Shadi Fadda
Colonist population in West Bank tops 475,000
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. 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.
Six Palestinian homes to be demolished in Salfit
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 [unobtainable] permit.
Violent settler attacks human rights workers
International Human Rights Workers and member of the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) joined a Palestinian man on the land he owned to help him clean it from debris put there by settler vandals and protect him and his livestock while they feed. This severely handicapped man and his family are normally told to leave the land they own when they try to farm it, or when they let their goats eat from it. An old well-dressed settler suddenly without provocation attacked two international human rights workers with what proved to be a spiked stick. He first hit one female volunteer across the head, moving on to strike multiple blows to another this time male observer.
Israel to grant West Bank entry to 41 Iraq refugees of Palestinian descent
so they can reunite with relatives there - as a gesture of good will to the government of PM Fayad. They will not receive refugee status and will be registered as regular citizens of the Palestinian Authority. (However, the request of another group of 10 refugees who sought to join their relatives in the Gaza Strip was denied.) The 30,000-strong Palestinian community in Iraq suffered a great deal in the years that followed the fall of Saddam Hussein at the hands of Shi'ite militants, who consider them to be strong supporters of the Iraqi dictator. The vast majority of the Palestinians living in Iraq are originally from villages in the foothills of the Carmel Mountains of Haifa.
Group of 101 Gazans stranded in Egypt returns to Gaza via Israel
They are the first of some 600 expected to return home in the coming days. The former foreign minister in the Hamas government, Mahmoud Zahar, accused the Palestinian Authority and its chairman, Mahmoud Abbas, of planning to extradite wanted Palestinians as they entered Israel to return to Gaza, Israel Radio reported Sunday morning. He maintained that Abbas' willingness to agree to the extradition explained why Israel agreed to let the 6,000 Palestinians in Egypt back into the Strip via Israeli crossings, instead of through the Gaza-Egypt border at Rafah. Hamas denounced the compromise agreement since it allows Israel to decide who can enter Gaza.
Olmert welcomes 'significant improvement' in U.S. military aid
Sources in Jerusalem told Haaretz over the weekend that Washington is prepared to increase military aid to Israel in order to ease the defense establishment's concern over the proposed American weapons sale to Riyadh. It was agreed Israel would receive $30 billion in U.S. military aid over the next decade, averaging $3 billion a year. This is an increase of 25 percent in military aid to Israel from the United States .
Gazan Al-Aqsa Brigades leader: "The resistance is our choice"
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". 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."
Salem and Ofer Israeli military courts extend prison sentences for Palestinians
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 statement mentioned that the trial of two other prisoners was postponed until the 23rd of October,
Addamir Society for Human Rights asks Executive Force to leave union's facilities
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."
Coalition of U.S. evangelicals voices support for Palestinian state
More than 30 evangelical leaders have sent a letter to President Bush saying that both Israelis and Palestinians have "legitimate rights stretching back for millennia to the lands of Israel/Palestine," and that they support the creation of a Palestinian state "that includes the vast majority of the West Bank." [What about Gaza?] Mr. Sider said he and three other evangelical leaders got the idea for the letter in February at the U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar, where they met Muslim and American diplomats who were shocked to discover the existence of American evangelicals who favored a Palestinian state.
Letter to President Bush from Evangelical Leaders
We also write to correct a serious misperception among some people including some U.S. policymakers that all American evangelicals are opposed to a two-state solution and creation of a new Palestinian state that includes the vast majority of the West Bank. Nothing could be further from the truth. We, who sign this letter, represent large numbers of evangelicals throughout the U.S. who support justice for both Israelis and Palestinians. We hope this support will embolden you and your administration to proceed confidently and forthrightly in negotiations with both sides in the region. Perhaps the best way we can bless Israel is to encourage her to remember, as she deals with her neighbor Palestinians, the profound teaching on justice that the Hebrew prophets proclaimed so forcefully as an inestimably precious gift to the whole world.
Daily Times (Pakistan): Postcard USA: End times and all that
It is sobering to note that when you compare the end of the world myths with what some of our clerics scream through their loudspeakers, our holy fathers emerge as the epitome of rationalism. The belief in the myth about the imminent end of the world is as old as the world itself. It may be harmless for some but not for the people of Palestine. What makes it sinister from their viewpoint is that millions of orthodox [?] American evangelical Christians have pressed the end-times myth into a religious obligation of preserving and strengthening the state of Israel. The myth has been promoted in America, among others, by what is known as the "left behind" series of novels authored by the writing duo of Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye who in the last 12 years have churned out 16 novels, which have sold a staggering 65 million copies.
Poll: 68% of Palestinian favor early elections; 15% favor Hamas
The survey, conducted by the research center of al-Najjah University in Nablus, also found that if elections were held now, the Islamic Hamas movement would receive only 15.1% of the vote, compared to 42% for Fatah. Some 53.4% thought the security situation in the Gaza Strip had deteriorated since Hamas assumed control, compared to 39.9% who thought the opposite.
Orange County, California: Rally calls for justice in Gaza
Saed Jabr, 23, said his father immigrated to the United States after he was booted from his native Palestine in 1948. He lost his family's riches, land and home overnight. Family members who stayed behind weren't better off, Jabr said. His 2-year-old Palestinian nephew is so traumatized from regular shootings that he only sleeps if his mother hugs him. "He even has gray hair," Jabr added.
Waves of hope on the beaches of Gaza
The daily routine and the heat drive many Gaza residents to find refuge on the Strip's beaches. Abu-Muhammad, a Gaza cab driver, opens a window to a different Gaza. In a special monologue to Ynet he talks about the sea's calming effect and describes how the small beach turned into the place in which residents become equal and classless.
Gaza surfers find freedom in the sea
Back at the shore, Ahmed Abu Hassan, a 28-year-old Palestinian, pulled his board from the water and walked along the Gaza beach where green Hamas flags competed for space with red and yellow umbrellas. It looked as though Islamic militants and ice cream vendors had engaged in a turf war over the golden sand. "It's a joy," said Hassan, a taciturn and graceful surfer. On some days, the Israeli navy fires warning shots toward the beach, cautioning fishermen and swimmers not to venture too far from the shore. But the patrols can't contain the surfers. They may be trapped in Gaza, but riding the waves seems like the great escape.
How truth slips down the memory hole – by John Pilger
In Gaza calling for the release of the BBC reporter Alan Johnston was a Palestinian news cameraman, Imad Ghanem. On 5 July, he was shot by Israeli soldiers as he filmed them invading Gaza. A Reuters video shows bullets hitting his body as he lay on the ground. An ambulance trying to reach him was also attacked. The Israelis described him as a "legitimate target". The International Federation of Journalists called the shooting "a vicious and brutal example of deliberate targeting of a journalist". At the age of 21, he has had both legs amputated. The atrocity was reported in two sentences on the BBC online. Along with 11 Palestinian civilians killed by the Israelis on the same day, Alan Johnston's now legless champion slipped into what George Orwell in Nineteen Eighty-Four called the memory hole. While Alan Johnston was being held, I was asked by the BBC World Service if I would say a few words of support for him. I readily agreed, and suggested I also mention the thousands of Palestinians abducted and held hostage. The answer was a polite no; and all the other hostages remained in the memory hole.
Hamas' marketing campaign for Gaza: 'Safe, Clean, and Green'
If you think of the Gaza Strip as a volatile, violent battleground run by fanatic Islamist militants bent on destroying Israel, Hamas wants you to think again. Lime-green Hamas banners flutter over Gaza City with a message in English for aid workers and journalists worried about being kidnapped: "No more threat for our foreign visitors and guests." Bearded gunmen in blue-gray camouflage uniforms who helped seize control of Gaza now rush to settle routine neighborhood squabbles and family disputes.
Once-deserted Mediterranean beaches are now filled with dozens of families holding picnics to escape the summer heat until long after midnight.
Bil'in demonstration and followup interviews with wounded Palestinians
VIDEO – Bil'in nonviolent demonstration with international and Israeli supporters - interviews with Palestinians who were there - in Arabic with English translation. One interview at the hospital of man shot with rubber-coated bullet. (Other videos of the Palestinian struggle available on this YouTube page.)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZB_hlziDKQ
Israeli forces hold up bus full of schoolchildren
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.
IDF left snoozing soldier in Gaza Strip
Apparently the soldier fell asleep when the troops paused for a rest on their way back Thursday night from an operation southeast of Khan Yunis. In checking attendance before setting off again, another soldier answered for his sleeping friend. Meanwhile, the soldier woke up and discovered he was alone. He fired tracer bullets in the air to draw the attention of Israeli troops in the area. He later used a light stick to aid others to find him. The army was worried about two possibilities: that Palestinians would kidnap the soldier, or that troops deployed near the fence would mistake him for an armed terrorist and shoot him. A relatively short while later the soldier was located and brought back safely.
Five detained by Israeli forces in Bethlehem and Ramallah
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.
Brigades launch series of attacks on Israeli positions from Gaza Strip
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. . . .
Peace Games – by Dina Ezzat
During a three-way press conference that the visiting Arab foreign ministers held with their Israeli counterpart, there was no sign of Israel's willingness to reciprocate the firm Arab commitment to reach a fair and lasting settlement for the Arab-Israeli struggle. According to one informed Egyptian diplomat, 'at this stage and maybe for some years to come Israel is only willing to talk about ways to administer its occupation of the Palestinian territories and not about potential political solutions to terminate this occupation'. Speaking on conditions of anonymity, he added that the two Arab foreign ministers were basically going to Israel with a message for Israeli public opinion and the US administration rather than on a mission almost-impossible to commit the Israeli government to start final status talks on the Palestinian track.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=21393 http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/855/fr1.htm
Our Apartheid State – by Yossi Paritzky
One of the clearest rules that distinguishes a democratic state from a non-democratic state is the principle of equality when it comes to rights and obligations. In a democratic country, all citizens regardless of race, religious, gender or origin are entitled to equality when it comes to national assets, services and resources, and all citizens regardless of race, religion, gender or origin are equally obligated by national duties. Last week, in a series of three decisions that are separate but connected through a stench of racism and discrimination, Israel entered the dismal pantheon of non-democratic states.
Brotherhood of lepers – by Yehuda Litani
Many Cypriot Turks, despite being Muslim, support Israel. They declare this openly and explain it by arguing that both peoples are surrounded by enemies. This is the "No man's land brotherhood" I also found among Protestants in Northern Ireland. When I spoke of this to a friend on the Greek side, he said I was wrong; the right term is the "brotherhood of lepers."
The Apostate – A Zionist politician loses faith in the future
Avraham Burg: "People are not willing to admit it, but Israel has reached the wall. Ask your friends if they are certain their children will live here. How many will say yes? At most fifty per cent. In other words, the Israeli élite has already parted with this place. And without an élite there is no nation." ""In the last years, Israeliness has confined itself for itself only and lost interest almost for what happens in the world," he went on. "For me, Israel is shrinking into its own shell rather than struggling for a better world. Who is responsible for identity? The ultraOrthodox. They sit in the yeshivot"—the religious schools. "Who is responsible for our fundamental relation to the soil? The settlers. The two tribes responsible for the spiritual dimension and the territorial dimension are anti-modern Israel."
A brilliant oxymoron
New Israeli precedent: Civil marriages supervised by religious establishment. -- For the sake of those who are still unaware of this: Israel is the only democracy in the world where there is no procedure allowing for interfaith marriage. The relevant Israeli law only recognizes religious marriages - each religious denomination according to its own religion. Deviations from religious purism are illegal. They are not prohibited, but rather, they simply do not exist. A marriage of a Jew to a non-Jew, for example, is akin to a marriage between a piano and a philodendron. It doesn't exist.
In divided Hebron, a shared [?!] despair
This city, set among prolific vineyards, was among the first destinations for Jewish settlers following the 1967 Middle East war, when the Israeli military occupied the West Bank. Fired by a four-millennia-old religious claim to Hebron, the settler enterprise here is among the most ideologically determined in the territories. Its expansionist goals clash with Palestinian secular and Islamic armed movements, whose own nationalist passions helped turn Hebron into one of the most violent venues of the Palestinian uprisings. According to the Temporary International Presence in Hebron, the unarmed observer mission, there are 100 Israeli-constructed fences, gates, concrete barriers and military checkpoints within the roughly one-square-mile historic center
Fayyad platform vows 'Islamic tolerance' in indirect swipe at Hamas
An official English-language translation, released on Sunday, of the policy document said that Fayyad's administration would build a clear-cut strategy to "enhance the status of Islam as a religion of tolerance".At the same time, the platform said, the government would prevent "the use of Islam to justify killings, exclusion of others and destruction".
Abbas denies having talks with Olmert about Palestinian state
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denied having a discussion with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert regarding the establishment of a Palestinian state, through an agreement promising Palestinians 90% of the West Bank. "Like the newspapers, I too learned of this from the media. I didn't hear it directly from Olmert," Abbas said. [End]
Fatah says members being arrested by Hamas in Gaza
A senior official in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement accused Hamas on Sunday of a sweeping campaign to detain members of the group in the Gaza Strip. "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 a brief civil war last month.
Prosecution: Re-arrest soldiers involved in kidnapping
Military Prosecution appeals decision to release four of the soldiers involved in kidnapping of cab driver, injury of Palestinian bystander; meanwhile investigation into incident continues
Palestinian history for beginners
On the Palestine Remembered website - several videos about Palestinian history – some in English, some in Arabic.
VIDEO – First Palestinian Summer Celebration
This video highlights the experience of the first ever Palestinian Summer Celebration hosted by the Siraj Center (www.SirajCenter.org) in Beit Sahour, Palestine. It aims to provide viewers a glimpse of life in Palestine, through the 2007 participants' experience here. [focuses more on culture than on the Situation]
Oh, those funny Arabs
Media focus on marginal Arab world stories instead of offering serious debate - What used to be a trickle of bizarre articles from the Muslim Arab world has recently turned into a real deluge. Every evening, alongside the morning shows and in newspaper centerfolds, key news broadcasts present us with dozens of peculiar stories about our neighbors. It appears that we have lost our desire to really understand the Arab and Islamic worlds, and have resorted to light and forgiving ridicule. We know very little about the politics and discourse of the world around us and are raising the next generation of statesmen, intelligence and media personnel on a diet comprised primarily of Farfur and Nahul the bee.
Lebanese army again storms Nahr el-Bared Palestinian refugee camp; 8 militants killed
The Lebanese army used artillery, tank fire and rocket-propelled grenades, eyewitnesses said. Army commander General Michel Suleiman vowed to end the battle soon. "The final assault on Nahr el-Bared is imminent", Suleiman told his troops.
DeadBrain: UK adopts policy of disproportionality in domestic affairs
[This would be funny if it weren't so true of Israeli practice] Inspired by Israel's rampaging success in stopping Hezbollah firing rockets at it from Lebanon, the government is to introduce the doctrine of disproportionality to domestic affairs. ASBOs are to be replaced by House Demolition Orders. Rather than issue delinquent youths with pieces of paper that they can't read, authorities will be empowered to order the demolition of their houses, their parents' houses and their neighbours' houses. The paper did not make clear whether the youths and their families would be allowed to leave their properties first.
Democratic defectors and the Israeli lobby
In November, the American electorate repudiated Bush's Iraq debacle and established Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate promising to bring this "flawed policy wrapped in illusion" to a decisive end. Bush vetoed their withdrawal timetable, but voters urged their leaders to hold the line and not be bullied. In the end, though, 37 Democratic senators capitulated and gratuitously gave the President his $100 billion no-strings- attached blank check. If we took ten Democratic apostates and compared them to ten Democrats who stood by the voters, pro-Israeli PAC contributions were "ten times" greater for the turncoats than those who stayed with their constituencies.
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