Saturday, July 21

Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines July 21, 2007 ~

Brought to you by:  Shadi Fadda

Israeli settlers plan to reoccupy a West Bank settlement

Israeli Media sources reported on Saturday that a right wing Israeli groups calling it self " Homish first" is planning on Sunday to reoccupy a West Bank settlement in the northern part of the West Bank that was evacuated during the 2005 Israeli unilateral disengagement plan.

Nablus: What Could Happen Next?
The Israeli siege on Zawata, a village near
Nablus, continued around noon on Thursday, July 19, 2007 as Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) demolished the exterior wall of a second home. The home itself was saved due to the extreme pressure placed on the IOF by international human rights activists present on the ground. The house belonged to Asad Natour's three brothers. Faris Natour, 21, was interrogated inside his family's half demolished home for almost six hours before he was arrested and taken away by the IOF.

This Week in Palestine – Week 29 2007


OPT: Protection of civilians weekly report 11 - 17 Jul 2007


Curfew imposed on Egypt-Gaza border town of Rafah

A curfew has been imposed on the Egyptian side of the border town of Rafah due to possible unrest in the crossing terminal between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, The Daily Star Egypt newspaper reported Friday.

Early Palestinian elections face Hamas hurdles
New Palestinian parliamentary and presidential elections could be organised in less than 90 days but may not be possible any time soon without Hamas's consent, officials involved in election planning said Saturday. President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the secular Fatah faction which dominates the occupied West Bank, is expected to issue presidential decrees next week calling for early elections.

Hamas warns Blair not to ignore the Islamic militant group
Hamas warned Tony Blair on Saturday his credibility as the new international Mideast peace envoy will be damaged if he ignores the militant Islamist organization.

Hamas says will replace defunct Gaza courts with legal panel
Hamas is replacing Gaza's defunct courts with a legal committee consisting of an Islamic law expert, a military court lawyer and the head of the main prison, a spokesman for the Hamas force policing Gaza announced Saturday.

Abbas welcomes freed Palestinians
Israel's release of the prisoners on Friday is seen as a move to increase support for Abbas' interim government, in his power struggle with Hamas.

US to keep Blair out of Middle East
Tony Blair was told by the United States yesterday that he had no authority to tackle political negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians as he spent his first full day as special envoy to the Middle East.

World Likud head seeks evangelical funding
World Likud chairman Danny Dannon is going to the United States next week to take part in an evangelical Christian fund-raising campaign to bolster his campaign for party leadership.

The Threat of American Public Opinion--Israel's Dirty Little Secret
It's easy enough to read in the American press about Hamas' commitment to destroying Israel, or about the endless threats Israelis suffer under the onslaught of Palestinian suicide attacks and Hezbollah's aggression. American progressives, and anyone else who honestly looks at American media and political commentary, have long known that racist caracitures of Arabs and Muslims are the order of the day in the United States. Whether it's racist stereotypes promulgated in films such as Disney's Aladdin or Arnold Schwarzenegger's True Lies, or vitriolic commentary and op-eds within elite newspapers and television, American media-political culture has long prided itself in demonizing Arabs and Muslims. Typically there is little effort to even make a distinguishment between the two. Popular images portray Arabs and Muslims as hell-bent on violence, religious fanatacism, and the destruction of the U.S. and its allies (Israel most specifically).


Knesset to ban fixing cars in West Bank

New bill aims at curbing phenomenon of cars being stolen to Territories to be used for spare parts, by prohibiting Israelis from having their vehicles fixed in West Bank garages.

Axis of evil increasing, MK says
Knesset members censure military deal between Iran and Syria, with some, including Lieberman, calling for emergency national government.

Decoding Bush: The President's Version of the Balfour Declaration
Using President Bush's own statements and terminology, the author contends that Bush's peace vision for Palestine, is the same as Israel's: disconnected Bantustans and perpetual Israeli domination.

Stranded at the border
My wife and myself, like thousands of other Palestinians, are currently stranded in Egypt since the Rafah crossing to Gaza was closed in mid-June. We are now staying closer to our home of Gaza. The destination this time is not Cairo. Rather, it's the coastal town of al-Arish now that my wife has completed her medical treatment in the Egyptian capital.

Let our unconditional alliance be mutual
'It's a new day in America. The sleeping giant of Christian Zionism has awakened!" Pastor John Hagee announced in his booming voice to thunderous applause at the AIPAC Annual Policy Conference last March. What Hagee humbly omitted is that Christians United for Israel (CUFI), a group he formed just over a year ago, deserves much of the credit for arousing the sleepy 50-million-man giant.

Luxuries of Displaced: Food, Water, Shelter
About 9000 Iraqi families fled to the central city most of them from Baghdad, where they search for safety in camps for displaced people according to official sources from Najaf. The sources said that the increasing numbers of displaced people who are converging to the city's camps will soon suffer from a shortage of food and water supplies.


Tough Times: Arab Refugee Kids in Kurdistan

Karwan Hussein, a 10-year-old Kurdish boy, was playing with his friends in the town of Qaladze when his new neighbour called for help. Hussein didn't respond, he knows better than to help an Arab. "They're Arab terrorists," he said. "My mother told me not to be around people who speak Arabic because they might kidnap me.


FACTBOX-U.S. data shows daily Iraq attacks at new high
The average number of daily attacks in Iraq hit a new high in June, as the final U.S. troop deployments for President George W. Bush's "surge" strategy arrived in the country. Attack statistics obtained by Reuters from the Defense Department showed a June average of 177.8 attacks per day on coalition and Iraqi forces, civilians and infrastructure. That surpassed a previous daily peak of 176.5 attacks in October 2006 and made June's daily total the highest since Bush declared major combat operations at an end in May 2003. Total attacks in June were lower than those recorded in May and in October 2006. But because June has only 30 days, the daily average was higher than those of previous months.

War crime brings slap on the wrist
U.S. Marine in Hamdania case loses rank: A U.S. Marine guilty of kidnapping and conspiring to murder an Iraqi grandfather last year was sentenced on Friday to a reduction in rank to private and a bad-conduct discharge with no additional time in prison, according to a U.S. Marine Corps statement.

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