Army burns 130 olive trees near Nablus
Amin Abu Warda, International Middle East Media Center 8/16/2007
Israeli soldiers burnt set ablaze on Wednesday 130 olive trees belonging to resident Hussein Qasem, 60, of Dier Al Hatab village, east of the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Hussein stated that his orchard is only a few meters away from an Israeli military camp used for military training, and is close to Alon Moreh settlement which was constructed on lands illegally annexed from residents of the village in 1980. He added that firefighters of Nablus Firefighters Department were called to the scene but the army barred them from reaching the orchard after claiming that the area is a closed military zone. The firefighters were allowed into the area one hour later but by that time 130 olive trees were already burnt. It is worth mentioning that olive harvest season starts approximately in two months.
UN slams Israel over details of ordnance dropped on Lebanon
Middle East Online 8/15/2007
MACC: Israel failed to cooperate in providing data on where it dropped cluster bombs. - BEIRUT - The UN mine clearance agency on Tuesday slammed Israel for failing to cooperate in providing data on the location of areas where it dropped cluster bombs during its war with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. "In spite of repeated requests for information, Israel has not provided the required Strike Data -- location of intended target, quantity and type of ordnance dropped or fired -- that is required to quantify the problem," the UN Mine Action Coordination Center (MACC) said. "Without this Strike Data, detailed parameters of the size and scope of the problem remain elusive and operational planning is constantly being adjusted to meet the newly found reality on the ground," the statement added. [end]
Army bulldoze trees in a village near Bethlehem
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 8/15/2007
Israeli army bulldozers started to bulldoze trees in a forest located near Al Walaja west of Bethlehem city in the southern part of the West Bank on Wednesday morning. Witnesses said that the attacked forest consists of 2200 trees and belongs to Crimasan catholic convent and winery. the Israeli army plans to bullied a section of the illegal wall there. If this section of the wall will be completed the Bethlehem district will lose all its lands in addition Al Walaja and nearby villages will be cut off from the village and will be totally isolated because of the wall. [end]
Israeli forces demolish thousands of forest trees owned by Cremisan Monastery
Ma'an News Agency 8/15/2007
Bethlehem – Ma'an – The Israeli forces on Wednesday began to raze hundreds of forest trees belonging to the Cremisan monastery near Beit Jala, in the southern occupied Palestinian West Bank. Ma'an's correspondent stated that workers have begun demolishing trees under the supervision of Israeli soldiers. The area to be destroyed includes around 2,150 forest trees, some of which are over 200 years old. The trees are being razed in order to erect the illegal separation wall, which is located near the border of Jerusalem. The Cremisan Monastery was founded in 1883 on the ruins of a seventh century Byzantine monastery. It is well-known for producing Cremisan Wine from local grapes. [end]
Palestinian state would endanger US, warns Giuliani
Fred Attewill and agencies, The Guardian 8/15/2007
A leading Republican presidential candidate, Rudy Giuliani, has declared he is against the creation of a Palestinian state at present because it would "support terrorism" and endanger US security. He underscored his uncompromising approach to foreign policy by adding he would be prepared to destroy Iran's nuclear plants "should all else fail". In an interview with Foreign Affairs magazine, Mr Giuliani said "too much emphasis" had been placed on promoting negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. The US president, George Bush, has said he supports a two-state solution and leaders of Israel and the Palestinians met last week to discuss "fundamental issues" ahead of the creation of a Palestinian state. However, the former New York mayor said: "It is not in the interest of the United States, at a time when it...
Officials from Israel, Japan, Jordan, PA discuss economic cooperation in Jericho
Barak Ravid and Reuters, Ha'aretz 8/15/2007
The foreign ministers of Israel, Jordan and Japan met Wednesday with senior Palestinian Authority officials, including Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank city of Jericho to discuss an initiative to further develop agricultural-industrial cooperation between Israel, the PA and Jordan, dubbed "The Corridor for Peace and Prosperity." The initiative entails a joint agro-industrial park slated for the Jordan Valley, and the designation of containers for marketing goods to Jordan, from where they will be distributed to the rest of the world. These projects are likely to be part-funded by Japan. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said he hoped such joint projects would support the peace process, though Israel and the Palestinians sounded circumspect given the crisis in Gaza.
Army invades Nablus and kidnaps civilians
Ameen Abu Warda, International Middle East Media Center 8/15/2007
Israeli army conducted wide scale military operation that targeted the northern West Bank city of Nablus Wednesday morning. Soldiers searched and ransacked homes in several neighborhoods in the city and kidnapped two Palestinian civilians. The Israeli army reported that the invading troops were targeting what the army calls "Wanted Palestinians". Eyewitnesses reported that a massive Israeli army force stormed the city at 5:00 AM of Wednesday, besieged several building in down town Nablus, forced the residents to leave their homes, and abducted two Palestinians identified as:- Maher Awawdah and Omer M'ala and transferred them to unknown destination. Dr. Ghassan Hamdan, director of the Medical Relief Committees in Nablus witnessed that Israeli army brought residents into interrogation after gathering them on one apartment that was transferred to a military base.
Israeli forces withdraw from Nablus after abducting activists during early morning incursion
Ma'an News Agency 8/15/2007
Bethlehem – Ma'an – The Israeli forces withdrew from Nablus on Wednesday morning after seizing two Palestinians, one of whom is allegedly a member of Fatah's Al Aqsa Brigades. Dozens of Israeli military vehicles invaded the northern West Bank city on Wednesday at dawn, entering Ta'awon Street and besieging several homes in the area. Ma'an's correspondent quoted eyewitnesses as saying that the Israeli soldiers raided the home of the 'Udat family and demolished its main entrance. The troops ordered the eviction of the residents of the home, claiming that there were 'wanted Palestinian activists' concealed within it. The eyewitnesses also reported that the Israeli forces imposed a curfew in the area and interrogated the residents of the evacuated home.
Israeli forces abduct three Palestinian residents of the West Bank
Ma'an News Agency 8/15/2007
Bethelehm – Ma'an – The Israeli forces on Wednesday morning seized four Palestinian citizens from the occupied Palestinian West Bank. Israeli sources alleged that the military apprehended a man in Jenin who was in possession of a rifle. In addition, the Israeli forces abducted three Palestinians from Nablus, in the north, and Ramallah, in the central West Bank. [end]
PFLP fighters launch projectiles into Israel
Ma'an News Agency 8/15/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), claimed that they launched two homemade projectiles at the Israeli town of Nahal Oz, bordering the Gaza Strip, on Tuesday night. The brigades announced that the operation is a continuation of resistance and in retaliation for Israeli atrocities committed against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. [end]
Two Israelis injured after Palestinian fighters shell Erez Crossing
Ma'an News Agency 8/15/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – Two Israelis were injured on Wednesday when twelve mortar shells landed on Erez Crossing, at the northern border of the Gaza Strip. Hamas' military wing, the Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility for launching ten shells at Erez. Fatah's Al Aqsa Brigades and the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PLFP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, said they launched two mortar shells at Erez Crossing. Israeli sources reported that two Israeli citizens, a man and a woman, were injured by the shrapnel from the shells. [end]
Hamas: Palestinian resistance forced the IOF troops to retreat from Abasan
Palestinian Information Center 8/15/2007
KHAN YOUNIS, (PIC)-- Hamas confirmed that the Palestinian resistance, spearheaded by the Qassam Brigades, forced the IOF troops to retreat, after they invaded the Abasan area at dawn Tuesday and committed a massacre, where seven Palestinians were killed during the clashes. In a statement received by the PIC, the Brigades stated that the resistance "inflicted injuries and casualties in the ranks of the Israeli invaders and their military mechanisms, reconfirming its adherence to the option of resistance as an inalienable strategy for the attainment of freedom and independence. In the same context, the death toll of Palestinian citizens who were killed during the Israeli incursion into the Abasan town to the east of Khan Younis on Tuesday rose to become seven victims, including five of Al-Qassam Brigades' fighters, and a 70-year-old woman...
Prisoners in Mageddo detention center demand a committee of lawyers to observe their condition
Nisreen Qumsieh, International Middle East Media Center 8/15/2007
The prisoners in Mageddo detention center requested a committee of lawyers formed by the Prisoner Society in order to study abduction conditions affecting many imprisoned Palestinians. The requisition came through a statement from Mageddo detention center directed to the Directorate of Prisoners' Affairs. Tha'er Abu Baker, from the Directorate of the prisoners' Affairs, said that prisoners are asking all International and Human Rights Organizations to provide support to them. They also seek an end to violent actions implemented by the Israeli prisons' administration. The imprisoned Palestinians in Mageddo detention center said that 300 Palestinians are under administrative detention at that facility. The army has renewed the administrative detention of most of them for more than one time.
Israeli prison authorities segregate West Bank and Gaza detainees with new uniform
Ma'an News Agency 8/15/2007
Bethlehem – Ma'an – An Israeli journalist, Amira Hass, revealed on Wednesday in Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz, that the Israeli forces have adopted a new policy in their dealings with Palestinian detainees. Hass said that the incarcerated Palestinians are forced to undress and put on a blue nylon uniform. The new policy was recently practiced on several detainees from Gaza, who were gathered in a military base and forced to wear the new uniform. Hass added that the West Bank prisoners will be forced to wear a white nylon uniform. When questioned regarding the new policy, the Israeli interior intelligence agency, Shin Bet, responded, "Each apprehension is dealt with after studying the circumstances and the dangers which could result.
Israeli Aishel prison bans family visits to Palestinian detainees
Palestinian Information Center 8/15/2007
RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli Aishel jail have denounced the prison administration's claims to the Red Cross that they refused visits from their families. One of the prisoners told a visiting lawyer of a legal center called 'Resalat Al-Hukuk' that he along with a number of other internees were deprived of family visits because he tried to solve a dispute with a "Zionist" prisoner in his capacity as the representative of the prisoners. The prisoner, Zayed Salman, said that the detainees in a solidarity protest measure refused to receive their visitors, prompting the prison authority to tell the Red Cross that the prisoners were refusing visits from their families. In a related development, the Nafha society for prisoners and human rights condemned the Israeli jailors' continued assaults on Palestinian prisoners...
Mufti condemns closure of Ibrahimi Mosque
Palestinian Information Center 8/15/2007
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine has condemned the Israeli occupation authority's closure of the Ibrahimi Mosque in Al-Khalil city at the pretext of allowing Jews free and sole access to offer rituals of one of their feasts. Sheikh Mohammed Hussein, who is the chairman of the higher council of fatwa (religious edict), said that all heavenly religions prohibit the desecration of holy shrines. He demanded an end to such practices that deny Muslims access to their holy shrines. The Mufti did not accept the IOA pretexts that the measures were meant to protect Jews during their feasts, adding that such acts are in violation of all international laws and doctrines that sanction freedom of reaching places of worship. The Mufti also denounced the IOA burial of Palestinian martyrs in mass graves...
As 11th victim falls this year, PCHR calls for "honour killings" to be legally treated as premeditated murder
Ma'an News Agency 8/15/2007
Bethlehem - Ma'an - The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights has strongly condemned the murder of a woman in the northern Gaza Strip in what is termed as an "honour killing. " The association has called for the prosecution of the perpetrators, and for taking effective legal action to prevent these crimes, which have escalated over the last two years. According to the center's preliminary investigation, at approximately 18:00 on Monday, 13 August 2007, the body of En'am Jaber Deifallah, 37, arrived at Shifa Hospital. The victim was from the El-T'wam area in northern Gaza City, and was a mother of one child. Medical sources indicated that she was killed by being beaten with a sharp object to her head. The victim's family informed PCHR's fieldworker that one of the victim's brothers killed her, inside her house, in a murder motivated by "honour".
Abbas mulls ways to limit Hamas participation in PA elections
Ha'aretz 8/15/2007
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' advisers are examining options for holding new elections that could limit Hamas participation, Palestinian officials said on Wednesday. One of these options would bar candidates from Hamas and other groups from participating unless they accepted Palestinian law and previous agreements signed by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). Abbas' advisers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stressed that no final decisions have been made. Hamas, which won a majority of the seats in parliament in a January 2006 election, has said it would be unconstitutional for Abbas to call early parliamentary and presidential elections. The group has threatened to block any election effort. The long-dominant Fatah faction of the PLO, then led by Yasser Arafat and now headed...
Abbas: Hamas has to stop its military coup and go back to the internal national dialog
Rashed Hilal, International Middle East Media Center 8/15/2007
The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called on Hamas to stop its military coup in the Gaza strip. Adding that, the current separation between the costal region and the West Bank is temporary. Abbas made his statement at a press conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday after he met with the Japanese Foreign Minister. During the press conference, The Palestinian President thanked Japan for its role in supporting the Palestinian Nation by funding their government. President Abbas said his meeting with the Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso involved the discussion of economic, political, and security issues. Abbas also thanked the Japanese official for the continuous funding the Japanese government has provided to the Palestinian government.
Second-deputy of the PLC condemns Abbas' attempts to impose laws on the decision-making body
Ma'an News Agency 8/15/2007
Bethlehem – Ma'an – The second-deputy of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), Dr Hasan Khreisha, said on Wednesday that "nobody can force decisions on the PLC, as ratifying decisions is the PLC's prerogative." Khreisha commented on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' decision to adopt proportional representation in the elections of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) institutions, the Palestinian National Council and the PLC. He added, "Neither the president, nor anyone else, has the right to impose laws on the PLC." Khreisha explained, "Abu Mazin's [Abbas] decision does not apply to the PLC since it is not one of the PLO's institutions." Khreisha said that the PLO's Central Council asked the PLC to adopt a system of proportional representation in elections, and that the PLC has the right to accept or reject the suggestion.
Groups in Ramallah are inciting chaos in Gaza, says spokesman for deposed interior ministry
Ma'an News Agency 8/15/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – The spokesperson of the deposed Palestinian ministry of interior, Eyhab Al-Ghusein, on Wednesday accused groups in Ramallah, in the central West Bank, of inciting groups in the Gaza Strip to maintain the state of chaos. He described the groups in Gaza as "remnants of the security chaos trend." Regarding the death of two of Hamas' Executive Force members in the strip on Tuesday night, Al-Ghusein said that they were killed after trying to assist detectives in arresting criminals. During a press conference in the ministry of interior in Gaza City, Al-Ghusein said "a group of the EF was on a mission on Tuesday, helping police detectives retrieve stolen articles." On the way, a group from the Doghmush family, who are known for their affiliation to the Palestinian preventive security and for...
PFLP appeals to Hamas to return PA HQ in Gaza City to Abbas
Ma'an News Agency 8/15/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine on Wednesday urged Hamas to end its military offensive in the Gaza Strip and announce willingness to return the Palestinian Authority's headquarters to President Abbas. Member of the PFLP's politburo, Jamil Majdalawi, said in a press conference in Gaza City that such a move from Hamas would pave the way for dialogue with Fatah. Majdalawi stressed that finding a solution to the current domestic Palestinian crisis, especially in the strip, cannot be delayed. He also rejected Hamas' Executive Force's demands for obtaining permission before holding rallies in Gaza." There is no legality in such a decision and the PFLP will not adhere to it," he said. The PFLP leader called for freedom of the press, which he said Palestinians have made great sacrifices for.
President Abbas stresses need for Palestinian unity
Ma'an News Agency 8/15/2007
Ramallah – Ma'an - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called on the Hamas movement "to desist from its mistakes and change their position; to return to [a position of national] unity, reviving hope for the Palestinian people". In a joint press conference with the Japanese Foreign Minister today, President Abbas rejected any further separation between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, stating: "[The] temporary separation must be eliminated. The people reject this division, as they were keen to establish a Palestinian state, united and independent." President Abbas discussed with Japanese minister, Taro Aso, the forthcoming meeting of donor countries in New York, and Japan's role in this important meeting. The international peace conference to be convened by US President George Bush in autumn was also discussed.
Nabil Shaath denies reports that Fatah has already chosen next Palestinian President from among ranks
Ma'an News Agency 8/15/2007
Bethlehem - Ma'an – Fatah Central Committee member, Dr Nabil Shaath, has denied that central committee members have already nominated Abu Maher Ghneim as the successor to President Mahmoud Abbas." The central committee did not discuss this issue at all; there is no basis for the information reported by the media on this subject." Shaath added, "Everybody is now awaiting the return of our brother, Abu Maher Ghneim, to the [occupied] Palestinian territories, once Israel agrees to his return, from his current location in Jordan." The prominent Fatah leader expressed pessimism of any potential outcomes from the international conference, called for by US President Bush in the autumn, stating, "There is not even at the moment something resembling a clear program or agenda for the conference".
Resheq: No other option but dialogue before Abbas
Palestinian Information Center 8/15/2007
DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- Ezzet Al-Resheq, political bureau member of the Hamas Movement, has affirmed that PA chief Mahmoud Abbas had no other option before him except dialogue with Hamas. In a press release, Resheq said that Abbas apparently did not understand the lessons of history and past experiences with American and Israeli promises. He said that whoever thinks that the American proposed conference on the Middle East next autumn would achieve what previous initiatives did not achieve is harboring an illusion. And Abbas would realize later on that he only hampered inter-Palestinian dialogue and would eventually return to the internal dialogue, unity and understanding with Hamas, Resheq elaborated. The Hamas official asserted that Fatah figures were maintaining contacts with Hamas...
Zahhar denies his house came under fire
Palestinian Information Center 8/15/2007
GAZA, (PIC)-- MP Dr. Mahmoud Al-Zahhar, one of the leading Hamas figures in the Gaza Strip and a former PA foreign minister, on Wednesday denied that his house came under fire on Tuesday. Zahhar, in a press release, said that such news broadcast by Palestine TV, under PA chief Mahmoud Abbas's control, and other affiliated media forums, are only a "desperate attempt" to spread false rumors that the Hamas leaders in Gaza are not safe. He also criticized the media's clamorous coverage of the incident in Sabra suburb in Gaza city, explaining that the interior ministry's executive force was trying to arrest a number of armed men who stole a vehicle and arms belonging to the force. Two elements of the executive force were shot dead in the incident. [end]
Palestinian security forces in Bethlehem releases nine Hamas members
Najeep Faraj, International Middle East Media Center 8/15/2007
the Palestinian security forces has released nine of Hamas member on late Tuesday night after the local court in the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem has ordered their release on Monday. Two weeks ago the Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas conducted a wide scale campaign that targeted 13 members of Hamas in the city of Bethlehem, on Monday the local court orders their release for lace of evidence however the local security forces refused to comply with the order. In his part Fareid Al Atrash a layer for the Independent committee for resident rights stated that the release of the nine detainees was due to efforts made by his organization after several meeting the last was with the Palestinian appointed prime Minster Dr. Salam Fayyad. [end]
Leftist PPP slams Hamas policies in the Gaza Strip
International Middle East Media Center 8/16/2007
The leftist Palestinian People Party (PPP) in Tulkarem, in the northern part of the West Bank, stated on Wednesday that the policies of Hamas movement and its Executive Force in the Gaza Strip are encouraging separation between the people living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The PPP issued a press release stating that the Executive Force of Hamas is using force against any protest against the policies of Hamas in the Gaza Strip which would increase the tension and transfer in into the West Bank. Ahed Zanabeet, one of the leaders of the PPP, stated that the Executive Force attack against a peaceful protest, conducted by political parties representing the Palestinian Liberation Organization is considered at attack against democracy and an attempt to silence the Palestinian democracy.
IDF uncovers tunnel in Gaza
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 8/16/2007
Army says underground tunnel leading to Israel uncovered near hothouse used to grow tomatoes in northern Strip. According to estimates, tunnel slated to explode under Israeli target. Southern Command: There may be additional tunnels - The IDF on Tuesday uncovered an underground tunnel leading from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, the army said Wednesday. The tunnel shaft was connected to a Gaza hothouse used to grow tomatoes and situated 700 meters from the border fence. The tunnel was detonated in a controlled manner by the IDF on Wednesday evening. Army officials believe that a terror attack had been foiled by uncovering the tunnel. According to estimates, Palestinians planned to use the tunnel in order to smuggle explosives and bomb them under an Israeli military or civilian target.
One Palestinian civilian kidnapped as Israeli army invades a village near Jenin
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 8/15/2007
One Palestinian civilian identified as Jalal Milhem, was kidnapped from his home when Israeli troops invaded the village of Kufer Ra'e near the northern West Bank city of Jenin and searched homes there, on Wednesday at dawn. [end]
Army to carry on the destruction of Palestinians' agricultural lands
Nisreen Qumsieh, International Middle East Media Center 8/15/2007
Dr. Mohammad Al Agha, the Minister of Agriculture in the dissolved government (dissolved by President Mahmoud Abbas when he declared emergency law, and formed a new emergency government), condemned the ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza and West Bank cities. The occupation is still carrying on the destructive policy of the Palestinians' agricultural lands as the army continues to bulldoze a widespread distance of farmlands. In a press statement, the Minister criticized the Israeli procedures of razing huge distances of agricultural lands amounted of more than 50 dunums. Dr Al Agha said that the Palestinians insisted on resisting the occupation despite the violent attacks that Israelis are conducting. He added that Israeli army is still conducting the procedures of razing the Palestinians' lands to continue the construction of the illegal Wall and Settlements.
Abu Ahmad denies that the Palestinian resistance lacks raw materials
Ma'an News Agency 8/15/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – The spokesperson of Islamic Jihad's Al Quds Brigades, Abu Ahmad, on Wednesday contended reports in the Israeli press that the Palestinian resistance has reduced projectile attacks against Israel due to a lack of raw materials." This news is baseless and the homemade projectiles are not being launched randomly," said Abu Ahmad. The Al Quds Brigades leader appealed to Palestinian military wings to work together as a united front in order to battle the Israeli war of attrition against the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip. In commemoration of the first anniversary of Hezbollah's victory against the Israeli army in Lebanon, in the summer of 2006, Abu Ahmad said "this victory gave hope to the Palestinians that they can defeat their Israeli enemy like the Lebanese resistance did.
Thousands mourn four Khan Younis residents, including a woman, her son and grandson, killed during Israeli invasion
Ma'an News Agency 8/15/2007
Gaza – Ma'an -Thousands gathered on Wednesday afternoon as the citizens of Khan Younis mourned for four of its residents, killed in the recent Israeli military invasion of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. Among the deceased were Subha Al Karra, 53, her son, Mohamad Al Karra, 25, and her grandson, Ahmad Al Karra, 18. Mus'ab Abo Jame', was the fourth, whose lives were commemorated today. Mourners denounced the Israeli crimes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, demanding, "revenge for the blood of the martyrs". Local sources estimated the number of mourners at around 6,000, led by Hamas members and officers from the Executive Force. [end]
Fatah legislator indicted of sending bomber
Ali Waked, YNetNews 8/15/2007
Member of Palestinian Legislative Council accused of sending suicide bomber to Tel Aviv cafe in 2002 - A Fatah member of the Palestinian Legislative Council was convicted on Wednesday of having been an accomplice in suicide bombing in Tel Aviv five years ago in which an Israeli woman was killed. According to the indictment, the suicide bomber that blew himself up in a coffee shop in the city in March 2002 made his way to Israel from the Nablus home of PLC member Jamal Tirawi. Tirawi is convicted of the deliberate murder of Rachel Tcherkhi, an Israeli woman who died in the attack. The Fatah member is also accused of recruiting potential suicide bombers. Tirawi was arrested three months ago in Nablus' Balate refugee camp along with three members of Fatah's military wing, the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade.
IOF troops kidnap 100 Palestinians in southern Gaza
Palestinian Information Center 8/14/2007
KHAN YOUNIS, (PIC)-- IOF troops on Tuesday rounded up 100 Palestinians in Khan Younis district during its bloody incursion that killed four Palestinians so far including a 70-year-old woman, who was killed in cold blood, and is still ongoing. Eyewitnesses told PIC correspondent that the IOF asked all male citizens in new Abasan town east of Khan Younis in the age category of 15 to 50 years old to get out of their homes then gathered them in a big hole specially dug for this purpose by the IOF bulldozers. Inhabitants noted that the invasion soldiers also launched a large-scale storming operation of civilian homes during which scores of young men were kidnapped. Hebrew press sources claimed that the soldiers found a booby-trapped strap belt in one of the houses.
Palestine Today 081507
Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 8/15/2007
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file - || File 3. 66 MB || Time 4m 0s || - Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www. imemc. org, for Wednesday August 15th, 2007. Army invades Nablus city in the southern part of the West Bank and kidnaps two residents, and also and bulldozes trees near Bethlehem, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast - The Israeli army conducted wide scale military operations that targeted the northern West Bank city of Nablus Wednesday morning. Soldiers searched and ransacked homes in several neighborhoods in the city and kidnapped two Palestinian civilians. The Israeli army reported that the invading troops were targeting what the army calls "Wanted Palestinians".
Japan resumes aid to PA, plans to boost Israel-PA economic cooperation
Ha'aretz 8/15/2007
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso announced on Wednesday Tokyo's resumption of direct aid to the Palestinian Authority and discussed a Japanese-backed plan to boost Israeli-Palestinian economic cooperation. Aso pledged $11 million in direct aid to the Palestinian government established by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank after Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip in June. The Japanese official also promised $9 million in humanitarian support for Palestinians, including those in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip." In order to support Abbas in a visible way, Japan has decided to resume direct financial aid to the Palestinian Authority," Aso told a news conference he held alongside Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Erikat: The four way meeting in Jericho today is to discuss the Peace-Valley-Project
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 8/15/2007
The chief negotiation department at the Palestinian liberation organization Dr. Sa'eb Erikat said that the four way meeting between the foreign ministers of Palestine Japan Israel and Jordan that will take place on Wednesday in the West-Bank city of Jericho is going to discuss the Peace-Valley project. The Peace-Valley project is a project that was proposed by the Japanese government to connect the Dead Sea with the Red Sea and to create industrial and farming zones in the Jordan-Valley that will help to solve the water conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Furthermore it could create more jobs for the Palestinians. According to Dr. Sa'eb the project will help to protect the Palestinian land from being taken by the Israeli settlements, he added that several topics will be discussed in the meeting...
US under secretary of state to sign 30 billion US dollar military assistance package to Israel
Ma'an News Agency 8/15/2007
The US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, R. Nicholas Burns, will visit Israel from August 15th to 17th, to sign a 30 billion US dollar military assistance package to Israel. The package, called the 'Memorandum of Understanding' comprises a 30 billion US dollar ten-year military assistance package. The Under Secretary will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Olmert, Israeli Foreign Minister Livni, Israeli Defence Minister Barak, and other Israeli officials. He is then due to meet with Palestinian Authority leaders regarding the development of a political horizon and American humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people. [end]
Israel to Europe: Fatah-Hamas Talks a 'Huge Mistake'
Adam Entous, MIFTAH 8/15/2007
Jerusalem - Israel said on Tuesday it would be a "big mistake" for the international community to try to bridge differences between Hamas Islamists and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was responding to calls from Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and British parliamentarians for dialogue with Hamas, whose fighters routed Fatah and seized control of the Gaza Strip in June." I know that it looks tempting and I know that the international community is eager to see a kind of an understanding between Hamas and Fatah," Livni told a news conference with visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso." This is wrong. This is a mistake. Big mistake. Huge," Livni said, tapping the table for emphasis.
Indian Muslims protest peace delegation to Israel
YNetNews 8/15/2007
Most prominent Muslim leader in India who publicly condemned suicide attacks, postpones his arrival in Israel in order to explain importance of visit to Muslim leaders, confront planned Muslim protests in mosques on Friday again his visit - A senior delegation of Indian Muslim leaders will arrive in Israel Wednesday for an unprecedented visit aimed at advancing interfaith dialogue and peace. The visit is sponsored by Project Interchange, an Institute of the American Jewish Committee, in coordination with AIJAC (Australia Israel Jewish Affairs Council), an AJC international partner. Word of the pending arrival of the delegation led by Maulana Ilyasi prompted a stormy reaction in India during the last week. Muslim newspapers in India published a series of articles against the delegation, and Muslim extremists...
Barak: Neither Israel nor Syria want war
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 8/15/2007
During military drill in Golan Heights defense minister states Israel not interested in war with Syria and vice versa. Barak's statement joins calming messages by Olmert, Assad's deputy on issue in recent days - "Israel is not interested in war with Syria, and we believe that Syria does not want war either," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday. "Therefore war shouldn't erupt," he added. Barak made the statements while attending a military drill of the Armored Corps' 74th Battalion in the Golan Heights. "We haven't trained enough for five years, and we now plan to train all the IDF's units," he said. During a visit to the north Tuesday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has also made it clear that Israel was not out for war. Later in the evening, Syria sent its own calming signals, when Syrian...
Turkey working to calm Israel-Syria tensions
Ha'aretz 8/16/2007
ANKARA - Israel should not view Syria as a branch of Iran because Tehran and Damascus differ on regional issues, Turkish officials trying to jump-start peace talks between Syria and Israel told Haaretz this week. Amid rising tensions between Israel and Syria, the sources added that peace with Syria is easier to achieve than an agreement with the Palestinians. The officials said they were encouraged by recent statements by Syrian and Israeli decision-makers, and described Syrian President Bashar Assad's recent statements on the chance of resuming negotiations as particularly positive. The Turkish diplomats noted that Assad refrained from reiterating his former insistence on picking up where the last round of talks ended. Several Israeli prime ministers had agreed to meet the Syrian precondition of a full Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights, which Israel conquered from Syria in 1967.
Israel to promote Palestinian state's 'economic horizon'
Ha'aretz 8/16/2007
Israel is working to promote an economic plan to complement the agreement of principles ahead of the regional conference later this year, government sources in Jerusalem said Wednesday. A source said the plan would provide an "economic horizon" with a number of future investment projects when the Palestinian state is declared. A senior government official said the plan's goal is to "present the Palestinians with economic signposts along with the diplomatic signposts to show what can be accomplished." Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told foreign ministers and other officials in Europe that the plan needed international support. The "strategic" projects Israel has suggested so far include infrastructure improvements such as electricity and water, city planning in the West Bank and Gaza, rehabilitation of sewage systems...
Guards chief: Iran missiles can hit warships in Gulf
Reuters, YNetNews 8/15/2007
Commander of Revolutionary Guards says his ground forces have missiles that could penetrate armor plating fitted to Israel's Merkava tanks, US Abrams tanks - Iranian missiles can hit warships operating anywhere in the Gulf and Oman Sea, the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday, the day US officials said they might label his forces "terrorists". But the speech by Commander-in-Chief Yahya Rahim Safavi, according to a report carried by Iran's Fars News Agency, made no mention of the US threat to brand his units. "Our coast-to-sea missile systems can now reach the breadth and length of the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea and no warships can pass in the Persian Gulf without being in range of our coast-to-sea missiles," Safavi said in his speech, Fars reported.
Olmert says believes in diplomatic initiatives
Attila Somfalvi, YNetNews 8/15/2007
Prime minister takes advantage of meeting with Kadima members to send another calming message to Damascus, saying 'we are not interested in war. ' However, he adds, 'We are also not interested in making absurd guarantees in advance. ' Is there a chance for an agreement with Syrians? 'If I see a chink of an opportunity, I will not miss it,' Olmert clarifies - "It is important that we create a momentum which will lead to a change in the diplomatic situation. I believe in diplomatic initiatives. In a place where there is a chink of an opportunity, I will not be able to forgive myself if I don't take it," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday night in a meeting with Kadima council members at this Jerusalem residence. "If I see a chink of an opportunity with the Syrians, I will not miss it," Olmert...
Madhoun: Gaza incursions the result of summits with occupation
Palestinian Information Center 8/15/2007
GAZA, (PIC)-- Dr. Mohammed Al-Madhoun, director of premier Ismail Haneyya's office, on Wednesday denounced the IOF troops' bloody incursion into southern Gaza on Tuesday that left seven martyrs and scores of wounded civilians. He charged that the repeated IOF incursions into the Gaza Strip were the clear results of PA chief Mahmoud Abbas and his entourage's meetings with Israeli premier Ehud Olmert and members of his cabinet. Madhoun asked all PA officials who called for stripping Palestinian resistance of its weapons to go to the street and defend their people's dignity, homes, children and women instead of voicing such a "ridiculous" demand that is not accepted by all rationales and honorable people. He hailed all Palestinian armed wings that defend their people, lands and holy shrines amidst such an "appalling" international silence...
Madhoun accuses Bush of pressuring Abbas not talk to Hamas
Palestinian Information Center 8/15/2007
GAZA, (PIC)-- Dr. Mohamed Al-Madhoun, the director of PA premier Ismail Haneyya's office, accused the American administration of putting a red line on any dialogue between Hamas and Fatah and of pressuring the PA chief Mahmoud Abbas not to resume the Palestinian national dialogue and to reject the Yemeni initiative for dialogue." The White House sent official messages to the PA chief that as much as he gets near to the dialogue with Hamas as much as America and the Zionist entity will forsake and punish him, and this explains Abbas's outright rejection of the dialogue with Hamas," Madhoun stated in a press release. He confirmed that Hamas welcomes the Yemeni initiative for dialogue between Fatah and Hamas movements, which "comes in the context of the Palestinian national interest and the balance of this initiative..."
EJC president meets Israeli leaders
YNetNews 8/14/2007
President Moshe Kantor visits Israel with EJC delegation, discusses anti-Semitism, assimilation and Iranian threat with Olmert, Livni - Newly elected President of the European Jewish Congress Moshe Kantor and other EJC delegates met this week with Israeli leaders to discuss the major strategic issues facing European Jewry, including the Iranian threat, anti-Semitism and assimilation. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni also urged Kantor to raise the issue of the Israeli kidnapped soldiers at every available opportunity Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said during their meeting that the recent Luxembourg Forum, a gathering of nuclear experts from 14 countries including the USA, Russia and Israel organized by Kantor in May, before he took office, was an important event that brought a clear focus to the Iranian threat...
Tunisia refuses public viewing of Yasser Arafat archives
Ma'an News Agency 8/15/2007
Ramallah – Ma'an – The pan-Arab daily newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported on Wednesday that the Tunisian authorities have refused to open the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's office to the public. The source added that there have been several attempts to obtain access to the personal archives of Arafat. The archives include correspondence, documents and secret letters of Arafat, and are believed to reveal the personal life behind the public figure. The main archives of Yasser Arafat in his Tunisia office are closed to the public. After Arafat was expelled from Lebanon in the 1980s, he set up office in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, where he remained until 1993. [end]
Egyptian security chief is questioned on video of Palestinian security shooting at Egyptian delegation
Ma'an News Agency 8/15/2007
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Chief of the Egyptian security delegation to the Gaza Strip, Major General Burhan Hammad, was questioned on Wednesday in relation to a video broadcast by Hamas which shows the Egyptian security delegation coming under fire from two members of the Palestinian security services. The event allegedly took place last May. In relation to the video, Hammad refused to comment. He told the London-based newspaper Ash Sharq Al Awsat (Middle East), "I don't want to comment on such issues and I don't want to enter into Hamas – Fatah trivialities. I have suffered enough for the Palestinian cause and the unchangeable principles." Hammad also revealed that he denied the shooting incident when it happened "to avoid arousing hatred between the Palestinians and the Egyptians.
Animal rights group slams Hamas TV clip of man abusing cats, lions
Ha'aretz 8/15/2007
International animal rights group PETA on Wednesday condemned a "shocking and sickening" video clip produced by a Hamas-run TV station and posted on the YouTube Web site that showed the abuse of animals. PETA said it would protest to the TV station over the program that showed animals being abused as part of a program aimed at teaching children not to hurt animals. The clip prompted scores of complaints from viewers worldwide." It's shocking and sickening," said Martin Mersereau, manager of the domestic animal abuse division of U.S. -based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Mersereau said PETA was drafting a letter of protest to the Gaza-based Al-Aqsa television station. A segment of the program was posted on YouTube after being recorded and translated by pro-Israeli group Palestinian Media Watch.
Professor Weiss: I didn't curse in Hebron, it was scripture
YNetNews 8/15/2007
After apologizing for words spoken against Hebron brigade commander, Professor Hillel Weiss claims he did not curse him but was merely quoting a verse from Psalms - "My words which were interpreted as curses were merely a quotation from Psalms 109," wrote Professor Hillel Weiss of the Bar Ilan University to Professor Yacov Ne'eman, who heads the university committee appointed to determine whether Weiss' actions merit a disciplinary hearing, even before the police investigation into the matter is concluded. A week after being caught on camera cursing IDF Hebron brigade commander Colonel Yehuda Fox during the forcible eviction of settlers from the city's marketplace last week, Weiss claims his true meaning was misunderstood and "twisted by the media.
Judge orders 20 African infiltrators released from jail
Shahar Ilan and Or Kashti, Ha'aretz 8/15/2007
The release of some 20 jailed infiltrators from Eritrea and the Ivory Coast has been ordered by Elad Azar, head of the Custody Tribunal, over the last two days. The ruling pulls the rug out from under the state's plan to keep the infiltrators in camps. Azar was sharply critical of the authorities for keeping the infiltrators in Ketziot Prison beyond the 14-day limit without judicial oversight, saying it impaired "the basic principle of respect for human rights and constituted a failure by the state authorities." In earlier rulings, he said that he would also order the release of Sudanese families. The state has held all infiltrators in detention for weeks under the Law to Prevent Infiltration, a harsh piece of emergency legislation that requires no judicial oversight of detentions.
Palestinian adolescents find an outlet through UNICEF-supported community centres
United Nations Children''s Fund - UNICEF, ReliefWeb 8/14/2007
JABALIA, Occupied Palestinian Territory, 14 August 2007 – Palestinian adolescents often find themselves with no place to go and nothing to do during the summer school holidays and in their spare time. The ongoing border closure, coupled with increased poverty, continuously undermines the ability of teens to get a good education and enjoy their time off. The chronic anxiety adolescents are facing on a daily basis undermines their self-esteem and increases their feelings of loss of control over their lives. To help adolescents overcome stress and hopelessness, and to provide meaningful programmes outside schools, UNICEF is currently supporting 40 adolescent-friendly learning centres in the West Bank and Gaza in cooperation with the Tamer Institute for Community Education and the Ma'an Development Centre.
OPT: World Food Program aid trucks awaiting access to Gaza
Xinhua News Agency, ReliefWeb 8/14/2007
CAIRO, Aug 14, 2007 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Twenty-two trucks of relief materials for the Palestinians in Gaza arrived Tuesday at the Egyptian side of Rafah crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border, the official MENA news agency reported. The trucks carrying 400 tons of flour provided by the World Food Program (WFP) are awaiting access to the costal strip, where the humanitarian situation is deteriorating. Coordination is under way to allow the trucks into the Palestinian territories, an official at the terminal was quoted by MENA as saying. On Monday, 15 Egyptian trucks loaded with 270 tons of flour offered by the Egyptian Red Crescent crossed into the Gaza Strip via the Karam Salem crossing. Gaza has been facing a deeper humanitarian crisis since the takeover of the coastal strip by the Islamic Resistance...
Dahariya incident to be taught in IDF courses
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 8/15/2007
Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi says incident in which Israeli troops kidnapped a Palestinian taxi driver, shot a civilian bystander indicates line of military, operational and normative failures; orders conclusions of investigation to be taught to future soldiers - "There is a line of normative failures," IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi said after spending five hours reviewing the findings of the investigation of the Dahariya incident in which a Palestinian taxi driver was kidnapped and another civilian was shot by IDF troops. Ashkenazi arrived on Tuesday at the Central Command where he was briefed on the investigation. The chief of staff said that the incident uncovered a line of normative failures that go against all of the "IDF spirit's" principles - harming human life, harming soldiers' credibility, lying during questioning and more.
IMI blast scares Beersheba residents
Anat Bereshkovsky, YNetNews 8/15/2007
Explosion heard Wednesday morning part of an Israeli Military Industries test run A controlled detonation by Israeli Military Industries caused alarm in Beersheba, when residents heard an unexpected bang and saw smoke rising on the outskirts of the Negev city Wednesday, two days after an accidental blast in a Ramat Hovav factory caused a chemical fire in the area. Many residents told Ynet of a large cloud of smoke visible through windows that had been rattled by the blast. After calling authorities in alarm and discovering the source of the explosion was an IMI test-run, they protested that they had not been warned of the experiment. "I didn't believe it," said one Be'ersheba woman. "It was such a loud blast. All of our windows shook and I held on to the walls out of fear.
Comptroller slams state for failing to care for survivors
YNetNews 8/15/2007
Report on government aid to Holocaust survivors reveals 'severe shortcomings' in authorities' handling of issue. Comptroller faults Israel for bureaucratic foot-dragging which ignores survivors' age, deteriorating health - State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss published Wednesday a special report on the aid given to Holocaust survivors in Israel, revealing "severe shortcomings" in the authorities' handling of the issue. "The state and its branches' activities to support the survivors are carried out indolently. Considering the fact that the survivor population is old, ailing and decreasing in numbers each year, the government must expedite efforts to treat it and do the utmost to ease its suffering," the comptroller's report said. According to the report, bureaucratic obstacles and foot-dragging characterized the state's treatment of the survivors.
Netanyahu: Feiglin group an insignificant minority
Atilla Somfalvi, YNetNews 8/15/2007
Re-elected Likud chairman tells Ynet outcome of primary elections proves rival camp has marginal impact on party. In victory speech in Tel Aviv which Feiglin was barred from attending, Netanyahu pledges new leadership for Israel - Surrounded by dozens of supporters and staffers, re-elected Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu looked like an enormous weight had been lifted from his shoulders late Tuesday night. Though he was assured he would win the primary elections, Netanyahu spent most of his campaign warning voters against indifference during the election which would allow rival Moshe Feiglin a chance to gain strength within the party. Ballots closed slightly after 11 pm with 37,633 (39. 64%) of the 94,944 registered Likud members casting their votes.
Likud primaries: ballots close with 40% turnout
Attila Somfalvi, YNetNews 8/14/2007
Polling stations close after 11 pm with relatively low turnout; final results expected by midnight. Candidate Moshe Feiglin shows up to vote, says Jewish leadership needed - Ballots closed slightly after 11 pm with 37,633 (39. 64%) of the 94,944 registered Likud members casting their vote for the next Likud party chairman. The voting station at the Jerusalem International Convention Center was desolate during the first hours of the Likud primary elections Tuesday morning. Activists working for candidates Benjamin Netanyahu and Moshe Feiglin wandered around the polling stations and tried to interfere with the drowsy atmosphere. While the party chairman's people played the Likud jingle, Feiglin's people played a jingle similar to the Likud's.
Court heeds Winograd call for early hearing
Aviram Zino, YNetNews 8/15/2007
High Court agrees to push forward hearing on IDF petition to avoid deferal of final report - The High Court of Justice on Wednesday agreed to a request by the commission investigating last summer's war in Lebanon to push forward a hearing on a petition submitted by the IDF advocate general. The Winograd Commission asked the court to hold the hearing on a petition by the army that officers faulted in the commission's final report be warned in advance. The government-appointed commission told the court that September 4 was the latest date to hold the hearing without having to defer the publication of its final report. The IDF Advocate General said the Winograd Commission should either send letters to officials mentioned in the report or omit their names altogether.
Beinish, Friedmann to reconcile
Aviram Zino, YNetNews 8/15/2007
After weeks of arguments between Supreme Court president and justice minister, former Chief Justices Shamgar and Barak reach compromise agreement which includes cooperation, and 'mutual respect' - Retired Supreme Court Justices Meir Shamgar and Aharon Barak published a "compromise formula" in their "peace agreement" with Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann to solve the tension between the minister and current Supreme Court President Dorit Beinish. The former presidents said it was agreed in their meeting that "the Supreme Court president and the justice minister will cooperate to promote the legal system, while acknowledging the president's position as head of the legal system, and acknowledging the justice minister as responsible for the orderly management of the courthouses in the spirit of the tradition of mutual respect.
Civil aviation in Israel on verge of collapse, says Mofaz
Roi Mandel, YNetNews 8/15/2007
Transportation Ministry reveals Lapidot report on civil aviation safety. 'Systems in dire straits, laws not updated since 1927,' says report - Israel's aviation safety is appalling, said Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz and major-general (Ret) Amos Lapidot, who heads the public committee appointed to investigate aviation safety in Israel. "We are in a state of emergency," said Mofaz at a press conference held Wednesday, after Lapidot turned in his committee's initial report into the near-accident between an El-Al plane and an Iberia Airlines one, last February. "Aviation safety in Israel is in dire straits"¦ every aspect investigated showed signs of collapsing. The Civil Aviation Authority must be rehabilitated," said Mofaz. Israel, added Mofaz, is far from being up to international code as far as legislation, technology and infrastructure are concerned.
Palestinian children call on Hamas and Fatah to settle their differences
Ma'an News Agency 8/15/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – Hundreds of children held a press conference in Gaza city on Wednesday in an appeal to Palestinian officials to settle their differences and to provide Palestinian children with a stable, conflict-free future. They called on Hamas and Fatah to end the current crisis which is damaging to the Palestinian cause. Fourteen-year-old Hasan Anshasi requested that the international community support the Palestinian children. He also called for the opening of the crossings between the Gaza Strip and Egypt under the supervision of independent Palestinian sides. Thirteen-year-old Dunya Maqousi asked decision-makers and media outlets to support Palestinian children. [end]
Comptroller: Treasury preventing funds from reaching Holocaust survivors
Ha'aretz 8/15/2007
The Finance Ministry delayed and canceled financial support for institutions that assist Holocaust survivors, according to a special state comptroller's report on the state's treatment of survivors presented Wednesday. The report found that funds that were designated for survivors were not used for that purpose, nor is the primary body charged with coordinating the activities of survivors' organizations funded at all. According to the report, the problem is a result of mismanagement in the Finance Ministry. State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss further determined that survivors experience years of delays in processing their claims due to bureaucratic obstacles and the lack of adequate manpower. According to the report, the process of locating and restoring property lost during the Holocaust to its rightful...
Many Feiglin supporters fear a Feiglin victory
Daniel Ben Simon, Ha'aretz 8/15/2007
There were times during yesterday's Likud primary when it seemed that Moshe Feiglin was the only candidate for party chairman, rather than one of three. Benjamin Netanyahu has been depicted as the obvious leader and Danny Danon as a neophyte. Only Feiglin, head of the Likud's far-right Jewish Leadership faction, generated curiosity mingled with concern, not to say fear. Only Feiglin's photograph could be seen yesterday at the entrance to the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, where a polling station was located. Some of his hard-core supporters, mostly ultra-Orthodox or "hilltop youth," wandered among the voters and urged them to vote for Feiglin. Not much of the old Likud is left. The largest political movement in Israel, which had 300,000 members at its peak, has become a small party.
High Court: Heftsiba clients can't enter W. Bank settlement homes
Yuval Yoaz, Ha'aretz 8/15/2007
The High Court of Justice ruled on Wednesday that those who purchased homes from the collapsing construction company Heftsiba situated in the disputed Matityahu East neighborhood of the West Bank settlement of Modi'in Ilit, would not be allowed to enter these houses until the court's final ruling on the settlement of the area. Clients who bought homes from Heftsiba all across the country have been squatting in the unfinished buildings in order to establish ownership and prevent the loss of their investment due to the company's imminent collapse. The squatters in Modi'in Ilit are subject to an additional aspect of the housing situation, as their homes were built on disputed West Bank land which it has not yet been decided whether Jews would be allowed to settle.
July CPI surprises with 1.1% rise
Globes Online 8/15/2007
This is the highest single month CPI rise in two years. - The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month of July rose 1. 1%, further than had been expected to 101. 2 basis points. This is the highest single month rise in two years, since July of 2005. Annualized figures for the current trend indicate that inflation has surpassed the Bank of Israel's annual target of 1-3% and has reached 3. 1%. [end]
Pharmaceutical exports to Europe up in first half
Shay Niv, Globes Online 8/15/2007
Deliveries to France and Spain doubled over the corresponding period of 2006. Israel's pharmaceutical exports to the EU totaled $252 million in the first half of 2007, 42% more than in the first half of 2006. Total pharmaceutical exports rose 6% to $1. 54 billion. Israel exports pharmaceuticals to 120 countries worldwide, says Manufacturers Association of Israel Chemical and Pharmaceutical Society chairman Chaim Hurvitz, who also serves as VP Israeli pharmaceutical sales at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Pharmaceutical exports to the US accounted for 75% of the industry's total export revenue, amounting to $1. 15 billion in the first half, 2% less than in the corresponding period. Exports in terms of volume to the US rose by 67%. The Manufacturers Association attributes the anomaly to a 90% plunge in US...
Gaydamak to buy 110 US gas stations
Erez Wollberg, Globes Online 8/15/2007
Petro Group subsidiary GPM will pay $60 million for the properties. Petro Group Ltd. , controlled by Arcadi Gaydmak through Ameris Holdings Ltd. , has signed an memorandum of understanding (MOU) to buy 110 gas stations and convenience stores on the US East Coast for $60 million, plus inventory when the deal is closed, through its subsidiary GPM Investments LLC. Petro Group expects to close the deal, after due diligence, during the fourth quarter. GPM will finance the acquisition from shareholders' equity, bank credit, and through a real estate investment trust (REIT) that will buy 70 of the properties in a buy and lease-back deal. GPM currently operates 280 gas stations and convenience stores in Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. [end]
U.K. police suspect murder in death of ex-Mossad agent
Yossi Melman, Ha'aretz 8/15/2007
British detectives investigating the death of Ashraf Marwan, who was a Mossad agent during the Yom Kippur War, are increasingly becoming convinced that he was murdered. The London Metropolitan Police's suspicions have led them to postpone issuing a report on Marwan's death for three weeks. Marwan fell to his death from the balcony of his London apartment less than two months ago. One reason for believing that the Egyptian businessman was either murdered or committed suicide is the missing manuscript of a book he was writing on the Middle East between 1969 and 1978. The book was scheduled to be published later this year. Gamal Marwan, his son, told investigators that he does not believe his father killed himself. Physical evidence, such as the balcony's 1.
Reform Movement publishes blessings for sex change operation
Shlomo Shamir, Ha'aretz 8/15/2007
The Reform Movement recently published an expanded manual for the inclusion of homosexuals and transgender individuals, including a list of three blessings to be said on the occasion of a sex change operation." I believe that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) Jews in our midst - our children, our relatives, and our friend - are in great need, as are we all of spiritual support," said Union of Reform Judaism President Rabbi Eric Yoffie in the manual's Statement of Purpose. The 500-page Kulanu: A Program for Implementing Gay and Lesbian Inclusion contains among other things services for same-sex commitment and marriage ceremonies as well as advice for the inclusion of GLBT individuals in the community. The original edition of Kulanu was published 10 years ago, and was considered at the time to...
Archeologists discover footprint made by sandal of Roman soldier
Ha'aretz 8/15/2007
Archeologists have discovered a footprint made by the sandal of a Roman soldier - one of the few such finds in the world - in a wall surrounding the Hellenistic-Roman city of Sussita, east of Lake Kinneret. The discovery of the print made by a hobnailed sandal, the kind used by the Roman legions during the time when Rome ruled the region, led to the presumption that legionnaires or former legionnaires participated in the construction of walls such as the one in which the footprint was found. "We know that urban construction projects in Israel were run by the cities themselves, and the Roman imperial system wasn't involved," said Professor Arthur Segal of Haifa University, who is heading the excavation. Last year, the archeologists found an inscription written by two Sussita residents when they finished...
IRAQ: U.S. Tags Iran for Casualties from Its Own Attacks
Analysis by Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service 8/14/2007
WASHINGTON, Aug 14(IPS) - When a top U.S. commander in Iraq reported last week that attacks by Shiite militias with links to Iran had risen to 73 percent of all July attacks that had killed or wounded U.S. forces in Baghdad, he claimed it was because of an effort by Iran to oust the United States from Iraq, referring to "intelligence reports" of a "surge" in Iranian assistance. But the obvious reason for the rise in Shiite-related U.S. casualties, -- ignored in U.S. media coverage of Lt. General Raymond Odierno's charge -- is that the Mahdi Army of Moqtada al-Sadr was defending itself against a rising tempo of attacks by U.S. forces at the same time attacks by al-Qaeda forces had fallen. In his press briefing on Aug. 5, Odierno, the second-ranking U.
US set to act against Iran
Al Jazeera 8/15/2007
The US is said to be planning to add Iran's Revolutionary Guard to its list of "terrorist" organisations, which would permit restrictions on its business and financial operations. The plan follows frustration in Washington at the limited effect of UN resolutions against Iran's nuclear programme, the Washington Post daily reported on Wednesday. The administration of George Bush suspects Iran's largest military branch of providing support to fighters throughout the Middle East, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan. The US order would sanction the blocking of assets held by individuals and groups deemed hostile to Washington. Operations targeted - The order would also disrupt operations by foreign businesses that "provide support, services or assistance to, or otherwise associate with, terrorists," the Post said, citing unnamed US officials.
U.S. court rules that evidence seized in IDF raid is inadmissible
Ha'aretz 8/15/2007
Lawyers for Muslim charity leaders accused of aiding Hamas terrorists scored a rare victory in court Tuesday when a federal judge blocked some evidence seized by Israel Defense Forces soldiers during raids of Palestinian organizations. Defense lawyers had objected that some of the documents were not signed or dated, and they cast doubt on Israel's handling of the evidence. Five former leaders of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development are charged with funneling millions of dollars to Hamas, which the U.S. government designated a terrorist organization in 1995. The trial is in its fourth week of testimony. Federal District Judge A. Joe Fish has ruled in the prosecution's favor on a wide range of issues, from allowing the government to call Israeli secret agents as witnesses to denying defense requests for a mistrial.
Prominent Iraqis criticise oil law
Ahmed Janabi, Al Jazeera 8/15/2007
A statement, signed by 419 Iraqi oil experts, economists and intellectuals, expresses grave concern that the newly proposed law would deprive Iraq from its most vital natural resource, oil, and give foreign oil companies ultimate domination over Iraq's oil wealth. Iraq's intellectuals demand a fundamental modification to the proposed law, and a referendum, the statement said. The law is expected to be discussed in the Iraqi parliament next month, after the parliamentary summer holiday is over. Issam al-Chalabi, Iraq's former oil minister and a signatory to the statement, told Al Jazeera: "We strongly recommend a real modification to the proposed law, and that Iraq's veteran experts be consulted and given a role in rewriting the law.
IRAQ: Conflict jeopardising children's physical, mental health
IRIN, IRIN - UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 8/16/2007
BAGHDAD, 15 August 2007 (IRIN) - Muhammad Abdallah, 12, lost his only brother in a shooting incident, and since then his parents are not taking any chances and do not let him out of the house. "In the past two years I've been more or less confined to my room. My parents don't allow me to go out, most of my friends have gone abroad, and I was forced to leave school for security reasons," he said. "My mum told me that maybe some neighbours might force us out of our home and she is very scared, but I'm not. At least I would be out of this house," he added. A Sunni from Baghdad's Yarmouk District, he is just another victim of the violence, displacement, school closures and poor diet that are taking their toll on children's physical and mental health - something that could affect the country's future.
IRAQ: Emergency medical supplies requested after latest bomb blasts
IRIN, IRIN - UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 8/16/2007
MOSUL, 15 August 2007 (IRIN) - Doctors in hospitals treating victims of the latest bomb blasts - believed to have targeted the Yazidi community in northwestern Iraq - have asked for medical supplies to be delivered urgently. "We need all kinds of emergency materials but especially plasters, cotton wool and painkillers to help victims who have lost limbs or have serious cuts," said Dr Dirar Muhammad, who has been working overtime at Dahuk hospital. A doctor in a clinic near Qahataniya, where some of the attacks took place, said they were ill-equipped and only two doctors were available. This was forcing the injured to be diverted to Dahuk hospital, he said. "Since yesterday [14 August], after the first victims were brought in, civilians have been bringing in body parts from the streets," Muhammad said.
RIGHTS-CANADA: Mounties, CIA Implicated in Arar Torture Scandal
Am Johal, Inter Press Service 8/15/2007
VANCOUVER, Aug 15(IPS) - The Canadian government released on Aug. 9 previously redacted information regarding the Maher Arar torture scandal, in response to a Canadian court order. The government had argued that the information should be withheld due to "national security" concerns. The new information directly implicates the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in Arar's rendition to Syria, according to a statement by the Centre for Constitutional Rights, based in New York. The documentation reveals that the CIA, with the acquiescence of Canadian diplomacy, was directly involved in making Arar an unknowing victim of their policy of rendition -- a de facto U.S. policy which allows security agencies to send a subject, who cannot legally be held, to a country that is willing to use aggressive and illegal tactics to obtain information from detainees.
Al-Hajj 'nears Guantanamo release'
Al Jazeera 8/15/2007
An Al Jazeera cameraman held in the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay may soon be released, a relative says. Sami al-Hajj, who has been detained at the prison camp in Cuba for nearly six years without charge, could be released by the end of August, Asim al Hajj, his brother, said on Wednesday. Ali Sadiq, a Sudan foreign ministry spokesman, said negotiations are under way with the US to secure al-Haj's release." Last month, we received a memorandum from the US administration to the effect that they are considering al-Hajj's case and will hand down a final decision this month," he said. "Based on this memo, we confirmed to the US administration in writing that Sami al-Hajj is an average Sudanese citizen with no extreme religious affiliations, he practices the religion like all other Sudanese...
Saudi 'Eden' built in the desert
Petru Clej, BBC Online 8/14/2007
The project recreates a history of plants in the last 400 million years - The largest series of botanical landscapes in the world is being built in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. The gardens - covering 160 hectares (395 acres) - aims to re-create the 400 million-year-old history of the Earth's plants, trees and flowers. The £100m ($200m) project is due to be completed in 2010. The complex of gardens - to be called the King Abdullah International Gardens - is a gift from the city of Riyadh to the Saudi monarch. The landscapes will be five times larger than the similar Eden Project in south-west England. 'Jurassic Park' - Built just outside Riyadh, the gardens will include four types of gardens - scientific gardens; water gardens; international gardens, sponsored by individuals and foreign...
Articles
Can you hear the cries from Gaza?
Sonja Karkar, ZNet 8/16/2007
No one seems to hear the cries from Gaza enough to act, despite the reports that talk about imminent economic collapse, dangerous food shortages, total aid dependency and impending humanitarian disaster. Neither the cries nor the reports appear in the headlines or news alerts in our mainstream media. And, while the statistics make shocking reading when they do emerge, it is the cries that we should be hearing because they come from people like us – real flesh and blood people who bleed, feel pain and grieve. They are the cries that give rise to the statistics, the cries of Palestinians no less human and no less vulnerable than any one of us would be as prisoners of Israel's merciless occupation.
For all the recent news about the infighting that has gripped internal Palestinian politics, there is no mistaking under whose suffocating matrix of control, the Palestinians are actually forced to live. Israel has threatened the Palestinians' right to exist on their own land since it was created and it has no more disengaged from Gaza than it has from the West Bank. Instead, Israel has made a prison of Gaza and completely sealed it off from the West Bank and the outside world. Deeming it a place too dangerous to visit, Israel likes to portray the Palestinians as a violent people whose acts of resistance threaten Israel's existence and necessitate the punitive measures that Israel takes against them. However, according to international law, resistance is a legitimate response of an occupied people and collective punishment by an Occupying Power against a civilian population is prohibited. The outrage in all this is the world's acquiescence to Israel's suppression of the Palestinians and the oppressive force it uses to reduce them to a sub-human existence. This cuts to the core of our humanity and it is simply not enough to say, "there but for the grace of God go I".
'Quiet Transfer' Pushes Palestinians Out
Peter Hirschberg, Inter Press Service 8/15/2007
JERUSALEM, Aug 15(IPS) - Arab residents of East Jerusalem are finding themselves increasingly under threat of what one Israeli human rights organisation calls "quiet transfer."
According to information obtained by the B'Tselem rights group from Israel's Interior Ministry, the number of Arab residents on the eastern side of the disputed city who had their permanent residency status revoked in 2006 increased dramatically -- more than six fold. While the number stood at 272 in 2003 and was 222 in 2005, last year 1,363 residents of East Jerusalem had their residency status revoked.
Permanent residency status grants the quarter of a million Arabs who live in East Jerusalem most of the rights afforded to Israeli citizens. They can't vote in parliamentary elections, but they can vote in municipal elections, can work in Israel and are eligible for state social security benefits and state-provided healthcare. These benefits make East Jerusalem residency a valuable and prized status.
After Israel annexed the eastern side of Jerusalem in 1967 -- a move never recognised by the international community -- the Arab residents there were allowed to apply for full Israeli citizenship. But most refused to do so, because naturalisation required they swear allegiance to the State of Israel and renounce any other citizenships they may have.
Saving Hamas from its Victory
Ghassan Charbel, MIFTAH 8/15/2007
A human being will usually need someone to save him from his defeat, or help him overcome it. Hamas' position today is different; it needs someone who will save it from its victory. The movement made the mistake of a military victory on June 14th in the streets of Gaza. It won against the Palestinian Authority and its apparatuses, namely Fatah, and now, two months later, it needs to be saved from the burden of its triumph.
This statement is not an exaggeration. Ismail Haniyeh can hold numerous meetings within his government. He can state repeatedly that his is the only legitimate government. He can remind people of the justifications for conducting what its detractors call a "bloody coup". He can talk about the chaos that used to pervade Gaza, and the corruption that permeated through the ranks of the Authority and Fatah. He can lay the blame for the blockade on the Israeli enemy, and he can denigrate the biased position of the United States. But Ismail Haniyeh knows that repeating these words will not change a thing.
The opposition can distribute dreams and propel fantasies, but it is also forced to deal with figures. Haniyeh knows that 70% of the families in Gaza are living under the poverty level. He knows that unemployment is 60%, and that approximately one million people are dependant on outside assistance to live. He can go back to what Filippo Grandi, Deputy Commissioner General of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said in Gaza. He said, "Gaza risks becoming a virtually 100 per cent aid dependent, closed down and isolated community". Haniyeh does not need someone to supply him with additional details; Gaza's economy is in the dumps..
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