens upon dozens of homes damaged or destroyed by tank fire and our investigation noted numerous civilians killed in these cases."

"Though we don't know why they were killed, the Israeli army may have thought they were spotters for Hamas," says Mr Garlasco.

It seems that in some cases, Israeli forces were "looking through the vision system, firing at anything they saw moving", says Donatella Rovera of Amnesty International.

In another such case, cited by Amnesty, the house of Dr Izz al-Din Abu al-Eish was hit. A tank shell was fired into his daughters' bedroom. Three of his daughters and his niece were killed.

Back to the top

DRONE MISSILES

An Israeli pilotless aircraft or drone (top right) flies over Gaza (15/01/09) as a helicopter fires flares
Unmanned drones (one visible, top right) were used extensively by Israel over Gaza

Marc Garlasco of HRW says there is concern about the number of Palestinian civilians killed by missiles fired from unmanned Israeli aircraft, or drones, particularly because these can be precisely targeted and guided by an operator using imaging "like a TV camera" as they home in on their target.

In several cases, children were killed as they played on roofs, despite the fact that the operator should have been able to determine they were civilians and steer the missile away, he says.

"It appears there was this wider policy to kill anyone on a roof," he said.

Furthermore, investigators found that many of the missiles used in such strikes contained tiny, sharp-edged cubes of purpose-made shrapnel, which are scattered as the missile explodes.

Mr Garlasco says these were designed as anti-tank weapons, but are often used by Israel for targeted killings, as they "do they job well" - the blast is confined to a small radius, the missiles are relatively light and can be mounted on unmanned drones.

Mahmoud al-Habbash
Mahmoud al-Habbash says he cannot remember the blast that "sucked" him

Mahmoud al-Habbash, 15, shows us the spot on a rooftop where his cousins were killed by a guided missile. According to HRW, the missile contained such cube-shaped shrapnel.

"We were feeding the chickens and playing," he says. "We did it every day and did not think we had any reason to be afraid."

"I looked to the sky and I saw a flame coming towards us and I shouted and ran. It was strange, I was suddenly sucked back forcefully, but I don't even remember hearing the blast," says Mahmoud.

"Shada, who was 12 and Isra who was 10 were killed. Jamila lost both legs, she is 14. Muhammad who is 16 lost one leg. Muhammad says when the explosion happened, it looked like there was a huge cloud of flies around us."

Qusai al-Habbash, 48, a science teacher and the father of the two girls who died, says the area had been calm and that families along the street had been going about their business as normal.

"Still, I thought of warning my children not to go outside, because of what was happening in other areas," he says. "But then I told myself that the Israeli weapons were very sophisticated. They can easily see who is a child and who is a militant. But they killed my children anyway."

Amnesty has listed many cases in which civilians were killed in this manner, including eight secondary school students who were waiting for the school bus to take them home

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## Shades

PARIS  feeling stained by Israeli crimes against the civilian population of the bombed-out Gaza Strip, two prominent French-American Jews are demanding the removal of their relatives names from Israel's famous Holocaust memorial. "We ask that our grandmothers name be removed from the wall at Yad Vashem," Michael Neumann and his brother Osha wrote to Israeli President Shimon Peres, also director of Yad Vashem museum.

In their letter, a copy of which was obtained by IslamOnline, the brothers ask for the name of Gertrud Neumann to be erased from the memorial of Jewish victims in WWII.

"Our grandmother was a victim of that very ideal of ethnic sovereignty in whose cause Israel has shed so much blood for so long," they stressed.

Click to read the letter Palestinian Holocaust Museum Killed by Israel, Eaten by Dogs "Dad, I'm Dying" "In life, our grandmother suffered enough. Stop making her a party to this horror in her death," added the brothers, who hold French, American and Canadian nationalities. "Please take this as an expression of disgust and contempt for your state and all it represents."

The brothers are following the example of Jean-Moise Braitberg, a French novelist who also wrote to Peres asking that the name of his grandfather, Moshe Braitberg, and other members of his family be removed from the Yad Vashem memorial.

He insisted that the names of his relatives must not become part of justifying the Israeli cruelty against Palestinians.

Israel's 22-day onslaught on the densely-populated Gaza enclave killed more than 1,350 people, half of them women and children, and injured thousands more.

Some 21,100 homes, 1,500 factories, 25 mosques, 31 government buildings and scores of schools across Gaza were destroyed by the air, sea and ground attacks.

Shame

In their letter, the Neumanns link their request to the burden Israel's crimes has placed on Jews and humanity at large. "Our complicity was despicable," Michael, a professor of philosophy at a Canadian university, wrote. "I do not believe that the Jewish people, in whose name you have committed so many crimes with such outrageous complacency, can ever rid itself of the shame you have brought upon us."

Michael -- the author of many books including "The Case Against Israel" and "What is Anti-Semitism"  insists that Nazi propaganda, for all its calumnies, never disgraced and corrupted the Jews but Israel did.

"You blacken our names not only by your acts, but by the lies, the coy evasions, the smirking arrogance and the infantile self-righteousness with which you embroider our history."

Osha, an artist and civil rights lawyer, believes that Israel actions have made the word Jew synonym to "fascist".

"Israel long ago woke me from my dogmatic slumber about the immutable relationship of Jews to Fascists. It has engineered a merger between the image of Jewish torturers and war criminals and that of emaciated concentration camp victims," he wrote.

"I find this merger obscene. I want no part of it."

Source: IslamOnline

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## Shades

Clinton faces Jewish backlash over Gaza
Fri, 27 Feb 2009 20:52:14 GMT
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton following an Obama administration policy reversal has been hit with strong condemnation from her former New York Jewish supporters.

Clinton previously known as a strong proponent of the Zionist state has angered her former allies as she backs the new administration's Middle East policy that foresees a USD 900m reconstruction program for a devastated Gaza Strip, in contrast to the Bush administration's blatant pro-Israeli prejudice.

Clinton criticized Israel for putting barriers in place to obstruct the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza on the eve of her first visit to the region next week.

Senior US officials reportedly told their Israeli counterparts last week that "Israel is not making enough effort to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza". More criticism is expected from the US next week with Mideast special envoy George Mitchell's visit to Israel.

However, State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, Brooklyn, told CBS, "I liked her a lot more as a senator from New York, now, I wonder as I used to wonder who the real Hilary Clinton is."

The Israeli people and politicians however, do not seem very concerned over the criticism made by Clinton and her officials, despite the outrage their New York counterparts displayed.

Defense department officials confirmed that the pressure is rising on Israel to reopen crossings that will allow larger volumes of aid in for the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip.

At present, less than 200 aid trucks are allowed through each day, but the United Nations, the US and EU are demanding at least 500 daily truck runs into Gaza.

Meanwhile, Palestinian sources said that without a cease-fire agreement with Israel, America's plan for reconstruction aid to the Gaza Strip will not have any long-standing effect as Israel still refuses to allow basic construction materials into the area.

RSM/HAR

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## Shades

Hundreds barred from prayers at Al-Aqsa
Mohammed Mari | Arab News


RAMALLAH, West Bank: Israeli police barred hundreds of Palestinians from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem for prayers yesterday.

Palestinian sources said that thousands of police and Border Guard officers were deployed in the Old City, despite the stormy weather, to prevent worshipers from entering A-Aqsa. The Israeli police said that the decision followed intelligence indicating a possible riot following protests against the Jewish-dominated Jerusalem municipality orders to hundreds of Palestinians to leave their homes in East Jerusalems Al-Bustan neighborhood.

The Israeli police have allowed Palestinian men over age 45 and Palestinians woman over age 35 to enter the site for prayers.

The national and religious movements in Jerusalem called for the organization of events to protest the Israeli decision to demolish dozens of houses in the historical neighborhoods of Jerusalem and the displacement of thousands of citizens to Judize the city and the targeting of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Jerusalem municipality last Sunday ordered owners of 80 houses in Al-Bustan neighborhood to leave their illegal homes.

For its part, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) called on Palestinians to launch a national general strike today to protest the new Israeli massacre that aims to Judize Jerusalem.

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## Shades

Despite the Israeli formal commitment not to expand West Bank settlements, a government agency has been promoting plans over the past two years to construct thousands of housing units east of the Green Line, Israeli daily Haaretz has reported.

The plans, which have not yet been approved by the Israeli government, were drawn up by the Civil Administration, the government agency responsible for nonmilitary matters in the West Bank. Details of the plans appear in the minutes of the agency's environmental subcommittee, which were obtained by the B'Tselem organization under the Freedom of Information Act.

The plans propose the initial construction of 550 apartments in Gva'ot, located near Alon Shvut in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, followed by construction of another 4,450 units at a later stage. Rimonim will get another 254 apartments if the plans are approved, and expansion plans are also in the works for Einav and Mevo Dotan. All three of these settlements are east of the separation fence.

Ma'aleh Adumim has included planned construction in the E-1 corridor in its sewage treatment plans. That corridor, which links Ma'aleh Adumim to occupied Jerusalem, is eventually slated to hold some 3,500 apartments.

Nearby Kfar Adumim's sewage treatment plan predicts that the settlement will double its population "in the coming years," to 5,600 inhabitants. And in Eshkolot, the Civil Administration instructed the settlement to draw up a sewage plan adequate for a population five times its current one.

A Civil Administration spokesman said that its "environmental subcommittee does not discuss approval for housing units at all, but deals with the professional aspects of the area's environmental needs, sometimes at the theoretical level."
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Source: AJP

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## Shades

WASHINGTON  After failure to remove harsh criticism of its major ally Israel, the United States said Saturday, February 28, it will boycott a UN anti-racism conference over claims of anti-Semitism. "We're not going to further engage in Durban II," a senior State Department official told Agence France Presse (AFP) on the condition of anonymity.

The State Department has said the decision was taken after Washington failed to remove the harsh criticism of Israel in the proposed final statement.

During preparatory talks in Geneva on February 16, the US tried hard but in vain to change the draft statement.

"The current text of the draft outcome document is not salvageable," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said in statement late Friday.

"As a result, the United States will not engage in further negotiations on this text, nor will we participate in a conference based on this text."

Canada and Israel have said they would boycott the racism-fighting conference, scheduled for 20-24 April in Geneva.

The conference was first held in Durban, South Africa, a few days before the 9/11 attacks in the US, and against the backdrop of the second Palestinian intifada.

Israel and the US walked out of the conference in protest against attempts by Arab countries to adopt a resolution equating Zionism with racism.

Jubilant Israel

Washington's boycott won plaudits from Israel and US Jewish organizations, which urged European countries to follow suit.

"Under the fig leaf of combating racism, this conference is blatantly anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli," Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said.

"The decision of the United States should be an example to other countries that share our values," she added in a statement from her office.

A senior member of the right-wing Likud party tasked with forming a new Israeli government after the February 10 elections, also praised the US decision.

"I congratulate the United States on its decision, which proves it is faithful to its commitments to Israel," Silvan Shalom said.

"This is further proof of the close ties that unite our two countries."

US Jewish groups also hailed the move.

"It is our hope that the European countries will follow suit and announce that they will not participate," the Conference of Presidents, an umbrella group of more than 50 Jewish organizations, said in a statement Saturday.

The United Jewish Communities also joined the chorus of praise.

"As feared, it has become increasingly clear that the only purpose of the Durban conference is to condemn the State of Israel for its very existence," it said.

"President (Barack) Obama is absolutely correct in refusing to participate in this sham."

Source: IslamOnline

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## Shades

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM  Muslim and Christian leaders across the occupied Palestinian lands are shocked with repeated Israeli insults of the prophets and religious sanctities.

"I don't really know when Jews will start to respect the religious sensitivities of non-Jews," the Chief religious judge of Palestine, Dr. Taysir Tamimi, told IslamOnline.net on Saturday, February 28.

"It is very shocking and very telling that Jewish religious leaders in Israel and abroad have not condemned these blasphemous acts."

Israeli media shocked millions of Muslims and Christians last week by mocking Jesus, his mother Mary and Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him).

A TV comedy skit, hosted by Israeli comedian Lior Shlein, last week depicted Jesus as being "too fat" to have walked on water and that May was not virgin.

The insult came after the host angered million of Muslims when he pointed to one of his shoes, saying "This is Muhammad."

"Muslims throughout the world have been shocked by the evil campaign waged against Islam and the Prophet (PBUH) and abuse of this shameful campaign against the sanctities with insults addressed against the Prophet and a religion followed by more than 1.5 billion Muslims," said Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

"This shameful conduct came a few days after broadcasting insulting rhetoric against Prophet Jesus and his virgin mother, Mary, peace be upon them."

    *
      Wicked, blasphemous

Salim Kubti, a lawyer representing Christian courts in Israel, said he was considering a libel suit against Channel-10, which hosted the comedy show.

"Such remarks go beyond satire and dark humor," he told IOL.

"These are serious utterances insulting the sensibilities of every Christian and anyone who possesses values and mutual respect for other religions.

"It's clear that Shlein is a failure and as a result is looking for any way to improve his ratings, and he is jumping on a sensitive issue."

The Vatican labeled the Israeli show "a vulgar and offensive act of intolerance toward the religious sentiments of the believers in Christ."

Some Christian leaders and clergymen even Pope Benedict XVI to postpone or cancel his planned visit to Israel, scheduled to take place in May.

The outcry forced outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to apologize for Pope Benedict XVI, saying the comedy segment didn't represent Israel's views.

IOL has contacted some Jewish leaders for comment, but they refused to talk.

Muslim leaders also denounced the Israeli TV show, calling it "wicked and blasphemous."

"We believe in freedom of expression, but we don't believe in freedom of vulgarity and blasphemy," Ikrema Sabri, head of the Supreme Muslim Council in Al-Quds (occupied East Jerusalem), said in the weekly Friday sermon.

"You can't insult and offend people under the pretext of freedom of expression."

He said the "apparent acquiescence" of the Israeli government to these vulgarities reflected "malice and ill-will" toward Muslims, calling on Muslims worldwide to send an "unmistakable warning" to Israel to refrain from insulting religious symbols.

Israel has a long history of showing disrespect to Muslim and Christian faiths.

In 1948, the Israeli army and paramilitary Jewish groups systematically destroyed hundreds of mosques in Palestine in an effort to obliterate the country's Arab-Islamic identity.

Mosques left intact, such as the Beir al Saba'a Mosque, were converted into bars or brothels. Others were simply left to fall into disrepair.

Shortly after the 1967 Middle East war, the chief rabbi of the Israeli army, Shlomo Gorin, urged the military to blow up Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest shrine, "once and for all".

In January 1984, armed Jewish extremists, led by Rabbi Moshe Levinger, one of the leaders of Gush Emunim, the Jewish settler movement, attempted to dynamite and destroy Al-Aqsa mosque.

Jewish insults of Muslim and Christian symbols became more common and audacious in recent years.

Nearly ten years ago, a Jewish immigrant from the former Soviet Union drew an offensive image depicting Prophet Muhammad as a pig writing the Qur'an.

In 2006, a Jewish couple walked into the Basilica of Annunciation Church in the Arab town of Nazareth in Israel, carrying 19 gas canisters, bottles of turpentine and kerosene, 64 firecrackers and 25 rocket-shaped fireworks.

The couple placed the fireworks and the gas canisters in a corner then poured kerosene on them, causing a fire.

Moreover, Yeshiva (Talmudic school) students have been spitting on Christian clergymen in Al-Quds and breaking their crucifixes.

Some other fanatical Jews don't hesitate to refer to Jesus as "Hitler of Bethlehem."
Source: IslamOnline

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## Shades

Interpol issues arrest warrants for 15 Israelis
Sun, 01 Mar 2009 23:36:57 GMT
Tehran's Public Prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO) has issued a circular calling for the arrest of 15 top Israeli officials over war crimes.

At a news briefing on Sunday, Tehran's Public Prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi, said that Iran had referred the case to the organization, known as Interpol, drawing on the Interpol charter and Israel's violation of the Geneva Conventions.

"ICPO has notified governments of 180 countries to arrest the suspects," who were involved in the 23-day Israeli offensive on Gaza in December and January he said.

In December, Iran's judiciary announced its decision to set up a court to look into complaints made by the Palestinian envoy in Iran and wounded Palestinians delivered to Iran, against Israeli atrocities in Gaza, saying it was ready to try the Israelis in absentia.

"In the current week, we have completed our investigation of about 15 individuals who were among those criminals," IRIB, Iran's State Television, quoted Mortazavi as saying.

"Based on our investigation and according to article 2 of the Interpol charter, we asked Interpol to arrest these suspects."

Mortazavi said the charges included war crimes, invasion, occupation, genocide and crimes against humanity.

The Iranian prosecutor was referring to Israeli strikes that started on December 27 on the densely populated Palestinian coastal territory and did not end until it had claimed the lives of more than 1,330 Gazans, mostly civilians.

Many international NGOs and human rights organizations, Palestinians wounded in the Gaza onslaught, more than 5,700 Iranian lawyers and attorneys in the Iranian Bar Association along with a large number of medics were also among those who filed complaints against Tel Aviv, Mortazavi added.

The list of Israeli war criminals includes:

1 Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
2 Defense Minister Ehud Barak
3 Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni
4 Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi
5 Commander in Chief of the Israeli Air Force Ido Nehoshtan
6 Commander of the Gaza war -- Operation Cast Lead -- Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant
7 Head of Military Intelligence Directorate Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin
8 Commander of Battalion 13 in the Golani Brigade Lt. Col. Oren Cohen
9 Deputy to the Givati Brigade Col. Ron Ashrov
10 Commander of the Israel Paratroopers' Brigade in Gaza Col. Hertzi Halevy
11 Commander of 401st Armored Corps Brigade convoy Col. Yigal Slovik
12 Commander of the 101st Battalion in the Paratrooper Brigade Lt. Col. Avi Blot
13 Lt. Col. Yoav Mordechai, who served as a commander of the Golani infantry brigade's 13th Battalion in Gaza
14 Givati squad commander Col. Tomer Tsiter
15 Brigade commander in Battalion 51 Col. Avi Peled

MRS/SME/MMA

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## Shades

Israeli media denounced for insulting the Prophet
Ghazanfar Ali Khan | Arab News


RIYADH: GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah yesterday denounced the derogatory remarks made about the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in an Israeli television program. These ugly remarks made against the Prophet is part of a malicious campaign against Muslims launched by the Jewish state, he said in a statement on the sidelines of a GCC foreign ministers meeting.

Al-Attiyah accused Israeli Channel 10 of organizing a blasphemous campaign against Islam and Christianity, saying that this outrageous act is nothing but part of a series of ferocious attacks made by the state-sponsored Israeli media on the Islamic value system, teachings and sanctities.

The GCC ministers met under the chairmanship of Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah of Oman and discussed a range of regional and international issues, including Palestine, Lebanon, Somalia, Darfur, Iran and Iraq. The peaceful use of nuclear technology was also addressed.

The GCC ministers, however, reiterated their demand to make the Middle East a nuclear arms-free zone. All the six foreign ministers attended the 110th ministerial session at the GCC General Secretariat. Prince Saud Al-Faisal led the Kingdoms delegation to the session.

Referring to the Israeli television, which carried a clip of Israels version of the reality show Survivor in which a contestant insults the Prophet, the GCC chief called on the international community and the United Nations to take immediate measures to stop the defamation of prophets and religions. The clips broadcast comes days after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert issued a public apology for two segments that aired on Israeli Channel 10, in which Christianity was also mocked.

Referring to the need to exert more efforts to bring the Middle East peace process back on tracks, the GCC foreign ministers called on all parties to revitalize it in a way that will serve the interests of the Palestinian people and eventually help set up their independent state.

In his opening remarks at the meeting, Omani Minister Abdullah welcomed the call of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for greater unity and solidarity at the Arab economic summit in Kuwait recently.

The ministers also praised the efforts of the Bahraini leadership, which played a major role in defusing a crisis with Iran following a spate of verbal attacks in which Ali Akbar Nateq Nuri, an adviser to Irans supreme leader, claimed Bahrain had been Irans 14th province. The remark was an affront to Bahrains sovereignty.

The ministers also praised the efforts made by Qatar in establishing peace in Darfur. The ministers said in a statement that they share a common vision that will contribute to helping the Arab action that seeks to ensure peace in Palestine and elsewhere.

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## Shades

Blair visits Gaza Strip to Assess Damage Firsthand Date : 1/3/2009   Time : 18:29

GAZA, March 1, 1009 (WAFA)- The Quartet envoy to the Middle East Tony Blair is in the Gaza Strip to discuss reconstruction efforts.



It is Blair's first visit to Gaza since he was appointed to present the Mideast peacemaking quartet of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations in 2007.



'I wanted to come to hear for myself, first hand, from people in Gaza whose lives have been so badly impacted,' Blair said in a statement.



He is the latest in a number of high-ranking diplomats to visit Gaza since the end of the Israeli offensive against the strip, which ended up killing more than 1300 Palestinians and injuring over 5000.



'I will relay their account of events, their assessment of what is needed for reconstruction, their goals for rebuilding a vibrant private sector and civil society, to this week's conference in Sharm El Sheikh,' Blair said in the statement.
Source: AJP

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## Shades

RAMALLAH  As foreign donors ready to pour their billions to rebuild war-ravaged Gaza, expert believe that politics will have a deciding voice in the rebuilding of the Palestinian territory hard hit by Israels war and long-chocked by its stifling siege. "Donors' money is political money," Mohammed Shtayyeh, who heads the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction (PECDAR), told Agence France Presse (AFP) on Sunday, March 1.

Some 80 donor countries will meet in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik On Monday to pledge close to three billion dollars in aid to Gaza which was shattered by a 22-day Israeli assault.

Many countries have already made their pledges, with Saudi Arabia promising $1 billion and the US $900 million.

But experts believe vows in the high-profile meeting will be all about politics.

Shtayyeh, whose council is tasked by the Palestinian Authority to supervise donor-financed projects, affirms donors will be eyeing the situation between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah while making their promises.

"Donors also come to support the peace process, and this will emerge from Sharm el-Sheikh," he added.

Major donors are expected to pledge their billions only if the enclave's ruler Hamas -- which agreed with Fatah in Egyptian-sponsored talks on Thursday to work together towards setting a unity government --  plays no role in spending the cash.

"I would like to insist that the mechanism used to deploy the money is the one that represents the Palestinian Authority," EU foreign policy supremo Javier Solana said on Saturday after meeting Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

Washington - which blacklists Hamas as a terror group - also said it will work only with Abbass Fatah.

"I will be announcing a commitment to a significant aid package, but it will only be spent if we determine that our goals can be furthered rather than undermined or subverted," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said while on her way to the Middle East Sunday.

In a report to Monday's conference, the World Bank listed a number of institutions for international financial support for Gaza to go through that belongs either to the PA or independent Gazan groups, but none of the institutions run by Hamas.

Israel's deadly onslaught, which ended on January 18, after killing some 1,300 Palestinians and injuring thousands others, caused damaged estimated at 1.95 billion dollars in the impoverished enclave according to PECDAR.

No less that 5,000 homes were destroyed and 20,000 damaged, in addition to extensive damage to infrastructure.

Crippling Siege

Not only politics, Israels chocking siege on Gaza is to influence every prospect of rebuilding the ravaged territory. 

"All the pledges of aid this conference is expected to produce will be worth next to nothing if the donors do not demand that Israel open the borders to commercial goods as well as humanitarian essentials," Keh Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, told Reuters.

Even before the offensive, and despite international criticism, Israel refuses to open Gaza commercial crossings, locked up since November 4.

human rights groups and experts agree that no matter how much money is offered for Gaza, it will make little difference if the Israeli blockade persists.

Shtayyeh, of the PECDAR, says his council has 56 architects and engineers in Gaza and was "ready to carry out any project it is given."

He insists, however, that reconstruction would not be possible unless the blockade is lifted.

"Today one can't find a single bag of cement or steel bar in Gaza."

The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) also stressed on Sunday that efforts ending the crippling siege should be the first step to end the sufferings of Gazans.

"The first and most urgent measure should be to end the isolation of Gaza, particularly by lifting restrictions on the movement of people and goods," said ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger.

Around half of Gazas 1.6-million population depend on United Nations handouts.

The economy of the overcrowded sliver of land was brought to its knees by the blockade imposed by Israel from the time Hamas was elected to power in 2006.

Source: IslamOnline

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## Shades

Israel to double up West Bank settlers
Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:27:12 GMT
Israel's housing ministry is reportedly busy making plans to double the number of Zionist settlers in the occupied territories of the West Bank.

"The ministry of construction and housing is planning to construct at least 73,000 housing units in the West Bank," the anti-settlement group Peace Now disclosed Monday in a report based on the analysis of Israeli government data.

The group added, "At least 15,000 housing units have already been approved and plans for an additional 58,000 housing units are yet to be approved. Out of the units already approved, nearly 9,000 have been built."

Once the plans are carried out, the number of settlers in the territories will be doubled. The completion of these projects will make the plan of creating a Palestinian state next to Israel totally 'unrealistic'.

There are currently more than 280,000 Israeli settlers living in some 121 settlements in the West Bank. Another estimated 200,000 live in east al-Quds (Jerusalem).

Under an internationally drafted 'roadmap for peace', Israel is committed to dismantle all settlements built since March 2001.

Nevertheless, construction in Israeli settlements jumped 60 percent in 2008.

MP/MMA

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## Shades

Int'l donors want Gaza borders opened
Tue, 03 Mar 2009 03:13:56 GMT
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit says donors at an international confab have asked for the 'unconditional' opening of Gaza borders.

Participants at the international conference to rebuild Gaza called for the immediate, total and unconditional opening of all of Gaza's borders with Israel, Abul Gheit stated.

Israel has kept the territory under a humiliating blockade for nearly 19 months despite repeated warnings by the UN and international aid organizations of the dire humanitarian condition in Gaza that has deteriorated by Israel's recent onslaught on the strip.

This is while Egypt itself has in various occasions shut down the main Rafah border crossing to Gaza and during Israel's 23-day offensive against Gazans, Egyptian border guards sealed off the Gaza-Egypt Rafah crossing and prevented hundreds of thousands of defenseless Palestinians to flee the war.

Humanitarian groups have said that reopening Gaza borders is essential to allow vital supplies into the territory. Israel and Egypt have so far only allowed a small quantity of humanitarian supplies into the strip.

Israel has linked the reopening of the crossings into Gaza to the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who was seized in June 2006 in a cross border raid.

Israel began its 23-day Operation Cast Lead on the indigent enclave on December 27, killing over 1,300 Gazans - mostly women and children. At least 5,450 others were also wounded in the onslaught.

The fighting came to halt on January 18 following a ceasefire declared separately by both sides.

MP/MMA

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## Shades

CAIRO  International donors pledged on Monday, March 2, almost 4.5 billion dollars for the reconstruction of the bombed-out Gaza Strip and the Palestinian economy and called for the "unconditional" opening of all Gaza's borders. "We have gathered today 4.481 billion dollars, in addition to previous pledges," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said, reading from a final statement issued at the end of an international donor conference in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.

He said the pledges were new and would be paid over the next two years.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged $300 million for Gaza reconstruction and $600 million to support the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority's budget shortfalls, economic reforms and security and private sector projects run by the PA.

She was adamant that none of the money, which has to be agreed by the US Congress, would go to Hamas.

"We have worked with the Palestinian Authority to install safeguards that will ensure our funding is only used where and for whom it is intended and does not end up in the wrong hands."

The European Commission pledged 440 million euros ($554.1 million) for Gaza and Palestinian Authority reforms.

Oil powerhouse Saudi Arabia pledged $1 billion and Qatar said it would pay $250 million.

Britain also said it would pay $43 million to rebuild Gaza's economy.

The Palestinian Authority had hoped to raise $2.78 billion at the event, including $1.33 billion for Gaza.

The one-day conference was called by Egypt after Israel's deadly 22-day war in Gaza, which killed more than 1,300 people, mostly civilians, and wounded 5,450.

The offensive also left a trail of destruction in the sealed-off coastal enclave, home to 1.6 million people.

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 4,100 homes have been totally destroyed and 17,000 damaged.

About 1,500 factories and workshops, 30 mosques, 31 government buildings and 10 water or sewage pipes were also damaged.

Open Crossings

Abul Gheit said international donors had called for the "unconditional" opening of all Gaza's borders with Israel.

The UN and aid agencies insist rebuilding the coastal enclave was a daunting task so long as border crossings with battered Gaza remained closed.

"The situation at the border crossings is intolerable," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told the meeting earlier in the day.

"Aid workers do not have access. Essential commodities cannot get in.

"Our first and indispensable goal, therefore, is open crossings."

Israel tightened its grip on Gaza's border crossings after Hamas took control in June 2007, refusing the entry of materials such as cement and steel it says could be used to build rockets.

Egypt, which also borders Gaza, refuses to open its Rafah crossing, Gaza's only window to the outside world, for normal traffic.

"Gaza should not actually be a prison with open skies," French President Nicolas Sarkozy told the conference.

Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair called Sunday for reopening Gaza crossings and lifting the 20-month crippling blockade on the overcrowded strip.

"A blockade of all the Gazan people does not work," he told reporters during his first visit to Gaza.

The US and Israel led an international campaign to impose a crippling siege on Gaza since Hamas swept Palestinian legislative elections in 2006 and came to power.

"I think there is a recognition that we have got to change our strategy towards Gaza," Blair said.

Source: IslamOnline

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## Shades

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM  Defying international calls to halt settlement expansion and dealing a new blow to the two-state solution, Israel will double Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. "The Ministry of Construction and Housing is planning to construct at least 73,300 housing units in the West Bank," the Israeli anti-settlement organization Peace Now said in a report issued on Monday, March 2.

"At least 15,000 housing units have already been approved and plans for an additional 58,000 housing units are yet to be approved."

Out of the units already approved, nearly 9,000 have been built, according to the report, based on data on the official Israeli government website.

"If all the plans are realized, the number of settlers in the territories will be doubled."

The new settlement expansions would nearly double the number of Jewish settlers in the occupied Palestinian territory.

The estimated number of additional settlers will reach some 300,000, an average of 4 persons in each unit.

Since 1967, Israel has built more than 150 Jewish-only settlements on the occupied West Bank, inhabited by as many as half a million settlers.

Most of the residents are classified as "ideological settlers," who believe that the West Bank is the "Biblical Land of Israel" which must never be given up even in return for a lasting peace with the Palestinians.

Larger Scheme

The Peace Now group insists that the new plans are only part of a larger scheme for settlements expansion in the occupied Palestinian territory.

"The Ministry of Housing plans that are included in this report represent only a small part of the total number of the plans existing in the settlements."

The group said the new plans will make the next Israeli government, which hawkish Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu has been assigned for form, has a wide choice of projects for settlement expansion.

"There are other thousands of housing units in plans of the local authorities, private initiators and other public authorities," said the report.

It added that about 19,000 units would be built in settlements beyond the construction path of the separation wall in the West Bank.

The UN and international community do not recognize Jewish settlements built on occupied Palestinian territories.

Many observers believe that no Israeli government will be able, even if willing, to dismantle these large settlements which have become well-established demographic realities in the West Bank.

At the same time, there is a near unanimity that without the dismantling of at least the bulk of settlements and removal of most settlers, the goal of Palestinian statehood will be utterly unachievable.

"The completion of these projects will make the plan of creating a Palestinian state next to Israel totally unrealistic," complains Peace Now head Yariv Oppenheimer. Click to read the report in full.

Source: IslamOnline

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## Shades

Israeli soldier opens fire on Hezbollah mural
Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:21:06 GMT
An Israeli soldier opened fire on a Hezbollah mural painted on a wall in Lebanon.
An Israeli soldier has opened fire on a Hezbollah mural painted on a wall near the entrance of the Aadaisseh village in southern Lebanon.

"A soldier got out of his vehicle and deliberately fired at the wall bearing the inscriptions," some 20 meters (yards) from the border, a Lebanese Army spokesman told AFP on Tuesday.

He said five bullets had hit the inscription which shows the "hand of resistance", a reference to the "divine victory" Hezbollah achieved over Israel during the 33-day war Tel Aviv waged on southern Lebanon.

Israel launched an offensive against Lebanon to destroy the Hezbollah resistance power in the summer of 2006; it however was forced to eventually leave the region without achieving any of its objectives.

A statement issued by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) described the incident as a violation of UN resolution 1701 which ended the 2006 war.

Meanwhile, an Israeli army spokeswoman said "a soldier mistakenly fired his rifle" and that the military was "investigating the incident in order to prevent similar events in the future."

SB/DT

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## Shades

US Israel support 'unshakeable'
Hillary Clinton with Israeli President Shimon Peres
Mrs Clinton expressed "unrelenting" commitment to Israel's security

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has restated "unshakeable" support for Israel, whatever type of government emerges from current coalition talks.

Mrs Clinton is on her first visit to the region as the top diplomat of Barack Obama's US administration.

Right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu, who opposes some key US policies, has been asked to form Israel's next government.

Mrs Clinton also announced two senior US officials would head for Syria, Israel's long-time foe, for talks.

"We are going to be sending two officials to Syria. There are a number of issues that we have between Syria and the US, as well as the larger regional concerns that Syria obviously poses," Mrs Clinton said.

Syria had engaged in indirect negotiations with the outgoing Israeli government on the fate of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The US has kept Damascus at arms length for several years, accusing it of supporting terrorist groups and destabilising its Arab neighbours.

However, analysts say recent diplomatic moves could be a prelude to restoring a US ambassador in Damascus.

Democratic will

Mrs Clinton arrived in Israel from Egypt, where the US and other international donors pledged almost $4.5bn (£3.2bn) for rebuilding Gaza.

I know this is a sensitive time in Israeli politics as the process of forming a new government unfolds. This is a matter for the Israeli people
Hillary Clinton

She has held talks in Jerusalem with the mainly ceremonial president, Shimon Peres, before going on for a meeting with outgoing Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

She is also due to meet Mr Netanyahu and the caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

On Wednesday, she will enter the West Bank for more talks Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who was present Monday's Egyptian-hosted aid conference in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Hillary Clinton: 'This is a sensitive time in Israeli politics'

After meeting Mr Peres, Mrs Clinton said it was important to underscore the "unshakeable, durable and fundamental" US support for the state of Israel [and] our "unrelenting commitment to Israel's security".

"We will work with the government of Israel that represents the democratic will of the people of Israel," Mrs Clinton said.

Mrs Clinton has repeatedly said the new US administration is committed to the establishment of a Palestinian state as the best way to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Mr Netanyahu has not endorsed this view, and he campaigned on pledges to concentrate on economic development of the Palestinian territories, which were occupied by Israel in the 1967 war, rather than political deals.

"I know this is a sensitive time in Israeli politics as the process of forming a new government unfolds. This is a matter for the Israeli people to decide under Israeli law," she added.

Potential clashes

The BBC's Middle East correspondent Tim Franks says the relationship between the US and Israel may become a little less warm than it was under the Bush administration.

American diplomacy may sound a new tone with stronger condemnation of Israeli settlement building in the West Bank, as well as greater pragmatism in dealing with the reality of Hamas's control of the Gaza Strip, he adds.


Hillary Clinton at the Gaza reconstruction conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, on 2/3/09

Clinton's delicate Mid-East tour
Palestinians pledge era of unity
Send us your comments

During Mrs Clinton's visit, Israeli warplanes bombed smuggling tunnels on the border between Gaza and Egypt, injuring six people according to Palestinian medical sources.

On Monday, a rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip at the city of Ashkelon. There were no reports of injury or damage.

Also on Monday, the Israeli government lodged an official complaint with the United Nations about the continued rocket fire from Gaza.

"The government of Israel will continue to safeguard its citizens and will do everything in its power to ensure that the situation in the south will not go back to what it was before December 2008," the letter read.

"Israel will not endure and will respond in kind to attacks against its citizens."

The Israeli military says 130 rockets and mortars have been fired from Gaza since each side adopted unilateral ceasefires in January.

Israel has launched a series of bombing raids on alleged arms smuggling operations and has kept tight curbs on the entry of goods into the heavily-populated coastal strip.

Israel launched a major military offensive on Gaza in December and January, in which about 1,300 Palestinians were killed, of whom 412 were children, and which destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. Thirteen Israelis were killed during the three weeks of violence.

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## Shades

Senior Palestinian commander killed in Gaza
Wed, 04 Mar 2009 20:55:50 GMT
Israeli jets fired a missile at a vehicle near a mosque in the town of Beit Lahiya.
A senior Palestinian commander has been killed in an Israeli air strike carried out in cooperation with Shin Bet in northern Gaza.

Khaled Kharb Khalad Shaalan, a senior commander in the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, was killed and his second-in-command Hamzia al-Najah was in a critical condition, AFP reported on Wednesday.

An Israeli army spokesman confirmed the attack, saying it had "targeted and killed" Shaalan whom the army claimed was involved in recent rocket attacks on Israel.

According to Palestinian medics, five bystanders were also wounded in the attack which came on a vehicle near a mosque in the town of Beit Lahiya.

Meanwhile an Islamic Jihad spokesman said the two members of the group were hit as they drove through the Jabaliya refugee camp near Gaza City and vowed to "avenge this aggression."

Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli jets launched another attack on the southern Gaza Strip wounding four Palestinians.

Israel continues its attacks on the Gaza strip on a regular basis although it announced a ceasefire after three weeks of an all-out war on the populated territory.

The military offensive which carried out in January, left over 1,300 people killed and thousands of others wounded.

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## Shades

Israeli soldiers hit Palestinian teen
Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:51:11 GMT
A Palestinian teenager has been critically wounded when Israeli soldiers opened fire on demonstrators near the West Bank city of al-Khalil.

Mahdi Abu Ayash, 16, was hit in the head when the soldiers fired live and rubber bullets to disperse a demonstration by Palestinians, AFP reported citing medical sources.

The Israeli Army did not comment on the incident.

The West Bank has been the scene of demonstrations held to protest Israel's construction of its security barrier despite calls by international bodies to halt the operation. The barrier will destroy a vast area of the Palestinian farmland.

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## Shades

Palestinian health care 'ailing'
Palestinian woman and child in Gaza hospital (file photo)
The report said death rates of children and expectant women had not declined

Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza suffer from an "ailing landscape" of health services, a new study claims.

The Lancet medical journal report highlights how 10% of Palestinian children now have stunted growth.

The paper describes the healthcare system in the Palestinian territories as "fragmented and incoherent".

Experts from Birzeit University say death rates among children and expectant mothers have failed to decline in recent years.

The plateau is in spite of good ante-natal care and high rates of child immunisation.


The trend for stunting among children is increasing, and the concern is about the long-term effects
Dr Hanan Abdul Rahim
Birzeit University

Dr Hanan Abdul Rahim said: "There are gaps in care. There's a low level of post-natal care and often it's not given in a timely manner.

"Mortality rates among infants and under-fives haven't declined much. This is unusual when compared with other Arab countries that used to have similar rates but have managed to bring them down.

"The trend for stunting among children is increasing, and the concern is about the long-term effects. It is caused by chronic malnutrition, and affects cognitive development and physical health.

"There are pockets in northern Gaza where the level of stunted growth reaches 30%.

"It's very important that women and children have access to quality care."

Dr Rahim's paper mentions a previously published report from the UN, which says more than 60 Palestinian women have given birth at Israeli checkpoints and 36 of their babies have died as a result.

Another paper says the Palestinian health system fails to be effective and equitable.

'Heartbreaking'

The conditions of military occupation are blamed, but so is the political instability of the Palestinian Authority - which has appointed six health ministers in three years.

The lead author, Dr Awad Mataria, also from Birzeit University, said: "Political havoc is one of the reasons for the failure of the health system - but this has been exaggerated and perpetuated under occupation.

"Also, the policies of foreign aid donors can be fragmented and contradictory."

Dr Mataria's paper note that the Palestinian Authority has received $10bn in recent years - mostly donated by the European Union.

But he and his colleagues say health programmes have focused on relief and emergency, rather than on long-term development.

In an editorial accompanying the series, the Lancet's editor Richard Horton said: "Our series is not about Arab politics, the status of Israel, or existing conventional diplomatic efforts to broker peace."

He added: "The latest storm of violence to engulf Gaza has been heartbreaking to watch, especially for those who have seen first hand the predicaments faced by health professionals trying to maintain a rudimentary, but ultimately failing, health system there."------BBC

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## Shades

Clinton concern over demolitions

Clinton concern over demolitions

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem are of "deep concern".

She renewed her commitment to an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement, saying it was a "commitment I carry in my heart, not just my portfolio".

She was speaking after meeting Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank.

It is Mrs Clinton's her first trip to the region as secretary of state.

In Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Mrs Clinton expressed "unshakeable" support for Israel, but restated the Obama administration's commitment to the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

She will not meet leaders of the rival Palestinian group Hamas, which has dismissed her visit.

Observers say they are watching for signs that Washington is determined to make advances on the - until now intractable - problem of securing a peace settlement in the Middle East.

'Unhelpful'

Mrs Clinton said the "unhelpful" planned demolition of homes in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem would be "taken up" with Israel's government.

Palestinian laborers work at a construction site in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim near Jerusalem on 2 March
Israeli settlement-building continues apace
Dozens of houses - which Israel says were illegally constructed, but which Palestinians say Israel refuses to permit them to build - are due to be torn down in Silwan to make way for a park. The demolition orders have been vociferously condemned by Palestinian leaders.

They were among the topics discussed by Mrs Clinton and Mr Abbas during their talks, which also included the situation in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip and moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Mrs Clinton said she was "proud" to stand by President Abbas, and to "deliver a message from our country: the United States supports the Palestinian Authority as the only legitimate government of the Palestinian people".

The US has refused to speak to Hamas, which leads the Gaza Strip, saying it is a terrorist organisation.

Earlier, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum dismissed Mrs Clinton's visit, saying her statements so far had been "totally biased in favour of the Zionist occupation and do not reflect any change in American foreign policy", AP news agency reported.

'Time is ripe'

Mrs Clinton said the US aimed to foster conditions in which a Palestinian state could be fully realised, adding that "time is of the essence".

On the plight of residents of Gaza, recently hit by a 22-day Israeli bombardment, she pledged a commitment to reconstruction, saying a "child growing up in Gaza... has the same right to go to school, see a doctor, and live with a roof over her head as a child in any country".

On peace negotiations, Mr Abbas said he believed "the time is ripe to put final-status issues" - issues including the status of East Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, borders, and Israelis settlements - and he added, Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.


FROM THE BBC WORLD SERVICE

More from BBC World Service
He said he respected Israelis' choice at the ballot box, but added that the Israeli government should commit itself to the peace "roadmap" and the two-state solution.

A year of peace talks between Mr Abbas' administration and the Israelis have yielded few results.

Meanwhile, Israeli settlement-building has continued, with nearly half a million settlers now occupying land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in contravention to international law, though Israel disputes this.

The BBC's Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen, says that the big question is whether the new US administration of Barack Obama is prepared to twist Mr Netanyahu's arm on the two-state solution.

He says there are signs of a growing feeling in Washington that allowing Israel total freedom to decide its own policy on the Palestinians may not, in fact, be a productive way to address Israel's security problems.

But he says the main Israeli objection to a Palestinian state is that if it was controlled by an enemy entity such as Hamas, that could in fact be disastrous for Israeli security.

'The Palestinians' own deep internal divisions are also an obstacle to an effective settlement.

Gaza is in the hands of the Islamist Hamas faction, while the West Bank administration is led by the more secular Fatah group - though Israeli forces occupy large swathes of the West Bank and both territories are subject to external Israeli controls.


BBC

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## Shades

By Heather Sharp
BBC News, Gaza

Omsyat, 12, has become nervous and aggressive, Hala, 7, has completely stopped speaking and Sobhy, 11, burned the toys he was brought with a candle, says their mother, Wafa Awersha.

Psychiatric nurse Rowiya Hamam nods as she sits on a thin mattress on floor of the tent in al-Atatra in northern Gaza.

In what is now their home, Mrs Awersha updates her on how the five children are coping with their brother's death in the recent conflict.

Sobhy Awersha, 11, in tent in al-Atatra, Gaza
Sobhy stares at the floor fiddling with a toy as he is asked about his loss
Ibrahim, 9, was hit by Israeli bullets on 4 January and died before his siblings' eyes, with their injured parents barely conscious nearby, the family say.

His body lay for four days outside their house before the fighting waned enough for neighbours to take it away on a donkey cart.

Several hundred of the 1,300 Palestinian deaths were children and some accounts of civilian deaths have raised concerns of war crimes.

After Ibrahim's death, Sobhy began behaving like his sibling and asking to be called Ibrahim, Ms Hamam says.

"School's fine," he says, when asked. "I like maths." But he stares at the ground and tears soon well in his eyes.


Drawing by Shahed, 5, Jabaliya, Gaza

Audio gallery: Children's drawings
Mrs Awersha says he used to be top in his class, but he struggles to concentrate now.

Hala covers her head with a blanket whenever Ibrahim is mentioned, while Diya, 3, beheaded the soft toys he was given, Ms Hamam says.

'For my kids'

Ms Hamam is one of a team of mental health workers in Gaza that say they have been "overwhelmed" by the scale of the needs since the conflict.

She has visited the Awersha family several times, bringing toys and games, trying to help the children express their feelings and teaching them deep breathing exercises.

Mrs Awersha smiles and teases the children as she scrapes the girls' matted hair into pony tails and helps them put on the school smocks rescued from the rubble of their home. The tent buzzes with fat, black flies.

Mrs Awersha exhales hard when asked how she is coping. And then the tears flow.

Wafa' Awersha and her son Sobhy, al-Atatra, Gaza
Wafa says she jokes with her children, but cries when she is alone
"Maybe you found me making people laugh, but honestly I'm doing this just for my kids," she says.

Whenever she goes back to her bulldozed home and stands in the spot where Ibrahim was killed, she weeps and weeps, she says.

Gaza's mental health professionals have been working flat out in schools, kindergartens, clinics, homes and tents to try to help similar cases.

Hassan Zeyada, who heads the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme's centre in Gaza City, and his colleague, psychiatrist Sami Owaida, say they are exhausted.

"Many of our colleagues lost relatives. We have to give support, but sometimes we feel that we need support," says Dr Oweida.

Dr Zeyada also points out the difficulty of treating "ongoing and continuous trauma" in a place where a long-term political solution remains elusive.

"Sometimes you feel you are wasting your efforts. Another invasion, another war, another attack will happen - you feel they will demolish or destroy all your efforts," he says.

Anxiety

Ongoing trauma too plagues the residents of Israel's southern towns, who live under the constant threat of Palestinian rocket fire, with about 8,000 rockets and mortars fired since 2001.

At least 18 people have been killed in that time. Children under eight have known little else but a constantly heightened state of anxiety.


Girl examines rocket damage in Sderot, 05.01.09

Children hit hard as Gaza toll rises
Sderot longs for end to rockets
And even after the recent fighting, which Israel said was aimed at reducing the rocket fire, a steady flow of rockets and mortars has continued.

But while mental health workers on both sides say at least 20-30% of the population suffers symptoms of trauma, the Israeli south is clearly better equipped to tackle the problems than Gaza.

GCMHP say there are only five clinical psychiatrists in Gaza trained to international standards, and no clinical psychologists.

'Basics for life'

John Jenkins, the World Health Organization's mental health project manager for the West Bank and Gaza , says that, as well as difficulties in getting people with the right skills into Gaza , shortages of drugs such as tranquilisers and antidepressants are a constant problem.

He says it is too early to assess the scale of the mental health needs from the recent conflict, as the impact of trauma takes time to emerge.

Wafa Awersha, outside the tent where she is living with her husband and five children
Living in a tent makes it harder for children to regain a sense of normality

But human beings' ability to deal with stress is "quite remarkable", he says, and the majority of people do not need specialist treatment.

"What people really need are the basic things in life," he says, such as reliable food supplies, a secure place to live and prospects for work. This should "absolutely" be the priority, he says.

But as Ms Hamam traipses away past the rows of tents, while children in flip-flops clamour at her to bring them shoes, she says that for the Awersha children, the conditions will make recovery harder.

"Before the war, they had their routine - come home, watch TV, write their homework, but in the tent it's very difficult."

"It will take too much time for them to recover," she says shaking her head sadly.

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## Shades

Gaza homes destruction 'wanton'
Destroyed house in Jabaliya, 15 Feb 2009
Amnesty said the way houses had fallen suggested they had been blown up from under walls and pillars

Human rights investigators say Israeli forces engaged in "wanton destruction" of Palestinian homes during the recent conflict in Gaza.

Amnesty International has told the BBC News website the methods used raised concerns about war crimes.

Israel's military said buildings were destroyed because of military "operational needs".

The Israeli Defense Forces said they operated in accordance with international law during the conflict.

However, the use of mines to destroy homes contradicted this claim, the head of the Amnesty International fact-finding mission to southern Israel and Gaza, Donatella Rovera, has argued.


The IDF emphasises that the terrorist organisation, Hamas, and its infrastructure were the target of Operation Cast Lead, and not the civilian population in Gaza
Israeli military statement

Israeli troops had to leave their vehicles to plant the mines, indicating that they faced no danger and that there was no military or operational justification, she said.

Breaking the Silence, an Israeli group that gathers and circulates the testimonies of Israeli soldiers, has also told the BBC News website that its findings from the Gaza war suggested many demolitions had been carried out when there was no immediate threat.

"From the testimonies that we've gathered, lots of demolitions - buildings demolished either by bulldozers or explosives - were done after the area was under Israeli control," said Yehuda Shaul, one of the group's members.

Destruction of civilian property is not illegal in itself under international law, but it must be justifiable on military grounds - for example if the building was booby trapped or being used as cover for enemy fighters.

Thousands of buildings were destroyed in the 22-day Israeli operation.

Some of them were police stations, mosques and government premises attacked in targeted airstrikes, in many cases with surrounding buildings left in tact.

Reduced to rubble

There were also whole neighbourhoods reduced to rubble in areas where the Israeli ground forces were present.


Father Raed al-Atamna, whose home was destroyed in Gaza conflict

Audio slideshow: Gaza homeless

Ms Rovera said Amnesty International was concerned about "large scale destruction of homes and other civilian properties" during the conflict.

"The destruction was, in our view, and according to our findings, wanton destruction - it could not be justified on military grounds," she said.

Ms Rovera said her team found fragments of anti-tank mines in and around destroyed properties.

Their use was also consistent with remains of houses, collapsed in on themselves as if blown up from below, rather than destroyed from above as in an airstrike, she said.

Troops would have had to leave their armoured vehicles to plant them and rig up the detonators, she said.

"Unless those operating on the ground felt not just 100% but 200% secure - that the places were not booby trapped, that they wouldn't come under fire - they could not have got out of the vehicles," she said. "They would not have used that method."

"The use of the method tells us even more that there wasn't the kind of danger that might have made it lawful to destroy some of those properties," Ms Rovera said.


GAZA DESTRUCTION
14,000 homes
219 factories
240 schools
UNDP estimates

In pictures: Samouni Street
Who will rebuild Gaza?
"Wanton destruction on a large scale would qualify as a war crime," she said, adding that the practice was among several used in the conflict by both sides that Amnesty is concerned may constitute war crimes.

In one case visited by the BBC, six homes belonging to the extended family of Raed al-Atamna in the Izbit Abed Rabbo area, near the border with Israel, were destroyed.

Mr Atamna said a UN ordnance clearance team had found several mines in and around the remains of one of the homes.

He said he and his family had fled the area during the Israeli military operation, and returned to find their homes demolished.

'Substantial operational needs'

The IDF said buildings in the Gaza Strip were destroyed during Operation Cast Lead due to "substantial operational needs".

In a written statement, it said: "For example, buildings were either booby-trapped, located over tunnels, or fire was opened from within them in the direction of IDF soldiers.

"The terrorist organisations operated from within the civilian population, using them as a cover and made cynical use of the IDF's strict rules of engagement, opening fire from within civilian population centres, mosques, schools, hospitals and even private residences of citizens in the Gaza Strip.

"The troops were briefed and trained to avoid harming uninvolved civilians and did all they could to give warning in advance so that civilians could distance themselves from combat zones.

"The IDF emphasises that the terrorist organisation, Hamas, and its infrastructure were the target of Operation Cast Lead, and not the civilian population in Gaza."

A military source said the mines used do not detonate automatically and therefore do not represent a danger when left unexploded in the field.
BBC

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## Shades

Israel closes Mauritania embassy
map

Israel has closed its embassy in the North African state of Mauritania at the request of the government.

The Israeli foreign ministry announcement came after reports that Mauritania had given Israeli embassy staff 48 hours to leave the country.

Mauritania had been one of only three members of the Arab League to have full diplomatic relations with Israel.

But it froze relations and recalled its ambassador to Israel in January in response to Israel's offensive in Gaza.

The AFP news agency reports that the Israeli flag and security measures, including surveillance cameras, were taken down overnight.

The move comes just days before Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, is due to visit Mauritania.

He has been pressing for Mauritania to cut its ties with Israel.

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## Shades

US trying to save Israel from prosecution'
Thu, 05 Mar 2009 10:57:59 GMT
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum
Hamas accuses the US of trying to save Israel from being prosecuted for Gaza war crimes and sending it weapons to continue its crimes.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said on Wednesday that US polices have not changed in the new administration.

Referring to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to the Middle East and her meetings with Israeli and Palestinian Authority leaders, Barhoum said that Clinton brought nothing new to the Palestinian issue.

The Hamas spokesman added that Clinton does not have anything to offer the Palestinians except 'her solidarity with Abbas and his Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad'.

Hillary Clinton met Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas and his Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad in Ramallah on Wednesday after visiting Israeli leaders in Tel Aviv.

Barhoum said that Clinton is trying to save Israel from being prosecuted for war crimes against the Palestinians, the International Middle East Media Center reported.

International organizations and human rights groups accuse Israel for using forbidden arms, such as depleted uranium and white phosphorus in the Gaza war that left at least 1,330 Palestinians dead and thousands others injured.

"Abu Mazin (Abbas) and Clinton should have recognized the legitimate results of the Palestinian elections", Barhoum said, "They both respected the results of the Israeli elections, and should have done the same regarding the Palestinian elections".

In January of 2006, the Hamas movement achieved an overwhelming victory in Palestine's legislative elections by taking 76 out of 132 parliamentary seats in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Barhoum also added that Abbas and Clinton should have criticized the demolition of Palestinian homes in al-Quds (Jerusalem), and the ongoing settlement construction and expansion in the Holy City and the rest of the occupied West Bank.

"Instead, the US is sending Israel tons of weapons to continue its crimes against our people", the spokesman said.

Israel has not stopped the expansion of illegal settlement activities in Palestinian lands despite its commitments to dismantle all settlements built since March 2001 under an internationally drafted 'roadmap for peace'.

MSH/MMA

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## Shades

Four activists, heading for Gaza with humanitarian aid convoy 'Viva Palestina', have been retuned to Libya short after crossing into Egypt.

The convoy of some 100 vehicles carrying one million pounds worth of humanitarian aid departed from Britain on February 14 and is to enter the impoverished Palestinian territory via Rafah in Egypt.

The four were identified as Stephen Gray, Richard Burton, Shams Suppin Razaq and Azam Hussein.

Press TV's correspondent Yvonne Ridley, who is accompanying 'Viva Palestina', said a lawyer was to contact the British Foreign Office to find out why the four were deported Egypt.

"The Egyptian authorities have not come up with an explanation as to why these men should be separated from the convoy. There is a feeling that they could mere political pawns in a much wider game is being played out in Egypt at the moment with Libya, Egypt and Israel," she said.

"Israel is putting huge pressure on Egypt to force the convoy which is now doubled in size, a British-Libyan venture, through Israeli territory."

She added that the convoy was warmly welcomed on the surface by the Egyptian authorities, local dignitaries and officials, but its movement was at the same time severely restricted due to a large number of police vehicles and officers involved in the operation of moving 'Viva Palestina' to Rafah.

Meanwhile, the convoy has been asked to move in groups of twenty, which has further reduced its speed.

'Viva Palestina' -- organized by British Parliamentarian George Galloway -- has passed through France, Spain and a number of North African countries on its way to the food and energy hungry Gaza Strip, where thousands of Palestinians have long been dependent on aid handouts.

Israel refuses to lift a 19-month-long blockade on the coastal sliver to force to its knees the Islamic Hamas movement which controls the Palestinian territory.

The siege continues almost a month after the Israeli army lunched an all-out onslaught on Gaza in a bid to oust Hamas and put an end to Palestinian rocket attacks, which usually leave little damage but have drawn bitter criticism from the Tel Aviv officials.

The 23-day offensive left at least 1,330 Palestinians killed, more than 5,450 others injured and widely devastated the infrastructures in the densely populated Gaza Strip, home to some 1.5 people.
Source: Press TV

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## Shades

CAIRO  A confidential European report has accused Israel of using settlement expansions, systematic house demolitions and the West Bank barrier to pursue its illegal annexation of Al-Quds (occupied East Jerusalem). "Israel's actions in and around Jerusalem constitute one of the most acute challenges to Israeli-Palestinian peace-making," says the EU Heads of Mission Report on East Jerusalem obtained by the Guardian on Saturday, March 7.

The report, dated December 15, 2008, says the Israeli measures in Al-Quds are meant to judaize the holy city.

"Israeli 'facts on the ground' - including new settlements, construction of the barrier, discriminatory housing policies, house demolitions, restrictive permit regime and continued closure of Palestinian institutions - increase Jewish Israeli presence in East Jerusalem, weaken the Palestinian community in the city, impede Palestinian urban development and separate East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank."

"Many of its current illegal actions in and around the city have limited security justifications."

Israel captured Al-Quds in the 1967 six-day war and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community.

Since the occupation of Al-Quds, Israel has adopted a series of oppressive measures to force the Palestinians out, including systematic demolition of their homes.

Al-Quds is home to Al-Haram Al-Sharif, which includes Islam's third holiest shrine Al-Aqsa Mosque, and represents the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Rapid Pace

The EU report says the Israeli settlement construction in the east of Al-Quds has been on a "rapid pace".

It says nearly 5,500 new settlement housing units have been submitted for public review with 3,000 already approved since the Annapolis peace conference in late 2007.

The confidential document cites Israeli plans to build a Jewish settlement in the Muslim quarter of Al-Quds and expanding settlements in Silwan neighborhood which abuts the Old City of Al-Quds.

"(The goal) is to create territorial contiguity between East Jerusalem settlements and the Old City and to sever East Jerusalem and its settlement blocks from the West Bank," it says.

It also cites plans to build 3,500 settlement units, an industrial park, two police stations and other infrastructure in a controversial area known as E1, between Al-Quds and the West Bank settlement of Ma'ale Adumim, home to 31,000 settlers.

"(Israeli measures in E1 were) one of the most significant challenges to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process."

The Israeli government announced plans last week to double Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The EU report blasted Israel's systematic demolitions of Palestinian homes in the holy city.

"(The demolitions are) illegal under international law, serve no obvious purpose, have severe humanitarian effects, and fuel bitterness and extremism."

Israeli occupation authorities demolished two Palestinian houses in the holy city on Monday and issued demolition orders for more than 88 houses in Silwan.

The plans would affect about 1,500 people in Silwan, home to 10,000 Palestinians.

Since 2000, Israel has razed about 700 homes in the holy city under the pretext of lacking official permits.

There are thousands of warrants yet to be carried out for further destruction.

Source: IslamOnline

----------


## Shades

NOUAKCHOTT: Mauritanias government expelled Israeli diplomats and shut the embassy yesterday after freezing ties with the Jewish state over its invasion of Gaza.

Mauritania was one of only three Arab countries that had full diplomatic relations with Israel. The closure of the embassy in Nouakchott leaves just Egypt and Jordan with full ties with the Jewish state.

Mauritanias communications minister said the move was a result of a decision taken at a meeting of Arab leaders in Doha in mid-January following Israels invasion of Gaza. We informed them of the decision to suspend relations at the time of the summit in Doha, and it is now being executed, El Kory Ould Abdel Mola told Reuters. The embassy is closed.

Another Mauritanian official said Israeli diplomats had been given 48 hours to leave the northwest African country. Staff were seen leaving the building.

Israel has decided to close its embassy in Nouakchott, the embassy said in a statement. The ambassador is on vacation.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said in a statement in Tel Aviv: Following the Mauritanian governments decision on Jan. 16, 2009 to freeze diplomatic relations with Israel, and at its request, Israel will close its embassy in Nouakchott as of today.

An official close to Mauritanian leader Abdel Aziz said that after the Doha summit, the Foreign Ministry had sent a letter to the Israeli ambassador advising him to leave. Summit host Qatar said at the time that it would freeze its own relations with Israel, which are at a lower level than full diplomatic ties.

Nouakchott, in common with other cities across the Arab world, saw protests against the Gaza attacks earlier this year. Over 1,300 Palestinians  at least 410 of them children  were killed in Israels three-week war on Palestinians.

In Tehran, general prosecutor Syed Mortzavi was quoted by Fars news agency as saying yesterday that Iran will send Interpol a list of over 100 Israeli war criminals involved in the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza.

A senior religious leader, meanwhile, said Israeli leaders and military commanders deemed by Iran to be war criminals should be executed. Addressing a Friday sermon broadcast live on state radio, Ahmad Khatami, a member of the powerful Assembly of Experts, said: I thank our judiciary, which has called for the arrest and punishment of these savage criminals. Our judiciary has the right to announce verdicts, and I say frankly that the verdict against them should be execution for being corrupt on earth and waging war against God and the Prophet (pbuh).

On Sunday, chief prosecutor Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafbadi asked for international arrest warrants to be issued for 34 Israeli political leaders and 114 military commanders over Israels war on Gaza. ¬
Source: Arab News

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## Shades

Ex-Israel head faces rape charge
Moshe Katsav, Jan 2007
Mr Katsav has previously said he wanted to prove his innocence

Israel's ex-President Moshe Katsav is to be charged with sex offences including the rape of a former female employee, the justice ministry says.

Justice officials say the testimony of the women involved is reliable.

Mr Katsav last year called off a plea bargain that would have seen him plead guilty to sexual misconduct but avoid more serious charges.

A spokesman for Mr Katsav, who quit his post in 2007, says he now welcomes the chance to prove his innocence in court.

The charges relate to accusations by a number of women staffers who worked under Mr Katsav while he was tourism minister and president.

The decision to indict him "was made after the attorney general and state prosecutor reached the conclusion that the complainants' testimony was reliable and that there is sufficient evidence for an indictment", the justice ministry said.

Justice officials have not said when the indictment will be formally filed.

'Witch-hunt'

The BBC's Tim Franks in Jerusalem says this has been a tortuous legal tale, already lasting nearly three years.

Israeli ex-President Moshe Katsav arrives at court to protests on Tuesday
Women's rights activists protested as Mr Katsav arrived at court last year
Under the terms of the proposed plea bargain, prosecutors had agreed not to seek a jail term if Mr Katsav admitted to sexual harassment and indecent acts.

Part of the controversial plea bargain deal was for him to step down as president of Israel, a largely ceremonial role. He was also supposed to pay damages to his accusers.

The deal was widely criticised in Israel for its leniency, our correspondent says.

But in a surprise move, Mr Katsav withdrew from the deal at a hearing last April, telling the court he wanted to fight for his innocence.

The former president has accused the Israeli media of mounting a politically motivated witch-hunt against him.

Originally, the police charged Mr Katsav with rape, sexual harassment and abuse of power.

Rape convictions in Israel carry a maximum sentence of 16 years in prison.

Mr Katsav was replaced as president by Shimon Peres.
BBC

----------


## Shades

The Zionist entity expressed its objection to the British cabinetâs decision to initiate talks with Hezbollah. Israel called on the United Kingdom to stop establishing any kind of relations with the party.

An Israeli foreign affairs spokesman said on Sunday that Israel considered any rapprochement between Britain and Hezbollah as very dangerous,.

The spokesman clarified that Israel did not distinguish between Hezbollah's political and military wings, unlike its stance on Hamas.

The spokesman also claimed that while Hezbollah was represented in the Lebanese cabinet, it was enhancing its military capacities, especially in South Lebanon, for future confrontations with Israel.

Israel called on Britain to reaffirm its 2005 decision, which cut all relations with Hezbollah and stated that it was a terrorist organization. 
¬

----------


## Shades

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged his Hamas rivals Sunday to move quickly toward a unity government that would be able to rebuild Gaza after a devastating Israeli military offensive there.

Abbas made his comments as negotiators from his Fatah Party plan to meet Hamas officials in Egypt this week for what are expected to be the most serious reconciliation talks.

"We must reach a national reconciliation government," Abbas said. "This government will be responsible for reconstruction (in Gaza). The faster a government is formed, the faster we will be able to rebuild in the Gaza Strip, quickly, for the sake of our people."

Fatah and Hamas are expected to begin 10 days of talks in Cairo on Tuesday, with senior officials from the sides set to participate. But it remains far from certain whether they will be able to work out a deal.

In his speech, the Western-backed Abbas said a new unity government must accept past Palestinian agreements. That would include recognizing the Zionist entity, which Hamas rejects. He said the government would serve in a caretaker capacity until new elections are held by next January.

Abbas' Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, submitted his resignation on Saturday to clear the way for a unity government. On Sunday, Fayyad urged Palestinians to embrace Abbas' efforts "to ensure the success of the dialogue that Egypt is overseeing."
¬

----------


## Shades

Palestinian children wait for a food distribution in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip.
All Arab and Non-Aligned Movement states accuse Israel of "violating every humanitarian law" during its December assault on Gaza.

The Yemeni delegate, speaking for all Arab states in a meeting to mark the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child held in Geneva said the incursion -- which Israel says was aimed at stopping cross-border rocket attacks on its towns near Gaza -- was "a violation of every humanitarian law."

The delegate, who was speaking to the members of the Council of Europe, added that the Gaza raid "left children as the main victims, with many severely wounded, and even many cases of a serious pathological nature as a result of destruction wrought by Israel."

Cuba, representing the Non-Aligned Movement, also charged Israel of killing many Palestinian children in Gaza through the use of "excessive and indiscriminate force."

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is signed by most of the UN's 192 members. It is the first legally binding international treaty to incorporate the full range of human rights-civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights.

In 1989, world leaders decided that children needed a special convention just for them because people under 18 years of age often need special care and protection that adults do not.

Israel started an all-out war against the impoverished strip on Dec. 27, allegedly to stop rocket attacks on its towns.

In the offensive against the strip, around 1,350 Palestinians were killed, of whom 280 were under 18.

More than 5,450 were wounded, while thousands of people were displaced.

RZS/SME/RE

----------


## Shades

CAIRO  The Obama administrations candidate for a leading intelligence post has quit following a barrage of ferocious attacks against him by supporters of the powerful Israeli lobby, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, March 11. "I have concluded that the barrage of libelous distortions of my record would not cease upon my entry into office," Charles Freeman, chair the National Intelligence Council, told his friends and supporters in an e-mail.

The veteran diplomat, a vocal critic of Israel, resigned from his new post on Tuesday, March 10, even before he began work at the council which analyzes national security issues.

"I do not believe the National Intelligence Council could function effectively while its chair was under constant attack by unscrupulous people with a passionate attachment to the views of a political faction in a foreign country," he wrote.

US Students Rejoice Israel Boycott US Policy Directed by Israel lobby: Study US Jews for Dovish AIPAC Alternative Since his nomination, Freeman has come under fire of pro-Israel Congressmen and politicians for his outspoken criticism of Israel.

The resignation came hours after National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair told a Senate hearing that he was standing behind his appointment of Freeman, who is now president of the Middle East Policy Council think-tank.

During the hearing, Congressmen, led by Freeman's chief critics Sen. Joseph Lieberman, cited his past statements which "appear either inclined to lean against Israel or too much in favor of China."

Freeman, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, was quoted as saying in 2007 that "the brutal oppression of the Palestinians by Israeli occupation shows no sign of ending."

He has also said that the "American identification with Israel has become total."

Powerful Lobby

The White House declined to comment on the resignation.

But a source familiar with the Obama administration recognized the ferocity of attacks against Freeman.

"There were a lot of forces lined up against him," the source told Reuters.

Pro-Israeli politicians celebrated the resignation.

"Charles Freeman was the wrong guy for this position," New York Democratic Senator Charles Schumer said in a statement.

"His statements against Israel were way over the top and severely out of step with the administration."

Freeman believes the attacks waged against him are a test case for the might of the Israeli lobby in the US.

"The libels on me show conclusively that there is a powerful lobby determined to prevent any view other than its own from being aired," he wrote in his mail.

"The tactics of the Israel Lobby plumb the depths of dishonor and indecency and include character assassination, selective misquotation, the willful distortion of the record, the fabrication of falsehoods, and an utter disregard for the truth."

Founded in 1953, the American Israel Public Affair Committee (AIPAC) is one of the most influential special interest groups in the US.

AIPAC, whose original name was the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs, currently has more than 100,000 members.

Its stated purpose is to lobby the Congress and the administration on issues and legislation that are in the best interests of Israel and the US.

Freeman believes the controversy raises "serious questions" on whether the Obama administration will be able to make decisions apart from the influence of the lobby.

"The aim of this Lobby is control of the policy process through the exercise of a veto over the appointment of people who dispute the wisdom of its views, the substitution of political correctness for analysis, and the exclusion of any and all options for decision by Americans and our government other than those that it favors."

Source: IslamOnline

----------


## Shades

CAIRO ? The Obama administration?s candidate for a leading intelligence post has quit following a barrage of ferocious attacks against him by supporters of the powerful Israeli lobby, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, March 11. "I have concluded that the barrage of libelous distortions of my record would not cease upon my entry into office," Charles Freeman, chair the National Intelligence Council, told his friends and supporters in an e-mail.

The veteran diplomat, a vocal critic of Israel, resigned from his new post on Tuesday, March 10, even before he began work at the council which analyzes national security issues.

"I do not believe the National Intelligence Council could function effectively while its chair was under constant attack by unscrupulous people with a passionate attachment to the views of a political faction in a foreign country," he wrote.

US Students Rejoice Israel Boycott US Policy Directed by Israel lobby: Study US Jews for Dovish AIPAC Alternative Since his nomination, Freeman has come under fire of pro-Israel Congressmen and politicians for his outspoken criticism of Israel.

The resignation came hours after National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair told a Senate hearing that he was standing behind his appointment of Freeman, who is now president of the Middle East Policy Council think-tank.

During the hearing, Congressmen, led by Freeman's chief critics Sen. Joseph Lieberman, cited his past statements which "appear either inclined to lean against Israel or too much in favor of China."

Freeman, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, was quoted as saying in 2007 that "the brutal oppression of the Palestinians by Israeli occupation shows no sign of ending."

He has also said that the "American identification with Israel has become total."

Powerful Lobby

The White House declined to comment on the resignation.

But a source familiar with the Obama administration recognized the ferocity of attacks against Freeman.

"There were a lot of forces lined up against him," the source told Reuters.

Pro-Israeli politicians celebrated the resignation.

"Charles Freeman was the wrong guy for this position," New York Democratic Senator Charles Schumer said in a statement.

"His statements against Israel were way over the top and severely out of step with the administration."

Freeman believes the attacks waged against him are a test case for the might of the Israeli lobby in the US.

"The libels on me? show conclusively that there is a powerful lobby determined to prevent any view other than its own from being aired," he wrote in his mail.

"The tactics of the Israel Lobby plumb the depths of dishonor and indecency and include character assassination, selective misquotation, the willful distortion of the record, the fabrication of falsehoods, and an utter disregard for the truth."

Founded in 1953, the American Israel Public Affair Committee (AIPAC) is one of the most influential special interest groups in the US.

AIPAC, whose original name was the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs, currently has more than 100,000 members.

Its stated purpose is to lobby the Congress and the administration on issues and legislation that are in the best interests of Israel and the US.

Freeman believes the controversy raises "serious questions" on whether the Obama administration will be able to make decisions apart from the influence of the lobby.

"The aim of this Lobby is control of the policy process through the exercise of a veto over the appointment of people who dispute the wisdom of its views, the substitution of political correctness for analysis, and the exclusion of any and all options for decision by Americans and our government other than those that it favors."

Source: IslamOnline

----------


## Shades

A Palestinian family has filed a lawsuit against officials responsible for the three-week Israeli war on the population of the Gaza Strip.

The Samouni family of the southern Gazan suburb of Zeitoun has filed a suit against Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Army Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, Ha'aretz reported on Wednesday.

The Samounis are demanding some 200 million dollars in compensation for the loss of 29 family members during Israel's December onslaught, which killed nearly 1,350 Palestinians and injured 5,450 others.

Some forty five members of the family have also been injured in the attacks, the report adds.

The suit filed at a court in the northern Arab-Israeli town of Nazareth, accuses the Israeli military of "criminal negligence" by killing innocent civilians who were seeking refuge in their home and a shelter.

In the early hours of January 4, the family's three-story building was targeted by an Israeli tank shell, instantly killing seven civilians.

Their apartment was burnt down completely, forcing the remaining survivors to take refuge at a nearby shelter, only to be targeted for a second time resulting in the death of 22 more civilians.

Investigations have revealed that Israel committed various war crimes in Gaza, including the use of deadly white phosphorus shells in densely populated civilian areas.

The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO or Interpol) on Tuesday said that it is reviewing a request to issue international Red Notices for 25 Israelis suspected of committing war crimes during Tel Aviv's Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip.

"We were reviewing a request to make sure it did not breach rules that prevent the body from making any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character," Interpol said in a statement.

A Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant but a request to national police forces to identify or locate suspects with a view to arrest and extradite criminals.
Source: Press TV

----------


## Shades

By Paul Wood
Middle East correspondent

"Did we even fight a war in Gaza?" asked one Israeli newspaper editorial. This was a reference to the fact that rockets are still falling on Israeli soil two months after the Gaza offensive.

At the time, Israeli officials said the aim of Operation Cast Lead was to restore the principle of deterrence in southern Israel.

As it is understood in this part of the world, that means bludgeoning your enemies into submission, causing enough pain that they will hesitate to come back for more.

In fact, this traditional Middle Eastern way of doing things was given a modern twist. Israel now had a new military doctrine: "go nuts" once and your enemies will fear to strike again.


The next government will be led by Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud. He believes that the threat from Gaza is far less than that from a nuclear armed Iran

Israeli voices: Still under fire
Hamas threatens rocket militants

As Israeli commentator Ofer Shelah put it: "In the face of enemies who have opted for a strategy of attrition and attacking from a distance, Israel will present itself as a 'crazy country', the kind that will respond (albeit after a great deal of time) in a massive and unfettered assault, with no proportion to the amount of casualties it has endured."

Certainly, there was massive bombing of Gaza; some 1,300 Palestinians lives were lost, many civilians.

From Israel's point of view, did it work? The answer must be, only partially.

Hanukah 'miracle'

There is a lot less rocket fire on Israeli towns like Sderot and Ashkolon now than there was late last year.

As that antiseptic military phrase has it, the capabilities of Palestinian armed groups were "degraded".

So when the Israeli F-16s flew overhead on their way back from the first wave of bombings in Gaza, on 27 December, residents of Sderot cheered and honked their car horns.

"This is a Hanukah miracle," one told a passing TV crew.

Israel police douse a recently landed rocket fired from Gaza in Ashkelon, 3 February
Israel has not found that the 'rules of the game' have changed
(Israelis will not have missed the significance of calling the operation "Cast Lead". A popular children's song during the Jewish holiday of Hanukah is about playing with a spinning top made of cast lead. Palestinians will no doubt find the choice of words rather ghoulish.)

But the "Hanukah miracle" did not last. It is, again, an unusual day when Israelis in the southern towns do not have to run for the bomb shelters at least once.

Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot said that Operation Cast Lead had failed miserably in its aim of "creating new rules of the game in the south".

"The arms smuggling was renewed and the rocket fire has continued," said an editorial. "The residents of Gaza are now perceived by the world as victims of Israeli vindictiveness."

The paper concluded: "In brief, we're screwed."

So will Israel go back into Gaza? Probably not. Despite the editorial in Yediot, most newspaper coverage and most political discourse is dominated by the economic crisis sweeping Israel, as it is the rest of the world. Things have moved on.

Although the residents of the south won't like it, the rest of the country probably thinks it can live with the handful of rockets or mortars now being fired.

After all, Israeli intelligence estimates the Palestinian militants were capable of firing up to 300 rockets a day before the Gaza offensive took place.

A new scenario

For the time being, there are assassinations, or targeted killings as the Israelis call them, and air strikes on the tunnels used to smuggle weapons in from Egypt.

But there seems to be no appetite in Israel to step up this activity into another offensive.

The next government will be led by Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud. He believes that the threat from Gaza is far less than that from a nuclear armed Iran.

Any Israeli military strike against Iran is still far from certain. But the chances will be greater with Mr Netanyahu as prime minister.

That is especially true after the head of military intelligence, General Amos Yadlin, said this week that Iran could now make a nuclear device if it chose, having amassed enough uranium and perfected the technology. (Iran denies this.)

If the leaks to the Israeli media are any guide, the country's military planners are now busying for scenarios for attacking Iran - not Gaza.

BBC

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## Shades

UK MP given Palestinian passport
UK member of parliament George Galloway and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
Ismail Haniyeh appeared in public for the first time since the Gaza war

UK Member of Parliament George Galloway has received a Palestinian passport from a Hamas leader in Gaza.

The passport was given in "deep appreciation" for his support for the Palestinians and their cause.

Mr Galloway was part of a convoy which delivered financial and material assistance to Gaza through the Rafah crossing with Egypt on Wednesday.

The aid convoy was organised by the Viva Palestina group and supported by Mr Galloway.

He personally donated £25,000 and a fleet of vehicles. The group visited sites which had been hit during the three-week offensive.

If anyone is calculating that by starving and sieging and bombing the Palestinian people that they will one day surrender, I'm sure that they are wrong
George Galloway

The presentation of the passport to Mr Galloway was the first time Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader in Gaza and former Palestinian prime minister, had appeared in front of the cameras since the end of the recent Israeli assault on Gaza which ended on 18 January.

Mr Galloway said: "The material destruction is very great, the suffering is very real, but the spirit of the people is strong. If anyone is calculating that by starving and sieging and bombing the Palestinian people that they will one day surrender, I'm sure that they are wrong, the spirit of the Palestinian resistance remains."

Israeli air strikes

Israel, the United States and European Union, consider Hamas a terrorist organisation. Most aid supplies to Gaza are handled through the United Nations or any of the non-governmental organisations operating in the territory who do not deal directly with Hamas.

Mr Galloway has challenged western states to prosecute him for his meeting with Hamas leaders.

On Wednesday night, Israeli air force planes attacked southern Gaza and direct hits were reported by pilots on two smuggling tunnels. Palestinians rockets were fired into Israel but no-one was reported hurt.

The UK government is due to host talks on Friday on ways to prevent the smuggling of weapons to armed groups in Gaza. Ahead of the meeting Foreign Office Minister of State Bill Rammell said tackling the problem was one element in ensuring a ceasefire.

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## Shades

CIA report: Israel will fall in 20 years
Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:44:41 GMT
International lawyer Franklin Lamb
A study conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has cast doubt over Israel's survival beyond the next 20 years.

The CIA report predicts "an inexorable movement away from a two-state to a one-state solution, as the most viable model based on democratic principles of full equality that sheds the looming specter of colonial Apartheid while allowing for the return of the 1947/1948 and 1967 refugees. The latter being the precondition for sustainable peace in the region."

The study, which has been made available only to a certain number of individuals, further forecasts the return of all Palestinian refugees to the occupied territories, and the exodus of two million Israeli - who would move to the US in the next fifteen years.

"There is over 500,000 Israelis with American passports and more than 300,000 living in the area of just California," International lawyer Franklin Lamb said in an interview with Press TV on Friday, adding that those who do not have American or western passport, have already applied for them.

"So I think the handwriting at least among the public in Israel is on the wall...[which] suggests history will reject the colonial enterprise sooner or later," Lamb stressed.

He said CIA, in its report, alludes to the unexpectedly quick fall of the apartheid government in South Africa and recalls the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, suggesting the end to the dream of an 'Israeli land' would happen 'way sooner' than later.

The study further predicts the return of over one and a half million Israelis to Russia and other parts of Europe, and denotes a decline in Israeli births whereas a rise in the Palestinian population.

Lamb said given the Israeli conduct toward the Palestinians and the Gaza strip in particular, the American public -- which has been voicing its protest against Tel Aviv's measures in the last 25 years -- may 'not take it anymore'.

Some members of the US Senate Intelligence Committee have been informed of the report.

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## Shades

IDF soldier detained for firing gun alongside rioting settlers
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: IDF, Settler violence 

An Israel Defense Forces soldier has been arrested for allegedly shooting his gun while rioting with settlers in Hebron, it emerged on Tuesday.

The soldier, a member of the Givati infantry brigade who was off-suty at the time of the clashes, is a resident of the West bank settlement of Kiryat Arba, near Hebron.

He was arrested after the B'Tselem rights organization filmed him taking part in the clash between settlers and Palestinians. Ynet reported Tuesday that a military court has extended his remand.
	Advertisement
According to B'tselem, the incident occurred on November 29, during the upsurge in violence that surrounded the eviction of the so-called "House of Contention" in Hebron.

Last week, the Israel Defense Forces Military Police detained a soldier from the elite Givati brigade on suspicion that he hurled stones at police officers and Palestinians in Hebron.

Video footage filmed during the evacuation of the House of Contention in the West Bank city about 10 days ago shows settlers throwing stones at Palestinians and at a Palestinian-owned house.

The footage also shows an Israeli soldier, believed by the military police to be Corporal Avraham Schneider, picking up stones and participating in the disturbance, instead of preventing it.

Schneider denies involvement in the stone-throwing, and claims not to have been there.

Schneider is currently awaiting a military court hearing.

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## Shades

Book praised for questioning Jewish lineage
Sat, 14 Mar 2009 16:18:00 GMT
Professor Shlomo Sand questions the origin of the Jewish people in his book When and How Was the Jewish People Invented?
A Jewish history professor has won a top award from French journalists for writing a book questioning the real origin of his people.

Shlomo Sand's When and How Was the Jewish People Invented? received the Aujourd'hui Award which is given to best political and historical works.

Sand, a history professor with the Tel Aviv University, has sparked outrage in Israeli circles.

His book studies the issue of the origins of the Jewish people and tries to answer the question as to whether the modern day Jews share a common genetic lineage as many Zionist leaders claim -- such questions are considered taboo in Israel.

Sand argues that the mythical perception of the Jews as an ancient people led to truly "racist thinking," according to Haaretz.

The book remained on Israel's bestseller list for 19 weeks.

SB/MD

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## Shades

Leaving So Soon?
Sat, 14 Mar 2009 23:33:12 GMT
By Kian Mokhtari

Given the CIA's long line of total cock-ups in its reports leading up to the Iraq War, we can all be excused should we choose to take the agency's latest crystal ball predictions with a pinch of salt. The Central Intelligence Agency now says it has serious doubts about Israel's survival beyond 2030.

The people in the Middle East have always had their doubts about the viability of a state made up of European refugees formed on Palestinian land. But polite Arab society has always chosen 'subtle' gestures over words in the past to get its point across!

Arab etiquette obviously has a lot to answer for.

The CIA report predicts the return of all Palestinian refugees to the occupied territories, and the exodus of two million Israelis who would move to the US in the next fifteen years. It adds "There is over 500,000 Israelis with American passports and more than 300,000 living in the area of just California," with those who do not have American or Western passports, having already applied for them.

Over in California, unknown to the CIA, a resistance movement is already being formed but there are some minor disagreements in its leadership over the name for the movement. Should it be called the People's Front for Liberation of California or the Front of the People for the Liberation of California?

But seriously, population studies demonstrate beyond any doubt that if Israel does not settle for a two-state solution soon, the disparity in the growing Arab population and shrinking Jewish population will see to the entity called Israel whether the Jews likes it or not.

Using the examples of the unexpected quick fall of the apartheid government in South Africa and the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the CIA suggests the end to the dream of a Jewish homeland is about to happen.

The CIA study is likely to go down like a lead balloon in Tel-Aviv, coming hot on the heels of an award winning book by Jewish history professor Shlomo Sand's, "When and How Was the Jewish People Invented?"

The book calls into question the modern day Jews' genetic lineage and argues that the mythical perception of the Jews as an ancient people is in fact little more than racism revisited.

There have been many factors at work against the long-term survival of a Jewish state in the Middle East ever since its conception just over sixty years ago. But the most prominent obstacle to the success of Israel has been a long line of extremist, militaristic zealots in its leadership. Israel's behavior in its treatment of the native Palestinian population, its attacks against Egypt, Jordan and Syria, its invasion of Lebanon and atrocities committed against civilian Arab populations can not be perceived as particularly endearing it to the locals throughout its existence.

Demographics has been given particular attention and prominence in the CIA forecast, one cannot help but wonder whether it has been used to paint over all the other factors that may indeed make their presence felt in the CIA's predicted final demise of Israel.

Oh, and there's another thing: at a time when many people worldwide have serious doubts about the United States' own survival, wouldn't CIA resources be better spent in concentrating on matters closer to home?

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## Shades

Hamas blasted reports on Saturday that nine world powers have agreed on an action plan which would aim to fight weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip, and vowed that the new policy would not hamper the resistance against Israel.

"The fact that the occupation is being helped by the world powers is evidence of Israel's failure," a spokesperson for the group said, adding that "every attempt at canceling our right to resistance will fail at the firmness of the Palestinian people."
"It is the right of the Palestinian people to resist the occupation, anchored in international laws," he said.

The spokesperson condemned the reported multi-nation agreement, coining it "double-standard policies at the inclination of the United States, which uses Europe for the good of the Israeli occupation." The policies, he went on, demonstrated an "inequality between the victim and the executioner."

According to a Reuters report on Friday, the US, UK, Canada, and six European countries have devised an anti-smuggling policy which would employ interception at sea, information sharing and diplomatic pressure in order to stop the flow of arms into Gaza. An unnamed British official said that experts from the nine states, meeting in London, agreed on a program of action to stop the weapons.
¬
Source: AJP

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## Shades

RAMALLAH  Israeli occupation forces and protected Jewish settlers are waging war on Palestinian olive orchards throughout the occupied West Bank, especially in areas contiguous to Jewish settlements. "Imagine watching the trees you planted and nurtured all your life being suddenly uprooted and destroyed by the callous blades of a huge caterpillar bulldozer," weeps Abdullah al-Hurub, an elderly farmer from the village of Dir Samet, near the southern town of al-Khalil (Hebron).

Uprooting olive orchards (Watch) He has lost hundreds of olive trees to the Israeli separation wall, a mix of electronic fences and concrete walls Israel is building across the West bank. "One raises the tree like he does his own child," says an emotional al-Hurub.

Thousands of farmers have to struggle, nearly on a daily basis, with Israeli army troops and Jewish settlers who are pursuing a relentless campaign to destroy Palestinian olive orchards throughout the West Bank.

Olive trees, some a century old or older, are extirpated by heavy machinery and replanted at a neighboring Jewish settlement or kibbutz.

Al-Hurub, like other Palestinian farmers, are left completely helpless to stop the theft which takes place in broad daylight.

"You can imagine the anguish and the mental pain we suffer watching our life-long labor reduced to zero in a matter of a few  minutes."

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, there are as many as 10 million grown olive trees in the West Bank, covering more than 45 percent of arable land in the occupied territory.

The Israeli army has been targeting Palestinian olive orchards for many years.

However, the last two years saw a phenomenal increase in the destruction and bulldozing of olive fields.

Palestinian officials estimated that "hundreds of thousands of grown olive trees" were destroyed and uprooted by Israel in the past few years.

Most of these trees were destroyed by Israeli army bulldozers for the purpose of the construction the separation wall, which Israel claims is aimed at preventing Palestinian fighters from sneaking into Israel.

Israel is annexing large swathes of Palestinian land to build the wall.

In 2004, the International Court of Justice branded the 900 kilometers steel and concrete wall illegal.

The UN General Assembly has asked Israel to tear it down and compensate the Palestinians affected.

Declared War

Because of the Israeli wall, hundreds of Palestinian farmers were simply cut off from their olive orchards and other farms on the western side of the barrier. Initially, the Israeli occupation army granted the farmers special permits to plough and harvest their orchards.

However, in recent years, Israeli security officials have been turning back farmers and owners, telling them that their property was confiscated.

In some instances, security guards would tell the frustrated farmers that the person responsible for granting them permits had died and that the land was simply expropriated by the government.

When Mohammad Shawamreh, a farmer from the village of Dir al-Asal, 22 kilometers west of Al-Khalil, tried to access his olive orchard through a small opening in the wall, the Israeli guard trained his gun toward him.

"He said 'if you walk another step, Ill  fire.' I told him that I possessed a permit to enter my orchard but he wouldnt listen," Shawamreh told IOL.

"He said the man dealing with permits had died and that he didnt know when a substitute would be hired in his place."

Shawamreh described the Israeli measure of denying him and other farmers access to their land as "a scandalous  act of theft."

"First they told us this was a security barrier, not a border, then they told us that we would have constant access to our land, and now they are telling us the land has been confiscated," he fumed.

"I dont really know if we are dealing with a state or with a gang of criminals and liars?"

Asked why he doesnt take his case to Israeli courts, Shawamreh dismissed the suggestion as "irrelevant and ridiculous."

"Are you kidding? What courts are you talking about? In Israel, non-Jews cant really dream of receiving  justice. Besides, everyone knows that the Israeli justice system is effectively a rubber stamp in the hand of the Israeli army."

Symbolic

Olive trees have an immense economic, nutritional as well as symbolic importance for the basically agrarian Palestinian society.

Olive oil has always been and continues to be a basic and healthy food component for the average Palestinian family.

Moreover, the Olive Tree is considered somewhat "sacred" in the Palestinian culture as it is mentioned in Holy Scriptures, especially the Qur'an.

Palestinians often liken their continued survival as a people with the olive tree which can live for hundreds of years.

Similarly, the extirpation and destruction of a Palestinian olive orchard, especially by the Israeli occupation army and Jewish settlers, is viewed metaphorically as symbolizing the uprooting of the community itself.

Armed settlers, including students of Talmudic schools, known as Yishivot, often attack Palestinian olive farmers to drive them away and take over their land.

When farmers try to defend their crops, settlers attack them with firearms or call up the Israeli army which arrests the Palestinians for "entering a closed military zone."

Some influential rabbis, especially those affiliated with the religious-Zionist camp, teach that Jews may steal Palestinian olive  crops because "this is a Jewish land that had been usurped by the Arabs."

Source: IslamOnline

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## Shades

DAMASCUS  British, Irish and Scottish lawmakers met Saturday, March 14, with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in the first such high-level public contact with the Palestinian group, urging an end to the West Hamas isolation policy. "We need to talk to Hamas to make progress (toward peace) because they represent a big proportion of the Palestinians," Clare Short, a British MP and former Secretary of State for International Development, said after the meeting.

"(Talking to Hamas would) move things forward in the hope that we in the end achieve just peace."

The delegation featured Short, a member of the House of Commons from the ruling Labour party, two Liberal Democrats House of Lords members, Irish EU lawmaker Chris Andrew and a Scottish legislator.

"We believe that we should start talking with Hamas, and the more the delay, the more the suffering," said Andrew.

Led by the US, the West has rejected contacts with Hamas since the group swept Palestinian legislative elections in 2006 and came to power.

They link any talks with Hamas to its recognition of Israel, acceptance of signed peace agreements and end of what is described as "violence" against Israel.

But calls for dialogue with Hamas have intensified after Israel's three-week war, which killed more than 1,350 people, mostly civilians, and wounded 5,450.

Last month, a group of former international peace negotiators urged the West to re-think the Hamas isolation policy, insisting the group must be engaged in the peace process.

Middle East Quartet envoy and former British premier Tony Blair has also called for Hamas inclusion in the peace process.

US Calls 

This meeting coincided with media reports about a letter sent by ten current and former officials to President Barack Obama urging him to talk to Hamas.

"I see no reason not to talk to Hamas," Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser to President George Bush and one of the signatories, told the Boston Globe Saturday.

America has spearheaded the international campaign to isolate Hamas, rejecting any contacts with the group and backing a crippling Israeli siege on Gaza.

The letter signatories include current Top Economic Adviser Paul A. Volcker, former UN ambassador Thomas Pickering, former World Bank president James Wolfensohn and former Republican senators Chuck Hagel and Nancy Kassebaum Baker.

They urged Obama to clearly and early state his administration's vision on how the peace talks should proceed.

"The main gist is that you need to push hard on the Palestinian peace process," Scowcroft said.

"Don't move it to end of your agenda and say you have too much to do. And the US needs to have a position, not just hold their coats while they sit down."

Source: IslamOnline

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## Shades

By Kim Ghattas
BBC News, Washington

Charles Freeman (Picture: Middle East Policy Council)
Mr Freeman accused pro-Israel groups of waging a campaign against him

The undoing of Charles Freeman, who had been nominated as the next chairman of the US National Intelligence Council, is continuing to draw a barrage of reactions from a surprisingly diverse range of corners.

Chinese dissidents, former American ambassadors and intelligence officials have all weighed in, as the debate continues over whether Mr Freeman was brought down by his views on Israel.

An outspoken former ambassador to Riyadh, Mr Freeman found himself at the centre of a growing controversy about his views on Israel, China and Tibet while the campaign against him, first online and then on Capitol Hill kept growing.

On Tuesday, 10 March, his soon-to-be boss, Dennis Blair, defended his choice in Congress. Later that afternoon, Mr Blair's office sent out a note announcing that Mr Freeman was withdrawing his nomination.

Mr Freeman sent out an acerbic letter, accusing the "Israel Lobby" of "plumbing the depths of dishonour and indecency", using "character assassination" and controlling policy by vetoing people who disagreed with them.

'Deeply insulted'

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Freeman then said he regretted the use of the words "Israel Lobby" saying the campaign had been waged by specific groups aligned with rightwing factions in Israel which he described as the "Likud or (Avigdor) Lieberman lobby".

Mr Freeman's letter was pounced on by his critics, and others, who said it proved their point

Israel row derails Obama nominee

But he stood by his accusations about a campaign waged against him, saying it was a transparent one for which the Zionist Organisation of America had openly claimed credit.

ZOA's president Morton Klein told the BBC it was "nonsense, rubbish to say all the pro-Israel organisations were making an issue about him".

"We were the only ones on Capitol Hill raising concerns about him," he said.

Mr Freeman added he felt "deeply insulted having been attacked for representing foreign interests by someone who is himself under indictment for espionage for a foreign government".

'Grotesque libel'

One of those leading the campaign against Mr Freeman online had been Steve Rosen, a former official from the powerful pro-Israel lobby Aipac who was indicted in the US in 2005, along with a colleague, for violating the Espionage Act by "giving national security information to persons not entitled to receive it".

Lone students stops tanks in Tiannamen Square 1989
Mr Freeman sent a controversial email about the Chinese government's suppression of protests

Mr Freeman's letter was pounced on by his critics, and others, who said it proved their point. In its editorial following his withdrawal, the Washington Post described it as "grotesque libel".

Republican congressman Frank Wolfe also wrote in the Post on Saturday that "while the reports of Freeman's public statements first raised my concern about his suitability to be chairman of the National Intelligence Council, his words after his withdrawal crystallised exactly why Freeman was the wrong choice for the job".

Few people dispute that pro-Israel lobbyists were the driving force in the campaign against Mr Freeman, but some observers believe that if his views on Israel had been the only controversial thing about him, it would not have been enough to bring him down.

Mr Wolfe wrote that he had not been contacted by any pro-Israel lobby group and that his concerns were mainly about Mr Freeman's views on China and Tibet and his ties to foreign governments.

'Tiananmen Square' email

Mr Freeman served on the advisory board of the state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) for which he was paid $10,000 a year.

He was also the president of the Middle East Policy Council, which received funding from Saudi Arabia. He resigned from the positions before accepting the nomination for the NIC job and says there was nothing improper about either position.

But in an e-mail he sent a few years ago and which has become public, Mr Freeman said that he found plausible "the dominant view in China" which stated that the real mistake of the authorities was not the crackdown on protestors on Tiananmen Square in 1989 but the fact they had not nipped the demonstrations in the bud.

He goes on to say that no government would allow the heart of its capital to be occupied by dissidents and ends his mail by stating "I thus share the hope of the majority in China that no Chinese government will repeat the mistakes of Zhao Ziyang's dilatory tactics of appeasement in dealing with domestic protesters in China."

'Indefensible'

The comments are read widely as justification of the Chinese government's action but Mr Freeman insisted he was reading facts and predicting outcomes, adding that empathy is key to analysis.

Freeman belongs to the camp that's the mortal enemy of the neoconservatives: the realists. Realist ideology pays no attention to moral differences between states
Jonathan Chait
Editor, The New Republic

"I'm not justifying, I'm describing it. There's a difference between analysis and policy. Analysis is an effort to understand the facts and the motivations of those who are creating the facts, Chinese demonstrators or leaders, and then explain that to those who must make decisions about what to do about it."

His comments on Tibet also drew fire from speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who reportedly described them as "indefensible".

In 2007, Mr Freeman had said that the American and European posturing on the issue of Tibet would lead to a long term clampdown by the Chinese. He said he didn't mean to say that the West should stay quiet but that it should expect a Chinese reaction.

The way Mr Freeman's expresses his views led to criticism that he was an ultra-realist, unconcerned about human rights.

'Blind to moral dimensions'

"Freeman belongs to the camp that's the mortal enemy of the neoconservatives: the realists. Realist ideology pays no attention to moral differences between states," wrote Jonathan Chait, editor of The New Republic.

"(They) are the mirror image of neoconservatives in that they are completely blind to the moral dimensions of international politics."

Mr Freeman said he took it as a compliment.

"It is an extraordinary accusation to accuse someone whose job is analysis of the sin of objectivity. If you already know what the answer ought to be and then voice it, why go through the pretence of analysis at all," said Mr Freeman.

"The notion that somehow analysis should bend itself to what is politically expedient is precisely the issue we need to crack."

Self-censorship

The episode has indeed raised some concern inside the intelligence community.

In an article for Foreign Policy, entitled How to Discourage the Speaking of Truth to Power, former CIA officer Paul Pillar wrote that he remained convinced that "enforcement of political orthodoxy about US policy towards Israel" was at the heart of the affair and the message to intelligence officers was clear - "their work will be acceptable only if it conforms to dominant policy views".

Mr Pillar ends by saying that the next time the intelligence community fails in its job, the way it did on Iraq's WMD's, people in Congress and elsewhere should ask themselves "how they could expect intelligence officers to show superlative courage in bucking political orthodoxy when they showed so little themselves".

In his letter, Mr Freeman also said the affair "will be seen by many to raise serious questions about whether the Obama administration will be able to make its own decisions about the Middle East and related issues".

But a DC-based advocate on Arab issues said that people like him and others working on Arab and Palestinian issues should learn from the episode and maintain a pragmatic attitude.

"Freeman was very vocal and very strident about Israel, he really identified with the Palestinians and Arabs in particular. For him it was a case of- support the Palestinians and stand against the Israelis," said the advocate who wished to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the issue.

"But if you approach it like that, as a zero sum game, the zero will always be for us (Arabs), we cannot win. If we want to make progress, we have to be pragmatic."

He added that people should not conclude that "they should self-censor on the issue of Israel. What matters is how you criticise and what are your other alignments and associations. It's a good lesson."

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## Shades

Israel to raze 1,700 Palestinian homes
Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:33:47 GMT
The Palestinian Islamic Movement says Israel plans to evacuate and demolish at least 1,700 Arab-owned homes in East Jerusalem (al-Quds).

Speaking at a Sunday press conference in Jerusalem, Sheikh Raed Salah, who leads the Islamic Movement, revealed the demolition plan, saying the move would leave more than 17,000 Palestinians homeless in East Jerusalem.

He also warned the situation on the ground was the most dangerous since Israel's illegal annexation of the area in 1967.

This is while back in February, warnings were issued for hundreds of Palestinians to evacuate East Jerusalem (al-Quds) before demolishing their homes in the area, saying their houses were illegal.

Palestinian officials say many of the houses issued with demolition orders were built before 1967 while Israeli settlements in the area were built after 1967.

Elsewhere, dozens of Palestinians and international peace activists confronted Israeli bulldozers uprooting olive trees in the towns of Ras Teera and Wad Ar-Rasha, southeast of the West Bank city of Qalqiliya.

According to witnesses, the bulldozers were backed by Israeli soldiers and police forces to prevent the residents from obstructing their work.

MRS/MMA

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## Shades

GAZA: The Israeli armed forces and border police used the cover of the war against Hamas in Gaza to reintroduce the firing of .22 rifle bullets  as well as the extensive use of a new model of tear gas canister  against unarmed demonstrators in the occupied West Bank protesting at the building of Israels separation wall.

The tactics were highlighted on Thursday, when a US protester, Tristan Anderson, 38, was hit in the head by one of the new extended-range gas canisters in the village of Niilin, suffering an open wound in his skull and substantial brain damage. Andersons friend, Gabrielle Silverman, claims he was struck by a canister fired from a high-velocity rifle.

The extended-range canisters have been brought into service at the same time that the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and border police have again been using live rounds fired from Ruger sniper rifles, banned in 2001 by Israels then military advocate general, Menahem Finkelstein.

The new gas canister that injured Anderson  the fourth member of the International Solidarity Movement to be killed or seriously injured by Israeli troops since the beginning of the Second Intifada  is fired at a much higher speed than the gas canisters and grenades deployed before.

According to witnesses, soldiers have been firing the canisters directly at protesters, sometimes from a few dozen meters, using the hard plastic-coated metal tubes as a weapon. They have introduced new weapons, said Sasha Solana, a colleague of Anderson from the International Solidarity Movement. They are shooting directly into people. BTselem, an Israeli human rights organization, complained to the Israeli judge advocate general two weeks ago about the new tactics, which had been introduced under the cover of the conflict in Gaza, in particular using live rounds for crowd control. IDF officials justified the reintroduction of the previously banned Ruger .22 rounds on the grounds that they were less lethal than rubber bullets.

Anderson was in serious condition yesterday after undergoing surgery, hospital officials said.

In another incident yesterday, police in Jerusalem shot and killed a Palestinian man who allegedly tried to run him over.

The fatal shooting came after a botched robbery. Police spokesman Shmuel Ben Ruby says that in the incident, police responded to a report about a robbery in progress at a clothing store. When police arrived, the suspect and a woman accomplice fled in their car. Ben-Ruby says the man tried to run over the officer who opened fire, killing the suspect. The woman, an Israeli, was arrested. Ben-Ruby says the man had a criminal record.

Meanwhile, Israels rightwing Likud party and the conservative Kadima party have reopened talks on forming a coalition government which were broken off two weeks ago, broadcaster Israel Radio reported yesterday.

According to the report, the Kadima would enter a government with Likud only if the latter agreed to a rotation of the prime minister post between Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu and Kadima leader Tzipi Livni.

High-ranking members of both parties have confirmed that secret talks between the two parties have taken place, with Netanyahu and Livni themselves having spoken privately some days ago.

The 59-year-old Netanyahu was tapped to form a government after Feb. 10 parliamentary elections. Talks on a grand coalition between Likud and Kadima were first held in late February, but were broken off over the issue of policies toward the Palestinians.

Kadima circles stated that Netanyahu at the time did not favor a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict, which foresees an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. Netanyahus Likud continues to hold coalition talks with far-right and ultra-religious parties, with the former opposition leader set to meet Avigdor Lieberman. ¬
Source: Arab News

----------


## Shades

An aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday lambasted Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert over his assertion that Israel had been prepared to sign a peace agreement, but was held up the Palestinians' "weakness and lack of courage."

"The fact that we haven't reached [a peace agreement] so far is due to the weakness and lack of courage on the part of the Palestinian leaders," Olmert told Israeli ministers during his last weekly cabinet meeting in occupied Jerusalem. "Everything else is just excuses and efforts to derail the talks." "We were ready to sign a peace deal but the Palestinians unfortunately did not have the courage to do so," he said.

Abbas' aide Nabil Abu Rudeina said that Olmert's assertion was "completely false." "The proposals did not include conditions for the creation of an independent Palestinian state on all Palestinian territory occupied in 1967 with occupied East Jerusalem as its capital," he said. "Israel did not present a single map and not a single serious position that could lead to a real peace on the base of two states."

Mere days before the end of his term, Olmert used the platform of the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday morning to present an overview of his administration's achievements.

Addressing the âpeace processâ with the Palestinians, Olmert said that his government had "gone further in the peace negotiations than any previous government." He voiced hope that the decades long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians would be resolved in the near future, saying "I have no doubt that the negotiations I've held with the Palestinian Authority will result in a peace accord. But we'll have to make dramatic concessions in order to reach a point of signing an agreement."

Olmert also broke down the achievements of his administration to the cabinet ministers, mentioning "two well known military efforts" referring to the 2006 Second Lebanon War and the recent âOperation Cast Leadâ in Gaza.

"The event in the north [Lebanon border] brought about an unprecedented achievement of quiet in that region of Israel," the Israeli prime minister declared. "In regard to Gaza, we made an important effort that hasn't been completed yet and we have yet to achieve the full list of goals that we set out to achieve, but we have brought back to the global awareness the might of the Israel Defense Forces and its power of deterrence."

In January, Olmert reportedly outlined to US Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell the list of concessions Israel was willing to make in order to sign a peace agreement, and this reportedly went even further than former prime minister Ehud Barak's offer to Yasser Arafat in 2001 to establish a state on 98 percent of the occupied West Bank and all of Gaza.

----------


## Shades

CAIRO  A galaxy of the worlds leading judges, justice experts and rights advocates called on Monday, March 16, for a full and impartial international investigation into war crimes perpetuated during Israels three-week war on the besieged Gaza Strip. "As individuals with direct experience of international justice and reconciliation of conflict, we believe there is an important case to be made for an international investigation," the 16-strong group said in an open letter to the UN Secretary-General and the Security Council.

The signatories  including former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Irish president and current UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, were "shocked to the core" by the Gaza atrocities.

GazaNew Sabra and Shatila Killed by Israel, Eaten by Dogs "Dad, I'm Dying" "A prompt, independent and impartial investigation would provide a public record of gross violations of international humanitarian law committed and provide recommendations on how those responsible for crimes should be held to account."   More than 1,300 Palestinians, half of them women and children, were killed and 5,450 wounded in 22 days of air, land and sea Israeli attacks.

The attacks wrecked havoc on the infrastructure of the densely-populated enclave, leaving some 20,000 homes and thousands other buildings in ruins.

Amnesty International has accused Israel of "unlawful attacks," while Human Rights Watch accused it of "indiscriminate" attacks that were against the rules of law.

The leading British charity Oxfam said Israeli leaders have committed "massive and disproportionate violence... in violation of international law."

A coalition of Israeli human rights groups also demanded an international investigation into war crimes in Gaza.

Standards

In their letter, the investigators and judges stressed the need for the probe into Gaza crimes to adhere to international standards enshrined in the Geneva Conventions. "The world must vigilantly demand respect for these standards and investigate and condemn their violations."

William A. Schabas, former member of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission and a signatory to the letter, said the UN Security Council could establish a commission of inquiry, as it did for Lebanon, Rwanda and Yugoslavia.

"The international community must apply the same standard to Gaza as it does to other conflicts and investigate all abuses of the laws of war and human rights."

The signatories urged the UN enquiry to relay on the "greatest possible" expertise.

It must "act in accordance with the strictest international standards governing such investigations" and "provide recommendations as to the appropriate prosecution of those responsible for gross violations."

They insisted that the probe should never be limited to investigating attacks on UN facilities.

During the three-week blitz, Israeli warplanes ravaged at least three UN schools which were sheltering Gazans made homeless by the Israeli attacks.

More than 40 people were killed by the Israeli shells on one of the schools.

The UN has already announced an inquiry into the "casualties and damage" at the organizations property.

But the investigators and judges, backed by human rights groups such as Amnesty and Human Rights Watch, insist this is not enough.

"The current UN inquiry is no substitute for a full investigation," Prof. Schabas said.

"It is not only the UN personnel that deserve truth and justice."

Source: IslamOnline

----------


## Shades

Hamas threatens to capture more Israelis
Sat, 21 Mar 2009 00:59:14 GMT
Hamas' political chief Khalid Mashaal
Hamas warns it may capture more Israeli soldiers as a last option after a Tel Aviv committee urged pressure on Israeli-held Palestinian inmates.

On Friday, the Palestinian resistance movement said Tel Aviv's non-contribution to a prisoner exchange between the two sides may leave the group no choice but to seize more Israeli troopers.

"When they refuse to release Palestinians, it forces the Palestinians to resort to other means to gain their release - and inevitably this includes the capture of more Israeli soldiers," said Hamas' political leader Khalid Mashaal in an interview with the Australian daily The Sydney Morning Herald.

The comments came after an Israeli committee, tasked with examining the conditions of confinement of nearly 11,500 Palestinian prisoners, urged the government to build up pressure on the inmates to force the release of Gilad Shalit -- the Israeli soldier captured in 2006 by Gazan fighters.

The two sides have so far failed to agree on a swap deal which would see Shalit's release in exchange for the freedom of 1,450 Palestinian prisoners.

Following Shalit's capture, Israel acted to almost block the flow of direly-needed supplies into the Gaza Strip before placing the coastal area under a stifling blockade in 2007. Tel Aviv claimed its actions were a response to alleged rocket attacks by Hamas on southern Israel.

In July 2007, Israel agreed to open the region's border-crossings in exchange for progress in resolution of the prisoner ordeal and cessation of the rocket attacks. Tel Aviv, however, failed to live up to the promise.

"Israel was supposed to end the siege and open the border crossings in return for a halt to the rockets; the rockets stopped, but the siege remained and the crossings stayed closed," Mashaal added.

"It's unfair to ask Palestinians if they want to die slowly under siege or quickly under fire," concluded the Hamas leader who himself survived an assassination attempt by the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad in 1997.

HN/SME/MMN

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## Shades

CAIRO  Terming all Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as "terrorists",  Israeli army rabbis have told troopers in the recent Gaza war that they were fighting a religious war to expel gentiles from the holy land. "Their message was very clear: we are the Jewish people, we came to this land by a miracle, God brought us back to this land and now we need to fight to expel the gentiles who are interfering with our conquest of this holy land," Ram, an army commander, said in testimonies cited by the Israeli daily Haaretz on Friday, March 20.

"This was the main message, and the whole sense many soldiers had in this operation was of a religious war."

The accounts of Ram, a pseudonym to shield the officer's identity, was published in the second day of troops' revelations about Gaza war atrocities.

Israeli soldiers admitted Thursday killing innocent Palestinians in cold blood and ransacked their properties during the war.

Ram said his impression of the war was "the feeling of an almost religious mission".

"A brigade rabbi was there, who afterward came into Gaza and went around patting us on the shoulder and encouraging us, and praying with people," he said.

"I Will Never Walk Again" "Dad, I'm Dying" Palestinian Holocaust Museum "And also when we were inside they sent in those booklets, full of Psalms, a ton of Psalms. I think that at least in the house I was in for a week, we could have filled a room with the Psalms they sent us, and other booklets like that.   The army Cops distributed pamphlets about the history of Israel's fighting in Gaza from 1948 to the present, he said.

"The rabbinate brought in a lot of booklets and articles."

"Terrorists"

A squad commander from Ram's Givat Brigade, named as Aviv, recounted how they were told to open fire on any Palestinian who has not left his home during the war.

"From above they said it was permissible, because anyone who remained in the sector and inside Gaza City was in effect condemned, a terrorist, because they hadn't fled," he said.

"I didn't really understand: On the one hand they don't really have anywhere to flee to, but on the other hand they're telling us they hadn't fled so it's their fault ... This also scared me a bit."

During the event, the order was amended to include "operating megaphones" so advancing troops could tell people they had five minutes to get out or be killed.

"And then there was a very annoying moment. One of my soldiers came to me and asked, 'Why?' I said, 'What isn't clear? We don't want to kill innocent civilians.' He goes, 'Yeah? Anyone who's in there is a terrorist, that's a known fact.' I said, 'Do you think the people there will really run away? No one will run away," Aviv said.

The solider went on saying "'That's clear,' and then his buddies join in: 'We need to murder any person who's in there. Yeah, any person who's in Gaza is a terrorist,' and all the other things that they stuff our heads with, in the media.

Israeli troops killed more than 1,434 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and wounded 5,450 others in 22 days of air, land and sea attacks.

The offensive wrecked havoc on the infrastructure of the densely-populated enclave, leaving tens of thousands of homes and other buildings in ruins.

UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories Richard Falk has accused Israel of committing war crimes of the greatest magnitude during the Gaza war.

Source: IslamOnline

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## Shades

Israel to punish prisoners over Shalit
Thu, 19 Mar 2009 08:03:07 GMT
At least 11,500 Palestinians, including women and children, are suffering under harsh conditions in Israeli prisons.
A special ministerial committee in Israel is considering tightening the screws on Palestinian prisoners to force the release of Gilad Shalit.

Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appointed the committee, headed by Israeli Justice Minister Daniel Friedman, on Tuesday after the Cairo-mediated talks between Israel and Hamas failed to strike a prisoner swap deal.

The swap deal would see the release of Israeli soldier Shalit held by Gaza fighters since June 2006, in exchange for over a thousand Palestinian prisoner, whose names were handed to Tel Aviv.

The committee decided to create work teams to "examine the reduction of the privileges of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad prisoners," the ministry said in a statement.

Among the steps being considered are limiting cash transfers to prisoners, restricting their access to television and radio, reducing visiting rights and opportunities for education as well as limiting contact between the prisoners.

Another measure is further tightening Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip, the ministry said.

Although the act itself is a direct violation to the International Law, the ministerial committee is weighing the needed measures to practice pressure on detainees of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad Movements, Israel's Ynet News reported.

Further discussions and considerations are still needed and the committee intends to conclude its decision within two weeks. However, it is already authorized to carry certain measures immediately.

The Public Committee against Torture in Israel urged Justice Minister Friedman and Israel's Attorney General, Menahim Mazuz, to dissolve this committee as it constitutes a form of collective punishment and imposed "unequal and illegal punishment", Ynet added.

This week after the failure of the Egypt-mediated prisoners swap deal between Israel and Hamas Israel claimed that Hamas had toughened its stance on exchanging 1,450 of Palestinian prisoners for captured Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit.

Hamas, however, denied that it had changed its stance, while describing the Israeli claims as 'political maneuver'.

At least 11,500 Palestinians, including women and children, are suffering under harsh conditions in Israeli prisons.

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## Shades

Israel troops admit Gaza abuses
Israel special forces during Gaza conflict
Israel frequently claims to possess the most moral army in the world

An Israeli military college has printed damning soldiers' accounts of the killing of civilians and vandalism during recent operations in Gaza.

One account tells of a sniper killing a mother and children at close range whom troops had told to leave their home.

Another speaker at the seminar described what he saw as the "cold blooded murder" of a Palestinian woman.

The army has defended its conduct during the Gaza offensive but said it would investigate the testimonies.

The Israeli army has said it will investigate the soldiers' accounts.

The testimonies were published by the military academy at Oranim College. Graduates of the academy, who had served in Gaza, were speaking to new recruits at a seminar.


The climate in general [was that] lives of Palestinians are much, much less important than the lives of our soldiers
Soldier testimony

Analysis: Operation Miscast Lead?
Gaza war crimes probes

"[The testimonies] conveyed an atmosphere in which one feels entitled to use unrestricted force against Palestinians," academy director Dany Zamir told public radio.

Heavy civilian casualties during the three-week operation which ended in the blockaded coastal strip on 18 January provoked an international outcry.

Correspondents say the testimonies undermine Israel's claims that troops took care to protect non-combatants and accusations that Hamas militants were responsible for putting civilians into harm's way.

'Less important'

The Palestinian woman and two of her children were allegedly shot after they misunderstood instructions about which way to walk having been ordered out of their home by troops.

"The climate in general... I don't know how to describe it... the lives of Palestinians, let's say, are much, much less important than the lives of our soldiers," an infantry squad leader is quoted saying.


FROM THE BBC WORLD SERVICE

More from BBC World Service

In another cited case, a commander ordered troops to kill an elderly woman walking on a road, even though she was easily identifiable and clearly not a threat.

Testimonies, which were given by combat pilots and infantry soldiers, also included allegations of unnecessary destruction of Palestinian property.

"We would throw everything out of the windows to make room and order. Everything... Refrigerators, plates, furniture. The order was to throw all of the house's contents outside," a soldier said.

One non-commissioned officer related at the seminar that an old woman crossing a main road was shot by soldiers.

"I don't know whether she was suspicious, not suspicious, I don't know her story I do know that my officer sent people to the roof in order to take her out It was cold-blooded murder," he said.

The transcript of the session for the college's Yitzhak Rabin pre-military course, which was held last month, appeared in a newsletter published by the academy.

Israeli human rights groups have criticised the military for failing to properly investigate violations of the laws of war in Gaza despite plenty of evidence of possible war crimes.

'Moral army'

The soldiers' testimonies also reportedly told of an unusually high intervention by military and non-military rabbis, who circulated pamphlets describing the war in religious terminology.
A wounded Palestinian child is carried into the Kamal Adwan hospital after an Israeli air strike on 11 January 2009
Palestinian civilians paid a heavy price during the three-week Israeli operation

"All the articles had one clear message," one soldier said. "We are the people of Israel, we arrived in the country almost by miracle, now we need to fight to uproot the gentiles who interfere with re-conquering the Holy Land."

"Many soldiers' feelings were that this was a war of religion," he added.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak told Israel Radio that the findings would be examined seriously.

"I still say we have the most moral army in the world. Of course there may be exceptions but I have absolutely no doubt this will be inspected on a case-by-case basis," he said.

Medical authorities say more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed during Israel's 22-day operation, including some 440 children, 110 women, and dozens of elderly people.

The stated aim was to curb rocket and mortar fire by militants from Gaza. Thirteen Israelis, including three civilians were killed. 
BBC>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

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## Shades

GENEVA  A United Nations human rights investigator has accused Israel of committing war crimes of the greatest magnitude in Gaza during a deadly offensive in the strip. "On the basis of the preliminary evidence available, there is reason to reach this conclusion," Richard Falk, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, wrote in an annual report to the UN Human Rights Council cited by Reuters on Thursday, March 19.

More than 1,434 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed and 5,450 wounded 22 days of Israeli attacks in Gaza.

The offensive wrecked havoc on the infrastructure of the densely-populated enclave, leaving tens of thousands of homes and other buildings in ruins.

"If it is not possible to do so (distinguish between military and civilians targets), then launching the attacks is inherently unlawful and would seem to constitute a war crime of the greatest magnitude under international law," said Falk.

The UN rapporteur accused Israel of violating Geneva Conventions on the protection of civilians during military conflicts.

"(The war was a) massive assault on a densely populated urbanized setting" in which the entire civilian population had been subjected to "an inhumane form of warfare that kills, maims and inflicts mental harm," he wrote.

Killed by Israel, Eaten by Dogs "Dad, I'm Dying" Palestinian Holocaust Museum Israeli soldiers admitted Thursday killing innocent Palestinians in cold blood and ransacked their properties during the Gaza war. "The lives of Palestinians, let's say, is something very, very less important than the lives of our soldiers," an Israeli squad leader told Haaretz.

Crime Against Humanity

The UN rapporteur said Israel's maintaining its blockade on Gaza during the onslaught suggested further war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity.

"As all borders were sealed, civilians could not escape from the orbit of harm," Falk said.

He said the denial of the Gaza population the right to flee the war zone as refugees may also constitute a crime against humanity.

Israel has been closing Gaza's crossings to the outside world since Hamas seized control June 2007.

Falk, an American Jewish law professor, called for an independent probe into the war crimes committed in the strip.

"(Israel's) targeting of schools, mosques and ambulances" and its use of weapons including white phosphorus during the offensive, have to be investigated, he said.

Foreign and Arab doctors documented abnormal injuries suffered by the civilian population of Gaza, accusing Israel of using banned weapons.

Several international rights groups, including Amnesty and Human Rights Watch, have accused Israel of using banned weapons against the densely-populated coastal enclave of 1.6 million.

A coalition of 350 European and Arab civil society organizations has filed a lawsuit with the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israel over war crimes in Gaza.

As Israel could evade a trial by the ICC because it has not signed the Rome statutes establishing the international tribunal, Falk suggested the Security Council might set up an ad hoc criminal tribunal to establish accountability for war crimes in Gaza.

On Monday, Falk is to present his report formally to the Human Rights Council, a 47-member forum where Islamic and African countries backed by China, Cuba and Russia have a majority.

Neither Israel nor its chief ally the United States are members.

Source: IslamOnline

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## Shades

RAMALLAH: Israels military was rocked yesterday by soldiers horrific accounts of the killing of Palestinian civilians during the recent war on Gaza.

The soldiers, alumni of a military academy, gathered last month to discuss their experiences during the 22-day war, a brutal campaign that Palestinians and human rights groups have said warranted war crimes probes.

Disclosing details of the session, the institutions director said the soldiers pointed to an atmosphere within the military of unbridled contempt for, and forcefulness against, the Palestinians.

They talked about unwarranted fire on Palestinian civilians. There was also talk of vandalism to property, Danny Zamir, head of the Yitzhak Rabin pre-military program, told Israel Radio. Defense Minister Ehud Barak responded to the accusations by repeating Israels description of its armed forces as the most moral in the world. The military said its judge advocate-general ordered an investigation of the alleged incidents.

Excerpts from the veterans discussion appeared on the front page of the Haaretz newspaper yesterday. It said the airing of the dirty secrets would make it more difficult for Israelis to dismiss such allegations as Palestinian propaganda.

One of the soldiers, an infantry squad leader, recalled an incident in which he said an army sharpshooter killed a Palestinian mother and her two children who turned the wrong way after troops ordered them out of their house.

We had taken over the house ... and the family was released and told to go right. The woman and her two children got confused and went left ... The sniper on the roof wasnt told that this was OK and that he shouldnt shoot ... You can say he just did what he was told ... He was told not to let anyone approach the left flank and he shot them dead.

The squad leader said most of the men under his command felt the lives of Palestinians ... are something very, very less important than the lives of our soldiers, so as far as they are concerned, they can justify it that way.

Another squad leader who attended the academy said at the gathering that a company commander had ordered an elderly Palestinian woman shot as she walked on a road about 100 yards from a house that troops had taken over.

I dont know whether she was suspicious, not suspicious, I dont know her story ... I do know that my officer sent people to the roof in order to take her out ... It was cold-blooded murder.

Describing vandalism carried out by soldiers, the squad leader said: To write Death to the Arabs on the walls, to take family pictures and spit on them, just because you can  I think this is the main thing, to understand how much the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) has fallen in the realm of ethics.

Another soldier narrated his experiences that he said bothered him a lot. When we entered a house, we were supposed to bust down the door and start shooting inside and just go up story by story ... I call that murder. Each story, if we identify a person, we shoot them. I asked myself  how is this reasonable?

Ahmed Tibi, an Arab member of the Israeli Knesset, said the soldiers testimonials were proof of war crimes.

These are shocking testimonials. A state commission of inquiry must be formed and criminal proceedings must follow against those responsible for the murders, he said.

 With input from agencies ¬
Source: Arab News

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## Shades

Israel should evacuate Arab land'
Sat, 21 Mar 2009 10:07:39 GMT
ordan's King Abdullah II (R) welcomes Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem (C) upon their arrival at Amman airport on March 20, 2009.
Jordan and Syria have called on Israel to evacuate all Arab territories and pave the way for establishing an independent Palestinian state.

Jordan's King Abdullah II and visiting Syrian President Bashar Assad on Friday issued a joint statement, urging Israel's evacuation of all Arab territories it occupied in the 1967 Six-Day war and the establishment of a Palestinian state.

While discussing latest efforts to push forward the peace negotiations between Israel and both Palestinians and Syria, the two Arab leaders said that "durable and comprehensive peace should be based on the relevant UN resolutions, the Arab peace initiative, Israel's pullout from all occupied Arab territories and the setting up of an independent Palestinian state".

Syria has long demanded that Israel withdraw fully from the stratigic Golan Heights, occupied by Israel in 1967, but Israel has refused.

Referring to the latest reconciliation talks between Palestinian factions, the two leaders urged Palestinian rival movements Hamas and Fatah to end their conflict and "to mobilize all potentials for regaining the legitimate Palestinian rights, particularly statehood".

During their meeting King Abdullah II and al-Assad also discussed ways to strengthen cooperation and efforts to promote pan-Arab solidarity and achieve a united Arab stance to deal with Middle East issues and common challenges.

Assad arrived in Jordan on Friday on his first visit to the kingdom in five years, which came just 10 days ahead of an annual Arab summit to be held in the Qatari capital Doha on March 29-30.

MSH/DT

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## Shades

'1000% rise in Jew attacks on Arabs'
Sun, 22 Mar 2009 01:08:04 GMT
A research by an Arab human rights group shows a ten-fold increase in Jewish attacks on the Arab population in Israel over the last year.

On Saturday, the Mossawa Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens reported the 1000 percent rise in 2008 crime rates compared with 2007, citing the recent Israeli war on Gaza and the Israeli elections in February as a reason, said Israeli website Ynetnews.

The report said that the Israeli-occupied western Jerusalem (Al-Quds) in the West Bank witnessed the highest rate of racist crimes with 32 counts of anti-Arab violence. Akka [Akko] in northern Israel came second with 22 instances of such crimes.

It also noted that 42 Arab citizens had been killed since 2000 at the hands of the Israeli security forces.

"What we are witnessing is a moral collapse, and it's time to shout out against racism," said Jafar Farah, the head of the group adding that "the data is especially worrying in regards to civilian violence."

The report held inflammatory statements by senior Israeli officials such as Rabbi Ovadia Yosef responsible for the rise in the attacks.
Mossawa decries Tel Aviv's decimation of the Palestinian population, embodied by December 27-January 18 military operations in the Gaza Strip which claimed more than 1,300 Palestinians. The body also regrets Israel's "constant political de-legitimization and marginalization of Arab citizens."

The group holds senior Israeli officials such as Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the founder and spiritual leader of Shas party, and Avigdor Lieberman, the chairman of the far-right Yisrael Beitenu, responsible for spreading anti-Arab sentiment.

Yosef is known for making controversial remarks such as referring to Arabs as 'snakes'. "The Arabs are like snakes, and you should destroy the head of a snake," the Rabbi, himself of Arab descent, is famed to have said.

Lieberman also insists that Arabs residing in the occupied territories should prove their loyalty to Tel Aviv. Mossawa contends that "Lieberman's threats and incitement against Arabs ... are paving the way for a racist Israeli society."

Blaming such controversial stances for the surge in racist crimes, Mossawa's director said the Saturday report "definitely" proves that an "extremist message" by an Israeli parliamentarian "permeates and leads to the involvement of more and more citizens."

"These attacks are not the hand of fate, but a direct result of incitement against the Arab citizens of this country by religious, public, and elected officials," the report concluded.

----------


## Shades

STATE TERRORISM: An Israeli soldier, with his finger on the trigger, threatens a Palestinian during a demonstration against the construction of the separation wall near the West Bank town of Bethlehem on Saturday. (EPA) 	 


RAMALLAH: The head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah, said yesterday that Israeli authorities were planning to evacuate and demolish 1,700 homes in East Jerusalem during the current year.

Salah, also the founder of the Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage, said in a press statement that the Israeli authorities would demolish hundreds of houses in different parts of the city. Israel is planning to build a police station of 140 square meters adjacent to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, he said.

According to Salah, Israel has announced that it has earmarked $150 million to Judaize the Old City and to increase the number of synagogues around the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Israeli measures, he warned, were more dangerous than the occupation of the city during the 1967 War.

On his part, the head of the Islamic Higher Committee in Jerusalem, Sheikh Ikremah Sabri, said: More than 5,500 Israeli housing units were under construction in occupied Jerusalem and 73,000 in the West Bank in order to accommodate more than one million Jews.

Sabri warned that the expansion of settlements and the apartheid (separation) wall are aimed to Judaize Jerusalem, isolate it from the West Bank and endorse its annexation as Israels capital.

He added that there were networks of tunnels heading toward Al-Aqsa Mosque from the west and south which had led to cave-ins in Silwan and Jerusalems Old City and fissures in the historical buildings and the eastern and southern walls of Islams third holiest mosque.

Meanwhile, Israeli police broke up a series of Palestinian cultural events in Jerusalem yesterday, disrupting a childrens march and bursting balloons at a schoolyard celebration.

Israel said the cultural events violated a ban on Palestinian political activity in the occupied city, but Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas criticized the crackdown. Palestinian activists organized the events to celebrate the Arab Leagues designation of Jerusalem as the capital of Arab culture for 2009.

Ahead of yesterdays events, Israeli Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter banned the celebrations from taking place, saying the Palestinian Authority was behind the activities. Israel does not allow the Palestinian government to have a presence in Jerusalem, saying it undercuts Israels claim to the city.

At one event, teenage girls at an East Jerusalem school released a few dozen balloons in the red, white, green and black colors of the Palestinian flag over the walled city. Israeli military police and soldiers quickly moved into the schoolyard and popped the remaining balloons, students said.

Zein, an 18-year-old student, said the police popped them with their hands and told them they werent allowed to release them into the air. She asked not to use her last name, fearing further problems with the police.

An Israeli intelligence official at the school said the balloons were burst because they are Palestinian.

Police spokesman Shmuel Ben Ruby said 12 people were detained. Police also broke up attempts by Palestinian school children to march into the Old City.

Speaking in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Abbas said Israels policies in Jerusalem were undermining the chances for peace.

The policy of discrimination, suppression, stealing the land, destruction of neighborhoods and homes, the policy of falsifying the past, destroying the present and stealing the future should all stop if peace is to have a real opportunity in this land, he said.

 With input from agencies

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## Shades

TORONTO  Branding the anti-war politician a 'security risk', Canada has banned British MP George Galloway over his support to the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

"We're going to uphold the law, not give special treatment to a street-corner Cromwell who brags about giving 'financial support' to Hamas, a terrorist organization banned in Canada," Alykhan Velshi, spokesman for Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Friday, March 20.

"I'm sure Galloway has a large Rolodex of friends in regimes elsewhere in the world willing to roll out the red carpet for him.

"Canada, however, won't be one of them."

The Respect Party MP was due to speak at a forum hosted by Toronto Coalition to Stop the War on March 30.

But he received a notice from the Canadian High Commission in London that he was deemed inadmissible because of his financial support of Hamas.

British MP Galloway in Gaza (Interview) Galloway has been a vocal critic of the West's isolation of Hamas and the crippling siege on the Gaza Strip, home to 1.6 million Palestinians.

The MP led an aid convoy to Gaza earlier this month in a show of support to the Palestinians following Israel's deadly war, which left more than 1,350 people dead and 4,450 wounded.

According to the Sun newspaper, Galloway was denied entry over his opposition to Canadian troops in Afghanistan.

"(It was an) operational decision based on a number of factors, not only those mentioned in the Sun piece," said Velshi.

Censorship

The ban drew fire from Canadian opposition parties and the firebrand MP.

"The minister of immigration is becoming the minister of censorship," opposition New Democratic Party MP Olivia Chow said.

"We don't have to agree with everything Mr. Galloway talks about. But, at bare minimum, they should be allowed to express their points of view so Canadians can make decisions themselves.

"This is pure censorship and it's wrong."

Galloway also branded the ban as "idiotic", vowing to challenge it.

"This is a very sad day for the Canada we have known and loved  a bastion of the freedoms that supporters of the occupation of Afghanistan claim to be defending," he told The Independent on Saturday.

"This has further vindicated the anti-war movement's contention that unjust wars abroad will end up consuming the very liberties that make us who we are," he said, terming the ban as "futile".

"There are other ways I can address those Canadians who wish to hear me," Galloway wrote in a comment in the Guardian.

"From coast to coast, minister Kenney notwithstanding, I will be heard -- one way or another."

The firebrand British MP said the his ban was a mere political game by the Canadian government.

"This may be a rather desperate election ploy by a conservative government reaching the end of the line, or by a minister who has not cottoned on to the fact that the George Bush era is over.

"All right-thinking Canadians, whether they agree with me over the wisdom of sending troops to Afghanistan or not, will oppose this outrageous decision."

----------


## Shades

Israeli war relics continue to kill
Sat, 21 Mar 2009 22:41:12 GMT
Cartridge cases pile up at an Israeli artillery position near the border with Gaza on January 6.
Tons of unexploded explosives, dropped on the Gaza Strip during the three-week-long Israeli onslaught, continue to claim Palestinian lives.

On Sunday, two teenagers, aged 14 and 15, died in Gaza City, after coming across an unexploded device, a Press TV correspondent reported quoting Gazan medical sources.

The incident in the city's Zeitun neighborhood also severely wounded another teenager, who is receiving treatment in the area's Al-Shifa hospital.

Expert teams have so far unearthed seven tons of explosives from different parts of the coastal area dropped by Israeli aircraft during Tel Aviv's 'all-out' attacks, codenamed Operation Cast Lead.

The assaults, which ended on January 15, killed 1,330 Palestinians and wounded 5,450 others -- a large number of whom were women and children.

The remaining explosives are expertly camouflaged and come in all shapes. Out of curiosity, children often touch the unidentified objects which the locals and operative NGO's have been strongly advised to avoid.

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## Shades

CAIRO  Sporting T-shirts with Palestinian babies, Gazan mothers mourning their slain children, razed mosques, Israeli soldiers are bragging their atrocities in the Gaza Strip.

"You take whoever in the unit knows how to draw and then you give it to the commanders before printing," an Israeli soldier who identified himself as Y., told Haaretz on Saturday, March 21.

Y. designed a T-shirt depicting a soldier in a Palestinian city with the slogan "If you believe it can be fixed, then believe it can be destroyed!".

Since the end of the Gaza war, Israeli soldiers, marking the end of training of field duty, wear T-shirts depicting images of atrocities in overcrowded strip.

A T-shirt was designed by infantry snipers with an inscription reading "Better use Durex (trademark for condoms)," next to an image of a dead Palestinian baby, with his weeping mother and a teddy bear beside him.

"Israel Wiped My Village off Map" Killed by Israel, Eaten by Dogs "Dad, I'm Dying" Palestinian Holocaust Museum A T-shirt designed by the Givati Brigade's Shaked battalion shows a pregnant Palestinian woman with a bull's-eye superimposed on her belly, with the slogan, "1 shot, 2 kills."

A graduation shirt for soldiers who completed a snipers course depicts a Palestinian baby, who grows into a combative boy and then an armed adult, with the inscription, "No matter how it begins, we'll put an end to it."

Israeli troops killed more than 1,350 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and wounded 5,450 others in 22 days of attacks in Gaza, home to 1.6 million Palestinians.

The onslaught wrecked havoc on the infrastructure of the densely-populated enclave, leaving tens of thousands of homes and other buildings in ruins.

Israeli soldiers admitted Thursday killing innocent Palestinians in cold blood and ransacked their properties during the Gaza war.

UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories Richard Falk has accused Israel of committing war crimes of the greatest magnitude in Gaza.

Racist

One of the shirts sported by infantry unit soldiers is reading "Let every Arab mother know that her son's fate is in my hands!".

"It has a drawing depicting a soldier as the Angel of Death, next to a gun and an Arab town," a Givati Brigade soldier said.

Another sniper's shirt features a Palestinian kid in the crosshairs with the slogan "Smaller - harder!"?

"It's a kid, so you've got a little more of a problem, morally, and also the target is smaller," G., a soldier in an elite unit who has done a snipers course, said.

Many T-shirts are also printed with blatant sexual messages.

"No virgins, no terror attacks," reads a slogan written below an image of an Israeli solider raping a girl.

Another T-shirt depicting a vulture sexually prating Hamas' prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, accompanied by a particularly graphic slogan.

The content of the T-shirts is approved by the unit's commanders.

"Usually the shirts undergo a selection process by some officer, but in this case, they were approved at the level of platoon sergeant," the Givati soldier said.

Sociologist Orna Sasson-Levy, of Bar-Ilan University said the trend shows the growing radicalization process inside Israeli society.

"(The phenomenon is) part of a radicalization process the entire country is undergoing, and the soldiers are at its forefront.

Sasson-Levy said the paintings and slogans show how Israeli soldier see Palestinians.

"There is a perception that the Palestinian is not a person, a human being entitled to basic rights, and therefore anything may be done to him."

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## Shades

UN to criticise Israel over Gaza
By Imogen Foulkes
BBC News, Geneva

A boy on the rubble of a house Jabaliya refugee camp destroyed in the Israeli military offensive in Gaza, on Sunday
Mr Falk throws doubt on the legality of Israel's mission in Gaza

The UN investigator into human rights in the Palestinian territories is set to present his latest report to the UN human rights council in Geneva.

It is the first such report since Israel's incursion into Gaza.

Richard Falk has been highly critical of Israel in the past, and his new report is no exception.

In it he questions the legality of Israel's actions in Gaza. Israel, however, has repeated accusations that that Mr Falk is biased.

Israeli authorities denied him entry last December, when he attempted to conduct his regular investigative mission to the Palestinian territories.

Because Mr Falk was unable to enter the Palestinian territories, his latest report focuses instead on the legality of Israel's incursion into Gaza.

'War crime'

He suggests that it is not a question of whether Israel used disproportionate force in Gaza, but rather whether Israel acted lawfully in entering Gaza at all.

He concludes that it did not, and that the incursion may constitute a war crime.

He is calling for an independent inquiry to examine possible war crimes committed by both Israel and Hamas.

Further, Mr Falk suggests that the Israeli blockade of Gaza is in violation of the Geneva Conventions and must be lifted.

The report is certain to anger Israel, which has long complained of bias by Mr Falk.

But Mr Falk is not the first to suggest that Israel may have committed war crimes in Gaza.

In January, the UN human rights commissioner Navi Pillay expressed her concern at possible violations.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has also said Israel failed to honour its obligation to treat civilians wounded in the conflict.

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## Shades

Lieberman rattles Cairo-Tel Aviv ties
Mon, 23 Mar 2009 06:27:45 GMT
Israel's foreign minister-designate Avigdor Lieberman
Egypt comes close to rejecting an Israeli invite, as tensions rise between the two sides over Lieberman's offensive remarks about Mubarak.

On Sunday, fears grew among officials in Tel Aviv that Cairo may boycott a Tuesday ceremony organized by the Foreign Affairs Ministry for the 30th anniversary of the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty.

With only two days remaining till the event, the Israeli government had still not received any confirmation of attendance from Egypt's ambassador to Israel.

Reports circulated that Egypt was demanding an apology from Israeli hardliner and foreign minister-designate Avigdor Lieberman for insulting the Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak.

Back in 2008, Lieberman, leader of the radical right-wing party Yisrael Beiteinu, had said that he hoped to see Israel bomb the Aswan Dam, adding that Mubarak could 'go to hell' if he refused to visit Tel Aviv.

The hawkish politician, who gained more power after Israel's recent parliamentary elections, also suggested that Mubarak was lacking in 'self-respect'. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres apologized over Lieberman's remarks.

Israeli premier-designate Benjamin Netanyahu has sought to reassure Cairo that his decision to appoint the firebrand to the top post would not jeopardize relations between the two sides.

"Close aides of Netanyahu and Lieberman have met with Egyptian officials to explain to them that the arrival of Lieberman at the foreign ministry should not be a reason for tension between the two countries," Netanyahu's office said.

Putting an end to Israeli fears, Egyptian ambassador Yasser Rid informed the Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry late on Sunday that he would take part in the ceremony.

Rida also denied that Egyptian officials had met with the Israeli side to quell their concerns about Lieberman's appointment, insisting that Cairo does not get involved in Israel's internal politics.

"I regret how Israeli politics have used Egypt's name and the ambassador to Israel," Rida said.

"The ambassador cannot deny such claims on a daily basis. Egypt is a country with clear and stable policies, and we do not intervene in the internal matters of others," he added.

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## Shades

CAIRO The British government severed all ties with the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), the country's largest Muslim organization, for not dismissing a senior official who backed a declaration of support for the resistace during Israel's recent offensive on Gaza.

"We are aware that a senior member of the MCB may have been a signatory to this statement," a spokeswoman for the department of Communities and Local Government told the Independent on Sunday, March 22. 

A leaked letter to the paper shows that Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Hazel Blears wrote to the MCB to declare all ties cut with the group for not dissmising Dr. Daud Abdullah, the MCB deputy director-general.

The letter says that Abdullah's name appears as a signatory to the Gaza Declaration in Istanbul which was signed during the israeli 22-day assualt on the besieged territory which ended last January after killing and injuring more than 5000 palestinains.

The declaration, signed by 90 Muslim leaders from around the world, issued a series of obligations to the "Islamic Nation", calling on it to "carry on with the jihad and resistance against the occupier until the liberation of all Palestine".

A certain obligation urges Muslim countries reject and fight foreign warship sclaiming to control the borders and prevent the smuggling of arms to Gaza.

In January, prime minister Gordon Brown offered Royal Navy resources to help stop weapons being smuggled into the territory.

"We are concerned that the statement calls for direct support for acts of violence in the Middle East and beyond," the department spokeswoman added.

"If it is proven that the individual concerned had been a signatory, we would expect the MCB to ask him to resign and to confirm its opposition to acts of violent extremism."

The MCB, a coalition of some 400 organizations, is the largest Muslim umbrella group in Britain, home to some 2.0 million Muslims.

Dr. Abdullah, one of the UK's most influential Muslim leaders, has helped counter extremism in the country's mosques, as a member of the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board, a body endorsed by the government to train imams.

In January, he briefed Blears and home secretary Jacqui Smith on the situation in Gaza and its likely impact on social cohesion in the UK.

    * Condescendtion 

The MCB was swift in condemning the government's move as condescendtion.

"The MCB is appalled by the high handed and condescending action of the Secretary of State, Hazel Blears," the group said in a statemnt on its website. 

The Muslim unbrella affirmed  that it no way supports the targeting or killing of British soldiers anywhere in the world.

"This is the agreed position of all MCB Office Bearers without exception including the MCB's Central Working Committee."

But the muslim organization is also "committed to faithfully representing the views of all our affiliates," said the MCB.

"As such we reaffirm the right under international law of the Palestinian people to resist the ongoing illegal and brutal occupation of their land.

The group noted that an official resopnse to Blear's letter will be sent shortly, to underscore that the MCB will not tolerate being dictated to by the government.

"We will make clear to the Government that as far as the MCB is concerned we utterly condemn the targeting or killing of soldiers anywhere in the world," an MCB spokesman told the Independent.

"But the MCB will not be dictated to by Hazel Blears.

"We do not take orders from Ms Blears. She is mistaken if she thinks the MCB will dismiss people at her say-so."
Source: IslamOnline

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## Shades

Hezbollah and Palestinian groups both point the finger of blame at Israel over the recent assassination of a Palestinian figure in Lebanon.

In a statement, the Lebanese Hezbollah slammed the Monday assassination of the deputy head of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Lebanon, Kamal Medhat, and his companions.

The resistance force called for those behind the assassination to be tried and punished and expressed its sympathy to the Palestinian people and the PLO over the attack, al-Manar reported.

Hezbollah explained that the crime has imposed hardship on both the Palestinian and Lebanese nations and said the attack bore "the fingerprints of the Zionists and was aimed at sowing discord."

Senior Palestine Liberation Organization official Kamal Medhat along with two of his bodyguards and another Palestinian official were killed Monday when a roadside bomb exploded at the entrance of the Mieh Mieh refugee camp near the coastal Lebanese town of Sidon.

Palestinian Authority representative in Lebanon, Abbas Zaki, also blamed the incident on Israel and warned that the assassination would have serious repercussions in Lebanon and in Palestinian camps.

"Those behind the killing are working in one way or another for Israel," said Zaki, who had left the camp in another vehicle just minutes before the blast. "We are trying to calm the situation inside the camps."

Acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas, who is also the head of the PLO, also condemned the "terrorist crime" in a statement issued by his office.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also touched on the bomb attack and expressed hope that "the perpetrators of this crime will be brought to justice promptly".

"The secretary-general condemns the terrorist attack today that killed Mr Kamal Medhat, the deputy head of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Lebanon, and several of his bodyguards," his press office said in a statement.

MSH/AA

----------


## Shades

Israeli military chief hails the morals of the Israeli military, despite the servicemen owning up to ethical breaches during the war on Gaza.

"I can say that the IOF (the Israeli military) is the most moral army in the world," Israeli military Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi was quoted by Ha'aretz as saying on Monday.

"We must remember where we were operating: in a place where (the Palestinian resistance movement) Hamas turned a residential neighborhood into a battleground, public facilities into weapons storehouses," he added referring to the forces' recent 22-day attacks on the Gaza Strip which killed more than 1,300 Palestinians.

An earlier report by the newspaper recounted the soldiers' confessions that they had killed Palestinian civilians and intentionally destroyed their property under permissive rules of engagement.

"I don't believe IOF harmed Gaza civilians in cold blood." My impression is that the IDF acted morally and ethically," Ashkenazi had, however, said yesterday claiming that such contraventions were 'isolated' if they existed at all.

He claimed that a pending IOF investigation into the matter would subject the blamable troopers to legal inquiry.

Ashkenazi's claims run contrary to the mounting evidence and testimonies by Israeli soldiers that there had been orders to put the safety of even a single Israeli troop at a much higher priority than those residing in the strip, world bodies have yet to take decisive action against echelons in Tel Aviv.

The last Israel-waged war on Gaza began on December 27. Three weeks of ensuing airstrikes and a ground incursion inflicted more than $1.6 billion in damages on the Gazan economy.

Later in the day, the Israeli rights body, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR), also held the army responsible for isolating the Palestinians during the all-out onslaught.

"Not only did the (military) not evacuate besieged and wounded families, it also prevented Palestinian (medical) teams from reaching the wounded," the group said according to Reuters.
Source: Press TV



If shooting the two year old girl from close range is morality then lets the world become immoral and forget the morals... If kiiling moe than 450 children are the standards of moral then yes the IDF is surely the most moral army,,, if killing more than 400 women in cold is morality then surely Israel is the best country with moral standards... If letting the corpse of 4 year to eat by dogs is morality then I hate moral values and let them become the keepers of moral...

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## Shades

A new UN report exposes a bit of misinformation peddled by the US and Israel and shatters the Zionist illusion that the Gaza war was legal.

The report, prepared by human rights investigator Richard Falk, confirms that Tel Aviv was indeed the party that violated the Egyptianbr-okered six-month truce in Gaza.

Israel and the democratically elected Palestinian government confined to the Gaza Strip agreed in mid June 2008 to a six-month truce.

While reports indicated that Tel Aviv had initially broken the truce with its tanks and bulldozers crossing the southern border of the Gaza Strip on November 4 and 5, echelons in the United States and Israel insisted otherwise.

A widespread campaign in support of the alleged Israeli right to enter the Palestinian territory was then launched by US and Israeli media outlets.

"Records show that, during the ceasefire, it was predominantly Israel that resorted to conduct inconsistent with the undertaking, and Hamas that retaliated," Falk responded in a report presented Monday at the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council.

The report outlined the incidents leading up to the three-week Israeli offensive on the tiny coastal strip. The carnage caused by the Israeli operations killed nearly 1,350 Palestinians and wounded around 5,450 others -- most of them civilians.

"On 4 November â¦ Israel killed a Palestinian in Gaza, mortars were fired from Gaza in retaliation, and then an Israeli air strike was launched that killed an additional six Palestinians in Gaza," Falk said, adding that the "the breakdown of the ceasefire seems to have been mainly a result of Israeli violations."

Falk, who based his findings on Israeli sources, said the number of Palestinian rockets and mortar shells fired into Israel after the ceasefire came into effect in June had considerably declined.

"The ceasefire was remarkably effective; after it began in June 2008, the rate of rocket and mortar fire from Gaza dropped to almost zero, and stayed there for almost four months," the report continued.

The report went on to conclude that "the experience of the temporary ceasefire demonstrates both the willingness and the capacity of those exerting control in Gaza to eliminate rocket and mortar attacks."

Since Israel denied Falk entry into Gaza during the war, his report focused on the legality of the military operations and whether Israel even had a right to enter the Palestinian sliver in the first place.

Tel Aviv in late December had claimed that it launched Operation Cast Lead on the territory of 1.5 million Palestinians in "retaliation for Palestine rocket attacks on Israel".

The UN report confirms that Tel Aviv began the bloodshed by breaking the truce and is thus unable to use claims of self-defense.

[IMG] After the carnage some Israeli soldiers have worn T-shirts promoting violence against the Palestinians. In addition to the lost lives, the onslaught cost the Palestinian economy at least $1.6 billion, destroying some 4,000 residential buildings and damaging 16,000 other houses.

Israel's staunch ally, the United States, on Monday commented on the report, which calls for an investigation into Israel's war crimes in Gaza, as "biased".

"We've found the rapporteur's views to be anything but fair. We find them to be biased. We've made that very clear," State Department spokesman Robert Wood told a press briefing.

The US has so far vetoed at least 45 anti-Israel resolutions at the UN and has blocked official condemnation of crimes committed against the native Palestinian population.

At the height of the war on Gaza, the US abstained from voting on the resolution which called for an 'immediate and durable' ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the region.

MT/AA

----------


## Shades

A Yemeni court sentences an activist to death and hands jail sentences to two others persons who worked for Israeli intelligence services.

The court convicted the three men of establishing direct contacts with outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert via email and offering to collaborate with the Israeli Mossad, Reuters reported on Monday.

"This is an unfair ruling," shouted Bassam al-Haidari, 26, when judge Mohsen Elwan sentenced him to death.

The judge sentenced another defendant, Ammar al-Rimi, 23, to five years in jail and Ali al-Mahfal, 24, to three years.

"The court has found that the evidence is reliable and all the charges in the prosecution report are correct," Elwan said.

The suspected men denied the charges, saying that an officer they had a dispute with had fabricated the charges.

They vowed to appeal against the ruling.

"I seek God's help against you," Raimi told the judge.

The men, operating in the name of a group calling itself Islamic Jihad, went on trial in January on charges of demanding money from the embassies of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

They were convicted of twin suicide car bombings on the US embassy in September -- the biggest militant operation in the Arab state -- which left 19 people dead.

However, a Yemeni group claimed to have links with al-Qaeda later claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Yemen is among the many Arab countries that regard Israel as an enemy for occupying Arab land. Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, the country joined the US-led war against terrorism.
Source: Press TV

----------


## Shades

Gazan family cut to pieces: Report
Tue, 24 Mar 2009 08:29:12 GMT
A Palestinian boy stands next to his family's house in Gaza, destroyed during Israel's offensive.
A new report details the gory killing of a family by Israeli unmanned drones, which can allegedly differentiate civilians from combatants.

While Tel Aviv claims that its unmanned aerial vehicles are able to clearly distinguish fighters from women and children and other civilians, more than 48 Palestinian civilians were killed in Israeli drone attacks in Gaza, a new report by the Guardian reveals.

In one of the most heartbreaking cases, a Palestinian family of six was killed in Gaza City while sitting around and having tea in their courtyard.

Mounir al-Jarah, whose sister along with her husband and their four children were killed in the attack, says he will never forget the horrifying scene he witnessed on the 16th of January.

"We found Mohammed lying there, cut in half. Ahmed was in three pieces; Wahid was totally burnt - his eyes were gone. Wahid's father was dead. Nour had been decapitated. We couldn't see her head anywhere," explained Mounir.

"You cannot imagine the scene: a family all sitting around together and then, in a matter of seconds, they were cut to pieces. Even the next day we found limbs and body parts on the roof, feet and hands," he added.

Fatheya, one of the few surviving members of the family who has slipped into grief-stricken madness following the tragic event, says she does not know what they had done to deserve such a plight.

A Gazan girl stands on the rubble of her destroyed house in Gaza after an Israeli bomb destroyed her home and killed her father, mother, two brothers and a sister.
"There were rocks and dust and fire  It's very difficult  I can't, no matter how I try to explain my situation to you, picking up the pieces of my dead family  I couldn't handle it, limbs and flesh all around me. What have we done to deserve this?" said the 17-year-old Fatheya.

While Israeli officials have refused to confirm whether it uses armed drones over Gaza, the deputy commander of the first Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) squadron, Major Gil, has told an Israeli army magazine that Tel Aviv used the drones to carry out attacks in Gaza only to protect the Israeli soldiers.

The drones -- fitted with pinpoint accurate missiles -- are operated from a remote position with optics that can interpret even the details of a man's clothing.

"When there were innocent people around, we would wait for the terrorist to leave the child and then hit him," he said.

Contrary to the Israeli claim, Amnesty International has confirmed that a group of girls and women in an empty street, two small children in a field and many others were also killed in Israeli drone attacks during the three-week-long Gaza war.

The report of Palestinians casualties in drone attacks comes only days after Israeli soldiers confessed to the wanton killing of civilians as well as intentionally destroying civilian property during their Gaza operations.

The shocking accounts are seen as evidence to war crimes and the massive violations of human rights by the Israeli army during the military campaign.

International organizations and UN human rights investigations assert that the Israeli army deliberately used forbidden ammunition, such as depleted uranium and deadly white phosphorus shells, in densely populated civilian areas.

UN high commissioner for human rights Navi Pillay said most Israeli actions against the Gazan population "appear to have all the elements of war crimes".
Other charges against Tel Aviv include the "reckless and indiscriminate" shelling of residential areas, the use of Palestinian families as human shields and the unrelenting attacks on several medical facilities and UN compounds in the area.

UN high commissioner for human rights Navi Pillay has said that most Israeli actions against the population of Gaza "appear to have all the elements of war crimes".

Despite countless allegations, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has yet to take action against Israel over its military conduct in Gaza.

HE/AA

----------


## Shades

Israel army rides out T-shirt row
A model wears one of the controversial T-Shirts
Haaretz published five T-shirt designs including this of a pregnant woman

Israeli officials have described as "tasteless" and inconsistent with army values a popular military pastime of printing violent cartoons on T-shirts.

An investigation in Haaretz daily says the customised shirts are often ordered when troops finish training courses.

One example shows a pregnant Arab women in the cross-hairs of a sniper's sight with the legend "1 shot 2 kills".

Another design shows a child being similarly targeted with the slogan "the smaller they are, the harder it is".

In both images the people being targeted appear to be carrying weapons. A third T-shirt design shows a dead Palestinian baby and the words "Better use Durex" (condoms).

An army statement said the customised clothing was produced outside military auspices, but it pledged to stamp out the use of such imagery by soldiers.

"The examples presented by the Haaretz reporter are not in accordance with IDF values and are simply tasteless," the military statement said.

"This type of humour is unbecoming and should be condemned."

But it admitted that until now there were no military guidelines governing "acceptable civilian clothing" made by its soldiers.

'Callous attitude'

The Israeli military has faced heavy criticism for causing high levels of civilian casualties during its recent Gaza offensive.

The army frequently says it takes care to avoid civilian casualties and blames Palestinian militants for putting them in harm's way.

Israeli soldier leads away Palestinian suspect in Bethlehem (file picture)
Many Israeli combat troops deal with Palestinians in the occupied territories
A sociologist quoted by Haaretz, Orna Sasson-Levy of Bar-Ilan University, warned the designs could strengthen, stimulate and legitimise aggression towards Palestinians in the occupied territories.

"There is... increasing callousness," she said. "There is a perception that the Palestinian is not a person, a human being entitled to basic rights and therefore anything may be done to him."

The Haaretz investigation discovered numerous T-shirts depicting violence against Palestinians and appearing to celebrate sexual assault.

Other designs appeared to bear witness to officially prohibited practices, such as "confirming the kill" (shooting lifeless enemies' bodies in the head to ensure they are dead), or deliberately harming religious sites and non-combatants.

The shirts are often printed up to mark the end of basic training and other military courses.

'Moral army'

The Tel Aviv clothing firm Adiv, which made many of the shirts, did not comment on the Haaretz report.

It prints up about 500 different patterns for military units each month, Haaretz says, mostly jokes about army life and "a handful reflecting particular aggressiveness, violence and vulgarity".

On Monday, Israel's chief of staff defended his troops against a rising tide of criticism.

"I tell you that this is a moral and ideological army," Lt-Gen Gabi Ashkenazi said in a speech to new recruits.

"I have no doubt that exceptional events will be dealt with. We took every measure possible to reduce harm to the innocent [in Gaza]."

The Haaretz report says the T-shirts tend to be worn strictly in private or in barracks because of adverse civilian reactions and are seen by army psychologists as an expression of bonding within a small, tight-knit unit.

Last week several soldiers were quoted anonymously in the media saying troops had killed Palestinians, including women and children, by hastily opening fire under relaxed rules of engagement in Gaza.
BBC

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## Shades

*Special military courts for Palestinian children* created to bolster Israeli image

Gaza / PNN  The decision of the Israeli administration to try Palestinian children in separate courts is an attempt to remove a stain from the image of the occupying forces, says Nasser Ferwana.

The Palestinian prisoners advocate and official said today that by continuing to keep children, the Israeli authorities are illustrating a lack of formal change, and certainly not fundamental change.

The Israeli government has received heat from the Palestinian and international communities for its imprisonment of Palestinian children. In attempting to rectify its image, the Israelis are creating special military courts to deal only with Palestinian children, of which there are 326 in prison.

The fundamental rights of childhood are being violated, says Ferwana. At the same time of trying to spruce up its image, the occupation continues to impose psychological, physical and social damages on children. They suffer not only by illegal detention, without proper charge or trial, the military courts do not take into account their childhood.

Ferwana made the lions share of his remarks on the subject in a report that began circulating Saturday.

Beginning on the twenty-third of August 2009 the Israeli administration issued Military Order Number 1644.

The prisoners rights official in the PA said, The decision to establish special courts for children is a decision that has come too late. It was required to begin at the beginning of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, accompanied by legal and judicial procedures to take into account the rights of children, and respect for their special needs on the basis of international covenants and conventions.

He said that the new program does not deliver any real change, one that must take place upon the moment of arrest. The occupying administration has 12 and 13 year olds in its custody.

Ferwana notes that the childrens court intends to be no different from its predecessors. The youngest age remains 12 years old for military court and at 16 the child is then considered an adult. This is unlike international law that considers the legal age being 18 years.

Violations of human rights standards are serious, he said Saturday.

Those standards include to not be subjected to arbitrary arrest, to have the right to not be subjected to torture, to not have words invoked and extracted under torture, to have the right to meet freely with counsel, the right to humane conditions of detention, independence of the judiciary, etc.

Ferwana added, These standards have not been in place and are not in place under the new childrens court.

*Since 1967 the occupying Israeli forces have kept tens of thousands of Palestinian children in its prisons and detention centers. Of that high number, some 7,800 Palestinian children have been arrested since the beginning of the Al Aqsa Intifada on 28 September 2000.*

*Of the 326 Palestinian kids currently in Israeli prisons, 92 are in Megiddo and 63 are in Ramon. The others are distributed throughout the other prisons*.

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## Shades

Jordan summons Israeli envoy over al-Aqsa
Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:01:01 GMT
Font size :   

The al-Aqsa Mosque
Jordan's foreign ministry has summoned the Israeli envoy to Amman to protest violation of the al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli soldiers. 

The Jordanian foreign ministry handed a strongly-worded protest to the Israeli charge d'affaires on Sunday, condemning the breaking into Jerusalem's (Al-Quds) al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli soldiers, the official Petra news agency reported. 

"The Israeli envoy was asked to convey to his government Jordan's strong protest over the breaking into al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli troops as well as its astonishment over this flagrant aggression," Petra said. 

"Jordan also demanded an immediate halt to such provocative Israeli actions that threaten security in the region and derail peace efforts," it added. 

Earlier Sunday, clashes erupted between Palestinians in eastern Al-Quds and the Israeli police as a group of Jewish extremists broke into the compound of al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest shrine in Islam. About 16 Palestinians were injured in the clashes. 

The Jordanian Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communication, Nabil Sharif, said that his government "rejects any attempt by Israeli soldiers to violate the sanctity of the Islamic shrine, which is guaranteed by international law and conventions." 

"We are surprised over this incitement of violence which takes place as international efforts focus on the resumption of negotiations for finding a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict." 

He vowed that his government would "do its utmost through all means to ensure the protection of holy places in al-Aqsa." 

Under a peace treaty which Jordan and Israel signed in 1994, Amman has the right to look after both Islamic and Christian shrines in Al-Quds, which the UN still deems occupied territory. 

MGH/TG/DT

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## Shades

Two Palestinian teenagers have been wounded by Israeli tank fire in a refugee camp in the impoverished Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics say. 

Head of Gaza Emergency Services, Dr Muawiya Hassanein, stated that the incident took place early Monday morning in the Maghazi refugee camp. 

He said the victims were a teenaged boy and girl, AFP reported. 

The Israeli military declined to comment on the incident until Yom Kippur (the Jewish day of prayer and fasting) ends at sundown. 

Some 1,500 Palestinians were killed and over 5,400 injured in a three-week-long Israeli offensive against the Palestinian sliver which has long been under a tight Israeli siege. 

MGH/TG/DT

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## Shades

Israel obstacle to nuke-free Mideast, says Syria
Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:02:36 GMT
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Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem urges Israel to yield to the demands pressed by the UN nuclear watchdog and open its nuclear sites to inspection. 

The Syrian diplomat said on Monday that the Israeli regime must place all its nuclear installations under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards, and adhere to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). 

The objectives of the landmark international treaty are to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote co-operation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to achieve nuclear disarmament. 

For decades, Tel Aviv has refused to confirm the well-documented fact that it possesses a significant arsenal of nuclear warheads. 

"Syria stresses the need to commit Israel to comply with the resolution adopted by the IAEA ... regarding Israeli nuclear capabilities," Al-Mualem said. 

The UN Security Council on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution meant to curtail the spread of nuclear weapons. Resolution 1887 calls on states that have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to comply fully with all their obligations. 

It also calls on all non-signatory states to accede to the NPT so as to achieve its universality at an early date and to adhere to its terms in the meantime. 

MP/SS/MMN

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## Shades

British MP Confronts Israeli Minister over War Crimes Charge Date : 30/9/2009   Time : 16:20
LONDON, September 30, 2009 (WAFA)- Richard Burden the British MP, last night confronted Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Barak at the UK Labour Party Conference. Burden called on him to respond to the findings of the recent UN report that Israel committed war crimes in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead.

Burden, Chair of the BritainP-alestine All Party Parliamentary Group, also presented the Israeli Minister with a copy of the groups report of a fact-finding visit to Gaza earlier this year. The report highlights the impact of Israel s actions in deepening the humanitarian crisis in Gaza .

Baraks appearance at Labours conference in Brighton had already attracted widespread protest. As Army Minister in the current and previous Israeli Government, Ehud Barak was directly involved in planning and executing Israel s attack on Gaza between December 2008 and January 2009. Barak is named in the report by Judge Richard Goldstone which is being discussed this week at the UNs Human Rights Council in Geneva .

Burden said:  Israel chose not to cooperate with the UN investigation, even though it was conducted by someone as eminent as Judge Goldstone. Now Israel is trying to rubbish Goldstones conclusions before the ink in his report is barely dry. They even say the United Nations had no mandate to investigate allegations of war crimes in Gaza in the first place. That is just not good enough. If the United Nations has no mandate to uphold international law, then what does it have a mandate to do?

 Burden added Goldstones findings are serious and the international community cannot ignore them. If war crimes were committed in Gaza  by whatever side  they must be held accountable. It is not acceptable for Israel to demand the international community takes action against attacks on civilians by Palestinians but refuse to face up to its own responsibilities for the atrocities in Gaza last winter and for the continuing humanitarian crisis caused by the ongoing blockade.

Burden quoted the report as saying if Israel continues to refuse to face up to its own responsibility to investigate these things properly and to bring those responsible to justice, the UN Security Council must do so itself  by referring the issue to the International Criminal Court. The UK s commitment to human rights means we should be at the forefront of making that happen.

Source: AJP

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## Shades

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:57:13 GMT

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak might face prosecution as lawyers of Palestinian families of victims of the Gaza war seek to obtain an international arrest warrant for him while he is in the UK. 

The lawyers for several Palestinians in Britain filed a request with the Westminster Magistrates Court on Tuesday to prosecute Barak, who was in charge of the latest offensive against the tiny Gaza Strip, where alleged Israeli war crimes claimed the lives of some 1,400 Palestinians, The Daily Telegraph reported. 

The lawyers cited Israeli war crimes and the violation of the Geneva Convention by the regime during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza eight months ago as the legal basis for the case. 

The move comes after a United Nations probe into the Gaza war earlier this month concluded that Israel committed war crimes through attacking civilians, using banned weapons and torturing people during the offensive.

Barak, who will meet with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Foreign Secretary David Miliband, is to address the meeting of the British Labour Party on Tuesday. 

SB/MD




British lawmakers and pro-Palestinian activists have pilloried the governing Labour Party for entertaining Israeli War Minister Ehud Barak at their annual conference instead of calling for his arrest for war crimes committed against the Palestinians. 

A demonstration was held to protest against Barak's presence in the British coastal resort of Brighton on September 29. The protestors said he should be held accountable for the 22-day Israeli onslaught against the 1.5 million Palestinians living in the blockaded Gaza Strip, which killed over 1,400, including more than 900 civilians, between December 2008 and January 2009. 

Nine Labour MPs participated in the protest near the party's conference venue, which was organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC). 

PSC General Secretary Betty Hunter said that it was a disgrace for Britain to engage and hold meetings with Ehud Barak, who has been accused of war crimes. "As a High Contracting Party to the Geneva Convention, the British government should be arresting Barak for war crimes, not treating him to dinner," she insisted. 

Barak was due to attend a fringe meeting of the governing Labour Party's annual conference in Brighton, on England's south coast, before meeting with Foreign Secretary David Miliband on September 30, who said he was pleased to meet the Israeli war minister. 

In London, meanwhile, lawyer Tayab Ali said an application was lodged by lawyers at the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court for an arrest warrant to be issued for Barak on grounds of war crimes in connection with the Gaza offensive, but the petition was rejected on grounds of diplomatic immunity. 

A UN fact-finding mission headed by Richard Goldstone, a South African judge, investigated the Israeli blitz against Gaza and concluded that civilians had been targeted deliberately during the conflict and called for legal action against those responsible. 

FTP/ZAP/HGL

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## Shades

Palestinians demand end to Israeli attacks
Wed, 30 Sep 2009 03:26:15 GMT
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Israeli policemen aim at Palestinians during clashes at the al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Palestinian Authority prime minister says Israeli infringements against the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem (al-Quds) are violations of international law and must stop. 

Talking to reporters in Ramallah on September 29, Salam Fayyad called on Arab and other countries to take "clear positions" to compel the Israeli regime to stop its arbitrary practices, an action condemned by many countries. 

Jewish extremists, supported by armed Israeli police, entered the al-Aqsa Mosque on September 27 and attacked protesting Palestinians, resulting in the injury of 16 Palestinians. 

Such Israeli actions, including putting more restrictions on Palestinians in the holy city, are changing its features, Fayyad said. This will significantly harm the already faltering peace process, and will only lead to more frustration and tension, he said. 

Israel does not include occupied Jerusalem in the ongoing peace negotiations, which is unacceptable, Fayyad said, and added that international law should be applicable to Jerusalem as well as the rest of the Israeli-occupied territories. 

Fayyad also condemned the recent reports of Israeli settlers distributing leaflets to Palestinian olive farmers, demanding they stay away from their olive groves this October during the harvest. This threat must be taken seriously, he said. 

FTP/ZAP/HGL





Israeli fighter aircraft have struck a number of food and provision tunnels in the blockaded Gaza Strip in response to an alleged rocket attack from the coastal sliver. 

The Israeli army confirmed the Tuesday night's raid on the tunnels, saying the targets were destroyed in the air strike. 

The attack came after two Qassam rockets fired by Palestinian activists in the Hamas-run Gaza landed in western Negev, one in south of Ashkelon and the other in the Eshkol region in the evening hours, Army Radio reported. 

The rockets did not leave any casualties nor did they cause any damage to property. 

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the Tuesday's rocket fires. 

Earlier, the Gaza-based Islamic Jihad movement had vowed to take revenge on Israel for a Friday air strike that killed three of its fighters near the Jabaliya refugee camp. 

One of the victims was identified to be Kamal al-Dahtur, the son of a Jihad commander who was also killed in an Israeli raid two years ago. 

Israel has long defied international calls to lift a crippling siege on the impoverished Gaza Strip that has been in place since June 2007, keeping more than half the 1.5 million-strong population in the Palestinian coastal enclave in dire need of food aid handouts. 

The Egyptian government also refuses to open the key Rafah border crossing, forcing the Palestinians to resort to digging cross-border tunnels to trickle their needed food and fuel into the blockaded territory. 

Meanwhile, Palestinian activists in the Gaza Strip maintain their armed struggle against Israel, regularly sending home-made projectiles and Qassam rockets into Israeli towns. 

According to the Israeli army, at least 250 missiles and rockets have been fired from the coastal sliver since the end of the Gaza war in mid January. 

The 23-day onslaught, shrouded in reports of war crimes and breach of international laws, left more than 1,400 Palestinians -- mostly civilians -- killed and thousands more wounded. 

MRS/AKM

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## Shades

Relentless' legal actions await Israeli officials
Wed, 30 Sep 2009 08:25:44 GMT



Deferment of an appeal to prosecute Ehud Barak over crimes committed during Gaza war does not forestall further legal actions against Israeli officials, says a pro-Palestinian lawyer. 

The ruling will not stop efforts to prosecute Israeli officials who arrive in Britain in connection with the offensive against Gaza, said Attorney Tayab Ali, who led the court petition asking British authorities to arrest the Israeli defense minister. 

Pro-Palestinian lawyers filed a request with the Westminster Magistrates Court to issue the warrant over Israel's war crimes in the Gaza Strip during its last December offensive. 

But the court rejected the appeal on Tuesday upon the British Foreign Ministry's recommendation, saying Barak enjoys diplomatic immunity and therefore cannot be prosecuted. 

"We will continue to seek legal action against Israeli officials," said Ali, the British-Pakistani attorney who prepared the motion against Barak. 

Israeli officials "must realize that we will be relentless in pursuing legal action against them," he told Israeli news website Ynet on Tuesday. 

He said that his office, which specializes in human rights, would continue efforts to have the British court issue arrest warrants against any Israeli official arriving in the UK. 

A UN investigatory committee for Gaza war found Israel guilty of committing war crimes during the weeks-long 'Operation Cast Lead', which started on December 27, 2008. 

"I have nothing against Israel personally. My political views have nothing to do with this case," Ali emphasized. 

Ali expressed dismay with the court ruling, and said, "Barak was effectively able to hide behind the diplomatic immunity of his senior position in the Israeli government." 

MRS/AKM

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## Shades

Israel to free 20 Palestinians for Shalit video
Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:09:09 GMT
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Since 2006, Hamas has released three letters and an audio message from Shalit.
Israel says it will release 20 female Palestinian prisoners, in exchange for evidence proving that captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is still alive. 

The "confidence-building measure" is part of international efforts to secure a possible Israel-Hamas prisoner swap regarding release of Shalit, who was captured by Palestinian fighters in 2006 in Gaza. 

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that the Palestinian women will be released in return for a videotape of Shalit who has not been seen since his capture. 

However, the women to be released as part of the deal, are all short-term prisoners and have already served at least two-thirds of their sentences. None of them have more than two years left to serve. The prisoners belong to different Palestinian factions; nineteen of the women are from the West Bank and only one is from the Gaza Strip. 

Hamas, however, has not yet announced that whether the proof of life would be a videotape or a photo. 

According to Israel's Channel 10 TV, German mediators have already seen a footage of Shalit. The exchange is expected to take place on Friday. 

Should it proceed as planned, the Friday exchange would be viewed as a first step in further prisoner-exchange talks. 

Hamas is demanding the release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, whose names have been delivered to Israeli officials, in exchange for the soldier. The Israeli side has so far refused to meet the condition. 

Currently, over 12,000 Palestinians, including women and children, are being held in Israeli jails and are reportedly subject to harsh treatment. 

HE/MMN

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## Shades

Israeli army jeep 'deliberately' runs over Palestinian
Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:16:52 GMT
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A seventeen-year-old Palestinian teenager has been hit and killed by an Israeli military vehicle near the West Bank city of Jenin. 

While the Palestinian sources say the military jeep deliberately ran over Foad Turkman on Wednesday, the Israeli military called it an accident. The military said that the driver was driving in reverse and failed to see the boy. 

Israeli officials have also claimed that the soldiers were confronted with Palestinian teenagers, who were throwing stones at the time of the incident. However, witnesses say that the Israeli soldiers' inhumane action sparked the stone-hurling. 

"The jeep was driving fast towards a group of students. The jeep ran over [Turkman's] body with all four wheels, and then backed up and drove over him again. Then the soldiers wouldn't allow us to get Foad for about 15 minutes", Foad's uncle told Ma'an news agency. 

There are also reports that Israeli soldiers fired tear gas to disperse the protesters. 

Foad Turkman was buried in his home town of Yabad, near Jenin. 

HE/MMN

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## Shades

Israel likely to build super-settlement in WB
Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:08:17 GMT
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Israel is likely to give the go ahead to a project to build what would be the most populous settlement in the territories occupied in 1967. 

The joint project undertaken by the Interior Ministry and the Jerusalem (al-Quds) Municipality sees the construction of 14,000 housing units near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, the Israeli daily Maariv reported on Wednesday. 

The settlement will be built in three million square meters of land and will be home to 40,000 Jewish settlers. 

The land will also include the property of the Palestinians in the West Bank village of Al-Walaja. 

The project has the endorsement of the ruling Likud Party and its far right allies. 

Israel is obliged to freeze all settlement construction projects in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The regime, however, has so far refused to fulfill its commitments despite demands by the international community. 

SB/SS/RE

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## Shades

Israel receives more N-capable German subs
Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:58:43 GMT
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Israel has received two German-made submarines which are capable of launching missiles equipped with nuclear warheads. 

An Israeli military spokesman confirmed that the regime has received the two Dolphin-class submarines. 

Israel ordered the submarines in 2005 and they were expected to be delivered in 2010. 

Nuclear capable submarines are key weapons in Israel's arsenal. 

With the delivery of the two subs the number of Israel's German-made submarines has reached five. 

SB/SS/RE

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## Shades

Israel 'knowingly' hit civilians in Gaza
Thu, 01 Oct 2009 06:29:07 GMT
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Goldstone said his committee was sure some of the killing of civilians by Israel was intentional.
The head of the UN Human Rights Council commission on Gaza war says Israel intentionally targeted some civilian sites during the 23-day offensive in the Gaza Strip. 

"Some of the killing...was certainly intentional. There was no mistake in bombing factories. The Israeli intelligence has very precise information," Richard Goldstone told CNN on Wednesday. 

The former judge, however, did not endorse targeting civilians was the Israeli army's policy during its attacks on Gaza. "A fully fledged formal investigation will find that out. We didn't get near being judicial." 

On Tuesday, the Goldstone report, mainly highlighting evidence of war crimes by the Israeli army during its military action against the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, was formally presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council. 

The 575-page document listed several instances of alleged war crimes, such as Israel's deliberate shelling of civilian targets, opening fire at fleeing civilians and 'direct and an intentional attack' on hospitals. It also documented Palestinians' complaints of having been used as human shields by Israeli soldiers. 

On the Palestinian side, the report charged armed groups operating in Gaza with failing to distinguish between military targets and the civilian population in their rocket attacks in southern Israel. 

Goldstone said his committee did not find any proof for Israeli accusations against the Islamic Hamas movement of storing their weapons near civilians. "We looked for proof but didn't find it." 

He expressed satisfaction with the debate the report has opened in Israel and internationally, saying he hoped 'the report will have consequences in the future in the protection of innocent civilians'. 

But Israel's ultra-rightist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday attacked the report again as a blow to the United Nations. He also warned that allowing The Hague-based International Criminal Court to try the alleged war crimes listed in the report would deal a 'death blow' to peace. 

Earlier in the day, the premier announced plans for the establishment of an investigative commission to probe the findings of the Goldstone report. 

MRS/AKM

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## Shades

Israel 'knowingly' hit civilians in Gaza
Thu, 01 Oct 2009 06:29:07 GMT

Goldstone said his committee was sure some of the *killing of civilians by Israel was intentional.*
The head of the UN Human Rights Council commission on Gaza war says Israel intentionally targeted some civilian sites during the 23-day offensive in the Gaza Strip. 

"Some of the killing...was certainly intentional. There was no mistake in bombing factories. The Israeli intelligence has very precise information," Richard Goldstone told CNN on Wednesday. 

The former judge, however, did not endorse targeting civilians was the Israeli army's policy during its attacks on Gaza. "A fully fledged formal investigation will find that out. We didn't get near being judicial." 

On Tuesday, the Goldstone report, mainly highlighting evidence of war crimes by the Israeli army during its military action against the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, was formally presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council. 

The 575-page document listed several instances of alleged war crimes, such as Israel's deliberate shelling of civilian targets, opening fire at fleeing civilians and 'direct and an intentional attack' on hospitals. It also documented Palestinians' complaints of having been used as human shields by Israeli soldiers. 

On the Palestinian side, the report charged armed groups operating in Gaza with failing to distinguish between military targets and the civilian population in their rocket attacks in southern Israel. 

Goldstone said his committee did not find any proof for Israeli accusations against the Islamic Hamas movement of storing their weapons near civilians. "We looked for proof but didn't find it." 

He expressed satisfaction with the debate the report has opened in Israel and internationally, saying he hoped 'the report will have consequences in the future in the protection of innocent civilians'. 

But Israel's ultra-rightist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday attacked the report again as a blow to the United Nations. He also warned that allowing The Hague-based International Criminal Court to try the alleged war crimes listed in the report would deal a 'death blow' to peace. 

Earlier in the day, the premier announced plans for the establishment of an investigative commission to probe the findings of the Goldstone report. 

MRS/AKM

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## Shades

Hamas blames UK for Israeli atrocities
Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:15:28 GMT
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Hamas slammed UK Foreign Minister David Miliband's pro-Israeli remarks.
The Islamic Hamas movement has criticized Britain for its support of the Israeli regime, holding London responsible for the sufferings of the Palestinian nation. 

The head of the Refugee Affairs Department in the Gaza Strip, Hussam Ahmed, on Wednesday slammed recent remarks by British Foreign Minster David Miliband, who described Tel Aviv as 'peace-seeking'. 

The UK minister's comments come as the Israeli occupation forces indulge in all kinds of atrocity and acts of terror against the Palestinians and use prohibited arms in their massacre of civilians, he said. 

Ahmed further condemned London's call for a compromise -- in favor of Israel -- on the key issue of Palestinian refugees. 

The Hamas official accused the British government of bringing about misery for Palestine and playing an active role in the displacement of thousands of Palestinians by supporting the formation of the Zionist regime in the occupied territories. 

London must apologize to the Palestinians for all the pain it has inflicted upon them, he said. 

MRS/AKM

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## Shades

Israel lobbying to expunge UN report, avoid prosecution
Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:16:26 GMT
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Richard Goldstone
Tel Aviv is lobbying Western powers to prevent a UN report, attesting to Israel's war crimes during the Gaza carnage, from being adopted by the UN Human Rights Council. 

After a three-month investigation, former South African judge and Head of the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, Richard Goldstone, submitted his report to the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday. 

The report says that Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip, during a three-week long non-stop onslaught at the turn of the year. 

The Israeli army assault, led by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, on Gaza between December 2008 and January 2009, killed over 1,400 people, mostly civilians. 

Stung by the UN report, hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is taking drastic steps to fend off potential international prosecution of its political and military leaders, hiring high-powered attorneys, lobbying Western governments and launching a public relations blitz. 

Netanyahu claimed in a cabinet meeting on Thursday, that if the UN adopts Goldstone's 575-page report and implements its recommendations, it would strike a "critical blow" to the Middle East peace process. 

The hawkish premier is now trying to convince members of the UN Human Rights Council, convening in Geneva, to vote against the proposal. 

The Goldstone report demands that both Israel and Hamas launch independent investigations to respond to the allegations brought against them. 

The UN report has energized pro-Palestinian groups that have hoped for years to bring Israeli leaders before courts. It was only this week that a pro-Palestinian group, including nine British lawmakers, protested in London calling for the arrest of the visiting Ehud Barak over the Gaza war crimes. 

FTP/SS/MMN



Israel to seal off West Bank border for 9 days
Fri, 02 Oct 2009 02:57:02 GMT
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The West Bank border at Bethlehem
Israel has announced plans to shut down the West Bank border for almost ten days so that Jewish Israelis can celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). 

The closure will begin on Thursday, October 1 and will end at sunset on Saturday, October 10, the Israeli military spokesman announced. 

The closure will begin from Thursday at midnight; a military statement said and added that persons in need of medical care will not be affected by the closure. 

"The passage of humanitarian aid as well as doctors, medical personnel, NGO members, lawyers, religious workers and additional professional groups will be authorized by the District Coordination and Liaison office," the statement added, dpa reported. 

Israel regularly seals off the Palestinian territories under the pretext of security reasons and Jewish festivals. 

FTP/SS/MMN


Hamas wants peace but reserves right to armed resistance
Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:19:59 GMT
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Ahmad Yousef, an advisor to Prime Minister Ismail Haniya on foreign affairs
Hamas says it is after peace, but will nonetheless resume armed resistance, should Israel refuse to cease its regular attacks on the Gaza Strip. 

"Now, for the most part they [the Israelis] have stopped the daily aggression. That's why we're not firing rockets," said Ahmad Yousef, a foreign affairs advisor to democratically elected Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya. 

Yousef warned that the Palestinian resistance movement reserved the right to defend itself, and would use "whatever weapons they have in their hands" against Israeli "aggression and incursions," Ma'an news agency reported on Friday. 

On the issue of the formation of a Palestinian state, Yousef stressed that Hamas' stance is 'crystal clear', adding that the resistance movement endorses a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders. Moreover, he dismissed that the movement had become more moderate. 

"Our political platform is clear in the sense that we will accept peaceful resolutions that liberate our people from occupationOur political platform is consistent on the willingness to sit down and discuss issues including historic Palestine and the refugees' right of return." 

"However, we will not relinquish our right to resistance," he underscored. 

When questioned about the likelihood of another military confrontation with Tel Aviv, Yousef said, if the condition on the ground did not change, armed resistance against Israel's occupation would be inevitable. 

"If the situation will continue like this, if the world community doesn't do anything and also the occupation is still the same and the sanctions have not been lifted and Gaza is still under siege, then of course the people will resort to military resistance." 

MRS/MMN





Obama agrees to cover up Israel's nukes: report
Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:28:52 GMT
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US President Barack Obama (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Israel has reportedly received an assurance by US President Barack Obama that it would not be pressured into accounting for its alleged nuclear arsenal or signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). 

In a meeting with, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu obtained President Obama's guarantee that the *White House would continue a 4-decade-old secret deal to allow Israel keep a nuclear arsenal without opening it to international inspections*, The Washington Times reported on Friday quoting officials familiar with the matter. 

"The president gave Israel an NPT treaty get out of jail free card," said a Senate staffer speaking on the condition of anonymity. "What this means is that the president gave commitments that politically he had no choice but to give regarding Israel's nuclear program." 

"However, it calls into question virtually every part of the president's nonproliferation agenda." 

Israel, which has allegedly introduced nuclear weapons in the volatile Middle East, maintains a policy of deliberate ambiguity and has so far refused to sign the NPT- a treaty which seeks to limit the spread of such weapons of mass destruction. 

The tacit agreement prolonged the *nuclear understanding reached between President Richard Nixon and Prime Minister Golda Meir in 1969*. 

In a reference to the May meeting with President Obama, the Israeli premier said in an interview with Israel's Channel 2 last week he had received "an itemized list of the strategic understandings that have existed for many years between Israel and the United States" regarding the nuclear arsenal. 

"It was not for naught that I requested, and it was not for naught that I received [that document]," Netanyahu said. 

Avner Cohen, author of the revelatory Israel and the Bomb, which has drawn upon thousands of documents and tens of interviews on the Israeli nuclear firepower, said the accord amounted to "the United States passively accepting Israel's nuclear weapons status as long as Israel does not unveil publicly its capability or test a weapon." 

In 1958, Israel began building its suspected plutonium and uranium processing facility near Dimona in the Negev desert. *The regime claims the facility - which was originally revealed as "textile factory" - is a "research reactor."* 

In early June, George Washington University's National Security Archives declassified a 1960 report by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) which had explained how Tel Aviv was to benefit from a nuclear arsenal. 

"Possession of a nuclear weapon capability, or even the prospect of achieving it, would clearly give Israel a greater sense of security, self-confidence and assertiveness," the documents said. 

HN/MD

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## Shades

Israeli jets pound Gaza's 'survival tunnels'
Sat, 03 Oct 2009 10:40:11 GMT
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Site of an Israeli air raid on tunnels in Rafah which left three Palestinians dead and eight others wounded last week.
In another night-time raid, Israeli fighter jets attack several targets across the Gaza Strip, witnesses and the army say. 

A building on the outskirts of Gaza City as well as two cross-border tunnels --also known as "Gaza's feeding tubes" -- along Rafah were hit in the pre-dawn attack. 

The tunnels --linking the south of the impoverished enclave to Egypt, have served as conduits for vital supplies to the besieged Gaza Strip- and are frequently attacked by Israeli and Egyptian security forces. 

The Israeli army says the strikes were carried out in response to a rocket attack from the strip on southern Israel. 

Commenting on the attack on a building near Gaza City, an Israeli military spokesman claimed it was being used for manufacturing rockets. 

There were no immediate reports of damages or casualties from Saturday's attack. 

As a result of the crippling land, sea, and air blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt since June 2007 when the democratically-elected Hamas government gained control of Gaza, the enclave's 1.5 million inhabitants have had to rely heavily on perilous tunnels as the sole means of obtaining essential supplies such as food and medicines. 

HE/TG/DT

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## Shades

Abbas accused of helping Israel bury 'war crimes'
Sat, 03 Oct 2009 19:02:44 GMT
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Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas
Human rights groups have accused the Palestinian Authority of "helping Israel bury its crimes" for bumping UN draft proposal over alleged Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip. 

Hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated in various parts of the Gaza Strip after the Palestinian Authority defered a UN Human Rights Council vote on the Goldstone report on Israeli war crimes during the 2008 war against Gazans, The Jerusalem post reported Saturday. 

Several Palestinian human rights organization issued a statement, accusing the PA leaders of succumbing to US pressure. 

"This deferral denies the Palestinian peoples' right to an effective judicial remedy and the equal protection of the law. It represents the triumph of politics over human rights. It is an insult to all victims and a rejection of their rights," the statement said. 

Members of acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction also condemned the move and called for an emergency meeting of the Fatah Central Committee to discuss the issue. 

On Friday, the UN was due to vote on a resolution that would have condemned Israel's failure to cooperate with the UN war crimes investigation, but it was suspended after Abbas withdrew his support for the resolution. 

Palestinian officials dropped their support for a scheduled vote after intense lobbying from the US administration which argues that any action on the report will "backfire" by driving Israel away from possible peace talks. 

The report issued by United Nations human rights investigator Richard Goldstone has strongly criticized Israel over its 22-day offensive on the Gaza Strip and called for the prosecution of Israeli officials. 

SB/MD

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## Shades

srael musing over another Gaza onslaught: Report
Sat, 03 Oct 2009 22:31:14 GMT
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In this Jan. 13, 2009 file photo, smoke rises following explosions caused by Israeli military operations in Gaza City.
The military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement known as the Al-Quds Brigades says that Tel Aviv is mulling over another round of attacks on the Gaza Strip. 

"The ongoing status quo has led the military arm of Islamic Jihad to infer Israel was planning an imminent but unspecified incursion in the coming days or weeks," a spokesman for the Al-Quds Brigades, Abu Ahmad, was quoted as saying by Ma'an news agency. 

The Gazans are still struggling with the aftermath of the Operation Cast Lead, which resulted in the death of over 1,500 Palestinians and the injury of about 5,450 people in the impoverished coastal sliver. 

With USD 1.6 billion damage inflicted upon Gaza's economy during three weeks of relentless Israeli bombardment this January, the Palestinians in the strip are striving hard to survive under a siege preventing any import or export. The carnage has left 44 percent of the population in the war-wreaked enclave unemployed. 

Meanwhile, a United Nations inquiry led by former South African Judge Richard Goldstone detailed what investigators called Israeli actions "amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity," during Tel Aviv's winter offensive against the Hamas-ruled Gaza. 

The 575-page report by Goldstone and three other investigators asserts seven incidents, in which Palestinian civilians were shot while leaving their homes, trying to run for safety or waving white flags. 

According to the report, Israel has targeted a mosque at prayer time, killing 15 people, and has shelled a Gaza City house where soldiers had forced Palestinian civilians to assemble. These attacks constituted war crimes, the report says. 

The probe also found that Israel violated international humanitarian law in many different manners. Dozens of Palestinian policemen were killed at the start of the Gaza onslaught when Israel bombed their stations. The security agents were not involved in hostilities and should have been treated as civilians. 

Palestinians, in addition, were forced to walk ahead of the Israeli soldiers, providing human shields for the troops, who were searching civilian neighborhoods. 

MP/SS/MMN

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## Shades

Israeli troops close Ibrahimi Mosque to non-Jews
Sun, 04 Oct 2009 02:34:09 GMT
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The Ibrahimi Mosque in al-Khalil
Israel has closed the Ibrahimi Mosque in al-Khalil (Hebron) to Muslims for two days under the pretext of a Jewish holiday. 

"Israeli troops have been deployed outside the structure since late Friday evening and designated the area for the exclusive use of Jewish settlers until Monday," Head of the Endowment and Religious Affairs Department in al-Khalil (Hebron), Zeid al-Ja'bari, said on Saturday. 

The Ibrahimi Mosque compound also known as the Sanctuary of Abraham is Judaism's second-holiest site after the Temple Mount. It is also a place of veneration for Christians. The 1,000-year-old Ibrahimi Mosque is the second holiest Islamic site in the Palestinian territory after al-Aqsa Mosque in al-Quds (Jerusalem). 

The mosque was divided into Muslim and Jewish sections by the Israeli government's Shamgar Committee after a 1994 massacre that killed 29 Muslim worshippers and left 150 others wounded. 

Since then, Israeli authorities have violated Muslim rights in the Ibrahimi Mosque under the pretext of Jewish holidays and restricted Muslims from praying in the mosque. The Israeli officials have also prevented the call to prayer for the evening and night worship times. 

Radical Jewish settlers have at times desecrated this holy Mosque and ridiculed Muslims while praying there. 

Extremist settlers are said to be trying to bar Muslims from entering the Ibrahimi Mosque and are attempting to transform it into a synagogue. 

MP/SS/MMN

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## Shades

Israeli envoy in Russia sent home


An Israeli diplomat has left his post in Russia after being accused of "unlawful activities", reports say.
Shmuel Polishuk, the first secretary of Israel's Moscow embassy, was reportedly detained in the city last week.
Russian intelligence agents questioned him on suspicion of spying, Israel's Maariv newspaper reported.
"Shmuel Polishuk was caught red-handed in Moscow," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.
"He has already left for home."
After discussions between Russia and Israel, it was decided the diplomat would not be declared persona non grata - the term usually applied to expelled spies - but would have to leave the country, Maariv reported.
A spokesman from the Israeli embassy said the two countries were working to solve what he called a "misunderstanding", dismissing suggestions the diplomat had been expelled on espionage charges, AP reported.

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## Shades

Egyptian ministry under fire for gas deal with Israel
Sun, 04 Oct 2009 08:50:43 GMT
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A court session held to look into the case filed against the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum
The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum is facing legal action for exporting natural gas to Israel over the past four years, without having parliament's approval. 

The Supreme Administrative Court of Egypt started its new judiciary year by looking into the case filed against the Ministry of Petroleum for exporting gas to Israel, Press TV correspondent in Cairo reported. 

The ministry has appealed against the court's ruling, which annulled a 2005 Egyptian-Israeli agreement for export of natural gas to Israel. 

The court has postponed the verdict until November 7th. 

The ministry says the gas deal is in line with the 1979 gas deal between Israel and Egypt. 

Opponents of the deal say the deal violates the Egyptian constitution because it has not been approved by the parliament. 

They say Egypt's limited natural resources should have been consumed locally, instead of being exported to Israel at low prices. 

MGH/DT

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## Shades

Israeli gunfire injures Palestinian teen
Sun, 04 Oct 2009 12:38:03 GMT
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Israeli forces have shot and injured a Palestinian teenager in the north of the Gaza Strip, medics say. 

*Ashraf Abu Suleiman, 16, was wounded by Israeli gunfire near the border fence close to the town of Beit Lahiya, AFP reported Sunday*. 

The sources provided no details on how the incident occurred. 

The Israeli army has made no comment on the shooting.

SB/MD

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## Shades

Israel shuts down Al-Aqsa mosque, turns violent
Sun, 04 Oct 2009 14:21:47 GMT
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*Israeli police have fired tear gas at Palestinians protesting the closure of Al-Aqsa holy compound in the occupied Jerusalem.* 

Israeli security forces beefed up security in the Old City Sunday and denied entry to the compound where the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock shrine are located, said Adnan al-Husseini, the Palestinian-appointed governor of Jerusalem. 

"The situation is very tense in the Old City," Husseini said. 

An Israeli police spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld, also confirmed that the compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, had been "shut to visitors." 

Some 150 Palestinians protested the closure of the site, hurling stones and bottles at riot police. 

*Palestinian medical officials said nine people were treated for minor injuries including tear gas inhalation. Israel said one policeman was hurt by a rock*. 

Israeli police claim that the decision to close the site was made following calls, spread on the Palestinian media on Saturday evening and throughout the night, to "come protect the Mount." 

Many Jewish visitors are also expected to flock to Jerusalem during the holiday of Sukkot, particularly to the Old City and the Western Wall. 

Last week, 30 people were injured in similar clashes near the Al-Aqsa mosque, as Palestinians warned of a possible new uprising. 

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during a 1967 aggression and later annexed it. The status of the city is among the thorniest issues of the peace process with the Palestinians, underscoring the reality that any Palestinian state should include the city as its capital. 

SB/MB

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## Shades

ordan slams Israel's closure of al-Aqsa Mosque
Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:02:13 GMT
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Palestinian youth throw stones at Israeli riot police on October 2 in east al-Quds.
The Jordanian Foreign Ministry has taken diplomatic measures to protest Israel's closure of the al-Aqsa Mosque in al-Quds. 

In a statement issued on Sunday, *the foreign ministry called "all Israeli measures" in the holy city "illegal" and said they violated "Israel's commitments as an occupation power*." 

Under a peace treaty which Jordan concluded with Israel in 1994, Israel acknowledged the Hashemite Kingdom's right to look after the Muslim and Christian shrines in east al-Quds, which is still considered by the United Nations an occupied territory. 

Jordan's Foreign Ministry also summoned ambassadors of Israel, Russia, the United States, China, France and Britain in protest to Israel's closure of the al-Aqsa mosque. 

Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh handed a strongly-worded protest to Israel's ambassador in Amman to condemn "recurrent violations" in east al-Quds, which Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war, the official Petra news agency reported. 

Jordan called for an "immediate halt" to Israeli violations and for the release of detainees, including the staff members of the Islamic Endowments Department in al-Quds. 

Israeli police have put extra security measures in place for east al-Quds which will continue on Monday, when thousands of Jews are expected to congregate at the Western Wall before a religious holiday. 

HSH/SS/MMA

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## Shades

Hamas: PA trades in blood of Gaza children
Mon, 05 Oct 2009 05:25:10 GMT
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Hamas Leader Ismail Haniya
The democratically-elected premier of Hamas government in Gaza has lambasted the Palestinian Authority over its decision to delay a vote on a report about the Israeli war crimes in Gaza. 

Ismail Haniya also slammed as "reckless and irresponsible" the decision by the UN Human Rights Council to postpone consideration of the damning report.

"The decision taken by Ramallah to withdraw the Goldstone report was reckless and irresponsible," Haniya said, referring to the Western-backed government of the acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas. 

The decision "trades in the blood of the children of Gaza." AFP quoted Haniya as saying on Sunday. 

Sixteen Palestinian human rights groups have also issued a statement condemning the decision made by the Palestinian Authority. 

It "denies the Palestinian people's right to an effective judicial remedy and equal protection of the law," the statement said. 

"It represents the triumph of politics over human rights. It is an insult to all victims and a rejection of their rights," the groups said. 

The decision made by the Western-backed PA is widely seen as the result of pressure from the US, which had claimed that the report is biased against Israel. 

The UN probe by the former international war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone had called for prosecution of Israeli authorities over thier war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during the three-week war earlier this year. 

MGH/SC/DT

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## Shades

IOF nab 12 Pal'ns in the West Bank

2009-10-05 09:12:37


Occupied Jerusalem-PalPress-The Israeli Occupation Forces nabbed today at dawn twelve Palestinians in different areas across the West Bank.

Local sources pointed out that the Israeli Occupation Forces stormed last night each of (Nablus, Qa;qilya and  Bethlehem) and nabbed those youths before their withdrawal.



2009-10-05 09:12:37

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## Shades

Abbas looks for 'resolution killer'!
Mon, 05 Oct 2009 08:04:32 GMT
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The acting Palestinian Authority (PA) chief Mahmoud Abbas
The acting Palestinian Authority (PA) chief has launched a campaign to convince his critics he is not responsible for dropping a UN resolution against Israel over war crimes. 

The Palestinian Authority requested the UN Human Rights Council to defer a UN vote over Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip. 

Mahmoud Abbas, facing an unprecedented wave of condemnation and accusations of treason from other Palestinian factions, has ordered the establishment of a commission of inquiry into the issue. 

The measure killed the Palestinians hope to pass a resolution against Israel in the UN Human Rights Council. 

An unnamed PA minister scoffed at Abbas' decision to establish the commission, the Jerusalem Post reported. 

"What's the president [Abbas] trying to tell us? that he didn't make the decision to kill the resolution that would have seen the UN endorse the findings of the fact-finding commission into the Gaza war?" the minister asked. 

"Well, if he didn't make the decision, then we want to know who's running the Palestinian Authority. If he was responsible for the [deferral] decision, then this is a very serious matter. If he knew, it's bad; if he didn't know, it's even worse," JP quoted him as saying. 

Members of Abbas' Fatah faction also condemned the move and called for an emergency meeting of the Fatah Central Committee to discuss the matter. 

PA Social Welfare Minister Majeda al-Masri described the contradictory statements as an embarrassment for the PA. She also condemned the PA's move and called for an investigation into the reasons behind the decision, Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday. 

Palestinian Economy Minister Bassem Khuri resigned on Saturday to protest the "Palestinian Authority's agreement not to discuss the Goldstone Report," an official close to him said. 

The commission will be headed by Hana Amireh, a member of the PLO Executive Committee. The two other members of the commission will be Azmi Shuaibi, head of the non-governmental Coalition for Accountability and Integrity (AMAN), and Rami Hamdallah, secretary-general of the Palestinian Central Elections Committee. 

The commission has been tasked to present its findings to Abbas within two weeks. 

Palestinian factions and human rights groups have criticized Abbas over the PA decision, saying that he has betrayed Palestinians. 

MGH/TG/DT

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## Shades

Israeli official cancels UK visit on fears of arrest
Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:36:39 GMT
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Israeli vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon
Israeli vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon has canceled a planned trip to Britain over fears of being arrested there, Israeli sources have said. 

Ya'alon was invited to London to attend a fund-raising dinner for Benji's Home, a group home for soldiers with no family in Israel. 

The British branch of the Jewish National Fund had invited Ya'alon to attend the dinner. 

He had said he would travel to Britain if the Foreign Ministry's legal department approved it. 

According to a report by the Israeli website, Ha'aretz Ya'alon, as chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces from 2002-2005, is one of several current and former senior officers whom Human Rights activists have sought to bring to trial for the 2002 assassination of senior Hamas member, Salah Shehadeh. 

The report added that the attack also killed 14 civilians. 

When Ya'alon consulted the Foreign Ministry's legal team, they warned him that the groups might ask a British court to order his arrest should he visit Britain. 

As a result, Ya'alon informed JNF Britain that he would not be able to attend the dinner. 

When Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited London last week, Human Rights groups sought his arrest for alleged war crimes during January's 'Operation Cast Lead' in Gaza. However, the court ultimately decided not to hear the request immediately, enabling Barak to leave the UK. 

MGH/TG/DT

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## Shades

Al-Aqsa mosque under siege by Israeli police
Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:27:05 GMT
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Israel has deployed thousands of security forces in and around the Al-Aqsa mosque compound amid heightened tensions over the closure of the holy site in East Jerusalem Al-Quds. 

Tensions were running high in the Holy City on Monday, as tens of thousands of Jews attended a religious ceremony in the compound--known to Muslims as Al-Haram Al-Sharif and to Jews as the Temple Mount, AFP reported. 

An estimated 30,000 Jews prayed at the Western Wall, below Al-Aqsa, for the Priestly Blessing ceremony, a highlight of the Sukkot celebrations. 

Israeli police restricted access to the mosque compound to Muslim men aged 50 and over, with no restrictions for women, after Sunday's clashes, in which seven Palestinian protesters were injured and three arrested. 

"These measures were taken to avert new incidents on the compound and the Old City and to prevent stones being thrown at the Jewish faithful who come to pray at the Western Wall," Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld claimed. 

Clashes broke out after more than 150 Palestinians protested the closure of the holy compound, following what the Israelis claimed to be calls by the Palestinian media to "come protect the Mount." 

Israel occupied East Jerusalem Al-Quds during a 1967 aggression and later annexed it. The status of the city is among the thorniest issues of the peace process with the Palestinians, underscoring the reality that any Palestinian state should include the city as its capital. 

SB/MB

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## Shades

Israel to build 800 more units in illegal settlements
Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:27:16 GMT
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Tel Aviv is going to construct some 800 new housing units across the occupied West Bank despite international calls for a halt to all settlement activities. 

"The settlers are working fast to produce as many construction starts as possible so that these new housing units will be counted as existing settlements and not included in any future agreed upon freeze," according to a report released by the Israeli left-wing NGO Peace Now on Monday. 

The report went on to say that the new projects are not among the some 2,400 houses which are already in different stages of construction that Israel aims to complete despite agreeing to a temporary freeze in settlement construction. 

Tel Aviv is currently under intense pressure from the international community to halt the illegal settlement constructions in the West Bank. Israeli settlements are widely considered as the main hurdle in the way of comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. 

Under the 2002 Roadmap for Peace plan brokered by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia, Israel has to 'dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and also freeze all settlement activities'. 

It is estimated that there are almost 200,000 illegal Jewish settlers in the twelve or so Israeli settlements in al-Quds. There are also about 300,000 more illegal Jewish settlers living in settlements across the occupied Palestinian territory of West Bank. 

All Jewish settlements are illegal under international law because they are erected on occupied lands that the Palestinians claim for a future state. 

MP/SS/MMN

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## Shades

*BBC:* Senior Israeli Muslim leader held


Raed Salah has been arrested in the past
A leader of Israel's Islamic Movement, Raed Salah, has been arrested amid escalating tension in Jerusalem.
He was later released and barred from entering Jerusalem for 30 days.
*Tensions over the complex containing the al-Aqsa mosque and the Western Wall have boiled over into rioting several times in the past two weeks*.
Extra Israeli police have been deployed for a Jewish festival. Some Palestinian officials have accused Israel of *trying to "Judaise" Jerusalem*.
The religious site known as Temple Mount to Jews and Haram al-Sharif to Palestinians is hotly contested, and was the flashpoint that led to the Palestinian intifada, or uprising, which broke out in 2000.


 He was arrested over his inflammatory statements in recent days  

Thousands of Israeli police patrolled Jerusalem ahead of a march marking the Jewish festival of Sukkot, which passed off without incident.
Sheikh Salah, who has been detained in the past, had recently called on Muslims to "defend" the mosque.
"He was arrested over his inflammatory statements in recent days and on suspicion of incitement," police spokesman Shmulik Ben-Rubi told AFP news agency on Tuesday.
Sheikh Salah has been jailed for two years in Israel in the past. He has also been arrested several times.

On Monday, minor clashes broke out at al-Aqsa mosque. *Police said they had closed the mosque to male worshippers under the age of 50*, after finding wheelbarrows full of stones inside the complex.

The unrest comes as the US is struggling to restart peace talks
On Sunday, at least five Palestinians and four Israeli police were injured in clashes, again after police limited access to the mosque.
About 30 people were injured there a week ago, when Palestinians stoned a group of visitors.
On Tuesday the Palestinian Authority denounced* Israel's plan to "take over Jerusalem and Judaise it".*
Negotiator Saeb Erekat accused the Israelis of "*lighting matches in the hope of sparking a fire".*
Correspondents say the unrest comes at a time of growing frustrations among Palestinians.
*US attempts to restart peace talks appear to have stalled over Israel's refusal to halt settlement building in the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem where the Palestinians want the capital of a future state.*
Israel's *right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has allowed Jewish building and demolitions of Palestinian homes built without permits to continue in East Jerusalem.
He has made clear he is strongly opposed to any division of Jerusalem and does not regard Jewish homes and areas there as settlements, although under international law the area is considered part of the occupied West Bank*.




JERUSALEM/AMMAN: Arabs on Tuesday accused Israel of deliberately creating a dangerous situation in East Jerusalem, to trigger violence, justify a crackdown and tighten its grip on the disputed city.
Palestinian leaders have issued dire warnings in the past week after *clashes at Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound in Jerusalems Old City between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters, over attempts by Jewish religious activists to enter the site.* ( *Underlined Part was totally ignored by BBC, to portray Palestinians as guilty party* )

The compound housing the mosque is a holy place for both Muslims and Jews, and has often been a flashpoint of tension. Israeli security forces control access to the area and regularly prohibit young Muslim men from entering.

*King of Jordan condemned Israels provocative measures in East Jerusalem and called for an immediate move on the part of the world community to force the Jewish state to end its violations of the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque.*

The king made the remarks as he presided over an emergency meeting of the countrys National Council of Policies to discuss the latest Israeli unilateral measures in East Jerusalem, which Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war.

Israel is lighting matches in the hope of sparking a fire, deliberately escalating tensions in occupied East Jerusalem rather than taking steps to placate the situation, chief Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat said in a statement before meetings later this week with US President Barack Obamas envoy.

*Israel is escalating tensions in order to further entrench its occupation of East Jerusalem, Erekat said.*

Israels Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said violence helps no one and that Israel must isolate and stop the sources of violence to allow life in the city to continue as normal.

Its not in the worlds interest, in Israels interest or the Palestinian interests. Quiet is in the interest of all. The provocateurs must be shown that their efforts wont pay off, Barkat said on Israel Radio.

About 70,000 people marched in the streets of Jerusalem on Tuesday, marking the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, police said.

Israeli police deployed thousands of officers on city streets for fear that two days of minor clashes with Palestinian protesters would escalate.

A police spokesman said the city remained calm despite the large crowds, with only a couple of isolated incidents in which no one was hurt or arrested.

Palestinian sources say they fear that small brushfires may quickly spiral out of control as they have done in the past, if the Israelis maintain a heavy-handed response instead of making an effort to de-escalate tensions.

The Palestinian government on Monday said it would confront Israel diplomatically over the rise in tension. Obamas peace envoy George Mitchell is due back in Jerusalem this week to continue efforts to revive stalled peace talks between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Palestinians believe they were the losers last month when Obama brought together Netanyahu and Abbas for a meeting on the fringes of the annual UN General Assembly, and appeared to soften his demand for a total halt to Israeli settlement building on occupied West Bank land and in East Jerusalem.

 With input from agencies ¬

Source: Arab News

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## Shades

Hamas will bring 'resolution killers' to justice
Tue, 06 Oct 2009 07:35:06 GMT
 

Hamas officials have vowed to bring to justice those Palestinians who supported the delaying of a UN Human Rights Council vote on a report about Israeli war crimes during the Gaza conflict. 

Hamas --the democratically-elected government of Gaza-- says the Palestinian Authority, which dropped its support for a scheduled Friday vote on the report following intense lobbying from the US and Israel, has betrayed the victims of the three-week war and must be prosecuted. 

"More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the Israeli war, based on demands from the families of the victims, we have decided to go ahead and prosecute those who contributed to the delaying of the UN Human Rights Council resolution; and that is because their move has dealt a heavy blow against the Palestinian people and to those in the international community trying to help Palestinians", Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hammad told Press TV. 

Hammad also believes that the controversial decision by Palestinian Authority under Acting Palestinian Chief Mahmoud Abbas proves the allegations that the Western-backed government had cooperated with Tel Aviv during its deadly offensive on Gaza. 

After the Palestinian officials withdrew their support for the report, the Geneva-based body decided to delay until March 2010 a vote on the report by a fact-finding mission headed by international prosecutor Richard Goldstone. 

The report reaffirmed that Israel deliberately violated international humanitarian law and used disproportionate force during its "Operation Cast Lead" against the people of Gaza at the beginning of the year. 

It called for the prosecution of senior Israeli officials in the International Criminal Court if Tel Aviv fails to launch its own investigations into the Gaza war under international scrutiny. 

Both Israeli and US officials dismissed the report as biased. Tel Aviv threatened to put aside resumption of the moribund peace talks with Palestinians if the Human Rights Council forwarded the report to the UN General Assembly. 

The measure killed the Palestinians hope to pass a resolution against Israel in the UN Human Rights Council. 

Abbas faced an unprecedented wave of condemnation and accusations of treason from other Palestinian factions even from PA officials , and ordered the establishment of a commission of inquiry into the issue. 

An unnamed PA minister scoffed at Abbas' decision to establish the commission, the Jerusalem Post reported. 

"What's the president [Abbas] trying to tell us? that he didn't make the decision to kill the resolution that would have seen the UN endorse the findings of the fact-finding commission into the Gaza war?" the minister asked. 

"Well, if he didn't make the decision, then we want to know who's running the Palestinian Authority. If he was responsible for the [deferral] decision, then this is a very serious matter. If he knew, it's bad; if he didn't know, it's even worse," JP quoted him as saying. 

HE/SC/DT

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## Shades

sraeli tanks enter eastern Gaza
Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:29:09 GMT
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Fighting has broken out between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters in eastern Gaza Strip after Israeli tanks and armored bulldozers crossed the border into the coastal region. 

Military tanks fired at least seven shells at residential areas in the region, leaving at four Palestinians wounded, a Press TV correspondent reported Tuesday. 

Local witnesses said paramedics were unable to reach the victims, one of whom sustained critical wounds. 

Muawiya Hassanein, the head of Gaza emergency services, confirmed the report, saying the military was not allowing rescue services to reach the scene of the incident to evacuate the victims, Ynet reported. 

The Israeli military has yet to comment on the report. 

SB/MD

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## Shades

Israeli jets intercept plane over Dimona
Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:33:30 GMT
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Israel has scrambled fighter jets after a civilian ultra-light aircraft flew over its Dimona nuclear reactor in the southern Negev desert, the military says. 

The warplanes intercepted the aircraft and forced it to land at an airstrip near the southern city of Arad, Ynet reported Tuesday. 

Based on the report, the two men onboard the plane strayed from the planned route, flying from Rishon Letzion in central Israel to Arad near the Dead Sea, and inadvertently entered the reactor's airspace. 

They however handed over to civilian authorities for investigation. 

Aircrafts are prohibited to enter the airspace of the nuclear reactor, which is housing Israel's alleged nuclear arsenal. 

SB/MD

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## Shades

Libya urges UN Council meeting on Gaza report
Wed, 07 Oct 2009 06:15:05 GMT

The Goldstone report accused Israel of deliberate targeting of civilians during the three-week Gaza war.
Libya has called for an emergency Security Council meeting to discuss a UN report that found Israel guilty of war crimes during its offensive in the Gaza Strip. 

Libya circulated a letter on Tuesday on behalf of the UN Arab group requesting an emergency meeting of the body to consider the report by the UN Human Rights Council's Gaza war commission, Libyan deputy ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi told AFP. 

The independent fact-finding mission headed by former international war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone released a report last month mainly accusing Israel of committing war crimes, including deliberate targeting of civilians, during the three-week Gaza war. 

Arab diplomats said the Security Council was to hold consultations on Wednesday to decide whether to hold a formal meeting on the Goldstone report. 

The Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council decided on Friday to delay until March a vote on a resolution that would have condemned Israel's non-cooperation with the investigation and pass on the report to the Security Council. 

The decision was made under pressure from the United States, Israel's closest Middle East ally, the European Union and Russia and was welcomed by the Palestinian Authority delegation. 

A Libyan UN envoy, Ahmed Gebreel, said his country, which currently has a Security Council seat, had requested a meeting 'because of the seriousness of the report and because we think it's too long to wait until March'. 

A statement by the Palestinian observer mission at the United Nations said it fully supported the Libyan request for a Security Council meeting. 

This is while the US has been taking advantage of its veto power in the Security Council to block any action or statement against Israel. 

MRS/AKM

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## Shades

*US, Israel to begin joint military excercise*

2009-10-06 12:13:32


Occupied Jerusalem-PalPress- According to the Hebrew newspaper Maariv on Tuesday, fifteen US Navy warships have arrived in Israeli waters in advance of a major joint military exercise.

The newspaper states that the ships began arriving several weeks ago carrying fighter jets which have landed on Israels land military bases.

A high-ranking Israeli military official told Maariv that the joint maneuvers are a clear message to Iran.

The newspaper added that Israeli and US officials held talks over the past several weeks to prepare for the joint drill, which will take place under supervision of a US General who has already arrived to Israel.

Maariv also noted that US warplanes from military bases in Turkey for the first time  will participate in the  joint drill



2009-10-06 12:13:32

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## Shades

Paper:Hamas bans rockets fire from Gaza

2009-10-06 11:17:19


Ramallah-PalPress-The London based "Asharq Al Awasat" newspaper quoted sources in the Palestinian resistance as saying that Hamas government in Gaza strip banned rockets fire towards Israel  in response to the Israeli attacks in Jerusalem and "Al Aqsa" surroundings.

The sources added that Hamas security forces nabbed two militants over the past 48 hours as they were preparing to fire rockets towards Israel and released them a few hours later.

The same sources said that the nabbed belonged to newly formed militant groups , pointing out that they were nabbed in two separate events .

Hamas confiscated the rockets which were set to be fired and warned of repeating the attempt again  even on part  of big factions like the Islamic Jihad, said the paper.

The paper added that all the Palestinian factions in Gaza Strip accuse Hamas of wanting to direct the resistance according to it's will. and interests.

Sources in the Palestinian resistance said that Hamas wants to stabilize the calm in the strip pointing out that it is concerned about it's  collapse.

Hamas agreed with the Palestinian factions in Gaza after the Israeli war on Gaza and the big destruction to cease rockets fire towards Israel in order  to give people a break  and not to be dragged towards  anew war.



2009-10-06 11:17:19

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## Shades

*Gaza childrens artwork exhibition at Liverpool Cathedral in UK tackles 22-day attacks* 


06.10.09 - 11:35
Liverpool / Anne Candlin - Loss Of Innocence: Gaza children's artwork, is an exhibition of paintings and drawings done by children in Gaza following the Israeli 22 day assault earlier this year.

The exhibition, *supported by UNESCO* Gaza office, was *collated by Rod Cox who went to Gaza early this year with the British overland humanitarian convoy*. He stayed through March and April to work with schoolchildren on this project. Younger children, taking part in a psycho-social therapy project, and older children at a Girls High School were asked to illustrate what they had actually experienced and what they hope for the future.

*The paintings show the destruction of apartment blocks, mosques, ambulances and civilians, through the use of helicopters, planes, drones, phosphorous weapons, bulldozers and direct fire from soldiers. The sun, trees, birds and Gaza cry. Gaza sends an SOS and the world simply stands still and looks on. A Dove of Peace, in one painting, sails in a boat over a Desert of Indifference.*

As a result of Operation Cast Lead *over 300 children were killed, many more injured, 1,400 children orphaned of at least one parent, 30 percent of children suffer serious mental health problems and all the children are traumatised.* Not surprisingly, the children say that what they dream of for the future is freedom and peace. 

The launch of the exhibition took place in the cathedral on Saturday, 26 September. The Cathedral Dean welcomed everybody and Professor Victor Merriman from Liverpool 
Hope University, gave a remarkable and inspiring keynote speech. Rod Cox guided people around the exhibition adding interesting personal anecdotal material to each painting. A team of volunteer stewards have watched over the paintings from 8am -6pm every day for the duration of the ten-day exhibition.

Hundreds of visitors have now viewed the exhibition. Their comments attest to being profoundly *moved and shocked by the children's paintings*. Photographs of the paintings in the setting of this magnificent cathedral, the largest cathedral in the UK, will be sent to the children in Gaza so that they can follow the progress of their artwork and know that people are seeing their truth: the truth of the assault. The exhibition has been booked by schools, colleges, conferences and hospitals in the UK where it will continue to do its invaluable work of reaching the hearts and minds of ordinary people.

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## Shades

Four injuries overnight in West Bank, arrests in Jerusalem, Palestinian police report	


06.10.09 - 11:57
Ramallah / PNN  *Four people were injured yesterday evening by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank.*

In a report on Israeli attacks issued by the Palestinian police it was stated that 19 year old Mohammad Khalid Shehda was admitted to Ramallah Hospital after being shot by a rubber-coated steel bullet in the left leg.

*Mustafa Imad Hijazi, a 20 year old resident of Abu Dis was hit in his left hand, also with a rubber-coated steel bullet.*

*Admitted to the Ramallah government hospital was an 18 year old with a broken jaw. Ahmed Mousa Mileihat had been attacked earlier in Jaba Village by invading Israeli troops.
*
*Further south in the West Bank, 55 year old Mohammed Mohammed Salhab Ahmidan was admitted to the Hebron Government Hospital after sustaining bruises during a beating by Israeli forces.*
*Israeli forces arrested three people, claiming all were wanted, while in East Jerusalems Shuaafat Refugee Camp, undercover forces nabbed seven young men after a day of clashes*
During further overnight raids of Hebron and Nablus in the West Bank, .

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## Shades

Palestinian who fled besieged Gaza to shop in Egypt remains in prison, human rights group appeals	


30.09.09 - 14:18
Gaza / PNN  After years of siege there came the few days that the border between Gaza and Egypt was broken open.

Thousands of trapped Palestinians fled, but not forever Most shopped and slept in the parks and beaches, smelled the air, before returning to the besieged Gaza Strip.

One of those men is Ayman Nofal. The Palestinian citizen of the Gaza Strip was arrested 27 January 2008 while attempting to return to Gaza. He had been shopping for his family.

Today the organization Friends of Humanity International issued a statement saying that it is deeply concerned at the Egyptian authorities continued detention Nofal. 

Although all other Palestinians arrested for crossing through the broken border, the Egyptian security authorities continue to refuse the release of Nofal.

He has been on hunger strike, has been exposed to physical and psychological torture, and has lost a substantial amount of weight without receiving adequate medical care.

The Palestinian currently sits in solitary confinement in a Cairo prison.

His wife and six children sent a joint appeal to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to garner his release. The family lives in the central Gaza Strips AL Bureij Refugee Camp.

It has been 20 months of prison for Nofal, which the Friends of Humanity refers to as an unjust detention while calling for an end to the violations of his human rights and for his immediate release.

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## Shades

The UN vote on the report into the war on Gaza has been postponed to March 2010 

The postponement of the UN Human Rights Council vote on the findings of Richard Goldstone's report into Israel's recent 22-day war on Gaza has raised many questions.
Sahar Francis, a Palestinian Israeli and a human rights lawyer who testified before the UN fact finding mission led by Goldstone, spoke to Al Jazeera about the move and its fallout.

Al Jazeera: On Friday, the Palestinian leadership backed moves to postpone a vote on the findings of Richard Goldstone's report. What does this decision mean for Palestinians?

Sahar Francis: It was such a disappointing step by the Palestinian Authority (PA). I think it is a very wrong move as Palestinians have been fighting for human rights for so long.

It's also very disappointing that whenever we come close to the position of ending [Israel's] immunity, politics comes in the way of implementing international law.

Why do you think the PA are denying that US pressure played a role in their decision to withdraw support for a resolution endorsing the report?

[PA officials] don't have any justification for their own people. It is really sad that we are at this point where the people have lost all their trust in the Palestinian leadership.

Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the UN, called Goldman's report "unbalanced" and "unacceptable". What are your thoughts on whether this report has any relevance or importance for the advancement of Palestinian rights?

IN DEPTH

 Video interview: Richard Goldstone
 Timeline: Gaza War
 Analysis: War crimes in Gaza?
 Goldstone's full report to the UN human rights council
 Key points of the Goldstone report
 UN inquiry finds Gaza war crimes
 'Half of Gaza war dead civilians'

We believed this time... we would put an end to Israel's...  long, long history of immunity. But unfortunately our very own leaders damaged the whole issue.

In the end, at the international level, any decision - even the most powerful legal document - is meaningless without the political will and support. In the end, international law is built on international relations and [the] balance of power between the different states.

This is first time in the history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that a commission headed by a person like Goldstone came to investigate war crimes. This was an opportunity to show the world that international law and human rights is for everyone and that there is no immunity for any perpetrator.

Unfortunately, like it happened in the [International Court of Justice's] ruling on the wall, and other decisions in the UN, when it comes to the Palestine-Israel conflict, Israeli leaders are always managing to get the political support needed to escape accountability.

PA sources said they wanted "unanimity" in the Human Rights Council on the report, and noted discussion on the matter would have a negative influence on peace negotiations. What does this mean?

It was very obvious that the US and Israel, in the name of peace, were actually trying to push the point that any kind of accountability measures against Israel will affect negotiations. But how can you reach peace without giving justice to the people?

This is the sad thing with Mr. Abbas, the Palestinian president. I don't think he accepts this position fully. I don't understand how he can reach for peace without justice. But this is politics. And as Palestinians, we are always on the weak side in the negotiations. This is the outcome.

The US announced that it will postpone any discussions over the Goldstone report for another six months until the next Human Rights Council meeting convenes in March 2010. Why do you think this report is being shelved?

I think by delaying the debate, they think people will forget, that nothing will come out of the report and no legal procedures will be taken.

As human rights activists, we should not accept this fact. We should keep doing our work to push the view of this report and try to use it in other ways. It is the individual's responsibility. 

By using universal jurisdiction we can take cases of personal victims from the war on Gaza to international courts. It won't be easy, but I believe people should make the change. It should come from the Palestinian people and their supporters all over the world who believe in our struggle, and that justice should come to Palestinians.

 Source:	 Al Jazeera

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## Shades

*Detention of Palestinian Children in Israeli Jails up to 74%* Date : 7/10/2009   Time : 00:38
RAMALLAH,  October 7, 2009 (WAFA)- According to the latest figures compiled by Defence for Children International/Palestine Section( DCIP-alestine) from sources i*ncluding the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) and temporary Israeli army detention facilities, the number of Palestinian children detained in Israeli prisons and detention centers inside Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory at the end of September, was 326*.

DCIP-alestine reported  that following the recent release of 20 female Palestinian prisoners in exchange for video footage of Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, there are now currently no Palestinian females in Israeli detention under the age of 18. On Friday, 2 October 2009, the remaining three girls were released.

*Table 1 - Number of Palestinian girls in Israeli detention at the end of each month since January 2008*

Month-2008/09
Jan-2/5
Feb-3/7
Mar-3/6
Apr-4/6
May-3/6
Jun-6/5
Jul-6/4
Aug-5/3
Sep-6/3
Oct-6/-
Nov-5/-
Dec-7/-

(note: these figures are not cumulative)

In September, the number of Palestinian children held in Israeli detention facilities fell to 326, the lowest figure this year, but which still represents a 7% increase compared with the corresponding period in 2008. *The monthly average number of Palestinian children held in Israeli detention in 2009 still remains high, at 370 per month, compared with 319 in 2008. This represents an increase of 16%.*

*Table 2 - Number of Palestinian children in Israeli detention at the end of each month since January 2008*

Month-2008/09
Jan-327/389
Feb-307/423
Mar-325/420
Apr-327/391
May-337/346
Jun-323/355
Jul-324/342
Aug-293/339
Sep-304/346
Oct-297/-
Nov-327/-
Dec-342/-
(note: these figures are not cumulative)

*DCIP-alestine said it continues to be deeply concerned by the high number of young children between the ages of 12 and 15 being detained. At the end of September 2009, 40 children in this age category were being held in Israeli detention facilities, compared with 23 children in September 2008. This represents an increase of 74%*.

As a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), Israel is legally bound to give effect to Article 37 which provides that 'the arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child ... shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time.'

Source: AJP

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## Shades

Excavations reported under Al-Aqsa mosque
Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:04:22 GMT

Al-Aqsa mosque is the third holiest site for Muslims.
Despite *Tel Aviv's 'security' excuses for its closure of the Al-Aqsa mosque, there are reports confirming Israeli archeological excavations under the holy compound*. 

Visiting members of The Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, who inspected the holy site Wednesday following rising tensions in the occupied East Jerusalem Al-Quds over the shut-down of the Al-Aqsa mosque, said that the Israeli teams are digging under the holy site. 

The committee has urged Israeli officials to explain the excavations. 

"*We want to know exactly where the excavations are being conducted and why they are being kept a secret*, said Sheikh Kamal Rayan, head of the Islamic Al-Aqsa Association. "*The Jews are laying the groundwork and building synagogues around the mosque and we are being kept in the dark. We are kept from entering Al-Aqsa, we are kept from observing our faith and customs.* 

He, reportedly, also urged the Israelis to exercise 'transparency', promising to resolve the tensions if he was assured that the holy site is not in danger. 

"*Show us our mosque is in no danger, Rayan said. Let's have a civilized dialogue. If Al-Aqsa is in no jeopardy I will call for unity and brotherhood*." 

Palestinians have repeatedly warned of attempts by Jewish hardliners to damage the holy site, known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif and to the Jews as the Temple Mount. 

HE/MB

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## Shades

PA betrayal put unity deal on hold: Hamas
Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:59:51 GMT
Font size :   


Hamas says Mahmoud Abbas' controversial decision to withdraw support for a motion that could result in the trial of Israeli war criminals, had a negative impact on reconciliation talks. 

The democratically-elected government of the Gaza Strip, Hamas, believes the Palestinian Authority has betrayed the victims of the three-week war by bowing to the pressure from the US and Israel. 

A source within the resistance movement said on Wednesday that Hamas has "asked Egypt to postpone the session for the signature of the agreement with the rival Fatah movement of Acting Palestinian Chief Mahmoud Abbas". 

The Islamic group had earlier announced readiness to sign an Egyptian-proposed reconciliation deal in October to settle differences with Fatah, which rules the West Bank. 

A spokesman for the resistance movement, Fawzi Barhum, has also said that "Hamas, Palestinian factions and Egyptian officials are continuing consultations over what consequences the withdrawal of support for the Goldstone report by the Palestinian Authority would have on the Palestinian reconciliation dialogue." 

Abbas' decision delayed a vote, which would send the report to the United Nations Security Council, which has the power to ask the International Criminal Court to open a criminal case against Israel. 

The report by a fact-finding mission, headed by international prosecutor Richard Goldston, accuses Israel of deliberately violating international humanitarian law and using disproportionate force during its "Operation Cast Lead" against the people of Gaza at the turn of the year. 

Some Hamas officials believe the controversial decision by the PA proves the allegations that Abbas' Western-backed government had cooperated with Tel Aviv during its deadly offensive on Gaza, which left nearly 1,400 Palestinians dead. 

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit has also criticized Mahmoud Abbas over the move, saying his decision shows that he does not care about unity among Palestinian factions. 

"I don't imagine that anyone who (seeks a delay) really strives for the unity of Palestinian national work", Abul Gheit said. 

Fatah and Hamas have been divided since 2007, when Hamas took control of Gaza. 

HE/MMN

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## Shades

Jordan urges UN to rein in Israel
Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:47:58 GMT

Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh
Jordan has called on the UN to immediately take steps in a bid to halt ongoing Israeli aggression in the al-Aqsa Mosque Compound in the occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds. 

During a meeting between Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh and UN Special Envoy to the Middle East Robert Serry, the country urged the UN to halt Israel's "violations" of al-Aqsa Mosque's sanctity, DPA reported on Wednesday. 

"Judeh underlined the importance of the UN role, particularly within the Middle East Quartet, and the need for all parties to shoulder their responsibilities by putting immediate pressure on Israel to stop its dangerous aggression and violations in East Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque," said an official statement. 

Jordan has reportedly sent an official to al-Aqsa Mosque as a move to foil a plan by Israeli troops to storm the holy site for the third time over the past couple of weeks. 

Judeh told the UN envoy that his government was in touch with Islamic and European states as well as the permanent members of the UN Security Council to end Israeli aggression in the site. 

Israel deployed thousands of troops in the area after it closed the Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound to Palestinians to allow a Jewish religious ceremony to be held in the compound. The closure of the site, however, caused clashes in the holy city. 

Under a peace treaty signed in 1994, Israel recognized Jordan's right to look after all Islamic and Christian holy sites in East Jerusalem al-Quds, which is considered by the United Nations as to be an occupied territory. 

Israel occupied East Jerusalem Al-Quds during the 1967 aggression and later annexed it. 

SB/RE

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## Shades

Likud tells Obama keep his hand off Israel
Wed, 07 Oct 2009 23:45:05 GMT


Members of Israel's Likud party say US President Barack Obama has no 'jurisdiction' to put pressure on the regime to halt construction work in the occupied Palestinian territories. 

Supporters of the right-wing faction held a demonstration in the northern West Bank on Wednesday to back the regime's settlement construction in the occupied territory. 

Some 3,000 members of Likud, as well as thousands of its supporters attended the rally, Haaretz reported. 

Samaria Regional Council leader Gershon Mesika, meanwhile, warned Obama that "Keep your hands off of Israel." 

Regarding the US calls for a freeze in the illegal construction in the West Bank, Mesika said "It is outside of your jurisdiction. (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu should stand rock solid to protect his country." 

Knesset member Danny Danon also passed on a message to the US president in a live interview on CNN and said Israel has no partner for peace. 

He claimed US pressure to halt settlement construction is causing problems for the Jews. 

Netanyahu had earlier reiterated that a complete settlement freeze which is expected by the Palestinians will never happen. 

SB/RE

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## Shades

UN Security Council meets on Gaza report
Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:02:25 GMT

The UN Security Council has met to consider a UN report by Richard Goldstone on the recent Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. 

After the meeting diplomats said that the UN report which blasts the Israeli operation in Gaza will be raised next week as part of a rescheduled Security Council debate on the Middle East. 

The compromise move by a divided council was agreed in closed-door consultations following a Libyan request, backed by Islamic and Non-Aligned countries, for "an emergency meeting" to consider the UN report. 

The Libyan request urged the council to debate the so-called Goldstone report because it reached "clear conclusions" that war crimes and crimes against humanity were "committed by the Israeli occupying forces against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip." 

"This report constitutes yet another record of crimes committed against our people under occupation and its serious recommendations are a significant contribution towards the pursuit of accountability and justice that must be seriously followed up," the Libyan request said. 

The Goldstone report charged the Israeli Army with war crimes and acts that amounted to crimes against humanity. 

It called on the Security Council to send the case to the International Criminal Court at The Hague. 

Israel and the United States have rejected the report as one-sided. ( Even though UN which is its creation and pet has delivered the report )

In Washington, the State Department on Wednesday again backed a delay in the Human Rights Council vote on the report. 

The Goldstone report was discussed by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva last month and the body was prepared to adopt a resolution condemning Israel. 

SG/RE

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## Shades

Humanitarian Magazine Shines Light on OPT Date : 7/10/2009   Time : 21:07
DUBAI, October 7, 2009  (WAFA) - The latest issue of Humanitarian Exchange, a monthly magazine for humanitarian practitioners, highlights 'the crisis of dignity' in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). A number of articles focus on the impact of the Israeli Wall and closure system,  said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)

'Locked in by a medieval siege whose enforcers decide what items will be allowed in and what people will eat, Gaza has become a 'humanitarian welfare society' supported by the international community,' Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in OPT, said in an article in the September issue.

At the same time, despite billions of dollars pledged at the Sharm El-Sheikh donor conference in March 2009, homes and schools cannot be repaired due to the ban on the entry of construction materials, Lazzarini said.

In another article, according to Ray Dolphin, a Wall specialist with OCHA OPT, if construction of the barrier goes ahead as planned, the rural hinterland will be cut off, further reducing Palestinian access to land and water resources.

Source: AJP

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## Shades

Why are American Jews abandoning Israel Date : 7/10/2009   Time : 15:39
 TEL AVIV, October 7, 2009 (WAFA) - Why are American Jews abandoning us? Why do American Jews hold Israel to a higher standard than they do any other country in the world - including the one they so proudly call home?  Wrote Jonathan D. Sarna, in Israeli daily Haaretz said.

He noted that as an American professor on sabbatical in Israel, he field questions like these on a regular basis. The 'waning American Jewish love affair with Israel ' - as the subtitle of Steven Rosenthal's 2001 book 'Irreconcilable Differences?' put it - is big news here.

So when the Hebrew Union College sociologist Steven M. Cohen warns of 'a growing distancing from Israel of American Jews... most pronounced among younger Jews,' Israelis take notice. Sarna added and well they should. When someone as passionate as Forward columnist Jay Michaelson, who speaks Hebrew and lived for a time in Jerusalem, writes, as he did in a recent essay, of his 'waning love of Israel,' they know that they face a problem.

He assured that the young Jews whom Cohen surveyed were almost entirely non-Orthodox. Michaelson and his social circle (where 'supporting Israel is like supporting segregation, apartheid or worse') are not Orthodox either. Young Jews who do identify as Orthodox - between 10% and 20% of their age cohort - generally support Israel ardently.

University researcher Ted Sasson reminded that young people have for years been more critical than their elders of Israel . Even decades ago, youthful organizations like the New Jewish Agenda and Breira dissented from Israel 's policies. Support for Israel , he argues, generally increases with age and experience.

For much of the 20 th century, the Israel of American Jews - the Zion that they imagined in their minds, wrote about and worked to realize - was a mythical Zion , a utopian extension of the American dream. Proponents conjured up a Zion that they described as a 'social commonwealth.' They conceived of it both as an 'outpost of democracy,' spreading America 's ideals eastward, and as a Jewish refuge where freedom, liberty and social justice would someday reign supreme.

Louis Brandeis said My generation of American Jews was raised to view the Zionist project through similarly rose-colored glasses. Now, though, that dream, which had more to do with the lofty visions of American Jews than with the sordid realities of the Middle East , lies shattered beyond repair. In place of the utopia that we had hoped Israel might become, young Jews today often view Israel through the eyes of contemporary media: They fixate upon its un loveliest warts.

Sarna commented Israelis who asked about the waning American Jewish love affair with Israel nod comprehendingly, they have seen many of their own Zionist dreams ground down by years of war. In both countries, the ardor of young love, with all of its unrealistic hopes and passions and dreams, has given way to middle-aged realities.

When the bloom falls off of young love, there are always those who announce that their relationship is in trouble and prepare for divorce. So it is today with too many American Jews and their 'waning love' for Israel . The deepest and most meaningful of relationships, however, survive disappointments. By focusing upon all that they nevertheless share in common, and all that they might yet accomplish together in the future, American Jews and Israelis can move past this crisis in their relationship and settle in, as partners, for the long haul ahead.
Source: AJP

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## Shades

Israeli High Scholars Choose Jail over Occupation Army Service Date : 7/10/2009   Time : 15:38
TEL AVIV, October 7, 2009 (WAFA)-  A growing number of Israeli Jewish youth facing mandatory military conscription -- the Shministim -- are breaking the chain of conventional cooperation with the occupation. Refusing to participate in a system they agree to be immoral as well as illegal, these young people exemplify complicity with their ethical values rather than their state's colonialist policies. The rebel news said.


The Shministim have also started linking up with American military resisters to strategize and build an international movement of opposition to the state-sponsored violence of occupation -- from the West Bank and Gaza to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Since 1970, groups of Shministim -- Hebrew for 12th-graders -- have emerged, turning against the overwhelming current of generational militarism. Writing public letters to Israeli heads of state, Shministim cohorts refuse to participate in the system of occupation, and, more broadly, vociferously challenge a national attitude of supremacy and racist entitlement over historic Palestine's indigenous population.

After witnessing brutal violence carried out by Israeli occupation soldiers against Palestinians in the West Bank village of Bilin, 19-year-old Shministim member Maya Wind says that 'the only moral option for me was to refuse.'

Not surprisingly, the Israeli government does not concur with Wind's revelation. Shministim refuseniks face draconian jail sentences in repeated cycles until they reach 21 years old or manage to secure a discharge on the basis of medical or mental health.
Israeli youth who refuse to cooperate with Israel's military occupation are sent into a lengthy and relentless labyrinth of court martials and consecutive jail terms in what Israeli lawyer Michael Sfard, representing Shministim, calls a 'price tag' meant to deter other young Israelis from non-participation. 'Otherwise,' he says, '[the Israeli government's] argument says, everyone -- of ideological or personal reasons -- will refuse to serve.'

Wind said that the political and ultra-religious environment in her high school led her to question the reality behind the ideologies of her government and her fellow students. 'A lot of my classmates were settlers, including extremists from [settlements in] the West Bank ... there were a lot of questions that surfaced for me. I didn't even use the word 'occupation' back then.' Through a discussion group with Palestinians in Jerusalem, Wind said that she awakened to a different reality than the one offered to her inside Israeli-Jewish society. 'I figured I needed to learn more. Through a conversation with a Palestinian girl, I started to question more. I started going to the West Bank.'

Wind was sent to jail during the third week of the Gaza massacres, and spent several weeks behind bars. Sentenced four times, she spent a cumulative two months in detention and another 42 days in a military prison altogether. She was subjected to a 'humiliating' array of psychiatrists and psychologists sent by the military to determine her mental fitness, required to serve in the army. Wind says that all of the Shministim were labeled mentally unfit by these health professionals, therefore giving Israel the excuse that the problem was not with the policies or the morality of the military, but with the Shministim themselves.

Netta Mishly, also 19 years old and from Tel Aviv, was active in several political groups from early adolescence and supported by parents who encouraged her to think critically. She said that her decision to refuse was made clear during her activity against Israel's wall in the West Bank. 'After I was there, and I saw how the soldiers attack civilians without any security justification, after I saw how the state steals land from [Palestinians] For me, not going to the army was a decision I came to after visiting the West Bank for the first time.'

She said that her life changed completely after returning to school. 'I kept hearing the same line [in class] that we need to defend ourselves, and we need to go to the army. I couldn't believe this anymore because I saw how the soldiers act on the ground. I connected with other activists and we started thinking about how we were going to take this difficult step, and we decided to keep working in the same tradition that started before us. We drafted a letter to the government, saying that we wouldn't take part in the terrible crimes that Israel is doing in our name. After that, one by one, each one of us went to jail.'

Mishly was sentenced to a week in detention at the military base because there was 'no room' in the regular prison (during the December-January attacks on Gaza, hundreds of Palestinian citizens of Israel who participated in protests were rounded up and thrown into Israeli jails, on charges of treason and incitement). After the trial, one of the highest-ranking Israeli military decided they could re-try Mishly and she received another 20 days. 'When you make the decision not to go to the army, you don't know where [the punishment] is going to end,' she said

Maya Wind offered her declaration of conscience to the military court. 'We can no longer term our military a 'Defense Force,'' she asserted. 'A defense force does not conquer lands of another people. A defense force does not assist in the building of settlements on those lands. A defense force does not permit settlers to throw stones at Palestinian civilians, nor does it deny them access to their lands and source of livelihood. None of these are acts of a defense force.'

 Maya added 'The occupation has no defensive advantages. On the contrary, the pointless occupation of millions of people only leads to radicalization of opinions, hatred and the escalation of violence. Violence is a cycle that feeds into itself. This cycle will not stop until someone stands up and refuses uncompromisingly to take part in it. This is what I am doing today.'

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## Shades

'Israel not after real peace with Palestine'
Thu, 08 Oct 2009 06:11:46 GMT

Lieberman has been urged to employ a zero tolerance policy for instances of anti-Semitism.
The I*sraeli Foreign Ministry's documents suggest Tel Aviv is not after a real peace deal but rather a shelter from international frustration and Palestinian armed response.* 

*An unapproved document outlining Israel's future foreign policy states that the government should not attempt to reach a permanent settlement with the Palestinians but should focus instead on a temporary accord to prevent US and European frustration*. 

The draft, handed to Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Wednesday, was composed by Naor Gilon, Lieberman's former counselor for political affairs, and is scheduled to be presented before the ministry's directorate within the coming days in order to be approved as Israel's official foreign policy. 

Gilon argues that 'the attempt at imposing a settlement with the Palestinians has failed in the past', warning that future attempts would lead to more disappointment on the part of Israel's Western allies and a harsh Palestinian response. 

"We need a realistic attitude - *the arrival at a temporary accord without dealing with the core issues. This is the maximum that can be achieved*, if we want to be realistic," Ynet news website quoted the document as saying. 

It also advises Lieberman to reestablish ties with African, Latin American, Balkan, Asian, and moderate Arab nations, countries which Israel has abandoned for many years. 

Gilon has also urged Lieberman to employ a zero tolerance policy for instances of anti-Semitism and international isolation, *suggesting that Israel should focus on environmental and economic issues in order to improve its global image*. 

*Israel turns to face-saving measures amid mounting challenges it faces from the international community over war crimes committed during Tel Aviv's 23-day military onslaught against the Gaza Strip, which left more than 1,400 people  mostly civilians  killed.* 

Tel Aviv's Western allies are also pushing for a freeze on its illegal settlement construction activity in the occupied West Bank to pave the way for resuming long-stalled peace talks with Palestinians. 

MRS/AKM

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## Shades

Israeli's bid to buy Al-Jazeera from Qatar
Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:16:21 GMT

Haim Saban
*An Israeli media tycoon has offered to buy the pan-Arab Al-Jazeera satellite television network from the government of Qatar.* 

*Haim Saban, has submitted an offer to the Qatari government in a bid to purchase half of the Doha -based Al-Jazeera satellite network*. 

The Egyptian newspaper al-Mesryoon reported Wednesday that the Israeli billionaire is currently engaged in negotiations with Qatar's emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, over the partial purchase of the media outlet. The talks are said to be conducted through an Egyptian mediator. 

The account comes amid reports that the largest and most controversial Arab news channel in the Middle East is grappling with a terrible financial crisis at present. Saban had previously made an offer to purchase al-Jazeera in 2004, but it was turned down. 

The Israeli-American magnate has supposedly made an offer of $5 billion for the popular Arabic-language news channel, in an attempt to get a hold of it and to broadcast a pro-Israeli message so as *to influence the Arab opinion in favor of Tel Aviv's hawkish regime*. 

Al-Jazeera spawned a media revolution in the Arab world after it was founded in 1996. The network is reliant on state financial largesse, estimated at over $70 million a year, but does not broadcast shows critical of the Qatari government. Al-Jazeera, however, does air programs leveling criticism at all other Arab governments. 

Seban made his fortune by buying the rights to market the Japanese kids show, The Power Rangers, in America. *He is a prominent supporter of Israel and the right-wing Netanyahu government*. In addition, the Egyptian-born Jewish businessman is well known for his under-the-table dealings. 

MP/MB

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## Shades

Countdown begins for Israeli-US war games
Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:33:06 GMT
Font size :   

A THAAD missile
Israel and the US will hold their biggest joint air-defense exercise, dubbed Juniper Cobra, to test their missile interceptors. 

The exercise will test three different anti-missile systems, including an upgraded version of Israel's Arrow interceptor, as well as two American-made anti-missile systems, namely the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and the ship-based Aegis combat system. 

Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, chief of the US Navy's Sixth Fleet will oversee the exercise, which will begin next week. He will be the most senior American officer to be involved in the biennial event, Reuters reported on Thursday. 

The war games, which will start on October 12 and run through October 16, have been described as a routine military exercise. 

"This exercise is not related to or in response to any world events," the US embassy in Tel Aviv said in a statement. 

American forces taking part will include 17 ships and ground personnel operating the Aegis and THAAD missile interceptors, an Israeli official said. 

MGH/MMN

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## Shades

*UN 'concerned' over Israeli aggression at Al-Aqsa*
Thu, 08 Oct 2009 23:58:46 GMT

Palestinian Muslims praying in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound *The United Nations has expressed concerns over the situation at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem (Al-Quds), caused by ongoing Israeli aggression.* 

The UN's special Middle East coordinator, Robert Serry, said on Thursday that he was in contact with all sides "in an effort to defuse tensions." 

*Israel deployed thousands of troops in the area after it closed the Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound to Palestinians in a bid to allow a Jewish religious ceremony to be held in the compound*. 

"*Incitement from any quarter regarding holy sites, as well as provocative actions in East Jerusalem (Al-Quds), do not serve the sanctity of the city or the cause of peace, and must stop*," he added. 

"UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon has been very concerned at the recent clashes in Jerusalem (Al-Quds)," Serry said in a statement following a visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound. 

The UN envoy said that all parties involved have expressed their desire to see calm restored, adding that he hopes to see practical steps taken in this regard. "We cannot allow a further outbreak of violence or let extremists set the agenda," he said. 

"The way forward is for the parties to implement their Roadmap commitments and resume final status negotiations on the basis of the 1967 lines on all core issues, including Jerusalem (Al-Quds), in the framework of UN Security Council resolutions and previous agreements," Serry said. 

"Only this offers a route to lasting peace for both peoples and this holy city," he concluded. 

FTP/MMN

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## Shades

Palestinians to hold support rally at al-Aqsa
Fri, 09 Oct 2009 07:33:47 GMT

Al-Aqsa Mosque
Palestinian factions have called for a demonstration at the al-Aqsa Mosque and staging a general strike and protests throughout the nation *to condemn the desecration of the holy site by Israelis.* 

The Islamic Resistance Movement of Hamas declared Friday as a Day of Rage and urged mass attendance of Friday prayers as well as a rally at the Muslims' cared shrine in response to the recent Israeli blasphemy. 

Fatah Central Committee, the movement's highest governing body, has meanwhile demanded a general strike calling for Palestinians' 'steadfastness and determination' to keep hold of their holy sites. 

The committee also called for peaceful demonstrations that would show al-Quds (Jerusalem) is Palestinians' 'eternal capital' and the future seat of government in an independent state. 

*Clashes erupted early last Sunday after a group of Jewish radicals broke into the yard of al-Aqsa Mosque an attacked Palestinians . About 16 Palestinians were injured in the clashes, according to media reports.* 

The incident made the Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, express disapproval over the incursion by Israeli extremists. He called upon the international community to exert pressure on Israel and force it to halt such flagrant violations. 

Hamas official Mushir al-Masri in addition said the injury of several Palestinians in clashes with Israeli extremists who broke into the yard of al-Aqsa mosque was 'the fruit of the tripartite meeting' in Washington between acting Palestinian Authority chief, Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama. 

Last Monday, *demonstrators in Amman set the Israeli flag on fire and called on the government officials to sever diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv in reaction to Israeli soldiers' breaking into the Muslim sacred shrine*. 

Dozens of trade unionists and politicians meanwhile staged a sit-in in front of the headquarters of Jordan's Professional Association Council. *Protesters held banners reading, "Our blood is shed for you, our souls are sacrificed for your sanctity. We swear to you, Aqsa, that we will never forget you".* 

Muslims consider the trespass into the al-Aqsa Mosque yard as part of a Judaization campaign that targets the holy city of al-Quds and a provocation of Muslim feelings. 

MP/DT

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## Shades

AL condemns Israeli attack on al-Aqsa Mosque
Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:44:11 GMT
Font size :   

Arab League is a pan-Arab organization of independent Arab states.
The Arab League has convened an emergency meeting in condemnation of the brutal aggression on al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli military forces as well as escalating tension in a-Quds. 

"The (Thursday) meeting, chaired by Syria, focused on the Israeli violations of al-Aqsa Mosque," Vice Secretary General of the league Ambassador Ahmad Bin Hilli told reporters in Cairo, Egypt. 

The League's deputy secretary general went on to note that the assembly also sought to devise an Arab action plan to fend al-Quds off Israel's serious and oppressive practices and prevent desecration of al-Aqsa Mosque. 

The council condemned Israeli siege imposed on al-Quds and al-Aqsa Mosque and the policy of systematic ethnic cleansing pursued by Israeli authorities against the Palestinians. 

It called upon international organizations to move on and mobilize international public opinion to end Israeli violations and destruction activities of Islamic and Christian sanctities. 

The Arab group moreover demanded an urgent UN session to inspect the situation and take necessary procedures to stop the Israeli practices and protect Palestinian people's rights to their sacred land. 

"Arab League also discussed available avenues to pressure Israel to freeze construction of housing units in illegal Jewish settlements across the occupied Palestinian territories," Hilli highlighted. 

Tensions flared after Israeli police allowed Jewish extremists to enter the grounds of al-Aqsa Mosque last Sunday and then shielded them from attack by Palestinians defending the sacred place. After the eviction of the settlers by Muslim worshipers, the occupation forces turned on the crowds. About 16 Palestinians and several Israeli police were injured in the clashes. 

MP/DT

----------


## Shades

*EU supports Goldstone report, upsets Israel*
Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:11:30 GMT

*The European Union has come out in support of the UN report which accuses Israel of war crimes as well as possible crimes against humanity during the weeks-long onslaught on the Gaza Strip*. 

"I*t is worthy of consideration needless to say, I think Mr. Goldstone is a person of high credibility and high integrity and accordingly his report carries weight," the Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt told reporters in Stockholm.* 

Bildt -- whose country holds the EU presidency -- added, "*It is now in the Human Rights Council (based in Geneva) and that's where we think it should be deliberated, it is an independent report,"* 

A United Nations inquiry led by former South African Judge Richard Goldstone detailed what investigators called Israeli actions "amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity," during Israel's winter offensive against Gazans. 

The 575-page report by Goldstone and three other investigators asserts *seven incidents in which Palestinian civilians were shot while leaving their homes, trying to run for safety or waving white flags. The report says Israel targeted a mosque at prayer time, killing 15 people, and shelled a Gaza City house where soldiers had forced Palestinian civilians to assemble.* These attacks constituted war crimes, the report says. 

The probe also found Israel violated international humanitarian law in several ways. *Dozens of Palestinian policemen were killed at the start of Gaza onslaught when Israel bombed their stations. The security agents were not involved in hostilities and should have been treated as civilians. Palestinians in addition were forced to walk ahead of Israeli soldiers searching civilian neighborhoods*. 

Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor has branded the investigation as not an independent or professional, but a collection of claims brought forward by Hamas to the members of the UN fact-finding mission. 

More than 1,500 Palestinians mostly women and children were killed during three weeks of Israel's land, sea and air assault, Operation Cast Lead , in the impoverished coastal sliver. The offensive also inflicted $ 1.6 billion damage to Gaza economy. 

MP/DT

----------


## Shades

Israeli soldiers, Palestinians clash on 'day of rage'
Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:56:12 GMT


*Israeli forces resort to tear gas and use of force to disperse scores of Palestinians gathered in Jerusalem Al-Quds in defense of their holy Al-Aqsa mosque*. 

*Palestinian worshippers, who were denied access to Al-Aqsa mosque, thronged in the Ras al-Amud neighborhood just outside the gates of the Old City after the weekly Friday prayers in protest at threats posed to the Muslims' third holy site by right-wing Israelis*. 

The *demonstration came amid tightened security and deployment of thousands of Israeli security forces to the city to prevent Muslims from entering to the holy site*. 

*Israeli forces clashed with the protesters, as stone-hurling Palestinian youths responded to the soldiers, who fired tear gas to disperse the crowd and arrested two Palestinians*. 

*Chasing the masked youths deeper into the neighborhood, Israeli forces found themselves beset from all sides by residents who threw stones, water and even chairs at them*. 

In the Gaza Strip, thousands of people on Friday took part in demonstrations called by leaders of the Islamic Hamas and the Islamic Jihad movements who had called for "a day of rage in Gaza and the West Bank." 

The call was echoed in the West Bank by the central committee of the Palestinian Fatah movement, urging Palestinians to stage a peaceful protest to proclaim their "attachment to their holy places and to Jerusalem Al-Quds as the eternal capital of the independent Palestinian state." 

The *Fatah-run Palestinian Authority accused Tel Aviv of allowing ultra right Jewish extremists to enter the mosque compound, while denying access to Muslims, calling on the United Nations to intervene and prevent Israel from imposing provocative measures*. 

MRS/MMN

----------


## Shades

Obama envoy in Israel as peace hopes fade
Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:51:32 GMT

Mitchell returns to Jerusalem Al-Quds to meet Israeli and Palestinian officials over frozen peace talks.

Special US Mideast envoy George Mitchell is back in Jerusalem Al-Quds as the Obama administration tries to revive the long-stalled peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel, whose foreign minister says a peace deal is an "illusion." 

Mitchell held talks with Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday and is scheduled to visit acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas later in the West Bank. 

Netanyahu described the two-hour meeting with the US envoy as "constructive" and said he was committed to "steps for advancing the peace process." 

He also agreed to continue the talks in the coming days, while Mitchell and his aides expect to meet a team of Netanyahu representatives on Saturday. 

The meeting, which Mitchell refused to make any comments on, was preceded by remarks by Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman who on Thursday scoffed at those who think Israel and the Palestinians can reach a deal. 

"[They] do not understand reality and are sowing illusions," he told Israel Radio. "We have to be realistic  we will not be able to reach agreement on core and emotional subjects like Jerusalem [Al-Quds] and the right of return (of Palestinian refugees)." 

*Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama seems to be losing patience with Israel, whose refusal to halt illegal settlement construction on occupied Palestinian territories* has sent Mitchell shuttling between Abbas and Netanyahu seeking a compromise on the issue. 

The US leader says he has made resumption of substantive peace negotiations one of his policy priorities, telling the UN General Assembly last month that it was "past time to stop talking about negotiations." 

"It is time to move forward," he stressed. 

MRS/MD

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## Shades

Israel shuts Gaza crossings, bombs tunnels
Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:12:49 GMT

*Israel shuts down all crossings into the Gaza Strip without prior notice, as its warplanes sever more Palestinian tunnels on the Rafah border with Egypt.* 

The crossings were scheduled to receive goods as of Thursday, when one crossing was operating, but the portals were locked down on Friday, Ma'an news agency quoted Palestinian crossings official Raed Fattouh as saying. 

Fattouh said Israeli authorities did not communicate any reasons for the closure. 

The impoverished Gaza Strip has long been under a crippling Israeli siege since the democratically-elected Hamas government refused to give in to a coup by the US-backed Fatah party in June 2007, limiting its rule to the coastal enclave. 

*Israel refuses to lift the blockade despite repeated calls by human rights organizations and the international community against the 'collective punishment'* imposed on the populated sliver, which is home to some 1.5 million Palestinians. 

The siege has p*ushed Gaza to the verge of starvation with effectively half of its population depending on food aid handouts, and food and fuel smuggled into the beleaguered territory through a net of underground tunnels, often referred to as Gaza feeding tubes, on the Egyptian border*. 

The Israeli army regularly targets the tunnels, claiming the passages are used for providing arms to the Palestinian resistance fighters, who usually fire projectiles into northern Israeli towns. *Palestinian fighters say that the rocket-firing is in retaliation to the crippling siege.* 

In the latest attacks on the Gaza feeding tubes, Israeli F-16 warplanes bombarded the tunnels in the southern city of Rafah early on Friday. There was no report of casualties from the Friday airstrike. 

MRS/MMN

----------


## Shades

P*alestinians call for UN debate on Israeli crimes*
Sat, 10 Oct 2009 03:07:05 GMT


Palestinian diplomats in Geneva are seeking to bring forth a UN Human Rights Council debate on Israeli war crimes as the occupying regime resorts to new violence against Palestinians in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound. 

Ibrahim Khraishi, the Palestinian Authority's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, said on Friday that Israel's violence against Palestinians in Al-Aqsa mosque compound has prompted the group to ask for an urgent meeting on the regime's war crimes committed during the 22-day war in Gaza last year, AP reported. 

Last week, the Palestinian Authority agreed to delay debating a UN report on Israeli war crimes until March, over concerns that going ahead now could harm the fragile Middle East peace process. 

The report by a team of experts led by the former South African judge, Richard Goldstone, said Israel used disproportionate force and failed to protect civilians during its December 27 - January 18 offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza. 

The decision however led to street protests by the Palestinians and condemnation across the Arab world. 

"*We deferred, so we were expecting that the Israelis should respect in some way human rights, but this act of aggression against people, against the human rights and humanitarian law, is unbelievable*," Khraishi said. 

*The regime, however, resorted to a new violence against the Palestinians since last week*. 

It triggered violent clashes in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound after closing the holy site to Palestinians and deploying thousands of troops in Jerusalem's Old City to allow the holding of a Jewish religious ceremony at the site. 


SB/MB

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## Shades

PCHR: IOF Injured Palestinian child and Israeli HR Defender Date : 8/10/2009   Time : 15:27
GAZA, October 8, 2009 (WAFA)- *One Palestinian child and one Israeli human rights defender were wounded by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and 46 Palestinian citizens were arrested in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), in the period between October 1-7, 2009, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) weekly report published Thursday*.

In its report, the PCHR added that *IOF used force against peaceful demonstrations* organized to protest the construction of the Israeli Apartheid Wall in the West Bank.

*IOF conducted 23 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and one into the Gaza Strip, in which 46 Palestinian citizens, including 5 children, were arrested in the West Bank*.

*Israeli naval troops continued to attack Palestinian fishermen and boats in the Gaza Strip, while IOF have continued air strikes against civilian targets in the Gaza Strip, in which a marble factory and an iron warehouse in Gaza City were destroyed*.

*IOF have continued to impose a total closure on the OPT and have isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world, while it has continued measures aimed at establishing a Jewish majority in Occupied East Jerusalem*.

Israeli troops have maintained a tightened siege on Al-Aqsa Mosque, threatening to storm it and arrested dozens of Palestinian civilians in the city.

IOF has continued colonization activities in the West Bank and Jewish colonizers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property, and started to construct new housing units for Jewish colonizers in the Jabal al-Mukabber area in Jerusalem. At the same time, *Jewish colonizers uprooted at least 50 olive trees in the west of Ramallah.*

----------


## Shades

RAMALLAH, October 9, 2009 (WAFA)- *15 people were wounded in the weekly demonstration against the Apartheid Wall in the West Bank village Nilin west of Ramallah*.

*After the prayer in the olive groves, around 200 protesters, citizens international and Israeli solidarity activists, a participated in the demonstration against the Wall Israeli authorities have built on the village land. The protesters carried banners and signs condemning the attacks on the Al Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem and expressing their solidarity.*

Protesters surprised the army by changing the regular location of the protest. This way, the protesters arrived at the Wall before the army did and managed to cut through a big part of the Wall.

As the demo went on the protesters moved to one of the areas that full of walls and sensors, shooting of the new tear gas canisters continued from the occupation forces, they meant to hurt by shooting directly the youth who are throwing stones. the youth challenged the occupation forces and reached to close distance to the Walls in some places it was only one meter, the angry youth who started their demo for their capital they cut the walls and electronic cables that connect the sensors and it happened for the second time in the demo, stones hit the jeeps and the cans of the paints colored the jeeps.

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## Shades

Palestinians to Plant Trees in Response to Nearby Settlement Expansion Date : 9/10/2009   Time : 19:20
HEBRON, October 9, 2009 (WAFA)- On Saturday 10 October 2009, Palestinian residents of the South Hebron Hills area will plant trees on privately owned Palestinian land in a valley near the expanding Jewish settlement of Maon. 

A media advisory of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) said the action will begin at 9 am, and participants in the action will leave from At-Tuwani to walk to a nearby field in order to plant trees and work the land.

This will be the second action of its kind in the last two weeks.  Last Saturday, 3 October, villagers planted fruit-yielding cacti in the same valley.

It will take place in response to the further encroachment of Maon on Palestinian land.  In recent weeks, workers have been expanding the Maon.  Throughout September, at least six additional mobile homes were erected and work continues daily to prepare more land for additional settlement  expansion.  This is in addition to fields previously confiscated by Maon.

This is the latest of documented settlement expansion in the South Hebron Hills area.  Expansion continues in the illegal settlements and outposts of Karmel, Suseya, Havat Maon, and Avigail, expropriating and denying Palestinians access to ever greater tracts of their land.

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## Shades

King of Jordan Says Unilateral Action Could Ignite Jerusalem Tinderbox Date : 9/10/2009   Time : 21:23
AMMAN, October 9, 2009 (WAFA)-  *King Abdullah II of Jordan demanded Israel to stop all unilateral actions that threaten holy sites in Jerusalem and the identity of the holy city*.

He warned that *such actions threaten to destabilize not only Israel's relationship with Jordan, which has a special concern and role in Jerusalem that is recognized in the peace treaty, but will also create a tinderbox that will be a major flashpoint throughout the Islamic world.*

In an interview published Friday in  the Israeli daily Haaretz,  King Abdullah said that he had emphasized the sensitivity and sanctity of Jerusalem with every Israeli prime minister, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the American Administration. *The holy city should be a symbol of coexistence among the three monotheistic religions, stressing  the need to end settlement activities*.

When asked whether he supports building a wall in Jerusalem, *King Abdullah said he did not believe in walls and that walls eventually come down*, adding the status quo cannot be perpetuated, because 'we are sliding back into the darkness.'

He said it was difficult to be hopeful for the regions future without a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as part of a comprehensive settlement between the Arab states and Israel.

'Because if there is no two-state solution, what future do we all have together? Show me the future of Israel 10 years from now. Where do you want Israel to be vis-à -vis its relationship with Jordan and other Arab countries?' he asked.

Israel should decide if it is going to be fortress Israel or is it going to be part of the neighborhood, he added.

Zhen the King was asked about Jordanian-Israeli ties, 15 years after the signing of the peace treaty between the two countries, he recalled the atmosphere that prevailed in 1994 and the promise of peace, saying that 'our relationship is getting colder.

He attributed the gap between the two countries to the failure to achieve comprehensive peace and to realize a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

----------


## Shades

*Tony Blair's niece begins epic cycle for peace	*


09.10.09 - 21:06
Siraj Center, Beit Sahour / George S. Rishmawi - C*yclists from across the world will today arrive in Amman to take part in the 4th international Peace Cycle to Jerusalem*.

*Among the group are Lauren Booth, sister-in-law of Tony Blair, and her daughter Alexandra*.

*As ex-PM Blair becomes favorite for first President of Europe, his 8-year old niece will take a fortnight off school to cycle through the occupied Palestinian territories*.

*She will stay with Palestinian families and learn what life is like under Israeli occupation*.

Mr Blair has not publicly commented on his niece's planned trip, which will take her to a refugee camp in Amman, home to Palestinian families made homeless in 1948, and unrecognized Arab villages within Israel.

Then, together with her mother and people from six countries, Alex will cycle the length of the West Bank where travel is severely restricted due to Israeli checkpoints, road blocks, curfews and closures.

*Journalist Lauren Booth says the Peace Cycle is a chance for Alex to express her friendship and hopes for peace with her Arab, Palestinian peers*.

*She said: The question I have always been asked on previous trips to Gaza and the West Bank is: when can we meet your children? I have no doubt that Alex's presence will lift morale both for those cycling and, more importantly, for the families cut off from the world's children by walls and checkpoints*.

As well as hoping to raise awareness of the issues around the conflict in Israel and the Palestinian territories, and calling for a just peace in the region, the Peace Cyclists are raising funds to support the establishment of a mobile eye clinic in the occupied territories.

The project is called Oyooni, Arabic for My Eyes, and *will enable Palestinians with diabetes and glaucoma to receive treatment they otherwise can not obtain because of restricted movement in the Palestinian territory.*

----------


## Shades

Haniya urges support for Al-Aqsa Mosque
Sat, 10 Oct 2009 09:49:35 GMT

*Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya has called on Islamic nations to support Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem (Al-Quds)*. 

*Islamic nations should fulfill their moral and religious duties to support Al-Aqsa Mosque*, Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) quoted Haniya as saying after the Friday prayers. 

*The real Al-Aqsa Mosque fight has started and Arab and Islamic nations should feel responsible for what's going on*, he added. 

*They (Islamic nations) shouldn't leave the Palestinians and Al-Aqsa Mosque alone*, he explained. 

Haniya further pointed out that *what's happening in Jerusalem (Al-Quds) is beyond all dangers normally facing the Palestinians*. 

*We will never neglect Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem (Al-Quds) and will sacrifice our lives and wealth to safeguard the holy place*, he asserted. 

*Tensions flared after Israeli police allowed Jewish extremists to enter the grounds of al-Aqsa Mosque last Sunday and then shielded them during their fights with Palestinians defending the sacred place*. 

*After the eviction of the settlers by Muslim worshipers, the occupation forces turned on the crowds. About 16 Palestinians and several Israeli police were injured in the clashes.* 

Commenting on , the US President Barack Obama's wining Nobel Peace Prize the premier said the move would be meaningless unless real and deep-rooted changes were made in American policy toward recognizing the rights of the Palestinian people. 

"We are in need of actions, not sayings," Haniya said. "If there is no fundamental and true change in American policies toward the acknowledgment of the rights of the Palestinian people, I think this prize won't move us forward or backward." 

HRF/TG/DT

----------


## Shades

25 lawmakers still held in Israeli prisons
Sun, 11 Oct 2009 02:23:57 GMT

*The Palestinian ministry for prisoners' affairs says at least 25 lawmakers along with two former ministers are still being held in Israeli prisons under appalling conditions*. 

According to a press release published on Saturday, the highest number of detainees were from al-Khalil, 10, followed by Ramallah, 6, Al-Quds, 4, Bethlehem, 3, and one prisoner from the occupied West Bank towns of Nablus and Ariha (Jericho) each. 

The *ministry, meanwhile, lashed out at the Palestinian Authority (PA), and the Arab and western parliaments for not doing enough to stop the trend*. 

"There is no real action on the part of all those parties toward resolving this issue and releasing the MPs," the prisoners' affairs ministry said in a statement. 

The Israeli army regularly arrests Palestinians during overnight operations in West Bank towns. The *detentions are in flagrant violation of a security agreement with the Palestinian National Authority*. 

*More than 11,500 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently imprisoned in Israeli detention facilities, suffering harsh and life-threatening conditions.* 

MP/SS/MMN

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## Shades

*HRW: Stop Blocking School Supplies from Entering Gaza* Date : 10/10/2009   Time : 22:51
JERUSALEM, October 10, 2009 (WAFA) - Israeli authorities should immediately lift restrictions that have left *students in Gaza's public schools without textbooks and the most basic school supplies, such as notebooks and pens, Human Rights Watch* (HRW) said. Israel severely limits imports into Gaza of a wide variety of basic goods, from food to construction materials.

In a press release, HRW revealed  that more than a month into the school year, the Israeli restrictions have caused severe shortages that leave students unable to afford supplies such as notebooks. *Students are obliged to share or take turns studying from used textbooks and workbooks. Some did not receive any books for this year's classes. Supplies smuggled through tunnels underneath Gaza's southern border with Egypt have failed to make up for the shortages caused by Israel's arbitrary restrictions on imports of educational materials*.

'*Israel's blockade affects every aspect of life in Gaza, and is even preventing students from having basic school supplies,' said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at HRW. 'What possible justification can there be for blocking school supplies, which effectively deprives children of their right to an education?'*

Riyadh Lubbad, a principal at al-Karmel secondary school in Gaza City, told Human Rights Watch, '*Some books from the curriculum were not printed due to the lack of ink and paper. It is particularly bad for history, geography, and English-language classes*.'

Salim Ayoub, an *11th-grade student at al-Karmel, said, 'In our English class we have one book for every two students. When I get the workbook [with exercises] my classmate has the textbook, and we exchange them. Our class was lucky. Other English classes don't have books at all.'*

Ayoub said that students cannot afford notebooks: *'There were no notebooks at all in the market at the beginning of school. Later, I found notebooks that came from the tunnels [from Egypt] but they were expensive. You're supposed to have three notebooks per subject, but I bought one or two.'*

Another 11th-grade student at al-Karmel, Mohamed Abu Karsh, said, 'The curriculum needs about 20 notebooks. I only could afford to buy 10.'

According to the United Nations, the armed *conflict in Gaza last December and January destroyed 18 of Gaza's 641 schools, with a total of more than 440,000 students, and damaged 280 others. Because Israel has barred almost all shipments of construction materials, damaged schools have not been rebuilt or repaired, and 15,000 students whose schools were damaged during the war have been transferred to other schools. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) also had to cancel plans to build new schools because of the lack of construction materials*.

Article 50 of the Fourth Geneva Convention concerning occupied territories requires the occupying power to 'facilitate the proper working of all institutions devoted to the care and education of children.'

Falah Lubbad is one of 20 or 30 Gaza importers who deal with stationery. 'I used to get notebooks from a factory in Hebron, but we can't import from the West Bank now,' he told Human Rights Watch. *Notebooks smuggled from Egypt cost 70 percent more to import, he said, making them unaffordable for many students. 'I didn't try to import through the tunnels because the notebooks are too expensive and poor quality, and many are torn when they arrive. I'm also out of pens, erasers, and stationery for university students.'* Lubbad said he was paying storage fees for 15 truckloads of stationery in Israel that had not been granted approval to enter Gaza; eight of the truckloads had been held up since September 2008.

Israel has allowed only two truckloads of stationery to enter Gaza in 2009, while nearly 120 truckloads of stationery were waiting for Israeli clearance to enter as of August 25, according to the UN's IRIN news agency. When the current school year began in late August, IRIN reported, *public and private schools serving more than 240,000 students in Gaza lacked education materials. UNRWA schools have an additional 207,250 students*.

Khaled Raddi, a spokesman for the Hamas education ministry, told Human Rights Watch that Gaza's schools faced a 'severe shortage' of stationery, ink, and paper. *UNRWA has been unable to print 10 percent of required textbooks because Israel has not approved the necessary ink and paper imports, Aidan O'Leary, an agency official who oversees school programs, told Human Rights Watch. Israel has also not approved imports of 5,000 school desks for UNRWA students, and 4,000 tables and chairs for teachers in classrooms.*

'Because we don't have enough space for our students, we need to import portable container classrooms, but we are still waiting for them,' O'Leary said. His agency has not been able to distribute stationery and pencils to students as planned, he said.

The United States, Israel's largest foreign donor, pledged US$300 million in humanitarian aid for Gaza in March at a donor's conference on post-war aid to Gaza in Egypt. US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said at the conference, 'A child growing up in Gaza without shelter, health care, or an education has the same right to go to school, see a doctor, and live with a roof over her head as a child growing up in your country or mine.' In a letter to Clinton, Human Rights Watch called on the United States, as Israel's most important political, military and financial backer, to dissociate itself from the blockade and to speak out against it.

'*Children in Gaza are suffering from punitive restrictions while the United States and other allies of Israel have failed to take a firm stand against this policy, prolonging the effects of the war,*' Whitson said.

Under international humanitarian law, Israel remains the occupying power in Gaza, even though it withdrew its permanent military forces and settlers in 2005, because it continues to exercise effective day-to-day control over most aspects of life in Gaza. In addition to its effective *control over Gaza's land, air, and sea borders, Israel controls most of the territory's electricity, water, and sewage capacity, as well as its telecommunications networks and population registry.*

Israel's blockade violates its duty as an occupying power to safeguard the basic health and welfare of the occupied population, a form of collective punishment against civilians in violation of international humanitarian law. The International Committee of the Red Cross, in its authoritative commentary on the Geneva Conventions, states that '[t]he concept of collective punishment must be understood in the broadest sense: it covers *not only legal sentences but sanctions and harassment of any sort*.'

----------


## Shades

Bil'in demonstration gathers gas canisters instead of olives after being denied access to lands	


10.10.09 - 11:01
Bilin / Iyad Burnat - *Prevented from picking their olives*, Palestinians resorted to a different sort of harvest Friday afternoon. 

*International, Israeli and Palestinian activists gathered again yesterday in western Ramallahs Bilin Village to demonstrate against the Wall. Chants calling for peace and justice were met with rounds of noxious gas*.

A large French delegation came to the small village show their solidarity with Palestinians against the Israeli occupation and theft of their land. Residents distributed sacks for olive-picking and when refused entry to their land resorted to picking up the dozens of gas canisters that littered the ground. 

At the end of the demonstration activists emptied their sacks into one large pile. I*nstead of fresh green olives, a symbol of Palestinian livelihood, there was a mound of gas grenades, a symbol of occupation.*

----------


## Shades

*Israeli offensive ups birth defects in Gaza*
Sun, 11 Oct 2009 08:17:00 GMT

The Gaza Strip after the Israeli offensive *The number of children born with birth defects has increased dramatically since the Israeli operation "Cast Lead" on the Gaza Strip*, The Hamas Health Ministry has declared. 

"*We have found cases among newborn babies involving heart defects and brain abnormalities*." Haaretz quoted Dr. Muweiyah Hassenein, who heads the ministry's ambulance and emergency services department. 

Hassenein has said in a report that the *higher number of birth defects is a result of "Israel's use of internationally prohibited weapons against the civilians of Gaza*. 

According to the report published in the Ma'an news agency, "*Israel used the Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME) as well, which could cause biological effects on fetuses*. 

More than 1,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed during three weeks of the Israeli offensive against the impoverished coastal sliver. 

MGH/MTM/D

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## Shades

*Israel lifts ban on al-Aqsa Mosque compound*
Sun, 11 Oct 2009 11:14:28 GMT

Al-Aqsa Mosque
Israel has lifted its restrictions on Muslim entry to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, after days of clashes between Palestinian worshippers and Israeli police. 

"Access to the Temple Mount has been re-opened normally on Sunday morning to Muslims without age restrictions as well as to visitors during regular hours," Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben Ruby told AFP. 

The latest tensions over the Al-Quds compound exploded into violence on September 27. 

In September 2000, the second Palestinian uprising or intifada erupted after Ariel Sharon, a rightwing politician who went on to become Israel's prime minister, visited the site. 

MGH/DT

----------


## Shades

*Israel organ theft article, source of 'death threats'*
Sun, 11 Oct 2009 17:28:01 GMT

Donald Bostrom The Swedish journalist who caused a controversy by accusing Israeli forces of stealing and selling Palestinian organs says *he has been receiving death threats.* 

Donald Bostrom's article was published in Aftonbladet daily in August and caused a diplomatic row between Sweden and Israel. On Sunday, he *told a press conference in Damascus, Syria, that he has been receiving threats on his life ever since*. 

In the article, which he claims is *based on the testimonies of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, he paints a grotesque picture of the conflict. It claimed that Israeli forces for the past 17 years had murdered Palestinian youths for their organs*. 

The piece also highlighted *a current case of an American Jew charged with trafficking kidneys of Palestinians.* 

Bostrom maintains that *Palestinian youths are not the sole victims of the smuggling racket and that some Israeli firms have been behind such enterprises for much longer*. 

Israeli officials on Saturday revealed that they were mulling whether or not to recall the ambassador to Stockholm in view of the Swedish Foreign Ministry's refusal to condemn the report, which Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman branded as anti-Semitic. 

Sweden says it respects freedom of speech as part of its Constitution. 

HD/MD

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## Shades

*Turkey cancels joint drill over Israel's Gaza crimes*
Sun, 11 Oct 2009 06:01:10 GMT

An Israeli fighter jet
*Turkey has canceled a planned joint military drill with Israel to protest against Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip* earlier this year. 

Turkey informed Israel of cancellation of the Anatolian Eagle exercise last week, Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday. 

The US, Italy and NATO air forces were also to participate in the air force drill, which was to be held this week. 

*Turkey has declared that it has canceled the drill because the planes that Israel was going to send were, in all likelihood, the very same ones that bombed the Gaza Strip during Operation Cast Lead*, the report said. 

"The exercise was postponed due to a Turkish decision to change the composition of the participants and not allow the Israel Air Force to participate, a decision we were informed of only several days ago," the Israeli Defense Force Spokesman's Office said in a statement. 

"Ties between the countries are still tense," explained an Israeli military official. "The announcement about the cancellation was sudden and unexpected. 

Anatolian Eagle was first held in 2001, with Turkish, Israeli and American participation. The drill lasted almost two weeks and included Israeli F-16's, helicopters and refueling tankers. 

Israel last participated in the exercise in September 2008, but has not flown its military aircraft in Turkey since Operation Cast Lead, due to the increase in tensions. 

The military exercises were scheduled to take place later this month at an air base in Konya city located in central Turkey and the heart of the Anatolian plateau. 

*Turkish public had earlier called on Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan not to allow Israeli warplanes, which bombed Palestinian homes, to participate in military drills over Turkey's airspace*. 

MGH/MTM/DT

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## Shades

Theophilos III: Our Solidarity with Al Aqsa Expresses Fraternal Ties Date : 11/10/2009   Time : 17:03
JERUSALEM, October 11, 2009 (WAFA)- Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, and Jordan, Theophilos III, said  *his Patriarchate solidarity with the Al Aqsa Mosque, which is under the continuous Israeli attacks, is stemming of our adherence  to Umari Treaty and an expression of our fraternal ties with Muslims, especially in the Holy Land*.


In Church of the Holy Sepulcher  for the Sunday Mass the Patriarch denounced the  Israeli siege which was imposed on the worshipers in Al Aqsa Mosque. 

He Stressed that, on behalf of all Orthodoxies in the Holy Land, denounce banning the access of both Muslim and Christian worshipers to Al Aqsa mosque as well to the Church of Sepulcher.

Patriarch Theophilus considered  *defense of Jerusalem is an essential part of Christian deep faith, and the Orthodox Church*.

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## Shades

Ki-Moon Assures Abbas his Support to Extraordinary Session of UNHRC Date : 11/10/2009   Time : 23:09
RAMALLAH, October 11, 2009 (WAFA)- *UN Secretary General , Ban Ki-Moon assure President Mahmoud Abbas his support to the Palestinian stance regarding the fulfillment of the first stage of the Road Map, mainly halting the settlement activities including the natural growth.*

He also affirmed his support to the President concerning his demand to have an extraordinary session of the UN Human Rights Council to adopt the Goldstone Report on the Israeli War against the Gaza Strip as well, the support of the Report in UN Security Council debate of the Report on October 14.

The President  also demanded the Secretary General  to put in order an official investigation regarding statement s of Richard Falk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and a special UN rapporteur on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, in which he falsely  accused Presidents sons of possessing the Wataniya telecommunications Company.

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## Shades

Israel holds emergency meeting on Turkish ties
Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:45:18 GMT

*Israel's foreign ministry has held an emergency meeting to discuss the mounting tension between Israel and Turkey, after Ankara canceled a military drill with Israel*. 

Turkey informed Israel of cancellation of the Anatolian Eagle exercise last week in protest to Israel's Operation Cast Lead on Gaza Strip earlier this year which killed at least 1500 Palestinians and injured many others, a large number of them women and children. 

The US, Italy and NATO air forces were also to participate in the air force drill, which was to be held this week. 

The military maneuver however was canceled after Ankara withdrew from the exercise over Tel Aviv's participation in the drill. 

Turkey's move, which was taken over Israel's decision to send planes to the exercise which possibly took part in the Gaza war last December, caused "disappointment" in Washington, The Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday. 

Israel is concerned about its jeopardized strategic ties with Turkey, a senior official at the ministry told Haaretz. 

Israeli Foreign Ministry sources confirmed that the meeting had taken place following instructions by ministry director general Yossi Gal, but they declined to give details. 

Israeli officials are debating the depth of the crisis. Some officials say the Turkish government under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not interested in strategic ties with Israel. 

"It may be that the reality has changed and the strategic ties that we thought existed have simply ended," said a senior Israeli official. "Maybe we need to be the ones who initiate renewed thinking regarding our ties and must adopt response measures." 

MGH/SC/DT

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## Shades

*Al-Aqsa flares up tensions between Israel, Jordan*
Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:10:36 GMT

Jordanian children attend a rally to protest Israeli violation of the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

*Jordan has threatened to expel Israel's ambassador over the regime's aggression in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the occupied East Jerusalem Al-Quds*. 

According to a report by the pan-Arab newspaper Al-Quds al-Arabi, Jordan threatened the expulsion in response to Israeli violation of the sanctity of Al-Aqsa mosque over the last two weeks. 

Israel deployed thousands of troops in the area after it closed down the Al-Aqsa mosque compound to Palestinians and allowed Jewish worshippers to hold a religious ceremony in the site. 

The closure of the holy compound caused fierce clashes in the city. 

*Under a peace treaty signed in 1994, Israel recognized Jordan's right to look after all Islamic and Christian holy sites in East Jerusalem al-Quds, which is considered by the United Nations as an occupied territory*. 

Last week, *a senior Jordanian official called on Israeli police to keep Jewish religious extremists away from the compound*  known to Muslims as Al-Haram Al-Sharif and to Jews as the Temple Mount  and keep the Mugrabi Gate closed, Haaretz reported. 

"That will calm the atmosphere while respecting the Jordanian role in Al-Aqsa mosque," said the official. 

Before the outbreak of the second intifada in September 2000, visits to the holy site had to be coordinated with the Waqf religious trust, which is under Jordanian control. 

Between 2000 and 2003, non-Muslims were completely barred from the area until the Israel police decided unilaterally to reverse the ban. 

Israel occupied East Jerusalem Al-Quds during a 1967 aggression and later annexed it. 

SB/MD

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## Shades

UN backs debate on Goldstone's Gaza report
Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:14:54 GMT

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
*United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon backs a Palestinian bid to re-launch the debate on the Goldstone report, which accuses Israel of war crimes as well as crimes against humanity during its weeks-long onslaught on the Gaza Strip*. 

Ban's spokeswoman, Michele Montas, said on Monday that the UN chief pledged the acting Palestinian Authority chief, Mahmoud Abbas, his support for the matter during a Sunday telephone conversation. 

A United Nations inquiry, led by former South African Judge Richard Goldstone, detailed what investigators called Israeli actions "amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity," during Israel's winter offensive against the Hamas-ruled Gaza. 

The 575-page report by Goldstone and three other investigators asserts seven incidents in which Palestinian civilians were shot while leaving their homes, trying to run for safety or waving white flags. The report says Israel targeted a mosque at prayer time, killing 15 people, and shelled a Gaza City house where soldiers had forced Palestinian civilians to assemble. These attacks constituted war crimes, the report says. 

The probe also found that Israel violated international humanitarian law in several ways. Dozens of Palestinian policemen were killed at the start of the Gaza onslaught when Israel bombed their stations. The security agents were not involved in the hostilities and should have been treated as civilians. Palestinians, in addition, were used as human shields and were forced to walk ahead of the Israeli soldiers searching civilian neighborhoods. 

Israeli authorities, meanwhile, have branded the investigation as 'not an independent or professional' one, but a collection of claims brought forward by Hamas to the members of the UN fact-finding mission. 

Thousands of Palestinians were killed during three weeks of Israel's land, sea and air assault, during Operation Cast Lead, in the impoverished coastal sliver. The offensive also inflicted USD 1.6 billion of damage upon Gaza's economy. 

MP/SS/MMN

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## Shades

International probe into Israel organ theft called for
Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:56:12 GMT

Swedish freelance journalist Donald Bostrom
*Freelance Swedish journalist Donald Bostrom has reportedly demanded an international war crimes investigation into claims that Israeli soldiers harvest organs of dead Palestinians*. 

Six weeks after he caused a political storm over his article "Our sons plundered for their organs", the veteran photojournalist called for an investigation and urged the International Committee of the Red Cross, and other competent tribunals to undertake a thorough and impartial investigation into the allegations that Israelis have unlawfully removed organs from Palestinians. 

Bostrom garnered international attention on August 17, after his article was published in Aftonbladet, Sweden's largest circulation daily. 

The article suggests that the *Israeli army kidnapped and killed young Palestinians to harvest their organs. It shed light on the case of Bilal Ahmed Ghanem, a 19-year-old Palestinian man, who was shot dead in 1992 by Israeli forces in the West Bank village of Imatin*. 

Bostrom said Ghanem's body was abducted following the shooting and was returned at midnight  during an imposed curfew  several days later by the Israeli military with a cut from the stomach to the neck that had been stitched up. 

The Swedish argued that an autopsy could have been necessary only if the cause of death was not apparent, while in this case it was clear that Bilal was shot dead. 

*Following the incident, at least 20 Palestinian families told Bostrom that they suspected the Israeli military had taken the organs of their sons after they had been killed by Israeli forces and their bodies had been taken away*. 

MP/SS/MMN

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## Shades

Mideast: Charade of a continuing peace process
Gwynne Dyer | Arab News

Anyone who says that within the next few years an agreement can be reached ending the conflict (between Israel and the Palestinians) simply doesnt understand the situation and spreads delusions, said Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman last week. But US President Barack Obama does say that. In fact, they gave him the Nobel Peace Prize for saying it, didnt they?

Speaking in a radio interview, Lieberman added: *There are conflicts that have not been completely solved and people have learned to live with it, like Cyprus...We have to be realistic. We will not be able to reach agreement on core and emotional subjects like Jerusalem and the right of return of Palestinian refugees.* And he said all this just as Obamas point man for what we used to call the peace process, George Mitchell, arrived in Israel.

But Mitchell gabbled the usual nonsense about how *were going to continue our efforts to achieve an early relaunch of negotiations... Doesnt he understand that the peace process has been dead for years? The Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas also pretends that the peace process is still alive.* Indeed, it did so even in the last years of Yasser Arafats life. It has to go on pretending, because if the PA admits that the peace process is dead, then it becomes no more than an Israeli instrument for indirect control of the Palestinians. As it often is, in practice. We had a vivid demonstration of this recently, when Judge Richard Goldstone submitted his report on last winters three-week war in the Gaza Strip to the United Nations Human Rights Council. The 575-page document reported that Israeli forces had committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, and a resolution was put before the council that could ultimately have led to prosecutions at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Israel launched a propaganda blitz to discredit Goldstones report, and together with the United States it mounted a diplomatic campaign to postpone any formal consideration of the report until next March. By then, it would be old news. Standard tactics, but heres the bizarre bit: The Palestinian Authority also supported delaying the vote by six months.

Unsurprisingly, this public evidence of the PAs subjugation to American and Israeli policy caused a great outcry among Palestinians even in the West Bank, and Mahmoud Abbas ordered a probe into who had made such a wicked decision. The truth is that the Palestinian Authority is just as complicit in the charade of a continuing peace process as the Israeli or American governments, and cannot afford to abandon it.

Only the radical Islamists of Hamas, from their besieged enclave in the Gaza Strip, openly acknowledge the same reality that *Avigdor Lieberman describes (although from a very different perspective). There is no peace process, and the two-state solution on which it was built is all but dead.* So what they offer Israel, at best, is a long-term truce  but only *if the Palestinians get their pre-1967 borders back now. A long-term truce (like Cyprus) is all that Lieberman is offering, either  and even that is not going to happen because he has no intention of returning to Israels pre-1967 borders. Neither does his boss, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu*, although he wraps his refusal in more diplomatic language.

*All of Obamas pleas have failed to extract from Netanyahu even a promise to freeze the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, let alone to negotiate a withdrawal from them.* He has not moved from pleas to actual pressure because *the Israelis effectively control the US Congress* on this issue, and he will not risk alienating Congress over Israel while he is trying to get legislation through on health care, climate change, and other urgent issues.

He cannot even order the Israelis not to attack Iran. They will do it if they want to, even if the bulk of the Iranian retaliation would fall on American bases and forces in the Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Still, there is no doubt that Obamas intentions are good. So are mine. Wheres my prize?

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## Shades

*Israelis flatten Palestinian home - BBC*

*Israeli authorities have demolished two Palestinian-owned structures in East Jerusalem, in defiance of international calls to stop such actions*.
Palestinian reports say a family of five was forcibly evicted from their home in the Beit Hanina district before the building was demolished.
Israeli bulldozers then destroyed the foundations of another building nearby.
*UN officials say such demolitions violate international law and raise serious humanitarian concerns*.
Israel says buildings subject to demolition orders have been built without permits.
Palestinians say it is virtually impossible to obtain the necessary approval from Israel's municipal authorities in Jerusalem.
*The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem , says the authorities have demolished about 420 Palestinian-owned houses in East Jerusalem* 
*Israel occupied the territory in the 1967 war and annexed it soon afterwards in a move that has not been recognised internationally*.

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## Shades

George Mitchell opposes Palestinian unity
Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:12:55 GMT
Font size :   

US Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell (L) met Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit in Cairo October 11, 2009.
The United States has expressed opposition to an Egyptian-proposed initiative to heal rifts among Palestinian factions. 

US special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, told head of Egyptian Intelligence, Omar Suleiman on Saturday that the *proposed plan to settle differences between Fatah and Hamas undermines Palestinian negotiations with Israel and must be stopped*, reported Tuesday.

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## Shades

Israel demolishes more Palestinian homes
Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:18:36 GMT

Israeli forces destroying a Palestinian-owned building in al-Quads
*Israeli forces have demolished two Palestinian-owned structures in East Jerusalem (al-Quds) as part of Tel Aviv's efforts to increase the number of Jewish settlements there.* 

Palestinian sources say residents of a building in the Beit Hanina district were forcibly evicted before Israeli bulldozers demolished their home on Monday. The bulldozers then destroyed the foundations of another building in the region. 

Israeli officials say the structures were built without permits. 

According to the Israeli human rights group, B'Tselem, authorities have demolished more than 420 Palestinian-owned buildings in East al-Quds since 2004. 

Hatem Abdel Qader, an official responsible for al-Quds affairs in the Palestinian government, says Israel has ordered the demolition of more than 1,000 Palestinian homes since the start of this year, which means that the pace of destroying Palestinian homes in the city has increased in recent months despite worldwide condemnation.

While the Israeli municipality in al-Quds claims that the demolition orders are issued because the buildings lack permits, the residents argue that Israeli officials have either withheld the vital documents or refused to issue them. 

HE/TG/DT

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## Shades

Israel feels the heat over UN meeting on Gaza war
Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:35:31 GMT


On the eve of a UN meeting on the atrocities Israel carried out during the Gaza war, the *Zionist regime prime minister has declared that Israeli officials will not submit to prosecution for war crimes*. 

The United Nations Human Rights Council will hold a special session on Thursday to reopen the discussion on Israel's three-week offensive against Gaza. "We will not agree to a situation in which (former Prime Minister) Ehud Olmert, (Defense Minister) Ehud Barak and (former Foreign Minister) Tzipi Livni  will be called to the defendants' benches at The Hague," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted by the Israeli daily Maariv as saying on Monday. 

They had "sent Israeli soldiers to defend cities and civilians," he said about the officials responsible for authorizing Operation Cast Lead, which killed over 1,400 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip between December 27 and January 18. 

The comments came as the UN Human Rights Council prepares to decide whether to continue discussion of a related report which condemns Israel for committing war crimes during the offensive. 

"This distorted report, written by this distorted committee, undermines Israel's right to self defense and encourages terrorism and endangers peace," Netanyahu added, according to Haaretz, another Israeli newspaper. 

Continued discussion could lead to the submission of the report to the UN Security Council. 

*China, Egypt, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia have been urging the UN to continue the debate while the US has been pressuring the UN Human Rights Council to postpone a vote which condemns Israel for failure to cooperate with the Gaza inquiry*. 

Israel was literally able to get away with murder for many years, but now, as the world calls for action on Israel's war crimes, Zionist regime officials are beginning to realize that the era of impunity is coming to an end. 

HN/HGL

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## Shades

'Hear the voice of the oppressed'
Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:57:26 GMT

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
The Turkish prime minister has criticized the international community for seeking to incriminate Islam while Israel was committing war crimes in Gaza. 

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was addressing a meeting held by the country's Presidency of Religious Affairs, said, "We have to hear the voice of the oppressed," 

"*Iraq was occupiedBaghdad and Basra were bombarded while the attacks were televised live. Phosphorous bombs were dropped on the innocent children of Gaza in the same way, while the whole world, all of humanity, watched from their comfortable seats and safe homes*," Erdogan said. 

At the same time, certain elements *tried to blame Islam and tried to give the impression Muslims were responsible in the international arena*, he added. 

The comments came amid mounting tension between Israel and Turkey, after Ankara canceled a military exercise with Israel in condemnation of the Gaza war, which left over 1,400 Palestinians dead and thousands others injured.

Turkey informed Israel of the cancellation of the Anatolian Eagle exercise last week, the Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday. 

The US, Italy, and NATO air forces were also to participate in the air force drill, which was to be held this week. 

"We, of course, find this decision, which has been taken because of the Israeli attacks on Gaza, as positive... And the cancellation of these exercises makes us happy," added Erdogan. 

HN/MGH/HGL

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## Shades

*Israel to raze 150 Palestinian homes*
Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:23:16 GMT
Font size :   

*Israel has announced plans to demolish 150 Palestinian homes in the mostly Arab east Jerusalem Al-Quds in a move that would displace more than 1,000 Palestinians*. 

Palestinian homes that are threatened with imminent demolition are located in the neighborhoods of Beit Haninah, Shu'fat, Ashqariyeh, Nusiebeh Complex, Silwan, Thuri, Jabal al-Mukaber, Sur Baher, Mount of Olives, al-Zu'ayem, Isawieh and Ras Khamis. 

The Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights (JCSER) stated that the new list of Palestinian homes slated for demolition does not include the 125 homes and apartments against which Israel had previously issued demolition orders. 

Israel frequently orders hundreds of Palestinians to leave their homes in the occupied east Jerusalem Al-Quds, claiming that they do not have proper documentation for their dwellings. 

The residents, however, argue that Israeli military occupation officials withhold their documents or refuse to issue documents for their houses. 

The status of Jerusalem Al-Quds is among the crucial outstanding issues of the Middle East peace process, with the Palestinians reiterating that any Palestinian state should include the city as its capital. 

Israel captured the mostly Arab east Jerusalem Al-Quds in the 1967 War and later 'annexed' the area illegally in a move not recognized by the international community. 

Tel Aviv continues to erect new homes for Jewish settlers illegally in the occupied Palestinian territory despite strong global opposition. 

Palestinians and many other states insist that there can be no peace in the Middle East before Israel quits east Jerusalem Al-Quds, thus allowing it to revert to the Palestinians who want to establish it as the capital of an independent Palestinian state. 

MP/ZAP/SC/AKM

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## Shades

Israeli airplanes bombard Gaza tunnels
Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:39:48 GMT

*Israeli fighter jets have launched a new airstrike on Palestinian tunnels on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, injuring at least three people*. 

The warplanes heavily bombed the north-west of the coastal strip late on Tuesday, according to witnesses, who said the area was rocked with huge explosions. 

No losses of life were reported in the attack, but medical sources confirmed three people were injured. 

The Israeli army has recently stepped up its constant attacks on the tunnels seen as the only link for the impoverished Palestinian territory which has been under an Israeli blockade since June 2007. 

The siege has virtually cut off the Gaza Strip from the outside world, leaving almost half of its population dependent on food aid handouts which trickle into the region under Israeli control. 

The Gazans resort to digging tunnels across the Rafah border, through which they push in food and fuel from Egypt. 

The Israeli army regularly targets the feeding tubes, claiming the passages are used for providing arms to the Palestinian resistance fighters. 

On Friday, Israel shut down all crossings into the Gaza Strip without prior notice as its F-16 aircraft pounded the tunnels in the south of the coastal sliver. 

Israel refuses to lift its blockade despite repeated calls by human rights organizations and the international community against the 'collective punishment' of some 1.5 million Gazans in the Palestinian enclave. 

MRS/AKM

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## Shades

Israeli Police deploy secret unit to monitor Israeli Arabs

2009-10-13 12:26:19


Jerusalem-PalPress- The Israeli police have recently started operating an undercover unit among Israeli Arab citizens.

The Israeli newspaper "Haaretz" said: "two months ago, Police Commissioner David Cohen said the force had "no intelligence infrastructure to deal with the Arab community."

He added the new undercover unit would help the police "make an intelligence breakthrough in the coming years. He also said that "it's very hard for us to work in Umm al-Fahm, it's very hard for us to deal with crimes in "Ramle" and "Juarish" neighborhoods , and this unit is going to grow."

Some two years ago, when the police were establishing an investigations unit known as Lahav 433 to tackle organized crime, the original undercover unit was incorporated into Lahav 433 and became the police's operational branch in its fight against criminal organizations in Israel.

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## Shades

IOF nab 12 citizens in the West Bank

2009-10-13 11:12:51


Ramallah-PalPress-The Israeli Occupation Forces nabbed twelve Palestinian citizens from different parts across the West Bank.

The Police media office said that the Occupation forces stormed "Qadoura" village in Ramalah and nabbed "Tarek Abu Shaqra".

In Nablus governorate, the Occupation soldiers stormed "Boreen" village and  raided several houses, Morsi Walid Said Eid (35 years), Qassem Suhail Annajar (28 years), and Ma'moud Jamal Jamil Annajar (24 years) were nabbed.

In Tulkarem, an  Occupation force stormed  it's refugees camp and nabbed "Mohammed Yassin Ma'rek".

In Jericho, the Israeli occupation Forces stormed the city and Ein Sultan" refugees camp where several houses were raided , Muawiyyah Hassanein Abu Sharar (25 years), Mohammed Yussif Rizik Abu Amra (22 years), Mussa Deyab Turukman (18 years) , Bassam Mohammed Mahmoud Addabas( 22 years), Bader Khaled Al Qatouni (23 years), Majdi Soboh Haj  Ali (18 years) were nabbed.

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## Shades

Drama Workshop Gives Voices, Inspirations to Young Palestinians in Lebanon Date : 12/10/2009   Time : 15:32
 BEIRUT October 12, 2009 (WAFA)-  *If Palestine was free, I would play outside with my friends. If  Palestine was free, I could ask my grandparents about their stories. If  Palestine was free I would plant a thousand olive trees*.  The voices of Palestinian refugee children in Lebanon  who  mostly drowned out, by politicians, their own parents and teachers . reflecting their faint cries for peace and stability, Lebanese Daily Star reported.

A five-day drama workshop, organized by United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian refugees from schools across the country, with the help of British actor and director David Morrissey, star of films Captain Corellis Mandolin and Sense and Sensibility.

 Mentioning that 65 children aged between 11 and 16 were brought together from different UNRWA schools to find out that learning, the Daily Star said it  is not always about what you read in books. The children chose themes for each of their pieces, some sung pop ditties of Arabic stars gone by, others chose morality plays with much deeper social messages.

One piece entitled, If Palestine was free, was particularly difficult for the proud parents in the audience to watch, many of whom are all too aware what price their children pay for Israeli occupation.

These performances help you to share in a history you might otherwise forget, said a 13-year-old girl from the southern city of Tyre, glad to have workshops such as UNRWAs. Its a chance to be listened to and tell your own views.

Palestinians in Lebanon have long been relegated to an irreverent sub-story in the larger Lebanese narrative and have subsequently suffered from a lack of collective history; one marred by massacres, uprisings and uprooting.

This is not Gaza, this is not the West Bank, the workshops director Morrissey said, Lebanon is not Israel and the eyes of the world are not on these Palestinians. He believes the plight of  Palestinian refugees is overlooked by the outside world, with the children in Lebanon left to suffer. 
He said when he arrived at the school on the first day, the children were resistant to the workshop, but in the end they had let their guard down and began to enjoy the chance to express themselves. 

The change that occurred in them in the last five days is astonishing, he added, they just need attention. 

Morrissey said the main problem is that children dont always respond to education purely by rote, which is how most are being taught. 
It doesnt provide the opportunity to be listened to like drama does. It is important this sort of learning is built into the education system. 

We have given them information in the old, tired way and they rejected it, Ghoul said. Though drama is often seen as an extra-curricular hobby it is so key to helping them learn real skills. The future for these children is letting them express themselves and the rest will be that much more bearable. He added Educate a child through play and they will not be quick to forget.

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## Shades

Livni Accuses Netanyahu of Humiliating Palestinians Date : 12/10/2009   Time : 20:37
TEL AVIV, October 12, 2009 (WAFA)- Israeli Opposition Chairwoman Tzipi Livni on Monday accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being responsible for the uproar created by the United Nations report into the Israeli operation in Gaza, Ynet news reported.

She hinted that Israel was the one who revealed that the Palestinians had deferred a Human Rights Council vote on the report, because the prime minister 'had to boast of his performance.'

Livni, who spoke during the opening ceremony of the Knesset's winter session, was interrupted several times by Likud Knesset members.

Netanyahu said before the Knesset, that battle against UN report into Gaza operation a top priority. 'Hamas are the real war criminals,' he says. MK Zahalka calls out towards him, 'You killed 400 children'. President Peres calls for 'far-reaching decisions ahead of two-state solution' 

'Israel's prime minister is worthy of congratulations,' the Kadima chairwoman said at the start of her speech. 'Nine months have passed since the government was established, and it has indeed met its main objective  you have managed to survive. This is the Israeli government's main accomplishment.

'The second accomplishment, and unfortunately this is how you see it, Mr. Prime Minister, is that you have managed as prime minister to do nothing,' she added. 'A government needs a vision, and your vision for the people of Israel is that we should not be 'frierim' (suckers). This is real Zionism.'

Livni went on to criticize the prime minister in terms of the negotiations with the Palestinians. 'You have caused Israel to be in the corner and lost more and more strongholds of support and understanding every day, but who's counting?

'You have managed to beat the president of the United States, Israel's greatest friend, or at least this is the impression you and your people tried to convey after the meeting. You have managed to humiliate the only partner for a peace settlement Israel has.

'In short: We have beaten America, humiliated the Palestinians, isolated ourselves. Raise your head from the small politics and see what has happened, see that Israel is excommunicated. Today Turkey, yesterday Britain, before that Europe.'

Addressing the peace process, Livni called on Netanyahu to 'go to the people of Israel and tell them, 'This is the time for a decision, a decision between a Jewish state and a state of all its citizens with a solid Palestinian majority between the sea and the Jordan River. A Jewish state will only be maintained through a two-state arrangement. Any other way will lead to one other country between the sea and the Jordan River which is not Jewish.'

'But your government is trying to play for time and cowardly escape a decision. The hourglass is ticking. I find the price of this decision difficult as well, but the price of any other alternative is must worse.'

Livni went on to slam the uproar over the Goldstone Report. 'In your first conduct opposite (US special envoy George) Mitchell it appeared that you could act wisely and leave Jerusalem out of the dispute. The Americans exerted pressure and the Goldstone Report was taken off the table.

'Wonderful. But then Israel, led by you, had to boast of its performance, humiliate the Palestinians. And what happened is that the report is now back on the table. If hurting the Palestinians and humiliating Abu Mazen (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) gives you pleasure, this shows that you are still in the field of 'there is no partner' and have not moved to the real negotiations field.'

The opposition leader concluded her speech by asking the prime minister to support a change in the government system.

'I have one piece of advice for you: Support this matter. This time I am not asking you to change your mind. You were the one who worked vigorously to change the system in the past. Experience shows that what is good for one person at a certain time will change later. I, by the way, have changed my mind.'

Knesset Member Talab El-Sana (United Arab List-Ta'al) commented on Netanyahu's speech: 'Netanyahu is trying to use propaganda to twist the facts around. Israel wasnt the victim in the Gaza war, it was the aggressor,' he said. 'Israel has no right to self-defense in Gaza, the Gazans do.'

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## Shades

*HRW to UN Security Council: Demand Justice for Gaza Victims* Date : 12/10/2009   Time : 20:45
NEW YORK, October 12, 2009 (WAFA)- The United Nations Security Council should demand justice for the civilian victims on both sides of the Gaza war, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said today.  Breaking the climate of impunity in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a precondition for stability and lasting peace. The Security Council will meet on October 14, 2009, to discuss the Middle East.

The Security Council should implement a key recommendation of the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Gaza, led by Justice Richard Goldstone, and create an independent committee of experts to monitor how Israel and Hamas conduct domestic investigations of alleged laws-of-war violations, HRW said.

'The Security Council has a historic opportunity to uphold the principle of civilian protection and promote regional peace,' said Steve Crawshaw, UN advocacy director at HRW.  'As it has in other conflicts, the council should demand that the parties to the conflict punish those responsible for serious abuses.'

The Goldstone report was presented to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on September 29.  It documents war crimes and possible crimes against humanity by both Israel and Hamas, and notes their poor records of accountability for such crimes. 

'The US missed an opportunity in Geneva to support justice for the civilian victims in Gaza and Israel,' Crawshaw said.  'Now Washington has a second chance to show that it will demand accountability for serious crimes in Gaza the same way it has elsewhere.'

Israel and the US have said that implementing the recommendations of the Goldstone report would undermine efforts at peace.  But punishing forces that attack civilians will build trust and improve confidence in the peace process, Human Rights Watch said.

'President Obama should use the weight and authority of his Nobel Peace Prize to put the peace process on the right track - and that is by demanding justice for serious crimes by all sides in the Gaza war,' Crawshaw said.

Mandated to look at violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by Israel and Palestinian armed groups, the 575-page Goldstone report documents Israel's willful killings of civilians, deliberate attacks on civilian objects, wanton destruction of civilian property, indiscriminate attacks, the use of human shields, and collective punishment against Gaza's civilian population in the form of a continuing blockade.  Mortar and rocket fire from Gaza by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, the report says, was deliberate and calculated to cause loss of civilian life and to terrorize Israeli civilians.

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## Shades

India Announces to Contribute $1 M to UNRWA Date : 12/10/2009   Time : 20:50
NEW DELHI, October 12, 2009 (WAFA)- India on Monday announced its decision to contribute $1 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine  Refugees in the Near East.

The decision has been conveyed by Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor to Commissioner General of UNRWA Karen AbuZayd in a letter, External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

UNRWA is marking its 60th anniversary this year and the contribution is in keeping with India's consistent and principled support for the people of Palestine.

In January 2009, in response to an UNRWA Flash Appeal, India had made a special assistance of one million dollars for relief work in Gaza Strip

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## Shades

World March for Peach and Nonviolence in West Bank's Bethlehem Wednesday	


13.10.09 - 20:54
Bethlehem / PNN  Holy Land Trust is sponsoring the Palestine-leg of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence.

It will reach Bethlehem on Wednesday, 14 October.

The organizing NGO is working along with World Without Wars and has extended an open invitation.

The gathering place will be Nativity Square at 4:30 pm where the march will start. It will walk through the city streets, passing by the towering Wall on the northern side of Bethlehem and will then conclude at Aida Refugee Camp.

Participants include local political figures and dignitaries among local and foreign activists. Archbishop Attallah Hanna, known for his support of the Palestinian people, will also attend.

The World March for Peace and Nonviolence is a global event that has recognized the struggle of Palestine in the face of occupation. Some participants are literally travelling the world to raise awareness of the need for peace and nonviolence.

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## Shades

*Palestinian fire brigade was called in Qalqilia after Israeli settlers torch land* 


13.10.09 - 20:35
Salfit / IWPS - On October 11th at approximately 8:00 am, the fire brigade of Qalqilia was notified of several fires on land belonging to the villages of Kafr Qaddum and Immatin, which are located outside of the Israeli settlement of Qedumim.

When trying to reach the site to extinguish the fire, the fire brigades were denied access to the road leading through part of the settlement. As a consequence the fire brigade, accompanied by people from the two villages, had to try and approach the fire from the other side, delaying any attempt to tackle the fire for approximately three or four hours.  The fire was only finally brought under control at around 12:00 am, just before it reached the other side of the land near the main road leading to Nablus.

The fire damaged approximately 25 dunnums of Kafr Qaddum land, including around 160 trees and plants. The extent of the damage on Immatin land could not be assessed yet.

It has been suggested that the arson came as a response to the eviction of the outpost of "Mitzpe Ami", just a few hours before. The outpost was located only a few hundred meters away from site. 

In October 2008, 10 dunnums adjacent to this area and also belonging to Immatin, were burned

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## Shades

*Israel 'holding hundreds illegally'*

Annaem's brother is one of hundreds being detained by Israeli authorities without charge
Israel is violating international law by detaining hundreds of Palestinians, some of them for years without charge or trial, *two leading human rights groups in the country have said.  * 

B'Tsalem and HaMoked released a report on Wednesday, saying that 335 Palestinians are being illegally detained by the Israeli military.

"Israel holds hundreds of Palestinians in prolonged detention based on undisclosed suspicions, without informing them what these suspicions are, without giving them an opportunity to defend themselves, and without notifying them when they will be released," the report said.

The prisoners are being held in legal limbo under a practice known in Israel as "administrative detention", which authorises the army to order the arrest and detention of Palestinians without allowing them access to the legal rights they could expect under civilian law.

'Administrative detention'

Israel says the practice complies with international law and is a necessary measure based upon "security considerations".

IN DEPTH


 	Video: Israel's illegal detentions
But the organisations say that the prisoners find it "impossible" to challenge their detention because the evidence against them is often kept secret by the Israeli judges who review the cases.
"The judicial review of the administrative-detention proceedings presents a semblance of a fair judicial process, but in fact denies the detainees any possibility to reasonably defend themselves against the allegations made against them," the groups said in a statement.

Over an eleven month period, judges approved imprisonment in more than 95 per cent of the cases that they heard, often refusing to reveal the evidence that led the military to deem the detainee a threat to the "security of the region".

Security concerns

Under international law, a state may legally detain a resident of occupied territory without trial if it believes there is a specific threat posed by the individual's continued liberty.

But the rights groups say *Israel is using the law to detain prisoners outside of civilian judicial processes in a bid to keep evidence secret, and that this is illegal*.

"In the vast majority of cases, the individual is held in administrative detention for no longer than two years"

Israeli military statement

"An entire legal system that routinely imposes privilege on most of the evidence cannot be justified," the report said.
of course as usual The Israeli military deny the charge.

"Administrative detention is applied as a last resort, in order to remove terror activists regarding whom there is concrete information concerning a clear and present danger posed by them to the security of the area.," it said in a written statement to Al Jazeera.

The statement also denied that the majority of prisoners were being held for many years.

"In the vast majority of cases, *the individual is held in administrative detention for no longer than two years*," the statement said.

The rights groups' 70-page report calls on Israel to release those held in administrative detention, or charge them "in accordance with the standards of due process specified in international law".

 Source:	 Al Jazeera

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## Shades

UN to discuss Al-Aqsa clashes
Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:41:28 GMT

Israeli police denied Palestinians admission into the mosque compound during a Jewish ceremony.
The UN Human Rights Council will hold a special session on the situation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem Al-Quds as a UN Gaza war report awaits a debate. 

The session, demanded by the Palestinian Authority, is to discuss a report by independent fact-finding mission on Israel's military action against the Hamas-run the Gaza Strip in December and January, Palestinian diplomats said on Tuesday. 

A *UN statement, however, said that the 47-member council would hold a special session on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and East Jerusalem Al-Quds on Thursday*. 

The decision follows two weeks of mounting tensions triggered by Israeli restrictions imposed on Palestinian worshippers to access the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the third holy site in the Muslim world. 

Israel has deployed thousands of troops in the area to quell demonstrations by Palestinians protesters who were denied admission into the mosque compound while Jewish worshippers were allowed to hold a religious ceremony in the site. 

The closure of the holy compound caused fierce clashes in the city between the Israeli soldiers and Palestinians, who accuse Tel Aviv of trying to remove the Islamic-Palestinian identity of the site, which is also holy to Christians and Jews. 

*Jordan, which reserves the right to look after all Islamic and Christian holy sites in East Jerusalem Al-Quds under a 1994 peace treaty, demanded Israel last week to keep Jewish extremists away from the compound and keep the Mugrabi Gate closed*. 

Israel seized East Jerusalem Al-Quds during the six-day war in 1967 and later annexed it despite opposition from the international community, who continue to consider the territory as occupied. 

Earlier this month, the Human Rights Council debated the damning report on the Gaza war but decided to delay a vote on it until March 2010 under pressure from the US and Israel's European allies. 

The head of the UN fact-finding mission, Richard Goldstone, recommended in August that the UN Security Council take up the report's findings and ask the International Criminal Court to examine possible charges, unless progress was made in investigations in Israel and the Palestinian territories within six months. 

The report sparked furor among Tel Aviv officials for highlighting the Israeli army's violation of international laws during the 23-day offensive which left more than 1,400 Palestinians killed. 

The Goldstone report is expected to be raised during a UN Security Council debate on the Middle East scheduled for Wednesday in New York. 

MRS/AKM

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## Shades

*Israel: No peace talks unless UNHRC drops Gaza report*
Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:19:32 GMT

Over 1,300 Palestinians were killed during Gaza war.
A day before the UN Human Rights Council convenes to debate on a UN report accusing Israel of war crimes in Gaza, *Tel Aviv threatens to scrap peace talks with Palestinians unless the damning report is dropped*. 

The threat came Wednesday as the report was being discussed at the UN Security Council (UNSC)'s regular monthly meeting on the Middle East. 

During the UNSC meeting, Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki urged the 15-member body to adopt the report, compiled by a fact-finding mission headed by South African judge and international prosecutor Richard Goldstone. 

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) will hold a special session to debate the issue on Thursday. *Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak called the foreign ministers of France, Britain, Spain and Norway on Wednesday and asked them not to back the Gaza report*. 

The Geneva-based body was initially set to vote on the report last week, but it was delayed until March 2010, after the Palestinian Authority withdrew its support for the report. 

Having faced an unprecedented wave of condemnation and accusations of treason over his controversial decision, Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas made a U-turn and called for a special session of the UN Human Rights Council to vote on the report in order to save his image. 

Different Palestinian factions, including Hamas, had accused Abbas of betraying the victims of the three-week war by bowing to pressure from the US and Israel. Both Israeli and US officials dismissed the report as biased. 

If adopted, the UN Human Rights Council could refer the report to the UN Security Council. *The UNSC can call for the prosecution of senior Israeli officials in the International Criminal Court, if Tel Aviv fails to launch its own investigations into the Gaza war under international scrutiny*. 

HE/MMN

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## Shades

Four injured as Israel bombs Gaza 'survival tunnels'
Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:51:50 GMT

In another act of tightening the screws on the people of the Gaza Strip, *Israeli warplanes attack "survival tunnels" along Rafah border, wounding at least four Palestinians*. 

The tunnels, which link the south of the impoverished enclave to Egypt, have been serving as conduits for vital supplies to the besieged Gaza Strip, and are frequently attacked by Israeli and Egyptian security forces. 

The Israeli army said the Wednesday strike was carried out in response to a rocket attack from the strip on southern Israel late on Tuesday, which caused no damage or casualties. 

*As a result of the crippling land, sea, and air blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt since June 2007, when the democratically-elected Hamas government gained control of Gaza, the enclave's 1.5 million inhabitants have had to rely heavily on the perilous tunnels as the sole means of obtaining essential supplies such as food and medicines*. 

HE/MMN

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## Shades

TV show sparks new row between Turkey and Israel
Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:42:01 GMT

*The Israeli Foreign Minister has summoned the Turkish Envoy over a series of broadcasts on Turkey's public TV showing Israeli soldiers brutally killing Palestinian children*. 

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman "instructed to summon the Turkish ambassador to Israel for talks with officials in the Foreign Ministry in order to protest the broadcasting of a series on the state television inciting hatred against Israel," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday as reported by AFP. 

The show, called Ayrilik (Farewell), features a love story that develops between the lead characters during Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip. 

A partial episode  available on YouTube  *shows Israeli soldiers shooting children in the chest and kicking elderly people on the ground, among other things*. 

Israel launched a 22-day all-out war on the densely populated Gaza Strip last December. 

Based on a report recently released by B'Tselem human rights group, the offensive killed at least 773 Palestinians who had not taken part in any military activities. 

*252 children under 16, and 111 women were among the victims of the offensive*. 

According to the report, *68 Palestinian teenagers aged 16 to 18 who did not take part in the fighting were also killed by the Israeli army*. 

The results of a *UN probe into the Gaza war have also confirmed that the Israeli Army committed war crimes in its "Operation Cast Lead"*. 

The latest row might further undermine relations between the two sides which have already been strained after Turkey withdrew from a joint military exercise over Israel's decision to send warplanes that participated in the Gaza war. 

SB/SS/RE

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## Shades

Palestinians don't want Mickey Mouse state
Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:27:48 GMT

Palestinian Premier Salam Fayyad has expressed *concern over Israel's plan to push for the creation of "a Mickey Mouse" Palestinian state on only limited parts of the occupied West Bank*. 

Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, Fayyad said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is indeed pushing for "a Mickey Mouse" state which Palestinians would not accept. 

Fayyad said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had talked about a state without the Jordan Valley, which makes up 27 percent of the West Bank territory, and without areas classified as C in the Oslo agreement, which are the sparsely inhabited areas of the West Bank. 

He called on the Israeli government to "explain exactly what kind of state it is talking about" when Netanyahu said in June he was willing to accept a demilitarized Palestinian state. 

"Our right to statehood has to be enshrined in a Security Council resolution," Fayyad told journalists. 

Fayyad said there was an "inherent contradiction" between the peace process and Israeli settlement activity, which the Palestinians have said must be halted before any new direct talks. 

"*Why should the peace process continue as business as usual when these blatant violations of international law are continuing*," he asked. 

The United States has been struggling for months to get Israel and the Palestinians to restart peace negotiations which were suspended during the Gaza war at the turn of the year. 

*Israel, however, has so far resisted international pressure to freeze all settlement construction in the West Bank ahead of the renewal of peace talks*. 

SB/SS/RE

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## Shades

NAM wants Israel to be responsible for Gaza crimes
Thu, 15 Oct 2009 03:17:43 GMT

*115 countries of the Non-aligned Movement (NAM) have called on the UN Security Council to hold Israel responsible for atrocities committed in Gaza during its offensive*. 

NAM Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz asked the Security Council on Wednesday to "seriously consider and act upon the recommendations" of the UN Fact Finding Mission headed by Richard Goldstone. 

The *move comes while the US Administration was planning to stall efforts by the countries to condemn Israel*. 

Washington says the war crime charges in the Goldstone report, should be dealt with in the Human Rights Council, not the Security Council. 

The Security Council decided to review the issue in its Wednesday meeting despite the US pressure. However, the *attempts by Washington to stall the process has sparkled outrage by right groups*. 

"That *President Obama is receiving the Noble Peace prize after his failure to speak out during the Gaza war, and after his administration's protection of a state that has committed war crimes, is an abomination*," Michael Ratner, president of the New York-based Centre for Constitutional Rights, told Inter Press Service. 

"Sadly, its conduct at the Human Rights Council [in Geneva] where it called the Goldstone report deeply flawed shows that it will again do all in its power to try and bury any investigation of Israel for war crimes," he added. 

Ratner warned that such moves would embolden Israel to continue its atrocities. 

The failure to refer the Gaza matter to the ICC (International Criminal Court) undercuts any claim that the law is applied equally to Israel and the Palestinians. 

SB/

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## Shades

Europe arrests may bar Israeli trips
Thu, 15 Oct 2009 07:22:30 GMT
Font size :   

Netanyahu has vowed not to permit Israeli officials who launched the Gaza war to 'arrive at' The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC).
Concerns of facing arrests in Europe shroud Israel's hawkish government as the *Goldstone report on Gaza wins more support across the world.* 

The Israeli government is reportedly considering limitations on its officials' travel to Europe fearing that they could be arrested over charges of committing war crimes during the Gaza war in January. 

Israel's Western allies on Wednesday called on Tel Aviv for a credible investigation into UN allegations of possible war crimes by the Israel Defense Forces during the winter conflict in the Gaza Strip. 

"Currently there is no specific advisory and different senior officers are continuing their travel as planned," army spokesperson Avital Leibovitz told The Washington Times, adding the army was discussing Foreign Ministry and other Israeli authorities' possible restrictions on the travel of senior officials to Europe. 

The Gaza war report by an independent international investigative committee has drawn much criticism from Israeli officials for highlighting Israeli army's crimes against Palestinians during the weeks-long incursion of the Gaza Strip. 

The damning document has brushed off Israeli hopes to finally normalize ties with Arab states and marred Israel's relations with those few Arab countries who have peace deals with Tel Aviv. 

But the report, which is finding its way to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over Israel's failure to conduct an independent and vivid inquiry into crimes committed during the Gaza war, has panicked Israel over possible arrest warrants against its officials in European countries. 

The Israeli government is holding talks with Spain, Norway, Britain and other EU countries in a bid to bar international courts from 'intervening in the issue'. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday hurled still another tirade against the UN report, vowing not to let the Israeli officials who launched the Gaza war 'arrive at' the International Court in The Hague. 

The Goldstone report gives Israel six months to investigate the war crimes charges before recommending that the matter be sent to the ICC. 

MRS/AKM

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## Shades

Extremist settlers attack villagers in Qariout village

2009-10-14 11:29:09


Ramallah-PalPress-Extremist Israeli settlers attacked today morning villagers  in Qariout village  which lies 26 kilometers  away from Nablus while they were harvesting olives.

A Palestinian Authority official in charge of settlement activity in the northern West Bank Ghassan Dughlus, said that hand-to hand clashes erupted between the settlers and the villagers who were on their way to their farms.

He pointed out that the settlers who came from "Eli" settlement hit Mofeed Jaber causing bruises in  different parts of his body.

Qarriout village has been exposed to several attacks by settlers  living in four settlements surrounding the village..

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## Shades

Erakat Condemns Israels Continued Demolition of Palestinian Homes Date : 13/10/2009   Time : 13:48
RAMALLAH, October 13, 2009(WAFA)- Head of PLO Negotiation Affairs Department,  Dr Saeb Erakat, today condemned I*sraels continued demolition of Palestinian homes, following the destruction of several Palestinian properties in occupied East Jerusalem, including the home of the At-Taleiqi family*.  

These latest home demolitions in occupied East Jerusalem highlight the real source of growing tensions across the city, and *reinforce why negotiations without any change in Israels policies on the ground offer Palestinians no hope of peace*, Dr Erakat said.

*These are the actions of an Israeli government that claims it is committed to peace, but does the exact opposite on the ground. It is a government that does whatever it wants because it believes it can get away with it, and so far, Israel has*.

Israels escalation of tensions in Jerusalem last week reinforces the systematic violence and institutionalized discrimination that Palestinians continue to face, including home demolitions, forced evictions and Israels suffocation of Palestinian life and the Palestinian economy as it isolates East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank.

*This relentless assault on Palestinian life and Palestinian property in occupied East Jerusalem is part and parcel of Israels illegal settlement enterprise, and its determination to continue expanding and building settlements in direct violation of international law and existing agreements*.

Dr Erakat called on the international community to support the five members of the At-Taleiqi family who lost their home as a result of todays demolitions, and to step up its pressure on Israel to stop all settlement construction and home demolitions in occupied East Jerusalem.

Home demolitions are but one example of the way Israels occupation targets all Palestinians without exception. Today, another Palestinian family has been added to the growing list of those made destitute and homeless by Israel as it tries to force more and more of East Jerusalems majority Palestinian population from the city. It comes just a couple of days after Israel laid the foundation stone for yet another illegal Israeli settlement on stolen Palestinian land in occupied East Jerusalem, Dr Erakat said.

Jerusalem is becoming a disaster zone as Israel intensifies its occupation and the daily violence it employs against ordinary Palestinians, with more of our homes being bulldozed, more of our land being seized, more settlements being built, and as poverty among Palestinians reaches endemic levels.   

The international community must hold Israel accountable to its purported commitment to peace in the same way that it does so of Palestinians. H*ow can you talk of being a partner for peace on the one hand, while demolishing the homes of those you say you want to make peace with on the other?*, Dr Erakat concluded.

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## Shades

Israeli DCO of Gaza Continues to Boycott HR Organizations Date : 13/10/2009   Time : 15:12
TEL AVIV, October 13, 2009 (WAFA)- *Patients are denied critical medical care and dozens of people with urgent humanitarian needs remain unattended to, said Tuesday Israeli human rights organizations, after one month of the Israeli District Coordination Office (DCO) of the Gaza Strip boycott of these organisations*.

The denial of the basic right of the residents of Gaza to representation leaves a dangerous opening for exploiting their vulnerable humanitarian condition and denying their rights, said the organizations, adding that the boycott directed solely against the human rights organizations raises suspicion of further attempts to restrict their activities.

In a press release, the organizations said: One month into the boycott, the Gaza District Coordination Office (DCO) continues to refuse to communicate with Israeli human rights organizations acting to assist Palestinians who wish to exit and enter the Gaza Strip for various reasons of a humanitarian nature. In a letter sent today by Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, HaMoked Center for the Defence of the Individual, and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel to Osnat Mandel, head of the High Court Department at the State Attorneys Office, the groups argue that the decision by the head of the DCO to cut ties with the organizations severely violates the right of the residents of Gaza to be represented before the competent authorities in Israel who have the exclusive power to grant or deny their requests:

'Unfortunately, as of today, the head of the Gaza DCO has taken the position that he has no obligation to respect the right to representation, due process, and a fair hearing for residents who approach him. That position is the polar opposite of what the law requires,' write the organizations.

Denying people with urgent humanitarian needs the basic right of representation poses a real risk of their vulnerable situation being exploited without them being able to exercise their rights. Such for example is the case of Ms. Samah Khtab, who came to the Erez Checkpoint with her children on October 11, 2009, after being told by the Palestinian Civil Affairs Committee they had received an exit permit from the Gaza Strip for a short visit with her relatives in the West Bank. The military refused to provide details of its decision in her case to the Gisha representatives assisting her. After hours of waiting at the checkpoint, Ms. Khtab was surprised to learn that the Israeli authorities would only issue the permit on the condition that she promise never to return to her home and family in the Gaza Strip. This is not the first case the organizations have learned of in which the Israeli authorities exploited the absence of legal representation to impose illegal conditions on permit seekers who are not aware of their rights.

The continued boycott of the organizations, who last year handled 1,600 cases of Gaza residents seeking to travel, seriously undermines the urgent humanitarian needs of the residents of the Gaza Strip, including many cases of patients who need immediate access to medical care in Israel. For example, Ms. Amneh Mansour, 29, a married mother of six, suffers from a ventricular septal defect and needs urgent surgery at an Israeli hospital. On October 11, 2009 the Palestinian Civilian Committee told Ms. Mansour that the Israeli authorities had rejected her application. Since the Gaza DCO continues to refuse to receive applications from Physicians for Human Rights, Ms. Mansour is in Gaza with no medical treatment and no possibility of representation of her case.

The reasons for the new decision, which is directed solely at human rights organizations, are not clear at all, and raise many questions, especially considering the comments of a senior security official to the media that 'recently the Israeli organizations have been working more intensively than ever, and that is unacceptable.

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## Shades

*Palestinian Village Gets Mosque after 61 Years*
Date : 14/10/2009   Time : 15:48
HAIFA, October 14, 2009 (WAFA)-  *For the first time in 61 years, the Palestinian village of Akbara heard the call for prayer after finally being given permission to build a mosque to replace the one destroyed by Israel back in 1948 Alarabiya news said*.

Nayef  Zidani  the writer said: *Since Akbara, located 2.5 kilometers from Safad, was blown up and destroyed in 1948, no mosque was built and residents used to rely on the radio to know prayer times*.

Ghazi Hulailil, member of the al-Hoda Association, which supervises the village said: 'They depended on prayer times in Jerusalem and Ramallah, They would pray in their homes and sometimes they wouldnt even pray because there was no Mosque nearby.

What made things more difficult for villagers, Hulailil added, is that the closest city to Akbara is Safad in Israels Northern District which has a 99% Jewish and non-Arab population. Other cities with Arab populations and mosques were far.

He noted: For the Friday prayer they had to travel to a long way to other Arab cities.

The new mosque is still not fully functioning. It lacks a minaret and there is no imam yet. Occasionally a preacher comes from one of the Arab towns to lead the worshippers in prayer and give sermons on the importance of faith.

Hulailil said: as soon as the call for prayer sounded from the mosque, the Jewish residents a couple of kilometers away started complaining. Safad residents submitted a complaint to the municipality expressing their indignation at the noise caused by the call for prayer and calling to reprimand the villagers.

In response, the volume of the call for prayers was turned down to the minimum to the extent that the Akbara villagers claimed they could barely hear it. However, the complaints did not stop.

Hulailil added that since 1948, Akbara villagers had been living in tents and huts until the first building was constructed in the mid 1980s.

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## Shades

FHI Issues Ages in Darkness Absence of Rights, Justice in Israeli Jails Date : 14/10/2009   Time : 15:52
VIENNA, October 14, 2009 (WAFA)- *Friends of Humanity International (FHI) issued a detailed report about the most ancient Palestinian prisoners with title Ages in Darkness*

*The report was about the most ancient Palestinian prisoners in the prisons of the Israeli occupation, where it mentioned that the process of involvement in the prisons for a group of Palestinian prisoners for decades, and the attempt to separate them from their communities, have imposed on these prisoners and families long suffering experiences as a result of absence of rights and justice*.

FHI said: the Israeli occupation forces through the policy of long prison sentences against hundreds of Palestinian prisoners want to weaken the spirit of the Palestinian community in order to prevent the Palestinians from asking for their rights.

It mentioned *the names of twelve Palestinian and Arab prisoners who have spent in prison periods ranging between 24 and 31 years isolated from the external world, and some of them were prevented from meeting their families for years.*

 *We have chosen a group of the oldest Palestinian and Arab prisoners in the occupation prisons, to display samples of their lives and some of endure of their families, this is done in order to get more knowledge and awareness about the suffering of these people, as a result of the long and unjust sentences issued by the courts of the occupation forces against them*, FHI said.

It stated examples from the lives of these prisoners and the way of their detention, through the witness of their families, in addition to description of their miserable circumstances that force the prisoners to live inside the prison cells, and the suffering of their families resulted from their separation from family members who are in the prisons, and mentioned *some stories of loyalty and fulfillment from the wives of the prisoners to their husbands and families. Many of them spent their ages in raising their children and waiting for the return of their husbands, and have succeeded greatly in raising their children where a lot of sons and daughters have finished their studies in schools and universities with excellent degrees.*

Regarding the health status of the prisoners, FHI emphasized that, many of these prisoners are suffering from diseases and are subjected to medical neglecting.

The report described the feelings and emotions of the prisoners and their families when a happy or sad occasion occurs in the family, where sadness renews in either occasion as a result of the absence of the prisoners.

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## Shades

PHR: Israel Deliberately Impairs Humanitarian Efforts in WB, 
Gaza Date : 14/10/2009   Time : 23:35
TEL AVIV, October 14, 2009 (WAFA)- *Of 16 requests to enter Gaza and extend medical aid, 13 were PHR medical teams are delayed in roadblocks while on humanitarian missions in the West Bank*. 

'The *simplest interpretation of the Defense Ministry's conduct is that it is deliberately impeding our ability to carry out humanitarian missions in the Occupied Territory*,' says PHR-Israel.

 Physicians for Human Rights - Israel (PHR-Israel) has recently asked Minister Ehud Barak to stop the deliberate harm that the ministry is causing to PHR-Israels activities in the Occupied Territories by impeding its access both in Gaza and the West Bank and eventually severing ties with the organization.

For the past 21 years, PHR-Israel has been providing medical services in the occupied territory in a variety of ways including a mobile clinic operated by volunteer Israeli physicians in the West Bank every week.  This effort to provide much-needed medical services to the Palestinian population was extended to the Gaza Strip in 2008, in which 9 medical delegations of PHR-Israel had entered the strip for that mission. The services include medical treatment and consultation, surgeries, training of Palestinian medical teams, distribution of medications, and sometimes even referring complicated cases to Israeli hospitals for further treatment.  These are humanitarian activities of the first degree, mainly in view of the problems that the Palestinian medical system faces in providing appropriate treatment in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Since 2008 when PHR-Israel began activity in Gaza, it has been sending delegations of physicians and medical equipment there, including after Operation Cast Lead.  *PHR-Israel is the only Israeli organization to enter Gaza from Israel in recent years*.  Over the past several months, however, PHR-Israel has met major hindrances that impair its humanitarian activities.  Of the 16 requests filed to enter the Gaza Strip last year, 13 were rejected without explanation or reason.  A PHR-Israel delegation with medical equipment was last allowed to enter Gaza in May 2009 but since then all eight requests filed were refused.  While the army denied PHR-Israel delegations' entry, it allowed unaffiliated physicians to enter the strip and carry out medical activity privately.

At the same time, in recent weeks, the PHR-Israel's West Bank mobile clinic has been delayed for hours at army checkpoints before being allowed to continue.  In addition, the army is making it very hard to transport medications and medical equipment through the mobile clinic.

'This conduct by the Defense Ministry raises fears that it intends to undermine the organization's many years of humanitarian activity in the Occupied Territories.  The State of Israel has recently declared that it does not intend to create a humanitarian crisis in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.  It is not clear how such these statements coincide with the IDF's practical policies,' said a letter sent by PHR-Israel to the Defense Ministry.

In addition to these policies, Colonel Moshe Levi, Commander of the Gaza Strip District Coordination Office in the Israeli army, has recently decided to cut contact with human rights organizations. Thus, PHR-Israel can no longer file requests for patients to leave the strip for life-saving or other urgent treatment in Israel or the West Bank.

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## Shades

March for Peace and Nonviolence gathering in Manger Square for Palestine-portion of global action	


14.10.09 - 12:30
*This afternoon hundreds of people will gather at Bethlehems Nativity Square to begin the Palestine portion of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence.*

The group is calling for an end to the proliferation of nuclear weapons and for justice to prevail throughout the planet.

The Palestine-portion of the trip is organized by Bethlehem NGO Holy Land Trust and is spearheaded by Rana Al Arja. She says, For many years, Palestinians living under the Israeli occupation regime have been denied the right to justice, equality and national identity. We strongly believe that this March is an enormous opportunity for Palestinians to draw international supporters to the situation in Palestine, to raise awareness about the human rights situation in our part of the world and to spread the message of nonviolent resistance.

The march is a massive global initiative that began in New Zealand earlier this month, the second of October being the birthday of Gandhi. That date was also declared by the United Nations as the International Day of Nonviolence.

In addition to the march, which will conclude in the Andes Mountains, Punta de Vacas, Aconcagua, Argentina on 2 January, in each city the march visits local individuals and groups will organize forums, meetings, festivals, conferences and events, including sports, cultural, social, musical, artistic and educational.

In Bethlehem today, the March will walk from Nativity Square through the streets of Bethlehem and to the Wall that blocks in the north of the city from the rest of its lands in that area. A visit to nearby Aida Refugee Camp is also on the agenda.

The larger message of the March aims to achieve the eradication of nuclear weapons, the reduction of non-nuclear arms, and the renunciation by governments of war as a way to resolve conflicts. It also aims to expose the many other forms of violence, including economic, racial, sexual, religious, and all types of violations of human rights that are currently hidden or disguised by their perpetrators; and to provide a way for all who suffer such violence to be heard.

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## Shades

Farawana: *No one has the real number of political prisoners who have given birth in Israeli jails	*


14.10.09 - 11:29
Gaza / PNN  Abdel Nasser Ferwana was once a political prisoner himself.

This is not surprising considering that some *85 percent of Palestinian males spend at least some of the moments of their lives being detained by Israeli forces*.

What sets apart Ferwana, however, is that he has dedicated his life to researching the issue, to presenting as much information as possible to the public and to advocating.

Today he is challenging the validity and accuracy of human rights organizations and medial outlets that claim only four to eight political prisoners have given birth in Israeli jails. The researcher, who has official ties to the Palestinian Authority, said today tha *no one has the exact number of prisoners who have given birth in Israeli prisons since 19t67 until today*.

The reason behind the discrepancy, Ferwana said today, is the lack of documentation published on the subject before the Al Aqsa Intifada. The research just isnt there, the prisoners affairs official said on Wednesday. Agencies and institutions must be concerned to adopt a comprehensive strategic plan to document this important part of history and the feminist movement.

Ferwana himself has already issued a study entitled, Children See, Despite the Darkness of the Light of Cells, in January 2008. Palestine behind Bars has circumstances of the births and available date. Various media outlets have also published information on prison births as they occurred.

Ferwana noted, *The cases of the birth of prisoners during the Intifada have received more attention and more accurate documentation than those cases that have been in prison before the start of the second Intifada in September 2000*, and therefore we always ask whether we are sure that the published and documented information in inclusive and correct. All organizations support the number of four cases since the Intifada, and an additional four, *but we are certain there are more.*

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## Shades

*Jews lobby 'to remove Al-Aqsa Mosque'*
Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:02:31 GMT


*Extremist Jewish organizations in Israel have demanded that the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock from East Jerusalem Al-Quds be transferred to Mecca*. 

*Gershon Salomon is seeking the removal of the mosques from East Jerusalem Al-Quds, which Israel occupied during the 1967 aggression and illegally annexed it later despite international opposition,* Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Wednesday. 

The founder and leader of the ultra-Orthodox Temple Mount and Eretz Yisrael Faithful Movement plans to *have Israeli engineers transfer the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock to the Muslims' holy city of Mecca*, the daily added. 

The Israeli paper also quoted ultra-right Yehuda Etzion, who is associated with Israeli spy agencies, as saying that *blowing up of the Muslim sanctities would become 'inevitable' to if Tel Aviv fails to dissemble and transfer the edifices*. 

Etzion was jailed for five years i*n the 1980s for a plot to explode the mosques on the Noble Sanctuary (Haram al-Sharif)*, and has vowed he would do the same again. 

The Al-Aqsa Mosque has been *attacked by extremist Jews over the past week while the mosque compound was sealed off to Muslim worshippers*. 

Israel also deployed thousands of troops in the area to quell demonstrations by Palestinians protesters who accused Tel Aviv of efforts to take away the Islamic-Palestinian identity of the Muslims' third holy site. 

Jordan, who enjoys the right to look after all Islamic and Christian holy sites in East Jerusalem Al-Quds under a 1994 peace treaty, demanded last week that Israel keep Jewish extremists away from the compound and keep the Mugrabi Gate closed. 

MRS/AKM

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## Shades

Palestinian state to be 'established soon', says Spain
Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:43:21 GMT

Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (L) and Mahmoud Abbas (R) attend a press conference in Ramallah.
*Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero expresses optimism that a Palestinian state 'would be established soon'*, but says conditions for talks should improve. 

At a press conference with Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Thursday, he said that many countries, including the United States, support recognition of a Palestinian state. 

He added that Spain is working on a process to reduce the time required to establish a Palestinian state. Once Spain assumes the rotating presidency of the EU on January 1, it will continue to work hard to seek a Palestinian state, Zapatero said. 

The European Union should be deeply involved as the peace process is facing many problems, he said, "and therefore we have to continue to work hard and in full cooperation with the Palestinian Authority" to overcome these problems. 

Abbas insisted that peace talks will not resume unless Israel halts all settlement activities in the West Bank. 

*Zapatero also met with Israeli President Shimon Peres and asked him not to obstruct dialogue and respect human rights*. 

FTP/SS/MMN

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## Shades

*UNHRC endorses Goldstone report, angers Israe*l
Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:02:02 GMT


The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has adopted a resolution, endorsing the Goldstone report on the Gaza war, despite efforts by Israeli leaders to block the motion. 

On Friday, 25 member-states of the council voted for the resolution, six voted against and 11 abstained. The "draft resolution ... is therefore adopted," UNHRC President Alex Van Meeuwen said in Geneva. 

The sweeping approval came amid a call by Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu on the world body's High Commissioner for Human Rights to drop support for the report, which highlights Israel's atrocities during its massive offensive on the Gaza Strip. 

The resolution urges the endorsement of the recommendations mentioned in Goldstone's Gaza report, and "calls upon all concerned parties including United Nations bodies, to ensure their implementation." 

The 575-page report, written by South African war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone and three other international experts, accuses the Israeli army of deliberate killing of Palestinian civilians among other instance of war crimes.	

The reports recommends referring its conclusions to the International Criminal Court prosecutor in The Hague, if the Israeli and Palestinian sides of the conflict fail to conduct credible investigations within six months. 

Tel Aviv worries that the resolution would open the door to lodging war crime charges in international courts against its senior politicians and army officials involved in the weeks-long onslaught against the blockaded Palestinian territory. 

Top officials who would be in the judicial cross-hairs could include former prime minister Ehud Olmert, former foreign minister Tzipi Livni as well as incumbent Defense Minister Ehud Barak. 

Far more than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during three weeks of Israel's land, sea and air assault in the impoverished coastal sliver, which remains under a crippling Israeli siege, in place since June 2007. 

MRS/MMN

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## Shades

Jordan warns Israel: *Don't cross Al-Aqsa red line*
Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:31:25 GMT

Jordan's King Abdullah II has *advised Israel against crossing the Jerusalem Al-Quds 'red line', warning the violation could bring about 'disastrous repercussions'*. 

"Jerusalem is a red line and any manipulation in this city would have disastrous repercussions on the security and stability of the region," he said in talks on Friday with visiting Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. 

The warning follows weeks of tensions in the vicinity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound sparked after the Israeli forces denied Palestinian worshippers access to the mosque, the third holy site in the Muslim world. 

Tel Aviv deployed thousands of soldiers in East Jerusalem Al-Quds to disperse and arrest angry Palestinian protesters accusing Israel of efforts to remove the Islamic-Palestinian identity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. 

On Friday, King Abdullah called on the international community, especially the European Union, "to act firmly against any Israeli measures aimed at changing the identity of the Holy City of Jerusalem and threaten the places of worship." 

*Israeli media recently revealed that extremist Jewish organizations in Israel are pressuring the Tel Aviv government to remove the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock from East Jerusalem Al-Quds and transfer them to Mecca.* 

Ultra-right Yehuda Etzion, who is associated with Israeli spy agencies, has also threatened to *blow up the Muslim sanctities if the government fails to dissemble and transfer the edifices.* 

Jordan, who enjoys the right to look after all Islamic and Christian holy sites in East Jerusalem Al-Quds under a 1994 peace treaty, earlier demanded Israel to keep Jewish extremists away from the compound. 

Israel has been evicting Arab residents of East Jerusalem Al-Quds over 'illegal construction' in the dominantly Palestinian neighborhood, which Tel Aviv occupied in 1967 and illegally annexed later in a move not recognized by the international community. 

The Palestinians condemn the evictions accusing Israeli municipality officials of making it virtually impossible for the Arab citizens to get permits for new homes or extending existing ones. 

MRS/MMN

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## Shades

'Humanitarian tragedy' in Gaza must end, says Turkey
Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:34:59 GMT


Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu rules out a military alliance with Israel as along as the human tragedy in Gaza continues.
*Turkey says strained Ankara-Tel Aviv ties cannot recover unless Israel ends the 'humanitarian tragedy' in Gaza and moves toward peace* in the Middle East. 

"Ending the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza, reviving peace efforts  both on the Palestinian and Syrian track, and most importantly  reinstating a prevailing spirit of peace in the region... this is what we want," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters. 

"When there is a return to the track of peace, these relations of trust (with Israel) will be re-established on the same level as before," AFP quoted Davutoglu as saying. 

Relations between Turkey and Israel saw a sharp plummet last week, when Ankara excluded Tel Aviv from a NATO military exercise over what Turkey clarified as the wish of the Turkish people in protest at Israel's onslaught on the Gaza Strip. 

"As long as the human tragedy in Gaza continues, no one should expect us to be part of a military picture" with Israel, Davutoglu said. 

The row further deepened on Thursday, with Israel summoning the Turkish envoy after a Turkish state television series, showing Israeli soldiers killing Palestinian children, sparked furor in Tel Aviv. 

The Turkish foreign minister criticized Israel for 'killing the peace perspective' in the Middle East with its military action against the blockaded Gaza at the turn of the year. 

"Although no single rocket has been fired on Israel from Gaza over the past eight months, children in Gaza have no schools to go to, people have no homes to take shelter in," Davutoglu regretted. 

The humanitarian situation in the coastal sliver should be improved in the shortest possible time, he urged. 

MRS/MMN

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## Shades

Hamas welcomes UNHRC endorsement of Gaza report
Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:40:09 GMT

More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during three weeks of Israeli assault on the impoverished coastal sliver.
Hamas has welcomed a UN Human Rights Council's (UNHRC) endorsement of a fact-finding report on Israel's war in the Gaza Strip. 

On Thursday, Taher al-Noono, spokesman of the Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip, told reporters that Hamas thanks the countries that voted in favor of the report. 

Of the 47-member body, 25 states voted in favor of a resolution tabled by the Palestinians and 11 delegates abstained. Six nations, including the United States and some European Union nations, voted against the resolution, while Britain, France and three others did not vote. 

The UNHRC endorsed the controversial report that accused both Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes against civilians during the 22-day conflict that ended on January 18. 

"We welcome the overwhelming voting for the report and it should be immediately taken to the international court for war crimes to sue the leaders of the Israeli occupation for their awful crimes," said al-Noono. 

Meanwhile, prominent Hamas member Mahmoud al-Zahar told, al-Aqsa TV "those who tried to justify delaying the vote (referring to acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas) three weeks ago were totally mistaken." 

When the Palestinian Authority (PA) asked to delay the voting until March 2010, Hamas accused Abbas and the PA of a "great treason against the blood of the war's victims." 

"In the beginning they encouraged the Israeli occupation for its aggression on our people, and now they hope to see Hamas together with Israel into the same dock," said al-Zahar. 

The UN-ordered Goldstone report on Israel's offensive in Gaza details what investigators call Israeli actions "amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity." 

The 575-page report, written by South African war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone and three other international experts, accuses the Israeli army of the deliberate killing of Palestinian civilians among other instances of war crimes. 

More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during three weeks of Israeli land, sea and air assault on the impoverished coastal sliver, which remains under a crippling Israeli siege, in place since June 2007. The offensive also inflicted $1.6 billion of damage to the Gaza economy. 

SG/SS/MMA

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## Shades

*ICC receives more info on Gaza war crimes*
Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:38:35 GMT

Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, front row center, at the courtroom of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
The international criminal court prosecutor receives more information from Palestinian officials to launch a war crimes investigation against Israel. 

"The prosecutor ... Luis Moreno-Ocampo received a Palestinian delegation headed by Dr. Ali Khashan, Minister of Justice of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA)," said a Friday court statement a day after a UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) accused Tel Aviv of war crimes. 

The court's statement says the office of the prosecutor will carefully examine all arguments submitted. 

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has adopted a resolution, endorsing the Goldstone report on the Gaza war, despite efforts by Israeli leaders to block the motion. 

Tel Aviv is concerned that the resolution would open the door to lodging war crime charges in international courts against its senior politicians and army officials involved in the weeks-long onslaught against the Gaza Strip. 

RZS/SS/MMA

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## Shades

*Four Injured, Dozens Suffered Teargas Inhalation in Bil'in Weekly* 
Protest Date : 16/10/2009   Time : 18:02
RAMALLAH, October 16, 2009 (WAFA)- Four injured and dozens of people suffered teargas inhalation as Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) opened fire at demonstrators in the weekly pacific protest against the Israeli Apartheied Wall built on the citizens land of  the West Bank village of Bil'in west of Ramallah.

In a press release, the International Solidarity movement (ISM) reported: After the Friday prayer, the residents of Bilin gathered in a protest along with Israeli and international activists.

A group from France called French people to support Palestinian People and another group from Norway joined the demonstration in solidarity with the village in their struggle against the Wall and settlement building.

The protesters raised Palestinian flags and banners to allow Palestinian farmers to pick olive trees from their land. The protest called to remove the illegal wall and settlements, stop land confiscations, , and attacks on Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem, remove checkpoints and road blocks, and the release of all the Palestinian detainees. 

The demonstrators have walked in the village streets chanting slogans condemning the policy of occupation, and calling for national unity, as well as they have stressed on the need for popular resistance. Demonstrators carried ladders and other tools they use to harvest the olives, once they have arrived at the gate of the wall which located in Athaher area, they have tried to cross their land to harvest their fruits of olives from their land, that located behind the wall, then the Israeli soldiers have showered them with tear gas bombs, causing four injured. 

 On the other hand, the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Bilin has condemned the Israeli army's threat to the Palestinian farmers near Nablus to impose a fine up to 6000 Israeli shekels ($ 1700 ) for seeking help from foreign volunteers to reach agricultural areas(Palestinian lands) close to the Israeli settlements .although the committee has  considered this as unfair decision; that allows the settlers to exercise their terror on the modest Palestinian farmers, as the Solidarity reveal to the world the brutal terror  of the settlers.

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## Shades

*Despite Promises to Obama, Construction Continues in Dozens of W. Bank Settlements* 
Date : 16/10/2009   Time : 21:44
TEL AVIV, October 16, 2009 (WAFA)- Human rights activists monitoring the West Bank report that despite commitments Israel made to President Barack Obama's administration last month, widespread building activity commenced three weeks ago in at least 12 settlements, wrote Akiva Eldar and Chaim Levinson in Haaretz.

The work consists of ground preparation, pouring concrete and drilling construction foundations. This work is not part of the projects that Israel and the United States had reached an understanding on. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak had agreed with the administration to complete some 2,500 housing units that were already in various stages of construction at the time.

The dozen sites do not appear on the list of 492 new housing units that the army ministry issued after Barak approved their construction. Work on these units began after the list was released.

The construction sites are located in the settlements Carmel, Kiryat Arba, Betar Ilit, Elazar, Shilo, Talmon, Nili, Yitzhar, Bracha and Rosh Tzurim.

Customary planning procedures in the West Bank stipulate that no ground preparing work may be carried out without the defense minister's permit. The minister may only allow the work after the construction plan has been issued and after the period for presenting objections has passed, or after the objections have been rejected.

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) gave the go-ahead on Thursday for several transportation projects in the West Bank. Katz met 13 local authority heads in the territories and agreed, among other things, to have the Israel National Roads Company build access roads to several settlements. The minister also approved plans to improve safety in the settlements such as entrances, sidewalks and traffic circles near schools. He told Haaretz that the plans had no political significance.

In addition, West Bank roads are being renovated in the past six weeks.

Construction work is also taking place in the settlements Tekoa, Nokdim, Alon Shvut, Alonei Shilo, Bakan, Givat Zeev, Dolev, Har Gilo, Talmon, Yitzhar, Kochav Yaakov, Kfar Adumim, Kfar Etzion, Mevo Horon, Matityahu, Naaleh, Etz Efraim, P'duel, Tzofim, Kedar and Kalia.

The Peace Now movement last week reported that ground preparing work for the construction of 800 housing units was being carried out in 34 settlements.

Gush Etzion council head Shaul Goldstein commented: 'Peace Now's sole purpose is provocation and dispute-mongering. They are a foreign agent sent by foreign governments, monitoring completely legal construction of people who love the nation and country. It's time Peace Now disappeared.'

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## Shades

*UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador says Palestinian children live in deprivation and fear* 


16.10.09 - 13:18
Gaza / PNN  UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors Mia Farrow and Mahmoud Kabil spent two days in the Gaza Strip meeting with children.

The American and Egyptian actors respectively were on a mission to witness directly the difficulties experienced by Palestinian children who live under Israeli siege that continues after the major attacks.

Farrow commented, *The children seem traumatized. Teachers say that when they hear a loud noise they look to the sky screaming and crying. They do not know what the future holds. They live in deprivation and fear*. They deserve better.

In a unique initiative, Farrow entered Gaza through the Erez Crossing in the norths Beit Hanoun while Kabil came in through the southern Rafah crossing.

While the Gaza Strip measures just 45 kilometers long and 12 km and its widest point, of its 1.5 million residents, half of them are children.

During the major attacks of late December and January, 1,400 Palestinians were killed, including 350 children, and more than 5,000 people were injured, among them 1,600 children.

During the tour, Farrow visited a school in the northern Gaza Strip and talked to students and teachers about the impact of the siege on essential services such as education, health and sanitation.

The UNICEF Ambassadors also heard testimonies of children who are forced to work in the tunnels and elsewhere to support their families in the Gaza Strip where eight out of 10 families rely on food aid.

This is the second part of the trip for Egyptian actor Kabil who was in the West Bank during Ramadan to support Palestinian children and their families during the holy month.

Of Gaza he said, I am glad that I was finally able to visit the children of Gaza and to express solidarity with their families who are in distress and suffer daily.

Today, nine months after the major Israeli attacks, some 20,000 Palestinians are still without homes. The embargo prevents materials for rebuilding damaged houses and schools. Children remain at risk from undetonated explosives left behind, while more than 60 percent of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip do not have daily access to water.

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## Shades

*Israeli teenagers face prison sentences for refusing military service: demonstration in Bilin* 


15.10.09 - 13:23
Bilin - At next Fridays demonstration against the Wall in Bilin, 23 October, a delegation from Shministim (meaning "12th graders" in Hebrew) will be joining the Palestinian nonviolent resistance.

The Shministim is an Israeli organization of teenagers who refuse to join the occupying army, and who accept prison sentences for their refusal. 

Organizers in the western Ramallah town of Bilin met with the group this week and are now sending out a call to all those who support struggle against the military occupation.

We are asking you to join us for this important demonstration to salute the Shministim, to show our support for their cause, and to continue our work together against the Israeli occupation. We hope to see you in large numbers and thank you in advance for your solidarity.  

Tuesdays meeting included Iyad Bornat, Head of the Bil'in Popular Committee, Haitham al-Khatib and Hamde Abu Rahma of the Bil'in Popular Committee, and Or Ben David and Emelia Marcovich of the Shministim. After the meeting the following summary was issued:

Today, two members of Shministim, the Israeli organization of teenagers who refuse to serve in the Israeli Army, Or Ben David and Emelia Marcovich, met with the Head of the Bil'in Popular Committee, Iyad Bornat. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss ideas for the Friday demonstration of 23 October 2009, which will be dedicated to the Shministim, to salute them and to continue to work together with the people of Bil'in. 

Or mentions that she, together with other members of Shministim, have been coming to Bil'in many times on Fridays to protest against the Apartheid Wall alongside Palestinians and international and Israeli activists. She says that the Shministim members feel that they and the Palestinians are friends. Bil'in makes them feel like home and shows them that they can really talk to Palestinians contrary to the common belief among Israeli society that all Palestinians are terrorists and must be feared. Instead, Palestinians are human beings who are leading normal lives like the Israeli people.

For this reason, Or and Emelia decided to come today to meet with Iyad to brainstorm the planned demonstration of 23 October 2009. While Or will have to go to prison this coming Thursday for refusing to serve in the Army and will not be able to physically be at the demo, Emelia, on the other hand, will be joining the demonstration. Her prison term will start somewhat later.

Or and Emelia will also be sending out an email to all young people in Israel calling on them that they have the choice to refuse to serve in the occupation forces.

Both said that they feel good being in the West Bank in the company of Palestinians.

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## Shades

*'Humanitarian tragedy' in Gaza must end, says Turkey*
Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:34:59 GMT

*Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu rules out a military alliance with Israel as along as the human tragedy in Gaza continues*.
Turkey says *strained Ankara-Tel Aviv ties cannot recover unless Israel ends the 'humanitarian tragedy' in Gaza and moves toward peace in the Middle East*. 

"Ending the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza, reviving peace efforts  both on the Palestinian and Syrian track, and most importantly  reinstating a prevailing spirit of peace in the region... this is what we want," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters. 

"When there is a return to the track of peace, these relations of trust (with Israel) will be re-established on the same level as before," AFP quoted Davutoglu as saying. 

Relations between Turkey and Israel saw a sharp plummet last week, when Ankara excluded Tel Aviv from a NATO military exercise over what Turkey clarified as the wish of the Turkish people in protest at Israel's onslaught on the Gaza Strip. 

"*As long as the human tragedy in Gaza continues, no one should expect us to be part of a military picture*" with Israel, Davutoglu said. 

The row further deepened on Thursday, with Israel summoning the Turkish envoy after a Turkish state television series, showing Israeli soldiers killing Palestinian children, sparked furor in Tel Aviv. 

The Turkish foreign minister criticized Israel for 'killing the peace perspective' in the Middle East with its military action against the blockaded Gaza at the turn of the year. 

"*Although no single rocket has been fired on Israel from Gaza over the past eight months, children in Gaza have no schools to go to, people have no homes to take shelter in*," Davutoglu regretted. 

The humanitarian situation in the coastal sliver should be improved in the shortest possible time, he urged. 

MRS/MMN

----------


## Shades

*Israel vows to fight UN report amid France, UK support*
Sat, 17 Oct 2009 18:09:17 GMT


UN investigator Richard Goldstone visits a house destroyed during Israel's offensive in January in Gaza city.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged a "lengthy fight" against a United Nations report as the UK and France express support for Israel to defend itself. 

"We are now setting out to delegitimize those who try to delegitimize us. We will not tolerate it and we will respond on a case by case basis," Netanyahu told a special ministerial forum Friday night. 

The forum was held following the decision by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to send the Goldstone report on Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip to the Security Council. 

The rights assembly also adopted a resolution condemning Israel for the 22-day war in late 2008 against the Palestinians, which left at least 1,300 people dead. 

The resolution has put Israel on the spotlight as leaders in Tel Aviv are facing growing international pressure. 

In a letter to the Israeli premier, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy supported Israel's right to defend itself against 'terror'. 

The two leaders also urged "independent, transparent investigation of Gaza events," Ynet reported. 

France and Britain abstained from voting on the Goldstone report. 

The 575-page report, written by South African war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone and three other international experts, accuses the Israeli army of the deliberate killing of Palestinian civilians among other accusations of war crimes. 

US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said that the endorsement per se did not necessarily mean that the Security Council will indeed review the report. 

Kelly said the resolution had "an unbalanced focus and we're concerned that it will exacerbate polarization and divisiveness." 

AGB/SC/MD

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## Shades

Mubarak: Israeli settlements concern Muslims
Sun, 18 Oct 2009 07:53:31 GMT

Silvio Berlusconi (L) and Hosni Mubarak in Rome's Villa Madama on Saturday
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak says the entire Muslim world is concerned about the expansion of the Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories. 

Mubarak, who met with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Rome on Saturday, also condemned Israel's "attempts to assimilate" Jerusalem (Al-Quds). 

Israel's continuation of settlement construction "worries not only the Palestinians but the entire Muslim world," AFP quoted Mubarak as saying. 

The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including east Al-Quds, to be illegal. 

Even the US has repeatedly warned that the expansion of the settlements impedes the progress of the Middle East peace talks. 

Under the 2002 Roadmap for Peace plan brokered by the US, the EU, the UN and Russia, Israel has to 'dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and also freeze all settlement activities'. 

It is estimated that there are almost 200,000 illegal Jewish settlers in the twelve or so Israeli settlements in Al-Quds. There are also about 300,000 more illegal Jewish settlers living in settlements across the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank. 

MGH/MTM/DT

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## Shades

Netanyahu: Turkey can't be an honest broker
Sun, 18 Oct 2009 08:35:20 GMT

Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (L) and Benjamin Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister, *Benjamin Netanyahu, has declared that he does not want Turkey to act as a mediator in future talks with Syria*. 

Ties between Israel and Turkey began to sour in January when Ankara strongly condemned Israel's 22-day offensive on the Gaza Strip which killed at least 1400 people mostly woman and children. 

Relations took another sharp downturn last week when Turkey excluded Israel from a joint air force drill over Gaza incidents. 

A UN inquiry, led by former South African Judge Richard Goldstone, detailed what investigators called Israeli actions "amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity," during Israel's winter offensive against the Hamas-ruled Gaza. 

The tensions became a major issue during a meeting between Netanyahu and his visiting Spanish counterpart, Jose Luis Zapatero, on Saturday. 

Netanyahu said he objects to Turkey resuming its role as mediator since it cannot be an "honest broker" between Israel and Syria, Haaretz reported on Sunday. 

This is while the hawkish government of Netanyahu has not held any indirect talks with Syria. During former Israeli premier Ehud Olmert's tenure, Turkey mediated five rounds of talks between Israeli and Syrian officials. 

If Ankara stops its role as a mediator between Israel and the Arabs, Israel will lose a Muslim mediator with friendly ties to key Muslim players. 

MGH/MTM

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## Shades

*Israel must end 'unfair' jailing - BBC*


*The thousands of detentions by Israel is a major Palestinian grievance*
*Israel holds hundreds of Palestinians without trial or any way to clear their names, say two Israeli rights groups which urge an end to such detentions*.
The groups say currently 335 prisoners are held in "*administrative detention*" under rules dating back to 1945 when the area was under British control.
They add it is only meant for extreme circumstances and Israel's extensive use breaks international law.
Israel says the detentions are used as a last resort to prevent future attack.
Detention orders last for six months without the Israeli military having to bring a prosecution against the detainee.
After six months the orders can be extended by a judge, but the campaign groups, B'Tselem and HaMoked, say this only gives an impression of fairness.

KEY FACTS
*7,150 Palestinians in Israeli custody: 5,000 serving sentences and 1,569 awaiting trial
335 Palestinians in administrative detention*
Nine Palestinians are detained as "illegal combatants"
Source: B'Tselem
In the vast majority of cases, the report Without Trial says, judges declare the *evidence secret and rely on intelligence reports that are never shown to the detainee or defence lawyers.*
"Consequently, it is impossible for the detainee to refute the allegations or to present alternative evidence," the report says.
The *groups call on Israel to release the administrative detainees or prosecute them in accordance with standards of due process that are set forth in international la*w.
Burden of proof
An Israeli army statement stressed administrative detention was used to "remove terror activists regarding whom there is concrete information concerning a clear and present danger posed by them".
It added that efforts were being made to decrease the use of detention without trial. The B'Tselem-HaMoked report acknowledges a decline in numbers such case.
B'Tselem says overall Israel currently holds 7,150 Palestinians in custody. Of these some 5,000 are serving sentences and 1,569 were awaiting trial, with 335 under administrative detention.
There are also nine people detained under a 2002 law regarding "illegal combatants".
The joint B'Tselem-HaMoked report also calls for an immediate end to such incarcerations, which they say offers "fewer protections" to internees than offered to administrative detainees.
They argue that "illegal combatant" internees are only released if they can prove they will not harm state security "thus switching the burden of proof onto the shoulders of the internee, who can never refute the allegations".
The army insisted that such interments - along with administrative detention - were "fully consistent with international law and with the rulings of the Supreme Court"

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## Shades

Olmert Faces Rude Welcome in Chicago 
Date : 17/10/2009   Time : 19:18
TEL AVIV, October 17, 2009 (WAFA)- *Students in Chicago prepared a rude welcome for former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Thursday, dubbing him a 'war criminal' and chanting other insults as he visited a local university*, Ynet news reported Saturday.

'*My university should be ashamed for inviting a murderer*,' one student at University of Chicago yelled at Olmert as he arrived at the school to deliver a speech. The loud protest continued throughout the former PM's address.

According to posters of a YouTube video, the protest was the work of members of various Palestinian supporters  at the university. The demonstration started outside the lecture hall, where dozens of people wearing traditional Arab headdress and carrying Palestinian flags chanted anti-Israel slogans. However, the confrontation escalated inside the venue, with *one female student yelling 'you're a war criminal'* at Olmert. *Another woman said Olmert was 'fascist,*' after he mentioned Israel's democratic regime.

At one point, the school's dean intervened and reminded those in attendance that the point of the discussion was to allow Olmert to answer student questions. In response, a *woman in the audience yelled out that the former PM can make his views heard at the International Court of Justice*

Olmert himself appeared relaxed throughout the ordeal. After *one student asked 'how many people need to die?'* the former PM said this was precisely the question asked by many Israelis for eight years.

The former PM called for world countries to unite against terror and extremism, prompting *one of the female audience members to call out: 'You should be ashamed'*. Two security officers escorted the woman out of the hall as she continued to shout at Olmert.

Later in his lecture, after Olmert spoke about civilians killed in the Gaza Strip, *another audience member yelled: 'Their lives were stolen from them. Meanwhile, another woman waved the list of Gaza War casualties, claiming it included 1,400 names and was 101 pages long. Many applauded as security officers escorted her out of the hall*.

The editors of the video claimed that *security officers threatened to arrest the person who was filming the events, and he was forced to stop shooting*.

According to the video, even after the cameraman left, students continued to talk about Olmert's war crimes in Lebanon and Gaza, concluding with a sarcastic remark about the *pro-Israel activists who were protesting outside the hall, saying there were only four of them present*.

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## Shades

Friends of Humanity demands Egyptian authorities facilitate convoy, "Miles of Smiles"	


18.10.09 - 12:56
Jenin / Ali Samoudi for PNN  *With the siege on the Gaza Strip ongoing, human rights groups are still attempting to deliver aid*.

The Friends of Humanity International is demanding that Egyptian authorities facilitate entry of convoy through the Rafah crossing.

Called "Miles of Smiles", the campaign is attempting to enter Egypt at Port Said and cross into Gaza to deliver medical assistance.

Friends of Humanity said today that international activists, charities, and Arab communities in Europe have done much to gather aid for Palestinian children in need, and that the Egyptian authorities should help not hinder.

The group reports that the Egyptian government has put impossible conditions on the convoy, managing to prevent delivery of the medical assistance. Included in the aid are 110 bus loads of medical supplies and equipment for the children of Gaza, in addition to hundreds of wheelchairs for people who have been wounded.

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## Shades

The road to Jerusalem: I*srael can control land by military power, but it cannot control creativity	*


18.10.09 - 13:26
Jerusalem / Maisa Abu Ghazaleh for PNN - The Road to Jerusalem is not a movie or a book telling the story of the beauty and sanctity of this city.

It is simply a sign; a blue ceramic rectangle with the word "Jerusalem" written in Arabic and English and the distance to the center of the holy city.

Artist Khaled Hourani designed the pieces that are being placed in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In all the cities of the world there are signs showing the distance between towns and villages and the capital city. Jerusalem is a cosmopolitan city with a distinctive history, but living under occupation makes it difficult to communicate and connect with each other.

The project is part of events for Jerusalem as Capital of Arab Culture, 2009, and is a cooperative effort with the International Academy of Arts.

Eighty signs are being made marking various distances to the center of Jerusalem. Hourani said, Through the art I wanted to overcome Israeli obstacles that have prevented activity for the celebration of Jerusalem as the capital of Arab culture. I wanted to confirm that it is an Arab city and the capital of a Palestinian state.

The artist continued, *Israel can control the land by virtue of its military power, but it cannot control thought and creativity.*

The first ceramic sign that reads Jerusalem 00 km is on the Al Aytam School wall in the city.

Signs with distances world wide can be ordered on line at Jerusalem km

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## Shades

450 Italians visit Shuafat Refugee Camp in solidarity with Palestinians facing Wall and destruction	


15.10.09 - 15:30
Jerusalem / Maisa Abu Ghazaleh for PNN  Four hundred and fifty Italians visited East Jerusalems Shuafat Refugee Camp Thursday.

The trip was in solidarity with Palestinians who face daily harassment, home demolitions, and land confiscation for the Wall.

Hosted by the Department of Refugee Affairs in the PLO and the People's Committee for Services in Shu'afat, in coordination with UNRWA, the Italian solidarity delegation was greeted today.

They were met at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency school in the camp by Deputy Commissioner General of the UNRWA, along with other officials from the West Bank.

The group was part of the Italian Network for Peace, which represents nearly all segments of Italian society from journalists to jurists and from students to activists.

Women in Shuafat hoisted flags bearing the words peace and Palestine, while European Parliamentarian and delegation member Luisa Morgantini spoke with official Filippo Grandi about the daily suffering of refugees. Grandi, a UNRWA official, provided an explanation of services provided for Palestine refugees in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. Services include the provision of basic foodstuffs, medical care and limited plots of land on which to live.

Grandi also reviewed the difficulties experienced by Palestinian refugees in the West Bank and the problems faced by the Agency, including its fiscal deficit.

The Italian delegation also met with the Director of the Office of UNRWA in the Shu'afat, Jamal Awad, monitor for the health of the environment for the Jerusalem area, Abdul Karim Alchlodi and a member of the People's Committee for Services in the Shu'afat, Khader Dibs.

Awad talked about the Israeli policy of home demolitions, crossing checkpoints, movement and the Wall, among other issues facing residents of Shuafat.

For her party, parliamentarian Morgantini said that this visit of solidarity is part of efforts made by several institutions from Italy, France, Spain and the European Union. Their intention is to witness the suffering of citizens and the policy of demolishing houses in the camp of Shuafat, and the building the Wall and the practices of the occupation on the ground, especially in Palestinian refugee camps.

The delegation is also touring the West Banks Nablus, Hebron and Bethlehem and will harvest olives in Aboud Village and meet with Prime Minister Dr. Salam Fayyad.

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## Shades

CAIRO  *Holding the photo of his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Salah Samounis eyes are filled with tears*. My daughter Azza, my only daughterwas injured in the first hit on the house, Salah told *Haaretz* on Sunday, October 18.
She managed to say, Daddy, it hurts. And then, in the second hit, she died.

*Salahs child was among 21 of his family members killed in a deadly Israeli attack on his house in Gaza City neighborhood of Zaytoun earlier this yea*r.

The bereaved Gazan recalls the moment when three Israeli shells hit his house on January 5.

*Everything is dust and I can't see anything, he recalled. I thought I was dead. I found myself getting up, all bloody*.

*Killed by Israel, Eaten by Dogs*

"*Dad, I'm Dying*"

Palestinian Holocaust Museum

*Salah ran hysterically in search for his family members*

*I found my mother sitting by the hall with her head tilted downward, he said*.

*I moved her face a little, and I found that the right half of her face was gone*.

*I looked at my father, whose eye was gone. He was still breathing a little, and then he stopped.*"

*Israeli troops killed more than 1,400 Palestinians*, mostly civilians, and injured thousands in 22 days of deadly attacks in Gaza in January.

The onslaught wrecked havoc on the Gaza infrastructure, destroying thousands of homes and buildings across the impoverished territory.

A report by *international investigator Richard Goldstone has accused Israel of committing war crimes* during its deadly onslaught in Gaza.

Why They Did This

Despite the deadly attacks in the Zaytoun neighbourhood, the *Israeli army banned the Red Cross and Red Crescent crews from entering the area*.

The teams were only allowed after Israel halted the assault on January 18. Then the horrible situation on the ground was discovered.

The house of Wael Samouni, a brother of Salah, was found in ruins. The Israeli army demolished it with the corpses inside.

"*I asked Richard Goldstone to find out just one thing: Why did the army do this to us?* Salah recalled, telling the UN investigator during his visit to Gaza.

Why did they take us out of the house one at a time, and the officer who spoke Hebrew with my father verified that we were all civilians - so why did they then shell us, kill us? This is what we want to know."

Like thousands of Gazans who lost their beloved in the Israeli assault, Salah is still traumatized.

"We feel we are in an exile, even though we are in our homeland, on our land, he said.

*We sit and envy the dead. They are the ones who are at rest*."

Source: IslamOnline

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## Shades

Family who Lost 29 Members in Gaza War: We Envy the Dead 
Date : 18/10/2009   Time : 20:17
TEL AVIV, October 18, 2009 (WAFA)- Richard Goldstone visited the Gaza City neighborhood of Zaytoun in late June to tour the compound of the extended Samouni family, the subject of coverage here in recent weeks (''I fed him like a baby bird,'' September 17; 'Death in the Samouni compound,' September 25). *Twenty-nine members of the family, all of them civilians, were killed in the israeli army winter assault* - 21 during the shelling of a house where Israeli soldiers had gathered some 100 members of the family a day earlier, wrote Amira Hass  in Haaretz.

Salah Samouni and the owner of the house that was shelled - Wael Samouni - took Goldstone around the farming neighborhood, showing him its devastated homes and uprooted orchards. In a telephone conversation this week, Salah described how he had shown Goldstone a picture of his father, Talal, among the 21 killed in the house. He told the Jewish South African judge and head of the United Nations inquiry team into Operation Cast Lead, that *his father 'had been employed by Jews' for nearly 40 years and that whenever he was sick, 'the employer would call, ask after his health, and forbid him to come to work before he had recovered.*'

The Samounis were always *confident that, in the event of any military invasions into Gaza, they could always manage to get along with the israeli army*. Until 2005, before Israel's disengagement from the Strip, the Jewish settlement of Netzarim was located right next door, and several family members worked there from time to time. When the joint IsraeliP-alestinian patrols were active, Israeli soldiers and Palestinian security officials sometimes asked the Samounis to 'lend' them a tractor to flatten a patch of land or repair the Salah al-Din Road (for example, when a diplomatic convoy needed to pass through). While Samouni family members worked on their tractors, gathering sand, the soldiers would watch them.

'When the soldiers wanted us to leave, they would fire above our heads. That's what experience taught me,' recalls Salah Samouni, who *lost a 2-year-old daughter in the israeli army attack, along with uncles and both of his parents*. The older men of the family, among them his father and two uncles who were killed by israeli army soldiers on January 4 and 5, worked in Israel until the 1990s in different localities, including Bat Yam, Moshav Asseret (near Gedera) and the 'Glicksman Plant.' They all believed that the Hebrew they had learned would assist and if necessary save them during encounters with soldiers.

As was reported here last month - on January 4, under orders from the army, Salah Samouni and the rest of the family left their home, which had been turned into a military position, and moved to the other, the home of Wael, located on the southern side of the street. The fact that it was the soldiers who had relocated them, had seen the faces of the children and the older women, and the fact that the soldiers were positioned in locations surrounding the house just tens of meters away, instilled in the family a certain amount of confidence - despite the israeli army fire from the air, from the sea and from the land, despite the hunger and the thirst.

On the morning of Monday, January 5, Salah Samouni walked out of the house and shouted in the direction of another house in the compound that he thought other family members were still in. He wanted them to join him, to be in a safer place, closer to the soldiers. Nothing prepared him for the three shells and the rockets the israeli army fired a short time later.

'My daughter Azza, my only daughter, two and a half years old, was injured in the first hit on the house,' Salah told Haaretz. '*She managed to say, 'Daddy, it hurts.' And then, in the second hit, she died*. And I'm praying. Everything is dust and I can't see anything. I thought I was dead. I found myself getting up, all bloody, and I found my mother sitting by the hall with her head tilted downward. I moved her face a little, and I found that the right half of her face was gone. I looked at my father, whose eye was gone. He was still breathing a little, and then he stopped.'

When they exited the house - injured, confused, dazed, fearing the fourth shell or rocket would soon land - determined to get themselves to Gaza despite the soldiers' shouts from nearby positions to go back, they believed only corpses remained in the house. They did not know that under the dust and rubble in one large room, nine family members remained alive: the elderly matriarch and five of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren - the youngest of whom was three years old, the eldest 16 - along with another kinsman and his son. They had passed out, some of them beneath corpses.

When they regained consciousness, *16-year-old Ahmad Ibrahim and his 10-year-old brother Yakub saw the corpses of their mother, four of their brothers and their nephew*. Mahmoud *Tallal, 16, had lost his toes; bleeding, he saw that his parents - Tallal and Rahma - had been killed*. Three-year-old Omar, Salah's son, was buried unconscious under 24-year-old Saffa's dead body, explaining why they hadn't found him during the terrible moment of panic as they left the house. Ahmad Nafez, 15, recalled how when *little Omar woke up and pulled himself out from under the corpse, he spotted his grandfather Tallal and started shaking him, crying: 'Grandpa, Grandpa, wake up*.'

The previous day *Amal, a nine-year-old girl, had witnessed soldiers bursting into her home and killing her father, Atiyeh*. She had taken shelter in her Uncle Tallal's home and together with other family members was moved to Wael's house. *She did not know that her brother Ahmad was bleeding to death in his mother's arms, in another house in the neighborhood*.

The children found some scraps of food in the kitchen and ate. Later, Ahmad Nafez told his relatives how Ahmad Ibrahim had gone from corpse to corpse - his mother, his four brothers and his nephew among them - shaking them, hitting them, telling them to get up. Perhaps from the blows, Amal regained consciousness, her head bloody and her eyes rolling in their sockets. She kept crying out 'water, water,' said she wanted her mother and father, and beat her head on the floor, her eyes rolling the whole time.

It is too dangerous to remove the shrapnel embedded in her head - that is even what the doctors at a Tel Aviv hospital say. Now everything hurts her and will continue to hurt her: *when it's cold, when it's hot, when she's in the sun*. She will not be able to concentrate on her studies.

No one can reconstruct how the hours passed for them in Wael's bombarded house; some remained in a state of exhaustion and apathy. The first to recover was actually *Shiffa, the 71-year-old grandmother. On the morning of Tuesday, January 6, she realized that no one was coming to rescue them anytime soon. Not the soldiers positioned just meters away, not the Red Cross nor the Red Crescent nor other relatives. Perhaps they didn't even know they were alive, she concluded.* Her walker had been bent and buried in the house, but she managed to leave with two of her grandchildren - Mahmoud (his legs bleeding) and little Omar.

At Hijjeh's house she found *everyone crying, each with his own story of those dead or wounded.* 'I told them what had happened to us, how everyone had fallen on everyone else, in heaps, the dead and the wounded.' She remained there with the rest of the injured for another night. *Omar remembers this house fondly: He was given chocolate there.*

Only on Wednesday, January 7, did the Israeli army allow Red Cross and Red Crescent crews to enter the neighborhood. They attest that they'd been asking to enter since January 4, but the Israeli army would not let them - whether by shooting in the direction of the ambulances that tried to get closer or by refusing to approve coordination. The medical teams, which were allowed to go in on foot and had to leave the ambulances a kilometer or a kilometer and a half away, thought they were going to rescue the injured from Hijjeh's house. But then the *grandmother told them about the wounded children who remained behind, among the dead, in Wael's house. The medical team set out to rescue them*, totally unprepared for the sight they found.

On January 18, after the Israeli army left the Gaza Strip, the rescue teams returned to the neighborhood. Wael's house was found in ruins: *israeli army bulldozers had demolished it entirely - with the corpses inside.*

In a general reply to questions from Haaretz regarding the behavior of the military forces in the Samouni family's neighborhood, the Israeli army Spokesman said that all of the claims have been examined. 'Upon completion of the examination, the findings will be taken to the military advocate general, who will decide about the need to take additional steps,' the spokesman said.

Salah Samouni, during the telephone conversation, said: 'I asked [Richard] Goldstone to find out just one thing: Why did the army do this to us? Why did they take us out of the house one at a time, and *the officer who spoke Hebrew with my father verified that we were all civilians - [so] why did they then shell us, kill us?* This is what we want to know.'

He feels that Goldstone, in his report, lent the victims a voice. He did not expound on his frustration upon learning that the debate on the report had been postponed, but sought a way to describe how he feels nine months after the fact. 'We feel [we are] in an exile, even though we are in our homeland, on our land. *We sit and envy the dead. They are the ones who are at rest.'*

Source: AJP

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## Shades

*UAE to Host 20 Disabled Gazans* 
Date : 18/10/2009   Time : 17:49
ABU DHABI, October  18, 2009 (WAFA) - Upon the directives of United Arab Emirate Deputy Prime Minister  and  Interior Minister Lt. General H.H. Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Centres for Rehabilitation and Recruitment of People with Special Needs, have completed preparations to host 20 physically disabled people from Gaza strip who will arrive to Abu Dhabi tomorrow.

The Centres' head Nasser Ali Al Sharifi said the move follows an initiative made earlier by Sheikh Saif to host 11 people with special needs from Lebanon at the centres.

The group of physically *disabled Palestinian, including 14 males and 6 females, 9 of them are in wheelchairs*, will arrive tomorrow from Cairo aboard Etihad Airways flight. Etihad provided free tickets to the Palestinian guests.

Source: AJP

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## Shades

*Israel plans to devour the world: Hungarian MP*
Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:34:51 GMT

A Hungarian lawmaker has voiced worry over *Israel's expansionist policies, saying Israel is trying to take over the world.* 

"I'm a Hungarian nationalist. I love my homeland, love the Hungarians and give primacy to Hungarian interests over those of global capital - *Jewish capital, if you like - which wants to devour the entire world, especially Hungary*," Oszkar Molnar said in a television interview. 

Molnar's comments come as there are r*eports of a mass Jewish exodus from Israel to Hungary,* Haaretz reported. 

As proof of his assertion that Israel is plotting to take over Hungary, Molnar claimed to have *discovered that the language of instruction in Jerusalem's ( al-Quds') schools is Hungarian, and when asked why, students said they were "learning their future homeland's language*." 

Molnar's party, Fidesz, has not condemned his remarks saying they "did not violate the party's bylaws." 

According to the polls, Fidesz party is expected to take power when elections are held this spring. 

MGH/SC/DT

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## Shades

Egypt's security forces discover huge depot in Rafah

2009-10-18 20:08:58


Occupied Jerusalem-PalPress-Egypt's security Forces in Rafah discovered  a huge depot containing goods worth more than one million Egyptian pounds bound to be smuggled to Gaza through the underground tunnels at Rafah border.

The goods include big quantities of wood, fuel, electric devices and vehicle parts.

It is worth telling that this is considered the second time in which the Egyptian security forces discover such depots.

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## Shades

How wide is the space for Palestinian *non*violent activism?	


19.10.09 - 13:43
As has been reported, the head of the Stop the Wall Campaign, *Mohammad Othman, was arrested by Israeli forces at Allenby Bridge as he returned to the West Bank on 22 September from a conference in Norway*.

He remains one of thousands of Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

The *group Jewish Voice for Peace is advocating for his release by writing today*:

*How wide is the space for Palestinian non-violent activism? Two by two meters (seven by seven feet). That is the size of the windowless cell where Mohammad Othman is being held in solitary confinement in an Israeli jail*.

*Over 4,500 people have already sent emails, asking President Obama to press Israel for Mohammad's release. But we need more*.

*Mohammad's crime? He was detained on September 22 by Israeli authorities when returning to the West Bank after a trip to Norway, where he advocated for boycotts, divestments, and sanctions (BDS) against Israel. Over three weeks have passed, during which he has been submitted to long interrogation sessions -- some lasting up to 18 hours -- where he has been questioned about his trips to Europe and meetings with European groups. He has not been charged with anything.*

We suspect he is in jail simply because of his BDS advocacy. A large number of Palestinian activists are now saying, 'If you want to arrest the BDS movement, you have to catch us all!'

Advocating for *nonviolent means to end the occupation is not a crime*!

Upon the arrest of Othman, the Stop the Wall Campaign wrote:

On September 22, Mohammad Othman was arrested by soldiers on the Allenby Bridge Crossing, the border from Jordan to Palestine. He is now being held in Huwara prison as a prisoner of conscience, *arrested solely for his human rights work*. Mohammad, 33 years old, has dedicated the last ten years of his life to the defense of Palestinian human rights. He has campaigned with the Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign against the dispossession of Palestinian farmers and against the involvement of Israeli and international business in the violations of Palestinian human rights.

His village, Jayyous, has been devastated by the Apartheid Wall and Zufim  a settlement, built by Lev Leviev's companies. These companies are facing a successful boycott campaign because of their violations of Palestinian rights. 

Mohammad was returning from one of his trip to Norway, during which he met with senior officials, including Norwegian Finance Minister Kristen Halvorsen. Norways national Pension Fund recently announced that it had divested from Elbit, the Israeli company which provides both Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and other military technology for Occupation forces, as well as security systems for the Wall and settlements.

This is not the first time Palestinian human rights defenders have been arrested after trips abroad. Recently, Muhammad Srour, an eye witness at the UN Fact Finding Mission on Gaza, was arrested on his way back from Geneva. This arrest was a clear act of reprisal against Srour for speaking out about Israels violations of international law. Arresting Palestinians as they return from travel is yet another Israeli tactic to try to silence Palestinian human rights defenders. It complements the overall policy of isolation of the Palestinian people behind checkpoints, walls and razor wire.

Mohammad Othman *represents only one of the 11,000 Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons*. More than 800 are being held in 'administrative detention', meaning that they are imprisoned (indefinitely) without charge. International solidarity and governments have to hold Israel accountable and achieve an end to the large scale repression and mass imprisonment of Palestinians as part of their efforts to bring about an end to the occupation and the restoration of Palestinian rights.

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## Shades

Israel negotiates to import water from Turkey
Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:26:36 GMT

*Israel has recently launched a new round of talks with Ankara to import water from Turkey, amid worries over its dwindling local reserves*. 

Israel's Foreign Ministry, which is tasked with conducting the negotiations, had held talks with Ankara on the subject in 2000-2006 but finally abandoned the idea because of high costs as well as technical problems, Jerusalem Post reported Monday. 

The current round of talks comes at a time when Israel's national carrier ElAl has declared that his employee association and those of several other *major Israeli businesses plan to stop subsidizing vacations for their workers to Turkey*. 

A large *Israeli cafe chain has also decided to stop selling Turkish coffee*. 

Ties between Israel and Turkey began to sour in January when Ankara strongly condemned Israel's 22-day offensive on the Gaza Strip, which killed at least 1400 people mostly woman and children. 

Relations took another sharp downturn when Turkey excluded Israel from a recent joint air force drill due to the Gaza incident. 

MGH/SC/DT

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## Shades

UN General Assembly debates Israel war crimes
Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:58:44 GMT

*The Israeli army is accused of using internationally banned weapons during Gaza war.
After the UN Human Rights Council's endorsement of a report accusing Israel of war crimes in Gaza, the UN General Assembly announced plans to debate the issue*. 

A UN spokesman said Monday that assembly president, Ali Triki has decided to hold a session to discuss a report by international war crimes prosecutor, Richard Goldstone, this year. 

"Triki will conduct consultations with the concerned parties and the chairs of the regional and other groups in order to set the appropriate date for the Assembly to consider the report," said Jean-Victor Nkolo. 

The decision was made after the 47-member UNHRC adopted a resolution last week endorsing the Goldstone report, which accuses the *Israeli army of deliberately killing Palestinian civilians and using disproportionate force* during the three-week Gaza war, despite efforts by Israeli officials to block the motion. 

Twenty-five countries voted for the resolution, while six, including the US, were against. Eleven countries abstained, including the UK and France. 

The *report calls for the prosecution of senior Israeli officials in the International Criminal Court* at The Hague if Tel Aviv fails to launch its own investigations into the Gaza war under international scrutiny within six months. 

Tel Aviv has condemned the resolution, claiming the Goldstone report was one-sided and biased against Israel. 

More than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed during Israel's "Operation Cast Lead" at the beginning of the year, according to UN figures. 

HE/TG/DT

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## Shades

UN prosecutor: Lieberman opposes peace
Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:53:07 GMT

*UN investigator Richard Goldstone has accused Israeli Foreign Minster Avigdor Lieberman of hindering efforts to end Israel's long-running conflict with Palestinians*. 

Goldstone, the author of a report charging the Israeli army with war crimes during the Gaza war, made the remarks in response to allegations that his report has hampered the peace process. 

"That just is a shallow, I believe, false allegation," Goldstone said. "*What peace process are they talking about? There isn't one. The Israeli foreign minister doesn't want one at all,*" the Israeli daily Haaretz quoted the international war crimes prosecutor as saying, as he spoke to a group of US rabbis from left-leaning organizations on Sunday. 

Tel Aviv had repeatedly expressed opposition to Goldstone's report, threatening to scrap peace talks with Palestinians in case the report is referred to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for a vote. 

Last week, the *47-member UNHRC adopted a resolution endorsing Goldstone report, accusing the Israeli army of deliberate killing of Palestinian civilians* and using disproportionate force during the three-week Gaza war, despite efforts by Israeli officials to block the motion. 

The report calls for the prosecution of senior Israeli officials in the International Criminal Court at The Hague if Tel Aviv fails to launch its own investigations into the Gaza war, under international scrutiny, within six months. 

More than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed during Israel's "Operation Cast Lead" against the people of Gaza at the turn of the year. 

HE/MB/BBC

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## Shades

*Israel aerospace giant 'hired' espionage scientist*
Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:56:31 GMT

Stewart David Nozette
*Israeli sources have confirmed that an American scientist who worked for the US government and was arrested for attempted espionage has had deals with Israel Aerospace Industries*. 

Stewart David Nozette, 52, was *detained on Monday after offering to provide national secrets to an FBI agent posing as an Israeli intelligence officer*. 

According to Israel's Haaretz newspaper, the sources said the former NASA employee, who has *also worked for the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense, was hired as a consultant to the Israeli company*. 

*Israel Aerospace Industries is the government-owned flagship of Israel's defense industry.* 

The *report was confirmed by US sources*. The Israeli company refused to comment on it. 

The Justice Department said it has charged Nozette with attempting to "communicate, deliver and transmit classified information to an individual he believed to be an Israeli intelligence officer." 

Israeli officials have so far kept silence on the issue. 

*Several US citizens have been arrested in recent years over espionage activities for Israel. They, however, receive light sentences thanks to Tel Aviv's influence in Washington as well as the close ties between the two allies*. 

SB/MD

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## Shades

Israel backs 'carte blanche' to kill
Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:29:05 GMT


Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) during the Gaza raids.
*The Israeli war minister advocates operational latitude for its army amid mounting condemnation of the Zionist regime's massacre of the Palestinians*. 

"We must *give the IDF (Israeli army) the full backing to have the freedom of action*," Ehud Barak said on Tuesday, AFP reports. 

He claimed that the carte blanche was "*in the interest of anyone fighting terrorism," repeating the Israeli accusations against the Palestinian resistance movements.* 

Under a similar plea, the IDF launched a full-scale aerial and artillery bombardment of the Gaza Strip last winter, leaving *more than 1,400 Palestinians dead and thousands of others injured.* 

The *UN Human Rights Council's (UNHRC) on Friday endorsed a report which held the Israeli army responsible for deliberately killing Palestinian civilians and committing other war crimes during the offensive*. 

The adoption of the report and fears that any follow-up action may result in the arraignment of Israeli leaders and war commanders, prompted impassioned reactions from Tel Aviv. *Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that we will not agree to a situation in which" those who authorized the war "will be called to the defendants' benches at The Hague.*" 

Also on Tuesday, Netanyahu "*instructed the relevant government bodies to examine a worldwide campaign to amend the international laws of war to adapt them to the spread of global terrorism."* 

By making such irresponsible comments, the officials of the *Zionist state appear to be declaring a world war on whoever challenges their persistent war crimes and atrocities against the Palestinians, especially in the besieged Gaza*. 

HN/MB

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## Shades

*Haaretz: Israel Pulls Textbook over 'Ethnic Cleansing' of Palestinians* in 1948
Date : 19/10/2009   Time : 20:32
TEL AVIV, October 19, 2009 (WAFA)- Israeli Ministry of Education has taken the unusual step of collecting all copies of the history textbook, 'Nationalism: Building a State in the Middle East' which was published about two months ago by the Zalman Shazar Center, because of a passage on '*ethnic cleansing' of Palestinians during the 1948 war*,the Israeli daily Haaretz reported Monday.

The copies  will be returned to the shelves only after corrections are made to the text, particularly with reference to the War of Independence. The book had already been approved by the ministry.

'Collecting the books from the shops is an unnecessary [form of] censorship,' said Dr. Tsafrir Goldberg, who wrote the controversial chapter on the war. 'The process of approving the text was completed in serious fashion from both the pedagogic and the historic points of view. The fact that the education minister changed does not mean that it is possible to bypass this procedure.'

 On September 22, Haaretz reported that the textbook, which is meant for 11th and 12th-grades, for the *first time presented the Palestinian say that there had been ethnic cleansing in 1948*.

'The Palestinians and the Arab countries contended that most of the refugees were civilians who were attacked and expelled from their homes by armed Jewish forces, which instituted a policy of ethnic cleansing, contrary to the proclamations of peace in the Declaration of Independence,' states the text, which presented the Palestinian and the Israeli-Jewish versions side by side.

Officials in the ministry said Sunday that an examination carried out by Michael Yaron, who is in charge of history studies, found 'a great many mistakes, some of them serious. As a result of this examination it was decided that the original version of the textbook must be withdrawn and returned to the stores only after being corrected.'

Among other things, the Shazar Center was asked to exchange the original Palestinian text that appears in the book, written by Walid Khalidi, for another that is closer to reality, said Goldberg, who finished making the changes recently.

Another demand was that the term 'ethnic cleansing' be redacted. Goldberg says that he changed the phrase and spoke instead of an organized policy of expulsion.

When the corrections have been completed, the book will be reviewed again at the publishers and in the ministry, before it is given final approval.

'The state has the right to determine the contents of textbooks but this is not supposed to be done by the education minister,' Goldberg said.

He noted, though, that some of the remarks were merely cosmetic and did not pose any problem. 'The publishing house decided to make the corrections as a form of self censorship,' Goldberg said.

Zvi Yekutiel, the executive director of the Shazar Center, said that 'the book has to be aimed at the widest possible consensus and not at the fringes on the left or the right. We made a mistake and we are correcting it.'

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## Shades

ADC Releases Information Detailing Campaign against Illegal Settlement Development Date : 20/10/2009   Time : 20:35
WASHINGTON, October 20, 2009 (WAFA)- Today the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) released information detailing the on-going campaign against the funding of illegal settlement development in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. 

Recently, ADC was represented by Legal Advisor Abed Ayoub and Legal Fellow Uri Strauss at the Annual National Lawyers Guild Conference in Seattle, Washington, where the campaign was, for the first time, publicly discussed. 

ADC has filed multiple administrative *complaints with the with the US Department of the Treasury, including the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), requesting investigations into the activities of organizations claiming tax-exempt status under section 501(c)3 of the US Tax Code yet allegedly raising funds for the development of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank*. Among other allegations, the ADC complaints allege that these organizations are using assets and income in direct violation of their addressed purpose, and to support illegal and terrorist activities abroad. 

Each year* billions of dollars are being funneled through American-based and registered non-profit organizations, also known as 501(c)(3)s.  Many of these organizations claim to be established for peaceful purposes, however through research conducted by ADC it was discovered that the resources are being used for programs, such as settlement development, that are outside of the organizations' mission.  For example, some of these organizations are engaging in the purchase of military equipment.*  This is a violation of the United States Internal Revenue Tax Code.  Further, activities, such as illegal settlement development, are contrary to public policy and disqualify a nonprofit from tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. 

The ADC Legal Department began drafting and filing the complaints earlier this year.  ADC is working with a number of coalition partners, both nationally and internationally, in conducting this ongoing campaign.  ADC has also drafted a comprehensive memorandum outlining the steps an individual can take in challenging the tax-exempt status of an organization supporting illegal settlement development.

ADC National Executive Director Kareem Shora said, Israeli settlements in the occupied territory not only constitute violations of international law and the Geneva conventions but they also contravene the stated policies of every US President since the occupation began.  *Today, illegal settlements continue to expand unabated. The number of settlers illegally residing in the Occupied West Bank at the beginning of the Oslo Peace Process was 250,000.  Today that number has more than doubled.  The United States should work to enforce its stated policy on illegal settlements and not provide tax incentives for organizations that jeopardize our national interests and peace and security in the Middle East.*

The ADC Legal Department will continue to file complaints against non-profit organizations violating the IRS tax code.

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## Shades

Activist returning to Gaza after driving an ambulance last year; this time with tons of medical gear	


21.10.09 - 10:32
*A Bristol man who drove an ambulance to Gaza last winter has promised to return this winter, this time with a 32 ton articulated lorry loaded with medical equipment*.

*Sakir Yildirim is aged 40 years. He lives in Fishponds with his wife and three children aged 11years, 8 years, and 1 year. He is well known in his area as a lorry-driver and kebab seller.*

*Last winter he raised money from the local Turkish community and bought an ambulance on eBay. He left the Turkish Community Centre on Gloucester Road in February and made a five thousand mile journey across Europe, Turkey, Syria, Jordon, and Egypt*. 
See Sakir Yildirim returns from ambulance charity trip to Gaza|Bristol News | This is Bristol

This winter he plans to drive a large truck loaded with medical equipment. He will lead what is planned to be a mini-convoy from Bristol, leaving on Friday 4th December, and joining the main UK convoy in London. This convoy, the VIVA PALESTINA convoy will leave London on Saturday 5th December and plans to arrive at the Rafah crossing from Egypt into Gaza on 27th December which will be the one year anniversary of the start of the attack on Gaza.

Sakir says, Last winter I saw the horrendous devastation caused by the Israeli bombardment, the numerous wreaked buildings, people living in tents and many grieving families. And Im shocked to know that Gaza has been under siege ever since. Food, medicine, building materials, and many other necessities of life are all is in short supply. Even paper and pens for the schools have been blocked!

He goes on to say, Im determined to go back. This time with a huge truck loaded with medical equipment. And Im asking Bristol people to help me with this vital humanitarian project.

People who would like to support Sakir can donate in the following ways:-
Post cheques, 
payable to BristolGazaLink (Viva Palestina). 
To Box 3, c/o 82 Colston Street, BRISTOL BS1 5BB UK
Or donate online on the Bristol Gaza Link website at Bristol Gaza Link Association 

The Bristol-to-Gaza convoy is a practical humanitarian project of the newly formed BRISTOL-GAZA-LINK association  see info below

Background:

Last winter, people from across Bristol took part in large numbers in protests, vigils, demonstrations, meetings and occupations to show their support for the people of Gaza during Israel's attacks. Two Bristol drivers, Sakir Yildirim and Mohamed Elhaddad joined the 100-vehicle Viva Palestina! Convoy which drove to Gaza with aid collected in Britain. On their return they gave eyewitness reports of conditions in Gaza. 

Out of this grew the idea of building links between Bristol & Gaza City. 

The Bristol-Gaza-Link Association was launched, with all-party support on Monday 28th September at the Council House

Its aims and objectives are to build humanitarian, cultural, educational and social links. These links will be with similar groups and organisations primarily in Gaza City. However links with Palestinian populations both in the West Bank and the Diaspora are also possible.

Historically, Bristol has had a large number of connections with Palestine, both Gaza and the West Bank. These have ranged from faith groups to peace campaigners, from medics to footballers to circus-performers. Even Bristols own graffiti artist Banksy has visited Palestine! Bristol-Gaza-Link aims to build on these foundations and is already encouraging a growing number of groups and organizations to explore links with Gaza. 

Bristol-Gaza-Link has produced a video of the convoy to Gaza last winter which is available on YouTube (see [youtubevid]-RjAfuluos4[/youtubevid] - 3 parts). The group is starting fund-raising for a second convoy to Gaza this winter which is due to depart from Bristol on Friday 4th December.

----------


## Shades

Israeli rabbi charged with raping teens
Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:05:04 GMT
 

Several 'highly-placed' rabbis have been arrested on racketeering offenses and other charges in recent months.
A rabbi has been charged with raping a teenage girl and a sexually and physically assaulting her siblings in the Petah Tikva city of Israel. 

The 42-year-old rabbi not only raped the 16-year-old teen but also molested her 14-year-old sister and physically assaulted her 15-year-old brother. 

The victim's family says that the carnal crimes were all committed inside the local synagogue. 

The shocking revelation is the latest in a series of sexual abuse by Israeli rabbis. Last year, a 60-year old rabbi was arrested in Petah Tikva for raping a woman who regularly visited him to get his blessing and good-luck amulets. 

Israeli authorities later said that the man was not a Jewish cleric and had been posing as a rabbi. 

HE/HGH

----------


## Shades

srael pardons abusive soldiers for 'light blows'
Thu, 22 Oct 2009 07:57:50 GMT
 

Israeli prosecutors have defended their decision not to press charges against soldiers filmed beating Palestinians, arguing the victims were not seriously hurt.

In August 2008, a number of Israeli border officers in occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds were caught on their own cell phone camera beating, abusing and humiliating Palestinian civilians. 

In one of the videos, a Palestinian is filmed twisting in pain after he is repeatedly struck in the stomach. 

A second Palestinian is shown being hit on the back of his neck by an officer who lifts his shirt and pulls down his trousers a few inches. 

In the second film, Israeli forces humiliate another Palestinian, by forcing him to salute and stand to attention a number of times. One of the officers refuses to return his papers until he is deemed to have carried out the salute correctly. 

Israel's deputy state prosecutor Shai Nitzan refused to act against the officers, saying their victims were struck with 'light blows that did not cause real damage'. 

The prosecutor, however, acknowledged the officers' misconduct and referred their case to the border police's own internal disciplinary process. 

Another Israeli authority said the event would be dealt in a disciplinary form because the offences 'were not criminal'. 

The lawyer for the Israeli human rights organization, Yesh Din, which brought the case to the authorities, has criticized the prosecutors' decision for implying a say-so to misconduct by Israeli forces. 

"The assertion that beating a detainee is not a criminal act is even worse than the beating itself," Michael Sfard regretted, adding the pardon constitutes a wrong and dangerous 'wink of consent'. 

MRS/AKM

----------


## Shades

Israel pounds more Gaza tunnels
Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:14:49 GMT
 

Israeli warplanes have struck more Palestinian tunnels in the blockaded Gaza Strip, after a rocket was fired from the coastal enclave. 

An army spokeswoman confirmed the attack on two tunnels across the border with Egypt, adding the airstrikes also targeted what she called a weapons factory. 

"The raids were conducted after a Palestinian rocket was fired" into the Negev desert, causing no casualties or damage," AFP quoted her as saying. 

Israel conducts constant attacks on Palestinian tunnels dug through the Egyptian border to push in food and other basic needs into the impoverished Gaza Strip which has been under a crippling Israeli siege for more than two years. 

The blockade, sufficient to push the territory's 1.5 million-strong population to the brink of starvation, was aggravated by a devastating Israeli offensive in January, which reduced much of Gaza's infrastructure into debris. 

Tel Aviv claimed the weeks-long military action was a response to the firing of home-made rockets and missiles sent into Israeli towns from inside the Hamas-run coastal sliver which often caused no serious damage or casualties. 

More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed since the Israeli army began its 22-day onslaught against the Gaza Strip on December 27, 2008. 

MRS/AKM

----------


## Shades

*Israeli blockade denies Gazans basic needs: UNHRC*
Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:13:22 GMT

Palestinians and foreign activists attend a protest against illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
United Nations special rapporteur says Israel is blocking the basic necessities from entering the Gaza Strip, adding that the Palestinians are suffering amid Middle East tensions. 

Richard Falk, who has been appointed as a special rapporteur by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, told a meeting of the 192 member states on Thursday that Israeli officials have also barred him from entering the Palestinian areas. 

His report on the Palestinian territories focused on human rights concerns related to issues including the three-week Israeli war on the Gaza Strip at the turn of the year, which left over 1,400 people dead. 

He also condemned Israel's construction of a land barrier and the illegal settlements being built on Palestinian lands after forcibly vacating them. 

He said an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip means "insufficient basic necessities are reaching the population". 

Falk also spoke of the "unlawful, noncooperation" of Israel, which prevented him from visiting the Palestinian territories. 

FTP/SS/MMN

----------


## Shades

*Goldstone challenges US criticism of report*
Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:26:49 GMT

*South African judge Richard Goldstone, challenges the United States to justify its objections over his report about the three-week Israeli war on the Gaza Strip*. 

On Wednesday, the Israeli government announced that it received assurances from visiting US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice that *America will continue to "fight the Goldstone report."* 

Goldstone, who led the UN-mandated fact-finding mission regarding Israel's all-out war on Gaza at the turn of the year, told Qatar-based broadcaster Al-Jazeera International on Thursday that US President Barack Obama's administration seemed undecided in its response to his 575-page report on the Israeli assault that killed over 1,400 Palestinians. 

He said he was waiting for the Obama administration to announce what they deem as flaws in the report. *"I'd be happy to respond to them, if and when I know what they are," he added.* 

Goldstone's report, which was endorsed last Friday by the *UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), concluded that the report was more critical of Israel than Hamas in committing war crimes in Gaza.* 

Asked if, in the absence of a domestic investigation, Israel could be brought to court internationally, Goldstone said, "*I think that's where it's going. If they don't have a good faith internal investigation this thing is not going to lay down and die, it's going to continue.*" 

FTP/SS/MMN

----------


## Shades

Outraged Israel calls Goldstone report 'ridiculous'
Thu, 22 Oct 2009 23:30:33 GMT
Font size :   

Israel's President Shimon Peres (R) speaks with US Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice.
Israeli President Shimon Peres describes South African judge Richard Goldstone's fact-finding report on the Gaza war as "ridiculous" and "full of lies." 

Goldstone's report on Israel's war crimes is a "bunch of lies", Peres told the United States' envoy to the United Nations, Susan Rice, on Thursday. 

Harshly condemning the report, he said the UN is assisting the spread of baseless stories against Israel and added that this international body should not be a platform for hatred. 

The UN human rights investigator in his report was more critical of Israel than Hamas in committing war crimes in Gaza in the period between December 27 and January 18, when over 1,400 Palestinians, many of them civilians, were killed in the Israeli assault. 

Goldstone has lashed out at Washington, saying many of those who are against the report have not even read it. He called for the issue to be referred to the International Criminal Court at The Hague. 

Rice told Peres that the Obama administration has disproved the report as flawed. Israel has the full support of the United States, and that her country will be the strong ally in the "fight against the report of judge Goldstone." 

FTP/SS/MMN

----------


## Shades

San Francisco calls Olmert war criminal
Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:38:54 GMT

More than 200 people representing a coalition of Palestinian and Muslim groups along with other pro-Palestinian protestors have disrupted Ehud Olmert's speech in a San Francisco hotel over Israel's crimes during the Gaza war. 

"*You are a war criminal and a murderer," one of the protestors shouted at Olmert during the Thursday night speech before being removed from the auditorium by security officers*. Another protestor shouted, "*You are a war criminal. San Francisco should be ashamed to have a war criminal here.* 

*A young woman* stood up and shouted, "*No more genocide in my name." Another woman waved her hands, which were painted red*. 

During the speech, one of the protestors screamed at Olmert, "*A hospital has been destroyed,"* referring to the strikes by the Israel Air Forces on Gaza during the war on the coastal strip. 

Approximately 30 activists disrupted a lecture given in Chicago by former Israeli prime minister on October 15, which was hosted by the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy. *While Olmert's speech was disrupted inside the lecture hall, approximately 150 activists protested outside the hall in the freezing rain*. 

Protesters inside the hall read off the names of Palestinian children killed during Israel's assault on Gaza last winter. *They shouted that it was unacceptable that the war crimes suspect be invited to speak at a Chicago university when his army destroyed a university in Gaza in January*. 

*Olmert had given a speech at the University of Kentucky a week earlier that also drew dozens of protesters*. 

More than 1,500 Palestinians were killed during Israel's three week-long land, sea and air assault, Operation Cast Lead , in the impoverished coastal sliver. The offensive also inflicted $ 1.6 billion in damages on the Gazan economy. 

MP/MTM/HGH

----------


## Shades

*Israel urges Ban to stop Goldstone report*
Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:00:25 GMT

Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman strives to prevent Goldstone report from finding its way to the Security Council or the General Assembly.
The *Israeli foreign minister has urged UN chief Ban Ki-moon against sending the Goldstone report on Israel's war crimes in the Gaza Strip to the Security Council or the General Assembly*. 

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman made the request during a late Thursday phone conversation with Ban. 

"Lieberman told Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that he hopes he will not move the Human Rights Council decision on the Goldstone report to the Security Council or the General Assembly," the minister's office said in a statement on Friday. 

*Lieberman attacked Cuba, Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia, which are among the 25 countries that voted in favor of a resolution endorsing the Goldstone report*. The Israeli foreign minister also accuse them of creating a "hypocritical" and "prejudiced" international system. 

In September, an independent fact-finding mission, led by former international prosecutor, Richard Goldstone, released a report on war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during Israel's military offensive on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. 

The 575-page report drew criticism from Israel and its ally, the US, for highlighting the Israeli army's deliberate targeting civilians on the run and striking edifices known to be hosting civilian assemblies among other things. 

Goldstone recommended that the conclusions of the report be forwarded to the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) if the sides involved the Gaza war failed to conduct credible investigations within six months. 

On Wednesday, the Israeli government announced that it received assurances from Washington that the *US fully supported Tel Aviv on the issue* and will continue to "fight the Goldstone report." 

The *South African judge has responded by challenging the United States to justify its objections over his damning report*. 

He lashed out at those criticizing his report in Washington, saying *many of those who are against the report have not even read it.* 

MRS/MMN

----------


## Shades

*UN envoy to Israel: peace window closing*
Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:38:26 GMT

Robert H. Serry, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process
The UN Middle East envoy Robert Serry urges Israel to grasp the "closing window" of opportunity and resume talks on a final peace treaty with the Palestinians. 

"I am pessimistic that another such opportunity would come anytime soon," the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process said in an interview with Reuters. 

"The window is closing down ... we should not believe time is on our side," he warned. 

Serry regretted the lack of urgency on the Israeli side and said that he "would like to see more commitment" from Israel because he disagreed with those Israelis, who believe the status quo is acceptable. 

The UN official said Palestinian-Israeli negotiations must have "a credible political horizon," and that the US-backed two-state solution must be the final goal. 

"The Israelis must have the vision to see a two-state solution is the only way to peace and security." 

Serry ruled out allowing Israel to negotiate, "while they also move the goalposts on the ground" by continued building of settlements on occupied West Bank. 

He criticized Israel's "politically wrong-headed and morally wrong" policy of blocking UN efforts to complete the rebuilding of schools and clinics in the Gaza Strip before winter comes. 

Many buildings and a big portion of the infrastructure in the blockaded coastal enclave were devastated during an Israeli military offensive that also killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians. 

MRS/MMN

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## Shades

Israeli police clash with protestors in WB
Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:00:01 GMT

Israeli police have resorted to force as hundreds of Palestinians and international peace activists held a demonstration to protest the regime's settlement activity on occupied lands in the West Bank. 

Police clashed with the protestors near the West Bank village of Ni'lin, firing tear gas as the demonstrators threw stones to protest the construction of the separation wall and the expansion of Israeli settlements, Ynet reported. 

At least eight people, including a French national were injured in the clashes. 

Six others were also arrested on the outskirts of the Qiryat Arba settlement near the West Bank city of al-Khalil. 

The West Bank towns of Bil'in and Ni'lin are the scene of weekly demonstrations against the Israeli separation wall. 

The protestors condemn the confiscation of thousands of acres of Palestinian land for constructing 723 km (454 miles) of a barrier of steel and concrete walls, fences and barbed wire. 

SB/SS/MMA

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## Shades

*Palestinian 'tortured' for calling Blair terrorist*
Sat, 24 Oct 2009 10:31:25 GMT
Font size :   

Ali Hamdan told Blair that "*you are a terrorist, you are not welcomed in Palestine*."
A Palestinian man has told Press TV that he was tortured after he was arrested for verbally protesting against Tony Blair's Mideast policy. 

*Ali Hamdan, who was arrested for calling Middle East quartet envoy, Tony Blair, a "terrorist" on Tuesday during his visit to a mosque in the West Bank city of Al-Khalil (Hebron), says he was tortured by the Palestinian Authority intelligence service.* 

Hamdan says PA security forces violently removed him from the mosque and beat him and verbally abused him while interrogating him for several hours. 

The 23-year old engineer told Press TV that his remarks had nothing to do with Blair' steadfast support for Israel, but were merely directed at his Islamophobic and warmongering policies. Hamdan believes any oppressed Muslim in his place would do the same. 

"It was a spontaneous reaction to seeing this war criminal enter the Holy place. I didn't do it as a Palestinian nationalist, but rather as a Muslim who has been deeply offended by the huge crimes that Blair committed against Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine", Hamdan said. 

"I think I was reflecting the feelings and views of the vast majority of Muslims. After all, this is the man whose policies led to the destruction of two sovereign Muslim countries and caused the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. He is more than a war criminal. He is satanic", he continued. 

Blair is widely despised by many Arabs for supporting the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq and for declining to speak out against Israel's 2006 war against the Lebanese resistance movement, Hezbollah, while he was Britain's prime minister. 

Hamdan was freed after a ten-hour interrogation and the signing of a pledge stating that he wouldn't indulge in such behavior again. 

HE/TG/DT

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## Shades

*Arab inaction over 'organ theft' shocks Journalist*
Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:20:58 GMT

Swedish freelance journalist Donald Bostrom
*The Swedish journalist, who caused controversy by accusing Israeli troops of killing Palestinians for their organs, has criticized Arab countries for their lack of action regarding the humanitarian tragedy*. 

Donald Bostrom said on Saturday that *the Arab indifference to Israel's gross mistreatments of Palestinians has bitterly disappointed him. Bostrom said the least he expected was a widespread condemnation*. 

In his article, *They plunder the organs of our sons, Bostrom mentions the names of 133 Palestinians, whose body organs were removed after undergoing autopsies in Israeli centers.* 

He believes a *shortage of organs for transplant in Israel is the real cause behind the violent crime and mentions a 1992 government campaign to recruit new donors*. 

''*At the same time that this organ campaign was going on, young Palestinian men were disappearing and being delivered back to their villages five days later at night, dead and cut open*,'' he writes. 

Bostrom maintains that *Palestinian youths are not the sole victims of the smuggling racket and that some Israeli firms have been behind such enterprises for much longer.* 

The Swedish journalist says *he will not quit the story despite receiving hundreds of death threats.* 

HE/SC/MMN

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## Shades

Barak against probe into Israeli war crimes in Gaza
Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:46:47 GMT
Font size :   

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has strongly opposed the investigation of a UN report that accuses Israeli troops of committing war crimes during the recent war on the Gaza Strip. 

Barak said in a Saturday statement that he fully trusted the investigations conducted earlier by the army on the troop's performance during the three-week offensive on the Gaza Strip, Ynet reported. 

"There is not an army in the world that investigates itself this way," he said. 

The minister's comments were in line with the regime's efforts to prevent a UN debate on a report prepared by former South African judge, Richard Goldstone on Israeli war crimes in Gaza. 

The report by a team of experts led by Goldstone, concluded that Israel used disproportionate force and failed to protect civilians during its December 27-January 18 offensive against the Palestinians in the strip. 

Goldstone recommended that the conclusions of the report be forwarded to the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) if the sides involved the Gaza war failed to conduct credible investigations within six months. 

However, in a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Israeli deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom said he was "optimistic" about his request to "bury the Goldstone report". 

He claimed that Ban had told him the Security Council would not discuss the report until he had considered the matter further, according to Ynet. 

The UN General Assembly was expected to discuss the report by the end of the year after it was endorsed by the Human Rights Council. 

SB/SC/MMN

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## Shades

*Israel wants free warships from Germany*
Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:26:53 GMT
 

*Israel has asked Germany to deliver two warships for free*.
In a request that has caught the Berlin government off guard, Israel has asked for the delivery of two expensive German-made warships "free of charge". 

The German daily Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung reported on Saturday that Tel Aviv has asked Germany to help bolster its defenses by providing a pair of MEKO corvettes that would probably cost hundreds of millions of euros. 

Built at the Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg, the ships feature advanced radar-evading capabilities and are exclusively designed to carry US-made missile systems. 

*Israel receives much of its military funding and equipment from the United States. According to the Wall Street Journal, US military aid to Israel will total $2.55 billion in 2009*. 

*Tel Aviv has also received assistance from Germany over the years*. 

*The Kiel shipyard Howaldtswerken Deutsche Werft had earlier delivered three submarines between 1999 and 2000*.

*In addition, two more submarines are currently being built in Kiel, costing at least 500 million euros apiece, for which Germany is to pay a third. They are slated to be delivered to Israel by 2012*. 

Berlin has not yet responded to the request, but according to the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, "influential politicians in northern Germany" are secretly supporting the deal, claiming it will help German shipyards weather the global economic downturn. 

SBB/SS/HGL

*Let me put it in simple words "Israel is begging warships from Germany"*

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## Shades

*Israeli police invade al-Aqsa Mosque again*
Sun, 25 Oct 2009 07:12:58 GMT

Al-Aqsa Mosque compound
*Israeli police have invaded the al-Aqsa mosque for the second time in recent weeks, which has prompted clashes with Arab worshippers*, Israeli and Palestinian officials have said. 

*Hundreds of Israeli forces have been deployed to seal off the compound confining hundreds of worshippers inside the holy mosque*. 

Israeli Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said 12 arrests were made in and around the compound. 

*Reports say police threw stun grenades and canisters at worshippers, injuring at least fifteen Palestinians*. 

*Rosenfeld however claimed that Arab youth prompted the clashes after throwing stones and a petrol bomb at Israeli police*. 

*Over the past month, tensions have been high and the compound has been the scene of fighting after Israeli extremist tried to enter the mosque and clashed with Palestinian worshipers*. 

*Israeli police denied Palestinian access to the mosque compound for several days*. 

The blockade was followed by demonstrations across the Middle East which resulted in the re-opening of the mosque two weeks ago. 

The al-Aqsa foundation, in a press release earlier this week, has declared that *Israeli fundamentalist groups are calling on their supporters to break into the al-Aqsa Mosque in the old city of Jerusalem (al-Quds)*. 

The foundation had revealed that *radical Israeli groups are planning a ceremony on Sunday evening, dedicated to the "Temple Mount" day, during which they would call for breaking into the al-Aqsa Mosque*. 

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah has earlier this month called on Islamic nations to support the al-Aqsa Mosque. 

"*Islamic nations should fulfill their moral and religious duties to support al-Aqsa Mosque," Haniya had said*. 

"*The real al-Aqsa Mosque fight has started and Arab and Islamic nations should feel responsible for what's going on*," he added 

MGH/MMA/DT

----------


## Shades

*Netanyahu insists Israel is only for Jews*
Sun, 25 Oct 2009 11:06:04 GMT

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
*Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has openly voiced the Israeli government's plans to expel indigenous Palestinian Arabs from their occupied lands.* 

Netanyahu *stressed that Palestinians should recognize Israel as a Jewish state in order to end their conflict*. 

"*That's right," Netanyahu told The Washington Post when asked if such recognition was needed*. 

"Israel is not a bi-national state," AFP quoted Netanyahu as saying on Saturday. "It has non-Jews who live here with full, equal rights, but it has two things that assure its special character." 

"*It's the homeland of any Jew. And there is a very broad consensus in Israel that the Palestinian refugee problem should be resolved outside Israel's borders,"* he added. 

*Israel declared its independence 61 years ago, by binging pro-Zionist Jews from across the world to the occupied Palestinian lands and forcing the indigenous inhabitants out to form a country*. 

Netanyahu said Palestinians will have to make a final peace deal with "the Jewish state of Israel." 

"*Jews come here and Palestinians will go there. So choose. That's the basis of a solution*," Netanyahu concluded.

MGH/SC/DT 

*The whole western media is hiding this report, Obama is sleeping , I don't know why they choose to deceive, why they still support so called peace plan?, when Israel is barking again and again that its over, its only Arabs, Palestinians and Americans who choose to believe in peace, this people are being deceived by this Zionists or they want to remain as fools and ignorants?*

*Its Washington post which has revealed this yet no coverage to this core issue?, shame on the hypocrisy of west*

----------


## Shades

*'Immigrants to Israel feel deceived'*
Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:02:45 GMT

*Russian Jews who have immigrated to Israel as part of a project by the Jewish Agency and the Israeli regime say they have found the promises given to them empty*. 

*"In Russia, they kept on promising. The treatment was excellent. They wanted us to immigrate and become part of the successful statistics. Now, no one cares,"* Igor Rotman, a Russian immigrant, told Ynet. 

Based on the report, many immigrants believe *they were used by the Jewish Agency and the Absorption Ministry to provide authorities with successful statistics*. 

The Israeli website added the Russian families who were convinced to immigrate to Israel now complain about offensive attitudes and indifference. 

"The Jewish Agency says that they are no longer responsible for us, and the *Absorption Ministry claims that they are not responsible for what was promised by the Jewish Agency,*" Rotman added. 

The Jewish Agency had *promised the would-be immigrants that they would acquire residence on a kibbutz in the north, as well as higher education, and school for their children.* 

*They were also told that they would be provided with help with their career and academic orientation*. 

The website said when the Russian families immigrated to Israel, they were told that the *government had run out of money to fund the projects that would grant them with advantages.* 

The Absorption Ministry evaded to give them an answer and told the families it knew nothing about the Agency's promises. 

"The conditions for participating in the 'Community Aliyah' program are being under the age of 45 and that one of the spouses hold an academic degree," said Rotman. 

"*Among other things, we were promised a translation of our degrees into Israeli degrees so that we could start a professional career here or continue in academia*. They organized us a bus to Haifa so that we could do this at the Education Ministry, but an hour before the ride from kibbutz, the trip was cancelled." 

"They brought us here and simply forgot about us. The systems are not coordinated (with one another) and do not work in cooperation." 

Israel has seen a wave of negative immigration in recent years with many Jews, mostly young ones, losing faith to the regime as a 'promised heaven'. 

SB/AKM

*This Zionists not only deceive to Americans but also to there own people too!*

----------


## Shades

OIC warns Israel over Al-Aqsa abuses
Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:14:06 GMT


Israeli police stand guard at the entrance to the Al Aqsa Mosque compound
*The Organization of the Islamic Conference has warned Israel of 'dangerous consequences' for acts of sacrilege in the holy Al-Aqsa mosque compound In Jerusalem*. 

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the secretary general of the OIC, the world's largest Islamic association, said in a statement on Sunday that the "*frequent" violations of the sanctity of the holy compound are "very dangerous and could lead to a negative outcome."* 

"This is a violation of all Muslim sanctuaries," Ihsanoglu added. 

He called on *the global Islamic community to take a stand to defend Islamic holy sites, and warned that any damage to the mosque could lead to "unpredictable consequences" for international peace and security.* 

Clashes resumed in the Al-Aqsa masque after Israel deployed hundreds of security forces to the holy site early on Sunday. 

*Twenty-four Palestinians were wounded in the clashes in and around the holy compound, according to the Red Crescent emergency service*. 

Kamal Khatib, a spokesman for the Israeli Arab Islamic Movement, blamed police for the violence, saying *"The police always excuse their attacks by saying that the worshippers threw stones."* 

*"It is clear they just want to justify their crimes,"* he told AFP. 

Nine Israeli police officers were also injured and three were taken to the hospital, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. 

Two weeks of tensions over the compound exploded into violence on September 27, after Israel closed the site and deployed thousands of police forces to secure a Jewish religious ceremony in the holy site. 

Clashes broke out after more than 150 Palestinians protested the closure of the holy compound, a move Israel claimed was in response to calls by the Palestinian media to "come protect the Mount." 

Israel occupied East Jerusalem Al-Quds during a 1967 aggression and later annexed it. The status of the city is among the thorniest issues of the peace process with the Palestinians, underscoring the reality that any Palestinian state should include the city as its capital. 

SB/MB

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## Shades

*Hamas demands halt to peace talks with Israel*
Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:53:19 GMT


A *Hamas leader calls on Arab states and Palestinian officials to withdraw from any peace initiative with Israel over Tel Aviv's persistent abuses against the Al-Aqsa mosque.* 

Expressing strong dismay over Israel's latest violent entry into the holy mosque, Khaled Meshaal, the political leader of the Hamas Islamic resistance movement, told a press conference in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Sunday that *there should be no negotiations with Israel as long as the 'Zionist regime' continues its violent measures in and around Al-Quds.* 

He made the remarks *after Israeli troops invaded the holy compound for the second time in recent weeks and arrested dozens of Palestinian worshipers trying to protect the mosque.* 

Twenty-four Palestinians were also wounded in the clashes and hundreds of others were trapped inside the mosque after Israeli troops sealed off the compound. 

*Meshaal said that Al-Quds must not be part of any peace negotiations with Israel since it belongs to Muslims and Christians*. 

*"We want all parts of Al-Quds, its territories, its political symbols, its people and its sanctuaries. We will not accept one part; it is for Muslims and Christians. Zionists have no rights in Al-Quds,"* he added. 

He also criticized the inaction of Palestinian officials with regards to what is taking place in and around Al-Aqsa, adding that condemning such invasions only by issuing statements is not sufficient. He urged the Palestinian Authority policy makers to reconsider their political agenda. 

Meshaal said the *Israel side has showed that it does not comprehend the language of peace, "so we declare the destiny of Al-Quds should be determined on the battle field through resistance and not on the negotiating table."* 

*He also criticized the administration of President Barack Obama for urging the Palestinians to give up resistance while failing to make Tel Aviv halt its settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian land.* 

HE/MB

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## Shades

*'Defend Al-Aqsa'*
Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:05:14 GMT

*Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has urged Arab and Muslim leaders to take practical steps to end the Israeli assaults on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem (al-Quds).* 

On Sunday, Haniyeh, who is the democratically elected prime minister of Palestine, asked Organization of the Islamic Conference Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu to arrange for an *emergency meeting of the OIC to discuss the attacks on Islam's third holiest shrine.* 

He also called on Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, Qatari Emir Hamad bin Khalifa, and Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Saud al-Faysal to take practical steps to protect Al-Aqsa. 

Following the deployment of hundreds of security forces by Israel in and around the Al-Aqsa Mosque early on Sunday, clashes broke out between the Palestinians and the Israeli forces. At least 30 Palestinians were injured and 20 arrested. 

"*It was the first time the Israeli army locked the gates of the mosque with chains, barring the call to prayer, breaking into its yards for long periods of time,"* Hamas Political Bureau chief Khaled Mashaal said in remarks denouncing the Israeli attack. 

FTP/SS/HGL

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## Shades

Meshaal: Israel plans to destroy Al-Aqsa Mosque
Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:38:51 GMT

Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal
A senior Hamas leader has warned that *Israel plans to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Al-Quds to build a new temple in its place.* 

On Sunday, the mosque compound was the scene of violent clashes for the second time in recent weeks after Israeli police invaded the compound and arrested 12 Arab worshippers. 

"*It is the first step towards dividing the mosque, a prelude to demolishing it and building a temple in its place*," said Hamas political leader Khalid Meshaal in a speech in Damascus. 

"Jerusalem belongs to its Arab inhabitants, Muslims and Christians. The future (of the city) will not be settled at the negotiating table, but on the ground of confrontation and resistance," AFP quoted Meshaal as saying. 

The Organization for Human Rights on the Temple Mount (OHRTM), a rightist Israeli group, in a meeting on Sunday had called for a new temple to be built in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. 

The conference was attended by a number of Knesset members and leading rabbis, Ynet news reported. 

Tensions have been high over the past month and the compound has been the scene of fighting after Israeli extremists, backed by Israel's police force, tried to enter the mosque and clashed with Palestinian worshipers. 

Israeli police also denied Palestinians access to the mosque compound for a period of several days. 

The blockade was followed by demonstrations in numerous Middle Eastern countries including Iran and Turkey, which resulted in the re-opening of the mosque two weeks ago. 

The Organization of the Islamic Conference has also warned Israel of "dangerous consequences" for acts of sacrilege in the holy Al-Aqsa mosque compound. 

MGH/SC/DT

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## Shades

*Jordan: Israel fueling violence in Mideast*
Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:03:49 GMT

*Jordan has warned that the provocative Israeli acts in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound may 'fuel violence in the region and jeopardize peace efforts'*. 

"Any further provocative attempts by Israeli troops and Jewish extremists such as what happened today in the shrine's compound represents a flagrant violation of international law and conventions and sets the stage for more tension and acts of violence," Jordan's Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communication Nabil Sharif said in a statement on Sunday. 

"Jordan, out of its historical responsibilities in being the custodian of the holy places in Jerusalem, is extremely worried about what is taking place and warns against going ahead with this provocative behavior on the part of Israeli troops," DPA quoted Sharif as saying. 

He urged "an immediate end to such dangerous practices, which threaten to derail all opportunities of peace and stability in the region". 

*Israel captured East Al-Quds from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war.* 

Under a peace treaty, which the two countries signed in 1994, Israel acknowledged Amman's right to be in control of all matters relating to the historical compound. 

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry also summoned the envoys of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to ask that they intervene immediately to stop Israel's unilateral steps in East Al-Quds, including excavations and measures designed to force Arab citizens to emigrate. 

MGH/SC/DT

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## Shades

Israeli, Jordanian officials meet amid Al-Aqsa crisis
Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:01:02 GMT

Israeli forces invaded the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Sunday
Israeli and Jordanian local officials have held a joint meeting for the first time after the Israeli offensive in Gaza earlier this year, Israeli sources say. 

Israel's deputy minister of development for Negev and al-Jalil, Ayoub Qara, arrived in Al-Aqaba city in south Jordan on Sunday to meet the city's deputy governor, Bashir Belal, Israel Radio reported. 

The two sides discussed the expansion of bilateral economic ties. 

Qara is the first Israeli official to visit Jordan after Israel's "Operation Cast Lead" in the Gaza Strip earlier this year. 

The Israeli offensive into the impoverished Palestinian sliver hass killed more than 1400 Gazans and injured many more most of them women and children. 
MGH/SC/DT

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## Shades

Gaddafi: Disarm Israel or let Arabs develop nukes
Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:45:15 GMT


Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi
*Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi says Arab states, as well as Palestinians, should be allowed to have nuclear weapons, as long as Israel retains its nukes*. 

"*If the Israelis have the nuclear weapons and the nuclear capabilities, then it is the right of the Egyptians, the Syrians, the Saudis to have the same," Gaddafi told the British Sky network on Sunday night.* 

"*Even the Palestinians should have the same because their counterparts, or their opponents, have nuclear capabilities*," the Libyan leader added. 

He stressed that t*he only way to prevent proliferation of nuclear arms in the Middle East is to disarm Israel of its nuclear weapons*. 

"*If we don't want this situation, we'll have to disarm the Israelis from their nuclear weapons and capabilities*," Gaddafi said. 

Most experts estimate that *Israel has at least between 100 and 200 nuclear warheads, largely based on information leaked to the Sunday Times newspaper in the 1980s by Mordechai Vanunu, a former worker at the country's Dimona nuclear reactor*. 

MGH/SC/DT

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## Shades

*Israel defies UN call on Lebanon spying*
Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:20:35 GMT

*Israel has refused to yield to a UN call for clarifications on planting "listening devices" in southern Lebanon, boasting that intelligence gathering on its northern neighbor will persist*. 

*Citing Tel Aviv officials, the Israeli daily Haaretz reports on Monday that Israel will continue collecting intelligence in southern Lebanon "as long as long as the government in Beirut is not in full control of its territory"*. 

Lebanon complained during a tripartite meeting last Wednesday between representatives of Beirut, Tel Aviv, and the UN that it had uncovered monitoring devices planted by Israel near the village of Hula in south of the country last week. The talks were held at the UNIFL base near the Rosh Hanikra border crossing. 

"It seems that something new was put in place recently," said the Lebanese envoy, referring to spying devices installed by the Israelis on its territory. 

"Israel will continue to use all means necessary to defend its citizens," boasted Brigadier Yossi Hayman, the Israeli envoy at the UNIFL base in Lebanon. 

While Hayman, according to the report, never denied that Israelis planted the listening devices in southern Lebanon, he reiterated that the Tel Aviv regime "will make use of its intelligence gathering capabilities so long as Hezbollah poses a threat." 

The general also claimed, "In view of all this, we do not consider this instance [of planting listening devices] as an Israeli violation of Resolution 1701" that put an end to the 33-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in the summer of 2006. 

A UN investigation into the two explosions in southern Lebanon last week concluded that the Israelis detonated spy devices in order to evade their detection. However, no reaction by the UN has been reported on what is seen as Israel's arbitrary and self-serving interpretation of the Resolution 1701. 

SB/MB

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## Shades

Israel denying Palestinians access to clean water
Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:27:41 GMT


As a result of *Israel's 'discriminatory' policies, Palestinians' access to water supply is far below the minimum recommended by the World Health Organization*. 

Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Israel of *preventing Palestinians from receiving adequate clean and safe water while allowing the "unlawful Jewish settlers" of the occupied West Bank almost unlimited supplies*. 

According to the report, *Israelis consume four times as much water as West Bank Palestinians whose water consumption at best reaches 70 liters per capita a day. The report also says that in some areas of the West Bank, Palestinians are surviving on as little as 20 liters of water per capita a day, which is below humanitarian disaster response levels recommended to avoid epidemics*. 

In contrast, *water consumption by Israeli settlers in the West Bank is 300 liters per capita a day.* 

"*Water is a basic need and a right, but for many Palestinians obtaining even poor-quality, subsistence-level quantities of water has become a luxury that they can barely afford", said Amnesty's Donatella Rovera.* 

*The 112-page report says while West Bank Palestinians are not allowed to dig wells to fulfill their need, Israeli settlers of the region are enjoying swimming pools and green gardens. There are also reports suggesting that Israeli authorities destroy Palestinian's cisterns and impound their water tankers*. 

"*Swimming pools, well-watered lawns and large irrigated farms in Israeli settlements in the OPT (occupied Palestinian territory) stand in stark contrast next to Palestinian villages whose inhabitants struggle even to meet their domestic water needs*", the report added. 

The human rights group has also accused Israel of causing a "water crisis" in the Gaza Strip by continuing its crippling blockade on the territory, *adding that 90-95 per cent of the region's water supply is now unfit for human consumption because of Israel's three-week offensive against the coastal territory, which damaged water reservoirs, wells, sewage networks and pumping stations.* 

HE/SC/DT/

BBC

Report: Palestinians denied water


Some Palestinians only get 20 litres of water a day, Amnesty says
Israel is denying Palestinians access to even the basic minimum of clean, safe water, Amnesty International says.
In a report, the human rights group says Israeli water restrictions discriminate against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
It says that in Gaza, Israel's blockade has pushed the already ailing water and sewage system to "crisis point".
Israel says the report is flawed and the Palestinians get more water than was agreed under the 1990s peace deal.
'Basic need'
In the 112-page report, Amnesty says that on average Palestinian daily water consumption reaches 70 litres a day, compared with 300 litres for the Israelis.

 Israel must end its discriminatory policies, immediately lift all the restrictions it imposes on Palestinians' access to water  
Donatella Rovera
Amnesty International

Gaza thirsts as sewage crisis mounts
Water shortages plague West Bank
It says that some Palestinians barely get 20 litres a day - the minimum recommended even in humanitarian emergencies.
While Israeli settlers in the West Bank enjoy lush gardens and swimming pools, Amnesty describes a series of Israeli measures it says are discriminating against Palestinians:
Israel has "entirely appropriated the Palestinians' share of the Jordan river" and uses 80% of a key shared aquifer
West Bank Palestinians are not allowed to drill wells without Israeli permits, which are "often impossible" to obtain
Rainwater harvesting cisterns are "often destroyed by the Israeli army" 


Recommended for short-term survival: 20 litres
For the medium term: 70 litres
Recommended for the long term: 100 litres
(Source: WHO)
Israeli soldiers confiscated a water tanker from villagers who were trying to remain in land Israel had declared a "closed military area"
An unnamed Israeli soldier says rooftop Palestinian household water tanks are "good for target practice"
Much of the land cut off by the West Bank barrier is land with good access to a major aquifer
Israeli military operations have damaged Palestinian water infrastructure, including $6m worth during the Cast Lead operation in Gaza last winter
The Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza has "exacerbated what was already a dire situation" by denying many building materials needed for water and sewage projects.
The report also noted that the Palestinian water authorities have been criticised for bad management, quoting one audit that described the sector as in "total chaos".
"Water is a basic need and a right, but for many Palestinians obtaining even poor-quality, subsistence-level quantities of water has become a luxury that they can barely afford," Amnesty's Donatella Rovera said.
"Israel must end its discriminatory policies, immediately lift all the restrictions it imposes on Palestinians' access to water."
'Fair share'
Ms Rovera also urged Israel to "take responsibility for addressing the problems it created by allowing Palestinians a fair share of the shared water resources".
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said "the idea that we're taking water away from someone else is simply preposterous".
He argued that Israeli fresh water use per capita had gone down since 1967 due to efficiency and new technologies, while the Palestinians' use had increased and more than a third of their water was wasted.

If there were allegations of military wrongdoing, those would be investigated, he said.
He also rejected the claim that Israel was preventing Palestinians from drilling for water, saying Israel had approved 82 such projects but the Palestinians had only implemented 26 of them.
"They have received billions of dollars in international aid over the last decade and a half, why have they not invested that in their own water infrastructure>?" he asked.
The report also criticised the Oslo Accords, which the Palestinians agreed to in 1993.
It said that under them, the Palestinians gained the responsibility for managing an "insufficient" water supply and maintaining "long neglected" water infrastructure.
Also, the deal left the Palestinians paying Israel for half of the domestic water used in the West Bank, despite the fact it is extracted from the shared aquifer.
Mr Regev said Israel provides the Palestinians with more water than it was required to under the accord.

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## Shades

UN General Assembly debates Israel war crimes
Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:39:18 GMT
Font size :   

The UN General Assembly sets a date for debating Israeli war crimes in Gaza, paving the way for a possible Security Council inquiry into the issue. 

An Arab League diplomat said on Monday that Richard Goldstone's UN report on the conflict in Gaza would be discussed at the Assembly on November 4th with the aim of passing a resolution approving the report and then requesting a formal debate at the Security Council, which has the power to open a war crimes prosecution against senior Israeli officials at the International Criminal Court. 

The US --Israel's staunchest ally-- however, is expected to veto any call for ICC action against Israeli officials. Washington has vetoed several anti-Israeli revolutions. 

The UN General Assembly's decision to debate Israeli war crimes during Gaza war came after the UN Human Rights Council endorsed the report, which accuses the Israeli army of deliberately killing Palestinian civilians and using disproportionate force during the three-week Gaza war, despite efforts by Israeli officials to block the motion.

The report calls for the prosecution of senior Israeli officials in the International Criminal Court at The Hague if Tel Aviv fails to launch its own investigations into the Gaza war under international scrutiny within six months. 

Tel Aviv has condemned the report, claiming it was one-sided and biased against Israel. 

According to UN figures, more than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed and many others wounded during Israel's "Operation Cast Lead" in which internationally banned white phosphorous bombs were used by Israeli forces. 

HE/SC/DT

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## Shades

Gaza thirsts as sewage crisis mounts


Partially treated sewage seeps into the groundwater from the lagoons

By Heather Sharp 
BBC News, Gaza

Gaza's aquifer and only natural freshwater source is "in danger of collapse," the UN is warning.
Engineers have long been battling to keep the densely populated strip's water and sewage system limping along.
But in September the UN Environment Programme warned that damage to the underground aquifer - due to the Israeli and Egyptian blockade, conflict, and years of overuse and underinvestment - could take centuries to reverse if it is not halted now.


 We could in a short time change people's lives if we were allowed to, but there is a key phrase - open borders  
Monther Shoblak
Monther Shoblak, director of Gaza's Coastal Municipality Water Utility, sniffs the air at the Beit Lahia water treatment plant and smiles.
"I'm happy when I smell sewage," he jokes, "it means the turbines are working."
Propellers are agitating the frothy sludge in one of the lagoons, aerating it to help bacteria digest it.
He says the machinery sometimes falls silent during the power cuts that plague most of Gaza.
But the mirror-smooth pond next to it is a perpetual concern.
The plant is handling twice its capacity and is only able to partially treat the sewage.
Lagoons designed to allow treated clean water to infiltrate through Gaza's sandy soil back down into the aquifer are instead funnelling sewage straight back into the groundwater
In addition, with several years of drought and the digging of hundreds of illegal, unregulated wells, the UN Environmental Programme says at least three times more water is extracted than is replenished each year.

Up to 80m litres of partially treated sewage are pumped into the sea each day

As the level is dropping in the aquifer, sea water is invading.
With nitrates from the sewage and salt from the sea, only 5-10% of the water in Gaza's wells - and therefore its taps - now meets World Health Organization guidelines, even after it has been chlorinated.
Years of decline
The aquifer has been in decline for years. But Oxfam's Mark Buttle, who co-ordinates international organisations working in the water sector, says the pressures are adding up.
Gaza faces a "pending environmental disaster" he warns.
"Water is life," he says. Action must be taken now, "so that we can prevent future problems with Gaza becoming uninhabitable".

Khader Makdad and his wife find it difficult to pay for water
Next to a school among a dense tangle of crumbling concrete homes, a water pump in Shati refugee camp hums as it sucks water from a borehole close to the sea.
Mr Buttle says it is some of Gaza's worst water.
"It's like sea water," says local resident Shadi Dosh, 27.
"It's not clean. It's only for washing. It has a bad smell," says Nabila Makdad, a mother of six.
Poverty has risen in Gaza as the blockade has ended much economic activity. An estimated 70% of the population lives on less than a dollar a day.
Mrs Makdad and her husband Khader say they make so little from their two street stalls that they have to rely on charity and loans from friends.
They spend 20NIS (about $5) a week buying water for cooking and drinking from private tankers, which bring water from small-scale desalination plants.
"I'd rather buy vegetables or fruit, or put the money towards my children's education, but there's no other way," says Ms Makdad.
Health concerns
Another concern is the blood disorder dubbed "blue baby syndrome", which is associated with nitrate pollution.
It results in low oxygen levels in an infant's blood, which can cause breathing trouble, diarrhoea and vomiting, and in extreme cases, loss of consciousness, convulsions and death.

Some building supplies have arrived, but water and sanitation workers say they need a lot more

The World Health Organization has not discovered any recent, full-blown cases in Gaza.
But in a 2002 study, nearly half the children surveyed had higher than safe levels of methemoglobin, the substance that indicates the condition. Nitrate pollution has increased since then.
Under Israel's crippling blockade, and with the border with Egypt closed, most building materials are refused entry, for fear they could be used to make smuggling tunnels or the rockets that militants fire at Israel.
But limited amounts of materials for sewage and water infrastructure have been allowed in.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev says he believes the system for approving shipments is currently "going quite well".
He says Israel "wants to work effectively with the international community" on the issue, which with 50-80m litres of partially treated sewage pumped into the sea each day, is also likely to have an impact on southern Israel's coast.
But Mr Shoblack says, since Israel's military operation in Gaza last winter, only five of 40 orders for building materials have arrived.
Nevertheless, he says, most of the $6m of damage sustained by the water and sewage system during the fighting has been repaired.

The lagoon which burst, killing five people, has now been drained
Thirty kilometres of pipes and 11 wells were damaged, and sewage flooded for up to a kilometre after one waste water plant was hit.
Even some control rooms at a brand new facility - locally referred to as the Tony Blair project as it has been heavily championed by the international Middle East envoy - were damaged.
But Mr Shoblack speaks proudly of his organisation's few achievements - for example, the draining of a lagoon in Beit Lahiya that burst in 2007, killing five people in a flood of sewage.
And he says donors have committed $250m to a master plan including a sea water desalination plant and new sewage treatment facilities - but only if the political and security situation improves.
In the meantime, he shows me a large pipe belching brownish-white sludge into a frothy patch on the beach south of Gaza City.
It pollutes the sea and wastes water that could, if treated, be used to recharge the aquifer.
"We have a vision. We could in a short time change people's lives, if we were allowed to," says Mr Shoblack. "But there is a key phrase - open borders."

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## Shades

*'Israel systematically targeting Al-Aqsa Mosque'*
Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:09:15 GMT

Palestinian legislator Jamal al-Khudari says the *frequent Israeli assaults on the Al-Aqsa Mosque are not just efforts by extremist Zionist groups or individuals but rather a systematic policy pursued by Tel Aviv.* 

"*This dangerous policy requires concerted efforts by Arab and Muslim governments, institutions, and peoples to help the Palestinian people face the Zionist dangers threatening the occupied city of Jerusalem (al-Quds)*," al-Khudari was quoted as saying on Monday by the Palestinian Information Center. 

He also called on Arab and Muslim officials to support the Palestinians' efforts to maintain their presence in Jerusalem (al-Quds). 

Israeli forces invaded the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Sunday morning, firing rubber-coated bullets and teargas canisters at Palestinian worshippers. 

At least 30 Palestinians were wounded and up to 20 others arrested during fierce clashes between Palestinian activists using stones, shoes, and bare fists and armed Israeli troops in and around the sacred site. 

Muslims consider the frequent *Israeli attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound to be part of a Judaization campaign targeting the holy city of Jerusalem (al-Quds)*. 

MP/HGL

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## Shades

Prisoner Society: more than 2,000 cases of torture in Israeli prison during past year	


26.10.09 - 15:31
Ramallah / PNN  President of the Palestinian Prisoner Society, Qaddura Fares, reported today that during the past year there have been more than 2,000 cases of torture in Israeli prison.

The Israeli administration has exerted, and continues to do so, violence, beatings, and physical and psychological torture against Palestinians, said Fares on Monday. He described daily evidence of the barbarism of the occupation forces against prisoners.

Among the thousands is Majid Rantis who has been detained since 18 September 2001. He was sentenced by an Israeli military court to 15 years.

According to a document drafted by a lawyer of the Prisoner Society, Rantis was interrogated for 70 days during which time he was beaten, held in solitary confinement and deprived of sleep. The man finally lost his left eye due to one of the beatings and underwent surgery on 6 July 2005. It was acknowledged that his loss of sight was a result of the beatings.

A PPS lawyer also reported on Fares Awad from Aroura Village who was beaten in such a way as to cause problems with the main artery of his heart.

He was arrested on 26 June 2006 and sentenced by a military court to four and a half years in Israeli prison. Awad arrived in good health, having even been granted a checkup by the prison doctor upon arrival. After five months in Ofer Prison he was taken to the Russian Compound for investigation where he was blindfolded, handcuffed, and beaten.

During the some odd 70 days of ongoing interrogation, a blow to the chest led to a loss of consciousness. Awad was taken to Hadassah Hospital, Ein Karem, on 29 June 2006 where he was not given a diagnosis.

He later was transferred to Mount Scopus and then to Ashkelon where he is suffering several problems, including a rise in temperature. He was taken to a clinic there where he was given Akamol, common headache reliever. After his condition worsened Awad was given other drugs, but began to suffer from liver problems. He now can no longer walk.

The case files continue with lists of victims who have spent long stretches of time in tiny spaces or tied to school chairs. The Israeli government is one of the few world wide that openly advocates interrogation methods considered torture by international standards.

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## Shades

*Israel denies illegal diamond trade*
Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:32:37 GMT

*A UN report accuses Israel of involvement in trade of blood diamonds, used to re-arm rebels in Ivory Coast*.
Israel has criticized a UN report which accuses Tel Aviv of involvement in illegal diamond trade from the Ivory Coast that could be helping re-arm rebels there. 

Israel's Diamond Controller Shmuel Morderchai dismissed the accusations in a Wednesday statement, insisting Israel has never dealt in diamond trade with the Ivory Coast. 

"We are shocked by these false accusations and completely refute them," he said. 

The experts report was presented to the UN Security Council on international compliance with sanctions imposed by the international body on the Ivory Coast 

The UN sanctions on the African nation's diamond trade came four years ago, after rebels took control of the country's north in a deadly civil war. 

The world body's investigation team on Tuesday urged Israel to 'investigate fully the possible involvement of Israeli nationals and companies in the illegal export of Ivorian rough diamonds'. 

The panel also named the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Guinea and Liberia as some of the countries that needed to step up efforts to enforce the embargo on buying rough diamonds mined in the Ivory Coast. 

But Israel insisted it had never imported conflict diamonds from the Ivory Coast or any other countries that are not members of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS). 

The watchdog was set up in 2003 in a bid to stem the trade in 'blood diamonds' in the wake of civil wars in Angola, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, which were largely financed by illegal diamond trade. 

Israel has threatened to lodge an official complaint about its inclusion in the UN report at the upcoming meeting of Kimberley Process members scheduled for November 2-5 in Namibia. 

MRS/AKM

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## Shades

*Israel's growing Al-Aqsa attacks 'alarming'*
Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:37:18 GMT

*Head of the Manuscripts Department in Al-Aqsa Mosque warns of mounting Israeli violence against the holy site, amid growing protests in the Muslim world against the desecration of the mosque*. 

*Israel has stepped up attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque to pave the way for dividing the Muslim world's third holy site*, Najeh Bkeirat said on Wednesday. 

Tel Aviv's assaults and measures against the mosque have reached more than 1250 cases since the occupation of Palestinian territories in the West Bank, including Jerusalem Al-Quds, in 1967. 

Bkeirat warned of an alarming increase in the hostile Israeli measures, recalling twin attacks which targeted the mosque within the same day during the past week. 

The Israeli army's drills in the Al-Aqsa Mosque vicinity and barring Palestinians from entering the site is a prelude to a long-planned destruction of the mosque and its change into a Jewish temple. 

Meanwhile, large crowds of Egyptian students took to streets in capital Cairo in protest to Israel's violation of the Al-Aqsa mosque and the regime's atrocities against the Palestinians. 

Thousands of demonstrators, chanting anti-Israeli slogans, gathered outside the University of Cairo on Wednesday and torched the Israeli flag, IRNA reported. 

A similar rally was also held by students of Alexandria University in a show of protests to the Israeli army's intrusion of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. 

The angry protesters condemned the Arab world's silence to the suffering of the Palestinian nation. 

On Tuesday, Israeli forces razed six Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem Al-Quds, leaving their 26 residents, including 10 children, homeless. 

Palestinians accuse Israel of efforts to remove the Palestinian-Islamic identity of East Jerusalem Al-Quds, which hosts the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock. 

The Arab dominated neighborhood was occupied during the 1967 war by the Israeli regime, which annexed it later, despite opposition from the international community. 

The Israeli municipality authorities have been evicting Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem Al-Quds ever since, demolishing their houses over 'illegal construction'. 

MRS/AKM

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## Shades

UN to discuss Goldstone's Gaza report in November
Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:57:11 GMT
Font size :   


The United Nations General Assembly is scheduled to meet next week in a bid to consider a UN report which accuses Israel of war crimes as well as crimes against humanity during the onslaught on the Gaza Strip. 

The debate on the report, written by South African war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone and three other international experts, will take place on November 4 as the General Assembly convenes a plenary meeting, according to a General Assembly spokesman, Jean Victor Nkolo. 

The Geneva-based Human Rights Council endorsed the report on October 16 and recommended that the General Assembly take it up during the first week of the November session. 

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has meanwhile demanded the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to drop its support for the Goldstone Gaza report and has spared no efforts to convince his European counterparts to oppose its adoption. His attempts have, however, proved futile. 

Tel Aviv is worried that charges could be lodged against the regime's politicians and army officers for war crimes committed during Israel's 22-day offensive against the blockaded Gaza Strip. Top officials who would be in the judicial cross-hairs may include former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, as well as current Defense Minister Ehud Barak. 

The UN-ordered Goldstone report on Israel's offensive in Gaza details what investigators call Israeli actions "amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity." The 575-page report asserts seven incidents in which Palestinian civilians were shot while leaving their homes, trying to run for safety or waving white flags. 

The report says that Israel targeted a mosque at prayer time, killing 15 people, and shelled a Gaza City house where Palestinian civilians were forced to assemble into by Israeli soldiers. These attacks constituted war crimes, the report says. 

The probe also found that Israel violated international humanitarian law in several respects. Dozens of Palestinian policemen were killed at the start of the Gaza onslaught when Israel bombed their stations. The security agents were not involved in hostilities and should have been treated as civilians. Additionally, the Palestinians were forced to walk in front of the Israeli soldiers as they searched civilian neighborhoods. 

More than 1,500 Palestinians were killed during Israel's land, sea and air assault, code named Operation Cast Lead , in the impoverished coastal sliver. The offensive also inflicted $ 1.6 billion damage to Gaza's economy. Since the end of the Israeli atrocities in the tightly populated strip, Gaza remains blockaded by the occupying regime. 

MP/MB

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## Shades

Suleiman: Tel Aviv behind Katyusha attack on Israel
Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:07:09 GMT

*Lebanese President Michel Suleiman charges Tel Aviv with a Katyusha-type rocket attack on the Israeli eastern town of Kiryat Shmona calling it a Zionist attempt to keep tensions high in Middle East.* 

In an interview with the Arabic language al-Akhbar newspaper in Beirut, Suleiman said *the rocket "is an excuse for Israel to keep violating Lebanon's sovereignty and immediately use it to continue its intelligence activity in Lebanon due to Hezbollah's presence.*" 

The Lebanese leader explained that the rocket attack from Lebanon served Israeli interests and noted that the one who launched it was an Israeli agent. "Therefore, I do not rule out the possibility that Israel is the one behind the Katyusha attack," he said. 

"*I believe that Israel must deal with the main problem, which is expressed in its attacks on Jerusalem (al-Quds) and Gaza, its rejection of the right of return, the continued construction in settlements, and the restoration of rights to their owners."* 

Suleiman, meanwhile, stressed that Lebanon does not serve as a platform to violate the UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon war. "I said this during my last visit to south Lebanon. I stressed that we will not allow anybody to violate the international resolution," he concluded. 

Israel has used rocket attacks from Lebanon as an excuse to violate Lebanese borders and openly run intelligence operations there. It has also boasted that as long as Hezbollah is part of the Lebanese government, it will continue running such provocative operations against its northern neighbor. 

MP/MB

----------


## Shades

Israel demolishes more Palestinian homes
Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:48:17 GMT
 

*Palestinian women sit on the rubble of their house after it was demolished by Israeli bulldozers in East Jerusalem Al-Quds*.
*Israeli soldiers demolish two Palestinian residents in East Jerusalem Al-Quds, while illegal settlers destroy olive groves as part of efforts to Judaize the city*. 

Israeli authorities claim that the houses were built without permits, but the Palestinians complain that the Israeli municipality does not issue any permits. 

They also accuse Tel Aviv of using demolition tactics to tighten its hold on the occupied territory, and again with the aim of destroying the Islamic identity of Jerusalem Al-Quds. 

Residents said that Israel, "which is a racist entity", is ignoring the international concerns over the practice. 

The bulldozers used to demolish the two Palestinian homes, one in Shufat and the other in Sur Bahir on the outskirts of Jerusalem Al-Quds, "were occupation's (the Israeli regime's) and not the municipality's", they added. 

*Israel razed 14 other Palestinian homes on Tuesday and Wednesday*. 

Earlier this year, The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, called for a halt to home demolition in East Jerusalem Al-Quds. 

According to UN statistics published in May, 1,500 demolition orders issued by the Jerusalem Al-Quds' municipality were pending for Palestinian dwellings. If the orders were implemented, about 9,000 more Palestinians would be displaced, the report said. 

Meanwhile, in the West Bank village of Qaryout, Palestinians found their olive groves destroyed. They said settlers from adjacent settlements destroyed the trees. 

A resident of that village said that Jewish settlers attacked them and prevented them from saving their olive trees. 

FTP/MMN

----------


## Shades

War crimes arrest awaiting Olmert's UK visit
Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:42:41 GMT


Former Israeli premier Ehud Olmert would probably face arrest on war crime charges if he visited Britain, a leading British newspapers has quoted a lawyer as saying. 

"Neither Olmert nor Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister during the Cast Lead offensive, and a member of Israel's war cabinet, would enjoy immunity from prosecution for alleged breaches of the Geneva conventions, the Middle East editor of The Guardian , Ian Black, quoted Daniel Machover as saying. 

Machover has been involved in intensifying legal work after the controversial Goldstone report on the three-week conflict. Neither are ministers any longer, he explained. 

"Prosecutions of Israeli political and military figures remain likely despite the failure to obtain an arrest warrant for Ehud Barak, the defense minister, when he visited the UK earlier this month.. In the Barak case, a magistrate accepted advice from the Foreign Office that the minister enjoyed state immunity and rejected an application made on behalf of several residents of the Gaza Strip". 

This is while the United Nations General Assembly is scheduled to meet on November 4 in a bid to consider a UN report, which accuses Israel of war crimes, as well as crimes against humanity, during the weeks-long onslaught on the Gaza Strip. 

The UN-commissioned report, written by South African war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone and three other international experts, details what investigators call Israeli actions "amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity." The 575-page report asserts seven incidents in which Palestinian civilians were shot while leaving their homes, trying to run for safety or waving white flags. 

The report says Israel targeted a mosque at prayer time, killing 15 people, and shelled a Gaza City house where soldiers had forced Palestinian civilians to assemble. These attacks constitute war crimes, the report says. 

The probe also found Israel violated international humanitarian law in several ways. Dozens of Palestinian police officers were killed at the start of Gaza onslaught when Israel bombed their stations. The police force was not involved in the hostilities and, as such, should have been treated as civilians. Palestinians, in addition, were used as human shields being forced to walk ahead of Israeli soldiers searching civilian neighborhoods. 

More than 1,500 Palestinians, large number of them women and children, were killed during three weeks of Israel's land, sea and air assault, Cast Lead offensive, in the impoverished coastal sliver. The offensive also inflicted $ 1.6 billion worth of damage to the Gazan economy. 

MP/MTM/DT

----------


## Shades

*Falk: Gaza report puts Israeli officials on trial*
Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:44:06 GMT

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and a special UN rapporteur on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, Richard Falk
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights says the Goldstone Gaza report paves the way for indictment of Israeli officials by international courts. 

Richard Falk, a special UN rapporteur, talked about the possibility of Israeli officials being tried in countries which abide to rules of international justice. 

The top UN official, however, predicted that the United States will try its best to influence the International Criminal Court not to bring Israeli officials to the dock. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has meanwhile demanded that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights drop support for Goldstone Gaza report and spare no efforts to convince his European counterparts to oppose its adoption. His attempts have however proved futile. 

Tel Aviv is worried that charges could be lodged against politicians and army officers for war crimes committed during Israel's 22-day offensive against long-blockaded Gaza Strip. Top officials who would be in the judicial cross-hairs could include former prime minister Ehud Olmert, former foreign minister Tzipi Livni as well as current Defense Minister Ehud Barak. 

The UN-ordered Goldstone report on Israel's offensive in Gaza details what investigators call Israeli actions "amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity." The 575-page account asserts seven incidents in which Palestinian civilians were shot while leaving their homes, trying to run for safety or waving white flags. 

The report says Israel targeted a mosque at prayer time, killing 15 people, and shelled a Gaza City house where soldiers had forced Palestinian civilians to assemble. These attacks constituted war crimes, the report pointed out. 

The probe also found Israel violated international humanitarian law in several ways. Dozens of Palestinian policemen were killed at the start of Gaza onslaught when Israel bombed their stations. The security agents were not involved in hostilities and should have been treated as civilians. Palestinians in addition were forced to walk ahead of Israeli soldiers searching civilian neighborhoods. 

More than 1,500 Palestinians, a large number of then women and children, were killed during three weeks of Israel's land, sea and air assault, Operation Cast Lead , in the Palestinian impoverished coastal sliver. The offensive also inflicted $ 1.6 billion damage to Gaza economy. 

MP/MTM/DT

----------


## Shades

UN rights council 'demonizing Israel'
Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:17:35 GMT

*Israeli envoy to the United Nations has accused the Human Rights Council of being 'obsessed with demonizing Israel' ahead of a special discussion of a report on the regime's war crimes in the Gaza Strip.* 

Gabriela Shalev accused the Geneva-based body of 'constant and exclusive discrimination against Israel' during the discussion of the Rights Councils' annual activity report on Friday, Haaretz reported. 

Regarding a report prepared by former South African judge Richard Goldstone on Israeli war crimes in Gaza, Shalev said, "The UN rights council is dominated and used by countries obsessed with demonizing Israel and its democratic nature". 

The report, which is to be discussed by the assembly on Wednesday, concluded that Israel used disproportionate force and failed to protect civilians during its December 27-January 18 offensive against the Palestinians in the strip. 

Goldstone recommended that the conclusions of the report be forwarded to the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) if the sides involved the Gaza war failed to conduct credible investigations within six months. 

SB/AKM

----------


## Shades

UN rights council 'demonizing Israel'
Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:17:35 GMT

*Israeli envoy to the United Nations has accused the Human Rights Council of being 'obsessed with demonizing Israel' ahead of a special discussion of a report on the regime's war crimes in the Gaza Strip.* 

Gabriela Shalev accused the Geneva-based body of 'constant and exclusive discrimination against Israel' during the discussion of the Rights Councils' annual activity report on Friday, Haaretz reported. 

Regarding a report prepared by former South African judge Richard Goldstone on Israeli war crimes in Gaza, Shalev said, "The UN rights council is dominated and used by countries obsessed with demonizing Israel and its democratic nature". 

The report, which is to be discussed by the assembly on Wednesday, concluded that Israel used disproportionate force and failed to protect civilians during its December 27-January 18 offensive against the Palestinians in the strip. 

Goldstone recommended that the conclusions of the report be forwarded to the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) if the sides involved the Gaza war failed to conduct credible investigations within six months. 

SB/AKM

----------


## Shades

Gaza rally for Islamic Jihad founder
Sat, 31 Oct 2009 02:26:06 GMT
Font size :   

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have held a demonstration in the Gaza Strip in honor of the founder of Islamic Jihad movement who was assassinated about 15 years ago. 

During the Friday rally, a leader of the group, Nafez Azzam, called on demonstrators to reject the Palestinians negotiations with Israel The Jerusalem Postreported. 

The Islamic Jihad resistance movement was founded in the Gaza Strip in 1970s by Fathi Shikaki and Abd Al Aziz Awda as a branch of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad  an organization currently led by Ramadan Abdullah Mohammad Shallah. 

Shikaki was assassinated in an attack widely attributed to Mossad in October 1995. 

BS/AKM

----------


## Shades

Hezbollah condemns US commander remarks
Sun, 01 Nov 2009 09:45:16 GMT

Members of the US Navy aboard the USS Higgins
Lebanon's Hezbollah has condemned remarks by a *US commander who has declared that the US considers defending Israel as important as defending its own territory*. 

The commander of the *USS "Higgins" that has participated in joint exercises with Israel had said that the US considers that the defense of Israel's Haifa as defense from San Diego.* 

Hezbollah declared in a statement on Saturday that the *remarks show the US commitment of support for Israel.* 

According to the statement Israel's 33-day war against Lebanon in 2006 was in fact an American war against Lebanon, since the US provided Israel with airlifts of weapons and ammunition during the conflict. Al-Mustaqbal newspaper reported on Sunday. 

Israel launched a disproportionate offensive against Lebanon in 2006 specifically targeting the Hezbollah movement, but it faced a strong resistance by Hezbollah and was forced to disengage. 

MGH/SC/DT

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## Shades

*Aqsa guards thwart settler from committing massacre*

2009-11-01 09:15:58


Occupied Jerusalem-PalPress-*Security guards at Al Aqsa Compound thwarted an extremist settler from committing a bloody massacre against worshippers during the dawn prayer within "Al Aqsa" Mosque.*

The guards captured the extremist settlers and beat him up before they handed him to the Israeli police .

The guards said that the *settler tried to sneak  into "Al Aqsa" court by using a ladder from the side of "Al Qatanin" bazaar and "Mathara" building adjacent to the mosque*,  .

They added that they believe the *settler was planning to commit a massacre similar to the massacre of Ibrahimi Mosque which led to dividing the mosque and it's take over*.

Soon as the news spread, large numbers of citizens from the neighboring areas made their way to the holy site .

According to the guards, *Israeli police issued a gag order on the case*.

----------


## Shades

Abu Rudeina:Washington is unable to pressure on Israel"

2009-11-01 10:45:46


Occupied Jerusalem-PalPress-Presidency Spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said that the *US administration is unable to fulfill it's promises specially what was mentioned in President Obama's speech  at Cairo University when he called for completely ceasing settlement activities*.

"*Washington was unable to pressure on Israel to freeze settlement construction because it has not  exerted enough pressure on the Israeli government* ", he said

Abu Rudeina added that since the US is unable to persuade Israel to cease settlement activities,  then how would it be able to persuade it withdraw not only from the West Bank but also from Jerusalem.

Abu Rudeina said in an interview with "Al Jazeera" television channel today morning that the *US has repeatedly  reported to the Palestinian side it's rejection to settlement, yet , it was unable to force Israel cease these activities* .

He pointed out that the *Palestinian side still commits to ceasing settlement construction before returning back to negotiations*.

"Going for negotiations with out meeting this demand will be a waste of time once more", said Abu Rudein", pointing out that the US has realized that the Palestinian stance is very frank and firm.

He stressed that negotiations should take place on basis of the establishment of  a Palestinian state at the 1967 border lines with Jerusalem as it's capital.

"*The Palestinian side is now facing an Israeli extremist government with more authority in the US than in Israel*", said Abu Rudeina

In answer to a question about pressures practiced on the Palestinian side, Abu Rudeina said that pressure on President Abbas  has always been there , but the Palestinian stance is the most correct national political stance in the region, adding that the Palestinian leaderships supports tactics of not getting involved in battles with all parties specially with the US administration and Israel in light of  the *permanently weak Arab support .*

----------


## Shades

Clinton: Israel is making "unprecedented" concessions on West Bank settlement construction

2009-11-01 10:22:46


Occupied Jerusalem-PalPress-*The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that ceasing settlement activities had never been a precondition for moving forward with negotiations , pointing out that the Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu is dealing appropriately in this regard*.

Clinton said in a joint press conference with Netanyhau :"The most important thing is to start negotiations , then each side could bring their objections about settlements to the negotiating table."

----------


## Shades

*Sussex University Students Union first in United Kingdom to boycott Israeli goods* 


01.11.09 - 19:34
Ramallah - *Following a landmark referendum, students at Sussex University have voted to boycott Israeli goods*.

*The decision will become part of the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, which calls upon the Israelis to respect international law and end the occupation of Palestine*.

Besides being penned and assisted by Palestinian, Arabs and international supporters, the referendum *received messages of support and thanks from Jewish and Israeli academics and non-governmental organizations that oppose the Israeli policy of occupation in Palestine*. Author and scholar Norman G. Finkelstein described the referendum result as *a victory, not for Palestinians but for truth and justice*.

Head of Popular Committee against the Wall and-co-founder of Friends for Freedom and Justice in Bilin, Iyad Burnat issued a brief statement of encouragement:

*The Committee really appreciates Sussex Students' Union remarkable idea of starting a boycott of Israeli goods. We hope even more people all around the world will follow the example so that we can put an end to the Israeli occupation and dismantle the apartheid Wall*.

The western Ramallah town of Bilin is one of many that hold weekly demonstrations against the Wall and settlements. Bilin also hosts an annual nonviolence conference.

The Sussux Students Union is the first student union in the UK to boycott Israeli goods.

----------


## Shades

Attacks by Israeli settlers spark more by the army as Palestinians defend themselves in West Bank	


01.11.09 - 20:02
Ramallah / PNN  The media office in the Palestinian Authority police reported on two separate incidents involving Israeli settlers and soldiers in the West Bank yesterday evening.

In southern Nablus, Israeli forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets and noxious gas at Palestinian youth. The trouble began when settlers attacked Burin Village. When the Israeli army arrived, soldiers went after the Palestinians.

Among the injuries is 22 year old Hossam Faqih who was shot in the foot.

In the second incident, Israeli soldiers severely beat a child in Hebron after an incident occurred with settlers from Kiryat Arab. Thirteen year old Mohammed Fadl was rushed to the hospital from the center of town.

And in another incident, armed settlers attempted early this morning to storm Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem.

----------


## Shades

*Settlers attack Salah family in Beit Safafa as part of ongoing campaign to drive them away* 


31.10.09 - 07:09
Jerusalem / Maisa Abu Ghazaleh for PNN  *Israeli settlers attacked the Salah family in southeast Jerusalems Beit Safafa on Friday*.

The attack was the latest in ongoing attempts to capture the neighborhoods and towns of Palestinian Jerusalem. Today, five people were injured.

In an interview with PNN Shiha Salah, *an elderly woman who is bruised on her neck and head, described her day. We were preparing ourselves to go to Friday prayers, getting into the car to drive to the mosque. Twelve settlers stopped us in front of the house. They attacked us with weapons and iron tools. We tried to defend ourselves against their attempt to seize our home.*

*Sixty year old Ismail Salah was shot with a live bullet in the right hand, while 18 year old Daoud Salah was bruised in the head and his right foot injured. Forty-eight year old Mohammad Salah suffered bruises to his lower back after being hit with a metal ball*.

Eighty-nine year old Shiha Salah explained that todays attack was one in a long line that began in 1993 when Israeli settlers from Kiryat Arba in Hebron claimed they bought five houses from an Armenian owner. However, the Salah family bought the houses in 1966 and has the paperwork to prove it. Shiha Salahs husband was the purchaser, but these types of cases often do not go the way of Palestinian owners who have little recourse other than the Israeli court system.

In this case the *Israeli Supreme Court issued in August a decision to evict the Salah family from their homes in Beit Safafa in spite of the legal documents proving ownership. They were given a month to leave*.

Five homes are threatened with evacuation for the benefit of settlers, yet all belong to Ibrahim Ali Salah and his sons, Ismail, Mohammed, Mahmoud and Ahmad. Fifty-five people live in these homes; 30 of them are under the age of 12 years.

Salah told PNN Friday, *This attack is added to the continuous attacks on us. They break into our houses, they burn the land where we keep the sheep and our workshops. They steal the sheep. And this happens while the Israeli administration imposes heavy fines on us.*

She stressed the need for her family to remain persistent in staying in their homes, and to not to allow themselves to be driven away.

The elderly woman added an appeal to the free world while she was talking to PNN today, asking for intervention to prevent the forcible eviction from their homes.

----------


## Shades

Last update - 14:30 01/11/2009			

Rightists confront 'IDF organ trafficking' reporter at Israel airport

By Gili Izikovich, Haaretz Correspondent

Dozens of *right-wing activists* ( fanatics ) on Sunday confronted a Swedish journalist who accused Israeli soldiers of harvesting organs from Palestinians, shouting at him upon his arrival in Israel at Ben Gurion airport. 

The fanatics waved banners bearing slogans against Donald Bostrom, who will be a guest of the Dimona Media Conference on Monday, and called for him to be expelled from Israel. 

In his article, which was published in August, Bostrom attempted to tie Jewish criminals who trafficked in organs in New Jersey to Palestinian claims that Israel had removed organs from Palestinians killed by IDF soldiers. 


Bostrom will be interviewed at the conference on Monday by the anchor of Channel 2's Friday night news show, Yair Lapid. 

Although no specific threats were received, Bostrom will be accompanied by a bodyguard throughout his stay, and the conference will make special security arrangements to prepare for potential protests. 

Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom, who is also minister for the development of the Negev and Galilee, announced on Saturday that he would not come to the event and would drop his support for it because of Bostrom's presence. The move will cost the conference NIS 200,000. 

Organizers said the journalist is expected to visit Israeli towns in the vicinity of Gaza and other local conflict areas. 

Bostrom's article, published in the popular Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet, set off a media frenzy in Israel, and Bostrom has been accused of disseminating "a blood libel" against Jews.

----------


## Shades

Israeli settler confesses to a string of attacks
Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:19:02 GMT


Settler Yaakov Teitel has confessed to a string of crimes.
*A West Bank settler has confessed to a string of fatal shootings and bombing attacks in occupied Palestine*. 

*Yaakov Teitel, a 37-year-old immigrant from the US, was arrested by Israeli police in Jerusalem Al-Quds on October 7 and charged with a number of killings and murder plots, including the slaying of two Palestinians*. 

*He began traveling to Israel and the West Bank in the 1990s before immigrating to Israel in 2000*. 

He *confessed to killing two Palestinians - a shepherd in Hebron (al-Khalil) and a taxi driver in East Jerusalem Al-Quds - both in 1997, the Maan news agency reported on Sunday, quoting the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth*. 

*Teitel also confessed that he carried out a series of bomb attacks, including one that seriously wounded a teenager in the illegal settlement of Ariel and another that lightly wounded liberal Hebrew University historian Zeev Sternhell, the Jerusalem Post reported*. 

He is *also held responsible for an attack on a youth club in Tel Aviv in August in which two people were killed*. 

Police discovered rifles, handguns, and explosive materials in his home, but they did not find the gun that killed the Palestinians. 

FTP/HGL

----------


## Shades

OIC calls for UNSC emergency meeting on Al-Aqsa
Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:22:32 GMT

*The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has called for an urgent meeting on Israel's frequent violations against the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the occupied East Jerusalem Al-Quds*. 

The world's largest Islamic organization urged UN Security Council and Russia "to request an emergency meeting on Israeli violations of international law in Al-Quds (Jerusalem) ... and aggressions against the holy places," AFP reported on Sunday. 

The Organization has already cautioned Israel of 'dangerous consequences' for acts of sacrilege in the holy compound emphasizing that any damage to the mosque could lead to "unpredictable consequences" for international peace and security. 

The 57-member body condemned Israeli sporadic violations against the holy site which started on September 27 after it closed the compound and deployed thousands of police forces to secure a Jewish religious ceremony in the masque. 

Clashes renewed in the holy site last week after Israeli police closed down the site. 

Security forces fired stun grenades to disperse crowds of hundreds of Palestinian protesters. Twenty-four Palestinians have been wounded in the clashes in and around the holy compound. 

SB/MB

----------


## Shades

*Israel derailing peace efforts, Jordan and Egypt say*
Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:26:16 GMT

Jordanian King Abdullah (L) and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (R)
*Israel is "derailing" peace efforts by building settlements and jeopardizing the identity of Jerusalem Al-Quds and holy places*, the leaders of Jordan and Egyptian say. 

Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, in a joint communique in Cairo, warned on Sunday that Israel's unilateral actions in the occupied Palestinian territories are endangering peace efforts and would ultimately have a "catastrophic" effect on the region. 

The two leaders discussed the "catastrophic consequences on the region's stability and security resulting from the failure to seize the current opportunity for making peace," the statement said. 

Both leaders stated that Israel should immediately halt its unilateral actions, "particularly the building of settlements and jeopardizing the identity of Jerusalem Al-Quds and holy places," which could only derail the chances for peace. 

They also urged the international community to strengthen their efforts to relaunch peace negotiations between Palestine and Israel so that a viable peace can be established in the region. 

FTP/HGL

----------


## Shades

Palestinians foil attack on Al-Aqsa worshippers
Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:20:18 GMT

Al-Aqsa Mosque
Palestinian security guards have foiled a Jewish gunman's attempt to infiltrate the Al-Aqsa Mosque, a Palestinian official reports. 

Hatim Abdulqader, who is in charge of the Jerusalem Al-Quds portfolio in the Fatah movement told Arab Newsthat the Palestinian guards succeeded in stopping the gunman as he went up the stairs of a building adjacent to the mosque on Sunday. 

The man, who had strapped a machine gun on his back, is believed to have been trying to massacre worshippers in the mosque compound, the report said. 

Abdulqader added that Palestinian security forces are working round the clock to foil any Israeli attack against the mosque. 

The Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage has declared that the man was handed over to the Israeli police, who later claimed that he was mad. 

Adnan Al-Husseini, the governor of Jerusalem Al-Quds, said the plot could not be carried out by a mad man. He accused rightist Jewish movements of planning the incident. 

MGH/TG/DT

----------


## Shades

*Israeli official: Jewish terrorists still at large*
Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:13:08 GMT

A Jewish settler teaching children how to use a gun
*A senior Israeli internal security service official has said that there are still 'Jewish terrorists' at large in Israel, who may be planning future attacks.* 

The comments by the Shin Bet follow the announcement on Sunday that *settler Yaakov Tytell was arrested last month for allegedly killing two Palestinians and carrying out a string of bomb attacks*. 

"*The Jewish settler is an extremist, who firmly believes in his ideology and who acted carefully, decisively and with sophistication," Haaretz quoted the Shin Bet official as saying on Monday.* 

"Tytell is not mentally unstable," the official added. 

"You don't need an underground with 100 people in order to cause grave damage," the Shin Bet official said. 

The remarks come as Palestinian security guards said that they foiled an attack by an armed Jewish extremist on Al-Aqsa Mosque worshippers on Sunday. 

Hatim Abdulqader, who is in charge of the Jerusalem Al-Quds portfolio in the Fatah movement told Arab News that the Palestinian guards succeeded in arresting the Jewish gunman as he went up the stairs of a building adjacent to the mosque on Sunday. 

*The man, who had strapped a machine gun on his back, is believed to have been trying to massacre worshippers in the mosque compound, the report said.* 

*The man was handed over to the Israeli police, who later claimed that he was mad, a claim that has been denied by the Palestinian officials*. 

MGH/TG/DT

----------


## Shades

*Haaretz again!

Swedish reporter in Israel: Not all criticism of you is anti-Semitism

By Gideon Levy, Haaretz Correspondent*

Donald Bostrom didn't know he needed this. With Moses, a gigantic bodyguard in a suit and tie watching over his Tel Aviv hotel room with an earpiece and a concealed gun; with a handful of demonstrators who greeted him in the wee hours of the morning at Ben-Gurion International Airport; and with the program for his visit to Israel, in which it is explained that during his trip to attend the Dimona Media Conference, he will be accompanied by two bodyguards, that the details of his visit will be "classified" and that he will wait in a "security room" before and after an interview to be conducted with him today by Yair Lapid. 

Donald Bostrom didn't know he needed this. He arrived here Sunday, in an attempt to explain to Israelis what he meant in his scandalous article about alleged organ harvesting by the Israel Defense Forces - a brave step on his part and a no-less-brave step on the part of the organizers of the Dimona conference - who were already attacked by Minister Silvan Shalom, who decided to boycott the gathering and withdraw the money his ministry had pledged to the conference. 

"Is it possible here to retroactively cancel an allocation for a conference?" asks the musician and exiled artist Dror Feiler, who is accompanying Bostrom on his visit, and who also had a scandal in his past, the scandal of the blood in the "Snow White and The Madness of Truth" installation he exhibited in Stockholm in January 2004. 

Bostrom seems a little embarrassed about the reception he is getting. We ate breakfast at his hotel, which borders on Am Yisrael Hai ("the people of Israel live") Street, and then we went up to his room which overlooks the sea. There he showed me the pictures he had taken of the body of the stone thrower, Bilal Ghanan, from the village of Imatin in the northern West Bank who had been shot by IDF soldiers on May 13, 1992. 

The mortally wounded Ghanan was evacuated to the hospital by an Israel army helicopter and his dead body was returned to his family five days later, sewn up along its length, while Bostrom was in the village. Bostrom says the family is entitled to know what happened to their son, why his body was autopsied without his family's permission and whether the rumors are correct that his internal organs were removed at the Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine. 

*This legitimate demand was presented by Bostrom in a very problematic article in which he hints that Palestinians were abducted and their bodies were returned without organs*. The context in which he published the article, apropos of the trade in body organs by some Jews in New Jersey, also added a problematic and loaded dimension to the article. Bostrom says he published Ghanan's story in a book he wrote several years ago and also tried to have it published in the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter which rejected it. He finally published it in the tabloid Aftonbladet in its daily cultural supplement, when the story about the New Jersey Jews broke. 

He apparently understands that the connection between New Jersey and the suspicion, which Bostrom does not prove, of garnering organs from the Palestinians, can provide inflammatory material for anti-Semitic groups. 

Bostrom says he did not like the headline given to the article: "Our sons are plundered of their organs", but he understands that the responsibility for the article lies with him. He says that dozens of Palestinians believe their family members' organs were stolen. 

*You have already had scandals at your forensic institute with other bodies, he says, and there is illegal trade in organs, so there is a need to investigate*. 

This experienced photographer and journalist who has visited Israel more than 40 times, who has published many of his photographs in the journal of the Swedish Palestinian solidarity movement, who once before also aroused a similar uproar after an article about mass killings in Ethiopia, understands that he made some mistakes in his article. 

It is doubtful whether he agrees that the call for an investigation should have been directed first and foremost at him before he published the suspicions. Their publication without any factual support is not professional journalism. That is why it is good he was invited to come here and that is why it is good that he came. 

Are you sorry about anything? 

"I'm sorry there are so many lies about me. Like for example that they say I wrote that the soldiers hunted for youths so as to take their organs. It's obvious that's a lie. Even the Palestinians don't make a claim like that. And the other side attributes anti-Semitism to me. I'm sorry about that. I'm sorry I've become a political tool. I'm sorry the article caused damage to the struggle for human rights here. And above all, I'm sorry that no one took the article seriously and that they did not examine the suspicions. In Sweden too they didn't take it seriously." 

Would you write it differently now? 

"If I were writing it again, I would stress that the IDF liquidates so many youths without a trial and that they take bodies and conduct autopsies on them without the permission of the families. My article created confusion and was incorrectly interpreted. I admire your democratic courage to invite me to explain myself here." 

Do you think the IDF killed people to get body organs? 

"I don't think soldiers behaved like that. I don't think they killed in order to gather organs. The truth is that they kill them without a trial and their bodies are taken to Abu Kabir. We don't know whether they take out the organs. That has still to be further investigated. *No one opened up the bodies after they were returned and only one man knows the truth, Prof. Yehuda Hiss, the director of the forensic institute*. 

So why did you publish baseless accusations? 

"I think the article led to good things and bad things, but now it is on the table. Israeli journalists must investigate. You have done good things in the past. Haaretz gives better coverage of the conflict than the Swedish papers, so go on investigating this. There are a lot of question marks." 

*Are you anti-Semitic?* 

"*Of course not. I am sad*. I am angry that my article has been used for political purposes. *Not every criticism of Israel is anti-Semitism. Like all the Swedes, I support Israel's right to exist, but I want a more just Israel*. *We have a tradition in Sweden of standing by international law and when you violate it, it arouses anger*. Take this article seriously. *The Palestinian families are entitled to know what happened to their loved ones. I am talking about compassion and human rights*."

----------


## Shades

Last update - 11:06 02/11/2009			

*'There are Jewish terrorists still at large in Israel'*

*By Haaretz Sevice*


*A senior Shin Bet official said Jewish terrorists that have not been caught are still at large and may be planning future attacks, Israel Radio reported on Monday*. 

The official's comments follow the announcement on Sunday that *settler Yaakov Tytell was arrested last month for allegedly killing two Palestinians and carrying out a string of bomb attacks*. 

*Tytell is not mentally unstable, said the Shin Bet official, who described him as an extremist who firmly believes in his ideology and who acted carefully, decisively and with sophistication.* 

The *official added that Tytell functioned on the outermost fringes of society and said he cannot be compared with other Jewish terrorists, including the Jewish underground and Yigal Amir, who assassinated former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin 14 years ago*. 

*"You don't need an underground with 100 people in order to cause grave damage," the Shin Bet official said*. 

Tytell was arrested on October 7 in the ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Nof after posting signs around town praising the attack on the Tel Aviv gay center. He was apprehended with a loaded gun. 

Police found additional weapons and explosives at his home and another concealed location. 

Tytell was remanded and interrogated for about three weeks without access to legal representation, a step that was approved by various courts, including the High Court of Justice.

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## Shades

*Settlements are fertile ground for Jewish terror*

*By Gideon Levy, Haaretz Correspondent*

The parade of the self-righteous got underway Sunday night: Yaakov Tytell was described as a "foreign element," "wild thorn" and "rotten apple." Even if he acted alone, spoke and hallucinated in English, even if he was mentally disturbed, as his attorney claimed, it does not change the fact that Jack the Ripper from the West Bank settlement of Shvut Rachel - contrary to his predecessor in London - acted on ground that was fertile like no other. 

Yes, the settlements and especially the illegal outposts where Tytell lived and hid his weapons, along with the Kahanist settlement of Kfar Tapuah where he got his start - these are the places for such dangerous nuts. This is their refuge, where they can hide arms without being bothered and go on hate-filled killing sprees without being seen. 

It is no coincidence that a terrorist or killer has never risen from within Peace Now, Gush Shalom or Yesh Gvul. However, with God's help, we have already seen two murderous terrorists from Shvut Rachel. Never has a leftist called for the death of someone who disagrees with him - and we must always remember this when we speak of left and right. 


Yes, we must recoil from the entire group of settlers that again and again sprouts these cancerous growths. *When a settlement is born out of sin, the sin of stolen land, the gun rests during the first act, the act of illegally confiscating the land. But you can count on there always being someone to pull the trigger in the final act*. 

Not everyone is a Tytell, and it's clear that not every settler is a killer. *But no special investigative team was assembled when a different killing spree got underway several weeks ago, which left an olive grove razed. Tytell's fatal error was turning on other Jews. Had he been satisfied with acts of murder against the Palestinian population, he would never have been caught*. 

*Tytell had an organized, all-embracing worldview: Death to Arabs, homosexuals, Christians, leftists, and Messianic Jews. They are all "Sodomites" who cannot be cleansed*. Tytell set a price tag for everyone, just like others of his settler friends have also done. *The difference is that the others only set price tags for Palestinians, so no one bothers to apprehend them*. Tytell was "unbalanced" in exactly the same way as his companions. Speaking of which, *has a Palestinian terrorist ever been declared "unbalanced"? Has the Shin Bet ever used the term "acted alone" to justify an uninterrupted, unsolved decade-long killing spree perpetrated by a lone Palestinian?* 

Now everyone will tsk-tsk. The settlers will claim "we had nothing to do with this," will roll their eyes skyward and be quick to voice harsh, and hollow, denunciations. The Shin Bet and police will wave a victory flag to show they don't bargain with settlers and the sleeping beauty of the left will continue to cloak herself in complacency. *But there are more Tytells wandering around the land of occupation and negligence, and as long as they don't lay their hands on other Jews, no one will hold them accountable - and even that may change.*


*Please Note this not by Muslim or Arab or Palestinian, this is by a Jew an Israeli Jew*

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## Shades

*Report: Mossad used Trojan Horses to spy on Syria nuclear site

By Ofer Aderet*

*Israel's Mossad espionage agency used Trojan Horse programs to gather intelligence about a nuclear facility in Syria the Israel Defense Forces destroyed in 2007, the German magazine Der Spiegel reported Monday*. 

According to the magazine, *Mossad agents in London planted the malware on the computer of a Syrian official who was staying in the British capital; he was at a hotel in the upscale neighborhood of Kensington at the time*. 

*The program copied the details of Syria's illicit nuclear program and sent them directly to the Mossad agents' computers*, the report said. 


Israel's September 6, 2007, raid on the al-Kabir site in Syria's eastern desert is said to have knocked out the country's reportedly nearly-completed reactor. 

Israel has refused from the beginning to comment on, confirm or deny the strike, but after a delay of several months Washington presented intelligence purporting to show the target was a reactor being built with North Korean help. 

Der Spiegel further reported on Monday that prior to the strike, the IDF Military Intelligence unit, 8200, listened in on conversations between officials at the Syrian reactor and North Korean experts.

Haaretz

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## Shades

*IOF launches new home demolition campaign in j'lem, 35 displaced*

2009-11-02 12:18:11


Occupied Jerusalem-PalPress-Jerusalem Municipality bulldozers began today morning a new home demolition campaign against  Palestinian citizens in several neighborhoods in Jerusalem.

"Al Maqdesi" association for community development said in a released statement that Jerusalem  municipality crews supported by army and police troops surrounded the area and imposed a firm curfew there.

Local sources aid that bulldozers affiliated to Jerusalem Municipality demolished a house belonging to "Al Qawasmi" family in "Athawri " neighborhood of Selwan southern the Temple Mount.

The building holds 20 persons most of whom are  children , they were kicked out of the house with out being allowed to even take their personnel properties in an extremely cold weather.

The Occupation bulldozers began  a demolition campaign today morning in Jerusalem initiating by a house belonging to "Abu Halab Asshweiki" in the same neighborhood , the house  holds 15 persons within.

The General Director of "Al Maqdesi"  association Mu'az Al Za'tari said that the campaign has not finished yet , expressing his concern that  the bulldozers would head to other neighborhoods in the holy city.



2009-11-02 12:18:11

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## Shades

Tel Aviv in range of 'new' Hamas rocket
Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:55:17 GMT
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Israel's Military Intelligence chief Major-General Amos Yadlin
Israel's Military Intelligence warns about Hamas' growing military power, saying the movement has recently test fired a missile capable of reaching targets in Tel Aviv. 

Military Intelligence chief Major-General Amos Yadlin told the weekly cabinet meeting on Tuesday that Hamas possesses in its arsenal a rocket with the range of 60 kilometers, Haaretz reported. 

He said the missile was fired into the Mediterranean Sea, but could not confirm whether the rocket was manufactured in Gaza or was brought into the Strip from abroad. 

Israeli security cabinet minister Benny Begin warned that 'although the cities of the South are no different from Tel Aviv', the 60-kilometer missile ranges indicated that Hamas was 'continually striving' for greater military capabilities, The Jerusalem Post quoted him as saying. 

"As long as there is no comprehensive agreement concerning border crossings, the deterrence we achieved during Operation Cast Lead will grow weaker," he added. 

Last December, Israel launched Operation Cast Lead against the Gaza Strip during which it pounded the populated territory for three weeks. 

The all-out war killed at least 1,300 people, including women and children, and left thousand of others displaced. 

In response to Israel's aerial and ground incursion, Hamas fired its Grad-type rockets, Qassam rockets, and mortar shells hitting towns some 40 kilometers from the Strip. 

SB/AKM

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## Shades

Amnesty makes new war crimes plea
Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:25:52 GMT
http://www.presstv.ir/photo/20091103...3184909640.JPG 

Amnesty International has called for an independent investigation into war crimes in the Gaza Strip and Israel ahead of a General Assembly meeting on Goldstone report. 

In an open letter to the United Nations General Assembly and the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the London-based rights group reiterated its call for Israel and Hamas to immediately start independent investigations on war crimes. 

The request was made a day before the General Assembly convenes to discuss a report prepared by former South African judge, Richard Goldstone, who concluded that Israel used disproportionate force and failed to protect civilians during its December-January offensive against the Palestinians in the Gaza strip. 

It also accused Hamas of violating international conventions and recommended that the case be referred to the International Criminal Court at The Hague if the two sides fail to start an investigation into the crimes within six months. 

The rights group also called on the UN chief to establish a committee of experts in international law to assess the effectiveness and genuineness of any accountability measures taken by the Israeli and Palestinian authorities. 

Amnesty also said the General Assembly should call on Ban to submit the report to the UN Security Council. 

SB/AKM

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## Shades

'World worried about Shalit but not Palestinians'
Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:25:17 GMT
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Gilad Shalit has been held by Palestinian forces in the Gaza Strip since June 2006.
Hamas lawmaker Hatim Qufaisheh says the international community does not care about Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails but is very concerned about the fate of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. 

Qufaisheh denounced all the countries in the world that are demanding that the Palestinian resistance release Shalit while they have no concern for thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, the Palestinian Information Center reported. 

He said that Israeli officials and prison authorities are violating all international conventions and norms that are meant to protect the rights of prisoners. 

Gilad Shalit has been in Palestinian captivity since he was captured by Gaza Strip fighters in a cross-border raid on June 25, 2006. 

Hamas has demanded that Israel release over 1000 Palestinians, including about 450 inmates who have served long terms, from its detention facilities in exchange for the release of the Israeli soldier. 

Over 11,500 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently imprisoned in Israeli detention facilities, where they are suffering under harsh and sometimes life-threatening conditions. 

MP/HGL

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## Shades

Hamas rejects Israel claims on rocket
Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:46:29 GMT
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Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum
Hamas says remarks about its possessing weapons is a mere 'fabrication' to mobilize world opinion against the movement ahead of the UN General Assembly's vote on a Gaza war crimes report. 

Israeli Military Intelligence chief Major-General Amos Yadlin claimed earlier Tuesday that the movement possesses in its arsenal a rocket capable of reaching targets in Tel Aviv. 

"This is a pre-emptive step by the Zionist enemy to influence international opinion ahead of the General Assembly's discussion of the Goldstone report," said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum on Tuesday. 

"This crisis has pushed the Zionist enemy to create these kinds of fabrications", he added. 

The remarks were made a day before the United Nations General Assembly convenes to discuss a report on Israeli war crimes during its December-January offensive against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. 
The report prepared by former South African judge Richard Goldstone concluded that Israel used disproportionate force and failed to protect civilians during the 22 say war on Gaza. 

Israel however urged the international community on Tuesday to oppose the report when it is put to vote on Wednesday. 

"This report damages not only Israel but any peace-seeking democratic state that has to face terror," said Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon. 

The UN Human Rights Council endorsed the report last month and the UN Security Council mentioned it during its monthly debate on the Middle East on October 13 without taking any action. 

SB/AKM

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## Shades

UN chief tells Israel to stop provocative actions
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:26:20 GMT
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UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
UN chief Ban Ki-moon has urged Israel to end its "provocative actions" in East Jerusalem Al-Quds and to freeze all its settlement activity in the occupied West Bank. 

"The Secretary General is dismayed at continued Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem, including the demolition of Palestinian homes, the eviction of Palestinian families, and the insertion of settlers into Palestinian neighborhoods," a UN statement said on Tuesday. 

"The eviction today of a Palestinian family in East Jerusalem is just the most recent incident," AFP quoted the statement as saying. 

Ban warned that such actions "stoke tensions, cause suffering and further undermine trust" and urged Israel "to cease such provocative actions." 

The UN chief also called on Israel "to implement its commitments" under the roadmap for Middle East peace "by freezing all settlement activity, including natural growth; dismantling outposts; and reopening Palestinian institutions in East Jerusalem." 

MGH/HGL

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## Shades

Israel warns of new Gaza offensive
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:47:41 GMT
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Israeli Army Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi
Israeli Army Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi has threatened a new offensive against the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, suggesting attacks on civilian targets. 

Ashkenazi repeated Tel Aviv's allegations against Hamas, accusing the Islamic movement of hiding weaponry in public buildings and residential areas. 

He said the Israeli army could be fighting in cities, mosques, hospitals, schools and even kindergartens, blaming the indiscriminate warfare and a likely targeting of civilians on Palestinian resistance fighters. 

Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum said Ashkenazi's remarks were made in an attempt to justify Israel's war crimes in Gaza, and could as well be meant to justify future crimes. 

Barhoum war alluding to Israel's 22-day military offensive against the populated coastal enclave in January that killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and left thousands more injured. 

A report by an independent UN fact finding committee headed by former South African judge Richard Goldstone on the weeks-long onslaught charged the Israeli army with deliberate targeting of civilians and using them as human shields. 

Israeli Military Intelligence Chief Amos Yedlin earlier claimed that Hamas is trying to obtain more weapons and missiles, and that it successfully tested a missile that could reach Tel Aviv, some 60 kilometers (37.28 Miles) away. 

He added that during the war on Gaza, Hamas fighters fired shells that managed to hit targets nearly 45 kilometers (28 Miles) away, accusing Hamas of smuggling arms through tunnels on the Rafah border. 

Palestinians have rejected the Israeli allegations, saying the tunnels are tubes to push in the basic needs of the 1.5-million-strong population in the impoverished coastal sliver, which has been under a crippling Israeli siege since June 2007. 

Hamas says that the remarks and Israeli statements regarding the movement's successful test-fire of news missiles were part of Tel Aviv's effort to divert world's attention from the Goldstone report on the Gaza war. 

Israel is trying to persuade other countries to oppose the damning report ahead of the General Assembly debate. 

The report is due to be brought before the General Assembly on Wednesday. If adopted, the assembly could ask for the prosecution of Israeli leaders involved in the crimes at the International Criminal Court in The Hague . 

MRS/AKM

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## Shades

'Clinton bribed to support Israeli interests'
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:37:50 GMT
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A senior Palestinian official accuses US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of being compensated by Israel for urging the Palestinian side to resume peace talks without preconditions. 

Omar Hilmi Al-Ghul, a top advisor to the PA's caretaker Prime Minister Salam Feyadh, said on Wednesday that Clinton is being bribed by the Zionists to support their interests in her attempts to revive the long-stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. 

"Why, Mrs. Hillary? How much did the Zionists bribe you, and what weight does AIPAC [American Israel Public Affairs Committee] carry in your decisions and inclinations? Have you asked yourself who is occupying whose land? Which side is plundering the land, murdering [its] inhabitants, sowing death, violence, and terror, and destroying human civilization in the region? he wrote in an article in a Palestinian daily under the headline, "Clinton, Why Must You Lie?" 

Al-Ghul, who is considered to be a moderate and a peace partner by the US government, made the remarks after Clinton praised the Israeli proposal for restrained settlement building during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, describing it as an "unprecedented" settlement concession. 

This appeared to be endorsement of the Israeli position that talks could start before a complete end to the illegal settlement work. In the past, Washington had called for a complete halt to the expansion of Jewish settlements on Palestinian land. 

Her remarks, an apparent U-turn in US settlement policy, sparked protests among Palestinians who have repeatedly said that they would agree with the resumption of peace talks only after a full settlement freeze in the West Bank and East Jerusalem Al-Quds  the area they want as the capital of their future state. 

Al-Ghul also criticized Clinton for calling the Palestinian demand a 'precondition obstructing peace process'. 

"Clinton, Why Must You Lie?" he wrote, "Why is Mrs. Clinton lying to herself, to the American people, and to [other] world nations by twisting the truth and accusing the Palestinians of being an obstacle to a [peaceful] arrangement?! " 

HE/MMN

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## Shades

UN General Assembly begins debate on Gaza report
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:02:07 GMT
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The United Nation's General Assembly has begun debating an investigative UN report charging Israel with war crimes during the Gaza war. 

If endorsed, the 192-member assembly could request a formal debate in the Security Council, which has the power to open a war crimes prosecution at the International Criminal Court (ICC). 

Some 43 speakers are scheduled to take the floor during the debate, called by Arab nations with the backing of the 118-member Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). Unlike Security Council resolutions, the General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding. 

The report, prepared by the respected South African judge and former war-crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone, calls for the prosecution of senior Israeli officials in the International Criminal Court at The Hague if Tel Aviv fails to launch its own investigations into the Gaza war under international scrutiny within six months. 

The US, Israel's staunchest ally, however, is widely expected to veto any call for the ICC action against the Israeli officials. The United States has made a routine practice out of vetoing any Security Council resolution that is even critical of Israel, in effect giving Tel Aviv a free hand in continuing to violate the rights of the Palestinian population, as well as the territorial integrity of its neighbors, Lebanon and Syria. 

In his address, Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian observer to the United Nations, said that the Israeli military onslaught "was planned in all of its phases as a deliberately disproportionate and systematic attack aimed at punishing, humiliating and terrorizing the Palestinian civilian population." 

The General Assembly is expected to vote on the issue on Thursday. 

HE/MB

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## Shades

Clinton revises stance on Israeli settlements
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:28:42 GMT
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US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (L) met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the Presidential Palace in Cairo on Nov. 4, 2009.
In an attempt to defuse Arab anger over her pro-Israeli remarks, the US secretary of state said Washington does not accept the legitimacy of Israeli settlement activities on Palestinian territories. 

Speaking in Cairo after a Wednesday meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Hillary Clinton said that the US wants a complete freeze on Israeli settlement activities in the occupied West Bank. 

She had earlier praised the Israeli proposal of temporary suspension of Jewish settlement expansions during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, describing it as an "unprecedented" settlement concession. 

She had also called the Palestinian demand for a full settlement freeze before the resumption of peace talks as a 'precondition obstructing peace process.' 

Her remarks appeared to be an endorsement of the Israeli assertion that talks should start before a complete end to illegal settlement activities. 

This apparent U-turn in US settlement policy sparked protests among Arab nations and Palestinians who have repeatedly said that they would agree with the resumption of peace talks only after a full settlement freeze. 

HE/HGH

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## Shades

Palestinians will prosecute Israel in ICC
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:41:22 GMT
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Riyad Mansour
The Palestinians have warned that they will seek justice for the case of Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip through the International Criminal Court. 

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN observer, urged the General Assembly on Wednesday to support a resolution that called on Israel and the Palestinians to carry out independent investigations into human rights violations during the Gaza war, AP reported. 

The resolution was proposed after a report released by South African Judge Richard Goldstone concluded that Israel used disproportionate force and failed to protect civilians during its December-January offensive against the Palestinians in the Gaza strip. 

It also accused Hamas of infringing international conventions. 

Mansour, however, said Israel's "aggressions and crimes" cannot be equated "with actions committed in response by the Palestinian side." 

"We are determined to follow up this report and its recommendations in all relevant international forums, including the Security Council and the International Criminal Court, until the realization of justice," he added. 

But Israel's UN Ambassador Gabriela Shalev claimed that "the Goldstone report and this debate do not promote peace - they damage any effort to revitalize negotiations in our region." 

The report recommended that the case be referred to the International Criminal Court at The Hague if the two sides fail to start an investigation into the crimes within six months. 

SB/SS/RE

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## Shades

Eleven Organizations Demand that Mets Cancel Citi Field Fundraiser for Jewish Settlers Date : 4/11/2009   Time : 22:16
NEW YORK, November 4, 2009 (WAFA)  Eleven organizations from the US, Palestine and Israel have called on baseballs New York Mets to cancel a November 21st dinner at the Caesars Club at Citi Field for the Brooklyn-based Hebron Fund.  The dinner is a fundraiser for Israeli settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank City of Hebron.

In a letter sent to the Mets on November 3rd, the groups said, The New York Mets will be facilitating activities that directly violate international law and the Obama administrations call for a freeze in settlement construction, and that actively promote racial discrimination, and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homes in Hebron. Seven hundred Israeli settlers, living amidst 150,000 Palestinians in Hebron, are expanding their hold on the historic old city by driving out the Palestinian residents.

The groups added that It would be a tragic irony for an event funding Israeli settlers violent actions and discriminatory policies against Palestinians to be held at Caesars Club which, according to the Mets, sits directly on top of the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, which was named in honor of Jackie Robinson, the great American who broke baseball's color barrier. The Mets and Major League Baseball promote Robinsons legacy, including Robinsons value of Justice: Treating all people fairly, no matter who they are. Mets owner Fred Wilpon has explained in the past that, as a 16 year-old, meeting Jackie Robinson was an experience that never left him. As a kid, a nothing, he treated me with all of that dignity that he treated everyone else in his life.

On the Hebron Fund webpage, clicking on the symbol which says Give to Hebron leads to a donations page on the website for the Jewish Community of Hebron which says, among other things, keep Hebron Jewish for the Jewish people.

In a report on Hebron, the Israeli human rights organizations BTselem and ACRI have labeled the demands of Hebrons settlers as racist. Hebron settlement leader Moshe Levinger, praised in a Hebron Fund dinner video, has been quoted saying, The Arabs know to behave like good boys around us. Hebron Fund Executive Director Yossi Baumol also made very derogatory comments about Arabs in a 2007 interview.

The signers of the letter include Adalah-NY, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Brooklyn For Peace, Coalition of Women for Peace (Israel), CODEPINK Women for Peace, Gush Shalom (Israel), Jews Against the Occupation-NYC, Jewish Voice for Peace,  Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (Palestine), US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, and WESPAC Foundation. The letter was sent to Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Middle East Envoy George Mitchell, who has a history of involvement with Major League Baseball, and Rachel Robinson, Jackie Robinsons wife.

The letter explains that reviewing last years and this years Hebron Fund dinner shows that some dinner honorees support violence and terrorizing Palestinians.

In 1990, Noam Arnon, who is to be honored at the dinner, called three Israelis who were convicted of killing three Arabs and maiming two Palestinian mayors in car bombings heroes. In a video on the Hebron Fund website, 2008 dinner honoree Myrna Zisman pays tribute to Hebron settler Yifat Alkoby. Alkoby became famous worldwide in 2006 when she was videotaped in Hebron terrorizing and calling a Palestinian woman and girl whores who were caged inside their own home as protection from settler attacks. In another video featuring 2008 dinner honorees, three children who appear to be the honorees children are briefly shown holding guns and smiling.

All Israeli settlements violate international law, according to a broad international consensus. The Hebron Funds dinner invitation says, Join us in support of Hebron and in protest of todays building freeze in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank].

In a September, 2008 radio interview, the Hebron Funds Yossi Baumol explained, There are real facts on the ground that are created by people helping the Hebron Fund and coming to our dinners.

The groups press release said: Washington Post columnist David Ignatius recently highlighted the Hebron Fund and noted that, critics of Israeli settlements question why American taxpayers are supporting indirectly, through the exempt contributions, a process that the government condemns. A search of IRS records identified 28 U.S. charitable groups that made a total of $33.4 million in tax-exempt contributions to settlements and related organizations between 2004 and 2007.

 The Hebron Fund has been the subject of complaints to the I.R.S. regarding its tax-exempt status. The complaints request investigations of allegations that it raises funds for the development of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli organization Gush Shalom recently urged the National Lawyers Guild, an American organization, to encourage American tax authorities to strip US non-profits that support Israeli settlements of their tax-exempt status.

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## Shades

Call for Pressurizing Israel to Allow Entry of Needed Materials into Gaza Date : 4/11/2009   Time : 16:22
 RAMALLAH, November 4, 2009 (WAFA)- A report describing the impact of the blockade on water and sanitation in Gaza published concluded that donor agencies must commit to fund reconstruction efforts and put pressure on their governments and Israel to allow the entry of needed materials.

This fact sheet was produced by the WASH (Advocacy Task Force), a sub-committee of the EWASH group, in collaboration with the WASH Cluster in OPT.

The report recommended that the Israeli authorities should immediately open border crossings to Gaza in line with the 2005. Agreement on Movement and Access and internationally recognised human rights and humanitarian law standards to facilitate entry of construction materials, and aid necessary to respond to the water and sanitation crisis that exists in the Gaza Strip. Donor agencies must commit to fund reconstruction efforts,  and put pressure on their governments and Israel to allow the entry of needed materials.

Without addressing both the immediate humanitarian needs of the population and ensuring the long term development of the deteriorated water and sanitation sector, public health and the environment will remain at significant risk, the report said.

Impact of fuel shortages on Gaza sanitation- Polluting the Sea, states ... should refrain at all times from imposing embargoes or similar measures, that prevent the supply of water, as well as goods and services essential for securing the right to water. Water should never be used as an instrument of political and economic pressure.

Israel has imposed restrictions on the movement of people and goods at Gazas border crossings since June 2007 and further reduced supplies of fuel and electricity to the Gaza Strip in September 2007. This has had a severe impact on water and sanitation services in Gaza, the breakdown of which is placing public health and the wider environment at risk, both in Gaza and Israel.

Gazas border crossings should be opened, immediately, so that construction materials and aid necessary to respond to the water and sanitation crisis in the Gaza Strip, can enter.

Due to the closure of Gazas border crossings, equipment and supplies needed for the construction and maintenance of water and sanitation facilities have been denied entry, which has resulted in the freezing of a number of projects to repair, rehabilitate and upgrade existing infrastructure, including water and sewerage networks and waste-water treatment plants.

Water related health problems, including the potentially fatal blue baby syndrome are wide spread in the Gaza Strip. UNRWA reports that among the infectious diseases affecting the refugee population in the Gaza Strip, those that have the highest rates of occurrence are those directly related to inadequate supplies of safe water and poor sanitation.

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## Shades

Jewish Extremists Attack Al-Kurd House in Sheikh Jarrah Date : 3/11/2009   Time : 15:56
JERUSALEM, November 3, 2009 (WAFA)- A group of Jewish extremists, broke into the closed part of Al-Kurds house which owned by an 85-year-old Kurd woman in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in  occupied east Jerusalem.

The extremists attacked the house, under Israeli military and police cover, while they aim to seize the house. The house is located within the neighborhood of 28 Jerusalemite houses at risk of deportation and expulsion, due to Jewish extremists claims of  owning of the land on which the houses were built on.
 An earlier decision issued by an Israeli court bans access to this part of the house. And there is great tension, where the colonizers refused to leave the house, while the Israeli police prevented Palestinians from accessing into it.

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## Shades

Gaza fisherman shot by Israeli navy

2009-11-04 17:48:13


Gaza-PalPress-A Palestinian fishermen was injured today afternoon by fire of Israeli navy vessels while he was fishing near Rafah southern Gaza Strip.

Medical sources said that 23-year old "Bilal Annajar" was shot in the stomach by Israeli navy fire, after vessels opened random intensive fire towards fishermen.

Medical sources at "Abu Yussif Annaja"r hospital in Rafah described his wounds as moderate.



2009-11-04 17:48:13

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## Shades

Violation of media freedoms in oPt during October 2009	
http://english.pnn.ps/images/stories...resscamera.jpg

05.11.09 - 10:46
ISRAELI VIOLATIONS AGAINST JOURNALISTS WERE ESCLATED SPECIALY IN JERUSALEM DURING LAST MONTH

PNN\ There have been disturbing violations of media freedoms in the occupied Palestinian territories during October 2009. The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) monitored many of the Israeli violations against journalists, especially incidents in Jerusalem and Hebron committed by Israeli occupation forces. These included attacks on: Alquds Net reporter and photographer Dyala Jwayhan, Palestinian News Network (PNN) correspondent Mays Abu-Ghazaleh, and AP photographer Mahfouz Abu Turk as well as attacks on photographer Abdul Hafiz and Najeh Hashlamoun and the arrest of journalist Iyad Srour in Hebron.

In addition, Israeli occupation forces disguised themselves as photojournalists in Ras Alamoud, and the crew of Aljazeera was prevented from entering Jerusalem.

On the Palestinian side, the Palestinian police attacked AlQuds TV correspondent Ayman Salameh in Khanyounis city, the Palestinian intelligence services arrested journalist Sedki Mousa in Nablus city, some of Palestinian people assaulted the journalists Fayez and Bassam Abu-Oun in Gaza city, and Palestinian youth hurled a stone at photographer Atta E'ouisat in Jerusalem city.

 MADA also expressed concern of a renewed campaign of incitement against al-Jazeera TV against the backdrop of Palestinians applaud (Kan Mawtini). These negative campaigns against the news agencies may lead to attacks on the press offices and crews, as happened more than once in the past.

MADA expresses its strong condemnation of attacks on journalists, particularly by the Israeli occupying forces. These attacks are a blatant violation of freedom of expression guaranteed in international laws and conventions, especially the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. MADA demands the international community to pressure Israel to stop its attacks on journalists. 
The OPT ranked very low rank in the rankings of press freedom in 2009 (161 out of 175), according to a report recently published by Reporters without Borders. This low rank is a serious and worrying indication of the reality of media freedoms in Palestine. Thought the rank is slightly better than last year (ranked 163 out of 173), it still represents limited press freedoms due to frequent and serious attacks on journalists and media outlets by Israeli occupation forces and the Palestinian security apparatuses in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Details of violations

(3 Oct.)  Falestinue 48 news website photographer Abdullah Fathi Zidan, was attacked by Israeli occupation forces in Jerusalem. Zidan said that he was beaten on the face by Israeli occupation forces when he was filming in the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Zidan added: "At about ten o'clock in the morning the Israeli occupation forces began the attack on the protestors in the Aqsa Mosque, some of them fled, and the rest stayed with Sheikh Kamal Khatib. During the attack, one of the soldiers hit me on my face causing bleeding and swelling."


 (8 Oct.) - Aljazeera TV crew (correspondent Walid al-Omari, cameraman Majid Al-Safadi, and assistant cameraman Abdel Nasser Deirat) were prevented from entering Jerusalem at a checkpoint in north of Jerusalem. According to al-Omari, who is also director of Aljazeera's bureau in Jerusalem, the occupation soldiers on the checkpoint near Hizma village stopped the crew and took their identities and prevented the cameraman from filming. AL-Omari added: "We thought that they prevented all Palestinians and the Arab and foreign journalists from entering Jerusalem, and then we noticed that they allowed everyone to pass except us. The crew of Aljazeera was heading to Jerusalem to cover the events in Al-Aqsa Mosque, which was surrounded by Israeli occupation forces worshipers were prevented from entering.

(9 Oct.) - The occupation forces disguised as photojournalists in Ras al-Amoud in Jerusalem, The chairman of the Palestinian Journalists Committee, photographer Awad Awad, said that a group of citizens confirmed the involvement of a number of mustarbeen(Israeli security forces unit usually dressed like Arabs) in the middle of the Palestinian demonstrators who were protesting against the Israeli practices against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Thursday and Friday (8-9/10), and that they dressed as uniformed photojournalists and have cameras and arrested a number of young people.

(10 Oct.)  Al Ayyam newspaper reporter Faiz Shukri Abu Aoun (49) and the Executive Director of the Radio Sawt Al Shab Bassam Abu Oun (47) were attacked by group of people during their coverage of a sit-in near Al-Aqsa University in Gaza. They were protesting because the municipality demolished their stores. This is what transpired, according to Fayez Abu-Oun: "We has heard about a sit-in protest and when we went to the area to cover the event, a number of citizens told me that the police arrested three of their children, so I registered the feedback on my notebook. Then one of the people there tried to take my notebook I refused to give it to him and I went to the car. He followed me there and tried again to take it by force, but I refused so he hit me on the right side of my head. A large number of people gathered there were about twenty, and six of them participated in the attack on us and on the car. After the attack we went to the Shifa Hospital for treatment, and then we went to the police station to report them, and we saw the main aggressor complain to the police, alleging that we were writing reports and sending them to Fatah in the West bank. Fortunately I have had contacts with a number of journalists colleagues, who confirmed that am an independent journalist and worked for the last 18 years in the press, so the police arrested the assailant.

(10 Oct.)  Al Quads TV correspondent Ayman Mohamad Salameh (35years) was attacked by Palestinian police in Gaza. Salameh said that there was a problem between some citizens and police so I Went to investigate the matter to tell Al Quds TV if they want to cover the event, but the police officer prevented him from entering the area. Salameh added: then I told him that Im a journalist, so He aimed his weapon at me and a verbal argument sparked between us. another policeman, without knowing why we argue, he beat me with his blackjack despite that I told him that I am a journalist and the TV I work with, then a number of citizens took me to the hospital where I have suffered from bruises on my left hand and my left leg, after that I went to the police station and filed a complaint against the policeman whom hit me, so the police arrested him and released me after two days.

(15 Oct.) - Jaffa office director Iyad Shaban Srour (36years) was arrested by the Israeli occupying forces in Hebron. His mother said that the Israeli occupation forces knocked at their door at about 1:30 am and asked everybody to leave the house, we asked Iyad to wake up because he was sleeping, when he was out they arrested and cuffed him, and he was taken away to unknown place, later we heard that he was transferred to Ofer detention camp near Ramallah. Srour was arrested by Palestinian Intelligence on 14october 2008 and was released on the ninth of last September.

(21 Oct.)  The freelance journalist Sidqi Mohammed Salameh (25 years) was arrested by Palestinian intelligence in Nablus. Salamehs father said that Palestinian intelligence called him as part of an investigation throughout the four days preceding his arrest. On 21 October he went to the interview and was arrested that day. Sidqi had returned from Jordan lately, after he finishing the preparation of a master degree in the media.

(25 Oct.)  Alquds Net news website correspondent and photographer Dyala Jwayhan was attacked by Israeli police in Jerusalem. Jwayhan reported that members of the police assaulted and beat her after she took a picture of an Israeli police officer assaulting an elderly man. So one of them beat her, pressed his leg on her foot strongly, and ripped her T-shirt. Jwayhan added: "There was a group of women who tried to protect me, but the Israeli police started to shout, saying they would get out of the mosque only if I was arrested. After that the women called the ambulance, and when the ambulance came the police left. They took me to hospital in Jerusalem, and the doctor diagnosed my case, saying that I was suffering from severe bruises in the neck and back and a torn muscle in my foot.

(25 Oct.)- Palestinian News Network correspondent (PNN), Mays Abu-Ghazaleh, was assaulted by Israeli police in Jerusalem as she tried to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque. According to Abu-Ghazaleh, one of the soldiers closed the metal barrier on her right leg resulting in a slight injury, bruises, and swelling. Mays added that the soldier tried several times to close the barrier on her body but she was got away at the right moment, but the last time when she was turning back, the police quickly closed the barrier on her leg, and he said to her in a bad tone: " Watch out. " Abu-Gazalah also said that she saw a member of the foreign press was beaten and some of her teeth were broken, but she could not identify her.

(25 Oct.)- AP photographer Mahfouz Mohammed Abu Turk (60 years) was attacked by Israeli special guards in Jerusalem; Abu Turk said that he was beaten severely by special guards before the noon prayer when he was in the old city. The guard pushed him into a corner and beat him with batons, feet and hands, but some Palestinian youth came and dragged him from the corner and gave him assistance. The attack caused him severe pain in the left foot and right knee and bruises in the back.

(25 Oct.)- Yediot Aharonot newspaper photographer Atta Eoissat was injured by a stone in Jerusalem. Eoissat said that he was wounded in his left leg by a stone thrown at him by Palestinian youth, as he tried to convince a number of young men that the foreign journalists who were accompanying him were not soldiers disguised as journalists. This followed the incident where Israeli occupation forces had disguised themselves as photojournalists in the neighborhood of Ras al-Amoud on (8-9 October).

(28 Oct.)) A for the European Agency (EPA) photographer, Abdel-Hafiz Hashlamoun, was assaulted by the Israeli occupying forces in Hebron. Hashlamoun reported that one of the Israeli soldiers beat him with the gun on his waist, and kicked his feet when he was filming the soldiers shoveling the Palestinians farms in the east of Hebron. He sustained injuries including bruises and scratches on his body and severe pain in his waist.

(28 Oct.) (ABA) agency photographer Najeh Hashlamoun was attacked by Israeli soldiers in Hebron. Hashlamoun reported that the Israeli Civil Administration workers hit him with his camera in his face when he was photographing them when they were destroying irrigation pipes to Palestinian farmers in the east of Hebron. The blows caused bleeding in his mouth. Hashlamoun added that the workers also tried to attack Reuters photographer Nayef Hashlamoun, but the Palestinian farmers protected him.

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## Shades

Edward Said Conservatory of Music: a world where children play melodies against the walls of siege	


02.11.09 - 08:10
Jerusalem / Maisa Abu Ghazaleh for PNN  Music is the language of the people, one of the signs of excellence and growth believes the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music.

The programs and projects of the Conservatory clearly aim at improving the musical life for all age and socio-economic groups in the provinces of Palestine. It targets the disadvantaged to discover their talents as well as those with means.

To reach the largest possible number of students, media coordinator Ruba Anabtawi says that a new music program was launched in 1996 in the schools of the refugee camps and the private and public institutions outside. It was through this program in Amari Refugee Camp that Ramzi Abu Radwan and Ramadan Khattab were discovered. Both began as talented students who are now professionals.

So many people are able to benefit from this experience. We assigned a number of teachers to give lessons in violin and cello to kindergarten students in Jerusalem, and to a girls school in Ramallah / Al Bireh.

Students from six to 16 years of age are now accepted at childrens center in Jericho, refugee camps in Bethlehem and Ramallah, and in the center of Nablus.

In 2007 the Conservatory added the southern Bethlehem and Hebron villages where 60 children were able to study, while 36 students were trained in Nablus Askar Refugee Camp. Much of the funding for the programs comes from the European Union.

In 2008 and 2009 sites have been opened in Tubas where 36 male and female students are preparing while other location is being readied in western Ramallahs Nalin Village to serve 18 children. A four day intensive during July of this year trained 60 students.

Anabtawi told PNN that the Conservatory has recently begun implementing a program of education that targets children in the Old City of Jerusalem and its suburbs whose circumstances would not normally allow them the opportunity. Financial grants are offered with the support of the Spanish International Cooperation Agency in Jerusalem.

To ensure the highest rate of success, said Anabtawi, cooperation with a number of youth organizations within the Old City and its surroundings, and nearby villages are crucial.

Administrator of the Outdoor Education in the West Bank, Mohamed Fadl said that the idea of implementing the program in the heart of Jerusalem is part of the process of breaking down the isolation imposed on the city. It is a challenge to all attempts to crush youth where citizens are mired in the worries of an ever-repressive occupation.

He added, The program is a space for children to walk in the world of music and play melodies against the walls of siege.

Eleven year old Norhan has dreams of mastering the Oud. The sixth grader is one of the students who is able to take advantage of the program from the Hebron district. After school her hours are devoted to studying music free of charge. Violin, lute, flute are at her fingertips.

Norhan's mother expressed her thanks to the Conservatory, but did not want her daughter to participate in a summer training in Bethlehem that would culminate in a performance in Italy because the political situation is too risky. The family added that nonetheless, the experience is unique and beautiful.

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## Shades

Wide support for UN Gaza report - BBC


Judge Goldstone visited Gaza during his inquiry into war crime claims
Dozens of nations at the UN have backed a non-binding resolution calling for independent inquiries by Israel and the Palestinians into war crimes in Gaza.
The UN General Assembly is set to vote on the resolution at the end of a two-day debate on a report by former war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone.
The report condemns the conduct of both sides last December and January, after Israel launched an offensive in Gaza.
The Palestinians support the debate but Israel says it does not promote peace.
Mr Goldstone's report concluded that Israel had "committed actions amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity" by using disproportionate force, deliberately targeting civilians, using Palestinians as human shields and destroying civilian infrastructure during its Gaza offensive.

 Time and again, the report inverts Israel's unprecedented extensive efforts to save civilian lives as proof that any civilian casualties were therefore deliberate  
Gabriela Shalev, Israeli Permanent Representative to the UN
It also found there was evidence that Palestinian militant groups including Hamas, which controls Gaza, had committed war crimes, and possibly crimes against humanity, in their repeated rocket and mortars attacks on southern Israel.
The report demanded that unless the parties to the Gaza war investigated the allegations of war crimes within six months, the cases should be referred to the International Criminal Court.
Palestinians and rights groups say more than 1,400 Gazans died in the 22-day conflict, but Israel puts the figure at 1,166. Thirteen Israelis, including three civilians, were killed.
'Realisation of justice'
The General Assembly draft resolution has been introduced by Arab states and the Non-Aligned Movement, which represents 118 nations.
It calls for independent investigations of alleged war crimes to be set up by both the Palestinian Authority and Israel within three months.
The resolution also asks Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to report to the General Assembly within three months on implementation "with a view to considering further action, if necessary, by the relevant United Nations organs and bodies", and to send the report to the Security Council.


The report accuses Israel of using "disproportionate force" in Gaza

General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding - unlike Security Council resolutions. However, correspondents say the Security Council is unlikely to take any action if the case is ever referred to it.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN observer, backed the resolution but also insisted that Israel's "aggressions and crimes" could not be equated "with actions committed in response by the Palestinian side".
"We are determined to follow up this report and its recommendations in all relevant international forums, including the Security Council and the International Criminal Court, until the realisation of justice," he said.
Israel's permanent representative, Gabriela Shalev, warned that the report and the debate did "not promote peace - they damage any effort to revitalise negotiations in our region".
"Time and again, the report inverts Israel's unprecedented extensive efforts to save civilian lives as proof that any civilian casualties were therefore deliberate," she told the Assembly.
The US, as a key ally of Israel, was one of a small number of countries expected to vote against the resolution.
For the EU, Sweden's UN envoy Anders Liden urged Israel and the Palestinians to "launch appropriate, credible and independent investigations into possible violations".
He described the report as "serious" and said the EU was "committed to assessing it seriously".
Inquiries criticised
The UN debate also comes as an Israeli human rights organisation criticised investigations being carried out by the Israeli military.
B'tselem said 13 of 23 military police investigations under way were based on information it and two other rights organisations had gathered.
Three of the cases concerned civilians allegedly killed while holding white flags, and four were cases where Gazans were said to have been used as human shields.
B'tselem said the investigations were not sufficient because they "only relate to isolated incidents in which a suspicion exists that soldiers breached military orders".
"To date, not one investigation has been opened regarding Israel's policy during the operation, on matters such as the selection of targets, the open-fire orders given to soldiers, the legality of the weapons used, the balance between injury to civilians and military advantage, and so forth," it said.

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## Shades

Palestine 'may abandon two-state solution'
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:17:46 GMT
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L) and his chief negotiator Saeb Erekat
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat warns that continued expansion of Israeli settlements could force the Palestinian Authority (PA) to abandon the two-state solution. 

"Successive Israeli governments have destroyed any chance of reaching a two-state solution," said Erekat on Wednesday, noting that PA must start searching for 'other options'. 

"A Palestinian state without Jerusalem (Al-Quds) as its capital would be meaningless. The Palestinian people haven't excluded other options, including the option of a one-state solution," he told reporters in Ramallah. 

He said it was time for acting PA chief Mahmoud Abbas to 'tell his people the truth, that with the continuation of settlement activities, the two-state solution is no longer an option'. 

Israel has long refused to halt its construction activity on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank, while the Palestinians insist on a freeze on the expansion of Israeli settlements as a precondition to any peace negotiations with the Israeli side. 

On Saturday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested that talks should be resumed without a settlement freeze, and that 'everything, from borders to Jerusalem to refugees, has to be resolved between the parties' once negotiations have resumed. 

This is while the Palestinians insist should the talks resume, they should continue where they broke down under former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert. 

"We are talking about resuming final status negotiations," Erekat said. "On the other hand, Israel is talking about beginning the final status talks. The Americans, for their part, are talking about re-launching the final status talks." 

Clinton, who was on a visit to Egypt, stressed that Washington's opposition to the illegal Israeli construction activity remained unchanged but praised Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu's offer to temporarily limit construction in West Bank settlements to 3,000 additional housing units. 

The Palestinian top negotiator said her remarks only opened the door to more settlements in the next two years, reiterating that the PA leadership would not accept any compromise that did not call for a full cessation of settlement construction in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem (Al-Quds). 

The alternative left for Palestinians in the 'grave' current is to 'refocus their attention on the one-state solution where Muslims, Christians and Jews can live as equals', Erekat said. 

MRS/AKM

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## Shades

Qassam Brigades ready to resist next Israeli war
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:16:14 GMT

Abu Obeida (C), a spokesman for Hamas's armed wing the Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades
The military wing of the Islamic resistance movement (Hamas) says it is fully prepared to save Palestinian nation from harm should the next conflict with the Israel army erupts. 

"In any next confrontation with the Zionist army, the Brigades will not keep silent; we will take any measure to protect the Palestinian people," Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades Abu Obeida stated. 

Abu Obeida's comments came in response to the recent remarks by Israeli chief of staff, Gabi Ashkenazi, who said on Tuesday that Israel would wage a next battle on Gaza Strip that would include confrontations in the densely-populated areas. 

*Ashkenazi Israeli Commander* added that his troops would resume their attacks on densely populated areas, villages, cities, mosques, hospitals, kindergartens and schools because the enemies want to impose this way of fighting on Israel. 

"These proclamations indicate that the Zionist entity does not commit itself to the international principles. *Therefore, we have the right to protect the Palestinian civilians if the international community fails to do so*," the Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman concluded. 

MP/MB

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## Shades

UN urges probe on Gaza war crimes charges
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:57:59 GMT
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The UN General Assembly building
The majority of countries at the UN General Assembly vote for a resolution calling on Israel and Palestine to investigate Gaza war crimes charges. 

South African judge Richard Goldstone, who led the UN-mandated fact-finding mission regarding Israel's all-out war on Gaza at the turn of the year, had submitted his 575-page report in September, harshly blaming the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip that killed over 1,400 Palestinians. 

The adopted UN resolution on Thursday urged Israelis and the Palestinians to investigate war crimes charges leveled in the UN report on the Gaza war. Israel refuses to cooperate in the investigation and has reacted with outrage to Goldstone's findings. 

Of the 192 members, 114 countries voted in favor of the non-binding resolution with 18 opposed - including Israel, the United States, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and the Czech Republic - and Britain and France among the 44 abstaining. No country has veto power in the assembly. 

The resolution follows Goldstone calling on both parties to undertake within three months credible investigations into the report's charges. 

The resolution also asks UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to transmit the report to the Security Council. This is while diplomats have said that all five veto-wielding permanent council members opposed council involvement on the issue, so it is unlikely that the 15-nation body would take any action regarding the report. 

FTP/SS/MMA

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## Shades

Erekat thanks UN gesture on Israeli settlements
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:24:51 GMT
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Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat thanks the United Nations for calling on Israel to stop illegal settlements and to end the demolition of Palestinian homes in the West Bank. 

This is while in a televised speech on Thursday in Ramallah, Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas condemned the international community's indifference on the issue. 

In a meeting with UN envoy, Robert Serry, Erekat stated that the ongoing Israeli settlement activities and Israel's refusal to resume peace talks, from the point they were halted in 2000, shows that the government of Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu wants to avoid the first and second phases of the internationally approved Road Map peace plan. 

He also said that Israel wants to enforce its own vision of a Palestinian state with temporary borders and without any real independence for the Palestinians. 

This 'state' does not include al-Quds and does not include the 'right of return' of the Palestinian refugees, he said. 

Erekat further said that a comprehensive and an everlasting peace means a full Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders, including East Jerusalem and establishing an independent Palestinian state. 

FTP/SS/MMA

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## Shades

UN sanctions Goldstone report on Gaza war
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:30:56 GMT
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The United Nations General Assembly

The United Nations General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly in favor of a report, which accuses Israel of war crimes as well as crimes against humanity during the weeks-long onslaught on the Gaza Strip. 

114 states endorsed a resolution supporting the report by a Human Rights Council panel led by the South African judge Richard Goldstone in Thursday's UN vote while only 18 states including the US objected to the report's adoption. Forty-four countries also abstained including France, Britain and Russia. 

The assembly's resolution demands that both the Israelis and the Palestinians carry out investigations within three months. It also pushes for Security Council attention. 

The resolution was passed with wide support from Muslim states as well as the Non-Aligned Movement, NAM, of developing nations. There were, however, concerns that the Arab states would tone down the report's content in an effort to make it more amenable to European Union support. Proponents of the resolution said such serious accusations of war crimes deserved international attention. 

Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour applauded the vote, saying the implementation of Goldstone's report would begin in stages. 

"In three months, we will reconvene at the General Assembly to consider the report of the Secretary General for further action. The United Nations Security Council will also be in attendance, he was quoted as saying by Voice of America. 

Tel Aviv's envoy to the world body Gabriela Shalev however said the vote was conceived in hate and executed in sin. "Politics, rather than protecting human rights, was the only reason the report was even being discussed in New York," she alleged. 

The 575-page UN-ordered report on Israel's offensive in Gaza asserts seven incidents in which Palestinian civilians were shot while leaving their homes, trying to run for safety or waving white flags. 

The report says Israel targeted a mosque at prayer time, killing 15 people, and shelled a Gaza City house where soldiers had forced Palestinian civilians to assemble. These attacks constituted war crimes, the report says. 

The probe also found Israel violated international humanitarian law in several ways. Dozens of Palestinian policemen were killed at the start of Gaza onslaught when Israel bombed their stations. The police force was not involved in the hostilities and, as such, should have been treated as civilians. Palestinians, in addition, were used as human shields forced to walk ahead of Israeli soldiers searching civilian neighborhoods. 

More than 1,500 Palestinians were killed during Israel's three week-long land, sea and air assault, 'Operation Cast Lead ', in the impoverished coastal sliver. The offensive also inflicted $ 1.6 billion of damage to the Gazan economy. 

MP/MTM/DT

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## Shades

Shin Bet ties with Israeli terrorist revealed
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:43:32 GMT
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Jack Teitel is suspected in two murders and the maiming of a teenager, among other assaults.
A suspected murderer has been working for Israel's general security service as a source of information on ultra-right elements, Israeli media reveal. 

Yaakov (Jack) Teitel, suspected of committing a series of terror attacks over the past 12 years, had been contacted by the Shin Bet to spy on the extreme right-wing elements, Yedioth Ahronoth daily revealed Friday. 

A report published by the Israeli paper noted the cooperation between the general security service and Teitel did not last more than several months as they did not yield much. 

Shin Bet officials contacted Teitel in order to use him as a source of information, after he had already been suspected of involvement in the 1997 murder of two Palestinians, the report added. 

The Israeli spy agency confirmed that it had been in touch with Teitel, an American immigrant, for several months. 

"Yaakov Teitel was handled by the Shin Bet even after his interrogation in the year 2000," the agency said in a statement. 

"As part of our inspection of him and in light of his ties with extreme right-wing elements, we held several meetings with him, which did not yield a thing, and immediately afterwards the ties were cut." 

On Sunday, it was confirmed that the 35-year-old Teitel had been arrested for allegedly carrying out a series of acts of terror inside Israel over the past few years. 

Teitel's suspicions of being behind the murder of two Palestinians is topped by those of assaulting secular historian Professor Ze'ev Sternhell and a teen from a messianic (pro-Jesus Jewish) family in Ariel, placing explosives as well as the murder of two traffic police officers. 

MRS/MMN

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## Shades

Israeli tank fire hits house in Gaza Strip
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:18:11 GMT
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Israeli tanks have shelled a house in the east of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, leaving at least two people wounded. 

The attack, which came on late Friday, caused panic among Palestinian families living in the vicinity, a Press TV correspondent reported.

An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed the attack, saying "a suspicious figure was spotted by our forces" near the barrier separating Gaza from the occupied West Bank, AFP said. 

In January, the Israeli army launched a massive military offensive against the populated coastal sliver, killing more than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and many thousands more wounded. 

MRS/MMN

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## Shades

Norway drops lawsuit against Israeli officials
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:17:07 GMT
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From left: Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni, former premier Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak
Norway has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of lawyers accusing Israeli officials of committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip. 

Chief prosecutor Siri Frigaard dismissed the complaint, claiming "there is no good reason" for Norwegian authorities to investigate further, AP reported. 

The complaint had been filed on April 22, under a law which allows foreigners to be prosecuted in Norway over war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity even when the criminal acts are committed outside the country. 

Frigaard however said Norway "must show great care" when deciding whether to investigate war crimes committed by individuals with no connection to the country. 

The lawsuit had called for the arrest and extradition of former prime minister Ehud Olmert, opposition leader and ex-foreign minister Tzipi Livni, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and seven Israeli commanders. 

Norway dropped the case at the same time it abstained from voting on a report in the UN General Assembly on Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip. 

The report released by South African Judge Richard Goldstone concluded that Israel used disproportionate force and failed to protect civilians during its December-January offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza. 

SB/SS/MMA

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## Shades

Palestinians take down parts of WB wall
Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:06:37 GMT
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Palestinian youths have tipped over a part of Israel's separation wall in the occupied West Bank during a demonstration which marked the fall of the Berlin Wall. 

Some 300 Palestinians and left-wing activists attended the demonstration in the village of Naalin, Ynet reported on Friday. 

They held banners reading "No matter how tall, all walls fall." 

According to the demonstrators, a 6-meter (20-foot) high section of the wall was taken down. 

"Twenty years ago, no one imagined that the monstrosity that divided Berlin would ever be taken down, but it took only two days to do it," said Muhib Hawaja, a protester attending the rally. 

Israeli police however dispersed the crowd by firing tear gas and rubber bullets. Some of the demonstrators were wounded, according to the report. 

Israel began the construction of the barrier in 2000 despite the fact that the International Court of Justice had declared the project illegal. 

It confiscated thousands of acres of Palestinian lands for constructing 723 km (454 miles) of a barrier of steel and concrete walls, fences and barbed wire. 

SB/SS/MMA

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## Shades

Israel rejects UN vote on Gaza war crimes
Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:22:28 GMT

Israel has rejected a UN General Assembly resolution for an investigation into a report on the regime's war crimes in the Gaza Strip. 

"Israel rejects the resolution of the UN General Assembly, which is completely detached from realities on the ground that Israel must face," the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday. 

The non-binding resolution which has been commissioned by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council, endorsed a report by South African Judge Richard Goldstone on committed war crimes in the Gaza Strip. 

The report by a team of experts led by Goldstone, said Israel used disproportionate force and failed to protect civilians during its December 27 to January 18 offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza. 

It also accused Hamas of infringing international conventions. 

But in response to the resolution, approved by 114 countries with 18 opposed and 44 abstaining, the Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yigal Palmor claimed that Israel had "demonstrated higher military and moral standards than each and every one of this resolution's instigators," during the war in Gaza. 

He concluded that the regime "maintains the right to self-defense", and would "continue to act to protect the lives of its citizens from the threat of international terrorism." 

SB/SS/MMA

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## Shades

Mansour Calls for Clear Stand Towards Israeli Crimes Date : 5/11/2009   Time : 13:17
NEW YORK, November 5, 2009 (WAFA)- Permanent Observer of Palestine to the UN, Dr. Riyad Mansour called upon the international community, on behalf of all the Palestinian victims who have suffered from the Israeli crimes, to take a clear stand for upholding justice and international law.  

Mansour expressed before the UN General Assembly, hope that Member States will strongly support the draft resolution built on Report of the Human Rights Council, Follow-up of the Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict (Goldstone Report).

The occupying Power must know that the international community will no longer tolerate its illegal actions, violations and crimes because the commitment to the principles of international law must be above any other considerations that may make a mockery of our international system, he said.  Such firm intolerance and a principled commitment to the law are what will help us to break this cycle of impunity and bring an end to the crimes that have caused so much suffering and prolonged this tragic conflict.

He expressed the gratitude of Palestine to the General Assembly for its support in this effort, confident that it will continue to take principled positions on this serious matter and especially at this very critical time in history that, if we prevail, can be the turning point that ultimately allows our efforts for justice and peace to converge, truly taking us over the threshold into a new era for our peoples and the region.

If we fail this test when it comes to the human rights of the Palestinian people, Mansour said then the international human rights movement that has thus far championed human rights throughout the world, which it can also claim as the greatest achievement of the international community in the past sixty years, will truly be at risk.  Moreover, history has taught us that a perpetual lack of accountability and justice only leads to further conflict and violence and the dashing of hopes for the achievement of peace and coexistence.

The situation in the Gaza Strip is untenable, unacceptable and wholly deplorable, he added. For more than two years, Israel, the occupying Power, has collectively punished, imprisoned and deprived more than 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip from all of their basic rights.  Despite repeated international appeals to end such unlawful measures, the Israeli blockade continues to be imposed as the occupying Power has no fear of being held accountable for its crimes.  Not sufficing with this brutal blockade, Israel launched a brutal war in December 2008, against the besieged and defenseless civilian population. Over the course of three weeks, the Israeli occupying forces caused thousands of deaths and injuries among the civilian population, including among children and women, and wanton destruction of homes, vital civilian infrastructure, public institutions, economic, industrial and agricultural properties and UN facilities.

Since the issuance of the report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict  the Goldstone Report, it has received wide support, but it has also been subjected to criticism by a minority and attacks have even been hurled against the Missions members, Mansour said. Here, we must repeat what was said by Judge Goldstone in this regard: that the answer to these questions exists in the findings of the report, the preparation of which was exclusively guided by international law, including international human rights law and international humanitarian law and the obligations incumbent on States therein. Here we add: if such criticism and attacks are aimed at evading responsibility for the serious violations and grave breaches committed by the occupying Power as a result of its aggression on the Gaza Strip, we assure them that their efforts will fail because we are determined to follow up this report and its recommendations in all relevant international forums, including the Security Council and the International Criminal Court, until the realization of justice with the accountability of the perpetrators of these crimes and violations.

The investigation carried out by the Mission led to findings that clearly confirm that Israel, the occupying Power, committed serious human rights violations and grave breaches of international humanitarian law, including the 4th Geneva Convention - amounting to war crimes and even crimes against humanity - against the Palestinian people he indicated. This includes the willful killing of civilians, torture and inhuman treatment, willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, and extensive destruction of property not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly, all of which give rise to Israeli criminal responsibility.

Moreover, some of the most important aspects of the report confirm that Israels aggressive intentions have no relation to what it publicly declares and especially its constant declaration of the issue of right of self-defense mentioned in Article (51) of the UN Charter he said.  Of the 36 specific incidents in the Gaza Strip investigated by the Mission, with only one exception, the facts prove that there were no military targets that could justify such attacks by the Israeli occupying forces.

The investigation concluded that Israel failed to take the precautions required by international law to avoid or minimize loss of civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian property, flagrantly violating the principle of distinction. Moreover, it concluded that that Israeli military campaign was planned in all of its phases as a deliberately disproportionate and systematic attack aimed at punishing, humiliating and terrorizing the Palestinian civilian population, radically diminishing its domestic economic capacity to sustain itself and forcing upon it a heightened sense of dependency and vulnerability. That shocking finding is confirmed thousands of times over by the depth of the trauma and anguish suffered by the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip  children, women, men, elderly and disabled  to this day.  In this regard, it is highly deplorable that this same civilian population continues to live in misery and hardship in the ruins of their homes and communities because of Israels continuing blockade and its obstruction of any reconstruction and real recovery efforts, which has only deepened their humanitarian hardship and further intensified the prevailing feelings of injustice among the population and beyond Dr. Mansour said.

He expressed awareness that the Mission investigated all allegations of violations of international law in the course of the Gaza conflict, including the allegations against the Palestinian side. While we reject any equation of the occupying Powers aggression and crimes with actions committed in response by the Palestinian side, we wish to clearly reaffirm that there is absolutely no symmetry or proportionality between the occupier and the occupied. We take very seriously the allegations contained in the Goldstone report regarding possible Palestinian violations.  Furthermore, in affirmation of our utmost respect for and conviction in the rule of law, we reiterate the commitment, as publicly stated, to the pursuit of domestic legal investigations to address that crucial matter.

He said: Yet what the Goldstone report essentially constitutes is another damning record of the Israeli crimes committed against our people under occupation. Its recommendations represent a significant contribution to the pursuit of accountability and justice. In this regard, while significant deterrent power is presented by this report, along with other relevant investigations that preceded it - including, inter alia, the report of the Secretary-Generals Board of Inquiry and investigations by the League of Arab States Independent Fact-Finding Committee on Gaza - it is clear that serious and responsible follow-up at all levels is imperative.  This is very important to prevent the recurrence of such Israeli crimes against our people.  As stated by Justice Goldstone before the Human Rights Council, a culture of impunity in the region has lasted for too longThe mission is convinced that the international community must confront the realities highlighted in this report and that by doing so find a meaningful basis for the pursuit of peace and security for all the people of the region.  Only in that way will the human dignity and security of these people be realized.

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## Shades

PSC: Major Supermarkets Selling Illegal Produce Targeted in Week of Boycott Actions Date : 5/11/2009   Time : 20:01
LONDON, November 5, 2009 (WAFA)- Waitrose and Morrisons, two of the UK's largest supermarket chains, will be targeted in a 'Week of Boycott Action' in protest against their continued sale of produce from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the London based Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) said Thursday.

 They will be the main focus for action next week, in protests organised by PSC and other UK organisations. The week coincides with a week of action called for by the Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign.

 Actions include demonstrations and pickets outside stores, and mass, co-ordinated phone calls to the HQs of both stores on Wednesday.

 Waitrose has said, in a statement, that the produce it sells from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank is grown on farms where a 'Palestinian and Israeli workforce have worked side by side for many years'.

 In reality, there is no equality between the Palestinian workers, who are forced to work in the settlements because their own economy has been destroyed by the Israeli occupation, because:

 -  The settlements are built on stolen land and are irrigated by water stolen from the Palestinians

-  Palestinian children as young as 12 work on settlement farms

 - Palestinian workers in Israeli Settlements earn less than 50% of the minimum wage, and sometimes as little as five US cents an hour (source: Kav LaOved www.kavlaoved.org.il).

 - Kavlaoved also documented how Palestinian settlement workers receive no holiday pay, pensions or sick pay

 - They require permits to work, which can be removed if they complain about their conditions or ask for a pay rise. Israeli workers do not require work permits

- Palestinian workers must travel through Israeli barriers and checkpoints every day in order to get to their place of employment, then get home again. Queues of workers start forming at checkpoints as early as 2am, with little or no shelter provided for those queuing. Israeli  workers are free to move around the Palestinian West Bank without restrictions, and special roads, which Palestinians are forbidden to use, have been built for them

- Palestinian Trade Unions are not recognised by Israeli employers in the settlements, and Palestinian workers are not allowed to join Israeli trade unions

- Kavlaoved have detailed cases of Palestinian workers who are injured at work and do not receive compensation from their Israeli employers

 All Jewishsettlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law and present a serious obstacle to a just resolution for the Palestinian people.

 Sarah Colborne, Director of Campaigns and Operations at PSC, said: 'We will not buy goods grown on stolen Palestinian land. This week, we are specifically targeting Waitrose and Morrisons as they have so far failed to engage in serious discussion with us. The Palestine Solidarity Campaign are hoping that they will reconsider this, take a principled position, support peace and justice, and stop stocking goods from illegal Israeli settlements in their stores.'

PSC aims to raise public awareness about the occupation of Palestine and the struggle of the Palestinian people. PSC seek to bring pressure on both the British and Israeli government to bring their policies in line with international law. PSC is an independent, non-governmental and non-party political organisation with members from communities across the UK. Join PSC today!

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## Shades

PSC: Major Supermarkets Selling Illegal Produce Targeted in Week of Boycott Actions Date : 5/11/2009   Time : 20:01
LONDON, November 5, 2009 (WAFA)- Waitrose and Morrisons, two of the UK's largest supermarket chains, will be targeted in a 'Week of Boycott Action' in protest against their continued sale of produce from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the London based Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) said Thursday.

 They will be the main focus for action next week, in protests organised by PSC and other UK organisations. The week coincides with a week of action called for by the Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign.

 Actions include demonstrations and pickets outside stores, and mass, co-ordinated phone calls to the HQs of both stores on Wednesday.

 Waitrose has said, in a statement, that the produce it sells from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank is grown on farms where a 'Palestinian and Israeli workforce have worked side by side for many years'.

 In reality, there is no equality between the Palestinian workers, who are forced to work in the settlements because their own economy has been destroyed by the Israeli occupation, because:

 -  The settlements are built on stolen land and are irrigated by water stolen from the Palestinians

-  Palestinian children as young as 12 work on settlement farms

 - Palestinian workers in Israeli Settlements earn less than 50% of the minimum wage, and sometimes as little as five US cents an hour (source: Kav LaOved www.kavlaoved.org.il).

 - Kavlaoved also documented how Palestinian settlement workers receive no holiday pay, pensions or sick pay

 - They require permits to work, which can be removed if they complain about their conditions or ask for a pay rise. Israeli workers do not require work permits

- Palestinian workers must travel through Israeli barriers and checkpoints every day in order to get to their place of employment, then get home again. Queues of workers start forming at checkpoints as early as 2am, with little or no shelter provided for those queuing. Israeli  workers are free to move around the Palestinian West Bank without restrictions, and special roads, which Palestinians are forbidden to use, have been built for them

- Palestinian Trade Unions are not recognised by Israeli employers in the settlements, and Palestinian workers are not allowed to join Israeli trade unions

- Kavlaoved have detailed cases of Palestinian workers who are injured at work and do not receive compensation from their Israeli employers

 All Jewishsettlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law and present a serious obstacle to a just resolution for the Palestinian people.

 Sarah Colborne, Director of Campaigns and Operations at PSC, said: 'We will not buy goods grown on stolen Palestinian land. This week, we are specifically targeting Waitrose and Morrisons as they have so far failed to engage in serious discussion with us. The Palestine Solidarity Campaign are hoping that they will reconsider this, take a principled position, support peace and justice, and stop stocking goods from illegal Israeli settlements in their stores.'

PSC aims to raise public awareness about the occupation of Palestine and the struggle of the Palestinian people. PSC seek to bring pressure on both the British and Israeli government to bring their policies in line with international law. PSC is an independent, non-governmental and non-party political organisation with members from communities across the UK. Join PSC today!

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## Shades

UN Vote on Goldstone Report Defining Step for Accountability, Says Amnesty Date : 6/11/2009   Time : 13:16
LONDON, November 6, 2009 (WAFA)-  UN vote adopting key recommendations of the Goldstone report on the conflict in Gaza and southern Israel earlier this year is vitally important for ensuring that those, on both sides, who committed war crimes and other violations of international law will now be held to account, said Amnesty International.

'Both Israel and Hamas in Gaza have been served due notice, in this defining General Assembly resolution, that they must immediately conduct credible, independent investigations into the alleged grave violations of human rights and humanitarian law committed during the conflict, said Yvonne Terlingen, Head of Amnesty International's Office at the UN today.

'The clock is now running and we urge both parties to act without further delay. The UN has spoken up today for accountability and for an end to the cycle of impunity that has for so long obstructed the search for peace and justice between Israelis and Palestinians.'

The UN General Assembly resolution, based on the findings of the UN Fact Finding Mission led by Justice Goldstone, which concluded that both Israeli and Palestinian forces committed war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity, was adopted by a large majority: 114 states voted in favour, 18 voted against and 44 abstained. The USA and 7 European Union (EU) states voted against the resolution while Russia abstained.

'We deeply regret that the USA and the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovakia voted against the resolution and failed to support the need for accountability, justice and human rights that are so vital for victims of abuses in this conflict' said Terlingen.

The resolution calls on the UN Secretary-General to transmit Judge Goldstone's report to the Security Council, which has powers to refer the situation in Gaza to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court if Israel and Hamas prove unable or unwilling to conduct independent investigations that meet international standards. It also calls on the UN Secretary-General to present a progress report to the General Assembly in three months' time.

'We urge the UN Secretary-General to now appoint independent experts in human rights and international humanitarian law to assess whether any investigations that are conducted by Israel and Hamas meet the required international standard', said Terlingen.

The findings of the Goldstone report echo those of an Amnesty International team that investigated alleged violations in Gaza and southern Israel during and in the immediate aftermath of the conflict, in which hundreds of Palestinian civilians, including some 300 children, and three Israeli civilians were killed.

'Almost one year on, those who suffered war crimes and other gross violations of their rights, are still waiting for justice', said Amnesty International. 'It is our fervent hope that today's UN General Assembly resolution will act as a catalyst to make justice and reparation a reality for the victims on both sides.'

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## Shades

Michigan Woman Imprisoned by Israel Following Settler Take Over of Palestinian Home Date : 6/11/2009   Time : 22:06
JERUSALEM, November 6, 2009 (WAFA)- Imprisoned American citizen and Michigan resident Ahlam Mohsen to be deported to the US after being arrested in a Palestinian home taken over by Jewish settlers in Occupied East Jerusalem.

In a press release, the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) said Ahlam was a guest of the al-Kurd family when on the morning of November 3, 2009 settlers burst in and seized part of the building. Contrary to eyewitness accounts, the police claim the 21- year-old attacked them.

From the Givon prison in Ramle where Ms. Mohsen is currently awaiting deportation she reported that: The Israeli police were violently pushing an elderly Palestinian woman. So I stepped in front of them. They told me to move and when I refused they started forcefully pushing me. Then they grabbed me and carried me into a police van. While I was waiting at the Israeli Ministry of Interior, the police officers kept telling each other that I was a dirty Arab and introducing me as 'Osama Bin Ladens sister'.

One of them, threatened to break my head. None of the other non- violent demonstrators were targeted; the way they treated me, its obvious that I was arrested because Im of Arab descent.

The 40 settlers, accompanied by private armed security and Israeli police forces, entered a section of the home, threw out the familys belongings and locked themselves in.

The take-over came after an appeal submitted by the family's lawyer was rejected by the District Court. In their appeal, the Palestinian family was challenging an earlier court decision that deemed a section of the house illegal and ordered that the keys be given to settlers.

The settlers proceeded to enter the house, while the court did not grant them the right to enter the property.

The al-Kurd home was built in 1956. An addition to the house was built 10 years ago, but the family was not allowed to inhabit the section because the municipality refused to grant them a building permit.

Visibly unequal laws are used to make it possible for settlers to move into a home where it was declared illegal for Palestinian residents to inhabit. The Israeli authorities exercise their abilities to demolish and evict Palestinian residents, while ignoring building violations from the Israeli population in East Jerusalem.

The al-Kurds have become the fourth Sheikh Jarrah family whose house has been occupied by settlers in the last year. So far, 60 people have been left homeless. In total, 28 families living in the Karm Al- Ja'ouni neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, located directly north of the Old City, face imminent eviction from their homes.

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## Shades

From Berlin to Palestine, No Matter Where, No Matter How Tall, All Walls Fall Date : 6/11/2009   Time : 21:55
RAMALLAH, November 6, 2009 (WAFA)- The 20th  anniversary to the fall of the Berlin Wall marked in mass demonstrations across the West Bank calling for an immediate dismantling of Israel's wall and settlements, International Solidarity Movement (ISM) said in a press release.

Exactly twenty years ago, November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall came crumbling down in two days that inspired hope for a world in which walls could no longer keep people apart. Today, a wall twice as high and five times as long is being built by Israel in the West Bank, in blunt contempt of international law, to separate Palestinians from their lands.

Despite the International Court of Justice's advisory opinion from 2004, which had pronounced Israel's wall illegal, and called for its removal, no significant changes on the ground were made.

The anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall has been declared an international day of action against Israel's Apartheid Wall. Today the  protesters called for its removal, and attempt to implement the ICJ's  decision.

Several demonstrators suffered from tear gas inhalation from canisters thrown at them by the Israeli occupation soldiers in their attempt to suppress the weekly protest of West Bank village of Bilin citizens and solidarity groups.

The demonstration was called by the Popular Committee Against the Wall and started directly after the Friday prayers. Bilin citizens were joined by a group of international and Israeli peace activists and together they raised Palestinian flags and banners condemning the occupation, racist policy of building the Wall and settlements, land seizure, road closures and detention and killing of innocent people.

In Nilin, more than 200 protesters attended the weekly demonstration against the Apartheid Wall. The demonstrators gathered this week in front of the Nilins health clinic and from there marched to the wall carrying Palestinian flags. When the demonstration reached the Wall, protestors burned car tires, which damaged the lower part of the concrete. Israeli forces in the area immediately responded by shooting large amounts of tear gas canisters into the demonstration, which caused several people to experience breathing problems.

One protestor managed to climb on to the Wall and he raised the Palestinian flag, hereby sending a message to Israel that the Palestinian flag will always go up on Nilins land. Even if the land is cut off from the village now, the people of Nilin will never give up the right to their own land. Simultaneously, a group of youth threw bottles with red paint at the Israeli soldiers, the red paint representing the blood of the martyrs in Nilin that were killed by these soldiers.  

A small group of participants brought a jack that they placed under one of the concrete segments of the Wall. After two hours, the concrete started coming off the ground, partially falling down.  This was a strong message from Nilin, one protestor stated: last Monday the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall was celebrated all over the world, now its time for the Apartheid Wall to fall and this will start in Nilin. We in Nilin are most determined to get our land back, and we will break down this ugly Wall.

When the Israeli forces noticed that a part of the Wall was coming down, they didnt wait long to enter through the gate and attack the protestors. Israeli soldiers chased down protestors to the village, shooting large quantities of teargas, sewage water, rubber coated steel bullets and even live ammunition.

The medical team didnt report any serious injuries, only participants experiencing breathing problems.

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## Shades

Once again, the Zionist entity seemed to be "depressed" after another attempt to hit the Lebanese and Palestinian Resistance was found to be useless.

On Wednesday, Israeli Navy commando force, that reached the deep sea in small boats, boarded the Francop, a cargo ship owned by charter company UFS traveling under an Antiguan flag. According to Israeli media, the crew of sailors did not resist the commando and said that they did not know what was in the large container on board. The commando force opened the container and revealed missiles, rockets, shells, grenades, and small arms.   

The Israeli "novel" doesn't end here. The main point is the following: the weapons are Iranians, they are destined to Hezbollah. Concentrating in this point, the Zionist entity sought to influence the international public opinion and "fabricate" a new story against the Resistance.

But, "unfortunately," Israel failed in just convincing this international public opinion of the "accuracy" of its "novel." 

According to Israeli daily Yedihot Ahronot, the Zionist entity felt depressed by its failure especially that the most important and prominent dailies and newspapers of the world didn't deal with the news as Israel has wished. The Israeli daily said that the capture news did not produce any "choc" within the international media panels, unlike the Hezbollah denial that made the headlines.

Indeed, top US dailies such as New York Times and Washington Post didn't believe the news was a big deal. They published it in the secondary news. It didn't get any priority in other UK dailies such as Daily Telegraph and The Guardian. Moreover, the Western dailies that published the "story" referred it to its initial Israeli sources without adopting it, at the time many of them openly said that the whole issue was an Israeli "fabrication".

¬
Source: AJP

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## Shades

Let Europe Make Peace in Palestine, The Gulf Today Says Date : 8/11/2009   Time : 14:40
SHARJAH, November 8, 2009 (WAFA)- 'Despite the Israeli-imposed 'guilt' complex of Europe over the Holocaust, the European countries, which account for more than half of Israel 's export, have a better leverage over the Jewish state. The UK should lead the effort from the front; after all, it created the Palestinian problem in the first place', WAM quoted The Gulf Today editorial as saying .

Now it become clear to Obama that he is bound by domestic political considerations and cannot apply real and effective pressure on Israel , he should be thinking of leaving the job of peacemaking in the Middle East to the international community led by the Europeans, the paper remarked.

The paper  wrote: The declaration by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that he wants to stand down and does not want to run in the upcoming Palestinian elections is a reflection of the difficult position he finds himself in. added that  He is under US pressure to resume peace talks with Israel even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is continuing to steal Palestinian land in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions, Geneva Conventions and international appeals.

It said: Having failed to convince Netanyahu to freeze construction of settlements for Jews in the occupied West Bank, the administration of US President Barack Obama has opted to apply pressure on the Palestinians. There is no assurance that renewed negotiations would lead to a fair and just peace agreement either, given the Israeli refusal to accept and respect the Palestinians' right to independent statehood in the territory earmarked for them in UN resolutions with Arab East Jerusalem as their capital.

'Abbas stands to lose everything if he agrees to resume negotiations with Israel under the present conditions. He is no position to apply pressure on Israel . That job should be left to the US, which encouraged and supported Abbas in his demand for a freeze in Israel's settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, but stepped back in a hurry when faced with Netanyahu's stubborn refusal to make any meaningful compromise, the paper added.

The reality today is that Netanyahu and his ruling coalition have no intention to enter a fair and just peace agreement with the Palestinians. If they had their way, they would expel all Palestinians from the occupied West Bank-- and indeed all Arabs who hold Israeli nationality, it observed.

The paper said that, by virtue of their physical control of the occupied territory, Netanyahu and company are sitting pretty but applying direct and indirect pressure on the Palestinians living there to give up their territorial and political rights.

Source: AJP

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## Shades

'Obama agrees to recognize Palestine's statehood'
Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:31:10 GMT
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US President Barack Obama
US President Barack Obama in a secret meeting with Palestinian officials has agreed to recognize Palestine's statehood, Israeli media outlets report. 

The Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has reached a secret understanding with the Obama administration over US recognition of an independent Palestinian state, Israeli news website, Haaretz, reported in Sunday. 

Tel Aviv is concerned about the possibility of a unilateral Palestinian declaration of independence within the 1967 borders. 

The report added that the Palestinian Authority Prime Minister is seeking a new Security Council resolution to replace Resolutions 242 and 338 in a bid to win the international community's support for the borders of a Palestinian state. The move might apply stronger pressure on Israel to withdraw from the West Bank. 

Several Israeli officials told Haaretz that Fayyad had spoken to them of positive responses he had received over the plan from prominent EU member states, including the UK, France, Spain and Sweden. 

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently asked the US administration to veto any such proposal. 

Israeli sources said Netanyahu, who is expected to arrive in Washington on Sunday, earlier held talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and special Mideast envoy George Mitchell to persuade the US not to support the Palestinian proposal which could potentially be recognized by the United Nations Security Council. 

MGH/SC/DT

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## Shades

PLO issues report on Israeli violations of Road Map
Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:34:31 GMT
Font size :   

Israeli soldiers hitting a Palestinian man
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has published a report about Israeli violations of the Road Map, a US-backed plan for Middle-East peace. 

The Negotiations Affairs Department of the PLO declared in its report that Israel has carried out more than 2,500 attacks on the Palestinian residential areas in five month, from June 1 to October 31 2009. 

Israeli forces have killed 29 Palestinians and wounded 135 others during the period. About 960 Palestinians were also arrested during the period. 

Israel has also demolished 156 homes and other buildings in the occupied Palestinian territories, during the 5-month period. 

In addition, Israel has allocated $500 million for expansion of its settlements in the occupied Palestinian lands over the next two years. 

Israel's expansionist policies and its aggression against Palestinians are considered the main hindrance to the Middle East peace process. 

MGH/SC/DT

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## Shades

US reaction to Gaza report disappoints author
Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:22:33 GMT

Richard Goldstone, head of Fact Finding Mission on Gaza
The head of a UN investigation that has charged Israel with war crimes in Gaza says the 'lukewarm' US reaction to his findings is disappointing. 

Although both sides in the December-January war were blamed in the report by Richard Goldstone, the UN findings put Israel on the spot for actions that claimed the lives of at least 1,387 Palestinians and 13 Israelis, according to UN figures. 

"The reactions in the international community were very mixed, but the lukewarm from the United States disappointed me," Goldstone told das Parlament, a weekly political newspaper published by Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag. 

"The fact that the reactions from Israel were so violent really surprised me at times," he added, according to Reuters. "I had hoped that our call to take legal steps and pursue people at a national level would fall on more open ears." 

On Friday, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution that calls on Israel and the Palestinians to investigate the alleged war crimes. 

MD/MB

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## Shades

Mofaz blames Netanyahu, offers new illusive peace plan
Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:50:19 GMT
Font size :   

Shaul Mofaz
A prominent Israeli lawmaker describes Benjamin Netanyahu as a prime minister without an effective plan on the 'peace process.' 

Shaul Mofaz, deputy opposition leader in the Israeli Knesset and a former 'military commander, presented another controversial 'peace plan' on Sunday after consulting with President Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. 

"The government and the prime minister have no plan, Mofaz told a Tel Aviv press conference. We have been waiting, but there is no path and there won't be. In six months, the prime minister has done nothing to change things. A prime minister without a diplomatic horizon harms the ability of Israel to achieve security and stability. As a former chief of general staff and defense minister, I can tell you that this is dangerous." 

"Israel is seen as an insubordinate element, opposing a solution to the Palestinian conflict, said the Kadima Member of the Knesset, quoted by the Jerusalem Post. The time has come to make decisions. As a candidate to lead the country, I felt I had to present a plan. A leader cannot sit quietly while the prime minister is not presenting a vision for the future. 

His plan claims immediate "conditional negotiations" with the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and the formation of a 'demilitarized Palestinian state' with temporary borders on 60 percent of the West Bank and Gaza that, according to the illusive plan, would recognize Israel within a year. 

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum, however, ruled out any prospective negotiations with the Israelis. Hamas will not negotiate with Israel, he said. We do not believe in engaging with the occupation, or in talks that would beautify its face in the eyes of the world. 

Under what Mofaz portrays as some sort of an innovative plan, there would be no need for a halt in Israel's settlement activity in the remaining 40 percent of the occupied West Bank and "no settlement will be evacuated". This part of his plan is in sharp contrast with Palestinians' demand for a complete freeze in the expansion of Jewish settlements on Palestinian lands before resuming peace talks. 

According to his plan, key issues like the fate of Palestinian refugees, Jerusalem, and borders would be decided 'later.' 

HE/MB

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## Shades

*Israel is not a tolerant society: US State Department*
Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:43:41 GMT

*Israel drastically fails to meet all requirements of a tolerant pluralistic society, according to a US State Department report issued on Saturday*. 

*The report, written by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, indicates that Israel is discriminating against Muslims, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christians, women, Bedouins, and even Reform Jews, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Sunday*. 

*Israel does not treat ethnic groups on equal terms and also does not show any respect toward certain holy sites and other historic sites, the document added*. 

*It went on to say that although a 1967 Israeli law calls for the protection of all holy sites in Jerusalem Al-Quds, the Israeli government does not show due respect toward non-Jewish sites and does not even officially recognize non-Jewish sites as holy places.* 

In addition, as I*srael is neglecting several Muslim and Christian holy sites, they are subject to exploitation by Israeli authorities and real estate entrepreneurs, the report noted.* 

FTP/SS/HGL

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## Shades

IOF shell houses of citizens northern Gaza Strip

2009-11-08 13:16:49


Gaza-PalPress-The Israeli Occupation forces shelled today Sunday houses of citizens and their properties northern Gaza Strip.

Local sources pointed out that the occupation tanks stationed  at the eastern Gaza border with the 1948 occupied land fired four artilleries towards houses of citizens eastern Jabalya refugees camp northern Gaza.

The sources added that the artilleries landed on agriculture lands causing  big external damages.

However, no injuries among citizens  were reported.

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## Shades

PA opposes 'temporary Palestinian state'
Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:51:49 GMT

The Palestinian Authority (PA) says that a plan proposed by Israel to form a temporary Palestinian state is not acceptable.

Any plan that does not address the issue of Jerusalem Al-Quds will not be acceptable, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for the PA said.

Shaul Mofaz, the Israeli army chief of staff and Kadima's second-in-command, unveiled his new "diplomatic platform" On Sunday. Its main element is establishing a Palestinian state with temporary borders on 60 percent of the West Bank within a year, Haaretz reported.

The Israeli plan comes at the heels of reports that the US and key European countries have voiced their readiness to accept Palestine's statehood.

The Palestinian Authority Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, has reached a secret understanding with the Obama administration over US recognition of an independent Palestinian state, according the Israeli news website.

Fayyad has also received positive responses from prominent EU member states, including the UK, France, Spain and Sweden.

MGH/TG/DT

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## Shades

US-Israel military drill involved chemical arms
Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:20:34 GMT
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In a joint military drill held in October, the US and Israeli military simulated unconventional attacks on Israeli towns, a report says.

Israeli and American soldiers launched the three-week Juniper Cobra military exercise in October 21, during which they fired chemical and biological warheads into Tel Aviv, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Israeli soldiers from the Home Front Command and American soldiers from the Ohio National Guard's Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high-yield Explosive Enhanced Response Force (CERF) took part in the drill.

During the Home Front Command-Ohio National Guard CERF exercise, chemical protection suits were donned by participants, the report said.

The soldiers in protective suits were hosed down with water to practice avoiding overheating.

"Israelis and US soldiers need to train to prepare for the defense of their countries, whether that training involves firing a weapon or preparing for any scenario," US Army spokesman Maj. Daniel J. Meyers told the post.

The US has brought advanced-capability Patriot missiles into Israel for the drill, which lasted until November 5.

SB/MMN

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## Shades

King Abdullah to Israel: Don't play with fire
Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:28:28 GMT
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Jordan's King Abdullah
Last month, Jordan warned that the provocative Israeli acts in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound could "fuel violence in the region and jeopardize peace efforts."

"Any further provocative attempts by Israeli troops and Jewish extremists, such as what happened today in the shrine's compound, represents a flagrant violation of international law and conventions and sets the stage for more tension and acts of violence," said Jordan's Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communication Nabil Sharif, in a statement.

Hamas Political Leader Khalid Meshaal said in October that Israel plans to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque in an effort to build a new temple in its place.

Under a 1994 peace treaty between Jordan and Tel Aviv, Israel acknowledged Amman's right to be in control of all matters relating to the historical compound.

MGH/MB

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## Shades

PA warns of violence if Israeli constructions continue
Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:54:56 GMT
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Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas (R) and his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina
The Palestinian Authority has warned of an inevitable violence in the region, should the US fail to force Israel into halting settlement activity on the occupied lands.

"If America remains unable to assume its required role, there will be a destructive effect for which Israel and the United States will be held responsible," spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP on Monday.

The Palestinians have repeatedly said they will not resume peace talks, unless Washington convinces Israel to completely halt the construction of settlements on the occupied West Bank.

They have also insisted on a clear framework for the talks and a timetable for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem Al-Quds, which was occupied by Israel in 1967.

"Violence will rush in to fill the void left by the failure of efforts to re-launch the peace process, if the US administration does not hurry up and exert pressure on the Israeli government," Rudeina added.

"The peace process has hit a dead-end because of Israel's intransigence and its insistence on a policy of colonization," he said.

The remarks were made hours before Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to meet with US President Barack Obama in Washington.

Netanyahu, who says he is willing to resume peace talks with the Palestinians, has so far refused the US demands for a freeze of settlement activities.

He, instead, offers a set of proposals for settlement limits that falls short of a complete halt.

SB/MMN

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## Shades

'Jerusalem in range of Hezbollah rockets'
Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:09:22 GMT
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Israel's Army Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi
Israel has voiced concerns over the military power of Lebanon's Hezbollah, saying the movement is capable of putting the main cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem (Al-Quds) in range of its possessing rockets.

Israel's Army Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi warned on Tuesday that Hezbollah possesses tens of thousands of rockets cable of reaching up to 300 kilometers in Israel, Haaretz reported.

"While it is calm at the moment  the borders are quiet in the north and the south  it is a misleading calm," said Ashkenazi, claiming that, "Beyond the fences the terror groups are gaining strength".

Last week, Israel's Military Intelligence chief Major-General Amos Yadlin claimed Palestinian movement Hamas test fired a missile capable of reaching targets in Tel Aviv.

Hamas, however, has rejected the claims, saying the remarks were mere 'fabrication' to mobilize the world opinion against the movement.

Israel fought wars against Hezbollah and Hamas both in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip in an attempt to destroy the military power of the resistance movements, but eventually left the regions without achieving its objectives.

SB/AKM

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## Shades

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM  A Jewish rabbi has issued a book giving Jews permission to murder non-Jews, including babies and children, who may pose an actual or potential threat to Jews or Israel. "It is permissible to kill the Righteous among non-Jews even if they are not responsible for the threatening situation," Rabbi Yitzhak Shapiro, who heads the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in the Yitzhar settlement in the occupied West Bank, wrote in his book "The King's Torah."
He argues that goyem (a derogatory epithet for non-Jews) may be killed if they threaten Israel.

"If we kill a Gentile who has sinned or has violated one of the seven commandments - because we care about the commandments - there is nothing wrong with the murder."

Shapiro, who heads a small Talmudic school at the settlement of Yitzhar near Nablus, claims his edict "is fully justified by the Torah and the Talmud."

The anti-goyem edict seems to come in response to the arrest by Israeli police of a Jewish terrorist who has confessed to having murdered two Palestinian shepherds in the West Bank.

"Dad, I'm Dying"

Palestinian Holocaust Museum

The terrorist, an American-born immigrant named Yaakov Teitel, also confessed to have tried to assassinate leftist Jewish figures.

Police considered the arrest an important achievement in combating Jewish terrorism, which experts contend thrives on religious edicts issued by rabbis affiliated with the religious-Zionist camp.

Nearly 16 years ago, a Jewish terrorist named Yigal Amir assassinated then Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin.

Moreover, numerous innocent Palestinians have also been murdered in cold blood by Jewish terrorists.

In 1994, Baruch Goldstein, a notorious Jewish terrorist, murdered 29 Muslim worshipers inside Al-Ibrahimi Mosque in the West Bank town of al-Khalil.

Non-Humans

The controversial edict is backed by numerous rabbis affiliated with the so-called national-religious camp as well as the Talmudic seminary in West Jerusalem, known as Merkaz Harav.

Among the rabbis who have publicly supported the edict are Yitzhak Ginsburg and Yaakov Yosef.

Ginsburg had written a leaflet glorifying murderer Goldstein and called him a "saintly figure."

Shapiros views on how Palestinians and non-Jews in general ought to be treated according to Jewish religious law (halacha) are widely looked at as representing the mainstream not the exception in Israel.

During the Israeli onslaught against Gaza earlier this year, Mordecahi Elyahu, one of the leading rabbinic figures in Israel, urged the army not to refrain from killing enemy children in order to save the lives of Israeli soldiers.

He had even petitioned the Israeli government to carry out a series of carpet bombing of Palestinian population centers in Gaza.

"If they dont stop after we kill 100, then we must kill a thousand. And if they do not stop after we kill a thousand, then we must kill 10,000. If they still dont stop, we must kill 100,000, even a million. Whatever it takes to stop them."

According to Israel Shahak, author of "Jewish History, Jewish Religion: the Weight of Three Thousand years," the term "human beings" in Jewish law refers solely to Jews.

Many Jewish orthodox rabbis, especially within the national-religious sector, view international conventions incriminating the deliberate killing of civilians and destruction of civilian homes and property as representing "Christian morals" not binding on Jews.

In 2006, the Rabbinic Council of Jewish Settlements in the West Bank urged the army "to ignore Christian morals and exterminate the enemy in the north (Lebanon) and the south (Gaza Strip).

Such manifestly racist and hateful edicts dont raise many eyebrows in Israel, neither among the intelligentsia nor in the society at large.

Source: IslamOnline

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## Shades

Israeli rabbi backs killing non-Jews
Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:19:15 GMT


*An Israeli rabbi has supported the murder of non-Jewish babies who pose a threat to Israel in his recently released book The King's Torah.*

*Rabbi Yitzhak Shapiro, who heads the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva religious school in the occupied West Bank, says Jews are allowed to murder even non-Jewish babies and children if they pose a threat to Israel, Haaretz reported*.

*Shapiro said Jews are allowed to kill 'those who, by speech, weaken our sovereignty'*.

"*It is permissible to kill the Righteous among Nations even if they are not responsible for the threatening situation,*" he wrote.

Several *prominent rabbis, including Rabbi Yithak Ginzburg and Rabbi Yaakov Yosef, have also recommended the book to their students and followers*.

*During the Israeli three-week offensive on the Gaza Strip last year, some leading rabbis issued a ruling which gave permission to kill civilians in the coastal enclave.*

*It is permitted, according to Jewish Law, to fire shells and bombs at the firing sites, even if they are populated by civilians," read a ruling issued by Rabbi Yaakov Yosef, Rabbi Dov Lior, Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpe and Rabbi Meir Mazuz*.

The *ruling gave a free hand to Israeli commanders to attack civilian population during the war in the Gaza Strip in which at least 1350 people, including women and children, were killed*.

SB/AKM

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## Shades

Israel moving closer to acquiring F-35 squadron
Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:03:07 GMT

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
Israel is moving closer to acquiring F-35B stealth fighter jets from the United States.

The Israeli Air Force recently submitted an official Letter of Request (LOR) to the Pentagon to purchase its first squadron of 25 F-35 stealth fighter jets. Israeli defense officials say that negotiations regarding the final price of the plane -- estimated at around $100 million -- as well as the integration of Israeli systems would continue.

The LOR will be followed by the signing of a contract at the beginning of 2010. The first aircraft are scheduled to arrive in Israel in 2014.

The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), the F-35, will be one of the most advanced fighter jets in the world and will enable Israel to phase out some of its older F-15 and F-16 models. The JSF is manufactured by Lockheed Martin.

The first stage of the deal will be the purchase of 25 aircraft, which will comprise the first Israeli F-35 squadron. In a later stage, the IAF plans to purchase an additional 50 aircraft, some of them with vertical take-off and landing capabilities, according to the Lockheed Martin website.

According to senior Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officers, the Israeli Defense Ministry and the Pentagon have reached understandings on most of the major issues that have been at the core of disagreement between the sides.

Israeli demands have focused on three issues -- the integration of Israeli-made electronic warfare systems into the plane, the integration of Israeli communication systems, and the ability to independently maintain the plane in the event of a technical or structural problem.

The fifth-generation Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a single-seat, single-engine and multi-role fighter. The aircraft can conduct air-to-air and air-to-ground combat missions simultaneously with near impunity. The fighter is a truly transformational weapon system that provides quantum leaps in survivability and lethality.

The F-35 also carries a comprehensive sensor package that integrates vast amounts of accurate intelligence in a attempt to facilitate operations in the air, on the ground, at sea, or in space.

The single-engine F-35 Lightning II is manufactured in three variants: conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL), carrier variant (CV) as well as short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL).

MP/HGL

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## Shades

US 'failed' to bring peace to ME
Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:24:49 GMT

*Efforts to revive Middle East peace talks have so far failed to bear any result, says US Assistant Secretary of State William Burns*.

"*I wish I could stand before you today and point to substantial progress toward our goals, (but) I can not," Burns confessed in a Middle East Institute conference on Tuesday.*

He however stressed that the administration of President Barack Obama would stay committed to a two-state solution regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while reiterating that a freeze on Israel's settlement activities remained the US position on the issue.

"*We do not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements," Burns told journalists admitting that Israel "obviously fell short of the continuing roadmap obligation for a full settlement freeze"*.

Burns made the comments a day after Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met at the White House. Reports of divisions among the two leaders have surfaced.

Netanyahu, whose right-leaning coalition includes pro-settler parties, has resisted Obama's call for a total freeze on the illegal construction of settlements in the occupied West Bank  which Palestinians consider as a pre-condition for resuming peace talks.

On Tuesday, close aides to Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas said he could resign, if the US fails to pile more pressure on Israel to meet the Palestinians' demand.

Obama set Middle East peace as a top priority at the start of his presidency in January, in contrast to his predecessor George W. Bush, who was criticized internationally for neglecting the long-running conflict.

However, the new administration has little to show for its efforts so far.

Israeli settlements are widely considered to be the main hurdle in the way of comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Under the 2002 Roadmap for Peace plan brokered by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia, Israel has to 'dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and also freeze all settlement activities'.

FF/AKM

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## Shades

srael allies slam settlement expansion
Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:53:44 GMT

*Israel is facing mounting criticism over its continued settlement expansion as Tel Aviv allies see the prospects of peace through a two-state solution vanish into thin air*.

In a meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah in London, *British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Tuesday expressed concerns over the lack of progress* in the Middle East peace process.

Abdullah and Brown pledged 'to increase their efforts in support of a just and viable two-state solution', and to encourage world leaders to actively engage in supporting the resumption of peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine.

On Tuesday, the French foreign minister reiterated his country's opposition to the Israeli settlements, criticizing Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu's hawkish administration for killing a leftist desire for peace born during the former Israeli government.

"*We think that a freeze on settlements, that's to say no more colonization while talks are ongoing, would be absolutely indispensable," Bernard Kouchner told France Inter radio.*

He also said that Netanyahu would hear from French President Nicolas Sarkozy about the need to freeze the settlements in their planned meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Wednesday.

*Denmark also joined its EU partners in criticizing Israel for the expansion of its illegal settlements, the destruction of Palestinian homes and restrictions on their movement*.

Tel Aviv has so far refused to heed the international community's call for a freeze on its settlement activity, which the Palestinians maintain as a precondition for any peace talks with the Israeli side.

Last week, acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas expressed deep disappointment with US President Barack Obama's failure to keep his promise to Palestinians of holding Israel accountable and compromising on the Arab nation's rights in favor of Israel and its illegal settlements.

Under the US pressure, Abbas stopped short of announcing the death of a two-state solution. However, his chief negotiator Saeb Erekat had earlier warned that the continued expansion of Israeli settlements could force the Palestinian side to abandon the two-state solution.

MRS/AKM

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## Shades

*UN official calls for punishing Israel*
Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:24:11 GMT

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay
*The United Nations' top human rights official has called for taking punitive measures against Israel over committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip*.

*High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told the Security Council on Wednesday that Israel was responsible for the killing of more than 1,000 civilians in Gaza and attacks on schools, mosques and UN facilities, Ynet reported*.

She has *also criticized the regime's confiscation of Palestinian lands and the forceful evacuation of Palestinians from their homes in east Jerusalem (Al-Quds)*.

A recent report released by a UN fact-finding team headed by South African Judge Richard Goldstone stated that Israel had committed war crimes during last December's war in the Gaza Strip.

The report concluded that Israel used disproportionate force and failed to protect civilians during its December 27 to January 18 offensive in Gaza.

SB/SS/RE

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## Shades

BBC

West Bank deportation challenged
Berlanty Azzam had nearly finished her degree at Bethlehem University

*Israel's Supreme Court is due to hear the case of a 21-year-old Palestinian woman whom the Israeli military deported to Gaza from the West Bank*.

Bethlehem University student Berlanty Azzam was deported two weeks ago.

The Israeli army said she had been given a permit in 2005 allowing her to spend only a few days in Jerusalem.

But an Israeli human rights group says that when Ms Azzam left Gaza there was no such thing as a special permit for Palestinians to enter the West Bank.

The organisation, Gisha, believes tens of thousands of other Palestinians in the West Bank are also under threat of deportation.

'Illegal resident'

Ms Azzam was stopped at a checkpoint in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers at the end of October, two months before she was due to complete a degree in business management in Bethlehem.


I'm dreaming of the day when I can return to my studies
Berlanty Azzam

When they saw that the address listed on her identity card was in Gaza, she was detained for six hours, then blindfolded and handcuffed and told she would be taken to a detention centre in the southern West Bank.

"The driving took longer than it should have and I started to think something was wrong. I started to wonder, what are they doing to me?" Ms Azzam said.

After the car stopped and the blindfold was lifted, she saw she was at the Erez crossing to Gaza. She was then forced to enter the territory without being given the chance to speak to a lawyer.

"The decision that a person's address listed in the Population Registry constitutes an essential condition for the legality of his/her residence at that address - with no explicit legal basis and with no official notification... undermines the fundamental principles of the law," said a lawyer for Gisha, Yadin Elam, in its petition to the Supreme Court.

Gisha warned that if Ms Azzam's deportation were permitted, an estimated 25,000 Palestinians living in the West Bank who had Gazan addresses on their identity cards risked being removed.

The human rights group also noted in its petition that Israel had made no security allegations against Ms Azzam, and that the manner in which she was detained and forcibly removed was a violation of her right to due process.

Regarding the army's claim that Ms Azzam was present in the West Bank "illegally", Gisha argued that at the time she left Gaza, a special permit for Palestinians to remain "simply did not exist".

Furthermore, it said, Israel did not allow people to change their addresses from Gaza to the West Bank, and had not issued a single entry permit for the purpose of travelling to study to Palestinians from Gaza despite an Israeli High Court ruling in 2007.

"I'm dreaming of the day when I can return to my studies. I am worried and fearful of what might happen, and I hope that my right to education will not be violated," Ms Azzam said on Wednesday.

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## Shades

Murder charges for Jewish settler, 12-11-09 *: BBC :*
Yaacov Teitel, Jewish settler accused of a series of murders and attacks
Mr Teitel said he had 'no regrets'

*A Jewish settler has been charged in Israel with murdering two Palestinians and attacking left-wing Israeli, gay and messianic Jewish targets*.

Yaacov Teitel, an American immigrant who lives in the West Bank, faces 14 charges, including two counts of murder and three of attempted murder.

"*God is proud of what I have done," Mr Teitel said as he appeared in court*.

Mr Teitel has been dubbed a "Jewish terrorist" by the Israeli press since he was arrested in October.

"*It's been a pleasure and an honour to serve my God," he said as he entered Jerusalem District Court. "God is proud of what I have done, I have no regrets."*

*He is also accused of:

 Placing a bomb near a convent west of Jerusalem, wounding a Palestinian, after previously attempting to set fire to the building

    * Sending a bomb disguised as a gift for the Jewish holiday of Purim to a family of messianic Jews, seriously wounding a 15-year-old boy
    * A bomb attack which lightly wounded the left-wing Israeli academic Zeev Sternhell last year
    * Placing a bomb in a police station in an attempted attack which police say was aimed at diverting them from providing security for gay pride parades
    * Laying an explosive device next to a Palestinian home near the West Bank settlement of Eli
    * Putting poisonous antifreeze in three bottles of juice and leaving them near a Palestinian village in the hope of poisoning a passer-by 
*
The charge sheet says some of the attacks were motivated by Mr Teitel's "hatred and objection" to individuals and groups whose lifestyles and ideology conflicted with his own.

Charges include: Premeditated murder, attempted murder, weapons violations, arson in grave circumstances, incitement to violence and terror, threatening from a motive of hostility against a specific group.

The judge said he would remain in custody until further notice, and further hearings would be held in mid-December.

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## Shades

*BTselem: Military Investigations of Harm to Civilians in Operation Cast Lead Insufficient*
Date : 11/11/2009   Time : 21:30

TEL AVIV, November 11, 2009 (WAFA)- According to the Israeli Judge Advocate Generals Office, since Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli Military Police Investigation Unit (MPIU) has opened 23 investigations into incidents that took place during the operation, Israeli human rights Organization BTselem said Wednesday .

The MPIU and the Judge Advocate Generals Office have refused to provide B'Tselem with the complete list cases being investigated. However, since MPIU has requested the assistance of human rights organizations in coordinating witnesses meetings with investigators, B'Tselem has been able to compile a partial list of investigations under way. To the best of BTselems knowledge, of the investigations currently being carried out by MPIU Southern District into alleged harm to Palestinian civilians during the operation, 14 were opened following complaints filed by BTselem, al-Mezan, and Human Rights Watch.

On November 4, BTselem published the partial list it had compiled of investigations under way. The IDF Spokespersons Office then published an official response stating that 27 MPIU investigations into Operation Cast Lead were currently under way, and that in 45 additional cases that were examined by operational personnel, no further investigation was required. The response did not detail which cases were being investigated and what the results have been thus far, merely stating that BTselems information was partial, although no factual evidence was given to support such a claim. Therefore, the following list compiled by BTselem is still the most comprehensive one to be published at large.

Investigations of suspicions in complaints by B'Tselem:

The killing of Atta Azzam, 46, and his two sons, Mahmud, 13, and Hassan, 2, by a Flechette shell fired into the yard of their house in the Mughraqa area, on 6 January 09.

The killing of Ria Abu Hajaj, 64, and her daughter Majda Abu Hajaj, 37, by fire from a tank while they held white flags, in Juhar a-Dik, on 4 January 09 (HRW also submitted a complaint about this incident)

The killing of eight members of the Abu Halima family, one of them Shahd, 2, in Beit Lahiya, by a phosphorous bomb, and firing at family members as they sought to flee the area, on January 4, 2009.

The killing of six members of the Abd a-Dayem family and the wounding of ten others by a Flechette shell fired at a mourning tent in Beit Hanun, on  January 5.

The killing of Rawhiya a-Najar, 48, by a soldiers gunfire while she was waving a white flag, and the wounding of the ambulance driver who had come to evacuate her, in Khan Yunis, on 13 January 09.

The use of Sami Muhammad and Rad Abu Seif, from the Abd Rabo neighborhood in the Jabalya refugee camp, as human shields, on 5 January 09.

Investigations of suspicions in complaints by Human Rights Watch:

Three cases involving the suspected shooting of persons waving white flags:

The killing of Ibtisam al-Qnu, 40, in the al-Atatrah neighborhood of Beit Lahiya, on January  4.

The killing of Nada al-Mardi, 5, in the al-Atatrah neighborhood of Beit Lahiya, on  January 5.

The killing of Ibrahim Muin Juha, 14, the in a-Zeitun neighborhood of Gaza City, on January  5.

Investigations of suspicions in complaints by al-Mezan:

The suspected killing of the sisters Suad and Amal Abd Rabo, 7 and 2 respectively, the wounding of their sister and grandmother, and the destruction of the familys home, in the Izbet Abd Rabo neighborhood of the Jablaya refugee camp, while they were holding white flags. Also, the killing of Adham Khamis Nasir, 37, as he tried to aid in evacuating Suad Abed Rabo  it is unclear whether the latter incident is also being investigated (HRW also submitted a complaint about this incident).

The use of the child Alaa al-Attar and others from his family as human shields in the al-Atatrah neighborhood of Beit Lahiya.

The use of Majdi Abd Rabo as a human shield in the Izbet Abd Rabo neighborhood of the Jabalya refugee camp.

The use of Abbas Halawah as a human shield in southwest Jabalya.

In some of the cases, several eye-witnesses have given testimony to MPIU investigators who met them at Erez Checkpoint.

To the best of B'Tselems knowledge, only one soldier has been prosecuted as yet for actions during Operation Cast Lead. He was from the Givati Brigade and was convicted of stealing a credit card from a Palestinian. He was sentenced to seven months imprisonment. The media have also reported that a number of soldiers have been brought before disciplinary hearings following the operation, but the IDF Spokesperson has refused to provide B'Tselem with information about these cases.

B'Tselem is doing everything in its power to assist the investigations: its fieldworkers in the Gaza Strip have coordinated the arrival of eye-witnesses at Erez Checkpoint and have accompanied them. The organization has also provided the investigators with all the information it had on the relevant incidents.

However, the investigations now taking place are problematic and cannot be deemed sufficient. First, they only relate to isolated incidents in which a suspicion exists that soldiers breached military orders. To date, not one investigation has been opened regarding Israels policy during the operation, on matters such as the selection of targets, the open-fire orders given to soldiers, the legality of the weapons used, the balance between injury to civilians and military advantage, and so forth. Declarations recently made by Israeli officials indicate that there is no intention to investigate such matters.



MPIU, which is the only body currently investigating Operation Cast Lead, has no authority to investigate the responsibility of decision-makers outside the military who were involved in policy setting. Therefore, even if these investigations result in the filing of indictments against soldiers, they will be directed against the lower echelon, and the persons responsible for the policy will not be held accountable for their acts.

Second, these investigations are being carried out by a body that is an integral part of the military and cannot, therefore, be considered independent. In the past, MPIU investigations have proven to be an inefficient tool for enforcing the law on security forces, at least as regards infringement of Palestinians rights. The investigations regarding harm to Palestinians are usually carried out negligently: most are dragged out, superficial, and lack a real effort to locate the persons involved. In many cases, Palestinian eye-witnesses are not questioned and evidence is not collected in the field, even where possible. The fact that MPIU has been appointed to investigate the current suspicions indicates that this mode of operation has not changed.

Third, officials in the Judge Advocate Generals Office, who will ultimately decide the fate of the investigations, were personally involved in setting military policy during the operation and also approved certain actions. Such involvement will make it hard for them to make an impartial determination, based on the facts, as to the claims.

On these points, eight human rights organizations, among them B'Tselem, wrote to the Attorney General during the course of the operation, demanding that he establish an independent apparatus for investigating the operation, and not settle for MPIU investigations of isolated incidents. The reason is that the suspicions of breach of international humanitarian law do not relate merely to the acts of individual soldiers in the field, but also to wider issues of policy and the responsibility of senior officers and of the political echelon. The Attorney General rejected this demand, but added that concrete claims against the military could be directed to the Judge Advocate Generals Office.

B'Tselem has conducted field investigations of cases in which it is suspected that the military breached international humanitarian law, and even breached its own orders. For example, B'Tselem investigated cases in which soldiers killed civilians who were not taking part in the hostilities, cases in which soldiers used civilians as human shields, and cases in which soldiers used their weapons unlawfully given the circumstances existing in Gaza. In these investigations, the organization took testimonies from eye-witnesses and collected evidence from the scene of the incident. The results were forwarded to the Attorney General and the Judge Advocate Generals Office. Due to its limited resources, B'Tselem managed to document only a small amount of the incidents, and forwarded to the authorities 20 cases in which some 90 Palestinians were killed, about half of them minors.

B'Tselem reiterates its demand that Israel conduct an independent and effective investigation into the militarys conduct during Operation Cast Lead.

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## Shades

*Surgeon from UAE heals Gaza children deaf from Israeli bombings* 
12.11.09 - 22:06

Doctor from UAE performs string of operations on deaf children for free in Israeli-besieged Gaza.

ImageGAZA CITY - *Wafa Sarhan was devastated to think her two sons would never hear her voice again after an Israeli strike on Gaza left them deaf*.

Then Dr. Hajeri showed up in the impoverished enclave.

*Bahaa and Qusei Sarhan, today six and five, lost their hearing in June 2004 when an Israeli drone fired missiles near their home in the northern town of Jabaliya*.

"*Bahaa was wounded again by shrapnel during the last war (in December and January) because there was shelling and he couldn't hear us yelling at him to come inside," she says.*

Since the boys lost their hearing, Wafa Sarhan and her husband have been trying to get them treated outside the coastal strip, which is under Israeli siege.

They heard of a procedure under which a device dubbed an electronic "snail" is inserted in the ear, enabling a person to regain his hearing.

But the only place in the Arab world where the procedure is available is a medical centre in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which charges 60,000 dollars (40,000 euros) for the operation.

"If we gave them everything we own it would not cover a fourth of the price," she said.

Then, last week, Mazen al-Hajeri, a doctor from the UAE specialising in the procedure, showed up to do a string of the operations for free in the Gaza Strip, where scores of children have lost their hearing as a result of Israeli operations over the years.

"We came to help the children here who cannot hear and we donate our services to whoever we can help," he says, sipping water in a break between operations carried out at a remorseless pace from 9am to 10pm each day.

Hajeri says he was motivated to come to Gaza during last winter's war, when satellite news showed non-stop footage of heavy shelling and terrified civilians huddling in shelters across the densely populated territory.

And so Wafa Sarhan found herself waiting outside the surgery room at the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, her face twisted with worry as other doctors tried to reassure her that everything would be alright.

Two hours later, it was.

"Today my children have been born again," she says, all smiles after the operations turn out to be successful. "I am so happy. We were very frustrated and did not know what to do."

A line of waiting families stretched outside the operating room as Hajeri performed one operation after another, working 13 hours a day with only short breaks between procedures.

By the time he left on Sunday, Hajeri had performed around 50 operations on children suffering from hearing loss, a quarter of them because of war, but plans to return in several months time to carry out more as well as train local doctors.

The UAE Red Crescent Society last week inaugurated a centre for hearing in Gaza complete with supplies and modern medical equipment with the agreement of Salih al-Tai, the director of relief and emergencies for the society.

"This centre is the first of its kind in the Middle East," said Tai, who declined to comment on how much money had been invested.

"Doctor Mazen is training Palestinian doctors to carry out operations... and he will come every two months to follow up and to carry out similar operations."

Not all were lucky enough to get one of the coveted spots.

Twenty-six-year-old Sahila cried when she found she couldn't get her only child onto the list for surgery -- there were simply too many other patients for the available time.

"Where are the Arabs who can help us?" she said as she sobbed outside the surgery ward.

Hossam Aqel, 37, was one of the lucky ones.

His two-year-old son was wounded when there was shelling near his house during this year's war.

"After two months we discovered that he could not hear or make sounds and when we took him to the doctor he said he had lost his hearing," he said, adding that he also could not afford the 60,000-dollar fee because he has been unemployed for several years.

"Thank God, this is the happiest day I have ever had," he said. "I can see that my son can hear and will be able to talk like the others."

Israel, which wants to crush any Palestinian liberation movement, responded to Hamas's win in the elections with sanctions, and almost completely blockaded the impoverished coastal strip after Hamas seized power in 2007, although a lighter siege had already existed before.

Human rights groups, both international and Israeli, slammed Israels siege of Gaza, branding it collective punishment.

A group of international lawyers and human rights activists had also accused Israel of committing genocide through its crippling blockade of the Strip.

Gaza is still considered under Israeli occupation as Israel controls air, sea and land access to the Strip.

The Rafah crossing with Egypt, Gaza's sole border crossing that bypasses Israel, rarely opens as Egypt is under immense US and Israeli pressure to keep the crossing shut.

Fatah has little administrative say in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and has no power in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem, both of which are Palestinian territories illegally occupied by Israel in 1967.

Israel also currently occupies the Lebanese Shabaa Farms and the Syrian Golan Heights.

Israel's war on Gaza killed nearly 1,400 Palestinians, mainly civilians, and wounded 5,450 others.

Among the dead were 437 children, 110 women, 123 elderly men, 14 medics and four journalists.

The wounded include 1,890 children.

The war also left tens of thousands of houses destroyed, while their residents remained homeless.



(Middle East Online).

----------


## Shades

How Israel Won the Settlement Battle Again
Back-Pedaling Politicians
By  Ramzy Baroud
Journalist

Netanyahu's dismal promise to slow down settlement activities in the West Bank.
When British Foreign Secretary David Miliband uttered a few words regarding the illegality of the Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, many wanted to believe that London was taking a sharp stance against Israels continued violations of international law. Alas, they were wrong.

The fact is Milibands statement, made during a press conference that followed talks with Jordans King Abdullah II, in Amman, was merely tactical, aimed at lessening the negative impact of the feeble position adopted by Washington regarding the same issue.

This is what Miliband had to say: "Settlements are illegal in our view and an obstacle to peace settlement in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The settlements challenge the heart of... a Palestinian state."

But then, he added: "It's so important for all those who care about security and social justice in this region that discussions about borders and territory are restarted in a serious way, because if you can progress on border and territory, you can resolve the settlements issue."

This is classic Miliband. While his clear and decisive statement regarding the illegality of the settlements and the fact that their construction is an obstacle is to be welcomed, one cannot decipher a politicians statement in increments; to be truly appreciated, they must be understood as a whole.

The danger lies in Milibands follow up statement, where he purposely changed the order of the proposed solution to the Middle East crisis to be "discussions about borders and territory are restarted in a serious way", which means unconditional negotiations, because "progress" at that front would "resolve the settlements issue."

But isn't this the exact type of dialogue that Israel wishes to take part in: peace talks with no conditions, no deadline and no specific end, while it persists in building its illegal settlements in flagrant violation of international law, unabated? More, isnt this what Palestinians, all Palestinians, have vehemently rejected?

Unconditional Negotiations
Netanyahu has no reason to stop, or even slow down its illegal settlements project.

The Palestinian leadership understands that unconditional negotiations will yield Palestinians, the weak party in any negotiations, nothing but further humiliation, while the strong party will determine a solution, any solution, it finds suitable to its interests.

Considering that Israel is under no serious pressure, but occasional lip service to the peace process, from Washington, and London, the rightwing government of Benjamin Netanyahu has no reason to stop, or even slow down its illegal settlements project and the subsequent ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

Miliband is a clever politician. Although his words reek with contradictions, they are stacked in such away to give the impression that a substantive policy change is in fact in the making.

Milibands supposedly strong statement on the settlements came at a time that the Obama Administrations policy, a meager attempt at presenting itself as the antithesis to the hated George Bush legacy, is falling apart.

In May, following President Obamas first meeting with Netanyahu, US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton wanted to leave no doubt regarding the US new policy on settlements. The US "wants to see a stop to settlements  not some settlements, not outposts, not natural growth exceptions."

This sounds great, even better than Milibands recent statement. But since then, the Obama Administration has obviously discovered the limits of the "audacity of hope": a strong, unified pro-Israel lobby, decisively rightwing Israeli government, a unified US Congress backing Israels every move, a wishy-washy international community, fragmented Muslim and Arab countries, and all the rest.

Unfulfilled Promises 
There are over 500,000 Jewish settlers in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank... 

Therefore, it was no surprise to see Mrs. Clinton, during her recent Middle East trip backtracking on every promise that her government had made. She "claimed (on November 1) that halting settlement building had never been a pre-condition to resuming talks," reported The Times.

Worse, not only did she fail to convince Netanyahu of the US position, which was more or less consistent with international law, she commended him for failing to meet what was once considered a strong US demand.

The switch happened during her recent tours one-day visit to Jerusalem. "What the Prime Minister (of Israel) has offered in specifics of restraint on the policy of settlements  ... is unprecedented," she said of Netanyahus dismal promise to slow down settlement activities in the West Bank.

There are over 500,000 Jewish settlers in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, living in many settlements that are all considered illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention and numerous UN resolutions.

Rewarding Israel 
"Negotiations are in a state of paralysis," said top PA official Nablil Abu Rudeinah.

To add insult to injury, Mrs. Clinton, continued, at every stop, to demand Arabs and Muslim to reach out to Israel. What has the latter done to deserve any Arab or Muslim normalization, open markets and establishment of diplomatic ties? Why should Israel be rewarded for its massacres in Gaza, entrenching of its military occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the consistent attacks on al-Aqsa Mosque and more?

Concurrently, the Palestinian Authority is, perhaps, realizing its error of trusting that the Obama Administrations resolve would prevail over Israels obstinacy.

Top PA official Nablil Abu Rudeinah said that the "negotiations are in a state of paralysis," blaming both "Israeli intransigence and Americas back-pedaling."

There is no hope of negotiations on the horizon," Abu Rudienah added.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekats words, during a press conference in Ramallah, in the West Bank, on November 4, were gloomier, however. It maybe time for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to tell his people the truth that with the continuation of settlement activities, the two-state solution is no longer an option, he said.

He said what many dont want to hear, including Miliband himself, who insists on breathing life into an outdated solution, while doing nothing to turn it into reality. 

It's important we don't lose sight of the importance of a two-state solution for all peoples of the region. I think the alternatives are dark and unwelcome for all sides, Miliband said.

He failed, however, to enlighten us on how his bright and welcomed solution is to be realized, as Israel continues to seize Jerusalem and the West Bank, inch by inch and house by house, in front of international media and with the knowledge and subtle agreement of back-pedaling politicians, Mrs. Clinton and himself included.

----------


## Shades

Israeli settlers attack West Bank farms
Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:35:25 GMT

Palestinians extinguish a fire set by Israeli settlers at an olive grove near the West Bank city of Nablus in January 2009.
Palestinian settlement monitoring authorities say a group of extremist Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinian olive farms in the north of the occupied West Bank. 

Residents from the notorious Yitzhar settlement, near the city of Nablus, destroyed the trees in the village of Burin some 150 meters (yards) from their settlement on Thursday morning. 

Palestinian official Ghassan Douglas, who holds the settlement portfolio for the northern West Bank, said the Israeli assailants destroyed 81 olive trees on the property of Akram Amran, Ma'an news agency reported. 

Douglas condemned the destruction as 'provocative and unacceptable'. 

Yitzhar is among the most hardline settlements in the West Bank, whose ultra-Orthodox residents claim a God-given, biblical right to the land and frequently harass Palestinians living in the area. 

This is while a rabbi who runs an Orthodox Jewish school in the settlement has endorsed the killing of any non-Jew, including children and babies, who pose a threat to Israel. 

"Children should not be exempt from this fate. There is a reasonable explanation for killing infants if it is clear that they will grow up to hurt us, and in this situation, the strike should be directed at them," Rabbi Yitzhak Shapiro advised in his book The King's Torah. 

The book includes endorsements from leading Jewish spiritual authorities in the West Bank. 

Israeli activists acknowledge the extremist thinking in the book is quite widespread among settlers as a number of them have a deeply racist philosophy against any non-Jews, and especially against Palestinians and other Arabs. 

MRS/AKM

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## Shades

Israeli forces detain 2 Palestinians, 9 internationals
Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:57:45 GMT

Israeli forces detain two Palestinians and nine foreign nationals working on the 'Green Palestine' project near the village of Umm Salamoneh south of Beit Lahm (Bethlehem). 

Ibrahim Awad, the coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Separation Wall in the area said Israeli forces raided his land on Thursday and detained him along with a member of the village council and nine foreign nationals near the illegal Effrat settlement. 

Israeli forces also detained dozens of foreigners and the employees of the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture in the Umm Salamoneh village, said Ibrahim Masha'leh, the Deputy Director of Agriculture in Beit Lahm (Bethlehem). 

The 'Green Palestine' project focuses on the rehabilitation of agricultural lands, and is run by local committees in cooperation with local governments, education professionals, and local councils in order to provide a healthy living environment for Palestinian residents. 

FTP/SS/MMA

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## Shades

Israeli troops enter Gaza, kill Palestinian boy
Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:00:25 GMT

Israeli soldiers have opened fire on Palestinian civilians in the central Gaza Strip, killing a young man and critically wounding another. 

A group of Palestinian boys were hunting birds on Friday, when they came under Israeli fire near Johr Ad-Dik, south of Gaza City, witnesses said. 

An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed the attack, saying one Palestinian was killed by the Israeli soldiers and another was moved to an Israeli hospital after he was critically wounded. 

The troops also injured two brothers and arrested a fourth boy, the three of whom are currently being questioned by Israeli forces, she added. 

Palestinian medics identified the slain boy as the 22-year-old Mustafa Muhammad Wadi from al-Bureij camp, adding that he had died of direct Israeli gunfire. 

Those in Israeli custody include Ahmad Khader Sa'doon, 16, and his injured brother Muhammad, 15, the medics said. 

Israeli media sources said troops briefly entered Johr Ad-Dik inside the Gaza Strip after they suspected that a group of men were planting an explosive device near the Karni crossing. 

The military spokesperson was not sure if the men were armed or whether they were really planting explosives near the Israeli fence separating Gaza and the occupied West Bank. 

MRS/MMN

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## Shades

Israel's army chief calls Gaza war fair
Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:01:15 GMT

Israel downplays the army's mistakes during its Gaza offensive, saying Tel Aviv needs to launch another onslaught of the same fashion on the Palestinian enclave. 

"We're looking into Palestinian complaints as well, and are not always proud of results," Chief of the General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi addressed a damning UN report of Israel's January war which killed more than 1,400 Palestinians. 

"We have found mistakes and malfunctions because these things happen in the heat of combat," he said during a Friday visit to a high school in Beersheba. 

The report by an independent United Nations committee headed by former South African judge Richard Goldstone suggested forwarding the document highlighting Israeli war crimes to the Security Council, if investigations were not set up within six months. 

But Ashkenazi downplayed the international pressure triggered by the document requiring Tel Aviv to launch vivid investigations into the charges of war crimes, saying the Israeli army is probing all incidents, regardless of any reports. 

"The report requires a response, an explanation of the justness of the war, and that the next one will be conducted similarly," he said, renewing earlier threats of a fresh military operation in Gaza. 

Israel justifies its Operation Cast Lead in Gaza as a response to Palestinian rockets launched from the densely populated coastal strip, which normally cause panic rather than inflicting any casualties or damages. 

Palestinian fighters, however, say the firings will continue until Israel lifts its crippling siege on Gaza and ends the closure of border crossings into the region, half of whose 1.5 million-strong population remain dependent on food aid handouts. 

UN figures show most of the victims of the weeks-long Gaza war were civilians, among whom were dozens of women and children. 

MRS/HGH

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## Shades

Israeli forces open fire on Palestinians in WB
Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:17:19 GMT

Israeli forces have opened fire on Palestinian protesters in the West Bank village of Naalin, leaving two of them wounded. 

Palestinians demonstrating against the Israeli separation wall, said Israeli forces resorted to force and used rifle fire against them during the rally on Friday, Yent reported. 

The Israeli military also confirmed the use of Ruger rifles which has been deemed by military prosecutors as live fire. 

Earlier this year, the rights group B'tselem appealed to the military prosecutor with a demand to ban the rifles. 

Judge Advocate General Avi Mandelblit said in his response to the appeal that "the guidelines for use of this ammunition (Ruger rifles) are severe and parallel to those for the use of live ammunition." 

Israeli forces had shot and killed a Palestinian and wounded four others during weekly demonstrations in June, reportedly using the rifles. 

SB/SS/MMA

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## Shades

APN Tells Short History of Israeli Right Wing Terrorism Date : 14/11/2009   Time : 14:46
WASHINGTON, November 14, 2009 (WAFA)- Following the arrest and indictment of Yaakov (Jack) Teitel,  a Jewish-American, who settled in the occupied West Bank, and reportedly admitted to a series of murderous terrorist attacks against Israelis and Palestinians over the past twelve years, the settlers and their supporters cried foul. Teitel is an exception, they said, a single case, a 'lone wolf,' a lunatic.

American for Peace Now (APN) reported that Teitel may have acted alone (although that seems unlikely) and may be disturbed (although he clearly is ideologically motivated), but he's a part of a pattern. He is not the first and probably not the last Israeli terrorist to target Palestinians or Israeli supporters of peace. Furthermore, many of these Jewish terrorists came from the ranks of the West Bank settlers.

APN published  a partial list of Israeli groups and individuals who took violent action to sabotage peace:

1978     Yisrael Lederman, an Israeli army reservist, shot and killed a Palestinian civilian to avenge the murder of his friend, a day earlier, in East Jerusalem. He was released after serving only two years of his twenty-year prison sentence. In 1988 kidnapped a Palestinian baby and attacked an Israeli soldier. In 1996, he threw hot tea at Knesset Member Yael Dayan (Labor) in Hebron.

1982     Alan Goodman, a U.S. citizen, attacked Palestinians at al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount, killed a Palestinian Waqf guard and injured several Israeli policemen. He served 15 years of his life sentence and was deported to the United States.

1980-1984     A large group of young settlers, who called themselves TNT (a Hebrew acronym for Counter-Terror Terror) and were referred to in the media as 'The Jewish Underground,' set out to attack Palestinian leaders in the West Bank. They placed explosives on the cars of Palestinian mayors, shot and killed Palestinian students at a college in Hebron and plotted to blow up the mosques at Jerusalem's Temple Mount and to explode busses carrying Palestinian civilians. Several of the 29 members of the group went on to become leaders of the West Bank settler movement.

1983      Yonah Avrushmi, a Jerusalemite Jew, threw a hand grenade at a Peace Now demonstration near the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem. The blast killed Emil Grunzweig, one of Peace Now's leaders, and injured nine others. Avrushmi was sentenced to life in prison, but his sentence was reduced and he is scheduled to be released in 2011. 

1984    Yehuda Richter, a Kach activist, opened fire on a Palestinian bus in the West Bank and injured several of the passengers. He was sentenced to five years in prison. Others, who conspired with him to commit the crime, were sentenced to shorter prison terms. When he committed the attack, Richter was second on Meir Kahane's Kach ticket for the 1984 Knesset election. After serving five years in prison, he became one of the leading teachers in yeshivas associated with the settlement movement.

1984    David Ben-Shimol, an Israeli soldier, shot a rocket he stole from the army at a Palestinian bus in East Jerusalem, killing one Palestinian and injuring ten others.

1985    Danni Eisenman, a settler from Maale Adumim, and Michal Hillel, a student from Jerusalem, together with Gil Fuchs, a soldier, killed a Palestinian taxi driver on the road to Maale Adumim. Hillel served 5 years in prison, Fuchs 9 years, and Eisenman 11 years.



1989     Raphael Solomon, a student from the yeshiva at Joseph's Tomb near Hebron, shot and killed two Palestinians at the Geha junction near Tel Aviv.  He was sentenced to 6 years in prison, and served 4.

1990    Ami Popper, a 21 year old Israeli, shot and killed seven Gazan Palestinian day laborers in the Israeli town of Rishon le-Tzion, south of Tel Aviv. His attack prompted widespread riots in the West Bank and Gaza, in which several Palestinians were shot dead by the Israeli army.

1990    Arie Shlush, whose brother was killed by Palestinian terrorists earlier that year, shot in revenge at three Palestinian vehicles south of Bethlehem and injured three passengers.

1990    Nachshon Walls, an American-born settler and supporter of the Kach movement, shot at a Palestinian vehicle near Hebron, killing a 25 year old Palestinian woman. He was convicted of murder, but served only 13 years of his life sentence.

1992    Following the 1990 assassination in New York of the racist Rabbi Meir Kahane, a group of his supporters organized to avenge his killing forming a group called 'The Revenge Patrol.' On the second anniversary of the killing, the four youngsters threw a hand grenade in Jerusalem's Old City, killing one Palestinian and wounding many others.

1993     Yoram Shkolnick, a settler, drove by the settlement of Susia near Hebron, as a Palestinian terrorist was caught while allegedly trying to attack a kindergarten there. Shkolnick shot and killed the Palestinian, who was already handcuffed.

1994    Baruch Goldstein, a settler from Kiryat Arba near Hebron, shot and killed 29 Palestinian Muslims as they were praying at the Ibrahimi Mosque (Cave of the Patriarchs) in Hebron. 125 others were injured. The worshipers overpowered and killed him after he ran out of ammunition. His attack triggered a long and bloody series of Palestinian suicide bombings inside Israel.

1994     Daniel Morali, an Israeli whose brother was killed a year earlier, shot and killed a Palestinian truck driver inside Israel. He was sentenced to life in prison, but was released in 2007.

1995    Yigal Amir, an Israeli student, assassinated Israel's Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin with the intention of derailing Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. He was sentenced to life in prison.

1996    Ehud Bart, an Israeli settler, attempted to push the vehicle of then-Minister Yossi Sarid into an abyss. He was sentenced but did not serve a prison term.

1997     Noam Friedman, an Israeli soldier who was later found to be mentally disturbed and unfit to stand trial, came to Hebron to shoot Palestinians. He opened fire in the center of town and injured seven Palestinians before being overpowered by Israeli  soldiers.

1998     Gur Hammel, an Israeli settler from Itamar, used a rock to shatter the head of an elderly Palestinian man while on a hike near the village of Beit Fourik, near Nablus. The attack was apparently unprovoked. He is serving a life sentence.

2000     Danny Tikman, an Israeli soldier on leave, shot at the fronts of stores owned by Arab citizens of Israel. He injured four people and damaged property. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

2001    A Jewish terrorist organization called 'Shalhevet Gilad,' apparently operating out of settlements near Hebron, set out to avenge the murder of a Jewish baby, Shlhevet Pass, by a Palestinian sharpshooter in Hebron. Three shooting attacks against Palestinians, in which one Palestinian was killed and seven injured, were attributed to this organization.

2001-2002    A group of Israelis, three of them settlers from the settlement of Bat-Ayin in the southern West Bank, was arrested and charged with a series of attacks against Palestinians. The suspects, who were arrested after attempting to plant a bomb at a girls' school in East Jerusalem, initially admitted to several attacks against Palestinians, in which eight Palestinian civilians - including a baby - were murdered. They later withdrew their confessions. Three were convicted of attempting to kill schoolgirls in East Jerusalem and sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Others received lighter sentences. 

2002     Several settlers were arrested and tried for planning terrorist attacks against Palestinians and possessing weapons to carry out attacks. Their plans were foiled by Israeli law enforcement authorities.

2002-2004     Eliran Golan, an Israeli Jew from the city of Haifa, planted several homemade bombs in Haifa, targeting local Arab citizens. One of the bombs, planted in a mosque in the predominantly Arab Halisa neighborhood in Haifa, killed an Arab worshipper. Another bomb targeted Israeli Knesset Member Issam Makhoul but failed to harm Makhoul. Golan's arrest led to the arrest of his friend, Alexander Rabinowitz, an Israeli soldier, who supplied Golan with military explosives. Golan committed suicide in prison.

2005    Eden Natan-Zadah, a settler from Tapuah, south of Nablus, who was AWOL from the Israeli army, shot at passengers of an Israeli Egged bus in the Israeli Arab town Shafa-'Amr (Shfaram) killing four Arab citizens of Israel and injuring nine others. Passengers overpowered him and killed him.

2006     Asher Vizgan, a driver of a workers' van from the settlement of Shvut Rachel, shot Palestinian laborers who he transported, as well as others at the adjacent industrial zone of Shilo. He killed four and injured one Palestinian. He was sentenced to life in prison and committed suicide in his prison cell.

----------


## Shades

Israel Orders 9 Families to Evacuate Homes to be Demolished Date : 14/11/2009   Time : 13:13
NABLUS, November 14, 2009 (WAFA)- Israeli Occupation Forces warned, today, nine families that their houses, east of Nablus, will be destroyed.

Israeli authorities ordered these families to evacuate their homes to be demolished immediately.

A Palestinian official in charge of the colonization file in the north of the West Bank, Ghassan Daghlas, said that the concerned Palestinian parties are contacting the families to coordinate legal ways to face these procedures.

Daghlas pointed that the number of demolition warnings in Nablus has exceeded 80, in the last three months in different parts of Nablus Governorate, like Al-Sawyeh and Yetma Villages and Al-Dahye neighborhood south of the city.

----------


## Shades

UN Committee Demands Israel to Stop Exploiting Natural Resources in Arab Lands Date : 13/11/2009   Time : 19:51
NEW YORK, November 13, 2009 (WAFA)- United Nations General Assembly Second Committee (Economic and Financial)  approved two draft resolutions Thursday , including a text that would have the General Assembly demand that Israel stop exploiting, damaging, depleting or endangering the natural resources of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan.

By other terms of that text - approved, as orally corrected, by a recorded vote of 152 in favour to 9 against (Australia, Canada, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Israel, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, United States), with 3 abstentions (Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Panama) - the Assembly would call upon Israel to comply strictly with its obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, with respect to altering the character and status of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. (See Annex for details of voting.)

The Assembly would, by further terms, call on Israel to stop all actions that harmed the environment, including the dumping of waste materials in the occupied Palestinian and Syrian territories, and to stop destroying vital infrastructure, including water pipelines and sewage networks. It would also stress that the wall being constructed by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, violated international law and seriously deprived the Palestinian people of their natural resources. The Assembly would call on Israel to comply with the 9 July 2004 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice concerning the wall.

In a general statement following the action, the Permanent Observer for Palestine said the text sent a clear message that the international community stood with the Palestinians, whose rights and resources had been stolen, and showed overwhelming support for international law and for parity of standards for everyone. The issue was critically important to the Palestinians, especially as they continued to suffer under the occupation that had brought them poverty and misery. The draft resolution provided the legal and moral protective framework to safeguard the rights of the Palestinian people to their own resources, and claims that it was irrelevant were an affront to the international community.

----------


## Shades

*Israeli army rabbi urges 'no mercy' in war*
Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:00:53 GMT

*The Israeli Army's chief rabbi has called on military students to 'show no mercy' when they fight a war or they will be "damned."* 

*"In times of war, whoever doesn't fight with all his heart and soul is damned, if he keeps his sword from bloodshed, if he shows mercy toward his enemy when no mercy should be shown,"* The Israeli daily Haaretz quoted Brig. Gen. Avichai Rontzki as saying at the Hesder yeshiva in the occupied West Bank. 

"*Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord with a slack hand, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood*," added the rabbi. 

Regarding the Israeli three week war on the Gaza Strip last December, *the army rabbi hailed the military's performance which led to the death of at least 1,350 people including women and children*. 

"Everyone fought with all their heart and soul, and that includes bravery of course, but also fighting with all the resources one has, to fight as if to truly determine the mission," he reiterated. 

*Rontzki, who had also sanctioned the killing of Palestinian civilians during the Gaza war, drew harsh criticism form human rights groups.* 

During the war, some *other leading rabbis also issued rulings that gave free hands to Israeli commanders to attack the civilian population in Gaza*. 

SB/MB

----------


## Shades

'Palestinians determined to build state institutions'
Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:27:44 GMT

Salam Fayyad (R) and Joseph Lieberman (L) attend a press conference after their meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Sunday, Nov. 15.

The Palestinian Authority caretaker prime minister has said the Palestinians are determined to build state institutions in preparation for statehood. 

Talking to the press alongside US officials in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday, Salam Fayyad dismissed Israeli concerns as irrelevant and said, "They're talking about unilateralism, to which we reply yes, building state institutions is our responsibility and we embrace it." 

A Palestinian state will be established as per the demands of the Palestinians, "as it is their natural right to live in a homeland," but everyone knows that the road is not embedded with roses, he added. 

Fayyad briefed reporters on his plan to establish an independent Palestinian state within two years. 

But he said that "Israeli stubbornness" was getting in the way and urged the Israelis to freeze all settlements and "abide by international law and legitimacy." 

"The international community must emphasize Palestinian rights, at the top of which is ending the occupation, and ensure the right to determine our own future, rather than relying on the occupying power to carry out its wishes," the Ma'an news agency quoted him as saying. 

US Senator Joseph Lieberman said that the United States is committed to the two-state solution and praised the Palestinians' efforts to build state institutions. 

"I know some people are concerned that this is unilateral," he added, according to The Jerusalem Post. 

"But it seems to me that it is unilateral in a healthy sense of self-development," Lieberman noted. 

FTP/SS/HGL

----------


## Shades

*Israel against declaration of independent Palestine*
Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:42:25 GMT

*The Israeli prime minister says any Palestinian step toward a unilateral declaration of independence will be answered by 'one-sided Israeli measures'*. 

"There is no substitute for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and any unilateral path will only unravel the framework of agreements between us and will only bring unilateral steps from Israel's side," Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz quoted Netanyahu as saying on Sunday. 

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat had earlier declared that the Palestinians are considering appealing to the UN Security Council to endorse a unilateral declaration of independence in the territories captured by Israel during the 1967 Middle East War, with Jerusalem Al-Quds as its capital city. 

"Palestinians are not going to take any unilateral steps. Palestinians and Arabs are seeking in consultation with the Europeans, the Russians, the UN, the African group, the Latin group, the Asian group, others, and the Americans, to see the possibility of having the Security Council pass a resolution to recognize the two state solution on the '67 border," Erekat said in response to Netanyahu's comments. 

*Erekat had stated Israel is blocking the Middle East peace talks by refusing to recognize the two-state solution*. 

*"We're fed up with your time-wasting," Erekat told Israel's Army Radio on Sunday, according to Haaretz.* 

"We don't believe that you really want a two-state solution," he added. 

*"Israel is continuing the occupation and is not prepared to return to the negotiating table,"* the Palestinian negotiator said. 

MGH/TG/DT

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## Shades

*Israel threatens to annex more Palestinian land*
Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:10:15 GMT

*Israel has threatened to annex more land in the occupied West Bank, should Palestinians declare statehood without concluding a peace agreement.* 

*"If the Palestinians take such a unilateral line, Israel should also consider ... passing a law to annex some of the settlements,"* Environment Minister Gilad Erdan, a close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Israel Radio on Monday. 

He also threatened to tighten recently loosened travel restrictions on Palestinians in the West Bank and stop "the transfer of money that the Israeli government currently transfers to the Palestinian Authority." 

The remarks were made in response to the Palestinian Authority officials, who intended to seek support from UN Security Council (UNSC) to recognize an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem Al-Quds as its capital. 

Israeli Premier Netanyahu has also warned that any Palestinian step towards a unilateral declaration of independence will be answered by "one-sided Israeli measures." 

This is while, Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has argued that the "Palestinians are not going to take any unilateral steps." 

"They are seeking in consultation with the Europeans, the Russians, the UN, the African group, the Latin group, the Asian group, others, and the Americans, to see the possibility of having the Security Council pass a resolution to recognize the two state solution on the '67 border," he described. 

Israel occupied East Jerusalem Al-Quds during a 1967 aggression and later annexed it. The status of the city is among the thorniest issues of the peace process with both sides claiming it as their future capital. 

SB/MMN

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## Shades

*'Israel using Palestinians as guinea pigs'* 
Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:07:28 GMT

*The Sawasya Center for Human Rights has stated that the Israel is using Palestinians held in its detention centers as guinea pigs to test the effectiveness of new drugs manufactured by its health industry*. 

According to the Palestinian Information Center, the Cairo-based rights center *cited evidence that Israeli interrogators gave prisoner Zuhair al-Iskafi and several other Palestinian inmates an injection which resulted in complete loss of their hair on the head and body -- a medical condition referred to as alopecia universalis*. 

*The Sawasya Center called on human rights organizations and the World Health Organization to dispatch a delegation of medical experts to Israel to examine Palestinian detainees allegedly subjected to these tests*. 

*The issue of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails is routinely glossed over by the international community. Thousands of Palestinians are still held in flagrant breach of international law and their basic human rights.* 

*A report prepared by the Palestinian Ministry for Prisoner Affairs states that 700,000 Palestinians have been arrested since 1967 and almost 50,000 since the second uprising of 2000.* 

*Today, 9,850 are being held in about 30 prisons and detention centers in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Of these, 105 are women and 359 are children.* 

*All are held either by the military or in Israeli prisons, and many are in administrative detention without trial or a judicial decree.* 

MP/HGL

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## Shades

*Iran Rabbi urges Jews to burn controversial book*
Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:57:20 GMT

*A prominent rabbi of the Iranian Jewish community has urged his congregation to burn 'The King's Torah', a controversial book, which supports the murder of non-Jews.* 

In his recently released book, Rabbi Yitzhak Shapiro, who heads the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva (religious school) in the occupied West Bank, *endorses the murder of non-Jews -- even babies and children -- if they pose an actual or potential threat to Israel*. 

The book, co-authored by Yossi Elitzur, states that *Jews are allowed to kill "those who, by speech, weaken our sovereignty", adding that it is permissible "to kill the Righteous among Nations even if they are not responsible for the threatening situation."* 

*The decree is backed by several Israeli rabbis including Yitzhak Ginsburg and Yaakov Yosef.* 

*Shapiro claims that the Torah and Talmud fully justify his edict*. 

The Iranian rabbi, however, said on Monday that the book's message, in fact, directly contradicted the teachings of Moses. Rabbi Golestaninejad said the book was not based on the tenets of the Jewish faith. 

One of the Ten Commandments in Exodus states "Thou shalt not murder." In the Book of Genesis, as well, murder is forbidden and it is stipulated that anyone who spills blood, must pay for his deed with the spilling of his own blood, said the rabbi, who called the edict a blatant distortion of religious teachings. 

Golestaninejad said the word *'rabbi' means 'wise', so it is very unlikely that a wise person, who is responsible for teaching religion, would condone the murder of persons of other beliefs.* 

Anyone who utters anything in opposition to the faith, and then goes on to falsely attribute it to the Torah, Mishnah, Talmud or Halakha deserves punishment and chastisement, he said, adding that the idea behind the verdict is absolutely false. 

Jews are followers of Moses. Hence, they do not adhere to Zionism and the ideas of Theodor Herzl, the father of modern political Zionism, the rabbi said. 

Rabbi Golestaninejad condemned the publication of 'The King's Torah' and called on all Jews to burn the book which he said propagates non-religious ideas. 

AR/TG/DT

----------


## Shades

*Thousands protest Peres' visit to Argentina*
Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:03:17 GMT

*Protestors shout slogans during a rally against the visit of Israel's President Shimon Peres to Argentina outside the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, November 16, 2009*.

*Thousands of anti-Israel demonstrators gathered in the square opposite the Argentinean parliament in Buenos Aires to protest President Shimon Peres' visit to Argentina.* 

"*It's a disgrace that the president of our country is meeting today with the child-murderer, Shimon Peres.*.. There are thousands of people who came here today to protest against the hospitality shown to a representative of an occupying and oppressive government," one of the protestors said. 

The protestors carried pictures and placards glorifying Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, and the Leader of Iran's Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei. 

The signs read "*Get out of Argentina, murderer Shimon Peres*", while others said "*Death to Zionist-fascist Israel, officer of American imperialism in the Middle East, murderers of the Palestinian people*!" the signs also included pictures of Palestinian children killed during Israel's Operation Cast Lead at the beginning of the year. 

More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during three weeks of Israel's land, sea and air offensive waged on the Gaza Strip. The assault also inflicted $1.6 billion damage on the Gaza economy. 

The Israeli President had earlier been hailed as "*Shimon Hitler*" in Sao Paulo, Brazil, during protests. Demonstrators carried signs showing Peres, sporting a short Hitlerian mustache standing next to an Israeli flag upon which a swastika had been drawn. The caption on the signs read "Shimon Hitler". 

MP/TG/DT

----------


## Shades

Al Mezan Condemns IOF Violations  
Date : 15/11/2009   Time : 11:54 

GAZA, November 15, 2009 (WAFA)- Al Mezan Centre for *Human Rights condemned the murder by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) of a child and arrest of four civilians; all of whom are 17 and 18-year-olds near the Gaza border with Israel.*

*IOF opened fire at seven children and youths as they were new the border in the Wadi Gaza village, south to Gaza City. The children were unarmed and did not pose any danger on IOF*. 

According to information collected by Al Mezan Centre, at approximately 9.30am on Friday 13 November 2009, IOF opened machinegun and artillery fire towards a group of seven children and youths who were near the solid waste dump, which is located northeast of Wadi Gaza village. One child, 16-yearold Mustafa Mohammed Wadi, was killed from IOF fire. Another child, 17-year-old Ahmed Sa'doun, was injured. A force of IOF ground troops entered the area and chased them and arrested four of them. 

Al Mezan Centre called on the international community to take prompt actions to ensure due protection of Palestinian civilians in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT); particularly children who continue to take the brunt of IOF's attacks and the collective punishment measures. Al Mezan asserts that these continued acts by IOF require urgent actions by international community to enforce the mechanisms of accountability against those who violate international law in OPT. The prevailing culture of impunity has only served to encourage violations of human rights and international humanitarian law and must be challenged and stopped without delay.

----------


## Shades

*Jewsih Colonizers Break into Evacuated Homesh Colony * 
Date : 15/11/2009   Time : 14:53 

JENIN, November 15, 2009 (WAFA)- *A group of extremist Jewish colonizers broke, this morning, into Homesh Colony, evacuated earlier by the Israeli Occupation Army, near Jenin, north of the West Bank*.

Palestinian security sources told WAFA that the colonizers, *backed by the Israeli Army, broke into the colony, and vandaled in Jenin-Nablus street, and inside the colony.*

----------


## Shades

*French FM Bernard Kouchner urges israel accept a Pal'n state"*
2009-11-17 14:43:13 

*Occupied Jerusalem-PalPress-The French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner called on the Israelis to accept a Palestinian state living in peace by their side.*

Kouchner said in a press interview published today that the Israelis do not live in the region alone

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted in his speech delivered at Bar Elan University  the importance of the establishment of a Palestinian state, this is a positive step , I tell the Israelis this serves your interests, you are not living alone in this area, bet on peace with your Palestinian partners in the Palestinian Authority, Kouchner said

He also urged Israel to cease settlement activities in order to create the ripe conditions for resuming the peace process.

 I would like to remind you by the last speech of the French President at the Keneset when he stressed that Jerusalem should be a capital for two states , Kouchner added.

He reiterated his countrys and the European Unions insistence on pushing forward the peace negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

We have to find a way out from this crisis, I tell the Israelis that the Palestinian Authority is your peace partner, said the French Foreign Minister

Regarding Presidents Abbas decision not to run in the upcoming elections, Koucher said :This is his decision , I respect his decision, but of course we do not want this man leave office as peace needs someone like him, France has supported Mahmoud Abbas since he was democratically elected as president in 2005.

Kouchner is planned to meet President Abbas in Jordan before he holds talks in Israel with Netanyahu, the Israeli President Shimon Peres , Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Defense Minister Ehud Brak and opposition leader Tsipi Livni.

----------


## Shades

EU:" It's too early for the EU to back recognition of a Pal'n state"

2009-11-17 14:06:47 



Brussels-PalPress-The European Union  said it is too early for the Palestinian Authority to request backing its plan for gaining recognition as an independent state at the United Nations Security Council.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt sated :I hope we are able to recognize a Palestinian state 

Bildt made his remarks  on margins of a meeting with his European Counterparts  in response to an official request submitted by the Palestinian Authority on Monday.

The Palestinian Authority requested the European Union to back its plan for gaining recognition as an independent state with eastern  Jerusalem as its capital at the United Nations Security Council.


2009-11-17 14:06:47

----------


## Shades

IOF infiltrate into Zaytoun area eastern Gaza Strip

2009-11-17 14:19:36 



Gaza-PalPress-Several Israeli tanks and bulldozers infiltrated today Tuesday morning into eastern Zaytoun neighborhood eastern Gaza Strip.

Eye witnesses said that four tanks accompanied by six bulldozers infiltrated a distance of  600 meters into Zaytoun area .

The witnesses said that the Occupation troops then headed towards Johr Al Deek eastern Buraij refugees camp amid intermittent gunfire.

The Israeli troops would infiltrate and launch bulldozing operations on a daily scale in agriculture lands located at Gaza border.

It is worth telling that three Palestinians were shot dead last week in that same area.

----------


## Cell.Phone

well, be open and ask him what he feels for you
it will be hard but if he likes you you have to know
and like him back
and you have to be happy ever after.
(by the way I think he really is into you.

______________________

cell phone skins | motorola cell phone batteries | motorola cell phone accessories

----------


## Shades

EU Remains Concerned by Humanitarian Situation in Gaza  
Date : 17/11/2009   Time : 17:27 

BRUSSELS, November 17, 2009 (WAFA)- The European Union (EU) said it remains gravely concerned by the humanitarian situation in Gaza, calling for urgent measures have not been sufficiently answered.

In a declaration issued Tuesday the EU said it continues to urge that prompt and concrete measures be taken to solve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and to allow for reconstruction and economic recovery.

The EU  noted with concern that the situation on the ground has not improved since January 2009. The continued policy of closure, which has been in place since 2007, has devastated the private sector economy and further damaged the natural environment. The poor water quality is particularly worrying. The essential reconstruction of homes, schools and health facilities to which the international community, including the EU committed itself at the Donors Conference in Sharm el Sheikh, is still prevented. While extremists stand to gain from the current situation, the plight becomes worse for the civilian population, half of which are children.

The EU  reiterated its calls for an immediate and unconditional opening of crossings for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from Gaza. The Agreement of Movement and Access of 2005 should be implemented. The EU urges Israel to facilitate the transfer of material and financial resources into Gaza for the implementation of the UN Pilot Projects. The EU calls for the full implementation of UNSCR 1860.

Fully recognising Israels legitimate security needs, the EU said it continues to call for a complete stop to all violence, including a sustained halt of rocket attacks at Israel and an effective mechanism to prevent arms and ammunition smuggling into the Gaza strip. It also continues to call on those holding the abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit to release him without delay.

----------


## Shades

*EU against recognizing Palestinian state*
Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:01:59 GMT

*Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt says the conditions for recognizing a Palestinian state are not present*.

The European Union says it will discuss Palestine's demand to be recognized by the UN as an independent state, but has *described the proposal as premature*. 

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, told reporters in Brussels that EU foreign ministers would discuss more support for the Palestinians at a meeting on Tuesday but said it was premature to discuss the recognition of a Palestinian state. 

"I hope we would be in a position to recognize a Palestinian state but there has to be one first. So I think that is a bit premature... We would be ready to recognize a Palestinian state but conditions are not there as of yet," Bildt said. 

The Palestinian Authority officials said earlier that they intend to seek support from the UN Security Council (UNSC) to recognize an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza with Jerusalem (Al-Quds) as its capital. 

"We are discussing other steps in order to demonstrate our support for the Palestinian aspirations more clearly than we have done so far, and clearly there is a need for that, Bildt said. 

Israel however warned that declaring a state without concluding a peace agreement would lead to Israeli counter-measures that could include annexation of more of the occupied West Bank. 

SB/AKM

----------


## Shades

Note on UNRWA's Financial Situation  
Date : 17/11/2009   Time : 17:53 

JERUSALEM, November 17, 2009 (WAFA)- UNRWA said it  implements its programme against a backdrop of extraordinary operational and financial challenges. 

UNRWAS External Relations Department said:  To maximise its capacity to deliver quality services at the lowest possible cost, in concert with its partners, the Agency has embraced a thoroughgoing organisational development programme, and has made major, tangible progress in its effort to modernise and streamline its strategic planning, programme delivery, accountability and resource mobilisation systems. 

Nonetheless, the prevailing global financial crisis, increased social safety needs in Gaza, losses due to foreign exchange fluctuations, cost pressures and socio-economic trends in the region have come together to militate against our finances  always strained  to a new degree of unprecedented seriousness. In spite of some very significant additional support from a number of key donors, shortfalls in income against expenditure in successive years since 2005 have resulted in the complete depletion of UNRWA's working capital. 

UNRWA is currently projecting a shortfall of $79.6 million for 2009 and of $125.7 for 2010 against its Programme requirements of $565.5 and $598.5 million respectively. To manage the shortfall UNRWA has had to cut or defer activities for 2009 to the tune of $67.8 million. After scaling back its Programme to the bare minimum, UNRWA's deficit today still amounts to $12.0 million for 2009 and to $39.4 million for 2010. 

With no working capital to resort to, in the present circumstances UNRWA is unable to meet all its commitments in 2009. The Agency will also be severely challenged to meet its obligations in the first quarter of 2010. 

Of further concern is the situation with regard to cashflow. UNRWA requires a minimum of $38.5m per month in order to meet liabilities as they fall due. Of this sum, by far the largest component  $33.4m  represents salaries for the Agency's 28,000 staff: teachers, health workers and other personnel who are deployed in the direct implementation of the core programme. On the basis of current projections, UNRWA foresees a cash deficit of $2.1m by the end of November and $7.7m at the end of December. Therefore, barring additional contributions before year's end, UNRWA will also face a cash crisis. 



Implications 

For refugees: 

Gaza: no additional teachers to meet the needs of the 8,000 new students this year, resulting in dysfunctionally large class sizes; 

West Bank: reductions in hospitalisation services; possible cuts to staffing; 

Jordan: reductions in vocational training provision; 

Syria: hiring freeze on teachers, despite an increase of 2,000 pupils; further cuts in hospitalisation; 

Lebanon: services in health and education curtailed and/or under severe pressure; precarious living conditions in all camps. 

For staff: 

Strained labour relations: UNRWA has been unable to maintain salary levels in line with those of its host country comparators. This has already resulted in strong dissatisfaction among staff and tension with unions. 

For stability and development: 

It is accepted by all parties that UNRWA makes a crucial contribution to the maintenance of stability and development in the region. Current financial difficulties undermine this role. 

On an operational level multiple challenges simultaneously loom on the horizon, including: in Lebanon, delays in the reconstruction of Nahr al-Bared Camp and continued precarious living conditions; increasing instability in other camps; in Jordan, reduction in services due to cost saving measures, resulting in tension and additional burdens on local authorities; in Gaza, education reforms and gender initiatives jeopardised; in West Bank, an impoverished population under occupation will have to endure further hardship and reductions in services, with demonstrations by camp committees against such cuts. 

UNRWA has managed such challenges in the past, but the current financial crisis and the lack of financial reserves have resulted in a situation of unprecedented gravity. UNRWA represents  and is seen as representing  the expression of the will of the international community to support the refugee population until a comprehensive, just and durable solution is reached. Underfunding the Agency to the point where it can no longer meet its obligations under its mandate is risky and highly counterproductive, particularly as the international community is poised to revive the Middle East peace process.

----------


## Shades

Palestinian state 'backed by Arabs'
Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:31:26 GMT

Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas

The Palestinian Authority has dismissed Israel's remarks over taking a "unilateral" step in case of Palestinians' statehood demand, saying the Arab countries support the plan for an independent Palestinian state recognized by the UN. 

'"The matter of the declaration and the matter of going to the (UN) Security Council is not a unilateral decision," Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas said after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo. 

"The decision emanates from an Arab follow-up committee (of the Arab League) that was convened recently ... and which agreed to go the Security Council to say that it supports an independent Palestinian state," he added. 

Abbas said the deadlock in negotiations with Israel left him with no option but to take the move for the declaration of an independent state. 

The negations, suspended during the Gaza war last year, have been blocked due to Israel's refusal to freeze settlement construction in the occupied lands. 

The Palestinians have repeatedly said they will not resume peace talks, unless Israel completely halts the construction of settlements on the occupied West Bank. 

SB/AKM

----------


## Shades

Date : 17/11/2009   Time : 19:03 

TEL AVIV, November 17, 2009 (WAFA)- Despite US pressure to cease building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem neighborhoods, the Construction and Planning Committee of the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem  on Tuesday afternoon approved the building of an additional 900 housing units  in the Jewish settlement of Gilo , the Israeli daily Jerusalem Post reported.. 

Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai signed the approval for the expansion of the southeast Jerusalem neighborhood. 

Following appeals by US Mideast envoy Senator George Mitchell and his team to freeze the plan, the Israeli Mayor  of Jerusalem Nir Barkat said he refused to be part of a halt to Jewish and Arab construction in west or east Jerusalem.

----------


## Shades

Date : 17/11/2009   Time : 21:23 

AMMAN, November 17, 2009 (WAFA)- The Presidency strongly condemned Tuesday the approval of the Israeli government to build 900 Housing units in Gilo settlement near Jerusalem, considering it as a devastation  to prospects of resuming the peace process in the Middle East.

Presidency Spokesperson, Nabil abu Rdeina said this Israeli decision closes all doors in face of the resumption of the peace process, considering the decision as a message to the US administration.

----------


## Shades

*Israel approves new East Jerusalem homes*
Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:02:08 GMT

Israel has expanded East Jerusalem construction despite repeated calls by the US.

Israel has approved the construction of hundreds of new homes in annexed East Jerusalem (Al-Quds) in an apparent rebuff to the US calls for settlement freeze in occupied Palestinian lands. 

Israel's interior ministry said on Tuesday that it approved the construction of 900 new housing units in Gilo, one of a dozen of Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem (Al-Quds), Ynet reported. 

He said the project still needs to be reviewed and will be subject to court petitions by the public, AFP reported. 

The project was approved although the US has voiced its objection to the expansion of Gilo, Ynet said. 

According to Ynet, the approval for new home construction triggered a dispute between Israeli officials and US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell. 

In a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's emissaries, Mitchell demanded an immediate halt to the construction in the neighborhood, after receiving information about the expected approval. 

An official at the Israeli Prime Minister's Office denied reports of any disputes with Mitchell and said, "This is a routine procedure being held at the regional committee." 

"The Gilo neighborhood is an integral part of united Jerusalem, and there is no difference between building there and building in Tel Aviv or Haifa," Ynet quoted the official as saying. 

Israel captured East Jerusalem (Al-Quds) along with the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community. 

The regime considers the Holy City its "eternal, indivisible" capital and does not view construction in its eastern part as settlements. 

The Palestinians also want to make the eastern part of the city the capital of their future independent state. 

They unveiled a plan earlier this week to seek support from the UN Security Council (UNSC) to recognize an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza with Jerusalem (Al-Quds) as its capital. 

SB/AKM

----------


## Shades

Date : 17/11/2009   Time : 21:59 

HEBRON, November 17, 2009 (WAFA)- Five Jewish settlers harassed Tuesday a Palestinian family walking home, then beat and robbed two internationals who accompanied them, in the South Hebron Hills of the West Bank.

A press release issued by Christian Peacemaker Teams said: The two young parents and their three small children were returning from the nearby city of Yatta to their home village of Tuba.  At 11 a.m. they encountered two members of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) just south of the village of At-Tuwani.  After the CPTers warned the Palestinians about the settlers seen earlier in the morning, the family chose a longer path toward Tuba, accompanied by the CPTers.

As the group crossed Mashakha Hill, they saw four settler men on a ridge 50 meters above them.  The settlers ran toward the Palestinians and began to circle them.  A fifth settler, masked and hooded, appeared from the valley below.  When the Palestinian man told them he was only trying to walk home, a settler shoved him.

As the CPTers attempted to step between the Palestinians and settlers, the settlers pushed them to the ground, hit and kicked them, and stole their two video cameras.  The settlers then walked to the illegal settlement outpost* of Havot Maon (Hill 833), where they disappeared among the trees 20 minutes later.  The Palestinian family reached their home safely.

For decades, citizens of Tuba Village had a direct road to the village of At-Tuwani, and onward to the regional economic hub of Yatta.  The Israeli settlement of Maon and its neighboring illegal outpost of Havat Maon were built directly on that road, blocking all Palestinian traffic and forcing villagers onto long dirt paths through the hills, taking as much as two hours.

CPT has maintained a continuous full-time presence in At-Tuwani since 2005, supporting Palestinian freedom of movement under the threat of settler violence.  CPT places trained volunteers in locations of violent conflict around the world at the invitation of local peacemakers.

----------


## Shades

*Israel new settlement plans under fire*
Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:59:29 GMT

On Tuesday, Israel announced plans to build 900 new homes in Gilo neighborhood in East Jerusalem (Al-Quds).

Israel's decision to erect hundreds of new housing units in the West Bank have dismayed in the United States and the United Nations. 

On Tuesday, Tel Aviv announced plans to build 900 new homes in Gilo, one of a dozen Israeli settlements in the illegally annexed East Jerusalem (Al-Quds), seized by the Israeli army along with the rest of the occupied West Bank during the six-day war in 1967. 

The latest announcement drew sharp criticism from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who 'deplored' the construction as an 'illegal' action that would stunt peace efforts and cast doubt on the possibility of a two-state solution. 

The US also voiced dismay at the approval of new Israeli housing on the occupied Palestinian land, accusing Israel of undermining US-backed efforts to relaunch peace negotiations. 

Britain also criticized the continuous expansion of Israeli settlements for making it harder to secure an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, while France also regretted Tel Aviv's persistence in going ahead with its construction activity. 

But Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai fended off the criticism on Wednesday, saying freezing construction in Gilo was just like freezing construction in any other neighborhood in the West Bank. 

"Construction in Jerusalem (Al-Quds) cannot be halted and Gilo is in Jerusalem," he said. 

The decision to expand the Israeli settlements sparked outrage among Palestinians, who have repeatedly called for a complete freeze on new building before any new round of talks. 

The Fatah-led Palestinian Authority, deeply disappointed with the failure of peace efforts, has launched a unilateral bid to seek statehood from the United Nations, despite divisions with the Gaza-based Hamas movement. 

Europe and the United States discouraged the move on Tuesday, urging reconsideration of the recognition move and calling for a return to talks. 

"I would hope that we would be in a position to recognize a Palestinian state but there has to be one first, so I think it is somewhat premature," said Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country holds the EU presidency. 

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank remain divided over political differences between Hamas resistance movement and the Western-backed Fatah. 

The standoff between the rival factions hiked to a breaking point in June 2007 after Fatah staged a coup against the democratically elected Hamas government almost a year after its sweeping victory in the 2006 elections, forcing Hamas to limit its rule to the Gaza Strip. 

MRS/AKM

----------


## Shades

UK Condemns Israels Decision to build Housing Units in East Jerusalem  
Date : 18/11/2009   Time : 00:39 

LONDON, November 18, 2009 (WAFA)- The UK condemned, today, Israels decision to build hundreds of housing units in East Jerusalem, affirming that it makes reaching a peace agreement much harder.

A Spokesperson on behalf of David Miliband, according to the AFP, said that expanding settlements on occupied lands in East Jerusalem, makes it harder to reach an agreement, so this decision is wrong, and we object to it.

----------


## Shades

Poll: US views Israel exempted from law
Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:57:42 GMT

A Palestinian mother with her children on the site of their house ruined in the Gaza war.


*The US apparently views Israel as being exempted from abiding by international law, the results of a recent online opinion poll indicate.* 

Press TV asked in an online poll about the respondents' opinion on a recent motion by the US congressmen against the Goldstone report, which accused Israel of war crimes during its December onslaught on Gaza which killed 1,387 Palestinians. 

*The report was published on September 25 by Richard Goldstone, the head of the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Gaza Conflict*. 

More than 56 percent of respondents said Israel was viewed by the US as exempted from abiding by international law. 

The 575-page UN-ordered report on Israel's offensive in Gaza detailed seven incidents in which Palestinian civilians were shot during the war while leaving their homes, trying to run for safety or waving white flags. 

Only 5.43 percent of the respondents regarded the UN report as "irredeemably biased", while 38.23 percent said that the US "advocacy for human rights" is mere propaganda. 

In a letter to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee urged the House Committee to reject the Goldstone report. 

Iran has lashed out at certain veto-wielding powers for opposing the UN report on the Gaza war, blaming them for the ongoing Israeli crimes in the region. 

HSH/AKM

----------


## Shades

Evacuation Delay of Israeli Rightists from East Jerusalem Building  
Date : 18/11/2009   Time : 14:52 

TEL AVIV, November 18, 2009 (WAFA)- Last minute political pressure is preventing the implementation of an Israeli Supreme Court ruling to evacuate Beit Yehonatan, which was established in East Jerusalem by the right-wing group Ateret Cohanim, the Israeli daily Haaretz said. 

In July 2008 the court ruled that the seven-story structure in the Silwan neighborhood must be shuttered. 

Haaretz has learned that parallel preparations by the municipal inspectors and the police to carry out the court order, pressure has come down on the legal counselor of the municipality, Yosef Havilio, to delay the execution of the order. 

 The issue had been deliberated for the past four years and the court, despite a series of delays, rejected the appeal by the residents of the building. However, a statement issued Tuesday from the office of the Israeli  Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat announced that 'a variety of legal alternatives are being examined between the owners of the structure and the courts.' 

Barkat's response was issued following a letter sent last week by Deputy Mayor David Hadari to the Israeli legal counselor and other senior municipal figures, opposing the order to evacuate and seal the structure.

----------


## Shades

Academics cease support for Holocaust center
Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:03:58 GMT

A group of academics have withdrawn their support for an Austrian Holocaust Studies center due to the limited access to the center's archive. 

According to a letter sent to the Associated Press, the university professors and researchers are provided with limited access and in some cases with no access to the archive of Vienna's Jewish community. 

The Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies began provisional operations in January. Its purpose is to give researchers access to roughly 8,000 files of the late Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal and to parts of a vast archive belonging to Jewish Community Vienna, which represents the city's Jewish Community. 

Earlier this month, former officials at the institute  including Anton Pelinka, the former chairman of the executive committee; and business manager Ingo Zechner  announced they were quitting, saying scholars would not be able to do independent research due to the archive restrictions. 

In a copy of the letter obtained by the AP, 12 of the institute's 15-member international academic advisory board said they, too, were dropping out. 

"The International Advisory Board of the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute has noted with increasing concern that the conditions under which the institute could carry out its work with the necessary degree of scholarly independence can no longer be met," the academics wrote in the letter dated Monday. 

"On the basis of the information available to us and in view of the resignations...we conclude that the board no longer serves a useful purpose." 

The letter was co-signed by, among others, Yehuda Bauer, professor of Holocaust Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; David Bankier, head of the International Institute for Holocaust Research at Yad Vashem; and Tom Segev, an Israeli historian, journalist and Wiesenthal biographer. 

HSH/AKM

----------


## Shades

Gaza rocket hits an open area in Western Negev

2009-11-18 11:02:30 
Occupied Jerusalem-PalPress-Israeli security  sources said that a home made rocket fired from northern Gaza Strip today Wednesday morning  landed on  Shaar Hanegev regional council in Western Negev.

The sources added that the rocket hit an open area causing no damages or injuries.

----------


## Shades

*Israeli intransigence blocking peace process: Turkish FM*
Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:05:39 GMT

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu addresses the media in Ankara, October 19, 2009.

Turkey says *Israel's hard-line policy is an obstacle blocking efforts to restart the peace process in the region.* 

Unfortunately, the onslaught by the Israeli defense forces against Palestinian civilians in Gaza had halted all ongoing peace processes, including the Turkish mediated Syrian-Israeli indirect talks, Today's Zaman quoted Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as saying. 

The Turkish foreign minister also noted that Ankara is closely monitoring events related to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem Al-Quds. 

*Israeli troops should not be allowed to enter this holy site, he said, adding that any action against Al-Aqsa would stir up the feelings of Turkish citizens and create uproar in the streets of many Muslim countries.* 

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat recently said that the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are unlikely to resume in the near future since Tel Aviv is looking for an escape clause to avoid meaningful negotiations. 

*Israel's latest violence against Palestinian worshippers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque does not correspond to actions of a genuine partner for peace,* Erakat stated. 

Davutoglu warned that the continuing expansion of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories has been a source of tension between Turkey and Israel for many years. 

Under the 2002 Roadmap for Peace plan brokered by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia, Israel has to 'dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and also freeze all settlement activities.' 

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose right-leaning coalition includes pro-settler parties, has resisted calls for a total freeze on settlements in the occupied West Bank. 

It is estimated that over 285,000 Israeli settlers currently live in buildings erected on occupied land that the Palestinians claim for a future state. 

MP/HGL

----------


## Shades

King to host 2,000 Palestinian pilgrims
Badea Abu Al-Naja & Galal Fakkar | Arab News


MAKKAH/JEDDAH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has instructed authorities to host 2,000 relatives of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks so they can perform Haj this year. They will be treated as the governments guests.

Palestinian Endowment Minister Mahmoud Al-Habbash commended the kings gesture and said it would make all Palestinians happy. He said the pilgrims would be selected equally from Gaza and the West Bank by a special panel.

He said the royal gesture covers housing and transportation, adding that Palestinian embassies in Amman and Cairo have been instructed to collect the beneficiaries passports to get Haj visas.

About 5,000 Palestinians, including the kings guests, are expected to perform Haj this year.

Meanwhile, Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal inspected Haj facilities at the holy sites on Wednesday, including the final phase of the Jamrat Bridge project and the first phase of the monorail project. 

Later speaking to reporters, the governor expressed satisfaction over the arrangements made by various government departments to serve the guests of God so that they may perform the rituals in safety and comfort. He also visited the Arafat expansion project. About a million square-meter-area in Arafat has been leveled this year to create more space for pilgrims.

Prince Khaled laid the foundation stone for the third phase of the shuttle service, which will be used for the first time this year for Iranian and non-Arab African pilgrims. The system was previously used for the transportation of pilgrims from Turkey, Europe, America and Australia as well as Southeast Asia.

When the prince and those accompanying him arrived at the Jamrat Bridge, he was greeted by Haj Minister Fouad Al-Farsy, Transport Minister Jabara Al-Seraisry, and Habeeb Zain Al-Abidine, deputy municipal and rural affairs minister and supervisor of the development projects in the holy sites.

Zain Al-Abidine spoke of the monorail project linking the holy sites with Makkah, adding that pilgrims would be able to use the facility next year. Four helipad towers will be constructed near the Jamrat for airlifting injured and sick people.

He said more than 600 cameras had been installed on the Jamrat to monitor the movement of pilgrims and to prevent possible accidents.

We have prepared a documentary in nine languages to inform the pilgrims how to follow safety regulations while performing the stoning ritual, he added. Sixty special trucks have been readied to transport elderly pilgrims to the Jamrat. 

Prince Khaled later opened the new building of the Mina Hospital and inspected its medical facilities. He also went to the emergency and crisis department, which includes a section for combating dengue fever. The governor was accompanied by Al-Farsy, Al-Seraisry, Gen. Saad Al-Qahtani, director general of public security, Gen. Saad Al-Tuwaijeri, director general of Civil Defense and Makkah Mayor Osama Al-Bar.

 With input from Hamid Al-Sulami

----------


## Shades

Obama: More settlements won't make Israel secure
Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:43:41 GMT

US President Barack Obama


The US President Barack Obama says fresh Israeli decision to build new houses on the West Bank doesn't make the Tel Aviv regime safer, further complicating a Middle East peace accord. 

"I think that additional settlement building does not contribute to Israel's security. I think it makes it harder for them to make peace with their neighbors," Fox News quoted Obama as saying on Wednesday at an interview in China. 

"I think it embitters the Palestinians in a way that could end up being very dangerous," he noted. 

The Jerusalem Al-Quds city government moved forward Tuesday with plans to build 900 new homes at Gilo, a settlement of 40,000 Jewish settlers built in a part of the West Bank that Israel captured in 1967 and illegally annexed to Jerusalem Al-Quds. 

Publication of the government commission's blueprint for Gilo on Tuesday drew sharp criticisms from Palestinians, joined by the United Nations, Washington, the European Union and Britain. 

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said, "We condemn this in the strongest possible terms. It shows that it is meaningless to resume negotiations when this goes on." 

The Palestinian Authority and its subordinates want a capital at Jerusalem Al-Quds for the state they hope to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. They complain that Israeli settlement building around the holy city will cripple the viability of any state they wish to set up. 

The influential Islamic movement Hamas and its supporters, however, consider the Israeli entity as illegitimate and reject negotiations with them over the Palestinian land and rights. 

Tel Aviv is currently under intense pressure form international community to halt the illegal settlement constructions in the West Bank. Israeli settlements are widely considered as the main hurdle in the way of a so-called 'comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.' 

Under the 2002 Roadmap for a 'Peace plan' brokered by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia, Israel has to 'dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and also freeze all settlement activities'. 

It is estimated that there are almost 200,000 illegal Jewish settlers in the twelve or so Israeli settlements in Jerusalem Al-Quds. There are also about 300,000 more illegal Jewish settlers living in settlements across the occupied Palestinian territory of West Bank. 

MP/MB

----------


## Shades

Shalit to be swapped with 1000 Palestinian captives
Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:06:36 GMT

The captive Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, will be set free by the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement, as a deal for his release is in the final agreement stages. 

American Arabic-language Alhurra news network on Wednesday reported that Shalit is slated to be released on the eve of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which falls on Friday, October 27. The soldier will be released in exchange for "hundreds of prisoners," the network said. 

Alhurra further reported that Shalit is slated to be released to Egypt and from there he will make his way to Israel. The details of the agreement will be made public in the coming days. 

Gilad Shalit has been in Palestinian custody since he was abducted in a cross-border raid on June 25, 2006 by resistance fighters in Gaza Strip. 

The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) has demanded that Israel release more than 1,000 Palestinians, including about 450 long-serving inmates, from its detention facilities in exchange for Shalit's freedom. 

More than 11,500 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently imprisoned in Israeli prisons, suffering harsh and life-threatening conditions. 

MP/MB

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## Shades

New Israeli homes 'last nail in the coffin'
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:20:04 GMT

A general view of the Israeli settlement of Gilo in southern East Jerusalem (Al-Quds), November 18, 2009.

Former Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qureia calls Israel's plan to build more housing units in Gilo the final nail in the peace process' coffin. 

"This proves that the international community must realize that our statements regarding the collapse of the two-state solution are not slogans," Qureia urged. 

On Tuesday, Israel announced plans to construct 900 homes in Gilo, one of a dozen settlements in the illegally annexed East Jerusalem (Al-Quds) in the occupied West Bank. 

Qureia, a member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization's Executive Committee, warned the failed peace process would bring about "an eternal conflict that will lead the region and the entire world towards instability." 

The Israeli move came under fire from the international community for complicating the already stalled Middle East peace negotiations and putting a kibosh on international peace efforts. 

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the controversial decision clearly illustrated "why hopes for salvaging two-state solution and restarting genuine negotiations are rapidly fading, and why Israel is not a partner for peace." 

The Palestinians have been calling for a halt to the Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem (Al-Quds) before any peace talks with Tel Aviv. 

The Palestinians consider the Israeli-occupied land, home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque  Muslims' third holy site  and the Dome of Rock, as the capital of their homeland, fearing Israel's continued settlement expansion on land will ruin chances of establishing a viable Palestinian state. 

Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jews, on the other hand, fiercely oppose admitting the Palestinian identity of the city, claiming a God-given right to Jerusalem (Al-Quds) as their eternal capital. 

"Israel is looking to bolster the settlements at the expense of a solution that includes the establishment of a Palestinian state," Erekat added. 

The Palestinian official called the latest construction move a provocation against the international community a slap in the face of the US, who has been displaying an unprecedented criticism of its closest Mideast ally to revive the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. 

MRS/AKM

----------


## Shades

Israeli warplanes target Rafah tunnels
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:51:34 GMT

Israel regularly attacks Rafah's cross-border tunnels which connect Gaza to Egypt.

Israeli warplanes have pounded a building near the town of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip and destroyed two tunnels in the city of Rafah along the Egyptian border. 

An Israeli army spokeswoman on Thursday confirmed the overnight attack, claiming the targets were facilities used to procure weapons for the Palestinian resistance groups in the blockaded territory. 

Palestinian sources said three people were hurt in the airstrike, while eyewitnesses reported Israeli F-16 fighters targeted a military training compound belonging to Ezzeddin Qassam brigades. 

Tel Aviv said the airstrike was in response to a Wednesday rocket attack by Hamas which hit the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council, in the western Negev. 

On Friday, Israeli soldiers shot a Palestinian youth to death, critically wounded another near the Karni crossing in the Gaza Strip and kidnapped three others. 

Israeli army officials said the Palestinians were suspected of placing explosives near an Israeli separation fence, but could not confirm if the youth were armed or carrying explosives. 

Hamas police rejected the allegations and described those shot on Friday as youth who had gone to the area for hunting. 

Following the border incident, Palestinian fighters in Gaza fired a Qassam rocket into southern Israel, which did not cause any injuries or damage to properties. 

Israel regularly attacks the southern Gaza Strip, mostly targeting Rafah's cross-border tunnels that connect the closed coastal sliver to the neighboring Egypt. 

Palestinians say the tunnels are the only resort to provide food and other basic needs for the starving population in the impoverished territory. 

The Hamas-run Gaza Strip has been under a crippling Israeli siege and severe movement restrictions since June 2007, with food aid handouts maintaining half of its 1.5 million-strong population. 

MRS/AKM

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## Shades

Hamas vows to win Palestinian rights by resistance
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:38:46 GMT


Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal vows of planning a new political initiative that would discard vain negotiations and instead adopt resistance to redress Palestinian rights. 

"Not much hope could be upheld for a future Palestinian state as long as the Zionist occupation persists; Israel pushes ahead with plans to build more homes for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem Al-Quds as well as the West Bank; and Palestinians are shorn of the right to free decision-making," Meshaal told al-Jazeera TV network on Wednesday. 

The Hamas also noted that it was no surprise to hear that the so-called peace process with Israel has completely failed due to the 'Zionist obstinate refusal' to withhold commitments, the unswerving US support for Israel, and the bitter rifts among Palestinian factions and Arab weaknesses . 

"The only way out of the current ordeal is the unanimous Palestinian factions' adoption of the resistance option," Meshaal said, describing the declaration of a Palestinian state as deceptive since there could be no independent state until the occupied lands are entirely liberated. 

Speaking at a televised speech in the West Bank City of Ramallah on November 5, the 74-year-old acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas blamed Israel for the collapse of the political process, saying that the Palestinian Authority has carried out all its commitments and obligations while Israel continues to steal Palestinian land and build Jewish settlements. 

This is while Israel gave approval on Tuesday for the construction of hundreds of new housing units in illegally annexed East Jerusalem Al-Quds, drawing international criticism as it drove another stake into troubled Middle East 'peace' efforts. 

Calling the plan for construction of 900 new units in Gilo settlement as 'illegal', UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appealed to Israel to respect its commitments to cease all settlement activity under the Road Map. 

Under the 2002 Roadmap for a 'Peace plan' brokered by the united States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia, Israel has to 'dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and also freeze all settlement activities.' 

It is estimated that there are almost 200,000 illegal Jewish settlers in the twelve or so Israeli settlements in Jerusalem Al-Quds. There are also about 300,000 more illegal Jewish settlers living in settlements across the occupied Palestinian territory of West Bank. 

MP/MB

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## Shades

*Palestinian structures destroyed in Jerusalem Al-Quds*
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:09:27 GMT

Jewish settlers salvage pieces from a structure that was destroyed by Israeli forces at the illegal outpost of Neguhot Darom near the illegal settlement of Neguhot in the occupied West Bank on Nov. 16.

Despite criticisms over Israeli expansion of illegal settlements and destruction of Palestinian homes, *Israelis have again torn down Palestinian properties in east Jerusalem Al-Quds.* 

One day after Israeli authorities announced a plan to expand a settlement near Jerusalem Al-Quds, Israeli authorities on Wednesday destroyed a few structures and a horse stable belonging to Palestinians in east Jerusalem Al-Quds, claiming they were built without a permit. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has always rejected demands by Europe and the United States to freeze settlement construction and has emphatically said that construction will continue in Jerusalem Al-Quds. 

Meanwhile, during a news conference in Jerusalem Al-Quds on Thursday, *French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, who is on an official visit to the region, said that Israel must stop building (illegal) settlements "wherever they may be.*" 

*Some 177,000 Jews live in east Jerusalem Al-Quds, in areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and later annexed as part of the city.* 

FTP/SS/MMA

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## Shades

In prison interview, Barghouti urges unity
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:34:46 GMT

Marwan Barghouti

Jailed Palestinian politician and activist, Marwan Barghouti, calls on Palestinians to unite and to embark on popular and diplomatic campaigns to achieve their goals. 

In a written message passed from prison through his lawyer, he said, "Betting on negotiations alone was never our choice. I have always called for a constructive mix of negotiation, resistance, political, diplomatic and popular action." 

Responding in writing from his prison cell to questions sent by the Reuters news agency, the 50-year-old Barghouti said that with the peace process at a standstill, it was time for Fatah and Hamas to sign a reconciliation accord (with Egyptian mediation) so that legislative and presidential elections could be held. 

The elections are set for January 24. The acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas had announced last month that he would not partake in the election. This leaves the door open for Barghouti, if released from jail, to replace Abbas. 

Calling for a national unity and popular campaign against settlements, Bargouthi cited Israeli policies in Jerusalem Al-Quds, the Gaza blockade, land expropriation and Israel's "racist" West Bank separation wall as indications that talks would achieve little, Reuters, in an interview published on Thursday, said. 

Asked if he would run for president, Barghouti replied that "when national reconciliation is accomplished and there is agreement on holding elections, I will take the appropriate decision." 

Bargouthi was sentenced in 2004 to five life terms for the killings of four Israelis and a Greek monk during the second intifada, which broke out in 2000. He has denied the charges. 

He could be released if Hamas and Israel come to an agreement over the fate of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. 

German mediators are continuing to broker efforts to produce a prisoner swap, senior Hamas leader Usama Al-Muzeini told Ma'an on Wednesday. He said talks were "ongoing with German mediation and are overcoming obstacles." 

FTP/SS/MMA

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## Shades

Austria: Israel undermining any peace process
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:11:18 GMT

Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger

Austria has condemned Israel's decision to expand its settlements in occupied Palestinian lands, saying such a decision is a deliberate move to block peace efforts. 

"Israel's ongoing settlement policy is increasingly becoming a targeted effort to undermine any peace process," AFP quoted Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger as saying in a statement on Thursday. 

"The growing Israeli settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, and the blockade, are destroying any trust in a political process and thereby hindering economic and social developments in the Palestinian territories," he added. 

Israel on Wednesday declared that it plans to build 900 new homes in east Jerusalem Al-Quds. 

"Israel must put an end to this one-sided policy on Palestinian territory," Spindelegger stated. 

"We are currently lacking the readiness and the courage for an honest negotiating process," he concluded. 

MGH/SS/MMA

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## Shades

*Churches call for 'resistance' against Israel* 
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:14:00 GMT


*The World Council of Churches (WCC) has called for "resistance" against Israel's decision to expand its settlements in east Jerusalem Al-Quds.* 

*WCC declared that the expansion of the Israeli settlements "may destroy any chance for peace",* AFP reported. 

Secretary General Reverend Samuel Kobia called on organizations related to the Council "to act with resolve, in concert ... to reverse this decision of the Israeli government and the settlement program it represents." 

Israel on Wednesday announced that it will build 900 new homes in east Jerusalem Al-Quds, which it occupied in 1967. 

*Expressing "great disappointment", Kobia said the leading council of Christian and Orthodox churches "strongly condemns the decision ... to expand the illegal Gilo settlement as we believe that this decision will hinder attempts now in process to restart the peace negotiations.*" 

"If settlements continue to expand and proliferate, they will further complicate negotiations and may destroy any chance for peace" Kobia said in a statement. 

*The WCC brings together 348 Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican churches representing about 560 million Christians in 110 countries.* 

MGH/SS/MMA

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## Shades

World condemns new Israeli settlements 
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:52:00 GMT

Laborers work on a construction site of a housing development in the neighborhood of Gilo in Jerusalem Al-Quds.

*More international community members condemn Israel over plans to authorize construction of 900 new housing units at Gilo, a settlement built illegally on Palestinian land occupied in the 1967 war.* 

*China criticized the Israeli government's move to expand a Jewish neighborhood in the part of Jerusalem Al-Quds, claimed by Palestinians, saying it poses new obstacles to the Middle East peace process.* 

"We urge the Israeli side to take concrete measures to restore Palestine-Israel mutual trust and create favorable conditions for the early resumption of talks between them," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Thursday. 

The remarks by China's Foreign Ministry were also echoed by the Swiss government which called on Israel to stop construction of Jewish settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. 

"*Switzerland is deeply concerned about the destruction of Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem near the old town and the planned eviction of Palestinian families*," the Swiss Foreign Ministry said Thursday in a statement. 

It added East Jerusalem Al-Quds is an integral part of the Palestinian territories and under international humanitarian law Israel must protect the local civilian population. 

"There is no military necessity that could justify the destruction of these houses or the evictions of Palestinian families," the statement expounded. 

*The Brazilian government also added to a chorus of international demands that Israel stop settlement activity in the disputed part of Jerusalem Al-Quds*. 

In a statement, the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Tel Aviv's decision to expand Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory violates the UN Security Council's resolutions on the issue and contradicts the Israeli obligations within the context of the "roadmap" towards the peaceful settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

"It represents a blow to international efforts aimed at reviving the peace process in the region and is another obstacle to achieving the goal of establishing a future Palestinian state that is geographically cohesive and economically viable," the statement said. 

The Brazilian government, meanwhile, called on the Israeli government to reverse the decision so as to "enlarge the political conditions necessary for the Israelis and Palestinians to resume negotiations." 

Israel gave approval on Tuesday for the construction of hundreds of new housing units in illegally annexed East Jerusalem Al-Quds, drawing more international criticism. 

*The United States and France have summoned the Israeli ambassadors to both Washington and Paris, in the past few days to express strong resentment over the issue of the Jewish settlement and reiterate that the decision was not compatible with efforts to find a lasting global solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians*. 

Under the 2002 Roadmap for Peace plan brokered by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia, Israel has to 'dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and also freeze all settlement activities'. 

There are currently 121 Israeli settlements and approximately 102 Israeli outposts built illegally on Palestinian land occupied by Israel in 1967. All of these settlements and outposts are illegal under international law and have been condemned by numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions. 

These settlements and outposts are inhabited by a population of some 462,000 Israeli settlers. Some 191,000 Israelis are living in settlements around Jerusalem Al-Quds and a further 271,400 are further spread throughout the West Bank. 

MP/MTM/DT

----------


## Shades

Israeli MP reveals further construction plans
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:34:05 GMT


An Israeli lawmaker reveals plans to build several thousand new houses around Jerusalem Al-Quds despite worldwide condemnation of Tel Aviv's relentless settlement expansion. 

Arab Knesset member Ahmad Tibi said on Friday that the Israeli municipality of the annexed city is preparing to build 15,000 new housing units, mainly in areas beyond the Green Line in the occupied West Bank. 

The news comes on the heels of the Interior Ministry's controversial approval of a plan to construct 900 homes in Gilo, one of a dozen Israeli settlements in the illegally annexed East Jerusalem Al-Quds. 

The decision drew sharp criticism from the international community, including UN chief Ban Ki-moon who condemned the 'illegal' move for stunting peace efforts and casting doubt on the possibility of a two-state solution. 

The United States, Britain and France also expressed regret over Israeli refusal to heed international calls to freeze its construction activity in the occupied West Bank. 

The Palestinians also described the move as 'the last nail in the coffin' of peace efforts based on the US-backed two-state solution. 

Tibi, however, said the new 15,000 housing units were just waiting for approval from officials in Tel Aviv, stressing that the plans posed a more serious threat to the Palestinian residents of Jerusalem Al-Quds. 

"These plans are larger and more dangerous than the recent plans to build 900 housing units in Gilo," Ma'an news agency quoted the Knesset member as saying in a telephone conversation. 

The international community does not recognize Jerusalem Al-Quds as part of Israel although the regime seized the city along with the rest of the occupied West Bank during the six-day war in 1967. 

The Palestinians consider the city, which houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque - the third Muslim holy site - and the Dome of the Rock, as the capital of their homeland and accuse Israel of making efforts to steal the city's Islamic-Palestinian identity. 

Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jews, on the other hand, fiercely oppose admitting the Palestinian identity of the city, claiming a 'God-given right' to Jerusalem Al-Quds as their 'eternal capital'. 

MRS/HGH

----------


## Shades

*Jordanians march in support of Al-Aqsa Mosque*
Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:23:09 GMT

Hundreds of Jordanians take to the streets in Amman to express deep resentment over Israeli troops' raids into the Al-Aqsa Mosque, while criticizing the attacks as part of a Judaization campaign that targets East Jerusalem Al-Quds. 

Participants in Friday demonstration, that brought about Jordanians from all walks of life, also condemned the silence by the Arab governments over what they described as "serious Israeli violations against Al-Aqsa Mosque." 

They also called on Arabs and Muslims to throw their weight behind the Palestinian Intifada (uprising) in the face of the Zionist aggressions and violations against Al-Aqsa Mosque and East Jerusalem Al-Quds. 

Meanwhile, Palestinian lawmaker Samira al-Halaika warns that Israeli plans to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque are in their final stages, calling on Arab and Muslim states to shatter silence and to implement practical measures to cease the schemes. 

The state of death [Israel] engulfs Arab and Muslim world and is swallowing them up. The callous indifference shown by the Islamic world towards Israeli aggressions on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound explains why the organized Israeli ethnic cleansing in the East Jerusalem Al-Quds is going on unimpeded, and now is in final stages at Jerusalem Al-Quds, the legislator from Hamas's parliamentary bloc in Palestinian Legislative Council was quoted as saying by Palestinian Information Center on Friday. 

She also urged Arab and Muslim nations and officials to end their inexplicable silence and to sincerely stand beside their brethren in occupied East Jerusalem Al-Quds. 

The Zionist enemy does anything to diminish the Palestinians' presence in the city. It either demolishes their homes or confiscates and invalidates their residency documents among other illegal practices so as to change the demographic population of Jerusalem Al-Quds in favor of the Jews, Halaika deplored. 

MP/DT

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## Shades

*Lebanon arrests another Israeli spy*
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:57:10 GMT

A Lebanese secret service officer shows an electronic transmitter hidden inside an ice cooling container found with suspected spies, May 11, 2009.

The Lebanese security forces have detained a suspected spy in the southern town of Tebnine, the latest in a string of arrests which uncovered an Israeli spying network in Lebanon. 

The Internal Security Forces (ISF) arrested a teacher over suspicions of transferring sensitive intelligence to Israeli agents, the Lebanese media reported on Thursday. 

The ISF intelligence department had put the man under close surveillance for several months before arresting him on Wednesday afternoon. 

Al-Akhbar newspaper quoted sources at the ISF directorate as saying that the 54-year-old man admitted to spying for Israel. 

The man, identified as A. Berri, said that the Israelis asked him to stop his spying activities last April following the discovery of several cells working for the Israeli intelligence in Lebanon, the daily reported. 

Earlier in November, a Lebanese military court handed death sentences to four people on charges of spying for Israel and conspiring with Tel Aviv to wage a war on the country. 

Two of the defendants were tried in absentia because they had reportedly fled to Israel. The other two were a staff sergeant in the Lebanese internal security services and his wife. 

Beirut launched a joint counter-espionage campaign with Hezbollah this year in a bid to eradicate the Israeli spying cells operating in Lebanon. 

Nearly 150 Israeli spies have either been arrested by security forces, or fled from Lebanon in the last eight months. 

MRS/AKM

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## Shades

Potential Israeli Settler Violence Threatens 250,000 Palestinians, UN Report Says  
Date : 19/11/2009   Time : 20:26 

JERUSALEM, November 19, 2009 (WAFA)- Nearly 250,000 Palestinians in 83 communities on the West Bank are at risk of heightened violence in so-called price tag revenge attacks that Israeli settlers may launch against a large-scale attempt by Israel to evacuate outposts it considers illegal, a United Nations report warned Wednesday.

While most price tag incidents recorded to date resulted in Palestinian injuries and in significant property damage, the level of settler mobilization observed so far, appears to be relatively limited, it noted, referring to the settler strategy of exacting a price from Palestinians in response to Israeli attempts to dismantle outposts the authorities themselves have not authorized.

However, considering the limited scope of the removal operations implemented so far by the Israeli authorities, the level of violence that could be expected following a relatively large dismantlement operation is significantly higher, the monthly report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) added, listing a litany of attacks against Palestinians and their property, such as olive groves.

It called on Israel to ensure that all its security forces in the field are properly instructed about their authority and obligation to enforce the law on Israeli settlers and protect Palestinian civilians from settler violence, which must no longer enjoy the impunity it now does. Israel must also allocate necessary forces to effectively patrol all areas near vulnerable communities ahead of operations against the outposts.

Considering Israels obligations under international law, the Israeli authorities must adopt all the necessary measures to prevent to the greatest extent possible attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians civilians and their property, in response to the removal of settlement outposts, it stressed, adding that this year 13 Palestinians have been injured per month on average in settler-related incidents.

The report, which cited numerous accounts from the Israeli authorities, army and media, noted that the immediate aim of the price tag strategy is to divert Israeli forces from the scene of an outpost evacuation into other areas requiring their intervention to contain violent incidents.

It cited Israels inadequate level of law enforcement despite its responsibility under international law, as the occupying power, to ensure public order and safety in the occupied territory, the lack of adequate accountability for settler violence, and the frequent failure of Israeli security forces to intervene and stop the attacks in real time, including to arrest suspects on the spot.

The current lack of accountability undermines efforts to reduce the phenomenon of settler violence in the long run and infringes on the rights of the victims to justice, it said. 

The report also noted that the most significant measure Israel has so far taken on the ground has been its decision to deploy during the past three olive harvest seasons, forces with the explicit task of protecting Palestinian farmers working in the vicinity of some settlements.

This measure has reduced the number of incidents involving physical assaults by settlers and resulting in injuries, however, it hardly affected the scope of attacks against property such as olive groves and produce, it said.

On occupied East Jerusalem, OCHA said that while Israel has expropriated some 35 per cent of land there for Israeli settlements, only around 13 per cent is available for Palestinian building and much of that land is built-up already. In those areas where construction is possible, Israeli bureaucratic restrictions make it extremely difficult for Palestinian residents to get building permits, it added.

In a related development, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for a settlement of the Middle East conflict that espouses the internationally accepted Road Map plan for two States  Israel and Palestine  to live side by side in peace and security within fully recognized borders.

Palestinians have waited too long for an end to occupation and a State of their own, he said in a message to a hosts and donors meeting of the 60-year-old UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the main conduit for aid to Palestinian refugees.

Israelis have a right to live in peace and harmony with their neighbours. More than ever, for both peoples, for the region and for the international community as a whole, we need to see two States living side by side in peace and security, he added in the message, which was delivered by UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) Executive Secretary Bader Al-Dafa to the gathering in Jordan.

----------


## Shades

Date : 21/11/2009   Time : 11:30 

QALQILIA, November 21, 2009 (WAFA)- Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested, this morning, five Palestinians from the town of Jayyous in Qalqilia Governorate.

Palestinian sources reported that IOF force-entered Jayyous, last night, and arrested five young men. Jayyous Mayor, Muhammad Taher Jabr told WAFA that IOF attacked the town late last night and stationed at its entrances before strolling inside its streets.

He added that IOF stopped and searched citizens, and he pointed that confrontations took place between Israeli soldiers and citizens.

----------


## Shades

Boycott targets settlement products 		
20.11.09 - 00:50 

The Palestinian Authority has called on the public to boycott several large supermarket chains in the West Bank that carry Israeli products.

The decision targets upscale markets in Ramallah, in an attempt to pressure the stores to discontinue the sale of fruits and vegetables grown and processed in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.


According to the Palestinian authorities, customers are not aware that some of the products are produced in one of over 200 Israeli settlements, built illegally on occupied Palestinian land deemed illegal under international law.


Palestinians consider these settlements the most crucial threat to their aspirations for statehood. 


As a result, the Palestinian ministry of economy has announced it will aggressively pursue an already existing law that criminalises trading in settlement products, a move that is widely popular among Palestinians. 

Israeli settlement products currently enjoy an estimated 15 per cent share of the Palestinian market, according to the minister of economy.

'Good move'

Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah, says the move to ban settlement products from the shelves will take time and require awareness among Palestinian consumers. 

"The government argues that it is through this boycott, that they are now striking back at the illegal settlements - product by product," she said. 

 amal Juma, a Palestinian activist and co-ordinator of the Stop the Wall campaign, told Al Jazeera: "If the Palestinian Authority insists on implementing this decision, it means the authority will participate in boycotting one-third of the Israeli products that come to the West Bank. 

"This is a very good step to support the Palestinian economy. It will provide the opportunity to improve Palestinians products and solve the unemployment problem.

"The decision will allow Palestinians to say: 'No to the occupation, we are not going to pay for the bulldozers that destroy our houses and for the bullets that kill our people'."



AlJazeera

----------


## Shades

*Israeli estimations: War in the Middle East is inevitable*

2009-11-21 12:30:42 

Occupied Jerusalem-PalPress-Agencies- New reports published in Tel Aviv yesterday spoke about an inevitable war the Middle East next Fall or Summer regardless of Irans issue.

Observers built their estimations on the directives of the Israeli army lately regarding kinds of  acquired weapons and the military exercises as well as statements delivered by Israeli military and political officials from time to time, last of which were statements of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhau and commander of the Northern Army, Major General Gadi Mishicot.

The Israeli military drills and joint drills with the US air force reflect were based on several scenarios ,  the simplest considered Hamas provocations that  would require a violent response similar in capacity to the last war and the strongest involved launching a war on Iran aimed at destroying its nuclear compound by the participation of Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas together.

The new weapons, give answer on the long ranged rockets which could be fired by Syria or Hizbullah or both  towards Israel.

According to Haaretz,  Netanyahu said in a speech which he delivered  last Tuesday during  the Aviation conference :since Britain was attacked by Germany during the Second World War  where 9000 British citizens  were killed, no country on  earth was exposed to serious threats like Israel, our foes strike us aiming to kill the biggest number  of Jews then they attack us again because we defend ourselves, but we will not accept this and we know how to  secure our people against this danger.

Israels former Defense Minister Moshe Arens wrote that Israel responded strongly on Hizbullah during the 2006  war as well as on Hamas in 2008 and has  maintained a big deterrent force on ground , pointing out that Hizbullah fired no rocket towards Israel since the second war and if others did Hizbullah would  rush to deny responsibility , Hamas also does not fire rockets and suppresses those who do , yet he believes that Olmerts government did not complete the mission..

Arens said that Israel does not have to hesitate   long to continue this mission, specially  that Hizbullah and Hamas have doubled their military capacities .

He added:The US was exposed to a similar threat in 1962, yet  President John Kenedi could not wait before he made Russia withdraw its weapons from Cuba.

Mishicot addressed the Israeli people saying: we have to forget the previous wars when we used to defeat the foe in a rapid strike like  what happened during the 1967 war , today the war would be different , today it will be mostly long and needs the politicians and the people to be more patient, our foes are relying on rockets which develop day after day  aiming to paralyze  the daily life of the Israeli citizens and to confuse the movement of the Israeli aviation

He added that the Israeli army is aware of the current threats, and has got the   response for every probability , pointing out that wars have taken new forms today  due efforts of the Israeli army, adding that the number of Israeli victims during wars  have lessened .

Observers expect the talks between Iran and the West to fail , and that the military option will be a top priority  on the international agenda , pointing out that Israel is preparing for this moment , 

yet by preparing for a strike against Hizbullah and Hamas, and probably against Syria , Israel is behaving as if Irans issue will be resolved via diplomatic channels, he added

----------


## Shades

*Lebanon army opens fire on Israeli drone*
Sun, 22 Nov 2009 07:54:07 GMT

An Israeli drone (archive photo)

Lebanese anti-aircraft guns open fire on an Israeli drone that violated Lebanese airspace over the south of the country. 

"A surveillance drone of the Israeli enemy" flew over "the area of Bint Jbeil at medium altitude" in the morning, the Lebanese military said in a statement on Saturday. 

"Army anti-aircraft batteries opened fire on the drone, forcing it to gain altitude before leaving Lebanese airspace," AFP quoted the statement as saying. 

The Lebanese military reports, almost on a daily basis, airspace violations by Israeli aircraft, but does not normally open fire on them. 

The UN considers Israeli violation of Lebanese airspace to be a violation of Security Council Resolution 1701, which brought an end to the Israeli offensive on Lebanon in 2006. 

MGH/JG/DT

----------


## Shades

Israel arrests 5 top PA intelligence officers
Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:25:59 GMT

Five senior Palestinian General Intelligence Service officers have been detained by Israeli forces near the West Bank village of Salfit in an overnight raid. 

The detainees include Salfit region intelligence commander Mohammad Abdel Hamid. 

The Israeli military has also demanded the Palestinians hand over an additional officer who was not apprehended. 

A Palestinian security source said the Friday morning arrests were apparently made in the wake of an investigation being carried out by the General Intelligence Service against a man suspected of collaboration with Israel. 

The PA assumes that the arrests are another attempt by Tel Aviv to dampen PA clout in light of the political row between Israel and the Palestinians. 

The Palestinian Authority however said that they are in contact with Israel in a bid to secure the release of those arrested. 

The Friday morning detentions are made at a critical juncture in relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Acting PA Chief Mahmoud Abbas said Friday in an interview with the BBC Arabic service that there would be no peace talks with Israel as long as settlement construction continued. He also implied that his people might adopt a new type of struggle against the occupation. 

"Those who have to resist are the people, and there are different types of resistance, like in Bilin and Naalin, where people are injured every day," he said. 

MP/TG/DT

----------


## Shades

*'2009 was bloodiest year for Israeli war machine'* 
Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:26:33 GMT

Palestinian fathers holding their dead children

*Israeli aggression has resulted in the death of more Palestinians this year than in any other year over the past two decades, says an Israeli rights group.* 

The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, B'Tselem, published a report notifying that Israeli aggression had killed 1,387 Palestinians including more than 300 children so far this year. 

Most of the deaths occurred after Tel Aviv ordered three weeks of unabated aerial and artillery bombardment of the Gaza Strip at the turn of the year. 

Medical sources put the number of deaths from the attacks at more than 1,400. 

Overall Palestinian deaths due to aggression over the past 20 years added up to nearly 7,400 the report said, adding that hundreds of Palestinians are currently illegally incarcerated in Israeli jails. 

The group issued the report on its 20th anniversary, which it announced through an obituary-like advertisement in the mass-circulation Israeli daily Haaretz. 

"We are fed up and people are fed up of us, but four million people [who] live in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are to this day deprived of their most basic human rights," it said. 

HN/MMN/HGL

----------


## Shades

*Israeli jets attack Gaza, 7 Palestinians injured* 
Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:55:46 GMT

*Israeli jets have carried out air strikes against targets in the Gaza Strip, injuring seven Palestinians.* 

On Sunday, Palestinian medical workers and witnesses said other areas targeted by Israeli planes included a caravan in the northern Gaza Strip and smuggling tunnels in the south under the border with Egypt, the New York Times reported. 

In addition, the Press TV correspondent in Gaza reported that *Israeli gunboats were approaching the coast of Gaza.* 

The attacks occurred one day after Hamas said it had reached an agreement with smaller armed groups in the territory to halt sporadic rocket fire toward Israel. 

In July, the Israeli military offensive into the impoverished Palestinian coastal sliver, dubbed Operation Cast Lead, claimed the lives of over 1,400 people and injured many others. 

According to UN figures, a large number of the victims were civilians, including women and children. 

SG/SS/HGL

----------


## Shades

*'Gaza water not fit for human consumption'*
Sun, 22 Nov 2009 11:00:04 GMT

Palestinians fill bottles and containers with water at the UN Relief and Works Agency headquarters

*Water in the Gaza Strip is so salty that it is no longer safe for human consumption, a senior Palestinian official in charge of water supplies in the coastal sliver says*. 

"The water is no longer fit for human consumption, with analysis and international studies showing that just 10 percent of water in the Gaza Strip is potable... threatening the lives of Palestinians," AFP quoted Munzir Shiblak as saying on Sunday. 

In a statement he called for "the necessary measures to be taken to end the problem of salinity in Gaza water supplies, a problem that is getting worse," adding that the water situation in the Gaza Strip is "critical". 

Shiblak noted that 160 million cubic meters of water was taken from the underground aquifers last year to supply 1.5 million people with drinking water and for agriculture, but that natural replenishment amounted to only 80-90 million cubic meters. 

"The ground water deficit rose to more than 80 million cubic meters last year, and if this situation continues reserves could collapse in the next few years," Shiblak said. 

The UN Environment Program also warned that Gaza's underground water supplies are "in danger of collapse "following years of overuse and the devastating war Israel waged in the territory at the turn of the year." 

MGH/JG/DT

----------


## Tulip

how sad is that.. who on earth is going to help them?? Isn't anyone responsible for those people?

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## Shades

Every human have the responsibility towards them they have to help them, by any means either by fund raising, or by educating masses about there plight, or by writing articles in the news paper's. Muslims have special duty as its there brother's n sister's suffering.

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## Shades

*Israel brands settlement issue as 'marginal'*
Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:29:17 GMT

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (R) holds a joint press conference with his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres in Cairo

Israel's president has downplayed the construction of settlements in the occupied Palestinian land as a "marginal" issue blocking the resumption of peace talks. 

"Unfortunately, it's a marginal issue, it is some building of houses that became a central issue for the wrong reasons. My answer is even this issue can be settled by negotiations and agreement," Shimon Peres said during a visit to Egypt on Sunday. 

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, however, said Israeli construction on the land it captured in a 1967 war should stop, adding that Tel Aviv should take "courageous decisions" to push forward peace. 

The negations, which were suspended during the Gaza war at the turn of the year, have been blocked due to Israel's refusal to freeze settlement construction in the occupied land. 

The Palestinian side has repeatedly said that it will not resume peace talks, unless Israel completely halts the construction of settlements in the occupied West Bank. 

Tel Aviv, however, has so far refused to fulfill its commitments, despite pressure from the international community. 

"The minute we shall start to negotiate there won't be new settlements, there won't be confiscation of land," Peres added. 

Israel claims that it is not constructing 'new' settlements but only building new units in the existing settlements  an excuse which has failed to satisfy the Palestinians or the international community. 

SB/MMN

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## Shades

*PA wants Israel's direct answer to settlement question*
Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:26:57 GMT

The Palestinian Authority's caretaker Prime Minister Salam Feyadh has urged Israel to stop "equivocating" on the settlements issue. 

"You know, this (the settlement issue) is not really something that is going to go away. And Israeli leaders are well advised to stop, you know, equivocating on the issue if this issue is to be resolved," Reuters quoted Feyadh as saying on Sunday. 

His comments came on Sunday as Israeli President Shimon Peres, in a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, downplayed the construction of settlements in the occupied Palestinian land as a "marginal" issue blocking the resumption of peace talks. 

"What's required is absolutely clear. The time has come for there to be a complete recognition of the need for ... a comprehensive settlement freeze in all of the occupied Palestinian territory  including, especially, in Jerusalem [Al-Quds] and around Jerusalem [Al-Quds]," Fayyad added. 

Last week, Tel Aviv approved a plan to build 900 new homes in a Jewish settlement near Jerusalem Al-Quds. 

Furthermore, Arab Knesset member Ahmad Tibi said on Friday that the Israeli municipality of the annexed city is preparing to build 15,000 new housing units, mainly in areas beyond the Green Line in the occupied West Bank. 

US President Barack Obama, who has been making efforts to re-launch the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, termed Tel Aviv's decision as a "very dangerous" move that could fuel Palestinian anger. 

MGH/TG/MMN

----------


## Shades

*2 killed, 4 injured in Israeli attack on Gaza*
Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:33:49 GMT

*At least two Palestinians have been killed and four others wounded in an Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip*. 

*Gaza hospital sources announced the reception of two bodies late on Monday, along with four other victims who had received medium to critical injuries, after an Israeli tank shelled the eastern Gaza city neighborhood of Shejaeya*. 

The shelling caused serious damage in the densely populated area, reports say, but there are no more details on the incident. 

*The latest attack comes two days after the Israeli military launched a series of air raids on Gaza, wounding seven people, including children*. 

GHN/HGL

----------


## Shades

*Palestinian Goes on Hunger Strike over Denial of Medical Treatment * 
Date : 22/11/2009   Time : 20:01 

RAMALLAH, November 22, 2009 (WAFA)- Ibrahim Burnat, a resident of the West Bank village of  Bilin west of Ramallah   went on hunger strike last Thursday, after he was denied a permit to attend medical treatment in a Tel Aviv hospital, International Solidarity Movement (ISM) reported Sunday.

After being refused a permit to enter Israel for the sake of receiving medical treatment for the first time, Bilin activist Ibrahim Burnat, went on the hunger strike  in a desperate attempt to breach bureaucratic indifference.

On June 13, 2008, Burnat was shot with live ammunition, by Israeli Occupation Forces  during a demonstration against the wall in his village. Three bullets penetrated his thigh and caused extensive injuries, including a massive fracture, and long-term nerve damage.

On  November 1, 2009, Burnat was scheduled to undergo medical examinations at the Ichilov hospital in Tel Aviv, where he hoped a treatment plan to recover sensation in his leg could finally be established. Like any Palestinian, Burnat must apply for a special permit to enter Israel even for the sake of receiving medical treatment. Despite having provided a document confirming that the treatment he needs is not available in Palestinian hospitals, the army refused to issue Burnat a permit for security reasons.

Burnats older brother Rani was shot in the neck by an Israeli sniper  on October 2000, during a demonstration at the Qalandiya checkpoint, and is disabled from the neck down ever since. A standing Israeli policy automatically classifies first degree relatives of Palestinian fatal and serious casualties as security threats. Absurdly, Israels refusal to allow Burnat access to medical treatment has nothing to do with his own actions and convictions.

Burnat said today: This is my third day without any food, and I already feel very weak, but what other choice do I have left? I have no sensation in my right leg for over a year now, and I am prevented from receiving the medical treatment I need for absolutely no reason.

----------


## Shades

*Two Jewish colonizers Charged with Attacking Palestinian Shepherd * 
Date : 23/11/2009   Time : 17:05 

TEL AVIV, November 23, 2009 (WAFA)-  The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on Monday charged two Jewish colonizers suspected of attacking two Palestinian shepherds near their outpost south of Hebron, Haaretz said.

*Yehuda Goldberg and Jeremy Aronson, both residents of the Mitzpeh Yair outpost allegedly beat Palestinian shepherds Khaled and Naeel Abu Aram, aged 55 and 22, with a pipe in June 2008*. 

The suspects allegedly ordered the Abu Arams to evacuate the premises, which belonged to the settlers. 



According to the charges, Goldberg grabbed a plastic pipe from Khaled Abu Aram's hand and proceeded to beat him with it on the latter's neck and shoulder. Then Goldberg and Aronson allegedly began hurling rocks at Naeel. The incident left Naeel with broken cheekbone. 

Goldberg claimed that he struck the shepherd 'out of self defense.' 

'I admit that it's not my job to make these shepherds leave the area, but the army does nothing and they keep coming closer to the settlement, so I thought I best stop them,' said Goldberg. 



For his part, Aronson claimed that he was attacked. 'It was all self-defense,' he said. 'Essentially, Arabs cannot cross the riverbed to come up in the direction of Mitzpeh Yair. I know this because the army gets rid of them every day.'

----------


## Shades

*Artists against Apartheid Play for Palestine*  
Date : 23/11/2009   Time : 17:27 

MONTREAL, November 23, 2009 (WAFA)- La Sala Rossa in Montreal was packed Sunday for the eleventh Artists Against Apartheid concert, a cultural event series bringing diverse musicians to the stage in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom.

Artists against Apartheid is occurring within the growing international campaign to enforce boycott, divestment and sanctions on the Israeli government in response to Israeli apartheid policies against the Palestinian people living under military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza.

This global movement gained prominence and support after the internationally condemned Israeli bombardment on the Gaza Strip last winter.

At the eleventh Artists Against Apartheid hundreds gathered to listen to unique performances, including a trio featuring Sam Shalabi on oud, Omar Dewachi on oud and Pierre-Guy Blanchard on percussion who opened the evening. Sam Shalabis performance at the concert builds on a growing excitement in Montreal and globally towards Shalabis innovative sound that incorporates tones from the Middle East and experimental musical styles from North America.

Artists Against Apartheid XI also featured Seven Arrows, a new ensemble including featuring Joe Grass (pedal steel), Rebecca Foon (cello), Andrew Barr (drums and percussion), Sarah Pagé (harp), and Yuki Isami (flute and shinoboe), who transfixed the audience with a beautiful performance.

Seven Arrows formed to perform at the Artists Against Apartheid concert series and includes the participation of musicians who also perform with some of Montreals most celebrated musical groups including Lhasa de Sela and Silver Mt. Zion.



A unique performance that incorporated visuals and music, Bustros performance was enhanced by the images from Canadian photographer Larry Towell, a key member to the esteemed Magnum photo agency in New York City, and the subject of Davis film.

A beautifully toned evening featuring some of Montreals most celebrated alternative musicians points to the growing interest in the Artists Against Apartheid concert series, which is coordinated by Tadamon!, a grassroots collective of activists struggling for social justice in the Middle East.

----------


## Shades

Ambulances Denied Access to Neighborhoods in E. Jerusalem without Police Escort  
Date : 23/11/2009   Time : 22:29 

JERUSALEM, November 23, 2009 (WAFA)- Three Human rights organization sent an urgent letter to the Israeli Deputy Minister of Health and the Jerusalem Police Chief demanding the immediate cancellation of preventing ambulances from entering Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem without an Israeli police escort , saying this policy violates the residents' right to life and health.

Adalah, Physicians for Human Rights  Israel and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights  demanded  the immediate cancellation of instructions preventing Magen David Adom (MDA) ambulances from entering the Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem without prior permission and police escort even in emergency cases. 

According to the instructions, the MDA ambulance must wait in a Jewish neighborhood adjacent to the Palestinian neighborhood and may not enter it to transfer the injured or the sick person to the hospital until a police escort arrives, even in life threatening situations. In many cases, the patient's family members must transfer him/her in their own cars to the ambulance, which could increase the severity of the illness or injury and result in medical complications. 

These procedures violate the first rule in the work of emergency crews, which is to provide medical aid as soon as possible, and the state's obligation to ensure the life and physical well-being of each person under its authority. These practices may also be considered medical negligence by the MDA and a violation of professional and medical ethics. Further they may constitute cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment under international law. 

These instructions do not apply to Jewish settlements in the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem; the ambulances travel through the Arab neighborhoods to reach the Jewish settlements without any police accompaniment. A case in point is the settlement of Nof Tzion, located in the heart of the Jabal al-Mukaber neighborhood in southeast Jerusalem; it is just separated by one street. The ambulances travel on this street on their way to the settlement, but refuse to enter this same street to transfer a Palestinian patient without police protection. 

Mr. Fuad Abu Hamed is the 'Clalit' health care clinic director in the Sur Baher neighborhood in East Jerusalem. He emphasized that when an ambulance is called to the clinic to transfer a patient to the hospital, it is forced to wait outside the neighborhood for a long time, even an hour or more until the police arrive to accompany it to the clinic. This delay sometimes leads to a significant deterioration in the patient's condition or even death. Recently, an ambulance was called to the Silwan neighborhood to transfer a person suffering from angina to the hospital. The ambulance waited for more than two hours at the entrance of the village; the police refused to accompany the ambulance claiming that a violent quarrel was taking place which could put its forces and the crew at risk. 

Israeli Attorney Haneen Naamnih of Adalah argued in the letter that 'these examples, among many others, prove that the considerations determining the work of the Israeli ambulances in Jerusalem are not objective; they do not take into account the seriousness of the patient's condition but solely consider his/her nationality and place of residence in violation of the law.' 

Ms. Reut Katz of Physicians for Human Rights-Israel stressed that 'the police escort of ambulances to transport patients coupled with their presence alongside medical staff during the treatment process also constitutes a flagrant violation of the privacy rights and medical confidentiality of the patient.'

----------


## Shades

Al Mezan Condemns Escalation of Israeli Aggression  
Date : 23/11/2009   Time : 22:36 

GAZA, November 23, 2009 (WAFA)- Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights condemned escalation of Israeli aggression  represented by three air strikes against on Gaza Strip on Sunday, considering them as a  violation to the rules of international humanitarian law.

 Al Mezan emphasized that the silence of the international community and its failure to fulfill its obligations towards civilians in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT) encourage Israel to continue its violations of international law.

Israeli warplanes launched three air strikes in different locations in the Gaza Strip injuring 10 persons and destroying several Palestinian houses and other property.

----------


## Shades

*Syrian Actor Duraid Lahham Enters Gaza along with a group of actors and actresses*  
23.11.09 - 21:02 
*Duraid Lahham is probably considered one of the most prominent Arab actors to participate in breaking the  siege on Gaza*. The Syrian actor and satirist is perhaps the equivalent of Bob Hope, Larry David and Jon Stewart put in one.

Through his most famous character, Ghawar Attoshe, and for several decades, he provided the most stinging political satire and social commentary the Arab world has seen. His 1979 play Kasak Ya Watan, (written by Mohammed Al Maghoot) took Arabic political satire to its peak. 

In another play where he makes a joke about his shoe being called an "Assad" (lion) , Duraid Lahham ended up in Hafez Asads (former Syrian President) infamous jails.

Prisons are not new to him. His own experience paled in comparison upon his arrival into Gaza, after Egyptian authorities tried to prevent him from entering for several days. 

Other Syrian soap opera superstars joined Duraid Lahham in this visit to Gaza, as an act of solidarity with the Palestinian people. 

The group of 12 includes Wafa Mousselie and Salim Kallas, who play leading characters on the hugely popular soap opera called Bab Al-Hara (Gate of the Neighborhood), played on Arab satallite TV stations during the holy month of Ramadan.

Watched by tens of millions across the Arab world, Bab Al-Hara is popular among Palestinians, particularly for its depictions of Syrian resisting French colonialism in the 1930s.

The delegation also included Jamal Suleiman ,Assad Eid, Rafiq Sbeie, Assad Fadda, Susan Najem Ad-Din, Radwan Aqili , Talhat Hamdi, Hadi Baqdunes, Hesham Hasbani and TV cameraman Ayman Salameh.


The group crossed to Gaza through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, continuing their tour to areas where underground network smuggling tunnels are built or dug, after two and a half years of Israeli blockade on Gaza. 

The group also visited families and homes that were demolished by the Israeli military force during the offensive on Gaza in December  January of last year that killed nearly 1,400 Palestinians. 

Local officials and large numbers of crowds welcomed the group, who is expected to participate in a local play called Shayata in the city of Khan Younis. 

PNN/wires.

----------


## Shades

*1000 Gaza pilgrims leave via Rafah tomorow*

2009-11-22 11:56:07 
Gaza-PalPress-Spokesman of Hamas ousted government Engineer Ehab Al Ghussein confirmed that that Egyptian authorities plan to open Rafah crossing tomorrow Monday for the travel of relatives of martyrs to Saudi Arabia to perform the pilgrimage ritual.

Al Ghussein said that 1000 pilgrims from Gaza strip  who were granted honor from the Saudi King are planned to leave tomorrow via Rafah border crossing.

Minister of Awkaf and Religious Affairs Dr. Mahmoud Al Habash announced earlier  that Saudi Arabia is hosting this year 2000 Palestinian pilgrims from Gaza Strip and the West Bank equally to perform pilgrimage.

----------


## Shades

Israel threatens its soldiers with 'iron fist'
Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:20:14 GMT

Israel's military Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi has declared that Israel's armed forces will have a zero-tolerance policy for insubordinate soldiers.

"We have no tolerance for this type of insubordination, no matter which side of the political spectrum the soldiers are on," Haaretz quoted Ashkenazi as saying on Monday.

The IDF chief made his comments after several combat soldiers from various units within the Kfir Brigade announced they would not evacuate unauthorized West Bank outposts.

"It is possible that during your service the army will need you for several of our missions, and those who will make the difference are the soldiers on the front line," said the IDF chief

On Saturday, Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak had voiced his own pledge to crack down on soldiers who refuse to carry out orders, saying that Israel will not hesitate to crush such a phenomenon.

"A country that wishes to live must end refusal by the right and left with an iron fist," Barak said.

Earlier this month, the Israeli Army's chief rabbi had called on military students to "show no mercy" when they fight a war or they will be "damned."

"In times of war, whoever doesn't fight with all his heart and soul is damned, if he keeps his sword from bloodshed," he Israeli daily Haaretz had quoted Brig. Gen. Avichai Rontzki as saying.

All Israeli high school seniors, including women, are expected to serve in the military upon graduation; women for two years and men for three years. Refusal to serve carries a term in prison.

Nevertheless, more and more Israelis are now avoiding mandatory military service. According to army statistics, nearly half of Israeli men avoid their mandatory three-year military service.

Some high school seniors launched the Shministim, a conscientious objectors movement, in 2008 with the publication of an open letter announcing their refusal to serve with the Israeli military in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The signatories cite their reasons for refusing to serve IDF as the repressive measures used by the Israeli military in the Palestinian lands, including checkpoints, targeted assassinations, roads segregated for Jews only, and other measures that "serve the land-seizing policy, annex more occupied territories into Israel and trample on Palestinian human rights."

Israel's latest deadly offensive against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip killed more than 1400 people and injured many more, a large number of them women and children. A UN-ordered report has accused Israeli military and political authorities of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during the military operation.

MGH/MP/MTM/DT

----------


## Shades

Four killed in Israeli chopper crash
Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:55:03 GMT

An Israeli helicopter during a military exercise.
A helicopter goes down by the Israeli shore killing four passengers, reports say, as investigators look into the cause of the incident.

The civilian aircraft crashed into the eastern Mediterranean on Tuesday near the central Israeli city of Netanya after taking off from Tel Aviv, AFP reported.

"The bodies of two civilians were recovered from the water," read the rescue team's statement on the incident near the central Israeli city of Netanya. Two more bodies were found several hours later, it said.

Israeli news website Ynet quoted the rescue team as saying that the mortalities were tourists including an English national.

The cause of the crash is yet to be discovered.

HN/AKM

----------


## Shades

Israeli warplanes attack Gaza again, 3 wounded
Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:14:20 GMT
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Israeli warplanes attacked an alleged weapons-making factory and two supply tunnels in the Gaza Strip early on Tuesday in what the military said was retaliation for Palestinian rocket fire into southern Israel.

Medics and other witnesses said two of the air raids struck supply tunnels on the border between the blockaded coastal sliver and Egypt, whereas the strike in the eastern part of Gaza City targeted a weapons manufacturing facility. The aerial assaults wounded at least three people.

Gaza continues to suffer from the aftermath of a massive Israeli military offensive from December 2008 to January 2009. Over 1,400 Palestinians were killed during three weeks of Israeli land, sea, and air assaults in Operation Cast Lead. The offensive also inflicted $1.6 billion damage to the Gazan economy.

Most of the damage in Gaza has not been repaired due to an Israeli blockade that has prevented construction materials from entering the territory.

MP/HGL

----------


## Shades

Israel may freeze settlement activities for 10 months
Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:26:06 GMT
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Tel Aviv has agreed to freeze all settlement activities, except in Jerusalem Al-Quds, for 10 months in a bid to re-launch the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Israeli officials hope that the official declaration of a settlement freeze in the occupied West Bank will enable the renewal of the negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, which has refused to engage in peace talks until Israel implements such a measure.

Tel Aviv is currently under intense pressure from the international community to halt the illegal settlement construction in the West Bank. Israeli settlements are widely regarded as the main hurdle in the way of comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Under the 2002 Roadmap for Peace plan brokered by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia, Israel has to 'dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and also freeze all settlement activities.'

There are currently 121 Israeli settlements and approximately 102 Israeli outposts built illegally on Palestinian land occupied by Israel in 1967. All of these settlements and outposts are illegal under international law and have been condemned by numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions.

These settlements and outposts are inhabited by a population of 462,000 Israeli settlers. Some 191,000 Israelis are living in settlements around Jerusalem Al-Quds and an additional 271,400 are spread throughout the West Bank.

MP/HGL

----------


## Shades

UN urges united stance on Mideast crisis
Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:09:27 GMT
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UN Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs Haile Menkerios
The UN has called on the international community for "immediate actions on the ground" to resolve the "deep and worrying impasse" between Israel and the Palestinians.

"It is vital at this juncture that the international community takes a clear and united position," UN Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs Haile Menkerios told the Security Council in its monthly briefing on the crisis on Tuesday.

He said Israel's refusal to freeze settlements was a key challenge to international peace efforts, adding that Tel Aviv's last month proposal to restrain rather than freeze settlement activity did not conform to the requirements of the Roadmap peace plan and a two-state solution.

The international community has been unanimously calling on Israel in the past months to halt its settlement expansion on the occupied Palestinian lands in the West Bank, including the illegally annexed East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

But Israel approved 900 more housing units to significantly expand Gilo settlement on the southern outskirts of Jerusalem Al-Quds while demolishing 17 Palestinian houses, which displaced 99 Palestinians, many of them children.

Menkerios also cited 45 recorded instances of Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians and olive trees, leading to 24 Palestinian injuries. He also reported 26 incidents of Palestinian clashes with Israelis in which seven settlers were injured.

During the past month, 73 Palestinians were injured and over 300 seized during the Israeli raids in the West Bank  an increase from the previous reporting period, he said.

The UN official criticized the Israeli blockade on Gaza, noting the crippling siege has continued 10 months after the end of Israel's deadly offensive on the region which killed more than 1,400 Palestinians and devastated much of its infrastructure.

In the impoverished coastal sliver, half of whose 1.5-million strong population depend on food aid handouts, people now have resorted to underground tunnels across the border with Egypt to bring in food and other basic needs.

On a six-month old UN proposal to complete $77 million of stalled housing, school and health projects, Menkerios said the international body's efforts have not yet received an acceptable response from the Israeli side.

"It is completely unacceptable that no meaningful progress has been made in kick-starting UN civilian construction activities essential for the well-being and recovery of a war- and blockade-affected population, half of whom are children."

MRS/AKM

----------


## Shades

Trainee Mossad spy arrested by police
Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:03:10 GMT

*A Mossad training operation has ended in a fiasco after a trainee spy for the secret service agency was arrested while trying to bomb a car*.

The trainee was booked on Monday after a female passerby noticed him plant a fake bomb under a vehicle on a street in Tel Aviv and reported the suspicious behavior to the police.

Israeli authorities have refused to comment on the incident.

But Israeli media outlets have expressed their surprise at the incident, saying they hoped the agency's operatives were "more effective abroad".

Up to three Mossad employees were believed to have been suspended following the incident, Ynet reported.

The prime minister's office said it did "not respond to information about such activities undertaken by security agencies or attributed to them," the Israeli news website added.

Mossad does not inform local uniformed police about its training exercises.

MRS/AKM

----------


## Shades

Abbas: *Obama doing nothing to advance peace*
Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:50:37 GMT

Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas has stated that President Obama is doing nothing to revive the 'peace process' between Israel and the Palestinians.

"For now he is doing nothing, but he has invited us to revive the peace process. I hope that in the future he can play a more important role," Abbas said in an interview with the Argentine daily Clarin on Tuesday during a visit to Argentina.

The Palestinians expect the US to exert pressure on Israel to get it to show respect for international law and implement the Road Map plan. They can exert pressure on Israel so as to do two things; halting settlement activities and withdrawal from the Palestinian territories they occupied in 1967, he further explained.

For her part, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez criticized Washington for doing too little to restart the 'peace talks' that were broken off in December 2008, when Israel launched a war on the Gaza Strip, which killed over 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians.

Last week, Israel gave its approval for the construction of hundreds of new housing units in the illegally annexed East Jerusalem Al-Quds, drawing international criticism as it drove another stake into the heart of efforts to restart the so-called peace process.

Under the 2002 Roadmap for the 'Peace plan' brokered by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia, Israel has to dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and also freeze all settlement activities.

There are currently 121 Israeli settlements and approximately 102 Israeli outposts built illegally on Palestinian land occupied by Israel in 1967. All of these settlements and outposts are illegal under the international law and have been condemned by numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions.

These settlements and outposts are inhabited by a population of 462,000 Israeli settlers. Some 191,000 Israelis are living in settlements around Jerusalem Al-Quds and an additional 271,400 are spread throughout the West Bank.

MP/MB

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## Shades

Gazan infant diagnosed with brittle bone disease
Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:24:06 GMT

Gaza health officials have diagnosed a Palestinian baby girl with a rare condition caused by a genetic mutation in the production of collagen, commonly called brittle bone disease.

"About 10 days after her birth, while her mother was changing her clothes, I noticed a fracture like that of a pencil tip in her skull. The girl then started screaming her head off and crying. We rushed her to a nearby hospital since we had no idea what the issue was," the infant's father, seeking anonymity, told the UAE daily al-Bayan.

The father added that twenty days later another rupture took place leading doctors to place the little girl under constant care. Further tests revealed that she is suffering from Osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disorder characterized by bones that break easily, often from little or no apparent cause. The baby has so far sustained eight fractures, two in the skull, one in each of the right and left hands, and four in the legs.

The girl's father lamented that her daughter can neither undergo proper treatment in Gaza nor receive care elsewhere, all due to the tight blockade Israel has imposed on the impoverished coastal sliver.

Israel's blockade of Gaza denies 1.4 million Palestinians the food, fuel and medicine they require. The United Nations has occasionally called on Israel to end the blockade of Gaza, which is having a negative impact on the humanitarian and human rights situation of the civilian population.

In his latest report on human rights of the Palestinians, UN chief Ban Ki-moon stressed that the blockade of Gaza, in its third year, amounts to a "collective punishment", and is a violation of the right to food, water, health, work and adequate standards of living for the Palestinian people.

"Israel should allow unimpeded access to Gaza for humanitarian aid and the non-humanitarian goods needed for the reconstruction of properties and infrastructure," Ban said in the annual report addressed to the General Assembly.

MP/MB

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## Shades

Israel halts settlement work for only limited time
Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:50:10 GMT

Israel says it will impose a temporary freeze on settlement construction in the occupied West Bank in a bid to resume peace talks with the Palestinians.

"Israel today has taken a far-reaching step toward peace; it is time for the Palestinians to do the same," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a press conference on Wednesday.

The Palestinians, however, rejected the 10 month freeze which is to be applied only to new housing projects, meaning about 3,000 units under construction can be finished.

"Netanyahu did not advance any formula for the re-launching of negotiations," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP.

The situation of settlement building has been a key issue in efforts to restart Middle East peace talks with the Palestinians.

"We will not halt existing construction and we will continue to build synagogues, schools, kindergartens and public buildings essential for normal life in the settlements," Netanyahu said.

He also said the "far-reaching and painful" move to freeze settlement work would not be implemented on East Jerusalem Al-Quds which is viewed by the regime as a separate issue to be discussed in a final status agreement with the Palestinians, Haaretz reported.

"We do not put any restrictions on building in our sovereign capital," the Premier said.

The regime which occupied the city during a 1967 aggression claims it is its "eternal, indivisible" capital.

SB/SS/RE

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## Shades

*UK urges full Israeli settlement freeze*
Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:38:34 GMT

Miliband called for a full settlement freeze in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
As Palestinians have rejected an Israeli proposal for a temporary freeze on settlement activity, Britain says the offer should revive the Middle East peace talks.

"Britain wants today's announcement by Israel to become a step towards resuming meaningful negotiations to achieve this vision," said Foreign Secretary David Miliband in a statement on Wednesday.

"Britain continues to call for a full settlement freeze in the West Bank and East Jerusalem," Miliband added. Negotiations are the only way for the Israelis and Palestinians to achieve a comprehensive, just, and secure peace."

The statement was made after the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that his government will bring a 10-month halt to its housing projects in the occupied West Bank in order to resume peace talks with the Palestinians.

Netanyahu, however, emphasized that the "far-reaching and painful" move to freeze settlement work would not be implemented in East Jerusalem Al-Quds which is viewed by the regime as a separate issue to be discussed in a final status agreement with the Palestinians, according to Israeli daily Haaretz.

"We will not halt existing construction and we will continue to build synagogues, schools, kindergartens and public buildings essential for normal life in the settlements," Netanyahu said.

The Palestinians rejected the 10-month freeze which is to be applied only to new housing projects, meaning about 3,000 units under construction can be finished.

They have demanded a complete freeze on Israeli settlement in the West Bank as a condition for returning to the peace talks with Israel.

Miliband had earlier criticized Israel's decision for approving the construction of hundreds of new housing units in annexed East Jerusalem.

"Expanding settlements on occupied land in East Jerusalem makes that deal much harder. So this decision is wrong and we oppose it," said a British Foreign Office spokeswoman.

AO/AKM

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## Shades

Report: Israel set to leave Lebanese Ghajar village
Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:07:53 GMT

A sign stands at the entrance to the village of Ghajar on the Israeli-Lebanese border.
Israel has informed the United Nations Interim Force in Southern Lebanon that it plans to evacuate the northern part of the Lebanese village of Ghajar within hours.

Lebanese al-Akhbar newspaper, quoting a senior UN official that spoke on the condition of anonymity, reported Thursday that Israel would fully withdraw from the northern part of the village, which will remain under the UN control.

He told the paper that he believed the move was aimed at reducing the international criticism against Israel.

Despite the report, UNIFIL announced that it has not been informed about any possible pullout from Ghajar, and no special army preparations for an evacuation have been observed on the ground.

Israel is obliged to withdraw from the northern part of Ghajar by Resolution 1701, which ended the 34-day war between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah resistance forces in 2006. The Israeli troops have however kept a military presence in Ghajar following the end of Israel's aggression against the Lebanese resistance movement. The soldiers have also set up a security fence to control entrance to the village.

Ghajar, located at the foot of Mount Hermon, was annexed by Israel in 1981 along with the Syrian Golan Heights, which had been occupied by the Israeli forces since 1967.


MP/MB

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## Shades

Jordan: Partial settlement freeze insufficient
Fri, 27 Nov 2009 02:16:08 GMT

Jordan has rejected Israel's latest plan to temporarily freeze settlement activity in the West Bank excluding East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

"The unilateral Israeli plan for partial cessation of settlement activity in the occupied West Bank is an insufficient step, which fails to meet the world community's requirements for the two-state vision," AFP quoted Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh as saying on Thursday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday declared a 10-month suspension of settlement construction in the West Bank but said the building of settlements would continue in East Jerusalem Al-Quds, which Israel seized from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war.

The UN still considers it an occupied territory and has urged Israel to stop its illegal settlement activity in the area.

Judeh noted that the Israeli step was aimed at tempting the Palestinians to resume negotiations with Israel with the eventual aim of creating a "demilitarized Palestinian state".

"The exclusion of East Jerusalem from the freeze of settlement activity is rejected by Jordan because it runs counter to the international consensus that considers East Jerusalem an occupied city which should be drawn on the agenda of the final status talks," he added.

Judeh stated a possible end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should lead to the creation of a "sovereign Palestinian state" with East Jerusalem Al-Quds as its capital.

MGH/SS/MMA

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## Shades

Israeli air raid injures four in Gaza
Fri, 27 Nov 2009 07:07:10 GMT

At least four Palestinian civilians have been wounded after Israeli warplanes struck near a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

Witnesses and medics said the Israeli air force fired missiles at the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern part of the blockaded coastal sliver early Friday.

They added that the attack wounded four civilians. One of the victims is reported to be in critical condition.

Gaza continues to suffer from the aftermath of the last massive Israeli military offensive launched at the turn of the year. More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during three weeks of Israeli land, sea and air assaults, dubbed 'Operation Cast Lead ', in the impoverished coastal enclave. The offensive also inflicted $1.6 billion damage to the Gazan economy.

Israel has kept attacking Gaza despite its announcement of a unilateral cease-fire following the deadly military operation.

Most of the damage in Gaza has not been repaired due to an Israeli blockade that has prevented construction materials from entering the territory.

Gaza has been under Israeli siege since 2007.

MP/DT

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## Shades

Israel chooses occupation rather than peace'
Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:21:21 GMT

Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas has dismissed Israel's plan for a 'temporary halt' in settlement construction as insufficient to resume peace negotiations.

During his first visit to Venezuela, Abbas said on Friday that "we can't accept the current Israeli government's concept for the negotiations."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved a 10 month halt on settlement construction in the occupied West Bank excluding East Jerusalem Al-Quds on Wednesday, calling for the resumption of stalled peace talks with the Palestinians.

"We don't have any condition to restarting negotiations except the commitment of the two sides to the foundations of the peace operation according to the road map, and especially stopping the expansionist activities of the Israelis," Abbas added.

He said Wednesday's announcement by Netanyahu "didn't bring anything new because the occupation is going to continue in the West Bank and in Jerusalem."

"The Israeli prime minister had to choose between peace and occupation. Lamentably, he chose occupation," Abbas said.

He told Venezuela's National Assembly that the long history of negotiations has indicated that Israel "doesn't want peace".

SB/SS/MMA

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## Shades

*Chavez: Israel aims to exterminate Palestinians*
Sat, 28 Nov 2009 07:56:29 GMT

Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas (L) and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says that Israel is aiming to 'exterminate the Palestinian nation' and that he backs the establishment of East Jerusalem Al-Quds as capital of an independent Palestinian state.

"We are on the side of the Palestinian people's memorable struggle against the genocidal state of Israel that knocks down, kills and aims to terminate the Palestinian people," Chavez told acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas in Caracas on Friday night.

"We reiterate our greatest commitment and our greatest solidarity for the creation of an independent Palestinian state with the holy city of Jerusalem Al-Quds as its capital," he added.

During the meeting Mahmoud Abbas dismissed an Israeli plan to temporarily halt construction of new West Bank settlements as insufficient, saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chose occupation rather than peace.

"Wednesday's announcement by Netanyahu of a 10-month halt to new construction in the West Bank Jewish settlements didn't bring anything new because the occupation is going to continue in the West Bank and in Jerusalem Al-Quds," Abbas said.

The acting Palestinian Authority Chief added, "We don't have any condition to restarting negotiations except the commitment of the two sides to the foundations of the peace operation according to the road map, and especially stopping the expansionist activities of the Israelis."

Abbas earlier visited Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Paraguay to build support for efforts toward a Palestinian state.

Latin American leaders backed his calls for Israel to halt settlement construction and also to guarantee that future borders are based on 1967 lines.

Under the 2002 Roadmap for Peace plan brokered by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia, Israel has to 'dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and also freeze all settlement activities'.

There are currently 121 Israeli settlements and approximately 102 Israeli outposts built illegally on Palestinian land occupied by Israel in 1967. All of these settlements and outposts are illegal under international law and have been condemned by numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions.

These settlements and outposts are inhabited by a population of some 462,000 Israeli settlers. Some 191,000 Israelis are living in settlements around Jerusalem Al-Quds and a further 271,400 are further spread throughout the West Bank.

MP/MTM/DT

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## Shades

Two die in Israeli raid on Gaza refugees
Sat, 28 Nov 2009 17:55:29 GMT

Two Palestinians have reportedly died, succumbing to injuries they suffered in an Israeli air raid on a Gaza-based refugee camp.

The Israeli army reported that one Gazan had died after a Friday aerial bombardment it had carried out over the Jabaliya refugee camp north of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Ma'an news agency reported Saturday.

Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth later wrote that another Palestinian had died from wounds sustained during the attack. The Israeli military has denied having caused such mortality, added the Palestinian outlet.

Israeli military said the raid had been ordered after mortar shells were launched from the Palestinian side on Thursday, adding that the rounds had not landed in Israel.

Tel Aviv ordered three weeks of unabated land, air and sea attacks on the Gaza Strip at the turn of the year, accusing the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, of launching rocket attacks on Israel. The raids killed more than 1,400, injuring thousands others.

HN/SC/MMN

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## Shades

Israel reneges on settlement ban with tourism plan
Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:00:40 GMT

A Palestinian woman walks past an Israeli barrier in the West Bank.
Israel plans to develop tourist magnets in the West Bank despite pledging to temporarily halt settlement construction in the occupied territories.

Israeli Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov announced the plans, hot on the heels of a decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to freeze settlement expansions for 10 months, the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post reported on Saturday.

Misezhnikov said the ban had to exclude construction of public buildings in settlements or construction in Jerusalem Al-Quds.

He went on to say that the areas to be built on include Judea and Samaria, the stalagmite cave in Ariel, the Herodion in Gush Etzion and Qasr al-Yahud near Ma'aleh Adumim.

He added, The agreement to freeze construction in Judea and Samaria created an important diplomatic achievement for Israel.

The decision followed another contradictory post-ban move by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak through which he allowed the construction of 28 new public buildings in settlements.

The West Bank has been dotted with Israeli-built dividing walls and checkpoints that severely restrict the Palestinian people's movement, while completely closing off 38 percent of the area to them.

HN/SC/HGL

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## Shades

*Israelis 'sick of religious coercion'*
Sun, 29 Nov 2009 08:30:49 GMT

An Israeli woman holds placard during a rally against ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem Al-Quds on Saturday.
Hundreds of Israelis have taken to the streets of Jerusalem Al-Quds to protest what they call the religious coercion of extremist Jews.

A 'secular majority' Saturday condemned the extremist minority that is pressuring residents to shutter all businesses on the Sabbath -- Saturday, held to be the day of rest and prayer in the Jewish religion.

The protesters said the city belongs to everybody and the ultra-Orthodox Jews must not dictate how to run it.

Police said hundreds marched in the predominantly Jewish western section of Jerusalem Al-Quds, holding placards reading "We are sick of (religious) coercion".

The ultra-Orthodox have staged protests on an almost weekly basis, in what appears to be an attempt by some rabbis to reassert influence after a religious mayor lost a hotly contested 2008 election, Reuters reported.

MGH/JG/DT

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## Shades

Likud activist: Obama regime is anti-Semitic
Sun, 29 Nov 2009 08:59:25 GMT

US President Barack Obama
A Likud activist has accused US President Barack Obama of being anti-Semitic for his repeated calls for a settlement freeze in the West Bank.

About 200 Likud activists attended a meeting on Saturday to express their objection to a temporary settlement freeze announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Beit Ariyeh local authority head, Avi Naim, slammed the US administration for exerting pressure on Netanyahu.

"The Obama regime is anti-Jewish and anti-Semitic; it's the worst," Ynet news quoted Naim as saying.

Pro-settlement leader Ron Nachman was also critical of Obama over his support for Netanyahu's decision.

Netanyahu on Wednesday declared a 10-month moratorium on Israel's settlement activity in the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

MGH/JG/MMA

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## Shades

Israel to free 980 Palestinians for Shalit
Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:49:50 GMT

Gilad Shalit was captured in a cross border operation by Palestinian fighters in 2006.
Israel claims it may release 980 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for its captive soldier Gilad Shalit, taken prisoner by the Hamas Islamic resistance fighters.

Israel's 'State Prosecution' said it is likely to free the 450 prisoners requested by the movement "as part of an agreement with Hamas, which would allow the return of soldier Gilad Shalit to Israel," the Israeli media reported Sunday.

"There is a possibility for the release in principle of about 450 prisoners whose names are being delivered by Hamas, and whose release is being examined in detail in accordance with different considerations and based on rationales of security and values," said the prosecution.

The regime would also free another 530 prisoners as a "gesture to the Palestinians," it added. "The list of these prisoners has not been formed yet and no criteria have been set on this matter."

However there are some 70 to 100 names of Palestinian prisoners which Israel is not willing to release, including Fatah's West Bank Secretary General, Marwan Barghouti, according to the media sources.

SB/MB

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## Shades

Israeli navy shells Palestinian fishing boats
Mon, 30 Nov 2009 03:34:49 GMT
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The Israeli navy has fired several shells at a number of Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of Gaza.

The Israeli navy opened fire on the fishermen near the al-Shudaniyya shore, northwest of Gaza City. No injuries were reported in the shelling, according to the International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC).

An Israeli army spokesman said the fishing boats violated security boundaries off the coast of the Gaza Strip... out of the permitted fishing zone.

The Israeli navy enforces a blockade on the Palestinian territory and prevents fishermen from venturing more than five kilometers from shore.

Israeli gunboats enforce this limit by patrolling the internationally recognized waters off the coast of Gaza. The fishermen complain that they get fired on before they even get close to the limit.

About 3,500 fishermen struggle to trade off Gaza's 40km Mediterranean coastline despite the blockade.

Israel imposed a crippling siege on the Gaza Strip in 2007 after the Hamas movement took full control of the territory after pushing out Fatah security forces loyal to Mahmoud Abbas, the acting Palestinian Authority chief.

MP/HGL

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## Shades

Israeli youth evading military service
Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:38:02 GMT

The Israeli cabinet has held a meeting to seek initiatives to curb draft evasion, as 25 percent of military aged boys and 40 percent of girls evade military service.

Israel's Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) who attended the meeting on Sunday recommended denying driver's licenses to those who rely on mental health deferment to dodge military service.

"Those who get out of the army because of a mental health deferment can't be drivers," The Jerusalem Post quoted Katz as saying.

The cabinet has decided to establish a committee to come up with ways to reduce the number of women who use religion as a reason to evade military service.

Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar (Likud) said military-aged females make false statements regarding religious observance to avoid military duty and this has become an "industry."

National Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau (Israel Beitenu) said the army was no longer a "people's army," but rather "half the people's army."

MGH/TG/DT

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## Shades

Israeli tanks target houses in Gaza
Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:43:36 GMT
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Israeli army tanks have opened fire on houses and farmlands in the northern sector of the Gaza Strip, according to a report.

A number of Israeli tanks commenced firing Monday afternoon while withdrawing from an area southeast of the town of Beit Hanoun, which they had entered in the morning, witnesses told Ma'an news agency.

The area where the gunfire was reported lies approximately 800 meters from the Green Line in the farming region of Abu Sufiyah, according to local Palestinian sources.

No injuries were reported, according to Muawiyah Hassanein, the director of ambulance and emergency services for the Ministry of Health in Gaza. Resident homes however sustained different levels of damage.

The Israeli army launched a massive military offensive, known as 'Operation Cast Lead' against the coastal Gaza Strip in December and January. More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the three-week offensive, which inflicted $ 1.6 billion damage on the Gaza economy.

MP/TG/DT

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## Shades

Israel constructs 25 new units in West Bank
Tue, 01 Dec 2009 08:25:35 GMT

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has okayed the construction of 25 new housing units in the West Bank settlement of Keidar despite international calls to the contrary.

During a phone conversation with Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday, Netanyahu instructed Barak to stop preventing the construction of the new units in the West Bank, claiming the units do not fall under the cabinet's decision to halt settlement construction activities for 10 months.

Tel Aviv had earlier agreed to freeze all settlement activities, except in Jerusalem Al-Quds, for 10 months in a bid to re-launch stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Israeli officials hope that the official declaration of a settlement freeze in the occupied West Bank would enable the renewal of negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, which has refused to engage in peace talks until Israel implements such a measure.

Tel Aviv is, moreover, currently under intense pressure from the international community to halt the construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank. Israeli settlements are widely considered the main obstacle in the way of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Under the 2002 Roadmap for Peace plan brokered by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia, Israel has to 'dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and freeze all settlement activities'.

There are currently 121 Israeli settlements and approximately 102 Israeli outposts built on Palestinian land occupied by Israel in 1967. All of these settlements and outposts are illegal under international law and have been condemned by numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions.

These settlements and outposts are inhabited by a population of approximately 462,000 Israeli settlers. Some 191,000 Israelis are living in settlements around Jerusalem Al-Quds and an additional 271,400 are spread throughout the West Bank.

All such Jewish settlements are deemed illegal under international law because they have been erected on occupied lands that the Palestinians claim for a future state.

MP/TG/DT

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## Shades

South Africa: Israel Actions in East Jerusalem Akin to Apartheid
Date : 26/11/2009   Time : 11:58

PRETORIA, November 26, 2009 (WAFA)- The South African government has issued an unusually harsh statement condemning Israel for approving 900 new housing units in Gilo and evicting Palestinians from their East Jerusalem homes, comparing Israel's actions to the 'forced removals' of the apartheid era. 'We condemn the fact that Israeli settlement expansion in East Jerusalem is coupled with Israel's campaign to evict and displace the original Palestinian residents from the City,' the statement said. 'South Africa is deeply concerned that these activities by Israel will only serve only to deepen the cycle of violence in the region.'

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## Shades

*Facebook, Twitter, Israel's new battle ground*
Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:48:25 GMT

Israeli military videos posted on the internet by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during Tel Aviv's bloody offensive on the Gaza Strip, which killed 1400 Palestinians.

The Israeli military has announced that it will begin recruiting computer experts for a planned Internet and new media department unit. 

Army Spokesman Brig. Gen. Avi Benayahu made the announcement on Monday while speaking at the Eilat Journalists Conference, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported. 

*The spokesman explained the new department would target the Internet's social networking sites to create a direct link with international audiences rather than addressing them through the regular media*. 

The plan was presented at the Monday conference alongside another initiative by the Israeli Information and Diaspora Ministry to train people to represent Israel independently on the Internet and other domains. 

According to Benayahu, *from each group recruited at the Army Spokesman's Office, between 8 to 10 young people who are experts in Web 2.0  YouTube, Facebook and Twitter  would be identified before training and assigned to the new unit*. 

Benayahu told Haaretz that the new program would be implemented in the next few months. 

The Army Spokesman's Office started work in this area during Operation Cast Lead, Israel's deadly 23-day military offensive on the Gaza Strip in December 2007-January 2008. 

The military unit posted videos of attacks on targets in the Gaza Strip on YouTube. 

The Spokesman's Office has also contacted bloggers who are known as opinion-makers and directly sent them information and pictures. 

MJ/AKM

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## Shades

Israel vows more settlements after brief freeze
Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:36:34 GMT

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to continue West Bank construction after a 10-month moratorium.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the regime will return to settlement construction after a "temporary" moratorium on new construction in the occupied West Bank. 

Netanyahu said on Tuesday that a 10-month settlement freeze he had earlier announced was only a "one-time, temporary" move, the Israeli media reported. 

Israel has rejected all international demands for the permanent freeze on building settlements in the occupied territories. 

"The future final-status accord in Judea and Samaria will be determined at the end of negotiations and not a day earlier," he added. 

He made the remarks amid sharp criticism from Israeli rightists who vowed to defy the government decision and "do everything" to continue the constructions. 

The building of settlements in the occupied territories has been a key point of contention in the 'peace' talks between the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority. The Islamic Hamas resistance movement rejects peace talks with the Israeli regime and insists than peace for Palestinians will only come through resistance. 

"I know the decision not to approve any additional construction is not easy to accept. It's not easy for the settlers, and it's hard even for me," he proclaimed. 

Earlier in the day, West Bank settlers clashed with inspectors who were to enforce the moratorium on construction, a military official said. 

Israel keeps 242 settlements in the West Bank, where more than 187,000 settlers live. 

SB/MB

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## Shades

*Zinedine Zidane to visit Gaza in March*
Wed, 02 Dec 2009 01:55:54 GMT
 
Zinedine Zidane

Retired international soccer star Zinedine Zidane will be paying a visit to the Gaza Strip as part of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) efforts to promote peace between Palestinians and Israelis. 

*The three-time FIFA Footballer of the Year is scheduled to travel to the blockaded enclave in March 2010 as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador*, the Palestinian Information Center reported on Tuesday. 

*I'm thrilled to be appointed by the UN children's organization as an envoy to tour Gaza Strip. I will make every effort to give Gaza residents great big smiles on their faces. Gazans have suffered serious losses, damage, and injuries due to Israeli acts of violence*, Zidane stated. 

Israel imposed a crippling siege on the Gaza Strip in 2007 after the Hamas movement took full control of the territory after pushing out Fatah security forces loyal to Mahmoud Abbas, the acting Palestinian Authority chief. 

The Israeli army launched a massive military offensive, known as Operation Cast Lead, against the coastal strip from December 2008 to January 2009. Over 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the three-week offensive, which inflicted $1.6 billion of damage on the Gaza economy. 

MP/HGL

----------


## Shades

*Expulsion of Palestinians at record high*
Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:54:27 GMT
 
Israeli settlers move out the belongings of a Palestinian family from a house in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

The number of Arab residents of East Jerusalem Al-Quds stripped of their residency rights by the Israeli Interior Ministry strikes an all-time record. 

*Last year, the ministry revoked the residency of 4,577 Palestinian residents of the illegally annexed neighborhood, the Israeli daily Haaretz said on Wednesday, compared with the 8,558 Arabs stripped of their residency rights between 1967 and 2007*. 

*The Israeli paper said the 2008 number is 21 times the average of the previous 40 years, and that it accounts for about 35 percent of all the Arabs who have lost their residency rights since the occupation of the Palestinian territory in 1967*. 

Israel's Interior Ministry launched a probe into the legal status of thousands of East Jerusalem Al-Quds residents early in 2008, which revealed many of the evictees were no longer living in Israel, and were therefore stripped of their residency. 

Those deprived of their residency included 99 minors under the age of 18. 

A lawyer for the Israeli-based Hamoked human rights watchdog expressed concern that the 250,000 Arab residents of East Jerusalem Al-Quds are not entitled to citizenship under Israeli laws. 

"*They are treated as if they were immigrants to Israel, despite the fact that it is Israel that came to them in 1967," Attorney Yotam Ben-Hillel said.* 

If a resident is abroad for seven years or obtains a legal status in another country, he automatically loses his Israeli residency, he said, adding that some of the victims may become stateless as they may not have legal status in any other country. 

Hamoked's Executive Director Dalia Kerstein said revoking the Arabs' residency has reached 'frightening dimensions', describing the Interior Ministry operation in 2008 as just part of a general policy aimed at restricting the size of the Palestinian population and maintain a Jewish majority in Jerusalem Al-Quds. 

"*The Palestinians are natives of this city, not Johnny-come-latelys*," he said. 

MRS/AKM

----------


## Shades

Hamas commander killed in central Gaza
Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:02:50 GMT
A senior commander for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Hamas movement, has died in the central Gaza Strip. 

"Yasser Sabri Radi, 37, a field commander in the Qassam Brigades from Nuseirat Camp in central Gaza, was martyred on Wednesday morning while undertaking a jihad-related task," AFP quoted a statement released by the resistance group. 

The statement did not specify the cause of the death, but Palestinian medics said Radi died in a tunnel collapse, the news agency added. 

Israel's fighter jets regularly bombard cross-border tunnels in southern Gaza Strip, saying the Palestinian fighters use them to hide out, store weapons and launch attacks against the Israeli troops. 

But Palestinians reject the allegations and describe the tunnels, mostly across the border with Egypt, as live-breeding tubes to push in food and other basic needs into the long-blockaded Gaza Strip. 

In June 2006, fighters from Hamas and two other armed Palestinian groups launched a cross-border attack on an Israeli military post, killing two soldiers and captured a third Israeli soldier. 

Gilad Shalit is still being held in Gaza, awaiting a prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas, who has demanded the release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in return. 

MRS/AKM

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## Shades

*'Int. community not doing enough to end Gaza siege'*
Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:35:27 GMT

Palestinian legislator Jamal al-Khudari describes Arab and international efforts to lift the Israel-imposed blockade on the Gaza Strip as not up to scratch. 

"The international community and the Arab countries would have, by now, forced Israel to lift the Gaza siege and end the suffering of the 1.5 million Palestinians living there, if they had placed Tel Aviv regime under considerable pressure to abide," Khudari stated on Tuesday. 

He also called on Arab and world states to support the Palestinians' cause, and commit themselves to end the Israeli aggression against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. 

The head of the Committee Against the Siege also raised alarms about the life-threatening issue of water pollution in the impoverished coastal sliver as a direct result of the Israeli-imposed blockade, which is made possible with the help of Egypt. 

"Israeli authorities refused to allow waste water treatment equipment into the besieged strip. The measure will put the lives of more than 40 percent of Gaza children at risk," Khudari explained. 

Israel imposed a crippling siege on the Gaza Strip in 2007 after the Hamas movement took full control of the territory, on the suspicion that the Palestinian Authority had devised a plot to topple the democratically-elected government of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. 

The Israeli army, meanwhile, launched a massive military offensive, titled Operation Cast Lead, against the coastal strip in December 2008 and continued pounding the area through January 2009. 

More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the three-week offensive, which also inflicted USD 1.6 billion damage on the Gaza economy. 

MP/MMN

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## Shades

*'Israel seeking Al-Quds takeover through 10-month freeze'*
Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:36:44 GMT


A top PLO member says Israel's 10-month freeze in settlement activity in the West Bank is a cover for a dangerous plot to take over East Jerusalem Al-Quds. 

Former Palestinian Authority prime minister Ahmed Qurei, who is a member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), made the remarks on Wednesday during a meeting with Sheikh Raed Salah, head of Islamic movement in the occupied Palestine. 

Qurei said that the Palestinians were not in favor of reviving the kind of peace talks that would be futile due to Tel Aviv's failure to comply with the conditions set for talks. Instead, the Palestinians prefer to restore their rights through resistance to Israeli occupation, he added. 

"Plans devised by [Israeli President] Shimon Peres, [Knesset Member and former defense minister] Shaul Mofaz and [Defense Minister] Ehud Barak, have put East Jerusalem Al-Quds in grave danger. The trio seek to exclude East Jerusalem Al-Quds from an Israeli pledge to freeze settlement construction in the occupied lands," Qurei said. 

He also urged all Palestinian factions to come together to counter frequent Israeli attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and Tel Aviv's Judaization campaign targeting the holy city of Jerusalem Al-Quds. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week announced that Israel has agreed to freeze all settlement activities, except in Jerusalem Al-Quds, for 10 months in a bid to re-launch stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. 

However, Palestinians refused the bid, saying unless Netanyahu freezes all settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem Al-Quds, they would not enter peace talks. 

Tel Aviv is currently under intense pressure from the international community to halt the construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank. Israeli settlements are widely considered the main obstacle in the way of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. 

Under the 2002 Roadmap for Peace plan brokered by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia, Israel is obliged to 'dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and freeze all settlement activities'. 

MP/MMN

----------


## Shades

*Israel Oks new settlement plan despite moratorium*
Wed, 02 Dec 2009 21:29:48 GMT

In apparent defiance of a recently announced plan for a moratorium on new construction work in the West Bank, Israel has approved expanding settlements there. 

The coordinator of government activities in the occupied territories, Maj. Gen. Eitan Dangot, approved the construction of 84 new settlement buildings on Wednesday, Haaretz reported. 

According to the report, the approval came in a bid to ease tension among those Jewish settlers who vowed to defy the regime's decision about a 10-month freeze on settlement construction in the occupied land. 

The settlers blocked the roads and clashed with the inspectors who were to enforce the moratorium on construction on Tuesday. 

Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu, however, vowed to resume settlement construction after a "one-time, temporary" moratorium. 

The move which excluded annexed East Jerusalem Al-Quds as well as the construction of public buildings in the West Bank has been refused by the Palestinians who described it as being insufficient to resume peace negotiations. 

SB/RE

----------


## Shades

*'Many Palestinians deprived of living in Al-Quds'*
Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:06:49 GMT

Official Israeli figures reveal that the regime stripped a record number of Palestinians of their right to live in East Jerusalem Al-Quds last year. 

Some 4,577 Palestinians had their residency rights revoked in 2008, according to the Israeli Interior Ministry. 

More than a third of the total number of Palestinians lost their residency since Israel occupied the city in 1967, based on the figures released on Wednesday. 

Palestinians, living in East Jerusalem Al-Quds were offered Israeli citizenship after the regime occupied the holy city in 1967. 

Israel claims Jerusalem is its "eternal, indivisible" capital, while the Palestinians want at least the implementation of UN resolutions which give control of the eastern part of the city to them. 

Some 180,000 Israeli settlers currently live alongside nearly 270,000 Palestinians in East Jerusalem Al-Quds. 

SB/RE

----------


## Shades

*Israel bars Sheikh Sabri from Al-Aqsa Mosque*
Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:01:40 GMT

Israel has barred Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, head of the Higher Islamic Committee in Jerusalem Al-Quds, from the Al-Aqsa Mosque for six months. 

The restriction order was handed to Sheikh Sabri, the Khatib (speaker) of the Al- Aqsa Mosque, immediately after he returned to the country on Wednesday after leading a pilgrimage to Mecca. 

Israeli authorities in Jerusalem Al -Quds ordered Sheikh Sabri to report to the city's police headquarters in order to 'officially' receive the order. 

His lawyer, Khalid Zabarqa, demanded that the police to grant him more time to rest after his travel, but the request was rejected by the police, who threatened to arrest the Sheikh if he refused to comply. . 

Sheikh Sabri was then forced to go to the Al Maskobiyya interrogation center to receive the order. 

"No occupying power can prevent Muslims from praying in mosques," Sheikh Sabri said. 

This is not the first time Israeli officials have prevented Muslim figures from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque. 

Earlier, Israel had barred Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the Islamic movement in the occupied Palestine, and Hatem Abdel Kader, an official responsible for the city's affairs in the Palestinian government, from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque. 

HRF/TG/MB

----------


## Shades

Israelis seize 15 Palestinians in West Bank
Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:01:32 GMT
 

Israeli army soldiers have arrested and taken as many as fifteen Palestinians into custody following pre-dawn raids in a number of occupied West Bank towns. 

According to the Palestinian Information Center, those detained in Thursday's overnight operations were from the cities of Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah, as well as Tubas. A large number of Israeli troops cordoned off and ransacked the residents' houses in the towns, in pursuit of 'key documents.' 

The Israeli army regularly arrests Palestinians during overnight raids in West Bank towns. The detentions are in flagrant violation of a security agreement with the Palestinian National Authority. 

Tel Aviv claims that those arrested in the raids are 'wanted activists' taken for interrogation. 

More than 11,500 Palestinians,

----------


## Shades

*EU: Israel illegally annexing Al-Quds ?*
Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:16:06 GMT

*An ultra-Orthodox Jew (R) stands face-to-face with a Palestinian woman* who was evicted along with her family from their house by Israeli settlers in the mostly Arab East Jerusalem Al-Quds neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

The European Union accuses Israel of actively pursuing the annexation of East Jerusalem Al-Quds, undermining hopes for peace with Palestinians. 

Diplomats in Brussels say an EU meeting on Monday is to likely to discuss the stalled Middle East peace process, which is continuously being obstructed by Israel. 

East Jerusalem Al-Quds has been seen for years as the prospective capital of a future Palestinian state. This is one of the most sensitive issues in the Middle East peace talks, which have been suspended for almost a year. 

The annual report drafted by the EU heads of missions in Jerusalem Al-Quds has condemned Israel's policy of expanding illegal settlements and demolishing Palestinian homes and eviction orders in 2009. 

As a result, over 600 Palestinian-owned structures have been demolished since the year 2000, it said. 

This Israeli policy, by practical means, is weakening the Palestinian community in the West Bank, "impeding Palestinian urban developments and ultimately separating East Jerusalem Al-Quds from the rest of the West Bank," the report said. 

Israel occupied and annexed East Jerusalem Al-Quds in 1967 and considers it its "eternal indivisible capital" in a move never recognized by the international community. 

The EU report also said that Israel's policies in East Jerusalem Al-Quds "are undermining prospects for a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem Al-Quds and incrementally render a sustainable two-state solution unfeasible." 

The 14-page report said that Israel's policy in East Jerusalem Al-Quds is "an integral part of a broader Israeli strategy." 

FTP/MMA

----------


## Shades

*Knesset drafting bill to unfreeze settlement construction?
Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:35:52 GMT*

Illegal settlement construction in the West Bank

Some Israeli Knesset members opposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's partial settlement freeze are drafting a bill to unfreeze settlement construction. 

Opposing Likud and Kadima parties' members said on Thursday that they are drafting a resolution that will exclude large settlement blocs from a 10-month building lull, which applies to areas in the West Bank, Maan news agency quoted the Ma'ariv as saying. 

The left-leaning Kadima party's Otniel Schneller said he will support the plan. 

The draft would be a political embarrassment to Netanyahu, the daily said. 

To defuse tensions, Netanyahu invited West Bank settler leaders on Thursday to discuss the settlement freeze. Despite his pleas, the defiant leaders rejected his petition and vowed to keep confronting security forces sent to enforce the edict. 

In the West Bank, settlers blocked inspectors from entering a settlement to search for unauthorized construction, the third straight day of such confrontations. There has been no violence, but authorities have made at least six arrests. 

FTP/MMA

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## Shades

*Israel humiliates families of Palestinian detainees*
Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:33:15 GMT
 

Parents of Palestinians incarcerated in Israeli detention camps complain that *prisoner authorities frequently harass and abuse them when they seek to visit their detained loved ones*. 

*Israeli soldiers strip the families of visitation rights, insult or even attack them should they refuse to be strip-searched before being allowed into the detention facilities*, according to a report released by the Palestinian Prisoner Society on Thursday. 

The report brings to light the story of the father of detainee Ashraf al-Mathloum. *He was attacked and beaten savagely by soldiers attending a checkpoint near Ofer Prison after he had resisted being strip-searched. The man was hospitalized at Ramallah Hospital, suffering multiple lacerations*. 

The Palestinian Prisoner Society also said that *soldiers have on occasion tried to humiliate Palestinian women by searching them and scouring their bags in addition to trying to force them to be strip-searched*. 

The families called on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other international humanitarian movements to intervene and stop these flagrant Israeli violations and illegal acts against Palestinian prisoners and their families. 

More than 11,500 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently imprisoned in Israeli detention facilities, suffering harsh and life-threatening conditions. 

MP/MTM/DT

----------


## Shades

Furious settlers might target Palestinians
Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:27:53 GMT

Fears grow over a possible hike in settler violence against Palestinians following Tel Aviv's decision to implement a temporary freeze on construction activities. 

Israeli media on Friday reflected concerns that settlers might target Palestinians as part of their protest to the 10-month moratorium as they plan rallies and gatherings against the decision by the Israel parliament, Knesset. 

The freeze sparked uproar among Israeli settlers, prompting Defense Minister Ehud Barak to meet with settlement mayors and assure them that settlement blocs would be 'an integral part of Israel' in any future negotiations with the Palestinians. 

The meeting was widely boycotted by angry settlers who earlier clashed with security forces and civil administration inspectors who entered the settlements to enforce the freeze on new construction projects. 

Settler leaders vowed that they would continue to defy Tel Aviv's order to freeze settlement expansions, and laid a cornerstone for a new synagogue in Efrat. 

Israel's leading newspaper Haaretz suggested on Friday that the Israeli army might not intervene if clashes broke out and that many soldiers believed any future role the army may have in evacuating settlements would be illegitimate. 

"For many soldiers [confronting settlers] is a difficult subject, and at the end of the day it's not really the task for which we have been prepared," the daily quoted an army officer as saying. 

Meanwhile, Israeli settler leaders are also planning for a show-of-strength protest rally in front of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem Al-Quds next Wednesday as part of their plan to block major traffic routes across Israel next week. 

The protests, including a petition filed by settlers to the High Court of Justice against the "illegal" moratorium are escalating despite Tel Aviv's many assurances that settlement construction would continue after the temporary freeze. 

The 10-month pause comes under what Netanyahu called "complicated diplomatic circumstances" for Israel, and mounting pressure from the international community and Palestinians for a permanent and complete halt to Israel's illegal construction activities in the occupied West Bank. 

MRS/HGH

----------


## Shades

*Israeli troops fire at West Bank protestors* 
Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:07:22 GMT

Israeli troops have fired live ammunition on protestors near the West Bank village of Na'alin, leaving one Palestinian wounded. 

About 150 demonstrators attended a weekly protest against the construction of the separation wall and the expansion of Israeli settlements. 

Some of the protestors threw rocks at security forces, which fired back with riot control weapons and live ammunition. 

The protestors condemn the confiscation of thousands of acres of Palestinian land for constructing 723 km (454 miles) of a barrier of steel and concrete walls, fences and barbed wires. 

SB/MMA

----------


## Shades

*Viva Palestina will head to Gaza* 
Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:40:08 GMT

An international aid convoy is scheduled to take humanitarian supplies to the Gaza Strip from London, marking the first year anniversary of Israel's three week war against Gazans. 

The Viva Palestina convoy of 250 vehicles will deliver medical, humanitarian and educational aid to Palestinians who are suffering a long-running Israeli blockade on their territory since Hamas took control of the region in June 2007. 

The convoys will depart from London on Sunday to pass through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Italy, Greece and Turkey. 

They are scheduled to enter Gaza on Dec. 27 after heading through Syria, Jordan and north along the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt. 

The trip marks the first-year anniversary of Israel's three week invasion of the Gaza Strip during which at least 1,350 Palestinians were killed. 

Vive Palestina has been founded by British lawmaker George Galloway who has already delivered two convoys of aid to the Gaza Strip this year. 

SB/MMA

----------


## Shades

*Protesters Tell Business Leaders: No Business with Apartheid Israel * 
Date : 5/12/2009   Time : 12:27 


NEW YORK, December 5, 2009- 25 *New York City human rights advocates demonstrated Friday morning, in front of Leviev store on Madison Avenue, demanding boycott of Levievs companies due to their involvement in Israeli settlement construction in violation of international law, and human rights abuses in the diamond industry in Angol*a, The Coalition for Justice in the Middle East (Adalah-NY) said.

The protestors surprised the Israel Business Leaders Delegation to the United States with a noisy protest outside their breakfast reception amidst the Leviev jewelry collection. 

Groups worldwide have conducted a successful campaign for the boycott of Levievs companies due to their involvement in Israeli settlement construction.

In addition to businesspeople, among the guests present at the breakfast was TV personality Dr. Ruth Westheimer. Guests watched from the second floor of Leviev's store as protesters chanted and sang outside. Some attempted to defend Israel's dismal human rights record when they left. The protest came as Leviev is struggling in court in Israel to save his company Africa-Israel from bankruptcy and from creditors, and to retain ownership.



Ethan Heitner from Adalah-NY explained, By holding this breakfast at Leviev, the Israel Business Leaders Delegation and the American-Israel Friendship League have endorsed Israeli settlements. People should not be attending lavish breakfasts hosted by Leviev when his settlements are cutting off Palestinian villages from their farmland and impoverishing them, and Palestinian activists like Mohammad Othman from Jayyous are being imprisoned for protesting against them.



The breakfast at Levievs store came at the end of a three-day New York program for the delegation, organized by the America-Israel Friendship League that featured business and government VIPs from Israel and the US, including guest speakers like AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, Loews President James Tisch, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, and Israeli Government Ministers Gideon Saar and Uzi Landau.



In addition to Leviev, other Israeli companies featured in the delegation are deeply involved in Israels apartheid policies. Michael Federmann, Chairman of the Board of Elbit Systems Ltd. spoke in the Homeland Security Roundtable, though the Norwegian government divested from Elbit due to its provision of surveillance equipment for Israels wall that cuts through the West Bank, separating Palestinians from their farmland.



 Another speaker was Moshe Gaon, Chairman of the Board of B. Gaon Holdings. B. Gaon Holdings is one of the owners of Ahava, the Israeli cosmetics company that has been the subject of a successful worldwide boycott campaign launched by CODEPINK over Ahavas exploitation of Dead Sea minerals from the Occupied West Bank, in violation of international law.



Alexis Stern from Adalah-NY explained, The visit of this Israeli business delegation to the US was shameful, because there should be no business as usual with Apartheid Israel. Many Israeli companies are directly or indirectly involved in supporting Israels oppression of the Palestinian people. They should be boycotted, not celebrated. 



Hundreds of Palestinian civil society organizations have called for a worldwide movement of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, modeled on the anti-apartheid movement against South Africa, aiming to end Israeli abuses of Palestinian rights. The BDS movement gained momentum following Israels winter assault on the Gaza that killed more than 1500 Palestinians.



UNICEF, Oxfam, The British Government and major Hollywood stars have all distanced themselves from Leviev. The investment firm BlackRock, pension giant TIAA-CREF and the Swedish government recently sold off their shares of Levievs company Africa-Israel, though BlackRock and TIAA-CREF denied they did so due to his settlement construction. The Norwegian government has also been asked to sell its pension holdings in Africa-Israel over ethical concerns.

----------


## Shades

*ISM: Israel Arrests Palestinians in Night Raids * 
Date : 3/12/2009   Time : 15:43 

RAMALLAH, December 3, 2009 (WAFA)- Night raids, conducted by the Israeli army as a part of the ongoing arrest campaign in attempt to crush the popular struggle against the Apartheid Wall and colonies in the Palestinian village of Bilin have resumed in the early hours of Thursday, International Solidarity Movement (ISM) reported.

ISM said that approximately 20 soldiers forcefully entered the village on foot from the direction of the Apartheid Wall and broke into the house of Rani Najar, without issuing any prior warning. The soldiers handcuffed all men living in the house and detained them in a separate room. They then proceeded onto arresting Rani (23), who only came back from Jordan the previous day. Female members of the family who came to help Rani were violently pushed away, and, as the soldiers exited the house, they also failed to remove handcuffs from the earlier detained men.

The Israeli military are using night raids and arrests conducted by undercover army units in an attempt to crush the non-violent resistance against the Wall and settlements in the village. In addition to Rani, another 29 Bilin residents were arrested for their involvement in the demonstrations since June 23, 2009. Israeli armed forces have been regularly breaking into homes and forcefully searching for demonstration participants, targeting the leaders of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, as well as teenage boys accused of throwing stones at the Wall. Sixteen (including Rani) currently remain in detention. 

Among those arrested during the recent night raid campaign is Adeeb Abu Rahma, who has been held in detention for almost five months under a charge of incitement  a term used by the Israeli military prosecution for organizing demonstrations.

----------


## Shades

Middle East conflict played out in the olive groves 		
03.12.09 - 22:48 

Akram Imran says the Jewish settlers came at night.

"I came to work in the early morning. It was a horrible sight, a massacre of trees," he said. "Some of them are at least 70 years old." 




Climbing over a heap of withered branches in his olive grove on a rocky hillside near the village of Burin, the Palestinian farmer said they attacked 81 trees. 

In some cases only tree trunks remain, the branches have been hacked off. 

Olives are the main source of income for Mr Imran and his family. He says it is hard to grasp the extent of the damage. 

"All that I have is the land and the trees," he said. "I don't have any other work - just the trees. It will take five to seven years before they become fruitful again. I just hope the settlers won't come back." 

Mr Imran's village is surrounded by Jewish settlements, which are illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this. 

He says this is not the first time his olive groves have been vandalised. 

He has reported his case to the Israeli police, who, he says, are investigating the matter. His complaint is being handled by the Israeli human rights group, Yesh Din. 

'Never been caught'

Since 2005, Yesh Din has monitored 69 cases of damage to Palestinian orchards, involving thousands of trees across the West Bank, but it says none of them have so far resulted in charges against people suspected of involvement. 

Ruthie Kedar, one of Yesh Din's founding members, says the Israeli police "investigate, but don't find the culprits". 

"They either do it when there is no-one around or they do it at night and they have never been caught red-handed." 

In a statement, the police said there have been some indictments. They say they work hard to stop the vandalism and confrontation between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank. 

But that many orchards and olive groves are in isolated areas and they can't "put a guard on every tree". 

Complaints, they say, come from both sides. 

Jakob Taljah, a Jewish settler, rears chickens and South African sheep on his hilltop farm in the very south of the West Bank. 

In the rocky valley below his house, which is a caravan with a rough stone room attached, there is a barren strip of ground. 

Mr Taljah says he used to have an olive grove there, but it was "ploughed up by Palestinians". 

"Nobody compensated me for the disaster they caused to my field, to my trees," he said. "I went to the police and they didn't do anything." 

Mr Taljah accuses the Palestinians of damaging their own trees. 

"They want to blame the settlers for cutting the Arab trees, but you can see that the trees aren't cut to ruin them. They prune them and blame the settlers." 

The olive harvest, a time of heightened tension between settlers and Palestinians, is now drawing to a close. 

Olive trees are a symbol of peace - but in the West Bank they are part of the conflict. 



By Bethany Bell 
BBC News, West Bank

----------


## Shades

*Israel refuses Irish FM permission to visit Gaza*
Sat, 05 Dec 2009 07:33:41 GMT

Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin
*Israeli authorities deny Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin permission to visit the impoverished coastal sliver of Gaza* which has long been under an Israeli siege. 

Speaking at the Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs on Friday, *Martin said no substantive reason had been given for the refusal.* 

"I just wanted to go in myself and see Gaza," he said according to the Irish Times newspaper. 

*Similar requests from other European countries had also been turned down*. 

The Irish Foreign Minister meanwhile described the *humanitarian situation in Gaza as 'completely unacceptable.'* 

"If progress is not realized quickly, then the international community as a whole may need to reconsider what further pressure it can bring in favor of achieving a negotiated, two-state settlement," Martin told the committee. 

Israel has imposed a crippling siege on the Gaza Strip since. 

The Israeli army also launched a massive military offensive, known as 'Operation Cast Lead' against the coastal sliver in December 2008 and January 2009. More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the three-week offensive, which inflicted $ 1.6 billion of damage to the Gazan economy. 

*I am appalled by the indiscriminate attacks by Israeli forces which have resulted in so many civilian fatalities. The death and suffering, as well as the humanitarian deprivation, now being inflicted on the people of Gaza as a result of the continuation of the Israeli Operation Cast Lead cannot be justified in any way and must now be brought to an immediate end," Martin stated*. 

Martin also called on Tel Aviv to *provide further clear evidence it was 'serious about engaging in peace negotiations' rather than being more preoccupied with 'simply managing what could well escalate into a situation of incipient conflict.'* 

MP/MTM/DT

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## Shades

*Israeli group condemns Tel Aviv's 'racist' policies*
Sun, 06 Dec 2009 10:18:00 GMT
 

Israeli soldiers arresting a Palestinian child
An *Israeli* rights group, in its annual report, *has unveiled Tel Aviv's poor records with regard to observing basic human rights.* 

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) declared in its report that basic human rights in Israel are increasingly conditioned on the identity and gender of people. 

According to the report, Arabs receive education, work and maybe citizenship only if they serve in the army or perform national service, Haaretz reported on Sunday. 

Crackdowns on protests against Operation Cast Lead earlier this year was described in the report as "a trend of infringement on the freedom of speech of individuals and organizations, which passed criticism on the government and authorities." 

The report says that during Operation Cast Lead, police "limited freedom of expression with the backing of the attorney general, dispersed many legal demonstrations and withheld permits from others for illegitimate reasons that pertain to the political content of the demonstrations." 

The Israeli army launched a massive military offensive, dubbed as 'Operation Cast Lead' against the Palestinian coastal sliver of Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009. More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the three-week offensive, which inflicted $ 1.6 billion of damage to the Gazan economy. 

The Israeli rights group also condemned "racist" statements by Interior Ministry workers in dealing with foreign workers and asylum-seekers. 

Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai's had warned that foreign workers will "bring a multitude of diseases with them". 

The report has also discussed the "racist policies in the education system," mainly toward Ethiopians. 

ACRI condemned Israel's semi-private schools that refuse to admit children of families that have emigrated from Ethiopia. 

MGH/SC/DT

----------


## Shades

Netanyahu makes final push to foil Swedish plan to divide Jerusalem

By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent

Israel and the Palestinian Authority are each lobbying European Union foreign ministers to adopt its respective position on Sweden's initiative to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of both Israel and Palestine. The proposal is to be discussed Sunday in Brussels at the meeting of foreign ministers of EU member states. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has phoned several European leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero, asking them to oppose the plan and to pressure the PA to renew negotiations with Israel. 

Meanwhile, in an attempt to counter Israeli pressure, PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad convened a group of European diplomats to ask them to support the Swedish proposal. 
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Sweden's initiative calls for the division of Jerusalem and the recognition of East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. The 27 European foreign ministers are to discuss a draft of the proposal, which is expected to be published on Tuesday. The draft proposal also reportedly hints that the European Union would recognize a unilateral Palestinian declaration of independence. 

In weekend discussions to prepare for tomorrow's meeting the foreign ministers could not agree over the formulation of the resolution. According to senior officials in Jerusalem as well as European diplomats, the main areas of disagreement were the status of Jerusalem, possible EU recognition of a Palestinian state and the extent of support by Israel's government of the 10-month construction moratorium in West Bank settlements. 

Sweden, with the support of Britain, Ireland, Belgium and a number of other countries, continues to promote its original formulation of the proposal calling for East Jerusalem to be the capital of the Palestinian state. France, however, is pushing for a formulation that conforms to a speech that President Nicolas Sarkozy made to the Knesset two years ago. Sarkozy said that Jerusalem would be the capital of both countries and did not mention a division of the city into East and West Jerusalem. The French are also trying to promote a more definitive declaration of support for the construction freeze. 

When Netanyahu spoke Thursday to Zapatero, whose country will take over the rotating presidency of the EU from Sweden next month, he told the Spanish prime minister that the EU should not determine the outcome of the negotiations on a final status agreement between Israel and the PA. On Tuesday Netanyahu gave a similar message to Merkel. 

Meanwhile, National Security Adviser Uzi Arad phoned his French counterpart, Jean-David Levitte, and apparently also called British Foreign Policy Adviser Simon McDonald. During a meeting last week in Athens with the foreign ministers of Spain, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said he hoped the wording of the resolution would be changed. 

In meetings on Thursday in Ramallah and East Jerusalem, Fayyad asked European diplomats to support the Swedish resolution in its present form. 

In an interview with the Saudi daily Al Watan, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said the PA was working to get the Arab states to pressure the European countries to accept the Swedish resolution. He said such a resolution was another step on the way to a United Nations Security Council resolution outlining the borders of the Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders. 

Malki told Al Watan that he has spoken with European foreign ministers about adopting the Swedish proposal as it stands, and that Arab foreign ministers were summoning European ambassadors to ask them to transmit messages in support of the Swedish proposal to their capitals. Malki said a major effort was being made to gain the support of French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. 

Meanwhile, Israel is continuing in its efforts, together with the United States, to advance a renewal of negotiations with the PA. Netanyahu's envoy Yitzhak Molcho met secretly a few days ago in New York with the U.S. special envoy for the Middle East peace process, George Mitchell. The two discussed developments in the PA ahead of the meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization Central Council in Ramallah on December 15. On Friday, after the talks with Molcho, Mitchell phoned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and discussed the possibility of renewing talks with Israel.

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## Shades

*Israel Accused of Importing 25,000 Ukranian Children for Spare Organs* 
Date : 5/12/2009   Time : 13:42
TEL AVIV, December 5, 2009 (WAFA)- *Israeli Daily Haaretz reported that stories appearing on several Ukrainian Web sites claim Israel has brought around some 25,000 Ukrainian children into the country over the past two years in order to harvest their organs.*

The claim, which was made by a Ukrainian philosophy professor and author at a pseudo-academic conference in Kiev last week, comes a few months after a Swedish tabloid ran an article alleging that the Israeli Occupation Forces soldiers have killed Palestinian civilians for their organs.

Vyacheslav Gudin told the estimated *300 attendees of the Kiev conference a detailed story about a Ukrainian man's fruitless search for 15 children who had been adopted in Israel. The children, Gudin said, had clearly been taken by Israeli medical centers, where they were used for 'spare parts.'* Gudin said it was essential that all Ukrainians be made aware of the genocide Israel was perpetrating, Haaretz added.

Source: AJP

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## Shades

Truth be told, a vast majority of Arabs have been attentively keeping up with Ramadanâs Arabic soap operas, barely finding time for other, well, less important matters. 

Westerners, who couldnât care less about an âidleâ world that spends more than 6 hours attached to the TV screen and another 8 hours sleeping, have recently shook the grounds under the Israelis when they uncovered a zionist crime against Palestinians. But the impact here was so resounding that most Arabs have been âspeechlessâ!  

Swedish journalist Donald BostrÃ¶m of the widely circulated newspaper, Aftonbaldet earned encomium from some Arab circles for exposing an Israeli crime against human life and dignity during the war on Gaza.
BostrÃ¶mâs article title âOur sons plundered for their organsâ emphasized the agony of the Palestinians who have been suffering not only from Israeli crimes but from the Arab silence and desertion as well. 

The Swedish article infuriated Israel and pro-Israeli groups and resulted in a diplomatic crisis between the two countries. The article says that the Israeli army assisted in organ theft from Palestinians killed by troops and that body parts had been removed during unauthorized autopsies performed in occupied territories. What is more shocking about the report is that this has been going on since the first Intifada.

Yehuda Hiss, director of the Abu Kabir institute in the late 1980s was the doctor behind the large scale harvest of organs. He admitted to the crime, but he was never jailed. He oversaw the autopsies of Palestinians and his âtradeâ was first uncovered in 2000 by the widely read Yedioth Aharonoth daily.   

Odd how Arab media âmisses outâ such crimes when, alas, it is obvious that what they are airing during this month of Ramadan is merely aimed at reminding Arabs of their chivalrous characteristics and their epics against the French colonial forces in the Levant or the Arabsâ secret intelligence wars with the Israeli Mossad.  

However, in the interactive world of the internet where unfortunately the 40% of illiterate Arabs do not live, an anti-zionist blogosphere and many western, Arab and Muslim media outlets have been giving such Israeli crimes great attention.  

The organ theft scandal in Israel is likely to have a domino effect as similar crimes by Israeli organizations in the Arab world have been unearthed; an international zionist conspiracy to kidnap Algerian children and harvest their organs.

The story was first reported by Algeria's Al-Khabar daily which revealed that bands of Moroccans and Algerians have allegedly been roaming the streets of Algeria's cities kidnapping young children, who are then transported across the border into Morocco. From the Moroccan city of Oujda, the children are then purportedly sold to Israelis and American Jews, who then harvest their organs for sale in Israel and the United States. The organs are said to fetch anywhere from $20,000 to $100,000.

Dr. Mustafa Khayatti, head of the Algerian National Committee for the Development of Health Research, has linked the crime to the group of pro-Israeli US politicians and rabbis who were arrested recently in New York. But Khayati warned that although âthese Jewish organ trafficking gangs have been arrested, other such gangs remain active in several Arab countries.â The Iranian Press TV linked the gang to Israeli Rabbi Levi Rosenbaum who was recently arrested in New Jersey for his direct role in illegal human organs trade. 

Evidence to back such a story is always questionable as some commentators maintain in their bid to discredit a fellow Arab journalistâs story, instead of combining efforts to make an in-depth investigation into the circumstances. 
"The report "sounds as though Dr. Khayatti is well connected within the FBI and has access to Interpol documents...Needless to say; neither Al-Khabar nor PressTV provided a source for their story, other than an obscure low-level Algerian bureaucrat," wrote Hassan Masiky, a reporter for the American Moroccan news service MoroccoBoard.com.

It is not really that hard to unearth stories implicating Israeli mafia in crimes including organ and children trafficking. History recalls that in the 1950âs, the same Dr. Hiss was implicated in a scandal involving Yemenite Jewish children adopted by Ashkenazi couples. Yemenite Parents had been informed that their children had died, usually after admission to hospital. 
However, Yemenite parents have continued pressing for answers, and forced officials to reopen the files. 

Today, as some journalists are undermining such stories, Palestinian families are denied the right to speak in international courts when they deserve nothing less than the Jewish Yemenite families. 

Moroccan Hassan Masiky wonders: "Who are these kidnapped [Moroccan] children? Where are their parents? Who conducts these organ harvesting operations? How are the children and the organs transported from Morocco to Israel? And more importantly, how can the Algerian army allow such illicit traffic to go unabated?" 

The Swedish journalist relayed the oppressed peopleâs demand for justice. Donald BostrÃ¶m, the âwesternâ reporter who travelled thousands of miles to Palestine, relied on the answers and testimonies of Palestinians whose loved onesâ organs were plundered. 

But one thingâs for sure; as proud Arabs, we will never know the answers to Masikiâs questions while watching TV, having dessert and bemoaning our grandfatherâs chivalry and noble characters. 

¬
Source: AJP

----------


## Shades

Thousands of people in Buenos Aires protested against Israeli President Shimon Peres' visit to Argentina on Monday, some of whom carried a banner telling the octogenarian he deserved a Nobel Prize for murder. 

The banner referred to 1994 Nobel Peace Prize, which Peres won together with former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for the peace talks that resulted in the Oslo Accords. 

Protestors carried signs displaying dead children and calling Peres a "murderer", and handed out pamphlets condemning Israel and its leaders.

One of the protestors said, "It's a disgrace that the president of our country is meeting today with child-murderer Shimon Peres. He should be expelled from the city. There are thousands of people who came here today to protest against the hospitality shown to a representative of an occupying and oppressive government." 

Signs also displayed pictures of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. One of the signs said: "Get out of Argentina, murderer Shimon Peres", and another said: "Death to Zionist-fascist Israel, officer of American imperialism in the Middle East, murderers of the Palestinian people!"

The demonstrators, who marched toward the Israeli embassy, also carried signs glorifying Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, and Iran's supreme leader, Sayyed Ali Khamenei, as well as Lebanese flags. Journalists who were suspected of having Israeli backgrounds were ushered away and threatened with having their cameras broken. 

The president is currently nowhere near the scene of the protest, but the Israeli delegation fears demonstrators will attempt to infiltrate an event at which he is slated to appear during the evening, hosted by the Indian community. Security around the president has been bolstered due to threats against him. 

Protestors in Brazil last week offered Peres a similar welcome, some of whom shouted at him: "War criminal, go home."

During Peres' visit on Monday, he met with Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, his Argentinean counterpart. Kirchner told Peres in the meeting that she supported Iran's nuclear program, as long as it was for peaceful purposes.  
¬
Source: AJP

----------


## Shades

'Hamas will not surrender to siege of Gaza'
Sat, 05 Dec 2009 22:14:25 GMT

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri says even if prisoner exchange negotiations are completed, Israel will not end the siege of Gaza.

Zuhri made the remarks on Saturday following Israeli media reports quoting officials close to the negotiations as saying that a prisoner exchange would not mean an end to Israel's three-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, the Maan news agency reported.

Many Gazans had believed that the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit would bring an end to the blockade.

But Zuhri said that an end to the siege is not one of the conditions for the release of the captured soldier.

However, Israel's plan to continue the siege of Gaza even if its soldier is released is a continuation of the illegitimate regime's assault on the Palestinian people, he added.

Hamas will not surrender to the continued Israeli siege and will keep on searching for alternative endings to the suffering of the Palestinians, Abu Zuhri asserted.

The Israeli blockade began in 2006 when Hamas won legislative elections, was intensified following the capture of Shalit in June of the same year, and turned into a total siege in 2007 when Hamas forces took control of Gaza.

The Israelis allow only a trickle of assistance into the besieged territory but are roundly condemned by human rights groups for the act of collective punishment, which is a violation of international law.

Jamal al-Khudari, the head of the People's Committee Against the Siege, said the blockade of Gaza should end immediately and not be conditioned on Shalit's release.

Al-Khudari called the siege illegal and insisted that Israel is obligated under international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention to allow the free passage of goods and people through their sovereign borders.

FTP/HGL

----------


## Shades

Netanyahu verbalizes Israel concept of peace
Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:45:12 GMT

Netanyahu says settlement construction will continue in full after the end of the 10-month freeze.
As the international community demands a complete halt in Israel's settlement activities, Premier Benjamin Netanyahu claims his "one-time" and "temporary" settlement freeze shows Israel is after peace with the Palestinians.

Netanyahu last week announced that Israel had agreed to freeze all settlement activities, except in Jerusalem Al-Quds, for 10 months in a bid to re-launch stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

The move was not welcomed by the Palestinians and the international community alike as since it does not include east Jerusalem or 3,000 homes already under construction in the West Bank.

Under the 2002 Roadmap for Peace plan brokered by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia, Israel has to "dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and freeze all settlement activities."

The settlement freeze has also infuriated Jewish settlers as well as hard-line Israeli parliament members from Kadima party and Netanyahu's own party, Likud.

Speaking to his Cabinet, Netanyahu said the temporary freeze "served the wider interests of Israel" and added, "The state of Israel wants peace in the clearest possible sense."

He also stressed that the freeze was a "one-time, temporary decision."

"This suspension is for its stated timeframe and not beyond. In the Cabinet decision, we made it clear that upon the conclusion of the period of suspension, construction will resume," Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu said he met with leaders of the settlements last week in an attempt to ease tensions which are expected to grow as the leaders have vowed to keep confronting security forces sent to enforce the edict.

In the latest wave of unrest on Sunday, the Israeli police dispersed 100 right-wing demonstrators, who blocked roads near the West Bank settlement of Kedumim to prevent inspectors from entering the community to search for unauthorized construction.

AKM/MMN

----------


## Shades

Israel hampering prisoner swap, Egypt says
Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:57:22 GMT
Font size : [Increase] [Normal] [Decrease]
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit says Israel is stalling on a prisoner swap with Hamas by refusing to free certain Palestinian prisoners.

"Israel is still placing obstacles toward releasing all those demanded by the Palestinians," AFP quoted Gheit as saying on Sunday.

"We hope that the Israeli side, which decided to move on this exchange, will go through with it and not put in place further obstacles," Egypt's top diplomat said according to a statement released by the foreign ministry.

Israel and Hamas have held indirect talks sponsored by Egypt and mediated by Germany to finalize a prisoner swap deal, which aims at the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Shalit was captured in a cross-border raid from the Gaza Strip three years ago.

Israeli Member of Knesset (Parliament) Daniel Ben Simon said on Saturday that prisoner swap deal could go ahead in the next "week or two."

MGH/SC/DT

----------


## Shades

Jordan asks EU to help stop Israeli settlement activity
Mon, 07 Dec 2009 07:16:03 GMT

Jordan has urged the European Union to help put an end to Israel's settlement activity in Jerusalem Al-Quds, ahead of an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels.

"European countries should press Israel to stop its unilateral actions in Jerusalem," Jordan's King Abdullah II told EU ambassadors in Amman in a meeting on Sunday.

"Such actions threaten Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, seek to change the city's landmarks and get rid of Arab residents there," AFP quoted the Jordanian monarch as saying, referring to settlement building in the mainly Arab section of Jerusalem Al-Quds.

The king hailed a proposal by the EU's current Swedish presidency that calls for recognizing east Jerusalem Al-Quds as the capital of a future Palestinian state as part of a Middle East peace deal.

"Peace, stability and security will not be achieved in the region unless an independent Palestinian state is established," he said.

The Swedish proposal calls for an "independent, democratic, contiguous and viable state of Palestine comprising the West Bank and Gaza and with east Jerusalem as its capital."

Israel occupied and annexed east Jerusalem Al-Quds in the 1967 Middle East war in a move that has never been recognized by the international community.

MGH/SC/DT

----------


## Shades

Galloway urges Muslims to help lift Gaza blockade
Mon, 07 Dec 2009 09:52:45 GMT

A British lawmaker has called on Muslims and all freedom-seeking people across the world to make efforts to lift blockades on the Gaza Strip and help the oppressed Palestinians.

People in Gaza are in dire need of food, medicine and fuel, the British Member of Parliament George Galloway told state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on Sunday.

He strongly criticized Western countries and the British government for providing all-out support for Israel and said in the absence of the West support for the Palestinian people, Muslims are duty-bound to help them.

The British government regards itself as the closest ally of Israel while most British people oppose Israel's crimes and have expressed their sympathy with the oppressed Palestinian people, the lawmaker said.

Britain has played a key role in the establishment of Israel and its continuous crimes against the Palestinians, he added.

Galloway's comment came as an international aid convoy the Viva Palestina is scheduled to take humanitarian supplies to the Gaza Strip from London, marking the first year anniversary of Israel's three-week war on the Gazans.

The Viva Palestina convoy of 250 vehicles will deliver medical, humanitarian and educational aid to Palestinians who are suffering a long-running Israeli blockade on their territory since Hamas took control of the region in June 2007.

The convoys will depart from London on Sunday to pass through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Italy, Greece and Turkey.

Galloway, who has founded the Vive Palestina, said the convoy aims to lift blockades on Gaza and to supply part of the needs of the Palestinians who are suffering serious problems.

However, this is a symbolic move to fight seizure of the Gaza Strip, he added.

He noted that Israel could not continue the blockade of Gaza should a long line of humanitarian aids rush to the region.

The humanitarian aid is scheduled to enter Gaza on Dec. 27 after heading through Syria, Jordan and north along the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt.

The trip marks the first-year anniversary of Israel's 22-day invasion of the Gaza Strip during which more than 1400 Palestinians were killed.

Galloway has already delivered two convoys of aid to the Gaza Strip this year.

SF/SC/DT

----------


## Shades

Guards kill Israeli man trying to cross border
Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:54:51 GMT

Israeli forces have shot dead an Israeli man who tried to cross a barrier surrounding the Gaza Strip near the Erez crossing, the Israeli military says.

The Israeli man was shot dead in the early hours of Monday, when he tried to enter the Gaza Strip at the main border crossing between Israel and the Palestinian coastal enclave, Reuters reported. The man's motive was not clear.

"Guards ... identified a man running towards the crossing and trying to climb the security fence. They called on him to stop and fired warning shots in the air. When he did not heed their calls they fired towards his lower body," Israeli military claimed in a statement.

The statement said that he died of his wounds in hospital.

Palestinians who have approached the border fence in the past have been routinely shot by Israeli security forces and in some cases killed.

MGH/SC/DT

----------


## Shades

Israeli delegation met by protesters in Melbourne
Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:27:11 GMT

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard expressed strong support for Israel.
A high-level Israeli delegation to Melbourne has been greeted with raging pro-Palestinian protesters, forcing the Australian hosts to use an alternative side-entrance for their safety.

The group, led by Israel's Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom and including dozens of Israeli members of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) and Jewish delegates, visited the city to attend a joint 'Australia-Israel Leadership Forum,' the Israeli media network, Arutz Sheva reported on Sunday.

The delegation was, however, greeted by about 200 angry pro-Palestinian demonstrators who tried to force their way into the venue, slamming on the door and shouting "Free Palestine!"

Police reportedly used pepper spray to deter the protesters and arrested three after the law enforcement officers were overpowered. "Punches were thrown and [they] were wrestled to the ground," the police were quoted as saying.

One protester, Michael Shaik, said his group, the Australians for Palestine, was outraged by the "hosting of an Israeli delegation at a time when Israel is coming under huge pressure from the rest of the international community to investigate war crime charges regarding its conduct in Gaza and to freeze settlement construction" in the Palestinian territories, the report added.

The meeting was hosted by Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, among other Australian officials.

"Australia's support for Israel remains strong and remains bipartisan in this country," Gillard said at the meeting.

HN/MB

----------


## Shades

West Bank settlers reject Netanyahu plea for support  	  Print   	  E-mail
07.12.09 - 22:24
Jewish settlers have rejected an attempt by the Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to defuse tensions over a pause in building in the West Bank.

ImageThey vowed to continue a civil disobedience campaign stopping inspectors from entering settlements, now in its third day.

Speaking on Israeli radio, settlers described the meeting with PM as "difficult and emotionally charged".

The settlers have scheduled a mass demonstration next week in Jerusalem.

The Palestinians have refused to resume peace talks with Israel unless it completely halts all settlement construction, and has complained that the suspension does not go far enough.

Mr Netanyahu declared last week that Israel would restrict residential building in the West Bank for 10 months, but settlers vowed to defy the policy.

There has so far been no violence as inspectors tried to enter settlements to enforce the policy this week, but 13 people have been arrested.

At a two-hour meeting with settler leaders on Wednesday in Tel Aviv, Mr Netanyahu promised that building work could resume after the 10-month lull.

"You may demonstrate, protest and express your opinions, but it cannot be that you will not abide by decisions which have been made according to law," he said.

"Nothing came out of the meeting," settler leader Pinhas Walerstein told AFP, adding that he did not believe building would resume in 10 months' time.

Another leader, Danny Dayan, told Israel radio the settlers would continue to oppose the building restrictions.

Earlier, Defence Minister Ehud Barak eased rules on the procedure for granting permission for minor repairs and improvements to existing houses.

The Israeli state also said in a submission to the High Court of Justice that its ability to remove outposts - settlements illegal even under Israeli law - might be reduced because of the resources required to enforce the building curbs.

Palestinians say the new building restrictions do not go far enough, particularly because they do not include East Jerusalem.

About half a million Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which Israel has occupied since 1967 and the Palestinians claim for a future state.

The settlements are illegal under international law.



source: BBC

----------


## Shades

Last update - 00:00 08/12/2009			
Akiva Eldar / *Israel may have frozen settlements, but does it want peace?*
By Akiva Eldar --- The HAARETZ

On the eve of signing the settlement construction freeze order, Avigdor Lieberman told reporters that the settlements had never been an obstacle to peace. The proof, the foreign minister explained, is that the Jewish settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria did not stop Egypt and Jordan from signing peace agreements with Israel. 

Therefore, *the settlements are not the real reason why the Palestinians are refusing to resume peace negotiations.* The natural growth and mortality rates among residents in Judea and Samaria since the two Arab neighbors signed peace agreements provide the strongest proof that Lieberman is correct. 

*He just forgets to mention that the Egyptians and Jordanians took Israel's promises to end the occupation seriously.* 

*Even the Palestinians, the direct victim of land theft, did not present the construction freeze as a condition for negotiations. The settlements are not the real reason for President Mahmoud Abbas's refusal to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.* 

The point of contention hinges on a completely different issue: the peace process. Abbas insists *that the talks on the permanent status agreement be based on the parameters of the 2003 Road Map, which received affirmation in a UN Security Council Resolution. The map is reminiscent, among other things, of the Arab peace initiative which focused on normalization in return for an Israeli withdrawal from the territories occupied in 1967*. 

Netanyahu has yet to utter the words "road map" and refuses to revise its timetable (which originally called for the conflict to end in 2005). 

*The prime minister is also rejecting the Palestinian demand to resume the negotiations at the point where Abbas and Ehud Olmert ended them a year ago*. 

*For Netanyahu, the crisis regarding the settlements was therefore the perfect diversionary tactic; first he wore out the Americans with fights over the wording of the construction freeze and now the clashes with the settlers over the freeze orders are distracting the public from the wording of the negotiations.* 

*A foreign diplomat this week offered another indication that the Netanyahu-Lieberman government managed to transform the settlements into an obstacle to peace*. 

*"Bibi knew that announcing the continuation of construction in East Jerusalem would guarantee that [Abbas] would maintain his refusal to resume the negotiations," said the diplomat. "If Bibi were truly interested in meeting him, he would have made do with an announcement declaring a freeze on settlements. Period."* 
*

THIS NOT WRITTEN BY A MUSLIM BUT BY A JEW, AN ISRAELI JEW*

----------


## Shades

*EU: Israel must resolve status of al-Quds*
Tue, 08 Dec 2009 07:23:01 GMT

*European Foreign Ministers are expected to discuss a Swedish proposal which calls on Israel to recognize East Jerusalem Al-Quds as the capital of Palestine. 
*
According to a draft statement obtained by media outlets, the *EU officials meeting in Brussels on Tuesday will ask Israel to "end discriminatory acts against Palestinians" and resolve the status of Jerusalem Al-Quds.* 

The draft also criticizes Tel Aviv for building illegal settlements and demolishing Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank, saying it threatens the two-state solution. 

The EU has made it clear that it is in favor of a viable state of Palestine comprised of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem Al-Quds as its capital. 

*Israel occupied and annexed East Jerusalem Al-Quds in 1967 and has labeled it as its "eternal indivisible capital" in a move never recognized by the international community. 
*
On Monday, Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn stressed once again that all European countries view *East Jerusalem Al-Quds as occupied territory, saying that "if it's occupied -- then it doesn't belong to Israel." 
*
FF/SC/DT

----------


## Shades

West Bank settlers block freeze-order officials	


08.12.09 - 22:46
RAMALLAH // Hundreds of settlers yesterday blocked the entrances to two settlements in the occupied West Bank to prevent Israeli government inspectors from serving construction freeze orders in line with a government order issued in late November.
It was the second time in two days that settlers had defied police and tried to prevent inspectors from serving the orders to freeze building. Israeli authorities had earlier yesterday peacefully served similar orders to dozens of other settlements in the West Bank, but on Sunday, government inspectors were held up for hours trying to serve similar papers to the settlement of Kedumim.
On Sunday morning, settlers rampaged through the village of Einabus, near Nablus, torching cars and buildings. No injuries were reported, but it is the latest in a series of violent incidents that, along with statements in settler media, indicate that this might be the beginning of an organised campaign of violence against Palestinians in a bid to derail the temporary freeze ordered by the Israeli government.


The 10-month moratorium on settlement construction  which excludes East Jerusalem, 3,000 housing units already begun as well as building deemed essential for normal life in settlements, from synagogues to kindergartens  was announced in late November and is a response to international pressure on Israel to lay the foundation for a resumption of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. Palestinians say the freeze falls far short of Israels obligations under the 2003 roadmap  which also calls on Israel to dismantle so-called settlement outposts, settlements established without the express permission of the Israeli government  and are refusing to return to negotiations until a full freeze is implemented, especially in East Jerusalem.

Nevertheless, settlers and their supporters are taking it seriously enough to call for a nationwide protest that is reported to include roadblocks on busy Israeli roads as well as demonstrations outside the homes of officials. Moreover, some are threatening violence against Palestinians. Rabbi Yosef Elitzur, of the Yitzar settlement near Nablus, recently wrote that if there is no quiet for Jews, there will be no quiet for the Arabs.


What happened yesterday in Einabus is part of a chronology of violence that is well documented, said Dror Etkes of Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights group. This is not incidental; its systematic.

Mr Etkes said the threat of violence by settlers against Palestinians was real and had a very clear political and practical rationale. Settlers, Mr Etkes said, are trying to tie up Israeli soldiers to divert resources from enforcing any settlement freeze as well as deterring the government from any further moves vis-à-vis settlements.


It is effective, Mr Etkes said, partly because the Israeli government is not that serious about a settlement freeze  if it were, you would see no construction now  and partly because settlers feel safe from prosecution. According to Yesh Din, in the 69 incidents of settler vandalism against Palestinian property that the organisation has monitored since 2005, not a single investigation has led to indictment.


It is partly for this reason that Palestinians look at settler protests with a mixture of bemusement and despair. Apart from the dramatic difference in how Palestinian demonstrations are handled by Israeli security forces, the settler action also shows their influence over both Israeli politicians and the army, said Issa Samander, an activist with the Popular Committees Against Settlement, a grassroots organisation.


Soldiers have threatened to disobey orders to evacuate settlers, while the Israeli cabinet itself contains half a dozen settlers, Mr Samander said. 

The threat of violence was nothing new, he said. For years, settlers have gotten away with outrageous behaviour, cutting down olive trees, burning houses and fields. Let them behave like this inside Israel and lets see what Israelis and the politicians who sent them here think of that.

Mr Samander, however, said he did not believe that the Israeli government was serious about the settlement freeze and so the settlers did not feel particularly threatened. 

But Mr Etkes suggested that settlers are genuinely concerned that a right-wing Likud-led government under Benjamin Netanyahu should be proceeding with any action against settlements.

The way settlers look at it, and it has nothing to do with the freeze, is that there has been a gradual but certain decline in the Greater Israel concept. This might be acceptable from the Labour Party or Kadima, but not from Likud.


Mr Etkes suggested that a division is emerging within the Israeli settlement movement between those who have internalised the political reality and are engaged in limiting the damage to the settlement project and those, mostly second- and third-generation settlers, who will not compromise.

For some, the current [settler] protest is a deterrent. To others it is an existential issue.

Source: Omar Karmi / The National

----------


## Shades

*EU agrees on Jerusalem as 'joint capital'*
Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:20:46 GMT


European Union foreign ministers have agreed on the recognition of Jerusalem Al-Quds as the "joint capital" of both Israelis and the Palestinians. 

The foreign minister meeting for a second day of talks in Brussels adopted a text agreeing that Jerusalem should provide "the future capital of the two states," as part of a negotiated settlement, AFP reported. 

"If there is to be a genuine peace, a way must be found through negotiations to resolve the status of Jerusalem as the future capital of two states," said a statement released by the foreign ministers Tuesday. 

It added that the ministers are "deeply concerned about the situation in East Jerusalem" and urged both sides to avoid what it called "provocative actions." 

Sweden, which currently holds the European Union presidency, presented a draft document last week supporting the recognition of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem Al-Quds as its capital. 

The proposal provoked Israel's criticism which warned the decision could further harm the renewal of peace negotiations in the region. 

It, however, welcomed the bloc's decision to back away from the "extremist draft proposal", saying "the voice of the responsible and weighed member states in the EU has prevailed." 

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat wrote a pen letter to new EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton warning that "Jerusalem must stay united." 

Israel claims Jerusalem as its "eternal, indivisible" capital, while the Palestinians want at least the implementation of UN resolutions which give control of the eastern part of the city to them. 

SB/MD

----------


## Shades

*Christians, Muslims warn of moves against Al-Aqsa*
Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:28:53 GMT

Christian and Muslim figures have warned that Israel intends to impose a fait accompli at the Al-Aqsa Mosque as part of its Judaization campaign that targets East Jerusalem Al-Quds. 

During an emergency meeting held in Jerusalem Al-Quds on Monday, the attendees stated that such serious moves against the Al-Aqsa Mosque will raise the ire of the Muslim world and cause an international crisis, according to the Palestinian Information Center. 

The meeting also addressed the Israeli decisions to prevent a number of Palestinian scholars, preachers, and national figures from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque and to impose a ban on the Muslim prayer call at Jerusalem Al-Quds mosques and elsewhere in occupied Palestine. 

In a joint statement issued at the end of the meeting, the participants emphasized the importance of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Muslim faith, adding that the mosque and its entire premises belong to all Muslims. 

Muslims consider the frequent Israeli attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound as part of a Judaization campaign that targets the holy city of Jerusalem Al-Quds. 

MP/HGL

----------


## Shades

Israel votes on bill to return annexed lands
Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:02:51 GMT

Even if the Israeli parliament approves the return of annexed territories, the move must be put to a referendum.
Israeli lawmakers are set to discuss a controversial bill on withdrawing from the Arab territories that Tel Aviv has illegally annexed in the past. 

The proposed draft says any future peace deals demanding Israel's withdrawal from East Jerusalem Al-Quds and the Syrian Golan Heights must first be approved by a 61-vote majority in the 120-seat parliament (Knesset). 

Once the agreement has won parliamentary approval, it must be put to a "referendum" within 80 days. 

This is while the Palestinians consider Jerusalem Al-Quds as the capital of their future independent state, urging a complete freeze on Israel's settlement construction activity in there. 

Syria has also repeatedly called for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights as a precondition to any peace talks. 

The international community has never recognized Israel's annexation of the two Arab territories, both occupied by Israel during the six-day war in 1967. 

Israel's parliament is widely expected to welcome the government bill which favors opposition to the regime's withdrawal from the occupied regions, and could smother international efforts aimed at reviving peace in the region.

MRS/AKM

----------


## Shades

*Israel denies Gaza entry to European lawmakers*
Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:45:18 GMT

Beit Lahia, a town in the northern Gaza Strip with a population of 60,000, lies in ruins, after the three-week Israeli onslaught.
Israeli authorities have prevented a European parliamentary delegation from visiting the Gaza Strip which has long been under a crippling siege. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to ban high-profile diplomats from entering Gaza under the pretext that such a visit may grant legitimacy to Hamas, which seized the coastal strip in 2007, Israeli daily The Jerusalem Post reported on Tuesday. 

The ban came hours after the European Union called on Israeli and Palestinian officials to sit down at the negotiating table to discuss Jerusalem Al-Quds  which both sides claim as their future capital. 

The lawmakers were scheduled to inspect areas struck by Israel's operation in Gaza last winter, meet officials from the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and hold talks with senior members of Hamas movement. 

On Wednesday, the European parliament, meanwhile, demanded a convincing explanation as to why Israel prevented a delegation of lawmakers from traveling to the Gaza Strip despite initially sanctioning the visit. 

"Israel had yesterday afternoon granted final permission for all members of our delegation to travel. However, some three hours later entry for all members of the delegation was rescinded 'on security grounds', without further explanation," it said in a statement. 

"We insist on a full explanation of the security risks claimed by Israel," it noted. 

The statement added, "It is extremely curious that the cancellation came within a few hours of the announcement of the EU Council statement re-affirming Europe's strong position in favor of an independent Palestinian state based on 1967 borders and an end to settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem Al-Quds." 

The European Union nations agreed on Tuesday that Jerusalem Al-Quds should be the capital of both Israel and a future Palestinian state. 

Israel imposed a crippling siege on the Gaza Strip in 2007 after the Hamas movement took full control of the territory on the suspicion that Fatah security forces loyal to Mahmoud Abbas, the acting Palestinian Authority chief, were planning to stage a coup and overthrow the democratically-elected government of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. 

The Israeli army meanwhile launched a massive military offensive, known as Operation Cast Lead against the coastal Gaza Strip in December 2008 and January 2009. More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the three-week offensive, which inflicted USD 1.6 billion damage on the Gaza economy. 

MP/MMN

----------


## Shades

Israeli MPs pass withdrawal referendum bill
Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:02:59 GMT


The bill is also expected to bring more complexity to the already stalled Middle East peace process.
Israeli lawmakers have overwhelmingly voted in favor of a controversial amendment requiring a referendum on any withdrawal from occupied territories. 

The bill came amid Israeli speculations of peace talks between Tel Aviv and Damascus and the possibility of a deal that will demand Israel to pull out of the Syrian Golan Heights. 

Under the new amendment, any such agreement will need the support of a 61-MP majority in the 120-member parliament (Knesset) before it is put to a public referendum. 

In the Wednesday vote, the motion received approval from 68 Knesset members, including initially opposed members such as Defense Minister and Labor chairman Ehud Barak and Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor. 

Twenty-two deputies voted against the amendment and one lawmaker abstained while three Labor MPs were absent from the vote. 

The government-backed bill, however, faced sharp criticism from opposition members who accused hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of supporting the amendment as a ploy to "tie his own hands" which prevents him from signing any peace agreements. 

The bill is also expected to bring more complexity to the already stalled Middle East peace process where the Palestinians are calling for Israel's withdrawal from Jerusalem Al-Quds  which hosts the Muslims world's third holy site  as the capital of their future independent state. 

"It's absurd to make a move that changes the system of government in an off-handed way without a comprehensive debate. It could prove to be a redundant, reckless move," said Labor lawmaker representative Isaac Herzog who walked out of the hall before the vote. 

The vote on the amendment, initially approved in a first reading by the previous parliament, needs to be reaffirmed by the current Knesset to continue advancing. 

MRS/AKM

----------


## Shades

Israeli court bans family visits for Gaza prisoners
Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:59:02 GMT
 

The Israeli Supreme Court has opposed a petition that calls for granting permission to the Palestinian residing in the Gaza Strip to visit relatives in Israeli detention camps. 

According to an Israel Radio report on Wednesday, the judges at the court ruled that family visits do not fall under the 'minimum humanitarian needs' Israel is committed to allow in and out of the Gaza Strip. The petition had been drawn up by the Palestinian-Israeli human rights group, Adalah. 

The move comes in parallel with Tel Aviv's frequent and deliberate snubbing of calls from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to allow Palestinian families to visit the 900 Gazan prisoners. Rights groups say the ban amounts to collective punishment. 

More than 11,500 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently imprisoned under harsh and life-threatening conditions in Israeli detention centers. 

MP/HGH

----------


## Shades

Israel continues WB settlements building apace
Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:55:18 GMT

Israel's largest extra-parliamentary and oldest peace movement, Peace Now, has presented evidence that shows Tel Aviv is not fulfilling its promise to freeze West Bank construction activities. 

According to data gathered by Peace Now, the rate of construction in the West Bank was far more than any other area in the occupied Palestinian lands. 

Israel has approved construction of some 3,492 housing units for approximately 300,000 settlers living in the settlements. This averages to approximately 1,167 units for every hundred thousand inhabitants. 

The non-governmental Israeli organization went on to note that Israel is currently building 836 housing units for every hundred thousand inhabitants across the West Bank. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that Israel agrees to freeze all settlement activities, except in Jerusalem Al-Quds, for 10 months in a bid to re-launch stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. 

The Palestinians have refused to start peace talks with Netanyahu unless he freezes all settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem Al-Quds. 

Tel Aviv is currently under intense pressure from the international community to halt the construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank. Israeli settlements are widely considered the main obstacle in the way of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. 

Under the 2002 Roadmap for Peace plan brokered by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia, Israel has to 'dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and freeze all settlement activities.' 

There are currently 121 Israeli settlements and approximately 102 Israeli outposts built on Palestinian land occupied by Israel in 1967. All of these settlements and outposts are illegal under international law and have been condemned by numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions. 

These settlements and outposts are inhabited by a population of approximately 462,000 Israeli settlers. Some 191,000 Israelis are living in settlements around Jerusalem Al-Quds and an additional 271,400 are spread throughout the West Bank. 

All such Jewish settlements are deemed illegal under international law because they have been erected on occupied lands that the Palestinians claim for a future state. 

MP/DT

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## Shades

Israel arrests leader of 'apartheid wall' protesters
Fri, 11 Dec 2009 01:25:05 GMT

Medics administer first aid to a Palestinian teenager shot last Friday by Israeli soldiers in Nilin, West Bank.
Israeli soldiers arrest the leader of non-violent protests against Israel's segregation wall in the West Bank. 

Friends of the 38-year-old Abdullah Abu Rahmeh say that Israeli soldiers broke into his home on Thursday night and arrested him. 

They said the sole reason for his arrest was part of the Israeli plan to crush the anti-apartheid non-violent movement and also stop rallies being conducted every week for the last five years. 

Since 2005, demonstrators led by Abu Rahmeh have marched every Friday from the village of Bilin to the wall that slices off 60 percent of the village land. 

Bilin has become a symbol of opposition to what is commonly referred to as the apartheid wall. Since June, 31 Bilin protesters have been arrested. 

The acts of protest by Bilin citizens, have even won praise from Jimmy Carter and Desmond Tutu and support among Israeli peace activists. 

Israeli soldiers have fired tear gas, stun grenades, rubber-coated bullets and occasionally live rounds at the non-violent protests. 

FTP/SS/MMA

----------


## Shades

Ex-Palestinian PM: Obama let us down
Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:27:47 GMT
i
Former Palestinian Authority prime minister Ahmed Qurei says Palestinians made a mistake in thinking that President Barack Obama would change US policy significantly. 

In an interview with Ramallah-based Palestine Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) on Wednesday night, Qurei noted that the Palestinian Authority together with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) were mistaken in thinking that Obama would change US policy significantly. 

We had good intentions and we thought that there would be a change in US policy, but the US position on settlement shows that we misread the US position, Qurei said. 

Pressure was exerted on us [by the US] to return to the negotiations and we found out that negotiations was [the US'] goal, not ending the occupation. 

This is while Arab states are deeply disappointed that US-Israeli talks have failed to produce greater pressure for a freeze on settlements in the West Bank. 

"I am telling you that all of us, including Saudi Arabia, including Egypt, are deeply disappointed... with the results, with the fact that Israel can get away with anything without any firm stand that this cannot be done," Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said in November. Moussa's comments came days after US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton raised Arab ire by praising Israel's offer to limit - but not stop - Jewish settlement construction. 

The international community has repeatedly taken a swipe at Tel Aviv for refusing to halt the construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank. Israeli settlements are considered the major obstacle in the way of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. 

Under the 2002 Roadmap for Peace, Israel has to 'dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and freeze all settlement activities.' 

There are currently 121 Israeli settlements and approximately 102 Israeli outposts built on Palestinian land occupied by Israel in 1967. All of these settlements and outposts are illegal under international law and have been condemned by numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions. 

These settlements and outposts are inhabited by a population of 462,000 Israeli settlers. Some 191,000 Israelis are living in settlements around Jerusalem Al-Quds and an additional 271,400 are spread throughout the West Bank. 

All such Jewish settlements are deemed illegal under international law because they have been erected on occupied lands that the Palestinians claim for a future state. 

MP/JG/DT

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## Shades

Israel to release Palestinian killed in 1976
Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:07:05 GMT
 

Israeli authorities have agreed to release the body of a Palestinian killed by Israeli troops in 1976 after keeping it for nearly 33 years for unknown reasons. 

The Israeli high court ruled that the body of Mashour al-Arouri should be released, according to International Middle East Media Center. 

The ruling came as the Palestinian man's family appealed to the high court to retrieve his body. The appeal, lodged by Arouri's next-of-kin, is part of a national Palestinian campaign to bring home the bodies of Palestinians killed by the Israeli military during resistance operations. 

Arouri's body will be retrieved after DNA checks have been conducted to confirm his identity. 

The ruling also noted in case the body can not be retrieved for reburial in Palestine, the family will be granted permission to visit the grave. 

The claim is of considerable skepticism since authorization to enter Israel is rarely granted to Palestinians. 

MP/JG/DT

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## Shades

*Israeli vandals attack West Bank mosque*
Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:26:45 GMT

*Israeli extremists have attacked a mosque in the occupied West Bank, vandalizing the property and desecrating the holy book of Islam, the Qur'an*. 

Suspected *hardline Israeli settlers stormed the holy site in the northern West Bank village of Yasuf at night, set fire to the mosque's library and sprayed hate messages on the building.* 

Israeli security authorities said they had failed to arrest the attackers, adding that a probe had been launched into the incident. 

Following the overnight attack, *Palestinians in the locality rallied in protest at the attack and clashed with Israeli forces, who fired tear gas to disperse the angry protesters*. 

*The incident is the latest in a series of anti-Muslim violence, which has also seen the eviction of Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank*. 

*In October, Israeli vandals attacked the Al-Aqsa Mosque  the Muslim world's third-holiest site  in Jerusalem Al-Quds, which caused public outrage in the Muslim world and prompted condemnations from the international community*. 

The recent temporary freeze in construction of illegal settlements by Tel Aviv is believed to have stepped up the acts of violence by Israeli settlers. 

The *Israeli army had earlier voiced concerns that settlers may attempt to display their opposition to the 10-month settlement freeze by targeting the Palestinian population in the West Bank.* 

Palestinian officials in the region have expressed dismay over repeated settler attacks, saying *Israeli security forces have done little to protect Palestinian civilians from the assailants*. 

MRS/MMN

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## Shades

*Another 10,000 Israeli settlers to flock into West Bank*
Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:45:50 GMT

An Israeli minister says the population of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank will bulge by 10,000 despite a temporary settlement freeze announced by Tel Aviv. 

Benny Begin, a minister without a portfolio, said on Thursday that the construction of 3,000 homes already started would be completed regardless of the freeze, adding that about 10,000 more settlers would move in. 

Begin said the moratorium was not by any means intended to block Israel's settlement expansion but would only limit the construction activity. 

Earlier in the day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that the premier would list some West Bank settlements as 'national priority' areas, notwithstanding earlier assurances that Tel Aviv would not grant building permits for settlements in the occupied territories for the next 10 months. 

"This is neither a freeze nor a suspensionConstruction in Judea and Samaria will continue in the next 10 months," the Likud minister said referring to the settlement expansions in the West Bank. 

"We are now clarifying the conditions on the ground and saying that we don't intend to restrict or suspend new building permits." 

Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev declined to comment on the remarks and said that the declared freeze stood with no change. 

The Palestinian Authority has repeatedly demanded a permanent freeze on settlement expansions in the West Bank  which would also apply to East Jerusalem Al-Quds  as a precondition to any peace talks with the Israeli side. 

The newly announced moratorium has thus received a chilly welcome from Palestinian leaders, who have dismissed the temporary freeze for not applying to the housing units under construction in East Jerusalem Al-Quds and allowing for Israel's recidivism. 

It also allows for more schools, synagogues and other community infrastructure in a dozen settlements in East Jerusalem Al-Quds, which was occupied in the 1967 Six-Day War and was later annexed by Tel Aviv despite opposition from the international community. 

The Netanyahu administration is facing mounting domestic pressure to withdraw the freeze amid street protests by hardline settlers and a worrying rise in settler violence against the Palestinian community in the West Bank. 

MRS/MMN

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## Shades

Abbas, Fayyad denounce Israeli 'terrorism'
Sat, 12 Dec 2009 06:18:34 GMT


Palestinians inspect the damage done to a mosque that was set on fire in the West Bank village of Yasuf.
The Palestinian acting Authority chief and Caretaker Prime Minister have deplored an attack on a mosque as another Israeli 'act of terrorism' against Palestinians. 

The torching of the mosque in Yasuf is a despicable crime, and the settlers are behaving with brutality. acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas said.

The settlers' unruly behavior must be stopped. 

Extremist settlers vandalized the mosque in the West Bank village of Yasuf just before dawn on Friday. The vandals burned prayer mats and a book stand with sacrosanct, Islamic texts, and sprayed slogans on the mosque wall reading, 'Get ready to pay the price.' Another was accompanied by the more direct threat, 'We will burn all of you.' 

The Israeli police said that their investigation into the assault on the mosque points to the likelihood that settlers from nearby Tapuah are behind the attack. The local Palestinian governor, Munir Abushi, accused the Israeli security forces of doing too little to protect Palestinians from settler attacks. 

Hard-line settlers advocate a 'price tag' policy under which they attack Palestinians in retaliation for any Israeli government measure they see as threatening Jewish settlements. 

Palestinian Caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad described the attack on the Palestinian mosque as another act of terrorism by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. 

"The incident shows Israel is not observing the conditions for a resumption of stalled negotiations," Fayyad added. 

The senior Palestinian official also called for support from the international community in putting an end to the current political deadlock. 

This incident is the latest in a spate of anti-Muslim violence, which has also seen the eviction of Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. 

In October, Israeli vandals attacked the Al-Aqsa Mosque - the Muslim world's third-holiest site - in Jerusalem Al-Quds, which caused public outrage in the Muslim world and prompted condemnation from the international community. 

MP/MTM/DT

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## Shades

Thousands stage human rights rally in Tel Aviv
Sat, 12 Dec 2009 08:52:13 GMT
 

Friday's rally in Tel Aviv
Thousands of social activists from various non-governmental organizations have marched through the streets of Tel Aviv in protest against Israel's welfare policy, high unemployment and the issues of foreign workers. 

The participants, marking International Human Rights Day, carried signs that read: 'Marching for democracy,' 'Our right,' and 'All rights for all people,' the Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported. 

Baruch Yitzhaki, one of the participants, attended the march to protest against the poor welfare policy in Israel. 

"I worked my whole life in a senior position. When I got sick and no solution was found in Israel, I flew abroad to receive treatment. We, my wife and I, returned two years later and now we have no money to eat," he said. 

Another protestor, Yitzhaki, claimed that he can't find any work. "I have been stripped of the basic right to food and a decent standard of living. I, as a citizen, am unable to receive the most basic support from the State. 

What? Am I supposed to steal so the police can arrest me and then I'll have free food in jail? Yitzhaki asked, adding I want the welfare minister to come and take a tour of the National Insurance Institute so that he can see what all the citizens [endure], the whole bureaucratic labyrinth the citizens go through." 

MP/MTM/DT

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## Shades

*Israeli shell kills Palestinian farmer*
Sat, 12 Dec 2009 14:22:39 GMT
 

Palestinians bury the body of Sami Abu Khousa at Johr El Deek cemetery in the center of the Gaza Strip.
Medical workers in the Gaza Strip said Saturday that Israeli forces killed a Palestinian farmer in the center of the impoverished, under-siege coastal sliver. 

Sami Abu Khousa, 40, was killed near the Al-Bureij refugee camp early on Saturday. Medical sources said that he died after being hit by a shell. 

Following its 22-day war against Gaza in late 2008, Tel Aviv has repeatedly attacked the strip despite putting in place a unilateral ceasefire. 

Gaza has been under Israel's military siege since 2007. 

AGB/SC/MD

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## Shades

*Captured Palestinians at risk after Israeli rabbis call*
Sat, 12 Dec 2009 19:21:51 GMT


Shalit was captured in a cross-border raid three years ago.
*Israeli rabbis have ruled that all Palestinian prisoners should be killed on the spot if captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is killed by the Hamas movement.* 

"*If Gilad Shalit, heaven forbid, is executed or not returned in peace, prisoners will be executed immediately*," ruled the court of the Rightist reestablished rabbinical body Sandhedrin organization. 

The *rabbis even suggested that Israel must capture top Palestinian figures, "including ministers, prime ministers, and anyone associated with the enemy's leadership,"* as part of the effort to bring Shalit home. 

Shalit was captured in a cross border operation by Palestinian fighters in 2006. Hamas is demanding the release of 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel in exchange for his release. 

No deal has yet been reached between Hamas and Tel Aviv. *Israeli rabbis have played a role in blocking the exchange deal.* 

"*In order to avoid collapse that would entail, heaven forbid, another holocaust, the Shalit deal must be blocked even at the cost of his life, while, on the other hand, any effort must be taken to rescue him immediately through using the lives of murderous terrorists we have in our hands as hostages," according to the rabbis*. 

AGB/SC/MD

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## Shades

*OIC condemns desecration of West Bank mosque*
Sun, 13 Dec 2009 09:45:23 GMT

Vandals torched a mosque in the West Bank on Friday.
The Organization of the Islamic Conference has strongly condemned the profanation of a mosque by Israel extremists in the West Bank. 

"The profanation of the mosque and the torching of Koran copies found in it, and the spraying of racist graffiti slogans on the mosque's walls against Islam and Muslims represent a blatant aggression against the sanctity of sacred places," OIC secretary general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said in a statement on Saturday. 

On Friday, hardline Jewish settlers burned the mosque in the northern West Bank village of Yasuf. 

The incident "confirms the urgent need for the international community to intervene in order to compel Israel to put an end to its aggressions and comply with the stipulations of international law and the Geneva Convention," AFP quoted Ihsanoglu as saying in the statement. 

MGH/SC/DT

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## Shades

Hezbollah rules out war with Israel
Sun, 13 Dec 2009 14:09:26 GMT

Hezbollah deputy leader sheikh Naim Qassem has ruled out a war with Israel, but says the movement is fully ready to repel any assault by the regime on the country.

"We have an interest in adhering to resolution 1701, since it certainly preserves the achievements of the resistance [Hezbollah], and of Lebanon's forces," he told the Lebanese daily Al-Akbar on Sunday. 

UN Security Council resolution 1701 ended the 33-day Israeli war against the movement in southern Lebanon in the summer of 2006. 

The deputy leader however warned Israel of a strong response should the regime wage a war against Lebanon "even tomorrow". 

Qassem also dismissed accusations about rocket attacks on Israel from southern Lebanon". 

In the latest incident, two rockets hit the Western Galilee area in northern Israel early in September. 

Israel immediately fired 12 to 15 shells towards the sources that were firing the rockets. Tel Aviv holds the Lebanese government responsible for the attacks. 

SB/AKM

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## Shades

*Israel allocates millions of dollars to settlements*
Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:37:49 GMT

Netanyahu claims the newly-designated national priority areas does not signify a permanent stance on the future of these areas.
The Israeli cabinet has approved a proposal by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allocate millions of dollars in extra funds to "national priority zones" in the West Bank. 

The cabinet voted on Sunday to approve the proposal to include settlements in the list of communities designated as national priority zones, which entitles them to credits worth $41 million, AFP reported. 

In its vote, the cabinet also decided to create a commission that will decide within 30 days on whether to include other communities inside Israel in the priority list, said an Israeli official. 

The move, which came just weeks after Israel imposed a ten-month moratorium on new buildings in the West Bank settlements, defies a call by Palestinians for a complete halt on settlements considered by the International community as illegal. 

Netanyahu, however, claimed the plan to change Israel's map of national priority areas does not signify a permanent stance on the future of these areas. 

"We will determine the future of settlements only within the framework of a permanent agreement [with Palestinians]," he said, according to Army Radio. 

Israel has repeatedly been called to halt the construction of illegal settlements including the so-called "natural growth" in existing settlements in the West Bank. 

Tel Aviv, however, claimed that it is not constructing 'new' settlements but only building new units in the existing settlements. 

SB/AKM

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## Shades

Hamas celebrates its 22nd birthday
Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:19:39 GMT  

Palestinian children wear Hamas headbands before a rally in Gaza City December 14, 2009to mark the 22nd anniversary of the Hamas movement's establishment.
Thousands of people are attending a massive rally in Gaza to mark the 22nd anniversary of establishment of the Palestinian Hamas movement. 

In a statement, Hamas reiterated that it will continue to fight for an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital. 

The movement also promised to liberate all Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. 

The statement underlined that Hamas is ready for national unity and reconciliation with all Palestinian groups. 

It also called on all Islamic and Arab states to support the Palestinian cause and try to bring what it called Israeli criminals to justice. 

MGH/SC/DT

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## Shades

*Livni cancels UK trip on arrest fears*
Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:34:34 GMT   

Livni reportedly canceled her participation in a Jewish conference in London after a British court issued a warrant for her arrest.
Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni has reportedly canceled her trip to London over threats of a possible war crimes lawsuit against her in Britain. 

Based on a report published by Israeli daily Haaretz, the former foreign minister canceled her participation in a Jewish conference in London after a British court issued a warrant for her arrest. 

"Scotland Yard advised the organizers of the Jewish National Fund conference in northwest London that the former foreign minister had canceled her scheduled address to the assembly over threats of a possible lawsuit by pro-Palestinian groups", the report said. 

The warrant was issued for "war crimes" when she was foreign minister during Israel's December 2007-January 2008 offensive which left over 1,350 Palestinians dead in the Gaza Strip. 

Livni's office however denied the report, saying in a statement that her trip was canceled two weeks ago due to a scheduling conflict. 

Israel's envoy to London, Ron Prosor, has also claimed that he had conferred with officials in the British Ministry of Justice and that they denied such reports. 

Prosor said the officials have not been informed about any criminal complaint or arrest warrant against the Israeli former foreign minister. 

Earlier in September, a British court deferred until further notice an appeal by local pro-Palestinian groups to issue an arrest warrant against visiting Defense Minister Ehud Barak. 

The group filed a request with the Westminster Magistrates Court to issue the warrant over Israel's war crimes in the Gaza Strip. 

SB/AKM

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## Shades

*Israeli soldiers detain Palestinian youth*
Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:18:28 GMT   

Israel continues arresting and imprisoning Palestinian children.
Israeli soldiers detained two Palestinian youths in an industrial area located near the Erez Crossing, west of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, but later released one. 

The soldiers illegally penetrated approximately 350 meters into northern Gaza while Palestinian workers were trying to remove the rubble of the industrial area that was shelled by the army during last winter's assault on Gaza. 

They detained Mahmoud Jamil al-Yaziji, 16, and Mohammad Hatim al-Kafarna, 17. 

Al-Kafarna was released several hours later, while al-Yaziji was moved to the al-Majdal prison and is currently under interrogation, a lawyer working with the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights said on Monday. 

The lawyer added that the Israeli District Court has extended al-Yaziji's remand until December 18. 

The Al-Mezan Center also criticized Israel for continuing to commit human rights violations against the residents of the Gaza Strip and called on the Zionist regime to release all detained children. 

FTP/HGL

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## Shades

Ban laments lack of progress on Gaza crisis
Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:05:05 GMT
*
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says he regrets that no progress has been made to solve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. 
*
The situation in Gaza, and particularly the suffering of the Palestinian people, is a great concern for him almost one year after the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, Ban told reporters at a monthly press conference at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday. 

He said he has been working hard with the Israeli leadership, but he added, It is regrettable that we have not made much progress. 

Ban stated that he has urged the international community, particularly the Quartet  the United Nations, the European Union, Russia, and the United States  to do more to bring the stalled Middle East peace process back on track. 

This should be one of my top priorities, Ban said, adding that he will continue to press the Israeli government to agree to protect hospitals, schools, and the sanitation facilities badly needed by the civilians of Gaza. 

Ban also said he has been trying to convince the Israeli government to pay $11 million in compensation for the UN premises destroyed in the three-week war on Gaza. 

The Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, which ran from December 27, 2008 to January 18, 2009, killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, many of them women and children. 

FTP/HGL

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## Shades

*Chomsky says Israel, 'US military base'*
Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:11:44 GMT   

Noam Chomsky talks to Press TV during a phone interview
Renowned *American sociopolitical analyst Noam Chomsky says Israel functions as Washington's main weapons storage base in the Middle East. 
*
"*Israel is essentially a US military base, the US positions weapons there, that's a very close military and intelligence tie," the Jewish academic told* Press TV on Wednesday while explaining the complexity of relations between Washington and Tel Aviv. 

Commenting on the weapons that Israel received from the US before launching its 2007-2008 offensive in the Gaza Strip, Chomsky said that the exchange of weapons between the two sides was not surprising. 

"*[Israel] is receiving weapons constantly. In fact, weapons were sent during the invasion of Gaza. They tried to send them, they were supposed to send them from Greece, and Greece refused to ship them,*" he said. 

"*When pentagon was asked about this, they responded (I think correctly) that the weapons were not being sent for the Gaza invasion which was underway with the US weapons of course; rather, the US was positioning weapons in Israel,*" he added. 

The professor, who was taking part in an interview with Press TV after delivering a speech at Boston University, said that although *Israel had influence over the US foreign policy, it still had to act within the boundaries of what Washington allowed*. 

"Take for example Israeli threats against Iran or US threats for that matter, in which if anybody cares it is a violation of the UN charter, said Chomsky. 

"Last summer in 2008, right in the middle of the presidential election Israeli lobbyists tried very hard to push through a resolution in congress calling for a blockade on Iran which essentially would have been an act of war. 

"They were rounding up quite lot of senators and all of a sudden the effort terminated, presumably what happened is the White House wanted to have a word with them, so they pulled back, that happens over and over, Israel can not go beyond what the US permits," he added. 

During his address at Boston University, the recognized professor also warned of the *threat that the US and Israel posed to the world and said people may have more to fear from the two than those that Washington tries to associate with terrorism*. 

"*[The US and Israel] consistently and regularly resort to force and the threat of force carry out aggression regularly and repeatedly invade other countries, occupy other countries, [and] invoke terror and violence*," he said. 

Chomsky also pointed out that the US government and its media had spread exaggerated reports about Iran's nuclear program. 

"There has been a massive propaganda campaign that demonizes Iran, that portrays it as a major threat to world peace that has been going on for the past three years," he said. 

MJ/AKM

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## Shades

U.S.A. Condemns Attack on Yassouf Mosque Date : 12/12/2009   Time : 17:35
WASHINGTON, December 12, 2009 (WAFA)- The U.S.A  condemned Saturday the Friday attack on a mosque in the West Bank village of Yassouf south of Nablus.

WAFA received from the American Consulate General in Jerusalem the U.S. press statement on the attack on the Yassouf Mosque. It reads as follows:  The United States condemns the attack on the mosque in Yasuf in the strongest terms and calls for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

Extremist settlers burst at the dawn of Friday into the mosque and burned prayer carpets and a book stand with Muslim holy texts, and left graffiti on the floor reading, 'Price tag - greetings from Effi'. Effi is a Hebrew name. Then the vandals escaped, while the Israeli Occupation Forces have done little to protect Palestinian civilians from the settlers.

----------


## Shades

*Palestinian Christians call on Westerners to reject Zionism	
*

12.12.09 - 22:41
Israeli settlers burn Quran in attack on mosque. Hundreds of Jewish settlers angry at reduced settlement building burned pages of Islam's holy book in an attack on a West Bank mosque as Palestinian Christians called for sanctions on "evil" Israel and rejected Christian Zionism.

Burned pages of the Quran lay scattered on the mosque's torched carpet as Israelis from the settlement of Tappuah spray painted in large Hebrew letters "Get ready to pay the price," a statement referring to a recent government decision to curb settlement building, only in the West Bank and for only 10 months.

Security forces used teargas to disperse hundreds of furious settlers in the West Bank city of Yasuf, where hardline settlers call for a "price tag" policy under which they target Palestinians in retaliation for any Israeli government measure they see as threatening Jewish settlements.

Settler attacks on Palestinians is a common occurrence and last week a house and three vehicles were set on fire in another northern West Bank village. The owner of the house told police he saw three Jewish settlers start the fires.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak sharply denounced the attack.

"This is an extreme act meant to harm the government's attempts to advance the process for Israel's future," his office quoted him as saying.

source: Alarabiya

"Evil" Israel 

 Meanwhile in the West Bank city of Bethlehem Christians from all denominations called for international sanctions on Israel for its "evil" occupation and urged Western Christians to reject Zionism.

"The aggression against the Palestinian people which is the Israeli occupation, is an evil that must be resisted. It is an evil and a sin that must be resisted and removed," the Palestinains Ma'an news agency quoted a released document as stating. 

"Primary responsibility for this rests with the Palestinians themselves suffering occupation. Christian love invites us to resist it," the document added. 

The group, who call themselves the Palestine Kairos Initiative, modeled after black South Africa's 1985 Kairos Document, called on the international community to begin "a system of economic sanctions and boycott to be applied against Israel," and to "engage in divestment and in an economic and commercial boycott of everything produced by the occupation." 

"These advocacy campaigns must be carried out with courage, openly sincerely proclaiming that their object is not revenge but rather to put an end to the existing evil, liberating both the perpetrators and the victims of injustice."

Faith in God 

The group also specifically addressed Chrisitians living in the west who support Zionism and slammed them for "trying to attach a biblical and theological legitimacy to the infringement of our rights." Their interpretation of scripture has "become a menace to our very existence. ... The 'good news' in the Gospel itself has become 'a harbinger of death' for us." 

The group said misinterpretations of the holy scriptures was threatening the Palestinian people's existence.

"Those who use the Bible to threaten our existence as Christian and Muslim Palestinians, we renew our faith in God because we know that the word of God can not be the source of our destruction." 

"We call on these theologians to deepen their reflection on the Word of God and to rectify their interpretations so that they might see in the Word of God a source of life for all peoples." 

According to Ma'an the Palestine Kairos Initiative was first proposed in Jordan leading religious figures from all denominations, including Lutherians, Greek Orthodox and Baptists. 

"After sitting and theologically reflecting on the situation, the injustice of the situation, we came up with this document," Kairos spokesman Ranjan Solomon told Ma'an. "Palestinians perceive this as a moment of truth."

----------


## Shades

Is Israel a Democracy?	


08.12.09 - 22:14
Ending the occupation and discrimination against Arab citizens within its borders will alter our perception of whether Israel began as an imperfect democracy or a false one.
Gershom Gorenberg | December 4, 2009  
Infant mortality among Arab citizens of Israel is two and a half times higher than it is among Jewish citizens. One out of two Israeli Arab college graduates is out of work. Arabs make up 6 percent of the civil service, though they are over 15 percent of the country's citizens. National testing shows Arab fifth- and eighth-graders trailing Jewish pupils in math, science, and English, and the gap is widening. That's not surprising, since Arabs suffer much more poverty, and the national education system spends considerably more per Jewish child than per Arab child.
This a just a selection from the last few weeks' news reports on the ethnic gap in Israel -- not that inequality is big news. The most clichéd phrase in Israeli political discourse is that the country is a "Jewish and democratic state." The phrase is overused precisely because of the tension between the two adjectives, because of the majority's insecurity over whether both can be achieved at the same time. (The minority generally presumes it can't.)

The standard line of the country's boosters is that it's the only democracy in the Middle East. The most concise criticism is that it is an "ethnocracy," as Israeli political geographer Oren Yiftachel argues in his 2006 book of that name. An ethnocracy, he explains, is a regime promoting "the expansion of the dominant group in contested territory  while maintaining a democratic façade." Looking at this debate in light of two new books by Israeli scholars and of a faded and remarkable document that I've just read in the Israel State Archives, it seems both sides could be right.

The document is from late April 1948, a few weeks before Israeli independence. It's the blueprint for the administration of the Jewish state, detailed down to the location of regional health offices and the budget for day-care centers to be opened in large Arab villages. An Emergency Committee of top Zionist political leaders produced the plan, according to the unpublished doctoral dissertation of Israeli political scientist Jonathan Fine. (Fine's dissertation on the transition from colonial rule to independence is what led me to the blueprint.) The committee had begun work the previous October, after a U.N. panel recommended dividing British-ruled Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state. In the territory assigned to them, Jews were only a slight majority. Partition didn't turn out that way, of course. . Most of the Arabs residents fled or were expelled from what became Israel. Among those who say the exodus was premeditated ethnic cleansing, one argument is that Zionist leaders had to know that a Jewish state with such a large Arab minority wasn't viable.

What's striking about the Emergency Committee's blueprint is that it assumes that Israel will include that large Arab minority. The planned Education Ministry, for instance, is expected to take responsibility for schools in the "248 Arab villages" that would be in the Jewish state according to the U.N. partition. Likewise, the ministry would be responsible for Arab schools in Tiberias, Safed, and Beit She'an -- towns whose Arab populations left during the war. Various branches of the civil service would have Jewish directors with Arab deputies.

So how did Jews expect to have self-determination -- political control as an ethnic collective -- in a country where they barely formed a majority? The leadership may have expected Jewish immigration to create a more solid majority. An October 1947 cable from the Zionist movement's "foreign minister," Moshe Shertok, suggests that he hoped that many Arab residents of the Jewish state would opt for citizenship in the Arab state. Israel, that is, would provide their schools and health care -- but they wouldn't be part of the electorate. It would be a relatively soft ethnocracy.

In early May of 1948, as fighting intensified, , Shertok described the growing Arab exodus as "quite unprecedented and unforeseen." By June, as Israel's first foreign minister, he was pushing for a policy of not letting refugees return. At times he argued that stable peace could not be reached if Israel had a large, potentially hostile national minority. At times, his argument was more visceral. "Had anyone risen among us and said that one day we should expel all of them -- that would have been madness," he said in a Cabinet meeting (as quoted by Benny Morris in his book 1948. But after the fact, the exodus was "one of those revolutionary changes" that could not be reversed. "The aggressive enemy brought this about and the blood is on his head," he said, adding that abandoned land and houses were the "spoils of war." In September 1948, the Cabinet decided to bar a return until a formal peace treaty. In practical terms, that was the decision that made the exodus permanent.

After the war, the 156,000 Arabs remaining in Israel were about 15 percent of the population. They became Israeli citizens, with the right to vote and be elected. But most Arab towns and villages remained under restrictive military government. "The Israeli authorities viewed the Arab population as hostile and potentially seditious," as Hillel Cohen writes in Good Arabs: The Israeli Security Agencies and the Israeli Arabs, 1948-1967, an Israeli best seller that has just come out in English. Cohen's title is ironic. It refers to the web of collaborators and informers that security agencies built among the Arab minority. The network's purpose, Cohen writes, was not only to uncover hostile groups and agents of enemy countries. It was also to control political life down to the village level and to "reshape Arab consciousness and identity," divorcing Arab citizens from Palestinian nationalism.

Using previously classified documents, Cohen charts in fascinating and disturbing detail how collaboration shaped life among Israeli Arabs. Pro-regime Arabs tried to keep wedding singers from performing communist and Arab nationalist songs. Teachers in Arab-language schools were hired or fired based on political loyalties. "Naturally, this affected the quality of teaching," especially since educated Arabs were more likely to have Arab nationalist leanings, Cohen writes. The military government over Israeli Arabs was dissolved in 1966. The Arab parties set up as satellites of Jewish ones have vanished. Arab citizens now vote mainly for parties that outspokenly demand their rights. "State supervision of political speech has lessened" but not disappeared, Cohen writes. Yet alongside (frustratingly slow) progress within Israel, a far more blatantly ethnocratic regime has developed in the territories that Israel conquered in 1967. Israel's democratically elected governments rise and crumble based on their position on the occupation.

So is Israel a democracy or an ethnocracy? A direction for an answer comes out of philosopher Avishai Margalit's brief, provocative new work, On Compromise and Rotten Compromises. Margalit, I should note, spends little space explicitly discussing Israel. He addresses a universal question: At what point does a political compromise become morally indefensible? The brief answer is that "rotten compromises" are taboo, meaning agreements that "establish or maintain an inhuman regime, a regime of cruelty and humiliation  a regime that does not treat humans as humans."

The Munich agreement is one of Margalit's test cases. Another is the compromise on slavery struck by the framers of the U.S. Constitution, which allowed slavery to continue, permitted the continued import of slaves for 20 years, and required the extradition of fugitive slaves. To create a union, Northern delegates to the constitutional convention sacrificed black people to ongoing cruelty and humiliation. It's possible, he notes, that the framers believed that slavery was economically unsustainable and would wither away. They couldn't know that the invention of the cotton gin would make the slave economy flourish. Nonetheless, "my tentative answer is that the Constitution was based on a rotten compromise," Margalit writes.

Here is the problem: The newborn United States was "a settling ethnocracy," to use Yiftachel's term. It enslaved black people and steadily pushed Native Americans from their land. Yet it was also a revolutionary experiment in democracy that inspired revolutionaries elsewhere. It seems that a polity can be born as both a democracy and an ethnocracy, its politics built forever after around the contradiction between the two.

And we base our judgment of which side of a country's character is the fundamental one on what happens later -- just as the meaning of a novel's first chapter changes with each successive chapter one reads. Judged in March 1857, after the Dred Scott decision, the United States looked like a country created as an ethnocracy with a democratic false front. Judged on Nov. 5, 2008, it looked like a fundamentally democratic nation. As much as history helps us make sense of the present, the present constantly alters the meaning of the past.

Israel has become more democratic and more ethnocratic since its birth. Its democracy is sometimes seen as a model by Palestinians seeking their own independence. Whether it ends the occupation and discrimination against Arab citizens within its borders will alter our perception of whether the nation began as an imperfect democracy or a false one. Today's political battles, strangely enough, will determine not only its future but also its past.

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## Shades

Obama & Palestine By A.G. Noorani	


05.12.09 - 20:32
The peace process in Palestine is a total wreck. Every proposal has been torn to shreds by Israel by simply continuing to build new settlements on lands that would belong to a sovereign Palestine in any two-state solution.

President Barack Obama would do well to realise that, in consequence, his credibility is also undermined gravely and not in that region alone, either.

In his much-acclaimed speech at Cairo on June 4, 2009 the president declared: The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace, adding peremptorily, it is time for these settlements to stop.

They did not. As The Economist noted on Nov 28, Israels prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, defied him and still, staggeringly, won praise from Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state, known for strong pro-Israeli sympathies., During a visit to Israel she praised Netanyahus commitment to peace.

In a speech on June 14 Netanyahu offered to acknowledge the hypothetical existence of an eventual Palestinian state on the explicit understanding that it exercised no control over its airspace and had no means of defending itself against aggression; in short, a Bantustan.

On settlements he resorted to a dishonest quibble. Illegal ones would not be built but the legal ones would continue to expand according to their national rates of growth.

There are about 120 official Israeli settlements in the occupied territories of the West Bank besides unofficial ones estimated from 80 to 100. In international law both are illegal and are in breach of Article 47 of the Fourth Geneva Convention as well as the UNs charter.

The settlers number more than half a million. The US is privy to this breach as Tony Judt of New York University points out: Were Israel not the leading beneficiary of American foreign aid  averaging $2.8bn a year from 2003 to 2007, and scheduled to reach $3.1bn by 2013  houses in West Bank settlements would not be so cheap: often less than half the price of equivalent homes in Israel proper.

Many of the people who move to these houses dont even think of themselves as settlers. Newly arrived from Russia and elsewhere, they simply take up the offer of subsidised accommodation, move into the occupied areas and become the grateful clients of their political patrons.

Netanyahu offered a deceptive compromise  a mere 10-month freeze that, however, exempts Jerusalem, schools and synagogues and allows Israel to complete as many as 3,000 housing units already under construction.

Even some Israelis are astonished at Obamas supineness in the face of Israels continued defiance. The noted Israeli columnist, Gideon Levy, wrote recently: Before no other country in the planet does the United States kneel and plead like this. In other trouble spots, America takes a different tone. It bombs Afghanistan, invades Iraq and threatens sanctions against Iran and North Korea. Did anyone in Washington consider begging Saddam Hussein to withdraw from occupied territory in Kuwait?

President Obama is surrounded by Israels supporters, most notably Dennis Ross, who was Clintons peace envoy. As Obama was speaking at Cairo, senior Israeli officials in Jerusalem leaked to The New York Times a secret understanding with his predecessor, George W. Bush, giving unambiguous permission to build within the boundaries of certain settlement blocks so long as no new land was expropriated.

It was on the basis of this understanding that Israel accepted the road map for a two-state solution and withdrew from Gaza in 2005. In his infamous letter to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon dated April 14, 2004 Bush wrote: In light of new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli populations centres, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949, and all previous efforts to negotiate a two-state solution have reached the same conclusion. It is realistic to expect that any final status agreement will only be achieved on the basis of mutually agreed changes that reflect these realities.

Palestinians were expected to submit to a fait accompli. Rather belatedly, on Nov 5, 2009 Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), admitted the collapse of the peace process and announced his resolve to step down as the PLOs leader and not to seek a second term as the PAs head. He has allowed himself to be used to crush Hamas in Gaza.

Sharons withdrawal from Gaza was not designed to accelerate the peace process but to extinguish it. His friend and confidant Dov Weisglass revealed in the Israeli daily Haaretz on Oct 8, 2004 that Sharon and he had persuaded Bush to accept a plan which spelt the complete cantonisation of the West Bank under Israels control.

To remove all doubt, he explained that the Gaza withdrawal is actually formaldehyde, the liquid in which dead bodies are preserved. Effectively, this whole package called the Palestinian state, with all that it entails, has been removed indefinitely from our agenda.

Prime ministers will come and go in Tel Aviv and presidents will change guard in the US. This plan will be pursued by Israel and condoned by the US, under cover of rhetoric varying from the florid to the soaring.

Meanwhile, the situation within Israel continues to change. Arabs now make up around 22 per cent of the population of Israel. The total number of Palestinians living in Israel and in the occupied lands is larger than the Jewish population. They are unlikely to acquiesce in their fate for long.

The writer is an author and a lawyer.

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## Shades

Pal'n stabs Israeli settler southern Bethlehem, flees the scene

2009-12-13 12:12:29


Jerusalem-PalPress-Israelis sources said that a Palestinian stabbed a 22-year old Israeli settler near Etzion southern the West Bank city of Bethlehem yesterday.

The sources added that the woman is a resident of "Karni Shamron" settlement sustained light to moderate wounds  and has been transferred to hospital for medical treatment , pointing out that the stabber fled teh scene.

 Israel's military set up a number of checkpoints around the southern West Bank settlement bloc in search for the Palestinian.

Eye witnesses said that the injured was waiting at a bus station in Etzion  when the Palestinian stabbed her at her lower back and fled away.

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## Shades

IOF nab a sick elderly woman in Nablus

2009-12-13 11:43:58


Jerusalem-PalPress-The Israeli occupation forces nabbed an elderly sick woma from the West Bank city of Nablus today at dawn.

Local sources said that the Israeli Occupation Forces nabbed Raba Said Belal in her sixties and transferred her to an investigation centre.

The same sources pointed out that Israeli troops stormed the city and besieged a house owned by Belal family in Rafidya neighborhood before the old woman was nabbed.

Belal is considered the oldest woman prisoner in the Israeli jails, previously the Israeli army nabbed her five sons and one of her daughters in law.

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## Shades

200 demolition orders on table of J'lem Municiplaity

2009-12-13 12:00:54


Jerusalem-PalPress-Israeli sources confirmed that court orders for the demolition of 200 homes in Jerusalem have not been implemented yet, pointing out that several parties are pressuring for bringing the orders into action.

The Israeli radio claimed that the Israelli Interior Ministry and Jerusalem Municipality will not implement the demolition orders on grounds of what it called a defect in the work of the District Committee for Planning and Building.

According to the Israeli radio, over the past three years building laws were not imposed and demolition orders were not implemented, pointing to deliberations in the Israeli courts where judges are accusing the Israeli  authorities of intervening in something which is not of their priorities.

It is worth telling that  Israel is continuing with the policy of ethnic cleansing against Jerusalem residents under the pretext of building with out licenses.

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## Shades

Two rockets fired from Gaza Strip towards Western Negev

2009-12-13 12:50:34


Gaza-PalPress-The Hebrew radio station reported today morning that Palestinian resistance fighters fired two missiles from Gaza Strip towards Western Negev pointing out that the rocket attack caused no damages or injuries .

"One rocked missed it's way and landed in Gaza Strip while the other hit the 1948 occupied territories, shrapnels  of the rocket have not been found yet.", added the source

The Popular Fronts affiliated military wing Abu Ali Mostafa Brigades claimed responsibility for the rocket fire in the wake of the 42nd anniversary of its founding.

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## Shades

British court issues arrest warrant against Tsipi Livni

2009-12-14 16:54:51


London-PalPress- There were also conflicting reports over the whereabouts of the Israels opposition Leader Tsipi livni after a British court has issued an arrest warrant against her.

The decision was made after a group of lawyers representing the victims of the last Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip filed a suit at court seeking Livnis trial as a war criminal.

British press sources said that a police unit arrived at the residence headquarters where Livni was staying in London, however she was not found there, she is more likely believed to have disappeared in attempt of finding her way out of the country.

According to Yidiot ahronot, Livnis office denied the report confirming that she cancelled her visit to London   two weeks ago.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry claimed they have no information on Livni canceling her visit to Britain  , it seems that she cancelled her visit with out coordination with the Israeli foreign Ministry.

AlJazeera television channel reported Livnis arrest order  today Monday at 1:30 pm, however no Israeli comment was made on the issue before  90 minutes.

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## Shades

3 Pla'ns reported missing in tunnel collapse at Egypt's border with Gaza

2009-12-15 11:42:28


Gaza-PalPress-Three Palestinians were reported missing in tunnel collapse at Egypts border with Gaza on Tuesday.

Egyptian security sources said Tuesday morning that an underground tunnel at the border with Gaza strip collapsed , pointing out that the ousted government reported to the Egyptian side that three citizens are still missing since last night .

The sources pointed out that the Palestinians are more likely missing in the collapsed tunnel 1000 meters northern Rafah border crossing.

The Egyptian sources are waiting for the tunnels map in order to locate the tunnel and initiate searching operations for the missing Palestinians using a bulldozer.

The Egyptian authorities pulled out  five missing Palestinians from  a tunnel which collapsed previously , the sources added

 The Palestinians were found alive and they were using hoses for drinking water and milk.

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## Shades

Meshaal urges united front against Israel
Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:48:42 GMT   

Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal says the Palestinians will be the ultimate winners despite Israel's plots.
Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal says the resistance movement is fully committed to the liberation of the Palestinian lands from the Israeli occupation. 

Speaking at Imam Sadeq University in Tehran, Meshaal said despite Israel's plots to create division among the Palestinians and its long-running siege on the Gaza Strip, "the ultimate winners will be Palestinians." 

Meshaal urged the Palestinians and Muslim nations to practice vigilance in the face of Israel's plots and called for the establishment of an Islamic united front. 

He said the front should focus on confronting Israel and all those governments who support the regime. 

Marking the 22nd anniversary of Hamas' foundation on Monday, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh also said the movement will not back down and will continue resistance until it achieves the freedom of all Palestine. 

SB/AKM

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## Shades

Israel slams UK over Livni's arrest warrant
Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:17:58 GMT

Livni has reportedly canceled her participation in a Jewish meeting in London after a British court issued a warrant for her arrest.
A recent arrest warrant issued against former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni in Britain has provoked anger among the Israeli officials who warn UK of strained relations. 

The Israeli Foreign Ministry released a statement on Tuesday, harshly condemning "the court's cynical legal move against Opposition Chairwoman Tzipi Livni, which was initiated by radical elements." 

Reports revealed on Monday that Livni has canceled her participation in a Jewish meeting in London after a British count issued a warrant for her arrest over war crimes against the Palestinians during Israel's December 2007-January 2008 offensive which left over 1,350 Palestinians dead in the Gaza Strip. 

"Israel calls on the British government to fulfill, once and for all, its promises and prevent an abuse of the British legal system against Israel and its citizens by anti-Israel elements," the statement said. 

"The lack of determined and immediate action to correct this distortion harms the relations between the two countries." 

"If Israeli leaders cannot visit Britain in a dignified manner, it will naturally be a real obstacle to Britain's desire to have an active role in the peace process in the Middle East," the statement added. 

Based on a report published by The Guardian, Westminster magistrates' court issued the warrant at the request of the lawyers acting for some of the Palestinian victims of Operation Cast Lead but dropped it once it was discovered that Livni was not in the country. 

The UK Foreign Office later issued an apologetic statement, which said, "The UK is determined to do all it can to promote peace in the Middle East and to be a strategic partner of Israel," according to the paper. 

"To do this, Israel's leaders need to be able to come to the UK for talks with the British government. We are looking urgently at the implications of this case," the statement added. 

Britain has formerly deferred until further notice an appeal by local pro-Palestinian groups to issue an arrest warrant against Defense Minister Ehud Barak. 

SB/AKM

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## Shades

*Israel detains 15 Palestinians in West Bank*
Wed, 16 Dec 2009 01:04:33 GMT

Israeli soldiers have arrested fifteen Palestinians in pre-dawn raids in a number of occupied West Bank towns.

According to the Palestinian Information Center, those detained in the Tuesday overnight operations were from the cities of Jenin, Bethlehem, and Qalqilyah. A large number of Israeli troops cordoned off and ransacked the residents' houses in pursuit of key documents. The Palestinians were taken to military detention camps to be questioned.

The Israeli army regularly arrests Palestinians during overnight operations in West Bank towns.

However, the detentions are in flagrant violation of a security agreement with the Palestinian Authority.

Tel Aviv claims that the people arrested in the raids are 'wanted activists' and have been taken for interrogation.

More than 11,500 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently imprisoned in Israeli detention facilities, suffering harsh and life-threatening conditions.

MP/HGL

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## Shades

*Saudi criticizes US 'absolute backing' of Israel*
Wed, 16 Dec 2009 10:32:07 GMT

*Saudi Arabia blames the United States for the conflict in the Middle East, saying Washington has given Israel its "absolute support."
*
*"Absolute US backing... has made Israel see the option of living in the area without the acceptance of the people of the area,"* Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told the International Herald Tribune in an interview published Wednesday.

"This has led to many years of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians."

The foreign minister regretted the failure of his efforts to establish a Palestinian state and regional peace during his 35 years in office, saying reaching peace in the present circumstances was as difficult as holding water in one's hand.

"And how can you have any pleasure in anything that happens when you have people like the Palestinians living as they are?" he lamented.

The long-standing stalemate in the Middle East peace talks  further smothered by Israel's January offensive against the Gaza Strip and the death of more than 1,400 Palestinians in the conflict lingers on as Israeli keeps refusing a permanent and complete freeze on its settlement expansion.

Acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday reiterated that Israel must fulfill its previous commitments before a return to peace talks.

MRS/MMA

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## Shades

*New Gaza war seals Israel 'failure'*
Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:04:42 GMT

*The military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement has warned that crippling strikes are awaiting Israel Defense Forces (IDF) should they encroach into blockaded Gaza Strip again*.

"Victory will be on our side, and any large-scale aggression on the [Gaza] Strip will definitely end in absolute failure," spokesman for Ezzedeen Al-Kasam Brigades, Abu Obaida, said on Tuesday.

He also stressed the need for a political power that advocates resistance, adding that the Brigades would not give up their armed resistance as long as the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian lands persists.

On Tuesday, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, called to mind the plight of the people of Gaza during a deadly Israeli assault in December 2008-January 2009 and warned Israel against waging another war in the impoverished coastal enclave.

"If the Israeli regime launches another war against the people of Gaza, they will receive a much heavier blow and suffer a more crushing defeat than before," Ayatollah Khamenei said in Tehran during a meeting with visiting head of Damascus-based Hamas political bureau, Khaled Meshaal.

The Leader also leveled criticism at the Arab states for their failure to throw weight behind the Palestinian cause, and said, "Certain Arab states are major causes for grave concern given that they portray themselves as Muslims whilst being disloyal to the Palestinian nation."

Ayatollah Khamenei further underlined the magnitude of resistance as the only promising solution to the Palestinian crisis.

Israel's three-week offensive against Gaza left nearly 1,500 Palestinians dead, more than half of them civilians.

The Israeli assault led to the destruction of schools, mosques, houses as well as the UN compounds. Operation Cast Lead also inflicted $1.6 billion damage on the Gaza economy.

MP/AKM

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## Shades

*Israel decorates Gaza war 'heroes'
*Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:46:46 GMT

A Palestinian woman carries her child as she stands amid the ruins of a house in the northern Gaza Strip on November 9, 2009.

Israel decorates eight soldiers for showing heroism in the widely condemned Operation Cast Lead which killed hundreds of Palestinians earlier this year.

Major General Yoav Galant presented the soldiers with the honor medals on Wednesday at a ceremony attended by top Southern Command brass and the heads of councils and communities from the western Negev.

Galant said the army had reached its goals in the weeks-long offensive on the Gaza Strip and that the "soldiers acted out of faith in the justice of our cause, and their moral norms are praiseworthy."

"In the tough hours of the trial through fire you bravely and resiliently persevered. You are a lighthouse of morality and values," The Jerusalem Post quoted him as saying.

The decoration comes in the face of worldwide criticism against Tel Aviv's use of warfare against the Palestinians and several reports by international bodies and human rights watchdogs against Israel's violation of international laws during the offensive.

In July, the activist group Breaking the Silence released print and video testimony from some 30 soldiers who said they entered Gaza with blazing guns upon a "permissive" guideline by commanders, urging to shoot first and worry later about distinguishing civilians from combatants.

The 112-page testimony describes a "Neighbor Procedure" in which civilians were forced to enter suspected buildings as human shields ahead of Israeli troops.

It also charged Israel with using forbidden white phosphorus indiscriminately into Gaza streets where Israel's aerial bombardment and artillery with the help of armored bulldozers razed massive areas, including acres of gardens and farms.

In April, former South African UN prosecutor Richard Goldstone led an independent fact-finding mission commissioned by the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate international human rights and humanitarian law violations during the Gaza war.

The committee's 575-page report mostly highlighted Israeli atrocities against the people in the beleaguered Gaza Strip and documented deliberate targeting of centers, such as schools and mosques, known to be holding civilians.

The document also filed complaints that the Israeli soldiers killed unarmed people on the run, saying some of the victims were even waving white flags.

In October, the damning report was put up for a vote in the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council and endorsed by an overwhelming majority of 114 countries while 18 opposed and 44 abstained.

More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the three-week Israeli land, sea and air offensive in the Gaza Strip which also devastated a large part of the infrastructure in the impoverished coastal enclave.

MRS/AKM

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## Shades

*Ten brands boycotted over Israel links*
Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:52:55 GMT


*Anti-apartheid activists have named a number of commercial brands as Israel's sponsors, urging the world nations to think twice before buying their products ahead of Christmas*.

*The US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI) released a list of 10 multi-national companies with Israeli ties, saying the firms benefited from the West Bank apartheid wall in one way or another.
*
The USACBI accused the commercial groups of having a direct role in the suffering of Palestinian people, exploiting the Palestinian work forces and supporting the Israeli military build-up and its illegal settlement projects in the occupied Palestinian territories.

It said the *companies posed serious threats to the environment and breached international labor laws, making a boycott against them even more urgent.

The listed firms include AHAVA cosmeceutical company, Galil textile industries, Dorot Garlic and Herbs seasoning products, all based in Israel.
*
*Motorola telecommunications company, Intel Corporation  the world's largest semi-conductor chip maker , Estee Lauder cosmetics and skin care companies, Sabra companies, which produce Mediterranean-style food products, and global consumer-goods company Sara Lee are the US-based companies on the list.
*
The Paris-based cosmetics giant L'Oreal and the American retailer of women's wear, Victoria's Secret, are also among the companies to be boycotted by the USACBI.

The pro-Palestinian drive has swollen across Europe following Tel Aviv's December 2008-January 2009 offensive in the Gaza Strip and this time seems to be aiming at the Israeli regime's commerce sector.

On Thursday, Israeli MPs threatened to boycott the British products in response to guidelines issued by the UK Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, allowing retailers to state whether the West Bank products were made by the Palestinians or the Israelis.

The advisory is expected to give the Palestinian activists and their sympathizers across the world the opportunity to single out and boycott the Israeli products.

Forty lawmakers out of Israel's 120-members parliament, Knesset, signed a petition to be sent to the British parliament, said an aide to Kadima MP Ronit Tirosh, who led the move.

The international community considers the Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal and a major hurdle to peace efforts.

MRS/AKM

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## Shades

*'Abbas term extension devoid of legitimacy'*
Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:11:23 GMT

The Palestinian Legislative Council speaker says the the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has no constitutional authority to extended the tenure of Mahmoud Abbas as acting chief of the Palestinian Authority.

"The PLO's central council violated all political norms when it took such a step and interfered in the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), Aziz Dweik told Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite news channel on Wednesday.

The solution to discord over Abbas' term extension lies in one of these two things: either to task legal experts with in-depth study of the matter or to resolve it through a national reconciliation agreement," he added.

On Wednesday, officials from the Central Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) decided Mahmoud Abbas would remain in office for the foreseeable future. The vote endorsed Abbas' earlier decision to call off the January 24 presidential and legislative elections due to the boycott of the vote in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas movement.

Parliament's mandate was extended too at the PLO meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Abbas says it is impossible to hold the elections due to Hamas' refusal to allow voting in the Gaza Strip.

The Central Council also endorsed Abbas' refusal to return to negotiations with Israel until the regime stops the construction of Jewish settlements in the occupied lands.

"We will not go to negotiations until Israel fully halts settlement activities and agrees to a term of reference for such negotiations," said PLO Central Council member Tawfiq al-Tirawi.

Abbas' failure to mend fences with the rival Hamas movement has impaired his reputation among scores of Palestinians.

MP/DT

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## Shades

*Israel excludes Al-Quds from peace plan*
Fri, 18 Dec 2009 02:56:14 GMT

An illegal housing project in the West Bank settlement of Maaleh Adumim, near Jerusalem Al-Quds.

*A published Israeli peace proposal and detailed map, has excluded the occupied Jerusalem Al-Quds from any negotiations with Palestinians.*

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has excluded East Jerusalem Al-Quds and some other terms in the proposal which falls considerably short of Israel's previous commitments, AP reported.

The so-called peace plan had been initially proposed by former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert. According to the plan, Israel would annex all settlements surrounding Jerusalem Al-Quds and settlement blocs in the West Bank.

Speaking in Nablus on Thursday, acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas said that Palestinians will not accept any deal without getting all of East Jerusalem Al-Quds, the sector Israel captured in a 1967 war.

"There is no Palestine without Jerusalem Al-Quds,'' he told a crowd of several thousand at al-Najah University. "Without that, there will be no peace at all," he added.

Meanwhile, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry, told the Security Council at a regular monthly briefing on Thursday that Israel must fulfill its commitments, including a settlement freeze, under an internationally endorsed plan for a two-state solution.

FTP/SS/MMA

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## Shades

*Israeli police arrest 9 Palestinians*
Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:34:25 GMT

*
Israeli police arrest nine Palestinians during a march in Jerusalem Al-Quds marking the end of the city's tenure as the Capital of Arab culture.
*
Israeli police on Thursday, Dec. 17 blocked protesters and arrested nine Palestinians during a rally in East Jerusalem Al-Quds' old city marking the year 2009 as the end of Jerusalem Al-Quds' tenure as the Arab League's Capital of Arab Culture.

Fatah Secretary General in Jerusalem Al-Quds, Omar al-Shalabi, was also among those arrested by policemen, Reuters reported. Israeli officials said the march was considered illegal.

In the past year, Israeli police have shut down several events related to the Arab Cultural Capital festival in Jerusalem Al-Quds.

A Palestinian woman participant said that Israel wants to make Jerusalem Al-Quds Jewish. "They want to empty it of its sons, of its people, of its families and of its population so they can build illegal settlements," she said.

Meanwhile, in the West Bank city of Nablus, acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas addressed a similar rally. He said that Jerusalem Al-Quds "will remain ours" and will always be the capital of the Arab and the Islamic world.

FTP/SS/MMA

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## Shades

*UN: Settlement slowdown is no settlement freeze*
Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:12:54 GMT

Robert Serry, the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process
The United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Robert Serry, says Israel's partial hold-up of settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories is only a slowdown not a settlement freeze.

Serry said Israel doesn't fulfill its commitments to the Road Map for Peace in the Middle East. East Jerusalem Al-Quds should be part of the freeze and Tel Aviv should commit itself to ending the so-called natural progress of settlements and dismantling the illegal outposts erected by the settlers since March 2001, he added.

The UN Middle East Envoy went on to note that Israel is currently building more than 3000 housing units in East Jerusalem Al-Quds. In addition, it has given the green light for the construction of more than 28 public facilities in the settlements.

Serry pointed out that the partial settlement slowdown announced by Israel does not include occupied East Jerusalem Al-Quds. These settlements are illegal and should be dismantled instead of being granted further budgets.

The Israeli cabinet on December 13 granted additional budget allocations to more than 110.000 settlers living in isolated settlements in the West Bank.

The move, which came just weeks after Israel imposed a ten-month moratorium on new buildings in the West Bank settlements, defies a call by the international community for a complete halt on settlements considered illegal by the UN regulations.

Israel has repeatedly been called on to halt the construction of illegal settlements including the so-called "natural growth" in existing settlements in the West Bank.

Tel Aviv, however, claims that it is not constructing 'new' settlements but only building new units in the existing settlements

MP/MTM/DT

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## Shades

*Hamas: Gaza siege due to anti-US stance*
Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:10:01 GMT

Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior member of the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip
A senior member of the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip, Mahmoud al-Zahar, says that the long-standing siege on the impoverished Gaza Strip is because the resistance movement doesn't follow Washington's lead.

"The Gazans are suffering severe hardship under the crippling Israeli siege for the simple reason that the Islamic Hamas movement won a large majority in the Palestinian parliament in January 2006. The outright victory of Hamas in the election dealt a bitter blow to the United States and its Zionist ally. Washington punishes free nations who stand against its wishes," Zahar told Tehran-based Arabic-language Al-Alam television news channel on Thursday.

Israel has continued to close all border crossings to the Gaza Strip for more than 2 years. The illegal Israeli-imposed blockade on the Gaza Strip, which has been steadily tightened since 2007, has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the coastal enclave.

Some 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including freedom of movement, and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education. Poverty and unemployment rates stand at approximately 80% and 60% respectively in the Gaza Strip.

The high-ranking Hamas official meanwhile criticized the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority over its double standards. "The acting Palestinian Authority chief, Mahmoud Abbas, alleges to be supportive of resistance against the Israeli regime on the one hand while expanding security cooperation with the Zionists on the other," he said.

Zahar also welcomed the formation of a Central Electoral Committee to terminate the animosity between the major Palestinian factions of Hamas and Fatah.

On the Egyptian-brokered reconciliation efforts, Zahar said, "It's impossible for each of the factions to adopt the other's policies and views, but the decision-making should rest with those who enjoy a robust popular support."

Hamas and Fatah have long been wrangling with each other over substantial discords which have caused real bottlenecks to compromise and healing the internal Palestinian rifts.

Ever since Hamas won an outright majority in the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, the two factions have pursued bitter rivalry.

MP/MTM/DT

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## Shades

*EU slams Israel's 'special zones program'*
Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:53:12 GMT

*Israel has decided to give settlers in the 'national priority zones' access to millions of dollars worth of funds.*
The EU has denounced Israel's listing of some West Bank settlements as special zones, saying the move is against the spirit of a freeze on settlement expansions.

"The European Union expresses its disapproval of the decision of the government of Israel on December 13 to include settlements in the 'National Priority Areas program'," the European bloc said in a Friday statement.

"The decision runs counter to the spirit of the settlement freeze," said the statement released by Sweden, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

The decision announced on Sunday offers the communities designated as "national priority zones" some 41 million dollars (28 million euros) worth of credit which will benefit 110,000 settlers and can be used for vocational training, education or cultural activities.

The move is generally viewed as a gesture to mellow settlers' furor at a partial 10-month freeze on settlement expansions in the West Bank after months of international pressure for a full and permanent halt on all Israeli construction activity in the occupied territory.

However, the concession faced sharp criticism from the European Union for preventing "an atmosphere conducive to resuming negotiations on a two-state solution."

"The European Union encourages Israel instead to continue along the path set forth by the moratorium," the Friday statement added.

Sweden also reiterated the European bloc's opposition against the Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land as "illegal under international law," and urged Israel to immediately end all settlement activities.

MRS/HGH

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## Shades

*Israeli police arrest protesters in Sheikh Jarrah*
Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:37:20 GMT

Israeli police have resorted to force against peaceful demonstrators protesting the eviction of Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

The police arrested at least twenty-five people and dispersed some 300 demonstrators, including Palestinians and left-wing activists in the neighborhood on Friday afternoon, Ynet reported.

The demonstrators were protesting the recent evacuation of Palestinians following an Israeli court order.

Several Palestinian families have been evicted from the area to make way for Israeli settlers who claim ownership.

"The police's conduct resembles a military regime. This neighborhood cannot be under Jewish control," said a demonstrator.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld confirmed that several people were arrested for staging what he called unauthorized demonstration.

Last week, Israeli police arrested 21 people, including Israeli and foreign activists, during a similar protest in the East Jerusalem Al-Quds neighborhood.

Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community.

The regime claims the holy city as its "eternal, indivisible" capital, while the Palestinians want at least the implementation of the UN resolutions which give control of the eastern part of the city to them.

SB/SS/MMA

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## Shades

*Spain to seek Palestinian state as EU president*
Sat, 19 Dec 2009 02:12:32 GMT

Spain's foreign minister has vowed to work on the establishment of an independent Palestinian state when his country takes over the European Union presidency next year.

"My idea, and my dream, and my engagement, is to work for having in 2010, finally, a Palestinian state that could live in peace and security with Israel," Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said in Brussels on Friday.

"We are all in the international community defending the two-state solution. Why should we wait for a Palestinian state? We have Israel as a state, we want its neighbor, the Palestinians, to have the same status," he added.

Moratinos who was laying out the priorities of Spain's six-month term at the EU's helm starting on January 1, said an independent Palestinian state could only come about through negotiations.

"It's not going to be easy, but I think it's needed. We need a Palestinian state, the sooner, the better, and that is going to be our objective," said the foreign minister.

Earlier this month, European Union foreign ministers agreed on the recognition of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem Al-Quds as its capital.

They adopted a text agreeing that Jerusalem Al-Quds should provide "the future capital of the two states," as part of a negotiated settlement.

The negations, suspended during the Gaza war last year, have been blocked due to Israel's refusal to freeze settlement construction in the occupied lands including east Jerusalem Al-Quds.

The regime claims the holy city as its "eternal, indivisible" capital, while the Palestinians want at least the implementation of the UN resolutions which give control of the eastern part of the city to them.

SB/SS/MMA

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## Shades

*Israel razes more Palestinian homes in Al-Quds*
Sat, 19 Dec 2009 09:33:49 GMT

*
Israeli authorities have given the go-ahead for the demolition of seven homes in the Jabal al-Mukabber area in the southern part of Jerusalem Al-Quds.
*
According to Ma'an news agency, the homes that are threatened with imminent demolition are the property of Juma'a family and house 51 people, including 33 children.

The Jerusalem Al-Quds municipality and Israeli Interior Ministry officials have already put the inhabitant on notice and the eviction will be enforced within ten days.

"Israeli measures aim to force Palestinians in Jerusalem Al-Quds to leave the city. These measures are part of a systematic policy of ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem Al-Quds 's Palestinians," head of the Maqdisi Society, Muath al-Za'tari, said.

Za'tari called on the Arab, Muslim and international community to intervene to stop the ongoing Israeli ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem Al-Quds.

Israel frequently orders Palestinians to leave their homes in Jerusalem Al-Quds, claiming that they do not have proper documentations for their houses. The move is part of its Judaization campaign targeting the holy city.

The residents on the other hand argue that Israeli officials have been withholding their documents or are refusing to issue documents for their houses.

The status of Jerusalem Al-Quds is among the thorny issues of the peace process with the Palestinians reiterating that any Palestinian state should include the city as its capital.

Israel captured the mostly Arab East Jerusalem Al-Quds in 1967 and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community.

Tel Aviv continues to erect new homes in the occupied Palestinian territory despite strong opposition from the international community.

Muslim states and Palestinians insist that there would be no peace in the Middle East until Israel quits East Jerusalem Al-Quds so it can become the capital of an independent Palestinian state.

MP/MTM/DT

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## Shades

*CIA helps PA agents torture Hamas supporters*
Sat, 19 Dec 2009 08:15:51 GMT

Arrested members of Hamas seen in their cell at a PA prison in the West Bank city of Jenin.
Palestinian security agents have been torturing supporters of the Hamas movement in their custody in the West Bank in cooperation with the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), a report says.

Some western diplomats, together with regional officials, say that the relationship between the CIA and the two Palestinian agencies involved - Preventive Security Organization (PSO) and General Intelligence Service (GI) - is so close that the American agency appears to be supervising the Palestinians' work, according to a report published in The Guardian newspaper.

"The [Central Intelligence] Agency considers them as their property, those two Palestinian services," one senior western official said. A diplomatic source added that US influence over the agencies was so great they could be considered "an advanced arm of the war on terror."

Details of the cooperation between the CIA and Palestinian security agents comes to light as continuing use of torture, as well as abusive interrogations, in the occupied West bank has been widely documented by human rights groups, the report added.

Most of those held without trial and allegedly tortured in the West Bank have been supporters of Hamas, which won a large majority in the Palestinian parliament in January 2006, it went on to note.

The most common mistreatment, according to the report, is that detainees are severely beaten and subjected to a torture known as 'shabeh', during which they are shackled and forced to assume painful positions for long periods.

There have also been reports of sleep deprivation, and of large numbers of detainees being crammed into small cells to prevent rest.

Almost all the detainees enter a system of military justice under which they need not be brought before a court for six months. This flagrantly violates the prisoners' rights since their cases should, in actual fact, be brought before civilian courts.

According to Palestinian Authority officials, between 400 and 500 Hamas supporters are currently held by the PSO and GI.

MP/MTM/DT

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## Shades

*Obama grants Israel billions of dollars in aid*
Sat, 19 Dec 2009 11:07:08 GMT

*US President Barack Obama has signed the foreign aid budget law for 2010 which includes the granting of $2.775 billion in security aid to Israel.*

*The Israeli Ynet news website reported that the budget signed by Obama, for the first time, also grants $500 million to the Palestinian Authority.*

The aid also includes $100 million to be used by US General Keith Dayton, who is in charge of training the Palestinian security forces in the West Bank.

*The aid will be handed over to the Palestinians under the condition that the American taxpayers' money will only be transferred to a Palestinian government whose members accept the conditions of the international Quartet - the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. The conditions include recognizing Israel, renouncing violence and accepting past agreements signed with the Tel Aviv regime.*

The $3 billion aid is comprised of $2 billion in security aid and $1 billion in civilian aid.

The annual American security aid to Israel increased to $2.4 Billion after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office and gradually relinquished the civilian aid.

*The aid is accompanied by special additions to the Israeli military industries for the development of technologies, particularly in the missile field.
*
MP/MTM/DT

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## Shades

*Norman Finkelstein: Israeli Perpetrated War Crimes in Gaza
*Date : 16/12/2009   Time : 20:18

LONDON, December 16, 2009 (WAFA)-*Professor Norman Finkelstein, accused Israeli of perpetrating war crimes in the Gaza strip through the ongoing siege and January war.
*
His accusation came within an international Conference titled, *'UNRWA and Future of Palestinian Refugees', organized by Palestinian Return Center (PRC).
*
Finkelstein started his speech by placing it in context with the one year commemoration of the siege on Gaza. The causes and effects of this siege are now coming to light, both in the Goldstone Report and in the recent arrest warrant issued by the UK for Tzipi Livni, who stated that she was 'proud of everything she had done in Gaza'.

*Finkelstein noted that the ceasefire that was agreed between Israel and Palestinians June 2008 was broken by Israel, not Palestinians: Israel did not lift its illegal blockade on Gaza and launched a night raid on Gaza, whilst the eyes of the worlds were watching 4th November 2008 US elections. 6 Palestinian militants were killed, provoking to respond, which it did by resuming rocket attacks. Finkelstein emphasized that this is not violence so much as symbolic resistance.
*
*He quoted one Palestinian who referred to the rocket attacks as 'Modest home made rockets are a cry of protest to the world'. In particular, Finkelstein commented that if we are going to condemn Palestinians for these rocket attacks, we must suggest how else they should resist the pressure placed on them by persistent Israeli attacks, subjugation and persistent blockades that drain the small area of land. If we cannot provide an alternative, we cannot criticize.*

 Finkelstein emphasised the disproportionate nature of the Israeli attacks.* The ratios of death and destruction are striking: 100 Palestinians were killed to 1 Israeli; 600 Palestinian civilians were killed to 1 Israeli; and 6000 Palestinian homes were destroyed to 1 Israeli home. On this basis, the siege cannot be called a war as a minimum condition of war is that there are at least two sides firing at each other. Israeli soldiers themselves have stated that Israel used insane amounts of firepower*'.

Israel's claimed that the extent of devastation and death was due to Hamas using human shields and purposely positioning themselves in dense civilian areas has been undermined by reports by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Dugard Committee and the Goldstone Report which have found no evidence to support this claim.

The *Goldstone Report stated that the siege was a 'Deliberately disproportionate attack designed to punish, humiliate and terrorise a civilian population'.
*
*As a self-confessed Zionist and a supporter of Israel, Finkelstein noted that we can only assume that Goldstone would have no interest in criticising Israel unnecessarily. We must assume therefore that what Goldstone has reported is an accurate reflection of abuse and apportionment of responsibility for what happened in Gaza.
*
The Goldstone Report attracted such attention, has, for the first time, put the assessment of human rights abuses first in this conflict, rather than the attention being persistently focussed on the peace process'. The truth about the ongoing human rights abuses committed by Israelis against Palestinians must be at the forefront of our minds as we move forward.

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## Shades

*UN Committee Poses 30 tough Questions to Israel
*Date : 18/12/2009   Time : 15:09

GENEVA, December 18, 2009 (WAFA)- The UN Human Rights Committee has posed 30 highly critical questions to Israel concerning its compliance with the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

The Committee's 'List of Issues' covers a wide range of human rights concerns in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Fourteen questions taken up by the Committee were directly related to human rights violations highlighted in an NGO report submitted to the Committee by Adalah, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (Gaza) and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel on 10 August 2009. In the report, the three human rights organizations detailed Israel's lack of compliance with the ICCPR in areas related to the rights of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, as well as Palestinian civilians in the OPT.

Israel is a State Party to the ICCPR, which it ratified in 1991, and thus, it is legally bound to uphold the convention. The Committee will review Israel's responses to these questions at its session in Geneva in July 2010. Among the questions put by the Committee to Israel include:

The Committee posed questions on whether Israel will fully incorporate the prohibition on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment into its domestic law (para. 13), and whether the 'necessity defense' exception may still arise where physical pressure is used during the interrogation of terrorist suspects ('ticking bombs').

Further the Committee asked whether any complaints of torture or CIDT against the interrogators of 'ticking bombs' have been referred to the Attorney General's office for the filing of criminal charges? The Committee asked for detailed information about the number of complaints and their outcomes, and the number of persons classified as 'ticking bombs' (Para. 14) It also asked Israel to elaborate on the measures taken to ensure that no acts of torture or illtreatment are committed by ISA interrogators.

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## Shades

Dozens suffered tear gas inhalation in Bilin
Date : 18/12/2009   Time : 22:14

RAMALLAH, December 18, 2009 (WAFA)-  Dozens of citizens and internationals  suffered tear gas inhalation, as Israeli Occupation Forces attacked the  weekly demonstration of the West Bank village of Bilin west of Ramallah against the Israeli apartheid Wall.

The  demonstration organized by the Popular Committee against the Wall was joined by dozens of leaders, members and supporters of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. As every Friday a number of international and Israeli peace activists and people from Bil'in and neighboring villages took part to the demo.

After the Friday prayers, a joyful and wet group of demonstrators carried banners   condemning the Israeli occupation and its repressive practices while they marched towards the wall built on Bili'n land.

When the demonstrators approached the wall the Israeli army fired sound bombs and tear gasses and after a while a soldier also shot some rubber-coated metal bullets.

 The Popular Committee Against the Wall and settlement activities just won the 'Arab Creativity Award for 2009' in a special ceremony held December 10, 2009 in Kuwait. This is considered the best experience of Bil'in popular resistance to occupation and it comes a year after another prestigious award, Carl von Oositzackhe award, which was granted by the World Association for Human Rights in Berlin.

 The People's Committee also got an award for achievement Yasser Arafat in 2007, the highest award associated with the eternal leader Yasser Arafat. this has got the experience of Bil'in Palestine International Award for innovation and distinction as the best experience of two years before the Palestinian Telecommunications Company as well.

People's Committee has expressed its happiness and promised that it will be constantly committed to the struggle.

 Today's demo followed a night invasion carried out by five military jeeps full of soldiers and Immigration police officers. They surrounded the house where international activists usually sleep, then they entered the apartment and proceeded in checking passports. When asked, they didn't showed any paper allowing them in   declaring the whole area to be ' a close military zone'.

 The Popular Committee Against the Wall in Bil'in asks all the international human rights organizations, UN Human Rights Council, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the General Assembly of the United Nations to work for the release of Abdullah Abu Rahma, coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and settlements in Bil'in .

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## Shades

Twelve Palestinian Children Honored for Animation Movie Warda
Date : 19/12/2009   Time : 14:59

NEW YORK, December 19, 2009 (WAFA)- Twelve Palestinian children were honored, Friday, for their animated film, Warda, which examines how young people perceive the wall between Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, Un news service said.

These children were honored in the 9-12 age category as winners of the PLURAL+ Youth Video Festival Awards , an initiative of the UN Alliance of Civilizations and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). They were selected by an international jury out of more than 150 videos from 36 countries.

The award-winning videos will be shown at festivals and events around the world next year.

Young filmmakers from around the world will be recognized for their efforts to highlight migration, identity and diversity issues at a United Nations-backed ceremony in New York today.

The UN explained that the festival seeks to give voice to youth on integration, inclusiveness, human rights and social cohesiveness and also to promote respect and appreciation for all people.

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## Shades

*London Jewish school guilty of discrimination*
Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:12:42 GMT

The UK Supreme Court ruled that JFS school broke the law by granting admissions based on ethnicity.
A Jewish school in London is found guilty of racial discrimination as the UK top court describes the school's admission policy as based on ethnic origins, not faith.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that the popular JFS school north of the capital broke the law by granting admissions based on ethnicity.

The ruling, passed by a narrow five-to-four majority by the nine judges sitting on Britain's highest judicial body, received criticism from Jewish leaders, who argued it could have an impact on other Jewish organizations in Britain.

The controversy arose after the school refused to admit a 12-year-old boy whose mother was not born into Judaism but had converted at a non-Orthodox synagogue  a conversion process unrecognized by the Office of the Chief Rabbi of Britain.

The school accordingly rejected the boy's application, saying that his mother was not Jewish, and therefore the boy was not either.

The family's suit against JFS was rejected until an appeals court overturned the previous rulings in July and said, "The admissions policy should be based on the faith itself, not origin."

The school, backed by Britain's Jewish community, appealed to the Supreme Court but the judicial body ruled the school had discriminated against the boy on the basis of his ethnic origin.

Russell Kett, the chairman of governors at JFS, formerly the Jews' Free School, said they were disappointed by the decision and would now try to establish a more workable solution for the school's admission test.

MRS/AKM

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## Shades

*Police shoot U.S. student's laptop upon entry to Israel* 
16.12.09 - 20:37

*Israel Border Police officers shot at an American student's laptop as she entered Israel via Taba, Egypt, two weeks ago.*

ImageLily Sussman, 21, wrote on her blog that border police subjected her to two hours of questioning and searches prior to shooting her Apple Macbook three times.

*"They had pressed every sock and scarf with a security device, ripped open soap and had me strip extra layers. They asked me tons of questions?where are you going?" Sussman wrote, describing the experience.*

*"Who do you know? Do you have a boyfriend? Is he Arab, Egyptian, Palestinian? Why do you live in Egypt? Why not Israel? What do you know about the 'conflict' here? What do you think? They quizzed me on Judaism, which I know nothing about," she continued.*

Sussman said that she then heard an announcement on the loudspeaker. "It was something along the lines of, '*Do not to be alarmed by gunshots because the Israeli security needs to blow up suspicious passenger luggage*,'" she wrote on her blog.

Moments later a man came to her and introduced himself as the manager on duty. "*I'm sorry but we had to blow up your laptop*," Sussman said he told her.

"The security officers did not ask about my laptop prior to shooting it," Sussman told Daily News Egypt. "*They used the word 'blew up' when they told me they destroyed my laptop. I don't know why they shot it.*"

Sussman said the guards also looked through the photos saved on her camera, flipped through her journal and asked her about a map a friend had drawn for her that pointed out a main street, central bus station and the hostel where she was planning on stayig in Jerusalem.

She added that she had also been carrying an Arabic phrasebook, stamps from Syria, Qatar and the UAE and a Palestinians in Palestine guidebook.

The Israel Airports Authority said in response to the story: "A check that the lady's luggage underwent raised an indication that required security figures to act according to procedures. A police, who carried out the stated operation, was called to the scene. We suggest that the Israel Police be approached for any additional information."

Sussman managed to salvage the hard and guards gave her an address where she would be reimbursed for her mangled laptop, she told Daily news Egypt. "I'm going through the process of compensation," she said. "It supposedly will take about one month to receive the money." 

source: Haaretz

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## Shades

BLOG "WELCOME TO ISRAEL"

I was sitting on the deck overlooking the Red Sea. Israeli security officers (most who looked around 18 years old) had completed around two hours of questioning and searching me. They had pressed every sock and scarf with a security device, ripped open soap and had me strip extra layers. They asked me tons of questionswhere are you going? Who do you know? Do you have a boyfriend? Is he Arab, Egyptian, Palestinian? Why do you live in Egypt? Why not Israel? What do you know about the conflict here? What do you think? They quized me on Judaism,which I know nothing about.

Then they asked me to wait. Since they had asked for friends and families phone numbers I assumed they might be calling to verify my answers to questions or confirm I really had extended family in Tel Aviv.  An announcement played over the sound system, interrupting my break in the sunshine. First in Hebrew, then Arabic, then in English. It was something along the lines of,  do not to be alarmed by gunshots because the Israeli security needs to blow up suspicious passanger luggage.

I went inside to check on my bag. I had left it unattended, where they instructed. It was still there so I went back outside.

Moments later a man came outside and introduced himself as the manager on duty. And then, Im sorry but we had to blow up your laptop. 

What.all my client case notes and testimony, writing, pictures, music and applications. Years of work. NO!!! What?? Are you insane?? What were you thinking? THATS ALL MY WORK!?

After much yelling, crying and frantic phone dialing (dont be alarmed if I called you repeatedly this morning), he took me outside to see the wreckage. It turned out it hadnt been quite blown up, but rather shot through with three bullets. We were able to extract the hard drive, seemingly unscaved. Thank goodness

Security had never asked for my password. Was it my peeling Arabic stickers on the keyboard? Or something else during the questioning which set them off?

Toward the beginning of the search an officer began clicking through the photos on my camera.  She froze on a picture  of graffiti, which read Fuck scrawled next to the Jewish star of David. Why do you have this picture? She asked me rather aggressively. Because I was disturbed by it too, I answered. She didnt press the subject but continued clickingpresumably looking at pictures from a photo exhibit about Israels January attack of Gaza.

Though I usually delete all my pictures when uploading, unluckily I had clicked save rather than delete when uploading this set and never got around to manually deleting on my camera. Whoops

Among other suspicious item; an Arabic phrasebook, a journal entry that mentioned a Palestinian(yes, they even flipped through my journal), stamps from Syria, Qatar and the UAE, Palestinians in Palestine guidebook, and a map a friend had drawn with a main street in Jerusalem, the central bus station and my intended hostel. Who are you meeting there? They asked me.

Anyway I am in Jerusalem. Years of my life and my RLAP work is not destroyed. *sigh*. Inshaallah I will like Israel better tomorrow.

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## Shades

*Rabbis snub Israeli defense minister*
Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:57:24 GMT

Har Bracha Yeshiva Rabbi Eliezer Melamed

*Dozens of Israeli rabbis have signed a document expressing their support of Har Bracha Yeshiva Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, snubbing Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak*.

The declaration was signed on Thursday by rabbis serving as educators in government-affiliated religious seminaries  known as 'hesder yeshivas'  after Barak, in an unprecedented step, cut ties with hesder yeshiva over what its dean, Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, had said.

"*Loyalty to God comes above all other loyalties; be it to the military or the government*," Rabbi Eliezer Melamed had earlier said, the Ynet news website reported.

The rabbis explain in their document that Tel Aviv has in recent years been using the army "for purposes that are not related to Israel's defense, and contradict God's will, which is expressed in the sacred Torah. This situation puts IDF soldiers in a reality where there is a contradiction between God's orders and those of the commanders."

"We educate our students of the hesder yeshivas, to integrate into the army and be excellent and loyal soldiers while staying committed to God's words. We trust that God is the one who instills fear in our enemies, and helps our soldiers prosper and receive the crown of victory," the rabbis write in closing.

One of the signatories, Rabbi Ariel Bareli, told Israel Radio that faith outweighs government policies in the event of a clash. "You must understand, that the desire of the nation isn't meaningful for someone who believes in the creator,'' he commented.

As pressure increases on the government to curtail and eventually remove many West Bank settlements, the dispute highlights the growing political and spiritual dilemma within Israel.

MP/MTM/MMN

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## Shades

*EU castigates Israel over 'national priority' settlements*
Sun, 20 Dec 2009 03:23:20 GMT

The *European Union has condemned Israel's decision to list some Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank as 'special zones,' saying the move is against the spirit of the freeze on settlement building.*

The European Union expresses its disapproval of the decision of the government of Israel on December 13 to include settlements in the National Priority Areas program. The decision runs counter to the spirit of the settlement freeze, Sweden, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said in a statement on Friday.

The statement added, The move by Israel prevents the creation of an atmosphere conducive to resuming negotiations on a two-state solution." The European Union encourages Israel instead to continue along the path set forth by the moratorium.

The European Union reiterates that settlements on occupied land are illegal under international law.

The communities designated as 'national priority zones' will have access to credits of $41 million (28 million euros), which will benefit 110,000 illegal settlers.

Tel Aviv is currently under intense pressure from the international community to halt the construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank. Israeli settlements are widely considered the main obstacle preventing the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Under the 2002 Roadmap for Peace plan brokered by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia, Israel has to 'dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and freeze all settlement activities.'

There are currently 121 Israeli settlements and 102 Israeli outposts built on Palestinian land occupied by Israel in 1967.

These settlements and outposts are inhabited by a population of approximately 462,000 Israeli settlers. Some 191,000 Israelis are living in settlements around Jerusalem Al-Quds and an additional 271,400 are spread throughout the West Bank.

All such Jewish settlements are deemed illegal under international law because they have been erected on occupied lands that the Palestinians claim for a future state.

All of these illegal settlements and outposts have been condemned by numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions.

MP/HGL

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## Shades

*Kuwait barred from West Bank cultural event*
Sun, 20 Dec 2009 06:13:38 GMT

Israel has prevented an official Kuwaiti delegation from attending a Palestinian cultural festival in the West Bank, Kuwait's arts council announces.

In a statement released Saturday, Kuwait's National Council for Culture, Arts and Literature declared that it was not allowed entry from Jordan to participate in the "Jerusalem Al-Quds: Arab Culture Capital 2009"event held at a university in Nablus.

The Arab League last year designated East Jerusalem Al-Quds as the capital of Arab culture for 2009.

Israel and Kuwait have no diplomatic relations.

Israel, which controls the West Bank borders, regularly hampers Palestinian attempts to hold events in the city.

Israel occupied and annexed East Jerusalem Al-Quds during the 1967 war in a move that has never been recognized by the international community.

MGH/JG/DT

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## Shades

*Hamas slams Egypt for Gaza wall, siege*
Sun, 20 Dec 2009 08:21:37 GMT

Children in the Gaza Strip
In a meeting with Egyptian government officials, Iran's Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani says Tehran and Cairo should put aside their differences with regards to the Palestinian issue.

Larijani, who is in Cairo to attend a committee meeting for the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States (PUIC), said Sunday that the governments of Iran and Egypt should work together to bring unity to Palestinian factions.

"It is most important for Iran and Egypt to set aside their differences and to focus on bridging the gap between political factions in Palestine," Larijani said in a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

Larijani pointed to Egypt's power in lessening the miseries of the beleaguered population of Gaza -- which is still shaken by the devastating war waged by Israel last year -- by keeping the Rafah border open.

The Rafah border is the only escape route from the Gaza Strip which does not lead into Israel.

"At a time when Palestinians are dealing with a full-fledged crisis, we hope the Egyptian government would step in to help them deal with it," he said.

The comments come as Larijani held constructive talks with his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Fathi Surur and President Hosni Mubarak.

Receiving full cooperation of the Egyptian authorities, Israel has long imposed a complete siege on the already impoverished Gaza Strip, causing a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian sliver.

The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli siege ever since Hamas resistance movement, which does not recognize Israel, won Parliamentary elections in 2007.

Gaza's economy has been devastated in the wake of the Israeli siege, leaving Palestinians hungry for basic goods and commodities.

The meetings are believed to be the first high-level talks between the two countries since they broke off relations in 1980. Tehran was critical of Cairo's peace treaty with Israel.

SBB/DT

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## Shades

*Israel stripped body organs off Palestinians: MP*
Sun, 20 Dec 2009 08:54:02 GMT

*An Israeli Knesset member says there is evidence showing that deceased Palestinians were stripped bare of their vital organs while in police custody in Tel Aviv*.

*Israeli politician and leader of the Arab nationalist party, Ahmad Tibi, said on Saturday that a medical institution in Israel harvested appendages from the bodies of dead Palestinians in the 1990's*.

*According to Tibi, the body parts, which included heart arteries, bones, and corneal tissue, were used in organ transplants for Israeli soldiers*.

*Meanwhile, the Israeli television has shown a documentary in this regard, claiming that Israeli politician and Knesset member Aryeh Eldad was the main culprit behind the bodysnatching incident*.

The organ theft issue was first brought to the fore in a report published earlier in August by Sweden's largest circulation daily, Aftonbladet.

According to the report, *Israeli soldiers were snatching and killing Palestinian men to harvest their organs for sale on the black market. It sheds light on the case of Bilal Ahmed Ghanem, a 19-year-old Palestinian man, who was shot dead in 1992 by Israeli forces in the West Bank village of Imatin.*

The *report claimed that Ghanem's body was then abducted and returned several days later by the Israeli military with a cut from the stomach to the neck that had been stitched up*.

When asked what happened to the body, *the soldiers told Bilal's family that he had undergone an autopsy in Tel Aviv. The family, however, claims that his organs had been stolen.*

After the incident, at least *20 Palestinian families told Bostrom that they suspected that the Israeli military had taken the organs of their sons after they had been killed by Israeli forces and their bodies were taken away*.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry reacted with anger to the report, calling it "a grotesque libel to incite anti-Semitic sentiments."

Their anger was widely believed to be due to the fact that it had made reference to the recent arrests* in New Jersey of several prominent US Jews for a number of alleged crimes, including brokering the sale of organs for transplant*.

In *2004, pathologist Yehuda Hiss was removed from his post as head of the state-run L. Greenberg Institute of Forensic Medicine after a Health Ministry investigation found that he had been involved for years in taking body parts, such as legs and ovaries, without family permission during autopsies, and selling them to medical schools for use in research and training.*

This is while in* July 2009, a New York Rabbi, Levy Izhak Rosenbaum, was arrested after it became clear that he was the main broker for a major human organs trafficking ring*.

*According to Knesset Member Muhammad Baraka there are more than 600 dead Palestinians' bodies buried in what Israel calls 'the number graveyards', which were created for freedom fighters Palestinians killed in combat with the Israeli army.*

Baraka requested in August that Israel return the bodies to their families, but his demand is yet to be taken into account by Israeli authorities.

SBB/DT

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## Shades

*'Israeli whistleblower helped us daunt others'*
Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:19:49 GMT

Israel's Dimona nuclear reactor
*Former head of Israel's Atomic Energy Commission says the Israeli nuclear whistleblower has served the regime because his revelations helped Tel Aviv intimidate others*.

Yet Uzi Eilam, a retired army brigadier-general who ran the commission between 1976 and 1986, says whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu did a service by alerting foes to the country's military might.

Vanunu was sentenced to 18 years as a traitor in a secret trial in 1986. He was abducted at that time from Italy after revealing information about an illegal nuclear program at Israel's Dimona reactor to Britain's Sunday Times newspaper.

Vanunu's information proved that Israel had broken the 1968 treaty on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

There is a US law that prohibits the support of countries that break the treaty in question.

Eilam said Vanunu's interview with the British paper, which led foreign experts to conclude that Israel had produced fissile material for as many as 200 atomic warheads, had helped Israel's strategic standing by unveiling its military might.

He was released in 2004, but confined to Israel since then even though he was merely a technical assistant with limited and outdated information. Israeli military officials; however, worry that he may reveal more secrets about Israel's nuclear weapons.

To date, he is still not permitted to speak to non-Israeli's.

"I've always believed he should be let go," Eilam, told Reuters on Sunday.

"I don't think he has significant knowledge to reveal (about Dimona) now," he added.

"It served to bolster our deterrence," he concluded.

Vanunu has been nominated several times for the Nobel Peace Prize including this years' award. He has reportedly asked that his name be removed from the list that holds the name of Shimon Peres as the man, according to Vanunu, is behind Israeli atomic policy.

MGH/SC/DT

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## Shades

*Hamas, EU lawyers cooperate to prosecute Israeli war criminals*
Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:52:50 GMT

Gaza Strip after the Israeli offensive
The Hamas government has set up a committee to provide information to European lawyers investigating Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

"We provide documents, reports and evidence of crimes to all international bodies aiding the Palestinian people in bringing Israeli civilians and military leaders to trial and issuing warrants for their arrest," Diya al-Madhun, the judge who heads the committee told AFP on Sunday.

"We have provided a group of independent lawyers in Britain with documents, information and evidence concerning war crimes committed by Israeli political and military leaders, including (Tzipi) Livni," he added.

Al-Madhun noted that the foreign lawyers acted independently and were not hired by the Hamas government.

Livni, who served as foreign minister during the war, cancelled a trip to London last week after an arrest warrant was issued against her by a British court.

The Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip earlier this year killed over 1,400 Palestinians, including many children and women.

MGH/SC/DT

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## Shades

*Israeli military admits harvesting organs*
Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:26:17 GMT

Dr. Jehuda Hiss
*The Israeli military has admitted harvesting organs from dead Palestinians after an interview conducted over the issue in 2000 was broadcast again*.

Over the weekend, *Israel's Channel 2 TV broadcast an interview conducted in 2000 with the then-head of Israel's Abu Kabir forensic institute, Dr. Jehuda Hiss who revealed that forensic pathologists harvested organs from dead bodies, including Palestinian corpses in the 1990s, the Associated Press reported*.

"*We started to harvest corneas ... Whatever was done was highly informal. No permission was asked from the family*," said the doctor.

According to the report, *the forensic specialists harvested skin, corneas, heart valves and bones from the bodies of Israeli soldiers, Israeli citizens, Palestinians and foreign workers, often without seeking permission from relatives*.

Hiss *also described how his doctors would cover up the removal of corneas from bodies*.

"*We'd glue the eyelid shut," he said, adding that "We wouldn't take corneas from families we knew would open the eyelids*."

In response to the broadcast, the Israeli military confirmed the report in a statement but said, "This activity ended a decade ago and does not happen any longer."

The report was released after an article by Swedish journalist Donald Bostrom, accusing Israel of killing Palestinians in order to harvest their organs, caused a huge controversy.

The *article, entitled They plunder the organs of our sons, published by the Swedish daily Aftonbladet, sparked outrage among Israeli officials, who called it "groundless," "outrageous" and "anti-Semitic."*

Bostrom, however, said the purpose of his opinion article was to call for an investigation into numerous claims in the 1990s that such activity was going on.

SB/MMN

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## Shades

*Galloway raps Arabs over forsaking Gaza*
Tue, 22 Dec 2009 06:39:36 GMT

British MP George Galloway speaks to reporters in Damascus December 21, 2009, during his campaign to aid Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
British Member of Parliament George Galloway has leveled strong criticism at Arabs over their inaction and failure to play a role in organizing aid convoys to the besieged Gaza Strip.

It is a shame that this convoy [Lifeline 3] is coming from Europe and not from the Arab countries, Galloway told reporters upon his arrival at Damascus International Airport.

He said that Lifeline 3 charity convoy is a message of solidarity with the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip on the first anniversary of the Israeli onslaught against the coastal sliver.

Israel's three-week offensive against Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009 left more than 1,400 Palestinians dead, more than half of them civilians, according to medical sources. The Israeli assault also led to the destruction of schools, mosques, houses as well as UN compounds, inflicting $ 1.6 billion damage on the Gaza economy.

The British anti-war activist added that the third Viva Palestina convoy is aimed to direct the world's attention to Israeli war criminals who committed the horrendous crimes in Gaza as well as the courageous Palestinian resistance. He voiced hope that the Egyptian authorities would secure the arrival of the convoy without hindrance.

Galloway meanwhile expressed his deep gratitude to Syrian authorities for the contribution they made to facilitate the entry of the Lifeline 3 convoy organized by the UK-based Viva Palestina movement. Galloway described Syria as a fortress and the symbol of pride that has never forsaken Palestine.

The third international convoy to Gaza departed from London on December 5, 2009. The convoy is made up of volunteers from Britain, Ireland, Belgium and Malaysia, who have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds in their local communities to pay for ambulances, minibuses, vans and lorries and to fill them with medical and other aid that is desperately needed in Gaza.

Lifeline 3 will arrive in Gaza on December 27 through the Rafah border crossing to make a dent in the ongoing Israeli blockade imposed on the impoverished enclave.

Israeli political and military authorities now face the possibility of international prosecution and arrest over war crimes in the Gaza Strip. A British court has issued an arrest warrant for former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

The UN Security Council awaits investigative reports ordered pursuant to recommendations made by UN investigator Richard Goldstone, who detailed countless Israeli war crimes not just in the attacks on Gaza in 2008, but throughout the Israeli siege, which began in 2006.

Meanwhile, Egypt is building a wall along its border with Gaza which is installed and funded by the US in order to block the tunnels that have served as the only lifeline for needed food, household and consumer goods in Gaza.

MP/SC/DT

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## Shades

*Nasrallah warns of Israel's fresh psych-war*
Tue, 22 Dec 2009 10:41:34 GMT

Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah has warned about what he describes as Israel's continuing campaign of psychological warfare.

Nasrallah on Monday called on Lebanon to remain steadfast in confronting Israeli psychological warfare, which he said would not cease to exist, but would instead escalate in the future.

He said Israel was seeking two objectives in its psychological warfare, in the first place to "intimidate" Arab countries to either "give in or step back" and in the second, to "recover self-confidence" in Israelis.

Nasrallah also underlined the need to remain vigilant in combating Israeli psychological warfare, reiterating that "insight" and a better understanding of the situation could help overcome Israel.

The Hezbollah leader promised that Lebanon will continue to confront Israel.

"I tell Israelis that you tried every form of psychological warfare against us, but in return you received nothing but greater bravery, stability and faith from our side. In the future, we will do the same thing."

AR/SC/DT

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## Shades

* Ynet:* Were Gradually *Losing Best Palestinian Peace Partners We Ever Had*
Date : 20/12/2009   Time : 16:45

TEL AVIV, December 20, 2009 (WAFA)- *Next year, Israel will be marking a decade to the failed and destructive vision of unilateralism. This will be a good, and possibly the last, opportunity to abandon this foolish fantasy, Israeli news site Ynet said*.

Uri Misgav worte: I recently committed a criminal act. I cannot even plead ignorance. A large red sign at the roadblock near the Qalandiya refugee camp made it clear. Israelis are forbidden from entering Area A in the West Bank. It may be a security constraint, but it also has a symbolic significance. The moderate and quiet capital of the Palestinian Authority is located a few minutes away from Jerusalem, yet visiting it is a crime.

He added that next year, Israel will be marking a decade to the failed and destructive vision of unilateralism. This will be a good, and possibly the last, opportunity to abandon this foolish fantasy.

In his article Misgav continued: Ramallah is recovering. The economic growth is apparent by the construction boom and the accelerated activity of the production and commercial sectors. The coffee shops offer thick hot chocolate in tall glasses next to the tea. Restaurants charge Tel Aviv-style prices. Yet skepticism reigns supreme. Everything is fragile, say the locals.

I met with several prominent PA leaders here, Ynet added, members of Fatahs top brass who speak fluent Hebrew; men who were held in Israeli jails for years and know us better than we know ourselves. They understand history and politics, possess street smarts and common sense, and display sharp humor and a sense of irony. They recoil from religious fanaticism and from bloodshed. They believe in the two-state vision in line with the 1967 borders.

If there is one unforgivable sin in Ehud Baraks list of transgressions, it is the way he entrenched the perception that Israelis have no Palestinian partner. We never had better partners than these. At this rate, soon we wont have them either, Misgav stated.
First we had the conscious and methodical destruction of PA institutions, he went on, then came the Gaza disengagement. Fatah has not recovered from it to this day.
He emphasized that the emerging Shalit swap deal drives them crazy. For a period of 14 years we have been trying to release prisoners via negotiations, says former Prisoners Affairs Minister Sufian Abu Zaida. Then comes Hamas, abducts a soldier, and is now on the brink of a deal. And now I need to face the argument that you only understand force.

Their despair and frustration are supposed to make us lose sleep. Years of reckless construction at settlements and outposts eroded their faith in the diplomatic process, Ynet stressed.

Their lack of faith in the Netanyahu government is extreme, Misgav explained, the settlement freeze announcement, which includes the completion of thousands of residential units already under construction as well as building permits for dozens of public institutions is too little and too late for them.

He concluded by quoting PA Leadership saying: We decided to stop being fools, they told me in Ramallah. Whats the problem? For once in our history were allowed not to be fools, they said.' Now try to argue with them.

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## Shades

New York Carolers Sing for Boycott of Leviev
Date : 21/12/2009   Time : 18:53

New York, NY, December 21, 2009 (WAFA) On a snowy Saturday afternoon, forty-five human rights carolers serenaded Madison Avenue shoppers with familiar holiday tunes outside the storefront of Israeli diamond and settlement mogul Lev Leviev, but their lyrics called for the boycott of Levievs companies.

The New York protest took place against the backdrop of a growing arrest campaign by the Israeli military against Palestinian protest and boycott activists from West Bank villages where Leviev has built settlements.

Ethan Heitner from Adalah-NY commented, Today in New York City we celebrated the many victories of the international movement to boycott companies like Levievs that support Israels oppression of the Palestinian people. At the same time, were angry that our Palestinian colleagues, like Mohammad Othman from Jayyous, Abdallah Abu Rahmah from Bilin and Jamal Juma from Stop the Wall, have been imprisoned by Israel for organizing nonviolent protests and boycotts. Still, the Israeli governments desperate measures wont succeed in crushing the growing movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. Instead they just provide further proof to the world of why BDS is necessary.

Groups worldwide have conducted a successful boycott campaign against Levievs companies due to their construction of Israeli settlements in violation of international law, and their human rights abuses in the diamond industry in Angola. With Levievs companies in freefall, New York human rights advocates, many wearing Santa hats, returned to his store for a third year of holiday caroling, and greeted Madison Avenue holiday shoppers with choruses like this, to the tune of Jingle Bell Rock: So Lev as you, watch while your, stock goes kaput; Think of the folks youve hurt; And well keep being the thorns in your side; Til theres justice for Palestinians; And youve paid for your crimes!

In a new development, three heavyset, middle-aged men, seemingly employed by Leviev, videotaped and photographed the carolers from the storefront throughout the event.

Leviev's companies Africa Israel and Leader have built Jewish-only homes on Palestinian land in the Israeli settlements of Zufim on the land of the village of Jayyous, Mattityahu East on the land of the village of Bilin, and Har Homa and Maale Adumim, impoverishing Palestinian communities and violating international law. On December 12th in the middle of the night, the Israeli military arrested Abdallah Abu Rahmah, a leading organizer of Bilins five year nonviolent protest campaign to save the villages land from Israels wall and settlements. Many other protesters from Bilin and from the neighboring village of Niilin, also campaigning to save its land, have been arrested recently in nighttime raids. The Palestinian organization Stop the Wall announced that its Coordinator, Jamal Juma, was arrested on December 16th. Israeli authorities have jailed Jayyous protest and boycott organizer Mohammad Othman, also from Stop the Wall, without charges since September 22nd. This week, Israeli settlers from Zufim, built on Jayyous land, attacked Israeli soldiers who were attempting to slow settlement expansion there.

Leviev is facing a financial crisis, imperiling his control of his flagship company Africa-Israel, that appears to have been aggravated by the growing boycott movement. UNICEF, Oxfam, The British Government and major Hollywood stars have all distanced themselves from Leviev. The investment firm BlackRock, pension giant TIAA-CREF and the Swedish government recently sold off their shares of Levievs company Africa-Israel, though BlackRock and TIAA-CREF denied they did so due to his settlement construction. New reports indicate that the second largest Dutch pension fund PZVW divested from Africa-Israel. Eleven organizations have asked the Norwegian government to sell its pension holdings in Africa-Israel over ethical concerns.

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## Shades

Jerusalem -- *Archaeologists in Israel say they have discovered the remains of a home from the time of Jesus in the heart of Nazareth.*

ImageThe Israeli Antiquities Authority said the find "sheds light on the way of life at the time of Jesus" in the Jewish settlement of Nazareth, where Christians believe Jesus grew up.

The find marks the first time researchers have uncovered the remains of a home in Nazareth from that time period, the Israeli Antiquities Authority said in a statement.

"The building that we found is small and modest and it is most likely typical of the dwellings in Nazareth in that period," Yardenna Alexandre, excavation director for the authority, said in the statement.

"Until now a number of tombs from the time of Jesus were found in Nazareth; however, no settlement remains have been discovered that are attributed to this period."

Christians believe that Mary, the mother of Jesus, lived in Nazareth with her husband, Joseph. They believe Mary was in Nazareth when the angel Gabriel revealed that Mary would give birth to the son of God, a baby to be named Jesus.

A number of burial caves that date to the early Roman period also were discovered close to the inhabited area during the excavations, the authority said.

The discovery was made in the modern city of Nazareth during an excavation in advance of construction of the International Marian Center of Nazareth, which will illustrate the life of Mary.

An association in Nazareth plans to conserve and display the home's remains in the center. It will be built next to the Church of the Annunciation, which stands on the spot where Catholics believe Mary once lived.

The Church of the Annunciation is in the heart of Nazareth, above an older church and atop the ruins of a church from the Byzantine period.

In the middle of these churches is a cave that was believed in antiquity to be the home of Jesus' family. Researchers found storage pits and cisterns in the compound of the Church of the Annunciation, many of which date to the time of Jesus, Israeli archaeologists said.

In the excavation, a large, broad wall that dates to the 15th century was exposed. It was constructed on top of and used the walls of an ancient building, the statement said.

This earlier building -- the one that dates to the time of Jesus -- consisted of two rooms and a courtyard in which a rock-hewn cistern collected rainwater. Few artifacts were recovered from inside the building -- mostly fragments of pottery vessels from the first and second centuries.

Also, researchers found several fragments of chalk vessels, which were used by Jews in this period because such vessels were not susceptible to becoming ritually unclean, researchers said.

Another hewn pit, whose entrance was apparently camouflaged, was excavated and a few pottery fragments from the early Roman period were found inside it.

"Based on other excavations that I conducted in other villages in the region, this pit was probably hewn as part of the preparations by the Jews to protect themselves during the great revolt against the Romans in [A.D.] 67," Alexandre said.

source: CNN

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## Shades

*Eight Jerusalemite Houses to be demolished on Christmas Eve*
Date : 22/12/2009   Time : 14:09

JERUSALEM, December 22, 2009 (WAFA)- Two Jerusalemite families will be forced to evacuate their houses before December 24, 2009, according to 8 demolition orders issued by Jerusalem municipality to Jomaa and Al-Khalaila families in Jabal Al-Mukaber neighborhood in East Jerusalem.

The most dangerous order concerns the demolition of the neighborhoods mosque, in addition to the 8 houses that host 69 people, including 45 children.

The families told Al-Maqdese a nongovernmental rights center- that their suffering started when the Israelis has built the Israeli Apartheid Wall near their houses and tend to build a bridge in the area.

Accordingly, 2 families submitted an objection to the Municipality against the construction of the bridge on the basis that their houses exist there since 100 years (since 1920, before both the Wall and the planned bridge). The Municipality, nonetheless, refused the objection under the pretext of being close to the Wall. They informed Al-Maqdese that they suffered from demolitions several times despite the area is planned in the terms of houses construction.

Al-Maqdese insured, in a press release, that the violation of Palestinians rights have became in recent wholesale a systematic policy designed to displace Jerusalemites outside the City limits. For Al-Maqdese, it is a continuation of ethnic cleansing. Therefore, Al-Maqdese Executive Director, Moaz Zatari, calls the Islamic and Arab Governments and the international community to interfere with and to stop massacres of Palestinians and their properties in Jerusalem.

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## Shades

*Palestinians spend half a billion dollars a year on Israeli settlement products*  
21.12.09 - 22:13
Hassan Abu Libdeh, the Palestinian Minister of the Economy with the Fateh-led de facto government in the West Bank, told a meeting of the Nablus Chamber of Commerce Sunday that, according to his figures, Palestinian people living in the West Bank and Gaza spend over five hundred million dollars a year on products from Israeli settlements.
ImageThese settlements are Israeli-only developments constructed on illegally-seized Palestinian land in the West Bank. Due to the Israeli control over the entire Palestinian economy, the Palestinian population is in the ironic position of having to buy food, drinks and other necessities produced on land that used to be their own.

According to Abu Libdeh, Palestinians are obligated to purchase Israeli products due to a 1994 agreement known as the 'Paris Protocol', which requires a free exchange of goods between Israel and the Occupied Territories of Palestine. Israel has never upheld its end of the agreement, however, and Palestinian goods continue to be refused access into Israel due to checkpoints, closures and restrictions. In addition, Israeli theft of Palestinian land has multiplied exponentially in the 15 years since that agreement was made, and Palestinian farmland and olive groves continue to be converted into Israeli assets.

Abu Libdeh told the assembled business leaders that after 2010, the Palestinian Authority would modify its terms of enforcement of the 'Paris Protocol', due to Israel's long-standing policy of ignoring the agreement altogether. The Palestinian Authority official said that after 2010, only goods produced within the 1967 borders of Israel would be allowed into the Occupied Territories.

Since its creation in 1948 on Palestinian land, the state of Israel has continually refused to declare its border, instead expanding its state further and further onto Palestinian land using military force, then transferring civilians into 'settlements' on the land seized by force. Such expansion is a blatant violation of international law, but no state or international body has acted to stop Israel from its ongoing expansion.
source: International Middle East Media Center

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## Shades

*Israel admits to organ thefts *  
21.12.09 - 22:53

Israel has admitted that it harvested organs from the dead bodies of Palestinians and Israelis in the 1990s, without permission from their families

ImageThe admission follows the release of an interview with Jehuda Hiss, the former head of Israel's forensic institute, in which he said that workers at the institute had harvested skin, corneas, heart valves and bones from Israelis, Palestinians and foreign workers.

In the interview, which was conducted in 2000 when Hiss was head of Tel Aviv's Abu Kabir forensic institute, he said: "We started to harvest corneas ... Whatever was done was highly informal. No permission was asked from the family."

Nancy Scheper-Hughes, who conducted the interview, told Al Jazeera on Monday that Hiss had said the "*body parts were used by hospitals for transplant purposes - cornea transplants. They were sent to public hospitals [for use on citizens]*.

"*And the skin went to a special skin bank, founded by the military, for their uses*", such as for burns victims.

The practice is said to have ended in 2000.

Guidelines 'not clear'

The interview was also reported on Israel's Channel 2 television, which quoted an Israeli military statement that said: "This activity ended a decade ago and does not happen any longer."

Israel's health ministry said in the Channel 2 report that at the time the guidelines for transplants "were not clear" and that for the last 10 years "Abu Kabir has been working according to ethics and Jewish law".

Scheper-Hughes, who is a professor of anthropology at the University of California-Berkeley, said that she made the interview public because of the controversy last summer over allegations of organ harvesting made by a Swedish newspaper.

In August the Aftonbladet newspaper ran an article alleging that the Israeli army had stolen body organs from Palestinian men after killing them.

Israel denied the claims, calling them anti-Semitic, and the incident raised tensions when Sweden refused to apologise for the article, saying that press freedom prevented it from intervening.

'Technically illegal'

Scheper-Hughes said that some of the dead Palestinians from whom organs were harvested were killed during military raids.

"*Some of the bodies were definitely Palestinians who were killed in conflicts," she told Al Jazeera.*

"Their organs were taken without consent of families and were used to serve the needs of the country in terms of hospitals as well as the army's needs."

She said that Hiss told her "that the people who did the harvesting were sent by the military. They were often medical students".

"He did it informally and without permission, and it was technically illegal," she said.

The military establishment gave their "sanction and approval" to the procedures, according to Scheper-Hughes.

During his interview with Scheper-Hughes, Hiss said that the eyelids of bodies were glued shut to prevent the removal of corneas being found out.

Hiss was dismissed as head of Abu Kabir in 2004 over irregularities in the use of organs, but charges against him were eventually dropped. He still holds the position of chief pathologist at the institute.

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## Shades

*Hosam:IOF stole body parts from Martyr Fadel Shahin from Gaza*

2009-12-22 11:22:27

Occupied Jerusalem-PalPress-The Association of Prisoners and Ex-detainees Hosam", revealed  a news case of stealing body parts from  Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli jails.

Hosam confirmed that body parts were stolen from Martyr Fadel Oda Ateya Shahin (47 years)  specially his cornea and kidneys, pointing out that autopsy took place at  Abu Kbir institute from under  chin to under stomach .

Relatives of the martyr said that  their son was detained in December 2004 and died in the Israeli jails on 29/2/2009.

They pointed out that he suffered diabetes and blood pressure and  blockage of leg arteries, adding that he did not receive medical treatment at Aramla Hospital.

After they were handed over his body, they noticed that his eyes were bleeding continuously and that his body was cut from neck to stomach.

The Director of the Public Relations department at Hosam institute Mwafak Hmeid , held the occupation authorities responsible about stealing body parts from the martyrs  body .

Hmeid called for bringing all criminals who were  responsible about organs theft  from Palestinian martyrs to the international  court.


2009-12-22 11:22:27

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## Shades

*Israeli soldier killed in training accident*
Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:53:13 GMT

Israeli private Mor Cohen was taking part in an urban warfare drill when he was accidentally shot and killed.
A Golani infantry brigade soldier has been shot and killed by a fellow soldier during a routine Israeli army training exercise in the Golan Heights.

Private Mor Cohen, 19, suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head after a bullet fired by one of his comrades penetrated the wall of a training facility and hit him, according to Ynet news.

Cohen was taking part in an urban warfare drill. Shortly after the soldiers, taking part in the drill, began firing at their designated targets, the company commander noticed Cohen was missing.

The officer ordered the soldiers to cease fire and shortly thereafter found Cohen mortally injured outside a training facility building.

A military physician was called to the scene and Cohen was rushed to the Ziv Medical Center in Safed.

The wounded soldier's condition deteriorated en route to the hospital. Once at Ziv's emergency room, doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.

Military police have launched a separate investigation into the incident.

MP/SC/AKM

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## Shades

*Hamas slams Israel decision on 'heavyweight prisoners'*
Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:50:37 GMT

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri says the high-level talks showed the Israeli divisions were behind the delay in reaching a prisoner swap deal.
Hamas has accused Israel of hindering a prisoner swap deal after Tel Aviv expressed reservations over the return of some of the released Palestinian prisoners to their homes in the occupied West Bank.

In its reply to Hamas' request on Tuesday, passed via a German mediator, Israel balked at allowing "some of the heavyweight prisoners" to return to their homes in the West Bank, insisting that they instead go to the Gaza Strip or a third country.

The message was relayed to Hamas late Monday after marathon talks were held at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri blamed Israel for stalling negotiations to swap hundreds of Palestinian prisoners for a captured Israeli soldier, AFP reported.

He said the high-level talks merely showed the Israeli divisions were behind the delay in reaching a deal to release Gilad Shalit, who was captured in a cross-border operation from the Gaza Strip in 2006.

"The division inside the Israeli government is responsible for hindering the agreement," said Zuhri.

He said the movement had not "closed the door on the negotiations" but that it would adhere to its conditions.

According to the Israeli and Palestinian officials, Israel would release 450 Palestinian prisoners in return for Shalit with an additional 500 prisoners to be released at a later stage.

There are currently some 8,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

SB/AKM

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## Shades

*Lavrov: Israeli settlement halt 'insufficient'*
Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:08:55 GMT

Lavrov says a temporary moratorium on Israeli settlement activities is not enough.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has asked Israel for more commitment to the peace process, saying a decision to limit some aspects of settlement construction is not enough.

"We have approved [Benjamin] Netanyahu's decision to impose a 10-month moratorium on some aspects of settlement construction," Russian news agencies quoted Lavrov as saying on Tuesday

During a speech at the University of Global Economy and Diplomacy in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, Russia's top envoy highlighted that although he believed the step was in the right direction, it still required improvement.

"The step is correct but clearly not sufficient," he added.

His remarks referred to a late November decision announced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that construction would be limited in the occupied West Bank, but not in East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

Netanyahu added that the halt to the construction of illegal settlements  one of the main issues impeding the peace efforts  was not permanent and that settlement activity would resume once the temporary moratorium is over.

The settlements have also embittered Israel's relations with its main strategic ally, the United States.

On Monday, Lavrov said the United Nations needed to play a larger role in finding a solution to the Middle East conflict.

The visiting foreign minister also held talks with his Uzbek Counterpart Vladimir Norov and is expected to meet with Uzbek President Islam Karimov later on Tuesday.

ZHD/AKM

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## Shades

*World has betrayed Gaza: Rights groups*
Wed, 23 Dec 2009 07:57:00 GMT

More than a dozen human rights groups and charities have condemned the international community's failure to end Israel's crippling blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Amnesty and Oxfam were among 16 UK-based non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which hurled criticism in a report against the world's silence toward the "collective punishment" of some 1.5 million Gazans.

"The international community has betrayed the people of Gaza by failing to back their words with effective action to secure the ending of the Israeli blockade, which is preventing reconstruction and recovery," said the report on Tuesday.

Israel and Egypt have sealed off crossings into the Hamas-run coastal enclave since June 2007, barely permitting vital humanitarian aid into the impoverished territory.

"It is not only Israel that has failed the people of Gaza" with the months-long blockade, said Jeremy Hobbs, executive director of Oxfam International.

"World powers have also failed and even betrayed Gaza's ordinary citizens. They have wrung hands and issued statements, but have taken little meaningful action to attempt to change the damaging policy that prevents reconstruction," he stressed.

According to rights groups, Israel has allowed only 41 truckloads of construction materials into Gaza, hindering the reconstruction of "the extensive damage" Israel's last year offensive inflicted on homes, civilian infrastructure, public services, farms and businesses in the region.

The report also called on European foreign ministers to visit Gaza to see the damage for themselves and urged the EU to do all it can to lift the blockade.

Israel controls all Gaza's border crossings except the Rafah terminal with Egypt, which Cairo rarely opens.

Egypt has recently started to erect a metal barrier to disrupt an underground tunnel network Gazans use for pushing in their basic needs that Israel does not allow into Gaza markets.

Israeli warplanes regularly pound the tunnels which Tel Aviv claims Palestinian activists use for smuggling weapons for resistance fighters in the Gaza Strip. But the Palestinians vehemently reject the allegations, describing the tunnels as food tubes helping the 1.5 million people living in the coastal territory fight off starvation.

MRS/SC/MMA

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## Shades

*Abbas vows to curb any Palestinian Intifada*
Wed, 23 Dec 2009 06:39:27 GMT

Acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas says he prevented a third intifada from breaking out during Israel's deadly offensive against the Gaza Strip in January.

In an interview with New York's Wall Street Journal published on Tuesday, Abbas emphasized that he would not allow another uprising to take place as long as he stays in office.

"I will not allow a new intifada. As long as I'm in office, I will not allow anybody to start a new intifada. Never never."

The Fatah leader who earlier said he would not run in the next Palestinian election warned that he could not make any guarantees another intifada would not erupt once he left office.

"If I leave, it's no longer my responsibility and I can't make any guarantees. It could happen," he said.

"It's not my business to follow up. I promise and I can do. And I already promised and I did during the invasion of Gaza. At that time everybody asked me to go to a third intifada, but I prevented anybody from doing it."

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)'s Central Council last week extended the mandate for the Western-backed Abbas, whose term as the Palestinian Authority chief expired in early 2009.12.23

The move drew sharp criticism from the Islamic Hamas movement, which called the decision illegal and a "political bribe to cover up for the fact that Abbas's term in office expired a long time ago."

The PLO's Central Council also endorsed Abbas' earlier decision to call off the January 24 presidential and legislative elections due to a Hamas-called boycott of the vote in the Gaza Strip.

Abbas' popularity has dipped meaningfully following senior Israeli military officials revealing the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority had called Israel to eliminate the rival Hamas and supported Tel Aviv forces with intelligence.

The three-week long Gaza massacre resulted in the deaths of at least 1,400 Palestinians, including many civilians, in the Gaza Strip and left thousands more injured.

In the interview, Abbas denied reports that US intelligence is working closely with PA security forces who torture detainees, but acknowledged that Americans are training Fatah forces.

The UK daily Guardian last Thursday quoted Western officials as saying that Palestinian security agents have been torturing supporters of the Hamas movement in their custody in the West Bank in cooperation with the US Central Intelligence Agency.

MRS/SC/DT

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## Shades

*3rd int'l charity convoy nears Gaza*
Wed, 23 Dec 2009 09:04:40 GMT

The third international convoy, known as the "Viva Palestina," destined for the Gaza Strip has arrived in Jordan through Syria.

The Lifeline 3 charity convoy containing 210 trucks laden with basic food items and medical supplies was welcomed by the Secretary General of the Jordanian Hashemite Charity Authority Ahmad Amyan who represented Prime Minister Samir Rifai on Tuesday.

The convoy, led by British lawmaker George Galloway, was also welcomed by dozens of Jordanian politicians, activists and unionists who were led by Abdullah Obeidat, president of the Professional Associations Council.

According to Galloway, the convoy would spend two days in Jordan before leaving the Red Sea port of Aqaba for the Gaza Strip.

He further pointed out that he was accompanied by 450 activists, including 30 Americans, 150 Turks and a number of Europeans.

Early December, Galloway told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) that people in Gaza are in dire need of food, medicine and fuel.

He strongly criticized Western countries and the British government for providing all-out support for Israel and said in the absence of the Western support for the Palestinian people, Muslims are duty-bound to help them.

The convoy left England's capital London on December 3 and will arrive in the Gaza Strip on December 27 to mark the first anniversary of the Israeli offensive against Gaza that left over 1,400 Palestinians dead and about 5,000 injured.

The three-week assault also led to the destruction of schools, mosques, houses as well as UN compounds, inflicting $ 1.6 billion damage on Gaza's economy.

HRF/MMA

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## Shades

*Israel's organ theft unforgivable: PFLP*
Wed, 23 Dec 2009 09:55:25 GMT

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)'s politburo member, Maher al-Taher
A senior member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) says Israel's killing of Palestinian youths for their organs is an "unforgivable sin."

Stealing organs of Palestinian martyrs is a violation of all humanitarian principles and values, PFLP executive Maher al-Taher said in a Tuesday statement.

Taher further called on human rights organizations and the international community to fulfill their professional and humanitarian commitments and bring to justice those Israeli officials involved in the criminal act.

Reports on the hideous move first surfaced in August when an article in the Swedish popular tabloid Aftonbladet quoted Palestinians as revealing that Israel returned their relatives' bodies with their chests sewn up, which indicated the organ theft.

The article drew explosive controversy and verbal attack from Israeli officials who fiercely rejected the revelations at the time.

Israeli politician and leader of the Arab nationalist party, Ahmad Tibi, said on Saturday that a medical institution in Israel harvested appendages from the bodies of dead Palestinians in the 1990's.

According to Tibi, the body parts, which included heart arteries, bones, and corneal tissue, were used in organ transplants for Israeli soldiers.

Tel Aviv finally came clean on the issue, confirming that its forensic scientists in the 1990s took organs from Palestinian dead bodies.

The Israeli television showed a documentary over organ theft, claiming that Israeli politician and Knesset member Aryeh Eldad was the main culprit behind the bodysnatching incident.

An Israeli Knesset member says there is evidence showing that deceased Palestinians were stripped bare of their vital organs while in police custody in Tel Aviv.

MRS/SC/DT

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## Shades

*Israel threatens another large-scale Gaza war*
Wed, 23 Dec 2009 10:55:35 GMT

Israel has threatened another massive war against the Gaza Strip as the impoverished enclave continues to suffer in the aftermath of the devastating January offensive.

Israeli planes have been dropping thousands of leaflets across Gaza, warning Palestinians against cooperating with the resistance fighters based in the coastal sliver.

The leaflets also threaten Gazans with a new attack just ahead of the first anniversary of Israel's 22-day onslaught against the Palestinian territory.

On December 2008, Tel Aviv launched an all-out military action against Gaza, killing 1,400 people, including a large number of women and children, killed and leaving thousands more injured.

The threats come despite the Israeli army's failure in its January operation to reach its strategic and military objectives  above all its pledged overthrow of Israel's long-time arch foe, Hamas.

In July, the activist group Breaking the Silence released print and video testimony from some 30 soldiers who said they entered Gaza with firing guns upon a "permissive" guideline by commanders, urging to shoot first and worry later about distinguishing civilians from combatants.

The 112-page testimony also accused Israeli troops of using Palestinian civilians as human shields and charged Israel with dropping forbidden white phosphorus bombs indiscriminately into Gaza streets on the top of aerial bombardment and heavy artillery fire.

In April, former South African UN prosecutor Richard Goldstone led an independent fact-finding mission commissioned by the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate international human rights and humanitarian law violations during the Gaza war.

The committee's 575-page report mostly highlighted Israeli atrocities against the people in the beleaguered Gaza Strip and documented deliberate targeting of centers, such as schools and mosques, known to be holding civilians.

The document also filed complaints that the Israeli soldiers killed unarmed people on the run, saying some of the victims were even waving white flags.

In October, the damning report was put up for a vote in the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council and endorsed by an overwhelming majority of 114 countries while 18 opposed and 44 abstained.

The three-week Israeli land, sea and air offensive in the Gaza Strip also devastated a large part of the infrastructure in the impoverished coastal enclave, which remains under Tel Aviv's blockade despite international opposition.

MRS/DT

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## Shades

*World 'failed Gaza over Israeli blockade' - aid groups*
By Tim Franks
*BBC News, Jerusalem*

Palestinians in Gaza
Aid agencies say the *world community must put more pressure on Israel*

Aid agencies have strongly *criticised the international community for failing to help bring an end to Israel's blockade of Gaza*.

The charities made the accusation in a report published just ahead of the anniversary of Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The *aid agencies condemn not just Israel, but the world community*.

In the *words of Oxfam's director, Jeremy Hobbs, "world powers have failed and betrayed Gaza's ordinary citizens".*

The charities call for more pressure to be exerted on Israel to end what they describe as its illegal collective punishment of Gazans.

Israel imposed a tightened blockade after the Islamist Hamas movement seized power two-and-a-half years ago.

That was bad enough, say the aid agencies.

Matters became that much worse after the destruction caused by the Israeli offensive in Gaza earlier this year.

The report points to an acute shortage, in particular, of building materials.

A spokesman for the Israeli prime minister told the BBC that Israel remains committed to humanitarian supplies of food, medicine and power.

----------


## Shades

*What future for 'Greater Israel'?*

What future for the "Greater Land of Israel"?

Six decades after its founding, Israel has grown into one of the world's top 20 industrial states, with GNP (General National Product) superior to all its neighbours combined.

IN DEPTH

  	Settlements in pictures: Facts & figures
  	Watch Walled Horizons
  	More Empire
With an estimated 200 nuclear warheads, and one of the most advanced air forces in the world, Israel promotes itself as the Middle East's most powerful military and one of the world's five leading arms exporters.

Priding itself on being a Western-type democracy; Israel has always sought close relations with empires and superpowers, underlining its estrangement within its own region.

Thanks to decades of preferential treatment by Western superpowers, Israel has had its cake and eaten it too. It has occupied, annexed and exploited Palestinian and Arab lands with impunity, and at the same time received over $100bn as the West's foremost ally in the Middle East.

Israel's control over the Occupied Territories has radicalised its own society and identity as much as it has deformed that of the Palestinians. And yet, despite all, Israel's borders remain undrawn, its capital unrecognised, its Jewishness unaccepted, and its security in question.

Today, after two failed wars in Lebanon and Gaza and a deadlocked peace process, Israel's moment of truth has come ...

A radical right-wing coalition government in Israel is determined to press ahead with the expansion of settlements in East Jerusalem and Palestinian territories occupied in 1967.

Palestinians refuse to accept anything less than a total freeze on all settlements but they are divided on the best way forward - diplomacy or resistance.

The all-powerful US is powerless. Since the election of Barack Obama, the US president, and Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, relations have become stifled.

Is Israel still a strategic asset? Was it ever? Or is it a strategic burden? Obama staked his presidency on a breakthrough, but his efforts have stumbled at the first hurdle.

The United Nations continue to issue toothless resolutions with no impact on the ground. Is it left to the European Union to make the running with yet another vague overture?

The diplomatic vacuum leads to more unilateral policies and a radicalisation of both sides that could escalate the conflict even further. So how can the international community end an illegal occupation that has lasted for four decades? Is a two state solution still possible, or one state or no state!

This episode of Empire airs from Wednesday, December 23, at the following times GMT: Wednesday: 1900; Thursday: 0300, 1400; Friday: 0600.
 Source: 	Al Jazeera

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## Shades

*BDS campaigns for boycott of Israeli goods in US*
Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:37:59 GMT

US campaigners are trying to persuade and urge investors, vendors, merchants and consumers to boycott Israeli products and services.

Members of the national Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement say since Israel's three-week long war on Gaza at the turn of the year, more Americans are skeptical about purchasing Israeli products.

The BDS, launching a massive emailing campaign this holiday season, has provided a list containing a number of American brands for consumers to avoid due to their manufacturers' financial ties with Israel.

"It is important to pressure a country economically when they continue to break international law, oppress people, create an apartheid system," Gael Murphy, the co-founder of antiwar movement CODE PINK told Press TV.

CODE PINK is also engaged in the national BDS movement, targeting the Ahava cosmetics company for producing its cosmetics from natural resources excavated from the occupied West Bank.

"Going to stores that are selling these products and educate the customers who come in [would help our cause]. Don't buy Ahava, it's a stolen beauty, it's a stolen product, it belongs to the Palestinian people, the Israelis are stealing it, and it should be illegal," Murphy added.

BDS activists and organizations in the United States are targeting Americans chains like Victoria's Secret because some of their products are produced using fabrics manufactured by Delta Galil Textile, an Israeli company.

"Politically people are beginning to connect their pocketbooks to the war machine. And if we have a choice about buying product A or buying product Bif product A is directly tied to a military apartheid regime that is defying international law hour by hour, people are going to think twice", journalist Nora Barrow-Freidman told Press TV.

Other companies targeted by the BDS campaigners include Motorola, AT and T, L'Oreal, Calvin Klein, JC Penny, Estee Lauder, Intel, Gap, and Sara Lee.

RB/MMN

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## Shades

*PA to bring Israeli organ theft case to ICC*
Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:37:24 GMT

Issa Qaraqe
Palestinian Authority officials say they will bring the case of Israel's organ theft from Palestinians to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

During a press conference held in Ramallah on Wednesday, Palestinian Minister of Prisoner Affairs Issa Qaraqe said the Authority will launch an investigation into the case and take the issue to The Hague and the UN, the Press TV correspondent reported.

The Palestinian Authority will gather more information to raise the issue in the International Criminal Court and the United Nations, he said. "Those Israeli criminals must be prosecuted for violating the international conventions including the 4th Geneva Convention" the minister added.

Over the weekend, Israel's Channel 2 TV broadcast an interview conducted in 2000 with the then-head of Israel's Abu Kabir forensic institute, Dr. Jehuda Hiss who revealed that forensic pathologists harvested organs from dead bodies, including Palestinians in the 1990s.

The Israeli military confirmed the report but claimed that "This activity ended a decade ago and does not happen any longer."

Meanwhile, at the same conference, Palestinian Health Minister Fathi Abu Maghli said, "We are now worried about the lives of our prisoners inside Israeli jails."

He explained the way the Israelis handed the bodies of some Palestinians to their families.

"They had even set conditions for these deliveries; don't examine the bodies and bury them at night," Maghli said.

The issue of Israel's organ theft made headlines last summer, when a Swedish newspaper published an article reporting that the regime had been stealing the organs of those Palestinians who were killed.

The article, entitled They plunder the organs of our sons, published by Aftonbladet, caused outrage among Israeli officials, who called it "groundless," "outrageous" and "anti-Semitic."

The author Donald Bostrom, however, said the purpose of his article was to call for an investigation into numerous claims made in the 1990s that such activity was going on.

SB/SS/RE

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## Shades

*Netanyahu wary of 'Goldstone threat'*
Thu, 24 Dec 2009 07:04:37 GMT

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called a report by the UN Human Rights Council's Gaza war commission a real threat to Israel.

An independent fact-finding mission led by former South African UN prosecutor Richard Goldstone investigated violations of human rights and international laws during Israel's January offensive in Gaza.

The committee's 575-page report mostly highlighted Israeli atrocities against civilians in the beleaguered Gaza Strip and documented deliberate targeting of centers known to be holding people. It also filed complaints that Israeli soldiers killed unarmed people on the run, saying some of the victims were even waving white flags.

The report was approved in October by the UN Human Rights Council and endorsed by a majority of 114 countries while 18 opposed and 44 abstained.

"Goldstone is a codeword for an attempt to delegitimize Israel's right to self-defense," Netanyahu said in his Wednesday address to members of the Israeli parliament, Knesset.

"The international battle against Israel began in UN Durban Conference I, and continued in the 2005 ICJ (International Court of Justice) advisory opinion against the security fence and in the Durban Conference II, as well as the Goldstone report. This is a comprehensive attack, not on a specific Israeli government but on the state of Israel," he lamented.

Netanyahu reiterated his administration's attachment to Tel Aviv's long-held position regarding Palestine, urging Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and thus "give up the demand for the return of Palestinian refugees," and agree to the demilitarization of a future Palestinian state.

The hawkish Israeli premier, whose government had threatened to block Middle East peace talks if the Goldstone report found its way into the UN Security Council, accused the Palestinians of hindering negotiations with the aim of blaming Israel over "false accusations" and causing divisions among Israel's public and politicians.

According to the UN report, more than 1,400 Palestinians  at least 500 women and children among them  were killed in the Gaza Strip during 22 days of relentless sea, land and air strikes by the Israeli army.

MRS/MMA

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## Shades

*UK ready to 'alter legal system to appease Israel'*
Thu, 24 Dec 2009 09:54:28 GMT

Hezbollah's leader Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah says the UK is prepared to introduce reforms to its legal system to appease Israel.

Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday criticized the British government's decision to reverse an arrest warrant for former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

"Britain who claims to have the world's oldest democratic system has expressed readiness to make changes to its legal system to avoid issuing arrest warrants for Israeli officials over committing war crimes," Nasrallah said.

A British court recently issued an arrest warrant for Livni over links to Israeli war crimes against Palestinians during its December 2008 - January 2009 offensive which left over 1,400 Palestinians dead in the Gaza Strip.

Livni canceled her participation in a meeting in London after the verdict was issued.

The arrest warrant sparked furor among Israeli officials who warned the UK of strained relations.

"Israel calls on the British government to fulfill, once and for all, its promises and prevent an abuse of the British legal system against Israel and its citizens by anti-Israel elements," a statement by the Israeli Foreign Ministry said.

"The lack of determined and immediate action to correct this distortion harms the relations between the two countries," it added.

In response, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband expressed regret over the verdict and vowed to alter the law so that judges could no longer issue arrest warrants against Israeli officials or military officers.

Several Israeli officials have canceled visits to Britain because of similar arrest warrants issued after the Gaza war.

AR/MMA

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## Shades

*Galloway to Cairo: Open gates for Viva Palestina*
Thu, 24 Dec 2009 08:31:17 GMT
]
British Lawmaker George Galloway
British Lawmaker George Galloway has appealed to Cairo to allow the Viva Palestina humanitarian aid convoy he is accompanying to enter the blockaded Gaza Strip.

The call comes as activists on Viva Palestina faced problems as the convoy was making its way to the Jordanian capital, Amman.

The aid shipment, which originally departed from London on December 3 with the aim of breaking the months-long Israeli siege on Gaza, was prevented by Jordanian police from entering Amman, where it was scheduled to hold rallies.

Instead, dozens of the convoy's vehicles formed a rolling road block on the main highway to the city and shut down traffic in a move the organizers called a peaceful protest.

After an hour of grid blocked traffic, the police had to back off and promise to allow the pro-Gazan team into the capital city amid unexpected gestures of support from Jordanian drivers stuck in the traffic jam.

In Amman, the founder of Viva Palestina George Galloway thanked Jordanian authorities for finally facilitating the convoy's entry into Amman and appealed to the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to also open the way for Viva Palestina.

"I ask him on behalf of our convoy, on behalf of all the people around the world, whose hearts are bleeding, whose eyes are weeping for Palestine to please open your gates for us and allow us to proceed through the gates of Rafah to besieged Palestine," he urged.

The convoy is scheduled to spend two days in Jordan before moving to the Red Sea port of Aqaba where it hopes to take a ferry into Egypt, hopefully, crossing into Gaza.

If nothing intercedes, Viva Palestina is to cross into Gaza on December 27 to mark the first anniversary of the Israeli offensive against the blockaded enclave, but this will not happen if authorities in Cairo refuse to allow the convoy ashore.

Lifeline 3, the third international convoy headed to Gaza under the name Viva Palestina, comprises 210 trucks laden with basic food items and medical supplies

450 activists, including 30 Americans, 150 Turks and a number of Europeans are accompanying the convoy.

MRS/MMA

----------


## Shades

*Falk slams world's failure to break Gaza siege*
Thu, 24 Dec 2009 01:25:43 GMT

The UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Richard Falk.
*A UN human rights expert has denounced world powers' "tragic failure" to break the long-running Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.*

UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Richard Falk, urged Israel's European and North American allies to press for the immediate end of the blockade "backed up by a credible threat of economic sanctions," AFP reported.

"There is no evidence of meaningful international pressure being brought to bear to end the blockade or to ensure that Israeli and Hamas officials are held accountable for alleged war crimes perpetrated during the Gaza attacks," Falk said in a statement on Wednesday.

He said a three-year blockade had prevented sufficient food and medicine reaching civilians in Gaza, harming their physical and mental health, and was still hampering reconstruction.

"*This represents both a tragic failure of responsibility by the powerful governments of the world and of the UN*," he added.

*Falk went on to condemn the Western powers for their failure to investigate Israel's war crimes against Palestinians* during the regime's war on the strip last December.

SB/SS/RE

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## Shades

*UK Muslim body: Israeli officials should face arrest*
Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:17:01 GMT

A leading Muslim organization in Britain has voiced outrage at the UK government's promise to reverse the British legal system's jurisdiction over suspected Israeli war criminals.

The apologetic move by the British government came after a Westminster magistrates' court convicted former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni of links to Israel's atrocities in the Gaza Strip at the turn of the year. The tribunal, accordingly, issued Livni an arrest warrant.

In response, Foreign Secretary David Miliband vowed to change the law so that judges could no longer issue arrest warrants against Israeli officials or military officers.

"You appear to be committing the government to the path of selective compliance with the enforcement of international law," the Muslim Council of Britain's Secretary General Muhammad Abdul Bari wrote in a letter to Miliband.

"This is surely not in the best interests of our country as it will add a further dimension to the double standards that our government is seen to have in relation to the politics of the Middle East," the letter added, the Associated Press reported.

The Israeli massacre, which left more than 1,400 Palestinians dead during the December 2008-January 2009 onslaught, has ever since been triggering international disquiet.

A notable high-profile condemnation of the raids came when a UN-commissioned fact-finding mission issued a 575-page report mostly highlighting the Israeli aggression against the people in the beleaguered coastal sliver. The report documented deliberate targeting of centers, such as schools and mosques, known to be holding civilians.

Tel Aviv, however, has been invariably in strict denial of the convictions, claiming it had to "act in the face of terrorism."

Several Israeli officials have canceled visits to Britain because of similar arrest warrants issued after the carnage.

HN/MMN

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## Shades

* London and Gaza Join Forces to Demand Israel Ends Its Sieg*e
Date : 23/12/2009   Time : 16:02

LONDON, December 23, 2009 (WAFA)- A vigil will take place outside the Israeli Embassy in London, to mark the 1st anniversary of the Israeli Offensive against the Gaza Strip. Itll take place exactly one year to the day when Israel started its devastating bombing of Gaza, on December 27, 2009.

MPs including Martin Linton and Jeremy Corbyn will be joining the vigil, which will call for an end to Israels siege on Gaza, and for Israeli war criminals to be brought to justice, Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PCS) said.

General Secretary of Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Betty Hunter, said: In Gaza, Palestinians are living a desperate life, surviving another bitter winter in the ruins of their destroyed homes, with the Israeli government denying them the necessary food, medical and even reconstruction materials. Israels massacre of over 1400 Palestinians in less than a month last year shocked the world. But it also created a sea-change in support for the Palestinian call for peace and justice. The Israeli armys rampage of death and destruction further devastated a society which had endured an illegal and inhuman siege. This is why we are also participating in the third Convoy to Gaza, jointly with Viva Palestina, in order to raise awareness of the siege, and to send vital medical supplies. It is barbaric that the Israeli government can lay siege to 1.5 million people in Gaza without international governments taking action to force Israel to abide by international law. The British government must force Israel to end its siege, implement the Goldstone Report, and bring Israeli war criminals to justice.

The vigil has been called by the PSC, British Muslim Initiative, Stop the War Coalition and CND, and supported by Amos Trust, Communication Workers Union, Fire Brigades Union, Friends of Al Aqsa, Friends of Lebanon, Greater London UNISON, The Green Party, ICAHD UK, IJAN  the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Islamic Forum Europe, Jewish Socialists' Group, Labor Friends of Palestine and the Middle East, Muslim Association of Britain, Palestinian Return Centre, The Peace Cycle, Public and Commercial Services Union, Rail, Maritime and Transport Union, Thompsons Solicitors, War on Want, Young Muslim Organization UK.

The Convoy to Gaza, jointly organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Viva Palestina, set off on 6 December from London, and has travelled through France, Belgium, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Syria and Jordan. It is planning to enter Gaza through Egypt on 27 December.

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## Shades

*Israel opens organ theft hearing*
Israel's parliament opened testimony on Wednesday over the organ theft allegations  [AP]

Israel's parliament has begun hearings on the theft of human organs from Palestinians, Israelis and foreign workers without their relatives' permission.

Israeli health officials testified on Wednesday that Israeli authorities harvested organs from the dead bodies of Israelis and Palestinians in the 1990s for transplant purposes.

The testimony came three days after the government admitted to the practice, following previous denials.

Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Jerusalem, said Wednesday's hearing was not the first time Israeli officials have had to face difficult questions in parliament about the organ theft issue.

"What we tended to see in the past was officials trying to skirt around the issue, really not wanting to confirm or deny that organ theft took place," she said.

"What we had on Wednesday was a very public admission by an Israeli official that organ theft was in fact taking place.

"But the health ministry said it was a practice that happened in the past and is no longer a problem."

Practice 'continuing'

However, Ahmed Tibi, an Israeli Palestinian member of parliament, told the assembly on Wednesday that he had evidence that organ theft was still taking place.

"You said that it was ended in the '90s. But Fadul Ordul Shaheen who was from Gaza passed away. He died of diabetes this year.  When his body was given back to his family, his eyes were bleeding and there was a deep cut through his body," he said.

In depth


 Video: Israel angered over Swedish 'body parts' story
 Video: Israel in 'organ theft' row
 Palestinians seek organ theft probe
"The family is saying that both the corneas and the kidneys were taken.

"I am asking you if you're willing to look into this complaint and see if this activity is continuing, if organs are being harvested from Palestinian prisoners."

Yaacov Litzman, the Israeli deputy health minister, said he would investigate the case "with all seriousness" to determine if any wrongdoing was committed.

Tibi later told Al Jazeera that he would continue to pursue the health ministry for answers for the families of those who were affected.

'Highly informal'

The government's admission this week followed the release of an interview with Jehuda Huss, the former head of Israel's forensic institute, in which he said that workers at the institute had harvested skin, corneas, heart valves and bones from Israelis, Palestinians and foreign workers.

In the interview, which was conducted in 2000 when Hiss was head of Tel Aviv's Abu Kabir forensic institute, he said: "We started to harvest corneas ... Whatever was done was highly informal. No permission was asked from the family."

Nancy Scheper-Hughes, who conducted the interview, said that she made the article public because of the controversy last summer over allegations of organ harvesting made by a Swedish newspaper.

In August the Aftonbladet newspaper ran an article alleging that the Israeli army had stolen body organs from Palestinian men after killing them.

Israel denied the claims, calling them anti-Semitic, and the incident raised tensions when Sweden refused to apologise for the article, saying that press freedom prevented it from intervening.
 Source: 	Al Jazeera

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## Shades

*Don't Change UK Laws for Israel: Letters*
23/12/2009 06:11:39 PM GMT 

 CAIRO  *Israeli, Palestinian and international organizations are urging British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Foreign Secretary David Miliband to refrain from amending its laws just to prevent the persecution of Israeli officials on war crimes and crimes against humanity.* "Universal jurisdiction is an essential legal device, symbolizing the responsibility of the global community to prevent crimes against humanity wherever they occur, to bring justice to the victims and to protect the citizens of the world from tyranny, persecution and institutionalized violence," they wrote in a letter cited by the Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, December 23.

"*The United Kingdom played an instrumental role in establishing these principles in the aftermath of the Second World War, and should commit itself to protecting and maintaining them*," added the signatories.

"The British government's intent to undermine universal jurisdiction sets a dangerous precedent in defending criminal government officials, rather than the victims of their crimes."

The British universal jurisdiction law allows private individuals to ask British courts to issue detention orders against suspected war criminals and to try them as such.

But *Miliband announced last week that his government plans to change that to prevent the possible persecution of Israeli officials.*

Former Israeli foreign minister *Tzipi Livni cancelled a scheduled visit to Britain last week after Westminster Magistrates Court issued an arrest warrant for her over war crimes committed in the Gaza Strip.*

The arrest warrant had triggered fierce criticism from Israel which threatened to exclude Britain from any involvement in the Middle East peace process.

It also threatened that its officials would stop visiting Britain unless London guarantees such a situation would not happen again.

Double-standard

Britain's sizable Muslim minority, estimated at more than two millions, also urged the Brown government not to side with Israel.

*The umbrella has expressed "deep disappointment" and "grave concern" at the government's stance.*

"As you must surely know the cornerstone of our much cherished legal system is respect for the rule of law," MCB Secretary General Muhammad Abdul Bari wrote in a letter to Miliband published on the group's website.

"It seems to us that you are allowing political exigency to undermine and erode fundamental legal traditions and conventions which are centuries old and have served our society well."

The Muslim leader warned that changing the law would be seen as a double-standard.

"*Your proposed step will treat 'political friends' differently and indeed more favorably than those who may face same allegations but for whom a different process will apply*.

"This cannot be right and *will give rise to well founded perception of double standards in law enforcement.*"

Source: IslamOnline

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## Shades

[Mcbnews] *Do not Compromise Rule of Law for Political Expediency:* MCB writes to Foreign Secretary on Tzipi Livni arrest warrant

The Rt. Hon. David Miliband MP

Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

King Charles Street

London SW1A 2AH

23rd December 2009

Dear Mr Miliband,

I am writing to express the deep disappointment and grave concern of the Muslim Council of Britain (the MCB) at your views with regard to the warrant which a magistrate had lawfully issued for the arrest of the former Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni for suspected war crimes. As is well known the arrest did not take place and the warrant was withdrawn.

It appears that following expression of strong disapproval and anger by the Israeli government and representations by the Jewish Leadership Council you have shown willingness to review and remove the powers of magistrates in the UK to issue warrants of arrest against alleged Israeli war criminals.

As you must surely know the cornerstone of our much cherished legal system is respect for the rule of law. The separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary flow from it. It seems to us that you are allowing political exigency to undermine and erode fundamental legal traditions and conventions which are centuries old and have served our society well.

Your motivation to review and reconsider the current process for bringing war criminals to justice if found within our jurisdiction is political as well as manifestly partisan. Law in our legal system is the same for all  friend or foe. Your proposed step will treat political friends differently and indeed more favourably than those who may face same allegations but for whom a different process will apply. This cannot be right and will give rise to well founded perception of double standards in law enforcement.

We note that in your commitment to review and revise the process for issue of warrants by courts you have taken account of and been persuaded by the legal opinion of David Pannick QC. It is quite interesting that you have not chosen to seek views of others before making the commitment. Whilst we respect the capacity and standing of David Pannick QC to give legal advice, we do not accept that he is the only person in the legal fraternity to have expertise on matters of this kind. The matter is inherently very sensitive and it is contaminated by a perception of bias in choosing to rely solely on him.  Such a major and far-reaching change in legal policy and process should not, we contend, be undertaken without due public consultation. We regret to have to say that the process that the government appears to have chosen to follow on this issue is fundamentally flawed.

It is our considered view that the change contemplated by you is such that it not only undermines judicial independence but also makes a wholly unjustified departure from the centuries old legal traditions of our country. The office of Magistracy is centuries old and people who hold such office are chosen irrespective of their political or other background and solely on the basis that they have the ability to apply the law without fear or favour. An appraisal of how their power to enforce international law has been exercised when called upon to do so will demonstrate that they have done so with competence and fairness.

Your proposed change sends out a clear signal that the government wants the courts to be subservient to political considerations. After all, the Attorney General is a political appointee and holds office, strictly speaking, at the pleasure of the Prime Minister.

The change that you propose also has the serious potential of severely reducing respect for international law and the treaties that give international jurisdiction for the pursuit of alleged war criminals. Commission of war crimes is an international crime as is engagement in torture. It is the clearly expressed wish of the international community as articulated in international law that people suspected of such crimes should be tried wherever they are found. We believe that the change that you propose may exempt some accused from prosecution and this will have a gravely adverse impact on the reputation of our country both at home as well as abroad.

You appear to be committing the government to the path of selective compliance with the enforcement of international law. This is surely not in the best interests of our country as it will add a further dimension to the double standards that our government is seen to have in relation to the politics of the Middle East.

Whilst we respect your quest to advance the prospects for peace in the Middle East, justice and fairness is not served by being or by being seen to be partisan and compliant to demands made by one major player in the conflict.

May we respectfully remind you that in your address at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies in May this year on Building coalitions, winning consent, you said, To broaden the coalition and win consent, we need to understand the Muslim world better, or we will risk undermining the force of our own argument... we need to hold fast to our own values and support those who seek to apply them, or we will be guilty of hypocrisy...'.

It is hard to imagine how we could escape the charge of hypocrisy from those all too eager to point out our vacillation on allowing the law to take its course in the case of those suspected of committing war crimes.

We suggest that to understand the Muslim world better is to be aware of the deeply held view that our approach to states in the region is unequal and that our commitment to the observance of international law is ambivalent. Any change to the current procedures on universal jurisdiction and the right of magistrates to issue a warrant will only reinforce this view, with detrimental consequences.

The Prevent programme and your own departments involvement in it through the Bringing Foreign Policy Back Home project is built on the foundations of respecting the rule of law and the pillars of a democratic society. In deliberating over the recent controversy and prevaricating on upholding the rule of law, we run the risk of strengthening the claims of those who reject our democratic processes and view our commitment to law, domestic and international, as utilitarian and malleable.

We urge you to consider the grave consequences of interfering with established legal procedures and jeopardising our reputation at home and abroad.

I am copying this letter to the Minister for Justice, the Right Honourable Lord Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government as your expressed views on this matter impact on their areas responsibilities in the government.

Yours sincerely,

Muhammad Abdul Bari

Secretary General

Source: AJP

----------


## Shades

*Christian pilgrims in West Bank for Christmas*
Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:25:21 GMT

Thousands of Christian pilgrims to celebrate Christmas in occupied West Bank 
Some 15,000 pilgrims celebrating Christmas will visit Bethlehem in occupied West Bank where Jesus Christ is said to have been born, West Bank mayor Victor Bataresh says. 

Hotels in the city report full occupancy for the first time in months despite Israel's stringent security measures. 

Travel restrictions imposed by Israel have overshadowed the otherwise festive mood. Bethlehem is surrounded by Israel's separation wall on three sides. 

Christmas celebrations started at noon on Thursday, marking Christmas Eve with the annual march led by head of the Catholic Church in Bethleham, Fouad Twal. 

Palestinian acting Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas along with other Palestinian and foreign officials will attend Midnight Mass at St. Catherine's Church in the Nativity which will also be led by Twal. 

"Our dreams for a reconciled Holy Land seem to be utopia," said Twal in his Christmas message. 

"The best gift we seek, above money and wealth, is peace," he concluded. 

SES/DT

----------


## Shades

*Livni's Kadima party faces breakup*
Thu, 24 Dec 2009 18:00:02 GMT


Kadima's second-in-command Shaul Mofaz (L) and party's leader Tzipi Livni 
Kadima, Israel's centrist political party which is chaired by Tzipi Livni, is on the brink of a breakup as at least half of lawmakers in the party are negotiating a move to the governing Likud party. 

Israeli Channel 1 television network reported late Wednesday that six Knesset members of the Kadima Party have signed an affidavit, vowing to defect from the faction and join government coalition. 

On Wednesday night, Kadima lawmaker Eli Aflalo announced he would leave the party. He is considering forming his own one-man faction, or joining Likud, according to reports. In an interview with Israel Radio, Aflalo accused Livni of taking Kadima too far to the political left. 

At least seven lawmakers must leave together in order to avoid needing Livni's permission to split off. 

Sources in the Likud say that some of the 12 to 14 Knesset (Parliament) members Netanyahu has been holding talks with in recent months have asked for senior positions in return for leaving Kadima. The total cost of the jobs promised to the dissidents may reach 14 million NIS (about $3.5 million) a year. 

During an emergency meeting between Livni's arch-rival and the second-in-command in Kadima party, Shaul Mofaz, on Thursday afternoon, Mofaz urged Livni to call for primary elections to select a new party leader. 

"Kadima is falling apart. I recommended to the Kadima chair how to maintain unity in Kadima," Mofaz said following the meeting, referring to the calling of primaries. "I very much hope that for the first time she listens to others. I hope this way we can get to have leadership that knows how to make the right decisions and lead Kadima to where it has to be." 

Many Kadima lawmakers, including Mofaz, were angry when Livni who failed to bring the party into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition. 

MP/DT

----------


## Shades

*Buckling under pressure, Netanyahu seeks Livni help*
Thu, 24 Dec 2009 22:56:47 GMT

Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and Tzipi Livni 
Less than a year after taking office, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked the centrist opposition leader Tzipi Livni to join his cabinet. 

Buckling under international pressure, Netanyahu put forth his offer after briefing Livni in Tel Aviv on the current security and diplomatic issues on Thursday. 

Since taking office in March, the hawkish Israeli premier has been severely criticized over a number of issues, including his stance on the settlement constructions. 

His refusal to put a complete halt to settlement construction on occupied Palestinian land, jeopardized Israel's relations with its closest ally the United States. 

The offer coincided with a statement released by Netanyahu's office, which claims that Israel is under mounting national and international pressure over its security. 

The proposal, however, falls short of giving the opposition leader any portfolio. Livni said she will consider the offer, but added that the final decision will be made by her Kadima party. 

She has asked for more meetings with Netanyahu before making a decision. 

Meanwhile, senior Kadima front-bench legislator Shaul Mofaz, who unsuccessfully challenged Livni last year for the party leadership, told reporters on Thursday that "Kadima is falling apart," adding that a new leadership primary needed to be held. 

"Kadima is falling apart. I recommended to the Kadima chair how to maintain unity in Kadima," Mofaz said. 

"I very much hope that for the first time she [Livni] listens to others. I hope this way we can have a leadership that knows how to make the right decisions and lead Kadima to where it has to be." 

FTP/SS/MMN

----------


## Shades

*Church concerned over Gaza dire situation*
Fri, 25 Dec 2009 05:54:59 GMT

The head of the Roman Catholic Church in Bethlehem, Patriarch Fouad Twal, has voiced concerns over the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza. 

"How can one celebrate while Palestinians are still struggling with a devastating blockade one year after Israel's onslaught on Gaza?" Twal said while addressing the Midnight Mass at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity on Thursday. 

Twal went on to complain that people have no freedom to move around freely and travel or to reunite with their families, alluding to the Israeli policy of restricting Palestinian residents by building separation walls and erecting a large number of checkpoints throughout the West Bank. 

Bethlehem is surrounded by Israel's separation wall on three sides. 

He further pointed out that the Palestinians are tired of such a situation. 

He made the remarks as thousands of Christians gathered to celebrate Christmas in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, where the birth place of Jesus Christ is taken to be. 

The Christmas celebration was aimed at challenging the Israeli movement restrictions at a time when Gazan worshippers were banned from attending the ceremonies. 

Despite the stringent Israeli security measures, Bethlehem hotels reported full occupancy for the first time in months. 

Christmas celebrations began at noon on Thursday, marking Christmas Eve with the annual procession led by Twal. 

In December 2008, Tel Aviv launched a three-week all-out military offensive against Gaza, killing at least 1,400 people, including a large number of women and children, and leaving thousands more injured. 

The Gaza Strip has been in a state of calamity ever since, with thousands of people still homeless due to the long-imposed Israeli siege on the Palestinian sliver. 

HRF/MTM/DT

----------


## Shades

*Galloway raps Egypt for stopping Gaza aid convoy*
Fri, 25 Dec 2009 10:11:10 GMT

British Lawmaker George Galloway has criticized Egypt over denying the Viva Palestina humanitarian aid convoy to enter the Gaza Strip. 

The humanitarian convoy to the Gaza Strip has become stuck in Jordan as Egypt is reportedly denying the convoy's passage through its territory. 

"It's a strange Christmas for us. We are stuck in Aqaba. 500 people, 210 vehicles, hundreds of tons of aid which is desperately needed in Gaza," Galloway said in an interview with Press TV on Friday. 

"Our Jordanian friends are doing their best to keep us warm and to feed us," he added. 

The British anti-war activist also called it a very complex situation. 

"It's a very complex situation. We have on the Turkish level quite a diplomatic activity going on, because the Turkish prime minister personally appeared on live television in Damascus three days ago and asked the Egyptian government to facilitate this convoy; so this is a slap in the face, you can say, to the Turkish government," he further explained. 

"We don't yet know exactly what tactics we will follow. That would depend on the diplomatic situation, but one thing we are not going to do is run away. We came all this way to Aqaba." 

"We are very sad not yet angry, but we will get angry if the days go by," he noted. 

The humanitarian convoy arrived in Jordan on Tuesday and was expected to leave via sea to Egypt. 

The convoy left London almost two weeks ago with 80 vehicles. Its size grew with the addition of dozens of vehicles from Turkish charities. 

Galloway earlier appealed to Egyptian authorities to facilitate the convoy's passage through its territory. The convoy aims to break Israel's crippling blockade on Gaza. 

Lifeline 3, the third international convoy headed to Gaza under the name Viva Palestina, comprises 210 trucks laden with basic food items and medical supplies. 450 activists, including 30 Americans, 150 Turks and a number of Europeans are accompanying the convoy. 

The already impoverished Gaza Strip has been under a complete Israeli siege, with full cooperation of Egypt, ever since the Hamas resistance movement, which does not recognize Israel as a sovereign state, won parliamentary elections in a surprise victory in 2007. 

Israel's three-week offensive against Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009 which left more than 1,400 Palestinians dead, including a large number of civilians, deteriorated the already dire situation. 

The Israeli assault led to the destruction of schools, mosques, houses as well as UN compounds, inflicting $ 1.6 billion damage on the Gazan economy. 

HRF/MTM/DT

----------


## Shades

*Livni: Netanyahu's offer to join govt. is ploy*
Fri, 25 Dec 2009 11:18:33 GMT

Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni says an invitation by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to join the government is a transparent media spin. 

According to Israeli media, Netanyahu himself was reportedly doubtful that the former foreign minister would accept his offer, which was made on Thursday. 

The development came as Kadima, Israel's centrist political party which is chaired by Tzipi Livni, is on the brink of a breakup as at least half of lawmakers in the party are negotiating a move to the governing Likud party. 

Netanyahu has recently pressed several of the Kadima party's parliamentary members to break away and join his coalition. 

Israeli Channel 1 television network reported late Wednesday that six Knesset members of the Kadima Party have signed an affidavit, vowing to defect from the faction and join government coalition. 

I would be very, very glad if Tzipi Livni would agree to join, but I have no plans to give up on the attempt to expand the coalition base," Netanyahu said. 

"If all of Kadima were in the government, this would strengthen Israel's standing internationally and on the Palestinian track," he added. 

Livni voiced serious reservations following her Thursday meeting with Netanyahu and said the offer was a ploy by the premier. 

"This is a transparent media spin," she asserted. 

HRF/MTM/DT

----------


## Shades

*Netanyahu rejects debate on checkpoint policy* 
Fri, 25 Dec 2009 15:40:34 GMT

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has snubbed repeated calls for a discussion about the policy of removing military checkpoints in the West Bank. 

The requests came from right-wing cabinet members who argue the removal of checkpoints would amount to a rise in attacks on Israelis, Israel Radio reported on Friday. 

Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai, a member of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, asked Netanyahu to summon his security cabinet to discuss the checkpoint removal issue, the radio said. 

"Past experience shows that the removal of roadblocks as part of the easements granted to Palestinians has led to attempts to carry out terror attacks against Jews," Yishai asserted. 

The removal of West Bank checkpoints is a gesturer by the Netanyahu administration toward the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, generally viewed to be aimed at placating the concerns of the international community over the conditions on the ground in the blockaded Gaza Strip and the West Bank. 

In effect,however, most of the improvements made under the policy have not been enough to help prop up the failing Palestinian economy crushed under Israeli movement restrictions. 

The Huwwara checkpoint south of Nablus, one of the few key terminals whose re-opening benefited Palestinians, was closed again on Friday along with other checkpoints around the nearby city of Tulkarem, following a Thursday attack which killed a rabbi in the northern Samaria settlement of Shavei Shomron. 

The United Nations reported that as of June 2009 more than 600 military checkpoints, roadblocks, gates, and other obstructions to Palestinian movement in the West Bank. 

Critics censure the policy, arguing that the checkpoints have no effect on Israeli security and only fuel Palestinian resentment to the occupation. 

MRS/HGH

----------


## Shades

*Israel summons envoys from all over the world*
Sat, 26 Dec 2009 01:59:39 GMT


Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman 
Israel's ambassadors and consuls generals from all over the world have been summoned to attend a conference to be held over global challenges facing Israel. 

The meeting to be attended in Jerusalem Al-Quds on December 27-31 is hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, the ministry reported on its website. 

"The idea is to facilitate direct dialogue with the country's leaders, mutual updates on major diplomatic issues, and a discussion of action plans to deal with the challenges awaiting Israel in the international arena in the coming year, including the Iranian threat," it said. 

This is while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called a report by the UN Human Rights Council's Gaza commission a real threat to Israel. 

The UN Special Rappoteur for the occupied Palestinian Territories has also urged western powers to push Israel to end its blockade of the Gaza Strip immediately. Richard Falk also called for economic sanctions against Israel. 

This is the first time a conference for all of Israel's heads of missions has been held. 

Benyamin Netanyahu will also attend the conference along with Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy Dan Meridor, and other senior officials. 

SB/SS/MMA

----------


## Shades

Israel to raze 12 Palestinian homes in WB
Fri, 25 Dec 2009 16:56:09 GMT
 
Israeli authorities have delivered eviction orders to a dozen Palestinian families in a village near the northern West Bank city of Jenin. 

The demolition orders this time were handed the Arab residents in of Barta'a Ash-Sharqiya, a village isolated between the Israeli separation wall and the Green Line border, established following the 1948 Arab-Israeli war to separate Israel from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. 

Israeli forces "broke into several homes, searched and ransacked their contents, and handed over demolition orders for homes and other structures," Ma'an quoted a member of the Municipal Council in Barta'a Ash-Sharqiya. 

A recent UN report said Israel effectively bans Palestinian construction in 70 percent of the West Bank's Area C, which includes all the Israeli settlements, roads used to access the settlements as well as almost all of the Jordan Valley and Judean Desert. 

The report by the world body's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) explained the number equaled to about 44 percent of the West Bank lands. 

According to the OCHA, Israel demolished 180 Palestinian-owned structures in Area C in 2009 on the grounds that they lacked permits from the Civil Administration  a branch of Israel's Defense Ministry. The move has left at least 319 people homeless. 

This is while, according to the report, the Israeli institution often denies building permit requests to Palestinian residents for failing to comply with Israeli-authored planning schemes, or outdated plans from the British Mandate period. 

MRS/HGH

----------


## Shades

*Israelis soldiers shoot dead six Palestinians* 
Sat, 26 Dec 2009 06:18:19 GMT


*Israeli soldiers have shot dead six Palestinians and left a seventh one wounded in separate incidents in the West Bank and the north of the Gaza Strip.* 

According to a Palestinian medical source, three Palestinians were killed in northern Gaza as they were on their way to cross over a wall to work in Israel on Saturday. 

The source further added that another Palestinian was also wounded in the incident. 

Meanwhile, *Israeli soldiers shot and killed three members of the Fatah Movement in another incident in the West Bank city of Nablus after surrounding their homes*, Press TV correspondent Sari al-Khalili reported. 

The victims were members of the Fatah Movement, led by Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas. 

Sources *say the two had been previously ordered by Fatah to disarm, and that one of them was wanted by Israel.* 

HRF/JG/DT

----------


## Shades

*Santa Claus Suffers Tear Gas Inhalation in Bilin Protest* 
25/12/2009 10:05:07 PM GMT 

Santa Claus Suffers Tear Gas Inhalation in Bilin Protest Date : 25/12/2009   Time : 20:02 
RAMALLAH, December 25, 2009 (WAFA)- Villagers of the West Bank village of Bilin west of Ramallah marched towards their land seized by the Apartheid Wall. Dozen of demonstrators including Fatah central committee member Abass Zaki suffered from teargas inhalation. 

Demonstrators dressed as Santa Claus carried a Christmas tree decorated with tear gas canisters and percussion grenades that were used by the Israeli military against the demonstrations. 

The weapon-garnished tree was carried in support of Abdullah Abu Rahmah the coordinator of the Bilin Committee Against the Wall and Settlements. He is currently in military prison and is being charged with holding lethal and dangerous weapons for keeping and creatively exhibiting discharged tear gas canisters and sound grenades  that the military used in Bilin. 

The Bilin Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements called for the release of leaders and activists including Abdullah Abu Rahmah, Jamal Juma, Adib Abu Rahmah and Mohamed Othman. 

On Tuesday, 29 /12/2009 at 10:00 am, a demonstration in solidarity with Abdullah Abu Rahmah will be held outside Ofer Military Base.  Abdullah Abu Rahme is the imprisoned coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, The demonstrators will demand the release of all political prisoners. 

Source: AJP

----------


## Shades

*UN Expresses Hope that Israel Allow more Items into Gaza* 
25/12/2009 10:05:07 PM GMT  

UN Expresses Hope that Israel Allow more Items into Gaza Date : 25/12/2009   Time : 18:40 
NEW YORK, December 25, 2009 (WAFA)- After Israel's announcement that it will allow glass into Gaza following United Nations requests to repair homes damaged during last year's fighting, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today voiced hope that this will pave the way for other much-needed materials to enter the area. 

Nearly one year has passed since the start of the three-week Israeli military offensive, with the stated aim of ending rocket attacks by militants operating in Gaza. 

Operation Cast Lead killed over 1,400 people and injured 5,000 others, also reducing homes, schools, hospitals and marketplaces to rubble. 

UN independent human rights expert underlined Tuesday  in a statement that building materials necessary to repair the damage resulting from the heavy bombardment and artillery assaults could not enter Gaza. 

The Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Richard Falk,  also blamed the blockade for continued breakdowns of the electricity and sanitation systems due to the Israeli refusal to let spare parts needed for repair get through the crossings. 

UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky told reporters Thursday that the Secretary-General hopes the decision to allow glass into Gaza 'will be followed by further imports of needed material for reconstruction.' 

In a report issued last month, Mr. Ban stressed that the blockade of vital supplies has devastated Gaza's economy and 'has also severely impaired the realization of a wide range of economic, social and cultural rights, as well as civil and political rights.' 

An independent fact-finding mission concluded that both Israeli forces and Palestinian militants were guilty of serious human rights violations during Operation Cast Lead. The probe, led by Justice Richard Goldstone, a former prosecutor at UN war crimes tribunals, was set up at the request of the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council. Its findings were endorsed last month by the General Assembly. 

Source: AJP

----------


## Shades

*Desmond Tutu Calls for Immediate Release of Bilin Activist* 
25/12/2009 10:05:07 PM GMT  

Desmond Tutu Calls for Immediate Release of Bilin Activist Date : 25/12/2009   Time : 18:11 
RAMALLAH, December 25, 2009 (WAFA)-Elders chair, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, has expressed his deep concern about the arrest and indictment of Abdallah Abu Rahmah of Bilin and has called for his unconditional release, International Solidarity Movement published Friday on its website . 

Abu Rahmah is a school teacher and coordinator of the Bilin Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements, which has carried out a five year campaign of non-violent protest and legal challenge against the wall that separates Israel from the West Bank. 

My fellow Elders and I met Abu Rahmah and his colleague Mohammad Khatib in August when we visited Bilin, said Desmond Tutu. We were impressed by their commitment to peaceful political action, and their success in challenging the wall that unjustly separates the people of Bilin from their land and their olive trees. I call on Israeli officials to release Abu Rahmah immediately and unconditionally. 

Abu Rahmah was arrested by Israeli soldiers at 2am on 10 December 2009 and indicted on 22 December 2009 on several counts stemming from his leadership role in the Popular Committee. On 15 September Mohammad Khatib was severely beaten during a raid attempting to arrest Abu Rahmah. Since 23 June 2009, 31 residents of Bilin have been arrested. 

Abu Rahmahs arrest and indictment is part of an escalation by the Israeli military to try to break the spirit of the people of Bilin, said Tutu. But they must realize that they cannot break the spirit of those who fight for freedom and justice. 

Abu Rahmah met six members of The Elders on 27 August 2009. The Elders visited the site of Bilins weekly demonstrations near the separation barrier and also saw the memorial site paying tribute to Abu Rahmahs cousin Bassem Abu Rahmah who was killed when he was hit in the chest by a tear gas canister during one of the demonstrations. (see photo) 

The Elders who visited Bilin were Desmond Tutu, Ela Bhatt, Gro Brundtland, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Jimmy Carter and Mary Robinson. For more information go to Middle East | The Elders 

The Elders visit the memorial to Bassem Abu Rahmah in Bil'in, 27 August 2009. L-R: Gro Brundtland, Mary Robinson, Fernando Cardoso, Jimmy Carter, Desmond Tutu, Mohammed Khatib, Ela Bhatt, Abdullah Abu Rahmah. 

Source: AJP

----------


## Shades

*Sayyed Nasrallah Slams Democracies Changing Laws to Suit Israel* 
25/12/2009 08:32:48 PM GMT  

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah criticized on Wednesday Western "deep-rooted" so-called democracies that change their whole judicial systems just to suit the Israeli enemy and prevent the arrest of Israeli officials accused of committing war crimes against the Palestinian people.

Speaking during the seventh Ashoura night at the Sayyed al-Shouhadaa' compound in Beirut's southern suburb, Sayyed Nasrallah regretted that Britain is prepared to simply change its judicial system to suit Israel and its interests.

"The same applies to the United States of America," Sayyed Nasrallah said. "While it claims to carry the slogans of freedom, democracy and freedom of expression and speech in the world; the US Congress almost unanimously passes a law that penalizes owners of satellites that rent out airspace to some Arab satellite channels, just because these Arab satellite channels tell the Arab peoples the truth and the facts about occupation, aggression and the US project in the region," his eminence emphasized. "They toy with the law according to their whims and moods," his eminence concluded.

Hezbollah Secretary General devoted the main part of part to emphasize the importance of laws and the necessity of abiding by them. His eminence stressed that, no matter what the nature of the country's system is, everyone needs to adhere to the laws relating to public order.

Sayyed Nasrallah stressed on the necessity to comply with traffic signs and vehicle types (whether petrol or diesel), indicating that non-compliance with traffic laws is a detriment to citizens and public order. "Rules should be respected and worked by and such rules do not conflict with religion or Shari'a whether in Lebanon or elsewhere," his eminence pointed out.

Sayyed Nasrallah also touched on the issues of electricity and water, emphasizing the impermissibility of drawing off free of charge electricity from public power cables, stressing the need for acquiring electricity and water through subscribing for State services. His eminence also pointed to the impermissibility of violating building codes or neglecting labor laws in government departments under the pretext of non-compliance with non-Muslim State regulations.

"My speech is for all people in the country, Muslims and Christians, whether they are interested in religious matters or not. I direct my speech to a human community living in one homeland under the protection of the State, sharing a common life and common interests, as the airport and port, the economy and agriculture, industry and budget, deficit and debt are for all of us," Sayyed Nasrallah said.

His eminence noted that the matter is not related to an opposition or a majority, to an Islamic system or non-Islamic one, to whether we approve the system or not, whether it is a dictatorship or not. "What is happening in the country affects the whole country, then the interests of people and society is to respect this kind of law-related public order without discussion, because this is the interest of the country," his eminence explained.

Sayyed Nasrallah concluded his speech by recalling that the aim of the prophets, sacrifices, rules, and religions is to achieve the best possible life conditions for people within their security, stability, freedom, joy, development, education, luxury, and their religious and moral perfection. "Therefore, there is a set of rules that preserves people's lives and life style, whether it is in a Muslim government or a non-Muslim government, for these kinds of rules aim at the same target of the prophets and their movements, and all the good ones throughout history, so that it would be respected

----------


## Shades

*Gaza Blockade Set to Remain in Force Even if Shalit Freed* 
25/12/2009 02:34:38 PM GMT  


Israel would most likely keep the blockade of the Gaza Strip in place even if Gilad Shalit were released in the prisoner swap currently being negotiated. 

Media reports had speculated that once Shalit was released, Israel would no longer have an excuse to continue imposing the blockade. However, all of the supplies that Israel lets into Gaza are medical and humanitarian. It does not allow in electronics or other equipment that do not fall under that category. 

After Shalit was captured in June 2006, Israel claimed that his capture was one of the reasons behind the continued blockade. 

According to senior defense officials, though, the blockade would likely remain in place following Shalit's release. This would be possible due to a resolution passed in former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's cabinet in September 2007, which officially defined the Gaza Strip as a "hostile entity." 

The decision legally obligates Israel to provide basic goods that would prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but nothing more. In other words, even with Shalit no longer in Gaza, Israel would still have valid grounds to maintain the blockade.
¬ 
Source: AJP

----------


## Shades

*Rabbi's Son Plans to Sue Israel at ICC in The Hague* 
25/12/2009 02:35:44 PM GMT  

Ami Meshulam, the son of Rabbi Uzi Meshulam, who is seeking political asylum in Canada, plans to sue Israel at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.  

*Uzi Meshulam led a campaign against the Israeli establishment which demanded an investigation into the disappearance of the children of Yemen in the late 1950s*. In May *1994 he entrenched with his followers for a month and a half in his home in the city of Yehud. During a police raid on the house one of his followers was killed in a fire exchange.*  
Meshulam was sentenced to eight years in prison and his disciples were also given jail time. After five years in prison his sentence was reduced by then-President Ezer Weizman. *Meshulam never resumed his public campaign due to his poor health condition*. 

Ami Meshulam told Ynet, "*We will claim that Israel is committing crimes against the people of Israel and a group within it*. The Canadians are interested in reviewing *the many evidence of the fact that, contrary to common belief, Israel is not a democratic country*."

He says that *the State has been persecuting him for wishing to follow in his father's footsteps and expose the children of Yemen affair*. 

Meshulam left Israel four years ago for Montreal, and his fourth daughter was born there. He is seeking political asylum and the local immigration authorities are currently debating whether he can be regarded as a refugee. 

Thus far, six hearings were held during which four witnesses on behalf of Meshulam appeared, including Dr. Shoshana Madmoni-Gerber, a specialist on ethnic discrimination. 

The current hearing's second stage will commence in February 2010.

Meshulam's attorney William Sloan noted that his client's main assertion in applying for political asylum is his fear of the Shin Bet and the pressure that has been put on him to leave Israel. 
¬

----------


## Shades

One Palestinian family?s story illustrates the absurdity, and intention, of Israeli policy      
22.12.09 - 01:41  
by Mohammad Alsaafin 
I am a Palestinian refugee, from the village of Fallujah which lies between Gaza, Hebron and Asqalan. Ive never been allowed to visit Fallujah; my grandparents were exiled from there in 1949 (a year after the founding of Israel) and took refuge in the Gaza Strip. My father and I were both born in the Khan Younis refugee camp-he a few years before Gaza was occupied by Israel, and I in 1988, a month after the outbreak of the first intifada. My dad married a woman from the West Bank-they had met and fallen in love while they were both studying at Birzeit University, and when I was two years old we emigrated to the UK where he received his Phd.

Fourteen years later, in 2004, we all returned to Palestine to live in Ramallah. Now British citizens, my parents were determined that my three siblings and I would forge a stronger connection to our homeland than we ever could living abroad. At first, the transition was made easier by the fact that our foreign passports gave us the freedom of movement that was denied to other Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. For me, this reality was shattered when in late 2005 I attempted to cross the River Jordan from the West Bank to visit my aunt in Amman. The Israeli border agents told me that I could not pass, because I had an Israeli issued Gaza ID. Under Israeli military rules, this meant that I could not legally be present in the West Bank because the Israeli occupation had mandated that Palestinians from Gaza could not enter the West Bank, and Palestinians from the West Bank could not enter Gaza. This policy had been in force since the early 1990s, but was applied with increasing severity after the outbreak of the second intifada.

I lived the next four years under constant fear of arrest by the Israeli military, because that would have resulted in almost certain deportation to Gaza, and isolation from my family. For those four years, I never left the confines of Ramallah, so as to avoid the Israeli checkpoints on every one of the towns entrances-but even this couldnt give me a sense of security because I had to commute daily to Birzeit University, on a route frequently patrolled by Israeli forces from the nearby settlement of Bet El.

In July of this year, after many pleas for assistance from the hapless Palestinian Authority, I asked the Israeli NGO Gisha to help me obtain permission from the Israeli occupation to leave the West Bank. I wanted to take part in an internship in the United States, but I would only be granted the permission to exit on the condition that I only return to the Gaza Strip, which had been under siege and total closure for the better of two years then. I accepted this impossible choice-after four years of imprisonment in Ramallah, I wanted to see the outside world and look for a job abroad.

During this entire period, my family had more or less been saved the travel restrictions imposed on me. As a foreign journalist, my dad frequently traveled between the West Bank, Gaza and inside the Green Line, and my mother and siblings would join him on day trips to Jerusalem, Umm al-Fahem, Acca and Haifa. But that all changed this August when he was entering Gaza through the Erez crossing as he had done many times before. On this day however, he was arrested by the Israeli military and had his press credentials revoked. He was told his British passport was worthless, because they had made a frightening discovery: My dad had been born and raised in a refugee camp in Gaza, and had a Gaza ID. They told him he would henceforth be treated not as a foreigner, but as a Gazan-he was sent into Gaza and told he could never cross the Green Line or enter the West Bank again.

My mother and siblings back in Ramallah were also informed that their British passports were worthless and that they would be issued Palestinian IDs by Israel. Despite being raised in the West Bank and still owning a copy of her old West Bank ID, my mother was actually issued with a Gaza ID. We assume this is because she married a Gazan 22 years ago, but nobody has given us a clear answer. This has put her in the same quandary I was in for the last four years. She cannot leave Ramallah for fear of arrest and deportation to Gaza, away from her children, her sisters and the young children of her recently deceased brother. This situation was compounded by another perplexing development; my brother and sisters, all of whom were born in the UK, and whose parents and older brother had been issued Gaza IDs, were issued West Bank IDs.

My dad spent the last few months trying to get permission to go back to the West Bank to see his wife and kids-even for a day to pick up his clothes. But whether it was through the British consulate or Israeli NGOs, the Israeli occupation was adamant that he would not be allowed out of Gaza, unless it was to be deported from Ben Gurion airport. Eventually, in order to save his job, he left Gaza when Egypt opened the Rafah crossing in early December.

Now, my father is in one country and I am in another, while my mother is trapped in the West Bank, unable to travel for fear of never being allowed back. Thankfully, my brother and sisters are able to cross into Jordan, where we may see each other, but our family has been torn apart and separated under the most arbitrary occupation laws imaginable. Despite the continued attempts of Israeli and Palestinian NGOs, we have found no recourse with the Israeli authorities, and the British consulate has proved useless. We even sent a letter to Tony Blair, the representative of the Quartet, imploring him to intervene on our behalf as British citizens (the letter is included below). Unsurprisingly, we were ignored.

I believe this story needs to be told not because our situation is so unique, but precisely because it isnt; this is the result of a deliberate Israeli policy, one that has been in place since the early days of the Nakba and has been evolving ever since. It is a policy that has led to the dispossession of millions of Palestinians, and the separation and breakup of tens of thousands of families. The forcibly imposed separation between the West Bank and Gaza is illegal under international law, and through it Israel is succeeding in separating the Palestinian people, one family at a time.

This is the letter my father sent Tony Blair:

Dear Mr. Blair,

I write to you as a British citizen who has exhausted most of the options available to him in the pursuit of a basic human right  the right to see and be with my own family.

I was born in the Gaza Strip in 1962 and left to the UK in 1990 to pursue my PhD at the University of Bradford. In 2004, I moved with my wife and four children to the West Bank town of Ramallah. I was working as a foreign journalist, licensed by the Israeli Government Press Office and staying in the country along with my family on one year renewable work visas. In 2005 my eldest son Mohammad was turned back by Israel border agents as he attempted to cross into Jordan to visit his aunt. The agents told Mohammad that since he was born in the Gaza Strip in 1988, he had been issued a Gaza ID by the Israeli occupation, that his British passport was worthless and that he was not allowed to legally reside in the West Bank as per the Israeli occupation authoritys rules. For the next four years, he risked daily arrest by Israeli troops to get his university education at Birzeit University. This summer, he left the West Bank to find work abroad, and was told by the Israelis that once he left he would not be allowed to go back home.

Despite this clearly reprehensible situation, I and the rest of the family were thankfully spared such hardship. I was able to pursue my professional duties relatively unhindered in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. This all changed very suddenly in August of this year when, on a routine trip to Gaza where I had several assignments and where I wanted to visit my ailing father, Israeli security detained me at the Erez checkpoint, harassed me, stripped me of my press credentials and told me that my British passport was worthless to them. I was told that I too have an Israeli-issued Gaza ID and thus would be treated as a Gazan; deprived of the most basic freedom of choice and movement. I was sent into Gaza and have not been allowed out since.

At the same time, my wife Manal and our children Linah and Ahmad, all still in Ramallah, were forced to accept their own Israeli-issued ID cards. Incredibly, Manal was given a Gaza ID despite being born abroad, raised in the West Bank and still owning a copy of her original West Bank ID. Like Mohammad before her, she has been told that Israel dictates that she cannot change her ID and lives in constant fear of arrest and deportation by Israeli troops. If she were to leave the country she would also be banned from returning to our family and home in Ramallah.

Meanwhile, Ahmad and Linah, who were both born in the UK and are new university students, have bizarrely been issued with West Bank ID cards, even though their parents and older brother were given Gaza IDs.

As a result of all of this, our family has been torn apart. I am stuck in Gaza, unable to travel freely between my sick father and wife and children. They are stuck in the West Bank, with my wife living in constant fear of deportation, while my oldest son is abroad, barred from entering the West Bank to see his mother, sisters and brother.

Israel has treated us like criminals for being Palestinians. We have been punished, displaced and deprived from each others company. The British Consulate has been trying to mediate with the Israeli authorities, but all it has managed to achieve is an Israeli offer to deport me if I decide to leave Gaza through Erez. I refuse to be a party to my own deportation, yet my livelihood is at stake, as is my childrens education. We cannot go on like this, and I appeal to your humanity to intervene and render this nightmare over.

Abdullah Alsaafin

Mohammad Alsaafin was born in the Khan Younis refugee camp and grew up in the UK and the US, before going back to Palestine for college at Birzeit.

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## Shades

Interview with British MP George Galloway from Viva Palestina convoy      
21.12.09 - 21:36  
Bikya Masr sat down with British Member of Parliament George Galloway as he traverses Europe, leading the third Viva Palestina convoy from the UK to Gaza in order to deliver much needed aid to the impoverished Palestinian territory. 
Currently, the group is pushing on from Turkey, where they received a warm welcome. The goal is to pass through Syria, Jordan and Egypt before entering Gaza via the Rafah Border Crossing.

Galloway has been in Parliament since 1987.

Bikya Masr: What makes Viva Palestina so important and why did you feel the need to do this?

George Galloway: This isnt about the aid, as important as that is. But to put it in context our convoy amounts to around 200 vehicles. Gaza needs about 400 trucks a day in relief. These convoys are a statement that we wont rest until this illegal siege is broken. We get amazing support and help through all the countries we traverse and were getting the message across about how the Palestinians in Gaza are suffering. The convoys also, I believe, provide a beacon of hope for the beleaguered people of Gaza that the world has not forgotten them.

The idea came to me when we were protesting outside the Israeli embassy in London when the war broke out. It was necessary to protest but not sufficient. This is the third such convoy we have run and by far the most successful so far.

BM: Do you see it as an educational endeavor that can engage the world about the issues facing Israel/Palestine?

GG: I think world opinion has changed markedly since the war last year and the massive and disproportionate assault on Gaza. We are just underlining the message with our convoys and hopefully educating and propagandizing as we go.

BM: In the UK, what is the overall sense of a mission like this? Has it ostracized you with your colleagues?

GG: Ostracized? Not at all. My colleagues are fiercely and determinedly behind it. There is no dissent. We could have hope, although not expected, better media coverage in the UK but those in the cause know what is happening.

BM: The Israeli government isnt too keen on the Viva Palestina convoy. How do you try to rectify this sort of sentiment?

GG: We dont deal with the Israeli government so I dont know and certainly dont care.

BM: How has the Jewish community in the UK received these convoys? The Muslim community?

GG: There hasnt been noticeable support from any Jewish organizations -rather than the reverse  but progressive Jews support us. Bear in mind that we took a group of rabbis on our last convoy. The Muslim reception has been fabulous, particularly in the poorer parts of Great Britain.

BM: What are the overall goals of this specific convoy and how do you spread the word?

GG: I think I answered the first part in my first answer. We spread the word through our websites, enormous databases and through mosques and sympathetic groups. We havent been at a loss for support thus far. You can find out more about Viva Palestina by going to www.vivapalestina,org or at George Galloway MP&rsquo;s official website | Welcome

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## Shades

The end of the road for the ?Jewish and democratic? model? by Noam Sheizaf      
20.12.09 - 02:23  
A new amendment into the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Freedom might officially turn Israel into a democracy for Jews only.

Since it's founding, Israel has claimed - and most of the time was regarded - to be both a Jewish state and a democratic one. In the Israelis' views, the two elements don't contradict, but rather complete each other. Criticism on this view has focused on the facts that (a) the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza were never granted Israeli citizenship and the civil rights that come with it, and that (b) Israel's "Law of Return" distinguishes between Jews and non-Jews, as it only allows the former to automatically become Israeli citizens.

Israel's answer to A is that the West Bank and Gaza are not officially part of the state, and that within the Green Line border, all Israelis, Jews and non-Jews, have full rights. The answer to article B is very similar: yes, we allow Jews into the state, but once someone becomes an Israeli citizen, he enjoys full rights, regardless of his ethnic origin, religious or sex.

A new legislation effort by Yisrael Beitenu (Liberman's party) might put an end to all this reasoning. This legislation is about to make discrimination and racial segregation a part of the legal codex of Israel. If passed, it will make it very hard to view Israel as a democracy - at least in the common meaning of the term in the West - regardless of the situation in the West bank.

Here is a little background:

There are thousands of Israeli Arab Citizens who are married to non-Israeli Palestinians or Arabs from other states. On July 2003 the Knesset enacted the Nationality and Entry into Israel Law(Temporary Order), which prohibits the granting of any residency or citizenship status to Palestinians from the 1967 Occupied Palestinian Territories who are married to Israeli citizens. In 2007 the law was also applied to Israeli citizens who marry residents of Lebanon, Syria, Iran or Iraq and/or any place defined by the Israeli security forces as where activity is occurring that is liable to endanger Israeli security.

The meaning of this legislation is that Arab citizens can't enjoy their right to family life if they chose to marry a non-Israeli - as the non-Israeli partner does not receive an Israeli citizenship, or even the right to reside in Israel. In most cases, the couple is force either to leave the country or to live separately.

Officially, it were security concerns that led to the 2003 and 2007 bills; but this was probably just an excuse, since even before the new law was accepted the Ministry of Interior had the authority to refuse citizenship to any person which is suspected of presenting a security threat without a need to justify its decision. More likely that it was the demographic logic that led to the legislation, with the will to simply prevent Arabs from entering the state, and even forcing them to leave, playing the central part, and security issues only coming later. This assumption is supported by most of the public statements made during the debate on the law.

There is a point here which must be made clear: by refusing to allow a Palestinian woman who married an Israeli to immigrate to Israel, it is not the woman's right who is violated, but the man's. In all democracies, each citizen has the right to marry whoever he whishes to and to live with him or her on their own state. The new law takes this right away from the Arab population, while still granting it to the Jewish one. It distinguishes between the rights of citizens to family life based on their ethnicity.

----------

Since 2003, several human right groups are waging a legal campaign against the  Citizenship Law, claiming that it stands in contradiction to the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Freedom. "Basic Laws" are the closest thing Israel has to a constitution.

In a famous 6-5 split decision, the Supreme Court dismissed in 2006 the petitions against the Citizenship Law. However, the court harshly criticized the Law, with Justice Edmond Levi, who voted with the majority, writing that this is only a temporary approval, and that "a different arrangement" must be reached. The chief justice Aharon Barak voted with the minority against the Citizenship Law. The Supreme Court also allowed the petitioners to bring their case before it again in the future, and the common assumption is that it will eventually rule the Citizenship Law as unconstitutional.

And this is exactly what the current Knesset is trying to prevent. As Jonathan Liss reports inHaaretz, 44 MKs, among them members from the opposition party of Kadima, are backing an amendment proposed by Rotem (Yisrael Beiteinu) to the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Freedom, intended to bring it into line with the Citizenship Law. The coalition will decide this Sunday whether to back the amendment, thus promising it an automatic majority in the Knesset.

In other words, the Knesset will have the Israeli constitution include an article which distinguishes between the right to family life of Jews and Arabs.

There are currently four new petitions against the Citizenship Law being heard at the Supreme Court, but as Haaretz reports, the new amendment will make it impossible for the court to rule in favor of them. The whole legal process will become meaningless.

[MK David] Rotem says he sees no problem with the Knesset intervening in real time with court deliberations. "If I were to discover that some law stating that the sun must rise at 8 A.M. could be interpreted by the court as stating that the sun must rise at 8 P.M., I would immediately go to court and say that that was not the intent of the lawmaker."

... Rotem says he does not want to limit the court, but rather "to enshrine legislation that has already passed. The Knesset's job is to make the laws, and the court's job is to interpret it."

----------

Even many of Israel's supporters don't deny that Arabs are subject to some degree of discrimination in Israel. But most of them argue that this should be seen in the right context: Israel is a young democracy, located in a hostile environment. The Arabs took part in the fight against the state in 1948; the journey to integrate them has been going on since, with some success. Plus, almost every democracy discriminate minorities. The world, Israelis would say, should judge us not just on what's happening now, but based on where we are heading, and on our ideals.

But when amendments to the constitution are the issue, it is precisely Israel's ideals which are concerned. And if passed, the new amendment will show exactly where Israel is heading.

In the past few years, we have seen a surge in anti-Arab legislation and statements by top politicians and officials. Just recently, the coalition decided to back a bill aimed to block an anti-segregation ruling by the Supreme Court; but even this law is not directed specifically against Arabs, and it doesn't deal with a basic and so widely accepted notion as the right for family life.

If the current amendment is accepted, it will be the Israeli legal codex - not some political practices, which come and go - that will make Israel an ethnic democracy, or "a democracy for Jews only". This will make it much harder to fight  the claim that Israel is indeed becoming  if its not already  an Apartheid state.

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## Shades

Footnotes in Gaza: a graphic novel by Joe Sacco      
22.12.09 - 22:14  
Footnotes in Gaza is the latest work by Joe Sacco, the graphic novelist who authored the critically acclaimed Palestine. 

In an interview, Sacco describes how the idea for "Footnotes," came about, and why he does not believe in objective reportage.



 Interview: 

In 2001, I went to Gaza with a journalist called Chris Hedges on an assignment from Harpers magazine. He went as a writer with me as the illustrator. We were going to focus on one town, the town of Khan Younis. Before we went I seemed to recall something I had read about Khan Younis, about an incident which happened in the 1950s where a lot of people were killed. 

When we got there, Chris was asking around about that massacre and people were telling us some of the stories. But when the article was printed, that part of the story, the historical part, was cut from the article. Well that just sort of bothered me; Im one of those people who think history is pretty damn important for providing context for what is happening.

Sacco later ended up returning to Gaza and in researching the nightmare that unfolded in Khan Younis in 1956, he found out about an equally horrific if more complicated incident that happened ten days later in the town of Rafah.

It is these two events that form the largest parts of Saccos new book. Through a painstaking process of interviewing and journal writing (and a complex system of cross referencing between the two) Sacco has created a work that, like his previous books, jettisons objectivity for something far more empathetic and subjective.

Yet he refuses to see himself as a polemicist: I dont believe in polemics at all. I do believe in having an opinion but I want it to be an informed opinion. If I find something that doesnt gel with my belief, then Im definitely going to report it. Honesty and objectivity to me are two different things.

Having now put Footnotes in Gaza out in the world Sacco refuses to dwell (or wallow, as he puts it) on its effect as either a testimonial or as reportage. He has already moved on from the Middle East and is working on a project with Hedges about Camden, New Jersey  one of the poorest and most crime-ridden towns in America  and has returned to his Maltese roots for a project for the Virginia Quarterly Review about African migrants trying to make their way to Europe.

Its good to be able to return and talk about the problems with your own place. He sighs, subjectively. 



Footnotes in Gaza is out now published by Jonathan Cape.

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## Shades

*Hamas, Fatah voice outrage at Israeli murders*
Sat, 26 Dec 2009 18:05:24 GMT

Rival factions, Hamas and Fatah have severely condemned the Israeli forces' recent killing of six Palestinians and injuring of another one.

"This crime urges all Palestinian factions to reactivate armed resistance against the occupation and its crimes in the West Bank and Gaza," Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri was quoted by Xinhua as saying on Saturday.

Three of those killed were Gazans on their way to work in Israel, while the other three were Fatah members shot dead in the West Bank city of Nablus.

Spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, Nabil Abu Rudeineh said "the Israeli escalation in the West Bank and Gaza and the return to the policy of assassinations and random killings in virtual excuses shows that the Israeli government decided to destroy the independence and security of the Palestinian people and is pulling our people into a bloody circle of violence," CNN reported.

The Hamas official, however, suggested that the Palestinian Authority had been in cahoots with Tel Aviv in the assassination of the three Fatah men who had been previously disarmed by Palestinian security forces.

"Resistance should be enhanced, not plotted against," he said.

Senior Hamas leader Ismail Radwan also said that the "crime coincides with the first anniversary of the Israeli war against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip," a reminder of the three-week long Israeli raids at the turn of the year, which left more than 1,400 Palestinians dead.

"It confirms that the enemy believes only in murder and terrorism," he concluded.

HN/SC/MMN

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## Shades

*Gaza marks anniversary of Israeli offensive*
Sun, 27 Dec 2009 09:44:08 GMT

*The Gaza Strip after the Israeli offensive*
The Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip are marking the first anniversary of the deadly Israeli offensive against the coastal sliver.

Sirens were to wail throughout the Palestinian territory at 11:20 a.m. (0920 GMT), the time of the first rain of Israeli bombs on the Gaza Strip as "Operation Cast Lead" was launched.

Several demonstrations will be held during the day, with Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya scheduled to make a television address this evening, AFP reported.

Hamas plans to hold events for 22 days, the length of the offensive.

"The goal of these events is that this war and its massacres, which have no precedent, should remain before the eyes of the world," said Ihab al-Ghussein, a spokesman for the Hamas interior ministry.

"This is so that the leaders of this Zionist war will be judged," AFP quoted al-Ghussein as saying on Sunday.

On Saturday, December 27, 2008, Israeli warplanes launched a simultaneous strike on the Gaza Strip and killed at least 225 people.

The attacks twisted the day into one of the single bloodiest days in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

On December 31, an estimated 1,300 people from 43 countries will join 50,000 Palestinians on the Gaza Freedom March to the Gaza-Israel Erez crossing, a Press TV correspondent said.

The marchers plan to walk from Rafah in Egypt to Gaza where they will join Palestinians from Gaza in a march to the Erez crossing.

The move is aimed at urging Israel to lift its blockade on the coastal sliver.

The already impoverished Gaza Strip has been under a complete Israeli siege, with full cooperation of the Cairo government, ever since the Hamas resistance movement, which does not recognize Israel as a sovereign state, won parliamentary elections in a surprise victory in 2007.

MGH/JG/DT

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## Shades

*Viva Palestina remains stuck in Jordan*
Sun, 27 Dec 2009 15:37:47 GMT

Viva Palestina aid convoy carrying humanitarian supplies to the besieged Gaza Strip remains stuck in Jordan while the medicines onboard are being spoiled in the desert heat.

The convoy of 250 vehicles is stuck in the Jordanian port city of Aqaba awaiting a resolution to be passed between Viva Palestina organizers and Egyptian authorities that would allow the convoy enter the Gaza Strip, Press TV reported Sunday.

"A new line of communication has been opened between Viva Palestina and the Egyptian government, but it doesn't necessarily mean these vehicles are going anywhere soon," said a Press TV correspondent.

The negotiations aimed at seeking a resolution to allow aid convoys pass through specific crossings to the Gaza Strip.

Israel and Egypt have kept their borders with the Gaza Strip closed since Hamas took power in the strip in June 2007.

Meanwhile, British lawmaker George Galloway, one of the organizers of the Viva Palestina repeated an appeal to Cairo to allow the convoy easy access to Gaza.

"I am appealing to anyone and everyone to help us reach Gaza," said the lawmaker.

"Our medicines are in a race against the time of their expiry date and are spoiling in the desert sun whilst people in Gaza are in dire need for them," Galloway added.

The aid convoy was scheduled to deliver medical, humanitarian and educational aid to Gazans on December 27, marking the first year anniversary of Israel's three-week war against the sliver.

Cairo, however, blocked the convoy on Thursday from entering its borders at Nuweiba, saying the vehicles had to enter through the Mediterranean port city of El-Arish.

"We are talking about 250 trucks passing along this critical territory [the Israeli-Egyptian border]  it is technically so difficult to allow," Al-Jazeera quoted Maged Botros, a member of Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party as saying.

He claimed that Cairo has 'every right' to specify the port through which Viva Palestina can enter its territory.

Members of the convoy, however, told Al-Jazeera's website that travelling through the Suez Canal was not a viable option, as passengers are not allowed to go with cargo ships and that the port of El-Arish is too shallow to take the size of ship needed to transport the aid.

SB/MMN

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## Shades

*Viva Palestina members start hunger strike*
Mon, 28 Dec 2009 03:31:41 GMT

Members of the Viva Palestina international aid convoy heading to the blockaded Gaza Strip have made the decision to go on hunger strike in protest at the Egyptian government's refusal to allow the convoy entry into its territory.

"Volunteers on the convoy are on a hunger strike and will only take fluids until the Egyptian side gives them the nod," said the convoy's press officer, Alice Howard.

She said the hunger strike began at 11:25 on Sunday, marking the first bombs Israel dropped on the besieged population of Gaza on December 27, 2008.

Israel's relentless three-week offensive against Gaza from December 2008 to January 2009 left more than 1,400 Palestinians dead, more than half of them civilians, according to medical sources. The Israeli assault also led to the destruction of schools, mosques, and houses as well as UN compounds, inflicting $1.6 billion damage on the Gaza economy.

The Viva Palestina aid convoy has been stranded in Aqaba, Jordan since Christmas Eve, when Egyptian authorities prohibited the convoy from docking at the Egyptian port of Nuweiba. Diplomatic negotiations are also taking place between the Turkish and Egyptian governments over the convoy's entry into Egypt.

"Israel has kept Gaza under siege for three and a half years against international law. It has not allowed aid or rebuilding materials in following its attack on Gaza earlier this year. Our convoy is determined to break the siege and take in urgently needed supplies. Spirits are high in our camp in Aqaba, and we are going nowhere except to Gaza," said British MP George Galloway, who is travelling with the convoy.

The third international convoy to Gaza departed from London on December 5, 2009. The convoy is made up of volunteers from Britain, Ireland, Belgium, and Malaysia who have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds in their local communities to pay for ambulances, minibuses, vans, and lorries and to fill them with medical and other aid that is desperately needed in Gaza.

The Viva Palestina convoy was organized to direct the world's attention to the fact that Israeli war criminals committed horrendous crimes in Gaza as well as to the courageous Palestinian resistance.

MP/HGL

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## Shades

*Israel invites tenders for expanding settlements*
Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:10:29 GMT

Laborers working on construction of a new Israeli settlement
Israel has invited tenders for construction of more housing units in the occupied East Jerusalem Al-Quds, Israel's Channel 10 says.

The housing ministry has sought bids for building a total of 696 new homes in the settlements of Neve Yaacov, Pisgat Zeev and Har Homa, the channel said.

The expansion of Israeli settlements is considered the main hindrance to the resumption of peace talks.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem Al-Quds in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed it in a move never recognized by the international community.

On November 16, Israel approved a plan to construct 900 new housing units in a fourth Jerusalem Al-Quds settlement, Gilo, in a move that drew strong rebuke from the international community.

The expansion of the settlements comes as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in November declared a 10-month moratorium on the construction of new homes in the West Bank.

MGH/SC/DT

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## Shades

*No coalition cabinet on horizon in Israel*
Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:03:58 GMT

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Tzipi Livni have held a second round of talks aimed at forming a broad coalition cabinet.

Israeli officials say Netanyahu plans to convince Livni's Kadima Party to join his cabinet in a bid to strengthen its international standing.

Following the meeting, Netanyahu said that Livni was playing for time.

Livni said she would consult her party, but after phoning Kadima lawmakers yesterday, she said she felt the meeting had been a political exercise, Haaretz reported on Monday.

Media reports claim Netanyahu is offering Livni two ministry posts without portfolio in an expanded cabinet.

Livni voiced serious reservations after a previous meeting with Netanyahu on Thursday, saying his offer was a ploy.

MGH/SC/DT

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## Shades

*Israeli police chief threatened by settlers*
Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:47:59 GMT

Israel has tightened security around police chief Dudi Cohen after he reportedly received repeated death threats from hardline Jewish settlers.

"You have been condemned to the next life, your end is nigh," AFP quoted one anonymous letter sent to Cohen.

Israeli police believe that the threats are carried by hardline settlers who are against a 10-month moratorium on expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu introduced the moratorium in November, claiming that the move aims at resumption of Middle East peace talks.

Despite the moratorium, Israel has invited tenders for construction of nearly 700 new housing units in East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

MGH/SC/DT

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## Shades

*Palestinians slam new Israeli settlement expansions*
Mon, 28 Dec 2009 10:46:55 GMT

The Palestinian Authority has condemned Israel's move to build hundreds more housing units for settlers in the occupied East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

"The Palestinian Authority strongly condemns the new decision to build in East Jerusalem and wonders whether there is a freeze of settlement activity or an intensification of it," AFP quoted chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat as saying.

Erekat addressed the US President Barack Obama's administration, saying Washington "needs to realize that the policies of the Israeli government embody settlements and not peace and that their choice is settlements and not peace."

The Israeli media on Sunday said Tel Aviv invited tenders for the building of some 692 new housing units in three settlements in East Jerusalem Al-Quds, which Israel occupied during the 1967 six-day war and annexed later despite strong opposition from the international community.

The international community has repeatedly called for a permanent halt to all settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem Al-Quds, which Palestinians demand as the capital of their promised state.

The new homes come despite Tel Aviv's recent gesture to Palestinians under breaking international pressure to freeze its illegal settlement activities and pave the way for the revival of Middle East peace talks.

In November, Israel announced a 10-month moratorium on building in the West Bank; which does not apply to public buildings and projects already underway, and also excludes East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

Earlier in the month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hawkish government approved 900 new housing units in another East Jerusalem Al-Quds settlement attracting further outrage among Palestinians and a rare criticism from even the United States and other Western allies.

MRS/SC/DT

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## Shades

*New Yorkers march against Israeli crimes in Gaza*
Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:36:31 GMT

Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators have gathered in New York to mark the one-year anniversary of Israel's devastating attack on the Gaza Strip.

The protestors, which included Muslim, Christian and Jewish human rights activists, marched against the Tel Aviv regime's three-week war on Gaza and urged world countries to stand up to Israeli crimes against Palestinians, IRNA reported on Sunday.

"Now is the time to stand with Palestinians. Now is the time to speak out against the Israeli genocide," New York Rabbi Joseph Cohen told IRNA. "The regime of Israel is not only the enemy of Palestinians, but also an enemy of the Jewish people."

Tel Aviv attacked Gaza on December 27 with the declared goal of "self-defense" and toppling the Hamas government. More than 1,400 Palestinians, including a large number of women and children, were killed in the conflagration.

The attack, which lasted three weeks, also wounded thousands of others, displaced 60,800 civilians and seriously damaged 17,000 homes at a time when Gazans were already subjected to a months-long blockade which had in turn triggered a humanitarian crisis in the tiny Palestinian territory.

More than two months after Tel Aviv declared an alleged ceasefire, disturbing revelations of the Israeli army's massive violations of human rights set the wheels turning on an international war crime case.

During the offensive, Israel reportedly shelled three clearly GPS-designated UN schools and opened fire on hospitals, ambulances, medical personnel and civilian homes.

After categorical denials that it used white phosphorus on the densely-populated Gaza Strip, Israeli soldiers finally admitted that they had pounded the Palestinian coast with at least twenty white phosphorus bombs.

The most shocking revelation, however, came on January 4 when Israeli troops evacuated some 110 Gazans -- half of whom were children -- into a single-residence house in the Zeitoun neighborhood and warned them to stay indoors.

Twenty-four hours later, the soldiers shelled the home incessantly, killing more than 30 of the people inside the house.

A 575-page report headed by Jewish South African judge Richard Goldstone has substantiated claims of Israeli war crimes and human rights violations during the Gaza war.

In the year that has passed since Israel's offensive, the Tel Aviv government has blocked the reconstruction of thousands of damaged buildings in Gaza.

Mustafa Barghouti, an independent Palestinian politician and former minister of information, condemned Israel's refusal to allow in supplies to rebuild Gaza's shattered infrastructure.

"Today 25,000 houses in Gaza remain unrepaired because Israel is not allowing a single sack of cement or a piece of glass into Gaza," he told Al Jazeera on Monday.

In the year that has passed since Israel's offensive, Tel Aviv has blocked the reconstruction of thousands of damaged buildings in Gaza.

SBB/DT

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## Shades

*UK protesters blast Israeli Gaza blockade*
Mon, 28 Dec 2009 10:37:46 GMT

Police break up a group of pro-Gaza protesters.
Britain has witnessed major anti-Israel demonstrations, as several hundred pro-Palestinian protesters rallied in front of the Israeli embassy in London.

The demonstrators condemned the deadly Israeli offensive and continued Israeli siege of the impoverished Gaza Strip, demanding an end to the 'inhuman' blockade.

"*We continue to be outraged at the attacks on Gaza and the crimes against humanity that was committed there," Glen Secker from Jews for Justice* for Palestinians said on Sunday.

The protesters who chanted "end the siege now", also held banners naming Saudi King Abdullah, Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as accomplices in the massacre of Gazans.

A group of UK parliamentarians also took part in the protests, voicing concern for the Gaza siege.

"The Israeli ambassador to London has demanded that our law should be changed. But I should point out that it is not for him to demand how we should change our law," Labor MP Martin Linton told Press TV.

Linton was pointing to a recent arrest warrant issued for former Israeli Prime minister Tzipi Livni in the British court system.

The warrant was hastily withdrawn after an extraordinary intervention from the Foreign Office and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown himself.

Pro-Gaza protests were also staged in over a dozen other cities across Britain this week, amid tight security.

The latest development comes as the Viva Palestina convoy made its way to the blockaded strip, despite hindrances.

The third international convoy, which departed from London on December 5, is made up of international volunteers who have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds in their local communities to pay for ambulances, minibuses, vans, and lorries to fill them with medical and other aid that is desperately needed in Gaza.

The Viva Palestina convoy was organized to direct the world's attention to the fact that Israeli war criminals committed horrendous crimes in Gaza as well as to the courageous Palestinian resistance.

Israel's three-week offensive against Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009 left more than 1,400 Palestinians dead, more than half of them civilians, according to medical sources.

The Israeli assault also led to the destruction of schools, mosques, houses as well as UN compounds, inflicting $1.6 billion damage on the Gaza economy.

FF/SC/DT

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## Shades

* Haaretz: Was Israel's Gaza offensive worth it*
Date : 27/12/2009   Time : 13:25

TEL AVIV, December 27, 2009 (WAFA)- Haaretz Israeli daily said that the year since December 27 was a year of shame for Israel, greater shame than any other time. It is shameful to be Israeli today, much more than it was a year ago. In the final tally of the war, which was not a war but a brutal assault, Israel's international status was dealt a severe blow, in addition to Israeli indifference and public blindness to what happened in Gaza.

Gideon Levy wrote: Even those who still believe that the attack was justified and necessary, that the firing of Qassam rockets would not have been halted except by such a cruel attack cannot ignore the political and moral price extracted from Israel because of its violence. Its image in the world, not in the eyes of its citizens, is much uglier than a year ago.

Today it is more shameful to be an Israeli because the world, as opposed to Israelis, saw the scenes, he continued, it saw thousands of dead and injured taken in the trunks of cars to something between a clinic and a primitive hospital in an imprisoned and weakened region one hour from flourishing Tel Aviv, a region where the helpless had nowhere to run from Israel's arsenal. The world saw schools, hospitals, flour mills and small factories mercilessly bombed and blown up. It saw clouds of white-sulphur bombs billowing over population centers, and it saw burned children.

Haaretz editorial stated that the world refused to accept the excuses and lies of Israel's propaganda. It was not prepared to compare Sderot's suffering to Gaza's suffering; it did not agree that the sulphur mushroom clouds were for self-defense, that the killing of dozens of police on a parade ground was legitimate, that telephoned warnings for people to leave their homes cleared Israel of criminal responsibility for the bombing of those homes.

The world saw the Israeli Goliath strike mercilessly at the Palestinian David. It saw the balance of killing: one Israeli to every 100 Palestinians, and the Israel Defense Forces' new and terrifying doctrine by which almost everything goes if it prevents casualties on our side. The world knew that in this case a democracy was striking a region that does not enjoy self-determination, whose inhabitants lack basic human rights - refugees and the children of refugees living under siege. So the world responded with justifiable severity toward us; it refused to forgive and be silent, it added.

The world also saw Israel wrap itself in sick apathy despite what was happening, it went on, it saw the town squares almost empty of protesters, the cafes in Tel Aviv full of people having a good time. It even saw Israeli families who went to visit the hills around Gaza to show their children the bomb strikes. Later, it also saw that Israel was not even prepared to investigate what it had done, but rather lashed out at all its detractors.

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## Shades

*Operation Cast Lead: Verdict*
Uri Avnery


Did Israel win? On the first anniversary of the Gaza War, alias Operation Cast Lead, this question fills the public space. Within the Israeli consensus, the answer has already been given: Certainly we won, the Qassams have stopped coming.

A simple, not to say primitive, answer. But that is how it looks to the superficial observer. There were the Qassams, we made war, no more Qassams. Sderot is thriving, the inhabitants of Beersheba go to the theater.

Was the real aim of the war to stop the Qassams? What were the real aims? I believe that they were as follows:

1. To overthrow the regime in Gaza, by turning the life of the inhabitants into such hell that they would rise up against Hamas.

2. To return to the government and the army their self-respect, which had been severely damaged in Lebanon War II.

3. To restore the deterrent power of the Israeli Army.

4. To stop the Qassams.

5. To free the captive soldier, Gilad Shalit.

Lets examine the results, one by one.

This week, hundreds of thousands gathered in the Gaza Strip for a demonstration in support of Hamas. Judging from the photos, there were between 200,000 and 400,000. Considering that there are about 1.5 million inhabitants in the strip, most of them children, that was quite an impressive turnout. Those who believed that the pressure on the population would cause an uprising against the Hamas government have been proved wrong.

History buffs were not surprised. When attacked by a foreign foe, every people unite behind its leaders, whoever they are. Pity that our politicians and generals dont read books. Our commentators portray the inhabitants of Gaza as looking with longing at the flourishing shops of Ramallah. These commentators also derive hope from public opinion polls that purport to show that the popularity of Hamas in the West Bank is declining. If so, why is Fatah afraid of conducting elections, even after all Hamas activists there have been thrown into prison?

It seems that most of the people in the Gaza Strip are more or less satisfied with the functioning of the Hamas government. In spite of the misery of their lives, they may also be proud of its steadfastness.

There is order in the streets, crime and drugs are decreasing. Hamas is trying cautiously to promote a religious agenda in daily life, and it seems that the public does not mind. The main aim of the operation has failed completely.

The second has been achieved. The Olmert government, which lost public confidence in Lebanon War II, won it back in the Gaza War. That did not help Olmert himself  he had to resign because of the cloud of corruption affairs hovering over his head.

The army has restored its self-confidence. It has proved that the military deficiencies, that came to light at every step in the Lebanon War, were superficial. The public believes that in Gaza the army functioned well. The fact that a total of six Israeli soldiers were killed by enemy fire, while over a thousand people died on the other side, has reinforced this belief. Only few people are bothered by moral scruples.

The question whether the third aim  deterrence  has been achieved is closely connected with another question: Who won the war militarily?

In a war between a regular army and a guerrilla force, it is hard to decide what victory means. In a classic battle between armies, victory belongs to the side that remains in control of the battlefield once the fighting ends. Obviously that does not apply in an asymmetrical contest. The Israeli Army did not want to stay in the Gaza Strip  on the contrary, it was very keen to avoid such a possibility.

Some argue that Hamas won the war: If a band of ill-armed guerrillas holds out for three whole weeks against one of the strongest armies in the world, that constitutes a victory. There is a lot of truth in that. On the other hand, the deterrent force of the army has certainly been restored. All Palestinian factions and all Arab forces in general, now know that the Israeli Army is prepared to kill and destroy without any restraint in any military confrontation. From now on, the Hamas leaders  as well as the Hezbollah chiefs  will think twice before provoking it.

The Qassams have stopped almost completely. Hamas has even imposed its authority on the small, extreme factions, which wanted to continue. No doubt the newly restored deterrent force of the army has had a bearing on that. But it is also true that the army is taking great care not to cause regular incidents, as was their wont before Cast Lead. At least for now, the deterrence in the Gaza theater is mutual.

It can be asked whether a means could have been found to stop the Qassams short of war. If the Israeli government had recognized the Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip  at least de facto  and maintained businesslike relations with them, and if it had not imposed the blockade  could the missiles have been stopped? I do believe so.

The release of Shalit  a secondary but important aim in itself  has not been achieved. If Shalit is freed, it will happen only as part of a prisoner exchange, and that will look like a huge victory for Hamas. Taking into consideration all these results, one can draw the conclusion that the war has ended in a kind of draw.

Except for Goldstone.

This war has dealt a fatal blow to Israels standing in the world. Is that important? David Ben-Gurion famously said, It is not important what the goyim say but what the Jews do. Thomas Jefferson, on the other hand, said that no nation can afford to behave without a decent respect for the opinions of mankind. Jefferson was right. What the goyim say has an immense impact on all the spheres of our life  from the political arena to security matters. The standing of our state in the world is a vital factor in our national security. The Gaza War  from the decision to throw the army into a densely populated area to the use of white phosphorus and flechette munitions  has raised a dark cloud over Israel. The Goldstone report, coming as it did after the gruesome pictures broadcast throughout the war by all the worlds TV networks, has produced a terrible impression. Hundreds of millions of people saw and heard, and their attitude toward Israel has changed for the worse. This will have far-reaching impact on the decisions of governments, the attitude of the media and in thousands of big and small decisions concerning Israel.

Almost all our spokesmen and journalists, from the president down to the last TV talk-show host, keep parroting that the Goldstone report is one-sided, vile and lying. But people around the world know that it is as honest a report as could be expected after our governments decision to boycott the investigation. The damage increases from day to day. Some of it is irreversible. It is impossible to measure the results of the war without laying this fact on the scales. The upshot is that the damage done to us by the war outweighs any benefits. Some people in our leadership silently accept this conclusion. But there is no lack of voices  both in the leadership and in the street  which talk openly about a Cast Lead 2 as being just a matter of time.

A saying attributed to Bismarck goes: Fools learn from their own experience, clever people learn from the experience of others. Where does that leave us?

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## Shades

*Editorial: Enduring nightmare*
Arab News


THE six Palestinians killed in two separate operations in Nablus and Gaza was the highest toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in a single day since the Israeli onslaught on Gaza a year ago. A fact just as significant is that Saturdays attacks came on the eve of the first anniversary of the Gaza siege, one of the deadliest Israeli offensives ever launched against Palestinians. A de facto cease-fire between Israel and Hamas has held since. But the conflict still exists, as are its fundamentals, meaning another blitz is only one serious incident away.

The weekend West Bank attack saw three members of President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah movement shot by Israeli troops searching for the killer of a settler. But the troops entered Nablus homes without warning and killed all three men in cold blood  though none resisted arrest or opened fire.

A year earlier, almost to the day, Israel launched its crushing 22-day offensive that killed 1,500 Palestinians, more than half of them civilians including 252 children. In turn, 9 Israelis were killed by Palestinian fire.

We remember those horrific three weeks not only because of Saturdays deaths but because Palestinian civilians in Gaza continue to suffer grievously. Israeli attacks did huge physical damage in Gaza to homes, businesses and the rest of the infrastructure. Israel has kept up its blockade, allowing in only the barest essentials. Enough food comes in to make sure people dont starve. It has been impossible to repair war damage because Israel has let in only 41 truckloads of construction materials since January 2009.

The hardest hit in Gaza, then and now, has been the children. Save the Children warns that these little innocents are suffering from psychosocial disorders as their experiences of violence and loss during the conflict are compounded by the hardships of life under the blockade.

One year later, we are once again reminded of Israels twofold task: To be the occupier and the aggressor. This is doubly brutal for Palestinians, who must remain the victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Egyptian aid groups operating in Gaza accuse world powers of abandoning Gaza, of simply wringing their hands about what is happening. The same might hold true of Barack Obama. Obama was president-elect at the time of the massacre, but in retrospect, he would not have been able to stop Israel had he been president officially. Obamas election raised some hopes of peace and American even-handedness. However, as elegant and inspiring as he is, he has not been able to face down Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Ehud Olmert launched the offensive but his successor could well do it all over again. Netanyahu has not mitigated his position that any Palestinian state would have to be without Jerusalem and effectively controlled by Israel. Likewise, he says no to the repatriation of the refugees and a return to the 1967 borders.

In between Obamas weakness and Netanyahus adamancy stands Palestine President Abbas, befuddled and bewildered, unable to extract much of substance from either.

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## Shades

*Sheikh Jarrah Jerusalemites Drive Extremist Jews out of Al-Sabbagh Home*
Date : 26/12/2009   Time : 14:31

JERUSALEM, December 26, 2009 (WAFA)- Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem succeeded, this morning, to break the siege on the neighborhood, and force a group of extremist Jews out of Al-Sabbagh family house.

The extremist group had forcefully taken over the house and injured the citizen Abed Al-Sabbagh in the head. They also attacked his pregnant wife and injured her in the stomach, in addition to another old woman injured in the soldier.

Israeli police and soldiers were present in the location to protect the extremist group, and prevent Sheikh Jarrah people from rising to help their fellow Jerusalemites Al-Sabbagh family.

Jerusalemites were, eventually, able to break the siege on the neighborhood and resisted the extremist group and drove them out of the house.

Several casualties have fallen in these confrontation, including a number of women, in addition to the injury of Dalal, Tamer and Um Muhammad Al-Sabbagh.

Eyewitnesses said that other extremist Jewish group continued vandalizing in the neighborhood close to Al-Sabbagh house, as Al-Ghawi, Hanoun and Al-Kurd homes were taken over and turned into extremist settlement outposts.

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## Shades

*Bloody year:1061 martyrs, 4000 homes demolished, 155 acres razed
*
2009-12-28 14:04:00

Ramallah-Pal Press-A report issued by the PLO international relations department described the  year 2009 as a bloody year due to the acts and practices of the Israeli Occupation Forces against the Palestinian citizens during the war on Gaza.

The report mentioned the various violations committed by the Israeli army against the Palestinian people within 2009 and focused on the Israels attempts of  the Judaization of Jerusalem from different aspects.

The reported pointed to the ongoing and repeated plans of the Judaization of Jerusalem launched by the extremist settlers which resulted in the demolition of 90 Palestinian homes and the displacement of their residents, 18 of which their owners were forced t demolish in their own hands.

The report said:The settlers have occupied dozens of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem by  official support of the Israeli government under gun point.

It remarked that demolition orders threaten 11 thousand Paletinian homes in occupied Jerusalem , pointing out that the Israeli authorities are proceeding with these order in a slow way in order to avoid arousing the public opinion.

The Israeli Occupation forces plan to construct 11,000 hosing units in the surroundings of Jerusalem, the report said.

It pointed to the completion of the first stage of the infrastructure of the settlement project 'E1', and the preparations for the construction of 3500 housing units to ensure continuity between Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim, settlement adding  that  the occupation authorities agreed to build 900 new settlement units in the settlement of Gilo in Jerusalem.

The department said that the construction of a light Railway within the neighborhoods of Easter Jerusalem aimed to serve100 thousand settlers is  continuing meaning  confiscation of more  Palestinian land, while the Israeli government has approved the construction of another railway connecting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem,  the railway passes through Beit Soreek,  and confiscates about 50 acres from five Palestinian villages in the area.

The report revealed that the Israeli government facilitates entry of armed extremists to the  religious Muslim and Christian holy sites mainly Al-Aqsa Mosque,and the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron recalling that two extremist settlers attempted to storm the mosque  in 2009 during the dawn prayer planning  to commit  massacres against worshippers.

The occupation authorities continuously ban  many religious and political figures entry to Al-Aqsa Mosque for  different periods of time, whilst they intervene in the management of the mosque and  impose restrictions on the restoration works taking place there, the report said

 The report pointed out that the occupation Forces are  continuing excavations  and digging tunnels underneath Al-Aqsa Mosque which constitutes a real threat to the mosque and the surrounding area.

These excavations resulted in the collapse of a UN schools in the nearby area  when, as happened to the ground school females of UNRWA, which collapsed in the same area.

The report stated that the occupation Forces  prevented events and activities marking Jerusalem the capital of Arab Culture for the year 2009, and  pursued citizens who tried to participate  in any of these  activities.

Regarding confiscation of citizenships, the report revealed that the Israeli Occupation Forces withdrew about 4570 identity cards from Jerusalem residents, beside dozen thousands who remain under  threat.

The Israeli Occupation authorities specialized 600 million Shekels or the construction of a public park adjacent to Al Aqsa Mosque wall .

Extremist Jewish groups took over a  number of ancient stones, from the Islamic Umayyad  palaces adjacent to the southeastern wall of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and transferred it to the courtyard of the 'Knesset' , it said

The occupation Forces deducted 1800 square meters from the historic Islamic Mercy tomb  for the construction of a public park, 350 Islamic graves were demolished in Maman Allah tomb to be replace by the Forgiveness museum .

Regarding Gaza Strip, the report said that still 20,000 Palestinians are homeless, living in tents made of cloth, or near the rubbles of their homes which were destroyed by the Israeli Occupation Forces.

The committee revealed that the Israeli Occupation Forces used more than three million kilograms of ammunition y in the range of 2 kilograms per citizen , confirming that most of these ammunition such as (Diem and white phosphorus and depleted uranium) are international banned.

It pointed out that losses of the Palestinian economy as a result of the war were estimated at  four billion dollars, the occupation destroyed about 14%of the total buildings in Gaza,  pointing out that «the volume of the domestic solid wastes which  accumulated in the streets of the Gaza Strip during the war reached about 20 thousand tons, while the volume of rubble reached 1.5 million tons».

The war resulted in extra pollution and depletion to the underground water reservoir  and agriculture lands , as well as the air and the marine environment , the committee added.

It said that the number of Martyrs: reached 1455, of whom 82% were civilians, including 35%  women and children , 16% medics, while the number of  Injured reached 5303, 49% of whom were women and children, and 38% were medics.

The report marked that 100,000 persons were displaced from their homes during the war, 20,000 of whom still find no alternative shelter , 1700 families lost their breadwinner due to death or injury , 15 hospitals were exposed to real damage , 43 medical  centers were destroyed ,  while 24 medical centers were completely closed.

The occupation Forces confiscated about 156570 acres in 2009, 139 of which in the Dead Sea area, Rashayda, Ebeideya to be registered in favor of Maleh Adomim settlement, 12,000 others were confiscated eastern occupied Jerusalem and were included to the same settlement, said the report pointing out that 5500 other cres were confiscated in different parts of the Palestinian territories.

Settlers burned and uprooted 1400 fruitful trees and more than 2000 acres cultivated with winter crops in Nablus.

 The occupation forces planned to build 800 housing units, and the construction of a new settlement  called 'Snasina' on Palestinian land southern  Hebron.

It confirmed on the suffering of 7500 Palestinian and Arab prisoners within the Israeli jails, including 337 children, 36 women prisoners, 326 administrative detainees, 1400 patient prisoners, adding that 4294 citizens have been detained within 2009 of whom 10% are children, 2000 were detained on grounds of not having work permissions, dozens of whom were detained , several others were fined.

The occupation Forces pursed journalists whilst they were on duty, three were martyred, dozens were injured during the war on Gaza.

Several press and media associations were closed like: the headquarters of Bethlehem 2000 radio .

During the war on Gaza, about 4000 houses were demolished, 11, 000 were harmed due to air, marine and ground  strikes , hundreds died under the rubble , 100, 000 citizens were displaced from their homes taking shelter at schools, and hospitals .

Moreover, 29 educational institutions , 10 sports clubs , 5  press organizations , 50 mosques were demolished, while  3 churches, as well as 1500 shops were harmed.


2009-12-28 14:04:00

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## Shades

*IOF nab nine citizens in different parts of the West Bank*

2009-12-28 12:10:51

Ramallah-Pal Press-The Israeli Occupation Forces nabbed today in overnight raids  nine Palestinian citizens from different parts of the west Bank.

The detentions were focused in Qalandya refuges camp, and Bedw village north western Jerusalem, where three citizens were nabbed.

Six citizens were in Nabbed in Beit Awwa, and Soreef  south western and north western Hebron.

An activist in the Palestinian solidarity project Mohammed Awad said that the Israeli Occupation Forces nabbed each :Raed Ibrahim Atteya Abu Fara (23 years), Mohamed Wahid Abu Farra (24 years), Mohammed Ibrahim Hmeiday (20 years), after raiding their houses in Soreef town and led them to an unknown direction.

During the raids, citizens were held in the open air and homes were messed up by the occupation troops.

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## Shades

*Israel to raise it's response over Goldestone's report to UN*

2009-12-28 11:59:26

Jerusalem-Pal Press-Israels Foreign Ministry finalized over the past days its response on Goldestones report which accused Israel of committing war crimes against the Palestinian people during the war on Gaza .

The report will be raised to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon after  discussions between the Israeli political and security levels.

Since the very beginning, Israel did not show any cooperation with the United Nations over this report, however a huge  international concern by the report forced Israel to reconsider it and give it response on the mentioned accusations .

According to Rechet Bet Israeli website, "broadened discussions were held over the report during the past months between  the Israeli army, the Foreign Ministry and the National Security Council.

The discussions aimed at re studying the report and giving responses over the accusations which condemned Israel.

The web site added that the Israeli General Military Prosecutor met in New York with judiciary officials at the United Nations , and provided them with 120 investigations held by the army over the war on Gaza .

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## Shades

*Britain offers 50 million Pounds as donation to the Palestinian people*

2009-12-28 11:42:15

London-Pal Press-on the first anniversary of the Israeli war on Gaza Strip, Britain announced yesterday a donation to the Palestinian people worth 50 million Sterling Pounds.

The Independent newspaper affiliated website reported that a big portion of this donation is specialized to the Palestinian Authoritys budget , while seven million pounds will go for the reconstruction of  houses in Gaza which were destroyed during the war.

The British government said that part of this move comes as a step forward against extremism.

The paper added that the donation came 24 hours following the execution of six Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip by Israeli fire.

The independent described this crime as one of  Israels most bloody actions following the war on Gaza .

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## Shades

*IOF allow the transfer of Trucks loaded with aids, animal feed into Gaza*

2009-12-28 11:32:15

Gaza-Pal Press-Israel media sources announced today Monday  that 77 trucks loaded with assistances  will be let into Gaza via Kerem Abu Salem crossing in addition to 70 others loaded with wheat and animal feed via Al Mentar crossing.

The sources pointed out that Sihijaiiyah crossing was decided to remain closed.

Limited quantities of cooking gas and artificial Diesel needed for the operation of Gaza sole power plant will be transferred via Kertem Abu Salem crossing via Kerem Abu Salem terminal southern Gaza.

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## Shades

*Mossad fails to assassinate Osama Hamdan by planting explosives in his car*

2009-12-27 12:31:31

Beirut-Pal Press-Hebrew websites reported today that the  blast which occurred in  a car in Lebanons Southern Dahye  yesterday aimed to target the Deputy Chief of Hamas political bureau Osama Hamdan , confirming that Hamdan survived assassination when Hamas sources confirmed to Al Arabeya television channel that Hamdan was already out of Lebanon.

According to the Israeli website Central Issues, Arab media reported today morning the failure of the Israeli Mossad in assassinating Osama Hamdan , as  security members discovered the explosive device which was attached to Hamdans car, Hizbullah explosive experts were summoned to dismantle the bombs , however it exploded whilst they were working on it.

The blast resulted in the death of two Hizbullah members and the injury of other  Hamas operatives, the web site said

The website pointed out that the blast occurred central of  Hizbullah security square in southern Lebanon ,which houses offices for Hamas officials including Osama Hamdans office.

It is worth telling that Hamas Spokesman Ayman Taha announced today that the blast resulted in killing two Hamas operatives and not Hizbullah operatives as reported by the Hebrew website

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## Shades

*Israel announces new Jewish homes in Jerusalem area* 
28.12.09 - 22:33
JERUSALEM - Israel announced plans on Monday to build nearly 700 new homes for Jews in areas of the occupied West Bank it considers part of Jerusalem, a city it has excluded from a limited moratorium on settlement construction.

ImageA spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the plan, saying new building on territory occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East war was illegal.

Under the new blueprint, Israel's Housing Ministry invited contractors to bid for the construction of 198 housing units in Pisgat Zeev, 377 homes in Neve Yaakov and 117 dwellings in Har Homa, settlements near Jerusalem.

The United States has expressed dismay at previous Israeli building plans in and around the eastern part of Jerusalem, which Israel captured in 1967 and where Palestinians want to establish the capital of a future state.

Israel has declared all of Jerusalem its indivisible and eternal capital, a claim not recognized internationally. It describes Pisgat Zeev, Neve Yaakov and Har Homa as neighborhoods of Jerusalem.

"The Israeli government proves every day that it is not ready for peace," Abbas's spokesman, Nabil Abu Rdainah said, accusing Israel of exploiting what he called U.S. and international inability to halt settlement building.

The construction plan was announced as part of a wider government project to build several thousand new homes in Israel.

Under U.S. pressure, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in November a 10-month freeze of housing starts in West Bank settlements but said it would not include the municipal borders Israel has defined for Jerusalem.

Abbas has demanded Israel halt all settlement activity, saying he would not resume peace talks until it did so.

Last month, Israel aroused international criticism when it approved the building of 900 homes for Jews at Gilo, where 40,000 Israelis already live on land annexed to Jerusalem after the 1967 conflict.

About 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem among 2.7 million Palestinians. The World Court has said the settlements are illegal and Palestinians say the enclaves could deny them a viable state.

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## Shades

*Ban Ki-Moon: Gaza reconstruction not being addressed *  
28.12.09 - 22:23
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said more must be done to repair damage done in the Gaza Strip by Israeli military action one year ago.

ImageMr Ban said Gazans were being denied "basic human rights" and urged Israel to end its "unacceptable and counterproductive blockade".

He said Israeli well-being depended on conditions improving in the enclave.

Rallies are being held across Gaza to mark a year since the conflict, in which 1,400 Palestinians were killed.

In comments posted on the UN's website, Mr Ban said he was "deeply concerned that neither the issues that led to this conflict nor its worrying aftermath are being addressed".

He said that while levels of violence had been low in the past year, there was still no durable ceasefire after Operation Cast Lead and Gazans were "denied basic human rights".

"The quality and quantity of humanitarian supplies entering Gaza is insufficient, broader economic and reconstruction activity is paralysed," said Mr Ban.

'Hopelessness'

Under Israel's blockade of Gaza, only basic humanitarian supplies are allowed in, meaning Gazans have not been able to obtain materials to repair damaged homes, buildings and infrastructure.

The UN Relief and Works agency (UNRWA) in Gaza told the BBC that public health was suffering as a result of inadequate and unsanitary water supplies, and there had been a rise in infant mortality.

UNRWA spokesman Christopher Gunness said thousands of tonnes of sewage were being pumped into the sea every day, because material for rebuilding treatment plants and other facilities was so scarce.

An international humanitarian aid convoy of some 200 vehicles is hoping to mark the anniversary by delivering supplies to Gaza.

The convoy is currently in Jordan, awaiting permission to cross the Red Sea and proceed to Egypt.

Hamas, which controls Gaza, is holding 22 days of rallies to mark the anniversary.

Senior leader Ahmed Bahar said Gazans remained "steadfast" after the conflict

"The resistance, which defended its land with honour, was not broken," the AFP news agency quoted him as saying.

Mr Ban called on Israel to end its blockade, uphold international law and make it possible for economic activity and civilian reconstruction to take place. He also urged Hamas to respect the law and bring an end to violence, and for all Palestinians to "work for unity".

He said there was "a sense of hopelessness in Gaza today for 1.5 million Palestinians, half of whom are under 18" and that "a fundamentally different approach to Gaza is urgently required".

"Their fate and the well-being of Israelis are intimately connected."

The BBC's Katya Adler in Gaza City said the mood on the anniversary of Operation Cast Lead was relatively quiet, but uneasy.

Both Israel and Palestinians in Gaza believe 2010 is bound to bring further violence, our correspondent adds.

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## Shades

*Police hit hardest by Israeli missiles in Gaza assault  	* 
28.12.09 - 22:17
GAZA CITY // There is a framed picture on a shelf in the office of the spokesman of Gazas police force.
ImageIt is a blurred, low-resolution TV footage still. It shows the yard outside the window of the spokesmans office minutes after missiles struck the Arafat Police Headquarters in central Gaza City in the first salvo of Israels Gaza offensive, at around 11.30am on December 27. In the picture, the yard is littered with the bloodied and mangled uniformed bodies of several young men. At the back, one man, flat on his back, has his right hand raised, finger pointing straight up.

The footage was shown over and over again on local TV stations and the picture has become iconic among Gazans. But Mohammed Abu Laban has only a hazy memory of the moment when the missiles struck and does not remember raising his arm.

I thought everyone had dropped to the ground for cover. But no one answered my calls. Then I remember thinking my leg had gone, said Mr Abu Laban, 25, one recent evening at the Faisal Equestrian Club, south of Gaza City.

Mr Abu Laban, a father of three young children, lost a few toes but kept both legs. His right leg, however, is paralysed below the knee, and in the left theres only a numb feeling. He gives the impression that it would all be bearable if only he could still ride horses, a lifelong passion.

It was his passion for horses that saw him employed with the police as a riding instructor. He said he had never considered joining the police  I like to work with animals  but in Gazas dire economic situation, where unemployment hovers above 40 per cent and the private sector has been ravaged by an Israeli-imposed blockade, his options were severely restricted.

No one expected the strike that day, he said. In fact, even though a shaky six-month truce between Israel and Hamas had ended nine days earlier, the initial aerial onslaught had caught most of Gaza by surprise. Hamas and police officials say they received indications from Cairo, where Tzipi Livni, the then Israeli foreign minister, had just concluded a visit, that a tense situation would remain calm. After a week in which police had been on high alert and many stations were evacuated, that Saturday saw them return to work as normal.

Then, half an hour before noon and almost simultaneously, 88 Israeli aircraft struck 100 locations around Gaza, including Hamas training bases, weapon depots, the presidential compound and security force headquarters. The Israel Air Force claimed a 95 per cent accuracy rate.

Twenty-four police stations were targeted on that first day. Over the three-week offensive, a total of 34 police stations were destroyed and nearly 250 policemen killed. Indeed, the police constitute the single most afflicted group in the war, with around one in six fatalities from among its ranks.

There is no dispute over the numbers  Israel puts the number of policemen killed at 240, Palestinian officials and NGOs say it was 248  or whether the intention was to deliberately strike the police. But under international law, police forces are considered part of the civilian population and therefore not a legitimate target in conflict. Israel, however, claims that the overwhelming majority of Gazas police were members of the Izzedin al-Qassam Brigades, Hamass military wing, and therefore could not be classified as non-combatants.

This is fiercely rejected in Gaza by officials as well as the families of the dead and injured. Major Ayman Butnigi, the police spokesman, said that while it is true that a majority of the police were, and are, Hamas supporters, this made them neither members of the Qassam Brigades nor legitimate targets.

He conceded that some police officers had been drawn from militant ranks, but put the percentage at less than a third and said they had been non-active.

For his part, Mr Abu Laban said he had never been political nor had the majority of the 50 who were killed around him in that one strike. One of those, Mohammad al Burei, died of his wounds in a hospital in Egypt 27 days later, with his father, Mahmoud, by his side. Mr al Burei said his son wouldnt know Fatah from Hamas and like Mr Abu Laban, had only taken a job with the police because there was no other work.

How can the police be a legitimate target? asked Mr al Burei, 64. They direct traffic, resolve family disputes. This was a war against innocent people.

The UNs Goldstone commission concluded that Israel, by deliberately attacking police stations, had failed to respect the principle of proportionality and was therefore in violation of customary international law. Israel had also violated the right to life of those policemen killed who were not members of militant groups. Moreover, the policemen killed in that first surprise attack could not have taken part in any hostilities and thus did not lose their civilian immunity.


Israel has rejected the findings of the Goldstone commission, whose report is looking increasingly moribund. This comes as little surprise in Gaza where we all know Israel has no respect for law or ethics, according to Major Butnigi.

I hope, said Mr Abu Laban, that one day, Israelis will know how it is to live like us.



source: Omar Karmi / The National

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## Shades

*If Palestine is denied by a wall: By Luisa Morgantini  	* 
16.12.09 - 20:12
A STORY OF LAND EXPROPRIATION


On November 9th 2009, the world celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Deplored by millions, the wall became a symbol of violence and separation that over time found its cement bricks decorated in images of freedom and resistance.

Whilst we rejoiced one walls ruin a shameful silence prevailed regarding a wall that stands today, dividing Palestine. 9 metres high this apartheid Wall violates international law and yet Israel continues its construction undeterred by appeals, resolutions and the advisory opinions of the UN Assembly.

On the same day that we celebrated the anniversary of Berlin, Palestinian, Israeli and International activists risked their lives to breach the Wall in Qalandyia and Nilin - an act of heroic resistance that received almost no media coverage.


The construction of what successive Israeli governments have dubbed a defensive barrier has a long story. For decades Israeli colonialism has sought to solve the question of how to reduce the native presence so that their populace can never threaten the jewishness of the State of Israel.

In 1948 this resulted in the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who remain refugees to this day and the destruction of 400 Palestinian villages. In 1967 a preventive territorial conquest war found the same operation did not succeed. An additional 300,000 Palestinians became refuges but many people refused to flee choosing to remain with their land.

The defensive barrier first began life in 1994 when Yitzahak Rabin approved the construction of a wall in Gaza that soon surrounded the entire Strip. The following year he assigned the Ministry of Public Security, Moshe Shahal, with assessing the possibilities for a similar construction to separate Israel from the West Bank. The project was abandoned until 2000 when following Sharons provocation on Temple Mountain the second Intifada broke out.

Labour Minister Ehud Barak then approved the creation of a wall in Latroun to control Palestinian vehicles crossing and from 2001 onwards the defensive barrier has continued unabated, annexing vast amounts of Palestinian land. Consequentially Israel now controls the movement of Palestinians throughout the territories, preventing those living in the West Bank and Gaza from entering Jerusalem; initiating policies of restrictions among Areas A, B and C in accordance with the Oslo Agreements and building roads on occupied territories with the purpose of connecting Israeli settlements, which have progressively expanded. All these policies have expropriated land from Palestinians with no compensation.

Initially Israel justified the separation barrier as a security measure to protect its civilian population from would be suicide bombers. It is a sacred right for any country to defend its people and the project was supported by an international media campaign led by three popular Israeli writers from the peace camp, David Grossman, Amos Oz and Abraham Yehoshua. Many politicians from the enlightened camp were also in favour believing the wall could help facilitate the creation of a Palestinian State by clearly defining its borders. The question is which borders?

Certainly not those of the 1967 occupied territories, including East Jerusalem, recognized under international law. The Walls path has continually cut inside West Bank territory destroying and annexing mass of cultivated land, olive trees and orchards.

Only 20% of the wall adheres to 67 borders. The remainder moves up to 28 km inside the occupied territory unifying West Bank Jewish settlements with Israel and breaking up Palestine into isolated pockets, bantustans that prevent the territorial continuity necessary for the existence of a viable State.


The Wall is structurally diverse. Around villages and cities its between 6 and 9m high whilst in rural areas its transitions into an 80m wide barrier, with 2.5m deep trenches, electric fences, military patrols roads, barbed wired, video surveillance systems and sand paths for tracing footprints.

According to OCHA (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the oPt) the barrier has 78 gates designed to give farmers access to their land. Of these gates only 38 are opened daily and then for just a few hours. To gain access Palestinians have to apply for permits but land owners whove been in prison, or have a family member there, are deemed dangerous and will never obtain permits despite being the legal owners of the land.


In the areas surrounding Abu Dis, Al Rahm and Qalandyia, the wall literally cuts communities in half. For example the Boullata family now find themselves completely divided by the Wall with the mother and father living on one side, their relatives on the opposite and Anthony whose house lies on one side, his shop on the other: he must give up one of the two. These stories are echoed through hundreds of Palestinian families across the region.


OCHA reports claim that 128,000 Palestinians are surrounded by the Wall on three sides and by Israeli military infrastructure on the fourth. 69 settlements with a population of 180,000 have annexed 76% of West Bank territory with an additional 200,000 settlers in East Jerusalem. 60,500 Palestinians residents of 42 villages will be isolated between the Wall and the border.  

According to the Economic Commission of the Israeli Parliament the cost of the wall is estimated at 3.5 billion dollars with each km costing 4 million Euros. In rural areas each km requires 45,000 cubic meters of excavation, 5,000 square meters of asphalt, 1,000 cement beams, 300 poles, 2,500 square meters of metallic fence and 12 km of barbed wire.

On July 9, 2004, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said The construction of the wall being built by Israel, the occupying Power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, and its associated regime, are contrary to international law.
Israel is under an obligation to cease forthwith the works of construction of the wall () to dismantle forthwith the structure therein situated () to make reparation for all damage caused by the construction of the wall.


Israel has consistently disregarded international outcries from both the ICJ and UN as to the illegality of its policies, and the world has not moved to call Israel to account. This indifference has allowed the Wall to reach 60% completion; it will be 730km long when finished and who knows what of the West Bank will remain?

The construction of the Wall has allowed Israel to expand its own territory whilst simultaneously undermining the future viability of a Palestinian State. Theyve provided economic and social incentives to encourage families to move into West Bank settlements with the state bill ever increasing beyond construction costs to include tax breaks and reductions, mortgages, social assistance facilities and the huge military infrastructure required for settlement protection. In Hebron where 400 settlers moved to live, 1,500 Israeli soldiers have been deployed to ensure their security.

Since Annapolis a settlement freeze has been considered a fundamental precondition for any negotiations between Israel and Palestine, but despite all the declarations, settlements continue to expand. According to Peace Now illegal settlements in West Bank now number 120. It reports that 15,000 Israelis have moved into West Bank colonies since 2008 bringing the total settler population there to 250,000.

Over 200,000 live in East Jerusalem, which Israel considers to be part of its indivisible capital despite international law protestations to the contrary. The Israeli government is now leading a policy of ethnical cleansing through house demolitions and the evictions of Palestinian families from Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan and Al Bustan neighborhoods replacing them with radical Jewish settlers.

Since 1967, 17 settlements have been built and 35% of East Jerusalem expropriated for settlements. Between 1967 and 2006, 8,500 Palestinian houses have been demolished: in 2009 OCHA has recorded the demolition of 19 Palestinian owned - structures in East Jerusalem, including 11 residential units.

In the last few years a new practice of non violence resistance against the walls construction has developed in the occupied territories. In 2005 in Bilin (bilin-village.org | Bil'in, Palestine), where the Wall has confiscated 60% of agricultural lands, a popular committee was formed that has organised a weekly demonstration ever since bringing together Israelis and Internationals to protest settlement expansion and help local people claim access to their own, now annexed, lands.


This resistance helped secure a ruling from the Israeli High Court of Justice against the proposed route of the Wall in Bilin, calling upon Israel to build on an alternative path. The sentence has not been respected and settlements such as Modiin Illit and Matityahu grow unrestricted.


The example of non violence opposition set in Bilin has inspired replicate activity in villages such as in Nilin, Al Masara, At-tuwani and in the Jordan Valley. The Palestinian Authority and PM Salam Fayyad is working to encourage this movement by visiting villages and including a monthly expenditure in the governmental budget to cover the legal expenses of the popular committees. At the international level, a network supporting the Palestinian non violent struggle has been also created.

The Israeli Government seeks to weaken this movement of dissent by carrying out night incursions in the villages and arresting young and adult activists. Every Friday at the weekly demonstrations the Israeli Army fires tear gas canisters and bullets on demonstrators. Despite these aggressive policies of intimidation the non violent resistance continues, adopting ever more creative methods such as the symbolic breach of the Wall this November 9th.


Enough is enough. Five years following the ICJs Advisory Opinion and 20 years since the Berlin Walls fall, it is time for the International Community to adopt concrete measures such as a weapons embargo and divestments from all companies who profit from Israeli military occupation to call Israel to account. It is time for the European Union to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement and not to proceed with the upgrade of EU  Israel relations.


Israeli authorities cannot be considered above international law in the name of security.
Respect for International law, the end of occupation, the lift of the siege on Gaza which represents a collective punishment to 1.5 millions civilians, the dismantlement of the Wall, the total freeze of settlements and freedom for political prisoners: all these options are the only way of guaranteeing Israels security and ensuring freedom, justice and independence to the Palestinian people.


The article was translated  into English by Barbara Antonelli and Susanna Bennett.  This in an integral version of an article published on November 28th on the Italian daily newspaper Liberazione. The original version of the article was in Italian.

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## Shades

*Fears remain after Gaza war
*
One year after the start of Israel's war on Gaza, Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros revisits a family she met during the assault.

Rima Abid, the mother, says that even though the bombings have stopped, reminders of the war are still present in the family's daily life.

Her children are afraid to sleep alone, fearing there might be another attack.

Together with other mothers, Rima has started a group for kids with side effects from the war.
 Source: 	Al Jazeera

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## Shades

*'Israel resembles a failed state'*
 By Ali Abunimah

More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed in Operation Cast Lead, but author says the war damaged Israel's standing in international public opinion [EPA]

One year has passed since the savage Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip, but for the people there time might as well have stood still.

Since Palestinians in Gaza buried their loved ones - more than 1,400 people, almost 400 of them children - there has been little healing and virtually no reconstruction.

According to international aid agencies, only 41 trucks of building supplies have been allowed into Gaza during the year.

Promises of billions made at a donors' conference in Egypt last March attended by luminaries of the so-called "international community" and the Middle East peace process industry are unfulfilled, and the Israeli siege, supported by the US, the European Union, Arab states, and tacitly by the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah, continues.

Policy of destruction

Amid the endless, horrifying statistics a few stand out: Of Gaza's 640 schools, 18 were completely destroyed and 280 damaged in Israeli attacks. Two-hundred-and-fifty students and 15 teachers were killed.

Of 122 health facilities assessed by the World Health Organization, 48 per cent were damaged or destroyed.

in depth

Ninety per cent of households in Gaza still experience power cuts for 4 to 8 hours per day due to Israeli attacks on the power grid and degradation caused by the blockade.

Forty-six per cent of Gaza's once productive agricultural land is out of use due to Israeli damage to farms and Israeli-declared free fire zones. Gaza's exports of more than 130,000 tonnes per year of tomatoes, flowers, strawberries and other fruit have fallen to zero.

That "much of Gaza still lies in ruins," a coalition of international aid agencies stated recently, "is not an accident; it is a matter of policy".

This policy has been clear all along and it has nothing to do with Israeli "security".

Destroying resistance

From June 19, 2008, to November 4, 2008, calm prevailed between Israel and Gaza, as Hamas adhered strictly - as even Israel has acknowledged - to a negotiated ceasefire.

That ceasefire collapsed when Israel launched a surprise attack on Gaza killing six people, after which Hamas and other resistance factions retaliated.

Even so, Palestinian factions were still willing to renew the ceasefire, but it was Israel that refused, choosing instead to launch a premeditated, systematic attack on the foundations of civilised life in the Gaza Strip.

Author says the war aimed to erode support for Hamas but failed to do so [GALLO/GETTY] 
Operation Cast Lead, as Israel dubbed it, was an attempt to destroy once and for all Palestinian resistance in general, and Hamas in particular, which had won the 2006 election and survived the blockade and numerous US-sponsored attempts to undermine and overthrow it in cooperation with US-backed Palestinian militias.

Like the murderous sanctions on Iraq throughout the 1990s, the blockade of Gaza was calculated to deprive civilians of basic necessities, rights and dignity in the hope that their suffering might force their leadership to surrender or collapse.

In many respects things may seem more dire than a year ago.

Barack Obama, the US president, whom many hoped would change the vicious anti-Palestinian policies of his predecessor, George Bush, has instead entrenched them as even the pretense of a serious peace effort has vanished.

According to media reports, the US Army Corps of Engineers is assisting Egypt in building an underground wall on its border with Gaza to block the tunnels which act as a lifeline for the besieged territory (resources and efforts that ought to go into rebuilding still hurricane-devastated New Orleans), and American weapons continue to flow to West Bank militias engaged in a US- and Israeli-sponsored civil war against Hamas and anyone else who might resist Israeli occupation and colonisation.

Shifting public opinion

These facts are inescapable and bleak.

However, to focus on them alone would be to miss a much more dynamic situation that suggests Israel's power and impunity are not as invulnerable as they appear from this snapshot.

A year after Israel's attack and after more than two-and-a-half years of blockade, the Palestinian people in Gaza have not surrendered. Instead they have offered the world lessons in steadfastness and dignity, even at an appalling, unimaginable cost.

It is true that the European Union leaders who came to occupied Jerusalem last January to publicly embrace Ehud Olmert, the then Israeli prime minister, - while white phosphorus seared the flesh of Gazan children and bodies lay under the rubble - still cower before their respective Israel lobbies, as do American and Canadian politicians.
But the shift in public opinion is palpable as Israel's own actions transform it into a pariah whose driving forces are not the liberal democratic values with which it claims to identify, but ultra-nationalism, racism, religious fanaticism, settler-colonialism and a Jewish supremacist order maintained by frequent massacres.

The universalist cause of justice and liberation for Palestinians is gaining adherents and momentum especially among the young. I witnessed it, for example, among Malaysian students I met at a Palestine solidarity conference held by the Union of NGOs of The Islamic World in Istanbul last May, and again in November as hundreds of student organisers from across the US and Canada converged to plan their participation in the global Palestinian-led campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions modeled on the successful struggle against South African apartheid in the 1980s.

'Bankrupt' state

This week, thousands of people from dozens of countries are attempting to reach Gaza to break the siege and march alongside Palestinians who have been organising inside the territory.

Each of the individuals traveling with the Gaza Freedom March, Viva Palestina, or other delegations represents perhaps hundreds of others who could not make the journey in person, and who are marking the event with demonstrations and commemorations, visits to their elected officials, and media campaigns.

Against this flowering of activism, Zionism is struggling to rejuvenate its dwindling base of support. Multi-million dollar programmes aimed at recruiting and Zionising young American Jews are struggling to compete against organisations like the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, which run not on money but principled commitment to human equality.

Increasingly, we see that Israel's hasbara (propaganda) efforts have no positive message, offer no plausible case for maintaining a status quo of unspeakable repression and violence, and rely instead on racist demonisation and dehumanisation of Arabs and Muslims to justify Israel's actions and even its very existence.

Faced with growing global recognition and support for the courageous non-violent struggle against continued land theft in the West Bank, Israel is escalating its violence and kidnapping of leaders of the movement in Bil'in and other villages (Muhammad Othman, Jamal Juma and Abdallah Abu Rahmeh are among the leaders of this movement recently arrested).

In acting this way, Israel increasingly resembles a bankrupt failed state, not a regime confident about its legitimacy and longevity.

And despite the failed peace process industry's efforts to ridicule, suppress and marginalise it, there is a growing debate among Palestinians and even among Israelis about a shared future in Palestine/Israel based on equality and decolonisation, rather than ethno-national segregation and forced repartition.

Last, but certainly not least, in the shadow of the Goldstone report, Israeli leaders travel around the world fearing arrest for their crimes.

For now, they can rely on the impunity that high-level international complicity and their inertial power and influence still afford them. But the question for the real international community - made up of people and movements - is whether we want to continue to see the still very incomplete system of international law and justice painstakingly built since the horrors of the Second World War and the Nazi holocaust dismantled and corrupted all for the sake of one rogue state.

What we have done in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza and the rest of Palestine is not yet enough. But our movement is growing, it cannot be stopped, and we will reach our destination.

Ali Abunimah is co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and author of One Country, A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse. He will be among more than 1,300 people from 42 countries traveling to Gaza with the Gaza Freedom March this week.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

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## Shades

Politics hamper Gaza reconstruction
 By Basel Almisshal

Gazan families are living in tents near the rubble of their destroyed homes 

When Israel's Operation Cast Lead in Gaza ended in January 2009, Palestinians emerged to find that much of their infrastructure, including homes, schools, ministries, water and sanitation networks, energy and telecommunications grids,  roads, bridges, and hospitals, had been reduced to rubble.

An estimated 4,100 homes were completely destroyed and over 20,000 shelters were damaged.

According to UNRWA, the UN relief agency, more than 1,000 Palestinian families are still living in temporary tents.

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics estimates the value of damage immediately after the war to be $1.1bn.

The Palestinian Ministry of Planning says that $502mn is needed for immediate and essential infrastructure repairs, while the cost of removing the rubble and damaged buildings will cost upward of $600mn.

At the Sharm El Sheikh conference on reconstruction in March, international donors pledged almost $4.5bn in aid, chiefly to rebuild Gaza.

The control over these funds immediately sparked disputes between Hamas and Fatah, the two rival political parties in Gaza and the West bank respectively, over control of the reconstruction process.

The disputes have delayed delivery of the funds which are also subject to Israeli scrutiny and taxation. Although the amount of money already pledged to rebuilding Gaza is fairly generous, it may decrease due to a lack of follow-up pressure and a redirection of donor interests and attention.

Fatah-Hamas divide

Gazans have used tunnels to smuggle basic items from Egypt [GALLO/GETTY]

In the wake of Hamas' election win in 2006, both Israel and Egypt, who favour a Fatah administration, closed their borders. This led to a substantial loss in the flow of international assistance and aid, further deteriorating the living conditions in Gaza.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has always sought control of all financial aid to Gaza in a bid to pressure Hamas to make political concessions demanded by Israel and the US.

Although Hamas maintained its hold on Gaza without compromising its political position, civil services weakened and unemployment and poverty soared.

The prospects for political unity remain far-fetched at the moment and Palestinians have little confidence in their leaders whom they accuse of putting party politics ahead of the urgent need to rehabilitate Gaza.

International organisations willing to assist in the reconstruction process have also felt discouraged from contributing funds and manpower.

International NGOs currently in Gaza have been able to do little more than supervise rubble collection projects from damaged buildings and salvage material that can be reused.  

Heavy machinery needed

This has particularly dampened the spirits of Gazan families still living in temporary shelters facing the cold Mediterranean winter and continuous malnutrition and poverty.

Almost 80 per cent of Gaza families now depend on aid provided by UNRWA and international NGOs.

But the necessity for reconstruction in Gaza did not begin in the wake of Operation Cast Lead - it goes back further to Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005.

Israel destroyed its settlements that were built on 60 per cent of the Gaza Strip and left behind tremendous amounts of rubble that derailed Palestinian plans to develop these areas.

Despite the withdrawal, Israel continued small-scale incursions on Palestinian towns and refugee camps, destroying Gaza's infrastructure piecemeal.

Since 2007, Israel has restricted freedom of movement for people, goods and finances, and prohibited any building material, such as concrete, timber, glass and steel from entering Gaza.

Gaza right now is in urgent need of heavy building machinery such as cranes, forklifts, bulldozers and tractors.

Spare parts and even fuel for the limited and damaged machines that are available in the Strip are also prohibited from reaching the area.

The very limited petrol and diesel available on the market is transferred through an elaborate system of tunnels connecting the Strip to Egypt's Rafah, or supplied in minimal amounts by Israel. 

This has led to an almost complete halt of construction activities and a severe economic recession.

Solutions in mud

Reconstruction material is prohibited from entering Gaza, so mud bricks are used instead

In early December, UNRWA completed the construction of a number of mud brick homes as part of a project designed to use available natural resources to build 100 houses.

A few local initiatives are also examining similar building methods on a smaller scale.

In addition to these efforts, some cash compensation has been offered to owners of destroyed houses to assist in their living expenses over the past year.

These funds have been used to replace broken windows with scarce and expensive plastic sheeting smuggled through the tunnels.

Despite the hurdles, Gazans insist that they can quickly rebuild once the barriers and curbs are lifted.

Over 45 per cent of Palestinian workers from the Gaza Strip were employed builders and construction workers in Israel. A large number of civil and architectural engineers are unemployed and waiting for the opportunity to begin work.

The Palestinian private sector, as well as academic institutions in Gaza, are well-equipped with the expertise and knowledge to implement reconstruction projects with international partners.  

A number of significant workshops, conferences and labour committees have been organised over the past year in co-operation with expert bodies in neighbouring Arab countries, particularly Jordan and Egypt.

Building material barred

Many Gazans are skilled labourers, architects and engineers [AFP]

Unfortunately, while building mud houses in the highly-populated Gaza Strip may be a temporary quick fix, it is not a particularly workable solution and may even have negative environmental consequences.

With the limited resources available, mud brick homes are most efficient when built on one storey.

To house families, more horizontal surface area is required raising the prospect of encroaching on vital agricultural land, which forms the backbone of Gaza's economy.

What Gaza urgently needs is a comprehensive plan with long-term vision. Sustainable development is a key element in rebuilding Gaza and a reconstruction strategy should not only focus on providing basic shelters but also create economic opportunities and improve the living conditions of the Palestinian people. 

Once access to material is unfettered and promised assistance funds are delivered, Gazans must not shun, but work closely with the strong coalition of international supporters who have rallied to the Palestinian cause in the past year.

It then becomes the moral responsibility of Fatah and Hamas to set aside their differences and quickly address the dire needs of the people of Gaza.

Basel Almisshal is an architect and expert in post-war reconstruction and development. He is currently a regional director for the International Agency for Economic Development. He has completed his PhD research in post-war recovery studies at the University of York, UK.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

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## Shades

*'Punish, humiliate, terrorise'*
 By Ben White


*Gaza's humanitarian crisis not a 'natural disaster' but a 'deliberate policy'*, author says

As the one year anniversary of Israel's attack on the Gaza Strip is marked, it is vital to re-examine Operation Cast Lead within the wider context of Israel's approach to both Gaza and the Palestinians.

There is a danger that the scale of the devastation and the international protests which followed the war can deflect attention from the broader Israeli policies of collective punishment and deliberately-engineered socio-economic collapse.

The first important part of this context for both before - and since - Israel's attack on the Gaza Strip is the crippling blockade.

The isolation of the Gaza Strip actually goes back to the early 1990s, when Israel first implemented the system of 'closure' and fenced off the territory. But Israel's current tight control of the Gaza Strip dates back to the aftermath of the Palestinian Legislative Council elections in January 2006, and then Hamas' armed defeat of Fatah in the summer of 2007.

Thus even before the widespread targeting of civilian infrastructure by the Israeli military a year ago, the Gaza Strip had been subjected to what the Goldstone report described as "a systematic policy of progressive isolation and deprivation".

'Economy dismantled'

Since 2007, aid as a proportion of all imports into the Gaza Strip has increased eightfold. Workforce unemployment stands at around 40 per cent, with only seven per cent of factories operational. The weekly average for truckloads of goods entering Gaza is a quarter of the quantity in the first half of 2007.

Months before Operation Cast Lead, an aid agency report described how the blockade "is destroying public service infrastructure in Gaza" and "has effectively dismantled the economy".

Little wonder then that the World Health Organisation's mission to Gaza reported in May this year that "since 2006, the health effects of the blockade have included stagnating life expectancy, worsening infant and child mortality, and childhood stunting".

Israel has also maintained a tight control over Gaza's air space and territorial waters, the population registry, and movement between Gaza and the West Bank.

Political strategy

The second crucial context for Operation Cast Lead is the overarching political strategy behind Israel's collective punishment of Palestinians in Gaza. For the humanitarian catastrophe documented in numerous reports by the UN and NGOs is not, of course, a 'natural disaster' but a deliberate, political policy.

War was intended to diminish civilian support for Hamas, White says [EPA]
One of Israel's main aims over the last few years has been to keep Hamas diplomatically and internationally isolated. Tzipi Livni, the then foreign minister, told a press conference a few days into Operation Cast Lead of how it was "important to keep Hamas from becoming a legitimate organisation" (a reason for Israel preferring not to extend a six-month truce).

Another key Israeli goal, evident in both the ongoing blockade as well as the brutal military assault of Operation Cast Lead, is to punish the civilian population in the hope of turning them against Hamas.

In early 2006, an advisor to Ehud Olmert, the then Israeli prime minister, said that "the idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet" in order to pressure the elected Hamas-majority government.

In September 2007, Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported on the Israeli military's plans "to limit services to the civilian population in Gaza" in order "to compromise the ability of Hamas to govern".

It was this logic that shaped Israel's military operations which, in the words of the UN's Goldstone report, were "directed by Israel at the people of Gaza as a whole, in furtherance of an overall policy aimed at punishing the Gaza population".

'De-developing' Gaza

That this was a "carefully planned" assault intended "to punish, humiliate and terrorise a civilian population" was clear at the time.

The Jerusalem Post reported Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, as saying that Israel's aim was to "to provide a strong blow to the people of Gaza so that they would lose their appetite for shooting at Israel".

As hundreds of Palestinians were being killed, The Washington Post related how the "hope" of Israeli officials was that "Gazans become disgusted with Hamas and drive the group from power".

An Israeli ex-national security adviser told The New York Times that "the terrible devastation" caused by going beyond just "military targets" would lead to "a lot of political pressure" on Hamas.

Targeting civilians to advance a political goal is a standard definition of terrorism: in the words of the US state department, "premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets". US federal law describes terrorism as violence or "life-threatening acts" apparently intended "to intimidate or coerce a civilian population".

A final part of Israel's political strategy for the Gaza Strip is to turn the territory into a depoliticised humanitarian crisis, its population rendered utterly dependent on international aid. This is the strategy of 'de-development' that has been going on for decades and which is now intensified and more brutal.

Zionism's contemporary dilemma

But the third and final context for recalling the events of a year ago means looking beyond just Gaza to take in Israel's policies toward the Palestinians as a whole.

Israel's regime of control over the Palestinians, both those in the Occupied Territories as well as those with citizenship in the pre-1967 borders, is a response to political Zionism's historic and contemporary dilemma: how to create and maintain a Jewish state in a land with a non-Jewish population.

In 1948 and 1967, Israel was able to carry out the mass expulsion of Palestinians. Since then, however, Israel's policies toward the Palestinians, aimed at maintaining the domination of one group over another, have been guided by two, parallel principles: maximum land with the minimum number of Arabs, and, the maximum number of Arabs on the minimum amount of land.

That is how the blockade of Gaza and Operation Cast Lead fit in with the eviction of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the consolidation of the settlement blocs in the West Bank, and Israeli state policy toward the Negev and Galilee.

Slowly, Palestinians are being forced out, whether through house demolitions, the removal of residency permits, or the creation of conditions which make the continuation of normal life impossible.

There is no 'solution' to Gaza outside of a just peace for Palestinians and Jewish Israelis that can only emerge when the Palestinian people's rights under international law are realised, and Israel's policies of dispossession, separation, and structural discrimination are seriously challenged.

Ben White is a freelance journalist and writer specialising in Palestine/Israel. His articles have appeared in publications like the Guardian's 'Comment is free', New Statesman, Electronic Intifada, Middle East International, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and others. His first book, Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner's Guide, was published earlier this year by Pluto Press.

Source: 	Al Jazeera

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## Shades

Locked in: Life in Gaza

Filmmakers: George Azar and Mariam Shahin

Munzer al-Dayyeh is a 40-year-old mechanic living in Gaza. In a land of ruin and disrepair, Munzer is kept busy fixing generators and repairing motorbikes.

In June 2007, Israel placed Gaza under siege and imposed an unprecedented blockade on nearly all movement and supplies in and out of the Gaza Strip.

Munzer is a traditional man from a conservative society where inter-marriage is common.

Munzer's daughter is visually impaired and seeking treatment for her is difficult
In Munzer's case, inter-breeding has brought hereditary problems  most of his children are either visually impaired or physically handicapped.

Munzer can not find any way to get his children out of Gaza to get medical treatment.

Petrol is increasingly expensive, motorbikes not cars are becoming popular. Electricity is sporadic and infrequent, generators are becoming popular. Munzer fixes both.

But while the effects of war and ongoing siege may be good for his business, it has frustrated his attempts to secure medical treatment for his disabled children.

His eldest daughter is blind and clings to the hope of travelling to London for specialist treatment. His eldest son is suffering from muscular disorder.

Besieged in Gaza, neither has the hope of medical treatment abroad.

This film offers an insight into an everyday man struggling to make a living and to find a solution for his family in the unique difficulties of the Gaza Strip.

Al Jazeera spoke to some Gazans about their daily lives, their hopes and dreams for the future, and how the siege affected them:

Doctor Mustafa Al-Hawi, 50, lecturer at al-Aqsa university 



Mustafa al-Hawi, holds a PhD in environmental management and he currently works as a lecturer at al-Aqsa university.

He lost a job opportunity in Spain due to the blockade.

"I feel very traumatised, pissed off and very sad for not being able to travel and to have the freedom to do whatever I like," he says.

Fadi Bakheet, 27, Hip hop group manager 



Fadi Bakheet is the manager of a hip hop group called "darasheen, the Arabian revolutionary guys."

His group missed out on an opportunity to represent Palestine in a festival in Copenhagen due to the siege.

"I don't think I would leave Gaza if things were better because this is my home, the worst thing about being here is being trapped and not be part of the world community," he says.


Iman Salem, 22, Medical student 




Iman Salem is a medical student at the faculty of medicine at al-Azhar university.

She lost her scholarship in Jordan university because she could not leave Gaza.

"In these circumstances that we live under now, I would leave Gaza to pursue my dream to become a doctor," she says.


Ahmed abu-Hamda, 39, TV producer




Ahmed abu-Hamda is a TV producer, he feels paralysed under the siege because he does not have the freedom to leave whenever he wants.

Due to the siege he has not been able to see his parents who live outside Gaza, and they have not seen their grand child.

"it is an awful feeling to be under the siege, you feel paralysed," he says.


Mohammed el-Sharif, 39, Executive director




Mohammed el-Sharif is the executive director of the society for deaf children.

He is a Palestinian-American, but he is unable to get his daughters their US citizenship because they can't get out to start the process.

"Living in Gaza means that you can not exercise your right, everything is out of reach," he says.



Locked in Gaza can be seen from December 25, 2009 at the following times GMT: Friday: 1430, 2030; Saturday: 0430, 1230, 1900; Sunday: 0130, 1630; and Monday: 0830.
 Source: 	Al Jazeera

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## Shades

Gaza Fixer 2
Filmmakers: George Azar and Mariam Shahin

Raed Atharmneh has been the right-hand man for journalists covering Gaza for many years, providing essential knowledge, contacts and logistical backup for a number of reporters.

In 2006 he became part of the news story himself, when 18 members of his family were killed by an Israeli bomb.

In Gaza Fixer 2, filmmakers George Azar and Mariam Shahin return to see how Raed and his family are surviving in the aftermath of the 2008/9 Gaza war.

Gaza Fixer 2 can be seen from Sunday, December 27, at the following times GMT: Sunday: 0830, 1900; Monday: 0330, 1400, 2330.
 Source: 	Al Jazeera

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## Shades

December 27: 96 widows, 245 orphans

On the first day of Israel's war on Gaza, 130 policemen were killed
For each day of Israel's war on Gaza, the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, reports on how one family is coping with the war's aftermath.

In its first report, Al Mezan talks to the family of a policeman killed on the first day of the war.

Israel launched Operation Cast Lead on December 27, 2008, with a surprise air attack which targeted dozens of civilian installations across the Gaza Strip; 24 civil police stations were among the targets.

In these first few minutes, 130 policemen were killed; leaving 96 women widowed and 245 children orphaned.

Fayiz Al Madhoun, 33, was killed in an attack on the Az-Zahra City police station.

A year after his death, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza interviewed his mother, Um Fayiz, and his widow, Ra'ida.

Joining the police force

"Fayiz joined the police in 2006," Ra'ida explains. "We'd been living with our in-laws before then, but when he got a job we were able to buy a piece of land so we could build our own house.

"Fayiz really liked organised things. He had heard that the police would be organised, and that it would be fair; that there wouldn't be favouritism and nepotism in the appointments.

"He was out on street patrols for two years, but then he was injured in one of the Israeli incursions. He was hit by shrapnel and lost his sight in one eye."

Um Fayiz continues: "He really wanted to stay in the police force. He didn't want to lose his job and they found him work in the kitchens. He could cook quite well. But he couldn't make rice at first, we had to help him. He got it in the end."

The day of the attacks

"That morning, when he left for work, he cut down some branches from a tree outside the front door," Ra'ida recalls.

"He said he was going to make a lattice for the plants to grow up on when he got back. He said we would do it together. That was the last thing he said to me. I hate that tree now. I feel like it's a bad omen."

Um Fayiz was the first to hear the news.

"Fayiz's brother Ismail heard about the attacks that morning and went to the hospital to give blood. He found Fayiz's body among the dead.

"He came to me straight away. I started screaming and shouting, 'What are you saying! What are you saying!' He was my first born and eldest child. I couldn't believe he'd been killed."

The children must cope

"I have four children. Riyad, who is 10, Mohammed, 8, Ahmed, 7, and Mai, 2," Ra'ida says.

"Mai was so young when he died. She didn't understand. She would tell people who came round that her daddy was visiting his mum. She kept telling people to bring her daddy back home.

"Fayiz used to take the children to visit his grandfathers' grave, so they could read the Quran to their great grandfather. They buried Fayiz in the same grave and I tried to explain to the children that their father is now there. The children didn't believe me. They kept saying, 'No, my great grandfather is here, not my father'. Only Riyad understood.

"All of the children have become a lot clingier now. They don't want to be alone. Ahmed keeps saying to me, 'Mum, if you die, what family will I have? Where will we go?'

"Riyad has changed the most though. He has become more grown up. Maybe he feels like he has to be responsible now as he is the eldest. He used to be afraid of the dark, but now he is much braver than before.

"Mohammed's school counsellor said he has become very alone. He's stopped playing with his friends. Ahmed has started fighting with his classmates. He used to fight before, but not as much as now. I worry about them so much."

Widowed in Gaza

Ra'ida is one of over 300 women widowed as a result of Israeli attacks during Operation Cast Lead.

On the first day of the war, 245 children
were orphaned
With women having even fewer employment opportunities than men in the impoverished Gaza Strip, these women, now the main breadwinners for their families, have been driven into even deeper poverty.

"Life without him is hard. I have had to take responsibility for everything; for all the finances; for finishing building the house. I didn't realise how expensive life is before he died. I've borrowed money from my father and I'm trying to finish the house myself. I used to hassle Fayiz to finish it; I didn't realise how expensive it is. I wished I'd understood before he died."

With the support of her mother-in-law Ra'ida has been able to stay in her marital home. In socially conservative Gaza, divorced and widowed women often come under pressure to move back to their parent's home.

"It's her home," Um Fayiz says. "She should stay here. I spend a lot of time here with her and the children; I usually stay over and I go to the shops with her because it's hard for her to go out by herself. People talk about widowed women here. They start rumours about why she is going out alone."

Prospects for justice

The government of Israel has illegally classified Gaza's policemen as combatants, claiming that they form part of the Hamas military infrastructure.

This claim is inconsistent with the requirements of international humanitarian law.

The UN fact-finding mission confirmed that the Gaza police is a civilian law-enforcement agency; its members are thus civilians, entitled to full protection under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

In deliberately targeting these civilians, Israel committed a war crime.

Ra'ida's experiences have left her with little hope.

She says: "Every time they invade Gaza they send human rights people to conduct investigations. They say that Israel has committed war crimes. But nothing happens. They just come back and do it again."
 Source: 	Al Jazeera

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## Shades

'Might not right for Israel'
 By As'ad AbuKhalil

Author says Israel's military might has only decreased its sway over public opinion 

Israel faces an unusual set of circumstances more than 60 years after it was founded on top of an existing nation.

It has amassed a huge arsenal of weapons of mass destruction and has built up an impressive military apparatus (largely through outside support, first from France and then from the US). It also has won against Arab regimes in successive wars.

Yet, Israel faces many political and even existential challenges. A state that was arrogantly declared to be a "light unto the nations," has become a symbol of aggression, war crimes, and ethnic and religious discrimination.

A state that sought US support to maintain military superiority vis-à-vis Arab regimes was humiliated on the battlefield in south Lebanon in 2006 by hundreds of armed youngsters.

A state that bragged for decades about the skills and superiority of its intelligence apparatus, botched an assassination attempt against Khaled Mishaal, the Hamas leader, and kidnapped a Lebanese farmer in 2006 because his name was Hasan Nasrallah (and it took Israeli 'experts' a few days to decide that this was the 'wrong' Hasan Nasrallah).

A state that signed peace treaties with several Arab regimes and which maintains secret relations with many others, remains hated by the Arab and Muslim public.

It seems that the stronger Israel gets, the more impotent it becomes in influencing its status in the region. 

Shifting public opinion

The Goldstone report has only added to Israel's problems.

Relations have cooled between Turkey and Israel [GALLO/GETTY]
Israel initially relied on the US to cover up for its war crimes and the US has always come forward either in the UN or in the US congress to save Israel from condemnation and disgrace.

The US has used its veto power in the UN Security Council largely for the sake of Israel.

Israel has assumed, especially since the Cold War, that it can always rely on its American ally to save it from international prosecution on war crimes charges, especially in the wake of the founding of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

But Israel is also aware that public opinion towards Israel has changed all over the world. Even the Turkish government (a key strategic ally for decades) had to distance itself, largely in response to public pressures.

Public opinion in European countries has shifted in favour of the Palestinians, even in countries - like Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark - where fanatic support for Israel has been a government policy for decades.

The annual votes on Israel at the UN General Assembly are quite indicative. Year after year, Israel finds itself in a small group that comprises the US, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia. The rest of the world is on the other side, although some European allies of the US usually abstain from voting for fear of US retributions.

Miscalculation

When Israel sought US help, the administration of Barack Obama, the US president, assumed the matter would be simple.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, can not turn down any request by the US, no matter how humiliating the offer. Thus, Abbas succumbed to US pressures and asked his ambassador in Geneva to agree to shelve a discussion on the Goldstone report in the UN's Human Rights Council.

The US (and the Abbas regime, ironically) miscalculated. They did not realise that there are limits to what even the constituency of Fatah would accept. But, it was too late to reverse course: The Israeli government had to choose between allowing the discussion to go ahead or undermining the credibility - or what is left of it - of the Oslo regime in Ramallah.

And Israel faces other dilemmas on this issue. It can insist that the report was biased, but this time it can not accuse its author of anti-Semitism. Neither can it accuse Goldstone of sympathising with Islam or Islamic fundamentalism. The judge, as his daughter informed Israeli media, is a Zionist who cares about Israel, but the evidence of war crimes was overwhelming.

The Israeli government can not resort to the propaganda clichés it has practiced over decades of disregard for international regulations and law.

The US could not save Israel this time because many countries saw firsthand the scenes of the brutal assault on Gaza and its civilian population.

New moral framework

Israel also knows that there is a new international moral framework emerging: a framework that produced the ICC, as weak as it still is.

The ability of Israel to launch wars and invasions without any regard for international law or basic morality will be more limited over time, even if US support for Israel remains constant.

The EU has advanced the cause of international intervention in the name of an international morality in cases where war crimes occur, especially if they occur in a pattern over a period of time.

It is possible that the savagery of the Israeli attacks on Lebanon in 2006 and Gaza in 2008, may be more difficult to replicate in the future, and that will only deepen the predicament of Israel - a state that has operated on the assumption that brute force alone can solve all of its problems.

Israel claims (just like the US) that no international body has the right to investigate, prosecute or judge its war conduct because it is a 'democracy'.

That line of defence sounds weak now, not only because the racism of the Israeli state (manifested at so many levels of government and official rhetoric) has become more exposed, but also because Israeli war conduct is indistinguishable from that of the most brutal regimes. Israel also does not have a history of credible internal investigations into the behavior of its armed forces.

From battlefields to courts

It is unlikely that the defeat of the Zionist project will happen in the way Arabs have hoped for decades. However, it is possible - especially if the US loses its international supremacy - that Israel may be forced to recognise fundamental Palestinian political aspirations, and even the right of return eventually, by order of the international community.

Israeli options, other than brutal invasions and bombings, are rather limited.

The irony of the Israeli state is that its influence has not grown with its military might and its military power has failed to make a dent in the popular rejection of Israel, as a matter of principle, in the region.

Clearly, Arabs - at the popular if not regime level - have not been made to accept Israeli diktats and the creation of 'facts on the ground'.

It is possible that the next phase of the Arab-Israeli conflict may shift from the battlefield to international organisations and courts. In such a scenario, Israeli military superiority is rather obsolete.

As'ad AbuKhalil is a professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus, and author of the Angry Arab blog.

Al Jazeera is not responsible for the content of external websites.
 Source: 	Al Jazeera

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## Shades

*Who will save Israel from itself?*
 By Mark LeVine

The Israeli government's justifications for the war are being scrutinised [GALLO/GETTY]

One by one the justifications given by Israel for its latest war in Gaza are unravelling.

The argument that this is a purely defensive war, launched only after Hamas broke a six-month ceasefire has been challenged, not just by observers in the know such as Jimmy Carter, the former US president who helped facilitate the truce, but by centre-right Israeli intelligence think tanks.

The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, whose December 31 report titled "Six Months of the Lull Arrangement Intelligence Report," confirmed that the June 19 truce was only "sporadically violated, and then not by Hamas but instead by ... "rogue terrorist organisations".

Instead, "the escalation and erosion of the lull arrangement" occurred after Israel killed six Hamas members on November 4 without provocation and then placed the entire Strip under an even more intensive siege the next day.

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According to a joint Tel Aviv University-European University study, this fits a larger pattern in which Israeli violence has been responsible for ending 79 per cent of all lulls in violence since the outbreak of the second intifada, compared with only 8 per cent for Hamas and other Palestinian factions.

Indeed, the Israeli foreign ministry seems to realise that this argument is losing credibility.

During a conference call with half a dozen pro-Israel professors on Thursday, Asaf Shariv, the Consul General of Israel in New York, focused more on the importance of destroying the intricate tunnel system connecting Gaza to the Sinai.

He claimed that such tunnels were "as big as the Holland and Lincoln tunnels," and offered as proof the "fact" that lions and monkeys had been smuggled through them to a zoo in Gaza. In reality, the lions were two small cubs that were drugged, thrown in sacks, and dragged through a tunnel on their way to a private zoo.

Israel's self-image

The claim that Hamas will never accept the existence of Israel has proved equally misinformed, as Hamas leaders explicitly announce their intention to do just that in the pages of the Los Angeles Times or to any international leader or journalist who will meet with them.

With each new family, 10, 20 and 30 strong, buried under the rubble of a building in Gaza, the claim that the Israeli forces have gone out of their way to diminish civilian casualties - long a centre-piece of Israel's image as an enlightened and moral democracy - is falling apart.

Anyone with an internet connection can Google "Gaza humanitarian catastrophe" and find the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Territories and read the thousands of pages of evidence documenting the reality of the current fighting, and the long term siege on Gaza that preceded it.

The Red Cross, normally scrupulous in its unwillingness to single out parties to a conflict for criticism, sharply criticised Israel for preventing medical personnel from reaching wounded Palestinians, some of whom remained trapped for days, slowly starving and dying in the Gazan rubble amidst their dead relatives.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has flatly denied Israeli claims that Palestinian fighters were using the UNRWA school compound bombed on January 6, in which 40 civilians were killed, to launch attacks, and has challenged Israel to prove otherwise.

War crimes admission

Additionally, numerous flippant remarks by senior Israeli politicians and generals, including Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister, refusing to make a distinction between civilian people and institutions and fighters - "Hamas doesn't ... and neither should we" is how Livni puts it - are rightly being seen as admissions of war crimes.

Indeed, in reviewing statements by Israeli military planners leading up to the invasion, it is clear that there was a well thought out decision to go after Gaza's civilian infrastructure - and with it, civilians.

The following quote from an interview with Major-General Gadi Eisenkot that appeared in the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth in October, is telling:

"We will wield disproportionate power against every village from which shots are fired on Israel, and cause immense damage and destruction. From our perspective these [the villages] are military bases," he said.

"This isn't a suggestion. This is a plan that has already been authorised."

Causing "immense damage and destruction" and considering entire villages "military bases" is absolutely prohibited under international law.

Eisenkot's description of this planning in light of what is now unfolding in Gaza is a clear admission of conspiracy and intent to commit war crimes, and when taken with the comments above, and numerous others, renders any argument by Israel that it has tried to protect civilians and is not engaging in disproportionate force unbelievable.

International laws violated

On the ground, the evidence mounts ever higher that Israel is systematically violating a host of international laws, including but not limited to Article 56 of the IV Hague Convention of 1907, the First Additional Protocol of the Geneva Convention, the Fourth Geneva Convention (more specifically known as the "Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949", the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the principles of Customary International Humanitarian Law.

None of this excuses or legitimises the firing of rockets or mortars by any Palestinian group at Israeli civilians and non-military targets.

As Richard Falk, the UN special rapporteur, declared in his most recent statement on Gaza: "It should be pointed out unambiguously that there is no legal (or moral) justification for firing rockets at civilian targets, and that such behavior is a violation of IHR, associated with the right to life, as well as constitutes a war crime."

By the same logic, however, Israel does not have the right to use such attacks as an excuse to launch an all-out assault on the entire population of Gaza.

In this context, even Israel's suffering from the constant barrage of rockets is hard to pay due attention to when the numbers of dead and wounded on each side are counted. Any sense of proportion is impossible to sustain with such a calculus.

'Rogue' state

Israeli commentators and scholars, self-described "loyal" Zionists who served proudly in the army in wars past, are now publicly describing their country, in the words of Oxford University professor Avi Shlaim, as a "rogue" and gangster" state led by "completely unscrupulous leaders".

Gazans inspect the damage after an air strike hit a mosque [GALLO/GETTY]
Neve Gordon, a politics professor at Ben Gurion University, has declared that Israel's actions in Gaza are like "raising animals for slaughter on a farm" and represent a "bizarre new moral element" in warfare.

"The moral voice of restraint has been left behind ... Everything is permitted" against Palestinians, writes a disgusted Haaretz columnist, Gideon Levy.

Fellow Haaretz columnist and daughter of Holocaust survivors, Amira Haas writes of her late parents disgust at how Israeli leaders justified Israel's wars with a "language laundromat" aimed at redefining reality and Israel's moral compass. "Lucky my parents aren't alive to see this," she exclaimed.

Around the world people are beginning to compare Israel's attack on Gaza, which after the 2005 withdrawal of Israeli forces and settlers was turned literally into the world's largest prison, to the Jewish uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto.

Extremist Muslims are using internet forums to collect names and addresses of prominent European Jews with the goal, it seems clear, of assassinating them in retaliation for Israel's actions in Gaza.

Al-Qaeda is attempting to exploit this crisis to gain a foothold in Gaza and Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon and Syria, as well as through attacking Jewish communities globally.

Iran's defiance of both Israel and its main sponsor, the US, is winning it increasing sympathy with each passing day.

Democratic values eroded

Inside Israel, the violence will continue to erode both democratic values in the Jewish community, and any acceptance of the Jewish state's legitimacy in the eyes of its Palestinian citizens.

And yet in the US - at least in Washington and in the offices of the mainstream Jewish organisations - the chorus of support for Israel's war on Gaza continues to sing in tight harmony with official Israeli policy, seemingly deaf to the fact that they have become so out of tune with the reality exploding around them.

At my university, UCI, where last summer Jewish and Muslim students organised a trip together through the occupied territories and Israel so they could see with their own eyes the realities there, old battle lines are being redrawn.

The Anteaters for Israel, the college pro-Israel group at the University of California, Irvine, sent out an urgent email to the community explaining that, "Over the past week, increasing amounts of evidence lead us to believe that Hamas is largely responsible for any alleged humanitarian crisis in Gaza".

I have no idea who the "us" is that is referred to in the appeal, although I am sure that the membership of that group is shrinking.

Indeed, one of the sad facts of this latest tragedy is that with each claim publicly refuted by facts on the ground, more and more Americans, including Jews, are refusing to trust the assertions of Israeli and American Jewish leaders.

Trap

Even worse, in the Arab/Muslim world, the horrific images pouring out of Gaza daily are allowing preachers and politicians to deploy well-worn yet still dangerous and inciteful stereotypes against Jews as they rally the masses against Israel - and through it - their own governments.

What is most frightening is that the most important of Israel's so-called friends, the US political establishment and the mainstream Jewish leadership, seem clueless to the devastating trap that Israel has led itself into - in good measure with their indulgence and even help.

It is one that threatens the country's existence far more than any Qassam rockets, with their 0.4 per cent kill rate; even more than the disastrous 2006 invasion of southern Lebanon, which by weakening Israel's deterrence capability in some measure made this war inevitable.

First, it is clear that Israel cannot destroy Hamas, it cannot stop the rockets unless it agrees to a truce that will go far to meeting the primary demand of Hamas - an end to the siege.

Merely by surviving (and it surely will survive) Hamas, like Hezbollah in 2006, will have won.

Support for the war remains high in Israel[GALLO/GETTY]
Israel is succeeding in doing little more than creating another generation of Palestinians with hearts filled with rage and a need for revenge.

Second, Israel's main patron, the US, along with the conservative Arab autocracies and monarchies that are its only allies left in the Muslim world, are losing whatever crumbs of legitimacy they still had with their young and angry populations.

The weaker the US and its axis becomes in the Middle East, the more precarious becomes Israel's long-term security. Indeed, any chance that the US could convince the Muslim world to pressure Iran to give up its quest for nuclear weapons has been buried in Gaza.

Third, as Israel brutalises Palestinians, it brutalises its own people. You cannot occupy another people and engage in violence against them at this scale without doing even greater damage to your soul.

The high incidence of violent crimes committed by veterans returning from combat duty in Iraq is but one example of how the violence of occupation and war eat away at people's moral centre.

While in the US only a small fraction of the population participates in war; in Israel, most able-bodied men end up participating.

The effects of the latest violence perpetrated against Palestinians upon the collective Israeli soul is incalculable; the notion that it can survive as an "ethnocracy" - favouring one ethnic group, Jews, yet by and large democratic - is becoming a fiction.

Violence-as-power

Who will save Israel from herself?

Israelis are clearly incapable. Their addiction as a society to the illusion of violence-as-power has reached the level of collective mental illness.

As Haaretz reporter Yossi Melman described it on January 10, "Israel has created an image of itself of a madman that has lost it".

Not Palestinians, too many of whom have fallen prey to the same condition.

Not the Middle East Quartet, the European Union, the United Nations, or the Arab League, all of whom are utterly powerless to influence Israeli policy.

Not the organised Jewish leadership in the US and Europe, who are even more blind to what is happening than most Israelis, who at least allow internal debate about the wisdom of their government's policies.

Not the growing progressive Jewish community, which will need years to achieve enough social and political power to challenge the status quo.

And not senior American politicians and policy-makers who are either unwilling to risk alienating American Jewish voters, or have been so brainwashed by the constant barrage of propaganda put out by the "Israel Lobby" that they are incapable of reaching an independent judgment about the conflict.

During the US presidential race, Barack Obama was ridiculed for being a messiah-like figure. The idea does not sound so funny now. It is hard to imagine anyone less saving Israel, the Palestinians, and the world from another four years of mindless violence.

Update: In a further challenge to the democratic process in Israel, on January 12, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the Central Elections Committee had voted overwhelmingly to bar Arab-led parties from participating in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Also, there are reports that the claim that extremist Muslims are using the internet to collect names and addresses of prominent British Jews in order to attack them, might in fact have been a hoax.

Mark LeVine is a professor of Middle East history at the University of California, Irvine, and is the author of Heavy Metal Islam: Rock, Resistance, and the Struggle for the Soul of Islam and the soon to be published An Impossible Peace: Israel/Palestine Since 1989.

The views expressed by the author are not necessarily those of Al Jazeera.
 Source: 	Al Jazeera

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## Shades

*Who will save the Palestinians?*
 By Mark LeVine

Historian asks if a new form of resistance will emerge from Gaza's ashes [GALLO/GETTY]

It was a hot September day in Gaza and I was sitting in the office of a Hamas-affiliated newspaper talking with a senior Hamas intellectual.

As the French news crew that had given me a ride from Jerusalem packed up their camera equipment, I took the opportunity to change the subject from the latest happenings in Gaza to a more fundamental question that had long bothered me.

"Off the record, lets put aside whether or not Palestinians have the moral or legal right to use violence against civilians to resist the occupation. The fact is, it doesn't work," I said.

Suicide bombings and other direct attacks on Israeli civilians, I argued, helped to keep the subject off the occupation and in so doing allowed Israel to build even more settlements while the media focused on the violence.

His response both surprised me with its honesty and troubled me with its implications.

"We know the violence doesn't work, but we don't know how to stop it," he said.

Out of ideas

More than two years into the al-Aqsa intifada, when the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority had demonstrated itself to be incapable either of effectively governing the small parts of the Occupied Territories under its control, or of resisting the ongoing occupation, Hamas was increasingly being seen as the most viable alternative force in Palestinian politics.

Yet on the most basic questions confronting the movement and Palestinian leaders more broadly - how to force Israel to stop expanding the occupation and negotiate a peace agreement that would bring real independence - Hamas's best minds had no clue what to do except continue with a strategy that many in the leadership understood was not working.

Hamas's lack of creativity should not have decisively shaped the broader context of Palestinian politics, as polls rarely showed its popularity exceeding 20 per cent.

However, by 2002, with negotiations nowhere in sight, whole regions of cities such as Nablus and Jenin destroyed, and Israel sewing chaos across the West Bank and in so doing destroying the basic foundations of PA rule, Hamas's power was rising quickly.

Aside from adding crudely made rockets to its arsenal the year before, Hamas was fresh out of ideas.

History of political failures

There were not many viable alternative strategies to violence Hamas or any other Palestinian movement could choose from in 2002, or in the century leading up to it.

Whether it was an Ottoman state turning a blind eye to early Jewish land purchases, landowners (often with few or no local ties) selling peasant-worked land to Zionists for a tidy sum, urban notables refusing to support democracy or better conditions for workers, or much of the Palestinian elite fleeing the country in the months before the British Mandate's end, in its crucial formative phase Palestinian society did not have a political and economic leadership that consistently put national considerations ahead of more narrow political, factional, economic or personal interests.

Britain, which conquered Palestine in 1917, was mandated to support Zionist national goals while merely "safeguarding" the civil and religious rights of Palestine's indigenous inhabitants.

Enabling the development of independent and strong Palestinian political institutions would have undercut the creation of a Jewish national home. And so, in good colonial fashion, Britain encouraged the more conservative and corrupt tendencies of Palestinian society, while systematically frustrating the emergence of a capable and democratically chosen nationalist leadership.

When the inevitable civil war in Palestine erupted in 1948, the social, political and economic weaknesses within Palestinian society (most of its leadership had been exiled by 1939), coupled with the opposition to the establishment of an independent Palestine by the very Arab neighbours supposedly invading to support it, enabled a seemingly improbable Zionist/Israeli victory.

There was little room for independent Palestinian political development after 1948, with Gaza and the West Bank under Egyptian and Jordanian rule, even after the creation of the PLO in 1964.

The first intifada

Israel managed to frustrate the emergence of a PLO base that would threaten its control of the Occupied Territories after their conquest in 1967. 

However it could not prevent the development of the sophisticated civil society and social networks that enabled the early successes of the intifada, which erupted in late 1987.

Hamas has failed to offer an alternative resistance strategy [GALLO/GETTY]
The intifada succeeded in good measure because of its mass social base and focus on largely non-violent protests such as commercial and tax strikes and blocking roads.

However powerful the symbolic violence of stone throwing youths pitted against the 'Goliath' of the Israeli army, Israel's far superior military power and willingness to use indiscriminate force, coupled with the arrest and long-term imprisonment of tens of thousands of Palestinians, wore down Palestinian society, sapping the strength of the intifada by the time the Gulf war started in 1991.

Neither the PLO's renunciation of terrorism in 1988 nor the emergence of Hamas earlier that year could change this dynamic.

Yet Israel clearly took note of the threat posed by local Palestinian activism to its control over the Occupied Territories.

Bypassing civil society

The Oslo back channel was pursued in good measure to bypass Palestinian civil society and the locally rooted negotiators who led the Madrid peace talks in the wake of the Gulf war.

The Palestinian Authority established in the wake of the Oslo accords was run largely by PLO officials from Tunis, who were not rooted in the Territories.

Whatever their original intentions, their interests quickly morphed from securing a full Israeli withdrawal to maintaining their newfound political power, access to wealth and patronage through Israeli-sponsored monopolies, large-scale international aid, and various forms of corruption.

Israel's leverage over the Oslo Palestinian elite helped ensure that the PA functioned as much as Israel's policeman in the Occupied Territories - controlling and when necessary repressing opposition to the ongoing occupation - as it did a partially sovereign government preparing the country for independence.

The Palestinian legislative assembly and judiciary, both of which were more accountable to the citizens of the Territories, were intentionally marginalised.

Reliance on violence

Being one of the few groups entirely outside the process, Hamas was well-positioned to offer an alternative strategy towards independence.

Instead, in the same year that the PA was established, 1994, Hamas turned its focus towards the kind of spectacular violence that characterised the PLO a generation before.

This strategy achieved little besides strengthening Israel's matrix of control over the Territories (most recently by providing the rationale for the construction of the Separation Wall, most of which has been built inside the West Bank).

Aside from the moral and legal problems associated with such attacks - whether by rockets or suicide bombs - Hamas and other militant groups failed to understand that terrorism rarely succeeds unless the insurgency deploying it is already strong enough demographically, militarily and politically to defeat the occupier.

This situation held true in Algeria, Vietnam, and even Lebanon, but it has never existed in Palestine.

With the outbreak of the al-Aqsa intifada, Hamas's reliance on extreme violence - in its rhetoric as well as actions - overshadowed other forms of Palestinian resistance, giving Israel the necessary cover to deploy an even greater intensity of violence across the Territories.

Chaos and anarchy

This dynamic generated a level of chaos that necessitated the coining of the term intafawda (fawda in Arabic means chaos or anarchy) to describe the chaos and anarchy that often characterised life during the al-Aqsa intifada.

Both Hamas and Fatah engaged in kidnappings, torture and murder of opponents of all stripes, leaving little space for Palestinian civil society to shape a viable strategy of resistance against the occupation.

Hamas's reliance on violence as its chief tactic of resistance provided Israel with the opportunity to use its victory in the 2006 legislative elections to split Palestinians geographically and politically.

In the West Bank, where territorial conflict is now centered and settlement construction continues, Israel helped the more cooperative Fatah-led PA to maintain its power (although the Gaza war may now render the PA unsalvageable). Hamas was relegated to the prison of Gaza.

By early 2007 the situation was so bad that Gazans suffered attacks by Israeli helicopter gunships and street battles between Hamas and Fatah on the same day.

As Hamas and Fatah veered increasingly towards civil war, Hamas fulfilled precisely the function Israel hoped it would when it tolerated and even encouraged the movement's early development.

Israel saw it as an alternative to the PLO that would weaken or split the Palestinian national movement politically and territorially; precisely what ultimately happened.

Watershed moment

By early 2008, Israel's siege had made matters so desperate that Gazans broke through the border wall between Gaza and Egypt in order to escape into neighbouring Sinai towns for a few days to buy food, medicine and other necessities in short supply because of the siege.

Yet when a group of NGOs, joined by ordinary citizens, tried to build on the momentum at the southern border by staging a peaceful mass march to the Erez border in order, symbolically at least, to dismantle it, a line of armed Hamas policemen stopped the 5,000 strong marchers half a mile south of the crossing.

Rather than seizing the opportunity to shift the struggle towards a terrain - mass civil disobedience backed by international law - on which Israel's footing would be far less sure, Hamas served Israel's interests by stopping the march.

Later that afternoon, Hamas launched a rocket assault on Sderot, injuring a small Israeli girl, continuing a cycle of violence that ultimately led to the December-January war.

Jihad, but which kind?

Hamas's charter declares that "There is no solution to the Palestinian Question except by Jihad" (Article 13). Perhaps. But what kind?

If "jihad is the path" (Article 8), is violence the only vehicle that can travel upon it?

Martin Luther King engaged in holy war, as did Gandhi before him, and Bishop Tutu after. Palestinians too have waged more than one kind of jihad.

In fact, for most of the last decade - indeed, throughout the 42 year occupation - just going about one's daily life and navigating the innumerable obstacles of the occupation, has for most Palestinians constituted a supreme act of non-violent resistance.

Jewish and Arab Israelis protest against the war on Gaza [GALLO/GETTY]
There have also been literally thousands of non-violent protests staged by Palestinians across the Occupied Territories, the majority of them ignored by the media and repressed, often violently, by Israel.

Successful non-violent movements, such as in the US, India or (for the most part) South Africa, succeeded because, in Gandhi's words, they sought "to convert, not to coerce, the wrong-doer".

As Gandhi explained it, the goal of non-violence must be to obtain the cooperation of one's opponent to achieve a just end to a conflict, utilising means that reflect rather than degrade the justice of one's cause.

At the same time, Gandhi also understood that no conversion of the occupier could occur without also transforming oppressive social and economic relations within one's society.

As a socio-religious movement heavily involved in the provision of social welfare services, whose popularity has in good measure been tied to its anti-corruption and social justice rhetoric, Hamas was well positioned to follow this path.

However, instead of learning from the experiences of the first intifada and successful activism in other countries, Hamas looked backwards, to a vision of revolutionary violence whose record of producing real freedom and development in developing societies has been checkered, at best.

De-normalising Israel

According to David Theo Goldberg, a South African scholar, the example of the defeat of apartheid in his country points to the importance of "de-normalising" the Israeli occupation - showing the world that its actions are not normal, and cannot be justified with claims of self-defence or security.

Instead, Palestinian terrorism, first by the PLO and later by Hamas and other groups, helped to normalise the occupation, enabling the Israeli government to transform an occupation that has always been about settlement into one premised on legitimate security needs.

Rhetoric matters too.

Israel has justified the war on the grounds of its security concerns [GALLO/GETTY]
When during the past year Hamas leaders talked proudly of making "death an industry of the Palestinian people" and creating "human shields" composed of old people and children, or declared Jewish children everywhere to have become legitimate targets of murder (as did Hamas commander Mahmoud Zahar in a televised broadcast on January 5), the movement helped normalise the intensifying siege on Gaza, playing into deep-seated Western - and particularly American and Israeli - stereotypes of Muslim irrationality and brutality.

Indeed, such statements have long made it easier for the media, and the public, to ignore or even justify similarly racist or bigoted statements by Israeli leaders.

In this context, once the truce agreed to by Israel and Hamas in June 2008 broke down, the relaunching of Qassam rockets - even if they were in response to an Israeli provocation - normalised Israel's massive response in the eyes of its citizens, and a large majority of Americans as well.

In this discourse, any 'normal' country would feel compelled to respond militarily when thousands of rockets are fired into its territory by an adversary who uses its own children as human shields while threatening to kill one's children the world over.

That such a narrative avoids the larger context in which the Qassams were fired does not change the role played by the rockets in normalising the occupation.

An opportunity in Gaza's ashes?

If there is a bright spot for Palestinians in the horrific violence of the last few weeks, it is that Israel's deployment of disproportionate and indiscriminate violence in Gaza has revealed the abnormality of the occupation for millions of people who previously had been unable to perceive it.

This revelation offers Hamas, and the Palestinian leadership more broadly, the chance to change the larger terms of the debate over the future of Israel/Palestine.

It could help move Palestinian society (and with it Israeli society, however reluctantly) away from the paradigm of two nationalist movements engaged in a competition over territory and towards a common future.

This process can only begin with the conversion of Israelis and Palestinians to the idea of sharing sovereignty, territory and even identity in order to achieve the greatest good for the most members of the two societies.

It is worth noting that the far left in Israel has long had such a bi-national programme. For its part, the PLO came close to it with its call for a "secular democratic state" in all of Mandate Palestine in 1969.

However, such an idea has never had a chance of being considered seriously as long as terrorism has been identified as the central strategy for the realisation of Palestinian nationalism.

When the two-state strategy epitomised by the Oslo peace process collapsed at the Camp David talks of July 2000, there was an opportunity for Palestinians again to change the terms of the debate.

Hamas in particular could have offered an alternative discourse to Yasser Arafat's supposed 'No' to a generous Israeli final offer.

But the movement had little new to offer.

Al-Aqsa intifada

Indeed, at this crucial moment a leadership vacuum opened across Palestinian society, which Ariel Sharon, the then Likud leader, ever alert to an opportunity to throw the peace process further off balance, exploited with his infamous visit to the Temple Mount.

Sharon clearly hoped to provoke a violent Palestinian response that would shift attention away from the reality that Israel had not in fact offered Palestinians a viable deal at Camp David.

His highly symbolic but politically meaningless visit became the spark for the al-Aqsa intifada.

What few have considered as the new intifada unfolded was whether Palestinians should have responded to Sharon's visit with violent protests. There were certainly other options.

Mosque officials could have offered him tea, and in front of the media's glare, asked him politely but firmly to explain how he expected Jews and Palestinians to live together peacefully when the occupation had intensified during Oslo.

It is impossible to know for sure what Sharon would have answered, but there is a good chance that this would have thrown him off balance, exposing the abnormality of the peace process-as-occupation for all to see.

Playing their part

Instead, Palestinians played the part assigned to them, and a so far eight year long intifada erupted.

As no less a supporter of Palestinian rights than Norman Finkelstein argues, it has left "Palestinians ... [with] little to show for the violent resistance ... It is at least arguable that the balance-sheet would have been better had Palestinians en masse adopted non-violent civil resistance".

Much of Gaza was turned to rubble in Israel's 23-day offensive [AFP]
Israel offered Hamas another opportunity to change the terms of the conflict when in late November, 2007, Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, warned Israelis that their country "risked being compared to apartheid-era South Africa if it failed to agree an independent state for the Palestinians".

With that remark Olmert was revealing to the world what Haaretz commentator Bradley Burston has called the "ultimate doomsday weapon," - one which senior Israeli commanders "could only pray that Palestinians would never take out and use".

As Burston pointed out, when the opportunity for Palestinians en masse to just "get up and walk" arose with the march to Erez less than two months after Olmert made his remarks, Hamas forced Palestinians to keep their most powerful weapon under lock and key at the moment it could have been used to its greatest effect.

Changing the rules

A year later, much of Gaza has been turned to rubble, at least 1,300 more Gazans are dead, joined by at least 13 Israelis.

The futility of violence as a strategy to achieve either society's core objectives has never been so clearly on display, as has the bankruptcy of a two-state solution that was likely miscarried at the very inception of the peace process a decade and a half ago.

It is not likely that Israel will emerge from this tragedy ready to offer Palestinians a territorially viable Palestinian state.

The newly inaugurated Obama administration could force it to do so, garnering near universal acclaim for salvaging the two-state solution in the process.

However, it seems more likely that the two-state solution will remain as illusive in the near future as it has in the past.

In such a situation Palestinians face a choice: continue to play by Israel's rules and see their dreams of independence disappear for at least another generation, or change the rules by demanding the same rights enjoyed by Israelis over the entirety of historic Palestine.

By taking heed of Olmert's warning, Palestinians can begin the journey towards a future in which Jews and Palestinians can share the land of historical Palestine/Eretz Yisrael for the benefit of both peoples, rather than at the expense of the other.

The road will no doubt be long and painful; but even as the fog of the latest war dissipates it is hard to imagine another path emerging that could lead to an independent, peaceful future for Palestine, or Israel.

Mark LeVine is a professor of Middle East history at the University of California, Irvine, and is the author of Heavy Metal Islam: Rock, Resistance, and the Struggle for the Soul of Islam and the soon to be published An Impossible Peace: Israel/Palestine Since 1989.

The views expressed by the author are not necessarily those of Al Jazeera.
 Source: 	Al Jazeera

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## Shades

*Waging the web wars*
 By Riyaad Minty, Al Jazeera's new media analyst

Debates on the Gaza war have moved from traditional media to online social networking sites

Propaganda has always played an important role in the way war is waged.

Using the available traditional media platforms - such as television, radio and print - governments have battled for mindshare in an attempt to convince the public that military engagements are serving their best interests.

Over time, new communication technologies have forced governments to realign their propaganda campaigns.

In the modern age of warfare, government spokespersons have provided major news networks the opportunity to engage, question and dissect domestic, foreign and military policies.

However, the recent war in Gaza has pushed the boundaries of traditional media as the debate on the conflict opened a new front - online.

Though television has continued to provide viewers with in-depth coverage of the conflict, it did not sufficiently allow the average, frustrated person on the street to express their views.

War of words

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Enter the "social" internet - currently termed "War 2.0" or "War of Words" - where people from around the world used social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to express their opinions to a global audience.

With the internet becoming a battleground of ideas, the average person, armed with a keyboard and an internet connection, became a participant in the conflict.

On December 27, 2008, Israel launched 'Operation Cast Lead' against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. Within minutes of the first missile landing in Gaza, global reactions appeared online. 

During the first few days of the war, online discussions were restricted to war of words. Both sides engaged in heated debates and blamed each other for the fatal surge in military operations.

As the discussions grew, attempts were then made by supporters of both sides to establish a coordinated response aimed at combatting the other side's propaganda.

With this awareness in mind, both Israel and the Palestinians resorted to a variety of media platforms to justify their positions and tactics used during the conflict.

Israeli supporters set up the Help Us Win website, and some Palestinian supporters created Gaza Talk.

Hundreds of groups were created on Facebook by Israelis and Palestinians to create an awareness of the facts as they saw them.

Israeli government reacts

Supporters of Israel's Gaza offensive set up websites to counter Hamas' media claims
The Israeli government also attempted to capitalise on the online conversations.

Realising the importance these mediums play in the propaganda war, they held an unprecedented press conference on Twitter.

The Israeli army also set up a YouTube channel and uploaded videos of some of their air raids on Gaza.

While no official online presence has been established by Hamas, pro-Palestinian supporters have been using videos and images to effectively deliver their message.

The Israeli army showed simple black-and-white videos (without audio) of Hamas-launched rockets, while Palestinians offer vivid videos of the chaos and destruction on the ground in Gaza following Israeli air raids.

However, the images from Gaza allowed pro-Palestinian supporters to dominate this online war.

More engaged audiences 

The Gaza Talk website reported on the damage to civilian life and infrastructure
The battle to gain public favour is becoming increasingly difficult as governments try to meet the challenges of dealing with a more engaged audience.

On Facebook, hundreds of thousands of people have signed on pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian groups.

The group Let's Collect 500000 Signatures to Support the Palestinians in Gaza has 630,002 members while the I Support the Israel Defence Forces In Preventing Terror Attacks From Gaza group has 85,308 members.

On Twitter, the tag "#Gaza" has been in the top 10 trending topics since the Gaza war began on December 27.

As the propaganda war enters a new phase, governments now need to fully embrace these new technologies and use them to their benefit.

Until then, online social communities will continue the debates which will likely last well beyond the current war in Gaza.
 Source: 	Al Jazeera

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## Shades

*Fear and trauma in Gaza's schools*
 By Alex Dziadosz in Gaza

Counselors and teachers are addressing the trauma and fears of students in Gaza [GALLO/GETTY]

As students filed into the courtyard of Asma elementary school in Gaza City for the first time since the Israeli offensive began, they were greeted by a bleak reminder of the violence that left more than 1,300 Palestinians dead and thousands injured.

A hole punched by an Israeli rocket scarred the courtyard latrine and blood soiled the wall beside it.

Asma is one of over 600 schools in Gaza - most of which reopened on January 24 - that is today facing a large number of post-war operational challenges.

Educators across the Gaza Strip are now considering whether to reschedule exams which were abandoned when Israel began bombing the territory on December 27.

Teachers are also faced with the task of teaching in rooms which had served as shelters for dozens of refugees.

Addressing the trauma

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On their first day back to class, most children meandered in the courtyard, eating bread and cheese provided by the school and playing with their friends.

Inside the classrooms, debris left by the scores of refugees housed there until a few days ago still covered the floors  a box of tomatoes, empty bottles and, in some rooms, the shattered remnants of boards and chairs used for firewood in the absence of gas and electricity. 

Many teachers say that a normal curriculum cannot be administered until students have been treated for trauma from the deaths of their classmates and family members.

"In the morning when I was working among the students, some of them were very frightened," said Amirah Hamdan, a teacher at Asma who handles the morning attendance call.

"They thought that the war would start again because they were in the school."

Other teachers and administrators say they will take the next few days to help the school's nearly 900 students put the war behind them and return to their studies, but the first day made it clear that this will take time.

Students at the Asma school were mostly glad to return, though many were still shaken by the violence of the past few weeks.

Nour Abdel All, 10, says she lost two of her seven brothers during the war and is worried that she will lose more.

When she is old enough to work, she says, she would like to teach human rights, an attitude inspired by the loss of her brothers.

The bombing terrified her and she is still scared - particularly of the Israeli fighter jets.

"I pray that God will one day burn them all," she says 

School exams

Suha Dawoud, a supervisor at Asma, says her daughter was one of many students who had been taking her annual exams when the Israeli attacks began.

"They [the students] are not in a state of mind in which they can concentrate and focus," says Dawoud.

"Even the most disciplined student would not be able to cope with examinations after the horrible scenes they have watched either on TV or on the ground."

However, many students had been performing poorly at school even before Israel launched the war on Gaza on December 27.

The Israeli blockade has stifled the local economy forcing many students to reportedly abandoned their studies and seek employment.

Turning to education

Several schools in Gaza were damaged in the Israeli attacks [AFP]
Many Palestinians see education as one of the few paths available to them to leave the territories in search of better lives.

In recent decades, the West Bank and Gaza Strip have posted better high school enrolment rates than Lebanon and higher literacy rates than Egypt and Yemen.

The Palestinian territories and diaspora have produced many influential academics, such as Edward Said, Rashid Khalidi and Mahmoud Darwish.

"Our goal is to keep the wheel of education going, because education is what our children have. It is their actual wealth," says Dawoud.

"We do not have resources here in Gaza. We do not have raw materials or industry. We have nothing other than education itself."

Educators like Dawoud are also up against the prevailing atmosphere of occupation and violence.

Graffiti depicting armed and masked men cover the walls, the faces of fallen "martyrs" glare down from lamppost signs, and digital gunfire sputters from internet cafes as rows of children sit enthralled by military-themed video games.

Even in Dawoud's classes, the air of violence is there.

As a kind of therapy, she often gives children papers and pencils and asks them to draw what they are feeling.

"You might be shocked," she says.

"Blood, destruction, people killing each other; guns are in their paintings and drawings." 

Angry students

At the Palestine Secondary School for Boys, a government-run school for some 700 students in Gaza City, administrators have decided to cancel exams altogether.

They had been scheduled for December 29  two days after the Israeli assault began.

El-Khalily, the school's manager, told Al Jazeera that on their first day back, teachers did not hold regular class session but instead chose to help students cope with what they had seen and heard during the war.

Two students from the school were killed during the war and another five were wounded.

Teachers at the school are worried that student anger could lead to violence and failing grades in the days ahead.

"Maybe a teacher is explaining a lesson and the student is in another mental place," says Nour El-Deen, an English teacher.

"His body is with the teacher, yes, but his mind is out. He is thinking of destruction, demolition."
 Source: 	Al Jazeera

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## Shades

*Gaza diary: To die with hope*
 By Mohammed Ali in Gaza City

Carrying pieces of wood from the destroyed building is the sign that Gazans' spirits keeping hope alive [Gallo/Getty]

As the death toll from Israel's war on Gaza continues to climb, Mohammed Ali, an advocacy and media researcher for Oxfam who lives in Gaza City, will be keeping a diary of his feelings and experiences.

"If I die now, at least I'll die with hope."

This morning, I heard people chanting outside, I wondered what it was, and then, the lights came on - the electricity had come back on; hurrah!

I immediately turned on the television, charged my phone, checked emails. For a moment, I felt somewhat liberated. These things that we often take for granted have become so precious of late.

Solidarity and trust

We have no clean water left. Our water tank is empty. My father could not turn away the increasing amount of people knocking at our door with empty jerry cans in hand. He did not realise how much water he had given out until it was too late.

Shops are running out of clean water; we were not able to find any in our neighbourhood. We can use the untreated water but we should really boil it first to avoid getting sick, but we face another obstacle; we have very little gas left.

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We will just have to drink the unsterilised water so that we can save the rest of the gas for cooking food. But, if you have never cooked with a gas burner, it makes the food taste of gasoline, the coffee taste of gasoline, we now even smell of gasoline.

I received a call from a good friend in Jabaliya, he was telling me how awful life has become for his family; sonic booms from F-16 fighter planes constantly shake his home - there is no chance any of his six children and wife are getting any sleep.

His sister's home has already been evacuated and he wants to leave as soon as he can. He has a small bag packed and ready to go.

I told him to bring his family and to stay with us - I am expecting him to arrive at any moment.

The news is getting more and more horrific as the situation here deteriorates. The latest report, I saw, was of a child clutching on to her dead parent's bodies for four days before anyone was able to come to her rescue, dogs are starting to eat the corpses that no one has been able to bury.

This reality does not seem to be reaching some parts of the world. Is it censored because people cannot cope with the truth of what is happening to us? If the truth did get out, would it make a difference?

Fortunately, we have a lot of solidarity and trust in our community, we share what we have - I guess this is why we have just about managed to feed ourselves.

Some shopkeepers are allowing people to buy food on credit; people's debts are quickly mounting up. But solidarity and trust will not feed us now that food - and everything else it seems - is running out.

Keeping hope alive

I applied for a scholarship in the UK several months ago. I was expecting to find out in early January whether or not my application was successful.

I have been waiting impatiently for days. I could not wait any longer so I finally called the British Council; I wanted to know the outcome to put my mind at rest.

They told me that they would call back in two minutes. During those two minutes I almost stopped breathing - this scholarship is the only hope I have at the moment for a better life.

The lady called back and said: "I am afraid we do not have an answer yet for you." To which I responded: "Please be honest with me; is it that you really do not have an answer or that you do not want to give me bad news at this point in time?"

The possibility of going to the UK is giving me the hope I need to live. My wife thinks I am crazy, as I talk to her as if we are definitely going; I describe the friends we will have, the restaurants we will go to, the walks around the parks.

At least if I die, I will die with a little hope, the hope that I will have the chance to live a better life, even if for now it is but a dream.
 Source: 	Al Jazeera

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## Shades

Gaza: The endless cycle of trauma
 By Sandy Tolan, Middle East analyst

Some Palestinians still hold keys to the homes they left during the 'nakba' [GALLO/GETTY]

The Israeli bombs and rockets streaking through the skies of Gaza trace not only a path of death and terror for Palestinians in 2009, they also outline the smoke trails of traumas past, from the Nakba, or 'catastrophe,' in 1948 to the 1967 war; from the Lebanon invasions, to the 2002 assault on Jenin. All are echoes of today's calamity of US-made missiles and mortars raining down on Gazans.

Watching history repeat itself is, of course, most horrifying for the people through whose roofs the missiles are falling, whose children are dying. For the outsider, peering in from a safe perch, it is merely surreal.

We look on as Israel replays the tape-loop of its brutal and tragic follies. Israel has shown again and again that, rather than vanquishing its enemies, it makes new ones while strengthening old ones.

Many commentators have invoked 2006 and Israel's invasion of Lebanon, when, in trying to destroy Hezbollah, it made it stronger. But this is only a relatively recent example.

'My enemy's enemy'

Consider early 1988, near the beginning of the First Intifada, when Israel, trying to weaken Yasser Arafat, the late PLO leader, invoked the ill-fated strategy known as "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

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In trying to marginalise the exiled Arafat and his Tunis cadre, Israel helped seed the growth of a fledgling Hamas in Gaza. 

Or recall March 1968, when Israeli infantry, tanks, paratroopers, and armoured brigades - 15,000 soldiers in all - moved east across the Jordan River to attack the village of Karama. Though, technically, the Israelis won a military victory, they encountered far stiffer resistance than expected, losing 28 soldiers.

At the centre of the heroic Palestinian battle of Karama was the man who would emerge strongest from the fight: Yasser Arafat. The biggest loser was the pro-Western "moderate," King Hussein of Jordan, who in the wake of the battle was forced to declare, no doubt to the alarm of Israel, "we are all fedayeen now."

Or, we can revisit the pre-dawn of November 13, 1966, when Israeli planes, tanks and troops attacked the West Bank village of Samu, blowing up dozens of houses and killing 21 Jordanian soldiers.

The attack deepened anger on the 'Arab Street' against Israel and its Western benefactors, and badly weakened King Hussein, who imposed martial law. "The monarchy itself is in jeopardy," American officials in Amman cabled Washington.

Largely as a result of the attack, the Jordanian king was forced into a pan-Arab alliance with his arch-rival, Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Egyptian president. The 11th-hour pact helped seal the fate of the 1967 war, and the 41-year occupation whose echoes can be heard in the exploding shells of Gaza.

US response

Yet it is worth considering the American response to Israel's Samu raid for the lessons it contains for US policymakers today. For although the US sided with Israel, many American officials were working hard behind the scenes to prevent war, and US officials, unlike those of the outgoing and incoming American administrations today, were furious at Israel. 

The "3000-man raid with tanks and planes was all out of proportion to the provocation," wrote Walt Rostow, the national security adviser, in a memo to Lyndon Johnson, the then-US president. 

"They've undercut Hussein It makes even the moderate Arabs feel fatalistically that there is nothing they can do to get along with the Israelis no matter how hard they try."

When Levi Eshkol, the Israeli prime minister, wrote to Johnson for American support "in this difficult hour for us," the president ignored him, instead writing a note of sympathy to King Hussein, expressing his "sense of sorrow and concern  words of sympathy are small comfort when lives have been needlessly destroyed".

Then, in words scarcely imaginable for a US president today, Johnson added: "My disapproval of this action has been made known to the government of Israel in the strongest terms."

In the end, of course, the US, distracted by Vietnam and in a Cold War struggle with the Soviet Union, backed Israel in the Six Day War, giving it a tacit green light for the surprise attack on Egypt in June 1967. (When Meir Amit, the then-head of the Israeli intelligency agency Mossad, visited Robert McNamara in the Pentagon, he told the inquiring defence secretary that the war would take "seven days".) 

Lessons for Obama

Yet US officials, before acquiescing to Israel in the final days before war, actually fought to prevent it, and it is there, in that lost moment, that the lessons lie for Barack Obama, the incoming US president.

Similar to (but far worse than) the Samu raid of 1966, Israel now wages a war whose destruction is "all out of proportion to the provocation."

Like the days leading up to the Six Day War, hundreds of thousands of people are taking to the streets, with mass protests in Cairo, Beirut, Amman, Doha, Paris, Athens, Istanbul, Sydney and other international capitals.

US President-elect Barack Obama's election campaign promised change [AFP]
These genuine expressions of fury, combined with wide-ranging condemnations from international leaders, and increasing outrage from a vocal minority of Israelis, do not bode well for the US or Israeli governments. 

Unlike 42 years ago, however, no US president, incoming or outgoing, is willing to criticise Israel.

Obama's tepid comment - "the loss of civilian life in Gaza and Israel is a source of deep concern" - does not qualify.

Worse, his statement in Sderot last July - "If somebody was sending rockets into my house, where my two daughters sleep at night, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that" - has been used as another green light by Israeli military politicians whose prime ministerial ambitions are a key factor underlying the assault on Gaza.

Hillary Clinton's declaration, during her senate confirmation hearings on Tuesday, January 13, 2008, that "the president-elect and I understand and are deeply sympathetic to Israel's desire to defend itself under the current conditions," hardly points to a visionary change in US policy. 

Yet if Obama wishes to preserve the truest hopes inherent in his election - that his presidency would stand for real change; that his internationalist view of the world would translate into wisdom and compassion for people other than the most powerful - he must be willing to transform US dealings in a region where the phrase "honest broker" has become a parlour joke. 

For the US to restore its credibility, Obama must send clear signals that Israeli impunity cannot continue. He needs to speak hard truths to an old friend, pointing out the Jewish state's history of making its enemies stronger.

Strengthening Hamas

And this, beyond the needless deaths, may be the ultimate result of the current war on Gaza.  Israel, despite its stated goal of stopping Hamas' rocket attacks, has simply not done so. Despite the latest wave of assassination by bombing, Israel's attempts to destroy Hamas seem to be going the route of Lebanon, 2006.

Khaled Meshaal, the political leader of Hamas, has said Israel has increased resistance
"What is the strategic purpose behind the present fighting?" asks the normally staid Anthony Cordesman in a commentary for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC.

"Has Israel somehow blundered into a steadily escalating war without a clear strategic goal or at least one it can credibly achieve?  It is also far from clear that the tactical gains are worth the political and strategic cost to Israel. At least to date, the reporting from within Gaza indicates that each new Israeli air strike or advance on the ground has increased popular support for Hamas and anger against Israel in Gaza. The same is true in the West Bank and the Islamic world."

Or, as Khaled Meshaal, the Hamas leader, declared to Israel last weekend, "you have created resistance in every household".

Thus the horrible chapter called "Gaza 2009" fits snugly into Israel's book of outsized assaults on Palestinian civilians. It seems it will ever be so, until a US president steps forward with the guts and vision to change the game. 

Sandy Tolan is associate professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California, and author of The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East.

The views expressed by the author are not necessarily those of Al Jazeera.
 Source: 	Al Jazeera

----------


## Shades

*Israel: A monster beyond control?*
Alan Hart

ON the first anniversary of the beginning of Israels war on the Gaza Strip  in my view it was a demonstration of Israeli state terrorism at its most naked  its not enough to say that the governments of the Western powers (and others) are complicit in Israels ongoing collective punishment of 1.5 million Palestinians, 53 percent of whom are children.

What is actually happening in the blockaded Gaza Strip, and less obviously on the occupied West Bank, is the continuation by stealth of Zionisms ethnic cleansing of Palestine. My friend professor Ilan Pappe, Israels leading revisionist (meaning honest) historian and author of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, would and has put it another way. What we are witnessing is, in his words, genocide in slow motion. And that, really, is what the governments of the Western powers (and others) are complicit in.

The question that provokes in my mind is: Why, really, are the major powers (and others) allowing it to happen?

The only answer that makes some sense to me is this. They have concluded, but cannot say, *that nuclear-armed Israel, with the assistance of the Zionist lobby in all of its manifestations, is a monster beyond control*.

In my analysis its possible to identify the moment in history when the major powers abandoned any hope they might have had of containing Zionisms colonial ambitions. It came, the moment, in the immediate aftermath of the 1967 war.

Contrary to Zionisms version of the story, it was a war of Israeli aggression, not self-defense. As I document in some detail in my book Zionism: The Real Enemy of the Jews, Israels military and political leaders knew the Arabs were not intending to attack.

That being so, what the major powers ought to have said to Israel (in the diplomatic language of a Security Council resolution and more explicitly behind closed doors) is something like: Aggression cannot be rewarded. Aggressors cannot keep territory conquered in war. You are now required to get the hell out of it without laying down conditions for your withdrawal.

To drive home the point, they could and should have reminded Israel of what President Eisenhower said to the people of America when he demanded Israels unconditional withdrawal from Egyptian territory after its collusion with Britain and France in 1956. Eisenhower, the first and the last American president to contain Zionism, said this:

If we agree that armed attack can properly achieve the purposes of the assailant, then I fear we will have turned back the clock of international order. We will have countenanced the use of force as a means of settling international differences and gaining national advantage... If the UN once admits that international disputes can be settled using force, then we will have destroyed the very foundation of the organization and our best hope for establishing a real world order.

As it happened, the major powers could not say that to Israel in 1967 because the Johnson administration had colluded with Israel to the extent of giving it the green light to smash Egypts armed forces, in the hope that a humiliating defeat for them would lead to the overthrow of President Gamal Abdel Nasser. But also true is that Johnson sought and obtained an assurance that Israel would not take advantage of the war situation to grab Jordanian and Syrian territory. It was because some in the Johnson administration (probably Defense Secretary McNamara and the joint chiefs of staff) didnt trust Israel to keep its word that the US spy ship, the Liberty, was stationed off the Israel/Gaza coast to listen to IDF movement orders. And it was because Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan didnt want Johnson to know that he intended to take the West Bank and the Golan Heights that he, Dayan, ordered the attack on the Liberty. (The full story of that attack and Johnsons cover-up of it is also in my book, in a chapter headed The Liberty Affair  Pure Murder on a Great Day).

Despite that, the major powers, including and led by America, could still have acted firmly to contain Zionisms colonial ambitions. They could have said to Israel something like: We can just about live with the fact that you will retain the newly occupied Arab territories as a bargaining chip, to be exchanged for peace with your Arab neighbors, but we will not allow you to settle those territories. Not one building. If you defy us on this matter, the Security Council will authorize enforcement action as necessary to oblige you to comply with international law.

In what became Security Council Resolution 242, it was the failure of the major powers to read the riot act to Israel on the matter of not settling the newly occupied territories that marks the moment when they, the major powers, became resigned to the fact that the Zionist state, assisted by its awesomely powerful global lobby, was a monster they could not control. (They could slap it on the wrist from time to time but not control it).

The lesson of the cold-blooded attack on the Liberty was that there is nothing the Zionist state might not do, to its friends as well as its enemies, in order to get its own way. (In my book I explain, on the basis of a conversation with Dayan, the real reason for Israels decision to acquire a nuclear arsenal. It was to have the deterrent threat capability of saying to its friends, Dont push us further than we are prepared to go or well use these things.) So in the full light of the truth of history as it relates to the making and sustaining of conflict in and over Palestine that became Israel, its not surprising that the major powers (and others) are today complicit, more by default than design I say, in Zionisms crimes.

 Alan Hart is a former ITN and BBC Panorama foreign correspondent who covered wars and conflicts wherever they were taking place in the world and specialized in the Middle East. He blogs on Alan Hart and tweets on www.twitter.com/alanauthor| (Courtesy: Sabbah Report  Sabbah Report)

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## Shades

BBC
*Israel teenagers pledge 'no settlement evacuation'*
Israeli soldiers on a training exercise
Israeli soldiers are sometimes ordered to evacuate West Bank settlements

About 200 Israeli teenagers have pledged to disobey any orders to evacuate Jewish settlements during their military service.

The letter sent to Defence Minister Ehud Barak was signed by young people about to be drafted into the Israeli Defence Force.

*Jewish law as written in the Torah forbids the dismantling of Jewish-built homes, the letter said.*

The government has ordered a 10-month lull in building in the West Bank.

"We consider utilizing the army for political ends and for warfare against Jews an existential danger and a destruction of the military," the letter said.

"We pledge our loyalty to the Torah precedes any law or order, and therefore we will refuse to execute any order that contradicts the Torah, and will not take part in the evacuation of any outpost or settlement in the land of Israel, and thus also guarding the true values of the IDF," said the letter, printed in the Jerusalem Post.

Insubordination

Mr Barak has said the military will break its ties with Jewish Talmudic academies, or yeshiva, which tell their students to disobey orders during their military service.


Israel, occupied territories map

Israeli protest soldiers punished
Worry over pro-settlement soldiers
Israel army ends seminary link

The Israeli military and about 40 Jewish seminaries have a decades-old arrangement, known in Hebrew as "Hesder", that allows observant Jewish men to combine military service and religious studies.

Religious Jews see the West Bank as part of the Holy Land, given to them by God.

Earlier this year, Israeli reservists signed a petition requesting exemption from Jewish settlement evacuations.

In October, a group of soldiers disrupted their swearing-in ceremony in Jerusalem, calling for continued Jewish settlement in the West Bank.

All settlements built on land occupied by Israel since 1967 are illegal under international law.

*Close to 500,000 Jews live in more than 100 settlements built on occupied territory since 1967.*

Israel disputes the international law on this issue, but does deem those settlements built without Israeli government permits as illegal and from time to time instructs its soldiers and military police to evacuate them.

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## Shades

*More than 80% of people from Gaza rely on UN aid*

By Barbara Plett
BBC UN correspondent

The UN agency which looks after Palestinian refugees commemorates its 60th anniversary this month. But there's no celebration.

Prospects for an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement look dim and the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) is keenly aware that its "temporary" mandate could continue for years, even decades.

And some say the agency is part of the problem.


I think for every Palestinian refugee here, when he sees the flag related to UNRWA, that means for 60 years we are still under occupation with no rights
Hussein Mansour
Headmaster and Gaza resident

UNRWA was set up in 1949 to look after hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, who fled or were driven out of what became Israel during the first Arab-Israeli war.

It was supposed to provide short-term shelter pending the refugees' right of return to their homes - a right enshrined in UN resolutions.

But 60 years on, the Palestinian refugees are still stateless.

'No rights'

UNRWA has now mushroomed into a huge institution providing housing, health services, education and emergency food supplies to over four million refugees in five countries.

Hussein Mansour, headmaster and Gaza resident
Headmaster Hussein Mansour has mixed feelings about UNRWA

Hussein Mansour is an example of how the UN agency has helped many Palestinians.

The 46-year-old educator grew up in Gaza in a shelter built by UNRWA to house his parents, who had fled their village, al-Masmiya, in what was Mandate Palestine but is now southern Israel.

Because Mr Mansour's father died he was classified as a hardship case and received extra food rations.

He attended UN schools and received UN assistance for college. Now he is the head of a school for the deaf, which also receives support from UNRWA.

Mr Mansour is very much aware of what he owes to the agency, but for him its existence is a constant reminder of his statelessness.

"I think for every Palestinian refugee here, when he sees the flag or places related to UNRWA, that means for more than 60 years we are still under occupation with no rights. We are still dependent on the United Nations, not independent," he said.

He tells his children their real home is in al-Masmiya, not Gaza.

Right of return

The right of return remains one of the most contentious issues in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.


We have a problem when UNRWA is political and partisan

Mark Regev
Israeli government spokesman

The Palestinians say the right must be recognised.

The Israelis say any mass return of refugees to their original homes and lands would change Israel's character as a Jewish state.

It also charges that UNRWA and the refugee issue have been exploited politically by the Arab states in their conflict with Israel.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev questions why refugee status is passed on to second and third generations.

"We have a problem when UNRWA is political and partisan. Why haven't Palestinian refugees been resettled? And have extreme politics prevented that from happening?" Mr Regev told the BBC.

Divisive mission

This diplomatic war is why Israel does not support the annual renewal of UNRWA's mandate, even though it has no problem with the agency's humanitarian function.

Israel's deputy UN ambassador Danny Carmon argues that UNRWA cannot be viewed as a solely humanitarian organisation.


The idea that UNRWA perpetuates the refugee crisis is absurd
Christopher Gunness
UNRWA spokesman

"UNRWA receives yearly backing from the international community, from the UN General Assembly with very politicised, anti-Israeli resolutions that set the mandate for it to work," Mr Carmon said.

UNRWA denies any political agenda, pointing out that refugee status which continues through generations is not unique to the Palestinians.

"The idea that UNRWA perpetuates the refugee crisis is absurd," said the agency's spokesman Chris Gunness.

Mr Gunness argues that the refugee crisis can only be solved as part of a comprehensive peace plan. Until politicians broker a deal the refugee crisis will continue.

But he argues that UNRWA sometimes has to take on an advocacy role, not least because of Israeli policies that affect the refugees.

For example, an Israeli blockade has prevented recovery from the Israeli operation a year ago that devastated Gaza.

Israel says the offensive and the blockade are both aimed at Hamas, which controls Gaza and has fired hundreds of rockets into Israel, not Gazan civilians.

Mr Gunness argues that the agency's role is born out of humanitarian necessity rather than politics.

"We have a million refugees in Gaza, 80% are aid dependent, and we have to advocate against this cruel collective punishment that is making life so miserable," said Mr Gunness.

"Let's be clear: this is not a humanitarian crisis caused by natural disaster. This is a humanitarian crisis of choice, of a direct political choice," he added.

Few doubt that until there's a political resolution of the conflict, UNRWA will remain. No one wants it dismantled, not even the Israelis.

But after 60 years the only solution refugees like Mr Mansour say they will accept is the right to return - either to an independent state of their own, or their former homes in what is now Israel.

----------


## Shades

*BBC
Slow recovery from wounds of Gaza conflict*

Akram Abu Harbid and his sons
A year after the conflict, victims on both sides of the border are struggling to get on with their lives

By Tim Franks
BBC News, in Beit Hanoun and Sderot

When Akram Abu Harbid speaks, the words come in a quiet torrent. They speak of hope crushed, of a life broken.

Mr Abu Harbid, 46, lives in an almost rural area of Beit Hanoun, in the north of the Gaza Strip.

His front garden, where we speak, is partly shaded by a vine. Our conversation is pocked by the sound of distant gunfire, from an Israeli tank, just over the border - attempting to enforce a buffer zone inside Gaza.
An Israeli missle strike in northern Gaza, January 2009
The Israeli military assault lasted three weeks

One week into the war, on 3 January, Mr Abu Harbid and his 19-year-old son Mohammed, were leaving the mourning tent, across the street from their house, for a cousin who had been killed earlier in the Israeli offensive.

It was 9pm. Mohammed told his father that he needed to go to a friend's house to collect a book he needed for his college studies.

"I heard a bang," Mr Abu Harbid says, in a flat voice.

"I went outside. A man, who was injured, was running down the road, shouting, 'Mohammed Abu Harbid is dead!'"

Mr Abu Harbid, along with a cousin of his, went to carry the injured man inside. And then there was a second missile strike.

Say goodbye

"I felt I'd lost something. I was conscious. Then I realised my right leg was gone." Around Mr Abu Harbid lay the dead and the mutilated.


GAZA CONFLICT CASUALTIES
Total Palestinian deaths:
1,409 (PCHR)
1,387 (B'Tselem)
1,166 (Israeli military)
Palestinian children killed:
326 (under 17, PCHR)
252 (under 16, B'tselem)
89 (under 16, Israeli military)
Palestinian civilians killed:
916* (PCHR)
773* (B'tselem)
295 plus 162 unknown (Israeli military)
Israelis killed:
3 civilians
10 security forces (includes 4 by friendly fire)
*Figs exclude about 250 Hamas police officers

PCHR=Palestinian Human Rights Centre, B'Tselem=Israeli human rights group
Voices: Gaza, one year on
Gaza: Still on a knife edge
Gallery: Impact on Gaza children
Locals return to rocket-hit towns

In hospital that night, he asked that his dead son be brought to his bedside, so that he could say goodbye.

"He was like a brother, my best friend. He had no political affiliations. From elementary school onwards, he would get more than 90% in his tests. He was a good and polite boy."

A year on, Mr Abu Harbid says he remains in pain.

His right leg was amputated above the knee. Shrapnel still floats around his left leg. When he walks, on crutches, it hurts too much to go beyond 50m at a time.

That, though, is just the physical pain.

"Since the war in Gaza, I've lost any hope. No-one has offered me any financial or psychological help."

Mr Abu Harbid used to be an electrician.

"I need an artificial leg so that maybe I could do half my job. Now, I spend most of my time at home. I don't feel normal. I am disabled. I feel sad for my family, when they look at me."

Mr Abu Harbid says that it is not just Israel which bears responsibility. "I want to call on everyone - the Americans, the Europeans - everyone, with a sense of humanity."

"Animals have a better life than us."

Forced

At the end of Mr Abu Harbid's road, past a chicken coop and some raggedy trees, you can see Israel.

Geut Aragon
There's always the thought that it might start again, you never really heal
Geut Aragon

It is this proximity which, Israeli ministers argued, forced Israel's hand in launching the war.

According to the Israeli army, between 2002 and the end of Operation Cast Lead in January, Palestinian militants launched 10,365 missiles into southern Israel.

In January 2008, one of those missiles hit Geut Aragon's house, in the town of Sderot.

Almost two years later, Mrs Aragon, 36, answered the doorbell to her small house, in her white nurse's uniform. She had just finished her shift at a nearby hospital.

We climbed the stairs to see the room, where, almost two years ago, she had been playing with her four-year-old son, and the five-year-old daughter of a neighbour.

"There was no alarm. There was just one big boom. The qassam [missile] came into this room."

Mrs Aragon was badly injured. She says that she was in such deep shock that she was not aware how badly, until she saw the expression of disbelief and horror on her son's face, as he looked at her.

Only then did she realise there was blood pouring from her head.

'Untenable'

Four pieces of shrapnel had lodged beneath her skull. She was operated on that evening.

The surgeons decided that they had no choice but to leave one shard of metal embedded in her brain.

Just under a year later, Israel launched Operation "Cast Lead".

The United Nations says about 1,400 Palestinians were killed, along with 13 Israelis.

"I'm very sorry for them [the Palestinians]," says Mrs Aragon.

"Just like I'm very sorry for myself and my children, and a lot of people who live here in Sderot, who were living through very difficult years of terror and bombing."

Mrs Aragon says that she remembers feeling, back then, that the Israeli government had to do something.

It was untenable, particularly for children she says.

In 11 months since the end of the war on 18 January, the Israeli army says that 248 missiles were fired from Gaza towards southern Israel - far fewer than before the war.

But Mrs Aragon says that the relative quiet has not helped her escape a trauma which led to her taking 18 months' sick leave.

"That day I will never forget, never. We're trying this last year, with the quiet, to do things that we couldn't do before.

"But inside, in your soul, you don't completely feel safe. There's always the thought that it might start again. You never really heal."

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## Shades

The war caused vast damage in Gaza, very little of which has been repaired

By Jeremy Bowen
Middle East editor, BBC News

A year after the war in Gaza, the guns are relatively quiet, most of the time.

A de facto ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has held. But the conflict is still there, and if anything it is keener. Until its fundamentals are tackled - and there's no sign of that happening - another big outbreak of violence between the two sides will only ever be one serious incident away.

Between 1120 and 1135 on 27 December 2008 the Israeli air force attacked the Arafat City police headquarters in Gaza, and at least three other police stations.

European diplomats from Israel's allies will speak on condition of anonymity about their concern about what they call 'the slow progress of degradation in living standards' in Gaza

World 'failed Gaza over blockade'

It was the start of an offensive that lasted for three weeks. The Israeli army says it killed 1,166 Palestinians. The Palestinian health ministry's count is about 1,500. B'Tselem, the Israeli human rights group, says that Israel killed 1,387 Palestinians during the war; more than half of them were civilians, and 252 of them were children.

Israeli attacks also did huge physical damage in Gaza to homes, businesses and the rest of the infrastructure of daily life.

Nine Israelis, including three civilians, were killed by Palestinian fire. Four others, all Israeli soldiers, were killed by their own side. Hamas rockets did little physical damage in Israel.

What happened is still controversial. Israel and Hamas disagree on every point - why it started, how it started and what has happened since - except that it was the latest battle in a very long war.

Punishing blockade

Twelve months on, Palestinian civilians in Gaza continue to suffer grievously. Israel has kept up its blockade. It allows in only the barest essentials, which are supplemented by whatever smugglers can bring in through tunnels from Egypt.


GAZA CONFLICT CASUALTIES
Total Palestinian deaths:
1,409 (PCHR)
1,387 (B'Tselem)
1,166 (Israeli military)
Palestinian children killed:
326 (under 17, PCHR)
252 (under 16, B'tselem)
89 (under 16, Israeli military)
Palestinian civilians killed:
916* (PCHR)
773* (B'tselem)
295 plus 162 unknown (Israeli military)
Israelis killed:
3 civilians
10 security forces (includes 4 by friendly fire)
*Figures exclude about 250 Hamas police officers

PCHR=Palestinian Human Rights Centre, B'Tselem=Israeli human rights group

Voices: Gaza, one year on
Two families struggle to recover
Gallery: Impact on Gaza children
Locals return to rocket-hit towns

The Egyptians, no friends of Hamas, also put heavy restrictions on what can pass through their border with Gaza. They are building an underground barrier to stop the tunnels under their border as well.

But Israel, legally speaking, still has the responsibilities of an occupying power, even though it no longer has a permanent military presence in Gaza. These responsibilities include ensuring the welfare of the population, allowing the functioning of medical services, and maintaining respect for private property.

It has been impossible to repair war damage because Israel has let in only 41 truckloads of construction materials since January 2009, according to a new report from the leading European humanitarian and human rights groups operating in Gaza.

They say that thousands of truckloads are needed and that the blockade should be lifted. Israel insists that concrete, piping, glass, steel and all the rest could be used for military purposes by Hamas. Jeremy Hobbs, from Oxfam, called it "a blockade that punishes everybody living there for the acts of a few".

Health issues

The same aid groups also accused world powers of abandoning Gaza, of simply wringing their hands about what is happening.

European diplomats from Israel's allies will speak on condition of anonymity about their concern about what they call "the slow progress of degradation in living standards" in Gaza.

Enough food comes in to make sure that people don't starve, though they have a limited diet. But the winter will be hard.

Israeli tanks on the edge of Gaza
Israelis - people and politicians - have consistently supported the war

In November only 275 aid trucks were allowed in, the lowest number since the crisis began, according to European diplomats. This month the Gaza power plant has been running at 62% of capacity; 90% of Gazans suffer power cuts of four to six hours a day.

Lack of clean water is a major health issue. Aid agencies say that diarrhoea kills many young children and they have linked contaminated ground water to congenital heart defects in new-born babies.

The violence and dislocation has also caused a dramatic increase in what doctors call psycho-social disorders. For children, who are especially hard-hit, that means bedwetting, nightmares, depression and aggression.

'Necessary action'

Israeli politicians stoutly defend what was done in Gaza a year ago. Most Israelis still consider it necessary defensive action, forced on them by years of rocket attacks.

The Israeli government has been campaigning against the UN's official report into violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza, which was published in September. Richard Goldstone, a respected South African judge and war crimes prosecutor, led the team that wrote the report.

Israeli air strike in Rafah, Gaza, on 13 January 2009

Israel debates response to report
UN seeks close Gaza scrutiny
Full UN report on Gaza war

Mr Goldstone is Jewish with strong Zionist credentials. That has not stopped the Israeli government from condemning his report as biased.

The Goldstone report said that there was evidence that both Israel and Hamas committed crimes against humanity during those three weeks at the turn of the year.

Israel says it worked very hard to protect Palestinian civilians and insists its soldiers respected the law. Yet there is also a nervousness about what has been done to Israel's image.

There was outrage in Israel when a British judge issued a warrant for the arrest of the former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who was in power during the Gaza war. It was revoked when it became clear Ms Livni would not be visiting the UK.

The Goldstone report said that states had a duty under international law "to investigate allegations of violations" by Israel or Hamas.

One consequence of what happened is that Israeli leaders need to think hard before they travel abroad.

Some Israeli analysts see this as another sign of what they call the "de-legitimisation" of their country by hostile and influential critics, which they believe is designed to erode its position as a Jewish state.

It is a fact though that Israeli citizens who live within rocket range of Gaza have had a much quieter and easier time of it in 2009 than for years. Israeli generals and politicians insist that the Gaza war means that their army is once again feared, in a way that it wasn't after Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas fought it to a standstill in 2006.

Prisoner exchange

It is also a fact that Gaza is still one of the major flashpoints in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Hopes that US President Barack Obama could conjure some diplomatic magic in 2009 have disappeared.

It is hard to see what can change the game. The split between the two main Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, looks as if it will continue.

Negotiations about a prisoner exchange could help. Hamas has one Israeli captive, a soldier called Gilad Shalit, who has been in their hands since 2006.

A German negotiator is shuttling between Gaza and Israel, trying to arrange to exchange Sgt Shalit for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

So far, Israel has not wanted to release as many as Hamas has been demanding. If a deal is made, European diplomats are hoping a relaxation of the blockade could follow.

But the Israeli government will be criticised at home for releasing Palestinians and giving Hamas a victory. Opening the borders might feel too much like giving them another.

What always amazes me about Gaza is that despite the difficulty of life there, it is never hard to find energetic people whose human spirit burns very bright. But there is not much to look forward to on either side of Gaza's border with Israel in 2010. The year will be full of challenges and dangers.

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## Shades

BBC
*Israel plans to build more homes in E Jerusalem*
East Jerusalem
Israel does not include East Jersusalem in a pause in building in the West Bank

Israel announces plans for nearly 700 homes in mainly Arab East Jerusalem, despite Palestinian and international demands that it freeze building there.

The move follows plans announced last month for 900 homes on occupied land in Gilo, south of Jerusalem.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it, in a move not recognised internationally.

The Palestinians, who want to locate their future capital in East Jerusalem, condemned the move.

They said the plans showed Israel was "not ready for peace".

Israel's housing ministry announced on Monday that it has invited contractors to bid on the construction of 198 housing units in Pisgat Zeev, 377 homes in Neve Yaakov and 117 dwellings in Har Homa, which are built on land captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

It is part of an invitation to bid for contracts on 6,500 housing units across the country.

The new buildings will make apartments cheaper and more affordable for young families, the Israeli Housing Ministry said.

Last month, Israel announced a 10-month suspension of new building in settlements in the occupied West Bank, under heavy pressure from the US.

But the right-leaning government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made is clear that it does not regard Jewish areas in Jerusalem as settlements and the restrictions do not apply there.

The Palestinians have refused to resume peace talks without a complete halt to settlement building in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

'Eternal capital'

In November, US President Barack Obama warned that Israel's plans to build 900 new homes in Gilo, to the south of Jerusalem, would create a "dangerous situation".

Mr Obama told Fox News that additional settlement construction made it harder for Israel to make peace in the region and "embitters the Palestinians".

"The Israeli government proves every day that it is not ready for peace," said Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

But Israel says that East Jerusalem is part of the "indivisible and eternal" Israeli capital.

Israel's annexation of the east of the city has never been recognised by the international community.

About 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in settlements illegal under international law.

----------


## Shades

*BBC
Israelis and Gazans reflect on the war, one year on
*
A year after Israel launched its 22-day military operation in the Gaza Strip, people from both sides give their views on the war.

More than 1,100 Gazans were killed in the offensive. Thirteen Israelis, including three civilians, died. Rights groups have accused both the Israeli military and Palestinian militants of committing war crimes.

Israel said it was aiming to end Palestinian rocket fire at towns in southern Israel. The rocket fire from Gaza has largely stopped, but Israel's blockade on the territory remains tight while Hamas is in power.

MUHAMMAD ABU JARAD, Beit Hanoun, Gaza

Muhammad Abu Jarad's wife was pregnant with their third child when she was killed by an Israeli shell containing small metal darts, known as flechettes. Rights groups criticise the weapon as indiscriminate.

Muhammad was also injured. He had already lost his job in a soft drinks factory, which he says closed because of the Israeli blockade.

Mohammad Abu Jarad and his young son, Beit Hanoun, Gaza Strip

Just this week I've got some work as a driver. It's the first work I've done in the past year. I don't even have a licence, but I needed the money.

Nothing has changed, in fact there's even more suffering. Psychologically we are even more tired.

Hamas claimed victory, Israel claimed victory - I don't know who won. But I know who lost - we civilians. This little boy lost his mother - was she a militant?

I don't think we will get justice. We were offered lawyers to take the Israelis to court. We don't know what will happen.

I was even invited to the border to be interviewed by the Israelis in their investigation [into alleged misconduct by Israeli forces].

I didn't want to go, but a lawyer and my neighbours pushed me.

The Israelis said they wanted to hold soldiers to account. But it's Israelis holding other Israelis to account, it's meaningless for us. It's just words.

OFER SPITZER, Nirbanim, southern Israel

Ofer's son Ben, an Israeli soldier, lost an arm in a friendly-fire incident while serving in the war. The family live within range of rocket fire from Gaza.

Our lives revolve around Ben at the moment, it's not easy. Twenty-four hours a day, we're focused on Ben.

The rehabilitation is very long - months, if not years. I feel like I sent out an F16 fighter plane and I barely received a small kite back.

The war was very much needed and it's a shame they didn't do it earlier. It's a shame they didn't finish it altogether.

They should have completely destroyed the Hamas regime.

As for the Palestinian side, I'm not so interested in them, they didn't take into consideration what was going on with us.

It's a shame that innocent children were killed, that's very bad, but I'm convinced no one intentionally fired at them. On the other side, they shot intentionally into civilian populations.

The south is quiet and peaceful now. Yes, we paid a price for it. I don't feel good about it, but I don't ask 'Why me?'

[On international criticism of Israel's military action:] It doesn't matter what we do, for eight years we were hit and no one said anything. I think we should stop being such goody two-shoes.

MOHAMED, Gaza Strip

Mohamed requested that his identity be concealed for fear of reprisals for his criticism of Hamas.


GAZA CONFLICT CASUALTIES
Total Palestinian deaths:
1,409 (PCHR)
1,387 (B'Tselem)
1,166 (Israeli military)
Palestinian children killed:
326 (under 17, PCHR)
252 (under 16, B'tselem)
89 (under 16, Israeli military)
Palestinian civilians killed:
916* (PCHR)
773* (B'tselem)
295 plus 162 unknown (Israeli military)
Israelis killed:
3 civilians
10 security forces (includes 4 by friendly fire)
*Figures exclude about 250 Hamas police officers

PCHR=Palestinian Human Rights Centre, B'Tselem=Israeli human rights group

Gaza: Still on a knife edge
Two families struggle to recover
Gallery: Impact on Gaza children
Locals return to rocket-hit towns

Before the war I supported firing rockets at Israel, but now I've changed my mind. It has brought us nothing but destruction. It is not resistance when you fire and run away from the area and endanger the civilians living there.

The war showed that the resistance do not really care for the people of Gaza. If they did, they would have done more to avoid the destruction.

I think it's better to resist Israel with diplomacy, like going to the UN Security Council. It's this that Israel fears.

Media-wise, the war made Hamas stronger. It received aid and sympathy from some countries. But militarily it made it weaker. Hamas ended up stopping the rockets without really getting anything back. The siege is still there.

Hamas could resolve all of this if it wanted to, by reaching agreement with Fatah. This would leave Israel with no more excuses to avoid abiding by agreements. But it would also oblige Hamas to hold elections which they could lose.

DORI ENGEL, actor, Tel Aviv, Israel

Dori was opposed to the war from the start.
Dori Engel

When the war started I found the general feeling of "Let's go and get them" really frightening. It disgusted me.

I was shocked when I saw how disproportionate Israel's response turned out to be. I still feel ashamed to be part of it.

I was also embarrassed that Israel didn't let journalists into Gaza during the war. Do we have something to hide?

We are very disconnected from people in Palestinian territories. Recently I've been curious to find out more than what's in Israel's mainstream media. But I am not a political activist, by the way!

It's left me confused. Increasingly, I notice the gap between what is said publicly - and what happens on the ground. For example, with the settlements, or building in East Jerusalem, or keeping Gaza closed.

I think the closure of Gaza is morally wrong.

But it's complex. Hamas are terrorists and I blame them for attacking civilians and for using them as human shields. A country has to defend itself. How do you do this without torturing a whole population?

Maybe we need more international supervision.


ABU NADER, Gaza militant, Gaza Strip

This Palestinian describes himself as a fighter with no political affiliation. He says he is not a spokesman for Hamas, and spoke on condition that his identity was concealed.

Gaza militant

I say to Israel, you made a mistake when you carried out your vicious campaign.

Your answer from the resistance will be earth-shaking, God willing.

We have not stopped our resistance through fear or weakness. Thousands of people have lost their homes and our role now is to help get shelter for them.

We are rebuilding and preparing.

We Palestinians love life the same way you do, but we are not afraid of death because we have right on our side.

What was taken by force can only be regained by force. Jews came from all over the world to colonise this land.

How can we recognise the state of Israel when its people stole the land from its original owners?

We became refugees because of the international support for the so-called Zionist entity in 1948. No matter how long it takes, we will get our rights back.

RIVKA GOLDSCHMIDT, former Gaza settler, Israel

Rivka lives in temporary accommodation in Yad Binyamin, south of Tel Aviv. She was among the Israeli settlers who Israel decided to withdraw from Gaza in 2005.

Rivka Goldschmidt

We lived in Gush Katif for 28 years before the Israeli government took the unpopular decision that we had to leave.

We had a very good relationship with the Arabs who worked on our farm. They were the quiet minority who just wanted to earn their living.

But since 2000, we had been attacked with thousands of mortar shells. The terrorists carried on launching rockets after we left, so it's not about the so-called occupation.

I thought the war in Gaza a year ago was too late and too little. No government in the world would let its own people remain under fire like this.

It's been quieter since the war, but this means the terrorists are just preparing for the next attack. They're not going to stop until they get to Tel Aviv and Haifa.

Hamas definitely got a hiding, but they have mean, cruel ways of getting stronger. There's nothing democratic in Gaza.

We speak to our worker in Gaza every now and then. We even transferred money to his bank account once.

The withdrawal of Jews from the Gaza Strip was bad for the population on both sides.

----------


## Shades

*Holocaust Survivor on Hunger Strike for Gaza*
29/12/2009 03:11:36 PM GMT 

 CAIRO  As the Gaza Strip continues to reel under a crippling Israeli siege, a Holocaust survivor has gone on hunger strike to protest Egypts refusal to allow a solidarity march to enter the sealed off coastal enclave. "It is important to let the besieged Gazan people know they are not alone," Hedy Epstein, 85, told the Massachusetts-based Salem-News website on Tuesday, December 29.

"I want to tell the people I meet in Gaza that I am a representative of many people in my city and in other places in the US who are outraged at what the US, Israeli and European governments are doing to the Palestinians and that our numbers are growing."

*Flanked by hundreds of foreign supporters outside the UN building in Cairo, the American activist began a hunger strike late Monday*.

"*I've never done this before, I don't know how my body will react, but I'll do whatever it takes*," Epstein told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Hundreds of activists from 43 countries had gathered in Cairo to mark the first anniversary of the deadly Israeli onslaught on Gaza, which killed more than 1,400 people and wounded thousands.

May wore T-shirts with the slogans "The Audacity of War Crimes" and "We will not be silent."

Other held a giant Palestinian flag, chanting "Freedom for Gaza" in various languages.

The activists are seeking permission to cross into Gaza but Cairo argues that the march is illegal and describes it as a threat to its national security.

"We met with the UN resident coordinator in Cairo James Rawley and we are waiting for a response," Philippine Senator Walden Bello told protesters.

"We will wait as long as it takes."

Lift Siege

Epstein and the other foreign activists had arranged to join Palestinians in a protest march to Gazas Erez border with Israel, where they were to demand the crossing point be opened and the three-year blockade lifted.

"*I never saw a government deny humanitarian aid before," the Holocaust survivor told The Indypendent, a New York-based free newspaper*.

"Ive been in human and civil rights struggles for a long time, and Ive never been on a hunger strike before.

"There comes a time in a struggle when you have to put your own life on the line."

Epstein said the Gaza solidarity march aims to drum up support for lifting the Israeli siege on the 1.6 million people of Gaza.

"*(It) is trying to break the siege of Gaza imposed by the Israeli government," she explained*.

"And I suspect that the Egyptian government is under pressure by the US and Israeli governments.

"So I decided to go on a hunger strike to try to persuade the Egyptian government to let us go."

Epstein only developed interest in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict after the 1982 massacre of Sabra and Shatila.

Since then her primary cause became the Palestinians and the end of the Israeli occupation.

On April 18, 1948, Palestinian Tiberius was captured by Menachem Begin's Irgun militant group, putting its 5,500 Palestinian residents in flight. On April 22, Haifa fell to the Zionist militants and 70,000 Palestinians fled.

On April 25, Irgun began bombarding civilian sectors of Jaffa, terrifying the 750,000 inhabitants into panicky flight.

On May 14, Jaffa completely surrendered to the much better-equipped Zionist militants and only about 4,500 of its population remained, and Israel was created on the rubble of Palestine.

Source: IslamOnline

----------


## Shades

*Cairo forces Viva Palestina to take detour*
Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:52:43 GMT

Thanks to Cairo's obstruction, Viva Palestina humanitarian convoy en rout to the Gaza Strip will take a detour and head to Syria Latakia, in a bid to enter Egypt through El-Arish.

The convoy of 250 vehicles has been stranded in the Jordanian port city of Aqaba after Egypt refused to allow it to go through the Red Sea port of Nuweiba  the most direct route. Cairo insisted that the convoy can only enter through the Mediterranean port city of El-Arish.

"The aid convoy will leave Aqaba for (the Mediterranean port of) Latakia in Syria before going to El-Arish, in line with Cairo's decision," said Maysara Malas, of Jordan's powerful trade union federation, which has been helping to organize the aid convoy.
"We hope that Egypt does not put more obstacles. It's unfortunate that Israel has interfered in Egypt's decision, which serves the Zionist entity," he added.

Around 250 trucks, ambulances and other vehicles laden with Arab, Turkish and other European aid  both food and medical supplies  in Aqaba arrived on Thursday hoping to take the ferry across to Nuweiba.

"After talks between the Turkish government's envoy and the Egyptian consulate in Aqaba, we agreed to go to Syria," Zaher Birawi, spokesman for the convoy told AFP on Monday.

The convoy was scheduled to deliver medical, humanitarian and educational aid to Gazans on December 27, which marks the first year anniversary of Israel's three-week war against the sliver.

Egyptian police also stopped some 200 protesters from renting boats on the Nile to hold a procession to commemorate the death of over 1,400 victims of Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.

SB/MMN

----------


## Shades

*Livni accuses Netanyahu of using "gutter politics"*
Tue, 29 Dec 2009 02:28:40 GMT

Israel's centrist Kadima party, led by former foreign minister Tzipi Livni, has accused the prime minister of using gutter politics in his proposal to give the party cabinet seats.

Benjamin Netanyahu's proposal for Kadima to join the broad-based coalition cynically uses threats, she said, adding that the offer has not split her party.

In rejecting the proposal, Livni accused Netanyahu of using gutter politics, saying he had made his offer after he failed to split Kadima despite his efforts to do so.

The prime minister's proposal as relayed to the Kadima chairman does not express an honest desire for such partnership, MP Yohanan Plasner told reporters after Kadima's parliamentary faction unanimously rejected the offer.

A unity government has many advantages, but a national unity should not be an empty expression, but a commitment for a real partnership with a joint vision and principles and an agreed way to materialize these principles, he said.

Netanyahu met Livni twice over the past few days after inviting her to join his government and form a coalition to face the national and international challenges facing Israel today.

Kadima, with 28 MPs, is the largest party in the 120-member Israeli parliament.

FTP/HGL

----------


## Shades

*EU calls settlements in Jerusalem Al-Quds illegal*
Tue, 29 Dec 2009 02:46:51 GMT

A new housing project is under construction at Har Homa near East Jerusalem Al-Quds.
The European Union has said new settlements in East Jerusalem Al-Quds are illegal under international law and urged Israel to reconsider its plans.

The presidency of the European Union is dismayed at the announcement of the Israeli government to build nearly 700 apartments in the occupied East Jerusalem, (Al-Quds) said a statement issued on Monday from Sweden, which holds the EU presidency.

The Israeli Housing Ministry has sought bids for the construction of 692 new homes within Jewish settlements in annexed Arab East Jerusalem Al-Quds. Israel's continued expansion of the settlements is one of the biggest obstacles to the resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians.

The plans to build about 700 new Jewish homes in areas of the occupied West Bank have even prompted strong US criticism.

The United States has said it opposes Jewish settlement construction on occupied land and has urged Israel and the Palestinians to resume the negotiations, which have been stalled for a year.

A spokesman for acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas condemned the Israeli plan, saying new construction on territory occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East war is illegal.

The Israeli Housing Ministry has invited contractors to bid for the construction of 198 housing units in Pisgat Zeev, 377 homes in Neve Yaakov, and 117 dwellings in Har Homa, settlements near Jerusalem Al-Quds.

FTP/HGL

----------


## Shades

*Israel arrests nuclear whistleblower*
Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:39:05 GMT

Mordechai Vanunu was jailed as a traitor in 1986 and served an 18-year sentence after discussing his work as a technician at Israel's Dimona nuclear reactor with a British newspaper.
Israeli police have arrested former nuclear assistant Mordechai Vanunu on charges of having contact with "a number of foreigners" at a hotel in Jeruselum Al-Quds.

"Vanunu was detained in Jerusalem last night," said Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. "He is suspected of having had contacts with foreign agents."

A court spokesman said he would be released from jail Tuesday evening but was ordered to stay under house arrest through Thursday.

Vanunu has been detained several times for violating the terms of his parole which ban him from travel or contact with foreigners.

He served an 18-year sentence in prison after discussing his work as a technician at Israel's Dimona nuclear reactor with a British newspaper in 1986.

After his release in 2004, Israel's Supreme Court barred him from travelling abroad, alleging he has more details on the Dimona atomic reactor to divulge.

Vanunu however denies he poses a security risk but says he will pursue anti-nuclear activities and wants to live abroad.

The restrictions on him have been condemned by international human rights groups.

SB/MD

----------


## Shades

*US castigates Israel over new Jerusalem Al-Quds plan*
Tue, 29 Dec 2009 23:07:22 GMT

A laborer works at a construction site in a settlement near Jerusalem Al-Quds known to Israelis as Har Homa and to Palestinians as Jabal Abu Ghneim.
*The White House has expressed strong disapproval of a controversial Israeli plan to build nearly 700 new apartments for Jews in East Jerusalem Al-Quds, where Palestinians hope to set up the capital of a future state.*

The United States opposes new Israeli construction in East Jerusalem [Al-Quds]. The status of Jerusalem [Al-Quds] is a permanent status issue that must be resolved by the parties through negotiations and supported by the international community, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement issued on Monday.

Neither party should engage in efforts or take actions that could unilaterally preempt, or appear to preempt, negotiations. Rather, both parties should return to negotiations without preconditions as soon as possible.

The United States recognizes that Jerusalem [Al-Quds] is a deeply important issue for Israelis and Palestinians, and for Jews, Muslims, and Christians. We believe that through good faith negotiations the parties can mutually agree on an outcome that realizes the aspirations of both parties for Jerusalem [Al-Quds], and safeguards its status for people around the world, the statement added.

The *Israeli plan has undermined US efforts to jump-start the stalled Middle East peace process.*

Tel Aviv is currently under intense pressure from the international community to halt the construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank. Israeli settlements are widely considered the main obstacle in the way of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

*Under the 2002 Roadmap for Peace plan brokered by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia, Israel has to 'dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and freeze all settlement activities.'*

There are currently 121 Israeli settlements and 102 Israeli outposts built on Palestinian land occupied by Israel in 1967.

These settlements and outposts are inhabited by a population of approximately 462,000 Israeli settlers. Some 191,000 Israelis are living in settlements around Jerusalem Al-Quds and an additional 271,400 are spread throughout the West Bank.

All of these settlements and outposts, which have been erected on occupied land that the Palestinians claim for a future state, are illegal under international law and have been condemned by numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions.

MP/HGL

----------


## Shades

*Israeli tanks target houses in northern Gaza*
Wed, 30 Dec 2009 03:28:41 GMT

Israeli army tanks have opened fire on houses and farmlands in the northern sector of the Gaza Strip, according to a report.

A number of Israeli tanks attacked lands located near Beit Hannon and commenced firing on Tuesday midday at Palestinian farmers near the northern Gaza-Israeli border.

Bulldozers also destroyed the crops of the locals, according to the International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC).

The area where the gunfire was reported lies approximately 800 meters from the Green Line in the farming region of Abu Sufiyah, according to local Palestinian sources.

The farmers said that a number of homes and lands sustained damage but reported no injuries.

The Israeli army launched a massive military offensive, known as 'Operation Cast Lead' against the Gaza Strip from December 2008 to January 2009. Over 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the three-week offensive, which inflicted $1.6 billion in damage on the Gaza economy.

----------


## Shades

*Report says Israel will leave Ghajar in Jan.*
Wed, 30 Dec 2009 02:28:54 GMT

A sign stands at the entrance to the village of Ghajar on the Israeli-Lebanese border.
Israeli forces will evacuate the northern part of the border village of Ghajar at the end of January 2010 according to a deal between UNIFIL and Tel Aviv.

Lebanon's leading Arabic-language daily newspaper, An-Nahar, quoting well-informed US sources, reported on Tuesday that Israeli troops will pull out from the Lebanese side of the village in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1701 based on a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) plan.

According to the plan, the United Nations will deploy 12 peacekeepers in addition to a Lebanese officer and three other Lebanese soldiers from the northern part of the village of Ghajar if the Israeli pullout does not affect the daily lives of the village's residents.

The condition stipulates that the residents should be able to move between the northern and southern sides of the village without any difficulty.

Israel would also provide Ghajar residents with water and electricity, which is a point that Lebanon accepted because its priority is an Israeli pullout from the village.

Israel is obliged to withdraw from the northern part of Ghajar by UN Resolution 1701 that ended the 33-day war between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah in 2006. However, Israel has maintained a military presence in Ghajar since the end of the 33-day war. Israeli soldiers have also set up a security fence to control entry to the village.

Ghajar lies at the foot of Mount Hermon and straddles the Lebanese-Syrian border. It is an extension of Syria's Golan Heights, which Israel occupied during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and then annexed in 1981. One-third of the village is on Lebanese soil, while the other two-thirds is part of Syrian territory.

MP/HGL

----------


## Shades

*Lebanon army opens fire on Israeli jets*
Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:03:27 GMT

Lebanese anti-aircraft guns have opened fire on four Israeli fighter planes that were *violating airspace over the southern part of the country*.

"The army's anti-aircraft guns fired in the direction of four Phantom-type enemy Israeli planes that had been overflying the southeastern Hasbaya region at low altitude since Tuesday morning," an army spokesman told AFP.

He added that *by mid-morning the planes were still conducting their exercises in the region.*

The Lebanese military reports, *almost on a daily basis, airspace violations by Israeli aircraft, but does not normally open fire on them.*

The UN considers Israeli violation of Lebanese airspace to be against Security Council Resolution 1701, which brought an end to the Israeli offensive on Lebanon in 2006.

MP/SC/DT

----------


## Shades

*Child born into a life of conflict in Gaza*

Mariam, born during the outbreak of the Gaza conflict, is still sickly
By Katya Adler
*BBC News, Gaza*

Mariam El-Sharif was born a year ago into a world of conflict and violence.

Her extended family crowds around a cake with one pink candle on it.

The walls of this front room in northern Gaza are still riddled with bullet and mortar shell holes.


Life is hard for my daughter - we still live in fear in Gaza and there is no hope that life will get better
Saadiyia al-Sharif,
Gaza resident

Israel began a three-week long assault on Gaza, a couple of hours after Mariam came in to the world. Panic and chaos spread throughout Gaza's main hospital.

Israel says its operation was aimed at Palestinian militants, who for years had been firing rockets at Israeli families over the border.

But hundreds of Gaza's civilians were killed and thousands were injured in Israel's military campaign.

Born prematurely, Mariam spent the war here in an incubator. Her mother was sent home to make room for the wounded.

I met Saadiya Sharif days after the war. She had just been reunited with her daughter.

"I'm always holding her. I don't let her out of my sight now," she told me.

"It was very difficult. Mariam was in the hospital without me for 21 days. We couldn't leave our house to pick her up because of the shelling. Israeli soldiers were based across the road from us."

Frustrations

One year later Gaza is still bruised and battered and Mariam is still sickly.

We went with her and her mother to a UN clinic.


GAZA CONFLICT CASUALTIES
Total Palestinian deaths:
1,409 (PCHR)
1,387 (B'Tselem)
1,166 (Israeli military)
Palestinian children killed:
326 (under 17, PCHR)
252 (under 16, B'tselem)
89 (under 16, Israeli military)
Palestinian civilians killed:
916* (PCHR)
773* (B'tselem)
295 plus 162 unknown (Israeli military)
Israelis killed:
3 civilians
10 security forces (includes 4 by friendly fire)
*Figs exclude about 250 Hamas police officers

PCHR=Palestinian Human Rights Centre, B'Tselem=Israeli human rights group

Voices: Gaza, one year on
Gaza: Still on a knife edge
Two families struggle to recover
Gallery: Impact on Gaza children
Locals return to rocket-hit towns

Mariam is examined regularly there, but the medicine she needs is often unavailable or too expensive.

Israel allows basic humanitarian supplies in to Gaza but it still has a punishing blockade in place here.

Israel says the aim is to put pressure on the militants, but the people of Gaza say everyone suffers.

Last month, the World Health Organization warned that 125 of 480 essential drugs were at "zero level". This means there was less than one month's supply left.

Israel allows most medicines into Gaza, but amounts can vary and their transfer can be slowed by Israeli and Palestinian bureaucracy.

The entry of medical equipment and other goods is severely limited.

After weighing and measuring Mariam, Dr Salim Ramadan told us of the frustrations of being a doctor in Gaza.

He said Mariam's case was typical. He often prescribes medicines to patients that either turn out not to be available in Gaza or that have been smuggled in from Egypt through the tunnels but at such a cost that few Gazans can pay.

'What to do?' he said. 'We have 65% of people living here under the poverty line and the situation is just getting worse.'

Mrs Sharif is also exasperated.

As a mother, she should be able to provide for her daughter, she says, but she couldn't give Mariam her breastmilk when she was born as they were kept apart by the war and now, a year later, she still can't protect her - economically, medically or in terms of safety.

"Life is hard for my daughter. We still live in fear in Gaza and there is there is no hope that life will get better," she says.

"She wants to be like children in the Western world - to play, to have complete freedom. In the future, if she wants to travel, if she wants a normal life, she can't have this in Gaza. Israel's siege controls our lives."

Twelve months after Israel's military operation in Gaza, Hamas, Israel's enemy, remains in power while ordinary people feel unable to pick up the pieces of their lives

Mariam's family like so many others here say they trust no-one and fear for the future.

----------


## Shades

*Israeli State Officials Say US Knew about Jerusalem Building Plan*
30/12/2009 02:32:05 AM GMT 

Israel informed the United States in advance of its plan to build 692 housing units in occupied Jerusalem neighborhoods located beyond the Green Line, Israeli state officials told Ynet on Sunday evening.

However, a conflict in the international arena between Israel and the Palestinians, the US and the European Union may be inevitable.

Hatem Abdel Kader, who holds the Jerusalem portfolio in the Fatah movement, told Ynet that "the Americans must respond to this Israeli game."

The tender, which will be issued by the Israeli Housing and Construction Ministry on Monday, includes the construction of about 6,500 housing units in 54 communities, including the following disputed neighborhoods: 377 new apartments in Neve Yaakov, 117 housing units in Har Homa and 198 in Pisgat Ze'ev.

According to the Israeli officials, the US knew of the plan in advance, including the location of each housing unit. The sources refused to say, however, how the Americans responded to the Israeli construction plan in the three neighborhoods in the occupied Jerusalem vicinity.

Senior Israeli state officials clarified that the timing of the tender was not random. According to the source, the Israeli government took advantage of the Christmas holiday, during which American and European government officials are on vacation.

The officials also mentioned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had nothing to hide. "He explicitly declared, both in the cabinet and immediately afterwards to the entire world, that the decision to freeze construction in Judea and Samaria has nothing to do with (occupied) Jerusalem. Israel built in (occupied) Jerusalem before the freeze and will continue to build there now."

The Israeli Prime Minister's Office said in response to Ynet's appeal, "The Americans are updated on everything that is taking place in the construction field and has diplomatic consequences. Everything is being done with complete transparency."

The new plan is already being criticized by the Palestinian Authority. Hatem Abdel Kader slammed the decision to build 700 housing units in occupied Jerusalem, saying that the Israeli government was determined to destroy the peace process.

According to Abdel Kader, the claims that the construction was aimed at easing the housing shortage were false. "There is no housing shortage in the settlements in Jerusalem, and in most settlements the apartments are empty. This is a move aimed at creating facts in the ground as part of the Israeli effort to cause the American concept of two states to collapse."

Abdel Kader also slammed the decision to issue the tender during the Christmas period. "This is a serious show of contempt towards the American administration and their efforts on the matter," he said.

âThis is mainly a proof of the American weakness to curb Israel and stop the ongoing construction. This move is complete contempt, taking advantage of the vacation for such an opportunistic move, and the Americans must respond to the Israeli game.â

"The Israelis have apparently decided to address us only in the security angle," Abdel Kader continued, "and therefore on the one hand they escalate their activity in the West Bank and on the other hand they continue to expand the settlements, mainly in (occupied) Jerusalem, in order to shut down any possibility for a serious diplomatic process."

The Fatah official said that the world was currently settling for talks and condemnations of the settlements, but was not doing a thing, helping Israel to continue building and destroying the chance for peace.

"It's interesting that the Israelis are talking about a housing shortage and buildings hundreds of housing units, but when 10 people live in one room in the eastern part of the city and in the Old City, that is not considered a housing shortage," he accused.

According to Abdel Kader, the Palestinians received 25 building permits in occupied Jerusalem this year, but are in need of at least 1,800.

For his part, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP, "The Palestinian Authority strongly condemns the new decision to build in east Jerusalem and wonders whether there is a freeze of settlement activity or an intensification of it."

"The American administration needs to realize that the policies of the Israeli government embody settlements and not peace and that their choice is settlements and not peace," he added.
¬
Source: AJP

----------


## Shades

*BBC
Israel court rules Palestinians can use highway*

Israel's Supreme Court has ordered the military to let Palestinians use a road that runs through the West Bank.

Palestinians were barred from the Jerusalem to Tel Aviv Highway 443 in 2002 when militants shot dead a number of Israelis in their cars.

The case was brought by Palestinians who live in the villages along the 12.5-mile (20-km) West Bank section of the road.

Human rights groups hailed the decision saying it was "a huge victory".

The court said the military did not have the authority to impose the kind of sweeping limitation that "in effect transforms the road into a route designed for 'internal' Israeli traffic alone".

'Huge victory'

The road was built on land appropriated from the villagers who lived along its course.

But villagers are prevented from getting on the highway by concrete barricades and military checkpoints along its length.

The military have five months to implement the ruling and dismantle the barriers.

It is the second time in recent months the court has ordered the military to open roads to Palestinians.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, which provided legal representation to the Palestinians, said it was "a huge victory".

But the ruling was condemned by Israeli right-wingers.

----------


## Shades

*BBC
Record 11th divorce granted to Jewish Israeli man*

A 50-year-old man from Jerusalem has been granted a divorce for the 11th time, a new Israeli record for Jews according to a Rabbinical court.

He told the court he usually divorced his wives every two years and looked for a new bride immediately after.

The man said he regretted his first divorce as it had begun a never-ending search for the next "experience".

His newest ex-wife said that since they married he had not worked and had lived off her income, amassing large debts.

The previous Jewish Israeli record for divorces by one person was seven.

'No grey hair'

Announcing the country's record 11th divorce, the Rabbinical Court Administration said: "It turns out that the popular divorcee courts his wives in a persuasive and sensitive way.


I send out a hook in all directions, and the fish come on their own
Jewish divorce record holder

"But after a short time on both sides they get annoyed with each other and after the courting, fights begin.

"Despite his 50 years, he has no grey hair and despite his much experience in marriage, he plans to marry again," the statement added.

The man has one son from a previous marriage, but the court said he had not paid any child support to his ex-wife.

He told the court he had never experienced any difficulty in finding a new bride.

"I send out a hook in all directions, and the fish come on their own."

In the statement, the rabbis praised the man for going through all the correct religious procedures for getting a divorce.

Under Jewish law, to divorce his wife a man must issue her with a "Get", a document that says "you are hereby permitted to all men".

----------


## Shades

* PCBS: 10.9 Million Palestinians in the World*
Date : 29/12/2009   Time : 18:58

RAMALLAH, December 29, 2009 (WAFA)- The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said Tuesday that 10.9 million Palestinians in the world by the end of 2009, more than half in Diaspora and about 36.7% in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

By  the end of 2009, PCBS said in a press release,  about 4.0 million Palestinians were in the Palestinian Territory, of which 2.5 million were in the West Bank and 1.5 million in Gaza Strip.

PCBS  indicated that it issued this press release on the Palestinians in the world and their main demographic indicators, as part of efforts and plans, as well as its mandate to provide policy makers, politicians, development planners, and academics with the most reliable statistics on the Palestinians all over the world.

The estimated figure for Palestinians all over World by the end of 2009 is 10.88 million distributed as follows: 3.99 million in the Palestinian Territory (36.7%); 1.25 million (11.5%) live in Israel; 3.24 million live in Jordan (29.8%); 1.78 million (16.3%) in the other Arab countries, and Palestinians living in foreign countries is estimated to be 618 thousand (5.7%).

The population of the Palestinian Territory is estimated to be about 4.0 million at the end of 2009 (62.1%) in the West Bank and (37.9%) in Gaza Strip; Jerusalem Governorate constitutes 9.5%. of the population in the Palestinian Territory. According to data available in 2009 the percentage of the refugee population in the Palestinian Territory is 45.0% of the total Palestinian population living in the Palestinian Territory,18.8% in the West Bank and 26.2% in Gaza Strip; the refugee population is distributed by the region at 30.2% in the West Bank and 69.2% in Gaza Strip.

The total fertility rate in the Palestinian Territory in 2007 was 4.6 births; compared with 6.0 births for 1997, with 4.1 births in the West Bank and 5.3 births in Gaza Strip, although there was a decrease of fertility rate, population natural increase rate is still high, estimated to be 2.9% in the Palestinian Territory in 2009.

Data indicated that there is a fall in the average family size in the Palestinian Territory, where the average family size is 5.8 persons in 2007, compared with 6.4 persons in 1997. On the other hand, the average family size in the West Bank was 5.5 persons in 2007 compared with 6.1 per family in 1997, while in Gaza Strip, the average family size was 6.5 persons in 2007 compared with 6.9 in 1997.

The crude birth rate in the Palestinian Territory dropped from 42.7 births per 1000 population in 1997 to 32.7 in 2009.  However, there are regional discrepancies: the crude birth rate in the West Bank decreased from 41.2 births per 1000 population in 1997 to 30.1 in 2009, whereas in Gaza Strip, it dropped from 45.4 in 1997 to 36.9 in 2009.

The crude death rate in the Palestinian Territory declined from 4.9 deaths per 1000 population in 1997 to 4.3 in 2009.  There was a slight difference between the West Bank and Gaza Strip:  in the West Bank, the crude death rate dropped from 5.1 in 1997 to 4.4 in 2009, and dropped  from 4.7 to 4.1 in Gaza Strip for the same period. 

The results of the survey on the Impact of the Wall of Annexation and Expansion on the social and economic realities for Palestinian localities the Wall of Annexation and Expansion passes through in 2008 showed that since the construction of the wall until the end of June 2008, 3,880 entire households were displaced from their localities compared with 2,448 households were displaced since the construction of the wall until the end of May 2005. 27,841 individuals were displaced from localities where the Wall of Annexation and Expansion passes through until the end of June 2008, compared with 14,364 displaced individuals since the construction of the wall until the end of May 2005.

According to 2007 data about Palestinians living in Jordan, 35.9% of the Palestinian population in Jordan are under 15 years. The average household size of the Palestinian population living in Jordan is 5.1 persons. The total fertility rate of Palestinian population living in Jordan was 3.3 births per woman.

According to 2007 data about Palestinians living in Syria, 33.1% of the Palestinian population is under 15 years. The average household size of the Palestinian population in Syria was 4.9 persons. The total fertility rate of the Palestinian population in Syria in 2007 was 3.64 births per woman and the crude birth rate was 29.3 births per 1000 population.

The data of 2007 about Palestinians living in Lebanon showed that 32.9% of them were under 15 years, and the sex ratio was 98.4 males per 100 females. The total fertility rate of the Palestinian population in Lebanon was 3.0 births per woman.

The estimated figure of Palestinians in Israel by the end of 2009 is 1.25 million persons.  According to 2007 data about Palestinians living in Israel, 40.6% of the Palestinian population were under 15 years and 3.2% of them were 65 years and over.  The average household size was 5.0 persons.  The total fertility rate of the Palestinian population in Israel in 2007 was 3.62 births per woman. The crude birth rate in 2007 was about 27.3 births per 1000 population, and the infant mortality  rate for the same year was 7.2 per thousand live births; note that the sex ratio for 2007 was 103.6 males per one hundred females. The illiteracy rate for persons 15 years and over was 6.1% and 26.2% of the Palestinian households live in housing units with a density of two persons and more.

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## Shades

*Norwich councillor in Gaza house arrest *  
29.12.09 - 21:15
*A Norwich councillor has been placed under house arrest in Egypt after trying to reach the Gaza Strip to deliver art materials to people traumatised by the conflict in the territory*.
ImagePeter Offord, Green county councillor for Thorpe Hamlet, set off last week to join the Gaza Freedom March, a 1,000-strong international delegation calling for the borders to be re-opened to let in humanitarian aid and mark the first anniversary of a conflict with Israel which saw more than 1,400 people killed.

The 62-year-old managed to reach the Egyptian city of el-Arish, about 40km away from the Gaza Strip, but at 12pm on Sunday he was among around 30 activists who were detained in their hotel.

Road blocks have also been set up around the town, with the Egyptian security forces preventing taxis carrying people who appear to be European, from leaving, with two protesters having been stopped and detained by police.

Mr Offord, a qualified art therapist, who hoped to visit the newly set up Palestine Trauma Centre in Gaza and donate art materials, said: We are pretty much under house arrest. We can leave the apartments so long as we don't take our luggage with us, but the minute we pick up our bags, they stop us from leaving.

The internet connection at the hotel has either gone down or been cut off and there are plain-clothed police at the front and back of the hotel.

My main aim is getting the art materials to the trauma centre, so I am trying to make contact with the Egyptian Foreign Minister to see if, even if I can't go there, it would be possible for someone else to take the materials to them.

On New Year's Eve the group hopes to walk from Gaza City to the Erez border crossing to meet a delegation from the Israeli side comprising of Palestinians and Jews who are also calling on the Israeli government to open the border crossing.

But Mr Offord said the group was becoming increasingly frustrated and that such as meeting was looking unlikely to happen unless the Egyptian security forces relented.

He said: We are frustrated, sad and angry. From the outset we made clear this was a peaceful protest, but as soon as we arrived they enforced a law saying it was unlawful to gather in groups of six or more, so the main protest was banned.

We are looking at ways we might still be able to get there, but people are becoming demoralised.

Mr Offord said the trip had still fulfilled its objective to raise awareness of the situation in Gaza and help victims of the conflict.

It is vital that Gaza and Palestine are not forgotten by the rest of the world, he said. It highlights the need for both sides to come to a peaceful resolution.

source: Advertuser 24

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## Shades

*Mofaz blasts Livni for vote-rigging, poor leadership*
Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:15:39 GMT

Kadima leader Tzipi Livni (R) and the Knesset member for the party, Shaul Mofaz
Kadima member Shaul Mofaz accuses Tzipi Livni of vote-rigging in the party's 2008 leadership primary, saying the former foreign minister lacks leadership.

The charges come almost a year after the September 2008 primary, in which Mofaz lost to Livni by a few hundred votes.

Prior to the primary, Mofaz claimed millions of shekels from public funds were distributed to Kadima members across Israel in order to win their support for Livni.

Mofaz believes the subsequent primary in November 2008 to choose Kadima's Knesset (Israeli parliament) candidates involved improprieties as well. "The result that was there at midnight apparently was not the result by which the MKs (Members of Knesset) were eventually ranked," he said in an interview with .

The former defense minister also sharply criticized Livni's character as an arrogant person devoid of emotional intelligence who dislikes people and is unable to communicate with them. Mofaz cited that her lack of leadership and decision-making ability, has made it 'impossible' for her to become prime minister.

He also charged Livni with strategic mistakes which have led Kadima into the deep crisis.

The remarks come shortly after Netanyahu called on Livni to join his cabinet as international pressure mounts on the hawkish premier to halt settlement activities and start peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

However, in a Tuesday speech to the Likud Central Committee, Deputy Minister Ayoub Kara joined Knesset member Tsipi Hotoveli in opposing efforts to encourage Kadima lawmakers to join Likud, or to persuade them into joining the government.

"Those who tried to destroy the Likud have no place in it The traitors who jumped ship have no place among us. We will not take back those who tried to wreck our party," Kara said, referring to former Likud MKs, who left the party along with former prime minister Ariel Sharon and formed Kadima.

MRS/SC/MMN

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## Shades

*Viva Palestina en rout to El-Arish*
Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:10:13 GMT

The Viva Palestina aid convoy, en route to the Gaza Strip, is set to leave Syria for the Egyptian port city of El-Arish where it might face interception by Israeli forces.

The convoy of 250 vehicles will leave Syria's Lattakia port and head for the Egyptian port city of El-Arish to enter the Gaza Strip, the official Syrian SANA news agency reported on Wednesday.

According to Zaher an-Birawi, the convoy's spokesman, the Viva Palestina faces the risk of interception by the Israeli military forces at the sea.

"Any Israeli aggression on the convoy during sailing to Egyptian El-Arish port will be condemned and will unveil the truth of its perpetrators," he said.

The convoy, which departed from London on December 6, returned to Syria on Tuesday from the Jordanian port city of al-Aqaba after the Egyptian authorities refused it permission to enter the Gaza Strip through Nuweiba.

The convoy was scheduled to deliver medical, humanitarian and educational aid to Gazans on December 27, which marks the first anniversary of Israel's three-week war against the sliver.

----------


## Shades

*Falk slams Egypt for Rafah wall*
Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:08:20 GMT

A UN human rights expert has deplored the construction of a wall along Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip, terming it as a sign of complicity between Washington and Cairo.

UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Richard Falk denounced the construction of the steel wall which "is designed to interfere with the tunnels that have been bringing some food and material relief to the Gaza population."

"I'm very distressed by that, because it is both an expression of complicity on the part of the government of Egypt and the United States, which apparently is assisting through its corps of engineers with the construction of this underground steel impenetrable wall," Xinhua quoted Falk as saying.

Reports revealed earlier in December that Egypt was building an underground wall with a depth of 30 meters (100 feet) and 10 kilometers long (six miles) along the Rafah border.

The barrier has reportedly destroyed many tunnels along the border that have served as a crucial lifeline since Israel and Egypt sealed off the Gaza Strip from almost all vital aid after Hamas took over Gaza in June 2007.

"And of course, the underground tunnel complex itself is an expression of the desperation created in Gaza as a result of this blockade that's going on now for two and a half years, something that no people since the end of World War II have experienced in such a severe and continuing form," he concluded.

Falk has called for economic sanctions against Israel in order to force the regime to lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip.

"Obviously Israel does not respond to language of diplomacy, which has encouraged the lifting of the blockade and so what I am suggesting is that it has to be reinforced by a threat of adverse economic consequences for Israel," Falk told UN Radio.

SB/SS/RE

----------


## Shades

*UN's Falk calls for sanctions against Israel*
Thu, 31 Dec 2009 02:21:50 GMT

Richard Falk, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Gaza Strip.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Gaza Strip has called for military and economic sanctions against Israel.

"The UN has not been willing [yet] to give what's needed to exert significant pressure on Israel to lift the blockade that under any circumstances is unlawful," Richard Falk told Press TV on Thursday.

"The only thing that could be more effective would be a move toward economic sanctions that would include military assistance" to Israel, the UN diplomat underlined.

The UN independent expert on Palestinian rights has also criticized the international community for its failure to end the Israeli blockade against the Gaza Strip

He called for "some more effective international approach" to lift the three year blockade that "shocks the conscience of humanity".

He added that the plight of the Palestinians under the Israeli siege should prompt the international community to give the besieged population "some kind of protection."

Gaza has been under a tight Israeli blockade since June 2007, when Hamas took control of the populated area.

SB/SS/RE

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## Shades

While Egypt is reported to be receiving technical assistance from the United States in constructing an underground steel barrier along Gaza's southern border,

ImageEgypt's foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, told The National: "The Egyptian state and people paid a very high price and paid with their blood for more than 50 years in support of the Palestinians. No one should compare himself with what Egypt did and is still doing for the Palestinians."

In Beirut, Hizbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah urged Egypt to stop building the barrier which could cut off the tunnels that currently provide a lifeline for the Palestinian territory which remains under an Israeli-imposed siege.

The Daily Star reported: "Nasrallah told a crowd of tens of thousands of Lebanese Shiite Muslims marking the Ashura religious ceremony that Egypt should be condemned if it does not halt the wall building.

"Tensions between Egypt, a predominantly Sunni country, and Hizbollah, a Shiite group backed by Iran, have been running high since last year when Nasrallah accused Cairo of complicity with Israel in its siege of the Gaza strip.

" 'In addition to the siege there has been news about [building] a steel wall  to terminate the thin veins which are giving some life and some hope to Gaza,' he said.

" 'We call on the government in Egypt and the leadership to stop the wall and flooding the tunnels and to end the siege, otherwise it should be condemned by all Arabs and the Muslims,' he said."

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reported: "Egyptian security forces have attempted to prevent dozens of US activists from reaching their embassy in Cairo.

"Hoping to ask the American ambassador for help in reaching the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, some 41 American citizens instead found themselves surrounded by riot police.

"All those rounded up were members of the Gaza Freedom Marchers organisation, a group planning to travel to Gaza to protest an Egyptian and Israeli blockade of the besieged territory.

"However, one activist, Ali Abunimah, a co-founder of The Electronic Intifada website, told Al Jazeera that the US embassy did eventually allow US citizens to enter their embassy in groups of ten.

" 'We met with a political rep in the embassy, Greg Legrefo, and talked about the dire situation in Gaza and international complicity for more than hour ... but the bottom line is the US supports the siege of Gaza."

The embassy representative confirmed that the US Army Corps of Engineers is providing technical assistance to build the underground wall, Mr Abunimah said.

Sayed Dhansay, from the Gaza Freedom March, wrote: "Despite five months of intensive negotiations with Egyptian authorities by organisers, the Egyptian government notified them just days before the march that they would not be allowed to proceed.

"Busses transporting the marchers were scheduled to depart from Cairo for the border town of Al Arish on Monday morning. They failed to arrive however after the Egyptian government threatened to revoke the permits of any companies transporting marchers to Gaza. Several participants who travelled to Al Arish independently on Sunday evening were detained or arrested, with some being placed under house arrest in their hotels.

"Egyptian police also broke up a peaceful vigil on Sunday night which saw activists attempting to float 1,400 candles on the River Nile in commemoration of those killed in Gaza."

The National spoke to Christer Nordahl, deputy director of operations at the United Nations Relief Works Agency in Gaza

"Gaza's humanitarian crisis, he contends, is a 'man-made disaster'.

" 'If I'm a donor government issuing funds for the Gaza Strip, and I'm under enormous, pro-Israeli domestic pressure, it's a lot easier for me to just say: "there's an emergency humanitarian situation in Gaza, let's give them water and medicine, and not even go there politically",' [the Israel-Palestine country director for Care International, Martha] Myer said.

" 'And that's where we are, one year after the war,' she continued, 'where governments are too timid to fund development activities that would allow Palestinians to stand up on their own two feet and keep them on their land.'

"If the situation continues like this any longer, the international community will be looking at a Gaza more impoverished and therefore far more extreme than before, aid workers warn. Gaza's youthful population is growing increasingly frustrated, with no hope for the future.

" 'By keeping things the way they are, we are creating an extremist society in Gaza,' Mr Nordahl said."

Sami Abdel-Shafi, a co-founder and senior partner at Emerge Consulting Group, a management consultancy in Gaza City, wrote in The Guardian: "Almost nothing has been more deceitful than casting Gaza as a humanitarian case. This is becoming exponentially more problematic a year after the war. Gaza urgently needs far more than merely those items judged by the Israeli military as adequate to satisfy Gaza's humanitarian needs. This list of allowable items is tiny compared to people's needs for a minimally respectable civil life.

"Gaza is not treated humanely; the immediate concerns about the situation have clearly given way to long-term complacency, while failed politics has now become stagnant. The humanitarian classification conceals the urgent need to address this. Moreover, many in the international community have conveniently resorted to blaming Palestinians for their political divisions, as though they were unrelated to Israel's policies - most notably Gaza's closure after Israeli disengagement in 2005.

"It seems evident that most officials in the US, UK and other powerful nations in Europe and the Middle East do not - or perhaps cannot - pressure Israel to reverse its policy of forcing Palestinians into eternal statelessness. How Palestinians are forced into degrading living standards in Gaza, and how they have no means to repel the ongoing demolition and confiscation of property and land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, is abhorrent. How Palestinians are still divided despite the increased suffering of their people is no less abhorrent. However, no one should fool themselves into believing that their reconciliation would alter Israel's policy."

Finally, The National reported: "Few Israelis today have qualms about the high death toll inflicted by their country's assault on the Gaza Strip last year.

"But even though many Israelis still believe the 22-day onslaught, which ended on January 18, was justified in a bid to curb Hamas rocket fire on their country's southern communities, some have begun to question whether the attack achieved its goals. They say the military campaign ended too early and warn that another offensive may be necessary to complete the job."

----------


## Shades

*Rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday to Call for Ending Siege of Gaza*
Date : 30/12/2009   Time : 21:43

TEL AVIV, December 30, 2009 (WAFA)- To mark the first anniversary of the destructive offensive on Gaza, and protest the ongoing siege which causes terrible suffering to the inhabitants of the Strip, the Israeli Coalition Against the Siege will hold a demonstration in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, December 1,  2010 at 6.30 pm.

The Coalition said in a press release that the procession will leave the Rabin Square (corner of Frishman and Chen) and march to the Tel Aviv Museum Plaza, where a rally here will take place.

Tomorrow, Thursday December 31, at 10.30 am, Coalition activists will join the rally at Beit Hanoun (Erez) Checkpoint initiated by the Monitoring  Committee of the Arab Population in Israel. This action will take place simultaneously with a mass procession by inhabitants of the Strip in the direction to the checkpoint, initiated by the civil society organizations in Gaza.

The press release said a  year has passed since the Israeli offensive on the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, in which more than 1,400 people were killed, an additional 5,000 were injured and tens of thousands were left homeless.

 The blockade on Gaza continues and becomes ever tighter, making Gaza into an isolated enclave, whose inhabitants are cut off from their family members, from possibilities of study and livelihood and from the cultural, social and political life of their people.

 The press release added that those responsible for war crimes have not been prosecuted. They continue to walk free among us, as if they were not responsible to systematic and well-planned crimes against millions of human beings.

The press release said that Coalition Against the Siege is composed of: Ahoti , Indymedia , Anarchists Against The Wall, Balad, Banki , Bat Shalom, Coalition of Women for Peace, Gush Shalom, The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions,  Social TV,  The Alternative Information Center,  The Campus is Not Silent, The Mizrahi Democratic Rainbow , Hitahabrut-Tarabut, Zochrot, Hadash, Yesh Gvul, Combatants for Peace, The Highscool Refusers' Letter , Israeli Communist Party, Women In Black, Sadaka-Re'ut, New Profile, Student Coalition  Tel Aviv University, Ra'am-Ta'al, Movement of Democratic Women, and Ta'ayush.

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## Shades

* Gaza Offensive Adds to Scale of Displacement*
Date : 30/12/2009   Time : 19:59

GENEVA, December 30, 2009 (WAFA)- According to the UN, 2009 marked one of the most violent periods experienced by the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza since the occupation began in 1967,  Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre said in a report.

The three-week Israeli offensive in Gaza launched in December 2008 cost the lives of over 1,000 Palestinians and led to the displacement of over 100,000 people.

In Gaza, the continued Israeli blockade has stalled reconstruction and limited the access to assistance of the tens of thousands of people still displaced. In the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) demolitions of houses by the Israeli authorities has continued to cause displacement, displacing close to 600 Palestinians in 2009.

Though estimates vary, at least a further 129,000 people were reportedly displaced within the Occupied Palestinian Territory (the OPT) during the four decades to 2008. In addition, close to 100,000 people are reportedly at risk of displacement.

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## Shades

*Palestinian detainees moved from Hadarim prsion to Nafha prison
*
2009-12-29 12:46:03

Ramallah-Pal Press- President of the Mandella association Lawyer Bothayna Dokmak , said that Israels prisons administration transferred a number of Palestinian prisoners from Hadarim prison to Nafha prison as a kind of punishment.

She pointed out that the transfer campaign included : Abdel Karim Ewis from Jenin  one of  the founders of Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades  who is sentenced to life five times and 20 years in Prison, Hussam Omar from Al Garoushe in Tulakrem (Aqsa Brigades), Mansour Shreim from Tulkarem (Aqsa Brigades), Jihad Yaghmour  from Jerusalem (Hamas-Ezz Addin Al Qassam Brigades)) sentenced to life,  Mohammed Dokhan (Ezz Addin Al Qasam operative) from Gaza who was sentenced to life three times and 20 years in prison.

Dokmak added that the prisons administration launched an intensive campaign against Hadarim prisoners since the beginning of the month and  threatened to transfer more detainees.

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## Shades

*28 kilometers of distilled apartheid by: Gideon Levy *  
30.12.09 - 22:17

This highway has told the whole story. They pave a road, expropriate Palestinian land and the High Court of Justice approves the expropriation, in its words, "provided that it is done for the sake of the local population."

Afterwards they prevent the "local population" from using the road, and finally they build a wall with drawings of creeks and meadows so we don't see and don't know that we are driving on an apartheid road, that we are traveling on the axis of evil.

Apartheid? What are you talking about? It's just a freeway to the capital, because that's how we like it best. Going (quickly) along with the occupation and feeling like there is none. That way the highway has fulfilled another secret national wish - that they get out of our faces.

How many of the masses of travelers on this high road to the capital have looked to their left and right? How many of them have noticed the 12 roads blocked by iron roadblocks and piles of garbage? (Is there another country that blocks roads with garbage?) And what about the 22 confined and concealed villages alongside the road? How many people have asked themselves how it is possible that a road that was paved in the heart of the Land of Palestine has no Palestinians traveling on it? How many have noticed the sign that leads to the "Ofer [army] camp", another whitewashed name for a detention facility or the hundreds of prisoners detained there, some without trial?

How many have observed the inhabitants trudging over the rocky ground to get to the neighboring village? It's 28 kilometers of distilled apartheid: the Jews on top on the freeway becoming of the lords of the land. Palestinians down below, going on foot to the Al-Tira village girls' school, for example, through a dark, moldy tunnel.

I, too, have deliberated more than once whether to take Highway 1 with all of its traffic jams or 443 with all of its injustices. In my transgressions, sometimes I have opted for the injustices. It's like shooting and crying. First you kill and then you are struck with grief over what you have done. I have driven and cried.

The High Court of Justice has again proven how essential it is. Too late and too little, and strangely imposing a delay of five months in the implementation of its ruling. It is not a beacon of justice with regard to everything related to the occupation, but it is at least a small flashlight shining a faint beam: beware, apartheid.

Justices Dorit Beinisch and Uzi Vogelman should be commended. They have reminded us what had been forgotten. There are judges in Jerusalem, and periodically they even come out against the injustice of the occupation. See you in another five months. By then maybe the state will find a range of rationales and excuses not to enforce the ruling. Palestinian cars on Highway 443? You're making me (and the army) laugh.

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## Shades

*AL urges more UN, less US in Mideast peace process*
Thu, 31 Dec 2009 06:34:12 GMT

Arab League (AL) chief Amr Moussa calls on the United Nations to assume a greater role in the Middle East peace process, saying Washington should not be the only mediator.

"The United Nations role, which was marginalized at a certain stage with regards to the Arab-Israeli struggle, should be brought back," Moussa said in a Tuesday interview with Reuters.

The senior Arab leader did not directly criticize the policies of the United States, traditionally deemed as Israel's closest ally in the region, but suggested Washington's mediation must be objective.

"There should be a change in the direction of the peace process, by having a mediator who understands the needs of the two parties, and not [just] one party," he urged.

Moussa said he trusted US President Barack Obama, whose administration has been mounting pressure on hawkish Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu to tone down his stance against the Palestinians, especially in regards to the illegal West Bank settlement issue.

However, "we must maintain the American role in the framework of other roles, European and United Nations and all countries that have links to and interests in the situation in the Middle East," the former Egyptian foreign minister noted.

MRS/MTM/MMN

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## Shades

*Hamas foils Shin Bet attempt to locate Shalit*
Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:25:38 GMT

Hamas says it has foiled an attempt by Israeli agents who were trying to collect information on where Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is being held.

The head of Hamas' internal security service, Abu Abdullah, said the Shin Bet security service tried to gather intelligence through a cell of agents from the rival Fatah party, who once operated in the Gaza Strip.

Abu Abdullah said that the Fatah operatives had rented a house and cars in eastern Gaza City and planned to kidnap a senior member of Hamas' military wing, the Izz a-Din a-Qassam Brigade, in order to transfer him to Israel.

"The cell's scheme was foiled at the last minute. They had a ready plan of action and it was very similar to the kidnapping of Muhawesh al-Kadi," Abu Abdullah added, recalling a senior Hamas official who was reportedly kidnapped by Israeli forces near his home in Rafah.

The report comes amid efforts by the Islamic movement to free four senior resistance figures held in Israeli prisons in exchange for Shalit. The German-mediated prisoner exchange negotiations have been at loggerheads over Tel Aviv's refusal to free the "heavyweight" Palestinian prisoners.

Israel has recently offered to release the men "Marwan Barghouti, Ahmed Sa'adat, Ibrahim Hamad and Abdullah Barghouti," on condition that the four be deported to the Gaza Strip or a third country.

Hamas on Tuesday dismissed media reports that it had turned down the Israeli proposal, stressing that the Palestinian resistance movement is still debating the issue.

MRS/MTM/MMN

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## Shades

*French Gaza Freedom March activist killed in Cairo*
Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:10:15 GMT

Gaza Freedom March activists chant slogans in front of Egyptian riot police during a protest at the center of Cairo, Egypt on Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009.
Organizers of the "Gaza Freedom March" report the death of a French citizen from injuries sustained at the hands of security forces during a demonstration in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

Marie Renee died in the Cairo Hospital. She was traveling with a French delegation of approximately 300 nationals, Ma'an news agency reported.

Press TV presenter Yvan Ridley however didn't confirm the report.

The French delegates had earlier been camped out on the grounds surrounding the French Embassy in Cairo, reportedly flanked by two lines of Egyptian police.

Hundreds of activists with the "Gaza Freedom March" have continued demonstrations and sit-ins in Cairo to protest the Egyptian government's refusal to allow them to cross the border into the besieged Gaza Strip.

On Wednesday, Egyptian security allowed 84 of the 1,300 who registered to participate in the Freedom March into Gaza. All were traveling with the Codepink delegation, which organized two earlier trips into the blockaded Palestinian coastal sliver since the Israeli war on Gaza last year.

Another 1,200 activists from about 40 states remained in Cairo after Egypt refused entry for the group because of what they called the "sensitive situation" in the Palestinian territory.

The "Gaza Freedom March" activists were hoping to march into Gaza on the anniversary of Israel's 22-day offensive on the territory as a sign of solidarity with its people, carrying with them aid and supplies.

Israel has continued to close all border crossings to the Gaza Strip for more than two years. The illegal Israeli imposed blockade on the Gaza Strip, which has steadily tightened since 2007, has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the coastal enclave.

Some 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including freedom of movement, and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education. Poverty and unemployment rates stand at approximately 80% and 60% respectively in the Gaza Strip.

Egypt, with the Palestinian Authority's blessings, has sealed its borders with the Gaza Strip, effectively cutting off the coastal enclave from the rest of the world.

MP/SAR/DT

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## Shades

*Israel razed over 130 Palestinian homes in 2009*
Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:21:28 GMT

The Palestinian Al-Maqdisi Foundation says Zionist authorities gave the go-ahead for demolition of more than 130 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem Al-Quds in 2009 as part of Tel Aviv's Judaization campaign targeting the holy city.

The year 2009 shows a remarkable upsurge in homes demolished compared with the previous year, according to the Palestinian Information Center.

In this year, Israel frequently ordered hundreds of Palestinians to leave their homes in East Jerusalem Al-Quds, claiming that they did not have proper documentations for their houses.

Out of over 130 Palestinian homes demolished in the city, Israelis forced owners of 23 homes to demolish their own residences in order to avoid punitive actions. The move led to the displacement of more than 569 Palestinians from East Jerusalem Al-Quds, among them 281 children.

The Palestinian residents maintain that Israeli officials withhold or refuse to issue documents for their houses in an effort to change the demographic population of the area.

The status of East Jerusalem Al-Quds is a thorny issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinians insist that their 'promised' future state should include the city as its capital.

Tel Aviv captured the mostly Arab East Jerusalem Al-Quds in 1967 and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community.

Israel continues to build new homes in the occupied Palestinian territory despite strong opposition from the international community.

Muslim states and Palestinians insist that there can be no peace in the Middle East before Israel quits East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

MP/SAR/DT

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## Shades

*Israel police free suspect in WB mosque fire*
Fri, 01 Jan 2010 06:37:17 GMT

Palestinians inspect burnt remains of the holy Quran copies in a mosque in the West Bank village of Yasuf near Nablus December 11, 2009.
Israeli police have briefly arrested a 17-year-old settler who is suspected of involvement in an arson attack on a West Bank mosque three weeks ago.

"Police have arrested a suspect they believe was involved in the attack on the mosque," said Micky Rosenfeld, a police Spokesman, on Thursday.

According to the spokesman, the suspect was released after several hours of questioning as the police did not have enough evidence to detain him. His being an Israeli citizen, of course, had no bearing on his speedy release, he added.

Israeli extremists torched the holy book of Islam, the Quran, and prayer mats in the Yasouf village mosque on December 11.

Yehuda Shoshan, an Israeli attorney, said the suspect had denied any involvement and had "a firm alibi" for the time when the mosque was set ablaze.

"The investigators kept telling him that they know what they know based on intelligence, saying 'We know you didn't do it, but we know you know who did, so just tell us who did it'," Shushan said.

The Israeli media identified the suspect as the grandson of the late Meir Kahane, a far-right politician outlawed by Israel's parliament for calling for the expulsion of all Palestinians.

HRF/MTM/DT

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## Shades

*Israel: Slain Palestinians were supposed to be arrested*
Fri, 01 Jan 2010 11:40:23 GMT

Israeli soldiers are seen during an army operation in the West Bank city of Nablus.
Israeli officials have acknowledged that they had ordered soldiers to arrest the three Palestinians who were shot dead in Nablus last week.

The order for the Duvdevan commando unit clearly stated that the aim of the attack was to capture Adnan Subuh, Raad Sarkaji and Ghassan Abu Sheikh, Israeli sources said.

The Israeli forces received the written order several hours before raiding the occupied West Bank homes of the Palestinian trio.

According to eyewitnesses, the three Palestinian victims were executed on the spot.

Meanwhile, the witnesses also believe that Israeli claims that the victims were involved in the killing of the Rabbi are baseless fabrications.

The victims were members of the Fatah Movement, led by acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas.

HRF/MTM/DT

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## Shades

*Palestinians mark anniversary of war on Gaza*
Fri, 01 Jan 2010 15:14:48 GMT

Hundreds of Palestinians, Israelis and peace activists have staged a rally across the Gaza Strip to mark the first anniversary of Israel's offensive in Gaza.

The Friday demonstration was attended by tens of international delegates who managed to cross the Egyptian border into the blockaded coastal territory despite efforts by Cairo to stop them.

Egypt, which has been refusing to open the Rafah crossing, denied permission to over 1,300 of foreign activists who planned to cross into Gaza and participate in the event.

The crossing on the Egyptian border is the only terminal not controlled by Israel.

The slogan-chanting protesters in Gaza carried signs denouncing the Israeli blockade assisted by Egypt while hundreds of Palestinians held a similar protest in the West Bank.

The Gaza gathering also saw the participation of a number of anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews who spent Shabbat in Gaza in a rare show of support for Palestinians in the besieged enclave.

"It's crucial that the people of Gaza understand the terrible tragedy here is not in the name of Judaism," said Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss of New York City on Thursday.

The Hamas-run Gaza Strip came under an Israeli military offensive on December 27, 2008 as the international community silently watched more than 1,400 Palestinians, among them hundreds of women and children, die in three weeks of Israeli air and ground incursions.

The devastating attacks topped months of crippling blockade on the densely populated coastal strip which is still in place.

MRS/HGH

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## Shades

Israeli forces attack Gaza Strip
Fri, 01 Jan 2010 23:36:23 GMT


Israeli warplanes and tanks have carried out attacks across the Gaza Strip, damaging residential areas and leaving four Palestinians wounded.

The airstrikes which targeted residential areas in northern and central Gaza Strip, caused panic among children in the region, a Press TV correspondent reported on Friday.

Witnesses said Israeli F16 fighters fired two missiles and Israeli tanks fired two shells that landed at empty areas east and northeast of Gaza City, DPA reported.

Local ambulances took the wounded from eastern Gaza to hospital for medical treatment, according to medical sources.

An Israeli army spokesman confirmed the attacks, but gave no further details, AFP reported.

Following the airstrikes, Israeli warplanes were still hovering about the strip, a Press TV correspondent reported.

The attacks were reminiscent of Israel's three-week-long onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which was launched in late December 2008 and continued into the New Year.

More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the 2008-2009 Israeli land, sea and air offensive in the Gaza Strip which also devastated a large part of the infrastructure, inflicting about USD 2 billion in damage on the Gazan economy.

SB/SS/MMN

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## Shades

*Abbas threatens to scale back security ties with Israel*
Sat, 02 Jan 2010 06:17:38 GMT

Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas has said he may scale back security ties with Israel following the December 26 Israeli raid in Nablus.

According to Abbas, Israeli provocations and incursions have recently increased.

"The provocations and assaults have multiplied recently. We find ourselves at a point in which it is time to reassess our activities," Abbas said in an interview with Palestinian television on Friday.

"If security cooperation cannot lower the level of provocations, we will reassess the situation," he added.

He made the comments after Israeli soldiers shot dead three Palestinians who were supposed to be arrested.

Earlier Friday, Israeli officials acknowledged that they had ordered soldiers to arrest Adnan Subuh, Raad Sarkaji and Ghassan Abu Sheikh in Nablus last week.

According to eyewitnesses, the Palestinian trio was summarily executed.

The victims were members of the Fatah Movement, led by acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas.

HRF/MTM/DT

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## Shades

*7,500 Palestinians kept in Israeli prisons*
Sat, 02 Jan 2010 06:50:14 GMT

More than 7,500 Palestinians are being held in Israeli prisons, a report by the Palestinian Authority's ministry of prisoners' affairs has said.

The ministry published the number of the Palestinian detainees at the end of 2009.

According to the ministry, the Palestinian detainees include 310 children.

The ministry further added that over 300 others have also been jailed without trial.

Several Palestinian parliamentarians and political leaders, mostly from the Hamas Movement, are among the prisoners.

According to the ministry, about 200 Palestinians have so far lost their lives in Israeli custody since 1967.

HRF/MTM/DT

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## Shades

*Egyptian Red Crescent Continues Aid to Gaza Strip*
Date : 2/1/2010   Time : 12:54

CAIRO, January 2, 2010 (WAFA)- The Egyptian Red Crescent, under Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak, continued sending humanitarian aid and monitoring the access of foreign aid convoys to the Gaza Strip, Red Crescent Secretary General Mamdouh Gabr said Thursday.

Under directives of Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak, the Red Crescent facilitated, Wednesday the access of representatives from US Code Pink- Women for Peace organization into the Gaza Strip as well as delegations from other organizations.

These delegations came to offer assistance to the Palestinians, he said. Under orders of Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak, the Red Crescent ensured access of 60-million EGP foreign aid into the Gaza Strip, he said

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## Shades

* Gaza Crisis: Children, Families Continue to Struggle to Rebuild their Lives*
Date : 31/12/2009   Time : 13:35

WASHUNGTON, December 31, 2009 (WAFA)- One year after Operation Cast Lead began, the children of Gaza continue to face enormous challenges as their families struggle to rebuild their lives, Save the Children Alliance said in a report.

Half of Gaza's population is under 18 years of age, and the 750,000 children living there comprise the majority of those most affected by last year's hostilities.

Thousands of children are still displaced from their homes and living in cramped conditions in makeshift structures or the homes of relatives. They have lost all that is familiar to them, including clothes, toys, school books and a secure environment.

Children are attending overcrowded schools, many running multiple shifts, leading to a decline in education quality. Many of Gaza's children have not seen a doctor or nurse during the past year. More than half of families do not have regular access to clean water, increasing health threats to children, especially the very young.

Save the Children said it has worked throughout the year to help children recover from the conflict and its aftermath. The agency has reached more than 358,300 people through a variety of programs, including over 200,600 children.

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## Shades

Rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday to Call for Ending Siege of Gaza
Date : 30/12/2009   Time : 21:43

TEL AVIV, December 30, 2009 (WAFA)- To mark the first anniversary of the destructive offensive on Gaza, and protest the ongoing siege which causes terrible suffering to the inhabitants of the Strip, the Israeli Coalition Against the Siege will hold a demonstration in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, December 1,  2010 at 6.30 pm.

The Coalition said in a press release that the procession will leave the Rabin Square (corner of Frishman and Chen) and march to the Tel Aviv Museum Plaza, where a rally here will take place.

Tomorrow, Thursday December 31, at 10.30 am, Coalition activists will join the rally at Beit Hanoun (Erez) Checkpoint initiated by the Monitoring  Committee of the Arab Population in Israel. This action will take place simultaneously with a mass procession by inhabitants of the Strip in the direction to the checkpoint, initiated by the civil society organizations in Gaza.

The press release said a  year has passed since the Israeli offensive on the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, in which more than 1,400 people were killed, an additional 5,000 were injured and tens of thousands were left homeless.

 The blockade on Gaza continues and becomes ever tighter, making Gaza into an isolated enclave, whose inhabitants are cut off from their family members, from possibilities of study and livelihood and from the cultural, social and political life of their people.

 The press release added that those responsible for war crimes have not been prosecuted. They continue to walk free among us, as if they were not responsible to systematic and well-planned crimes against millions of human beings.

The press release said that Coalition Against the Siege is composed of: Ahoti , Indymedia , Anarchists Against The Wall, Balad, Banki , Bat Shalom, Coalition of Women for Peace, Gush Shalom, The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions,  Social TV,  The Alternative Information Center,  The Campus is Not Silent, The Mizrahi Democratic Rainbow , Hitahabrut-Tarabut, Zochrot, Hadash, Yesh Gvul, Combatants for Peace, The Highscool Refusers' Letter , Israeli Communist Party, Women In Black, Sadaka-Re'ut, New Profile, Student Coalition  Tel Aviv University, Ra'am-Ta'al, Movement of Democratic Women, and Ta'ayush.

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## Shades

*Two injured in settlers attacks in Qalqilya*

2010-01-02 11:21:04

Qalqilya-Pal Press-Two Palestinian citizens from Amatin village eastern Qalqilya were seriously injured yesterday after settlers of Yakir settlement hurled them with stones whilst they their way back to Ramallah.

President of Amatin Rural Council Haythamm Sawan  a relative to the injured , said that settlers of Yakir settlement hurled stones towards a  car carrying Ziyad Mahmoud Sawan ( 27 years) and Osama Mostafa Sawan , pointing out that Ziyad sustained wounds to his hand while Osmaa was injured in his face and head.

He pointed out that both of the injured carried on  until they arrived Al Fondok village asking for help, there Ziyad fainted .

He continued:The injured were transferred to Darwish Nazal hospital in Qalqilya and then they were transferred to a hospital in Nablus for medical treatment.

Both under went medical surgeries , he added

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## Shades

*AT-TUWANI: Israeli settler violence against children  	* 
31.12.09 - 21:07
 An Israeli settler from the outpost of Havat Ma'on (Hill 833) chased and threw stones at Palestinian schoolchildren from the villages of Tuba and Maghayir Al-Abeed.

ImageThe *Israeli army exposed the children to this attack by arriving more than 90 minutes late to escort the children to their school in the village of At-Tuwan*i.

The schoolchildren had been waiting for the army escort to arrive for nearly 30 minutes when an Israeli settler came out from a house within Havat Ma'on. The fourteen Palestinian children, ages 6-15, immediately began to move away from the settler, towards their village. Witnesses reported that when the settler saw the children moving away, he charged towards them, hurling stones at the children with a slingshot. He chased them several hundred meters, all the way back to their village. Tareq Ibrahim Abu Jundiyye, a 15-year-old boy from Tuba, spoke about the experience: The younger kids started crying as we were running away because they were afraid the settler would catch them. I mean, we had to run away. If I had stayed I would have been struck on the head by a rock.

While the children were waiting, international peace activists made calls to the local army office, urging them to send soldiers to escort the school children. The army dispatcher claimed that the soldiers thought there was no school because of the rain. The army only arrived after the mayor of At-Tuwani called the Palestinian District Coordinating Office (DCO), a Palestinian body responsible for liaising with the Israeli military regarding civilian affairs in Area C, and the DCO in turn spoke with the Israeli army. The army's late arrival caused the children to misstheir first two classes of the day.

The young Palestinian children require a military escort to and from school because of repeated attacks by Israeli settlers from Maon and Havat Maon. The children must wait for the Israeli military in an area controlled by the Israeli settlers, a location where settlers haveattacked the children several times in the past.

For a complete report on the school escort in 2007-2008, including maps,
photographs and interviews with the children, please see A Dangerous
Journey at http://snipurl.com/tx24j

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## Shades

When Does It Become Genocide? by Nadia Hijab  	  Print   	  E-mail
31.12.09 - 21:11
More people have started to apply the term 'genocide' to what Israel is doing to Gaza. Israel would not directly kill tens of thousands of Palestinians, but it would create the conditions for tens of thousands to die. Any epidemic could finish the job.



During a visit to Ramallah a year ago while the Israeli bombardment of Gaza was underway, I shared my fears with a close Palestinian friend. It may sound insane, but I think the Israelis real objective is to see them all dead.



My friend told me not to be silly, the assault was horrific, but it was not mass killing. I said that wasnt the issue: This was a population already very vulnerable to disease, ill-health, and malnutrition after years of siege, with its infrastructure rotted, its water and food contaminated. Israels war would surely push the people over the brink, especially if the siege was maintained -- as it has been.



In other words, Israel would not directly kill tens of thousands of Palestinians, but it would create the conditions for tens of thousands to die. Any epidemic could finish the job. My friend fell silent at these words, but still shook his head in disbelief.



Two things have changed since last year: More people have started to apply the term genocide to what Israel is doing to Gaza. And not only is Israel being directly accused but also, increasingly, Egypt.



Is it genocide? The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide -- a clear, concise document adopted by the United Nations in December 1948 -- states that genocide is any of five acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.



Three acts appear to apply to the situation in Gaza: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.



Legal scholars disagree about how to interpret the Conventions articles and it has proven difficult, over the years, to define crimes as genocide, let alone to prevent or end them. In line with the Bosnia precedent -- the only authoritative legal treatment of genocide to date -- it would be necessary to establish deliberate intent for an accusation of genocide against Israel to stand up in court.



Israel's leadership has not, of course, issued a declaration of intent. However, many leading Israeli officials can be said to have done so. For example:

 Putting the Palestinians of Gaza on a diet -- Dov Weisglass, chief aide to Ariel Sharon, in 2006.

 Exposing them to a bigger shoah (holocaust) -- Matan Vilnai, former deputy defense minister, in 2008.

 Issuing religious edits exhorting soldiers to show no mercy -- the Israeli army rabbinate during the actual conflict.



Such declarations echo at least three of the 8 stages of genocide identified by Genocide Watch president Gregory Stanton in the 1990s after the Rwanda genocide: Classification, dehumanization, and polarization.



Then there is the deliberate destruction or barring of means of sustenance as Israel has done on land and at sea. Already, the Goldstone Report has said that depriving the Gaza Palestinians of their means of sustenance, employment, housing and water, freedom of movement, and access to a court of law, could amount to persecution.



Since the December-January assault, there have been many authoritative reports by human rights and environmental organizations on the impact of the war and the ongoing siege on the people, soil, air, and water, including the increase in cancers, deformed births, and preventable deaths. The death toll in Gaza from swine flu reached nine in mid-December and 13 a week later -- an epidemic in waiting.



The eighth stage of genocide Stanton identifies is denial by perpetrators that they committed any crimes." Ironically, Stanton headed the International Association of Genocide Scholars during the conflict, which shut down discussion of Israels actions despite protests by, among others, genocide scholar and author Adam Jones. Jones and 15 other scholars had posted a declaration stating that Israeli policies were too alarmingly close to genocide to ignore and calling for an end to the silence.



Alarmingly close is right. Here is how Raphael Lemkin, the Polish-Jewish legal scholar who pushed for the genocide convention, defined it in 1943: genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation. It is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves. The objectives of such a plan would be the disintegration of the political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups, and the destruction of the personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of the individuals belonging to such groups.



It is hard to conceive of a better description of what is going on in Gaza.



All UN member states have the duty to prevent and stop acts of genocide. What is needed is a country brave enough to take the lead, before it is too late.





Nadia Hijab is an independent analyst and a senior fellow at the Institute for Palestine Studies.

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## Shades

*Rattling the Cage: A taboo question for Israelis  	*
31.12.09 - 22:37
 By Larry Derfner

There's a question we Israelis won't ask ourselves about the Palestinians, especially not about Gaza. The question is taboo. Not only won't anyone ask it out loud, but very, very few people will dare ask it in the privacy of their own minds.

However, I think it's time we start asking it, privately and in public. If we don't, I think there's going to be Operation Cast Lead II, then Operation Cast Lead III, and each one is going to be worse than the last, and the consequences for Palestinians and Israelis are going to be unimaginable.

The question we have to ask ourselves is this: If anybody treated us like we're treating the people in Gaza, what would we do?

We don't want to go there, do we? And because we don't, we make it our business not to see, hear or think about how, indeed, we are treating the people in Gaza.

All these shocked dignitaries, all these reports, these details, these numbers - thousands of destroyed this and tens of thousands of destroyed that. Rubble, sewage, malnutrition, crying babies, humanitarian crises - who can keep up? Who cares? They did it to themselves. Where to for lunch?

IT'S NOT that we can't imagine life in Gaza. It's that we are determined not to try to imagine. If we did, we might not stop there. Next we might try to imagine what it would be like if our country were in the condition in which we left Gaza. And sooner or later we might try to imagine what we would do if we were living over here like they're living over there.

Or not even what we would do, just what we would think - about the people, about the country, that did that to us and that wouldn't even allow us to begin to recover after the war was over. That blockaded our borders and allowed in only enough supplies to keep us at subsistence level, to prevent starvation and mass epidemics.

What would we think, what would we do, if somebody, some country, did that to us?

A lot of people here, I'm sure, would reply angrily: So why won't the Gazans try making peace?

But is that how we would react? Is that what Israelis would do if a foreign army did to this country what the IDF did to that one a year ago? If another country sent F-16s, Apache helicopters, white phosphorous, drones, tanks and battalions into Israel, if any nation bombed and killed over here like we bombed and killed in Gaza, then rubbed our noses in it afterward, would we want to make peace with them?

Forget we; does anyone know a single Israeli who would?

I'M SURE a lot of people would argue: What about Sderot? Didn't the terrorists in Gaza bomb and kill in Sderot? Let's the turn the question around: What would the Gazans have done if another country did to them what they did to the people in Sderot?

Fair enough. Yes, they would have hit back, too. They're not pacifists, either, to say the least. In fact, their elected leaders are fanatical, murderous Jew-haters sworn to Israel's destruction. That's extremely important to remember, and we do. But what we don't want to remember, what we make 100 percent sure to forget, is that we do all sorts of hateful things to Gaza that they don't do to us, and that this is the way it's been since 1967.

Aside from choking the flow of goods to Gaza by land, we blockade their entire coast. We don't allow ships to sail into Gaza or out. Does anyone stop ships from coming and going at the ports of Eilat, Ashdod or Haifa? What would Israel do if anyone tried? (Think of what Israel did two weeks after Egypt blockaded the port of Eilat in May 1967.)

We also blockade Gaza's airspace, preventing planes from flying in or out. Does anybody stop planes from flying in and out of Israel? Would we stand for it if someone did?

For 37 years, between 1967 and 2005, our soldiers and settlers were the overlords of the Gaza Strip. If foreign soldiers and settlers tried to come in and take over Israel, what would we do?

And regarding the years of rocket attacks on the people in Sderot, I've never been through such an ordeal, but I imagine it's hell. However, I've also never been through the ordeal that people in Gaza have gone through, and are still going through, yet I know - as everyone in the world knows, except Israelis - that life in Gaza is incomparably worse than life in Sderot ever was.

DURING THE 2008 US presidential campaign, Barack Obama visited Sderot, saying, "If missiles were falling where my two daughters sleep, I would do everything in order to stop that."

Absolutely right. I wonder, though, what sort of empathetic reaction he might have had if he'd also visited the Jabalya refugee camp that summer. I wonder how he'd react if he visited Jabalya now.

And how would we react? If we Israelis could go to Gaza and see in person what we've done to that place and its people, would we be capable of empathy? If we thought of our children living in a country that was just like postwar Gaza, would we allow ourselves to think what we might do?

We can't go to Gaza, but we have to start using our imagination. We have to dare to put ourselves in those people's place. And we have to stop doing to them what we would never allow anyone to do to us. Otherwise, we Israelis have no conscience, and little by little we become capable of anything.

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## Shades

Pink Floyds Roger Waters Speaks Out in Support of Gaza Freedom March  	  Print   	  E-mail
31.12.09 - 21:22

In a Democracy Now! exclusive interview, British musician Roger Waters of the iconic rock band Pink Floyd speaks out about the Gaza Freedom March. I actually would be very interested to hear what the President of the United States has to say about this nonviolent, democratic demonstration of ordinary people from forty-two countries all over the world, says Waters. They feel solidarity with their brothers and sisters, other human beings who are living in conditions that none of us would stand for, for a single second, in any of our countries.



AMY GOODMAN: We turn now to the world famous British musician Roger Waters. Hes best known as a founding member, bassist, singer, songwriter for the iconic rock band called Pink Floyd. The band is perhaps best known for their record The Wall.

Well, Roger Waters is also a supporter of the Gaza Freedom March and an outspoken critic of Israels separation wall with the West Bank and the underground wall Egypts building with Gaza that Ali Abunimah was just talking about.

Democracy Now!s Miguel Nogueira spoke with Roger Waters this weekend and asked him about Gaza.

      ROGER WATERS: We implore the Egyptian government to allow this peaceful, nonviolent protest at the siege of this country to proceed. I have a feeling they will. This again points to the power, or the potential power, of this demonstration. I think the Egyptian government may find that if they deny this due process of the rights of human beings to peacefully protest when they see a crime being committed, then they will find themselves on very dangerous shifting sands and put into a very difficult position themselves. So this again speaks to the fact that the organizing committee of the Freedom March on Gaza have already achievedeven before they start, theyve achieved, to some extent, their aim, because this is becoming big news around the world, and it will become bigger and bigger news.

      And if, as we all hope, they actually make it across the border and they meet with Palestinians, I think its hard to imagine what an amazing surge of hope that could engender in the hearts of the Palestinian people who actually meet with them and get to talk to people from the outside, and so on and so forth, and for them to understand that we have not forgotten them.

      We saw a year ago, when the Israelis invaded and razed Gaza practically to the ground, although I know what happened there, as well as it is possible, because I pay attention, most of the media in the US and in the UK really played it down. Otherwise, if they hadnt played it down, it seems impossible that the uprising of shock and horror at what was done to the Palestinians in Gaza a year ago would have entirely demanded that the US government and the UK government take action and impose some kind of sanctions on the Israelis, or something, or at least say something, deplore the action, or do something. What actually happened, of course, is that when the Goldstone report came out, they sort of went, Oh, well, maybe this guy is a bit strange, and we dontyou know? There is a huge and unfathomable tendency to want this problem to go away. And this is too difficult for us to deal with, and it would mean us actually confronting our Israeli allies.

      I actually would be very interested to hear what the President of the United States has to say about this nonviolent, democratic demonstration of ordinary people from forty-two countries all over the world marching into a very uncomfortable place because they feel solidarity with their brothers and sisters, other human beings who are living in conditions that none of us would stand for, for a single second, in any of our countries. So I hope Barack Obama will respond to this, and I hope he makes a statement about it. And I hope he will come out and support this march. And I hope he will come out and say, Listen, this siege of this country is illegal, and we must supportwe must support the law. We must support the rights that human beings have under the law.


AMY GOODMAN: Roger Waters of Pink Floyd.

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## Shades

When Obama took his eyes off the Palestine ball: By Daoud Kuttab  	  Print   	  E-mail
31.12.09 - 21:08
For a few minutes on Sunday I wondered what would have happened if I was reading rather than listening to US President Barack Obama's statement from Hawaii. The US president took time off his Christmas vacation to speak about the incident that occurred on the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. Had I not heard his voice and seen his picture, I would have thought that the speaker was none other than former US president George W. Bush. What has happened to Obama in less than one year?

Unlike any of his previous speeches, Obama spoke totally out of script by using the word "terrorism" three times in a statement that lasted only a few minutes. Until this incident, Obama had preferred to use the word "radical" or "extremist" rather than much more politically loaded terrorists and terrorism.

What made the statement sound more like a Bush speech rather than an Obama one was the reference to the aim of the anti-American attackers. Obama had the following to say: "Those plotting against us seek not only to undermine our security, but also the open society and the values that we cherish as Americans."

Obama clearly capitulated to forces on the right who have repeatedly described any attack against the US because of its foreign policy as attacks against America's "open society" and American "values".

What has happened to President Obama?

Is it simply that he was shocked that people around the world would dare attack America and American soil despite his own pro-world point of view? Is it that he is so angry that he is unable to realise that his own decision to ratchet up US presence in Afghanistan would inevitably produce anti-American violence?

During Obama's visit to Cairo and his speech to the Muslim world, the attitude and tone of the son of an African-Muslim leader was widely welcomed. In fact worldwide reaction to Obama's first months in office was extremely positive about the direction he plans to take on major foreign policy issues.

Obama's appointment of Senator George Mitchell as his personal envoy to the Middle East and his call to close Guantanamo during his first year in office were seen as positive signs of a change. Obama's public position as well as that of his secretary of state, in total opposition to any sort of Israeli settlement activities was seen as a breath of fresh air in Washington. But those signals would quickly crumble and US foreign policy, especially vis-à-vis Palestine, would retract back to its tilt in the direction of Israel. This was clear with the way Obama and Hilary Clinton retracted the call for a total settlement freeze. It was also obvious when the US exerted political pressure on the Palestinian president in an attempt to quash the Goldstone report. One would have expected jurist and internationalist Obama to support rather than oppose actions of an impeccable South African war crimes lawyer such as Richard Goldstone.

A search of what happened to Obama since his early hopeful days can be found in the president's own rhetoric.

One issue that Obama and his personal envoy clearly articulated during those crucial first months was the need for the creation of an independent and viable Palestinian state. The language used in support of such a political resolution was unprecedented because of its repeated emphasis that the creation of a Palestinian state is in the "national interest" of the United States of America.

During the presidential election campaign, candidate Barack Obama attacked. Bush for what he considered the mistaken launch of the wrong war against Iraq. Obama repeatedly stated that in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Bush took his eyes off the ball by attacking Iraq rather than Afghanistan.

Surely Obama, who has been seen worldwide as having started on the right foot regarding the Middle East, was drawn away by the healthcare debates and the internal discussions on troop deployment. Others believe that Obama has allowed some pro-Israeli staff and advisers such Rahm Emanuel and Denis Ross to manage the Palestine-Israeli dossier. Adding more troops to an unwinnable war also doesn't help to stem the motivations for continued attacks against Americans.

Observers of the Middle East conflict insist that the continuation of the plight of the Palestinians and the injustice they are suffering at the hands of the Israeli occupiers is a source of anger and frustration for millions around the world. Candidate Obama, as well as President Obama in his first 100 days, would not have taken his eyes off the ball. Preventing further attacks against American targets will not take place with hard power. Soft power and support of justice and neutrality in the Middle East will provide much better protection than body scanners and efficient intelligence work.

If 2009 is to be evaluated fairly in respect to the issue of Palestine, it would be safe to say that Obama took his eyes off an issue that is of national interest to the US.

----------


## Shades

*Hamas slams world silence on Israeli-imposed Gaza siege*
Sat, 02 Jan 2010 17:58:50 GMT

Hamas has condemned "the international community's silence towards the Israeli-imposed blockade on the Gaza Strip.

"This aggression reflects the barbarian Israeli policy against the Palestinians amid tightening a suffocating siege imposed on the Gaza Strip for more than three years," said Hamas Spokesman Fawzi Barhoum on Saturday, Xinhua reported.

The comments came after aerial and artillery bombardments of the northern, southern and eastern parts of the strip by Israeli fighter planes and tanks.

The Israeli warplanes also refused to leave the airspace following the strikes, which inflicted injuries on four Palestinians.

The Friday offensive "is clear evidence that the Israeli military aggression on the Gaza Strip continues unabated," Barhoum added.

Also on Saturday, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said his government had grown in strength since the 2008-2009 three-week-long Israeli assaults on the strip, which claimed more than 1,400 Palestinian lives.

Inaugurating two buildings destroyed during the offensives, he said "the Israeli war and Israeli pressure on the government and on the Hamas movement have not weakened us," pledging that his government would rebuild whatever was destroyed during the war, Xinhua added.

HN/SC/MMN

----------


## Shades

*Saudi FM: Israel spoilt child of intl. lenience*
Sat, 02 Jan 2010 18:54:51 GMT

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal
Saudi Arabia has denounced the easygoing international attitude, which has emboldened Israel into destroying the prospects of Middle East peace.

"In the international community, Israel has become like a spoiled child," said Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal following talks with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, AFP reported.

"We can't reach a solution with the preferential treatment that Israel gets," al-Faisal added.

Tel Aviv refuses to meet the Palestinian condition for recommencement of peace talks by enforcing a permanent and complete freeze on its settlement expansion in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The resulting long-standing standoff in the Middle East peace talks was compounded by Israel's December 2008-January 2009 offensives against the Gaza Strip, which claimed the lives of more than 1,400 Palestinians. A UN-commissioned inquiry earlier in the year convicted Tel Aviv of perpetrating war crimes during the raids.

Al-Faisal also deplored the international community's "double-standard" towards Israel, questioning why only "other countries who violate international law are punished."

The 69-year-old Saudi prince last month regretted the failure of his efforts to establish a Palestinian state and regional peace during his 35 years in office.

The two ministers urged the international community to take a "stern and serious stance" against Israel's settlement policy.

HN/SC/MMN

----------


## Shades

Peace activists hold demo for Gaza
Sat, 02 Jan 2010 22:44:15 GMT

Israeli, Arab, and foreign peace activists protest in Tel Aviv on January 2 to mark the first anniversary of the Israeli assault on Gaza.
Over 1,000 Israeli, Arab, and foreign activists have held a peace rally in Tel Aviv, calling for "liberty and justice for Gaza" and the lifting of the Israeli-imposed blockade on the Gaza Strip.

To mark the first anniversary of the first Israeli bombs that fell on the Gaza Strip on December 27, 2008, the demonstrators marched in central Tel Aviv on Saturday and chanted slogans condemning the blockade of Gaza.

The 22-day Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip killed over 1,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured over 5,500 people.

In anniversary events that began earlier this week, demonstrators accused the Israeli government of committing war crimes in the territory.

One Jewish pacifist participating in the demonstration said, "We pray for a speedy, total and peaceful dismantlement of the state of Israel, the villains against the victims of Gaza and Palestine. Our hearts cry, our hearts embrace the people of Palestine."

On Thursday, hundreds of people, including international activists, held a similar protest on both sides of the Erez crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Israel imposed the blockade on the Gaza Strip after Hamas came to power in the territory in June 2007.

FTP/SS/HGL

----------


## Shades

*Top Israeli diplomat scolds ambassadors*
Sun, 03 Jan 2010 13:59:50 GMT

Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli foreign minister
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman chastised the regime's foreign envoys for their tendency to appease their host states.

"I have seen that some ambassadors identify themselves with the other side to such an extent that they are all the time trying to justify and explain [the position of the other side]," Lieberman said at a conference last week with Israeli ambassadors.

In his 20-minute address, Lieberman spoke before the shocked audience, who had gathered at the Foreign Ministry, without giving them any opportunity to ask questions or comment. He then left abruptly.

A senior source at the ministry said some of the ambassadors had expressed frustration with Lieberman in private earlier this week and vowed to confront him and "tell him precisely what they think."

Envoys also complained that they were confused because of the conflicting messages they had received from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lieberman.

At the opening of the conference, Lieberman called the Palestinian Authority "a bunch of terrorists," claiming that there was no chance of reaching peace with the Palestinians in the next two decades.

The following day, however, Netanyahu delivered a different message, saying that conditions for resuming talks with the Palestinians were positive.

Netanyahu also talked of the need to establish a "demilitarized" Palestinian state alongside "a Jewish Israel."

MT/MJ/MD

----------


## Shades

Egypt opens Rafah crossing for three days
Mon, 04 Jan 2010 08:33:18 GMT

Under intense international pressure, Egypt has temporarily opened the Rafah border crossing, allowing those with permits to cross into the Gaza Strip.

The impoverished enclave, which has been under a crippling Israeli-imposed blockade for nearly two years, experienced momentary relief on Sunday when it opened for a scheduled three-day period.

However, according to the state-run Egyptian Al-Ahram daily, only Palestinians with travel plans and visas for foreign countries, along with patients in need of medical care would be allowed out of the strip.

Although opened sporadically, the Rafah border crossing, Gaza's only crossing point which bypasses Israel, has largely remained shut since 2007.

Despite being under constant pressure from international bodies including the United Nations to permanently open Rafah, Cairo has kept a tight rein along the border, assisting Tel Aviv in maintaining the costal sliver under siege.

Egypt, on occasions, has even gone so far as to order its border guards to shoot Gazans who attempt to seek refuge on its soil.

The siege of Gaza has been the source of recent protests, planned to coincide with the anniversary of Israel's 22-day offensive in the Strip.

During the weekend, thousands of demonstrators in Cairo, Tel Aviv, Gaza and London rallied for "Freedom and Justice in Gaza," repeating reference to Israel as an apartheid state.

They also urged the ban on the entry of "Viva Palestina" humanitarian convoy to be lifted.

The long-delayed aid convoy was forced to take a detour and go to Syria, after Cairo denied the convoy entry through the Red Sea port of Nuweiba, the most direct route from Jordan where the convoy was stalled.

The third international convoy, which departed from London on December 5, is made up of international volunteers who have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds in their local communities to pay for ambulances, minibuses, vans, and lorries to fill them with medical and other aid, desperately needed in Gaza.

Battered by months of an Israeli-imposed blockade and coupled with an all-out Israeli strike, which left over 1,400 Palestinians killed and thousands of others wounded, the Gaza Strip is faced with a dire 'humanitarian catastrophe.'

Gaza hospitals are left with insufficient medical supplies, and as a result many patients have lost their lives, sparking an outcry among the Gaza sick.

FF/SC/DT

----------


## Shades

*Netanyahu: Israel will not withdraw to 1967 lines*
Mon, 04 Jan 2010 10:53:15 GMT

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the Palestinians' call for withdrawing to its 1967 lines as a precondition for resumption of Middle East peace talks.

Netanyahu, in a close door meeting on Sunday, declared that he has no intention of restarting talks with Palestinians if the precondition for such negotiation is withdrawal to the pre-Six Day War lines, the Jerusalem Post reported on Monday.

He stressed that Israel will not accept any precondition for resumption of talks with Palestinians.

Netanyahu said that the Palestinians' current stance was that Israel should accept their demands and then the negotiations could take place.

"That is not going to happen," he said.

The UN have repeatedly called on Israel to withdraw from territories occupied in the 1967 war.

MGH/JG/DT

----------


## Shades

*US-Arab states arms deals irk Israel*
Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:36:06 GMT

A US trooper operating a TOW-2 anti-tank missile launcher in Afghanistan
A new report says major arms deal agreements signed between Washington and several Arab countries has raised concerns among Israeli officials.

The Israeli daily Haaretz reported Monday that Washington has recently signed several arms deals based on which it will sell advanced arms to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

According to the report, the shipments are to include anti-ship and anti-tank missiles as well as the so-called smart and bunker-busting bombs.

Israel, however, expressed concern over the arms sales to the Arab countries.

According to the Pentagon's report to Congress in December, no arms deal with Israel has taken place since US President Barack Obama took office on January 2008.

The details of the deals were also posted on the Pentagon website in which the Department of Defense noted that none of the deals would "alter the military balance in the region."

Israel had formerly expressed concern about the US arms sales to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries during George W. Bush's presidency.

In its report to Congress the Pentagon argued that providing the Arab countries with advanced arms "is part of Washington's efforts to boost the moderate axis in the Middle East and to deter Iran."

"Egypt needs these missiles in order to protect its borders," according to the report.

A large arms deal with Saudi Arabia includes the sale of 2,742 TOW-2 anti-tank missiles. These advanced missiles, which Israel also possesses, are capable of penetrating the armor protection of most tanks. The total value of this deal, which is to benefit the Saudi National Guard, is estimated at USD 177 million.

The report also explained that the large arms deal with Saudi Arabia, are part of an effort to "deter Iran and to counter Al-Qaeda in Yemen."

This is while, since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iran has never invaded any country.

SB/HGH/MMN

----------


## Shades

*Viva Palestina arrives in Egypt to enter Gaza*
Mon, 04 Jan 2010 18:46:37 GMT

Viva Palestina humanitarian aid convoy has arrived in the Egyptian port city of El-Arish to pass thought the Rafah border crossing into the Gaza Strip.

A Turkish ship, which carries the convoy from the Syrian port of Lattakia to Egypt, arrived in El-Arish on Sunday evening, said Gamal Abdel Maqsoud, head of El-Arish port.

The ship carrying the 250-vehicle convoy will be unloaded at the port and be transferred to the Gaza Strip via Rafah crossing, according to Egypt's official MENA news agency.

According to the report, 528 activists from 17 countries who are onboard the convoy will also travel to Gaza.

Five Turkish lawmakers will also join the UK-based convoy on Monday.

They are expected to enter Gaza on Tuesday evening and will stay for 24 hours to deliver all humanitarian aids to the Gazan authorities.

The convoy, which departed from London on December 6, was scheduled to deliver medical, humanitarian and educational aid to Gazans on December 27.

It was, however, forced to return to Syria from the Jordanian port city of Aqaba after Cairo refused to allow it to go through the Red Sea port of Nuweiba  the most direct route.

Cairo insisted that the convoy can only enter through the Mediterranean port city of El-Arish.

SB/MMN

----------


## Shades

*Jewish settlers are akin to malignant tumor'*
Tue, 05 Jan 2010 08:50:35 GMT

An Arab Member of Knesset (MK) from the United Arab List-Ta'al, Taleb Sanaa, has described Jewish settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories as analogous with a 'malignant tumor.'

"There is no connection between civil rights and settlers in the Palestinian territory whose point of view is to persecute and abuse. These vermin must not be permitted. According to international law, settlers are prohibited from being there. They are a cancerous tumor," Sanaa said.

"The settlers don't give a damn about the government and the High Court of Justice's decisions. They come to the Knesset to enforce terror."

The comment set off a flurry of furious reactions from the participants during the Monday morning session of Knesset to discuss the 10-month moratorium on settlement construction, its implications and its possible negative effects on the civil rights of West Bank residents.

Committee chairman MK David Rotem from Israel Beiteinu party irately replied, "If the settlers are a malignant tumor in the body of the Palestinian state, we hope the tumors will grow until the Palestinian state ceases to exist."

MK Michael Ben-Ari form National Union party consequently accused Sanaa of provoking incitement against settlers.

The Israeli plans to build apartments for Jews in East Jerusalem Al-Quds, where Palestinians hope to set up the capital of a future state, as well as occupied West Bank territories have undermined efforts to jump-start the stalled Middle East peace process.

Tel Aviv is currently under intense pressure from the international community to halt the construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank. Israeli settlements are widely considered the main obstacle in the way of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Under the 2002 Roadmap for Peace plan brokered by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia, Israel has to 'dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and freeze all settlement activities.'

There are currently 121 Israeli settlements and 102 Israeli outposts built on Palestinian land occupied by Israel in 1967.

These settlements and outposts are inhabited by a population of approximately 462,000 Israeli settlers. Some 191,000 Israelis are living in settlements around Jerusalem Al-Quds and an additional 271,400 are spread throughout the West Bank.

All of these settlements and outposts, which have been erected on occupied land that the Palestinians claim for a future state, are illegal under international law and have been condemned by numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions.

MP/SC/DT

----------


## Shades

Mofaz endeavoring to obliterate Kadima: Livni
Tue, 05 Jan 2010 08:56:08 GMT

The chairwoman of Israel's centrist Kadima political party, Tzipi Livni, has leveled harsh accusations against her arch-rival Shaul Mofaz, saying that he 'is trying to destroy' her party.

"Mofaz wants to replace me. It could be legitimate when the time is right, but not when he is still deep inside the primaries, which took place a year ago and results are still being tallied. What he basically wants is a second exam date," Ynet quoted Livni as saying on Monday.

Addressing Mofaz's demand to hold elections for the party's leadership as soon as possible, Livni said that this would not be beneficial for anyone, including for him.

"He keeps demanding it here and now," she stated. "He says it's time for a decision. When I told him, 'Okay, let the faction decide now,' he was speechless.

"Mofaz is demanding that I recommend a date for primary elections, but I have no plan to do so, so I decided that the faction make the decision. We had primaries a little over a year ago."

This is while Kadima's No. 2, Shaul Mofaz, on Monday slammed his party's leader for "causing damage to Israel, Kadima and the faction members."

Speaking at a special press briefing at the Knesset following a faction meeting, Mofaz said that Israel is suffering because Kadima is not in the government. Kadima is also suffering, as are the faction members who have no influence. This is not her movement, this is not my movement, and this is not anyone's movement. The situation in Kadima is that the mechanism is a black box and the party's code is Draconian.

"When I see the damage she caused to the State and to Kadima, I can't sit still. I can't see her causing damage and sit still," he added.

"If Livni wants credit, I told her, 'Go ahead, receive the credit from Kadima's members," said MK Mofaz, who has been trying to promote primary elections in his party in the near future, despite Livni's objection.

"I am democratically challenging (Livni's leadership), and I want it to happen within three months. I said that I demand an answer," he concluded.

MP/SC/DT

----------


## Shades

* East Jerusalem: Settler Tunnel Causes Road Collapse*
Date : 4/1/2010   Time : 13:37

JERUSALEM, January 4, 2010 (WAFA)- Part of a main road in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan collapsed, Saturday due to tunneling work carried out by the Elad settler organization.

Despite the road collapsing in the mid-afternoon, it was not until 8:00 pm that Israeli police arrived at the scene, after an Israeli bus serving the settler population drove into the hole in the road.

Silwan is a Palestinian village on the hills south of the Old City of Jerusalem, occupied in 1967 by the Israeli army. It is one of several neighborhoods in East Jerusalem where the Israeli state and settler organizations are forcing Palestinians from their homes. Almost 90 houses in the area are currently threatened with demolition, potentially displacing 1,000 - 1,500 residents and no construction permits have been issued for Palestinians in the area since 1967. Excavation works represent another threat to Palestinian residents; literally undermining their homes.

Tunneling by the Elad settler organization, which also runs the 'City of David' tourist site in Silwan, has been frequently criticized for undermining the Palestinian neighborhood. Elad director David Be'eri was filmed admitting that his excavations are carried out under people's houses. He described the excavation method in which 'we built from the top down' and 'everything's standing in the air' [due to the removal of fill]. 'Then [the engineer] says: 'you have to shut the whole thing' [because of danger of collapse]. I tell him: 'are you crazy?''

Land located under people's houses is considered their property under Israeli law, and digging in densely populated areas without the permission of property owners is therefore illegal. Despite this, 'archaeological' digging continues throughout the Old City and its surroundings with the complicity of Israeli authorities, police and courts. Also in the tape mentioned above, made about a year ago, the founding head of Elad, David Be'eri, says: 'At a certain point we came to court. The judge approached me and said, 'you're digging under their houses.' I said 'I'm digging under their houses? King David dug under their houses. I'm just cleaning.' He said to me, 'Clean as much as possible.' Since then, we're just cleaning; we're not digging!'

Less than six months ago a large part of the same road gave way meters from the most recent collapse. Local people say they are concerned that their homes may also collapse in the future. Subsidence caused by the tunneling is visible on buildings and roads around the excavation area. A Palestinian kindergarten opened in 1990 is located directly next to the opening of the tunnel. In recent months several large cracks have appeared in the building. Classes were affected by today's road collapse. Several children protested the undermining of their school and the whole area.

Eye witnesses said that the collapse in the ground is expanding, it has become 10 meters long. They are warning of risk of expanding till Al-Ein Mosque nearby, as well as cracks in the houses above the tunnel.

They expressed fear of the consequences to come in winter, due to the expansion of the tunnel, and risk of cracks and collapses in the buildings and homes.

----------


## Shades

*Egypt's security seizes two smuggling tunnels at Gaza border*

2010-01-02 17:42:48

Al Arish-Pal Press-The Egyptian authorities revealed today that security services seized two smuggling tunnels at the border area between its territories and Gaza Strip in Sarsooreya area.

Big quantities of goods bound to Gaza were found.

Egyptian security forces cracked down yesterday Friday evening on the border area with Gaza Strip,  where  two tunnels northern Rafah crossing were discovered , a big number of trucks loaded with canned mineral water and some food stuffs were seized also, security sources said.

It is worth telling that some 500 underground tunnels were seized at the Egyptian side of Rafah at  Gaza  border during 2009.

Egyptian security Forces thwarted an African migrant from infiltrating Egypts border into Israel two kilometers southern Rafah border crossing.

The infiltration  attempt is considered the  first since 2010.

The sources pointed out that the migrant was Ethiopian  called Estyavi Elolo, 25 years of age .

During the investigation, Elolo admitted that he paid trafickers 1000 dollars in order to help  him cross the border into Israel  in search for work.


2010-01-02 17:42:48

----------


## Shades

* IOF Arrests 5 Palestinians in West Bank*
Date : 4/1/2010   Time : 13:33

RAMALLAH, January 4, 2010 (WAFA)- Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested, this morning, five Palestinians in Jenin and Hebron.

Palestinian sources told WAFA that IOF attacked, last night, the Eastern neighborhood of Jenin, north of the West Bank and arrested three Palestinian men aged 30, 21 and 19.

They also attacked Hebron, south of the West Bank and arrested two Palestinians whose identities have still not been known.

----------


## Shades

US Solidarity Activist Awaits Deportation Decision by Israeli Court
Date : 3/1/2010   Time : 13:00

RAMALLAH, January 3, 2010 (AFA)-Israeli authorities continue to detain Ryan Olander, US citizen and solidarity activist, who was illegally arrested on December 18, 2009 for his support of Palestinian families evicted from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah.

Minnesota resident Ryan Olander is facing deportation after being held in Israeli prisons for over two weeks, International Solidarity Movement (ISM) said.

He spent his Christmas and New Year at a deportation facility in Ramle, where his request for release has been rejected by the prison judge. His lawyer submitted an appeal to the Israeli District Court in Tel Aviv on December 27, 2009 challenging the request of the Israeli Ministry of Interior for Olander's deportation. The lawyer is anticipating the decision of the judge within the next 48 hours, ISM added.

Ryan Olander was arrested from a tent the Palestinian Al-Kurd family built in their own backyard following a recent setter take-over of a section of their house. He was drinking tea and talking to the family members when six Israeli policemen walked into the tent and took him for questioning at the Russian Compound police station in west Jerusalem. Despite being released without charges the following day, Ryan was illegally re-arrested by immigration police only a few moments later, right outside of the same police station that told him he was free to go.

Following his arrest, Olander made the following statement: 'I have become a target of the police for standing in solidarity with the Palestinians of Sheikh Jarrah who struggle against the unjust and illegal evictions from the places they have called their homes for nearly 60 years. Now I face deportation from Israel.'

During the time Ryan Olander spent in Israeli prisons, the residents of Sheikh Jarrah in Occupied East Jerusalem have been subjected to further harassment and violence from the Israeli settlers and their supporters who recently took over the houses of several Palestinian families

----------


## Shades

srael calm but ready to pull trigger  	  Print   	  E-mail
04.01.10 - 18:54
, analysts say.
A year after the Israeli offensive on Gaza, the ceasefire continues to hold

Imageand 2009 saw Israel register the lowest number of incidents of Palestinian-Israeli violence in the decade just ended, according to a report released last week by the countrys internal security agencaccording to a report released last week by the countrys internal security agency.

Nevertheless, Israeli analysts will not rule out another war on Gaza, even if Israeli leaders are wary of the political cost. The question is not whether, but under what circumstances, renewed conflict might break out, the analysts say.

Six or eight years will not repeat itself, said Yoram Schweitzer, a military analyst at Tel Avivs Institute for National Security Studies, referring to the period since rocket fire from Gaza started. Israel will be much more aggressive and wont let rocket fire drag on for that long; the Israeli public wont tolerate that anymore.

The rocket fire from Gaza certainly swung public opinion in Israel firmly behind the war when it broke out. Since 2001, militants in Gaza have fired predominantly homemade rockets across the border into Israel. While the technology behind them grew more and more sophisticated, they caused relatively little damage and in seven years until the end of 2008, only 13 fatalities.

Nevertheless, constant pictures from Sderot, a small Israeli town near Gaza, of people running for cover and houses taking damage, had an enormous effect on Israeli public opinion and proved politically intolerable to the previous government of Ehud Olmert. Thus when a six-month ceasefire, fragile at all times not least due to Israeli army operations, finally broke down and rockets flew again, Israelis were ready for war.

The war and its 1,400 mostly civilian Palestinian casualties, however, did little to change public opinion. Israelis remain hugely supportive of the war and reject international accusations of war crimes and disproportionality, as contained in the report that came out of a United Nations investigation led by the South African judge Richard Goldstone.

Ninety-nine per cent of Israeli Jews believe we conducted the war in the most humane way possible against an enemy that hides in civilian areas and that Goldstone was simply wrong, said Yossi Alpher, an Israeli analyst based in Tel Aviv.

What that means, said Mr Alpher, is that should the Israeli government consider reopening hostilities in Gaza, the domestic debate will be about international reaction rather than the rights or wrongs of the conflict itself.

Israel has largely shielded itself from any political fallout from the Goldstone report with help from the United States, but another war might make it increasingly difficult for Israels allies to shield the country from growing international exasperation.

This is something the Israeli public is acutely aware of, said Mr Alpher, and is likely to see the army prepare for a different kind of conflict.

The Goldstone report and international reaction more broadly certainly act as a deterrent factor to any new war, said Mr Alpher.

Some, like Mr Schweitzer, argue that Israel needs to explain itself better. International opinion, said Mr Schweitzer, was not cognisant enough of the difficulty of minimising civilian casualties in a war fought in a largely urban theatre against groups employing semi-military, semi-guerrilla tactics. Israel needs to explain better to international public opinion the complexity of a war against groups like Hamas or Hizbollah.

While there is no imminent threat of renewed conflict, Gazans cannot tolerate a continued siege that is taking an enormous toll on the impoverished strips economy and infrastructure. As long as there is no sign of an end to the Israeli-imposed blockade, violence will always remain a possibility.

For now, though, Israel and Hamas are deep in indirect negotiations over a prisoner swap that would see about 450 out of nearly 8,000 Palestinian prisoners released in a deal for a captured Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit. In Gaza, commanders and soldiers in the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas military wing, believe that deal is crucial and once done, may signal the beginning of the countdown to another battle.

Mr Schweitzer said he thought the prisoner exchange would have the opposite effect and relieve some pressure. Nevertheless, the threat of renewed hostilities would continue for as long as there was no direct political engagement between Hamas and Israel, said Mr Schweitzer, something the Israeli government so far is simply not interested in.

Mr Alpher said that any new war would either be very limited in scope or a much more comprehensive reoccupation. He dismissed the suggestion that there was a sense of unfinished business in Gaza, but said that nevertheless the situation would remain unstable.


We have no realistic strategy for dealing with Hamas in Gaza.



Source: Omar Karm / The National

----------


## Shades

srael calm but ready to pull trigger  	  Print   	  E-mail
04.01.10 - 18:54
, analysts say.
A year after the Israeli offensive on Gaza, the ceasefire continues to hold

Imageand 2009 saw Israel register the lowest number of incidents of Palestinian-Israeli violence in the decade just ended, according to a report released last week by the countrys internal security agencaccording to a report released last week by the countrys internal security agency.

Nevertheless, Israeli analysts will not rule out another war on Gaza, even if Israeli leaders are wary of the political cost. The question is not whether, but under what circumstances, renewed conflict might break out, the analysts say.

Six or eight years will not repeat itself, said Yoram Schweitzer, a military analyst at Tel Avivs Institute for National Security Studies, referring to the period since rocket fire from Gaza started. Israel will be much more aggressive and wont let rocket fire drag on for that long; the Israeli public wont tolerate that anymore.

The rocket fire from Gaza certainly swung public opinion in Israel firmly behind the war when it broke out. Since 2001, militants in Gaza have fired predominantly homemade rockets across the border into Israel. While the technology behind them grew more and more sophisticated, they caused relatively little damage and in seven years until the end of 2008, only 13 fatalities.

Nevertheless, constant pictures from Sderot, a small Israeli town near Gaza, of people running for cover and houses taking damage, had an enormous effect on Israeli public opinion and proved politically intolerable to the previous government of Ehud Olmert. Thus when a six-month ceasefire, fragile at all times not least due to Israeli army operations, finally broke down and rockets flew again, Israelis were ready for war.

The war and its 1,400 mostly civilian Palestinian casualties, however, did little to change public opinion. Israelis remain hugely supportive of the war and reject international accusations of war crimes and disproportionality, as contained in the report that came out of a United Nations investigation led by the South African judge Richard Goldstone.

Ninety-nine per cent of Israeli Jews believe we conducted the war in the most humane way possible against an enemy that hides in civilian areas and that Goldstone was simply wrong, said Yossi Alpher, an Israeli analyst based in Tel Aviv.

What that means, said Mr Alpher, is that should the Israeli government consider reopening hostilities in Gaza, the domestic debate will be about international reaction rather than the rights or wrongs of the conflict itself.

Israel has largely shielded itself from any political fallout from the Goldstone report with help from the United States, but another war might make it increasingly difficult for Israels allies to shield the country from growing international exasperation.

This is something the Israeli public is acutely aware of, said Mr Alpher, and is likely to see the army prepare for a different kind of conflict.

The Goldstone report and international reaction more broadly certainly act as a deterrent factor to any new war, said Mr Alpher.

Some, like Mr Schweitzer, argue that Israel needs to explain itself better. International opinion, said Mr Schweitzer, was not cognisant enough of the difficulty of minimising civilian casualties in a war fought in a largely urban theatre against groups employing semi-military, semi-guerrilla tactics. Israel needs to explain better to international public opinion the complexity of a war against groups like Hamas or Hizbollah.

While there is no imminent threat of renewed conflict, Gazans cannot tolerate a continued siege that is taking an enormous toll on the impoverished strips economy and infrastructure. As long as there is no sign of an end to the Israeli-imposed blockade, violence will always remain a possibility.

For now, though, Israel and Hamas are deep in indirect negotiations over a prisoner swap that would see about 450 out of nearly 8,000 Palestinian prisoners released in a deal for a captured Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit. In Gaza, commanders and soldiers in the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas military wing, believe that deal is crucial and once done, may signal the beginning of the countdown to another battle.

Mr Schweitzer said he thought the prisoner exchange would have the opposite effect and relieve some pressure. Nevertheless, the threat of renewed hostilities would continue for as long as there was no direct political engagement between Hamas and Israel, said Mr Schweitzer, something the Israeli government so far is simply not interested in.

Mr Alpher said that any new war would either be very limited in scope or a much more comprehensive reoccupation. He dismissed the suggestion that there was a sense of unfinished business in Gaza, but said that nevertheless the situation would remain unstable.


We have no realistic strategy for dealing with Hamas in Gaza.



Source: Omar Karm / The National

----------


## Shades

Anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox Jews  	  
03.01.10 - 02:08

,celebrate Sabbath in Gaza
A small group of ultra-Orthodox Jews were preparing Friday to celebrate the Jewish Sabbath in Gaza, in an unlikely show of support for Palestinians in the Hamas-run coastal territory.

ImageBearded and wearing black hats and coats, the four members of a tiny Jewish group vehemently opposed to Israel's existence were a rare sight in the poverty-stricken Palestinian territory.

Members of the Neturei Karta group have expressed support for the Iranian regime and for others who oppose the Jewish state, which they believe was established in violation of Jewish law.

"It's crucial that the people of Gaza understand the terrible tragedy here is not in the name of Judaism," said one of the men, Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss of New York City, as the four prepared to observe the Sabbath at a Gaza City hotel.

Israel's offensive in Gaza destroyed some 5,000 homes and, according to figures from a Palestinian rights group, killed over 1,400 people. Israel has challenged this figure, stating that a total of 1,166 Palestinians were killed in the operation, the majority of whom were Hamas militants.

The four men are American and Canadian citizens. Israel bans its citizens from visiting the blockaded territory. Weiss and his comrades entered Gaza through a border crossing with Egypt.

This was not the first time Neturei Karta members visited the besieged strip, after a brief visit to Gaza in July of last year, when they met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh after crossing into the territory through Egypt.

Israel, which maintains a strict blockade of Gaza, would not let them cross through its passages with the territory.

"We feel your suffering, we cry your cry," Rabbi Weiss said at the time.

"It is your land, it is occupied, illegitimately and unjustly by people who stole it, kidnapped the name of Judaism and our identity," Weiss continued.

During their Thursday meeting, Haniyeh told them he held no grudge against Jews, but against the state of Israel, according to a Hamas Web site.

Neturei Karta, Aramaic for Guardians of the City, was founded some 70 years ago in Jerusalem by Jews who opposed the drive to establish the state of Israel, believing only the Messiah could do that. Estimates of the group's size range from a few hundred to a few thousand.

Representatives of the sect had previously visited Gaza when it was ruled by Fatah, Hamas' more secular rival.

One acted as Yasser Arafat's adviser on Jewish affairs, and a delegation traveled to Paris in 2004 to pray for the Palestinian leader's health as he lay dying in a hospital. Months later, a group participated in a conference in Lebanon with Hamas and Hezbollah militants.



source: Haaretz

----------


## Shades

*Arrest warrants keep Israeli team away from UK*
Tue, 05 Jan 2010 13:46:12 GMT

Israel canceled a delegation of senior military officers to Britain last week after the UK failed to guarantee that they would not be arrested over alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported Tuesday that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs appealed to the British government to ensure that the officers, including a colonel, lieutenant colonel and a major, would be able to stay in the country without arrest fear.

Britain, however, did not make such a promise.

The incident provoke anger among Israeli officials who cried that the British legal system's acceptance of pro-Palestinian group's lawsuits was threatening to "undermine relations" between London and Tel Aviv.

"Should we not get the appropriate securities and if the British law remains unchanged, Israeli officers and seniors will not be able to travel to Britain, which would undermine the good relations," Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon said Tuesday.

Last month, Israel's Foreign Ministry issued a statement and called for an end to the "absurd situation" in which arrest warrants were being issued against Israeli officials.

The statement followed an arrest warrant against Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni who canceled her participation in a Jewish conference in London.

The warrant was issued for "war crimes" committed when she was foreign minister during Israel's December 2007-January 2008 offensive against the Gaza Strip which left over 1,350 Palestinians dead.

A report released by a UN fact-finding team headed by South African Judge Richard Goldstone in September accused Israeli military forces of war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza.

Based on the report, Israel used disproportionate force and failed to protect civilians during its offensive on the territory.

SB/MD

----------


## Shades

*Israel gears citizens with gas masks*
Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:01:24 GMT

Israel's cabinet decided last week to begin the distribution of individual protective kits among citizens in late February.

Based on a report published by Israeli daily Haaretz, at least 60 percent of the population who mostly live in northern areas will receive the kits, which include gas masks.

The Israel Postal Company is tasked with delivering the kits in late February.

"Many things have been done since the Second Lebanon War. The cabinet decision last week is another step in this direction," a security source said. "It is not a sign of fear but of greater preparedness. Whoever is planning to fire missiles at Israel should know that we are ready to protect ourselves."

The cabinet said it will provide all of the nearly eight million Israeli people with the kits in three years. However, millions of dollars need to be allocated to the project.

The regime distributed such kits among people during the 1991 war in the Persian Gulf.

It provided the citizens with gas masks again during the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, but had to collect them five years ago as they began to expire.

SB/MD

----------


## Shades

*Israeli airstrike on Gaza kills two, injures three*
Tue, 05 Jan 2010 21:20:47 GMT

At least two Palestinian resistance fighter have been killed and three others critically injured in an Israeli airstrike on southern Gaza.

Israeli warplanes struck the Gaza Strip late on Tuesday near the southern city of Khan Yunis, Reuters reported.

The Popular Resistance Committees said its members had been targeted by the attack.

The fatality appears to be the first in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict this year, and the first since Israel killed six Palestinians in separate incidents in the West Bank and Gaza in late December.

MP/HGL

----------


## Shades

*Israel OK's new Jewish residences in East Al-Quds*
Wed, 06 Jan 2010 06:37:33 GMT

Israeli authorities have approved construction of four new residential buildings in the eastern part of Jerusalem Al-Quds, despite international calls for a cessation of activity where Palestinians hope to set up the capital of a future state.

The buildings, which are intended to house 24 families, will be built beside the decades-standing Beit Orot yeshiva in the contentious area east of the Old City walls, according to a report released by Israeli Haaretz newspaper.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared last week a plan to construct an additional 700 apartments in East Al-Quds, a move the White House called another blow to stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Tel Aviv is currently under intense pressure from the international community to halt the construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank. Israeli settlements are widely considered the main obstacle in the way of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Under the 2002 Roadmap for Peace plan brokered by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia, Israel has to 'dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and freeze all settlement activities.'

There are currently 121 Israeli settlements and 102 Israeli outposts built on Palestinian land occupied by Israel in 1967. The settlements are in direct violation of numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions.

These settlements and outposts are inhabited by a population of approximately 462,000 Israeli settlers. Some 191,000 Israelis are living in settlements around Al-Quds and an additional 271,400 are spread throughout the West Bank.

All such Jewish settlements are deemed illegal under international law because they have been erected on occupied lands that the Palestinians claim for a future state.

MP/SC/DT

----------


## Shades

*Germany to sell Israel another nuclear submarine*
Wed, 06 Jan 2010 11:05:44 GMT

Germany starts talks with Israel over the sale of a new submarine, capable of firing nuclear missiles, despite having received no payment for previous deliveries.

Israeli and German officials have reached an "advanced" stage in their negotiations about the new Dolphin class attack submarine, a "senior" Israeli source told Israel's Maariv daily.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are expected to agree on the deal's details on January 18, the source said.

Netanyahu was supposed to finalize the deal with the German Chancellor last November, but that meeting never took place as Netanyahu fell ill.

The German-made Dolphin ballistic missile submarines are capable of firing cruise missiles. The Israeli marine already has three Dolphin submarines that it received from Germany three years ago.

The new submarines have been built at a cost of one-point-three billion euros, with Germany covering one-third of the bill.

Tel Aviv has reportedly not paid for the previous deliveries despite German demands, but Berlin wants Israel to pay up this time.

MJ/DT

----------


## Shades

*Israel moves to prevent further war crime lawsuits*
Wed, 06 Jan 2010 13:02:54 GMT

A year after the Gaza invasion, Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, Israel's army chief, moves to take measure to prevent lawsuits against the army for future operations.
Israeli Military Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi Wednesday ordered the army to consult with its legal advisers during future operations.

Legal advisors will now work only with divisional headquarters while operations are underway, Haaretz reported.

During the Gaza offensive a year ago, legal advisers took part in the planning as well as the selection and approval of targets for destruction. They were, however, rarely consulted once the combat began.

The war left more than a thousand Palestinians dead, including many women and children. The offensive also inflicted more than $1.6 billion damage on the impoverished, under-siege Gaza.

Under the new rules, greater emphasis has been placed on training Israeli officers in the rules of war and international law, as the army is battling charges of war crimes, according to a UN inquiry led by former South African Judge Richard Goldstone, it committed during the Gaza operation.

Last month Tzipi Livni, the leader of Israel's main opposition party, Kadima, and foreign minister during the Gaza war, cancelled a visit to Britain after an arrest warrant was issued against her by a British court, sparking a diplomatic row.

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon on Tuesday announced that a planned trip to Britain by a group of officers was postponed, urging London to guarantee there would be no criminal lawsuits.

MP/MD

----------


## Shades

*Egypt police injure 35 Palestinians*
Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:09:41 GMT

Egyptian police beat a Palestinian protester near the Gaza-Egypt border
Egyptian forces injured at least 35 Palestinians on Wednesday when they clashed with protesters who staged rallies against Cairo's steeling its border with the blockaded Gaza Strip.

The incident occurred when security forces confronted the protesters on the Egypt-Gaza border, Reuters reported. Two of the injured are in critical condition.

The Egyptian government is building a steel wall along the border to prevent the trafficking of any goods to the strip.

The coastal sliver continues to suffer from an all-out Israeli-imposed blockade which has deprived it of its basic necessities for over two years.

Cairo has also been keeping shut the Rafah border crossing  the Gaza Strip's only border that bypasses Israel claiming that the border post is an Egyptian-Israeli crossing and should not be used without the Tel Aviv's permission.

The Egyptian riot police earlier injured 55 people in the port of El-Arish during clashes with the Gaza-bound human rights activists Viva Palestina.

The scuffles broke out after Egypt said it would not allow 59 humanitarian assistance trucks of Viva Palestina's relief convoy to enter Gaza.

The convoy is comprised of 210 trucks carrying basic food items and medical supplies.

The 450-strong group, led by British lawmaker George Galloway, set out for the port after being barred from taking the most direct route into Egypt by entering the country via the Red Sea.

HN/HGH/MD

----------


## Shades

*Aid convoy breaks Israeli blockade of Gaza*
Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:48:07 GMT

The Viva Palestina aid convoy entered Gaza Wednesday, after it received the approval of Egyptian authorities to bring into the besieged, impoverished coastal sliver several tons of humanitarian supplies.

The activists entered Gaza through Rafah border crossing. More than 500 international activists accompany the convoy organized by the British-based group Viva Palestina, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Fifty-nine vehicles were not allowed into the strip but the supplies were unloaded and taken through by the activists.

The Egyptian approval came after activists and security forces clashed earlier in the day when Cairo refused to allow part the aid convoy to pass through its land to the Hamas-ruled territory.

More than 55 activists and over a dozen members of the security forces were injured in the clashes. Some sixty convoy-members were also arrested.

Gaza has been under a tight Israeli blockade since June 2007 when the democratically elected Hamas took control of the area. Egypt has come under fire from Arab and Muslim groups for cooperating with Israel.

British lawmaker George Galloway, who is accompanying the convoy, said that the activists had been forced to renegotiate with the Egyptian authorities.

"We refused this because it's a breach of the agreement which we reached in Aqaba between the government of Egypt and the Turkish side," he said. "It is completely unconscionable that 25 percent of our convoy should go to Israel and never arrive in Gaza, because nothing that goes to Israel ever arrives in Gaza."

Egyptian authorities had also refused the convoy entry into the country from the Red Sea, forcing it to change course to a Mediterranean port.

MP/MD

----------


## Shades

*Emanuel outrage at Israel over peace talks rejected*
Thu, 07 Jan 2010 06:53:24 GMT

Israel says the views of US Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, the top Jewish member of the Obama administration, were distorted by media.
Israel denies reports that US Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has threatened to walk away from the long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Emanuel met with Jacob Dayan, Israel's consul general in Los Angeles, about two weeks ago followed by media reports expressing Washington's deep frustration with both parties involved in the talks.

Emanuel told Dayan the US is sick of the Israelis who adopt suitable ideas months too late when they are no longer effective, Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot reported.

The US is also sick of the Palestinians who never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity; Emanuel was quoted by the paper as saying.

Emanuel also reportedly threatened that the Obama administration would reduce its involvement in the conflict if there were no progress in the peace process.

In a statement late Wednesday, Israel's Embassy in Washington stressed the article in the Israeli paper had distorted Emanuel's views.

"During his visit to Los Angeles, Mr. Emanuel reiterated his unflagging commitment to Israel's security and his devotion to the search for Israeli-Palestinian peace," it said.

The reports and denial come a year after President Barack Obama, upon taking office, pledged an "aggressive" push for a two-state peace between Israel and the Palestinians and jumpstart negotiations between the two sides.

However, Obama's gains have been little ever since, especially with his initial demand of a halt to Israeli settlement construction  the Palestinian Authority's long-demanded precondition to join the negotiation table  falling on a deaf ear in Tel Aviv.

The work on settlements in the occupied East Jerusalem Al-Quds has drawn international criticism. Israel, however, seems unfazed by the calls to halt its illegal activities.

Critics of President Obama, meanwhile, blame the failure on his falling in the track of his predecessor, George W. Bush, in maintaining a boycott on the Gaza Strip and its democratically elected ruler, Hamas, as well as investing all hopes on pro-US figures in the West Bank.

They argue that leaving out the popular Islamic movement from peace negotiations has weakened the Western-backed acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas.

MRS/MD

----------


## Shades

*Israeli war game eyes Gaza 'occupation'*
Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:00:30 GMT

Tel Aviv is conducting war games in the Negev desert, in what appears to be preparation for a new offensive on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

An Israeli TV channel reported the military drills on Thursday, saying the rightist government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely gearing up for a massive attack on Gaza shortly after the anniversary of the deadly Gaza onslaught last year.

It further revealed that Tel Aviv plans to occupy the entire coastal enclave this time to compensate for the failure to overthrow Hamas, the democratically elected ruler of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army is said to be practicing to forestall the mistakes which led to the deaths of several of its soldiers during the last offensive, the poor handling of which cost Tel Aviv severe criticism at home and forced senior army officials to resign.

The report added that Israeli tanks have been equipped with a new system able to identify friendly units operating in the battlefield  even when they are among civilians.

The 22-day Israeli offensive last year saw weeks of relentless air, land and sea incursions against the Palestinians in Gaza. It left more than 1,400 people, including hundreds of women and children, dead.

It also devastated a large part of the infrastructure in the impoverished coastal sliver which has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007.

Israel has recently stepped up saber-rattling against the Palestinians in Gaza, with Israeli planes dropping thousands of leaflets across Gaza in December, urging Gazans against cooperating with the resistance fighters based in the region, and threatening a new attack.

MRS/MD

----------


## Shades

*Galloway: New Gaza convoys won't cross Egypt*
Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:48:27 GMT

British lawmaker George Galloway says no more aid convoys destined for the besieged Gaza Strip will pass through Egyptian territory as its authorities caused troubles for Viva Palestina convoy to enter the Palestinian enclave.

"I cannot see any more visits to Egypt since we find it very difficult to deal with the officials who cheated us. They signed a binding agreement with us in Aqaba, Jordan, and they broke it," Galloway said in an interview with Press TV on Thursday.

"There are other ways into Gaza and we are exploring them. You'll see Viva Palestina coming from all corners of the world," he added.

The British anti-war activist added that the third international convoy organized by the British-based group Viva Palestina arrived in the Gaza Strip with no more than three quarters of what the organizers had planned.

It is believed that the remaining quarter of the humanitarian supplies, intended for impoverished Gazans living under crippling Israeli siege, will never reach its intended target in the Gaza Strip.

The Viva Palestina aid convoy entered Gaza Wednesday, after it received the approval of Egyptian authorities to bring into the blockaded coastal sliver of Gaza several tonnes of aid supplies. The activists of the pro-Palestinian movement had earlier entered the Egyptian port of al-Arish in order to get access into Gaza.

The third international convoy to Gaza departed from London on December 5, 2009. The convoy was made up of volunteers from Britain, Ireland, Belgium and Malaysia who had raised hundreds of thousands of pounds in their local communities to pay for ambulances, minibuses, vans and lorries. These vehicles were then filled with medical and other aid supplies desperately needed in Gaza.

The Gaza Strip has been under a complete Israeli siege, with full cooperation of Egypt, ever since the Hamas resistance movement, which does not recognize Israel as a sovereign state, won parliamentary elections in a surprise victory in 2007.

Israel's three-week offensive against Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009, which left more than 1,400 Palestinians dead, deteriorated the already dire situation there.

The Israeli assault led to the destruction of schools, mosques, houses as well as UN compounds, inflicting $1.6 billion damage on the Gazan economy.

MP/SAR/DT

----------


## Shades

*Gazan children honor victims of Israeli war*
Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:08:23 GMT

*Gazan children have released balloons carrying pictures of Palestinians killed during the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip one year ago*.

Dozens of children released balloons in Abu Ja'far Al Mansur School for Boys in the Al-Atatra area that was heavily bombarded during the war.

They attached pictures of their parents and family members, who were killed by the Israeli army, to the balloons, IMEMC reported.

The children also carried posters slamming the silence of the international community about the unjust attack on the Gaza Strip and demanding the prosecution of the Israeli military and political leaders.

Why was I blinded? What did I do? Why can't we live like other children do, in peace and security? said one of the children who lost his sight after his home was bombarded by the Israeli army.

More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the 2008-2009 Israeli land, sea and air war on the Gaza Strip which devastated the Gazan infrastructure and inflicted about USD 2 billion in damages on its economy.

----------


## Shades

*Abu Zuhri: Hamas against tensions with Egypt*
Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:20:51 GMT

Hamas is not seeking any escalation in tensions with Cairo authorities and is looking for a peaceful solution to the issue of underground steel wall that Egypt is building on the border with the besieged Gaza Strip.

"The situation on the border with Egypt and the incident of fire exchange between some fighters and the Egyptian border police was a spontaneous outcome of the anger felt by the Palestinians as Egypt is building the Wall," the Spokesperson of the Hamas movement, Sami Abu Zuhri, said on Wednesday.

He added that the incident which involved opening fire at an Egyptian border guard took place during a protest on the Egypt border. He further elaborated that the tension broke out after the Egyptian officials refused to permit peace activists and their cargo reaching Gaza.

Egyptian forces shot and wounded dozens of Palestinians on Wednesday during a protest on the Egypt-Gaza border. The protest was against an underground steel wall Egypt is building to block Palestinians supply tunnels into the coastal sliver.

The shooting erupted after scores of Palestinian protesters hurled rocks at the soldiers, witnesses and medical officials said.

The Egyptian state television said that gunfire from the Gaza Strip killed an Egyptian border guard.

Abu Zuhri went on to add that the Palestinian police and security forces tried to push the Palestinians away from the border in order to avoid confrontations with the Egyptian border police.

Egypt has been cooperating with Israel in its 28-month blockade of the impoverished coastal sliver of Gaza.

MP/SAR/DT

----------


## Shades

*Israel to pay $10 mn in compensation to UN*
Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:27:05 GMT

Palestinian firemen extinguish a blaze at the UN warehouse in Gaza City on January 15, 2009.
Israel will pay the United Nations $10 million in compensation for targeting its facilities during the 22-day offensive on the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Israel Defense Minister Ehud Barak informed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of Tel Aviv's decision.

The main UN compound in Gaza was left in flames on January 15, 2009 after being struck by Israeli artillery fire. The building had been hit by shells containing the incendiary agent white phosphorus, UN officials said.

The UN Relief and Works Agency, which looks after around four million Palestinian refugees in the region, suspended its operations in Gaza after the attack. The attack injured three UN employees.

The UN Secretary-General expressed his "strong protest and outrage" at the shelling and demanded an investigation.

The Israeli shelling targeted medicine and food warehouse. The food and medicine were meant to be delivered to the impoverished residents of the Gaza Strip.

More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during three weeks of Israel's land, sea and air assault in Operation Cast Lead, at the impoverished coastal sliver. The offensive also inflicted $1.6 billion damage to the Gaza economy.

MP/SAR/DT

----------


## Shades

*One killed, 2 injured as Israeli jets pound Gaza*
Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:58:50 GMT

An Israeli F-16 jet
Israeli jets fire missiles at seven targets in the Gaza Strip, killing one person and injuring two others, local witnesses and medics say.

Israeli aircraft early on Friday rocketed targets close to Gaza City and just outside the southern town of Khan Younis, Hamas officials and witnesses confirmed.

One person was killed and two others were injured when Israeli missiles hit two tunnels, medics and Hamas security officials said. All other strikes hit empty buildings or open spaces, they said.

A Press TV correspondent reported that Israeli planes dropped thousands of leaflets, over northern Gaza and Gaza City on Thursday. The leaflets bore telephone numbers and email addresses, urging people to inform the Israeli army of any activities by the Palestinians in the border area.

They also warned residents to stay at least 300 meters away from the border with Israel.

Hamas' military wing spokesman, Abu Obeida, described the latest Israeli ploy as a cowardly move to scare Gazans, "which cannot happen," a Press TV correspondent quoted him as saying.

Earlier in the day, Israel closed down the Kerem Shalom crossing with the Gaza Strip "until further notice," the Israeli defense ministry said in a statement.

FTP/MMN

----------


## Shades

*Fresh Israeli strikes kill 2 Gazans*
Fri, 08 Jan 2010 06:36:43 GMT

Israeli helicopter gunships have also been flying over the West Bank town of Tulkarem.
At least two people have been killed in a Fresh round of Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, recent reports say.

The airstrikes, which were launched in the early hours of Friday, hit seven targets near Gaza's border with Egypt.

Medics say several people have been left wounded or missing in the incident, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Meanwhile, Hamas and Palestinian radio stations have confirmed that Israeli F-16 jets and gunboats bombed Khan Yunis.

The attacks come in the midst of fully-fledged Israeli war games in the Negev desert, which are believed to be preparation for a new attempt to overthrow Hamas government, which came to power after Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2007.

An Israeli TV channel reported the military drills on Thursday, saying the rightist government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely gearing up for a massive attack on Gaza shortly after the anniversary of the deadly Gaza onslaught last year.

The wargame is said to be aimed at recognizing and correcting the mistakes of Israel's 22-day offensive on Gaza last year, which led to the deaths of over 1,400 Palestinians and cost Tel Aviv severe criticism at home and abroad.

SBB/DT

----------


## Shades

*Netanyahu vows no flexibility in Shalit talks*
Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:53:43 GMT

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister
Israel says it will not show any flexibility in the prisoner swap talks with the Palestinians as tensions between the two sides grow amid Israeli air raids on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the proposal to exchange soldier Gilad Shalit, captured by resistance fighters in Gaza in 2006, for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners is the last of its kind.

The premier said Israel would no longer negotiate on the details of the proposed swap sent to Hamas via a German mediator.

Under widespread criticism from the Israeli public and concerns of a plummeting popularity, Tel Aviv late last year acquiesced to release 450 Palestinian prisoners demanded by Hamas and another 500 as a gesture to the Islamic movement.

It also offered to release four senior Palestinian resistance figures, Marwan Barghouti, Ahmed Sa'adat, Ibrahim Hamad and Abdullah Barghouti, on condition that they be deported to the Gaza Strip or a third country.

Netanyahu on Thursday ruled out Hamas' demands for releasing "heavyweight" prisoners held in Israeli prisons for years, and insisted that allowing some of the prisoners into the occupied West Bank "would jeopardize Israel's security."

Responding to the remarks, Hamas on Friday stressed it would not give in to Israeli conditions and that it was determined to release all Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

An estimated 11,500 Palestinians, including women, are currently imprisoned in Israeli detention facilities, suffering harsh and life-threatening conditions.

MRS/HGH/MD

----------


## Shades

*Air force at ease with Gaza war role: Israeli Gen.*
Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:06:53 GMT

A senior Israeli air force official takes pride in the army's conduct during the widely condemned Gaza war, describing the deadly operation as "a success."

"Today, one year later, we certainly consider the operation a successwe can be proud of what we did," the head of the Israel air force manpower branch, Brig. Gen. Rami Ben-Efraim, told the Ynet news website just a few days after the anniversary of the December 2008-January 2009 offensive.

"I was present at the operational decision-making forum, and I think we would have done the same thing. It is my feeling that in the air force today, people are at ease in the moral and ethical aspects over the way we acted," said Ben-Efraim, who was appointed head of the manpower branch in 2008.

It is not the first time that Israel hails the behavior of its soldiers during Operation Cast Lead, in which more than 1,400 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed and thousands of others were rendered homeless.

In December, Israel decorated eight soldiers for showing "heroism" in the Gaza war, another slap in the face of worldwide criticism against what the International Committee of the Red Cross described as Tel Aviv's use of "reckless" warfare against Palestinian civilians.

In July, print and video testimony was released from 30 soldiers who said their commanders urged them to shoot first and worry later about distinguishing civilians from fighters.

The documents described how civilians were used as human shields ahead of Israeli troops when they entered suspicious buildings, and charged Israel with using forbidden white phosphorus shells against Gazans.

A report by former South African UN prosecutor Richard Goldstone documented Israeli soldiers' deliberate targeting of centers, such as schools and mosques, known to be holding civilians.

The three-week Israeli land, sea and air offensive in the Gaza Strip also devastated a large part of the infrastructure of the impoverished coastal enclave.

MRS/HGH/MMN

----------


## Shades

*Galloway steadfast in breaking Gaza siege again*
Sat, 09 Jan 2010 01:52:12 GMT

British lawmaker George Galloway says he has been manhandled by Egyptian intelligence officers before being deported from country on Friday.

Upon his arrival to London, Galloway told Press TV that Egypt took revenge on him due to its disdain for aid convoys which expose the Israeli-imposed blockade on the Gaza Strip.

"I am sorry to say that Egypt is implicated in this siege. That's the reason of their revenge on me."

"They [Egyptians] hate these convoys because they expose a siege that Egypt denies," He added.

Galloway, one of the organizers of Viva Palestina aid convoy was deported from Egypt after protests and clashes erupted on the Egypt-Gaza border.

The clashes erupted after Egyptian authorizes refused some of the vehicles access to the strip.

They later detained Galloway and put him on a plane to London, said a spokeswoman for the convoy.

Despite restrictions imposed by the authorities, the convoy of around 200 vehicles managed to break the Israeli siege on Gaza on Wednesday.

Galloway, however, said the restrictions would not prevent him from organizing more aid convoys to break the three-year-long siege on Gaza.

SB/MMN

----------


## Shades

*Jordan slams Israeli settlement activity*
Sat, 09 Jan 2010 04:50:58 GMT

Jordan's Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh (L) and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton take part in a joint news conference at the State Department in Washington, 08 Jan 2010.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh has criticized the new spate of Israeli housing construction in East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

The Jordanian official made the remark at a press conference with his American counterpart Hillary Clinton on Friday.

According to Judeh, the settlements harm the ongoing Middle East peace process between Palestinians and Israelis.

The Jordanian minister further pointed out that the peace negotiations must be bound by a timeline.

The international community has repeatedly taken a futile swipe at Tel Aviv for refusing to halt the construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank.

Israeli settlements are considered the major obstacle in the way of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Under the 2002 Roadmap for Peace, Israel has to 'dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and freeze all settlement activities,' neither of which has so far materialized.

HRF/MTM/DT

----------


## Shades

*Palestinian body excavated out of Rafah tunnel*
Sat, 09 Jan 2010 07:06:08 GMT

The body of a Palestinian, who lost his life in an overnight Israeli airstrike on Friday, has been removed from a Rafah tunnel in the south of the Gaza Strip.

It brings to three the number of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli attack early on Friday.

According to Hamas officials and witnesses, Israeli aircraft rocketed targets close to Gaza City and just outside the southern town of Khan Younis and Rafah on the Egyptian border, early Friday.

Several others are feared to be still trapped inside the ruins.

The Palestinians describe the tunnels as food tubes helping the 1.5 million people living in the impoverished coastal territory fight off starvation caused by an Israeli-imposed blockade.

Meanwhile, Israeli planes dropped thousands of leaflets over northern Gaza and Gaza City on Thursday, a Press TV correspondent reported. The leaflets bore telephone numbers and email addresses, urging people to inform the Israeli army of any activities by the Palestinians in the border areas.

Abu Obeida, Spokesman for Hamas' military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam brigade, described the latest Israeli ploy as a cowardly move to scare Gazans, "which cannot happen."

Israeli warplanes frequently launch air raids over the Gaza Strip, mostly pounding civilian areas.

HRF/MTM/DT

----------


## Shades

*Qaradawi: Abbas must be stoned if proven guilty*
Sat, 09 Jan 2010 09:48:34 GMT

Egyptian cleric Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi
*Doha-based Egyptian scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi says if it is proven that acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas instigated the Israeli war against Gaza, he must be stoned.*

"During the debate raised over the Goldstone UN report which accused Israel of war crimes against Gaza,* there were reports that Abbas encouraged Israel to launch its offensive against Gaza," Qaradawi said as he delivered a Friday sermon at Doha's Omar bin al-Khattab mosque*.

"*There also were reports that he stalled a vote on the report by the UN Human Rights Council,*" said the Egyptian scholar, who is a Qatari citizen, as well.

"*The Arab League should investigate the matter, and if it is proven that Abbas instigated the Israeli war against Gaza, he deserves to be publicly stoned in Mecca because this would be a betrayal on his part*," he added.

However, Qaradawi pointed out that he was not issuing a religious ruling (fatwa), but simply calling on the Arab league, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and certain other unbiased parties to conduct a probe.

"*I did not issue a fatwa. I am not a judge or investigator,*" he stated, rejecting a contrary claim made by the acting Palestinian Authority Chief.

Abbas accused Qaradawi of issuing such a fatwa, while speaking to members of the Qatari media during a visit he paid to the Persian Gulf littoral state last week.

MJ/TG/DT

----------


## Shades

*Al-Quds Brigades warn Israel over Gaza attacks*
Sat, 09 Jan 2010 10:32:55 GMT

The military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine has warned that armed Palestinian groups will confront Israel if its attacks on Gaza continue.

The remark was made by an Al-Quds Brigades spokesman on Friday.

According to Palestinian fighters, Israel is attempting to provoke violence by stepping up attacks on the Gaza Strip.

The warning comes after Israeli warplanes bombed several parts of the impoverished territory early on Friday.

At least three Palestinians were killed and several more injured in the overnight Israeli airstrike on Gaza.

According to an Israeli TV channel, Tel Aviv is planning a massive attack, which it plans to follow up with the occupation of Gaza.

HRF/MTM/DT

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## Shades

*Israel says wall helps eject Palestinians*
Sat, 09 Jan 2010 15:58:00 GMT

An Israeli official said Friday the separation wall in Jerusalem Al-Quds is being built with the aim of forcing out tens of thousands of Palestinians living in the occupied territory.

"The fence was built on this route for a demographic reason - to remove 50,000 Arabs from Jerusalem (Al-Quds)," said council member in charge of Al-Quds Yakir Segev, Israeli outlet Ynet news reported. "Now, the situation is being left as is. They simply don't want to say."

Alongside vast expanses of the Arab territories, Israel occupied the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem during the six-day war in 1967. Muslim states and Palestinians insist that there would be no peace in the Middle East until Israel withdraws from East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

In 2002, Tel Aviv started building the 723-kilometer barrier in the West Bank village of Ni'lin, arrogating vast expanses of the Palestinian land to itself to "protect" Israeli settlers.

The Berlin wall, a concrete barrier built to separate East Germany from West Germany, was 155 kilometers in length.

The United Nation's primary judicial organ, the International Court of Justice, has denounced the structure of the Israeli wall as illegal.

The West Bank has been dotted with other Israeli-built dividing walls and checkpoints which severely restrict the Palestinians' access to different parts of the area while completely closing off 38 percent of it to them.

HN/SC/MD

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## Shades

* Haaretz Reveals Many Contradictions of Israeli Declarations and Acts*
Date : 10/1/2010   Time : 14:25

TEL AVIV, January 10, 2010 (WAFA)- Haaretz Israeli Daily editorial wondered today,  how a country with leaders committed to a two-state solution continues to direct huge budgets toward building more settlements in territories it intends to vacate in the future.

In its editorial written by Gideon Levy, Haaretz sought explanation for a 10-month halt to residential construction in the settlements, immediately followed by more construction.

The Daily also sought explanation for how the Israeli prosecutor can announce his intention to expropriate more privately-owned Palestinian land at the settlement of Ofra - the 'largest illegal settlement in the territories' (in the words of the Israeli Army minister's adviser on settlement issues) - when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his address at Bar-Ilan University last year, explicitly committed not to do so, and President Shimon Peres did more of the same in a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

They should explain what lies behind the decision to examine annexing Highway 443, which runs through the West Bank, as Israeli territory, Levy added, - as a way of defeating the recent High ruling opening it to Palestinian motorists.

How can a country that preaches the rule of law dare outfox the High Court through 'bypass' laws? And how have an insignificant minority - the settlers - sown fear and managed to extort the country for so many years? he wrote.

So many questions were arose in Levys editorial, who concluded that, it's a difficult case to figure out - all the more reason to recommend the country be sent for observation.

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## Shades

Israel kills two Palestinians on Gaza border
Sun, 10 Jan 2010 12:42:02 GMT

An Israeli soldier
Cross-border gunfire by Israeli soldiers has killed two Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical workers say.

The medical workers said they had been asked by Israeli authorities to retrieve two bodies from a border zone, Reuters reported on Sunday.

The victims had both been shot, the medics added.

The Israeli army on Sunday also demolished 20 houses in the northern West Bank after forcing some 40 families to evacuate their homes, Palestinian witnesses said.

The houses were in the farming village of Tana near Nablus in the so-called Area C, a closed military zone where Israel exercises full control, AFP reported.

MGH/JG/MMN

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## Shades

*Israel demolishes Palestinian homes in WB*
Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:37:53 GMT

Palestinian sources say Israeli military forces began to demolish their homes in the northern West Bank after evacuating some 40 families from the area.

Five Israeli bulldozers and more than 15 military jeeps stormed the area in the West Bank village of Tana near Nablus on Sunday, Ghassan Daghlas, the Palestinian official in charge of settlement-related issues told Ma'an News Agency.

The army demolished 20 houses and 12 agricultural storehouses.

The owners of the houses said they had appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court of Justice in May 2005 after they received the demolition notices, but were turned down by the courts.

According to Atif Hanini, the mayor of the nearby Beit Furki town, the Tana neighborhood is two kilometers away from an Israeli outpost.

Twenty five Palestinian families were evicted when the military post was positioned in the area in 2005, Hanini said.

SB/HGH/MMN

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## Shades

*3 Palestinians killed by Israeli airstrike on Gaza*
Sun, 10 Jan 2010 18:48:08 GMT

Israeli warplanes have attacked the central Gaza Strip, killing three Palestinians in the area.

Palestinian medics said the Israeli airstrike killed the three, AFP reported.

Muawiya Hassanein, the head of Gaza emergency services, announced that the bodies of the three were taken to a hospital in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza. He added that the eastern part of Gaza was also attacked by Israeli warplanes.

Hassanein said the dead were all members of the Islamic Jihad resistance group.

The Israeli military confirmed the airstrike but gave no further details.

The attack came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to launch an "immediate and powerful response" to any rocket fire at Israel.

During a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu claimed that 20 mortar bombs and rockets had been fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip last week.

"I view this very seriously. The government's policy is clear; any shooting at our territory will receive an immediate and powerful response," he threatened.

Earlier in the day, medics reported that two other Palestinians were killed in cross-border fire in the northern Gaza Strip.
SB/MB/HGL

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## Shades

*Another Israeli wall to protect 'Jewish character'*
Mon, 11 Jan 2010 06:35:37 GMT

Israeli barrier in the West Bank
Israel has approved plans for construction of a barrier along the border with Egypt, a move that clearly indicates that it wants to remain a religious apartheid regime.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that the decision was taken to secure Israel's Jewish character, BBC reported on Monday.

The new barrier will be built along two parts of the border near the Red Sea city of Eilat and on the edge of the Gaza Strip.

The project is set to cost $270 million and will take two years to complete.

Israel has also been building a controversial barrier in and around the occupied West Bank in recent years.

*In 2004, the International Court of Justice in The Hague declared that the West Bank barrier is illegal and should be removed.*

MGH/SC/DT

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## Shades

*Israel luring teenage students to join army*
Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:17:35 GMT

Israel has launched a new military recruitment program targeting high schools to encourage students to sign up for combat duty.

350 officers will visit some 270 high schools during the three-week program that kicked off on Monday.

The project, known as the "Path of Values," will bring approximately 8,000 teachers and senior officers together in the hope that they will arouse their students' interest in conscription, the Israeli Haaretz news website reported.

The project "is meant to strengthen the link and cooperation between schools and the army," according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Education.

The plan, however, has drawn strong criticism from educational officials.

Critics of the new program say that it will distort the boundary between education and the military.

The new project comes amid Palestinian reports that Israel is preparing to launch a new offensive against the impoverished Gaza Strip.

In December, Israeli planes dropped thousands of leaflets across Gaza, warning Palestinians against cooperating with the Hamas resistance movement.

The leaflets also threatened Gazans with another attack.

MGH/TG/DT

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## Shades

*Gaza student holds graduation party at church*  
11.01.10 - 21:38
Palestinian student Berlanty Azzam has never thought that her graduation ceremony would take place in a small church far away from her university and friends.
After spending four years studying in Bethlehem University in the West Bank, and two months before her course finishes, Israeli soldiers kicked her to the Gaza Strip since her ID tells that she is a Gazan.

    "I never imagined that my graduation ceremony will be held in a church with no one from my classmates attending," said the 22-year-old.

    "After all I graduated from Bethlehem University," she said, holding her certificate and posing for pictures with friends at the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza city.

    Berlanty's graduation has a long, two-month story of steadfastness and defiance started when she was sent to Gaza in October 2009.

    Israeli human rights group "Gisha" waged a legal war against the Israeli army to let Berlanty return to finish her studies at the university, but all the attempts came up against a brick wall after the Israeli high court decided that Berlanty should not return to the West Bank.

    This led the Bethlehem University to intervene decisively, taking a decision to provide Berlanty with the classes she needs in Gaza before it is too late.

    Arriving in Gaza to hand Berlanty her certificate, Vice-chancellor of the Bethlehem University Peter Bray, said the university has a commitment to help Berlanty graduate and the only successful step was providing her with classes through the internet and phone.

    "We tried it and it worked out and we are going to use it in case Israel is deporting any of our Gaza students," he proudly said.

    Antonio Franco, a representative of the Pope Archbishop, which sponsors Bethlehem University, has also traveled all way to Gaza to meet Berlanty and grant her bachelor degree in business administration.

    "We came to show support and success," said Bray as he rushed to attend a mass dedicated to his "outstanding student" Berlanty.

    The moments when Archbishop Franco held special mass for Berlanty in the church were very touching. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and many of her friends and relatives in the service shed tears as well.

    "I really wanted to be among my colleagues in such a day," she said as she lit a candle and kneeled after the homily and the readings as peace overwhelmed the church. "I still don't know why I was deported to Gaza."

    According to Israeli media estimations, some 25,000 Palestinians in the West Bank are at risk of being removed from their homes and separated from their families, jobs and studies, simply because they are from Gaza.

    Since 2000, Israel has banned Palestinian students from Gaza from studying at Palestinian universities in the West Bank, except for limited cases like Berlanty, who is a Christian.

    In 2007, when Islamic Hamas movement seized control of Gaza, Israel started to deal with the coastal Strip as a hostile entity since its Islamist rulers are sworn to the destruction of the Jewish state.

    "They did not even let me stay there for a few weeks to finish my studies as if I was a security threat to the state of Israel," Berlanty said, holding many roses from people who came to congratulate.

    "Studying at a Palestinian university is my right and the right of every Palestinian student. I will apply again for Bethlehem University for MA and will legally fight Israel until I enjoy my rights to learn and move freely," she said. 



Source: Xinhua

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## Shades

*Israeli Detention of Palestinian Activists must End, Amnesty Says*
Date : 8/1/2010   Time : 18:50

LONDON, January 8, 2010 (WAFA)- The Israeli authorities must immediately release, or bring before a fair trial, three Palestinian human rights activists detained in Israel following their protests against the construction of the West Bank fence/wall, Amnesty International said today.

In a letter sent to Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Barak, on Thursday, Amnesty International expressed concern that Jamal Juma', Abdallah Abu Rahmah and Mohammed Othman were prisoners of conscience, held for legitimately voicing their opposition to thewall.

'These men have all been involved in campaigning against the building of this construction, much of it on the land of the occupied West Bank, and we fear that this is the real reason for their imprisonment,' said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme. 'If this is the case they must be released immediately and unconditionally.'

Jamal Juma' is the co-ordinator of the 'Stop the Wall' campaign and a prominent human rights activist. He was arrested by the Israeli authorities on December 16, 2009. He has not been formally charged with any offence since his detention and information relating to his arrest has not been shared with his lawyer.

A military court in Israel yesterday extended Jamal Juma's detention for another six days.

Jamal Juma' is being held under military law, which allows him to be tried without charge or trial for interrogation for up to 90 days. As someone who holds a Jerusalem ID card, according to Israeli law his case should be handled under the country's civil, not military, legal system. Since his arrest he has only been permitted limited access to his lawyer.

Abdallah Abu Rahmah, head of the 'Popular Committee Against the Wall' in the village of Bil'in, was arrested on December 10, 2009.He has been charged with three offences: incitement, stone-throwing, and possession of arms.

Amnesty International understands the possession of arms charge relates to Abdallah Abu Rahmah collecting used M16 bullets, and empty sound and gas grenades, employed by Israeli forces to disperse demonstrators against the wall, and exhibiting them in Bil'in museum to raise awareness of Israeli practices against protestors.

Mohammed Othman, a volunteer with the 'Stop the Wall' campaign, has been detained continuously since September 22, 2009. He was arrested on his return from Norway, after meeting activist groups there campaigning against the fence/wall and is being held without charge or trial in Israeli administrative detention.

The International Court of Justice ruled in an advisory opinion in 2004 that the construction of the fence/wall on the territory of the occupied West Bank is contrary to international law and should be dismantled. Israel has ignored the ruling.

'These three men are all well known for their defense of the human rights of Palestinians. In the unlikely event that there are genuine grounds to prosecute these men, they should be charged with recognizable criminal offences and brought promptly to trial in full conformity with international fair trial standards,' said Malcolm Smart.

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## Shades

* Dozens Injured in 4 Demos against Apartheid Wall*
Date : 8/1/2010   Time : 19:05

RAMALLAH, January 8,2010 (WAFA)- Dozens of citizens and international activists were injured as Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) launched tear-gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators in the West Bank villages of Deir Nizam, Bilin Nilin near Ramallah, and Al-Maasara near Bethlehem.

The injured, including Waqf (Religious Affairs) Minister Mahmoud al-Habbash who was in Deir Nizam, suffered from the tear gas, hospital officials said.
The demonstrations were held against the Israeli seizure of Palestinian lands in the four villages to build the Apartheid wall, that separates Jewish settlements and Israeli towns from Palestinian communities.

In Bilin, Three citizens were injured along with dozens who suffered gas inhalation in a protest against the Wall and settlement building.

The demonstration was called by the Popular Committee against the Wall in Bilin and was joined by residents of Bilin, and international and Israeli activists. The protesters carried posters and banners calling to end the occupation, stop settlement building, stop detention and end the siege on Gaza .

 The protest marched toward the Wall, where an IOF unit was located behind blocks of cement. The army had earlier closed the gate in the Wall with razor wire. When the protesters attempted to reach the land confiscated behind the Wall, the army fired tear gas and rubber bullets. Journalist Abbas Al-Momani and Dr. Rateb Abu Rahmah, a member of the Popular Committee, were each hit with tear gas canisters in their heads. Edo Medix, an Israeli activist, was also injured.

In the meantime, Abdullah Abu Rahmah, the coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Wall, is still detained in the Israeli prison after his hearing last Thursday at Ofer military court.

The Israeli court accused Abu Rahmah of incitement, holding weapons and throwing stones at Israeli soldiers. The Israeli court also charged Abu Rahmah with a violation they call Participating in a protest against the wall.'

Abu Rahmah was charged with avoiding the Israeli justice by avoiding Israeli checkpoints seven times and not being home when the Israeli army broke into his home three times. Abu Rahmah was arrested from his home on October 10, 2009 during a raid by IOF.

The defense attorney responded to the accusations and the charge of holding weapons by stating that collecting empty tear gas canisters, fired rubber bullets and used sound grenades from Israeli soldiers to use them in local and international galleries is not a crime.

The Israeli court ruled on Thursday, January 7 to continue the detention of Abdullah Abu Rahmah and kept his charges open until his next court hearing. This decision was made in the absence of the defense attorney.

The Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements in Bilin condemned this decision and the detention of another Bilin activist, Adeeb Abu Rahmah, for more than 5 months for his participation in demonstrations.

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## Shades

*Putting Lens on Lives in Suspended Animation in Gaza  	 * 
07.01.10 - 23:34

GAZA  In the year since Israeli fighter jets and troops invaded this coastal Palestinian strip to stop rocket fire, time seems to have stood still.



ImageA blockade imposed by both Israel and Egypt to isolate the Hamas government bars the vast majority of goods and people from moving in or out. That means there is no reconstruction of destroyed buildings. Thousands remain homeless. Winter has arrived.

With humanitarian aid staving off hunger and disease, perhaps the hardest part for people here is the feeling of having been forsaken. The economy is closed down and the exits have been shuttered; a pall of listlessness hovers.

But there are thousands of stories in the wake of the war and in the face of the blockade. The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem decided to do something about getting them out, especially to an Israeli audience. Months ago it distributed video cameras to 18 young people in Gaza and set them up with an instructor and Web guidance. The assignment: tell us about your lives.

The idea was to help people there communicate their struggles to Israelis, to combat the fear and stereotypes, said Sarit Michaeli, spokeswoman for BTselem. They are an hours drive from Tel Aviv but so much farther for most Israelis.

The result is a series of short subtitled videos on a variety of topics: working in the smuggling tunnels from the Egyptian Sinai, how the wounded are doing, a profile of a girls soccer team.

Israels biggest news Web site, Ynet, which belongs to the Yediot Aharonot newspaper group, has just posted Five of the videos under the headline Gaza: An inside look. Because so little from Gaza makes it into the Israeli news media  Israeli journalists, like all Israelis, have been barred by their government from entering for more than three years  this is something of a new frontier.

We thought it very important to show the Israeli public the other side of the conflict, said Yael Golan, news director of Ynet, which gets one million unique hits a day. With these videos we have a chance to show what we cant normally show.

The sites first video, called Protest Song by Mohammed Fares, shows Ayman Maghmas of a group, Palestinian Rapperz, explaining to a Gaza audience the role of rap and hip-hop as a means of protest. Mr. Maghmas, who wears a T-shirt that says in English Hip hop is not dead. It lives in Palestine, lost his father and apartment in the war. He explains that just as African-Americans use rap to denounce oppression, so can Gazans express their suffering through it.

In Arabic, he and his group chant: Hands that degrade and hurt a small child trying to free himself from the enslaver, the conqueror who came and conquered our lives, ruined the colors of our hope. When will the day come when the conscience will awaken?

Over the words are scenes of some of the destruction from the war.

Mr. Fares, 22, who made the video, is from the Jabaliya refugee camp and is studying English. He says that he believes in nonviolence and that he sees the videos as a way of reaching out to Israel and the world.

The comments section under each video clip on Ynet is filled with not entirely welcoming responses (Ynet, you should be ashamed! You are giving a platform to our enemies!). But there are some like this one from Shoshana: It is moving to see life on the other side of the barrier. They are human beings just like us.

Awatif Aljadili, 28, a Gazan who works as a television producer, said that was exactly the kind of response she was seeking. She made her video about a field trip of a girls school and what it is like for a couple of the pupils who were wounded in the war. The girls sing songs about eating well and taking care of their teeth and then about how they too want to live normal lives like those of children the world over.

For a long time, we thought that people outside Gaza hated us, Ms. Aljadili said. Then we realized that they just dont know us. We needed to reach out. Peace between countries starts with good relations between individuals. We have to talk with each other. But many here are afraid of talking with Israelis. They will be accused of being spies.

Asked if it bothered them to work with an Israeli organization for the videos, all said no. I dont have a problem with the source of the cameras, said Mazen Naim, 23, one of the videographers. We all know that BTselem works for human rights.

One of the most interesting videos brings viewers inside the smuggler tunnels through which most consumer goods are brought into Gaza. Young men are asked why they work there, and they explain that there is no other source of work. They add that they always pray before going down into the tunnels because there are so many accidents and deaths inside them.

The maker of that video, Rifaat Hamdia, 30, said he wanted to show the world that the tunnels many think of as dedicated to Hamas arms smuggling are actually the source of basic goods like cooking oil and detergent.

Mr. Hamdia went into the tunnels while filming and knows them well. He also has another reason to feel special attachment to the tunnel network: his bride from Jordan was recently smuggled through one.



Source: The New York Times

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## Shades

* IOF Harassment at Peaceful Tree-planting in Qaryut*
Date : 9/1/2010   Time : 16:57

NABLUS, January 9, 2010 (WAFA)- Israeli Occupation Forces  (IOF) converged on farmlands outside Qaryut near the West Bank city of Nablus on Friday as villagers attempted to replenish their endangered lands with water and new olive trees. Despite the overbearing army presence, residents convictions were strong enough for them to stand their ground and finish work for the day, International Solidarity Movement (ISM) reported.

Villagers entered the Qaryuts eastern farmlands following the midday prayer, carrying 200 baby olive trees donated by Palestinian Agricultural Relief and the Ministry of Agriculture. Facing the busy Nablus  Ramallah Road 60 route, and the Jewish settlements of Shilo and Eli behind them they set to work planting the new trees in the land oft neglected by farmers from fear of settler or army reprisal.

As residents worked the land, others began clearing the large earth mound that had been constructed across the small dirt road serving as Qaryuts sole link to Road 60. Residents reported Israeli bulldozers shifting the earth mound in to place on January 6th, a repeated attempt of the military to block farmers from their land. The villagers work alerted the attention of Shilo settler security, who were sighted on the hilltop overlooking the farmland, photographing the proceedings.

IOF arrived soon after. One hummer carrying 20 soldiers immediately entered the area, shouting aggressively at the Palestinians that they had no right to be working their own land.

I decided to approach the captain, said Rayed, resident of Qaryut and co-organiser of the event. He started to yell at me in Hebrew and I told him, this is Palestine. We dont speak Hebrew here, we speak Arabic  or maybe English.

The captain became enraged, but switched to English and informed Rayed that he and the villagers must return to their homes within 5 minutes, before the soldiers started their work.

I said to him, what work? recounts Rayed. What is your work? To kill us? Well, he became very angry at that. But I told him that we will keep planting our trees, this is all we came here to do. The security of Israel will not be compromised by us planting some trees.

By this time 11 more military jeeps had arrived, comprising a force of some 50 soldiers in total who quickly surrounded the farmland where the villagers continued to work. The trees planted successfully in the ground, the villagers prepared to leave as once again the soldiers became aggressive.

They started shouting at us for leave, to go home, says Rayed. We were already on our way, but we didnt need them to yell at us. They looked like they were about to attack. The captain approached me and demanded that we not interfere with the roadblock. I told him that the roadblock prevents tractors from accessing the crops, and that it is obvious the purpose of the roadblocks location is to make it easier for the settlers to conquest the land. If it was anything else, theyd put it directly at Road 60.

The roadblock has been an ongoing impediment to Qaryuts residents freedom of movement, and preventing farmers from accessing their lands. Several successful demonstrations were held last year when international solidarity activists joined hundreds of local protesters in removing the roadblock by hand, only for military bulldozers to rebuild it the following day.

As we were leaving, I told the captain  OK, we are going now. But were coming tomorrow. And he asked me, what time are you coming? Ill be here waiting for you. And I asked him if he why he was coming, to protect us? He said yes, to protect you  Ill bring a tank of water for you, laughs Rayed. So I said to him in Hebrew, you will do us a favour if you bring us the water. But I dont think he will.

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## Shades

* Israel Prevents 17 Sight-impaired from Leaving Gaza for Treatment*
Date : 11/1/2010   Time : 14:30

TEL AVIV, January 11, 2010 (WAFA) Physicians for Human Rights- Israel (PHR-Israel) said the Israeli authorities at Erez checkpoint this week prevented the exit of 17 sight-impaired patients, suffering from various eye diseases, from the Gaza Strip in order to undergo cornea transplants, a treatment that is not available in the Gaza health system.

Because of this delay, the medical window of opportunity to perform the transplants for these patients was closed, because corneas can be transplanted only within the shortest time frame (24-48 hours after they are extracted from the donor's body). The patients from Gaza whose exit was prevented will therefore have to wait for another donation, which may or may not happen.

At the beginning of the week PHR-Israel received an appeal from the Musallam Medical Center in Gaza. According to the appeal, a large group of 14 patients from Gaza, who were invited to Ramallah for cornea transplants from Sunday to Wednesday this week (January 3-5, 2010), did not reach their destination. Three other patients approached PHR-Israel separately. The group of patients includes some who were waiting weeks or even months for cornea transplants. The longest wait was 31-year-old S.A., who has been waiting for this operation for three years.

The main Musallam Medical Center in Ramallah this week received two deliveries from the US with dozens of corneas, donated by Tissue Bank International, an American organization that facilitates cornea and tissue transplants. Every year corneas are sent during Christmas break, during which such operations do not take place in the US, as a donation to the Palestinian health system, and dedicated especially to eye patients from Gaza.

The inquiry by the medical center in Ramallah raised the concern that the exit of the patients from Gaza was being prevented by the Israeli authorities, and accordingly PHR-Israel on Sunday made an urgent request to the DCO in Gaza, responsible for issuing exit permits to patients. In its appeal to the DCO, PHR warned that preventing the exit of the vision-impaired patients for eye operations this week will necessarily cause them to lose the opportunity for cornea transplants in the near future, if ever, because the corneas designated for the transplants have a very short expiration date.

Despite this request, the Israeli authorities prevented the exit of the 17 patients for the operation on time. Five patients were not given any answer; two patients were summoned to investigations by the General Security Service (GSS), scheduled for dates later than the cornea expiration dates; two requests were rejected; and eight requests were approved only after media intervention, but after the corneas had already expired.

This case, with its far-reaching consequences for the vision-impaired patients who now lost the opportunity to repair their eyesight, illustrates the many difficulties that face the residents of Gaza who need medical care that is not available in the Gaza Strip. The delays, apathy and rejection by the Israeli authorities, which every month curtail the access of dozens of patients to medical care, had particularly severe significance in this case, because prevention of these patients' exit from Gaza caused the loss of the corneas (which can be transplanted within no more than 48 hours from the moment of donation). Now the patients will have to wait for another cornea donation, at an unknown time and likelihood.

PHR-Israel strongly protested the blatant disregard of the Erez checkpoint authorities for the medical urgency of allowing the exit of patients for cornea transplant operations.

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## Shades

*Boycott of Israeli settlers' products picks up speed *  
07.01.10 - 22:34
RAMALLAH // Haytham Karasha was not overly concerned.

ImageThe manager of a Ramallah branch of the supermarket chain Bravo, he said his store had not stocked any goods that originated in settlements for more than a year, and even then it was only one item, a chocolate syrup.

Efforts to ban products that originate in settlements, said Mr Karasha, would thus have no effect on his shop, where purchase orders already specifically stipulate that such goods are not wanted.

But Mr Karasha may be one of the lucky few. As a government drive to boycott products that originate in Jewish settlements in the occupied territories begins to pick up speed, those who profit from a trade that some estimate has a value as high as US$600 million (Dh2.2billion) a year, or a 15 per cent share of the market, are beginning to feel the effect.

On Tuesday, Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian Authority prime minister, could be found tossing confiscated settlement goods on to a fire in the town of Salfit near Nablus. Such goods, Mr Fayyad explained to reporters, support industries built on confiscated Palestinian land. Settlements, he said, are one of the prime obstacles to Palestinian aspirations for statehood. Boycotting goods that originate in settlements is therefore a collective responsibility.

The Palestinian National Authority will be the first supporter, but we must join all our efforts, on official and popular levels, to ensure the continuation of this campaign to clean our markets of settlements products, Mr Fayyad told the Palestinian Maan news agency. The government drive is in part a belated implementation of a Council of Ministers decision in 2005 that prohibits the entry of any goods produced, manufactured or packaged in settlements.

That decision was reaffirmed in June of last year in a direct request to the ministry of national economy to begin implementation.

Not until November, however, did the first confiscations take place and only now is the PA beginning to crank into gear a public relations campaign to raise awareness.

The ministry of national economy is due this month to publish its calculations of how big a market share settlement goods have in the occupied territories.

Current estimates for what is essentially a black market, at least on the Palestinian side, are of necessity very rough.

The move to ban settlement goods has been welcomed by activists as well as the business sector. Local businessmen have for years complained that local products were being squeezed out of the market in favour of Israeli ones. A move against settlement products would ease some of that competition.

Its long overdue, said Sam Bahour, a local entrepreneur, about the government effort, which he said seemed serious. It is welcome not only from the private sector and the business sector, which have to compete against these illegal products, but also as a private Palestinian citizen, who wants to see settlements removed and dismantled.

That the current government, unlike its many predecessors, has actually stepped into the breach and translated words into action has surprised some, but is a reflection of the growing confidence within Salam Fayyads administration, both in political terms and in its ability to deliver.

A restructured and retrained security sector provides the government with a solid foundation to be able to implement laws, for the first time in years, while the issue of settlements generally has become the overall focal point of Palestinian political efforts. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, is still resisting increasing foreign pressure to return to negotiations with Israel for as long as settlement construction continues.

We now have a motivated leadership, Mr Bahour said. This government wants to translate the threat that settlements pose to peace in the future by addressing issues such as settlement products and settler violence. I think [the boycott campaign] has potential to pick up huge momentum.

But the process is far from simple. For a start, not all products are labelled with anything other than Made in Israel, a problem the EU has met in its attempts to regulate imports from Israeli settlements.

There are some well-known labels that we know come from settlements, said Ghassan Khatib, head of the Palestinian Authoritys Media Centre. So partially, it is doable, although probably not 100 per cent.

Moreover, there is a perception problem among Palestinian consumers, who in many cases believe Israeli products generally are superior to Palestinian products or products from the Arab world. While banning settlement products will not remove Israeli alternatives from a saturated market  Mr Karasha said 70 per cent of the items his branch of Bravo stocks are Israeli  some hope that banning settlement products is a step toward a comprehensive boycott.


Ultimately, a larger boycott is whats needed, Mr Bahour said. But people who have lived under occupation for 40 years have been conditioned to Israeli products. It will take time to remove that conditioning and fill the gap. But step one is the one that no one doubts. Settlement products are illegal and settlements are illegal and we should not be supporting them.



Source: Omar Karmi / The National

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## Shades

*'When did you become Christian?'  	* 
11.01.10 - 21:49
  Identity and perception of Christian Palestinians.

Christianity in Palestine is an over 2000 year old reality. Christians have been living and present in Palestine long before the advent of Islam, creating deep roots in their land. Christian faith and Palestinian land are, thus, deeply intertwined. This is not only true from the point of view of a Christian Palestinian who comes from the region but for most if not all Christians. Despite its long history in the land, the Christian faith in Palestine has not been given much attention in recent decades.

The fact that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is largely perceived as a conflict involving Muslims and Jews and less associated with Christians is certainly one reason. Another reason is the minority status of Christians in Palestine. As a matter of fact, Christians Palestinians in the Holy Land only account for a little over two percent of the entire population. Putting demographics in a wider context, there are about 14 million Christian Arabs as compared to 200 million Muslims in the Arab world.

The number of Christians has decreased over the years mostly due to flight and emigration as a direct consequence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but also due to assimilation in earlier history when Islam became dominant in the region. The first large wave of refugees, among which were many Christians, was created with "Al-Nakba", the catastrophe, as Palestinians label the exodus of 1948. At the height of the 1948 events more than 50,000 Christians left Palestine which at that time translated into 35 percent of the entire Christian Palestinian population.

The 1967 Six Day War was responsible for the further decrease of Christian presence in the region. Yet, from 1967 onwards a constant and massive flow of emigration took place. While it is certainly true that Christian and Muslim Palestinians suffered equally from the consequences of the regional conflict, Christians with their predominantly middle class background left in proportionally higher numbers.

Speaking of identity, it is critical to understand that Christian Palestinians are not more or less Arab than their Muslim counterparts. This is not at all a paradox or a contradiction as often believed. In fact, quite the contrary is the case since Palestinian Christians have a history dating back to the first century. Thus, linking Arabs exclusively to Islam does not only run counter the history of the Middle East and Palestine but also counter the history of Christianity.

Yet, the perception of a certain incompatibility of the Christian faith and the Arab ethnicity still dominates. The interesting personal stories which Mr. Munir Fasheh, a university professor at Bir Zeit University and Christian growing up in Palestine experienced and published over the course of his life, are a good example for this dilemma or "trap" as he calls it. While studying in the US, he was often asked "When did you become Christian?" upon declaring his origins.

This simple question is rather telling - and shows well how Christian Palestinians are perceived in a few straightforward words. What is striking to see is that distance doesn't seem to matter much. Mr. Fasheh who was forced to leave his house in 1948, returned to it for a visit many years later with the mere intention to have a look at it. After a woman opened the door, an interesting dialogue developed.

When the woman asked whether Mr. Fasheh was Arab and he confirmed, she stated that this had to be a mistake because the house formerly belonged to a Christian family. Despite his efforts, Mr. Fasheh was not able to convince her that the house used to be his and was not granted access.

As a matter of fact, being Christian also means having a spiritual link with Judaism. In light of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it is therefore worth posing the question how Christian Palestinians deal with the fact that Israel is both a political enemy but also a religious ancestor.

It turns out that even if Christian Palestinians constitute a minority, they have never been an isolated or socially marginalized group but actively fought for and defended the same cause as all Palestinians. As both Christians and Muslims have suffered from the same social, political and economic consequences arising from the conflict, the common experience of loss of land and economic hardship united Palestinians irrespective of their religious background. One example is the outbreak of the Intifada which was met with joint Christian and Muslim effort.

One could almost say this happened unconsciously because it was a Palestinian effort. Yet, the constant decline of Christians in Palestine and their threatened survival in the region as a result of massive emigration will not only make it even harder to raise awareness of their unique identity but will overall represent a large loss of local cultural heritage in the land.



By: Sarin Abado

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## Shades

*Settler Leader Resigns Over Extremism*
11/01/2010 09:11:39 PM GMT 

 CAIRO -- A high-profile Jewish settler leader resigned on Monday, January 11, protesting what he described as growing extremism among settlers' rank and deafening silence over brutal settler attacks on Palestinians, the Jerusalem Post reported on Monday, January 11. "Our silencewill be harmful to us," Pinchas Wallerstein, director-general of the Council of Jewish Communities in the West Bank (Yesha), said in his resignation letter.

Wallerstein, a leader in the main settler organization in the occupied lands for more than 30 years, cited the group's failure to distance itself from Jewish extremists as a reason for his protest resignation.

He condemned failure to speak out against attacks on Palestinian villages whenever the Israeli government takes action against Jewish settlements.

Under a so-called "price tag" or "mutual concern" doctrine, settlers respond "whenever, wherever and however" they wish to any government attempt to remove illegally built outposts.

The policy also encourages settlers to vent their anger at innocent Palestinians leaving in the vicinity of such outposts.

In his letter, Wallerstein also criticized Yesha for failing to categorically reject protests by soldiers who defy government orders to evacuate wildcat settlements.

Israeli soldiers caused a stir last October when they staged a demonstration against the evacuation of settlements during a military swearing-in ceremony.

"It is our duty today to make sure the military isn't involved in the politics of evacuation and demolition," Wallerstein wrote.

There are more than 164 Jewish settlements in the West Bank, eating up more than 40 percent of the occupied territory.

The international community considers all Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land illegal.



  Wallersteins resignation delighted right-wingers who though he was becoming too soft, reported Yediot Aharonot.

"This is another stage in the change of guards within Yesha's leadership, which began following its failure in the disengagement," said Knesset Member Arieh Eldad, a leader of the National Union party.

The lawmaker suggested settlers need a new leadership to deal with any government plans to freeze settlements construction.

David Ha'Ivri, director of the Shomron Liaison Office, another settler group, was thrilled by Wallersteins resignation.

"His type of leadership totally failed in saving Gush Katif and the communities in northern Samaria that were demolished in the 2005 disengagement," he said, referring to Jewish settlements evacuated in the Gaza Strip.

"We must bring about a change of leadership. It is time to revolutionize the Yesha Council."

The Peace Now group welcomed the resignation, but for a different reason.

"Despite the attempt to portray him as a moderate man, Wallerstein is in fact one of the main initiators of illegal outposts in the territories, even on private Palestinian lands," said Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer.

"If Wallerstein is considered moderate, the settlers' public has become much more extreme in an alarming manner."

Source: IslamOnline

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## Shades

*israeli missile strike kills 3 Hamas fighters*
Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:10:15 GMT


An israeli missile strike has killed three Hamas fighters in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian hospital officials say.

Hamas officials said late on Monday that three of their men were killed in an explosion near the town of Beit Hanoun and condemned the Israeli attack.

However, an Israeli military spokesman said that Israeli forces did not carry out an attack in that area, Reuters reported.

But an Israeli security source said Israel was aware that a blast had occurred near Beit Hanoun.

Over the past week, the Zionist regime has stepped up its attacks on the besieged territory in some of the worst violence since Israel's three-week war on the Gaza Strip.

From December 2008 to January 2009, over 1,400 Palestinians were killed during Israel's 22-day land, sea, and air assault on Gaza. The offensive also caused $1.6 billion of damage to the Gaza economy.

FTP/MB/HGL

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## Shades

*Israel Arrests International Solidarity Activist*
11/01/2010 04:05:00 PM GMT 

Israel Arrests International Solidarity Activist Date : 11/1/2010   Time : 17:32

RAMALLAH, January 11, 2010 (WAFA)- Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested Monday dawn Eva Nováková, a Czech citizen, who has been the International Solidarity Movements (ISM) media coordinator for the past few weeks.

An ISM press release said Israeli soldiers raided the Ramallah home of Eva Nováková  at 3 am near the Manara square. The operation to apprehend Nováková, was carried out by a force of both soldiers and members of the Oz immigration police unit.

 During the raid, the army occupied a number of rooftops at a location adjacent to the Palestinian Police Ramallah headquarters. She is currently being held in Givon detention center awaiting deportation to the Czech Republic.

This recent military raid into Palestinian-controlled Area A comes amidst Palestinian discontent over continued incursions and arrests. President Mahmoud Abbas has recently said that If the [security] coordination does not lead to a halt in the incursions and the provocations, we will think anew.

Novákovás Attoreny Omer Shatz stated: The Israeli immigration police work under the authority of the Israeli ministry of the interior, and as such have no jurisdiction in the Occupied Palestinian territory. This arrest is part of the continued and illegal use of the immigration police against activists, for political purposes.

This raid follows an extensive arrest wave targeting grassroots activists and organizers throughout the West Bank. Such raids have been conducted in the villages of Bilin  where 32 residents have been arrested in the past six month, Niilin  where 94 residents have been arrested in the past 18 months, the cities of Nablus and Ramallah and East Jerusalem.

Among those arrested in this recent campaign are five members of the Bilin Popular Committee have been arrested in suspicion of incitement, including Adeeb Abu Rahmah, who has already been held in detention for almost six months and Bilins Popular Committee coordinator, Abdallah Abu Rahmah.

Prominent Nablus grassroots activists, Wael al-Faqeeh (Nablus) as well as Jamal Juma (East Jerusalem) and Mohammed Othman (Jayyous) of the Stop the Wall NGO, involved in anti-Wall and boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigning have also been arrested recently. All three are currently being held on secret evidence and with no charges brought against them.
Source: AJP

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## Shades

*U.S. to Store $800m in Military Gear in Israel*
11/01/2010 02:34:13 PM GMT 

The U.S. Army will double the value of emergency military equipment it stockpiles on Israeli soil and Israel will be allowed to use the U.S. ordnance in the event of a military emergency, according to a report in Monday's issue of the U.S. weekly Defense News.

The report, written by Barbara Opall-Rome, the magazine's Israel correspondent, said that an agreement reached between Washington and Tel Aviv last month will bring the value of the military gear to $800 million.

This is the final phase of a process that began over a year ago to determine the type and amount of U.S. weapons and ammunition to be stored in Israel, part of an overarching American effort to stockpile weapons in areas in which its army may need to operate while allowing American allies to make use of the ordnance in emergencies.

The agreement was signed by Brig. Gen. Ofer Wolf, who heads the Israeli occupation army's technology and logistics branch, and Rear Adm. Andy Brown, the logistics director of U.S. Army European Command.

The United States began stockpiling $100 million in military equipment in Israel in 1990, 12 years after it first began storing weapons within the territory of key allies, starting with South Korea.

An American defense official told Defense News that the U.S.-Israel agreement reflects the Obama administration's continued commitment to Israel's security and the understanding that changes in U.S. economic conditions and inflation have limited the weapons available to Israel.

The deal allows Israel access to a wider spectrum of military ordnance, and the U.S. official said his government was considering which forms of military supplies would be added to stores in Israel. Missiles, armored vehicles, aerial ammunition and artillery ordnance are already stockpiled in the country.

The agreement is expected to aid Israel in its effort to bolster its weapons stockpiles for use in an emergency. Israel's stores of aerial and artillery ammunition were depleted during the Second Lebanon War in 2006, nearly reaching levels the Israeli army considers dangerously low.
¬ 

AFP

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## Shades

*Tel Aviv rejects giving up Jerusalem*
Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:09:15 GMT

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Tuesday that the Tel Aviv regime would never cede East Jerusalem Al-Quds to the Palestinians.

In a statement released by his office, Netanyahu denied reports that he had come to an agreement with Egypt on declaring East Jerusalem Al-Quds as the capital of a Palestinian state, The Jerusalem Post reported.

"In any peace agreement, Jerusalem will remain the united capital of Israel," the statement boasted.

"The prime minister has not changed his known view, and stands firmly on all political matters," it added.

The Tel Aviv statement followed the last week's statement of the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, which claimed that Netanyahu was ready to discuss Jerusalem Al-Quds as the capital of the Palestinian state.

Israel, widely backed by US and Britain, seized East Jerusalem Al-Quds along with the West Bank from Jordan in the Six Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in defiance of the international community.

The regime claims the holy city as its "eternal, indivisible" capital, while the Palestinian Authority want at least the implementation of the UN resolutions, which assign the control of the eastern part of the city to them. The popular Islamic Hamas movement, however, totally rejects negotiations over their rightful ownership of the Palestinian land.

SB/MB

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## Shades

*Israel considering new military attack on Gaza*
Wed, 13 Jan 2010 04:25:27 GMT

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad says Israel is mounting a fierce media campaign against the resistance before an intended military aggression on the Gaza Strip.

Islamic Jihad spokesman, Davoud Shihab, in a statement on Monday called on the Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza to coordinate their positions to confront the threats should they be translated to the ground.

Shihab also criticized some Arab media outlets for repeatedly backing Israeli propaganda and portraying Gaza as a hotbed of terrorism. He commented that such reports cripple solidarity with the Palestinian people and their right to resist the Israeli occupation.

He urged all media outlets, journalists and politicians to confront Israeli propaganda and focus on the active role of the Palestinian resistance in defending its land and people against the Israeli war machine.

Gazans are still struggling to resume ordinary life months after Operation Cast Lead which resulted in the death of over 1,500 Palestinians and the injury of about 5,450 people in the impoverished coastal sliver.

After USD 1.6 billion damage to Gaza's economy during the three weeks of relentless Israeli bombardment this past January, Palestinians in the Strip strive to survive under a siege that prevents any imports and exports. According to statistics, the unemployment rate stands at 44% in the war-wreaked enclave.

Meanwhile, a United Nations inquiry led by former South African Judge Richard Goldstone details Israeli actions "amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity," during Israel's winter offensive against Hamas-ruled Gaza.

The 575-page report by Goldstone and three other investigators asserts seven incidents in which Palestinian civilians were shot while leaving their homes, trying to run for safety or waving white flags. The report says Israel targeted a mosque at prayer time, killing 15 people, and shelled a Gaza City home where soldiers had forced Palestinian civilians to assemble. These attacks constituted war crimes, the report says.

The probe also found that Israel violated international humanitarian law in several ways. Dozens of Palestinian policemen were killed at the start of the Gaza onslaught when Israel bombed their stations. The security agents were not involved in hostilities and should have been treated as civilians. Additionally, the Palestinians were forced to walk ahead of Israeli soldiers as they searched civilian neighborhoods.

International human rights groups have previously spelled out such flagrant offenses against the Palestinians in Gaza.

MP/JG/MB

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## Shades

*Hamas denies Egyptian claim of shooting soldier*
Wed, 13 Jan 2010 05:07:43 GMT

The Palestinian Resistance Movement (Hamas) says that the Egyptian soldier shot dead during the recent skirmishes in Rafah border crossing was not killed by Palestinian fire.

According to the Palestinian Information Center, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri on Tuesday expressed the movement's astonishment at claims by Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit that Egypt had the names of two Palestinians who shot the Egyptian soldier during clashes that broke out at the Palestinian-Egyptian border.

Abu Zuhri emphasized that accusations by Egypt are intended to cover up the responsibility of its soldiers for firing at Palestinian citizens. The Hamas official explained that the Egyptian soldier was killed by a friendly fire that targeted Palestinian youths.

Egyptian forces shot and wounded dozens of Palestinians last Wednesday during a violent protest on the Egypt-Gaza border against an underground steel wall that Egypt is building to block supply tunnels into the Gaza Strip.

The shooting erupted after scores of Palestinian protesters hurled rocks at the soldiers, witnesses and medical officials said.

Egyptian state television claimed that gunfire from the Gaza Strip had killed an Egyptian border guard.

Egypt, which has come under growing criticism by Arab and Muslim groups, has been collaborating with the Israelis in its 28-month blockade of the impoverished coastal sliver of Gaza.

MP/MB

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## Shades

*Haniyeh urges restraint among Gaza fighters*
Wed, 13 Jan 2010 06:31:33 GMT

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh calls on all Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip to unify and to protect Gazans from any possible Israeli aggression.

"We call upon Palestinian factions to intensify their meetings in order to reinforce the national agreement and to work in a joint spirit to protect our people and our interests and to block any possible Israeli aggression against our people," Haniyeh said before a cabinet meeting in Gaza on Tuesday.

Haniyeh said other armed groups in the Gaza Strip should observe what has amounted to a ceasefire claimed by the Israelis on the coastal enclave since the last January's offensive, adding that the move was in the best interest of protecting Gazans from Israeli attacks.

In late December 2007, Israel launched a deadly military offensive against the Gaza Strip under the pretext of self-defense and stopping Palestinian rocket attacks, which hardly caused any casualties or damage to properties.

The three-week onslaught killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, hundreds of women and children among them, and left thousands more amputated and injured.

Despite worldwide condemnation of the atrocities committed by the Israeli army during 22 days of extensive air, sea and ground incursions against Gazans, Tel Aviv has stepped up threats to launch another massive offensive on the densely populated coastal sliver.

In the latest round of Tel Aviv's saber-rattling, Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak threatened that the Israeli regime would take more serious measures if Hamas failed to curb rocket and missile attacks by the resistance fighters operating from Gaza.

Haniyeh said Tuesday that the chances of another war in Gaza were slim, but noted that Hamas forces were following the Israeli movements closely.

Haniyeh also addressed allegations of a fatal shooting which targeted an Egyptian soldier during border riots last week.

Egyptian officials insist that the soldier was killed by a bullet from Hamas supporters who rallied in the town of Rafah to protest Cairo's efforts to block basic supplies from reaching Gaza through the underground tunnels.

But Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri emphasized on Tuesday that there was evidence the Egyptian border guard was shot by friendly fire.

Whatever the case, Hamas is working in good faith "to arrive at the truth and to put measures in place that ensure Palestinian-Egyptian relations are protected," Haniyeh clarified.

MRS/MB

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## Shades

*Turkey Recalls Envoy after Israel Says No Formal Apology*
13/01/2010 08:41:22 PM GMT 

*The Turkish media reported Wednesday that Ankara has recalled its ambassador to Israel on Wednesday after Tel Aviv said it would not issue a formal apology for Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon's treatment of the Turkish envoy*.

"This is the final decision on the matter," a senior Foreign Ministry official claimed earlier Wednesday. The decision was made during consultations between the Foreign Ministry and the Prime Minister's Office, officials said.

Turkish ambassador to Israel Ahmet Oguz Celikkol will depart on Thursday morning. It is unclear when, or if, he will return.

*Summoned Monday by Ayalon over a television show aired in Turkey, Celikkol was made to sit in a chair lower than that of the deputy foreign minister, while the Turkish flag was deliberately not on display during the meeting*.

*Turkey will recall its ambassador from Israel if a row over the envoy's treatment is not resolved by Wednesday evening*, President Abdullah Gul was quoted as saying on Wednesday by the NTV news channel. "*Unless they make up for it by this evening, our ambassador will return on the first plane tomorrow,*" Gul said, according to NTV.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Wednesday that his government had no desire to fall out with traditional ally Turkey but called on Ankara to show reciprocal "respect."

"You know regarding Turkey maybe it's time to clarify our position - we are not interested in confronting or arguing with Turkey," Lieberman was speaking to reporters on a visit to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.

*Earlier on Wednesday, Israel apologized for what media termed a "hazing" of the Turkish ambassador* but maintained its complaint against a Turkish television drama it said portrayed Jews as baby-snatchers. 

"The prime minister believes that the foreign ministry's protest to the Turkish ambassador was just in its essence but should have been conveyed in an acceptable diplomatic manner," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.

Ayalon issued a special statement of apology Tuesday night for his treatment of Celikkol on Monday. "My protest of the attacks against Israel in Turkey still stands," Ayalon said. "*However, it is not my way to insult foreign ambassadors and in the future I will clarify my position by more acceptable diplomatic means*."

Ayalon's comments followed Turkey's demand for an apology, clarification and "corrective steps" made during a meeting Israel's envoy in Turkey, Gaby Levy, had with Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu.

At the beginning of the conversation with the Turkish envoy on Monday, Ayalon told cameramen in Hebrew: "*Pay attention that he is sitting in a lower chair ... that there is only an Israeli flag on the table and that we are not smiling*." 

One Turkish source said that* Ayalon "set a trap" for Celikkol*, and that the *envoy had no idea that he was being humiliated until afterward when Ayalon's words to the cameramen were broadcast*. The source also mentioned that Ayalon did shake his hand, but not in front of the cameras.

Ayalon, before the statement was released, told Army Radio that he would not apologize. *"It's the Turks who should - for what [Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip] Erdogan said and for the television series," Ayalon said. "We are merely setting boundaries."*

The Turkish ambassador and the Turkish government were furious at the humiliation of the envoy. In a sharply worded ultimatum to Israel earlier Tuesday, Ankara demanded an apology for what it described as Ayalon's demeaning treatment of its ambassador on Monday.

*Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also spoke out against Ayalon's conduct. "There may be differences of opinion between states, and they may even criticize the policies of other countries, but all countries are obligated to comply with the rules of diplomatic courtesy and manners,*" Davutoglu said in a press conference in London with his British counterpart.

Netanyahu expressed concern at the deterioration of relations between Israel and Turkey. In talks behind closed doors, he said that during the past two years "Turkey has been steadily and systematically slipping eastward toward Syria and Iran," instead of westward, toward Europe and the United States. "This is a trend that should really trouble Israel," Netanyahu was quoted as saying.

Sources in the Israeli Prime Minister's Bureau said Tuesday the decision to invite the Turkish ambassador for a reprimand by Ayalon was made together with Lieberman. They noted that the Israeli PM was not aware of the way the reprimand would be carried out, "but the minute it happened the prime minister [gave] the foreign minister his full backing."

Official sources in *Tel Aviv said Erdogan had changed his attitude towards Israel since Operation Cast Lead.* "This process started when Erdogan abandoned a debate with President Shimon Peres (in Davos), so actually what is being done in Jerusalem is less important than what is happening in Ankara," one source said.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry Tuesday issued two statements critical of Israel. One focused on the treatment of the Turkish ambassador, the other on the TV program that angered Israel along with Israel's criticism of statements made by Erdogan Monday. "We hope the Israeli Foreign Ministry, which has assumed an undiplomatic attitude in its statements, will comply with diplomatic courtesy rules," the first statement read.

In the second statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry charged that the behavior at Israel's Foreign Ministry stemmed from domestic political considerations held by Lieberman and Ayalon. The statement added that Prime Minister Erdogan has consistently worked to further peace in the Middle East and has been complimented for his efforts by many in the region.

Commenting on Israel's complaints about anti-Semitic programs on Turkish television, Turkish Foreign Ministry officials said these were "baseless." *"Turkey views anti-Semitism as a crime against humanity and the statements of Prime Minister Erdogan on the subject are the best proof of this*," the ministry stated.

Celikkol is expected to return to Ankara later this week to prepare for Sunday's scheduled visit by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who - according to his spokesman - is determined to go ahead with the meeting and to smooth over the current crisis.

Erdogan said demonstratively on Tuesday that he would not meet with Barak. Before leaving for a visit to Russia, he said that "*history is the witness that we have demonstrated the necessary tolerance to Jewish people. But any sort of an approach like [Ayalon's] will always be retaliated by Turkey.*" 


¬
Source: AJP

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## Shades

*ECESG: 15 MPs/MEPs leave to Gaza*
Date : 12/1/2010   Time : 21:18

LONDON, January 12, 2010 (WAFA)- The European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza (ECESG) will hold a press conference tomorrow Wednesday, in which it will announce the launch of a parliamentarian trip to Gaza that includes tens of MPs/MEPs from across Europe. The press conference will be conducted at 12 PM, at M ROOM Portcullis house in the British Parliament.

The delegation trip to Gaza is part of a series of actions carried out by ECESG and the Palestinian Return Center in the UK and Europe. For an entire week, actions and events for Palestinian victims will be carried in remembrance of the victims killed in the past 60 years especially Gaza.

Gerald Kaufmann, MP would be chairing the conference which will state the aim of the visit. Other participating MPs will speak as well.

The largest Parliamentarian Delegation from across Europe is preparing to leave to the besieged Gaza Strip within 2 days.  The delegation will aim at looking at the realty and the humanitarian conditions resulted in the Israeli war and a 4-year siege.

In press statement, ECESG said it has finalized all needed arrangements and fully coordinated with the Egyptian Foreign Ministry concerning the visit of the MEPs and MPs delegation to Gaza via Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza.'

ECESG pointed out that the delegation consists of 50 MPs/MEPs. The parliamentarians represent twelve European countries whom of which will be members of the European Parliament and former ministers. They will investigate and see the ramifications of last onslaught perpetrated against the Gaza civilians.

The delegation will meet with Egyptian officials and the Secretary General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, to discuss the humanitarian condition in Gaza Strip, especially in light of the continued siege which Israel has been imposed for years.

ECESG organized various Parliamentarian delegations that visited Gaza however this one is considered to be the largest delegation visiting Gaza.

----------


## Shades

*Israel sorry for insulting Turkish envoy*
Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:57:53 GMT

In this photo dated Monday, Jan. 11, 2010, Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister, Danny Ayalon, center left, meets with Turkish Ambassador to Israel Ahmet Oguz Celikkol (R) in Jerusalem Al-Quds.
Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister, Danny Ayalon, has made a formal apology to Ankara over his 'discourteous' conduct during a meeting with Turkey's ambassador to Tel Aviv in a row over a Turkish TV series.

"It is not my way to disrespect ambassadors' honor and in the future I will clarify my position in a diplomatically acceptable manner," Ayalon said in the statement.

"Nevertheless, my protest against the attacks on Israel in Turkey remains valid," the statement continued.

The Israeli official was referring to the criticism directed by Turkish leaders at Israel over its policy toward the Palestinians and to the Turkish drama The Valley of the Wolves, which depicts Israeli security forces as kidnapping children and shooting old men.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday expressed satisfaction with Ayalon's apology. He said that the deputy foreign minister's protest was justified, but that he should have used acceptable diplomatic means to express his outrage.

Summoned by Ayalon on Monday, Turkish Ambassador to Tel Aviv Ahmet Oguz Celikkol was made to sit in a chair lower than that of the Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister and confronted by three Israeli officials in higher chairs, in order to ram home the displeasure with Ankara. The Turkish flag was deliberately not on display during the meeting. Celikkol was also spoken to in Hebrew and was refused a handshake.

The Israeli apology came after President Abdullah Gul had threatened to withdraw the Turkish ambassador from Tel Aviv if Israel's apology did not come by Wednesday evening.

Israel and Turkey have enjoyed close economic and military ties for the last decade but many Turks are dismayed at Israel's treatment of the Palestinians and the Turkish government has come under increasing pressure to take a stand on the issue.

Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip strained relations with its main regional ally, Turkey. Turkish leaders condemned the Israeli crimes committed against Gazans.

Tensions flared between Ankara and Tel Aviv again in October after Turkey banned Israel from participating in a NATO air force drill. Ankara further strained relations last month when it refused to discontinue the broadcast of The Valley of the Wolves.

MP/HGH/MMN

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## Shades

*US Envoy Urges Donors to Fund Palestinian State Institutions*
Date : 13/1/2010   Time : 11:28

BRUSSELS, January 13, 2010 (WAFA)-The U.S. special envoy for Middle East peace is urging international donors to help the Palestinian Authority pay for new institutions for a future state, VOA reported Tuesday.

George Mitchell discussed Palestinian financial aid in Brussels with Middle East Quartet Representative Tony Blair, Norwegian Foreign Affairs Minister Jonas Gahr Store, and the European Union's foreign policy representative, Catherine Ashton.

After the meeting, Mitchell reaffirmed Washington's stance that Israeli-Palestinian peace will not be achieved unless both sides have their own state.

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## Shades

*Partial Victory for Campaign: Israel Colonizes  Dexia Finances*
Date : 13/1/2010   Time : 20:04
Partial Victory for Campaign:  Israel Colonizes  Dexia Finances
BRUSSELS, January 13, 2010 (WAFA)-The platform « Israel colonizes  Dexia finances » welcomes the announcement, made public on December 30, 2009 on the website of the Israeli daily The Jerusalem Post, that the Israeli branch of the  banking group Dexia (Dexia Israel Public Finance) has informed its  clients  Israeli collectivities  that it would no longer offer loans to Jewish colonies.

*Theplatform consists of 69 organizations (among associations, trade unions, political parties, municipalities,...). Together, we have been fighting for more than a year, with demonstrations, petitions, posters, parliamentary questions, etc., to obtain that the Dexia group cut all ties with the Israeli occupation.*

The Platform sais: We are sure that it is thanks to this militant work and to the pressures it has brought to bear, that Dexia  has now partially changed its policy in Israel, in line with what Jean-Luc Dehaene, the President of the  Board of the Dexia group, had already announced at the General Assembly of May13,2009.

What is new is the officialization of this decision by the Israeli bank. Also new are the negative reactions that this announcement has triggered among Israeli settlers. Some of their representatives  have even gone as far as to demand that the Israeli government revoke Dexia's Israeli license. The final target of our campaign is to stop the occupation and colonization of Palestinian land. The settlers'  outrage goes to show that our campaign has direct effects on the ground.

The campaign «Israel colonizes  Dexia finances» will be pursued until the Dexia group responds favorably to all our demands and puts an end to the loans given to the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem.

According to international law, this municipality illegally occupies the eastern part of the city. Today, the construction of new colonies in East Jerusalem meets the indignation of the entire international community. It is unacceptable that Dexia would continue to financially collaborate with such policies.

The campaign continues with the firm hope of having Dexia completely cut all ties with the occupation of Palestine.

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## Shades

*Pal'n rocket hits Sdot Negev settlement southern Israel*

2010-01-13 13:15:31

Gaza-Pal Press-Israeli sources said today Wednesday at noon that a Palestinian homemade rocket hit Sdot Negev settlement southern Israel  causing no injuries among settlers in  the area.

The rocket fire took place shortly after Ismail Haniyyah  the Prime Minister of Gaza  ousted government  called on the Palestinian militant groups in Gaza to  commit to what is considered a ceasefire with Israel  which was effected  after the Israeli aggression on Gaza last year.

Haniiyah said that this would protect Gaza people against Israeli attacks .


2010-01-13 13:15:31

----------


## Shades

*Taha:"Our situation in Gaza does not tolerate a new war"*

2010-01-13 13:07:30

Gaza-Pal Press-Hamas leader Ayman Taha confirmed that  the humanitarian situation in Gaza strip is at the verge of collapsing due to the siege and the closure of crossings.

This situation is un tolerable, our people in Gaza  will not tolerate another war , he said

Taha added that the Palestinian people in Gaza Strip are still suffering the legacies of the Israeli war on Gaza Strip.

Taha was speaking in an interview with Al Quds television channel yesterday in response on the threats of the Israeli Defense Minister  against Gaza Strip.

He urged the international community and all the international organizations including the United Nations to intervene in order to cease any plotted  new aggression on Gaza.

Hamas affiliated military wing Al Qassam Brigades confirmed in a  statement released a few days ago that  they are ready to counter any new Israeli attack on Gaza.

----------


## Shades

*Uphill battle for academic freedom in US universities  	* 
12.01.10 - 23:49
In 2009, Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, became the first American higher educational institution to successfully pressure its Board of Trustees to divest from Israel-tied mutual funds.
ImageThe victory came three decades after the college similarly disinvested from funds linked to apartheid South Africa. Across North America, student-led Palestine activism groups have used the methods formulated by the Palestinian-led call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) "to implement divestment initiatives against Israel, similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era, until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people's inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with international law." Hampshire College's divestment move was a victory for the students and the administration of Hampshire College, and an inspirational model for hundreds of activism groups across North American campuses.

But despite the expanding and momentous student-led BDS movement, open dialogue around the reality of the situation in occupied Palestine continues to be an uphill battle for many professors inside the classrooms. Educators who openly align with the BDS movement, or speak out against Israeli-US policy in Palestine and the region, are being harassed, threatened, blacklisted, denied tenure and fired from their academic posts.

Denied tenure at Ithaca College

Margo Ramlal-Nankoe, former professor of Sociology at Ithaca College in New York, said that after she started addressing issues of human rights abuses in occupied Palestine -- especially after the start of the second Palestinian intifada -- she was warned by faculty members at the college that she was "risking" her career and "would suffer repercussions from the administration." Ramlal-Nankoe told The Electronic Intifada (EI) that the verbal threats eventually led to alleged racist and sexist attacks, and an open death threat from a faculty member who protested Ramlal-Nankoe's support of a department colleague whose husband was Palestinian. "He [made] a cut-throat gesture with his hand across his neck to me," Ramlal-Nankoe said. She was later denied tenure in 2007. With the tenure review board voting unanimously against her, alleging she did not "fit in the department," faculty colleagues had encouraged the board to "stop hiring third-world elites," and told them that Ramlal-Nankoe's position in the department should instead go to a "native-born American."

"My tenure debacle started in 2005," Ramlal-Nankoe told EI. "I received a strong majority vote in support of my tenure in 2005 from the Sociology Tenure Committee. However, the Dean committed violations in my tenure review and denied me tenure. I appealed the dean's decision and the violations by him and a minority in the Sociology tenure committee. After I won the appeal in April 2006, the provost halted my tenure review and proposed to have a new tenure review in 2007 to correct the violations. This provost was fired soon after his decision."

Ramlal-Nankoe attributed the core of the attacks and her denial of tenure to her support of Ithaca College's Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) group, her organization of a series of Palestine-Israel-themed speaking events on campus (including guests such as Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi, EI's Ali Abunimah, and former UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq Denis Halliday) and her public criticism of Israel's ongoing military occupation and violations of human rights in Palestine. The college's Hillel organization was also aggressive in its attacks against on-campus criticism of Israeli policy.

Furthermore, Ramlal-Nankoe alleged that the college's dean of the Humanities and Sciences Department at the time of her tenure denial, Howard Erlich, was "known" for his personal retaliation against faculty and staff who he considered to be "too sympathetic" to the Palestinian cause). She also asserted that Erlich denied funding requests for educational programs on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, classifying them as "anti-Israeli." Ramlal-Nankoe added that at this time, Erlich had stated to her that his son was serving in the Israeli army.

Professor Ramlal-Nankoe has filed a lawsuit against Ithaca College, but it has not been resolved, she said, despite lengthy appeals and publications. Her case is now under investigation by the New York State Human Rights Commission and the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

North Carolina State University case

Film studies professor Terri Ginsberg, similarly fired in 2008 by North Carolina State University (NCSU) in what she says was a punishment for her outspoken criticism of "Zionism, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and US Middle East policy," believes that institutionalized censorship on the Palestine-Israel issue in the academic realm is eerily reminiscent of the McCarthy era of the 1950s and '60s. "So many of the dynamics and methods of discrimination perpetrated against today's scholarly critics of Israel and US Middle East policy derive from and continue, in updated fashion, practices initiated and implemented during that shameful period," she says.

Ginsberg told EI that she was strongly encouraged to apply for the tenure track position at NCSU because of her strong academic service record and favorable student evaluations. But when she began publicly criticizing US-Israeli policy in the Middle East inside and outside the classroom, the administration retaliated against her and she was "punished with partial removal from -- and interference in -- duty, non-renewal of contract and rejection from a tenure-track position." She remarked that since then, her entire professional academic career has been crippled. "I have been veritably blacklisted from the university classroom, ostracized by many of my colleagues, and have been forced to endure unnecessary, unwarranted economic hardship and psychological distress," Ginsberg said.

Ginsberg also filed a legal complaint against NCSU, accusing the administration of discrimination and violation of the North Carolina Constitution, alleging freedom of speech violations and employment prejudice.

Terri Ginsberg's legal counsel, Rima Kapitan, told EI that she expects NCSU to file a response to the lawsuit soon. Kapitan added, "The pervasiveness of restrictions on Palestine-related speech in today's academic climate is shocking, given our Constitution's speech protections and our society's idealistic conception of academia as a bastion of open dialogue and debate." Scare tactics on campuses by administrations and outside Zionist-aligned groups, Kapitan asserted, have resulted in widespread "self-censorship" by untenured or adjunct professors. Combined with a paradigm in which campus administrators and program coordinators take "neutral" stances on the so-called Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Kapitan said that "voices critical of Israel are often either banned or are not permitted unless they are heard alongside Zionist perspectives ...[Academia] is a very dangerous climate for critics of Zionism."

Hostile climate

Working alongside discriminatory academic administrations are right-wing Zionist groups, such as the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) and Campus Watch. Campus Watch in particular has been a strong force behind smear campaigns against university professors such as Terri Ginsberg. Campus Watch describes itself as a "project of the Middle East Forum" that "seeks to have an influence over the future course of Middle East studies" on US college campuses. However, it has been instrumental in vilifying and discrediting distinguished, well-known academic critics of Zionism and Israeli policies such as Norman Finkelstein (denied tenure in June 2007 from DePaul University), and Joel Kovel (fired from Bard College in 2008 in what Koval claimed was a thinly-veiled attempt by the college to categorize the firing as a necessary and nonpolitical budget cut). The Middle East Forum (MEF) is a right-wing think tank based in Philadelphia that "define[s] and promote[s] ... US interests in the Middle East [including] fighting radical Islam; working for Palestinian acceptance of Israel; robustly asserting US interests vis-a-vis Saudi Arabia; and developing strategies to deal with Iraq and contain Iran." Daniel Pipes, director of the MEF and a top neoconservative American academic, was quoted in 2001 by the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs as saying, "the Palestinians are a miserable people ... and they deserve to be."

Ginsberg said that because of the hostile climate within certain academic structures, combined with external pressure by these so-called watchdog groups that seek to silence criticism of Israeli policy, academic workers are made to "self-censor in order to locate and retain albeit meager employment, producing a chilling environment for permanent faculty as well ... Meanwhile, non-conforming Jewish voices and perspectives continue to be held with suspicion and condemnation, not least when they articulate solidarity with the oppressed."

She said that her academic and intellectual work was highly influenced by her Palestine activism, and "greatly enhanced" her ability to make "informed, well-rounded scholarly judgments about the conflict's academic and cultural expression, discern true from false facts about it, and convey them to my students and in my writing -- writing which would also begin to analyze the ensuing, heightened suppression of academic speech critical of Zionism and US Middle East policy."

Slashed from the classroom but undeterred in her political activism, she continues to pursue "scholarly, activist and public intellectual work on Palestine/Israel and on Middle Eastern culture in critical light of US and European policy and attitudes toward the region."

Fight for academic freedom

Ramlal-Nankoe's and Ginsberg's battles come at a time when there are both controversies and victories in the fight for academic freedom. In New York, Nadia Abou El Haj, professor of Anthropology at Barnard, became the focus of an online petition to deny her tenure, organized in part by a Barnard graduate who lives in the illegal Israeli settlement colony of Maale Addumim in the occupied West Bank. Despite external pressure, Barnard granted El Haj full tenure in 2007.

Additionally, Joseph Massad, EI contributor and professor of Modern Arab Politics and Intellectual History at Columbia University, was finally granted tenure in 2009 after a years-long public struggle. Massad was the favored target of pro-Zionist student groups who sought to dismantle his tenure application in 2005 by discrediting him in the media in an attempt to pressure the tenure review board. After Columbia's decision to grant Massad tenure, The New York Post and The Huffington Post, among many other media outlets, ran pieces decrying the outcome. Anna Kelner wrote in The Huffington Post: "[W]hen Columbia University granted tenure to Joseph Massad ... the University jeopardized its long-standing commitment to cultivating and supporting its Jewish student population."

EI also reported on the controversy surrounding Professor William Robinson at UC Santa Barbara, who, after emailing his students with a sharp critique of Israel's attack on the Gaza Strip last winter, was accused by pro-Zionist student groups (backed by the Anti-Defamation League and the Simon Wiesenthal Center) of faculty misconduct; but the case was thrown out by university officials in June of 2009.

Hindering the debate

However, Ramlal-Nankoe and Ginsberg are still worried. They believe that by attacking, censoring and firing professors because of their political activism specifically on this issue, university students are disallowed the broad-based political education necessary to understand the reality in Israel-Palestine.

"The overall situation in this respect will only deteriorate unless, in contrast to the McCarthy era, public and academic outcry, organized protest and transformative praxis are marshaled to bring about a constructive reversal in the current, nefarious trend," Ginsberg observed. "The ... Gaza Freedom March is one such protest, the BDS movement yet another. But we should not, at the same time, ignore troubles on the home-front. Persons dedicated to teaching the history and culture of Palestine justice struggles, for prime instance, must be allowed to do so unhindered by the fear and economic insecurity wrought by a higher educational system in which academic freedom has sadly devolved almost completely into academic 'free enterprise.'"

Professor Margo Ramlal-Nankoe agrees. "The repercussions on faculty who dare to speak out against injustices [are] abysmal and contradict and defeat, in my opinion, the whole purpose of education and critical inquiry. In other words, it is anti-education."

Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University Richard Falk, who is currently the United Nation's Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, said he, too, is concerned about "diverging trends in relation to academic freedom for those who express sharply critical views of Israel [and] Zionism"

"My only advice [to professors], having been attacked for several decades," Falk added, "is to make yourself as invulnerable as possible in relation to the standard expectations that prevail in universities: publish in scholarly venues, teach reliably and with receptivity to diverse opinions, and be a useful colleague, but do not abandon your conscience or your identity as an engaged citizen with critical views."

Falk told EI that the growing BDS movement, specifically within the academic and cultural boycott call against Israeli apartheid, is an effective course of action amongst educators and cultural workers of conscience. "There seems to be diverging trends in relation to academic freedom for those who express sharply critical views of Israel or Zionism," Falk remarked. "On the one side there is growing sympathy for the Palestinian struggle, and this is exhibited by the spreading BDS campaign. On the other side, there are increased efforts by organized Zionist groups to exert covert and overt pressure on university administrations to punish those seen as critics of Israel. As a result, we can expect some inconsistent outcomes in this period."

Currently, according to the US Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI) campaign, more than 450 American educators and 125 writers, journalists, artists and musicians (including this writer and EI's Ali Abunimah) have signed onto the national statement. The BDS campaign is gaining ground as academics stand up for their beliefs -- and resist the aggressive political pressure -- within American educational institutions.

Source: Nora Barrows-Friedman / The Electronic Intifada

----------


## Shades

*Uphill battle for academic freedom in US universities  	* 
12.01.10 - 23:49
In 2009, Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, became the first American higher educational institution to successfully pressure its Board of Trustees to divest from Israel-tied mutual funds.
ImageThe victory came three decades after the college similarly disinvested from funds linked to apartheid South Africa. Across North America, student-led Palestine activism groups have used the methods formulated by the Palestinian-led call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) "to implement divestment initiatives against Israel, similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era, until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people's inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with international law." Hampshire College's divestment move was a victory for the students and the administration of Hampshire College, and an inspirational model for hundreds of activism groups across North American campuses.

But despite the expanding and momentous student-led BDS movement, open dialogue around the reality of the situation in occupied Palestine continues to be an uphill battle for many professors inside the classrooms. Educators who openly align with the BDS movement, or speak out against Israeli-US policy in Palestine and the region, are being harassed, threatened, blacklisted, denied tenure and fired from their academic posts.

Denied tenure at Ithaca College

Margo Ramlal-Nankoe, former professor of Sociology at Ithaca College in New York, said that after she started addressing issues of human rights abuses in occupied Palestine -- especially after the start of the second Palestinian intifada -- she was warned by faculty members at the college that she was "risking" her career and "would suffer repercussions from the administration." Ramlal-Nankoe told The Electronic Intifada (EI) that the verbal threats eventually led to alleged racist and sexist attacks, and an open death threat from a faculty member who protested Ramlal-Nankoe's support of a department colleague whose husband was Palestinian. "He [made] a cut-throat gesture with his hand across his neck to me," Ramlal-Nankoe said. She was later denied tenure in 2007. With the tenure review board voting unanimously against her, alleging she did not "fit in the department," faculty colleagues had encouraged the board to "stop hiring third-world elites," and told them that Ramlal-Nankoe's position in the department should instead go to a "native-born American."

"My tenure debacle started in 2005," Ramlal-Nankoe told EI. "I received a strong majority vote in support of my tenure in 2005 from the Sociology Tenure Committee. However, the Dean committed violations in my tenure review and denied me tenure. I appealed the dean's decision and the violations by him and a minority in the Sociology tenure committee. After I won the appeal in April 2006, the provost halted my tenure review and proposed to have a new tenure review in 2007 to correct the violations. This provost was fired soon after his decision."

Ramlal-Nankoe attributed the core of the attacks and her denial of tenure to her support of Ithaca College's Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) group, her organization of a series of Palestine-Israel-themed speaking events on campus (including guests such as Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi, EI's Ali Abunimah, and former UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq Denis Halliday) and her public criticism of Israel's ongoing military occupation and violations of human rights in Palestine. The college's Hillel organization was also aggressive in its attacks against on-campus criticism of Israeli policy.

Furthermore, Ramlal-Nankoe alleged that the college's dean of the Humanities and Sciences Department at the time of her tenure denial, Howard Erlich, was "known" for his personal retaliation against faculty and staff who he considered to be "too sympathetic" to the Palestinian cause). She also asserted that Erlich denied funding requests for educational programs on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, classifying them as "anti-Israeli." Ramlal-Nankoe added that at this time, Erlich had stated to her that his son was serving in the Israeli army.

Professor Ramlal-Nankoe has filed a lawsuit against Ithaca College, but it has not been resolved, she said, despite lengthy appeals and publications. Her case is now under investigation by the New York State Human Rights Commission and the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

North Carolina State University case

Film studies professor Terri Ginsberg, similarly fired in 2008 by North Carolina State University (NCSU) in what she says was a punishment for her outspoken criticism of "Zionism, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and US Middle East policy," believes that institutionalized censorship on the Palestine-Israel issue in the academic realm is eerily reminiscent of the McCarthy era of the 1950s and '60s. "So many of the dynamics and methods of discrimination perpetrated against today's scholarly critics of Israel and US Middle East policy derive from and continue, in updated fashion, practices initiated and implemented during that shameful period," she says.

Ginsberg told EI that she was strongly encouraged to apply for the tenure track position at NCSU because of her strong academic service record and favorable student evaluations. But when she began publicly criticizing US-Israeli policy in the Middle East inside and outside the classroom, the administration retaliated against her and she was "punished with partial removal from -- and interference in -- duty, non-renewal of contract and rejection from a tenure-track position." She remarked that since then, her entire professional academic career has been crippled. "I have been veritably blacklisted from the university classroom, ostracized by many of my colleagues, and have been forced to endure unnecessary, unwarranted economic hardship and psychological distress," Ginsberg said.

Ginsberg also filed a legal complaint against NCSU, accusing the administration of discrimination and violation of the North Carolina Constitution, alleging freedom of speech violations and employment prejudice.

Terri Ginsberg's legal counsel, Rima Kapitan, told EI that she expects NCSU to file a response to the lawsuit soon. Kapitan added, "The pervasiveness of restrictions on Palestine-related speech in today's academic climate is shocking, given our Constitution's speech protections and our society's idealistic conception of academia as a bastion of open dialogue and debate." Scare tactics on campuses by administrations and outside Zionist-aligned groups, Kapitan asserted, have resulted in widespread "self-censorship" by untenured or adjunct professors. Combined with a paradigm in which campus administrators and program coordinators take "neutral" stances on the so-called Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Kapitan said that "voices critical of Israel are often either banned or are not permitted unless they are heard alongside Zionist perspectives ...[Academia] is a very dangerous climate for critics of Zionism."

Hostile climate

Working alongside discriminatory academic administrations are right-wing Zionist groups, such as the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) and Campus Watch. Campus Watch in particular has been a strong force behind smear campaigns against university professors such as Terri Ginsberg. Campus Watch describes itself as a "project of the Middle East Forum" that "seeks to have an influence over the future course of Middle East studies" on US college campuses. However, it has been instrumental in vilifying and discrediting distinguished, well-known academic critics of Zionism and Israeli policies such as Norman Finkelstein (denied tenure in June 2007 from DePaul University), and Joel Kovel (fired from Bard College in 2008 in what Koval claimed was a thinly-veiled attempt by the college to categorize the firing as a necessary and nonpolitical budget cut). The Middle East Forum (MEF) is a right-wing think tank based in Philadelphia that "define[s] and promote[s] ... US interests in the Middle East [including] fighting radical Islam; working for Palestinian acceptance of Israel; robustly asserting US interests vis-a-vis Saudi Arabia; and developing strategies to deal with Iraq and contain Iran." Daniel Pipes, director of the MEF and a top neoconservative American academic, was quoted in 2001 by the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs as saying, "the Palestinians are a miserable people ... and they deserve to be."

Ginsberg said that because of the hostile climate within certain academic structures, combined with external pressure by these so-called watchdog groups that seek to silence criticism of Israeli policy, academic workers are made to "self-censor in order to locate and retain albeit meager employment, producing a chilling environment for permanent faculty as well ... Meanwhile, non-conforming Jewish voices and perspectives continue to be held with suspicion and condemnation, not least when they articulate solidarity with the oppressed."

She said that her academic and intellectual work was highly influenced by her Palestine activism, and "greatly enhanced" her ability to make "informed, well-rounded scholarly judgments about the conflict's academic and cultural expression, discern true from false facts about it, and convey them to my students and in my writing -- writing which would also begin to analyze the ensuing, heightened suppression of academic speech critical of Zionism and US Middle East policy."

Slashed from the classroom but undeterred in her political activism, she continues to pursue "scholarly, activist and public intellectual work on Palestine/Israel and on Middle Eastern culture in critical light of US and European policy and attitudes toward the region."

Fight for academic freedom

Ramlal-Nankoe's and Ginsberg's battles come at a time when there are both controversies and victories in the fight for academic freedom. In New York, Nadia Abou El Haj, professor of Anthropology at Barnard, became the focus of an online petition to deny her tenure, organized in part by a Barnard graduate who lives in the illegal Israeli settlement colony of Maale Addumim in the occupied West Bank. Despite external pressure, Barnard granted El Haj full tenure in 2007.

Additionally, Joseph Massad, EI contributor and professor of Modern Arab Politics and Intellectual History at Columbia University, was finally granted tenure in 2009 after a years-long public struggle. Massad was the favored target of pro-Zionist student groups who sought to dismantle his tenure application in 2005 by discrediting him in the media in an attempt to pressure the tenure review board. After Columbia's decision to grant Massad tenure, The New York Post and The Huffington Post, among many other media outlets, ran pieces decrying the outcome. Anna Kelner wrote in The Huffington Post: "[W]hen Columbia University granted tenure to Joseph Massad ... the University jeopardized its long-standing commitment to cultivating and supporting its Jewish student population."

EI also reported on the controversy surrounding Professor William Robinson at UC Santa Barbara, who, after emailing his students with a sharp critique of Israel's attack on the Gaza Strip last winter, was accused by pro-Zionist student groups (backed by the Anti-Defamation League and the Simon Wiesenthal Center) of faculty misconduct; but the case was thrown out by university officials in June of 2009.

Hindering the debate

However, Ramlal-Nankoe and Ginsberg are still worried. They believe that by attacking, censoring and firing professors because of their political activism specifically on this issue, university students are disallowed the broad-based political education necessary to understand the reality in Israel-Palestine.

"The overall situation in this respect will only deteriorate unless, in contrast to the McCarthy era, public and academic outcry, organized protest and transformative praxis are marshaled to bring about a constructive reversal in the current, nefarious trend," Ginsberg observed. "The ... Gaza Freedom March is one such protest, the BDS movement yet another. But we should not, at the same time, ignore troubles on the home-front. Persons dedicated to teaching the history and culture of Palestine justice struggles, for prime instance, must be allowed to do so unhindered by the fear and economic insecurity wrought by a higher educational system in which academic freedom has sadly devolved almost completely into academic 'free enterprise.'"

Professor Margo Ramlal-Nankoe agrees. "The repercussions on faculty who dare to speak out against injustices [are] abysmal and contradict and defeat, in my opinion, the whole purpose of education and critical inquiry. In other words, it is anti-education."

Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University Richard Falk, who is currently the United Nation's Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, said he, too, is concerned about "diverging trends in relation to academic freedom for those who express sharply critical views of Israel [and] Zionism"

"My only advice [to professors], having been attacked for several decades," Falk added, "is to make yourself as invulnerable as possible in relation to the standard expectations that prevail in universities: publish in scholarly venues, teach reliably and with receptivity to diverse opinions, and be a useful colleague, but do not abandon your conscience or your identity as an engaged citizen with critical views."

Falk told EI that the growing BDS movement, specifically within the academic and cultural boycott call against Israeli apartheid, is an effective course of action amongst educators and cultural workers of conscience. "There seems to be diverging trends in relation to academic freedom for those who express sharply critical views of Israel or Zionism," Falk remarked. "On the one side there is growing sympathy for the Palestinian struggle, and this is exhibited by the spreading BDS campaign. On the other side, there are increased efforts by organized Zionist groups to exert covert and overt pressure on university administrations to punish those seen as critics of Israel. As a result, we can expect some inconsistent outcomes in this period."

Currently, according to the US Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI) campaign, more than 450 American educators and 125 writers, journalists, artists and musicians (including this writer and EI's Ali Abunimah) have signed onto the national statement. The BDS campaign is gaining ground as academics stand up for their beliefs -- and resist the aggressive political pressure -- within American educational institutions.

Source: Nora Barrows-Friedman / The Electronic Intifada

----------


## Shades

*Work Begins on First Planned Palestinian City *  
12.01.10 - 22:38
ATARA, West Bank -- Work crews have broken ground on what they hope will be the first modern, planned Palestinian city --
Imagea step that officials say will help build an independent state in spite of the current deadlock in the peace process with Israel.

Since last week, machine operators have been hard at work, taking chunks out of a rocky hillside near this West Bank village. If the project goes according to plan, it will provide 40,000 Palestinians with homes in an American-style development.

But complications remain.

The $500 million project hinges on Israel's approval of a short stretch of road.

''We could build the whole city, but the question is, would people live in a city that doesn't have an access road?'' said Bashar Masri, managing director of the company behind the project.

''Obviously, the answer is no.''

Palestinians say Israel has not responded to their requests about the access road. The Israeli Defense Ministry, which is in charge of the area, did not return calls from The Associated Press about the issue.

Israel's stated policy is to promote economic development in the West Bank, and construction of the new town would appear to fall within that goal. But two miles (three kilometers) of the road would have to be built through a part of the West Bank that Israel controls, within view of a Jewish settlement, raising possible complications.

Western-backed Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, an internationally respected economist, has announced plans to build institutions regardless of progress in peace talks, aiming to be ready for statehood in two years. The new city, known as Rawabi, would be a key part of that plan.

Rawabi, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) north of Jerusalem, is designed to look much like an American suburb.

Standing over a working model in the office of Bayti Real Estate Investment Company in Ramallah, Masri pointed to the city's egg-shaped, hilltop center, saying it will hold office and residential towers, a conference center and hotel, shops, cafes and a movie theater. The center will be a pedestrian zone with an underground car park, he said.

Cities like Ramallah and Nablus have sprawled into the West Bank countryside over the last century, leaving them with insufficient roads, infrastructure and parking space, producing daily traffic jams that snarl their centers.

In Rawabi, by contrast, a series of roads will loop down the hillside, lined with residential buildings connected by footpaths, designed for the Palestinian middle class, Masri said. Residents will have ample parking and access to parks, schools, mosques and a church.

Masri declined to give condo prices, but said 5,000 units are designed for Palestinians who can afford monthly mortgage payments of between $400 and $700. Another 1,000 deluxe units will sell for more, he said.

The project is being funded by Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Co. and Ramallah-based Massar International.

To help families purchase homes, the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corp., an investment arm of the U.S. government, is helping establish a mortgage assistance project.

Masri's company plans to start pouring foundations in three months, he said, and says the first residents should move in by 2013.

That is, assuming the city gets its access road.

Reaching the site now means following a narrow, winding road through a number of Palestinian villages. Planners have laid out a new access road, but about two miles (three kilometers) of it cross an Israeli-controlled zone, said Amir Dajani, Bayti's deputy director.

Dajani said the Palestinian Authority has asked Israel to put the stretch of road under Palestinian jurisdiction, but has yet to get a response.

''The access road is an artery for the project,'' Dajani said. ''It is critical for its success and future growth and a prerequisite for its sustainability.''

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev declined to comment on the project, but said Israel considers economic growth in the West Bank ''the best antidote to extremism and terrorism.''

For now, the project is moving ahead. Last Wednesday, a team of tractors carved a local road into the rocky hillside, while orange-vested surveyors and engineers in hardhats prepared other sites.

Standing on the hilltop slated to host the future downtown, site manager Maher Sawalha pointed to where he hopes to build the city's roads, condos and sewage treatment plant.

Palestinian villages stood clustered on adjacent hilltops, and the Israeli metropolis of Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean coast was clearly visible, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) to the west.

''If it's clear and you have a sunny day, you can see all the way to the sea,'' Sawalha said.

Sawalha, a 45-year-old father of six, said he planned to move from his rented apartment in Ramallah to Rawabi as soon as possible.

''It's a dream to own a house here, in a new city where you work and live quietly with your kids,'' he said. ''It will be similar to life in the U.S.''



Source: AP/New York Times

----------


## Shades

*Work Begins on First Planned Palestinian City *  
12.01.10 - 22:38
ATARA, West Bank -- Work crews have broken ground on what they hope will be the first modern, planned Palestinian city --
Imagea step that officials say will help build an independent state in spite of the current deadlock in the peace process with Israel.

Since last week, machine operators have been hard at work, taking chunks out of a rocky hillside near this West Bank village. If the project goes according to plan, it will provide 40,000 Palestinians with homes in an American-style development.

But complications remain.

The $500 million project hinges on Israel's approval of a short stretch of road.

''We could build the whole city, but the question is, would people live in a city that doesn't have an access road?'' said Bashar Masri, managing director of the company behind the project.

''Obviously, the answer is no.''

Palestinians say Israel has not responded to their requests about the access road. The Israeli Defense Ministry, which is in charge of the area, did not return calls from The Associated Press about the issue.

Israel's stated policy is to promote economic development in the West Bank, and construction of the new town would appear to fall within that goal. But two miles (three kilometers) of the road would have to be built through a part of the West Bank that Israel controls, within view of a Jewish settlement, raising possible complications.

Western-backed Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, an internationally respected economist, has announced plans to build institutions regardless of progress in peace talks, aiming to be ready for statehood in two years. The new city, known as Rawabi, would be a key part of that plan.

Rawabi, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) north of Jerusalem, is designed to look much like an American suburb.

Standing over a working model in the office of Bayti Real Estate Investment Company in Ramallah, Masri pointed to the city's egg-shaped, hilltop center, saying it will hold office and residential towers, a conference center and hotel, shops, cafes and a movie theater. The center will be a pedestrian zone with an underground car park, he said.

Cities like Ramallah and Nablus have sprawled into the West Bank countryside over the last century, leaving them with insufficient roads, infrastructure and parking space, producing daily traffic jams that snarl their centers.

In Rawabi, by contrast, a series of roads will loop down the hillside, lined with residential buildings connected by footpaths, designed for the Palestinian middle class, Masri said. Residents will have ample parking and access to parks, schools, mosques and a church.

Masri declined to give condo prices, but said 5,000 units are designed for Palestinians who can afford monthly mortgage payments of between $400 and $700. Another 1,000 deluxe units will sell for more, he said.

The project is being funded by Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Co. and Ramallah-based Massar International.

To help families purchase homes, the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corp., an investment arm of the U.S. government, is helping establish a mortgage assistance project.

Masri's company plans to start pouring foundations in three months, he said, and says the first residents should move in by 2013.

That is, assuming the city gets its access road.

Reaching the site now means following a narrow, winding road through a number of Palestinian villages. Planners have laid out a new access road, but about two miles (three kilometers) of it cross an Israeli-controlled zone, said Amir Dajani, Bayti's deputy director.

Dajani said the Palestinian Authority has asked Israel to put the stretch of road under Palestinian jurisdiction, but has yet to get a response.

''The access road is an artery for the project,'' Dajani said. ''It is critical for its success and future growth and a prerequisite for its sustainability.''

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev declined to comment on the project, but said Israel considers economic growth in the West Bank ''the best antidote to extremism and terrorism.''

For now, the project is moving ahead. Last Wednesday, a team of tractors carved a local road into the rocky hillside, while orange-vested surveyors and engineers in hardhats prepared other sites.

Standing on the hilltop slated to host the future downtown, site manager Maher Sawalha pointed to where he hopes to build the city's roads, condos and sewage treatment plant.

Palestinian villages stood clustered on adjacent hilltops, and the Israeli metropolis of Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean coast was clearly visible, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) to the west.

''If it's clear and you have a sunny day, you can see all the way to the sea,'' Sawalha said.

Sawalha, a 45-year-old father of six, said he planned to move from his rented apartment in Ramallah to Rawabi as soon as possible.

''It's a dream to own a house here, in a new city where you work and live quietly with your kids,'' he said. ''It will be similar to life in the U.S.''



Source: AP/New York Times

----------


## Shades

*The Light in the Tent *  
12.01.10 - 22:18

ImageI sat in the tent and it was full of light.

Fawzieh al-Kurd is the matriarch of one of the three families who were forcibly expelled from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem between November 2008 and October 2009. In all, close to 60 people, all 1948-era refugees from West Jerusalem and other parts of what is now Israel, were resettled in this neighborhood in the 1950s by international agreement. They have now been evicted by the Israeli government, their homes turned over to fundamentalist Jewish settlers. Fawziehs family was the first  ejected forcibly in the middle of the night by Israeli military on November 9, 2008. Fawziehs husband Muhammad, confined to a wheelchair and in fragile health, died 11 days after the eviction. Read the background in the report of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The evicted Palestinian families have erected temporary shelters on the streets and on adjacent properties in protest: they are not leaving.

When you visit Sheikh Jarrah you are in the heart of the beast of the occupation. Yes, one can say the same thing about Hebron, or Jayyous, or the Bethlehem checkpoint at 4AM. But there is something about this latest outrage that drew me, on my way out of the country after attending the World Council of Churchs launch of the Palestinian Kairos document to pay a visit to these families. What is happening in Sheikh Jarrah is part of the project, plain for all to see, to create a wholly Jewish Jerusalem. Greater Jerusalem is a microcosm of Israels all-but-completed colonial West Bank: maintained for Jewish settlers, with enclaves of controlled, imprisoned Palestinians. Sheikh Jarrah, along with existing and planned Jewish neighborhoods, creates a ring of Jewish settlement that encloses the entire city to the south, north and east. The OCHA report summarizes the competing claims of the parties. Lawyers for each side will continuing to make their cases about who owns the houses. But the source of this suffering is not a dispute between two parties each claiming the same piece of property. This is something else: a dispute between a party that is willing to share and a party that is not.

I sat in the lean-to with Fawzieh, who seemed at peace despite the trauma, indignity and loss she had suffered. Not that she did not have questions and a lot to say: how, she asked, can they accuse me of wanting to make war when one of the names I call God five times a day in my prayers is Salaam  Peace? Why, she continued, are they doing this to us when we believe in the unity and community of all peoples? She then recited, at length and from memory, the sura from the Kuran that asserts the holiness and value of all the prophets that came before Muhammad, including Moses and Jesus, and the duty of all Muslims to honor them.

I walked across the front yard, garbage-strewn and littered with the ruined kitchen appliances and furniture that had been the al-Kurds property, and approached a group of black-suited and black-hatted young men  the current occupiers of the al-Kurd home. I spoke with them in Hebrew, providing my Jewish credentials (My grandfather was born less than a mile from here, a fifth generation Jew in the Holy Land.) They regarded me  quite correctly  with suspicion. Having observed me sitting with Fawzieh, they knew where my sympathies lay. As we talked I realized that facing me from across a very bright line was fine with them. They didnt expect to change my views, and they were clear about theirs. In fact, as I attempted to engage with them I understood that a sense of being embattled was an essential part of their identity  in their minds they were the present-day Jewish pioneers, Gods warriors. Covering the front door of the house were stickers reading The People of Israel will triumph using the Hebrew word for military victory. For them, suffering calumny and enraged protest for stealing the home of an innocent family was a source of pride, part of the hard work of reclaiming the land for God. They dismissed my suggestion that they consider the suffering and the human rights of the people they had displaced. God, they said, has given this to us, we are supposed to be here.

Having heard that claim so many time before, it didnt affect me very much to hear it again. What did hit me, however, was their assertion that the people they had displaced deserved to be supplanted by Gods Chosen because they were teaching their children to hate the Jews. This too I had heard before, along with the other racist beliefs that so many Israelis hold about the Palestinians (dirty; thieves; bad parents). That day, however, this statement threw me because I had just listened to Fawziehs pain  not about losing her home, but about what was happening to her grandson. This is a boy, she told me, who had been earning high grades in school but whose only wish now was to grow up to be a pilot so that he could kill Jews. This was her pain: that her future, the future for her family and her community that she had planned and had wished for, that indeed her faith directed her toward, was being stolen. A house could be rebuilt  but a future generation could not so easily be redeemed. It hurt her heart.

The battle is joined. It is the conflict between those who plan a future based on dispossession, grasping and fear, and those who desire to live in a community of inclusiveness. Here, in this little neighborhood: the Jews barricade themselves behind gates and doors and declare victory. The Palestinians sit in their tents, like Abraham of old, and, indeed, like Palestinians in any West Bank or Gaza village or city, opening their homes to all comers. They serve coffee. They offer their hope and they share their pain. They appeal to the international community to witness their situation and to not sit idly by.

When I was there the street was quiet and empty except for a smattering of other internationals like myself, my dear friend Nora Carmi from Sabeel who visits daily, and the families. Two days later there was a big protest and some arrests for civil disobedience. Last month Rabbi Arik Ascherman of Rabbis for Human Rights wrote a piece entitled Armageddon, Straight Ahead. His language in the piece is telling. Arik, arriving at the scene and clearly shaken, wrote that I see a Palestinian anger burning so strong that, unlike what usually happens, neither the threat of arrest or the use of overwhelming force is a deterrent. In similar situations, he continued, I have urged Palestinians to calm down, but here I felt that I had no right and that it would do no good Israels democracy has failed up until now. International pressure has failed up until now. The activist community has failed up until nowI see Jerusalem in flames  I see Armageddon straight ahead.

Ascherman is a man who has committed his life to nonviolent opposition to the occupation. Witnessing the settlers moving into the homes under the noses of the dispossessed families, he could only stand and watch the growing violence. As I read his words and as I identify with his feelings, I find myself wondering: is there a wish here that the seething violence at this outrage will finally break out, into what he terms Intifada 3? I will not second guess what might have been going on in Ariks mind or heart, but I will confess to what is going on in mine  the wish that something will happen to break the deadlock and stop, finally, the suffering of the Palestinians and Israels headlong rush into disaster. I imagine that Arik at that moment was thinking that no one, certainly not him, had the right to deny to these people their right to resist  even with violence  the crime that was being committed against them.

Resistance and Hope

I was in the country  along with over 60 Palestinian and international religious leaders, theologians and peace activists, including my good friend Rabbi Brian Walt, to attend the conference organized by the World Council of Churchs Palestine-Israel Ecumenical Forum to launch the Kairos Palestine Document. The document is entitled A moment of truth: A word of faith, hope and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering. Like Rabbi Aschermans piece, is a cry of pain and desperation, written, in the words of its preamble, because today we have reached a dead end in the tragedy of the Palestinian people. The decision-makers content themselves with managing the crisis rather than committing themselves to the serious task of finding a way to resolve it. The hearts of the faithful are filled with pain and with questioning: What is the international community doing? What are the political leaders in Palestine, in Israel and in the Arab world doing? What is the Church doing?

The Kairos document thus asks the same question as Rabbi Ascherman. In contrast to the understandable pessimism of Ariks piece, it reaches for hope. For the authors of this document, the end of days is not the final battle between good and evil, but the vision of a community of love shaped by the redemptive vision that was articulated so long ago in these very hills, in this very city. I had heard Fawzieh express that same vision. Sitting with Fawzieh, I found myself telling her that I had come to her tent to support her, but that it was my bruised heart that was being healed by her loving spirit. The light in that tent is the same light that emanates from the Kairos document. It is a cry of pain that points to hope. This hope is grounded in community. It reaches out to the enemy.

Jerusalem is the heart of our reality. It is, at the same time, a symbol of
peace and sign of conflict. While the separation wall divides Palestinian
neighbourhoods, Jerusalem continues to be emptied of its Palestinian citizens,
Christians and Muslims. Their identity cards are confiscated, which means the loss of
their right to reside in Jerusalem. Their homes are demolished or expropriated.
Jerusalem, city of reconciliation, has become a city of discrimination and exclusion, a
source of struggle rather than peace.

We say that our option as Christians in the face of the Israeli occupation
is to resist. Resistance is a right and a duty for the Christian. But it is resistance with
love as its logic. It is thus a creative resistance for it must find human ways that
engage the humanity of the enemy. Seeing the image of God in the face of the enemy
means taking up positions in the light of this vision of active resistance to stop the
injustice

Our message to the Jews tells them: Even though we have fought one
another in the recent past and still struggle today, we are able to love and live together.
We can organize our political life, with all its complexity, according to the logic of
this love and its power, after ending the occupation and establishing justice.

Ariks biblical reference is apt: Armageddon is the battle between good and evil. We are seeing this battle waged here in the conflict between the occupiers and the dispossessed. Because it is not in the courts, the casuistry of lawyers, or the declarations of politicians that the conflict is to be resolved. It is in the higher court of immutable principles of human rights and universal justice. It is in the realm of the spirit. And the spirit points to the power of community.

In a recent LA Times opinion piece, Palestinian human attorney and human rights activist Jonathan Kuttab proposes that peace will be found not in separation, but in coexistence. What is this two state future, he wonders, as Israel continues to take more and more control of the entire territory? As the options keep narrowing for all participants, he writes, we need to start thinking of how we can live together, rather than insist on dying apart.

This is the front yard of the al-Kurd home today. This is the future of this land if Israels project of dispossession continues. You can see the same thing all along the separation wall and by the checkpoints up and down the West Bank  in the cities, in the countryside. Kalandria. Hebron. The deepening horror of Gaza. Disaster, chaos, loss, ruin for both peoples.

Or it can be the light in the tent: Fawzias vision of peaceful coexistence  her smile, in spite of it all. The open tents of the al-Ghawi and Hanoun families. The growing realization that, as Kuttab suggests, if we cannot live together we will die together. In a recent piece, human rights activist and Ali Abunimah characterizes Israel today as resembling a failed state. He too points to a shared future for Israelis and Palestinians as the only path to peace, writing that despite the failed peace process industrys efforts to ridicule, suppress and marginalise it, there is a growing debate among Palestinians and even among Israelis about a shared future in Palestine/Israel based on equality and decolonisation, rather than ethno-national segregation and forced repartition.

This is how it will be won: through the spirit of people who believe in community and in shared hope. Through the resistance of men and women like Fawzieh, Nassar, Khawla and Majid, sitting in their tents in the shadow of the occupiers. Through the resistance of the women, men and children who awaken every day in their occupied land and go on with their lives fully claiming their identity as Palestinians. Through the witness of the 1400 internationals  including Jews and Israelis  camped out in the streets of Cairo and Aqaba challenging the powers who have barred them from entering the concentration camp that is Gaza on the last day of the first decade of the twenty first century. Through the witness and resistance of the authors of the Palestinian Kairos document, who as an act of witness and resistance have thrown down this challenge to the rest of humankind:

The mission of the Church is prophetic, to speak the Word of God courageously, honestly and lovingly in the local context and in the midst of daily eventsOur future and their future are one: either the cycle of violence that destroys both of us or a peace that will benefit both.

The Kairos challenge is the same that confronts seekers of justice in every age and every place, the same appeal to those spiritual values which must form the heart and the driver for the struggle. William Sloane Coffin, American clergyman and long time peace activist, wrote this in his final autobiographical work, Credo:

We see ourselves walking not alone with our Lord, but with all the peoples of the world whom we now view as fellow walkers, not as those who fall in behind. And all are marching to Zion, to the mountain of God, wherecan anyone doubt it?God will cause the nations to beat their swords into plowshares and return to the people the peace that only God could give and no nation had the right to take away.



Mark Braverman is Executive Director of Friends of Tent of Nations North America. He serves on the advisory board of Friends of Sabeel North America and on the Board of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions-USA. He is the author of Fatal Embrace: Christians, Jews, and the Search for Peace in the Holy Land. Information and additional writing, including his blog "The Politics of Hope" can be found at Mark Braverman: Author of Fatal Embrace.

----------


## Shades

*The Light in the Tent *  
12.01.10 - 22:18

ImageI sat in the tent and it was full of light.

Fawzieh al-Kurd is the matriarch of one of the three families who were forcibly expelled from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem between November 2008 and October 2009. In all, close to 60 people, all 1948-era refugees from West Jerusalem and other parts of what is now Israel, were resettled in this neighborhood in the 1950s by international agreement. They have now been evicted by the Israeli government, their homes turned over to fundamentalist Jewish settlers. Fawziehs family was the first  ejected forcibly in the middle of the night by Israeli military on November 9, 2008. Fawziehs husband Muhammad, confined to a wheelchair and in fragile health, died 11 days after the eviction. Read the background in the report of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The evicted Palestinian families have erected temporary shelters on the streets and on adjacent properties in protest: they are not leaving.

When you visit Sheikh Jarrah you are in the heart of the beast of the occupation. Yes, one can say the same thing about Hebron, or Jayyous, or the Bethlehem checkpoint at 4AM. But there is something about this latest outrage that drew me, on my way out of the country after attending the World Council of Churchs launch of the Palestinian Kairos document to pay a visit to these families. What is happening in Sheikh Jarrah is part of the project, plain for all to see, to create a wholly Jewish Jerusalem. Greater Jerusalem is a microcosm of Israels all-but-completed colonial West Bank: maintained for Jewish settlers, with enclaves of controlled, imprisoned Palestinians. Sheikh Jarrah, along with existing and planned Jewish neighborhoods, creates a ring of Jewish settlement that encloses the entire city to the south, north and east. The OCHA report summarizes the competing claims of the parties. Lawyers for each side will continuing to make their cases about who owns the houses. But the source of this suffering is not a dispute between two parties each claiming the same piece of property. This is something else: a dispute between a party that is willing to share and a party that is not.

I sat in the lean-to with Fawzieh, who seemed at peace despite the trauma, indignity and loss she had suffered. Not that she did not have questions and a lot to say: how, she asked, can they accuse me of wanting to make war when one of the names I call God five times a day in my prayers is Salaam  Peace? Why, she continued, are they doing this to us when we believe in the unity and community of all peoples? She then recited, at length and from memory, the sura from the Kuran that asserts the holiness and value of all the prophets that came before Muhammad, including Moses and Jesus, and the duty of all Muslims to honor them.

I walked across the front yard, garbage-strewn and littered with the ruined kitchen appliances and furniture that had been the al-Kurds property, and approached a group of black-suited and black-hatted young men  the current occupiers of the al-Kurd home. I spoke with them in Hebrew, providing my Jewish credentials (My grandfather was born less than a mile from here, a fifth generation Jew in the Holy Land.) They regarded me  quite correctly  with suspicion. Having observed me sitting with Fawzieh, they knew where my sympathies lay. As we talked I realized that facing me from across a very bright line was fine with them. They didnt expect to change my views, and they were clear about theirs. In fact, as I attempted to engage with them I understood that a sense of being embattled was an essential part of their identity  in their minds they were the present-day Jewish pioneers, Gods warriors. Covering the front door of the house were stickers reading The People of Israel will triumph using the Hebrew word for military victory. For them, suffering calumny and enraged protest for stealing the home of an innocent family was a source of pride, part of the hard work of reclaiming the land for God. They dismissed my suggestion that they consider the suffering and the human rights of the people they had displaced. God, they said, has given this to us, we are supposed to be here.

Having heard that claim so many time before, it didnt affect me very much to hear it again. What did hit me, however, was their assertion that the people they had displaced deserved to be supplanted by Gods Chosen because they were teaching their children to hate the Jews. This too I had heard before, along with the other racist beliefs that so many Israelis hold about the Palestinians (dirty; thieves; bad parents). That day, however, this statement threw me because I had just listened to Fawziehs pain  not about losing her home, but about what was happening to her grandson. This is a boy, she told me, who had been earning high grades in school but whose only wish now was to grow up to be a pilot so that he could kill Jews. This was her pain: that her future, the future for her family and her community that she had planned and had wished for, that indeed her faith directed her toward, was being stolen. A house could be rebuilt  but a future generation could not so easily be redeemed. It hurt her heart.

The battle is joined. It is the conflict between those who plan a future based on dispossession, grasping and fear, and those who desire to live in a community of inclusiveness. Here, in this little neighborhood: the Jews barricade themselves behind gates and doors and declare victory. The Palestinians sit in their tents, like Abraham of old, and, indeed, like Palestinians in any West Bank or Gaza village or city, opening their homes to all comers. They serve coffee. They offer their hope and they share their pain. They appeal to the international community to witness their situation and to not sit idly by.

When I was there the street was quiet and empty except for a smattering of other internationals like myself, my dear friend Nora Carmi from Sabeel who visits daily, and the families. Two days later there was a big protest and some arrests for civil disobedience. Last month Rabbi Arik Ascherman of Rabbis for Human Rights wrote a piece entitled Armageddon, Straight Ahead. His language in the piece is telling. Arik, arriving at the scene and clearly shaken, wrote that I see a Palestinian anger burning so strong that, unlike what usually happens, neither the threat of arrest or the use of overwhelming force is a deterrent. In similar situations, he continued, I have urged Palestinians to calm down, but here I felt that I had no right and that it would do no good Israels democracy has failed up until now. International pressure has failed up until now. The activist community has failed up until nowI see Jerusalem in flames  I see Armageddon straight ahead.

Ascherman is a man who has committed his life to nonviolent opposition to the occupation. Witnessing the settlers moving into the homes under the noses of the dispossessed families, he could only stand and watch the growing violence. As I read his words and as I identify with his feelings, I find myself wondering: is there a wish here that the seething violence at this outrage will finally break out, into what he terms Intifada 3? I will not second guess what might have been going on in Ariks mind or heart, but I will confess to what is going on in mine  the wish that something will happen to break the deadlock and stop, finally, the suffering of the Palestinians and Israels headlong rush into disaster. I imagine that Arik at that moment was thinking that no one, certainly not him, had the right to deny to these people their right to resist  even with violence  the crime that was being committed against them.

Resistance and Hope

I was in the country  along with over 60 Palestinian and international religious leaders, theologians and peace activists, including my good friend Rabbi Brian Walt, to attend the conference organized by the World Council of Churchs Palestine-Israel Ecumenical Forum to launch the Kairos Palestine Document. The document is entitled A moment of truth: A word of faith, hope and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering. Like Rabbi Aschermans piece, is a cry of pain and desperation, written, in the words of its preamble, because today we have reached a dead end in the tragedy of the Palestinian people. The decision-makers content themselves with managing the crisis rather than committing themselves to the serious task of finding a way to resolve it. The hearts of the faithful are filled with pain and with questioning: What is the international community doing? What are the political leaders in Palestine, in Israel and in the Arab world doing? What is the Church doing?

The Kairos document thus asks the same question as Rabbi Ascherman. In contrast to the understandable pessimism of Ariks piece, it reaches for hope. For the authors of this document, the end of days is not the final battle between good and evil, but the vision of a community of love shaped by the redemptive vision that was articulated so long ago in these very hills, in this very city. I had heard Fawzieh express that same vision. Sitting with Fawzieh, I found myself telling her that I had come to her tent to support her, but that it was my bruised heart that was being healed by her loving spirit. The light in that tent is the same light that emanates from the Kairos document. It is a cry of pain that points to hope. This hope is grounded in community. It reaches out to the enemy.

Jerusalem is the heart of our reality. It is, at the same time, a symbol of
peace and sign of conflict. While the separation wall divides Palestinian
neighbourhoods, Jerusalem continues to be emptied of its Palestinian citizens,
Christians and Muslims. Their identity cards are confiscated, which means the loss of
their right to reside in Jerusalem. Their homes are demolished or expropriated.
Jerusalem, city of reconciliation, has become a city of discrimination and exclusion, a
source of struggle rather than peace.

We say that our option as Christians in the face of the Israeli occupation
is to resist. Resistance is a right and a duty for the Christian. But it is resistance with
love as its logic. It is thus a creative resistance for it must find human ways that
engage the humanity of the enemy. Seeing the image of God in the face of the enemy
means taking up positions in the light of this vision of active resistance to stop the
injustice

Our message to the Jews tells them: Even though we have fought one
another in the recent past and still struggle today, we are able to love and live together.
We can organize our political life, with all its complexity, according to the logic of
this love and its power, after ending the occupation and establishing justice.

Ariks biblical reference is apt: Armageddon is the battle between good and evil. We are seeing this battle waged here in the conflict between the occupiers and the dispossessed. Because it is not in the courts, the casuistry of lawyers, or the declarations of politicians that the conflict is to be resolved. It is in the higher court of immutable principles of human rights and universal justice. It is in the realm of the spirit. And the spirit points to the power of community.

In a recent LA Times opinion piece, Palestinian human attorney and human rights activist Jonathan Kuttab proposes that peace will be found not in separation, but in coexistence. What is this two state future, he wonders, as Israel continues to take more and more control of the entire territory? As the options keep narrowing for all participants, he writes, we need to start thinking of how we can live together, rather than insist on dying apart.

This is the front yard of the al-Kurd home today. This is the future of this land if Israels project of dispossession continues. You can see the same thing all along the separation wall and by the checkpoints up and down the West Bank  in the cities, in the countryside. Kalandria. Hebron. The deepening horror of Gaza. Disaster, chaos, loss, ruin for both peoples.

Or it can be the light in the tent: Fawzias vision of peaceful coexistence  her smile, in spite of it all. The open tents of the al-Ghawi and Hanoun families. The growing realization that, as Kuttab suggests, if we cannot live together we will die together. In a recent piece, human rights activist and Ali Abunimah characterizes Israel today as resembling a failed state. He too points to a shared future for Israelis and Palestinians as the only path to peace, writing that despite the failed peace process industrys efforts to ridicule, suppress and marginalise it, there is a growing debate among Palestinians and even among Israelis about a shared future in Palestine/Israel based on equality and decolonisation, rather than ethno-national segregation and forced repartition.

This is how it will be won: through the spirit of people who believe in community and in shared hope. Through the resistance of men and women like Fawzieh, Nassar, Khawla and Majid, sitting in their tents in the shadow of the occupiers. Through the resistance of the women, men and children who awaken every day in their occupied land and go on with their lives fully claiming their identity as Palestinians. Through the witness of the 1400 internationals  including Jews and Israelis  camped out in the streets of Cairo and Aqaba challenging the powers who have barred them from entering the concentration camp that is Gaza on the last day of the first decade of the twenty first century. Through the witness and resistance of the authors of the Palestinian Kairos document, who as an act of witness and resistance have thrown down this challenge to the rest of humankind:

The mission of the Church is prophetic, to speak the Word of God courageously, honestly and lovingly in the local context and in the midst of daily eventsOur future and their future are one: either the cycle of violence that destroys both of us or a peace that will benefit both.

The Kairos challenge is the same that confronts seekers of justice in every age and every place, the same appeal to those spiritual values which must form the heart and the driver for the struggle. William Sloane Coffin, American clergyman and long time peace activist, wrote this in his final autobiographical work, Credo:

We see ourselves walking not alone with our Lord, but with all the peoples of the world whom we now view as fellow walkers, not as those who fall in behind. And all are marching to Zion, to the mountain of God, wherecan anyone doubt it?God will cause the nations to beat their swords into plowshares and return to the people the peace that only God could give and no nation had the right to take away.



Mark Braverman is Executive Director of Friends of Tent of Nations North America. He serves on the advisory board of Friends of Sabeel North America and on the Board of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions-USA. He is the author of Fatal Embrace: Christians, Jews, and the Search for Peace in the Holy Land. Information and additional writing, including his blog "The Politics of Hope" can be found at Mark Braverman: Author of Fatal Embrace.

----------


## Shades

*Nablus executions: Shoot first, ask questions later*
Bridget Chappell writing from Nablus, occupied West Bank, Live from Palestine, 11 January 2010 

The brutal killing of three Palestinian men by Israeli military forces in Nablus last week on 26 December 2009 sparked grief and outrage across Palestine and brought the northern West Bank city to a standstill as thousands mourned the lethal attack. However, their voices are drowned out yet again by a well-played hand of Israel's propaganda machine and repeated by the mainstream media.

On the eve of the one-year anniversary of Israel's winter invasion of Gaza, a force of several hundred Israeli soldiers entered Nablus and invaded the homes of Ghassan Abu Sharkh, Raed Sarakji and Anan Subih where they were executed in cold blood in front of family members. A statement by the Israeli military alleged that an operation was carried out to arrest the men suspected of involvement in the killing of an Israeli settler, Meir Avshalom Hai, two days earlier.

The portraits of the targeted men -- armed perpetrators of another injustice -- painted by the military's statements have exploded throughout Israel's media and beyond, subsequently footnoted by Israeli police's forensic results, reporting a match between a rifle seized in the invasions and the weapon used to kill Hai, a rabbi and resident of the Shave Shomron settlement.

This postmortem revelation, which has not been verified by independent sources, raises alarming questions of Israel's "shoot first, ask questions later" policy. It also echoes the disparities between the statements of the Israeli military, repeated by the Israeli and international media, and the testimony of the victims' family members, which were collected by a handful of local media agencies and human rights organizations.

Ghassan Abu Sharkh's wife, shot in the foot.
Ghassan Abu Sharkh's brother Diyaa Abu Sharkh said Israeli military forces stormed their home in Nablus' Old City at 12am. Sharkh's wife and four children were forced outside and the entire family was handcuffed, whereupon Sharkh's eldest son was kicked and beaten by soldiers with the butts of their guns. As Sharkh descended, unarmed, from the stairs inside in hopes of surrendering, soldiers immediately opened fire on him, riddling his body with bullet holes. Outside, Israeli soldiers continued to brutally beat Sharkh's son while their counterparts prevented Red Crescent ambulances from entering the area.

According to Tahani Jaara, the wife of Raed Sarakji, the Israeli military then forced their way in to their home in the Old City at 2:30am, where Sarakji was shot in the head immediately. The force of the close-range fire was so great that it caused his head to split in two. As his pregnant wife ran forward to catch his falling body she was shot in the foot. Only at this point did soldiers confirm the identity of the man just executed, ordering his wife to hand over both their IDs and mobile phones. Soldiers opened fire once again on his now lifeless body, then ordered his wife to summon their children to behold the grisly remains.

Half an hour later, Israeli soldiers entered Nablus' Ras al-Ain neighborhood. Quickly occupying several homes surrounding the house of Anan Subih, soldiers began firing anti-tank missiles at the upper levels of the building, blowing a giant cavity between the third and fourth stories. Farid Subih, brother of Anan, reported that soldiers entered the house on foot, firing live ammunition and destroying property as they forced family members out in to the street. Subih was found hiding in the rubble created by rocket blasts, where he was immediately executed.

A spokesman for the Israeli army claimed that after the men "refused to leave their houses and surrender, we entered. They continued hiding and endangering our soldiers, which made the shooting imperative." How these three men sleeping at home with their families endangered an overwhelming armed military force is unclear. As is the justification for brutally excessive force employed lethally against the targeted men and wantonly upon their family members, including children.

The Israeli military's trigger-happy strategies for the "liquidation" of those deemed a security risk have resulted in the tragic loss of hundreds of civilian lives in so-called "targeted killing" operations, as a result of both mistaken identity and the excessive use of force employed, such as the launching of missiles from aircrafts, tanks or missile launchers at densely populated areas. Although this did not occur during the 26 December Nablus incursion, it is particularly disturbing that the Israeli military issued a post-execution clarification of at least one of the slain men's identities.

Israel's long history of such extrajudicial killing operations carried out in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) reached its height during and after the second Palestinian intifada. Israel's assassination policy resulted in the deaths of 754 persons from December 2000 to June 2008 in 348 operations. As reported by the Palestine Centre for Human Rights in July 2008, 521 of those killed were targeted and 233 were bystanders.

Categorical execution without trial constitutes state terrorism, whatever statements military spokespeople may peddle regarding Israel's exhaustive quest for "security" and the means necessary to enforce it. Whether or not Israeli intelligence's suspicions of Sarakji, Sharkh and Subih were well-founded, the cold-blooded execution of these and hundreds of other victims are a grave departure from a human's right to due process. Israel's tired accusations of terrorism against those it kills are rarely supported by evidence, and only a handful of cases of those killed on these grounds have ever been investigated; fewer still have been accountable for their actions.

There are still plenty of questions left unanswered and will likely remain that way forever. Two groups of two factions, at entirely opposite ends of the political spectrum, claimed responsibility for the attack on the settler: the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade associated with the Fatah party and the fundamentalist Islamic Jihad.

Of the three men, Sarakji, released from a seven-year prison term last January, was the only one officially wanted by Israel for suspected involvement in the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade. In contrast, according to his brother, Subih had surrendered his arms and received a full governmental pardon some years ago, while Sharkh's wife states her husband's only link to armed struggle was through his brother, who was assassinated by Israeli forces in 2004.

Israel's attempt to depict their actions as the standard routine of criminal inquiry is clearly a farce. However admissible the findings of the victim's armed involvement may be in a court of law, it amounts to little when those accused have already been tried and found guilty by the barrel of a gun. Whether these men were guilty or innocent -- they were executed without trial in cold blood. They leave behind traumatized children, grieving families and thousands of ex-prisoners and fellow citizens wondering who will be next.

All images by Bridget Chappell.

Bridget Chappell is an Australian activist and writer who has been working with the International Solidarity Movement in Palestine since August 2009. She is based in Nablus.

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## Shades

*Palestinian cleric gets 9 months in jail by Israel*
Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:01:06 GMT

*Sheikh Raed Salah has been sentenced to nine months in prison for protesting Tel Aviv's excavations near Al-Aqsa Mosque.*
An Israeli court has sentenced senior West Bank cleric Sheikh Raed Salah to nine months in prison for protesting Tel Aviv's construction plans near the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The outspoken critic of Israel and a leader of the Islamic Movement allegedly clashed with Israeli forces who confronted Palestinian protesters during demonstrations held in February 2007 in Jerusalem Al-Quds against excavations near the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

In August 2007, Sheikh Salah was indicted for "inciting racism and violence" for calling for a "third Intifada" to defend the holy site. He was arrested in October during similar demonstrations at Al-Aqsa, following reports that Jewish extremists were attempting to attack the mosque, the third holiest site for Muslims.

He was consequently banned from the area where clashes between angry demonstrators and Israeli troops had already given Tel Aviv enough headaches.

The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on Wednesday sentenced Salah to nine months in jail for the 2007 incident, begining next month. He received an additional suspended sentence of six months and has until February 28 to appeal the decision.

Salah previously served a two-year jail sentence after sending money to needy Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, funds that Israeli prosecutors claimed to have been used by Palestinian resistance fighters.

The Gaza-based Hamas government condemned the Israeli court ruling and accused Tel Aviv of an attempt to dampen the Palestinian leader's activities against the Al-Aqsa takeover.

Sheikh Salah's lawyer, Khaled Zabarka, accused Israel of making efforts to distract the public opinion "from its real crime" of occupying Al-Aqsa and to "satisfy the mood in Israel by convicting the honorable Sheikh Salah."

Jerusalem Al-Quds, revered by both Muslims and Jews as well as Christians, was occupied by the Israeli army in the six-day war in 1967 and was later annexed despite strong opposition from the international community, which still refuses to recognize the city as part of Israel.

The Palestinians demand Jerusalem Al-Quds as the capital of their promised future state but Ultra-Orthodox Jews claim that the city is their "God-given eternal capital."

Israel's hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also insisted not to abandon Jerusalem Al-Quds or share it with the Palestinians, vowing that "in any peace agreement, Jerusalem will remain the united capital of Israel."

MRS/MB

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## Shades

*Israeli boats attack Palestinian fishermen*
Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:49:58 GMT

Israeli forces Friday opened fire on Palestinian fishing boats at different locations in the Gaza Strip, where people find it increasingly difficult to escape Tel Aviv's crippling embargo.

Israeli patrol boats attacked Gazan fishing boats early in the day near the central Gaza shores. They also targeted the Palestinians further south near Khan Younis and in the Rafah coastal area, Ma'an News Agency reported.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The targeted men condemned the regular attacks plaguing the fishing business in the Palestinian territory, saying the move is only aimed at preventing impoverished Gazans from making a living and supporting their families.

Israel has been tightening the noose of its blockade on the Gaza Strip despite international outcries condemning the "collective punishment" of some 1.5 million Palestinian men, women and children.

According to reports by the United Nations, almost half of the population in Gaza depends on aid food handouts for survival.

Palestinian crossings liaison official Raed Fattouh said Gaza crossing were kept sealed, continuing a six-month trend of shrunk opening time for the transport of goods.

Crossings were originally due to be opened six days a week, but since August, Israel has closed all crossings both on Friday and Saturday.

The number of crossings in operation has also been reduced, leaving Kerem Shalom in the southern Gaza Strip the only terminal for food supplies, fuel and other much-needed aid items.

The main fuel transfer point, Nahal Oz, was closed in late December. The Sufa crossing, once used for the transport of commercial goods, was closed by Israeli authorities in September 2008.

MRS/HGH/MD

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## Shades

*Israeli accused of rape, enslavement*
Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:30:58 GMT


*Israeli authorities have arrested a man with a cult of over 17 women with whom they believe he has fathered up to two dozen children*.

Goel Ratzon  Hebrew for savior  reportedly ran his household according to a "rulebook," composed of severe restrictions and financial penalties for the women, who strangely turned out to be deeply committed to him. Some of them, dressed in conservative Orthodox clothes, even bore tattoos of Ratzon's name and face.

An Israeli television documentary last year featured Ratzon with a bundle of women, several of whom claimed to be married to Ratzon and threatened to kill themselves if anyone ever tried to harm their "messiah."

"No women shall marry nor shall any woman attack another, either verbally or physically," read the first rule in Ratzon's rulebook, setting strict financial punishments for any disobedience. Other rules in the book banned conversation anywhere but the living room and stopped the women from asking Ratzon questions.

"No woman shall sit idle when there are dishes to be washed, cleaning to be done, children to look after," said another Ratzon commandment.

His army of children, estimated to exceed 40 in number, all had names that were variations on his, Goel, according to the TV program.

Ratzon was put under police surveillance following a complaint filed by one of the women who accused the self-claimed "perfect man" and dainty of abuse. Police arrested him this week in a raid on his house in Tel Aviv but ordered a media blackout on the issue.

Ratzon, not formally charged yet, is now being held in a detention facility in Tel Aviv awaiting a court appearance and might face charges of enslavement, sexual abuse, rape and extortion.

His appointed lawyer said his client denied any sexual crimes had been committed.

"The women consented willingly to relations  He may be different, but he's not a criminal," Shlomtzion Gabai told Israeli Radio, saying around 30 women and 60 children were involved with him.

Ratzon reportedly had at least three apartments, all of which were dark, overcrowded and filthy. His children have been handed over to the authorities and some of the women have been let free.

"He would dictate what they could and could not do, limit their movements and impose sanctions and various punishments, including the use of violence if they refused to obey," said a police statement.


MRS/HGH/MD

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## Shades

*EU delegation urges trial of Israeli war criminals*
Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:28:25 GMT

The European Parliament delegation at the Rafah border crossing between the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt
*A high ranking European parliamentary delegation in the Gaza Strip has called for the prosecution of Israeli officials over war crimes in the territory.*

The high ranking delegation which *includes 60 parliament members of 12 European countries, crossed into the strip on Friday afternoon through Rafah border crossing, Xinhua reported.*

Speaking at a press conference at the crossing, *British Labor Party legislator, Sir Gerald Kauffim who is also the head of the delegation described the visit as "a message of solidarity with Gaza to end the Israeli siege."*

"*Our suffering to arrive here is nothing compared with the longsuffering of the Gaza Strip population due to the suffocating [and] unfair Israeli siege imposed on them*," said Kauffman.

He also *called for the prosecution of Israeli officials who had "authorized the use of white phosphorus bombs*" against the Palestinians during Tel Aviv's December 2008-January 2009 offensive against the Gaza Strip which left over 1,400 Palestinians dead.
He also expressed support for the attempts by pro-Palestinian groups in Britain to seek arrest warrants for Israeli politicians and army officers in the country.

"*We have had a fuss in our country about the inability of certain Israeli politicians to visit Britain for fear of being arrested," said Kauffman adding that "anyone who uses the white phosphorus against civilians must be taken to court for war crimes*."

Israel canceled the visit of a delegation of senior military officers to the UK this month after Britain failed to guarantee that they would not be arrested over alleged war crimes.

The incident provoke anger among Israeli officials, who cried that the British legal system's acceptance of pro-Palestinian group's lawsuits was threatening to "undermine relations" between London and Tel Aviv.

Last month, the office of the British Foreign Secretary David Miliband issued a statement and called for an end to the "absurd situation," in which arrest warrants were being issued against Israeli officials.

This is while, a report released by a UN fact-finding team headed by South African Judge Richard Goldstone in September 2009 accused Israeli military forces of war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza.

Based on the report, Israel used disproportionate force and failed to protect civilians during its offensive on the territory.

SB/MMN

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## Shades

*Hezbollah, Hamas urge support for resistance*
Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:15:46 GMT

Hezbollah and Hamas leaders in Beirut call for Arab and international support for the popular resistance against the "hegemonic policies" of the US and Israel in the region.

Speaking at the Arab-International Support the Resistance Forum on Friday, Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah described Israel as an expansionist regime established by "hegemonic powers" to push ahead their policies in the Middle East.

He said the separation wall in the West Bank, the siege on Gaza and the deadly three weeks-long war against Gazans were all aimed at crushing the resistance in Palestine.

Nasrallah assured that the moves had failed to shake the resolve of Palestinian and Lebanese activists and only strengthened their will to fight occupation.

He also warned the Muslim world against Israeli and US plots to deface anti-Israeli resistance and called for support against Tel Aviv's psychological war and threats of a new offensive on Gaza.

The conference is attended by representatives from 65 Arab and international union.

Addressed the conference, Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal regretted doubts within the Arab and Muslim community and the need for conferences to explain the significance and legitimacy of resistance in Palestine.

He stressed that resistance is a legitimate right of every nation enshrined in all international laws.

The senior Hamas official said Israel considers Gaza as the weakest link in the Muslim world and a war against it the easiest it could wage. He, however, cautioned that any Israeli war would face strong resistance from the Palestinians.

Gaza will be the real killer of Israel, he said.

On Egypt's construction of an anti-tunnel steel wall on the border with Gaza, Meshaal urged Cairo not to take actions against its "Muslim brothers in Palestine but against its Israeli enemy."

He suggested the move was politically-motivated, saying security considerations could not justify such a move by an Arab nation against another Arab nation.

Gaza will never be a source of threat to Egypt, Meshaal underscored. It is the frontline in the resistance against Israeli occupation whose absence would have forced other Arab states to establish their own resistance movements.

Meshaal said his Hamas party was willing to hold direct talks with the Palestinian Authority led by the rival Fatah party to resolve the differences and establish unity among the Palestinian nation.

Meshaal is in Beirut for talks with top Lebanese officials.

MRS/HGH/MD

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## Shades

*Paper:Egypt poses 2 terms to resume talks with Hamas*

2010-01-16 12:28:02

Cairo-PalPres-Despite Egyptian confirmations that the relation with Hamas movement has not reached a deadlock marking hope in resolving the escalated tension, Egypt is still waiting for a change in Hamas position over its seriousness from achieving reconciliation and translating it to actions on ground.

Egyptian sources confirmed in statements to the Saudi newspaper Al Medina that Cairo posed two conditions for  resuming talks with Hamas movement.

The first condition is to legally finalize  the issue of the assassination of the Egyptian soldier Ahmed Shaban and bringing the killers to justice.

The second condition is related to signing the Egyptian reconciliation proposal .

The source stressed that in case Hamas fulfilled those two conditions, then it will be possible for Egypt to turn over a new page with Hamas, however, there was no evidence that Hamas would accept those terms, the source said

For his part, Hamas leader Salah Al Bardawil said that his movement believes in reconciliation on basis of national constants , not those which only serve the interests of the west and the occupation.

He confirmed that Hamas is ready to sign on the Egyptian proposal according to guarantees which maintain the national constants.

Al Bardawil said in statements yesterday,   said that the region is witnessing important political changes in favor of the Palestinian cause .

He added:The US and Europe believe that Hamas is a real threat , not because it is an opposing political faction , but because it is an Islamic organization which adopted the slogan of Islam is the solution in dealing with the west.

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## Shades

*RSF Condemns Deportation of US Journalist Working in WB*
Date : 14/1/2010   Time : 14:07

PARIS, January 14, 2010 (WAFA)- Reporters Without Borders (RSF)  condemned the detention and expulsion of US journalist Jared Malsin, who has worked for the past two years as an editor with Maan, an independent Palestinian news agency based in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

Malsin, 26, was arrested and placed in a detention centre on arriving at Tel Avivs Ben Gurion airport on the afternoon of 12 January on a flight from Europe. One of his colleagues told Reporters Without Borders he was deported to the United States on a flight departing at 6 a.m. today.

The Israeli authorities have accused him of working without a permit.

Thats ridiculous, a Maan journalist said. Everyone knows that the Israelis dont issue work permits for the West Bank. He is clearly being made to pay for working for this Palestinian news media.

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## Shades

*Israel Restricts Palestinian Lawyers' Access to WB Detainees*
Date : 14/1/2010   Time : 14:20

TEL AVIV, January 14, 2010 (WAFA)- Israel is prohibiting Palestinian lawyers and the relatives of Palestinian detainees from reaching a military tribunal via the Beitunia checkpoint west of Ramallah, Amira Hass  wrote Thursday in the Israeli daily Haaretz.

The prohibition, which has been in effect for the past three days, means that Israeli police are requiring Palestinians to use the Qalandiyah crossing 20 kilometers away, where they must produce an entry permit to Israel - which can take weeks to obtain - if they want to enter an Israeli military tribunal that is on West Bank land. The court lies 300 meters south of the Beitunia roadblock, and was built on land that is part of Beitunia.

The restriction contravenes a recent Israeli High Court decision opening Route 443 to Palestinian traffic.

The lawyers have declared a strike to protest the prohibition, and are not appearing in military court.

Israeli Military Judge Arieh Durani yesterday criticized the police for keeping the lawyers from adequately representing their clients.

'The court takes a very dim view of the authorities thwarting representation of detainees by not permitting their attorneys to cross at the checkpoint,' he said. He also imposed a NIS1,000 (Israeli currency)  fine on any lawyer who refrained from representing a client who is a minor.

Hass reported that Palestinians see the new rules as infringing on their rights as well as forcing them into de facto recognition of a border that is unilaterally determined by Israel. Since 1995, Israel has sought to make Qalandiyah the northern entry point of the so-called safe passage between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It is far from 1967 borders and the Latrun area, where the Palestinians wanted the entry point to be. The entire area south of Beitunia has gradually become off-limits to Palestinians since 2000.

Although the Israeli Forces has general responsibility for the area, the Jerusalem police and the Border Police are in charge of the checkpoint. Police first closed the checkpoint three weeks ago, telling the lawyers and relatives they had to enter through the Qalandiyah checkpoint.

But even those who go to Qalandiyah still need an entry permit to Israel, with no assurance that it will be granted. Moreover, crossing at Qalandiyah involves a long wait and additional travel expenses.

The attorneys went on strike when the restrictions were first imposed, and sent a letter of protest to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz. A few days later, the checkpoint was reopened for those heading to the military court. However, at the beginning of the week the order was imposed again.

In 2001 the Israeli army completely blocked the road that links Beitunia with Ramallah and the surrounding villages. When the military court was moved in 2004 from Ramallah to the Ofer facility, the checkpoint was opened so that lawyers and relatives of the accused could get to the court.

No Israeli officials took responsibility for the checkpoint restrictions.

The Israeli army spokesman's office told Haaretz to seek a response from the Israel Police. The Israel Police spokesman told Haaretz that the Jerusalem police and the Border Police are responsible for the passage of merchandise, not people, and that a response should be obtained from the Security Ministry.

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## Shades

* Palestinian Olive Grove Destroyed in Night*
Date : 15/1/2010   Time : 16:56

HEBRON, January 15, 2010 (WAFA)- Palestinians discovered Thursday afternoon that a family owned olive grove in Khoruba valley near the West Bank city of Hebron had been recently destroyed.

Christian Peacemaker Teams and Operation Dove said in a press release: Twenty mature olive trees were broken at their trunks.  The family believes that Jewish settlers from the Maon settlement and Havot Maon outpost are responsible for the vandalism.

A Palestinian farmer informed internationals who documented the destruction that this was the fifth time since 1997 that settlers have destroyed the olive trees in this grove.  He also stated that the trees would not be able to bear olives for at least three years.

This most recent attack on Palestinian agriculture follows a month of Israeli settler violence and harassment aimed at preventing Palestinian farmers from plowing their fields and thus earning their livelihoods.

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## Shades

*CPJ Calls for Release of U.S. Journalist Detained in Israe*l
Date : 15/1/2010   Time : 17:02

NEW YORK, January 15, 2010 (WAFA)- The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called for the immediate release in Israel of Jared Malsin, editor in chief of the English-language section of the independent Bethlehem-based Maan News Agency. A deportation hearing has been scheduled for Sunday.                                                                                               

Malsin, a U.S citizen, was returning to Bethlehem, where he lives, from a trip to Prague with his partner, Faith Rowold, when Israeli authorities stopped them at the Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on Tuesday afternoon, according to a statement issued by Maan.

George Hale, an editor at Maan, told CPJ that around 11 p.m. on Tuesday, the Israeli  authorities informed both Malsin and Rowold that they had been denied entry for security reasons. Their mobile phones were briefly returned to them, only to be confiscated again just after midnight when they were transferred to holding cells.

The Israeli Ministry of Interior issued a deportation order on Wednesday morning against Malsin for security reasons, according to his lawyer, Castro Daoud. Interrogation transcripts show that Malsin was deemed a security risk because of his political beliefs, Daoud told CPJ. Security at the airport gathered news stories written by him which they deemed critical of the State of Israel. He added that security officials also interrogated Malsin about a pro-Palestinian activist group called the International Solidarity Movement. My client has no affiliation with any activist group; the allegations that he represents a security risk are baseless, Daoud added.

We are alarmed by the Israeli government's efforts to deport Jared Malsin on vague security charges, said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Mohamed Abdel Dayem We call on the Israeli authorities to ensure that our colleague be allowed to carry out his work without further harassment.

Malsin was slated for expulsion back to Prague at 6:05 a.m. on January 14 but Daoud succeeded in obtaining an injunction against the order. We successfully appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court to overrule the Ministry of Interiors decision thanks to pressure from the U.S. Embassy, Daoud told CPJ

Israeli authorities do not recognize Maan as a news organization and as such Malsin has been entering Israel and the Occupied Territories on three-month visitors visas. Malsins colleagues say that he is known to the Israeli military and civilian authorities and had recently been invited to tour a military base on a settlement in the occupied West Bank. Malsin has been denied access to a shower, clean clothes, and reading and writing materials, according to Hale, who was able to briefly talk to Malsin on Thursday morning.

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## Shades

*OCHA: 21 Palestinians Injured by Israeli Forces*
Date : 15/1/2010   Time : 17:15

JERUSALEM, January 15, 2010 (WAFA)- This week, (January 6-12) Israeli forces injured 21 Palestinians throughout the West Bank. This figure is slightly above the weekly average of 17 Palestinian injuries during 2009, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs  (OCHA) reported .

Seven of this weeks injuries, including two boys, occurred during one incident in which, Israeli forces physically assaulted a group of Palestinians grazing their sheep in the vicinity of the Havot Maon settlement outpost near Twani village (Hebron); two of the seven suffered from inhalation of tear gas shot by the soldiers after other residents gathered at the scene. Another eleven injuries occurred as a result of clashes with Israeli forces during a peaceful protest against the expansion of Hallamish settlement in the Ramallah area (eight injuries) and in weekly anti?Barrier demonstrations in Bilin (two), Ramallah governorate, and Al Masara (one), Bethlehem governorate.

The remaining three injuries were sustained in three separate incidents at ?flying? (ad hoc) checkpoints in the southern West Bank, including a man and a 17 year?old boy who were shot with live ammunition; the former was shot after allegedly refusing to stop and the latter after allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at a checkpoint. ?Flying? checkpoints are usually more disruptive than permanent checkpoints, as they are unpredictable and checking procedures at them are sometimes more time?consuming. This week, 95 such checkpoints were deployed by Israeli forces throughout the West Bank, compared to a weekly average of 65 during 2009.

On four separate occasions during the week, Palestinians threw stones at Israeli forces at Qalandiya checkpoint, the main entrance through the Barrier into East Jerusalem from the north. While no injuries were reported, one of the incidents triggered the closure of the checkpoint for ten hours (from 8 pm until 6 am).

Israeli forces conducted 100 search operations inside Palestinian villages, the majority of which took place in the northern West Bank (69), the same as the weekly average during 2009. In one of the operations, the Israeli army raided Ramallah City center (in Area A, under Palestinian security responsibility) and searched an apartment inhabited by internationals, arresting a Czech national, allegedly after her visa had expired; the woman was later deported.

Significant decline in settler-related incidents This week, there was a significant decline in the number of settler?related incidents affecting Palestinians (six), compared to the previous week (11), resulting in one injury. A further ten incidents affecting settlers  were recorded during the week, leading to the injury of one settler.

On 6 January, a group of settlers from Gilad Farm outpost (Nablus) physically assaulted and injured a 70?year?old man while working on his farm in the proximity of the outpost. In another incident, settlers harassed a group of Palestinian farmers while they were working on their land in Abu Rish Valley (Hebron), causing the farmers to leave their land; this week, Israeli forces declared the valley a closed military zone.

Also this week, settlers from Hallamish settlement (Ramallah) uprooted approximately 200 olive trees, located near the settlement, belonging to farmers from An Nabi Saleh and Deir Nidham villages (Ramallah). This incident occurred in the wake of the aforementioned demonstration that took place earlier against the expansion of the settlement, during which settlers stoned Palestinian demonstrators, while Israeli troops present on the spot did nothing to protect the Palestinians from the settler stoning.

Lack of adequate law enforcement against violent Israeli settlers continues to be of concern. The Israeli media reported that the Israeli police decided to close the main investigation file on an attack  perpetrated by Israeli settlers in September 2008, due to the lack of evidence. In this incident, which followed the stabbing of an Israeli child in the settlement of Yitzhar by a Palestinian, dozens of settlers marched into the nearby village of Asira Al Qibliya (Nablus), setting fire to houses, breaking windows, cutting water pipes and vandalizing home gardens. The former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert referred to the attack as a pogrom.

Also this week, there were ten separate incidents involving Palestinians throwing stones towards Israeli vehicles driving on West Bank roads near Palestinian villages in the Ramallah, Nablus and Hebron areas, one of which led to the injury of an Israeli girl. Vehicles were damaged in six of the incidents.

On January 10, Israeli forces demolished the homes of 100 Palestinians, including 34 children, in the community of Khirbet Tana (Nablus) in the Jordan Valley. The demolitions included 16 residential structures, the village school, 12 animal pens, two kitchens and a restroom. In addition, the community itself was forced to self?demolish three residential tents. The affected population is currently staying in tents that they erected on the site. They have received emergency assistance, but will require further assistance to meet basic needs, including alternative schooling for the children.

Khirbet Tana is a community of herders and farmers living for several decades in the area, which since the late 1980s has been designated by the Israeli army as a closed military zone for military training (firing zone). Almost the entire community was previously displaced in July 2005 as a result of demolitions, however residents rebuilt their houses. The previous week, another community in the same area (Livjim, east of Tal Al Khashabeh) received eviction orders against three structures, placing 29 persons, including 23 children, at risk of displacement.

Over 80 percent of the Area C demolitions in 2009 occurred in areas declared ?firing zones?. Many of these areas, which amount to some 18 percent of the West Bank have been closed for a number of years, though numerous residents report that they have never seen the Israeli military training in their vicinity1. Many of the communities residing in these areas have been there before 1967 and the declaration of the areas as closed. They are some of the poorest communities in the West Bank, relying on small scale agriculture and herding for their livelihoods.

In Gaza Strip, This week was the deadliest one recorded in the Gaza Strip since the week following the January 18, 2009 ceasefire that ended Israels Cast Lead offensive. In a series of airstrikes carried out during the week, Israeli forces killed seven Palestinians, including three civilians. These attacks came in response to an increase in the number of mortar shells and rockets fired by Palestinian factions from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel; no injuries or property damage were reported. Since the ceasefire, a total of 84 Palestinians, including at least 27 civilians, and one Israeli (a soldier) have been killed and another 160 Palestinians and seven Israelis have been injured in the context of the Israeli? Palestinian conflict in Gaza and southern Israel.

On  January 8, Israeli air forces targeted and bombed tunnels under the Egypt?Gaza border, killing three Palestinians, including a 15 year?old boy, and wounding another two. Another Palestinian sustained injuries in a separate airstrike incident on tunnels. In two other incidents, on January 6 and 10, Israeli aircrafts targeted and killed four Palestinian militants, three of whom were killed in one airstrike. Five additional airstrikes, resulting in no casualties, were carried during the week. Also this week, on four separate occasions, Israeli forces penetrated a few hundred meters into Gaza and conducted land?leveling operations.

On  January 7, the Israeli airforce dropped leaflets into areas next to the border fence, warning residents to keep a distance of at least 300 metres from the border with Israel and avoid cooperating with smugglers in the tunnels under the Gaza?Egypt border. The access ban to the buffer zone was extended to 300 meters, up from 150 metres previously, in May 2009; in practice, Israeli forces have occasionally opened warning fire at people as far as 1,000 meters from the border. A parallel ban is applied to sea areas beyond three nautical miles from the coast, though often this distance is less in practice. This week, in nine separate incidents, Israeli naval forces opened warning fire at Palestinian fishing boats along Gazas coast, forcing them to return to shore.

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## Shades

*Eight Injured in Bilin including Photographer in Palestine TV*
Date : 15/1/2010   Time : 18:54

RAMALLAH, January 15, 2010 (WAFA)- Seven citizens and an Israeli peace activist were injured today in the West Bank village of Bilin west of Ramallah along with dozens who suffered gas inhalation in the weekly protest against the Apartheid Wall and settlement building.

The demonstration was called by the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Bilin and FATEH movement in Bil,in, celebrating the 45th anniversary  of the movement . member of its central committee DR Nabil Shaath, joined by residents of Bilin, and international and Israeli activists.

The protest marched toward the Wall, where an Israeli military unit was located behind blocks of cement. The army had earlier closed the gate in the Wall with razor wire. When the protesters attempted to reach the land seized behind the Wall, the army fired tear gas and rubber bullets.

Palestine TV Photographer Haron Amayrehm Al-Hayat daily photographer Mohib Barghothy and Israeli activist David and four other Bilin citizens: Ibrahim Burnat, Mohmmad Hamad, Nayef Ghazi and Farhan Burnat, were injured while dozens suffered tear gas annihilation ,as Israeli soldiers fired rubber bullets and tear gas against protesters.

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## Shades

*Architect Withdraws from Building Project on Muslim Cemetery*
Date : 16/1/2010   Time : 12:43

WASHINGTON, January 16, 2010 (WAFA)- Famed architect Frank Gehry pulled out of a plan to build a 'Museum of Tolerance' on top of an ancient Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem, Americans for Peace Now (APN) said, today.

APN repeatedly called on the Simon Wiesenthal Center to move the planned museum to another site. Now that Gehry has backed out we have a new opportunity to get the Wiesenthal Center to do the right thing.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center's insistence, thus far, on building this museum on top of graves is appalling, APN said, this is the same organization that draws its moral authority from the Holocaust, and does its work in the name of a man who worked tirelessly to bring the guilty to justice.

Construction on this site is also dangerous; the opening of a tunnel in Jerusalem's Old City a decade ago inflamed passions that led to unrest in which nearly 100 people died, including 16 Israeli soldiers. This planned museum has already sparked riots.

Frank Gehry's exit from the project provides the Wiesenthal Center a face-saving way to reconsider its plans, APN concluded

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## Shades

*US army to double weapons stockpiled in Israel*
Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:48:58 GMT

The US military plans to double the amount of military equipment it has stockpiled in Israel under a recent agreement with Tel Aviv.

"The deal will double the value of military equipment kept on Israeli soil from 400 million to 800 million dollars," a Pentagon spokesman, Major Shawn Turner told AFP.

He ruled out the notion that Iran's nuclear issue was a major factor for the agreement and said that the US Congress initially authorized the expansion in 2007.

"This is not in any way related to Iran or the current situation as the authorization was from 2007," he stated.

Washington's staunch ally Israel could have access to the weaponry in a military emergency.

US missiles, armored vehicles, aerial ammunition and artillery ordnance are already stockpiled in Israel. The United States began by stockpiling $100 million worth of military equipment in Israel in 1990.

In December, US President Barack Obama granted $2.775 billion in security aid to Israel. The aid is accompanied by special additions to the Israeli military industries for the development of technologies, particularly in the missile field.

MP/ SAR/RE

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## Shades

* Gaza: 55 European Legislators Arrive Via Rafah Crossing*
Date : 16/1/2010   Time : 13:36

GAZA, January 16 (WAFA)-  A delegation of 55 European Parliamentarians from 12 European Countries and the Euopean Union arrived, Friday, in the Gaza Strip to convey a message of solidarity with Gazans under the siege.

The delegation entered the Strip via Rafah Border Crossing with Egypt in coordination with the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

In a press conference held at Rafah Crossing, British Member of Parliament Sir Gerald Kauffman said that their visit is a message of solidarity with Gaza to end the Israeli siege.'

'Our suffering to arrive here is nothing compared with the longsuffering of Gaza Strip population due to the suffocating unfair Israeli siege imposed on them,' Kauffman added, insisting that 'anyone uses the white phosphoric against civilians must be taken to court for war crimes.'

Meanwhile, Arafat Madi, chief of the European Campaign to challenge the Israeli blockade said that the delegation 'has a common goal, which is expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people.'

The delegation trip to Gaza is part of a series of actions carried out by the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza (ECESG) and the Palestinian Return Center in the UK and Europe. For an entire week, actions and events for Palestinian victims will be carried in remembrance of the victims killed in the past 60 years especially Gaza.

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## Shades

*Filmmaker Loach urges cultural boycott of Israel*
Fri, 15 Jan 2010 10:35:05 GMT

The acclaimed British director and winner of Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Ken Loach, has called for the boycott of Israeli movies at the international film festivals and cultural events.

The massacres and state terrorism in Gaza make the showcasing of Israeli films in various sections of international film festivals unacceptable, Loach was quoted as saying at a ceremony commemorating Israeli offensive on the besieged Gaza Strip by IRNA.

Tel Aviv sponsors various international film festivals with the intention to open the way for Israeli films.

He added the call for a boycott of Israeli cultural products comes from many writers, artists, journalists, lawyers, academics, trades unionists and teachers. They see it as a contribution to the struggle to end Israel's occupation, colonization and system of apartheid.

Last July, Loach withdrew his film ''Looking for Eric'' from the Melbourne International Film Festival in protest against the Israel's sponsorship of another filmmaker. Tel Aviv provided airfare for Tatia Rosenthal, whose film ''9.99'' is an Israeli-Australian co-production.

In May 2009, Loach as director of the Edinburgh International film festival returned a £300 gift from the Israeli embassy as a sign of his cultural boycott of Israel and in protest at Tel Aviv's policies towards the Palestinian people.

The Toronto international film festival (TIFF) came under fire in September for selecting Tel Aviv as the subject of its inaugural City-to-City Spotlight strand. Renowned movie makers including Loach, Jane Fonda and David Byrne were among those who signed a statement supporting Canadian film-maker John Greyson, who withdrew his short film Covered from TIFF after learning of the program.

In a letter to the festival, Greyson cited Israeli action in Gaza and the expansion of illegal settlements as reasons for his withdrawal.

A United Nations inquiry led by former South African Judge Richard Goldstone details what investigators call Israeli actions "amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity" during Israel's offensive against Gaza.

Tel Aviv is worried that charges could be lodged against politicians and army officers for war crimes committed during Israel's 22-day offensive against blockaded Gaza Strip. Top officials who would be in the judicial cross-hairs could include former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni as well as current Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during three weeks of Israel's land, sea and air assault in the impoverished coastal sliver. The offensive also inflicted $ 1.6 billion damage to Gaza economy.

MP/MTM/DT

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## Shades

*A U.S. charade in peace effort  	* 
16.01.10 - 20:39
This article was originally published by The San Diego Union-Tribune 

*The Palestinian national struggle continues to be largely ignored by the Obama administration.* Our new president has failed to bring a new approach. As has been the case for the last 40 years, *Palestinian attempts to settle the conflict through diplomacy are ignored or downplayed. When violence erupts, Palestinians are blamed and labeled terrorists.* The United States maintains the charade that peace in Israel/Palestine is a priority and *every new administration promises to bring the much-promised peace to the region only to fall into the same pattern of inaction and excuse-making. Israel and the U.S. are pursuing a course seemingly calculated to reduce Palestinians to a state of hopelessness.*

*Gaza remains under siege even though it has no army, no air force, and no navy. It has no tanks, planes, or helicopters. Gaza has no anti-aircraft or anti-tank missiles, no warning systems, and no refuge in which its 1.5 million civilians (including 800,000 children) can hide when the attacks by Israel commence.*

Recently, more than 1,000 activists from more than 40 countries converged in Cairo to commemorate the anniversary of Israel's December 2008 assault on Gaza. Our intention was to travel through Sinai, enter Gaza through Rafah and participate in a solidarity march with the people of Gaza. But the Egyptian authorities would not allow it, and the majority of the delegates had to remain in Cairo. *The Egyptians are adamant in keeping almost all out of Gaza.*

This resulted in *sit-ins, hunger strikes and civil disobedience of a sort Egypt is not accustomed to and to which it normally would respond with unrestrained violence*. The *Egyptian authorities refrained from shooting at international participants (though not Palestinians on the border), presumably because there would be repercussions if Americans, Europeans or South Africans were shot. But Egyptian forces did engage in beating and harassing marchers. In the realm of absolute dictatorships, even those receiving $2 billion per year in American aid, this is hardly surprising.*

The willingness to confront the Egyptian authorities is noteworthy. Israeli culpability will, however, probably be front and center again in the near future. Israel, based on its track record, can be expected to treat international protesters as harshly as the Egyptians - and perhaps worse. *Two young Americans who confronted the Israeli military during nonviolent protests have already paid dearly: in 2003, Rachel Corrie was run over and killed by an Israeli army bulldozer and, in March, Tristan Anderson was shot in the face with a tear-gas canister by an Israeli soldier. His fate, following a massive head injury, is unclear.*

*Following Egypt's brutal suppression of peace activists and humanitarian workers during the last days of 2009 and first days of 2010, many people are now wondering why the Egyptians, fellow Arabs to the Palestinians, are acting as willing enforcers of a siege that was put in place by Israel and the United States.*

Egypt is soon to face a major regime change. President Hosni Mubarak is almost 82 years old and has no agreed successor. He has, however, been grooming his son Gamal for the position. Egyptians do not wish to see a dynasty established in their country. Consequently, Mubarak needs support from the U.S. and from Israel to make this work. Keeping Gaza under lock and key is a small price to pay to ensure the safe passage of power from father to son.

*Ever since President Jimmy Carter brokered the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, Israel has had no military rival in the region. Its military advantage has allowed it to act with impunity and is the main reason that no significant political progress has been made with the Palestinians or Syrians. For a peace agreement with either one, Israel would have to return to the pre-1967 borders. It is increasingly evident Israel has no interest in reverting to these lines because it believes it has the military might to dominate and not abide by international law.*

Unless the U.S. and Israel begin to move in the direction of Palestinian independence, freedom and equal rights, one may expect more popular resistance. Since Egypt is only a servant in this issue, the protests are sure to engulf Israel, and soon. Meanwhile, popular sentiment for the Palestinians and for Gaza is growing. *The emerging question is whether the U.S. will lead or be led.
*
Peled is a writer and Israeli peace activist living in Coronado. His father was the late Israeli Gen. Matti Peled. His grandfather, Avraham Katsnelson, signed the Israeli declaration of independence and his niece Smadar was killed in a suicide attack in Jerusalem. He is a co-founder of the Elbanna-Peled Foundation. He can be reached through mikopeled.wordpress.com.

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## Shades

*I Am Yusuf and This Is My Brother:  	*
15.01.10 - 00:33

Palestinian story about Palestinians.

In the war of 1948, thousands of Palestinians were uprooted from their homes never to return, and playwright Amir Nizar Zuabi is determined to tell their stories.

It was six decades ago, but the fallout from the war continues. A few months ago, one fast-rising, rightwing Israeli party tried to introduce a bill that would ban Palestinians from commemorating the Nakba of 1948, their catastrophe (but which Israelis hail as the creation of their state, the apogee of their independence struggle). In the end, the law will probably be watered down, but the principle seems to have wide support. As far as most Israelis are concerned, they won in 1948, the Palestinians lost, and history has moved on. Except, of course, it hasn't.



Next week, a compelling new play opens at London's Young Vic, promising to thrust the discomforting story of that war back into public scrutiny. At the age of 33, Amir Nizar Zuabi, the play's writer and director, is from a generation of Palestinians raised on stories of the Nakba, haunted by tales of how hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were uprooted from their homes, never to return. "We have it as a covert partner in everything," says Zuabi. "Two of us can sit having coffee and the third person will be Mr Nakba."

Zuabi was brought up in Nazareth, in the Galilee, where there is a large population of Palestinians living within Israel, and where all around there is evidence of the 1948 war, including ruined villages. One of the razed villages was Baissamoon, a tiny Palestinian community. It is here that Zuabi set his play, I Am Yusuf and This Is My Brother, which tells of two brothers, an ill-fated love, and the dislocation and tragedy brought about by the war.

The play, says Zuabi, began as a personal investigation to scrape away layers of myth. "Why did people make the decision to leave? Or did they make the decision to leave? What would you have done?" Zuabi, living in Israel, found the story had been "hushed up": "It's the big taboo, because it's the primal sin. It is the mother of all problems here. They don't like talking about it."

Zuabi's writing is, however, far from polemical. The Jews who fought to create their state are almost absent; never named, they appear only in the background. "We saw them first in January, then all the time," says one brother. "They invaded our dreams, our conversation." Zuabi simply wanted to tell a Palestinian story about Palestinians. "Our narrative is the less known one  history is written by the victors," he says, but adds: "There is no spite. I find the blame game futile. It's not like I do theatre to crush Israeli propaganda. I don't hear Israeli propaganda. I don't care about it."

The villagers are divided: should they run or fight? Some see the battle in stark terms. "The war was over before it began," says one character. "We lost. They won. It was that simple." But with Britain's Mandate ending, the same character tells a British officer: "We are not a rubbish heap for your guilt, my friend. We're in your Middle East and what you sow here you'll reap in 50 years or 100 years in your lovely London."

Dropped into the middle of this is the original, sombre recording of the results of the UN vote on the 1947 Partition Plan. Rejected by Palestinians, it was passed by the UN and, but for the war, would have carved Palestine into two states around an internationally protected Jerusalem. "Soviet Union: Yes. United Kingdom: Abstained. United States: Yes . . ."

The play explores the what ifs, says Zuabi. "My grandmother, this Palestinian matriarch, used to say, 'If you plant what ifs, you'll sow I wish.' When I walk around Haifa, in some of the neighbourhoods that are empty, I really have to ask myself, 'What if that hadn't happened? What are they doing, these people that once lived here?'"

Zuabi studied acting in Jerusalem, then worked with the al-Kasaba theatre in Ramallah as the second intifada, the Palestinian uprising, took hold. He and his actors produced short sketches that drew unexpectedly large audiences, hungry for relief. The sketches turned into Alive from Palestine, which toured abroad, with runs at the Royal Court and the Young Vic. Zuabi then spent a year working at the Young Vic, studied in Moscow, and returned home to work with the Palestinian National theatre.

I Am Yusuf is the first play from ShiberHur, a new touring theatre company based in Haifa, whose name means Within a Few Inches of Freedom. It has already toured Palestinian villages and refugee camps  communities with little access to the theatre. "We have everything going against us as a theatre movement," says Zuabi. "Lack of funds, infrastructure, the fact that theatre is not really part of our cultural tradition  we come from a poetic tradition."

When Zuabi was at drama school, he was the sole Palestinian among Israeli students (one of whom, now a successful actor, later became his wife). Only recently has a drama school opened in Ramallah. Until then, Palestinians went to Israel, if they could obtain the permit, or abroad, if they could afford it. "It's a new art form for us. We have an audience that's completely uncatered for and is very thirsty. Once they know theatre exists, they keep coming back."

He has been surprised by the reaction to the play across the generations. In Jerusalem, an elderly man came up to him after one performance and said: "Thank you very much for telling my story." In Haifa, a woman in her 20s told him: "I understand my parents better now." Still, he doubts how much difference one play can make towards unravelling this bitter conflict. "I have to believe it does affect people," he says. "On the other level, I'm not daft. I know I can't change the reality. I can't make a show and tomorrow everyone will walk hand-in-hand."

I am Yusuf and This Is My Brother

Young Vic,London

SE1

Starts 19 Jan

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## Shades

*Israel threatens to expel Turkish ambassador*
Sun, 17 Jan 2010 01:24:07 GMT

Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon
Tel Aviv, which is at odds with Ankara, has threatened to expel the Turkish ambassador, should Turkish dramas depicting Israeli brutality continue.

In a series of confrontations between the once-close allies, Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said that if a Turkish drama  the second of its kind  continues to depict Israeli security forces as brutal, the country's ambassador could be expelled.

This is while, Turkey is set to make a feature length movie depicting the "Israeli crimes against humanity."

The movie would "depict Israel as it is  with bloody hands, merciless... flouting all human values," against a backdrop of the Palestinian suffering in the blockaded Gaza Strip, Turkish scriptwriter Bahadir Ozdener said, AFP reported.

Ayalon made the threat during an interview with Channel 2 on Saturday, a day before Defense Minister Ehud Barak was due to fly to Turkey for a first visit by an Israeli official since the feud erupted.

Ayalon had called in Turkish Ambassador Ahmet Oguz Celikkol to reprimand him over a TV program that showed Israeli agents kidnapping children and shooting old men. He was forced to apologize after Turkey threatened to recall its ambassador.

He also said that the incident, in which he reportedly 'humiliated' Ambassador Celikkol by making him sit in a lower chair, was intended to send the Turks a threatening message, not to humiliate the ambassador.

On his one-day visit, Barak is scheduled to meet with his Turkish counterpart, Vecdi Gonul, and with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Both visits will take place in Ankara.

FTP/MMN

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## Shades

*Israel bullied Abbas into deferring UN vote*
Sun, 17 Jan 2010 07:21:52 GMT

*Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas was bullied by Israel to postpone a UN vote on the Goldstone report last year, an Israeli newspaper says.*

Abbas' decision to request the UN Human Rights Council to postpone a vote on the Goldstone report about the Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip followed a particularly tense meeting with the head of Israel's Shin Bet security service.

Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin told Abbas that *if he did not ask for a deferral of the vote on the critical report on last year's military operation, Israel would turn the West Bank into a "second Gaza," Haaretz reported.*

*Diskin also threatened to revoke the easing of restrictions on movement within the West Bank that had been implemented earlier last year*.

*The Shin Bet chief, during the meeting, warned that Israel would withdraw permission for the mobile phone company Wataniya to operate in the Palestinian Authority. That would have cost the Palestinian Authority tens of millions of dollars in compensation payments to the company*.

The Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip last year killed over 1,400 Palestinians, including many women and children.

MH/JG/DT

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## Shades

*Israeli navy abducts 9 Palestinian fishermen*
Sun, 17 Jan 2010 19:01:31 GMT

Israeli warships intercepted three fishing boats off the coast of the Gaza Strip and abducted nine Palestinian fishermen on Saturday, Hamas sources say.

The Israeli military confirmed it had stopped three fishing boats and arrested those on board but did not specify how many people were detained, according to the AFP.

"Last night an IDF (Israeli military) naval force arrested three fishing boats that had illegally crossed from the permitted Gaza fishing zone towards Egyptian waters," said a military spokesman.

The Israeli Navy maintains a close surveillance on the Gaza strip as part of a general blockade imposed on the territory since Hamas took control of the region in June 2007.

Under the blockade, Israel prevents fishermen from venturing more than five kilometers (three miles) offshore, even though a 2002 agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority set the boundary at 22 kilometers (13.5 miles).

SB/MB

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## Shades

*AI lashes out at Israel, Egypt over Gaza siege*
Mon, 18 Jan 2010 05:06:39 GMT

Amnesty International (AI) says both Israel and Egypt are to blame for "collectively punishing" the population of the Gaza Strip with the long-imposed siege of the coastal sliver.

"The blockade constitutes collective punishment under international law and must be lifted immediately," said Malcolm Smart, the group's Middle East and North Africa director, in a statement on Monday.

The British-based rights group said that the firing of rockets by Palestinian groups did not justify such sanctions.

"The blockade does not target armed groups but rather punishes Gaza's entire population by restricting the entry of food, medical supplies, educational equipment and building materials," AFP quoted Smart as saying.

AI stressed that Egypt is partly to blame because it has closed its Rafah crossing with Gaza.

It also criticized Cairo for starting work on an underground steel wall on its border with the Gaza Strip, which is aimed to prevent the beleaguered Gazans from delivering their basic necessities, including food and medicine, through what are described as survival tunnels.

"However, as the occupying power, it is Israel that bears the foremost responsibility for ensuring the welfare of the inhabitants of Gaza," the Amnesty said.

Israel tightened the Gaza blockade after Hamas won parliamentary elections in June 2007.

MGH/JG/DT

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## Shades

*Israel to station German nuclear submarine in PG*
Mon, 18 Jan 2010 10:37:43 GMT

German arms exports to Israel reached some 900 million dollars between 1998 and 2001. Three 'Dolphin' submarines were also donated to Israel in 1999.
Ahead of a Israeli-German cabinet meeting in Berlin, media reports indicate that Israel intends to station one of its German-made Dolphin submarines in the waters of the Persian Gulf.

The meeting, delayed in November due to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's illness, is expected to focus on Israel's push to buy a sixth Dolphin-class nuclear submarine from the Germans.

During the day-long trip by the centre-right government, Netanyahu seeks to expand Tel Aviv's submarine fleet.

Israel has previously received three submarines as a donation form the government of the then German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

The German newspaper Berliner Zeitung in 2003 revealed that Germany's leading shipyard company Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) was involved in negotiations with Israel to construct two additional Dolphin submarines.

The company confirmed the reports adding the German government had approved them. Days later the German Focus magazine reported that Tel Aviv will not be receiving the submarines as the German government had decided to halt the delivery of the two submarines to Israel.

The Dolphin submarines are among the most sophisticated and capable submarines in the world, that could be equipped with nuclear missiles. Built in German shipyards for the Israel Navy, the submarine is capable of carrying American-supplied Harpoon cruise missiles equipped with nuclear warheads.

MT/DT

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## Shades

*Turkey slams Arab response to Gaza plight*
Sun, 17 Jan 2010 19:26:56 GMT

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the leaders of the Arab states for their inadequate response to the Palestinian's plight under the three-year Israeli blockade on Gaza.

Shortly before flying to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, Erdogan denounced Arab leaders' inadequate response to Palestinian suffering as "pitiful."

"The governments have failed to display the reactions that the world's Muslims expected from them. And this has been a pitiful aspect of the matter," Erdogan said.

An outspoken critic of Israeli policies, Erdogan, left the country as Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak made a one-day visit to Ankara in an attempt to mend relations with Turkey, strained after a diplomatic row.

In a memorable outburst last year, Erdogan stormed out of a debate at the World Economic Forum, accusing Israel of "barbarian" acts and telling its President Shimon Peres, sitting next to him, that "you know well how to kill people."

Barak's trip was the highest-level bilateral visit since Israel's December 2008-January 2009 war on the Gaza Strip prompted the criticism from Ankara.

Ankara, however, said relations with Tel Aviv will continue to suffer unless Israel ends "the humanitarian tragedy" in Gaza.

Tension between the two sides further escalated when Tel Aviv summoned Turkish Ambassador Ahmet Oguz Celikkol to reprimand him over a TV program that showed Israeli agents kidnapping children and shooting old men.

Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon reportedly 'humiliated' Ambassador Celikkol during the meeting prompting Ankara to call for an official apology from the Israeli side.

"Barak is an important figure in Israeli politics and both [Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet] Davutoglu and [Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi] Gonul will give the same message, 'such kind of events should not happen again,'" a senior Turkish diplomat told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

He said Ankara will continue to press for an end to Tel Aviv's blockade of the Gaza Strip and resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians during Barak's visit.

SB/MMN

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## Shades

* Refugee Stories: Damascus Circus School Kicks off*
Date : 17/1/2010   Time : 19:02

DAMASCUS, January 17, 2010 (WAFA)- 'Juggling is my favorite. I also love acrobatics!' exclaims Ward Saloom. Ward is one of the approximately 20 Palestinian and Iraqi refugee children who have been selected to take part in the first Damascene Circus School. The children will undergo demanding training over the next few months in preparation for a spring show, wrote Karoliina Romanoff in Refugees Stories published by UNRWA. She continued:

The students reported that they are eager to take on any challenges that may come their way during their preparation for the performance. 'I attended a workshop a few weeks ago. I learned a lot of exciting things. We are now working on perfecting old tricks and learning lots of new tricks too,' Ward explains. 'I like sports and I want to learn new circus tricks too. My goal is to perform acrobatics in the final show,' says Bailasan Al-Assi.

UNRWA organises the circus training for the refugee children in coordination with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, the Danish Centre for Culture and Development, and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Local teachers have been trained by Danish circus professionals in order to effectively prepare the students for the performance.

The instructors promise that the show will not be just another traditional circus performance. Dance teacher Sara Papendick reports that the teachers have been drawing their influences from a diverse array of movement techniques of varying cultural origin. She says: 'I'm teaching hip hop and break dance. We have two colleagues who are teachers of acrobatics and juggling. We are combining modern dance styles and circus techniques in order to make new circus.

'It is going to be a huge show. We want to mix new circus styles with live music. One of our ideas is to blend our use of Danish music with Arabic music to create an alternative effect for the audience,' Sara continues.

Sara is upbeat in her report of the children's current progress. She claims that the students are motivated to learn and are quick to absorb the new information. 'The children are very open to what we are teaching. They haven't seen anything like this before they are really enjoying it,' she reports. The enthusiasm of the students combined with the dedication and creativity on the part of the teachers, is bound to make for a great performance this coming spring.

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## Shades

*Israel Refuses to Take Responsibility for Rehabilitation of Gazas Amputees*
Date : 17/1/2010   Time : 19:16

TEL AVIV, January 17, 2010 (WAFA)- Shortly after the Israeli assault on Gaza ended last January, Physicians for Human Rights  Israel (PHR-IL) embarked on a campaign to obtain responsibility from the Israeli Ministry of Security for the treatment of Gaza civilians seriously injured during the assault.

According to estimates provided by health organizations such as the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) and the Artificial Limb and Polio Center in Gaza, over 100 civilians lost limbs during or in the aftermath of the 23-day offensive which took place between December 2008 and January 2009.

PHR-Israel demanded that Israel cover the costs of rehabilitation and prosthetic limbs for three individuals specifically who had been injured during the offensive. In addition, PHR-IL continued demanding that Israel cover the treatment costs of an amputee from Gaza who had been injured in 2008, months prior to the offensive.

Amputees in Gaza are currently able to take advantage of only limited treatments, most of which are not suited to deal with cases requiring advanced technical expertise or technology. For this reason, and based on our belief that the State of Israel is morally responsible for harm inflicted on innocent civilians in Gaza, PHR-IL corresponded extensively with Israeli Security  officials, demanding they take practical and financial responsibility for medical care and rehabilitation of the four injured individuals mentioned above.

In our note to officials, PHR-Israel also brought examples from 2005 - 2007, in which the security establishment agreed to shoulder the costs of medical care and rehabilitation for innocent victims of military operations. Local and international media coverage of the issue at the time played a significant role in persuading the Israeli authorities to take the appropriate steps toward accountability.

This time, in the absence of media coverage from a single Israeli source, the Ministry of Security refused to take any form of responsibility for the four victims' injuries. In its response to PHR-IL on October 12, 2009, the Ministry of Security wrote that 'the fact that the [Ministry's  added by PHR-IL] committee has recognized other cases in the past (even if similar in nature) is irrelevant and cannot bind its judgment and force it to recognize additional cases.'

Based on this response and its ongoing contact with the victims, PHR-IL utilized emergency funds to cover the cost of treatment and rehabilitation for two of the four injured individuals featured in the letter.

The first, S. Z., is a 47-year-old woman who lives in the southern Al Ramal region of Gaza City. On January 15, 2009 at 8 a.m. a rocket was fired on to the roof of her apartment while she was upstairs in her children's room. A portion of the ceiling and wall caved in, trapping S.Z. underneath heavy rubble for several minutes until she was found by her husband. S.Z.'s leg was amputated on the spot, while her left leg remained seriously injured. S.Z. was transferred to Shifa' hospital, were she stayed for about a month, during which time her left leg was also amputated. S.Z. requires complex rehabilitation for both legs, including fittings for prosthetic limbs. Ms. S.Z visited the Reut Hospital for rehabilitation on September 6, 2009 where she underwent tests and was deemed a good candidate for prosthetic limbs.

The second injured individual, G.A.E, a young man of 17, is a resident of the A- tufah neighborhood in Shujaiah in the eastern Gaza Strip. Close to 3 p.m. on March 1, 2008, G.A.E's house was hit by mortar fire from a nearby Israeli brigade stationed close to his home. He was critically wounded and lost a large amount of blood. Immediately following the incident, G.A.E was rushed to Shifa' Hospital where his two legs were amputated, both above the knee. G.A.E was transferred for care in Egypt and then to Turkey, where he later learned he would require extensive rehabilitation. PHR-IL assisted in obtaining an exit permit from Gaza for the patient and on November 3, 2009, G.A.E's visited the Reut Hospital for Rehabilitation in Israel where he underwent extensive examination and was found fit to undergo continued rehabilitation at the hospital, including fittings for prosthetic limbs.

Both patients are currently at Reut Hospital in Israel after arriving there on December 6, 2009. S.Z. is scheduled to be released and go back to Gaza on Thursday, December 31, 2009, while G.A.E. will be released next Monday, January 4, 2010.

Despite negative responses from Israeli officials, we intend to continue pursuing our campaign demanding moral and financial liability from the Ministry of Security. Your engagement matters too.

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## Shades

* Jordan Reiterates: East Jerusalem Part of OPT*
Date : 17/1/2010   Time : 19:21

AMMAN, January 17, 2010 (WAFA)- Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Judeh reiterated that East Jerusalem remains part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Jordan Time reported on Sunday.

He also renewed Jordans rejection of Israeli practices that threaten the Arab Islamic identity of the Holy City and holy places there.

We reject all unilateral Israeli actions in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, such as the demolition of homes, the expulsion of Palestinian citizens and the continued settlement activity, which must stop immediately as it threatens the peace efforts, Judeh said at a joint press conference Saturday with Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, who arrived in the Kingdom yesterday on a one-day visit.

Judeh said what is needed is to establish a viable Palestinian state on the basis of the 1967 borders, within the framework of a comprehensive regional solution in accordance with international resolutions.

He said his talks with his Norwegian counterpart focused on bilateral relations and the peace process, adding that the government appreciates the support and efforts of Norway in making peace in the Middle East.

In Jordan, we appreciate the involvement and support of Norway in making peace in the region, which extends back many years. Norway has a long history of supporting the peace process in the region, the Palestinian people and UNRWA, the minister added.

Judeh said he discussed with the Norwegian top diplomat the efforts being exerted to launch serious negotiations on the basis of a two-state solution, international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, to ensure the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Støre said that his visit to Jordan comes as part of a regional tour that includes Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian territories, where he will discuss with officials efforts to resume negotiations, adding that he briefed Judeh on the results of his recent talks with US Special Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell in Brussels.

The coming few months will be crucial and important for the resumption of negotiations with regard to a peaceful path. Norway hopes to see an end to the Israeli occupation this year and the establishment of a Palestinian state on Palestinian national soil, the official said.

----------


## Shades

*New landslide in Wadi Helwe of Selwan threatens Aqsa foundations*

2010-01-18 13:07:57

Occupied Jerusalem-PalPress- A new landslide occurred today in Wadi Helwe Valley in Selwan town southern Al Aqsa Mosque due to heavy rain fall yesterday  and as a direct result of the ongoing excavations by the Israeli authorities aimed at  digging a network of tunnels underneath the area.

Our correspondent in the town said that large numbesr of Israeli troops arrived the area and surrounded the place of the landslide with barriers and  banned citizens from approaching.

For its part, the committee for protecting lands in Selwan held the Israeli authorities completely accountable about the repeated incidents of landslides in the area.

The Committee warned of more landslides in the fractured  buildings and lands due to the ongoing excavations in the area.

The last landslide in the town took place near Ein Mosque" in the same area less than one month ago .

The occupation Municipality immediately filled the crater with reinforced concrete.

----------


## Shades

*Pal'n family survives real death as homemade rocket explodes near their house in Qarara*

2010-01-18 12:19:13

Khan Yunis-PalPress-Family of a Palestinian citizen (Ibrahim Naji Al Smeiri) residing eastern Al Qarara town southern Gaza Strip,  survived  real death when a homemade rocket landed near their house last night.

Eye witnesses in the area said that the shrapnels of the rocket caused external damages to the house.

----------


## Shades

*Israel's treatment of Ethiopians 'racist'  	 
18.01.10 - 20:08*
Health officials in Israel are subjecting many female Ethiopian immigrants to a controversial long-term birth control drug in what Israeli womens groups allege is a racist policy to reduce the number of black babies.
ImageThe contraceptive, known as Depo Provera, which is given by injection every three months, is considered by many doctors as a birth control method of last resort because of problems treating its side effects.

However, according to a report published last week, use of the contraceptive by Israeli doctors has risen threefold over the past few years. Figures show that 57 per cent of Depo Provera users in Israel are Ethiopian, even though the community accounts for less than two per cent of the total population.

About 90,000 Ethiopians have been brought to Israel under the Law of Return since the 1980s, but their Jewishness has subsequently been questioned by some rabbis and is doubted by many ordinary Israelis.

Ethiopians are reported to face widespread discrimination in jobs, housing and education and it recently emerged that their blood donations were routinely discarded.

This is about reducing the number of births in a community that is black and mostly poor, said Hedva Eyal, the author of the report by Woman to Woman, a feminist organisation based in Haifa, in northern Israel. The unspoken policy is that only children who are white and Ashkenazi are wanted in Israel, she said, referring to the term for European Jews who founded Israel and continue to dominate its institutions.

Womens groups were alerted to the widespread use of Depo Provera in the Ethiopian community in 2008 when Rachel Mangoli, who runs a day care centre for 120 Ethiopian children in Bnei Braq, a suburb of Tel Aviv, observed that she had received only one new child in the previous three years.

I started to think about how strange the situation was after I had to send back donated baby clothes because there was no one in the community to give them to, she said.

She approached a local health clinic serving the 55 Ethiopian families in Bnei Braq and was told by the clinic manager that they had been instructed to administer Depo Provera injections to the women of child-bearing age, though he refused to say who had issued the order.

Ms Mangoli, who interviewed the women, said: They had not been told about alternative forms of contraception or about the side effects or given medical follow-ups. The women complained of a wide range of side effects associated with the drug, including headaches, abdominal pain, fatigue, nausea, loss of libido and general burning sensations.

Depo Provera is also known to decrease bone density, especially among dark-skinned women, which can lead to osteoporosis in later life. Doctors are concerned that it is difficult or impossible to help women who experience severe side effects because the drug is in their system for months after it is injected.

The contraceptives reputation has also been tarnished by its association with South Africa, where the apartheid government had used it, often coercively, to limit the fertility of black women.

Traditionally, its main uses have been for women who are regarded as incapable of controlling their own reproduction or monitor other forms of birth control, and for women who suffer severe problems during menstruation.

Ms Eyal said she had been denied co-operation from government ministries, doctors and most of the health insurance companies while conducting her research.

Clalit, the largest health company, however, did provide figures showing that 57 per cent of its Depo Provera users were Ethiopian compared with a handful of women in other ethnic groups.

The health ministry was unavailable for comment.

When first questioned about Depo Provera in June 2008, the health minister of the time, Yaacov Ben Yezri, said the high number of Ethiopians in Israel using the drug reflected a cultural preference for injections among Ethiopians. In fact, according to figures of the World Health Organisation, three-quarters of women in Ethiopia using birth control take the oral pill.

The answers we received from officials demonstrated overt racism, Ms Eyal said. They suggested that Ethiopian women should be treated not as individuals but as a collective group whose reproduction needs controlling.

When Woman to Woman conducted an experiment by sending five non-Ethiopian women to doctors to ask for Depo Provera, all were told that it was prescribed only in highly unusual cases.

Ms Mangoli said it was extremely difficult to get immigrant Ethiopian families to speak out because they were afraid that their Jewishness was under suspicion and that they might be deported if they caused trouble.

However, women interviewed anonymously for the report stated that officials at absorption centres in Ethiopia advised them to take Depo Provera because there would be no funds to support their children if they got pregnant in Israel.

This policy appears to conflict with the stated goals of the countrys Demography Council, a group of experts charged with devising ways to persuade Jewish women to have more babies.

The council was established in response to what is widely seen in Israel as a demographic war with Palestinians, or the need to maintain a Jewish majority in the region despite high Palestinian birth rates. In a speech marking the councils reconvening in 2002, the then social welfare minister, Shlomo Benizri, referred to the beauty of the Jewish family that is blessed with many children.

Yali Hashash, a researcher at Haifa University, said attempts to restrict Ethiopian womens fertility echoed practices used against Jewish women who immigrated to Israel from such Arab countries as Iraq, Yemen and Morocco in the states early years, in the 1950s and 1960s.

Many, she said, had been encouraged to fit IUDs when the device was still experimental because Israels leading gynecologists regarded Arab Jews as primitive and incapable of acting responsibly.

Allegations of official racism towards Ethiopians gained prominence in 2006 when it was admitted that for many years all their blood donations had been discarded for fear that they might be contaminated with diseases.

There have also been regular reports of Ethiopian children being denied places in schools or being forced to attend separate classes.

In November a survey of employers in the main professions showed that 53 per cent preferred not to hire an Ethiopian.


Ruth Sinai, an Israeli social affairs reporter for Haaretz newspaper, wrote recently that the discrimination faced by the countrys 120,000 Ethiopians reflected in particular doubts on the part of the countrys religious establishment about their Jewishness.



Source: Jonathan Cook / The National

----------


## Shades

*West Bank land sales by Church spur uproar  	*
17.01.10 - 03:03
The Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem is once again being rocked by controversy over alleged *land sales to Israeli investors in the West Bank.*
So incensed is the local Palestinian orthodox community that Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch, had to be accompanied by security guards in full riot gear when he arrived in Bethlehem last week to celebrate Christmas.

Many in the local community boycotted Christmas celebrations with Theophilos altogether, while Christian scout group bands that would normally welcome the patriarch stayed silent and some 2,000 scouts refused to greet the Greek patriarch as is otherwise customary.

The controversy began some four months ago after a court in Israel heard two Israeli companies present rival deeds to a piece of land near Bethlehem that both claimed to have leased from its owners, the Greek Orthodox Church.

The Greek Orthodox Church is one of the biggest single landowners in Israel and the Palestinian territories and has engaged in land sales or leases to Israel since the early 1950s. Both the Israeli parliament and the Israeli prime ministers office are built on formerly Greek Orthodox land.

While such sales were always controversial, leasing land in occupied territory to Israeli or Jewish investors has proven explosive. The latest plot of land in question, between the Har Homa and Gilo settlements south of Jerusalem, is particularly sensitive because it would link those two settlements and close yet another gap in the semicircle of Jewish settlements that is severing the occupied eastern part of Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank.

It is shameful for us that our church is selling land to Israel, said Elias Iseed, head of the Greek Orthodox Club in Beit Sahour, a village next to Bethlehem.

It is shameful in front of the other churches and our Muslim brothers, who may not understand that it is the Church, not the people, who are selling the land.

Mr Iseed, who helped organise the Christmas protests in Bethlehem on January 7, said he thought there was corruption in the church, and it needed to be rooted out. The protests at Christmas, he said, were meant to drive that message home to Theophilos. In the orthodox creed, which goes by the Julian calendar, Christmas falls on January 7.

This is not the first time land sales to Israelis have caused serious discord within the Greek Orthodox Church. Theophilos predecessor, Ireneos II, was stripped of his authority by the Holy Synod of Jerusalem, the churchs ruling body, in 2005 after another land lease, this one of the Omar Bin Khattab square just inside the Jaffa Gate of Jerusalems Old City, came to light.

Indeed, Theophilos became patriarch and was recognised by both the Palestinian Authority and the Jordanian government, Jordan also being part of the Holy Land, only after promising no more land sales or leases in occupied territory to Israeli or Jewish investors as well as a concerted effort to reverse previous sales or leases approved by Ireneos.

That, however, put him at odds with Israel, which also must recognise the powers of a new patriarch. Indeed, Israel withheld recognition of the patriarch for two years, during which orthodox clergy started meeting difficulties being granted visas. In an interview with a Greek newspaper in 2006, Theophilos complained of Israeli blackmail, the purpose of which he said was to ratify the agreements for the purchase and sale of property signed by our predecessors.

The Israeli government eventually recognised the new patriarch in December 2007, however, and some are now suggesting that that recognition came at a price.

I think the continued leasing of land was a condition by Israel [to grant him recognition], said Marwan Toubasi, chairman of the Arab Orthodox Council in Palestine.

Mr Toubasi said that while news of the latest lease deal only came out in late 2009, and went to court only because Theophilos had apparently leased a plot of land that Ireneos had already signed off to another group of Jewish investors, the deal was actually struck in 2008.

This was despite what Mr Toubasi said were concerted efforts by the local community to present alternative investors from Arab countries to the church. The local community had even offered to help the Church reverse course on the latest lease deal by raising money to pay any penalty.

The matter is political. If it were about money, we could find Arab investors, he said.

The Greek Patriarchate has been highly reticent about speaking out on the matter. It secured an injunction to have the court case over the land near Bethlehem heard behind closed doors. As for the Christmas protests, a spokesman would only say at the time that they were a personal matter.

But the matter is not going away. Critics of the patriarch from within the orthodox community are also accusing him of reneging on promises to include two Arab bishops in the Holy Synod, and of generally failing to listen to local concerns. Certainly, continued land sales will make the position of any Greek patriarch extremely difficult, as the signs reading The Holy Land is not for sale that greeted Theophilos in Bethlehem last week made clear.

We are Palestinian before being Christian, said Mr Toubasi. This is our land. The core of the struggle with Israel is about land. This is property donated by our ancestors to the church in order to serve the community at large, Muslim or Christian. But in this issue, the Church is serving the interest of Israel to Judaise Jerusalem.





Source: Omar Karmi / The National

----------


## Shades

*Fight hypocricy and Help Haiti and Gaza *  
18.01.10 - 19:55

Journalists struggle to describe the scenes of misery, death, and despair in language befitting of its tragedy in Haiti.  Over 100 countries mobilized for aid. Even Israel has mobilized its usual contingent of Israeli doctors and the mass Zionist media to show how humanitarian it can be (but tiny Qatar sent far more actual aid). What is little discussed is that the natural disaster would have claimed far fewer lives had Haiti been allowed to develop without Western Interference over the past few decades.  There is a tragic history that stretches from the slave rebellion against the French "owners" to the US direct occupation of Haiti 1915 to 1934, to the US support for puppet dictators, to the latest 2004 coup engineered by elements in the neoconservative movement under the Presidency of George Bush.  The last government installed was and continues to be corrupt, inept, and unaccountable. I was shocked that the "President of Haiti" could not even put sentences together let alone deal with disasters.  It is no surprise that many people in Haiti have come to believe that anarchy is better.  Meanwhile, Western companies, whose motto is always maximum profits/minimum costs, strip billions worth of Haitian natural resources.

Gaza was a calamity of incredible proportion.  1.5 million people in a small strip of largely desert land, most of them refugees or displaced people.  Over a period of three weeks, Israeli shelling destroyed over 10,000 homes, schools, hospitals, food warehouses, and shops. Over 400 children and hundreds of other civilians were massacred.   This man-made disaster was accomplished with the blessing of the US and its direct support (military equipment, shielding Israel from International law etc). But our spirit will not be broken just like the spirit of Haiti will not be broken (see video [youtubevid]lU5Wi2jhnW0[/youtubevid]  )

Hardly any Western reporters bothered to cover the story of the man-made tragedy in Gaza.  If they did mention it, it was in passing while assigning blame to Hamas for the home made projectiles the people of Gaza tried to produce in response to the incessant slaughter.  More importantly, no flotillas of emergency aid were to arrive in Gaza from any governmental sources.  Only a few activists managed to bring food and medicines in spite of official governments positions.  In fact the siege intensified over Gaza and one year later, there has been no or very little reconstruction.

The US foreign policy, hijacked by a group of wealthy and powerful individuals utilizing lobbyists as their tools and brainwashing some individuals to think it is "good for the Jews" have ensured hypocrisy.  It is hypocrisy to name a fund for helping (Bush Clinton Haiti Fund) run by the two war criminals that engineered and/or supported calamities in places like Iraq (1 million killed), Gaza, Afghanistan, Sudan and elsewhere. It is hypocrisy to send Hilary Clinton who supported the slaughter in Gaza for photo opportunities in Haiti. It s hypocrisy to pressure the puppet regime in Egypt to erect a wall to prevent Gaza population from importing foods and medicine while spending our taxpayer money for USAID with strings attached (most to guide countries to create policies of oppression in the guise of humanitarian aid) AND let corporations gain billions from exploitation of those same countries (e.g. Haliburton, Mobil, Motorolla). A colleague wrote in Arabic that Jamal Abdel Nasser as a person of high stature built the Aswan high Dam while Mubarak is building the metal underground low dam!

US interests do not lie in creating more hypocrisy. Is it not time to thoroughly reevaluate the calamitous policies that led us to this? These policies, while profiting a few individuals in positions of power (Corporate and Zionist lobbies*), directly harm average citizens in Haiti, the US, Israel/Palestine and elsewhere. It was hoped that the year 2000 would usher in a new era of peace and prosperity on humanity.  Is it not time to investigate why Latin America, Asia and much of Europe is moving in that direction while the US and Israeli policies have created mayhem and destruction? Is it not time for the events of September 11, 2001 to receive full investigation instead of the cover-up in the report issued? Would we see 2010 as a year of change or would we wait for yet another calamity to expose more hypocrisy?

ACTION: 1) Donate to Haiti relief through the International Red Cross, UNICEF, Oxfam, or other non-governmental organizations (see for example [youtubevid]kv2JzWfD9r0[/youtubevid] );  2) Act for Gaza (see for example this new good website Gaza On My Mind )

* See the book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins  about the corporate elites. I think he downplays what the Zionist lobbies have done which sometimes even won over corporate interests like the military industries but he makes some very cogent observations from someone who was on the inside as an economic hitman (and ofcourse many of these corporations are run by ardent Zionists who like to have a strong Israel as an insurance policy in case they need to run away from Western Countries).  Here are videos of a lecture by Perkins:
Part 1 [youtubevid]oARBdBtGenM[/youtubevid]
Part 2 [youtubevid]GAqG51uwzMI[/youtubevid]
Part 3 [youtubevid]l22O33KyWa4[/youtubevid]

BTW, Mary Rizzo found the video of the struggle of the Little Buffalo used in political message and posted this video with my article at
Palestine Think Tank » Analysis Israel Mary's Choice Newswire Opinions and Letters Palestine Resistance » Mazin Qumsiyeh  Little Buffalo (with MUST SEE video) 


Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD

A Bedouin in Cyberspace, a villager (now back) at home

Sharing the Land of Canaan - Home

----------


## Shades

*Fight hypocricy and Help Haiti and Gaza *  
18.01.10 - 19:55

Journalists struggle to describe the scenes of misery, death, and despair in language befitting of its tragedy in Haiti.  Over 100 countries mobilized for aid. Even Israel has mobilized its usual contingent of Israeli doctors and the mass Zionist media to show how humanitarian it can be (but tiny Qatar sent far more actual aid). What is little discussed is that the natural disaster would have claimed far fewer lives had Haiti been allowed to develop without Western Interference over the past few decades.  There is a tragic history that stretches from the slave rebellion against the French "owners" to the US direct occupation of Haiti 1915 to 1934, to the US support for puppet dictators, to the latest 2004 coup engineered by elements in the neoconservative movement under the Presidency of George Bush.  The last government installed was and continues to be corrupt, inept, and unaccountable. I was shocked that the "President of Haiti" could not even put sentences together let alone deal with disasters.  It is no surprise that many people in Haiti have come to believe that anarchy is better.  Meanwhile, Western companies, whose motto is always maximum profits/minimum costs, strip billions worth of Haitian natural resources.

Gaza was a calamity of incredible proportion.  1.5 million people in a small strip of largely desert land, most of them refugees or displaced people.  Over a period of three weeks, Israeli shelling destroyed over 10,000 homes, schools, hospitals, food warehouses, and shops. Over 400 children and hundreds of other civilians were massacred.   This man-made disaster was accomplished with the blessing of the US and its direct support (military equipment, shielding Israel from International law etc). But our spirit will not be broken just like the spirit of Haiti will not be broken (see video [youtubevid]lU5Wi2jhnW0[/youtubevid]  )

Hardly any Western reporters bothered to cover the story of the man-made tragedy in Gaza.  If they did mention it, it was in passing while assigning blame to Hamas for the home made projectiles the people of Gaza tried to produce in response to the incessant slaughter.  More importantly, no flotillas of emergency aid were to arrive in Gaza from any governmental sources.  Only a few activists managed to bring food and medicines in spite of official governments positions.  In fact the siege intensified over Gaza and one year later, there has been no or very little reconstruction.

The US foreign policy, hijacked by a group of wealthy and powerful individuals utilizing lobbyists as their tools and brainwashing some individuals to think it is "good for the Jews" have ensured hypocrisy.  It is hypocrisy to name a fund for helping (Bush Clinton Haiti Fund) run by the two war criminals that engineered and/or supported calamities in places like Iraq (1 million killed), Gaza, Afghanistan, Sudan and elsewhere. It is hypocrisy to send Hilary Clinton who supported the slaughter in Gaza for photo opportunities in Haiti. It s hypocrisy to pressure the puppet regime in Egypt to erect a wall to prevent Gaza population from importing foods and medicine while spending our taxpayer money for USAID with strings attached (most to guide countries to create policies of oppression in the guise of humanitarian aid) AND let corporations gain billions from exploitation of those same countries (e.g. Haliburton, Mobil, Motorolla). A colleague wrote in Arabic that Jamal Abdel Nasser as a person of high stature built the Aswan high Dam while Mubarak is building the metal underground low dam!

US interests do not lie in creating more hypocrisy. Is it not time to thoroughly reevaluate the calamitous policies that led us to this? These policies, while profiting a few individuals in positions of power (Corporate and Zionist lobbies*), directly harm average citizens in Haiti, the US, Israel/Palestine and elsewhere. It was hoped that the year 2000 would usher in a new era of peace and prosperity on humanity.  Is it not time to investigate why Latin America, Asia and much of Europe is moving in that direction while the US and Israeli policies have created mayhem and destruction? Is it not time for the events of September 11, 2001 to receive full investigation instead of the cover-up in the report issued? Would we see 2010 as a year of change or would we wait for yet another calamity to expose more hypocrisy?

ACTION: 1) Donate to Haiti relief through the International Red Cross, UNICEF, Oxfam, or other non-governmental organizations (see for example [youtubevid]kv2JzWfD9r0[/youtubevid] );  2) Act for Gaza (see for example this new good website Gaza On My Mind )

* See the book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins  about the corporate elites. I think he downplays what the Zionist lobbies have done which sometimes even won over corporate interests like the military industries but he makes some very cogent observations from someone who was on the inside as an economic hitman (and ofcourse many of these corporations are run by ardent Zionists who like to have a strong Israel as an insurance policy in case they need to run away from Western Countries).  Here are videos of a lecture by Perkins:
Part 1 [youtubevid]oARBdBtGenM[/youtubevid]
Part 2 [youtubevid]GAqG51uwzMI[/youtubevid]
Part 3 [youtubevid]l22O33KyWa4[/youtubevid]

BTW, Mary Rizzo found the video of the struggle of the Little Buffalo used in political message and posted this video with my article at
Palestine Think Tank » Analysis Israel Mary's Choice Newswire Opinions and Letters Palestine Resistance » Mazin Qumsiyeh  Little Buffalo (with MUST SEE video) 


Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD

A Bedouin in Cyberspace, a villager (now back) at home

Sharing the Land of Canaan - Home

----------


## Shades

*Perilous Giant  	* 
18.01.10 - 19:53
Watching events unfold in the Middle East makes me wonder if and when the Palestinian-Israeli conflict can ever be resolved.
Throughout the past 93 years and since Britains foreign Affairs Minister of the time, Mr. Arthur James Balfour introduced his shameful declaration November 2nd 1917 promising Palestine as a homeland for the Jews, there has been enormous attempts to resolving this problem that was created by someone other than a Palestinian or a Jew.

Every idea, past and present, introduced to resolving the conflict seems to have had many obstacles associated with it that would eventually prevent peace from becoming a reality.

While historians, politicians and academics, past and present, debated this issue blaming the failure of these resolutions on one reason or the other, todays politicians seem to be actively seeking a resolution one way or the other.

The latest attempt to negotiate peace between Israel and Palestine comes directly from President Obama and is being delivered by the US secretary of State Ms. Hillary Clinton.

Israeli settlement build up on illegally occupied Palestinian land is the reason why negotiations between the two adversaries have stalled.

On May 29th 2009, Hillary Clinton supported Obamas freeze on Israeli settlements. Israel, however, objected to Obamas call to halt all settlement building. Because of this and on January 8, 2010, Obama has altered his tone of voice and is only trying to start the negotiations again.  

The Obama administration believes that once negotiations commence, the two sides will be able to iron out their differences and negotiate a final agreement on creating a Palestinian State.  Mrs. Clinton was quoted as saying, We need to lift our sights, and instead of  looking down at the trees, we need to look at the forest. Resolving borders resolves settlements. Resolving Jerusalem resolves settlements.

Eight months after the US administration insisted that Israel freezes its settlement build-up, it has turned 360 degrees around and changed its tone of voice. Needless to say, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he is willing to return to the negotiating table without any preconditions and the issue of Jerusalem remains undivided and under Israeli jurisdiction. Would the US administration change its policy again to accommodate Netanyahus demands?
Is it possible that the leader of the strongest country of the world is bending under Israeli pressure?

Again, what happened to Obamas commitment to finding a solution to the conflict within two years?
What happened to Obamas tough talk to the Israeli government and the need to freeze Israeli settlements?
Did Obama bite off more than he can chew?

Mrs. Clinton wants us to look at the forest rather than the trees so we may be able to understand her view. Unfortunately and by doing so, Mrs. Clinton missed understanding the bigger picture her self.

The bigger picture as I see it shows the U.S. to be an honest broker between Israel and Palestine, yet it is the U.S. that provides the military weapons, financial funding and political backing for Israel to maintain the occupation.
On the political level and between 1955 and 1992, there has been at least 50 resolution or so introduced by the UN condemning Israels actions in Palestine and most if not all, were vetoed by the US.

On the financial funding, the U.S. aid has increased along side Israels human rights violations. It has been reported that Israel gets annually 40 percent of the entire U.S. aid budget.  

On the military aid, U.S. weapons transfer to Israel actually increased during the current crisis. The U.S. Black Hawk and Apache helicopters are instrumental in attacking and destroying Palestinian homes, government offices, schools and hospitals.  

If a level diplomatic field is to be created, the U.S. unfair and biased support of Israel must end. Peace can only materialize if and when the U.S. stops lending its weight to Israel.


By: Mitri I. Musleh

----------


## Shades

*German protesters decry Israeli atrocities*
Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:49:48 GMT

*A Jewish protester holds a banner reading "Judaism, Yes. Zionism, No," on January 18, 2009*.

German supporters of the Palestinian cause are holding a demonstration against a joint German-Israeli cabinet meeting in Berlin.

*A crowd of demonstrators gathered on Monday to expressed anger at Israel's ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip and the ongoing expulsion of Palestinians from East Jerusalem Al-Quds.*

*They have also vowed to expose Israel's indiscriminate and targeted killings of the Palestinians*, which was highlighted in Israel's relentless three-week blitz on the tiny enclave in December 2008-January 2009.

More than 1,400 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed in the onslaught during which Israeli soldiers committed war crimes by using human shields, targeting schools and UN buildings that were hosting civilians.

Meanwhile other activists held a protest to decry Germany's potential sale of military equipment, stressing that the country's constitution did not allow the sale of arms to any sides of an ongoing conflict.

The protests come amid Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Germany for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The meeting is aimed at boosting security cooperation and bilateral relations, but German media have also speculated it may entail a fresh Israeli requests for more free or half-priced German arms.

Ahead of the joint cabinet meeting, media reports said Israel intends to station one of its German-made Dolphin submarines in the Persian Gulf.

*Since 1998, Germany has spent EUR 900 million in providing Israel with five Dolphin class submarines.*

ZHD/MMN

----------


## Shades

*London rally targets UK supplier of Israeli arms*
Tue, 19 Jan 2010 03:24:52 GMT

*Demonstrators rally in southern England to protest against a British company that provided Israel with arms during its 2009 onslaught in Gaza.*

*Protesters in Brighton surrounded the EDO MBM factory, a subsidiary of the American multi-national ITT corporation that supplies essential parts for the Israeli air force, marking the first anniversary of Israel's massacre of more than 1,400 Palestinians in Gaza, IRNA reported.*

In Brighton, EDO/MBM manufactures some of the weapon components that devastated so many lives. All over the world thousands of people watched appalled at the carnage on the streets of Gaza, the organizer of Monday's demonstration, Smash EDO campaign group, said.

Thousands marched and raged at the destruction of people's homes and lives. On January 18, 2010, the anniversary of the final day of Operation Cast Lead, we will come together to remember the people of Gaza, a Smash EDO spokesperson was quoted by IRNA as saying.

Protesters managed to pass police barricades at some point and approach the factory compound, forcing it to announce shorter working hours for the day.

Police have reportedly made some arrests while trying to disperse the crowd.

Smash EDO has been campaigning to close the factory since 2004, saying that it produces components for the guided bombs that were most used in aerial raids against the Palestinians.

GHN/MB

----------


## Shades

*Arson attackers on mosque arrested in Israel*
Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:20:17 GMT

The West Bank mosque that was attacked by arsons in December
Israeli police have arrested five settlers in connection with an arson attack on a Palestinian mosque in the West Bank in December.

The five were arrested during a raid by Israeli police and the Shin Bet domestic security agency in Yitzhar, a bastion of hardline settlers in the northern West Bank of Occupied Palestine, Israel's army radio reported.

Police had previously arrested a 17-year-old from another West Bank settlement in connection with the mosque attack, but he has been already released.

At the time the mosque was attacked, on December 11, the arsonists torched holy books and sprayed hate messages in Hebrew on the structure's walls.

Hardline Israeli settlers have adopted what they call a "price tag" policy under which they attack Palestinians, whenever Tel Aviv forces them to curb their settlement projects.

MGH/TG/DT

----------


## Shades

*Gaza flooded after Israel opens dam gates*
Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:41:04 GMT

Israel has opened the floodgates of one of its dams in the eastern part of the Gaza Strip, flooding Palestinian houses and causing severe damage.

The Israeli authorities opened the dam's floodgates without any prior warning or coordination with local authorities in Gaza, stunning the residents of the area, the Press TV correspondent in Gaza reported late on Monday.

There has been heavy rain in the region over the past 24 hours. It seems the Israeli authorities could not handle the huge amount of rainwater and decided to open the floodgates without prior warning.

Because Gaza is located in a low-lying area and the elevation decreases on the way to the Mediterranean Sea, water gushed into the area, flooding two Palestinian villages and displacing a hundred Gazan families.

The locals say Israel intentionally caused the floods, the Press TV correspondent said.

The waters from the dam, called the Valley of Gaza, flooded houses in Johr al-Deek village, which is southeast of Gaza City, and Nusirat in the eastern part of the territory, where the Al-Nusirat refugee camp is also located.

The Valley of Gaza is about 8 kilometers long. It starts on the eastern Gaza border with Israel and ends in the Mediterranean.

The houses of many Palestinians have been flooded and a number of people are trapped inside or on their roofs, while many have also gone missing, the Press TV correspondent said.

Rescue teams are using small boats to evacuate the trapped people.

Hamas has condemned the act as a war crime and has called on all concerned parties to intervene and offer assistance to the locals.

The flooding has made life more difficult for the Gazans, especially for those still living in tents because their homes were destroyed in the December 2008-January 2009 Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

In the war, more than 1,400 people were killed, mostly women and children, and over 10,000 houses were destroyed or damaged, forcing at least 500 families to live in tents.

Very little progress is seen in reconstruction of the devastated areas in the Gaza Strip, mostly due to the Israeli blockade, which has prevented the delivery of building materials to the coastal enclave.

FTP/HGL

----------


## Shades

*Israel jails Palestinian peace activist*
Tue, 19 Jan 2010 02:39:31 GMT

Israel jails a Palestinian peace activist on charges of "illegal arms possession" and inciting stone-throwers.

The charges against Abdallah Abu Rahme, 39, the coordinator of the Bil'in Popular Committee, relates largely to a protest exhibition he had made out of spent tear-gas canisters and plastic-coated rubber bullets, shot by Israeli soldiers, assembling them to form a large peace sign.

Israeli soldiers had aimed those canisters and bullets at unarmed Palestinian demonstrators protesting Israel's illegal apartheid wall that separates Bil'in villagers from their agricultural lands.

Bil'in, a small village near Ramallah, has lost about half of its agricultural lands due to the illegal wall, depriving farmers of their livelihoods.

The Israelis also allege that Abu Rahme was in possession of M-16 bullets.

On hearing the charges, Abu Rahme's Israeli lawyer Gaby Lasky asked, "What's next? Charging protesters money for the bullets shot at them?"

"We have evidence to challenge the Israel Defense Force's (IDF) version of events. A number of Palestinian youngsters were pressured by the military into making false confessions after they were arrested at nighttime, blindfolded and handcuffed," Lasky said.

Several prominent Palestinian peace activists have recently been arrested and jailed for similar acts.

FTP/MB

----------


## Shades

*Israeli forces seize 17 Palestinians in West Bank*
Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:59:02 GMT

Israeli soldiers have arrested 17 Palestinians in pre-dawn raids in a number of occupied West Bank towns.

According to the International Middle East Media Center, 15 of those detained in the overnight operations on Monday were from the central West Bank city of Ramallah and nearby villages.

A large number of Israeli troops cordoned off and ransacked the residents' houses in pursuit of 'documents.' The Palestinians were taken to military detention camps to be questioned.

The Israeli army regularly arrests Palestinians during overnight operations in West Bank towns, even though the detentions are in flagrant violation of a security agreement with the Palestinian Authority.

Tel Aviv claims that the people arrested in the raids are 'wanted activists' that have been detained for interrogation.

More than 11,500 Palestinians, among them women and children, are currently imprisoned in Israeli detention facilities, suffering harsh and life-threatening conditions.

MP/MTM/MB

----------


## Shades

*UAE-Palestine Polo Cup Raises 1.3 million AED*
Date : 18/1/2010   Time : 18:32

DUBAI, January 18, 2010 (WAFA)- UAE-Palestine Polo Cup raised more than Arab Emirate Dirham (AED) 1.3 million for Welfare Association of Palestine.



In a press release issued Monday the organizers said the inaugural charitable event took place last Friday to benefit residents of the West Bank and Gaza a resounding success. The first-ever UAE-Palestine Polo Cup held on last Friday, met with resounding success and raised over 1.3 million AED in funds to benefit the neediest residents of the West Bank and Gaza . 



The fun-filled day of polo, prize draws and a charity auction brought together polo enthusiasts as well as the UAE and Palestinian communities to support this humanitarian cause. 



Mr. Rashid Al Habtoor, one of the players and organizers of the event, commented this polo challenge has increased awareness and delivered a significant amount of funds for the Welfare Association of Palestine, adding we hope to increase the community participation and funds raised as part of an annual polo event to provide aid to Palestine.



The UAE polo team narrowly defeated Palestine by 5.5 goals to 5 goals in a thrilling finish.

----------


## Shades

*Israel's Gaza Blockade Continues to Suffocate Daily Life, AI says*
Date : 19/1/2010   Time : 12:14

LONDON, January 18, 2010 (WAFA)-Israel must end its suffocating blockade of the Gaza Strip, which leaves more than 1.4 million Palestinians cut off from the outside world and struggling with desperate poverty, Amnesty International said one year on from the end of Israels military offensive in Gaza.

Amnesty Internationals briefing paper Suffocating: The Gaza Strip under Israeli blockade gathers testimony from people still struggling to rebuild their lives following Operation Cast Lead, which killed around 1,400 Palestinians and injured thousands more.

Israel claims that the ongoing blockade of Gaza, in force since June 2007, is a response to the indiscriminate rocket attacks launched from Gaza into southern Israel by Palestinian armed groups. The reality is that the blockade does not target armed groups but rather punishes Gazas entire population by restricting the entry of food, medical supplies, educational equipment and building materials, said Malcolm Smart, Middle East and North Africa Director, Amnesty International.

The blockade constitutes collective punishment under international law and must be lifted immediately.

As the occupying power, Israel has a duty under international law to ensure the welfare of Gazas inhabitants, including their rights to health, education, food and adequate housing

During Operation Cast Lead, from 27 December 2008 to 18 January 2009, 13 Israelis were killed, including three civilians in southern Israel, where dozens more were injured in indiscriminate rocket attacks by Palestinian armed groups.

In Gaza, Israeli attacks damaged or destroyed civilian buildings and infrastructure, including hospitals and schools, the water and electricity systems. Thousands of Palestinian homes were destroyed or severely damaged.

An estimated 280 of the 641 schools in Gaza were damaged and 18 were destroyed. More than half of Gazas population is under the age of 18 and the disruption to their education, due to the damage caused during Operation Cast Lead and as a result of the continuing Israeli boycott, is having a devastating impact.

Hospitals have also been badly affected by the military offensive and the blockade. Trucks of medical aid provided by the World Health Organization have been repeatedly refused entry to Gaza without explanation by Israeli officials.

Patients with serious medical conditions that cannot be treated in Gaza continue to be prevented or delayed from leaving Gaza by the Israeli authorities  since the closure of crossings leading into and out of Gaza, patients have been made to apply for permits, but these permits are frequently denied. On 1 November 2009, Samir al-Nadim, a father of three children, died after his exit from Gaza for a heart operation was delayed by 22 days.

Amnesty International spoke to a number of families whose homes were destroyed in the Israeli military operation and one year on are still living in temporary accommodation.

Mohammed and Halima Mslih and their four young children fled their home in the village of Juhor al-Dik, south of Gaza City, during the conflict one year ago. While they were away their home was demolished by Israeli army bulldozers.

When we returned everything was broken. People were giving us food because we had nothing, said Mohammed Mslih.

Six months after the ceasefire the family was still living in a flimsy nylon tent and they have only now been able to construct a simple permanent home. The family fear, however, that continuing Israeli military incursions may destroy the little they have left.

Unemployment in Gaza is spiralling as those businesses that remain struggle to survive under the blockade. In December 2009, the UN reported that unemployment in Gaza was over 40 per cent.

The blockade is strangling virtually every aspect of life for Gazas population, more than half of whom are children. The increasing isolation and suffering of the people of Gaza cannot be allowed to continue. The Israeli government must comply with binding legal obligation, as the occupying power, to lift the blockade without further delay, said Malcolm Smart.

----------


## Shades

* Training Prosecutors, Palestinian Civil Police Officers in Germany*
Date : 19/1/2010   Time : 12:27

RAMALLAH, January 18, 2010 (WAFA)- EUPOL COPPS has coordinated 2 trainings on Crime scene and Forensic Evidence for 6 Senior Prosecutors and 10 PCP Investigation officers in Germany.

The trainings were coordinated by Eupol Copps Criminal and Justice and Police Law Expert, Mr Michael Schulte-Schrepping and took place in Essen, Munster and Recklinghausen in August and December 2009.

Chief Prosecutor Salem Jarrar, Brigadier Jaber Asfour, Eupol Copps Lead Police Adviser, Mr Jari Kinnunen and Acting Head of Rule of Law Section, Anne-Christine MADERUD participated in the graduation ceremony of this training at the Judicial Police HQs in Ramallah.

Among the major activities of this training, the participants attended autopsies together with German prosecutors and investigators on suicide, traffic accidents, unclear death and medical disputes. The delegation was divided on crime scene vehicles attending real life crime scenes with the aim of get used to the standards of collecting and handling evidence.

 The Deputy Regional Commander at the Murder Squad received the delegation and a court hearing at the High Court, in Recklinghausen, was also organized for the participants.  Several visits to the following labs were conducted in addition to practical exercises: DNA lab, Toxicological lab, Historical lab, Criminal lab, Ballistic lab, Fingerprint lab and K9. The Palestinian delegation also attended a lecture at the Forensic Section on crimes against sexual self-determination at the University of Essen.

Training Palestinian Civil Police Officers and prosecutors together on modern investigation technologies is a crucial initiative in order to ensure the coordination and harmonization of the two most important actors on crime scene.

----------


## Shades

*Israel Razes Caravan Built in West Bank*
Date : 19/1/2010   Time : 15:35

TEL AVIV, January 19, 2010 (WAFA) - Israeli security forces on Tuesday dismantled a caravan set up in the West Bank Settlement of Alon Moreh, daily Haaretz said today.

Despite the Israeli  government's declaration last year of a 10-month construction freeze, this was the first time a structure built to contravene the settlement freeze has been razed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in last December that Israel would impose a 10-month freeze on construction in West Bank settlements, saying the move was a bid to restart stalled peace talks with the Palestinians.

Settlement building has been a key sticking point in U.S. efforts to restart Middle East peace talks.

After the caravan in Alon Moreh was built, residents held an event at which they called the construction an 'appropriate Zionist response' to the settlement freeze order.

Israeli Security forces arrived before dawn on Tuesday and dismantled the caravan. They also destroyed the foundations of structures in the Kochav Yaakov and Kochav Hashahar settlements which were built in contradiction of the freeze order.

----------


## Shades

*Jordan:"Tehran behind bombing of Israeli convoy in Amman"*

2010-01-19 11:49:16

Occupied Jerusalem-PalPress-Sources familiar with the Jordanian intelligence service said that the bombing which targeted two cars of  Israeli diplomats in Amman last Thursday was implemented by instructions from Tehran.

The Jerusalem Post quoted these sources as saying that the Jordanian intelligence are investigating the possibility that Iranian diplomats might have contributed to the smuggling of the explosives which were used in the attack into Jordan.

The sources said that the Jordanian intelligence service believes that the attack came in response to the assassination of an Iranian nuclear professor Masud Ali Mohammedi in Tehran one week ago.

----------


## Shades

**

2010-01-19 13:19:51

Gaza-PalPress-Medical sources in Gaza Strip announced that nine citizens were injured while hundreds of sheep and cattle died as a direct result of the floods which swept Gaza Valley and Mughraga areas yesterday.

Eye witnesses said that nine citizens drowned and  sustained fractures as they fell in holes dug by rain water  in Gaza Valley last night and today at dawn.

The injured were transferred to Al Shefaa hospital in Gaza city  and Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Dier Al Balah for medical treatment .

The quantities of rainwater caused the closing of Salah Addin Road which links Gaza city with the central camps , traffic jams and the destruction of hundreds of agriculture acres in the area.

Citizens held the occupation authorities accountable for the damages caused on grounds of opening water dams erected at Gaza eastern border.

----------


## Shades

*Larijani: US powered Israel's war on Gaza*
19/01/2010 11:01:00 AM GMT 

Iran's parliament speaker says the US and its European allies provided Israel with behind-the-scenes support during its 22-day war on Gaza.

"Israel carried out a very barbaric attack against the Gazans. It took none of the international norms and regulations into account," said Ali Larijani, while addressing the international "Gaza, Symbol of Resistance" seminar in Tehran on Tuesday

"The regime used prohibited chemical weapons, and destroyed hospitals, mosques, and civilian infrastructure. It is sad that despite all Israel's human rights violations, the US and other Western powers stood by Tel Aviv throughout the whole ordeal."

Larijani attacked the Western alliance for giving Israel all the military support it needed to launch its deadly operation on the impoverished coastal Palestinian strip.

The Iranian parliament speaker said that the US blocked efforts to pass a binding resolution at the United Nations Security Council against Israel so as to stop the offensive.

"There was no talk of human rights during those 22 days. Even though the political system had changed in the US and a new president had been elected with the motto of change.

"But it seems that they did not think it necessary to spend any time on this issue. Up to 5,000 Palestinians were killed and injured as the event unfolded, but he (Barack Obama) chose to think about picking a dog for his daughter."

Larijani said all those who kept quiet when Israel was committing war crimes in Gaza should be ashamed.

He also noted that despite suffering heavy damages, Palestinians came out as the true winner of Israel's war on Gaza.

The Iranian official also said that the conduct of the Israeli regime and the West's lack of regard for the basic rights of Palestinians has left them with no choice but to resist.

"During the past year, many conferences have been held for the reconstruction of Gaza, but have [not] actually taken any steps to that effect. Gaza is still under siege. This shows that at these conferences they do not want to help the people of Palestine.

"It is clear from their actions that the US and Israel are trying to mock the Palestinians. This means that we have no option but to resist."

He then urged all regional states not to hesitate when it comes to taking a stance against Israel, pointing out that the people of the Middle East were convinced that the so-called US efforts to bring peace to the region were nothing but a "sham."

Larijani said the leaders of regional states view the Road Map as a "joke," because they know that it is doomed to failure.

Many independent analysts believe that the key to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict lies in Tel Aviv's out-right refusal to accept the Palestinian's "Right of Return," an internationally recognized right which applies to all refugees worldwide.

Since its creation in 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been forced to leave their homes to live in other areas of their homeland, such as the West bank or the Gaza Strip, in other regional countries or elsewhere in the world.

Palestinian refugees, some of whom are even denied the basic rights of a citizen where they live, currently number close to five million.

Tel Aviv says allowing these people, who are mostly Arab Muslims, to return to their ethnic homeland will ruin 'Israel's Jewish Character.'
Source: Middle East Online

----------


## Shades

*American journalist enters week 2 in detention*  
19.01.10 - 22:46

American journalist Jared Malsin will wrap up his first week of detention at Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport tomorrow.


ImageAt the request of Justice Kobi Vardi, Ma'an lawyer Castro Daoud filed additional information in response to allegations by the Israeli Attorney General's Office, and insisted that Jared be brought out of the airport to attend a hearing on the matter.

The attorney general had requested that no hearing be scheduled, saying Malsin's presence in court would complicate efforts by the Ministry of the Interior to deport the journalist, since moving him off airport property requires a change in visa status.

"We are alarmed by these arguments. In the view of Ma'an, they attempt to legitimize a continued policy of isolation for Jared for which the legal rationale is foggy at best," said network spokesman George Hale.

"However, we are confident that Justice Vardi is as concerned as we are with the Interior Ministry's lack of transparency, evidenced by its objections to Jared addressing these allegations in a court of law," he added.

Daoud argued that Malsin has a right to a full defense and, at the least, to be present at his own hearing. Daoud further contested the attorney general's rebuttal, arguing the listed reasons for denial of entry do not constitute valid legal justifications, and that they certainly do not trump the unprecedented violation of press freedom that would accompany Malsin's deportation.

According to court documents filed on Thursday evening, signed by an Israeli interrogator, Malsin was denied entry for "refusing to cooperate" and for violating visa terms.

Disturbingly, the documents also reveal that interrogators had gathered online research into the journalist's writing history, which transcripts indicate included news stories "criticizing the State of Israel," among other allegations he authored articles "inside the [Palestinian] territories."

Source: Maan News Agency

----------


## Shades

*Gazans raise money for Haiti*  
19.01.10 - 19:09

*Palestinians in Gaza set off for the Red Cross headquarters on Monday to offer donations and financial support for the victims of Haitis devastating earthquake on Tuesday.*

*Relatives of Palestinian prisoners also participated in the drive, with many offering financial donations and goods including blankets and covers, as well as food and milk for children.*

*The report comes after the Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank, said that it intended send humanitarian to Haiti in the wake of the devastating earthquake which all but leveled the island's capital city*, adding that it was working to ensure the safety of members of the Palestinian community residing on the island.

Head of the Committee to Break the Siege Jamal Al-Khudary said* "people may be astonished at our ability to collect donations from our people [in Gaza]; we tell them that this is a humanitarian campaign and our people love life and peace "*

*"We are here today supporting the victims of Haiti  we feel for them the most because we were exposed to our own earthquake during Israels war on Gaza."*

The Red Cross director was only able to accept financial donations as transferring goods out of the Strip is near impossible, Al-Khudary added.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Haitians were still struggling on Monday to find food and shelter in the wake of last week's earthquake, as international aid agencies reported a severe lack in supplies despite the overwhelming demand.


"There is little sign of significant aid distribution," said a representative of the Geneva-based Doctors Without Borders.

*The aid group also complained of skewed priorities and a supply bottleneck at the U.S.-controlled airport, and urged the U.S. military to be clear on its prioritization of medical supplies and equipment.  * 

Source: Maan / Haaretz

----------


## Shades

*Israel harvesting organs in Haiti?*
Wed, 20 Jan 2010 08:02:55 GMT

*While media reports from Haiti express amazement at Israel's well-equipped medical delegation to the quake-stricken nation, some critics have warned against organ theft*.

*The Israeli medical team dispatched to Haiti has set up a field hospital in the tremor-battered Caribbean country, winning Western media praise for doing what even their American peers have not yet managed to accomplish.*

*But a video posted on Youtube by an American resident of Seattle, Washington on Tuesday took the shine off the Israeli professionalism that media have raved about in the past few days.*

*In his video, T. West of a group called AfriSynergy Productions suggested that soldiers in the military delegation to the earthquake site in Haiti might be involved in stealing organs from their patients.*

*He warned that there are people operating in Haiti who do not have a conscience and are members of the search-and-rescue teams, including the Israeli army, Israeli news website Ynet reported on Wednesday.*

*West recalled organ harvest charges filed against the Israeli army in the past, and pointed out that there is very little monitoring during such tragedies.*

*He warned the Haitian people to protect their fellow citizens against international medical groups who have arrived in the country in hope of making money off the tragedy.*

*In a interview with Ynet, West said he had nothing against Israel but fully opposed "the ideology of Zionism."*

*"We saw what you did in South Africa and with the Palestinians. Because of our history and the suffering of our people, I understand what the Palestinians are going through."*

Last Tuesday, a 7.3 magnitude earthquake jolted Haiti, leaving an estimated 200,000 people killed  70,000 of whom have already been buried in mass graves.

West, an African American who does "a talk show and journalism and volunteer for a few non-profit organizations," *appreciated the presence of Israeli military forces and others helping in Haiti, but noted "everywhere there is death, there are exploiters."*

*"There needs to be transparency in Haiti," he urged.*

MRS/JG/DT

----------


## Shades

*BBC*
*US editor for Palestinian agency 'expelled from Israel'*

Maan said *Malsin sounded 'shaken and confused' as he left*

*A US journalist with a Palestinian news agency has been expelled after Israel refused him entry and detained him for a week, the agency says*.

But Israel's Interior Ministry says Jared Malsin made his own choice to leave, including dropping his legal bid to reverse the entry denial.

*Maan, the news agency, has raised concerns that Mr Malsin's decision may have been made "under duress".*

Israel denies claims that the entry denial was linked to Mr Malsin's work.

*Mr Malsin, the English language editor at the West Bank-based agency, had been detained since he returned from a holiday in Prague eight days ago.*

The Israeli Interior Ministry says he was denied entry for failing to co-operate under questioning.

Maan earlier said *the decision could "only be explained as a retaliatory measure for his reporting on Palestine".*

On Tuesday Maan said it had won a legal bid to secure a hearing on the case.

It said its lawyer had filed a request to allow Mr Malsin to leave Israel, rather than stay in detention at the airport, while his appeal was heard.

But soon afterwards, *Maan said its lawyer was shocked to hear the court had received a notification, signed by Mr Malsin, asking for his appeal to be withdrawn.*

It said it was "*deeply concerned" there was no lawyer present when Mr Malsin apparently signed the document, and it was "inexplicable" that he would knowingly drop the legal challenge.*

"Without jumping to conclusions, Maan wants to be sure these events did not take place under duress," the agency said.

Mr Malsin has been unable to comment while in transit,* but a colleague said he sounded "shaken and confused" when he called briefly on Wednesday to say he was due to be flown to New York.*

Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sabine Haddad said Mr Malsin had waited in detention in the airport until a court hearing could be secured.

"*He apparently did not like this and chose to leave the country," she said.*

Incorrect visa

When Mr Malsin was initially detained, Israeli security officials said security concerns had arisen when he was questioned.

An official report on the questioning, which Maan said it had received during legal proceedings, accused Mr Malsin of failing to arrange the correct visa, but did not give details.

It said he was suspected of "exploiting the fact that he is Jewish to gain a visa".

This was apparently on the basis that, *when seeking a visa extension previously, he had told Interior Ministry officials he was exploring the option of emigrating to Israel but had written articles critical of the country.*

*By law Jews from around the world are eligible to emigrate to Israel.*

The report also said Mr Malsin had refused to give the name of the friend he said he lived with in the West Bank.

Press *freedom advocates have condemned the Israeli decision to refuse him entry.*

*The International Federation of Journalists said it was an "intolerable violation of press freedom" and "appeared to be a reprisal measure for the journalist's independent reporting".*

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said last week that allegations that the decision was because of Mr Malsin's journalism were "simply absurd".

Foreign nationals working or volunteering with Palestinian organisations in the West Bank often complain of difficulty obtaining visas.

Many are present on three-month tourist visas, which do not provide permission to work and may not be extended.

----------


## Shades

*US indicts 3 Israelis in int'l bribery case*
Wed, 20 Jan 2010 07:31:21 GMT

The US Justice Department has indicted three Israeli businessmen for attempting to bribe the defense minister of an African country to win a multi-million military contract.

The businessmen, along with 18 others indicted in the same case, were arrested in Las Vegas, where they were attending a sports and hunting convention, following a 2 and a half year FBI surveillance and sting operation. The 22nd defendant was arrested in Miami.

The Israelis are 50-year-old Ofer Paz and Haim Geri, the presidents of an Israeli company and North Miami Beach, Florida, company, respectively. Both firms act as sales agent for companies in the law enforcement and military products industries.

The third is Yochanan R. Cohen, also known as Yochi Cohen, 47, who serves as the chief executive officer of a San Francisco company that manufactures security equipment.

The defendants allegedly agreed to pay a 20 percent commission to an undercover FBI agent playing the African minister.

The indictments charge the businessmen with conspiracy and substantive violations of the corrupt practices act and conspiracy to engage in money laundering, Haaretz reported.

The charges related to the corrupt practices act could mean the defendants face a maximum five-year prison sentence if convicted, while the maximum sentence for money laundering conspiracy is 20 years.

The case marks the largest single investigation and prosecution of individuals in the history of the 1977 US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bans bribery of foreign government officials in order to secure business contracts.

MRS/JG/DT

----------


## Shades

*Israeli hand in Iraq's Abu Ghraib exposed*
Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:25:53 GMT

File photo of the Abu Ghraib prison 
The former American military chief of the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq reiterates the Israeli involvement in the US-run facility, where hundreds of Iraqi suspects were tortured and sexually abused by US soldiers and interrogators.

Shedding further light on the scandal that has served as a controversy-magnet for Washington ever since its emergence in 2004, the retired US army colonel Janis Karpinski says that Israeli agents were recruited by the US military at Abu Ghraib to interrogate the prisoners suspected of attacking US forces in Iraq.

The report by the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar is set to fuel more debate on the matter as Karpinski had, until recently, refused to expound on the Israeli connection at Abu Ghraib despite admitting earlier to the presence of Israeli interrogators in the US-run compound.

The former high-ranking US military officer in Iraq told the British state broadcaster, the BBC, in 2004 that she had met an Israeli interrogator who was working at a secret facility in Baghdad.

The prominent American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh brought the issue out in the open on May 10, 2004, when he published the article, "Torture at Abu Ghraib," in The New Yorker Magazine. The article served to ignite the outpouring of reports and evidences on the alleged "abuse, torture, sodomy and homicide" conducted at the facility by US military and intelligence officers.

In May of last year, more pictures of such abuses leaked out and hit the media networks showing the indiscriminate sexual orientation of American soldiers and operatives, who were shown carnally violating male and female Iraqis alike and assaulting them with nightsticks, wires and phosphorescent tubes.

Following his explosive account on the Abu Ghraib abuses, Hersh asserted that one of the Israel pursuits in the US-run prison was to gain access to the detained members of the Iraqi secret intelligence unit that specialized in Israeli affairs.

Israel has been widely criticized by international human rights organizations for the torture and abuse of Palestinian prisoners, including women and children, during interrogations and in prison cells.

US President Barak Obama has 'strongly' opposed the release of more photos and imagery of the Abu Ghraib abuses by American soldiers, despite promises to the contrary when he was first elected. Obama later argued that releasing the scandalous photos, labeled classified by the Bush Administration, would inflame "the theaters of war," jeopardize US forces, and make the life of troops based in Iraq and Afghanistan "more difficult."

HN/MB

----------


## Shades

*BBC*
*UN warns Israeli blockade puts Gazans' health at risk*
A medical patient waits at Erez crossing from Gaza into Israel
Patients with some conditions need to cross into Israel for treatment

The blockade of the Gaza Strip is putting residents' health at risk, the UN and aid groups have warned.

Medical facilities and equipment are in disrepair, many damaged in Israel's military operation a year ago have not been rebuilt, they said.

Some 27 patients died last year waiting to be referred out of Gaza, they said.

Israel and Egypt deny entry to all but basic humanitarian supplies, in order to prevent Gaza's Hamas rulers firing rockets at Israel, they say.

UN agencies and the Association for International Development Agencies (AIDA), which represents more than 80 humanitarian organisations, said the Israeli restrictions were "undermining the functioning of the health care system and putting at risk the health of 1.4 million people in Gaza".


map

Guide: Gaza under blockade

Max Gaylard, the UN's humanitarian coordinator in Gaza, said the blockade was hampering the provision of medical supplies and the training of health staff.

He said it was also "preventing patients with serious medical conditions getting timely specialised treatment outside Gaza".

Some treatments, such as complex heart surgery and treatment for certain types of cancer, are unavailable in Gaza.

The agencies highlighted the case of 19-year-old Fidaa Talal Hijjy, who they say died while awaiting permission to leave Gaza for a bone marrow transplant she needed to treat Hodgkin's disease.

They said she had applied for permission three times to attend appointments at hospitals in Israel, but each time the Israeli authorities failed to respond in time and she missed the appointment.

Her request was approved the day after she died, on 11 November.

The World Health Organization says 88 people have died while waiting for permits since November 2007.

On average 20% of essential drugs were out of stock in Gaza between March and November 2009, according to WHO figures.

Israel allows most medicines into Gaza, but there have been problems with the supply chain.

Most Gazans are not allowed to leave the territory, and the agencies also said medical staff had generally been unable to travel out of Gaza to update their expertise.

Fifteen hospitals and 43 clinics were damaged or destroyed in Israel's operation in Gaza a year ago and most had not been rebuilt because constructions materials have not been allowed in, the agencies said.

The Israeli authorities are yet to respond to the aid agencies' statement.

However, in the past Israel has said extensive security screening is necessary for patients who wish to leave, as three people with permits to leave for medical reasons have been found to be planning attacks in Israel.

It has also said it has offered to facilitate passage through Israel to Jordan for Gazan patients it refuses permits to on security grounds.

Israel said the 22-day military operation, which began on 27 December 2008, was aimed at halting rocket fire by Palestinian militants into Israel.

It says the almost total ban on construction materials such as cement entering Gaza is because they may be used for building rockets, launch pads or weapons smuggling tunnels.

Israel tightened its blockade of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, after Hamas forced out the forces of its more secular rival Fatah, which the Islamic movement had beaten in elections the previous year.

----------


## Shades

*UN, WHO concerned with Gaza healthcare*
Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:48:06 GMT

Palestinian children hit a poster showing Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak (R) and the head of Kadima Party Tzipi Livni.
*The United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) voice concern about the blows the Israeli-imposed blockade have dealt to the Gazan healthcare system.*

"*We are deeply concerned about the current health system in Gaza and in particular its capacity and ability to deliver proper standards of healthcare to the people of Gaza,*" the UN Humanitarian Coordinator Max Gaylard was quoted by AFP as saying on Wednesday.

"T*his adverse situation is not like Haiti. Haiti has been destroyed by an earthquake. The circumstances here are entirely man-made and can be fixed accordingly,"* he added in an apparent reference to the iron-cast Israeli blockade which has deprived the Gazans of their basic needs since mid-June 2007.

The comments were echoed by those of WHO, which says the embargo has made certain medication scarce, delayed or blocked the entry of vital equipment and spare parts, and kept doctors and nurses from pursuing advanced training, AFP added.

Referring to Israel's refusal to allow many Palestinian requests for decent medical attention, Tony Laurence, the organization's head for the Palestinian territories said,* "If that happened in my country, in the UK, in Europe, in Israel, if an individual who needed urgent treatment was unable to get out because of a bureaucratic obstacle, it would be a scandal."*

"*Here it happens to 300 or 400 people every month," he added.*

*The WHO figures show that some 231 such applications were denied by the Israeli officials last month. The world body claims 27 Palestinians died last year, queuing up for the permission.*

*Gaza's main Al-Shaifa hospital is reportedly in a near-collapse condition, as patients die because of a lack of specialist doctors and basic medical equipment. The hospital is not safe from the threat of Israeli offensives amid claims by Israeli intelligence sources that Palestinian fighters were hiding in its basement*.

The three-week-long Israeli raids on the enclave in December 2008-January 2009, which left more than 1,400 Palestinians dead, and the Zionist regime's sporadic attacks ever since have worsened the humanitarian catastrophe, which threatens the lives of some 1.5 million Gazans.

*Last week, Israeli forces attacked a clinic and children's hospital. The attack on the al-Dorra children's hospital was in defiance of a UN Security Council call for ceasefire.*

HN/MMN

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## Shades

* Haaretz: Israel Withholding NGO Employees' Work Permits*
Date : 20/1/2010   Time : 12:08

TEL AVIV, January 20, 2010 (WAFA)- The Israeli Interior Ministry has stopped granting work permits to foreign nationals working in most international nongovernmental organizations operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported Wednesday.

In an apparent overhaul of regulations that have been in place since 1967Haaretz Correspondent  , Amira Hass, wrote the ministry is now granting the NGO employees tourist visas only, which bar them from working.

Organizations affected by the apparent policy change include Oxfam, Save the Children, Doctors Without Borders, Terre des Hommes, Handicap International and the Religious Society of Friends (a Quaker organization).

Until recently, the workers would register with the international relations department at the Israeli Social Affairs Ministry, which would recommend the Interior Ministry to issue them B1 work permits.

Although the foreign nationals are still required to approach the Social Affairs Ministry to receive recommendations to obtain a tourist visa, the Interior Ministry is aiming to make the Ministry of Security responsible for those international NGOs and also requiring them to register with the coordinator of government activities in the territories (COGAT), which is subordinate to the Ministry of Security.

Foreign nationals working for NGOs had understood they would receive a stamp or handwritten note alongside their tourist visa, permitting them to work 'in the Palestinian Authority.' Israel is refusing work visas to most foreign nationals who state that they wish to work within the Palestinian territory, such as foreign lecturers for Palestinian universities and businessmen.

Israel does not recognize Palestinian Authority rule in East Jerusalem or in Area C, which comprises some 60 percent of the West Bank. The NGO workers say they've come to believe that the new policy is intended to force them to close their Jerusalem offices and relocate to West Bank cities. This move would prevent them from working among the Palestinian population of East Jerusalem, defined by the international community as occupied territory.

The organizations fear the new policy will impede their ability to work in Area C, whether because Israel doesn't see it as part of the Palestinian Authority or because they will eventually be subjected to the restrictions of movement imposed on the Palestinians. Such restrictions include the prohibition to enter East Jerusalem and Gaza via Israel, except with specific and rarely obtained permits; and prohibition to enter areas west of the separation fence, except for village residents who hold special residency permits and Israeli citizens.

One NGO worker told Haaretz that the policy was reminiscent of the travel constraints imposed by Burmese authorities on humanitarian organizations, albeit presented in a subtler manner.

NGO workers told Haaretz that they had been informed by the COGAT official that a policy change was forthcoming, as early as July 2009. When a number of them approached the Interior Ministry in August to renew their visas, they found that their applications had been submitted to a 'special committee.' They were not told who constituted this committee, and had to make do with a 'receipt' confirming that they had submitted the request. The workers said the tourist visas they received differed from each other in duration and travel limitations, and surmised from this that the policy has not been entirely fleshed out.

A number of NGO workers who spoke with Haaretz voiced deep apprehensions about having to submit to the authority of the Israeli Security Ministry. The groups are committed to the Red Cross code of ethics, and therefore see being subjugated to the ministry directly in charge of the occupation as problematic and contradictory to the very essence of their work.

Between 140 and 150 NGOs operate among the Palestinian population. Haaretz could not obtain the exact number of foreign nationals they employ.

The new limitations do not apply to the 12 organizations that have been active in the West Bank prior to 1967. Those groups, which include the Red Cross and several Christian organizations, were registered with the Jordanian authorities.

The new move by the Interior Ministry is the latest in a series of steps taken in the last few years to constrain the movement of foreign nationals in the West Bank and Gaza, including Palestinians with family and property in the occupied territory. Most of those who have been effected are nationals of countries with which Israel has diplomatic relations, especially Western states. Israel does not apply any similar constraints on citizens of the same countries traveling within Israel and West Bank settlements.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement that the only relevant authority empowered to approve the stay of foreign citizens in the Palestinian Authority is the coordinator of government activities in the Palestinian. 'The Interior Ministry is entrusted with granting visas and work permits within the State of Israel. Those staying within both the boundaries of Israel and the Palestinian Authority are required to secure their permits accordingly,' the ministry said.

'Recently, a question was raised on the issue of visas granted to those staying in the Palestinian Authority and in Israel, as it transpired that they spend most of their time in the PA despite having been provided with Israeli work permits,' the statement continued. 'The matter is under intense discussions, with the active participation of the relevant military authorities, with a view to finding the right and appropriate solution as soon as possible.'

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## Shades

* WHO: Severe Deterioration of Living Conditions in Gaza*
Date : 20/1/2010   Time : 18:19

JERUSALEM, January 20, 2010 (WAFA)- The Gaza Strip has been the setting of a protracted political and socio?economic crisis. Recent events have resulted in a severe deterioration of the already precarious living conditions of the people in Gaza and have further eroded a weakened health system, said a fact sheet issued Wednesday by the World  Health Organization (WHO) in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The fact sheet reads: The closure of Gaza since mid?2007 and the last Israeli military strike between December 27, 2008 and January 18, 2009 have led to on?going deterioration in the social, economic and environmental determinants of health.

Referral abroad of Patients with serious Medical Conditions for Specialized Treatment outside Gaza

Many specialized treatments, for example for complex heart surgery and certain types of cancer, are not available in Gaza and patients are therefore referred for treatment to hospitals outside Gaza. But many patients have had their applications for exit permits denied or delayed by the Israeli Authorities and have missed their appointments. Some have died while waiting for referral.

1103 applications for permits for patients to cross Erez were submitted to the Israeli Authorities in December 2009. 21% had their applications denied or delayed as a result of which they missed their hospital appointments and had to restart the referral process.

Two patients died recently while awaiting referral ? one in November and one in December. 27 patients have died while awaiting referral since the beginning of the year.

Death of Fidaa Talal Hijjy

Fidaa Talal Hijjy, 19 years old, was diagnosed with Hodgkins disease in 2007, and was treated at Shifa Hospital in Gaza. Her health deteriorated and she was told she needed a bone marrow transplant. This procedure is not available in Gaza. Her doctors referred her to Tel HaShomer Hospital in Israel on August 20, 2009 and she obtained a hospital appointment for September 23, 2009 for a transplant.

The Israeli District Liaison Office submitted an application for Fidaa to cross Erez on the date of her appointment but the Israeli Authorities did not respond to her application and she lost her appointment with Tel HaShomer Hospital. She secured a new appointment for October 20, 2009 and a new application was submitted to cross Erez. She had no response from the Israeli Authorities. Her health condition deteriorated further. She was given a new appointment at Shneider Hospital in Israel for  November  9, 2009 and submitted an urgent application to cross Erez. No response was received.

Fidaa died on November 11, 2009. The Israeli Authorities approved her request on November 12, 2009, three days after her hospital appointment and one day after her death.

Provision of Medical Supplies  Central Drug Store

Supplies of drugs and disposables have generally been allowed into Gaza. However, there are often shortages on the ground mainly because of shortfalls in deliveries. The table below shows the drugs and disposables that are out of stock as a percentage of the essental list. The essential drugs list contains 480 items, and the medical disposables list is 700 items.



Store


Jan.


Feb.


Mar.


Apr.


May


Jun.


Jul.


Aug.


Sept.


Oct.


Nov.


Dec.

Drugs


30%


14%


17%


15%


16%


22%


29%


16%


26%

Disposables


10%


13%


14%


16%


20%


15%


14%


17%


17%


18%




Delays of up to 2?3 months occur on the importation of certain types of medical equipment, such as x?ray machines and electronic devices. Clinical staff  frequently lack the medical equipment they need. Medical devices are often broken, missing spare parts or out of date.

Training f Health Staff

-          Health professionals in Gaza have been cut off from the outside world. Since 2000, very few doctors, nurses or technicians have been able to leave the Strip for training eg to update their clinical skills or to learn about new medical technology. This is severely undermining their ability to provide quality health care. An effective health care system cannot be sustained in isolation from the international community.

-          During the health strike from end August to end December 2008, an estimated 1750 doctors, nurses and non?clinical staff from hospitals and health clinics went on strike and many of their jobs were filled by new people recruited by the de facto authority. Many of the staff who went on strike have not returned to their jobs

-          In August 2008, two thirds of hospitals in Gaza had no maintenance staff. All Gaza hospitals  except the two in Rafah ? now have engineers and technicians in post. But three quarters of technicians surveyed by WHO West Bank and Gaza in May 2009. 1 had been in post for less than one year. Whilst half of the engineers had been trained in medical equipment maintenance, only one in four technicians had had any specific training.

-          In medical schools and public health programs, curriculum development processes do not reach international standards.

Gazas Economy in Collapse

-          Rising unemployment (41.5 percent of Gazas workforce in the first quarter of 2009 and poverty (in May 2008, 70 percent of the families were living on an income of less than one dollar a day per person) is likely to have long term adverse effects on the physical and mental health of the population.

Water: Over?Extraction, Salinity and Nitrate Levels

The increasing salinity and high levels of nitrates in water supplies from the over?extraction of the ground water and the intrusion of salt water is a major concern for the safety of drinking water, particularly for children they are most vulnerable to high nitrate levels. Salinity levels in water wells in most parts of the Gaza Strip are above the 250 mg/liter limit established by WHO, and nitrate concentrations exceed WHO guidelines of 50 mg/liter (up to 331 mg/l).

Operation Cast Lead  Impact on Health Facilities and Staff

-          16 health workers killed and 25 injured on duty

-          Damaged health services infrastructure:

·         15 of 27 Gazas hospitals

·         43 of its 110 Primary Health Care services

·         29 of its 148 ambulances

-          The lack of building materials is affecting essential health facilities: the new surgical wing in Gazas main Shifa hospital has remained unfinished since 2006. Hospitals and primary care facilities, damaged during operation Cast Lead, have not been rebuilt because construction materials are not allowed into Gaza.

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## Shades

*Netanyahu attacks Abbas over peace talks*
Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:54:39 GMT

Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu has attacked the acting Palestinian Authority chief for his refusal to resume peace talks over demands for settlement freeze in the occupied Palestinian territories.

"The Palestinians are piling demand upon demand upon demand," said Netanyahu on Wednesday adding that "The Palestinians have climbed up a tree and they like it up there".

He scorned Mahmoud Abbas for his refusal to end a year-old suspension of peace talks as US President Barack Obama's envoy George Mitchell prepared for new talks in the region, Reuters reported.

"People bring ladders to them. We bring ladders to them. The higher the ladder, the higher they climb," Netanyahu said.

The negations have been halted due to Israel's refusal to freeze settlement construction in the occupied territories.

The Palestinians have repeatedly called for a clear framework for the talks and a timetable for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds, which was occupied by Israel in 1967.

Abbas says he won't return to the negotiation table without a complete Israeli settlement freeze which Israel has so far refused to do.

Citing a Palestinian official, Haaretz reported on Wednesday that Abbas had proposed that the Obama administration negotiate the final borders of a Palestinian state with Tel Aviv.

The state would have to be established in the territories Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast War, namely the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem al-Quds, according to the official.

He, however, said "the Palestinians would agree to swap up to 3 percent of the territory to accommodate some Israeli settlements".

SB/RE

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## Shades

*AP:"PA to U.S.: Negotiate with Israel on our behalf"*

2010-01-21 00:35:23

Ramallah-PalPress-T*he American news agency  "Associated Press (AP)" reported  a Palestinian official who spoke on condition of anonymity as  saying that President Abbas  has proposed that the Obama administration negotiates the final borders of a Palestinian state with Israel.*

The Palestinian official who works as an advisor to President Abbas said that the proposal suggests that US officials replace Palestinian official representatives during talks with Israel on condition that they receive clear instructions from the Palestinian Authority.

*The Palestinian official did not mention whether the US administration accepted or rejected this proposal , or how serious and realistic this proposal is.*

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## Shades

*Gaza: Qassam fighter announced dead of wounds sustained last week*

2010-01-20 13:42:01

Gaza-PalPress-Palestinian medical sources announced today Wednesday the death of Ghassan Salim Al Tarabeen (21 years) from Beit Hanoun northern Gaza Strip of wounds sustained last week.

The sources said that Tarabeen was injured in a bombing which took place whilst he was on jihad mission  in Beit Hanoun on January, 12, .

Taraben was lying in Al Shefaa Hospital in Gaza city since then.

Hamas affiliated military wing Al Qassam Brigades, announced on January,12 that one  of  their fighters was martyred, three others were injured one of whom was clinically dead whilst they were on  a Jihad mission  in Beit Hanoun northern Gaza.

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## Shades

*Israel's compassion in Haiti can't hide our ugly face in Gaza *  
19.01.10 - 00:14

Who said we are shut up inside our Tel Aviv bubble? How many small nations surrounded by enemies set up field hospitals on the other side of the world? Give us an earthquake in Haiti, a tsunami in Thailand or a terror attack in Kenya, and the IDF Spokesman's Office will triumph. A cargo plane can always be found to fly in military journalists to report on our fine young men from the Home Front Command.

Everyone is truly doing a wonderful job: the rescuers, searching for survivors; the physicians, saving lives; and the reporters, too, who are rightfully patting them all on the back. After Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon became the face we show the world, the entire international community can now see Israel's good side.

But the remarkable identification with the victims of the terrible tragedy in distant Haiti only underscores the indifference to the ongoing suffering of the people of Gaza. Only a little more than an hour's drive from the offices of Israel's major newspapers, 1.5 million people have been besieged on a desert island for two and a half years. Who cares that 80 percent of the men, women and children living in such proximity to us have fallen under the poverty line? How many Israelis know that half of all Gazans are dependent on charity, that Operation Cast Lead created hundreds of amputees, that raw sewage flows from the streets into the sea?

The Israeli newspaper reader knows about the baby pulled from the wreckage in Port-au-Prince. Few have heard about the infants who sleep in the ruins of their families' homes in Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces prohibition of reporters entering the Gaza Strip is an excellent excuse for burying our heads in the sand of Tel Aviv's beaches; on a good day, the sobering reports compiled by human rights organizations such as B'Tselem, Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel on the situation in Gaza are pushed to the newspapers' back pages. To get an idea of what life is like in the world's largest prison, one must forgo "Big Brother" and switch to one of the foreign networks.

The disaster in Haiti is a natural one; the one in Gaza is the unproud handiwork of man. Our handiwork. The IDF does not send cargo planes stuffed with medicines and medical equipment to Gaza. The missiles that Israel Air Force combat aircraft fired there a year ago hit nearly 60,000 homes and factories, turning 3,500 of them into rubble. Since then, 10,000 people have been living without running water, 40,000 without electricity. Ninety-seven percent of Gaza's factories are idle due to Israeli government restrictions on the import of raw materials for industry. Soon it will be one year since the international community pledged, at the emergency conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, to donate $4.5 billion for Gaza's reconstruction. Israel's ban on bringing in building materials is causing that money to lose its value.

A few days before Israeli physicians rushed to save the lives of injured Haitians, the authorities at the Erez checkpoint prevented 17 people from passing through in order to get to a Ramallah hospital for urgent corneal transplant surgery. Perhaps they voted for Hamas. At the same time that Israeli psychologists are treating Haiti's orphans with devotion, Israeli inspectors are making sure no one is attempting to plant a doll, a notebook or a bar of chocolate in a container bringing essential goods into Gaza. So what if the Goldstone Commission demanded that Israel lift the blockade on the Strip and end the collective punishment of its inhabitants? Only those who hate Israel could use frontier justice against the first country to set up a field hospital in Haiti.

True, Haiti's militias are not firing rockets at Israel. But the siege on Gaza has not stopped the Qassams from coming. The prohibition of cilantro, vinegar and ginger being brought into the Strip since June 2007 was intended to expedite the release of Gilad Shalit and facilitate the fall of the Hamas regime. As everyone knows, even though neither mission has been particularly successful, and despite international criticism, Israel continues to keep the gates of Gaza locked. Even the images of our excellent doctors in Haiti cannot blur our ugly face in the Strip. 



By:Akiva Eldar / Haaretz

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## Shades

*Fuel shortage in Gaza as cold season arrives*
Thu, 21 Jan 2010 08:08:50 GMT

Gazans stand in line to buy fuel.
Officials in Gaza warn that the dire gas shortage in the blockaded coastal strip could bring closer to reality a humanitarian crisis as a cold winter nears.

Mahmoud al-Khaznadar, vice president of the gas station owners union in the Gaza Strip, said Wednesday a weekly average of 100 tons of fuel has been allowed into the blockaded strip while the minimum need is 300 tons.

The temperature has fallen to five degrees Celsius as the cold season looms to affect thousands of Gazans whose homes do not traditionally have central heating, while thousands of others live in shelters after they saw their houses reduce to debris during Israel's 22-day war against Gaza in 2008.

A recent spell of heavy rains has aggravated the conditions for those in tents and make-shift homes where, Al-Khazandar said, families have recently had to wait almost a month to refill the gas canisters they use for their gas-burning stoves and water heaters.

"Most of the fuel in the Gaza Strip comes from Egypt and is smuggled through the tunnels," admitted the union leader who warned that the fuel does not undergo safety tests.

The official was referring to a network of cross-border tunnels used by Palestinians to push in basic needs into the impoverished area, which has been under an Israeli siege since 2007.

The only Gaza border terminal which is not controlled by Tel Aviv is the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt, which Cairo refuses to open.

Egypt has recently started construction of a deep-running steel wall to further disrupt the tunnels which are regularly flooded with gas or water by Egyptian forces and frequently pounded by Israeli jets.

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator and Association of International Development Agencies on Wednesday warned against the impact of the Gaza siege on the health of its 1.5 million inhabitants.

"More than 750,000 children live in Gaza. The humanitarian community is gravely concerned about the future of this generation whose health needs is not being met. The decline in infant mortality, which has occurred steadily over recent decades, has stalled in the last few years," said Max Gaylard, the resident humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories.

MRS/MTM/MD

----------


## Shades

*BBC
Palestinian graves found damaged after settlers visit*

Damaged gravestones at Awarta village
Food remnants were left on the tombstones

Damaged graves and racist graffiti have been found in the Palestinian village of Awarta in the northern West Bank after a Jewish group visited the area.

Palestinians said they had seen Jewish pilgrims, escorted by Israeli soldiers, in the area, which is also a Jewish burial site.

The Israeli military said it viewed the incident very seriously and was opening a military police investigation.

It comes a month after an arson attack on a mosque in the same area.

At least two tombstones were damaged in the cemetery outside the village, and food and rubbish were left on graves.

In the village, offensive slogans about Arabs were found scrawled in Hebrew, English and Russian.

Israelis are forbidden from entering Awarta, but the Israeli military occasionally organises group trips for settlers to visit nearby Jewish tombs.

Palestinians told the Israeli rights group B'tselem that such a visit had taken place on Tuesday night, and the damage was discovered on Wednesday morning.

B'tselem said the tombs may have been ones that had been previously broken and repaired.

Local media quoted a group that organises visits by settlers to Jewish tombs as saying "we have no right wing or anti-Arab ideology and if someone from our group is found responsible for these acts, we would be the first to condemn them".

This comes two days after 10 Jewish settlers from the nearby settlement of Yitzhar were arrested in a pre-dawn raid.

Police said they wanted to see if there was a link between the individuals and the burning of a mosque in the village of Yasuf in December.

Offensive slogans were daubed on the mosque wall in Hebrew.

Some hard-line settlers have said they will attack Palestinians in retaliation for any Israeli government measures they see as threatening Jewish settlements.

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently announced a ten-month lull in permits for new settlement homes on the West Bank, not including East Jerusalem.

All Jewish settlements in the West Bank, occupied by Israel in 1967, are illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.

----------


## Shades

*PA rejects Israeli guards on Palestinian state borders*
Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:23:35 GMT

The Palestinian Authority (PA) rejects hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's idea of policing eastern borders of a future Palestinian state.

A spokesman for the Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday that once the Israeli occupation ends, the Palestinians will not accept anything less than a completely sovereign Palestinian state.

"The Palestinian leadership will not accept the presence of a single Israeli soldier in the Palestinian territories after the end of the occupation," said the spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeina, adding that they will not accept that "our land be under Israeli protection."

"We will not accept anything less than a completely sovereign Palestinian state on all the territories with its own borders, resources and airspace," Abu Rudeina said.

He emphasized that Netanyahu's insistence on an Israeli border guard would place more obstacles in the way of restarting peace talks.

The PA announcement comes a day after Netanyahu said Tel Aviv aims to patrol the eastern borders of any future Palestinian state.

This is while the Palestinian side has repeatedly stated that without a complete freeze on illegal settlement constructions, they will not return to the negotiating table.

FTP/MMN

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## Shades

*Israel OKs new controversial weapon*
Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:50:12 GMT

The Thunder Generator produces shock waves that result in a loud sonic boom and extreme air pressure.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has approved the use and sale of a new weapon that simulates a feeling of being shot in those targeted.

The cannon called "the Thunder Generator" has been produced by the Netanya-based technology development advisory firm, ArmyTec company, and is capable of creating shockwaves that pass through people.

The feeling of "being hit" produced by the stun gun is said to be similar to that of standing in front of a firing squad.

The weapon uses a mixture of liquefied petroleum, cooking gas and air which traveling through the cannon barrel detonates and intensifies until it exits.

The process generates a succession of 60 to 100 high-velocity shock bursts per minute, each traveling at about 2,000 meters per second and lasting up to 300 milliseconds, according to a report by Defense News website, citing company data.

"That's more than enough for hours of continuous operation," said ArmyTec President Shlomo Tabak, a former Israeli military special operations officer, describing the new device as "controlled and safe."

Experts, however, say the Thunder Generator could be lethal or inflict permanent damage if fired at less than 10 meters.

MRS/HGH/MD

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## Shades

*Israel arrests 20 protestors in Jerusalem Al-Quds*
Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:24:12 GMT

*Hundreds of people, mostly Israeli activists, held a demonstration against Israeli settlement activities in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem Al-Quds on Friday.*

The *crowd estimated that as many as 600 people marched from the city center to the outskirts of Sheikh Jarrah to protest the "Jewish takeover" of several Palestinian homes by settler groups armed with court orders, The Jerusalem Post reported.*

Scuffles broke out as "police used riot dispersal means" to disperse the crowd, saying organizers had failed to get a permit for the gathering.

The Israeli forces arrested 20 people during the demonstration.

The neighborhood became the site of near-weekly demonstrations after several Palestinian families were evicted from their homes in recent months by settlers claiming Jewish ownership of the land.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem Al-Quds in the 1967 Six Day War and annexed it shortly afterwards in a move not recognized by the international community.

The Israeli regime claims the holy city as its "eternal, indivisible" capital, while the Palestinian Authority wants at least the implementation of the UN resolutions, which assign the control of the eastern part of the city to them.

SB/MMN

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## Shades

*US-PA talks futile, thanks to Israeli settlements*
Sat, 23 Jan 2010 02:27:10 GMT

US President Barack Obama's Mideast envoy failed to bring back the acting Palestinian Authority chief to the negotiating table with Israel due to Tel Aviv's refusal to halt settlement activities.

During a three-hour meeting with George Mitchell in Ramallah, Mahmoud Abbas reiterated calls for a complete halt to Israel's settlement construction as a precondition for the resumption of peace talks, Ynet reported.

According to chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat, Israel's insistence on maintaining control over the Jordan Valley  which makes up 28% of the West Bank, has hindered the peace process.

Israel is also refusing to negotiate on the future of Jerusalem Al-Quds, claiming it was one of the conditions for Palestinian recognition of Israel as a "Jewish state," according to Erakat.

"All of these things have derailed President Obama's peace train," he added.

Mitchell, who will leave the region over the weekend, said Obama remains committed to trying to broker a Mideast deal, but that his next move remains unclear.

Tel Aviv has so far refused to heed international calls for a complete freeze in illegal settlement activities, which violate the United Nations Security Council Resolutions 446, 452 and 465.

SB/MMN

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## Shades

IDC to Continue Support to PA
Date : 27/1/2010   Time : 20:52

PARIS, January 27, 2010 (WAFA)-  The chair and the co-chairs of the International Donors Conference (IDC), for the Palestinian State said they are going to continue support to the Palestinian Authority.

In a meeting held Tuesday in Paris, they reiterated the call from the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee meeting last September and the informal consultations between the United States, the European Union, France, Norway and the Quartet Representative on January 12 this year, to continue providing support to the Palestinian Authority in 2010 at least at the same level as in 2009 and as pledged in Paris Conference in December 2007.

The chair and the co-chairs (Foreign Minister Kouchner, Foreign Minister Stoere, High Representative Ashton and Quartet Representative Blair) welcomed the participation of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Aboul Gheit at their meeting on 26 January 2010.

The chair and co-chairs of the Conference commended the fact that most donor countries followed through on their pledges in 2007. The chair informed the co-chairs that some $5.5 billion of the $7.7 billion in budgetary aid, humanitarian aid and project assistance pledged has already been disbursed in two years.

The chair and co-chairs welcomed the reforms that the Palestinian Authority has carried out, particularly in the areas of public finance, governance and security. These reforms, financed by international aid and in past months complemented by commendable measures taken by the Israeli government to reduce obstacles to movement in the West Bank, helped obtain an encouraging economic growth rate again last year. Yet more measures need to be taken immediately to improve the movement of persons and goods, not only in the West Bank.

The chair and co-chairs noted that some measures, especially settlement activity in East Jerusalem, are illegal and prejudice the final realization of the two-state solution.

The co-chairs welcomed the Palestinian Authoritys will to continue the reforms, especially those concerning budgetary and judicial matters. They noted their expectation that the Palestinian Authority will continue in 2010 sound management of public expenditure.

They discussed the deplorable situation for the Palestinian people living under blockade in Gaza. Recalling the many appeals calling for the opening of border crossings, they agreed to intensify their efforts to provide more assistance and necessary support for reconstruction. The chair and co-chairs welcomed Egypts efforts to achieve reconciliation among Palestinians.

They emphasized the importance of early disbursements in order to ensure progress and safeguard political stability in the occupied Palestinian territory.

 The chair and co-chairs underscored the fact that financial efforts will be all the more effective if political negotiations are swiftly resumed in pursuit of a viable, contiguous, independent and democratic Palestinian State, living side by side with Israel in peace and security within secure and recognized borders, established on the basis of UN Security Council resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.

They endorsed the Quartet Representatives efforts to support Prime Minister Fayyads state building program, ensuring its robust implementation in support of political negotiations, and to secure measures to improve the situation in Gaza.

The chair and co-chairs expressed their full support to the steps undertaken by the Quartet and by the US to resume negotiations between the parties as soon as possible. Norway informed the participants that a next Ad Hoc Liaison Committee meeting is planned to take place during the first half of 2010.

 As agreed at the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee and Quartet meetings in September 2009, the chair and co-chairs reaffirmed their support for the Ending the Occupation, Establishing the State program that Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad put forward last summer. They called on the international community to intensify support to that plans implementation, both financially and politically.

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## Shades

Israel pays UN $10.5mn for Gaza war damage
Sat, 23 Jan 2010 10:53:25 GMT

Israel has paid $10.5m to the United Nations in compensation for damage to the world body facilities in the Gaza Strip during the three-week Israeli assault.

"The government of Israel has made a payment of 10.5 million US dollars to the United Nations, in respect to the losses sustained," UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said on Friday.

"With this payment, the United Nations has agreed that the financial issues... are concluded," he added.

The money will not itself repair the buildings and facilities damaged, he further explained.

Some 53 installations used by the United Nations Relief and Works agency were damaged during Israel's Gaza campaign, including 37 schools, six health centers, and two warehouses.

According to UN figures, a total of 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis lost their lives during the Israeli onslaught on Gaza.

HRF/JG/

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## Shades

* India Celebrates ITEC Day in Palestine*
Date : 27/1/2010   Time : 19:37

RAMALLAH, January 27, 2010 (WAFA)- The Representative Office of India to Palestinian National Authority organized Wednesday a reception  for celebrating ITEC Day.

 Around 100 Palestinian alumni of the ITEC courses, journalists , officials from Universities, Governorates and Palestinian Authority attended the function. The participants came not only from Ramallah but also from various governorates such as Jerusalem, Jenin, Nablus, Qalqilya, Tulkarem and Hebron.

Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation programme popularly known as 'ITEC' of the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India was launched in Palestine in 1998 as a bilateral programme of assistance of the Government of India, and so far around 350 Palestinians have been participated under ITEC training programmes till January 2010. 

Government of India has committed to provide 100 slots for training courses under ITEC programme to Palestine annually.

During the current year (March 2009-April 2010) over 90 Palestinian nationals, have already been admitted to various courses under ITEC programme. Around 57 candidates have already left for India to attend the courses for this year.

As is well-known, the entire cost of training, including the return international airfare, tuition fees, accommodation, emergency medical treatment, stipend, book allowances, and study tour, is borne by the Government of India. As many as 45 Institutions in different parts of India have been empanelled for conducting 206 training courses. Under ITEC 158 countries are invited to share in the Indian developmental experience in various fields. Since 1964, India has provided over US $2 billion worth of technical assistance to developing countries.

The training courses under ITEC programme cover a wide variety of subjects such as Information Technology (IT); Parliamentary Studies; Accounts & Finance; Mass Communication; English Language Courses; Rural Development; Teachers training; Bank Management; Educational Planning & Administration; Entrepreneurship Development; Secretariat Training and Management; Standardization & Quality Assurance; Repair and Maintenance of Telecom Equipment and Computers; Fertilizer Quality control; Food Technology; Tool Design; Poultry Training; Manpower Research; Statistical Education; Non Conventional Energy Resources; IT in Law Enforcement; Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development; Water Recourses,

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## Shades

*Israeli minister: Third war on Lebanon in sight*
Sat, 23 Jan 2010 16:14:28 GMT

An Israeli cabinet minister warns of the third Israeli war on Lebanon amid reports that Tel Aviv has mobilized its troops.

"We are heading toward a new confrontation in the north," said minister without portfolio, Yossi Peled in remarks carried by military radio and the Israeli news website Ynet, the AFP reported.

The London-based A-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper reported Friday that the troops had been called to the northern border with Lebanon to carry out "military maneuvers."

"I don't know when it will happen, just as we did not know when the second Lebanon war would erupt," Peled added, referring to Israel's ground and aerial bombardment of southern Lebanon in 2006, which left some 1,200, mostly civilian, Lebanese dead.

The 33-Day War and another bloody incursion in 2000 were fought off by Lebanon's Hezbollah resistance movement, which is an active member of the country's coalition government.

The movement has, meanwhile, reportedly tightened security measures along Lebanon's southern border in reaction to successive reports of Israeli military escalation.

Peled added that Israel would hold Hezbollah and Syria responsible for any attack on Israel.

Hezbollah leader, Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah and authorities in Damascus have repeatedly warned Tel Aviv against warlike incitements, promising due response.

HN/MMN

----------


## Shades

Israeli Soldier Breaks Nose of Palestinian Villager
Date : 27/1/2010   Time : 19:31

HEBRON, January 27, 2010 (WAFA)-  At least eighteen Jewish settlers, accompanied by Israeli soldiers, attacked Tuesday Palestinians in the West Bank village of At-Tuwani in the southern hills of Hebron.  An Israeli soldier punched a Palestinian villager, who was hospitalized for his injuries.  Doctors reporte that the nose of the villager has been broken and will require an operation.

Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) said in a press release Women of At-Tuwani also told CPTers that during the attack soldiers threatened them and their children, saying that if they did not leave the area, soldiers would arrest all of the men of the village and kill at least one.  Despite being extremely frightened, the women remained where they were and told the soldiers they were welcome to arrest them as well as the men.

As previously reported, the days incident began at 9:20 am when three army jeeps and a pickup truck with a settler from Havat Maon and the settlement security guard from Maon drove into At-Tuwani.  The settler walked throughout the village, entering Palestinian homes, accompanied by the soldiers and settlement security guard, and then remained in the village and made phone calls until other settlers arrived.

 The settlers were accompanied by Israeli soldiers in three army jeeps and the settlement security agent of Maon.  Villagers from At-Tuwani arrived, protesting the settlers coming into their village.  Immediately thereafter, Israeli settlers began throwing stones at the Palestinian villagers while soldiers fired three canisters of tear gas at Palestinians.

Afterwards, the settlers drove to the entrance of At-Tuwani, and began throwing stones at passers-by on the road.

----------


## Shades

Netanyahu seeks to ease tension over 'Lebanon war'
Sun, 24 Jan 2010 05:48:18 GMT

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has played down the possibility of a war on Lebanon after a member of his cabinet warned of a likely conflict with Hezbollah.

In a statement released by the prime minister's office, Netanyahu said Tel Aviv was not planning any attack on Lebanon, Reuters reported.

"Israel is not seeking any conflict with Lebanon," said the premier.

An official at the premier's office said Netanyahu's statement came in response to fears expressed recently over a minister's remarks about a new conflict with Hezbollah.

Earlier on Saturday, Yossi Peled, a minister without portfolio and a reserve army general, said another confrontation with Hezbollah was almost inevitable but he could not say when it might happen.

The London-based A-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper also reported escalated tension between the two sides after Tel Aviv called up its army forces to Lebanon's southern border.

The daily said Hezbollah also put its forces on high alert to retaliate a possible surprise attack on the country.

In 2006, Israel fought a 33-day war with Lebanon which was aimed at destroying Hezbollah's military power but eventually left the battle scene without achieving any of its objectives.

SB/DT

----------


## Shades

*Haaretz: Congressmen Demand Obama Press Israel Ease Gaza Blockade*
Date : 27/1/2010   Time : 13:14

TEL AVIV, January 27, 2010 (WAFA)- Israeli Daily Newspaper Haaretz said, today, that a group of Congress men have apposed President Barrack Obama with a letter singed by them to put pressure on Israel to ease the siege of the Gaza Strip. This initiative proposal  was lead by Democratic representatives Jim McDermott and Keith Ellison, who is the first Muslim to be become a Congress man.



Haaretz explained that in the letter, both congress men said that despite the Israeli needs of securing its boarders, it does not have the right to address the residents of Gaza strip with mass punishment.



They also requested President Obama to press for immediate relief for the citizens and an ease on movement of those who are under the siege as an urgent component of his broader Middle East peace efforts, the paper continued.



Moreover, they demanded allowing importing construction materials in order to rebuild what had been demolished and damaged through the latest Israeli Offensive against the Gaza Strip, according to Haaretz.



Ellison has harshly criticized the House of Representatives decision to reject the Goldstone report, arguing that the report had presented pure facts and recommendations for the future, Haaretz added, over time, the rejection had hurt the Obamas administration roll as an honest  mediator in the peace process in the Middle East.



In addition to members of Congress, several leftist organizations also signed the letter, including Americans for Peace Now and J Street.



In addition, the Daily added that, a letter signed by 33 members of Congress was sent to U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to raise the issue with Israel of Gazan students who are having difficulty studying at universities in the West Bank due to the lack of free passage between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.



Haaretz concluded that the U.S State Department response to the letter was, that education is an a essential right and crucial for moderation.

----------


## Shades

Knesset Rejects Draft Law Against Offending Prophet Mohammad
Date : 27/1/2010   Time : 12:54

TAYBEH, January 27, 2010 (WAFA)- The Israeli Knesset rejects draft law demanding penalties against anybody verbally attacking the Prophet Mohammad or insulting any other religious feelings or rituals.



Suggested by MK Ibrahim Abdullah of the United Arab List for Renewal, the draft law was opposed by 36 MKs and supported only by three.



Presenting the draft law, MK Abdullah talked of Islams tolerance and respect to all prophets, being the only religion recognizing respect for all prophets.



In his presentation MK Abdullah suggested that this draft law comes to amend the Israeli Penalty Code, that convicts any tangible offense against the prophets, holy books or religious symbols.



In response to the governments rejection of this draft law, he said: the governments rejection of the draft law of penalties against offenses of Prophet Mohammad and other prophets, is in itself an offense to our religious feelings.

----------


## Shades

Israeli forces wound 2 Palestinians in WB
Sun, 24 Jan 2010 06:49:59 GMT

Israeli forces have opened fire on Palestinians and wounded two youths as they were attacked by the Jewish settlers in the West Bank village of Borin.

Palestinian witnesses said an Israeli soldier opened fire on the Palestinian residents after they were attacked by Jewish settlers in the village near the city of Nablus, Xinhua reported.

Two Palestinian youths were wounded in the attack, local medics said.

The clashes erupted when dozens of Jewish settlers of the Yitzhar illegal settlement stormed the village and its residents.

Palestinians said this is the third time in three weeks that the settlers, usually backed by Israeli soldiers, attack the village.

SB/DT

----------


## Shades

IOF Arrests 8 Palestinians in West Bank
Date : 27/1/2010   Time : 12:17

WEST BANK, January 27, 2010 (WAFA)- Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested, today, eight Palestinians from the West Bank cities of Nablus and Hebron.



Eyewitnesses from Burqa Village north of Nablus, north of the West Bank said that IOF attacked the village, surrounded several houses and arrested 6 Palestinian young men.

Palestinian Authority Settlement File Official in the north of the West Bank affirmed that the number of Palestinians arrested from the village has reached  30 in less than a month.



Meanwhile, Israeli troops arrested a Palestinian from Doura village south of Hebron, and another from Beit Ummer.

----------


## Shades

*Israel sends Goldstone rebuttal to UN*
Sun, 24 Jan 2010 10:19:14 GMT

Israel has almost completed a rebuttal to the Goldstone report which criticizes Tel Aviv for committing war crimes in its last year war on the Gaza Strip.

According to a report published by The New York Times, the rebuttal which, according to Israeli, includes "photographic proof" that contradicts war crime charges, aims to dispel the harsh report of grave violation of international and humanitarian law in Gaza.

The rebuttal which will be given to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the coming weeks was put together by Israel's National Security Council, the Justice Ministry, the Foreign Ministry, and the military prosecutor.

The UN report led by former South African judge, Richard Goldstone concluded last September that Israel carried out "deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian objects" in January-December war on Gaza.

The 575-page UN-ordered report asserts seven incidents in which Palestinian civilians were shot while leaving their homes, trying to run for safety or waving white flags.

The report also accused Hamas of infringing international conventions.

In November 2009, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution that accuses Israel of war crimes and criminal acts against humanity during the weeks-long onslaught on the Gaza Strip.

A hundred fourteen states endorsed the resolution while only 18 states including the US and Israel objected to the report's adoption. Forty-four countries also abstained including France, Britain and Russia.

Israel however dismissed the UN report as "one-sided."

"We ourselves set up investigations into 140 complaints," said Maj. Gen. Avichai Mandelblit, the Israeli military advocate general.

"It is when you read these other reports and complaints that you realize how truly vicious the Goldstone report is," he added.

Some details revealed to the Times shows the rebuttal includes some photos of Gaza's sole flour mill destructed during the war. According to the Goldstone report, the Bader flour mill "was hit by an airstrike, possibly by an F-16."

Israel however dismisses the report and says it has "photographic proof" that the mill was accidentally hit by artillery in the course of a firefight with Hamas fighters.

The second case concerned the destruction of a wastewater plant which the UN report contended that was hit by a "deliberate and premeditated" powerful Israeli missile strike. The Israelis however accuse Hamas of destroying the infrastructure.

SB/DT

----------


## Shades

UNRWA: Flood Devastated Gaza Sites are Shocking
Date : 26/1/2010   Time : 15:55

GAZA, January 26, 2010 (WAFA)- Shocking. That's all that can be said of the sight al Mughraqa, Gaza, an area severely affected by the flooding that devastated areas of Gaza on Monday, Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) reported.

Most of the residents of Mughraqa, near Nuseirat camp, are refugees with no land of their own. Many live in temporary shelters or tents with the sheep, camels, chicken and other livestock on whose produce they depend, UNRWA added.

UNRWA tells the story of Nuzha Al Rash, who survived Monday's floods, along with her husband Fayez and four children.

'It hit us when the dark started', she explains. 'I heard some loud speakers, telling people to leave their homes, because the wadi  the water - was coming.

'I woke up my children and hurried out, and saw lots of people running and shouting. The only thing I could think about was to run away with my children and husband.

Fayez helped Nuzha and the kids outside, telling them tp keep going while he went back to collect the family's sheep and chicken. But on reaching their home, he found the water level approaching two meters and he was forced to move away. All of Fayez's animals were drowned.

Now Fayez, Nuzha and their young children are taking refuge at one of the local government schools. Beyond this temporary option, they have no other place to go. Fayez is utterly depressed at the loss of his home and livelihood. 'These were my only means of making a living for my family', he says. 'Now I have no idea how I am going to feed my children or provide their basic needs.

'The only good thing from all this is that my family is safe'.

The couple's children are unable to fall asleep; when they do manage, they are plagued by nightmares. Five year old Abdel, their youngest, says: 'my mom woke me up after I was feeling warm. There was too much water, I could feel it, and it was too dark and many people were shouting. It was scary.'

Abdel adds that he feels very sad, because he wasn't able to salvage his new shoes, or indeed any socks. 'It is very cold, and my feet are bare.'

UNRWA is supplying the family with mattresses, blankets and some clothing, as well as a hygiene kit, and food parcels. Schools in Gaza are currently closed for the winter holiday, so the family can stay put for now, surviving on the help they have received. But when term begins in ten days time, Nuzha and family will be searching for a place where they can live, or at least sleep, while they recover from the devasting effects of the flood.

----------


## Shades

*Nilin Protest Photo Wins Silver Camera Award *  


27.01.10 - 08:57
Holland Cris Toala Olivares, a Dutch citizen of Ecuadorian origin, has won the Silver Camera Award in the Foreign News category for a photo taken during a protest in Nilin Village in the West Bank in October 2009. ImageThe image is of a cluster of tear gas grenades exploding over a grove of Olive trees while demonstrators take cover.
A private Twitter released by a Dutch national in late January states that Olivares was part of a Olive harvesting program provided by the Joint Advocacy Initiative of the YMCA and YWCA of Palestine.  Olivares website showcases work also produced in Gaza, Hebron, and West Bank settlements, along with albums taken in Europe and Africa.

The Silver Camera award is a long-running competition for Dutch photojournalists working both in the Netherlands and abroad.  The online edition of The Hague reported that there were 9500 entries for 2009.

Nilin is a West Bank village in the Ramallah District with a population of about 9,000.  Much of its agricultural land has been seized by the Israeli occupational forces during the construction of the Separation Wall.  Protests regarding the affects of the ongoing occupation are frequent, and often attract both international human rights activists and journalists.

Tear gas is regularly used by both the Israeli Defense Forces and various police units to disperse non-violent demonstrations in the West Bank and Israel, making difficult for those who inhale it to breathe.  While the gas itself is not lethal, the canisters themselves can be lethal when shot as a projectile, as shown in Olivares photo, as opposed to being lobbed by hand.  


PNN Staff: An exhibition of Toalas work can be seen online at Cris Toala Olivares Photography .  Please respect the work of Toala Olivare by asking permission before using this and other images by contacting him at the above website.

----------


## Shades

*Israel bars Belgian minister way into Gaza*
Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:45:23 GMT

A Belgian minister, barred by Israel from visiting the Gaza Strip, has declared that he will take the matter to the European Union.

Israel on Sunday prevented Belgian Cooperation and Development Minister Charles Michel from going to the Gaza Strip on the grounds that his visit would give legitimacy to the Islamic Hamas movement running the territory.

Michel protested that Israel's action was "unacceptable."

"These kinds of visits can only strengthen Hamas and give it legitimacy," AFP quoted Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon as saying.

Israel, supported by Egypt, has sealed Gaza off since Hamas won parliamentary elections in 2007.

Belgium has pledged funds for building schools in Gaza but construction has not yet begun due to the Israeli siege.

Last week, Amnesty International slammed both Israel and Egypt for the siege, saying that they are "collectively punishing" the population of Gaza.

Israel launched a disproportionate offensive against the Gaza Strip last year, killing at least 1,400 people, many of them women and children.

MGH/TG/DT

----------


## Shades

Mubarak defends Gaza wall despite criticism
Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:21:13 GMT

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has strongly defended his decision to construct an underground "Iron Wall" on the border with the Gaza Strip.

Mubarak, who has come under international fire for aiding Israel in imposing a blockade on Gaza, said the new barrier would help Egypt protect its national security and sovereignty.

"The works and reinforcements on our eastern border are a matter of Egyptian sovereignty. We do not accept a debate on the issue with anyone," the president said in a speech to mark Police Day.

He also added that the "Iron Wall" construction would continue with force, stressing that his government would not allow chaos, terrorism and sabotage within its borders.

The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli siege since the Hamas resistance movement won the parliamentary elections in 2007.

The underground steel barrier tightens the Israeli siege on the impoverished sliver.

Gazans say they have been using the network of underground tunnels to bring in their basic necessities including food and medicine after Tel Aviv cut them off from the rest of the world.

Egyptian authorities have remained tight-lipped about the details of the work amid rising anti-Egypt sentiments across the globe.

On Sunday, Human Rights Watch once again criticized Egypt for its role in collectively punishing Gazans by keeping its Rafah border crossing closed.

While primarily pointing its finger at Israel for refusing Gazans their basic needs, the leading humanitarian organization also argued that Egypt's role in the deadly siege "cannot be denied."

"If Cairo wanted to it could end the siege of Gaza tomorrow," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Director of the group's Middle East and North Africa division.

FF/TG/DT

----------


## Shades

*Netanyahu: Israel will never quit settlements*
Mon, 25 Jan 2010 09:01:27 GMT

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that the Jewish settlement blocs in the West Bank would always remain part of Israel.

Netanyahu made the remark during a ceremony to mark Israeli Arbor Day in the settlement of Maale Adumim in the West Bank on Sunday, BBC reported.

Israel has long insisted on maintaining a permanent hold over certain groups of settlements, including those Netanyahu referred to on Sunday.

Netanyahu's remarks came on a day when the American envoy, George J. Mitchell, shuttled between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in a bid to revive the long-stalled Middle East peace process.

Netanyahu's comments have angered Palestinians, who want an independent state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

"This is an unacceptable act that destroys all the efforts being exerted by Senator Mitchell in order to bring back the parties to the negotiating table," Palestinian Authority Spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told the Associated Press.

The UN has repeatedly urged Israel to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank and East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

MGH/JG/DT

----------


## Shades

*Shooting The Messenger *  
27.01.10 - 00:50
With a new year comes new tactics from Israels security forces. 2009 began with a determined effort to destroy their enemies in Gaza, claiming the lives of 500 children in the process.

ImageIt must have been an irritation to the military that they could not so easily wipe out the journalists, activists and relief workers who made their atrocities public. As a new year dawns, it is these voices of conscience who are becoming an endangered species.

There is growing evidence to suggest a co-ordinated campaign to lessen international presence in the Palestinian territories. This week the Ministry of Interior announced there would be no new work permits for NGO employees, forcing them to rely on tourist visas that prohibit employment.

The impact on the work of aid organisations like Handicap and Save the Children International is likely to be severe. A Handicap spokesman claimed the ruling will "strongly affect the implementation of projects-as most of the project managers are expatriates. The process will be slower and field work will suffer".

Of around 150 NGOs at work in the Palestinian territories, only the 12 established before 1967 will not face the disruption of losing their staff. The ruling will also affect the ability of local NGOs to recieive funding from foreign donors, whose representatives will be prevented from making on site assessments of costs. Dr. Ali Ahmed of Save the Children in Gaza predicts "expensive work with the physically disabled will now be harder to facilitate." Although Save the Children is apolitical, Ahmed believes the decision is based on "higher level issues, it is another case of collective punishment for Palestinians." 

Last July saw the creation of Oz (Hebrew for courage), an elite task force charged solely with identifying and expelling immigrants from Israels borders. Given a target of 100,000 expulsions by 2013, the forces zeal for their work is renowned. Ozs practises within Israel proper, including violent arrests and the detention of minors, have courted controversy. But in several cases this year Oz, working with the Israeli police, have used their powers to arrest western activists in the West Bank.

"It means we are back to direct occupation", says Omar Shatz, a defence lawyer who has represented victims of this new policy. "It means Israel are recognising the West Bank as Israel," he continued, "the police have no authority in Ramallah but still we are seeing an increase in these cases." One of his clients, Eva Novakova, was media co-ordinator for the International Solidarity Campaign. The 28 year old was pulled out of bed at around 3am on the 11th of January and promptly deported to her native Czech Republic the same day. Shatz believes that had the case gone to court the illegal manner of her arrest would have invalidated the expulsion, but "tired and intimidated", Novakova chose to accept it. "The immigration units entrance into Ramallah violates the Palestinian Authoritys sovereignty on its territory and the Oslo Accords," said lawyer Yiftach Cohen, who also represented Novakova.

Another activist, Ryan Olander, was held for over a month in Tel Aviv for participating in a Sheikh Jarrah demonstration. Along with two other foreign nationals, was seized by Israeli police before being turned over to Oz. "We were basically kidnapped from court by immigration", Olander explained, "they took me and cancelled my visa (which was valid) and said I was here illegally. The collusion between police and immigration was quite clear." Olander was later cleared on appeal. "The judge ruled that my arrest was illegal and was very critical of the police".

Last week saw the most high profile case of its type. Hagai Elad, head of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, was one of 17 Israelis arrested at a protest in Sheikh Jarrah last Friday. All were released without charge within 36 hours. Many believe Elads fame was the reason for his arrest, making a statement that such activism will not be tolerated, regardless of nationality or stature.

The pattern of arresting Palestinian protestors is well established. 32 residents of Bilin, a hub of stop the wall protests, have been arrested in the past six months. But the focus on international participants is a new development, a sign that Israels security forces are going to ever greater lengths to suppress dissent. Dr Mustapha Barghouthi, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative, believes "the ongoing campaign of harassment and intimidation against activists" indicates that "Israel clearly aims to dismantle any resistance".

The press have also become a target. In the annual Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Sans Frontieres, Israel falls from 47th to 93rd in the world. For the first time it is no longer the top middle eastern nation, which RSF attributes to "five arrests of journalists, some of them completely illegal, and three cases of imprisonment. The military censorship applied to all the media is also posing a threat to journalists." The index does not include Israels extra-territorial actions, most notably Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, that saw three journalists killed and 20 injured during the conflict.

This week Jared Malsin, an American editor at Maan News Agency, was deported after a weeks detention at Ben Gurion airport. While the Ministry of Interior have claimed this was unrelated to Malsins reporting, which often criticised Israeli policy, it has emerged that his interrogators were fully aware of his position. While in custody Malsin was forced to sign a paper waiving his right of appeal, giving the lie to official reports that he left voluntarily. "I had no clue I was waiving anything", he said from New York, "I wish I hadnt signed it. The guards were extremely manipulative and misleading in the way they dealt with me. There is no such thing as a voluntary deportation."

Although individual organisations face disruption through loss of staff and expertise, the Palestinian population as a whole may suffer more through loss of witnesses. Whatever the plans of Israels security forces, it seems they are determined the world know as little about them as possible. So much for transparency in the middle-easts flagship democracy.

Source: Palestine Monitor

----------


## Shades

*Shooting The Messenger *  
27.01.10 - 00:50
With a new year comes new tactics from Israels security forces. 2009 began with a determined effort to destroy their enemies in Gaza, claiming the lives of 500 children in the process.

ImageIt must have been an irritation to the military that they could not so easily wipe out the journalists, activists and relief workers who made their atrocities public. As a new year dawns, it is these voices of conscience who are becoming an endangered species.

There is growing evidence to suggest a co-ordinated campaign to lessen international presence in the Palestinian territories. This week the Ministry of Interior announced there would be no new work permits for NGO employees, forcing them to rely on tourist visas that prohibit employment.

The impact on the work of aid organisations like Handicap and Save the Children International is likely to be severe. A Handicap spokesman claimed the ruling will "strongly affect the implementation of projects-as most of the project managers are expatriates. The process will be slower and field work will suffer".

Of around 150 NGOs at work in the Palestinian territories, only the 12 established before 1967 will not face the disruption of losing their staff. The ruling will also affect the ability of local NGOs to recieive funding from foreign donors, whose representatives will be prevented from making on site assessments of costs. Dr. Ali Ahmed of Save the Children in Gaza predicts "expensive work with the physically disabled will now be harder to facilitate." Although Save the Children is apolitical, Ahmed believes the decision is based on "higher level issues, it is another case of collective punishment for Palestinians." 

Last July saw the creation of Oz (Hebrew for courage), an elite task force charged solely with identifying and expelling immigrants from Israels borders. Given a target of 100,000 expulsions by 2013, the forces zeal for their work is renowned. Ozs practises within Israel proper, including violent arrests and the detention of minors, have courted controversy. But in several cases this year Oz, working with the Israeli police, have used their powers to arrest western activists in the West Bank.

"It means we are back to direct occupation", says Omar Shatz, a defence lawyer who has represented victims of this new policy. "It means Israel are recognising the West Bank as Israel," he continued, "the police have no authority in Ramallah but still we are seeing an increase in these cases." One of his clients, Eva Novakova, was media co-ordinator for the International Solidarity Campaign. The 28 year old was pulled out of bed at around 3am on the 11th of January and promptly deported to her native Czech Republic the same day. Shatz believes that had the case gone to court the illegal manner of her arrest would have invalidated the expulsion, but "tired and intimidated", Novakova chose to accept it. "The immigration units entrance into Ramallah violates the Palestinian Authoritys sovereignty on its territory and the Oslo Accords," said lawyer Yiftach Cohen, who also represented Novakova.

Another activist, Ryan Olander, was held for over a month in Tel Aviv for participating in a Sheikh Jarrah demonstration. Along with two other foreign nationals, was seized by Israeli police before being turned over to Oz. "We were basically kidnapped from court by immigration", Olander explained, "they took me and cancelled my visa (which was valid) and said I was here illegally. The collusion between police and immigration was quite clear." Olander was later cleared on appeal. "The judge ruled that my arrest was illegal and was very critical of the police".

Last week saw the most high profile case of its type. Hagai Elad, head of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, was one of 17 Israelis arrested at a protest in Sheikh Jarrah last Friday. All were released without charge within 36 hours. Many believe Elads fame was the reason for his arrest, making a statement that such activism will not be tolerated, regardless of nationality or stature.

The pattern of arresting Palestinian protestors is well established. 32 residents of Bilin, a hub of stop the wall protests, have been arrested in the past six months. But the focus on international participants is a new development, a sign that Israels security forces are going to ever greater lengths to suppress dissent. Dr Mustapha Barghouthi, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative, believes "the ongoing campaign of harassment and intimidation against activists" indicates that "Israel clearly aims to dismantle any resistance".

The press have also become a target. In the annual Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Sans Frontieres, Israel falls from 47th to 93rd in the world. For the first time it is no longer the top middle eastern nation, which RSF attributes to "five arrests of journalists, some of them completely illegal, and three cases of imprisonment. The military censorship applied to all the media is also posing a threat to journalists." The index does not include Israels extra-territorial actions, most notably Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, that saw three journalists killed and 20 injured during the conflict.

This week Jared Malsin, an American editor at Maan News Agency, was deported after a weeks detention at Ben Gurion airport. While the Ministry of Interior have claimed this was unrelated to Malsins reporting, which often criticised Israeli policy, it has emerged that his interrogators were fully aware of his position. While in custody Malsin was forced to sign a paper waiving his right of appeal, giving the lie to official reports that he left voluntarily. "I had no clue I was waiving anything", he said from New York, "I wish I hadnt signed it. The guards were extremely manipulative and misleading in the way they dealt with me. There is no such thing as a voluntary deportation."

Although individual organisations face disruption through loss of staff and expertise, the Palestinian population as a whole may suffer more through loss of witnesses. Whatever the plans of Israels security forces, it seems they are determined the world know as little about them as possible. So much for transparency in the middle-easts flagship democracy.

Source: Palestine Monitor

----------


## Shades

*Europeans say Jews exploit past to extort money*
Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:52:54 GMT

Israeli rabbis
Nearly half of western Europeans believe jews exploit their 'past persecution' in order to extort money, a new Israeli report says.

The report, which the Jewish Agency conducted jointly with Israel's Information and Diaspora Ministry, found that 42 percent of those polled by the University of Bielefeld in Germany agreed that "jews exploit the past to extort money," Haaretz reported on Monday.

The countries in which the highest percentage of the population agreed with that statement were Poland and Spain.

There were more anti-Israeli incidents in 2009 than in any year since World War II, according to the annual Jewish Agency report released January 24.

During the first three months of 2009, immediately following Israel's three-week offensive in the Gaza Strip, there were as many anti-Semitic incidents recorded as there had been for the entire year of 2008.

"With the start of the operation, a wave of acts of anti-Semitism started across the world," the report said, referring to last winter's Operation Cast Lead, during which over 1,400 Palestinians were killed.

At the press conference in which the report was released, officials also referred to a film that accuses Israel of stealing human organs at the field hospital set up by the Israel Defense Forces in Haiti.

The Jewish Agency is in charge of immigration and the absorption of jews coming into Israel.

MGH/JG/DT

----------


## Shades

*Mubarak condones Gaza starvation, Hamas suggests*
Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:25:43 GMT

Lebanese leftist activists carry an Israeli flag with a defaced image of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak (Reuters photo).
Egypt's defense of the sealing its border with Gaza amounts to condoning of the Palestinian suffering, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas suggests.

Hamas Spokesman Mushir al-Masri on Monday offered the group's reaction to the argument of the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak calling the borderline fortification a matter of 'sovereignty,' the Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported.

Mubarak said Sunday that "fortifications along our eastern border are a work of Egyptian sovereignty, and we refuse to enter into a debate with anyone [about them]."

Al-Masri said the Egyptian leader's statements "contradict his earlier remarks that he would not allow the starvation of the Palestinian people in Gaza."

He added that "Mubarak's remarks defending the steel wall are an address on the blockade of 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."

The densely-populated coastal sliver continues to suffer from an all-out Israeli-imposed blockade which has deprived the territory of basic necessities for over two years.

Cairo has also kept shut the Rafah border crossing - the Gaza Strip's only border that bypasses Israel - claiming that the border post is an Egyptian-Israeli crossing and should not be used without Tel Aviv's permission.

The Egyptian government is additionally building a steel wall along the Gaza border to prevent the trafficking of any goods to the strip.

"Egypt's steel wall does not serve the interests of any Arab party...The Israeli occupation benefits from it, because it has killed the last lifeline keeping the Gaza Strip alive after two and a half years of siege," al-Masri added.

The Human Rights Watch once again criticized Cairo on Sunday for its role in collectively punishing Gazans by keeping the Rafah border closed.

The organization primarily pointed its finger at Israel for refusing Gazans their basic living requirements, while arguing that Egypt's role in the deadly siege "cannot be denied."

"If Cairo wanted to, it could end the siege of Gaza tomorrow," said Sarah Leah Whitson, the director of the group's Middle East and North Africa division.

HN/MB

----------


## Shades

Correct me if I am wrong  	 
25.01.10 - 23:42

George Mitchell, US envoy to the Middle East, talked with Mahmoud Abbas asking him to return to the talks with Israel. Mitchell told Abbas that Washington could only help create a Palestinian state if the Palestinians engage in direct talks with Israel.


Interestingly enough, this meeting took place shortly after Mitchell concluded talks with the Israeli officials who stressed that Israel is willing to return to the talks with no pre conditions regarding settlements and East Jerusalem. The Palestinians want Israel to halt all settlement expansion before peace talks materialize.


Time magazine quoted President Obama as saying that his administration had overestimated its ability to bring both sides to the table.


Abbas however, is expected to head to Europe in hopes of gaining European support for backing his demands that Israel halts all settlement construction in the West Bank including Jerusalem. 

Let us suppose that Abbas is successful in getting the European support for his demands. As a matter of fact, let us hypothesize that he is successful is getting the whole world to support his demands. However, if he cannot pressure the US to curve its policy in the Middle East, he, the European leaders and the whole world will not be able to change the status quo currently existing in the Middle East.


It is obvious by now that US politicians bend under Israeli pressure and consciously or unconsciously seem to always advocate on behalf of Israel. Regardless of the reason or the reasons that lie behind this political behaviour, without The United States willingness to stop backing Israel financially, militarily and diplomatically, there can never be any change to the current situation.
So, what are the Palestinians people to do?


Long before the Leaders of Palestine travel the world seeking a solution for their dilemma, they must unify their leadership, have one objective and uphold the national interest of the Palestinian people. In so far, those three prerequisites are absent from any current political agenda.


I cannot stress how critical and urgent the situation in Palestine is. On the one hand, the Palestinians have a divided leadership that seems to be or actually is moving in circles and not get anywhere. On the other hand, Israel seems to be or actually is showing total disregard and respect towards a United Nations that seems to be and actually is helpless in forcing its resolutions against Israel.  
So, I ask again, what are the Palestinian to do?


At a time when the Palestinian people took up armed resistance against the fatal, unjust and devastating Israeli occupation, Western democracies were quick to label them as terrorists and yet, those same Western democracies managed to overlook the enormous crimes committed against the Palestinian people by Israel and its Western allies.


As the Palestinians changed their course of action and decided to diplomatically achieve their just cause, the Israeli leadership and the US administration were quick to call the Palestinian leader at the time, Mr. Yassir Arafat, irrelevant and not a partner in peace.   
In the midst of all this, Israel continues with its occupation of Palestine, illegally confiscating Palestinian land, enhancing old settlements and building new ones and continues building its separation wall, therefore creating the largest concentration camp in history.


In conclusion, I have to ask the one dreadful question that every one seems to avoid asking. Is Palestine beyond redemption?



By MitriI. Musleh

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## Shades

*Blockade threatens students' future in Gaza*
Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:17:28 GMT

Many students in the Gaza Strip aspire to a higher education abroad but the Israeli-Egyptian blockade deprives them of setting out on their journey.

Hundreds of Gaza graduates receive scholarship to attend universities abroad, but they are trapped in the impoverished coastal enclave. They are going to lose their scholarships according to a report by Press TV correspondent

Ayman Quader is one of these students. He has finished his bachelor's degree and was awarded a scholarship yet he cannot leave Gaza. The first term of his scholarship begins in February.

Quader told our correspondent that he is being prevented from going out by the complete siege of the Gaza Strip. Quader calls on all those who are concerned with humanitarian conditions in Gaza to support him and his peers who seek a brighter future in schools abroad.

Israel has imposed crippling restrictions on the Gaza Strip since 2007, preventing the shipment of food, fuel and other essentials into the populated region, pushing its impoverished population to the verge of starvation.

The condition has been further worsened by Egypt's refusal to open the Rafah crossing  the only alternative which is a border terminal not controlled by Israel .

Along with the other residents of the Gaza Strip, students must wait until the next opening of the Rafah crossing. But there are no scheduled openings of the only gate for the 1.5 million Palestinians in the blockaded region.

Academicians in Gaza argue that traveling abroad is one of the fundamental rights of students which must not be violated by political disputes.

"I'm disappointed and frustrated as a teacher because my students are losing golden opportunities to pursue their studies abroad," said a Gaza University teacher, Akreem Habeeb.

Habeeb expressed regret that many of his students with scholarships from European and American universities lost their chance because they have not been allowed to leave the Gaza Strip.

"These students are living in a great fear of losing their seats and universities," Gaza Education Minister Ahmad al-Najjar told Press TV, warning "their future is in a great danger."

Students in the Gaza Strip have held several protests against the enclosure of their homeland, calling upon Egyptian authorities to facilitate their traveling abroad, requests that appear to fall on deaf ears in Cairo.

MRS/JG/DT

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## Shades

*Israel accuses Turkish PM of anti Semitism*
Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:51:23 GMT

Israel has accused Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of inciting "anti-Semitism" by making remarks on the war crimes committed against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

A new report prepared by the foreign ministry in Tel Aviv charges that although Erdogan has stresses that anti-Semitism is "a crime against humanity," he "indirectly incites and encourages" it in Turkey, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

"In our estimate, ever since his party took power, Erdogan has conducted an ongoing process of ... fashioning a negative view of Israel in Turkish public opinion," through endless talks of Palestinian suffering, repeatedly accusing Israel of war crimes and even "anti-Semitic expressions and incitement," read the report.

The seven-page report written by the Center for Political Research has already been distributed to Israeli embassies and consulates abroad.

"For Erdogan and some of those around him," the report claimed, "there is no distinction between 'Israeli' and 'Jewish,' and therefore, [their] anti-Israel fervor and criticism become anti-Jewish."

"Turkey today, under the leadership of the AKP [Erdogan's Justice and Development Party], is different from the Turkey with which Israel forged a strategic relationship in the early 1990s," the report concluded.

Relations between Israel and Turkey began to deteriorate after Erdogan publicly slammed Israel over its late 2008 incursion into Gaza and charged the regime with committing "barbarian" acts against the Palestinian civilians.

SB/MB

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## Shades

Preserving Palestines Roots of Resistance  	  Print   	  E-mail
23.01.10 - 21:57

Anyone who has reveled in Middle Eastern or Mediterranean cuisine knows the important role olives play in giving their taste buds cause to cheer. Whether eaten whole or through their oil, olives complete nearly any meal. Yet, here in Palestine in particular, zaytoun (olives) provide flavor to our lives beyond simply satisfying our palates. They are a vital part of the Palestinian economy, and are the nations largest commercial crop. According to UN figures, olive trees account for more than 45 percent of all farmland and 80 percent of all orchards in Palestine. They also happen to be a consistent target for Israeli settler and military attacks.

In November, a group of settlers from the Yitzhar settlement, south of Nablus, cut down nearly 100 olive trees in the village of Burin the day before it was about to celebrate the harvest; a celebration which comes after two years of tending. In the village of Beit Ummar in Hebron, Israeli troops banned farmers from planting over 1,500 olive trees by claiming it was a closed military area, despite an Israeli court allowing the farmers to do so. And according to the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture a productive olive tree is uprooted [by the Israeli military and settlers] every minute in the occupied Palestinian territories. Such incidents have become increasingly frequent. Like termites, they gnaw away at Palestines geographical, cultural, and economic landscapes, particularly affecting the 65 percent of Palestinian families living in rural areas that are dependent on the agricultural sector.

In an attempt to rebuild the livelihoods of these families, crop-planting projects have begun to sprout up across the West Bank. This past Saturday, January 16, I trekked out to such an event with some friends. We woke up early to weave our way through Palestines notorious hills to a village in northwest Nablus called Deir Sharaf. Upon stepping out our service taxi, we were greeted by community members and volunteers who held out hoes and rakes for us to take, telling us with broad, knowing smiles that we should get busy planting.

The event was the first for the village, but not the last; part of the 10,000 Trees for Nablus Campaign. Organized by Al-Hayat Center for Civil Society Development and supported by two UK-based organizations, the Friends of Nablus & Surrounding Areas Association (FONSA) and the Dundee Nablus Twinning Association (DNTA), the initiative seeks to provide a sustainable source of income for the communitys families.

Yet, as is often the case when it comes to Palestinian rights to their land and Israeli counter claims, this endeavor did not come without struggle and stipulations. Council members of Al-Hayat Center explained that the Israeli army prevented them from planting the trees in their original location, as it was too close to the [separation] wall. Subsequently, residents of Deir Sharaf were warned that if they dared to go near it, they would be shot. Their neighbors in the settlement of Shave Shomron did not receive this same warning, and often cross over to torment Deir Sharaf villagers by throwing trash onto their land or instigating clashes. Recently, settlers released pigs in Deir Sharaf which not only destroyed crops, but also brutally attacked a farmer, leaving him in the ICU for three months.

Such acts are, of course, another way to prevent the smooth passage of sustainability from entering into Palestinian life. In addition to such attacks, Israels land confiscations, uprooting and burning of trees, and the curfews and checkpoints which deny farmers access to both local and international markets, have systematically and significantly deteriorated the Palestinian economy.

Its another flagrant sign of where Israel stands in desiring a viable peace. After all, the strong link between a sustainable economy and sustainable peace is no secret. Continued Israeli aggression against Palestinian farmers, make Netanyahu's claim that his government would be a partner for peace, for security and for rapid economic development of the Palestinian economy laughable. By destroying fields of olive trees to build more illegal settlements, separation fences and walls Israel has, quite literally, burned down the universal symbol for peace.

For Palestinians, olive trees stand as more than the archaic symbol of harmony. Their roots are grounded in resistance by those who struggle to protect them. Maha, a young woman volunteering in Deir Sharaf who claimed her English was no good, best explained the significance of olive trees to Palestinian life: They are our grandfather. They are our beauty. They are our air. We can only hope that one day Israel, as well as the international community, will recognize Palestines right to breathe.

Hajr Al-Ali is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.orgThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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## Shades

*US lawmakers press Obama on Gaza siege*
Wed, 27 Jan 2010 06:48:43 GMT

Israeli border police stand guard during a protest by activists calling for an end to Israel's blockade of Gaza Strip, at Zikim beach just outside northern Gaza.
A number of US congressmen have written to President Barack Obama, urging him to pressure Israel to ease the blockade of the Gaza Strip over humanitarian concerns.

"We ask you to press for immediate relief for the citizens of Gaza as an urgent component of your broader Middle East peace efforts," said a letter signed by 54 lawmakers.

The impoverished coastal sliver has been under an Israeli blockade since June 2007. The siege has hampered the ability of relief agencies to distribute much needed aid amongst some 1.5 million people.

The congressmen sympathized with Israel over what they described as threats from Palestinian activists in Gaza but said the blockade has resulted in "the de facto collective punishment of the Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip."

The letter written by Democrat Representatives Jim McDermott from Washington and Keith Ellison from Minnesota was also signed by several leftist organizations, including Americans for Peace Now and J Street.

They called for facilitation of movement into and out of Gaza, while urging Israel to allow the import of building materials for the reconstruction of homes and infrastructure devastated during Israel's January 2008 offensive, which killed far more than 1,400 Palestinians.

The letter prompted a response by the Israeli Embassy in Washington. It said the blockade would stand "as long as Hamas continues to attack Israel with missiles and other means."

"Israel will not allow a neighbor that calls for its destruction to enjoy the benefits of an open border," it stressed.

Tel Aviv is irked by missiles and rockets fired into southern Israel from Gaza. The projectiles normally land in deserted areas and hardly cause any casualties or damage to properties.

The missiles are, Palestinians say, a response to Israeli airstrikes, murder and abduction of Gazans, and the ongoing siege of the coastal strip.

MRS/MD

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## Shades

*Auschwitz survivor sees Nazi acts in Israel*
Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:17:07 GMT

Hajo Meyer, 86, survived 10 months in Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland.
A Nazi death camp survivor slams Israel over its occupation of Palestine, drawing an analogy between the Israeli army's indignations and the conduct of Nazi forces during World War II.

"The Israelis tried to dehumanize the Palestinians, just like the Nazis tried to dehumanize me," said Dr Hajo Meyer, 86, who survived 10 months in Auschwitz Nazi concentration camp in Poland.

"Nobody should dehumanize any other and those who try to dehumanize another are not human," he said at the beginning of his lecture in Scotland.

The octogenarian Holocaust survivor, who embarked on a 10-day tour of the UK and Ireland, called Israel "the world champion in pretending to be civilized and cultured."

The comments by Meyer have provoked a fresh outcry of "anti-Semitism" by hardline Jewish lobby groups.

However, Meyer, the Dutch-based author of three books on Judaism, the Holocaust and Zionism, dismissed "anti-Semite" labels hurled against him.

Formerly an anti-Semite was somebody who hated Jews because they were Jews and had a Jewish soul. But nowadays an anti-Semite is somebody who is hated by Jews, he stated.

A spokesman for the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, of which Dr. Meyer is a member of, backed the remarks.

Hajo knows that Israel has a long history of abusing the tragic history of the Holocaust in order to suppress legitimate criticism of its own crimes," said the spokesman.

MRS/MD

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## Shades

The first Palestinian on the moon  	  
27.01.10 - 22:51

Larissa Sansour is currently exhibiting in group show in Bahrain and has her first solo show in New York. Born in Jerusalem in 1973 to a Russian mother and a Palestinian father, educated in New York and London and living in Copenhagen, Sansour has exhibited internationally. Visitors to her shows in New York and Bahrain will encounter her video "A Space Exodus".

ImageIn A Space Exodus, Larissa Sansour quirkily sets up an adapted stretch of Stanley Kubricks 2001: A Space Odyssey in a Middle Eastern context.

The film follows the artist herself on a phantasmagoric journey through the universe echoing Kubricks thematic concerns for human evolution, progress and technology. However, in her film, Sansour posits the idea of a first Palestinian in space, and, referencing Armstrongs moon landing, she interprets this theoretical gesture as a small step for a Palestinian, a giant leap for mankind.

This five-minute short is packed with highly produced visual imagery. The arabesque elements ranging from the space suit to the music are merged within a dreamy galactic setting and elaborate special effects. A great deal of attention is paid to every detail of the film to create a never before seen case of thrillingly magical Palestinian displacement.

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## Shades

*No peace talks with Israel before settlement freeze*
Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:37:02 GMT

Former Palestinian Authority foreign minister Nabil Sha'ath says peace talks with the current Israeli administration is unlikely on account of its construction in West Bank settlements.

"Israel's threats to invade the Gaza Strip and American pressure on the Palestinian leadership not to miss what they believe is an opportunity, won't drive us to resume the peace talks while settlement construction continues in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem [Al-Quds]," Sha'ath stated in Ramallah on Tuesday.

"We believe that any return to the negotiations would be a waste of time and would provide a cover for Israeli settlements," Sha'ath pointed out.

"They want us to return to the negotiating table without a halt of settlement construction and the Judaization of Jerusalem [Al-Quds] and the removal of the blockade on the Gaza Strip," he said. "And they are constantly threatening us that we would be missing a second opportunity."

The member of Fatah's Central Committee also condemned Washington's threats to veto any UN Security Council resolution intended for the declaration of Palestine independence.

Under the 2002 Road Map for Peace plan brokered by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia, Israel must 'dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and also freeze all settlement activities.'

There are currently 121 Israeli settlements and approximately 102 Israeli outposts built illegally on Palestinian land occupied by Israel in 1967. All of these settlements and outposts are illegal under international law and have been condemned by numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions.

These settlements and outposts are inhabited by a population of 462,000 Israeli settlers. Some 191,000 Israelis are living in settlements around Jerusalem Al-Quds and an additional 271,400 are spread throughout the West Bank.

MP/HGH/MMN

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## Shades

*aNIMATION mOVIE ON PALESTINE*

Fatima: A Palestinian animation film  	 
25.01.10 - 23:52
ImageFatenah is a 27-year-old young woman who lives in the Gaza Strip. Her life was like that of many other women in Gaza, until she became ill.

This short, 27-minute animation - the first Palestinian-produced animation - reproduces with incredible accuracy the scenarios of Gaza City. The story, untold till now, is a breathtaking adventure that takes the viewer on a journey that accompanies Fatenah in her daily struggles and uncovers the human drama of her fight to survive. This journey to the heart of the Gaza Strip will touch and move you.

The idea of the film is to illustrate what it is like to be a patient in need of referral for specialised hospital care outside Gaza. It is based on a true story, documented by WHO and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR)-Israel, of a patient diagnosed with breast cancer in Gaza.

Approximately 1,000 patients per month apply to the Israeli authorities for permits to get out of Gaza in order to access specialised treatment in East Jerusalem, Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank. Many of them go through the kind of experiences that are revealed in this animation. However, about 30 percent of these patients, 300 patients per month, are unable to get out of Gaza because their permits are denied or delayed.

WHO puts out data regularly on the referral-abroad process in Gaza, and PHR-Israel also monitors and advocates for individual cases. But there is no substitute for the human story; this is the reason that WHO decided to support this project.

Fatenah is at once the first Palestinian-produced animation and the first time that a story on access to health care for patients in Gaza reaches the big screen. It was animated and directed by Ahmad Habash and produced by Saed Andoni. The screenplay was written by Saed Andoni, Ahmad Habash, and Ambrogio Manenti. This animation has been realised and distributed with the support of WHO West Bank and Gaza, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and Sabreen Association for Artistic Development.

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## Shades

*Israeli Supreme Court chief struck with sneaker*
Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:39:12 GMT

An Israeli man has hurled his sneakers at Israel's Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch breaking her glasses and knocking her off the chair.

The shoe-thrower, Pinchas "Pini" Cohen, entered a hearing on medical marijuana on Wednesday and asked, "Is this the president?" After receiving a positive response, he took off his sneaker, threw it at Beinish and hit her in the face while yelling "you're corrupt, a traitor, because of you I lost everything."

It knocked the Israeli chief justice to the ground as a second shoe attack flew overhead.

Cohen was arrested by the court's security guards. He appears to have a history of violent behavior. He threatened his lawyer Arieh Rozenberg and Judge Philip Marcus in 2006.

According to Rozenberg, he had been assaulted by Cohen who caused him a hand fracture.

The trend was set by Muntazer al-Zaidi, a reporter with Cairo-based al-Baghdadia television network, who threw his shoes at former US president George W. Bush in late 2008 as he was on his last visit to Iraq.

MP/MMN

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## Shades

Yidiot :Advanced weapons stolen from Israeli military factory

2010-01-27 12:52:33

Occupied Jerusalem-PalPress-Israel revealed today Wednesday that advanced weapons were stolen from a military  factory which  provides the Israeli army with  weapons.

The weapons came in reach of criminal groups  in Israel, thus after a factory employee  and some of his partners in the robbery  made confessions.

According to Yidiot Ahronot web site, the Israeli police arrested two Israelis from Richon Litzion area central Israel,  following security information and investigations over the burglary report.

A gag order was posed over the incident until today morning when investigations confirmed that 170 pieces of weapon including pistols, machine guns and rifle specially designated  for an army unit  were stolen and sold to Israeli criminal organizations.

The web site added that the police are still investigating into the incident with concerns that some pieces might have come in reach of enemy organizations, or that the stolen pieces might be used in military operations against Israel.

The investigation began after police found weapons in an open area near Taibeh.

The web site said that after the police recognized the factory where the weapons were stolen, they coordinated with the factorys administration for hiring two agents.

This led them to Sergei Kirzner, 37 years old  who worked as a chauffeur in the factory, he stole the weapons pieces and delivered them to 32- year old Sharon Gotin a resident of Richon Litzion , who for his part sold the pieces to criminal groups in Israel in return for thousands of Shekel per piece.


2010-01-27 12:52:33

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## Shades

*Israel rules out independant probe of Gaza war*
Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:07:14 GMT

Israel has disdained international calls to conduct an independent probe into the war crimes its forces have been charged with during its 2008 Gaza offensive.

The call for an internal investigation of the alleged - and documented - war crimes is part of a damning report by a UN fact-finding mission led by the South African Judge Richard Goldstone.

The 575-page report mostly highlighted Israeli war crimes such as deliberately targeting centers known to be holding Palestinian civilians and shooting civilians on the run, including some that were waving white flags.

"Israel has no intention of creating a verification commission," Tel Aviv's Information and Diaspora Minister Yuli Edelstein said in New York on Tuesday, a day after meeting the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. He added that he had informed Ban of the Israeli intentions during their Monday meeting.

The refusal came two days before the Israeli minister submits Tel Aviv's official response to charges of war crimes over the three-week war the regime's forces waged against the densely-populated coastal strip, killing more than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and leaving tens of thousands more injured.

Meanwhile, the Israeli media have suggested the possibility of a limited inquiry to help Tel Aviv deflect a portion of the widespread international condemnation it is facing over the Gaza offensive.

In his report, Mr. Goldstone suggested that its conclusions be referred to the Hague-based International Criminal Court if Israel and Hamas fail to carry out convincing probes into their actions within six months.

The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly endorsed the report in November, in the face of fierce opposition from Israel and the United States, who pledged to take a stance against the report in support of its closest Middle East ally.

The General Assembly consequently called on both sides to carry out investigations "that are independent, credible and in conformity with international standards" by February 5.

Israel has been striving to suppress the Goldstone report since it was released in September, vowing to fight any efforts to bring the Israeli initiators of the 22-day aggression to trial.

On Tuesday, Edelstein made the claim that the report is stirring up anti-Semitism and reinforcing Holocaust deniers, despite the fact that its South African author is Jewish himself.

MRS/TG/MB

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## Shades

*Israeli tanks target Gaza homes, farmlands*
Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:51:58 GMT

Israeli army tanks have opened fire on houses and farmlands in the eastern parts of the Gaza Strip, according to a report by the International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC).

A number of Israeli tanks invaded lands located near al-Shojayia district and fired at Palestinian farmers near the northern Gaza-Israeli borders on Thursday afternoon, reported IMEMC.

The farmers said that a number of homes and lands were damage but reported no injuries.

Meanwhile, Palestinian armed factions reported that they had fired two home-made shells at Israeli areas near Gaza. Israeli sources said that the shells landed in open areas, causing damage but no injuries.

The Israeli army launched a massive military offensive, known as 'Operation Cast Lead' against the coastal Gaza Strip in December 2008 . More than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed during the three-week offensive, which imposed $1.6 billion in damages to the Gaza economy.

MP/SAR/MB

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## Shades

*'Attack on Hezbollah is attack on Lebanon'*
Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:13:36 GMT

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (R) meets with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri at the Presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, January 28.
*Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri said on Thursday that Israel's threats against Hezbollah are perceived as threats against Lebanon.*

"We consider the Israeli threats on Lebanon to be a threat to the Lebanese government as a whole, rather than to one particular person," said Hariri during a joint news conference with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, Reuters reported.

He added that in his country, "everywhere is under the authority of the Lebanese government."

His remarks came after Yossi Peled, an Israeli cabinet minister and a former army general who has experienced the conflict on the northern border, said on Saturday, January 23, that another confrontation with Hezbollah was almost inevitable but he could not say when it would happen.

The minister without portfolio said that according to his "estimation, understanding and knowledge," it was "almost clear" to him that another conflict on the border with Lebanon was imminent.

"It does not necessary have to be between us and Hezbollah, other elements may be involved in this," Peled said.

Hariri, meanwhile, called for Arab solidarity with Beirut to counter the Israeli threats.

Israel launched a war against Lebanon in 2006, during which more than 1,200  mostly Lebanese civilians  were killed.

Israel was forced to withdraw from the Lebanese territories after 33 days, failing to achieve any of its objectives.

FTP/MMN

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## Shades

*Obama: I will never waver from supporting Israel*
Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:02:49 GMT

Although US President *Barack Obama vaguely acknowledged Israel as the cause of Palestinian "plight," he affirmed that he will never waver from support for Tel Aviv.
*
Obama made the remarks in a speech to a crowd in a gymnasium in Tampa, Florida, on Thursday when he was asked about his policy on Israel.

"*Here's my view: Israel is one of our strongest allies. It is a vibrant democracy. It shares links with us in all sorts of ways. It is critical for us, and I will never waver from Israel's security*," Obama said.

*Obama referred to Israel as a "vibrant democracy," while Israel does not even have a constitution, "since the Constituent Assembly and the first Knesset were unable to put a constitution together,"* reads a statement on the Israeli Parliament (Knesset)'s website.

Furthermore,* Israel does not have a bill of rights and has a history of legislating unequal civil rights, privileges and access to public funds. And its pursuit of a so-called "Jewish State" is an apparent discrimination against the non-Jewish.*

Obama, however, went on to say that *"the plight of the Palestinians is something that we have to pay attention to."*

He said *it was not good for the security of the US and Israel if millions of Palestinians feel hopeless.*

His comments were a vague reference to numerous violations of human rights and international law by Israeli forces against Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

About *1.5 million Palestinians are suffering from a grave humanitarian crisis* as a result of an Israeli-imposed blockade on the Gaza Strip, which has been in place since 2007.

This is while in West Bank, *Palestinians are constantly being kidnapped during overnight raids conducted by Israeli troops*.

MGH/MMN

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## Shades

*'Israel assassinates top Hamas commander in Dubai'*
Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:52:08 GMT

Israel has assassinated a senior Hamas military commander in Dubai, an official in the Palestinian resistance group says.

Damascus-based Hamas media official, Izzat al-Rishq has told Press TV that Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was killed by Israeli agents on January 20th.

*According to one of his brothers, Mabhuh was killed by electric shock after an electrical appliance was held to his head.*

"*The first results of a joint investigation by Hamas and the (United Arab) Emirates show he was killed by an electrical appliance that was held to his head*," Fayed al-Mabhuh told AFP.

"*Material was sent to a Paris laboratory which confirmed he was killed by electric shock*," he added.

*Al-Mabhouh was a founder of the Al-Qassam Brigades.*

Al-Rishq warned that Israel will pay dearly for the murder at a due time.

He further pointed out that *Mabhouh, who had been living in Syria since 1989, was assassinated a day after he arrived in Dubai.*

Hamas can not offer more information at present about how he was assassinated, Rishq concluded.

*Hamas says the burial ceremony will be held in Damascus on Friday.*

HRF/DT

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## Shades

*UN deadline for Gaza war report expires Friday*
Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:32:59 GMT

The *UN General Assembly's three-month deadline for its internal report on the 22-day Israeli war on the Gaza Strip will expire on Friday.*

The General Assembly has already endorsed an investigation, headed by South African Judge Richard Goldstone, on Israel's onslaught in December 2008 and January 2009.

The 575-page report drew criticism from Israel and its ally, the US, for highlighting the Israeli army's deliberate targeting of civilians on the run and striking edifices known to be hosting civilian assemblies, among other crimes.

Judge Goldstone recommended that the conclusions of the report be forwarded to ICC (International Criminal Court) at The Hague if the parties involved in the Gaza war failed to conduct credible investigations within six months.

The report was condemned by Israel and the US as biased.

According to UN figures, more than 1,400 Palestinians, a large number of them women and children, lost their lives and many others were wounded during Israel's "Operation Cast Lead" in which internationally banned white phosphorus bombs were used by Israeli forces.

HRF/JG/DT

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## Shades

*Hamas 'will avenge' commander's assassination*
Fri, 29 Jan 2010 09:18:21 GMT

The Hamas movement has warned Israel of retaliation for the assassination of one of the founders of its military wing in Dubai earlier this month.

"Mahmud Abdel Rauf al-Mabhuh died a martyr in Dubai on January 20, 2010 in suspect circumstances that require an inquiry in cooperation with the United Arab Emirates authorities," Hamas said in a statement released from its Gaza stronghold on Friday.

"We hold Israel responsible for the assassination of our brother and leader," the statement said.

Hamas would "retaliate for this Zionist crime at the appropriate moment," it added.

Damascus-based Hamas media official, Izzat al-Rishq, said on Friday that Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was killed by Israeli agents on January 20th.

"The Zionist enemy assassinated commander Mahmud al-Mabhuh in the United Arab Emirates," Rishq said, adding that Hamas would "avenge the blood shed by the martyr."

The 50-year-old Mabhuh was one of the founders of Hamas's armed wing, Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.

According to Hamas, Mabhuh remains have been flown to the Syrian capital where a funeral is to be held Friday.

HRF/JG/DT

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## Shades

*Peace in jeopardy, Netanyahu hails settlement work*
Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:43:01 GMT

Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated Friday Tel Aviv's defiance to international calls to freeze the illegal settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territories.

"We are continuing to build [settlements]," Netanyahu said just after he planted a tree in Ariel  the fourth largest settlement city in the West Bank.

"I came here after I was in Ma'ale Adumim and in Gush Etzion where we planted trees. We said in a clear way that we will stay here in any future final status agreement with the Palestinians. We need to help it develop," he said. "These will be an integral part of Israel and I say the same thing today in Ariel, the capital of Samaria [Israeli term for the northern West Bank]."

The pledge comes as international efforts to revive long-stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have reached a dead-end with Tel Aviv's persistence in refusing the precondition of a full permanent freeze on settlement expansions.

Some of Israel's Arab neighbors have made peace with Tel Aviv, Netanyahu said, expressing hope that other Arab leaders would follow in their track.

The Palestinian Authority Thursday ruled out negotiations with the Israeli side as a waste of time and a green light for more Israeli settlements.

The Palestinians are demanding Israel to adhere to the 2002 Road Map for the Peace plan brokered by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia, which requires Israel to "dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and also freeze all settlement activities."

There are currently 121 Israeli settlements and more than 100 Israeli outposts built illegally on Palestinian land occupied by Israel since 1967.

MRS/HGH/MD

----------


## Shades

*Israeli agents raid house in search of runaway child*
Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:12:47 GMT


*Israeli forces Thursday broke into a Palestinian home in a West Bank refugee camp in pursuit of a child on the run, injuring the household, among them a pregnant woman.*

Undercover Israeli agents forced their way into the house of Jamal Awad, director of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees office in the Shuafat Refugee Camp, on Thursday night when the Awads refused to let them in.

The Israelis said they were tracking up a child who had fled the scene of a crime that allegedly took place further south in the Pisgat Ze'ev settlement in Jerusalem Al-Quds.

*Awad said five members of his family, including his pregnant daughter-in-law, were injured as the Israeli agents fired tear gas and used batons to enter the building, Ma'an news agency reported.*

All of the injured were transferred to hospital by Red Crescent ambulances, where they were treated for mild to moderate injuries.

MRS/MD

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## Shades

*Hundreds protest house demolition near Tel Aviv*
Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:38:27 GMT

Hundreds of people held a demonstration against Israel's plans to demolish an entire Palestinian neighborhood in the city of Lod near Tel Aviv.

The protesters, among them members of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, Arab public leaders and members of Knesset (Israeli parliament), held up Palestinian flags and banners on Friday, Ynet reported.

Some of the banners read "Demolishing houses, Demolishing lives," and "Yes to Development, No to Ethnic Cleansing."

"The threat to demolish the houses is part of the policy aimed at ethnically cleansing the mixed cities," said Member of Knesset (MK) Talab El-Sana.

"Another Goldstone report should be written against the crimes...Israel commits against the Arabs living in it," he added.

A report released by a UN fact-finding team headed by South African Judge Richard Goldstone in September accused the Israeli military of war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza.

Based on the report, Israel used disproportionate force and failed to protect civilians during its December 2008-January 2009 offensive on the territory.

According to MK Jamal Zahalka, who was among the protesters, a total of 40,000 Arab homes were threatened with demolition.

SB/MMN

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## Shades

*Palestinians hand Gaza War report to UN*
Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:42:53 GMT

The Palestinian Authority says it has submitted a report to the United Nations on Israel's last year offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN observer, said Friday that he handed the report to the chief of cabinet Vijay Nambiar at UN headquarters in New York.

Mansour, however, declined to provide details, saying it was a confidential report demanded by UN chief Ban Ki-moon.

The United Nations General Assembly in November adopted a resolution giving Israel and the Palestinians three months to undertake "independent, credible investigations" into serious violations of international law and human rights committed during the conflict in Gaza.

The resolution was proposed after a report released by South African Judge Richard Goldstone concluded that Israel used disproportionate force and failed to protect civilians during its December 2008-January 2009 offensive against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The report also accused Hamas of infringing international conventions.

Israel, who sidestepped the UN's key demand, submitted a response to the body on Friday and repeated its claims that the Goldstone report was "inaccurate."

Defense Minister Ehud Barak repeated Israeli criticism of the Goldstone report on Friday, and denounced the report as "false, distorted, and irresponsible."

UN associate spokesman Farhan Haq, however, said the 46-page document will be considered in a report by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the General Assembly in early February, The Washington Post reported.

"The secretary-general is working on his own response," Haq said.

SB/MMN

----------


## Shades

*Haniyeh rejects Palestinians resettlement in Sinai*
Sat, 30 Jan 2010 08:44:52 GMT

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has rejected the new Israeli conspiracy of the resettlement of Palestinians in the Sinai under a land swap deal for a two-state solution.

Haniyeh's remarks on the issue came at a Friday sermon at the Al-Omary Mosque in Jabaliya.

"The democratically-elected Palestinian government of Hamas does not accept the plan for the resettlement of Gaza in the Sinai or any other location as the alternative (Palestinian) homeland, Haniyeh said.

He further criticized Egypt's construction of an underground wall along the border with the besieged Gaza Strip, declaring that "the Zionist Regime (Israel) is regarded as the prime threat to the security of Egypt."

"We were exposed to a three-dimensional war; economically, by imposing the siege on the people of Gaza; militarily, by attacking the people and committing crimes which are mostly represented in the war on Gaza, and politically as the occupation started to detain lawmakers and the representatives of the Palestinian people in order to undermine the Palestinian legitimacy and democracy," he further explained.

"we were exposed to a three-dimensional conspiracy that firstly attempted to spread chaos, and secondly tried to make objections and not commit to the tasks, and thirdly by efforts to defame us through media incitement, dissemination of falsehoods and rumors, and fabricating facts that are not true.

Haniyeh also insisted that the American hegemony in the region was defeated.

The Gaza Strip has been under a severe Israeli siege since June 2007, when the democratically-elected Palestinian government of Hamas took control of the sliver.

Along with the complete Israeli siege, which has plagued the economy of the already impoverished region, the Cairo government also refuses to open the Rafah border crossing.

The closure has disrupted the delivery of necessary aid cargos into the territory, where almost half of its 1.5-million population is dependent on aid handouts.

Amnesty International says both Israel and Egypt are to blame for "collectively punishing" the population of the Gaza Strip because of the the long-imposed siege of the coastal sliver.

HRF/MB/DT

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## Shades

*54 Dems urge Obama to end Israel siege of Gaza*
Sat, 30 Jan 2010 10:11:03 GMT

In an unprecedented move, more than fifty members of the US Congress sign a letter, asking President Barack Obama to put pressure on Israel to end the crippling siege of the Gaza Strip.

The letter, which was the initiative of Democrat Representatives Jim McDermott from Washington and Keith Ellison from Minnesota, calls on Obama to address international concerns over the post-war humanitarian situation in Gaza, which has been further worsened by a long-imposed Israeli blockade.

The unabated suffering of Gazan civilians highlights the urgency of reaching a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and we ask you to press for immediate relief for the citizens of Gaza as an urgent component of your broader Middle East peace efforts, the letter urged.

The current blockade has severely impeded the ability of aid agencies to do their work to relieve suffering, it added.

The authors went on to add that Tel Aviv's refusal to allow building materials into the Strip is preventing the reconstruction of Gaza's infrastructure, which was severely damaged last year when Israel launched a bitter three-week attack on the Palestinian territory.

The war on Gaza killed nearly 1400 Palestinians, wounded thousands of others, displaced 60,800 civilians, seriously damaged 17,000 homes and triggered a critical humanitarian crisis.

There is also a concern that unrepaired sewage treatment plants will overflow and damage surrounding property and water resources, the authors wrote, noting that the humanitarian and political consequences of a continued blockade would be disastrous.

Israel's stranglehold on Gaza has made as much as 80% of Gazan residents dependent on aid from the United Nations. The blockade has led to the collapse of 90% of Gazan businesses, and as a result, more than one million people are now living in abject poverty.

SBB/DT

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## Shades

*Assassins hid in Israeli minister convoy: Hamas*
Sat, 30 Jan 2010 15:00:05 GMT

The funeral of assassinated Hamas figure Mahmoud al-Mabhouh
Hamas says the assassins of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, one of the Palestinian resistance movement's senior figures, could have used an Israeli ministerial convoy as a cover.

Commenting on the last week assassination of the 50-year-old co-founder of Hamas' armed wing Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades in Dubai, senior member of the Hamas leadership Mahmoud al-Zahar said the perpetrators could have accompanied Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau's convoy into the United Arab Emirates.

"A week before the assassination Uzi Landau visited the emirates and he may have had people traveling with him under false names and additional citizenships," the Israeli news website Ynet quoted Zahar as saying to the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television on Saturday.

According to Mabhouh's brother Fayed, the first results of a joint investigation by Hamas and the UAE show that he was killed by an electrical device that was held to his head.

The resistance movement has asserted in a statement that "we hold Israel responsible for the assassination of our brother and leader."

Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas' political bureau told Press TV, that the victim "spent a long time in Israeli jails and when he was released from prison, they monitored him as he continued to play his important role in continuing to implement resistance activities in Palestinian refugee camps and as a result he was targeted. The Israeli enemy is completely responsible for this crime."

"The mood is one of anger today here in Damascus as family and friends come to pay their final respects to one of the most prominent and respected figures in the Hamas movement," said Press TV's correspondent from the Syrian capital, where al-Mabhouh's funeral was held of Friday.

HN/HGH/MMN

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## Shades

*Hamas: Israel seeks International battlefields*
Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:31:34 GMT

Mahmoud al-Zahar (C) is a co-founder of Hamas and a member of the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip.
Following the assassination of a Hamas members in Dubai by Israeli agents, the Palestinian resistance movement warned that Tel Aviv seeks to take the conflict between the two sides to a new phase.

"We have maintained that the confrontation between us and the Israeli enemy be within the occupied land," Xinhua quoted Senior Hamas member Mahmoud al-Zahar as saying on Saturday said.

However, he added that "Israel wants to change the rules of the game and to open the international field for battles so it will be responsible for this, "

The comments came after the last week assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, the co-founder of Hamas' armed wing Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades in Dubai. The resistance movement said in a statement that "we hold Israel responsible for the assassination of our brother and leader."

Commenting on the incident, in remarks quoted by the Israeli news website Ynet, al-Zahar said that the perpetrators could have accompanied Israeli Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau's convoy into the United Arab Emirates.

He called on Arab states, which maintain diplomatic ties with Israel, to respond to the incident in order to keep "the region from becoming an assassination field," Ynet reported.

Al-Zahar warned such states to "assess and rearrange these relations over the crimes that Israel commits against the Palestinian people," Xinhua reported.

HN/HGH/MMN

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## Shades

*Hamas official says Fatah leaders can visit Gaza*
Sun, 31 Jan 2010 01:20:59 GMT

Life goes on in Gaza, despite the hardships.
*The governor of the central Gaza Strip has told the leaders of Fatah that they can visit Gaza whenever they like.*

On Saturday, Abdullah Abu Samhadana, who had chastised Fatah leaders seeking to enter Gaza on January 20, said that they can enter Gaza without hesitation whenever they intend to. *"Gaza isn't owned by anybody. It is a part of Palestine and it is the homeland of all the Palestinians, including Fatah leaders,"* he said.

"Gaza is not a hotel you can just check in and out of at will," he had said on January 20.

"*There is nothing that can prevent any Palestinian from traveling to Gaza unless there is a court decision behind it. This is part of the right of return to one's homeland, a right that is guaranteed and that no law can violate,*" Abu Samhadana said on Saturday.

He asked, what if the same regulations were adopted by the Palestinian Authority for Hamas leaders, "how would Hamas respond to that?"

Just as the *PA allows Hamas members to conduct political activities in the West Bank, Hamas also takes measures to reach reconciliation and end the rivalry, he noted*.

FTP/HGL

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## Shades

* UAE Sends Humanitarian Assistance to Gaza*
Date : 29/1/2010   Time : 16:59

AREESH ( EGYPT), January 29, 2010 (WAFA)- The UAE's Red Crescent Society (RCA) said a convoy of 40 trucks carrying 700 tonnes of humanitarian assistance for Gazans is due to arrive to Gaza through Al-Ouja crossing.

The most recent UAE's humanitarian assistance to Gaza are being hauled upon directives from President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan .

The current UAE's Gaza humanitarian operation is being coordinated by the UAE Embassy in Cairo, the Egyptian relevant authorities, Egyptian Red Crescent and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East - UNRWA, said head of the RCA delegation to Egypt Mohammed Abdullah Al-Hajj Al-Zarouni.

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## Shades

*Dozens Suffered Asphyxia in Bilin Weekly March against the Wall*
Date : 29/1/2010   Time : 18:07

RAMALLAH, January 29, 2010 (WAFA)- Dozens of citizens and international peace activists suffered asphyxia as Israeli Occupation Forces launched tear gas towards the weekly demonstration against the Israeli Apartheid Wall in the West Bank Village of Bilin west of Ramallah.

In the march called by the Popular Committee Against the Wall and settlements in Bil'in, participated Fateh Central Committee Member Sultan Abul-Enein, the Spokesman of the movement Ahmed Assaf, the inhabitants of the village of Bil'in, as well as Israeli and international peace activists.

 Abul-Enein, praised the steadfastness of the people of Bil'in against the settlements and the Apartheid Wall, sending greetings to all peace activists in the world who come to Bil'in in solidarity with the people of this village and the Palestinian people.

The participants raised Palestinian flags and banners condemning the Israeli policy of settlement, and the attack on the houses in East Jerusalem, calling on Israel to halt its campaign of arrests and to release all detainees as well to lift the siege it imposes on the Gaza Strip.

The Popular Committee against the Wall and settlements in Bil'in, denounced the arrest of leaders and activists of People's Action in the West Bank, including the Coordinator of the committee Abdullah Abu Rahmah, member of the committee Muhammad Khatib, and the activist in the popular action in the village of Ni'lin.

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## Shades

*IOF Uses Live Ammunition on Burin Demonstration*
Date : 30/1/2010   Time : 18:50

NABLUS, January 30, 2010 (WAFA)- A demonstration against the Israeli order to halt construction of a nearly-completed mosque,  in the West Bank village of Burin south of Nablus, on threat of demolition, drew Friday local, regional and international supporters in addition to attendance by the Minister of Waqf Mahmoud Al Habbash .

In a press release issued Saturday, International Solidarity Movement said the demonstration was met with violent resistance by Israeli occupation forces, including the use of tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and .22 ammunition. One local protester was removed from the area by ambulance when he was shot with a rubber-coated steel bullet. The demonstration follows yesterdays incursion, in which Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and a sound grenade at villagers as they attempted to plant olive trees on village land close to the nearby settlement of Yitzhar.

The order was issued three days ago to the village, declaring that the village must halt construction of the mosque, on consequence of demolition. Israeli officials claim that part of the mosque has been constructed on Area C, under full Israeli control in accordance the 1994 Oslo Accords zoning plan for the West Bank. Similar orders have been issued to 5 homes in the nearby village of Salim.

A newly draped poster of late President Yasser Arafat welcomed the people of the village Burin to their new mosque. The gathering is uncommon for the residents, an era of pacification entering the village in times of hardship and an ongoing campaign of settler and military intimidation. However, after receiving orders from the Israeli government to destroy their place of worship a groundswell of urgency for action fills their minds and attracts support from within the Palestinian Authority. The villages collective anger reached its tipping point today. Their unified grievances exploded and were heard by their occupiers.

The expectant air hung heavy outside the mosque, which was then shattered at around 11:30 as a series of small explosions were heard coming from behind the school 150 meters away. The 100 villagers who were gathered for the demonstration hurried to investigate.

Upon entering the schoolyard housing its soccer field, seven IDF soldiers and two jeeps were seen positioned at a crossroads less than half a kilometer south of the village. To the east, five settlers stalked one of Burins olive fields and vacated the area quickly on four-wheel all terrain vehicles. After coordinating with the IDF soldiers, the settlers returned to the Yitzhar settlement.

Upon completion of mid-day prayer and a speech by the Palestinian Authority Minister of Religion, the villagers, waving Palestinian flags, marched to the crossroads seemingly to walk the olive fields where the settlers had been. As they neared the IDF soldiers they were met with low-flying tear gas grenades streaking one or two meters above their heads. Many villagers sought refuge in another olive field which flanked the road just to the west.

When it became apparent that the villagers intended to hold their ground amidst the tear gas the IDF soldiers began shooting rubber-coated steel bullets, and soon .22 caliber, live ammunition could be heard buzzing through the air and bouncing off the gravel on the ground. The villagers were able to maintain their positions on the road and in the field for another 20 minutes until, Sharif Haj, 22 year old resident of Burin, was struck in the right shoulder by a rubber-coated steel bullet and required assistance boarding an ambulance.

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) use of brute force is the second occasion in as many days in the village of Burin. January 28 saw an olive tree-planting initiative, authorized by the IDF and the Civil Administration and funded by Green Palestine, violently disrupted by the IDF. Soldiers approached the group of journalists and villagers, ordered them to disperse and attempted to confiscate all media equipment, claiming they were in a closed military zone. When the journalists refused to stop recording or turn over the cameras, the IDF accosted Rami Swidan, Maan News Agency photographer. Over a dozen tear gas rounds were fired into the group causing some of them to pass out.

The journalists viewed the IDFs action as an infringement on their ability to view and accurately document injustice. The villagers were outraged that they were unable to lawfully cultivate their land without the threat of forceful repression.

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## Shades

*An Nabi Saleh: Village Children Gassed while Taking Refuge from IOF*
Date : 30/1/2010   Time : 19:02

RAMALLAH, January 30, 2010 (WAFA)- Over 20 village residents  including 14 children  were targeted by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in a volley of tear gas and rubber coated bullets as they took refuge in the Tamimi family house in the West Bank village of An Nabi Saleh north-west of Ramallah.

In a press release issued Saturday, International Solidarity Movement said the residents were not part of the weekly demonstration and children from surrounding houses had gathered there for safety. One boy was hit in the stomach with a gas canister. Five people, children and elderly women, were taken away in ambulances and treated for injuries including tear gas asphyxiation.

Earlier, near 12:30PM, Israeli soldiers blocked the non-violent demonstration as they attempted to reach a spring recently taken by settlers from the near-by Jewish-only Hallamish settlement.

 Demonstrators slowly advanced a few meters and sat down. Israeli and international activists joined in solidarity. This tactic was repeated many times until soldiers began firing tear gas canisters directly at the demonstrators. As soldiers surrounded the village, shooting tear gas from three sides, a water cannon shooting foul smelling waste-water was deployed.

As tear gas canisters and rubber-coated bullets flew through windows of the house, Red Crescent and activist volunteers responded to the attack, helping women and children outside to safety. In all, nine women, one man and 14 children were caught inside during the attack.

The same house was targeted one week ago when tear gas and sound grenades broke through the windows. Seven people were gassed but no injuries were serious. As the women and children exited the house, soldiers told them to go back in. They refused due to large amounts of tear gas lingering inside and the soldiers hit them. One woman was arrested.

This brutal repression of a non-violent demonstration and targeting innocent bystanders comes as the Israeli government attempts to squash the popular resistance through illegitimate arrests and disproportionate force.

According to one An Nabi Saleh resident, the demonstrations goal was to reach a spring taken by Israeli settlers, but the over all motivation for ongoing demonstrations is to stop the constant advance of the Hallamish settlement onto Palestinian land. Residents say that since 1977 the settlement has taken half of the villages farm-land, burning or cutting down trees tended by the village for generations.

Approximately six weeks ago, a group of Halamish settlers took over the spring located in privately owned Palestinian land in between the village and the settlement. Since then, and despite the fact that ownership of the land undisputed, the army began preventing Palestinians from accessing the area.

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## Shades

*Israel Seeks Deport Jerusalemite for Spending Years in U.S*
Date : 31/1/2010   Time : 16:13

TEL AVIV, January 31, 2010 (WAFA)- The Israeli Interior Ministry is demanding that a Jerusalemite be deported under pretext of having spent too many years in the United States.

Elias Khayyo - who holds no foreign citizenship - has been detained for three weeks at Givon incarceration facility in Ramle with other people deemed illegal residents and slated for deportation, Haaretz Israeli Daily reported, today.

Khayyo, 41, was born in East Jerusalem and currently lives in the Christian Quarter of the Old City, where his parents also live. He says he has no relatives in America, nor a home, property or employment there.

The Israeli Interior Ministry, however, maintains that his permanent residency in Israel was revoked in January 2006, due to Khayyo having lived in the U.S. from 1998 to 2005 and receiving permanent-residence status there. Khayyo received Bachelor's and Master's degrees in biology over two extended stays in the U.S. He is now working as a translator in Jerusalem.

The ministry claims Khayyo resided abroad for more than seven years, and that he returned to Israel in 2005 as a tourist by presenting U.S. travel documents, according to Haaretz.

The paper added that Khayyo was detained at the Qalandiyah checkpoint on January 10 while en route from Ramallah to Jerusalem, and his identity documents and mobile phone were confiscated. He was instructed to sign unspecified documents but refused, stating that the documents in question were written only in Hebrew.

Khayyo was then transported to Givon by members of the Israeli Oz task force against immigration violations. Once there, he was informed that papers had been filed for his deportation from Israel.

From his incarceration, Khayyo told Haaretz by phone that he had studied in the U.S. from 1990 to 1996, and then returned to Jerusalem. He replaced his expired ID card with a new one, and did not encounter problems with Israeli authorities, the paper adds.

After occupying East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel granted Palestinians living there permanent residency; a status based on the Law of Entry to Israel,' even though they and their families did not enter Israel, but were born in Jerusalem.

In 1998, Khayyo returned to the U.S. to pursue a master's degree. He married a U.S. citizen and began the naturalization process to receive citizenship. In 2005 Khayyo decided to return to Jerusalem. He said he had sought to have his Israeli-issued travel documents extended, but was told by the Israeli consulate in Philadelphia that due to his possession of a U.S. Green Card he had to enter Israel as a tourist, and have his American travel document stamped with an Israeli visa, valid for three months. Consulate authorities told him his status vis-a-vis Israel would be taken care of once in the country.

In 1995, under Haim Ramon, the Interior Ministry began taking a harder line against East Jerusalem Palestinians, revoking the permanent-residence status of many of those living outside the municipal borders of Jerusalem (often due to policy-created housing shortages) and those living abroad.

In 2000, after a long public campaign against the new measure, then-minister Natan Sharansky told the High Court of Justice that the Interior Ministry would return to its pre-1995 policy, and vowed to reinstate the permanent-residence status of those East Jerusalemites for whom it had been revoked, as long as they had been living again in the city for at least two years.

After returning to his Jerusalem home, Khayyo contacted an attorney and understood from him that he fell within Sharansky's category of Jerusalemite entitled to permanent residency status.

The Israeli Interior Ministry maintains that his ID card was revoked in 2006, though Khayyo had used it throughout the four years since then without complications.

Attorney Nabil Izhiman, whom Khayyo contacted when placed into the immigration authorities' custody, petitioned the Administrative Court to issue a preliminary order to prevent Khayyo's deportation and the revocation of his residency. For now, the deportation has been postponed, Haaretz concludes.

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## Shades

*Pal'n Human Rights Center calls for investigating the injury of 2 Gazans*

2010-01-31 16:56:21

Gaza-PalPress-The Palestinian Center for Human Rights  urged demanded today Sunday opening an investigation  into the injury of two Gazans over the past days.

According to a statement released by the body,: Bassam Awni Hamad from Nussayrat refugees camp was injured yesterday when un identified gun men shot him yesterday on grounds of an old clan quarrel.

Separately, Khader Shehada Shafut  a resident of Gaza city was injured last Thursday when unidentified militants shot him on grounds of a personnel  quarrel.

These attacks signify the continuation of the state of chaos and insecurity spread through out the Palestinian territories, the statement read

The institution called on Gaza public prosecution to investigate into the two incidents and to bring the perpetuators to justice.

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## Shades

*IOF storm Surif village, Kharsina settlers attack lands in Al -Bak'ah*

2010-01-31 16:40:38

Hebron-PalPress- Israeli forces stormed the southern West Bank town of Surif northwest of Hebron on Saturday night and launched wide scale raid and arrest campaigns.

Israeli sources said that a an Israeli military patrol was sweeping the area near the separation wall  in Surif, when it came under fire, pointing out that no injuries were reported .

Local sources said that Israeli army forces resumed security activities for long hours in Surif and several neighboring villages, however, no detentions were reported.

Separately, Israeli forces closed Al-Baq'a area eastern Hebron and banned journalists access into the area, after five buses carrying settler students coming from the nearby Kharsina settlement  arrived  the place.

A number of locals said that the students brought sapling trees to plant them on lands owned by Palestinian villagers.

The citizens expressed deep concerns that settlers motion was a reinforcement  to the promise of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to build a park in front of each Israeli settlement.

It is worth telling that two Israeli settlements are constructed on Al-Baq'a lands (Kharsina and Kiryat Arba).

The Palestinians are continuously being annoyed by settlers attacks against them and their properties.

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## Shades

*BBC Special Report on Jerusalem Makes Shockwaves *  
28.01.10 - 23:39

The battle is on for the holiest city in the holy land Jerusalem, a spiritual centre to Jews, Christians and Muslims.

ImageTo the Palestinians, east Jerusalem is a future capital of a Palestinian state, but Israelis say Jerusalem must never be divided.

Panorama reporter Jane Corbin, walks through the disputed streets and parks, meeting families thrown out of their homes, witnessing bulldozers demolishing houses and goes underground to explore tunnels excavated deep below the biblical sites.

In the aftermath of Israel's victory in the Six Day War, Panorama reported on the complexity and tensions of life for the differing religions living in Israeli-controlled east Jerusalem.

The tension between the two nations was not only exclusive to those interviewed in the documentary. But were extended with comments on youtube from both sides. One person tried to explain to an Israeli his point of view by comparing America and the Native Indians. *what if you were sitting in you livingroom in somewhere North America and a Native Indian and S.W.A.T arrive at your door to issue an eviction_ notice because the land your house is on, belonged to some tribe in the 1400's and you have 24hrs to get out?*

*Palestinians are rushing to watch the videos posted on youtube and try and comment on them as well as pass them around as fast as possible. The Zionist lobby is working its utmost on removing those videos by calling them and the BBC anti-semetic.*



To watch the three part documentary on youtube, click on *A Walk In The Park *.

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## Shades

*Newborn in Gaza with severe defects *  
28.01.10 - 22:36


PNN/ Ramallah. *Health professionals have observed a raise of mutations at birth in Gaza, since the Israeli offensive last year.*

ImageOne of these, is a story of a child born at the Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip. The child was born with severe congenital malformations, such as his face, eyes, short stature, flattened nose, reddish-brownish skin discoloration, short limbs with feet and toes severely curled towards the inside in a similar shape to that in gorillas.


The baby weighed 4 kilos, suggesting that he was in good health. His appearance showed otherwise. His parents left him at the hospital and refuse to go back and claim him as their own child.

The baby, also nicknamed the gorilla baby, is still under the custody of the hospital until his parents return to claim him. The hospital has tried to convince the parents to come and take their child especially that he isnt in a stable condition and has problems in breathing.


According to various medical reports, there has been an increase in the rates of birth defects in newborn children since 2009, with fifty cases of deformity compared to 30 cases in the years prior.


There has also been a significant increase in the number of miscarriages amongst pregnant woman after the end of the war.


Doctors say such malformations cannot occur for genetic reasons, nor are they related to the mother's age or other factors. these come as a result of the white phosphorus used during the war. A few months earlier, the hospital was faced with a very similar case to this one , however, the baby died directly after it was born.

White phosphorus (WP) is a material made from a common allotrope of the chemical element phosphorus that is used in smoke, tracer, illumination and incendiary munitions.


As and incendiary weapon, WP burns fiercely and can set cloth, fuel, ammunition and other combustibles on fire. Since, WWII, it has been extensively used as an anti-personnel weapon capable of causing serious burns or death.

The Israeli military used white phosphorus munitions in the Gaza War. The Israeli Occupation Forces repeatedly denied using white phosphorus munitions but acknowledged use after the war ended.

Human Rights Watch said its experts in the region had witnessed the use of white phosphorus. Kenneth Roth, the organizations executive director, added: "This is a chemical compound that burns structures and burns people. It should not be used in populated areas.

Amnesty International said a fact-finding team found "indisputable evidence of the widespread use of white phosphorus" in crowded residential areas of Gaza City and elsewhere in the territory.

Donatella Rovera, the head of an Amnesty fact-finding mission to southern Israel and Gaza, said: "Israeli forces used white phosphorus and other weapons supplied by the USA to carry out serious violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes.

----------


## Shades

*Newborn in Gaza with severe defects *  
28.01.10 - 22:36


PNN/ Ramallah. *Health professionals have observed a raise of mutations at birth in Gaza, since the Israeli offensive last year.*

ImageOne of these, is a story of a child born at the Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip. The child was born with severe congenital malformations, such as his face, eyes, short stature, flattened nose, reddish-brownish skin discoloration, short limbs with feet and toes severely curled towards the inside in a similar shape to that in gorillas.


The baby weighed 4 kilos, suggesting that he was in good health. His appearance showed otherwise. His parents left him at the hospital and refuse to go back and claim him as their own child.

The baby, also nicknamed the gorilla baby, is still under the custody of the hospital until his parents return to claim him. The hospital has tried to convince the parents to come and take their child especially that he isnt in a stable condition and has problems in breathing.


According to various medical reports, there has been an increase in the rates of birth defects in newborn children since 2009, with fifty cases of deformity compared to 30 cases in the years prior.


There has also been a significant increase in the number of miscarriages amongst pregnant woman after the end of the war.


Doctors say such malformations cannot occur for genetic reasons, nor are they related to the mother's age or other factors. these come as a result of the white phosphorus used during the war. A few months earlier, the hospital was faced with a very similar case to this one , however, the baby died directly after it was born.

White phosphorus (WP) is a material made from a common allotrope of the chemical element phosphorus that is used in smoke, tracer, illumination and incendiary munitions.


As and incendiary weapon, WP burns fiercely and can set cloth, fuel, ammunition and other combustibles on fire. Since, WWII, it has been extensively used as an anti-personnel weapon capable of causing serious burns or death.

The Israeli military used white phosphorus munitions in the Gaza War. The Israeli Occupation Forces repeatedly denied using white phosphorus munitions but acknowledged use after the war ended.

Human Rights Watch said its experts in the region had witnessed the use of white phosphorus. Kenneth Roth, the organizations executive director, added: "This is a chemical compound that burns structures and burns people. It should not be used in populated areas.

Amnesty International said a fact-finding team found "indisputable evidence of the widespread use of white phosphorus" in crowded residential areas of Gaza City and elsewhere in the territory.

Donatella Rovera, the head of an Amnesty fact-finding mission to southern Israel and Gaza, said: "Israeli forces used white phosphorus and other weapons supplied by the USA to carry out serious violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes.

----------


## Shades

*Mark Braverman And the Politics of Hope  	* 
30.01.10 - 22:04
Howard Zinn Dies At Age 87

ImageI graduated from Columbia in 1970.  Students had closed down the campus that Spring over the U.S. bombing of Cambodia.  Two years earlier the campus was in turmoil when students and faculty occupied several buildings in protest over the Universitys plans to take over a chunk of the local neighborhood in upper Manhattan to build a gym. The President of Columbia had sent in NY riot police to break heads and drag out the protesters.  So when that President took the podium at our graduation, several hundred of us ceremoniously walked out and held a counter-commencement.  The speaker was Howard Zinn.

This weeks blog posting is a speech Zinn gave on October 10, 1999.  You wont be able to stop reading until you reach the end.

Some years ago, when I was teaching at Boston University, I was asked by a Jewish group to give a talk on the Holocaust. I spoke that evening, but not about the Holocaust of World War II, not about the genocide of six million Jews. It was the mid-Eighties, and the United States government was supporting death squad governments in Central America, so I spoke of the deaths of hundreds of thousands of peasants in Guatemala and El Salvador, victims of American policy. My point was that the memory of the Jewish Holocaust should not be encircled by barbed wire, morally ghettoized, kept isolated from other genocides in history. It seemed to me that to remember what happened to Jews served no important purpose unless it aroused indignation, anger, action against all atrocities, anywhere in the world.

A few days later, in the campus newspaper, there was a letter from a faculty member who had heard me speaka Jewish refugee who had left Europe for Argentina, and then the United States. He objected strenuously to my extending the moral issue from Jews in Europe in the 1940s to people in other parts of the world, in our time. The Holocaust was a sacred memory. It was a unique event, not to be compared to other events. He was outraged that, invited to speak on the Jewish Holocaust, I had chosen to speak about other matters.

I was reminded of this experience when I recently read a book by Peter Novick, THE HOLOCAUST IN AMERICAN LIFE. Novicks starting point is the question: why, fifty years after the event, does the Holocaust play a more prominent role in this countrythe Holocaust Museum in Washington, hundreds of Holocaust programs in schoolsthan it did in the first decades after the second World War? Surely at the core of the memory is a horror that should not be forgotten. But around that core, whose integrity needs no enhancement, there has grown up an industry of memorialists who have labored to keep that memory alive for purposes of their own.

Some Jews have used the Holocaust as a way of preserving a unique identity, which they see threatened by intermarriage and assimilation. Zionists have used the Holocaust, since the 1967 war, to justify further Israeli expansion into Palestinian land, and to build support for a beleaguered Israel (more beleaguered, as David Ben-Gurion had predicted, once it occupied the West Bank and Gaza). And non-Jewish politicians have used the Holocaust to build political support among the numerically small but influential Jewish votersnote the solemn pronouncements of Presidents wearing yarmulkas to underline their anguished sympathy.

I would never have become a historian if I thought that it would become my professional duty to go into the past and never emerge, to study long-gone events and remember them only for their uniqueness, not connecting them to events going on in my time. If the Holocaust was to have any meaning, I thought, we must transfer our anger to the brutalities of our time. We must atone for our allowing the Jewish Holocaust to happen by refusing to allow similar atrocities to take place nowyes, to use the Day of Atonement not to pray for the dead but to act for the living, to rescue those about to die.

When Jews turn inward to concentrate on their own history, and look away from the ordeal of others, they are, with terrible irony, doing exactly what the rest of the world did in allowing the genocide to happen. There were shameful moments, travesties of Jewish humanism, as when Jewish organizations lobbied against a Congressional recognition of the Armenian Holocaust of 1915 on the ground that it diluted the memory of the Jewish Holocaust. Or when the designers of the Holocaust Museum dropped the idea of mentioning the Armenian genocide after lobbying by the Israeli government. (Turkey was the only Moslem government with which Israel had diplomatic relations.)

Another such moment came when Elie Wiesel, chair of President Carters Commission on the Holocaust, refused to include in a description of the Holocaust Hitlers killing of millions of non-Jews. That would be, he said, to falsify the reality in the name of misguided universalism. Novick quotes Wiesel as saying They are stealing the Holocaust from us. As a result the Holocaust Museum gave only passing attention to the five million or more non-Jews who died in the Nazi camps. To build a wall around the uniqueness of the Jewish Holocaust is to abandon the idea that humankind is all one, that we are all, of whatever color, nationality, religion, deserving of equal rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. What happened to the Jews under Hitler is unique in its details but it shares universal characteristics with many other events in human history: the Atlantic slave trade, the genocide against native Americans, the injuries and deaths to millions of working people, victims of the capitalist ethos that put profit before human life.

In recent years, while paying more and more homage to the Holocaust as a central symbol of mans cruelty to man, we have, by silence and inaction, collaborated in an endless chain of cruelties. Hiroshima and My Lai are the most dramatic symbolsand did we hear from Wiesel and other keepers of the Holocaust flame outrage against those atrocities? Countee Cullen once wrote, in his poem Scottsboro, Too, Is Worth Its Song (after the sentencing to death of the Scottsboro Boys): Surely, I said/ Now will the poets sing/ But they have raised no cry/I wonder why.

There have been the massacres of Rwanda, and the starvation in Somalia, with our government watching and doing nothing. There were the death squads in Latin America, and the decimation of the population of East Timor, with our government actively collaborating. Our church-going Christian presidents, so pious in their references to the genocide against the Jews, kept supplying the instruments of death to the perpetrators of other genocides.

True there are some horrors which seem beyond our powers. But there is an ongoing atrocity which is within our power to bring to an end. Novick points to it, and physician-anthropologist Paul Farmer describes it in detail in his remarkable new book INFECTIONS AND INEQUALITIES. That is: the deaths of ten million children all over the world who die every year of malnutrition and preventable diseases. The World Health Organization estimates three million people died last year of tuberculosis, which is preventable and curable, as Farmer has proved in his medical work in Haiti. With a small portion of our military budget we could wipe out tuberculosis.

The point of all this is not to diminish the experience of the Jewish Holocaust, but to enlarge it. For Jews it means to reclaim the tradition of Jewish universal humanism against an Israel-centered nationalism. Or, as Novick puts it, to go back to that larger social consciousness that was the hallmark of the American Jewry of my youth. That larger consciousness was displayed in recent years by those Israelis who protested the beating of Palestinians in the Intifada, who demonstrated against the invasion of Lebanon.

For otherswhether Armenians or Native Americans or Africans or Bosnians or whateverit means to use their own bloody histories, not to set themselves against others, but to create a larger solidarity against the holders of wealth and power, the perpetrators and ongoing horrors of our time.

The Holocaust might serve a powerful purpose if it led us to think of the world today as wartime Germanywhere millions die while the rest of the population obediently goes about its business. It is a frightening thought that the Nazis, in defeat, were victorious: today Germany, tomorrow the world. That is, until we withdraw our obedience.



Mark Braverman is Executive Director of Friends of Tent of Nations North America. He serves on the advisory board of Friends of Sabeel North America and on the Board of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions-USA. He is the author of Fatal Embrace: Christians, Jews, and the Search for Peace in the Holy Land. Information and additional writing, including his blog "The Politics of Hope" can be found at Mark Braverman: Author of Fatal Embrace.

----------


## Shades

*Mark Braverman And the Politics of Hope  	* 
30.01.10 - 22:04
Howard Zinn Dies At Age 87

ImageI graduated from Columbia in 1970.  Students had closed down the campus that Spring over the U.S. bombing of Cambodia.  Two years earlier the campus was in turmoil when students and faculty occupied several buildings in protest over the Universitys plans to take over a chunk of the local neighborhood in upper Manhattan to build a gym. The President of Columbia had sent in NY riot police to break heads and drag out the protesters.  So when that President took the podium at our graduation, several hundred of us ceremoniously walked out and held a counter-commencement.  The speaker was Howard Zinn.

This weeks blog posting is a speech Zinn gave on October 10, 1999.  You wont be able to stop reading until you reach the end.

Some years ago, when I was teaching at Boston University, I was asked by a Jewish group to give a talk on the Holocaust. I spoke that evening, but not about the Holocaust of World War II, not about the genocide of six million Jews. It was the mid-Eighties, and the United States government was supporting death squad governments in Central America, so I spoke of the deaths of hundreds of thousands of peasants in Guatemala and El Salvador, victims of American policy. My point was that the memory of the Jewish Holocaust should not be encircled by barbed wire, morally ghettoized, kept isolated from other genocides in history. It seemed to me that to remember what happened to Jews served no important purpose unless it aroused indignation, anger, action against all atrocities, anywhere in the world.

A few days later, in the campus newspaper, there was a letter from a faculty member who had heard me speaka Jewish refugee who had left Europe for Argentina, and then the United States. He objected strenuously to my extending the moral issue from Jews in Europe in the 1940s to people in other parts of the world, in our time. The Holocaust was a sacred memory. It was a unique event, not to be compared to other events. He was outraged that, invited to speak on the Jewish Holocaust, I had chosen to speak about other matters.

I was reminded of this experience when I recently read a book by Peter Novick, THE HOLOCAUST IN AMERICAN LIFE. Novicks starting point is the question: why, fifty years after the event, does the Holocaust play a more prominent role in this countrythe Holocaust Museum in Washington, hundreds of Holocaust programs in schoolsthan it did in the first decades after the second World War? Surely at the core of the memory is a horror that should not be forgotten. But around that core, whose integrity needs no enhancement, there has grown up an industry of memorialists who have labored to keep that memory alive for purposes of their own.

Some Jews have used the Holocaust as a way of preserving a unique identity, which they see threatened by intermarriage and assimilation. Zionists have used the Holocaust, since the 1967 war, to justify further Israeli expansion into Palestinian land, and to build support for a beleaguered Israel (more beleaguered, as David Ben-Gurion had predicted, once it occupied the West Bank and Gaza). And non-Jewish politicians have used the Holocaust to build political support among the numerically small but influential Jewish votersnote the solemn pronouncements of Presidents wearing yarmulkas to underline their anguished sympathy.

I would never have become a historian if I thought that it would become my professional duty to go into the past and never emerge, to study long-gone events and remember them only for their uniqueness, not connecting them to events going on in my time. If the Holocaust was to have any meaning, I thought, we must transfer our anger to the brutalities of our time. We must atone for our allowing the Jewish Holocaust to happen by refusing to allow similar atrocities to take place nowyes, to use the Day of Atonement not to pray for the dead but to act for the living, to rescue those about to die.

When Jews turn inward to concentrate on their own history, and look away from the ordeal of others, they are, with terrible irony, doing exactly what the rest of the world did in allowing the genocide to happen. There were shameful moments, travesties of Jewish humanism, as when Jewish organizations lobbied against a Congressional recognition of the Armenian Holocaust of 1915 on the ground that it diluted the memory of the Jewish Holocaust. Or when the designers of the Holocaust Museum dropped the idea of mentioning the Armenian genocide after lobbying by the Israeli government. (Turkey was the only Moslem government with which Israel had diplomatic relations.)

Another such moment came when Elie Wiesel, chair of President Carters Commission on the Holocaust, refused to include in a description of the Holocaust Hitlers killing of millions of non-Jews. That would be, he said, to falsify the reality in the name of misguided universalism. Novick quotes Wiesel as saying They are stealing the Holocaust from us. As a result the Holocaust Museum gave only passing attention to the five million or more non-Jews who died in the Nazi camps. To build a wall around the uniqueness of the Jewish Holocaust is to abandon the idea that humankind is all one, that we are all, of whatever color, nationality, religion, deserving of equal rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. What happened to the Jews under Hitler is unique in its details but it shares universal characteristics with many other events in human history: the Atlantic slave trade, the genocide against native Americans, the injuries and deaths to millions of working people, victims of the capitalist ethos that put profit before human life.

In recent years, while paying more and more homage to the Holocaust as a central symbol of mans cruelty to man, we have, by silence and inaction, collaborated in an endless chain of cruelties. Hiroshima and My Lai are the most dramatic symbolsand did we hear from Wiesel and other keepers of the Holocaust flame outrage against those atrocities? Countee Cullen once wrote, in his poem Scottsboro, Too, Is Worth Its Song (after the sentencing to death of the Scottsboro Boys): Surely, I said/ Now will the poets sing/ But they have raised no cry/I wonder why.

There have been the massacres of Rwanda, and the starvation in Somalia, with our government watching and doing nothing. There were the death squads in Latin America, and the decimation of the population of East Timor, with our government actively collaborating. Our church-going Christian presidents, so pious in their references to the genocide against the Jews, kept supplying the instruments of death to the perpetrators of other genocides.

True there are some horrors which seem beyond our powers. But there is an ongoing atrocity which is within our power to bring to an end. Novick points to it, and physician-anthropologist Paul Farmer describes it in detail in his remarkable new book INFECTIONS AND INEQUALITIES. That is: the deaths of ten million children all over the world who die every year of malnutrition and preventable diseases. The World Health Organization estimates three million people died last year of tuberculosis, which is preventable and curable, as Farmer has proved in his medical work in Haiti. With a small portion of our military budget we could wipe out tuberculosis.

The point of all this is not to diminish the experience of the Jewish Holocaust, but to enlarge it. For Jews it means to reclaim the tradition of Jewish universal humanism against an Israel-centered nationalism. Or, as Novick puts it, to go back to that larger social consciousness that was the hallmark of the American Jewry of my youth. That larger consciousness was displayed in recent years by those Israelis who protested the beating of Palestinians in the Intifada, who demonstrated against the invasion of Lebanon.

For otherswhether Armenians or Native Americans or Africans or Bosnians or whateverit means to use their own bloody histories, not to set themselves against others, but to create a larger solidarity against the holders of wealth and power, the perpetrators and ongoing horrors of our time.

The Holocaust might serve a powerful purpose if it led us to think of the world today as wartime Germanywhere millions die while the rest of the population obediently goes about its business. It is a frightening thought that the Nazis, in defeat, were victorious: today Germany, tomorrow the world. That is, until we withdraw our obedience.



Mark Braverman is Executive Director of Friends of Tent of Nations North America. He serves on the advisory board of Friends of Sabeel North America and on the Board of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions-USA. He is the author of Fatal Embrace: Christians, Jews, and the Search for Peace in the Holy Land. Information and additional writing, including his blog "The Politics of Hope" can be found at Mark Braverman: Author of Fatal Embrace.

----------


## Shades

*BBC
Long history of Israel's 'covert killing'*

Wall mural showing PLO leaders Khalil al-Wazir [l] and Yasser Arafat [r]
PLO second in command Khalil al-Wazir (left) was assassinated by Israeli commandos in Tunisia

By Heather Sharp
BBC News, Jerusalem

The Islamic movement Hamas claims that the death of one its senior commanders, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, is the latest in Israel's history of assassinating individuals it believes to have been behind attacks on its citizens.

Israel's general policy is to neither confirm nor deny allegations about the activities of its intelligence agents but it is notable that many of its enemies meet suspicious and violent deaths.

"We are witnessing an intense intelligence struggle, most of it is covert, some of it overt," said Ronen Bergman, author of By Any Means Necessary, and other books and articles on Israel's covert operations.

Munich hostage taker
In some cases Israel has decided to close the circle and take revenge on people who were behind symbolic acts of terrorism
Ronen Bergman
Investigative journalist

Among the best documented of Israel's assassinations were a wave of killings of pro-Palestinian militants in Paris, Nicosia, Beirut and Athens, carried out in response to the hostage crisis at the Munich Olympics in 1972 which resulted in the deaths of 11 Israelis.

Methods used included a booby-trapped telephone, a bomb planted in a bed, and a raid in Beirut in which current Defence Minister Ehud Barak dressed as a woman.

There are even claims that a poisoned chocolate was later used to kill a commander of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in East Germany in 1978.

In 1987 Israel made no attempt to disguise their assassination of Khalil al-Wazir - known as Abu Jihad - the Palestine Liberation Organisation's military leader and second in command.

Israeli commandos crept into Tunisia, where the PLO's exiled leadership was based, and shot him several times in his own home before escaping by sea.

It was an operation in which Mr Barak is also believed to have been involved.

Covert failure

In 1997 during the current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's first term in office, one special operation went humiliatingly wrong.
Khaled Meshaal
Khaled Meshaal's life was saved by Jordan and the US

Israeli agents tried to kill Khaled Meshaal, who was then a fund-raiser for Hamas based in Amman.

Disguised as Canadian tourists, they injected poison into his ear - but he was rushed to hospital before it took full effect.

Mr Meshaal's life was literally saved by Jordan's then King Hussein, who was outraged by the attack and - boosted by pressure from then US President Bill Clinton - demanded the Israeli government hand over the antidote.

The agents - who had been arrested - were exchanged for an Israeli apology and the release of 20 prisoners, including Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, Hamas's spiritual leader.

Mr Meshaal has gone on to become Hamas's Damascus-based leader.

Targeted killings

As the second Intifada, or Palestinian uprising, raged in the years after 2000, Israel turned its sights on militant leaders within Gaza and the West Bank.
Shiekh Ahmad Yassin
Sheikh Yassin was killed in an Israeli air strike in 2004

Militant groups sent waves of suicide bombers to attack Israeli civilian targets such as buses and cafes.

Part of Israel's response was the controversial policy it described as "targeted" killings - Amnesty International described them as "extra-judicial".

Palestinians say dozens of militant figures, including Sheikh Yassin and another senior Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, were killed, in many cases by missiles launched from helicopters.

But in 2008, allegations of Israeli action farther afield intensified with the death of Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, implicated in numerous bomb attacks and a wave of hostage-taking in Lebanon in the 1980s.

Hezbollah wasted little time in blaming Israel for his death in a car bomb in Damascus.

The group is thought to have been trying to avenge his death ever since.

'Revenge'

Investigative journalist Mr Bergman says the past three to four years have seen the Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and Syria alliance "far more exposed" by Israeli intelligence, and on the defensive.

Even in recent weeks, the deaths of two Hamas members in a bombing in Lebanon, an attempt to bomb an Israeli diplomatic convoy in Jordan, and the mysterious killing of an Iranian scientist - though a quantum physicist, not a nuclear specialist - offer more material for speculation.

Targeting Mr Mabhouh would fit with Israel's historical policy, Mr Bergman adds.

"In some cases Israel has decided to close the circle and take revenge on people who were behind symbolic acts of terrorism - not necessary the most violent or lethal acts," he said.

And this can happen years after the incident in question.

Hamas claims Mr Mabhouh is the mastermind of the capture and killing of two Israeli soldiers, Avi Sasportas and Ilan Saadon, in 1989.

Sgt Sasportas's body was located seven years later, from a sketched map supplied by the Palestinians, and dug up from underneath a road that had been built over it.

The incident was an emotional one for the public in a country where most people serve in the military.

Mr Mabhouh's brother said Israel had been trying to kill him for years, and had unsuccessfully attempted to poison him six months earlier in Beirut.

But the reports remain confusing, with allegations that he was electrocuted, suffocated and poisoned all circulating - as well as reports that Hamas initially announced that he had died from bone disease a week earlier.

And this incident, like many before it, may remain shrouded in mystery, even as Hamas vows to take revenge.

----------


## Shades

*'Arafat died of thallium poisoning'*
Sun, 31 Jan 2010 08:33:17 GMT

Yasser Arafat died in a French hospital on November 11, 2004.
Former senior advisor to the late Palestinian leader says Yasser Arafat had been poisoned by a lethal dose of thallium in his food or drinking water.

Bassam Abu Sharif, once advisor to Yasser Arafat, accused Israel of poisoning Arafat through the food or drinking water that he received when he was under siege in his headquarters in Ramallah.

Arafat died of a mysterious disease in a French hospital on November 11, 2004.

Farouq al-Qaddoumi, a former Palestinian Liberation Organization official, accused acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas and another Fatah leader, Mohammad Dahlan, of collaboration with several US security officials and former Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, of planning to assassinate Arafat.

Thallium is highly toxic; cases of poisoning by the substance more commonly occur after oral ingestion.

SB/JG/DT

----------


## Shades

*Jordan govt. urged to sever ties with Israel*
Mon, 01 Feb 2010 05:45:21 GMT

Israeli soldiers arresting a Palestinian boy
A Jordanian committee, encompassing opposition parties and professional associations, has urged the government to scrap its peace treaty with Israel.

"We urge the Jordanian government and other Arab states that signed peace treaties with the Zionist enemy to abolish these treaties as they are considered a declaration of surrender and the public was not consulted about these treaties," Jordan's Higher Executive Committee for Defending the Homeland and Confronting Normalization said in a statement on Sunday.

Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979. Jordan signed the Wadi Araba Peace treaty with Israel in 1994.

The committee said that "normalization gives legitimacy to the Zionist entity that was created based on usurping the land."

It urged all Arab and Muslim countries to hold annual meetings to activate the boycott of Israel.

The committee also called for intensifying efforts to end the siege of the Gaza Strip and condemned Egypt's construction of a steel wall on its border with the coastal sliver.

MGH/JG/DT

----------


## Shades

*Turkey can't be silent about Israel's crimes in Gaza*
Mon, 01 Feb 2010 03:07:15 GMT

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized Israel's conduct in Gaza, saying Ankara cannot be silent when innocent civilians are killed, phosphorus bombs are used, infrastructure is destroyed, and people are forced to live in an open-air prison.

"I am telling the truth And I will keep telling the truth. Turkey has an age-old history as a state. When you talk to such a state you must be careful.

"When innocent civilians are ruthlessly killed, struck by phosphorus bombs, infrastructure is demolished in bombings, and people are forced to live in an open-air prison We can not see this as compatible with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, simply human rights, and we can not close our eyes to all this happening," Erdogan said in an interview with the multilingual and pan-European television news network Euronews on Sunday.

On the future of relations between Turkey and Israel, the Turkish prime minister said, "Israel should give some thought to what it would be like to lose a friend like Turkey in the future. The way they recently treated our ambassador has no place in international politics."

After being summoned by Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon on January 11, the Turkish ambassador to Tel Aviv was made to sit in a chair lower than the Israeli deputy foreign minister's chair and confronted by three other Israeli officials in higher chairs in order to ram home Tel Aviv's displeasure with Ankara. The Turkish flag was deliberately not on display during the meeting. Ambassador Ahmet Oguz Celikkol was also spoken to in Hebrew and was refused a handshake.

Erdogan added that Turkey has done its best to improve Israel-Syria relations.

"We have done our best for Israel-Syria relations. But now we see Benjamin Netanyahu saying 'I do not trust Erdogan, but I trust (French President Nicolas) Sarkozy'. Do you have to give a name? This is diplomatic inexperience, too. Because when you say this How can I trust you if you say you don't trust me?

"We have important ongoing agreements between us. How can these agreements be kept going in this climate of mistrust? I think Israel should take another look at its relations with its neighbors," the Turkish leader stated.

Under the auspices of Turkey, Israel and Syria have held four rounds of indirect talks with the aim of reaching a comprehensive peace agreement. However, the negotiations reached an impasse in September 2009 after the resignation of former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert.

Syria withdrew from the talks in protest against Israel's three-week military offensive in the Gaza Strip from December 2008 to January 2009 in which at least 1,400 Palestinians were killed and 5,400 others were injured.

MP/HGL

----------


## Shades

*Berlusconi: Israeli settlements 'obstacle to peace'*
Sun, 31 Jan 2010 10:58:54 GMT

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says Israel's settlement policy is a "mistake" and "could be an obstacle to peace."

In an interview published Sunday in the Israeli daily newspaper, the Haaretz, the Italian premier said, "I would like to say to the people and government of Israel, as a friend, with my hand on my heart, that persisting with this policy is a mistake."

"It will never be possible to convince the Palestinians of Israel's good intentions while Israel continues to build in territories that are to be returned as part of a peace agreement," added Berlusconi.

The issue of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank is only one of the stumbling blocks for the relaunching of negotiations as the Palestinians seek a full freeze on the unlawful construction activities and their entitlement to the occupied territories.

The Palestinian Authority has already ruled out negotiations with the Israeli side as a waste of time and a green light for more Israeli settlements.

The Palestinians demand that Israel adhere to the 2002 Road Map for the Peace plan brokered by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia, which requires Israel to "dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and also freeze all settlement activities."

Around half a million Israeli settlers have been housed in over 120 illegal settlements and more than 100 Israeli outposts have been illegally constructed on Palestinian lands across the occupied West Bank, including the East Jerusalem Al-Quds and the lands seized by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.

GHN/MB

----------


## Shades

*Secret CIA-Mossad meeting, preparation for new war?*
Mon, 01 Feb 2010 11:49:11 GMT

A secret meeting between the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Leon Panetta and Israeli officials has reportedly centered on Iran's nuclear program.

In a secret flying visit to Israel on Thursday, the head of the CIA reportedly discussed Iran's nuclear issue in a sit-down with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Mossad Chief Meir Dagan.

The trip, which was originally scheduled to take place in May, follows a recent wave of developments in the Middle East that strongly imply preparations for a possible new military conflict in the region.

Israel has allegedly increased the scope of its undercover operations in the region, particularly against Lebanon, Iran, Syria and the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas.

The extent of this could be seen in recent remarks by Israeli cabinet minister Yossi Peled, in which the former army general explicitly said that another confrontation with Lebanon's resistance movement Hezbollah was almost inevitable.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri responded to the claims on Thursday, saying that Israel's threats against Hezbollah are perceived as threats against Lebanon.

"We consider the Israeli threats on Lebanon to be a threat to the Lebanese government as a whole, rather than to one particular person," said Hariri during a joint news conference with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, Hamas officials say they have concrete evidence that the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, staged the recent assassination of a senior Hamas commander, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, in Dubai on January 20.

Their claims have been somewhat supported by Dubai Police Chief Dhahi Khalfan.

"It could be Mossad," AFP quoted police Chief Dhahi Khalfan as saying on Sunday.

To add to the controversy, sources in Turkey's ruling party told Russia's Mignews on Saturday that Israeli spy agents ran an advanced electronic monitoring station from the Ankara military headquarters to keep tabs on communication networks in Iran and Syria.

According to the sources who were speaking on condition of anonymity, the Signals Intelligence station was solely managed by Israeli intelligence personnel and had become off-limits for members of the Turkish government.

For years Israeli politicians have masterminded a wave of undercover operations and terror plots in numerous countries, including Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Switzerland, and the US.

However, much of Israel's espionage operations have lately been focused on the Tehran government, largely because of Iran's uranium enrichment activities, which Tel Aviv has been seeking to portray as a mortal threat.

Tel Aviv, which is reported to have an arsenal of 200 nuclear warheads itself, accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons and routinely threatens to reduce the country's enrichment sites to rubble.

This is while Iran, unlike Israel, is a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has opened its enrichment facilities to UN inspection.

On Saturday, US presidential aid James Jones rejected prospects of an Israeli attack against Iran.

Although US officials normally deny having any plans to stage new war in the region, there have recently been strong hints to the contrary.

The New York Times reported Saturday that Washington will further increase its military presence in the Persian Gulf  allegedly to soup up its defense against possible Iranian missile attacks.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama has approved the deployment of new combat equipments, including advanced missile systems and special warships, to the region.

SBB/DT

----------


## Shades

*Israel admits dropping phosphorous bombs on Gaza*
Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:00:01 GMT

In an official report to the United Nations, *Israel acknowledged that its military had "endangered human life" through the use of phosphorous munitions against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.*

In Israel's response to the Goldstone report on war crimes in Gaza, *the regime admitted that its military forces fired white phosphorous bombs at a heavily populated area on January 15, 2009 in Gaza, Reuters reported.*

The shells that damaged a UN Relief and Works Agency compound contained incendiary white phosphorus, the use of which is condemned by human rights groups.

*According to the Israeli document, two senior officers, Brigadier-General Eyal Eisenberg and Colonel Ilan Malka, "exceeded their authority in approving the use of phosphorus shells".*

The document also mentioned that t*he shells were fired "in violation of the rules of engagement prohibiting use of such artillery near populated areas." It added that the officers, who still run their previous posts, have been disciplined.*

Eisenberg still heads Israel's Gaza division and Malka, an infantry brigade commander, is still in charge of military operations in the occupied West Bank.

The *Israeli military, however, has denied reprimanding the officers, Haaretz reported on Monday.*

A report released by a UN fact-finding team headed by South African Judge Richard Goldstone in September 2009 accused Israeli military forces of war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza.

The United Nations General Assembly later adopted a resolution giving Israel and the Palestinians three months to undertake "independent, credible investigations" into serious violations of international law and human rights committed during the conflict in Gaza.

According to the Goldstone report Israel used disproportionate force and failed to protect civilians during the war which killed more than 1,350 Palestinians in the territory.

SB/MMN

----------


## Shades

*Hamas ready for reconciliation with Fatah: Meshaal*
Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:44:40 GMT

Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal said Monday that the movement is ready for reconciliation with the rival Palestinian Fatah party, calling on Egypt to host a meeting on the issue.

Meshaal urged Cairo to arrange a meeting to strike a deal between the two sides, Ma'an news agency reported.

"We will go to reconciliation in God's will and we will give everything for the sake of reconciliation, this is a promise," said Meshaal.

"Gather us in Cairo with whomever you choose and you will find true reconciliation. This is simply the way. This is my message to my brothers in Egypt," said the head of Hamas political bureau.

Last month, Meshaal said that significant progress was achieved in reconciliation talks with Fatah but added that some points still needed to be resolved in the Egyptian proposal.

Egypt has been mediating between the two rival parties which virtually severed ties in June 2007, when Hamas took over the Gaza Strip  allegedly in response to an attempt by Fatah to stage a coup against the group.

Abbas in response dismissed the government of Hamas leader Ismail Haniya who had come to power after winning election in 2006.

SB/MMN

----------


## Shades

*January 19 set as International Gaza Day*
Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:08:01 GMT

Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani says that Muslim countries have agreed to his proposal to name January 19th as the International Gaza Day.

Larijani made the announcement upon his return from the sixth session of the Islamic Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Larijani returned to Tehran on Monday after an eight-day visit to Kuwait and Uganda.

In Uganda, Iran's parliament speaker met with the country's President Yoweri Museveni and Parliament Speaker Edward Ssekandi.

During his visit to Kuwait and Uganda, head of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Broujerdi accompanied Larijani.

HSH/HGH/MMN

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## Shades

*Hamas calls for legal action against Israel at ICC*
Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:43:33 GMT

Hamas called for the prosecution of Israeli leaders at the International Criminal Court (ICC), after Tel Aviv admitted the use of phosphorous munitions against Palestinians during the Gaza war.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the international community should take legal actions against Israeli the leaders who authorized the use of white phosphorous bombs during the Israeli offensive on Gaza last January.

In an official report to the United Nations, Israel admitted that its military forces fired shells that contained incendiary white phosphorus at a UN Relief and Works Agency compound in Gaza.

"It's a clear recognition that Israel committed war crimes in the Gaza Strip", said Barhoum.

"So according to this clear recognition by Israel, there should be practical steps taken by the international community to start prosecuting the leaders of the Zionist enemy as war criminals," he added.

A report released by a UN fact-finding team headed by South African Judge Richard Goldstone in September 2009 accused Israeli military forces of war crimes during the offensive which killed more than 1,400 people in Gaza.

Israel had initially boycotted the report, describing it as inaccurate.

However, the regime issued document titled "Gaza Operation Investigations: An Update" on Friday, facing a threat by Goldstone to refer war crimes suspicions to an international court unless Israel and the Palestinians launched investigations into the war.

Palestinians also submitted their report on the war to UN on Friday.

SB/MMN

----------


## Shades

*Berlusconi eyes Israeli membership in EU*
Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:36:04 GMT

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (R) Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the Kind David Hotel in Jerusalem, al-Quds
Italian Prime Minister says Israel should join the European Union, in a u-turn from his earlier remarks criticizing Israel's settlement policy as an impediment to peace.

"My greatest desire, as long as I am a protagonist in politics, is to bring Israel into membership of the European Union," said Silvio Berlusconi at the beginning of a three-day visit to Israel on Monday.

Eight Italian ministers accompanying Berlusconi will hold joint cabinet meetings with their Israeli counterparts.

The latest remarks come as the Italian premier criticized Israel over its settlement policy last Sunday, calling it "a mistake."

"It will never be possible to convince the Palestinians of Israel's good intentions while Israel continues to build in territories that are to be returned as part of a peace agreement," Berlusconi had said only a day earlier.

While Israel's relations with some European nations have soured over the conflict with the Palestinians, its ties with Berlusconi's government have grown much warmer.

RZS/MB

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## Shades

*Israeli police who put US man in coma get off scot-free*
Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:27:55 GMT

American activist Tristan Anderson, 38, of Oakland, Calif. is seen severely wounded after the clash, AP photo.
*Israeli authorities have cleared the police of the charge of inflicting coma-inducing head injury to an American during a protest against the erection of an Israeli barrier.*

The officials claimed that there was no criminal intent on the part of the police, said The Washington Post, reporting on the follow-up to the March 2009 incident in the West Bank in which the 38-year-old Tristan Anderson was hit in the head with a high-velocity tear gas canister.

*The victim has finally emerged from a months-long coma and can only communicate with basic sounds.*

After the incident, the Israeli government said that the law enforcement agents could not be held responsible for the crime as the victim was injured at a demonstration against the Israeli-built apartheid wall in the West Bank village of Ni'lin.

Tel Aviv has also labeled the protest in question as 'an act of war' although Anderson's head injury was sustained during a peaceful demonstration.

The family members of the peace activist have vowed to file a lawsuit against Tel Aviv.

Andersons' lawyer, Michael Sfard, has argued that branding a civil demonstration as an 'act of war' could only mean that Israel is at war with civilians. *"International law identifies the incident as a clear case of human rights abuse, he said. We will pursue this matter and take the government of Israel to court."*

The Post also reported that the *rally Anderson attended was sponsored by the International Solidarity Movement, which has had legal battles with the Israeli regime, and two of its members have been killed in unrelated incidents involving Israeli forces in recent years.*

HN/MB

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## Shades

*Barak predicts Syria war in absence of talks*
Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:00:11 GMT

Israeli Defense Minister says it is crucial to clinch a peace deal with Syria before too late, saying otherwise Tel Aviv could find itself at war with Damascus.

Addressing an annual gathering of senior army officers on Monday, Ehud Barak highlighted the significance of opening negotiations while Syria perceived Israel as being strong, the Jerusalem Post website reports.

Barak described the coming year as one of many challenges but expressed optimism about opportunities to make peace with Syria and the Palestinians.

"In the absence of a deal with Syria we could reach an armed conflict that could develop into a full-fledged war," he warned.

"As is in the Middle East, immediately after the war we will sit down and negotiate exactly what we have been talking about for the past 15 years."

Damascus and Tel Aviv remain at adds with each other over the Golan Heights, which Tel Aviv occupied during the six-day war of 1967 and later annexed, ignoring international opposition.

Syria, an outspoken critic of Israel, has preconditioned any peace negotiation with the Tel Aviv regime with a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from the strategic region.

MRS/JG/DT

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## Shades

*Hamas leader survives attempt on life*
Tue, 02 Feb 2010 10:59:36 GMT

*A local Hamas leader in the southern Gaza Strip has escaped an attempt on his life which damaged nearby homes and left two children wounded.*

The incident happened on Monday night when *a car belonging to Yussef Sarsur exploded overnight, leaving its apparent target unscathed, AFP quoted witnesses as saying.*

The car was reportedly parked in front of the Sarsur home in the southern town of Khan Yunis when it detonated, ripping into nearby houses.

Two children were wounded by broken glass, hospital officials said.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the explosion.

The *incident comes days after the Palestinian movement blamed Israel for the killing of its senior military commander, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who was assassinated in Dubai.*

Damascus-based *Hamas officials said the co-founder of the Hamas military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, was killed by Israeli agents on January 20*.

According to one of his brothers, initial results of a joint probe by Hamas and the United Arab Emirates showed Mabhuh was killed with an electric appliance held to his head.

Hamas has vowed to avenge the murder of one of its leaders.

MRS/JG/DT

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## Shades

*Hamas:Shalit talks stopped on grounds of Mabhouh's assassination*

2010-02-02 11:18:19

Occupied Jerusalem-PalPress-A Hamas prominent leader stated that Shalit swap talks will stop for an unlimited period of time on grounds of the assassination of Hamas prominent leader Mahmoud Al Mabhouh  in Dubais hotels on January, 20.

A senior Hams official , who spoke to the Saudi daily r Ukaz on condition of anonymity , said  that swap talks have temporarily stopped, pointing out that deal is currently going through a negative crossroads.

He also held Israel completely responsible about the failure of the swap deal until now.

The assassination, he said, was a "coward move which aimed to punish Hamas for its firm stance on the prisoner swap deal," confirming that the Israeli Spy agency Mossad was behind Mabhouhs s  assassination.

----------


## Shades

*Israeli warplanes bomb Gaza supply tunnels*
Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:24:35 GMT

Israeli warplanes have targeted and attacked a number of supply tunnels in the Gaza Strip in what the Israeli military said was retaliation for Palestinian rocket fire into southern Israel.

Witnesses and medics said nine air raids struck supply tunnels on the border between the blockaded coastal sliver of Gaza and Egypt. The aerial assaults wounded at least three people and damaged homes in the area.

Gaza continues to suffer from the aftermath of the massive Israeli military offensive from December 2008 to January 2009. More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during three weeks of Israeli land, sea, and air assaults in 'Operation Cast Lead '. The offensive also inflicted $1.6 billion damage to the Gazan economy.

Most of the damage in Gaza has not been repaired due to an Israeli blockade that has prevented construction materials from entering the territory.

MP/HGL

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## Shades

*Fayyad sounds conciliatory towards Israel*
Wed, 03 Feb 2010 07:35:54 GMT

Caretaker Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad addresses the annual conference on security in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv, February 2, 2010.
The Palestinian Authority calls for an end to Israel's settlement construction and its incursions into Palestinian areas to assure an end to the occupation.

In a rare speech to an Israeli audience, Palestinian caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said that Israel's settlement expansions in the West Bank are swallowing up the territory where the Palestinians hope to build a state.

"The Palestinian state is supposed to emerge precisely where settlements are expanding," Fayyad told the 10th Herzliya Conference.

Fayyad also noted Israel's inability to freeze the construction of settlements, raising doubts as to whether Tel Aviv intends to implement a future agreement.

"The political question I have is how confident can we be that once relaunched, the political process is going to be able to deliver that which needs to be delivered on the permanent status issues, on the key question of ending the occupation?" he asked.

Fayyad called on Tel Aviv to stop incursions into the Palestinian territories and demanded formal security presence of Palestinians in other population areas outside the part currently controlled by the Palestinian Authority, saying it would give Palestinians confidence that Israel really intended to end the occupation.

Fayyad reiterated the Palestinians' right to East Jerusalem Al-Quds  occupied by Israel in 1967 and illegally annexed later  and noted that the territory was no less than the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

He also emphasized an end to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and the acceptance of Palestinian statehood as the solution for easing tensions in the region.

The official repeated the Palestinian Authority's commitment to its "recognition of Israel's right to peace and security" and expressed 'sympathy' with the Israelis for the "pain" they have suffered throughout their history.

"Like you, we Palestinians have our own history. Right now we are going through lots of pain and suffering. And we have one key aspiration, and that is once again to be able to live alongside you in peace, harmony and security," he asserted in a conciliatory tone.

Observers note that Fayyad's submissive statements in the face of continuing abuses against the Palestinians by the Israeli occupiers are certain to induce major protests among the Palestinian population and resistance leaders.

MRS/MB

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## Shades

*Hamas raps Fayyad over attending Israeli conference*
Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:21:36 GMT

Hamas has denounced the Palestinian Authority for the participation of the caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in an Israeli conference.

Fayyad addressed Israel's 10th annual Herzilya conference on Tuesday, following remarks by Tel Aviv's Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

"The Palestinian Authority's cooperation with Israel reached a political level and this is a serious indicator that this national side has connected its projects with Israeli interests and policies," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement.

The conference, organized by the Strategic Studies Institute, is held annually in Israel and contributes to decisions on Israeli policy and strategy relating to security and politics.

During his speech to the Israeli audience, Fayyad denoted the Palestinian Authority's recognition of Israel's right to peace and security, and pledged sustained adherence to that commitment, The Jerusalem Post said on its website.

Just as the Palestinians recognized Israel's right, Fayyad reportedly said, so the concept of two states must be accepted in Israel.

He also offered Israelis his sympathy for the pain they have been through in their "long history."

"Like you, we Palestinians have our own history. Right now we are going through lots of pain and suffering. And we have one key aspiration, and that is once again to be able to live alongside you in peace, harmony and security," Fayyad said.

The presence of the Palestinian Authority's caretaker prime minister in an Israeli meeting and his overly conciliatory gesture has irritated Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip, where Israel is strongly resented for the killing of some 1,400 people during the war Tel Aviv launched against the coastal strip last January.

The resistance movement, who came to power following a sweeping electoral victory in the 2006 general polls, has been resisting Western diplomatic and economic sanctions in order to force it to recognize Israel.

Hamas had to limit its rule to the blockaded Gaza Strip following an orchestrated coup by the rival, Western-backed Fatah faction against the democratically elected Hamas administration. Fatah, has in turn created its own government in the West bank.
MRS/MB/DT

----------


## Shades

*Hamas: Netanyahu to blame for prisoner swap deadlock*
Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:57:44 GMT

A leading member of the Hamas political bureau, Mahmoud al-Zahar, says negotiations between the movement and Israel over a prisoner swap involving Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and hundreds of long-serving Palestinian prisoners have broken down.

In an interview with BBC's Hardtalk program on Tuesday, the prominent leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement held Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accountable for the failure of talks on the exchange deal.

Zahar pointed out that Netanyahu is adamantly opposed to the release of 'heavyweight' Palestinian prisoners Marwan Barghouti and Ahmed Sa'adat.

The status of Sa'adat and Barghouti is one of the most sensitive issues in the discussions on the Hamas-Israel prisoner swap deal.

"As regarding negotiations, as of now the process has failed. The main cause, well known to everybody, well known to the mediator, that after the interference of the political element, after the appearance of Netanyahu personally, there was a big regression and retraction. For this reason negotiations have now stopped, Zahar said.

"We are looking to set free our people and also to give a chance for the family of the Israeli soldier to live as a human being also. We demanded a considerable number of prisoners, but the Israeli side, after hundreds of rounds of talks, reached backward too much," he noted.

Should a prisoner swap take place, Israel would release 980 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit  who has been in Hamas custody for over three years.

According to the head of the census department at the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees, Abdul-Nasser Farawna, Israel currently holds 7,300 Palestinians in prison. Among the detainees, are 33 women, 300 children, 17 legislators and two former ministers.

MP/HGH/MMN

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## Shades

*Israel not serious about peace, says Syria*
Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:11:32 GMT

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) and Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says Israel is not serious about achieving peace since all facts point out that Tel Aviv is pushing the region towards war.

"Israel is not serious in achieving peace and that everything shows it is working towards a war," SANA news agency quoted Assad as saying in a meeting with visiting Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos in Damascus on Wednesday.

Moratinos, for his part, pointed out that resolution of crises in the Middle East is a priority to the European Union. He also expressed appreciation over Syria's positive role in establishing security and stability in the region.

Syria maintains that Israel's withdrawal from Golan Heights is the prerequisite for peace between Damascus and Tel Aviv. Israel captured the Golan Heights following the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed the Syrian territory in 1981.

Further raising Damascus' ire, Israeli warplanes destroyed Syria's al-Kibar site in 2007 blaming the country of harboring a nuclear reactor there  a claim rejected by Syria.

Under the auspices of Turkey, Israel and Syria last May launched peace talks aimed at reaching a comprehensive peace agreement, but the negotiations reached a deadlock in September 2009.

Syria then withdrew from the talks in protest at Israel's all-out military strike against the Gaza Strip  in December 2008 and January 2009  where at least 1,400 Palestinians lost their lives to the three-week carnage.

MP/MMN

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## Shades

*Hamas rejects Goldstone report accusations*
Thu, 04 Feb 2010 01:15:58 GMT

Hamas has rejected accusations leveled against the movement that it had committed "war crimes" during the last year Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip.

A UN Human Rights Council report that was compiled by a team led by the South African judge Richard Goldstone has accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes during the three week war in the region.

Hamas, which launched rocket attacks to retaliate Israeli air raids and ground incursion into the strip, said a committee it appointed to follow up on the report found no intention to harm civilians.

The UN report claimed that rocket attacks against southern Israel deliberately targeted civilians and could constitute a crime against humanity.

"Palestinian armed groups have repeatedly confirmed that they are abiding by international humanitarian law, through broadcasting in different media that they intended to hit military targets and to avoid targeting civilians," the Hamas said, attributing civilian casualties to "incorrect (or imprecise) fire."

The request for independent investigations was made by the UN General Assembly last November. The UN gave both sides until Feb. 5 to respond to the report.

The report also accused Israel of grave crimes against humanity among which the use of phosphorous munitions against Palestinians in Gaza.

Some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed during the war.

SB/RE

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## Shades

*Israel to raze 200 Palestinian homes in E Jerusalem*
Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:23:58 GMT

Israeli authorities plan to seal 200 Palestinians homes in East Jerusalem Al-Quds to counter what they call "discriminatory enforcement" against Israeli settlers.

The East Jerusalem Al-Quds Mayor Nir Barkat announced the decision after the State Prosecutor Moshe Lador criticized the municipality's refusal to carry out a Supreme Court order to seal the Jewish-owned Beit Yehonatan building in East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

The building, which houses Israeli settlers, was illegally built in the city's neighborhood of Silwan in 2004.

In a letter written to the prosecutor on Wednesday, Barkat agreed to implement the sealing order but added that he would also act to tear down 200 "illegal" Palestinian homes in the area.

"Although the sealing order, in light of the dozens of demolition orders which are not being enforced, constitutes, in my eyes, a selective and discriminatory enforcement, Jerusalem (Al-Quds) Municipality will act according to court orders and implement the sealing orders on Beit Yehonatan as well as other standing orders," Barkat wrote to Lador.

"The municipality will seal Beit Yehonatan and raze all of the illegal structures - more than 200 structures on which the court has issued demolition orders."

The mayor charged the court order came under the influence of "wrongful political intervention" which he said "may cause publicly elected officials to refrain from expressing an opinion on issues that have dire consequences."

The decision to raze Palestinian houses received condemnation from civil rights organizations and human rights groups in Israel.

The Ir Amim (City of Nations) organization denounced the move, saying Barkat was adopting a policy similar to the settlers' "price tag policy", by which settlers seek revenge by attacking Palestinians for every illegal outpost that is evacuated.

"We hope Barkat is considering the local and international significance of such an extreme act," the organization said in a statement.

The Peace Now Movement said that "the Jerusalem (Al-Quds) mayor has turned into a collaborator with Israel's most extreme right-wing organizations."

MRS/MB

----------


## Shades

President Abbas: Negotiations Will Resume When Israel Commits to Obligatoins
Date : 1/2/2010   Time : 21:53

BERLIN, February 1, 2010 (WAFA)- President Mahmoud Abbas said, today, that  negotiations with Israel could not be resumed unless the Israeli Government agrees to halt settlement activities and to commit to international community references.

In a joint press conference with the German counselor Angela Mirkel, the president mentioned the Mitchell paper 'methods of starting the negotiations' presented to the Palestinian and Israeli sides, but the Palestinian side will respond to it after consultations with the brothers and friends, by next week.

The President pointed that his concern depicted by the winds of war in the Middle East, which will not only affect the region, but the whole world.

He reminded of the Egyptian paper, submitted on October 15, 2009, and said that 'Hamas has got to sign it in order to embark together on the legislative and presidential elections on June 28, 2010.

----------


## Shades

Israeli Troops Arrest Palestinian in Night Raid on Bilin
Date : 1/2/2010   Time : 20:58

BILIN, February 1, 2010 (WAFA)- A Palestinian citizen was arrested, this morning, by Israeli troops as they strolled down Bilin, near Ramallah.

 Four Shabak (Israeli Intelligence) jeeps and one military hummer rolled through Bilin around 3 am this morning, International Solidarity Movement (ISM) reported.

ISM added that computer screens with GPS maps were visible in the jeeps. They started throwing sound bombs amongst houses when camera people arrived on the scene.

Soldiers in the last hummer taunted the camera people by making chicken noises. It seemed like they were looking for someone or were lost in Bilin as they turned down side streets and returned to the main road between the school and the mosque. Earlier in the evening residents of Bilin reported seeing the military throwing tear gas at young kids who were near the Israeli apartheid wall. Invasions like this are not uncommon in Bilin.

One person from Bilin was injured while running to document the invasion last night. There were no arrests. This happened less than one week since the arrest of Bilin Popular Committee member Mohammad Al Khatib.

----------


## Shades

*Israeli jets 'strike Gaza targets' *  
03.02.10 - 22:38
Israeli aircraft have struck tunnels in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian witnesses say, a day after two explosive devices said to have originated in Hamas-ruled Gaza washed up on Israel's coastline.

ImageThe Israeli army had no immediate comment on the alleged strikes on Tuesday which witnesses say were carried out by Israeli air force jets against an abandoned airport building in Gaza and on tunnels along the border with Egypt that Israel says are used to smuggle weapons into the territory.

There were no immediate reports of injuries from the bombings, according to the witnesses cited by the Reuters news agency.

The attacks came shortly after Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, told a news conference alongside his Italian counterpart, Silvio Berlusconi, that Israel would respond to the explosives found on Monday.

Palestinian fighters from the Israeli-blockaded territory claimed responsibility for what Israel described as an unusual attempted attack.

Most attacks from Gaza in the past few years have been by rocket shootings at Israeli towns.

The Islamic Jihad group said it had floated the explosives out to sea in a joint operation with two other groups including the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of the Fatah faction led by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president.



Source: Aljazeera

----------


## Shades

*ISRAEL: 'Avatar' and the Palestinian blues  	* 
01.02.10 - 21:22 
This week, a screening of "Avatar" erupted into a small ruckus in a suburb when one moviegoer loudly announced that the Palestinians should learn from this movie what to do to the Jews, causing a commotion and angering others in the audience.

The opinionated moviegoer was Juliano Mer-Khamis. Born in Nazereth to a Jewish mother and Arab father, he is an accomplished actor of many years, a filmmaker as well as a political activist who is very outspoken against the occupation. 

Mer-Khamis confirmed the incident and added in the newspaper Maariv: "No one dares to make the real analogy. 'Avatar' is one of the bravest films made. It portrays the occupation, but people aren't making the analogy. Many would like to be like the blue people but don't understand the meaning. This is why people got angry at the movie theater. It is no secret that I think the Israelis are occupiers and the Palestinians occupied. Israel sits forcefully on lands that belong to others and this is exactly what the movie is talking about."

Mer-Khamis also suggests distributing the movie in the Palestinian town of Jenin. His choice of Jenin of all Palestinian locations is probably no coincidence: It is home to the Freedom Theatre, which he established a few years ago for the children of the Palestinian refugee camp there and to use "the magic and fantasy of theater to offer some respite" to the population, according to its website.

The Jenin theater was attacked with Molotov cocktails last year. Mer-Khamis was threatened, denounced in leaflets by militant Palestinians as morally corrupt and an agent of Zionism -- probably a first for that allegation. The music center in town was also torched later. Mer-Khamis acknowledged that he was afraid but said that he wasn't the type to run away. "It drives them crazy that a person who's half-Jewish heads one of the most important projects in the northern West Bank," he had told the news media at the time. The Jenin theater was a tribute to his mother, Arna Mer-Khamis, whose earlier work in the town was documented in the film "Arna's Children."

Either way, "Avatar" already got on the wrong side of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman -- or his spoof, really, on the "Eretz Nehederet" ('It's a Wonderful Country') satire show. 

Blowing off claims that his foreign policy had left Israel with no allies in the world, the "minister" introduced the country's new best friend, "an ally out of this world": the prime minister of "Avatar." 

The new diplomatic alliance lasts only until the blue thing explains that the movie is about a people resisting occupation. 

A leftist movie, sniffs the "minister,"  and he promptly shoots the blue being. 

Sorry, folks, he says. There's isn't going to be an "Avatar No. 2."



Source: LA Times

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## Shades

*A dangerous concept* 
03.02.10 - 22:40

an interview with Bassam al-Salhi

bitterlemons: Some say the concept of land swaps is a creative way to resolve territorial problems in negotiations. Do you agree?

Al-Salhi: No. I think this idea is very dangerous. We need clear recognition of the borders of a Palestinian state, i.e., the whole area of 1967, including East Jerusalem. This is the law as embodied in many resolutions from the UN and negotiations must start from this point. Any land swap must not change this reality or the unity of the area of the Palestinian state.

However, what's happening is that Israel is making changes in areas of the West Bank using the idea of a land swap to legitimize its settlement blocs. Israel wants to open negotiations with the Palestinian side from this point. In other words, from the beginning, Israel is leaving those areas outside Palestinian territory. But the original idea, which in my opinion was anyway a mistake, was that the notion of a land swap should follow the establishment of borders, not come before.

bitterlemons: Why, during the Camp David negotiations, did the Palestinian side accept the notion in the first place?

Al-Salhi: I think this was a mistake. I think it came about because at the time there was one package solution and a land swap was a small component of this larger package to solve all issues. But now the other issues are not being discussed, and Israel is trying to isolate the idea of a land swap. This makes it dangerous. We need, first, recognition of the Palestinian borders, recognition of the issue of East Jerusalem and refugees, etc.

As a point under the file of settlements, maybe a land swap can be discussed, but to take it in isolation is dangerous because it means the facts Israel is creating on the ground in the form of settlements are successfully undermining the principle of the 1967 borders.

bitterlemons: What would you respond to those who will say that with the settlements where they are and some half a million people living in these settlements it is simply unrealistic to expect to move them?

Al-Salhi: We cannot start from this perspective. If we accept to do that, it means that the rights of the Palestinians, rights that are universal, are being undermined by force, the force Israel uses to change the reality on the ground. We have to start from international law.

International law recognizes that East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza are occupied territories, an occupation that must end to make way for a Palestinian state. It is not our responsibility to find a solution to the problems Israel has created for itself. These settlements should never have been built and they should not be allowed to affect our rights.

The current Israeli coalition government relies on the support of pro-settler groups and this is a very negative development in Israel. But this government didn't create the problem. Other governments are responsible for creating an atmosphere in which settlers have been allowed to flourish.

In this way, Israel is destroying chances of a two-state solution and implementing instead an apartheid system in the West Bank, in addition to inside Israel. It is becoming clearer and clearer that Palestinians, absent a two-state solution, must prepare to think about how to ensure their right to self-determination without a state of their own. The only alternative is in a democratic one-state solution for two nations.- Published 1/2/2010 © bitterlemons.org

Bassam al-Salhi is head of the Palestinian People's Party.

----------


## Shades

*Berlusconi defends Israel's Gaza war as self defense*
Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:18:34 GMT

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi pledges support for the Tel Aviv regime despite the damning UN report on the Gaza war that charges Israel with war crimes.

In a speech before the Israeli parliament (Knesset), visiting Berlusconi hailed Israel as "not only the biggest example of democracy and liberty in the Middle East, but the only example," calling the security of Israel "an ethical and moral imperative" for Italians.

The Italian premier recalled his country's vote against the United Nations report on the Gaza war, presented to UN Human Rights Council by an independent fact finding committee headed by the South African Prosecutor Richard Goldstone.

The so-called Goldstone report "sought to criminalize Israel for responding to the rockets Hamas fired from Gaza," Berlusconi claimed in a reference to the deadly military offensive Israel launched against the Hamas-run Gaza Strip in December 2008, killing more than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians.

Released in September, the 575-page Gaza war report included various examples of war crimes and violation of international laws by the Israeli army. It charged the Israeli forces with deliberate bombardment of places known to hold Palestinian civilians, accusing them of targeting fleeing individuals that at times were even waving white flags.

The Goldstone report also accused the Palestinian resistance fighters of indiscriminate rocket attacks into southern Israeli towns, most of which landed in deserted areas without causing any casualties or serious damage to properties.

The United Nations General Assembly later in 2009 adopted a resolution giving Israel and the Palestinians three months to undertake "independent, credible investigations" into serious violations of international law and human rights committed during the conflict in Gaza.

Earlier in January, Israel submitted an official report to the United Nations and admitted that its military had "endangered human life" through the use of forbidden phosphorus munitions against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

According to the document, Israeli forces fired white phosphorus bombs at a heavily populated area on January 15, 2009 in Gaza, damaging a UN Relief and Works Agency compound.

The report charged the head of Israel's Gaza division and an infantry brigade commander with "exceeding their authority in approving the use of phosphorus shells." The senior officers, nonetheless, are currently in charge of military operations in the occupied West Bank.

MRS/MB

----------


## Shades

*Israel charged with targeting Palestinian medical teams*
Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:30:35 GMT

Palestinian ambulances are seen destroyed during Israel's offensive, south of Gaza City January 16, 2009.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society has charged Israel with launching hundreds of attacks against Palestinian medical teams in 2009.

The aid group, also known as PRCS, said that the Israeli troops fired 15 times at ambulances in the West Bank and Gaza last year, killing one medical worker and wounding 10 more.

The PRCS also said that the Israeli troops obstructed its teams on 440 occasions in what the society denounced as "a blatant violation of international law."

The group also charged the Israeli army with the use of internationally banned phosphorus bombs in an attack on one of its headquarters during the war on Gaza.

More than 1,400 Palestinians, including hundreds of women and children, were killed in a three-week onslaught Israel launched against the Gaza Strip in December 27, 2008.

The 22-day offensive reduced hundreds of houses into debris, leveled tens of schools and mosques and devastated a huge part of the impoverished territory's infrastructure.

MRS/MB

----------


## Shades

*Israel threatens Syria's Assad with collapse*
Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:31:48 GMT

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman threatens to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad if Damascus enters into a war with the Israeli regime.

"When there is another war, you will not just lose it, but you and your family will lose power," Lieberman told a business conference at Bar-Ilan University on Thursday.

"There must be a correlation, because unfortunately, until now a military defeat did not mean a loss of power," he added.

Lieberman's remarks come a day after Assad's meeting with the Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos in Damascus where the Syrian leader warned that Israel was pushing the Middle East toward a new war.

Assad also said Israel is not being serious in seeking peace and that all signs implied that Tel Aviv is "working towards a war."

Lieberman reacted angrily to the comments, claiming that Assad "crossed a line" by directly threatening Israel and suggesting that any future offensive against the Lebanese resistance movement would draw a response from Syria.

The hawkish foreign minister's war rhetoric comes after his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem urged Israel to "return to reason, follow the path of peace ... and implement the requirements of peace fairly and comprehensively," warming that any future war would move into Israeli cities.

Lieberman also urged pressure on Damascus to give up its demand for a withdrawal of the Israeli military from the Golan Heights, which Syria insists must be returned before the two could hold any peace negotiations.

Israel seized the strategic Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 war and annexed it in 1981, in a move never recognized by the international community.

MRS/MB

----------


## Shades

*Erekat calls for alternative to two-state solution*
Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:56:52 GMT

Chief Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat says Palestinians should consider other alternatives to the two-state solution if the peace process with Israel does not move forward.

Palestinians should develop credible alternatives to the two-state solution, such as a one-state solution or a bi-national state and dissolve the Palestinian Authority, according to Erekat.

Erekat also called for a "campaign of non-violent resistance, such as prohibition of Palestinians working in settlements and boycott of Israeli products."

Another option that the Palestinians should consider, according to Erekat, is the re-evaluation of the Oslo Accord and "declaring them null and void, partially or completely, or applying them selectively in a manner consistent with Palestinian interests."

The prominent Palestinian figure also called for a united Palestinian message and position regarding peace talks with Israel.

Erekat went on to urge Palestinians to try to secure a UN Security Council resolution that would recognize the state of Palestine on its 1967 borders with East Jerusalem (Al-Quds) as its capital. He further called for a just solution to the Palestinian refugee issue based on UN Resolution 194.

The chief negotiator also called on Israel to implement a comprehensive settlement freeze which would include East Jerusalem (Al-Quds) and reopen Palestinian institutions in the city.

"Israel also must remove settlement outposts established since March 2001, lift the siege and closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip and halt raids, arrests and assassinations and all activities that may jeopardize building mutual trust and confidence," Saeb Erekat pointed out.

MP/SAR/MMN

----------


## Shades

*Haniyeh to Israel: Recognize us first*
Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:13:08 GMT

Democratically-elected Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh says Israel must recognize the rights of the Palestinian people before asking for recognition.

"They have to recognize us first, the right of the Palestinian people, we are the victims. Hamas supports the establishment of a Palestinian state with the 1967 borders," Haniyeh said on Wednesday.

Palestinians want their future state based on borders before the Israeli occupation of June 1967, as recognized by the international community, with its capital in East Jerusalem (Al-Quds), said the senior Hamas member.

Haniyeh also pointed out that the Islamic Resistance Movement is ready for dialogue with the international community, including the United States and the European Union.

"Hamas is ready for dialogue with the world, international community, the US, the Middle East Quartet and the Europeans," he said.

Haniyeh said he was determined to "establish Palestinian reconciliation and to have fair elections... in all Palestinian homes, including Jerusalem (Al-Quds)."

Hamas has been in power in the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip since June 2007 after it drove Fatah forces out of the coastal sliver, to prevent a US-backed coup.

Under pressure from Israeli lobbies, the US and the EU refuse to hold formal talks with the democratically-elected movement, which came to power following general elections in 2006.

MP/SAR/MMN

----------


## Shades

*UN chief sees no evidence of Gaza war crimes probes*
Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:11:05 GMT

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says he sees no concrete evidence Israel and the Palestinians have carried out credible, independent probes of alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

"No determination can be made on the implementation of the UN resolution by the parties concerned," Ban said on Thursday in a report that contains the responses provided by Israel and the Palestinians.

The UN's fact-finding mission, headed by South African judge and former international war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone, had accused Israel of committing war crimes during the 22-day assault on the Gaza Strip, which began on December 27, 2008.

In an interview published in the December 8, 2009 edition of the newspaper al-Mashahid al-Siyasi, Musa Abu Marzouq, Hamas' second in command, said, All paragraphs in the Goldstone report convict Israel and totally exonerate Hamas from any misconduct."

Over 1,400 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza war.

There was widespread international criticism of the Israeli military for its use of disproportionate force in the Gaza war, which was exemplified by the fact that most of the dead and injured were civilians.

FTP/HGL

----------


## Shades

*Gaza's only power plant may be forced to shut down*
Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:23:05 GMT

Gaza officials have warned that if no fuel is received, the Gaza Strip's only power plant will have to be shut down on Friday night.

The plant had already stopped services to all but 30-40 percent of the coastal strip by nightfall on Thursday, the Gaza Energy Authority said, adding that the sudden cold front in the region used up the remaining fuel faster than expected.

According to Palestinian liaison officer Raed Fattouh, on Thursday, the Israeli authorities stopped fuel trucks from entering the fuel crossing at Kerem Shalom in southern Gaza.

The fuel for the plant is purchased from and delivered by Israel via its own trucks.

The plant has four generators, but only one is being used due to lack of fuel. This generator supplies electricity to the population of Gaza for 16 hours a day.

A European Union contract paying for fuel shipments expired on November 30, 2009, according to Kan'an Obeid, the deputy manager of the Energy Authority in the Gaza Strip.

While the EU had been providing the service after the contract expired, EU officials recently notified the Gaza Energy Authority that they would no longer pay for the fuel shipments unless the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah drafted a new agreement and payment scheme.

FTP/HGL

----------


## Shades

*Israel seeking to ease tensions with Syria*
Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:52:12 GMT

Israeli officials are making efforts to ease the tension with Syria that has come about following remarks made by Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

A statement issued by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lieberman on Thursday said Tel Aviv wants to engage in dialogue with Syria without pre-conditions.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has also made attempts to defuse the tension. Barak pointed out that he was not happy about Lieberman's remarks and that an arrangement with Syria is Tel Aviv's strategic objective.

On Thursday, Lieberman threatened to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad. "When there is another war, you will not just lose it, but you and your family will lose power," Lieberman told a business conference at Bar-Ilan University in Israel.

"There must be a correlation, because unfortunately, until now a military defeat did not mean a loss of power," Lieberman went on to say.

The Israeli foreign minister made the remarks on Thursday one day after Assad's meeting with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos in Damascus where the Syrian leader warned that Israel was pushing the Middle East toward a new war.

Assad made the remarks days after the Israeli defense minister said Syria should clinch a peace deal with Israel or it would find itself in a full-fledged war with Tel Aviv.

The Syrian president also asserted that Israel is not being serious in seeking peace and that all signs implied that Tel Aviv is "working towards a war."

The hawkish Israeli foreign minister reacted angrily to the comments, claiming that Assad "crossed a line" by directly threatening Israel and suggesting that any future offensive against the Lebanese resistance movement would draw a response from Syria.

Lieberman's war rhetoric comes after his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem urged Israel to "return to reason, follow the path of peace ... and implement the requirements of peace fairly and comprehensively," warning that any future war would move into Israeli cities.

HRF/JG/DT

----------


## Shades

*Amnesty : Israeli Response to Gaza Investigations totally Inadequate*
Date : 3/2/2010   Time : 18:56

LONDON, February 3, 2010 (WAFA)- Israel's latest response to the UN on its investigations into alleged violations of international law by its forces in Gaza a year ago is totally inadequate, Amnesty International said Tuesday.

Crucial questions about the conduct of attacks in which hundreds of civilians were killed and thousands were made homeless are not credibly addressed in Israel's update to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

'The investigations undertaken by Israel fail to meet international standards of independence, impartiality, transparency, promptness and effectiveness,' said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme.

'The Israeli military is investigating itself and in no way can this be adequate in obtaining the truth and ensuring justice for the victims.'

The 46-page update published on January 29 says that Israel has opened investigations into 150 incidents involving alleged violations of the laws of war by its forces during Operation 'Cast Lead', its 22-day military offensive in Gaza which ended on January 18, 2009.

Around 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed in the conflict that took place in Gaza and southern Israel.

The limited details released indicate that the Israeli authorities are failing to credibly address grave concerns about the army's use of white phosphorus in densely-populated areas.

Attacks on UN facilities and other civilian buildings and infrastructure, as well as direct attacks on Palestinian civilians, including ambulance crews have also not been adequately investigated by Israel.

Such incidents were reported by the UN, Amnesty International and other human rights and media organizations at the time of the conflict.

'There were numerous credible allegations during Operation 'Cast Lead' that violations of international humanitarian law by Israeli forces caused the deaths of hundreds of civilians, led others to be used as 'human shields' and destroyed or damaged thousands of homes and other civilian infrastructure,' said Malcolm Smart.

'Yet more than one year on, according to the update, only one soldier has been convicted of an offence as a result of the Israeli investigations, and that was the theft of a credit card.'

All the Israeli investigations have been carried out by army commanders or by the military police criminal investigators and overseen by the Military Advocate General, severely compromising their independence and impartiality.

The Military Advocate General's office gave the Israeli forces legal advice on their choice of targets and tactics during Operation 'Cast Lead'.

The military investigations also preclude the possibility of examining decisions taken by civilian officials, who are also alleged to be responsible for serious violations.

The update states that there is no basis for criminal investigations into serious incidents which Amnesty International maintains warrant effective and independent investigations.

These include Israeli strikes on UN facilities, civilian property and infrastructure, attacks on medical facilities and personnel, and incidents in which large numbers of civilians were killed.

Despite enduring concerns by Amnesty International over Israel's extensive use of white phosphorus in Gaza, the update contends that there are 'no grounds to take disciplinary or other measures for the Israeli armys use of weapons containing phosphorous'.

During Operation 'Cast Lead' Israeli forces often launched artillery shells containing white phosphorus into residential areas, causing death and injuries to civilians.

Other Israeli attacks which resulted in civilian injuries and deaths are dismissed as 'operational errors' although the update admits 'some instances' in which Israeli soldiers and officers 'violated the rules of engagement'.

The Israeli government has not indicated that it will ensure reparations, including compensation, to Palestinian civilians harmed as a result of the 'operational errors' or admitted violations of their forces.

Research by Amnesty International into Operation 'Cast Lead' showed elements of reckless conduct, disregard for civilian lives and property and a consistent failure on the part of Israeli forces to distinguish between military targets and civilians and civilian objects.

Israeli forces continued to employ tactics and weapons that resulted in growing numbers of civilian casualties for the entire duration of the military offensive. This was despite Israeli officials knowing from the first days of the military offensive that civilians were being killed and wounded in significant numbers.

Amnesty International drew a number of incidents to the attention of the Israeli authorities who have not responded to the organization's repeated requests for clarification on specific incidents.

'In his forthcoming report on domestic investigations by Israel and the Palestinian side, Ban Ki-moon must include a substantive assessment of whether these investigations meet the established UN criteria and are 'independent, credible and in conformity with international standards,' said Malcolm Smart.

'So far, it appears that neither of the parties are able or willing to conduct investigations meeting those standards. If this remains so, then the responsibility will fall on the UN to ensure accountability for the perpetrators and justice for the victims  and this must include the Security Council eventually considering a referral of the Gaza situation to the International Criminal Court and steps by the General Assembly to establish a fund for victims who were killed or injured or suffered loss or damage resulting from unlawful acts committed during the war.'

The Israeli update was submitted days before the deadline set by the UN General Assembly in November 2009 when it endorsed the recommendations of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict (the Goldstone Report) and called on both Israel and the Palestinian side, within three months, to undertake investigations into alleged war crimes and other violations by their forces.

These investigations, the General Assembly, said, should be 'independent, credible and in conformity with international standards into the serious violations of international humanitarian and international human rights law reported by the [UN] Fact Finding Mission, towards ensuring accountability and justice'. Hamas has yet to submit any public report to the UN.

----------


## Shades

*Palestinian unity within reach, Fatah says*
Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:45:45 GMT

Senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath, left, meets with democratically elected Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza City, February 4, 2010.
A Palestinian Fatah party delegation, returning home from the Hamas-run Gaza strip, said Friday the rival factions have taken major steps toward a reconciliation deal.

"We have paved the way to new ties based on cooperation and trust," senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath said upon returning from the three-day Gaza tour.

Accompanied by a delegation of Ramallah politicians, Shaath arrived in Gaza on Wednesday to become the first Fatah official to visit Gaza since the democratically-elected Hamas government had to limit its rule to the coastal strip in 2007.

During his stay, Shaath met with Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and a number of Hamas government ministers.

Fatah's chief negotiator said his talks with the Gaza officials revolved around the "need to end Palestinian divisions," and that the Islamic movement had said it was ready to sign an Egyptian-brokered deal already signed by Fatah.

"The brothers in Hamas said they will sign the agreement, and when this happens  the two movements will renew the Palestinian unity," he said.

Shaath's comments came a few days after Head of Hamas Political Bureau Khalid Mashaal said in Damascus that a Palestinian reconciliation agreement was in reach.

Hamas has repeatedly called for direct talks with Fatah leaders, saying the rival factions need to join hands and form a united front to stand against Israel.

MRS/SAR/MD

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## Shades

*Al Mezan Condemns IOF Attacks against Palestinian Fishermen*
Date : 3/2/2010   Time : 18:32

GAZA, February 3, 2010 (WAFA)- Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights condemned the Israeli attacks against Palestinian fishermen which violate their rights and affect their living.

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) escalated its attacks against Palestinian fishermen. IOF naval vessels opened Tuesday heavy fire at fishermen boats, followed them to the beach, and torn their fishing nets in the sea.

Al Mezan reiterated its calls on the international community to intervene and IOF's attacks and harassment against Palestinian fishermen in Gaza. International community's silence in the face of these conducts has only encouraged IOF to continue violating human rights and international law.

According to the documentation of Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights, at approximately 8am on Monday 1 February 2010, IOF naval vessels were patrolling the sea opposite to Dier Al Balah town in middle Gaza district and opened fire at Palestinian fishermen boats who were working in the coast of the town and the nearby An-Nuseirat camp. Israeli vessels then sporadically fired towards fishing boats until 1pm on the same day. On Tuesday 2 February 2010, the IOF fired at fishermen boats and chased them by army rubber boats. Al Mezan's field workers investigated these attacks and reported that fishermen boats did not exceed the limited fishing zone that had been announced by the IOF.

According to affidavits given to Al Mezan by the fishermen who were subject to these attacks, a special kind of fish locally called 'the birds' pass near Gaza coast at this time of the year, moving quickly from a place to another in the sea. This is the season in which this fish can be found in large quantities in Gaza sea. IOF had frequently taken restrictive and harassment measures against fishermen during this season during the past few years, causing them to lose the seasonal fishing.

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## Shades

*PA calls for ICC probe into Israeli war crimes*
Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:02:04 GMT

The Palestinian Authority says it has sent a memorandum to The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) in a bid to seek justice for "all Israeli crimes" committed in the occupied Palestinian lands.

On Friday, Palestinian UN observer Riyad Mansour called on the court to adjudicate on war crimes committed against Palestinians during Israel's December 2008-January 2009 war on the Gaza Strip.

Mansour also said the Palestinian Authority had created a commission to investigate the crime allegations leveled against it.

Regarding the war crimes charges against both Hamas and Israel, he said the commission did not view potential wrongdoing on the Palestinian side as seriously as any acts by Israel.

"There is absolutely no symmetry or proportionality between the occupying power and the occupied people," he added.

A UN Human Rights Council report that was compiled by a team led by the South African judge Richard Goldstone has accused Israel of war crimes during the three week war in the region.

Mansour pleaded for ICC involvement in adjudicating the allegations, saying the representatives of the Palestinian authority have met several times with representatives of the ICC and called on the court to pen an investigation into the case.

He also criticized the UN Security Council, saying that it "has not carried out its responsibility" over bringing the case to ICC.

The Goldstone report could be referred to the council for action and ultimately to the International Criminal Court, but with the United States  a strong ally of Israel  as a member of the body, the move seems very unlikely.

SB/MMN

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## Shades

*Israels Report to UN Misstates Truth, BTselem Says*
Date : 5/2/2010   Time : 20:36

TEL AVIV,  February 5, 2010 (WAFA)- On Friday, 29 January 2010, Israel submitted to the UN an update on the investigations opened following Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip. The 46-page document offers almost no new information, except for updated figures on the investigations, BTselem published on its website.

 The report states that, to date, the military has begun to examine 150 cases, most of which are still under review. In 36 cases, a Military Police investigation was initiated; the others were examined in the framework of military debriefings. This report, like previous information that official sources have published, does not specify which cases are being examined or the stage each investigation has reached.

A significant part of the report is devoted to proving the military justice systems ability to handle complaints about the militarys conduct during the operation on its own. As a result of this emphasis, only part of the story is presented, while the way in which the system operates in reality is largely ignored. Several examples follow.

The report extols the establishment of the Judge Advocates Office for Operational Affairs in 2007, which handles, among other things, complaints against soldiers who mistreated Palestinians. The report does not mention that the unit lacks sufficient personnel and is highly overloaded by the massive number of files it has received, nor that it takes months and even years for decisions to be made on many of the files. As a result, even if a decision is ultimately made to open a Military Police investigation, the investigation is ineffective and is unlikely to expose the truth.

The report states that the Military Police Investigation Unit is staffed by hundreds of skilled investigators, including reservists, who have undergone special training. However, MPIU investigations regarding Palestinian complaints have many structural problems: the MPIU has no base in the Occupied Territory, the investigators do not visit the scene of the incident, and they do not have a criminal forensics lab at their disposal. In addition, in most cases, investigators cannot access the Palestinian victims without the assistance of human rights organization, and most investigators do not speak Arabic. The report also refrains from pointing out that, once the investigation is completed, files wait for long periods, sometimes years, for the chief military prosecutor to decide how to proceed. In this case, too, the delayed decisions diminish the effectiveness of the process.

The report also provides only part of the picture regarding civilian supervision of the military justice system, creating the impression that there is tight supervision. Whether this is the proper degree of supervision or not, it is important that the facts be presented precisely. For example, the report states that the attorney general is empowered to examine all the decisions of the Judge Advocate General (JAG), but does not mention that this intervention is rare and occurs only in extremely exceptional cases. The report also states that the Supreme Court is empowered to cancel decisions of the JAG, giving three cases as illustrations. However, in one of these cases, the Supreme Court did not interfere, as the JAG changed his decision before the judgment was given. The other two cases are the highly unusual exceptions to the rule and certainly do not attest to a policy. The report does not mention that Supreme Court justices have time and again reiterated their hesitance to interfere in the JAGs discretion.

No system can investigate itself. The report emphasizes the independence of the military justice system in interpreting the law. However in all other matters, it is an integral part of the military. As such, it depends on the military system for budgets, personnel complements, and promotions. For example, the last two JAGs were personally given the rank of major general by the Chief of General Staff. All the decision-makers involved in the handling of complaints are subject to this system.

Furthermore, regarding the investigation of complaints that were filed against the armys conduct during the operation, the independence of the JAGs Office is even more in doubt. The Office was involved, for example, in drafting the open-fire regulations for Operation Cast Lead, in deciding what constituted a legitimate target, and in approving the use of certain weapons. Therefore, if it is found that these determinations contravene international humanitarian law, members of the JAGs Office are liable to be investigated and prosecuted themselves. Clearly, then, they cannot be put in charge of these investigations.

Military debriefings are the major tool used by the JAGs Office to investigate the armys conduct during the operation. These debriefings are conducted by senior officers inside the military, who have no professional training in conducting such investigations, and are not independent of the persons whose acts they are supposed to investigate. In addition, as the debriefings remain confidential even after they are completed, there is no way to examine the questions raised in them, and the degree of the seriousness in which they were conducted.

The military debriefings and MPIU investigations focus on specific cases. The assumption underlying them is that the soldiers acted within a legal framework, and that the only thing left to examine is whether they deviated from the orders given them. However, this assumption is fundamentally wrong. Many suspicions of breaches of international humanitarian law during the operation relate specifically to the policy that was dictated to the soldiers. For example, decisions regarding the legitimacy of targets and the weapons permitted for use were made prior to the operation. The military investigations currently under way do not question the legality of these decisions. This method of investigation, in which policy is not at all examined, leads to most of the responsibility for violations being placed only on the soldiers in the field, while the senior officers and the political echelon, who were responsible for giving the orders, go free.

To date, more than one year after the operation ended, all the investigations conducted by Israel have led to the prosecution of a single soldier, who was convicted and sentenced to seven months imprisonment for stealing a Palestinians credit card. This result is hardly surprising, given that Israeli officials, among them the Minister of Defense and the Chief of General Staff, declared almost from the beginning of the operation that the IDF is the most moral army in the world.

B'Tselem again urged Israel to immediately establish an independent investigative apparatus composed of persons from outside the military. The investigation must examine not only the conduct of the soldiers in the field but also the orders given them and the policy that was set by the senior military echelon and the political echelon.

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## Shades

*OCHA: 16 Palestinians Injured by Israeli Forces*
Date : 5/2/2010   Time : 20:51

JERUSALEM, February 5, 2010 (WAFA)- This week, (January 27  February 2) Israeli forces injured 16 Palestinians in various incidents throughout the West Bank, bringing the total number of Palestinians wounded in Israeli?Palestinian violence since the beginning of 2010 to 67, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory reported.

The weekly average number of injured in 2009 was 17. Four of this weeks injuries were sustained during the weekly anti?Barrier protest held in Bilin village (two) and a demonstration held by Palestinian residents of Deir Nidham and An Nabi Saleh villages against the expansion of Hallamish settlement in the Ramallah area (two); two Israeli forces were injured in the former. In the latter demonstration, one family, including five children were evacuated after Israeli forces fired gas canisters into their house; several other cases of tear gas inhalation were reported. Eleven Palestinians, including three boys and two pregnant women, were wounded during the week when physically assaulted by Israeli forces in various incidents.

The remaining injury was caused by a rubber-coated metal bullet when clashes erupted between Israeli forces and Palestinians, who were planting seedlings near Burin village, off Road 60. Israeli forces were trying to clear the area, preventing friction between Palestinians and settlers, who were present on the road.

Again this week, the Qalandiya checkpoint barrier crossing was the scene of violence; Israeli forces shot and severely injured an Israeli truck driver after he rushed towards the checkpoint, escaping from stone-throwing Palestinians. As a result, several vehicles waiting at the checkpoint were damaged by the truck and a number of Palestinians were injured. Following this incident, the checkpoint was closed for three hours (5:00 pm until 8:00pm). Qalandiya checkpoint is the main entrance for Palestinians through the Wall into East Jerusalem from the northern West Bank and is known for its long lines and heavy checks.

Also this week, Israeli forces closed Wadi Nar checkpoint, the only route available Palestinians to drive between the northern and southern West Bank, for three hours (10:30 am until 01:30 pm) after allegedly finding a suspicious object in a Palestinian taxi. Palestinians also threw a Molotov cocktail at an Israeli army observation tower near Al Jalazun Refugee Camp (Ramallah), resulting in no injuries.

During the week, Israeli forces conducted 144 search operations inside Palestinian villages, significantly above the 2009 weekly average (103), the majority of which took place in the northern West Bank (109).

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## Shades

*Clinton:"67 borders are borders of the Pal'n state"*

2010-02-06 13:39:18

Washington-PalPress-The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,  confirmed on the importance that the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations should be based on the principal that the 1967 border lines are the borders of the Palestinian state, furthermore , they should  discuss the core issues of the Palestinian Israeli  conflict.

Clinton added that the Palestinian state should be establsihed within  the 1967 border lines with exchange of lands as agreed by all parties.

She announced that Jerusalem is an importance issue to the Palestinians, the Israelis,  Muslims and  Christians, pointing out that an agreement meeting the prospects of each side and preserving the status of Jerusalem  can still  be reached .

Hillary explained that the US administration made it clear to all parties that negotiations should discuss the core issues  of teh conflict with out any exception.

She refused to comment on a proposal for conducting negotiations between the two sides  under US supervision.

Diplomatic sources said that the US is currently holding talks  with all parties seeking to resume peace negotiations as soon as possible.

US leaderships urged President Obama to pressure on Israel  for ending the siege imposed on Gaza Strip.

Six US organizations addressed President Obama saying that Gaza siege is a clear violation to the international law , the American values and the international legitimacy.

In New York, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon stated he was un able to decide whether the Israelis and the Palestinians committed to a demand by the United Nations to conduct independent credible  investigation into the Israeli war in Gaza last winter.

Meanwhile, Washington said it rejects transferring Gaza issue to the international  Criminal Court as recommended by judge Richard Goldetone.

Spokesman of the US Department of State Philip Kroli ,  said that his countrys official position believes that the United Nations Human Rights Council is the appropriate place for discussing Goldestones report.


2010-02-06 13:39:18

----------


## Shades

*Shaath:Hamas positions in Gaza different than in Damascus*

2010-02-06 13:08:23

Ramallah-PalPress-Member of Fatehs Central committee Dr. Nabil Shaath, said that his visit to Gaza Strip broke the boycott between Fateh and Hamas movements .

Shaath said in statements to Assharq Al Awsat newspaper that he discussed several ideas with Hamas leaders during his visit to Gaza regarding reconciliation and unity, pointing out that he sensed that Hamas leaders do have a real desire to end division.

However, Shaath added that this desire has not been sensed yet with Hamas leaders in Damascus.

In his answer to a question about whether he sensed contradiction in Hamas positions in Gaza and Damascus, Shaath said :In Gaza they were very positive, honest ,  and showed real desire towards unity.

Dr. Shaath said that he suggested on Hamas leadership in Gaza to sign the reconciliation agreement prior to the next Arab summit planned in March, however he pointed out  that he did not receive a determining reply in this regard, and referred the reason to Hamas leadership in Damascus.

Meanwhile, Shaath agreed with Hamas on promoting  practical unilateral steps on ground related  to the situations of the two movements in both Gaza Strip and the West Bank .

He denied he agreed with Hamas in Gaza  on the formation of  a joint Hamas-Fateh committee as Hamas leader Salah Al Bardawil stated .

He continued :They suggested so,  but we told them that this suggestion is already included in the Egyptian proposal, we can not form more committees

Despite several members of Fatehs central committee opposed Shaaths visit to Gaza describing it as personnel, Shaath made no comments on this point, he only said: others will go to Gaza , this is a decision by the Revolutionary Council

Hamas described the meeting with Shaath as positive,

Hamas leader Salah Al Bardawil said the visit  aimed at breaking the deadlock between the two movements.

During his Gaza visit, Shaath met the deportees of the Church of Nativity and discussed their sufferings and their demands.

Spokesman of the deportees of the Church of Nativity Fahmi Kanan said: We handed over Dr. Shaath a message to deliver  to President Abbas including our sufferings in Gaza and Europe for eight years

 Shaath vowed to raise this issue at the international and the Arab levels in attempt to return the deportees of the church of Nativity home in Bethlehem.

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## Shades

*Archaeology and the struggle for Jerusalem*
06.02.10 - 22:24

"I like to travel and when I travel, I like to have a guide book. Here in Jerusalem, that guide book is the Tanah, the Bible."

ImageThis is how guide Asher Altshul likes to start his tours at the expansive City of David archaeological site in Jerusalem.

The site stretches along and down one of Jerusalem's hills, just outside the Old City.

Hundreds of tourists gather. Most are Jewish people from countries all over the world, like the Schneider family from Los Angeles.

The father, Avshalom, says coming here was a must.

"You feel like you're walking on the same stones our forefathers walked on. This is an important part of my children's Jewish education," he told me.

The Israeli foundation that runs the City of David aims to strengthen the Jewish connection to Jerusalem in modern times by emphasising ancient ties.

In this case, it is to David, King of the Jewish people three millennia ago. Some historians believe this was the site of King David's palace.

But archaeology has become mired in controversy.

Battle for sovereignty

The City of David excavations, with their underground tunnels and ancient pools, centre around the Palestinian district of Silwan. It is in East Jerusalem, which Israel has occupied since its 1967 war.

About 40,000 Palestinians live in Silwan. Some families have been here for generations. They say Israel is digging here less out of archaeological interest but rather to make political claims over land.

Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. Israel says it intends to keep hold of the whole city.

The battle for sovereignty over Jerusalem goes to the very heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Musa Odeh guided me through the graffiti-rich, winding alleyways of Silwan's al-Bustan neighbourhood.

About a hundred houses here, including Musa's family home, have been served with demolition orders for illegal building.

But Palestinians say the Israeli authorities make it virtually impossible for them to get construction permits in Jerusalem.

Musa says the City of David archaeological dig is also weakening the structure of many of the houses in Silwan.

A local girls' school partially collapsed last year, injuring 17 students. Residents blamed the incident on archaeologists tunnels running through the village.

They say tunnels have been exposed again this year after gaping holes appeared in several Silwan streets, following heavy rainfall.

Musa is adamant that this is all part of an Israeli plan to drive Palestinians from Jerusalem.

Hive of activity

The latest large archaeological excavation in Silwan's City of David site is a hive of activity.

Archaeology students from the world over are digging, dusting and displaying ancient artefacts found here.

The land here is privately owned by Elad, an Israeli association that also funds Jewish settlement building across occupied East Jerusalem.

But the state archaeologists overseeing the City of David excavations say that's not their concern.

John Seligman has worked for Israel's Antiquities Authority for years. He told me that it was not his job to agree or disagree with the political motivation of the sponsors of an archaeological site.

He said the Antiquities Authority also supervised excavations for the Vatican and the Waqf, the Islamic authority that manages Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem.

"The work we do here is not about looking for a particular heritage of one or other. We find what there is and display what there is," Mr Seligman said.

"Here on this site we've had finds from the Arab period, from Roman times and from the First and Second Temple periods. Everything is displayed on an equal basis, as it will be in the future too," he added.

Not all Israeli archaeologists agree with Mr Seligman.

Yonatan Mizrahi runs alternative, critical tours around the City of David and across Silwan.

As a former archaeologist for the Antiquities Authority who worked in East Jerusalem, he told me he saw first hand how Israel and Jewish-interest groups sometimes use archaeology as a political tool.

Mr Mizrahi says archaeology is about learning about the past but that individuals then choose how to interpret the past.

"One religion or another may look at an excavation site and say - that land is ours," Mr Mizrahi said.

But he qualified this by saying even if archaeologists were to find a big sign, reading 'Welcome to King David's Palace', that wouldn't give Jewish Israelis the right to claim East Jerusalem today.

"Just like if the Vatican found something here, it wouldn't give the church the right to take ownership of this land. The bottom line is that Palestinians are the majority in East Jerusalem," Mr Mizrahi said.

Jerusalem is said to be the most fought-over city in the world. Different nations and cultures have battled to dominate it for thousands of years.

Israelis and Palestinians will tell you the struggle is still very much alive today.



Souce: Katya Adler / BBC

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## Shades

*Palestinians still waiting for right to use Highway 443  	* 
06.02.10 - 22:18

JERUSALEM // They start just after the Israeli checkpoint near the city of Modiin, along this fast, scenic motorway that connects Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.


ImageAll along the hilly road, vast concrete boulders, rubble heaps and piles of rubbish barricade access from several Palestinian villages.

At one such barrier at the village of Beit Sira, cars with Israeli registration plates deposit groups of dusty-looking workers, who squeeze between the concrete boulders to the Palestinian cars and cabs that can take them back home.

This is how it has been for the thousands of Palestinians who have been barred access to Highway 443 since 2002. The Israeli military had cited security reasons for the closure  five Israelis were shot dead in 2001, at the height of the second intifada, and dozens more have been injured in attacks along this 28km stretch of road that cuts into the West Bank.

However, in December last year, the Israeli supreme court ruled that the state had to revoke the ban and allow Palestinians access to the road within five months.

Campaigners saw the ruling as a breakthrough and a clear legal rejection of a segregated system of Israeli-only roads. But sections of Israeli society have opposed the ruling, and some of the Palestinian villagers affected hold out little hope that it ever will be implemented.

So many times, when the Israeli army says yes it means no  I have no reason to trust them now, said 32-year-old Farouk, who lives in Beit Sira. This Palestinian village, home to fewer than 3,000 people, is one of the six villages whose petition against the closure was successfully taken to court by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (Acri) and led eventually to the supreme court ruling.

One of the points raised by their petition was that the closed road policy was a form of collective punishment for the 55,000 Palestinians thought to be affected by it.

One day the army came and told us that they were taking the road away because we were making problems, said Farouk. What problems? We never did anything  but they said that terrorists were coming from our villages onto the road.

Farouk is one of the Palestinian workers forced to navigate the roadblock by foot, queuing up to cross the Israeli checkpoint near Beit Sira in the early hours of the morning and tracing the same path back at nightfall. For those who do not hold permits to work in Israel, it is an equally roundabout daily commute to Ramallah, in the West Bank.

Once, youd light up a cigarette and barely have time to smoke it before youd be in Ramallah, said Aish, a 38-year-old cab driver from Beit Sira, of the short drive to the West Bank town around 20km away.

Now, it can take an hour and a half, or more.

Barred from the motorway, Palestinians have to use a winding series of inferior roads  sometimes running right underneath the 443.

And it is not just their working life that is affected. Ive had women give birth in my cab, because we couldnt get to the hospital in Ramallah in time, said Aish. And people have died on the way to hospital, because it takes too long on the roads we are allowed to use.

It is precisely such humanitarian aspects  along with the underlying concepts of a segregated road  that prompted the high court ruling over Highway 443.

According to Acri, the road ban represents a serious violation of the basic human rights of Palestinians who used the road to get to work and school, gain access to emergency services and to maintain social and family ties. The Israeli supreme court said the ban on Palestinians using the road was unauthorised and disproportional and that it created a sense of inequality and improper motives.

It is illegal to take the resources of an occupied people and use it for the benefit of the occupiers, said Melanie Takefman, a spokeswoman for Acri, of the road built in part on land expropriated from Palestinian villages, and which cuts through a part of the occupied West Bank to connect Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a faster alternative to the clogged motorway that runs between the two cities.

Highway 443 was given high court approval in the 1980s, on the understanding that it would be of primary benefit to local Palestinians  who, for those initial years, did use the road. But now for Israelis, the reopening of the road to the local Palestinian population has raised the spectre of attacks.

The latest poll conducted by the War and Peace Index showed 63 per cent of Israelis wanted the 443 to remain closed to West Bank Palestinians, while 30 per cent of those polled believed this practice to be discriminatory. Families of those killed in terrorist attacks along the 443 have made public pleas to keep the road Israeli-only, and the Israeli transport ministry recently warned that Route One, the motorway running between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, would collapse completely if security fears pushed Israeli drivers off the 443 and on to it.

Around 40,000 Israelis use the 443 daily, as a convenient alternative to Route One.

The Israeli army has said that it is preparing to implement the supreme court ruling on Highway 443 and is engaged in an extensive study of the actions required for the matter.

At Beit Sira, many of those Palestinians taking the wearily slow route home from work wonder just how that will affect them.

A report in the Jerusalem Post this week said the defence forces planned to set up another four roadblocks on 443 when it is reopened to enhance security. One of those roadblocks would be at Beit Sira.



Source: The National

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## Shades

*The electronic media debate  	*
05.02.10 - 00:04

The decision by the Court of Cassation to classify websites as "publications" and thus apply the Press and Publications Law to them is troubling.

Unlike other laws that criminalise press violations, Jordan's Press and Publications Law only allows civilian punishment, meaning that electronic media violators might be fined, but not jailed. But the problem facing web-based publications is much more complicated when it comes to jailing or fining web publishers.

To begin with, a major problem exists when having all web-based publishing fall under the Press and Publications Law. The web is a much bigger format than a newspaper or a television station. Today, 10-year olds are encouraged to create their web pages; watwet, the local affiliate of Twitter, has thousands of "publishers", and businesses, lawyers, sports enthusiasts and so many others are producing text, image, audio and video on their websites. The idea that all these web producers and bloggers have to register with the government, having to pre-censor their content and being punishable by the Press and Publications Law will cause a major retraction to Jordan's standing as an open society.

The Press and Publications Law, even with its latest amendment that removed criminality, classifies journalists as members of the Jordan Press Association. The Jordanian press syndicate is a single union and is considered regionally and internationally as a closed shop. Membership is closed to electronic media. So this legal ruling creates a catch 22. Anything published on line is considered a publication that must be done by journalists, yet most web-based publishers are not journalists as per the Jordanian law.

The law also criminalises anyone professing without licence.

As far as content is concerned, the Press and Publications Law is very vague. Publishing anything that negatively affects national unity, denigrates religion and religious symbols, shakes confidence in the national currency, criticises leaders of Arab and friendly countries and negatively affects national unity is considered a violation. This allows for a wide interpretation and has for years contributed to the weakening of the Jordanian press.

It is exactly these restrictions in Jordan and other Arab countries that have caused many to exert their efforts abroad. Arab publications have proliferated in places like Cyprus, London, Paris and Rome.

Jordanian reporters for Arab and international publications have also enjoyed much more freedom in what they can write and broadcast about. But the biggest emigration of Jordanian media activists has been electronic. With electronic publication based where the server is based, tens of Jordanian websites were created and got involved in a vibrant debate of issues of interest to Jordan and Jordanians. Naturally not all new sites have followed proper journalistic ethics. Various Jordanian contradictions have been exposed on these sites, often in their anonymous comment sections.

Shady individuals have been involved in setting up some of these sites and apparently have been using them to leverage income from sponsors or advertisers who were "forced" to advertise in order to make unpleasant content disappear.

While some arguments for regulating web publications can be made, the process that Jordan seems to be going through has only been carried out in autocratic regimes. The Committee to Protect Journalists said in a recent blog that Syria, Iran and Tunisia have taken similar action.

Attempts to control online media are not new. If Jordanian courts and police will consider a website based in Holland to be Jordanian because of the citizenship of its owner, it will only be a matter of time before Jordanian web entrepreneurs will find non-Jordanians to register their websites.

A bigger problem, of course, is going to be enforcement. How will a few workers be able to monitor and follow up on violators? Without a regular and fair enforcement mechanism, some fear that selective enforcement will take place, inviting politically motivated control over Jordanian websites.

The decision of the Court of Cassation has provoked a wide protest movement among the tens of Jordanian website owners. It has also produced numerous statements by Jordanian officials, ensuring that the government is not opposed to the vibrant debate created by the electronic media and that website owners will not have to register.

Media production is a complicated process that cannot be regulated or controlled by a law or a court decision. The best and most efficient way to ensure the success and continuity of Jordanian electronic media is self regulation and commitment to professional media standards

Daoud Kuttab is the founder and director of PenMedia, a Palestinian media NGO that is producing Sharaa Simsim, the Palestinian version of Sesame Street. He can be reached at:\n info@daoudkuttab.com.This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and is part of a special series on informal education in the Israeli-Palestinian context.

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## Shades

*Common Activist Errors and Some Proposals to Rectify Them*  
03.02.10 - 22:20

A Palestine Think Tank Editorial

WRITTEN BY  Yousef Abudayyeh, Mohamed Khodr, Mary Rizzo, Haitham Sabbah and Saja 

Activism and activists for Palestine have been getting some media attention recently. This is absolutely great news. It is an opportunity that we need to take advantage of, especially since Palestinians themselves are denied space in almost all mainstream mass media. Reflecting on this fact, we at PTT have decided to express some of our observations, thoughts and suggestions in order to enhance the work of all activists, ourselves included. This is a summary of some of the things that we believe are some common activist errors and our proposals for avoiding that errors lead to damage. In the coming weeks we will elaborate on each of these points in essays. We hope that our observations and proposals can be of use for ourselves and for those who commit their time and energy to the Palestinian cause. 

1. Not Emphasising Unity and Being Divisionist Among Ourselves.

Perhaps the most overriding issue that precedes all others is that of Unity.  On Unity, there are two kinds: one is fundamental, the other is merely beneficial. Fundamental Unity is that between Palestinians as a People. Palestinians have a common enemy: the occupier, the adversary of Zionism/The Jewish State, and a common goal that should be shared by all: the recognition of all of their rights and implementation of the same. Sectarian divisions simply must be overcome as they are indeed overcome in the Zionist camp.

Palestinians are scattered all over the world, with most of them living in Exile. The struggle over the last 62 years has been sustained and the name "Palestine" has survived because of the sacrifices of the Palestinians in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, the Gulf States, Europe and elsewhere. Their national struggle is one, and it is for the liberation of their homeland, their mother country. It is for the return to their homes and villages and to achieve a peaceful, democratic life. We should not allow this national struggle to be reduced to the issue of the fate of a Hamas rule in Gaza and a very limited self governance "State" led by Abbas in what's left of the West Bank. Hamas and Fatah are two political parties, they are not the supreme voice of all Palestinians around the world, nor can they propose themselves as such. Just like in any other country around the world, nationalism and patriotism do not belong to parties, but to a People. It is tragic that the clashes between these parties have derailed the Palestinian aspirations, and that any opponents to either of these parties have been silenced, jailed or even killed. This is not what Palestinians have sacrificed their lives for. Nothing can occur in Palestine as long as Hamas and Fatah, each with outside supporters, are divided. It is a dramatic and damaging situation to have a Palestinian population divided along sectarian lines, and this division is precisely what Israel hopes will remain in their policy of Divide and Rule. To be divided is to serve Zionist interests. Palestinians must place the overcoming of sectarian differences as the priority. If current leaders do not want that, other leaders will emerge and earn widespread support. Already many leaders are aware of the public sentiment and the claims to dedicate their energies to reconciliation must be more than promises, they have to become facts, and Palestinians should hold them to these goals.

A united Palestine that is back to its Arab body is the greatest threat to Israel, and elections must take place, because Palestinians, like all other people, have a right to choose their own leaders. Yet, we must differentiate between elections that happen under occupation, whose main purpose should be to make life a little easier for the Palestinians who live under the brutal Zionist rule, and elections that should include all Palestinians worldwide, which should produce their political leadership that is able, willing and ready to tackle the issues that face ALL Palestinians: the liberation of Palestine and the Return of the Palestinians to their original homes and villages. Politics must be subordinate to national interests, and all parties should come to a pact to work together towards realisation of national interests, while maintaining their identities and proposals. How to achieve Unity should take a great amount of space in discourse. It is the crucial issue.

The Unity of Non-Palestinians is different. It has to be at the service to the goals of Palestinians and to support actions that can bring about justice and freedom for them. At the moment, its primary goal should be working on whatever will facilitate the Unity of the Palestinians and making the Palestinian national agenda the priority.

2. Allowing Ourselves to Follow Zionist Discourse.

In doing this, we are forced into being reactive and not active. This means losing our own framing, not developing our own strategies. There are myriad individual responses, but little in the way of coordination between them, even at an ideological level. This makes it easy for them to turn out to be counter-productive if they enter into conflict with other responses. They are not inter-connected the way the Zionist strategy is. Zionists have a narrative, Palestinians have their history. We need to learn about it, keep it in the spotlight and be able to advocate it with ability. 

So much has been written on Anti-Zionism, and the argument has been exhausted to the point of it being merely repetitive. We should now focus on Pro-Palestinian priorities and strategies, an area that is practically untouched upon and opens up active horizons. Palestinians are enduring the worst brutality and we should provide them with guidance and hope, and listen to what their ideas are. We should propose this positive and active approach to all activists around the world and continue to propagate this point until it reaches the people of Palestine. 

3. We Use Zionist Terminology.

This is a mistake we commit far too often. We have to create our own terminology or reach into our own linguistic catalogue for the best lexicon. Zionists have done it, they have Hasbara Manuals and propaganda training. If our language is repeated often enough, people will begin to understand the basic facts. An example: we use the terms Gaza/West Bank as a substitute for Palestine, not realising that Palestine is far more than this. Indeed, even Palestinian Territories is erroneous and created a mental construct that Palestine is only equivalent to the parts outside the Green Line. This is an idea that has been imposed, but it should be rejected. In this case, we must refer to Gaza as Gaza, Occupied Palestine, as well as remembering to say, Ramallah, Occupied Palestine, Jerusalem, Occupied Palestine and even Tel Al-Rabie, Occupied Palestine. Yes, calling Tel Aviv with its original name is radical, but perhaps necessary. At the very least, it can open debate where it may be effective. 

4. We Allow Our Energies to be Diverted.

Our energies are far too often diverted to off-topic issues, as important or as co-related as they might be, in certain moments, they tend to serve as distractions and slippery slopes, especially when we are addressing them in a reactive way. A few of these issues are the European Holocaust, Irans Nuclear Programme, Jewish Identity Politics, Muslim Identity Politics. On the same token, we are too often oblivious to an interconnection between global events and international politics and how they affect Palestinians. We need to focus on events, reality and not on perceived threats, preventive aggression or imperialist nation building. We have to pull blinders off our eyes and not hero worship anyone. All leaders look out for their particular interests, which is the way it has always been and theres no evidence that its about to change. We have to think about which interests coincide with the Palestinian freedom cause and which ones use this cause. Having a common enemy or two does not mean sharing common causes, but following convenience. This has always been a stumbling block towards Palestinian liberation.

Global and regional issues are often inter-connected with Palestine, although sometimes in ways that are more that meets the eye. It is important to recognise what is empty rhetoric, what could be propaganda that serves as disinformation, false flag operations and diversion from goals and principles. Propaganda comes from our friends as well as from our enemies, so we need to critically examine what comes to us and filter through only what is useful and beneficial to the cause. There may be disagreements as to what is beneficial, but we all know that the farther issues are away in time and space from Palestine, the more likely they are to be diversions.

5. We Do Not Treat the Hebrew/Israeli Mass Media as the Hasbara It Is.

Our sources are far too often Hasbara Organs. There are certainly some very good journalists dedicated to Palestinian people there, and not everything written in Israeli papers is propaganda, but the papers themselves ARE. The best of them serve as a sort of fig leaf. What is the purpose of most of the Israeli papers? To create a we are under attack mentality among Israelis and to justify their manufactured fears and the actions against Palestinians to abate these fears. If any proof is needed, a look at the most progressive Israeli paper on any given day has advertisements on its homepage for Birthright, Ahava, several clips for Gilad Shalit, Golf resorts in Palestine and other lures for people to come and colonise Palestine from outside. We should know what Israelis are writing, but we must be selective and realise the purposes of the Israeli media. In fact, we should never forget that it is there to establish Israeli hegemony in the area. It seeks to promote Israel as the legitimate voice of the West and Democracy. Sometimes these papers are designed to appeal to Westerners more than to Israelis.

With this consideration, we dont give the same interest or attention to Palestinian/Arab writers who certainly deserve it. Arab papers are not cited as sources. Westerners and even many involved activists do not know what Palestinian writers or academics are even thinking, because they are not getting the widespread circulation for reasons that can only be considered a sort of discrimination. This is evident simply by looking at most sites, where Europeans and Americans and Israelis command the discourse, no matter from what political position.

A blatant example of the deafness to the Arab voice is when the Organ Harvesting crime was exposed. For many years, Palestinians have been talking about this issue and it was no secret. There was often a sort of embarrassment involved, as people often tagged their reports with, I know, but dont have any proof to show. When a Westerner simply repeated not only what he had published before in a book, but what had been already stated by Palestinians, it became newsworthy. But the curious part of the matter is that it was not a Palestinian source to bring this issue up, but a Zionist paper, The Jerusalem Post. They did not print the article (it was Tlaxcala, in cooperation with the author, which translated it into English hours later) but the Israeli propaganda organ alluded to it as proof to be used as the worst evidence of smears and defamation, just in time for the Israeli Conference taking place at that moment about the Dangers of European Anti-Semitism. This important issue finally got out into the open, but we have to work harder to be the ones setting the discourse, for our own ends and not in a reactive way. Issues shouldnt come to light or die according to an Israeli/Zionist timetable, nor should they serve any of their purposes.

Mass media is crucial to dominate. Israel has the lions share of space in the mainstream media and Westerners have the lions share in alternative media. We should aim for increased Palestinian framing of their own cause, as well as being extremely cautious of the sources we use and the information we disseminate. With the rapidity of communications, there is much haste and little verification of facts. We must at all costs avoid spreading information that could be black operations, psychological warfare or disinformation regarding the Middle East.

6. We Abandon Critical Thinking for Emotive Thinking.

Emotions are part of human experience, but they dont carry any weight in courts, they are absent from legal documents and legislation. This is a battle for justice, and our references are laws and documents, which also include procedural/diplomatic/legal regulations. If we hammer home the concept of legality and justice, we have to also abide by these principles. International law, while flawed, is on the side of the Palestinian people. It guarantees Palestinians the rights to resist occupation, right of return, right to protection and other rights besides. This is how, as advocates for the cause, we can be of greatest service. We cant appeal to emotion (since it doesnt work) nor act only out of emotion (as it excludes strategic planning). What is the mantra of Israel? Israel has a right to exist. So, if rights are their choice of battlefield, and its actually clear that they dont have the legitimate right they claim, it is obvious that they are winning the propaganda war using our best instrument. We have to turn this situation around, full stop.

On the other hand, Israel has refined and invested in their Hasbara. The same is true for supporters of Israel who influence people by means of intense emotional blackmail that is enforced by means of juxtaposition of past Jewish suffering and current Israeli identity (a combination of the survivor/victim mentality and the image of a democratic state on the brink of extermination in the midst of a hostile region). Any part of this image can be promoted with extreme professionalism. The appeal to emotions is constant, but we must recognise that these emotional triggers are manufactured, manipulated and designed to appeal to a Western audience that does not scratch beneath the surface to form its own opinions. The image/message bombardment from Hollywood especially elicits a visceral emotional response that allows only guilt or sympathy. There is no paragon in the Palestinian world to this kind of campaigning. Perhaps we need to channel the emotional appeals into effective educational instruments rather than crying amongst ourselves and wondering why the world is turning its back. If we are going to appeal to emotion, we have to calculate how to do it. Just as Zionists have successfully done.

7. We Do Not Understand What Interests the Public.

In contemporary times, we arent speaking so much to populations as we are to a public that is in some way receptive to a message. If the Gaza massacres last year, and the Lebanese massacres only 3 and a half years ago have not only tightened the control over Gaza and reinforced UNIFIL control (on behalf of Israel) of Lebanon, its 100% clear that NOTHING at all will phase the public. We are trying to convince them of things that they either do not care about or are unable to comprehend. It is possible that there is so much brainwashing that the slaughter in broad daylight of innocents brings no compassion or mercy, it elicits no outrage. How much does the public opinion count? They are there to provide the necessary consensus to leaders so that the leaders can maintain power. Consensus to leaders supporting Israel, then, perhaps should be undermined by other means, especially when the national interests do not coincide with this support. In the USA, for example, work could be on stressing that USA involvement in more foreign wars is expensive and that interventionist politics are damaging for Americans. If intervention is supported less and less, the policies will have to change so that power may be maintained domestically. This will result, as a consequence, in reduction of resources diverted to Israel and the GWOT.

We have a responsibility to educate and inform those we are in contact with. Associations of all kinds, in Palestine and beyond, student groups, religious and cultural organisations can influence their communities and provide opportunities to engage in actions that can have an impact upon public opinion and eventually upon politics. Arab organisations are particularly obligated to assume their responsibilities and to do outreach and participate in the public discourse through op-eds, letters, protests and education so that the world will see that this issue counts for Arabs and that the time of expecting the world to solve things in the UN or the White House has come to an end.

8. We Wait for Leaders to Sort Things Out (or for the Demographic Bomb).

It is futile to wait for leaders to resolve this problem even if they think they are princes of peace and can save the planet. They are there for the conservation of their own power. Besides, delegating this task to them does not empower resistance, which, if strategically organised over the entire Palestinian world, CAN BE EFFECTIVE. Included as resisters are not just factions or a single ideological base. Every Palestinian party, faction or movement, every single Palestinian, wherever he or she resides in the world, is a resister. Claiming the opposite is Zionist bunk. There is a mass, a huge number of persons involved, its by no means limited to one type of resistance or resister. Joining them in their struggle will be others sympathetic to their cause, including Arab populations, the non-Arab international public, liberation and human rights movements around the world. Acts of coordinated solidarity, commemoration, protest, choices such as boycotts, sabotage of illegal Israeli infrastructure, media events and campaigns already exist and many do outstanding work, but they can be given greater leverage, greater focus if they share at least the same common bases. Those focusing on urging negotiations, looking for compromise solutions, or with collaboration and co-existence with Zionism have a base that is not the core goal. Long term solutions will have to come about, but the Palestinians have been waiting long enough as it is. Waiting for a demographic bomb to explode is not a solution either. People have the power.

9. We Do Not Abandon What Does Not Work and Change.

We are creatures of habit and we often seek a comfort level and remain there. If voting and elections dont work, a different strategy is called for. If our economic support is diverted into maintaining costly structures and doesnt go directly to the people, we have to find ways to engage in thousands of micro-projects or to independently finance communities. Sponsorisation and twinning efforts, for instance the one Bristol has done, are brilliant alternatives to some larger orgs. that perhaps have such high overhead or such flawed bookkeeping, that whatever trickles down is not enough to effect concrete change or bring relief. The actions by the volunteers at Nahr El-Bared are another wonderful example to follow. Not only do they build community, but they are tangible aide to those outside the PA food-chain. Creativity in our actions, seeking alternatives are things that need to be enhanced. There are so many orgs that already exist, lets keep them focused and effective, and if they fail to deliver, we take stock bravely. The time has come to concentrate on positive, workable strategies. In the end, this will be what makes the difference and not Anti-Zionist rhetoric.

10. Different Situations Require Different Solutions.

We need to understand the milieu we are operating in. Different environments might mean an entirely different strategy. For instance, if we are in Turkey, we can overcome the task of drawing public attention to an anti-Zionist stance. Its not an issue there. If we are in Germany, the legacy of Nazism still assumes a role in the national identity and German relations with Israel. In the USA, the budget is heavy on military spending and institutional support of Israel. In most of the West, terrorism is associated with Islam, and these are only a few examples of the dozens of particular issues that affect the international relations regarding Palestine.

Debunking lies, while at the same time keeping the eye on the law, justice and even the convenience that each public will perceive, is a necessary task, and its going to vary in every single environment. Equally important is awareness of the laws/customs in the places in which we operate. If we know we will be filmed/photographed/monitored, we have to remember that our placards, the presence of flags, including the desecration of them, masks and facial covering, etc. will serve Israeli propaganda interests as long as they violate the laws/customs or are deemed as Anti-Semitic. In many countries, there are rigid rules for public assembly, participants are identified and even minor violations can be fatal for the action. In Italy, for instance, there is an absurd law that children are not allowed to participate in demonstrations! Even some authorised assemblies can provoke damage rather than good. A prayer assembly in Milan by Muslims that was held outside the Cathedral was a fiasco as far as PR goes. The space was indeed the most important plaza in northern Italy, but being in front of the Cathedral was sure to be attacked in the press and by the local politicians with a strong Islamophobic bent as an offence to Christians. In the heated environment of Milan, this was indeed the outcome and anyone could have predicted it. Choices have to be thought out strategically, factoring in even failure.

In North America and many European countries, legitimate political parties are blacklisted. That means it is illegal to donate money to them or to engage in economic exchange. Anyone collecting funds to be distributed to any of these parties instead of utilising alternative NGOs or ad hoc orgs is going to wield a death blow to the donors. This is but one example of the need to know the ambient of the action, from the beginning to the end.

11. We Fall For Too Many Hasbara Traps.

We do dialogue on their terms. We accept their gatekeeping by the constant framing of their arguments that excludes our own. We utilise their language and media. We are not following our own timetable. Dialogue is important, but if it is not based on equitable rules or it loses sight that the purpose is not to simply communicate, but to elicit change, its a waste of our time. That alone is a major Hasbara goal; to get us to waste our time.

12. This Is Not a Religious Issue.

We forget far too often that this is not a religious issue. It is an issue of an Arab population being expelled from their own land to make room for the European colonisation of Arab land. It is an issue of human rights and justice. Often, religion colours the conflict, with the Zionists using the Bible to justify theft of Palestinian Land and Hamas using the Quran to resist. Yet, it is not and never was a religious issue. We oppose Israel because it has stolen Arab land and dispossessed Arab people, not because it is Jewish.

However, since religion does dominate the discourse, rightly or wrongly, we have to seek ways to render this connection beneficial. We should work with interfaith groups if they share our goals, especially those Jewish groups who are committing much of their efforts to educating those who share their faith. The majority of Jews are not part of the Israel lobby and outreach to them builds friendship, solidarity, common strategies and debunks the myths they often hear in their local Jewish media and in their Synagogues, most of which have an Israeli flag on the Bimah.

Likewise, Christians around the world should know that many Palestinians share their same faith and that many Arabs, including Palestinians, have kept Christianity alive in the Holy Land. The plight of these Christians, who suffer due to racist, exclusionist Israeli laws and practices, should be made known to Christians who all too often are exposed to myths and falsehoods regarding Arabs as being enemies of Christianity.

13. We Do Not Tailor Our Discourse.

Sometimes we fail to address the audience properly. We must learn to tailor our discourse for the listener, and that means we have to be aware who we are addressing and for what purposes. While refusing to use the word Israel is fine in private among Palestinian advocates and Palestinians, we have to realise that this entity does exist in the reality of the rest of the world. It may create confusion to refer to it differently in something like a letter we are hoping will be published in the Washington Post. We have to explain what Israel does, what kind of history it has, but we also have to realise that it is present for the listener. We should be media savvy enough to realise how our discourse will be discarded or considered by editors and how to tailor it accordingly to express the points we need to make. On the other hand, we must not shy away from the words Jew or Jewish. This is the national character of Israel. It is not a democratic State, but rather an exclusionist, supremacist, racist State that extends full rights and many privileges to Jews alone. This fact cant be beautified by any means, it is reality. In addition, the IDF is a Jewish army. Its not a democratic one that represents its population, since many religious Jews are excluded but even more revealing, one fifth of the registered population is comprised of Palestinians and there are many other immigrants who are not represented. They may join only after conversion or through specific units aimed at service as a fast-track to conversion/full rights as an Israeli. The Druze are a limited exception, again, serving so as to obtain rights excluded to them as ordinary citizens in the Jewish State. Palestinians and others have the right to use the proper terminology without being vilified for it. If heinous acts are being committed by the IDF, it is not improper to refer to them as Jews operating as the military/control branch of the Jewish State. 

14. We Need To Be Welcoming.

We will always need more/new people in this cause and we will always meet new people. We have to create and build networks, share our knowledge and experiences, disagree in a civil manner, listen, learn, do outreach, be involved in other struggles out of sincere love of freedom. Therefore, the practice of excluding people based on their religion, political ideas, sexual preferences or lifestyles has got to be reduced. We cant agree with all people on all things, but we too might be seen as wrong for the beliefs we hold, which we have a right to hold as human beings. We have no right to judge others on who they are, we should be working all together to serve the common cause. Those who use their connections for anything else are abusing and using the Palestinian people. It may not be immoral to receive money for activism, but honoraria should cover costs or be devolved to Palestinian refugees. Solidarity should not become an industry.

15. We Put Conditions on Our Solidarity.

Palestinians do not seek to salvage crumbs of pity from anyone and they do not require to be told what kind of resistance they should engage in or who of them is entitled to express their needs. That their struggle is not only a struggle for equal rights, it is a struggle for liberation, is a fact that is well known to them, and it requires a vast range of actions for Palestinians to survive and maintain hope of liberating themselves. The fact of the matter that most of their resistance has been non-violent should be clear to activists who frequently call on them to find a Palestinian Gandhi or to abandon one form of resistance or another or even declare that there is only one right form. All of these conditions, judgments and demands are unfair to Palestinians and unrealistic.

A combination of all types of resistance as well as supportive acts coming from outside such as boycotts should be supported, unconditionally. While it is with the best intentions that activists compare South African Apartheid to the Palestinian cause, the reality is different. Palestinians are living under a brutal military occupation and face the genocide of their people. They have not obtained the support of any international organisation, and are encouraged to dig their way out of it all by negotiations for rights when they know what their rights are and all of them know what the map of Palestine looks like. They are asked to concede, to give up more, when what they are trying to do is to regain their lost land, rights and freedom.

It goes beyond the issue of obtaining equal rights, but is quite simply put, a struggle to throw off the chains of occupation and create Palestinian society and governance in a people that has been dispersed throughout the entire world. Palestinians have no State, they have no army, and they are fighting for their very survival. They deserve our complete solidarity to defend themselves and to create the nation. Asking ourselves how we can serve them, not how they can deserve our solidarity, is the one crucial question to ask again and again, and each time, we may obtain different responses. With the goals of their liberation in mind, let us serve.

For the movement to become a genuine ally and a true supporter of Palestine, the Palestinians and their struggle for freedom, it needs to listen to Palestinians stating their own history, claiming their narrative and defining their struggle in their own words. It has been very hard for the pro-Palestinians to explain that the question of Palestine does not begin in 1967 to the leaders of many solidarity movements in the USA and Europe, and thus the question of Return became a difficult issue with many of those leaders, causing a split within the movement into almost two equal halves. We were able to make sure that our true allies understand that all struggles are connected. We fight for human dignity and basic rights and these are some of the links between Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq. Also we cannot turn our backs on other struggles such as the struggles of the US citizens of New Orleans, the people of Haiti and others. It is important to make the connections and understand how our struggle relates to the struggles of all oppressed people, and also, the ways in which it differs.

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## Shades

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## ammasmith

By the severe weather in some universities, combined with external pressure monitoring groups said that trying to silence critics of Israeli policy, academic workers are made to self-censorship in order to locate and maintain very fine work, producing a cold environment for teachers and permanent.

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