Friday, June 29

Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines June 29, 2007 ~

Brought to you by Shadi Fadda

PCHR weekly report: "Troops killed 16 Palestinians, including 2 children and 2 brothers"
The Palestinian Center For Human Rights (PCHR) based in Gaza, published its weekly report on the Israeli violations in the occupied territories in the period between June 21 – June 27, 2007. During the reported period Israel continued its violations in the occupied territories, and killed sixteen Palestinians, including two brothers and two children.


Israeli brutality at a checkpoint near the Jordan Valley

Israeli assaults at checkpoints all over the West Bank have a terrible effect on the daily life of Palestinians. Such assaults are both numerous and wide-ranging in nature.


Palestinian killed in ongoing Israeli raid
Israeli troops on Friday shot dead a Palestinian man as the army pressed a second day of operations in the flashpoint West Bank town of Nablus, security sources on both sides said.


Roundup: Israel ends Nablus raid, Abbas sacks security chief

Israeli soldiers withdrew from Nablus Friday, ending a two-day raid in the northern West Bank city during which they arrested nine "wanted" militants and confiscated weapons, explosives and ammunition in house-to-house searches, the military said.


UNCHR pleads for life-saving medical evacuation of Palestinian children in Iraq

UNHCR is making an urgent plea for the immediate evacuation of at least a dozen seriously-ill Palestinians, mostly young children stuck in Baghdad or in a makeshift camp at Al Waleed on the Iraqi side of the border with Syria. Without evacuation and life-saving medical help, they could die or suffer lifelong complications. We currently have 12 cases in urgent need of medical evacuation, the youngest just 15 months old.


IDF kills Fatah man, uncovers arms caches in Nablus operation

Israel Defense Forces troops shot and killed an armed Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades operative in the Balata refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus early Friday during an operation involving searches for wanted militants, weapons and ammunition.


Lieberman wants NATO troops in Gaza

Minister for strategic affairs discusses deploying military force in Strip with NATO deputy secretary general; discusses Iranian threat with former Spanish president, considers bringing Yisrael Beitenu into EPP .

Saudi king avoids meeting Abbas
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has snubbed the Palestinian president, skipping a meeting with Mahmoud Abbas on a visit to Jordan. An Abbas official said "the meeting was postponed due to lack of time as both leaders had busy schedules", but Al Jazeera's David Chater, reporting from Jordan, said it was a deliberate and undiplomatic snub.


Abbas supports isolating Hamas, fighting extremists in Lebanon

The Palestinian government is determined to isolate Hamas after its violent takeover of the Gaza Strip, and is supporting Lebanese efforts to root out extremists in Palestinian refugee camps, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said Friday.


Palestinians wounded in protest near Lebanon siege camp
Several demonstrators were shot and wounded on Friday during a protest by Palestinian refugees driven out of their homes by fighting between the Lebanese army and Islamists, correspondents said. A military spokesman told AFP that soldiers fired into the air to prevent the demonstrators from approaching the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon that has been turned into a war zone since May 20.


In the West Bank, Hamas supporters forced to lie low

Khulud al-Masri, a deputy mayor of this Palestinian city, doesn't go to work at city hall anymore. A city councilor representing Hamas, she was ordered out of her office by gunmen from the rival Fatah faction last week in retaliation for Hamas' rout of Fatah-led forces and takeover of the Gaza Strip. "They told me: 'This is your last day here. You can leave safely now, but tomorrow we will prevent you.'" she recalled. "I haven't been back since."


Twilight Zone / Zakariya Zubeidi presents
"Abu Mazen had several plans; if one failed he would try the second. He said: No problem. They want to take [Gaza] by force, we'll give it to them. I'll give Gaza to Hamas, I'll say they took Gaza by force and I'll remove Hamas from the PA and the parliament. That's what happened. Gaza is closed - let Hamas do what it wants there. Now Abu Mazen can go to the world and say: We want peace, on the West Bank everything will work out, and nobody will talk to [the deposed Hamas prime minister] Ismail Haniyeh and his people. Nobody will help them, they won't be able to leave, and they will receive food and drink only with the approval of Abu Mazen.


IDF force kills al-Aqsa member in Nablus
Soldiers open fire at taxi traveling through West Bank city's Balata refugee camp, killing 26-year-old member of Fatah's armed wing. Two-day operation in Nablus concludes a few hours later .


Fayyad warns Islamic preachers
The new Palestinian prime minister delivered a stern warning Thursday to hundreds of Islamic preachers, including Hamas supporters: He won't tolerate calls for violence delivered from mosque pulpits and plans to collect militants' weapons.


Dahlan: Iran, Qatar backed Hamas coup
Former Fatah security chief Muhammed Dahlan said Wednesday that he was not surprised by Hamas's "coup" in the Gaza Strip and that he had warned various parties about the Islamic movement's plans. He also accused Iran and Qatar of providing Hamas with hundreds of millions of dollars.


Iran says not favouring Hamas
Iran's foreign minister on Thursday denied that Tehran is favouring Islamist group Hamas over the Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in the crisis gripping the Palestinian territories. "Iran is on the side of the unity of the Palestinian forces," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told a press conference at the end of a visit to Qatar. Iran, he added, "is not supporting one group of Palestinians against the other" and urged all factions to engage in unconditional dialogue to resolve the crisis.


Hamas "Abbas is becoming a mini-dictator"

Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, stated that the recent decrees issued by President Mahmoud Abbas regarding dissolving the armed groups, are transforming his into a "mini dictator" in this area as he ordered the arrest of dozens of Hamas members in addition to ordering the arrest of Fateh members who oppose him, according to the Hamas statement.


The Ever Controversial Blair Divides Palestinians

Palestinians as well as experts doubt Blair could do the job without involving Hamas, one of the two leading political and military powers in the Palestinian territories.


Tony Blair: A true friend of Israel
"A true friend of the State of Israel," said Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of his outgoing British counterpart Tony Blair. He was appointed this week as special envoy for the Middle East Quartet with a portfolio focused on Palestinian economic and political reform. "Tony Blair is a very well-appreciated figure in Israel," said Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. According to an Israeli government statement, Israel "will provide [him] with all necessary assistance in order for him to carry out his duties."


Economic downturn in Beit Umar and Hebron
The purpose of our field visit was to get acquainted with the Network, Advocate and Resist (NAR) work in Hebron. The impact of the Wall/barrier is devastating to the local community. A Palestinian Hydrology Group representative mentioned how they organize resistance events; farmers and landowners talked about their troubles, resulting in modest requests.


World Council of Churches intensifies efforts to end occupation
From 18 - 20 June in Amman, Jordan, more than 130 representatives from churches and Christian organizations attended a conference entitled "Churches together for peace and justice the Middle East" organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC). The WCC unites more than 340 churches in over a hundred countries and territories, representing about 550 million Christians. "Churches have woken up to the issues in the Middle East like never been before. Another time we woke up is when we fought apartheid in Africa; this is another apartheid," WCC general secretary Reverend Dr. Sam Kobia told The Jordan Times after the conference.


Tel Rumeida: Another Day, Another Stoning

At approximately 6:30 pm on Monday, June 25, two Human Rights workers were alerted to a stoning incident at the home of Hashem, directly below the Israeli Tel Rumeida settlement in the H2 area of Hebron, which is under Israeli military control. Upon their arrival, the settlers living in the house of Baruch Marzel above the Palestinian home temporarily ceased their aggression against their neighbors. Approximately 15 minutes later, the settlers began throwing stones and bottles down once more, ceasing again after a few minutes.


Rabbi Rosen: Don't aid Darfur refugees, Gazans

Head of Zomet institute says Israel has no moral obligation to aid Sudanese in Israel or abroad; slams assistance to 'Israel's bitter enemies' in Gaza.


Israeli president resigns over sex offences
Israel's disgraced president Moshe Katsav resigned on Friday after signing a controversial plea bargain that will see him convicted of sexual offences but escape jail for initial rape charges.


Bush cites Israel as model for Iraq
President Bush held up Israel as a model for defining success in Iraq Thursday, saying the U.S. goal there is not to eliminate attacks but to enable a democracy that can function despite violence.


Bush Turns Iraq into Israel/Palestine; Gaffe endangers US Troops
The US political elite just doesn't get it. Israel is not popular in the Middle East, and it isn't because Middle Easterners are bigots. It is because Israel is coded as the last European colonial presence in the region, an heir to French Algeria, British Egypt, and Dutch Indonesia-- and because the Israelis pugnaciously continue to try to colonize neighboring bits of territory. (This enmity is not inevitable or eternal; in 2002 the Arab League offered full recognition of Israel in return for its going back to 1967 borders, but the Israeli government turned down the offer.) But for the purposes of this analysis it does not really matter why Israel is unpopular. Let us just stipulate that it is. Why would you associate American Iraq with such an unpopular project, if you were trying to do public diplomacy in the region? Bush had just announced a new push to get the American message out to the Muslim world, the day before.
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