News
Israel hails US military aid rise
BBC Online 7/29/2007
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has confirmed that the United States is planning a significant increase in military and defence aid to Israel. The package would reportedly amount to more than $30bn (£14. 8bn) over the next 10 years. Mr Olmert described it as an important element for the security of Israel. Washington is reportedly preparing a package of major arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states because of concerns over Iran's nuclear programme. US defence aid to Israel currently stands at $2. 4bn a year - the new package would amount to a 25% increase. Mr Olmert said the aid had been agreed at a meeting with US President George W Bush in Washington last month. Saudi arms deal - The BBC's Bethany Bell in Jerusalem says the package is seen as an attempt to allay Israeli concerns...
Group of 101 Gazans stranded in Egypt returns to Strip via Israel
Amos Harel, Ha'aretz 7/30/2007
101 Palestinians who have been stranded in Egypt for nearly two months returned home on Sunday to the Hamas-controlled Strip. Israel allowed the group to travel to Israel and then re-enter the Strip. They are the first of some 600 expected to return home in the coming days. The Gazans were escorted across the Israel-Gaza border Sunday evening throught the Erez crossing. Thousands of Palestinians who fled to Egypt when Hamas violently siezed control of the Gaza Strip in mid-June have been unable to return home after border crossings largely remained closed in the wake of the takeover. Oron Ronen, an Israeli official at the crossing on the Egypt-Israel border said Israel had approved 91 names but at least six more people had arrived hoping to be allowed through.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad reject PA platform that excludes "armed struggle"
Ma'an News Agency 7/29/2007
Khan Younis – Ma'an – Hamas and Islamic Jihad announced Sunday their rejection of the Palestinian Authority's new official platform, which for the first time does not include a reference to "armed struggle" against the Israeli occupation. The platform was adopted Friday by the caretaker government, headed by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. In a joint statement, the two movements said: "Resistance has its legitimacy through the blood of the martyrs and the injured Palestinians and the suffering of the prisoners. No one can delete resistance from the Palestinians agenda." The statement called, moreover, for "Escalation in the resistance in both the West Bank and the strip as resistance is the strategic option especially with the occupation still on and massacres being committed by the occupation forces.
Six Palestinian homes to be demolished in Salfit: Israel says they were built without permit
Ma'an News Agency 7/29/2007
Nablus – Salfit – Ma'an – Israeli authorities have on Sunday notified six Palestinian families in Qarawat Bani Hassan, west of the West Bank city of Salfit, that their homes are to be demolished. The Israeli authorities claim that the houses were built without a permit. The villagers called on various human rights organisations to intervene in order to pressure the Israeli government to revoke the demolition orders. [end]
Five detained by Israeli forces in Bethlehem and Ramallah
Ma'an News Agency 7/29/2007
Bethlehem - Ma'an – Four Palestinians from Ramallah and Bethlehem, considered "wanted" by Israel, were arrested Sunday morning by Israeli forces. Separately, a Palestinian teenager was detained after being stopped at a checkpoint in Ramallah. Israeli authorities said the four "wanted" men were taken in for interrogation. Eyewitnesses said the fifth person, Majid Nizar, 17, was questioned for hours at Atarot checkpoint, north of the West Bank city of Ramallah, before being taken to "an unknown location." [end]
Olmert: US committed to Israel's security
Ronny Sofer, YNetNews 7/29/2007
Prime minister says Israel's military advantage over Arab states still top priority for US, despite reports Americans mulling $20 billion defense deal with Saudi Arabia Defense aid to Israel is still a top priority for the United States, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the cabinet Sunday, saying that Israel enjoys more financial assistance than other countries in the Middle East. "We have renewed agreements and a renewed commitment from the Americans that would help preserve our advantage over the Arab countries," the prime minister added, referring to reports that the US is mulling a $20 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf states. However, Olmert said that Israel fully understood the US' need to support the moderate states in the region.
Brigades launch series of attacks on Israeli positions from Gaza Strip
Ma'an News Agency 7/29/2007
Gaza - Ma'an – The Islamic Jihad-affiliated Al Quds Brigades and the Fatah-affiliated Abu Ar Rish Brigades have announced responsibility for the launching of several attacks at Israeli positions on Sunday morning. A statement issued by the brigades stated that they have launched one homemade projectile and four mortars at the military post near Kerem Shalom crossing on the Israeli-Gazan-Egyptian border. In a separate operation, the brigades also launched a rocket-propelled grenade at an Israeli military jeep, east of Juhor ad Dik in the central Gaza Strip. The brigades also announced that two homemade projectiles were shot at the Israeli town of Sderot, just north east of the Gaza Strip. The brigades pledged "to continue resistance against the Israeli occupation".
Settler population in West Bank tops 475,000
Ma'an News Agency 7/29/2007
Bethlehem – Ma'an – The number of Israeli settlers in the West Bank grew reached 475,760 in 2006. According to a new report by the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics, the settlers live in 144 individual colonies, totaling 16. 1% of the total population of the West Bank. The majority live in Jerusalem Governate, host to 259,712 settlers. Ramallah and Al Bireh Governate, with 77,120, and Bethlehem Governate, with 46,783, have the second and third most settlers. Jenin is the governate with the fewest settlers. The report looks at settlement patterns throughout the entire West Bank, including all of the territory bounded by the 1967 Green Line, the Jordanian border, and the Dead Sea. The settlements are illegal under international law. [end]
Israeli forces hold up bus full of schoolchildren
Ma'an News Agency 7/29/2007
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Israeli forces held up a bus carrying children from the Bethlehem Peace Center on a tour of the village of Tuqu', south of the West Bank city of Bethlehem. The Israeli soldiers interrogated the tourguides and some of the children. Peace Center director Michel Nasser said that the incident was the second of its kind. [end]
Fatah and Hamas trade barbs over conduct in the Gaza Strip
Ma'an News Agency 7/29/2007
Gaza - Ma'an – Hamas and Fatah traded accusations Sunday as factional divisions continue to rack the occupied territories. A former member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Fatah leader Ibrahim Abu An Naja accused Hamas of "organized murder" of Fatah members in the Gaza Strip. Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri denied these charges. Atapress conference in Gaza, An Naja accused Hamas forces of attacking Fatah members in the Brazil and Yeba neighborhoods of Rafah refugee camp in the Southern Gaza strip. Zuhri, the Hamas spokesperson, said that what Naja said "was mere lies and an attempt from Fatah to cover its crimes," adding, "All the allegations and baseless; those being pursued by Hamas are … Israeli collaborators, drug dealers and law breakers" [end]
"The resistance is our choice" says Gazan Al Aqsa Brigades leader
Ma'an News Agency 7/29/2007
Gaza - Ma'an – The Fatah-affiliated Al Aqsa Brigades have stated that the positions of the Fayyad government, in regard to armed resistance groups, "doesn't represent the vision and philosophy of the resistance and the defence of the dignity of Palestinians". A statement issued by Abu Al Muntasir, a prominent Aqsa Brigade leader in the Gaza Strip, declared, "This will make it more easy for Hamas to attack the Fatah movement, and say that we are 'standing against the resistance'. "Abu Al Muntasir added that Fayyad "should have insisted on the resistance and its soul, and given his support to it… We will not lay down our weapons, and will not stop our resistance, as long as our people are suffering from the occupation." [end]
Dahlan loyalists disappointed by 'biased' probe into Hamas of takeover Gaza Strip
Avi Issacharoff, Ha'aretz 7/29/2007
The Palestinians now call the committee investigating the Hamas takeover in the Gaza Strip "Tayebograd" - a synthesis of the name of Eliyahu Winograd, who heads Israel's probe of the Second Lebanon War, and Tayeb Abd al-Rahim, who heads the Palestinian inquiry. Three days ago, Abd al-Rahim presented Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas with a report on the Hamas takeover, and Abbas has already announced that 60 officers from the various Palestinian security organizations would be put on trial for their actions in the Strip. However, the conclusions of the Palestinian investigation leaves many of the "Gaza refugees" - the Fatah officials who fled to Ramallah following the Hamas victory, and who are mostly affiliated with Mohammed Dahlan, the former Fatah strongman in the Strip - angry and disappointed.
Fatah accuses Hamas of sweeping arrests of its members in Gaza
Ha'aretz 7/29/2007
"They have been searching for Fatah men," said the official, Ibrahim Abu An-Naja, alleging Hamas has been carrying out nightly raids on homes since defeating Fatah forces in the territory in fighting last month. He told a news conference that because the raids were still going on, he could not give an exact figure for the number of men he said were detained by Hamas. "It is an attempt to eliminate (Fatah) - but how can a 50-year-old movement like Fatah be eliminated," Abu An-Najah said. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Abu An-Naja's comments were "full of false accusations and lies". He said Fatah complaints of an arrest campaign were aimed at covering up its own detention of Hamas members in the West Bank, where Abbas' movement holds sway.
Peres: Israel believes both troops alive
Vered Luvitch, YNetNews 7/29/2007
President says as far as Israel is concerned Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev are alive, describes Hizbullah as 'cheap traders' - President Shimon Peres said Sunday that as far as Israel was concerned the two Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hizbullah last summer were still alive, despite reports that one of them is dead. Quoting German diplomats working on the release of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, the Lebanese Daily An-Nahar reported Saturday that one of the two soldiers died from injuries he sustained in the July 12 cross-border operation during which they were snatched. Peres made the comments during a visit to an IDF recruitment center in Tel Hashomer where he met dozens of new recruits. "These are cheap traders, the State of Israel is acting under the assumption that both soldiers are still alive," Peres said.
President, parents dismiss report one soldier died in Hezbollah's hands
Haaretz Staff, Ha'aretz 7/29/2007
President Shimon Peres said on Sunday that Israel is acting under the assumption that both Israel Defense Forces soldiers abducted last year by Hezbollah guerillas are still alive. "Our position has not changed, and we are doing everything to bring the boys home," Army Radio quoted Peres as saying. The president was responding to a report in the pro-government Lebanese daily An-Nahar that only one of the two is still alive. The mother of one of two IDF soldiers also rejected the report. Miki Goldwasser, the mother of Ehud Goldwasser, told Israel Radio on Sunday that the report was "a cynical attempt to toy with the feelings of the abductees' families." Goldwasser and fellow IDF reservist Eldad Regev were abducted in a cross-border raid by Hezbollah fighters in July 2006.
Sudan: Jews behind Darfur conflict
Yaakov Lappin, YNetNews 7/29/2007
Sudanese defense minister says '24 Jewish organizations fueling conflict in Darfur' - Sudan's defense minister, Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein, has accused "24 Jewish organizations" of "fueling the conflict in Darfur" last week in an interview with a Saudi newspaper. Hussein was interviewed during an official state-visit to the Saudi kingdom last week. A journalist from Saudi Arabia's Okaz newspaper asked Hussein: "Some people are talking about the penetration of Jewish organizations in Darfur and that there is no conflict there?" "The Darfur issue is being fuelled by 24 Jewish organizations, who are making the largest amount of noise over the issue, and using the Holocaust in their campaigning," the Sudanese defense minister replied. Hussein added that the Darfur conflict was driven by "friction between farmers and herders and shepherds.
Israel and PA in talks toward releasing 600 Palestinian prisoners
Ma'an News Agency 7/29/2007
Ramallah - Ma'an – Aides to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday that Israel has agreed to study the possibility of releasing 600 Palestinian prisoners in the next few weeks. Saudi newspaper Al Jazeera has quoted Minister of Prisoners' Affairs Ashraf Ajrami, speaking in Ramallah, saying that "Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the Palestinian Authority Chairman will discuss a new list of prisoners in their next meeting, according to new criteria." It is also reported that Ajrami said he will "meet with the Israeli internal security minister Avi Dichter and General Matan Vilnai to assign the criteria for the release of the prisoners." Speaking to Ma'an, however, Ashraf Al Ajrami denied the al Jazeera newspaper reports published about a promise made by the Israeli government to President...
Israeli authorities take initial steps to move first transport of stranded Palestinians from Rafah to Erez
Ma'an News Agency 7/29/2007
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israeli sources have revealed that the Israeli army has initiated the necessary steps to transport the first "batch" of Palestinians currently stranded at the Rafah Crossing to the northern Erez Crossing. Several dozen of the 6,000 currently stranded between the Gaza Strip and Egypt will be transported through Nitzana crossing, in cooperation with Egyptian authorities. Palestinian sources have told Ma'an that the first cohort of those to be returned to the Gaza Strip will be selected from the sick people waiting at Rafah, without access to medical treatment. Israeli sources reported that some 637 will be allowed to enter via Erez. The names of the Palestinians allowed to cross have been scrutinised by Israeli authorities, leading Hamas to reject the idea of the return via any crossing other than Rafah crossing, ostensibly controlled by the EU.
Hamas rejects plan for return of stranded Palestinians as Israeli forces delay convoy
Ma'an News Agency 7/29/2007
Gaza - Ma'an – The foreign ministry of the Deposed Hamas government stated its objection Sunday to the Palestinian Authority-negotiated plan to return Palestinians stranded in Egypt to the Gaza Strip through Israeli-controlled border crossings. Under the agreement, announced yesterday, more than 600 of the 6,000 stranded Palestinians will be taken on busses to Al Awja crossing, known to Israelis as Nitzana, through Israel to Erez Crossing, at the northern end of the Gaza Strip. The name of each person taken into Gaza must be approved in advance by Israeli authorities. The foreign ministry in the Hamas government issued a statement Sunday saying, "We warn of this step as this will harm dozens of the stranded Palestinians; they might be arrested by the Israelis.
Israel to allow dozens of Iraqi Palestinians into W. Bank
Akiva Eldar, Ha'aretz 7/29/2007
Israel has recently agreed to allow a group of 41 Iraqi refugees of Palestinian origin to enter the West Bank and reunite with relatives there, as a gesture of good will to the government of Prime Minister Salam Fayad. However, the request of another group of 10 refugees who sought to join their relatives in the Gaza Strip was denied. The Prime Minister's Bureau confirmed last night that officials were in the process of completing the procedure, in coordination with the Foreign Ministry and the relevant security authorities. The Foreign Ministry clarified to the relevant parties involved, primarily the United Nations, that Israel does not consider granting entry to Iraqi refugees a precedent heralding the return of Palestinians to the territories - and certainly not to Israel.
Jordanian, Palestinian leaders talk peace moves
DPA, Ha'aretz 7/29/2007
Amman - Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad yesterday discussed the latest attempts to revive peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Bakhit and Fayad "reviewed various regional and international efforts aimed at reviving the peace process" - particularly the outcome of last Wednesday's visit to Israel by the Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib and his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Aboul Gheit, an official statement said. Speaking to reporters later, Fayad stressed that last week's visit to Israel by Khatib and Aboul Gheit served to convey to the Israeli government the importance of the Arab peace initiative. [end]
Gazans return home via Israel
Al Jazeera 7/29/2007
Around 100 of the thousands of Palestinians stranded in Egypt have crossed into Israel and returned to the Gaza Strip. Egypt and Israel on Saturday agreed that 627 of the 6,000 stranded Palestinians, who have been living in idire conditions, would be allowed back into Gaza, with 100 crossing on Sunday and 527 on Monday. The 101 were taken by bus to the Awja/Nizana cargo crossing, south of the Rafah border terminal between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, which has been closed since Hamas's takeover of the territory in mid-June. From there they were taken through Israel to the Erez terminal in the northern Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said. Reporters at the scene said the Palestinians began crossing back into Gaza through Erez. The Erez crossing is a long bus ride away from Rafah, where most of the Palestinians were waiting.
'Quartet or UN should sponsor peace talks'
Compiled by Daily Star staff, Daily Star 7/30/2007
The Arab League chief said Sunday that a Middle East peace conference called for by US President George W. Bush should be sponsored by either the UN or the "Quartet" of Mideast mediators. Amr Moussa expressed his opinion a day before Arab foreign ministers were scheduled to meet in Cairo to formulate a response to Bush's proposal. His remarks also came as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were set to depart Monday on a regional trip to seek Arab support for Iraq and consultations on aid and weapons sales to allies in the region. "We have suggested that the Quartet should take the initiative for an international peace conference, or it should be in the framework of the Security Council," Moussa told reporters.
US boosts Israel's annual defense aid to $3 billion
Compiled by Daily Star staff, Daily Star 7/30/2007
[headline corrected - Israel to get $30 billion over next decade] Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced a new $30 billion US defense package to Israel Sunday and voiced satisfaction over Washington's plan to supply state-of-the-art weapons to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states as a counterweight to Iranian influence. The aid boost to Israel has been widely seen as a US bid to help allay Israeli concerns over a package of arms sales, that could be worth some $20 billion over the next decade, which Washington is preparing for Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. "We understand the need of the United States to support the Arab moderate states and there is a need for a united front between the US and us regarding Iran," Olmert told a weekly Cabinet meeting.
Armed factions attack Israeli forces in Gaza Strip
Ma'an News Agency 7/29/2007
Bethlehem - Ma'an – Armed groups affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Fatah claimed responsibility Sunday for launching three mortars at an Israeli outpost in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip. In a joint statement, the PFLP's Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades and Fatah's Al Aqsa Brigades said that the operation came "as part of the retaliation for the Israeli crimes against Palestinians in the Gaza strip and the West Bank." [end]
J'lem police hunting 3 men suspected of trying to abduct Haredi teen
Jonathan Lis, Ha'aretz 7/30/2007
Jerusalem police launched a manhunt Sunday for three men, apparently of Arab nationality, traveling in a Volkswagen car whom a 14-year-old ultra-Orthodox youth said had tried to abduct him earlier in the day. The teen said he had been walking along the street in Jerusalem's northern Sanhedria neighborhood, when the men grabbed him and forced him into the car. Police understood from his testimony that the men were Palestinians. He added that the men attempted to leave the city but had to stop at a red light, at which point he managed to escape from the vehicle. After jumping from the car, the teen said he called his mother who notified the police of his location. He was transferred to the Minorities Unit of the Jerusalem Police, where his statement was taken.
Wounded victims of war with Israel face long, lonely road to recovery
Rym Ghazal, Daily Star 7/30/2007
Rehabilitation centers rely mostly on private funds to treat patients - SOUTH LEBANON: Even though 17-year-old Rasha Mohammad Zayoun lost her left leg this winter when she reached into a patch of fresh zaatar and found a cluster bomb, she considers herself lucky. "I don't have to wait for a leg as people heard of me and came to help me," said Zayoun, who became the poster child for many international and local outlets raising awareness about the plight of the southern Lebanese who have been wounded by Israeli cluster bombs since the summer 2006 war with Israel. UN officials have said that Israel fired as many as 4 million cluster bombs into South Lebanon during the war last summer, mostly in the final days of the conflict. Cluster munitions spread bomblets over a wide area.
Qana 'stronger' on anniversary of Israeli attack
Hani M. Bathish, Daily Star 7/30/2007
Irish citizens attend commemoration to denounce what they say was Lebanon's bloody Sunday - QANA, SOUTH LEBANON: Along the road of remembered indignities, Qana is a somber milestone, but one that nonetheless fuels the resolve and drive of the people of the South to hold on to their lands, despite repeated Israeli attacks. The Israelis "don't know us yet," said Mohammad Chalhoub. "Death does not make us retreat - it only adds to our resolve. Our will today is stronger." Chalhoub, who lost his sister, brother and daughter on July 30 last year in what is often referred to as the second Qana massacre, has been confined to a wheelchair since then. Clad in black, Chalhoub's eyes watered slightly when he spoke of his family. "It was a day like today: we went to sleep, we were all together.
Al Quds Brigades launch home-made projectile at Al Majdal
Ma'an News Agency 7/29/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – The Islamic Jihad-affiliated Al Quds Brigades claimed responsibility for launching a homemade projectile at the Israeli town of Al Majdal at dawn. The brigades said that the operation came in response to "Israeli crimes, invasions, arrests and assassinations of Palestinians." [end]
Ahmadinejad hails Nasrallah as soldier in army of the 'messiah'
Yoav Stern, Ha'aretz 7/30/2007
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent a greeting card to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to mark the first anniversary of the Second Lebanon War, calling the head of the Islamist Lebanese group a soldier in the messiah's army, an Iranian news agency reported Sunday. Celebrating last summer's war between Hezbollah and Israel, Ahmadinejad wrote "the wonderful victory of the Lebanese people over the Zionist occupiers is a result of faith, unity and resistance," the Iranian news agency IRNA reported. A more liberal news agency, belonging to a senior Iranian official, reported that Ahmadinejad also wrote that Nasrallah is one of the soldiers of "Mahdi", the prophesized redeemer of Islam. "The Imam Mahdi carries the flag of humanity, support, and guidance for the faithful," Ahmadinejad reportedly wrote.
The JNF, backed into a corner
Shahar Ilan, Ha'aretz 7/29/2007
In the next few months, the Jewish National Fund directors are planning to discuss a large land-exchange deal under which the fund would transfer all its urban lands to the Israel Lands Authority (ILA) in exchange for land in open areas, dunam per dunam, as well as monetary compensation. The JNF has been trying to avoid this deal for years, but now that it has found itself caught between the devil - the High Court of Justice - and the deep blue sea - the Knesset - its only option may be agreeing to the deal. On September 10, the High Court will begin discussing petitions to force the ILA to lease JNF lands to non-Jews as well. Petitioners include the Arab rights group Adalah and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI). On the other hand, the Knesset approved in a preliminary reading a draft law that would enable the ILA to continue leasing JNF lands to Jews only.
Israeli flying checkpoint established south of Hebron
Ma'an News Agency 7/29/2007
Hebron – Ma'an - Israeli military vehicles have on Sunday morning formed a flying checkpoint in the Al Hawouz area of southern Hebron, while Israeli troops started investigating many shops the area. Eyewitnesses told our correspondent that three Israeli military jeeps stopped many Palestinian cars from travelling, yet no arrests have been reported. [end]
Prisoners supporter's organization calls for release of PFLP leader Ahmad Sa'adat
Ma'an News Agency 7/29/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – The Palestinian prisoners supporter's organization has condemned the military trial of the secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), calling the trial "illegal" and "against democracy". In a statement received by Ma'an, the organization called for the immediate release of Ahmad Sa'adat, and the all other political leaders held as political prisoners by Israel. They also asked Palestinian civil societies to support prisoners, and put Israel under pressure, "in order to reveal its crimes which are committed against Palestinian prisoners." They also confirmed that they will keep campaigning for the release of Marwan Al Barghouthi and Abed Al Aziz Ad Dwaik. [end]
Addamir society for human rights asks Executive Force to leave Union's facilities
Ma'an News Agency 7/29/2007
Gaza - Ma'an – The Addamir human rights organization has accused the Executive Force of taking control of the offices of the Palestinian workers union, and have asked the Hamas-affiliated force "to leave these centers and to let the 15 public unions continuing their mission." [end]
Salem and Ofer Israeli Military Courts extend prison sentences for Palestinians
Ma'an News Agency 7/29/2007
Jenin – Ma'an – The Palestine Prisoner Society (PPS) reported that the Israeli military courts in Salim and Ofer extended the detention of several prisoners; extensions vary between 8 to 22 days. The PPS issued a statement saying that Ofer court decided to extend the prison sentences of Baha Salah, from Kafr Dan, and Naim Mahmoud, for a further 22 days. The same court ruled that five others should be detained longer as well; three will have to remain in jail for another 8 days, one had his sentence prolonged by 15 days, another by 10 days. The court of Salem extended the sentence of Ahmad Abu Zalate from Qabatia with five days; Wisan Khzaimiya will be incarcerated for another 13 days; Alaa Rashad got his sentence extended for another 8 days.
Um Salamona: A Somber Day of Reflection and Resistance
International Solidarity Movement 7/29/2007
Bethlehem Region - At 11:30 am on Friday, July 28th, 2007, five international human rights workers joined international volunteers and Palestinians in Um Salamona for a protest against the Apartheid wall that has been going on almost every week. It was an important demonstration because two weeks earlier a member of the local popular committee had been arrested in a similar demonstration. The demonstration itself was quiet, somber. Before we left the shade of the trees and began to march, a Palestinian man spoke about how the day before, the 27th, a young man from Tiqua had been killed. He spoke about Jihad Al Sha'er who had been on his way to Bethlehem University to enroll for the fall semester when he was provoked by a soldier. The soldier saw him walking down the side of the street and asked for his identification.
Women protest plan to expand power of rabbinical courts
Neta Sela, YNetNews 7/29/2007
Members of 25 groups that support women who were refused a divorce rally in front of PM's Office against plan to broaden jurisdiction of rabbinical courts - Members of Icar, the International Coalition for Agunah Rights, which includes 25 organizations that support women who were refused a divorce, rallied in front of the Prime Minister's Office Sunday in protest of a plan to expand the jurisdiction of the rabbinical court to apply also after the divorce was granted. The women's groups are concerned that a new bill approved by the ministerial committee on legislation last week may benefit men while hurting women. The bill puts the authority for exercising the court's rulings in the court's hands, rather than in the hands of the enforcement authorities like it used to be in the past.
Prosecution: Re-arrest soldiers involved in kidnapping
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 7/29/2007
Military Prosecution appeals decision to release four soldiers involved in kidnapping of cab driver, injury of Palestinian bystander; meanwhile investigation into incident continues- The Military Prosecution on Sunday appealed the decision to release the four soldiers who were involved in the kidnapping of a cab driver and the injury of a Palestinian bystander. According to sources in the Military Prosecution, all the soldiers involved in the incident must remain in custody due to the severity of the event, so as not to harm the investigation. Meanwhile, investigators continued to question the officer who issued the orders in the incident and the soldier who fired at the injured Palestinian. The four released soldiers were also questioned.
IDF soldier left behind in Gaza after falling asleep following raid
Jonathan Lis, Ha'aretz 7/30/2007
An Israel Defense Forces soldier was left behind by his comrades after an incursion in the Gaza Strip last week, and was located only after they had returned to Israel, it emerged Sunday. The incident is likely to result in severe disciplinary measures for a number of IDF officers. According to a preliminary investigation, soldiers from the Golani infantry Brigade's Battalion 51 were operating southeast of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip. On their way back to Israel, the force stopped some 700 meters from the border fence, and the soldier fell asleep. IDF troops regularly count off in order to prevent soldiers from separating from the force, but it appears that during the count-off, one of the soldier's friends answered for him, and his absence was not noted.
'Something rotten in 51st battalion'
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 7/29/2007
Following incident in which IDF soldier was forgotten behind Gaza border after operation, senior military source laments lack of discipline in Golani brigade"An entire year of intensive combat operations and an extensive series of actions taken to prevent kidnappings - all that could go to waste because of faulty behavioral norms," said a senior IDF official on Sunday following the worrisome incident this weekend in which an Israeli soldier was left behind in Gaza after his unit completed an operation in the Strip. An initial inquiry into the incident determined that the soldier had fallen asleep on the mission, and the headcount, which was carried out a few times was faulty, since other soldiers eager to return to the base answered in the name of the missing soldier, leading the troops to believe all were present.
Olmert and Barak clash but cabinet still okays Brodet report
Barak Ravid, Ha'aretz 7/29/2007
The cabinet yesterday approved the findings of the Brodet Commission for reforming security-related expenditure. However, the ministers decided that the commission's recommendation to increase the defense budget by NIS 7 billion will not be implemented before 2009. The discussion on the defense budget and the implementation of the commission's recommendations went on for seven hours straight. Defense Minister Ehud Barak demanded the defense budget be increased immediately, sparking a harsh exchange of words between representatives of the defense and finance ministries. The current defense budget, Barak warned, does not allow Israel to cope with the threats posed by Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas. Barak added that he needed an additional NIS 7 billion for developing missile protection systems, increasing the...
IDF chief: Gov't will be blamed for consequences of lack of defense funds
Barak Ravid, Ha'aretz 7/30/2007
Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi warned ministers Sunday that there could be repercussions over their decision to deny a NIS 7 billion raise recommended by a committee on reforming security-related expenditure. The cabinet Sunday approved the findings of the Brodet Commission, but the recommendation to increase the defense budget by NIS 7 billion will not be implemented before 2009. The discussion on the defense budget and the implementation of the commission's recommendations went on for seven straight hours. Barak demanded the defense budget be increased immediately, sparking a harsh exchange of words between representatives of the defense and finance ministries. The current defense budget, Barak warned, does not allow Israel to cope with the threats posed by Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas.
'Barak cares about Israel's security, Olmert doesn't'
Attila Somfalvi, YNetNews 7/29/2007
Aides to defense minister slam prime minister after government rejects Barak's demand to increase defense budget by NIS 7 billion. 'The defense minister is the responsible one,' one associate says - "From the public's point of view, Barak is responsible, reasonable and cares about the State's security, while Olmert doesn't," aides to Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Ynet on Sunday evening. Earlier Sunday, the government rejected a proposal issued by Barak to add NIS 7 billion (about $1. 6 billion) to next year's defense budget and push back the debate on the Brodet Committee's recommendations on budget reform. A total of 16 ministers voted to accept the Brodet Committee's report, in accordance with the proposal put forward by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert - which bested Barak's.
Netanyahu aims to balance security image with school reform
Mazal Mualem, Ha'aretz 7/30/2007
Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu has put together a plan for reforming the education system as the centerpiece of his election campaign for prime minister. Netanyahu's campaign slogan has been chosen "A good teacher in every classroom" and he is vowing to restore Israel's place among the top 10 countries vis-a-vis pupils' math and science scores, within four years of his election. With no national elections on the horizon, Netanyahu is using the primaries for the Likud leadership on August 14 to campaign for prime minister. Ignoring rival Likud contenders Moshe Feiglin, who heads the Jewish Leadership faction, and Danny Danon, who chairs World Likud, Netanyahu is talking about educational reform and the Iranian threat. His choice of education as Likud's central campaign message was not random.
New Jerusalem Outline Plan predicts 950,000 residents in 2020
Orit Bar-Gil, Globes Online 7/29/2007
The new Regional Outline Plan replaces the plan from 1977. The new Jerusalem Regional Outline Plan is now underway, after the National Planning and Building Commission appeals committee completed its handling of all outstanding issues. The new Regional Outline Plan replaces the plan from 1977. The new Outline Plan predicts that Jerusalem will have 950,000 residents by 2020. In April, the National Planning and Building Commission approved the plan for deposit and recommended a series of supplementary measures for strengthening Jerusalem. These included cancelling the Safdie Plan for the western approaches to the city and replacing it with land zoning within the municipal boundaries; suspending for now the western and southern ring road; forbidding tourist lodgings in the Metropolitan Park; designating Har Eitan...
Reservists: Insurance for lost work capability not renewed by IDF
Yuval Azoulay, Ha'aretz 7/29/2007
The Israel Defense Forces and the defense establishment has not insured reserve soldiers for loss of work ability due to service-related injuries, reservists' organizations say. Groups representing battalion and brigade commanders as well as non-commissioned officers say reservists have been uninsured since May, and that the defense establishment has not asked the Knesset to renew the regulation allowing greater compensation for reservists who cannot achieve their pre-injury income by compensating them for functional - rather than medical - disability. The groups pushed these reforms through five years ago. One example is a pianist who loses two fingers in reserve duty, says Roi Ron, chairman of Baltam, a reserve soldiers rights group. "He'll receive a low medical disability, although he has a 100 percent functional disability," Ron says.
Lawmaker blasts budget plan for 2008
Shahar Ilan, Ha'aretz 7/29/2007
Several clauses in the government's economic policy document for 2008 are generating harsh criticism in the Knesset. Some MKs strongly oppose clauses calling for slashes to disability allowances and privatization of police units. MK Shelly Yachimovich yesterday voiced her concerns regarding the process through which the document is approved by the cabinet. Some of the concerns stem from the fact that several ministries have yet to receive the government's full annual economic policy document, and are therefore unable to fully review the government's fiscal plans. The ministries complain that they have so far received only the sections pertaining to each of them individually, which in effect turns the decision-making process into a secret procedure.
State to help same-sex couples adopt
David Regev, YNetNews 7/29/2007
Welfare Ministry formulates plan aimed at facilitating child adoption process for same-sex couples and single parents in Israel - The Welfare Ministry has decided to facilitate the process of child adoption for same-sex couples and single-parent families in Israel, and has recently granted 30 lesbian couples permission to adopt a child together, or to adopt their partner's child. Until recently, same-sex and single-parent families have suffered legal discrimination, as the law in Israel permits only "normative" households, namely those composed of a man and a woman, to adopt in Israel. However, a committee founded by Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog to review the issue has formulated a new plan that would enable gays and singles to adopt children in the country.
'Ramon complainant was under PI surveillance'
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 7/29/2007
Police say they have sufficient evidence to indict private investigations firm for conducting surveillance on woman vice premier was convicted of forcibly kissing. No criminal evidence found against Ramon's brother-in-law - Police officials said on Sunday evening that they had obtained criminal evidence against private investigators from the Weitzman-Ya'ar firm proving they harassed and invaded the privacy of the woman who Vice Premier Haim Ramon was convicted of forcibly kissing. The investigation yielded numerous documents and physical evidence proving the offenses were committed, said the police. Tel Aviv district attorneys are currently reviewing the findings. Police initially suspected the surveillance was ordered by Ramon's former brother-in-law, Ephraim Konda, but on Sunday investigators said Konda was cleared of any wrongdoing.
An-Najah University's Center for Opinion Polls releases poll on the current Palestinian political situation
Ma'an News Agency 7/29/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – Today, the Center for Opinion Polls and Survey Studies (COPSS) from the An-Najah National University, published the results of the 29th Palestinian Public Opinion Poll. The COPSS poll focused mainly on the political situation after the Hamas take-over of the Gaza Strip, the possibility of early elections for the Presidency and the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) of the Palestinian Authority (PA), and the decrees President Abbas has issued, by which he dissolved the unity government, declared a state of emergency, and formed the caretaker government. The poll included 1361 people, aged 18 and above, who have a right to vote. The questionnaire was distributed among 861 people in the West Bank, and 500 people from the Gaza Strip.
Discovering ancient Galilee's hidden shelters
Eli Ashkenazi, Ha'aretz 7/29/2007
A pleasant coolness greeted Yinon Shivtiel when he crawled into the cave at Mt. Berenice, as did a poisonous snake. Shivtiel, a doctoral candidate in Land of Israel Studies at Bar-Ilan University, who teaches at Safed College, is used to being surprised on his crawling expeditions into caves in the Galilee. He took the snake's presence in stride, preferring to save his excitement for the man-made "loft" dug out of the cave. For several years now Shivtiel has been researching the "cliff dwellings and refuge caves throughout the Galilee," which, unlike the caves in the Judean foothills that are associated with the Bar-Kochba Revolt, have not been studied in depth. Shivtiel is attempting to understand the circumstances of their excavation and to date them, collecting what he calls the slips of the pen of the Jewish historian and leader Yosef Ben-Mattitiyahu (Josephus).
T.A. Stock Exchange plunges in reaction to global market losses
Nathan Sheva, Ha'aretz 7/29/2007
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange on Sunday reacted sharply to steep declines in the New York markets last week. All the leading indices ended the session in the red. The TA-25 index closed down 4. 21 percent to 1,089 points; the TA-100 index lost 4. 35 percent,closing at 1,067 points, and the Tel-Tech fell by 4. 6 percent. Turnover stood at about NIS 3. 25 billion. The bond market also retreated sharply, and long-term fixed income bonds plunged by 1. 6 percent. Real estate stocks were among the hardest hit, falling by 4. 4 percent after losing 6 percent last week; Elbit Medical Imaging sank 6 percent and Alrov lost 8 percent. "I prefer to sell stocks and stay outside until this wave passes," a senior trader in the local market said Sunday. Stock indices dropped sharply last Thursday as well, by about 2.
After a black Sunday, Israeli investors hold their breath
Tal Levy, Ha'aretz 7/29/2007
Tension is rife ahead of trading today on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange after a day of falling shares, crashing bond prices and a strengthening dollar. Many stocks on the Tel Aviv 100 index plummeted more than 5 percent, and the index overall fell 4. 4 percent. The TA-25 index lost 4. 2 percent and the real estate index dropped 6. 1 percent. Among mutual funds, losses totaled between NIS 1. 3 billion and NIS 1. 5 billion, around 1 percent of that industry. The background to the TASE crisis is the recent sharp drop on bourses worldwide, particularly on the New York Stock Exchange, prompted by the crisis in the American mortgage market. Exchanges in the United States lost more than 4 percent in the past week, the worst in four years. The past week also saw major declines in European and Asian markets.
Galilee villages launch tourism crusade
Yoav Stern, Ha'aretz 7/29/2007
This summer Jesus Christ has risen higher than ever before on the agendas of four Arab villages in the Galilee, after the council heads of Fassuta, Mi'ilya, Jesh and Ilabun recently decided to launch a new initiative aimed at attracting Christian pilgrims. Despite their relative proximity to Nazareth, where Jesus spent most of his life, the four villages are not directly adjacent to the city, nor are they situated nearby any religious site. This geographical disadvantage prompted the local leaders to band together and cooperate with the Tourism Ministry and the Ministry for the Development of the Negev and the Galilee, who are promoting the new plan to include peripheral towns in the horn of plenty the Christian tourists represent. "We will interest the tourists in the region's Christian character, which is part of regional history but also characterizes the present.
The stench of the Kishon
Haaretz Editorial, Ha'aretz 7/29/2007
The stench from the pollution at the Kishon Port, as described in various reports in Haaretz recently, is even worse than it initially appears. Despite the struggle being waged by an association of naval commandos, the contamination in the port disturbs the activities of those who use it. The report by the Shamgar Commission, which examined the link between the physical harm caused to naval commandos who dived in the Kishon and the waste that had been discharged into the stream, drew up a detailed map of the contaminated areas. The commission determined that exposure to the stream was hazardous to health and could cause illness. The annihilation of fish populations in the stream, the destruction of fishing equipment and the high incidence of cancer deaths among the fishermen all deter young people and their parents...
Electricity demand breaks record - again
Avi Bar-Eli, Ha'aretz 7/29/2007
Yesterday broke the record for electricity demand for the second time during the recent hot, dry sharav conditions, reaching 10,070 megawatts. The Israel Electric Corporation's total production capacity is 10,500 megawatts, which leaves only a 4. 4 percent reserve. The IEC announced that if a fault occurred in one of its large generating facilities there were likely to be blackouts. Three months ago the IEC forecast that demand would break 10,000 megawatts for the first time during the July-August period - a prophecy that has proved quite accurate. The IEC requested yesterday morning that large customers run their generators to reduce demand and help the electric company. The IEC also recommended not using appliances in the afternoon that require a large amount of electricity, such as dishwashers, ovens and washing machines.
Civil servants protest unhealthy work environment at TA government complex
Ido Solomon, Ha'aretz 7/29/2007
Workers at the building housing the Tel Aviv branches of government offices will launch labor sanctions this morning, in protest over Finance Ministry delays in fixing a faulty ventilation system and other problems they say constitute health hazards. The 1,700 workers will come to work, but will not provide services to the public, nor answer the phones. The sanctions will affect the offices of the Employment Service, Interior Ministry, Israel Lands Administration, Environment Ministry, Income Tax Office, Construction and Housing Ministry and Civil Service Commission. Soon after the building opened in 2005, the workers began to feel the effects of air shortage, leading to a suffocating sensation and stinging and inflamed eyes. The problem is particularly severe because the windows do not open.
Maersk Line ending direct shipping to US from Haifa
Lior Baron, Globes Online 7/29/2007
The departure could result in a 5-10% increase in shipping prices to the US. - Sources inform ''Globes'' that A. P. Moller-Maersk Group A/S (KPX:MAERSK) plans to suspend its direct shipping service to the US from Haifa Port in October. Maersk Line is the world's largest shipping companies. Maersk will replace its Haifa-US line with a new service from Port Said in Egypt, which currently serves as the company's Middle Eastern loading terminal. Maersk will operate a feeder line between Haifa Port and Ashdod Port and Port Said. In the wake of Maersk's departure from Israel, Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. , controlled by Ofer Brothers through Israel Corp. , will become the leading shipper between Israel and the US. Port sources say that Maersk's departure could result in a 5-10% increase (about $150 per container) in shipping prices to the US.
Turning a profit on gas, without the gas
Avi Bar-Eli, Ha'aretz 7/30/2007
The crystal chandeliers hanging in the Cairo offices of Egyptian-Israeli partnership Eastern Mediterranean Gas & Oil (EMG) witnessed a particularly tense meeting two years ago. At one side of the table sat Egyptian businessman Hussein Salem and former Egyptian gas company chair Mohamed Tawila, who was recruited to head EMG's negotiating team. At the other end sat then-Israel Electric Corp. chair Jacob Razon, IEC senior VP Joseph Dvir, IEC gas project manager Shimshon Brokman, legal adviser Renelle Joffe and officials from the national infrastructure and foreign ministries. "These were tough and topsy-turvy negotiations," Brokman told TheMarker, regarding EMG's first deal. "It was a meeting of cultures, suspicions and emotions. It wasn't easy for Salem to sit across from Joffe, who fired a volley of criticisms.
Germany and Israel unite to film the story of concentration camp's clown
Kate Connolly in Berlin, The Guardian 7/29/2007
German and Israeli filmmakers have come together to tackle the subject of the Holocaust for the first time in an ambitious screen adaptation of a bestselling novel. Their groundbreaking collaboration over the highly sensitive topic has attracted a star-studded cast in what has been described as a 'tightrope walk' of a project. Adam Resurrected, based on a darkly comic 1969 novel by popular Israeli author Yoram Kaniuk, tells the story of Adam Stein, a Jewish-German clown who is forced to entertain inmates in a Nazi concentration camp. His life is spared only because he plays his violin for the prisoners being sent to the gas chamber. Jeff Goldblum is to play the part of Adam, while Willem Dafoe will play the concentration camp commandant who forces him to act like a dog.
Siniora: Extended army control will trigger prosperity
Daily Star staff, Daily Star 7/30/2007
BEIRUT: Premier Fouad Siniora said Sunday that Lebanon would prosper if the Lebanese Army would extend its control over all Lebanese territory. "The Lebanese Army today is protecting Lebanon after long years of marginalization and usurpation," Siniora said in a televised address to the Lebanese community in Australia. Lebanese in Australia have organized a reception on the occasion of Army Day, which is celebrated yearly on August 1. However, with the Lebanese Army battling Fatah al-Islam militants at the Nahr al-Bared, all Army Day festivities have been cancelled in Lebanon. Siniora said his government has won the support of the Lebanese to "crush the Fatah al-Islam conspiracies," adding that the government was working on reclaiming the occupied Shebaa Farms through Resolution 1701.
Army continues slow progress into shrinking area under control of Fatah al-Islam
Compiled by Daily Star staff, Daily Star 7/30/2007
Lebanese troops were moving deeper into a battered refugee camp in a deadly showdown against die-hard Islamists which entered its 11th week on Sunday, an army spokesman said. "The army continues its slow progress forward" into the small area still held by Fatah al-Islam militants in Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in Northern Lebanon, said the spokesman who did not wish to be identified. He said the army "continues to clear the areas where it has extended its deployment into the camp from mines and booby-traps, and continues to reinforce its positions there." The two sides engaged in intermittent clashes Sunday, following a night of relative calm in the area, said security sources. The spokesman said a soldier was killed in the clashes on Saturday, raising to 122 the number of troops killed since the battle erupted on May 20.
U.S. Congressmen say will try to block proposed Saudi arms deal
Shmuel Rosner, Ha'aretz 7/30/2007
Some Members of Congress announced Sunday they will oppose a planed US-Saudi Arabia arms deal to be announced Monday morning ahead of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's trip to the Middle East. The Congressmen said they will introduce legislation to block the deal. The proposed package of advanced weaponry for Saudi Arabia is expected to eventually total $20 billion. It reportedly includes advanced satellite-guided bombs, upgrades to its fighter jets and new naval vessels. The administration also plans to sell advanced weaponry to six Gulf Cooperation Council countries, including Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. Two Democratic Congressmen, Anthony Weiner and Jerrold Nadler, said they would introduce legislation to block the deal "the minute Congress is officially notified".
Giuliani 'tough on Saudis'
Yaakov Lappin, YNetNews 7/29/2007
Republican presidential candidate's advisor: Rudy has different attitude than Bush - US Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani would take a dramatically different approach to Saudi Arabia to that taken by President Bush, a senior advisor to Giuliani was quoted by the New York Jewish News as saying last week. Norman Podhoretz, described by the Jewish News as Giuliani's "most prominent foreign policy adviser," said: "Any president would have to hesitate before risking the kind of economic dislocation that would be caused by tangling with the Saudis. But I think that Rudy does actually have a different attitude (than Bush) and might very well try to change our policy." "Because the Saudis are alarmed over the Iranian threat, we have a very good chance of persuading them that it is in their own...
Articles
The walls must be brought down
Danny Rubinstein, Ha'aretz 7/29/2007
Fifteen years ago, Bassam Abu Ara from the village of Akaba near Jenin in the West Bank married a woman from East Jerusalem. He resided there with his new wife until two years ago, when he was forced to move to Ramallah. As a resident of the West Bank, he is not allowed to reside in the capital.
His wife and children stayed on in Jerusalem so the state would not revoke their official status as Jerusalemites, affording them social and medical rights in Israel. Once a week, they travel to Ramallah to see their husband/father, who works there as the sports editor of Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, a daily newspaper.
As a journalist, Abu Ara travels all over the world. He covers sports events in Europe and the Middle East - but he is not able to visit his family in Jerusalem. His is not an unusual story; it's actually run-of-the-mill. The Israeli media no longer pay any attention to such phenomena. The Palestinian media have also stopped reported on them.
East Jerusalem is estimated to have roughly 20,000 such cases - of Palestinian families where parents are forced to live apart from one another on opposites sides of the fences and walls that separate the West Bank from Israel.
Bloodied but unbowed
Lucy Fielder, Al-Ahram Weekly 7/26/2007
A year after Israel's war to destroy Hizbullah, resistance to US policy in the region is even stronger.
Israel's failure to weaken Hizbullah was never clearer than this week. As the Shia guerrilla group geared up to celebrate the one-year anniversary of its "Divine Victory" against the Jewish state, Secretary-General Sayed Hassan Nasrallah announced that its capabilities were as strong as ever and met with the president of Iran, the main backer of the group. Hizbullah's other key ally, Syria, also showed further signs of coming in from the cold.
In a two-part interview with Al-Jazeera, Nasrallah gave the clearest affirmation since the war ended on 14 August last year that Hizbullah had fully rearmed. "In July and August 2006, there wasn't a place in occupied Palestine that the rockets of the resistance could not reach, be it Tel Aviv or other cities.
Shared sovereignty may be the solution in Jerusalem
Hady Amr and Joel H. Samuels, Daily Star 7/30/2007
Despite recent setbacks, President George W. Bush's July 16th call for an autumn multinational peace conference on Israel and Palestine underlines both the importance - and the possibility - of a solution. From Iraq, to Kosovo to Lebanon to Israel and Palestine, the United States and the broader international community finds itself struggling to find solutions to ethnic-religious conflict for control over territory.
Central, and evasive, to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has always been finding a solution for Jerusalem - and the holy city remains both the symbol and the cornerstone of the conflict between Israel and the Muslim world. It is also a symbol of America's failure in the Middle East, and a lynchpin to winning the "war of ideas" with the Muslim world.
At a recent closed-door gathering of former Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Washington, one of the concepts that was rapidly and relatively easily agreed upon was the idea of "shared" sovereignty over the Old City of Jerusalem - known in international law as a "condominium."
It was quite surprising to many of the seasoned American observers that these Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were so ready to agree to share the holiest and most emotional part of their conflict - what lies between the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem - while they otherwise endorsed a barrier to separate themselves.
Making the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a sideshow
Aluf Benn, Daily Star 7/30/2007
A glance at the White House Web site suffices to confirm the stark difference between US President George W. Bush's "visionary" speech of June 24, 2002, in which he laid out his commitment to Palestinian statehood, and the pale sequel of Bush's recent speech on reviving Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.
Five years ago, Bush stood in the Rose Garden surrounded by the top officials of his first administration. His much-anticipated speech topped the White House agenda of the day. This time around, it was the fourth and last item on the daily list of presidential events, even below the personnel announcement. The president appeared all by himself, and his aides chose an uninspiring, deliberately noncommittal headline for his speech - "President Bush discusses the Middle East" - as if he were an analyst, rather than the world's leader charting a course of action.
The message is clear: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a sideshow. Bush went through the motions but failed to show resolve. In the speech, which emerged from a last-minute decision, Bush did not repeat his post-re-election pledge to "spend the capital of the United States" to establish a Palestinian state during his second term in office.
A Warning to Tony
Uri Avnery, Middle East Online 7/30/2007
Everybody knows that there is only one way to strengthen Abu Mazen: immediately to start rapid and practical negotiations for the establishment of the State of Palestine in all the occupied territories, with its capital in East Jerusalem.
Last week, James Wolfensohn gave a long interview to Haaretz. He poured out his heart and summed up, with amazing openness, his months as special envoy of the US, Russia, the EU and the UN (the "Quartet") in this country - the same job entrusted now to Tony Blair. The interview could have been entitled "A Warning to Tony".
Among other revelations, he disclosed that he was practically fired by the clique of Neo-cons, whose ideological leader is Paul Wolfowitz.
What Wolfensohn and Wolfowitz have in common is that both are Jews and have the same name: Son of Wolf, one in the German version and the other in the Russian one. Also, both are past chiefs of the World Bank.
But that's where the similarity ends. These two sons of the wolf are opposites in almost all respects. Wolfensohn is an attractive person, who radiates personal charm. Wolfowitz arouses almost automatic opposition. This was made clear when they served, successively, at the World Bank: Wolfensohn was very popular, Wolfowitz was hated. The term of the first was renewed, a rare accolade, the second was got rid of at the earliest opportunity, ostensibly because of a corruption affair: he had arranged an astronomical salary for his girl-friend.
The burial of civil marriage
Shulamit Aloni, Ha'aretz 7/29/2007
Israeli citizens are divided by law into 12 religious groups. Each person is born into his own group: The Jew whose mother is Jewish is subject to the tyranny of the rabbis, the Muslim to that of the kadis, and the Druze have their own religious leaders, as do the Christians, the Armenians and all the others. And they cannot marry one another, since Israel has no civil marriage. This entire arrangement of no civil marriage, in a country that pretends to be democratic, came into the world only in order to preserve the purity of the Jewish genius.
It's true, according to religious sources, that at the time when our nation lived on its land, when it became assimilated, it was assimilated, and this was not questioned, and anyone who invalidated another was actually accusing him of his own defect. But that was when there was wisdom and the leadership understood that a minority is assimilated into a majority - into its language, into its culture.
On the other hand, here we have to satisfy the inclinations of the religious parties. Therefore, in 1970, then prime minister Golda Meir and justice minister Yaakov Shimshon Shapira anchored in law an amendment stipulating that although the right of return would also be granted to the son and grandson of a Jew and to his/her spouse (apparently for demographic reasons), a "Jew" according to their definition was "someone who was born to a Jewish mother, or who converted and is not a member of another religion."
'The Middle East Link': A Bridge to Peace and Stability
Jonathan Kolieb, MIFTAH 7/28/2007
Tony Blair kick-started his tenure as the Quartet's envoy with a visit to the Middle East this week in the midst of renewed international attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Blair's formal mission is limited to reviving and sustaining the Palestinian economy - essential for peace. To do so, he should eschew calls for an immediate renewal of discussions on a far-off "political horizon" and begin by sticking to the bricks-and-mortar reality of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - literally.
Blair should lead an international effort to oversee construction of a dedicated transportation link between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip - a multi-use, multimillion-dollar project that will do more than any other single endeavor to resuscitate the Palestinian economy, unifying their society and polity, and reviving hopes for a two-state solution.
Consisting of an elevated multi-lane highway, cargo and passenger train link, telecommunications connections and water and fuel pipelines, this Palestinian super-highway will become a critical lifeline for millions of Palestinians, and a main artery of the future state of Palestine.
Kathy Kelly: Iraqi Children Attuned to Tom and Jerry
Kathy Kelly, Palestine Chronicle 7/25/2007
The children of Iraqi families taking refuge in Jordan are obsessed with Tom and Jerry cartoons; The writer of the article reflects on the phenomenon as she reports on the shattered lives of millions of Iraqis who were displaced as a result of America's 'war of choice'.
Last week, Umm Daoud, (her name means "Mother of Daoud"), met me and three friends at a bridge that crosses into her neighborhood. It was just after sundown; the streets were darkening as she guided us toward the narrow path which leads to her home. She and her five children live in a humble two room apartment in a crowded "low-rent" area of Amman.
As guests, my friends and I sat on a makeshift piece of furniture, an old door placed atop two crates and covered by a thin mat. She and her children sat on the floor. Apart from a television and a small table, the living room had no other furniture. The television remained "on" while Samil, her youngest son, seemed completely absorbed in a "Tom and Jerry" cartoon.
"Tom and Jerry" antics are a favorite in almost every home I visit here. Spanning multiple generations and regions, the duo's popularity seems to reflect benign values. "Sometimes Tom wins and sometimes Jerry, and sometimes they both win, especially if they team up against an enemy," a young Iraqi woman told me. "You love them both. It's a bit like fights between brothers and sisters."
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