Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines June 27, 2007 ~

Brought to you by Shadi Fadda

13 Palestinians killed, 2 Israeli soldiers wounded as Army invades Gaza
At least 13 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday when the Israeli army invaded the region and attacked two neighborhoods. Israeli military sources said two troopers sustained serious wounds in clashes with the Palestinian fighters.


Israeli army terrorize Balata refugee camp for seven hours
Israeli military vehicles stormed Balata refugee camp near Nablus on Tuesday night, opened random fire and terrorized hundreds of residents who were out in the streets and in fields seeking relief after another scorching hot day in the West Bank.


Palestinian killed as Israel raids West Bank camp
A Palestinian man was killed on Tuesday as Israeli soldiers raided the home of a militant from the Islamic Jihad group in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian security official said.


Gaza hospital faces shortage in equipment, blood units
As injured continue to pour into Gaza's Shifa hospital, physicians struggle with limited equipment, lack of medicine and beds. 'We're not sure we would be able to save the critically injured,' one doctor says .


'Peace Now' demands removal of West Bank checkpoints
Group says removal of internal checkpoints would help Abbas 'prevent West Bank from becoming another Gaza'.


Palestinian president bans arms in West Bank
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas banned Palestinians on Tuesday from carrying weapons and explosives without a license, part of a crackdown aimed at weakening Hamas Islamists in the West Bank.


Militants renew threat to kill journalist
The militant group in Gaza claiming to hold BBC correspondent Alan Johnston renewed its threat Tuesday to kill the British journalist who has been held in Gaza since March 12.


For Gaza's Christians, new reality unsettling
Hamas vows to protect them after convent, school are attacked, but some still want to leave .


Haneyya to Gaza Christians: You are part of us
Haneyya's affirmation came as he received priest Manuel Musallam of the Latin Church in Gaza Strip at his office in Gaza city, and stressed the importance of Palestinian Christians' role in defending the Palestinian issue. "You aren't in danger… you are safe on your lives and property as you are part of us and we are part of you, and we shall continue the march of liberation together till we free occupied Jerusalem from occupation", Haneyya said, addressing Palestinian Christians in the meeting with Musallam.


Hamas may be flexible on identity of prisoners in swap
Hamas is willing to be more flexible on the identity of the Palestinian prisoners it wants released in exchange for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, according to an Israeli who has been serving as the Shalit family's personal liaison to Hamas.


ADL claims that Methodists are anti-Semitic
The United Methodist Church's call to divest from companies linked to Israel "is bordering on anti-Semitism," Anti-Defamation League Director Abraham Foxman told Ynetnews on Wednesday.


Audio: Crossing the Line gets reports from Nahr al-Bared
This week on Crossing The Line, as the crisis in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp enters its fifth week, host Chris Brown gets two reports from correspondents Dr. Marcy Newman and Sharif Bibi who are in Lebanon working with Palestinian refugees from Nahr al-Bared.


Hamas: Abbas ban on armed militias is 'mere ink on paper'
Hamas dismissed on Wednesday a presidential decree dissolving armed groups in the Palestinian Authority and said it was "mere ink on paper."


Barghouthi: "Israel wants to weaken all Palestinian factions"
Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, Minister of Information in the dissolved government, stated on Tuesday that Israel does not seek to make one Palestinian faction stronger that the other, but seeks to weaken all Palestinian factions, and create isolated cantons in the Palestinian territories.


U.S. presidential candidate's plan for Palestine
Presidential Republican candidate and former New York City mayor, Rudolph W. Giuliani stated yesterday that the United States should collaborate with Egypt and Jordan to support the Palestinian faction Fatah and its control over the West Bank, and abandon any possible negotiations with Hamas, a radical Palestinian faction in control of the Gaza Strip.


Britain 'colluding' in Israel oppression
Britain is "colluding" with Israel in oppressing the Palestinians by giving it privileged trade access, former British international development secretary Clare Short said today. Ms Short said Israel was creating an "apartheid" system that left Palestinians impoverished, and she urged ministers to use trade access as leverage.


About 2000 trees perish in Yatta town near Hebron
Israeli military force set ablaze large plots of olive tree on Wednesday in "Tal Zev" area of Yatta town near Hebron in southern West Bank.


Laboratory for a Fortressed World
It's no coincidence that the class projects at Ben Gurion that so impressed Friedman have names like "Innovative Covariance Matrix for Point Target Detection in Hyperspectral Images" and "Algorithms for Obstacle Detection and Avoidance." Thirty homeland security companies were launched in Israel in the past six months alone, thanks in large part to lavish government subsidies that have transformed the Israeli army and the country's universities into incubators for security and weapons start-ups (something to keep in mind in the debates about the academic boycott.


Robert Fisk: How can Blair Possibly be Given this Job?
I suppose that astonishment is not the word for it. Stupefaction comes to mind. I simply could not believe my ears in Beirut when a phone call told me that Lord Blair of Kut al-Amara was going to create "Palestine". I checked the date - no, it was not 1 April - but I remain overwhelmed that this vain, deceitful man, this proven liar, a trumped-up lawyer who has the blood of thousands of Arab men, women and children on his hands is really contemplating being "our" Middle East envoy.


"Palestinian Water Crisis: Bilateral and Regional Perspectives"
Edited transcript of a presentation by members of the Negotiation Support Unit of the PLO's Negotiations Affairs Department on Water


Ahmadinejad: "I am not anti-Semitic - Palestinians should Decide on Two-State Solution
Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul continue to show themselves among the few in Congress with any integrity and backbone. They declined to go along with a resolution charging Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad with incitement to genocide, given his alleged call for Israel to be 'wiped off the face of the map.'


Sign the PSC Petition: Kick Israeli Apartheid Out of Football - Fair Play for the Palestinians
We the undersigned urge the Football Association (FA), the Union of European Football Association (UEFA) and the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) to take appropriate measures to ban the national Israeli football team from all international fixtures until the state of Israel entirely complies with International Law and relevant United Nations resolutions to end Israeli occupation.


Boycott and divestment gains ground in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland's biggest trade union, the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance, unanimously passed all five motions on Palestinian solidarity discussed at the 2007 annual delegate conference.