News
Gaza power plant shuts down amid shortage
Reuters, Ha'aretz 8/19/2007
Gaza's main power plant shut down operations yesterday after it said it had depleted its fuel reserves despite a pledge from Israel to resume deliveries that were halted late last week. Israel opened the Nahal Oz crossing on the border of central Gaza to allow fuel into the territory, which Hamas took over in June. Power plant officials said the private Israeli energy company Dor Alon has yet to deliver any fuel. The firm said the disruption was because of a decision by the European Union, which refused to pay for yesterday's shipment. The EU has a program that funds fuel for the plant and requires its monitors to oversee shipments made through Israel. Since Hamas's takeover, Israel, the Western-backed Palestinian leadership in the West Bank and international powers have all but sealed off the enclave, except for humanitarian supplies.
IDF kills Gazan thought to be laying bomb
Amos Harel and Yoav Stern, Ha'aretz 8/19/2007
Israeli troops shot dead one Palestinian and detained two others for questioning after the men allegedly tried to lay a bomb next to the Gaza border fence yesterday, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman said. The man, Mahmoud Abid, 17, was the third Palestinian to be killed in IDF activity over the weekend. The incident took place in the central Gaza Strip, south of the Karni border crossing. Abid was a resident of the Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, Israel Radio reported. No militant groups claimed Abid, and Gaza hospital staff said he was wearing civilian clothes. Earlier, soldiers detained five Palestinian men who had gotten across the heavily fortified Gaza border fence in order to seek work in Israel, the army said. Meanwhile, in the West Bank, a Palestinian woman was wounded in clashes...
Legal statistics: IOF soldiers kidnapped 350 Palestinians in three weeks
Palestinian Information Center 8/19/2007
NABLUS, (PIC)-- IOF troops kidnapped more than 350 Palestinians over the past three weeks from various West Bank districts along with a number of others from the Gaza Strip during recent incursions, according to human rights societies. The report said that the IOF arrests focused on Nablus and Qalqilia but covered all West Bank districts. It noted that the kidnapped were affiliated with all resistance factions, but mostly from Hamas. Israeli prisons, especially the detention centers of Jalama, Hawara and Petah Tikva, are overcrowded as a result of the increasing number of detainees. [end]
Settlers cut Palestinian water supply to fill swimming pool
Ronny Shaked, YNetNews 8/19/2007
Elon Moreh reroutes pipe carrying drinking water to neighboring Palestinian village to small pool; water drains back to village's pipe system - Residents of the settlement of Elon Moreh in the West Bank have cut a pipe carrying drinking water to a nearby Palestinian village, and are using it to fill a small swimming pool located at a picnic site, which was itself built on land owned by the village. The pipe, which carries water to the village of Dir al-Khatab, was rerouted in order to fill the pool. The pipe channels fresh drinking water into the pool and drains dirty water back into the village's water system. "They not only use water that doesn't belong to them, but they also pollute the drinking water of some of the village residents," said Yoel Marshak, head of the Kibbutz Movement's Special Assignments Branch.
U.S. to train Palestinian presidential guard
Reuters, Ha'aretz 8/19/2007
U.S. security officials will begin training the Palestinian presidential guard soon in an effort to support the government of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, the State Department said yesterday. Under an agreement signed this month by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad, the officers would study and conduct VIP-protection exercises under the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security. The guards' training will run from autumn into early 2008 and is part of U.S. and international efforts to bolster Palestinian security and improve law and order. The program aims to help the PA "deliver security for the Palestinian people and fight terrorism, build confidence between the parties, and ultimately help to meet the security needs of Palestinians and Israelis alike," the State Department said.
Over thirty Israeli military vehicles storm small Palestinian village and abduct three citizens
Ma'an News Agency 8/19/2007
Nablus – Ma'an – A leader of the Fatah-affiliated Black Forearm Brigades in Nablus, in the northern West Bank, was injured and seized, along with three of his co-fighters, during an Israeli incursion into the small village of Kafr Qallil, south of Nablus. Eyewitnesses informed Ma'an's reporter that the Israeli soldiers besieged the home of Shahir Al Quinny, aged 34, after fighting with him and injuring him in his foot. He was arrested along with 28-year-old Muhannad Al Ashaq, and Mazin Al-Quinny, aged 27, and his brother Buraq, aged 23. The eyewitnesses also revealed that the Israeli troops stormed several other homes in the village, including those belonging to so-called 'wanted' Palestinians affiliated to the Nablus Rural Brigades and Black Forearms Brigades, both of which are military wings of Fatah.
Israeli army wounds three Palestinians in southern Gaza
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 8/19/2007
Israeli army shot and wounded on Sunday morning three Palestinians, said to be resistance fighters, in southern Gaza Strip. Medical sources in Khan Younis city confirmed that three wounded have been evacuated to the European hospital, south of the city. Eyewitnesses reported that a group of resistance fighters clashed earlier in the day with an Israeli army force that thrust into the area. The invading force was made up of scores of tanks and armored vehicles, said locals. Last Tuesday, the Israeli tanks invaded the Abbassan town in southern Gaza, killing seven Palestinians including an elderly woman and arresting about 100 others. ' Israel disengaged from Gaza in September 2005, leaving border crossings, Gaza's sea and airspace under its army's control. [end]
Gaza faces new crisis after EU freezes funds for power plant
Daily Star 8/20/2007
Parts of the Gaza Strip were still suffering power cuts on Sunday after the European Union (EU) suspended the financing of fuel deliveries for the strip's only power plant as Israeli officials denied it would provide amnesty to several Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank. It was the latest blow to hit one of the world's most overcrowded places that has been effectively sealed off by Israel since the Islamist movement Hamas seized control two months ago, sparking fears of a new humanitarian crisis. The Islamists and the government in Ramallah accused each other of being responsible for the "criminal" cuts. The power station - which according to the EU produces between 25 and 30 percent of the electricity in Gaza - shut the last of its four generators on Sunday after it did not receive fuel from Israel, its chief Rafiq Maliha told AFP.
Troops invade Nablus, two of its refugee camps
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 8/19/2007
Palestinian sources in Nablus city, in the northern part of the West Bank reported on Sunday at dawn that Israeli troops, supported by armored vehicles, invaded the city, its Balata and Al Ein refugee camps, and exchanged fire with resistance fighters. The sources stated that fighters of Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Al Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, exchanged fire with the invading forces in Al Ein refugee camp, and hurled explosives at them. The Al Qassam brigades stated that its fighters managed to wound two Israeli soldiers, but Israeli army sources denied any injuries among the invading troops. Moreover, eyewitnesses reported that soldiers broke into several houses and searched them, and that troops also detonated...
Israel vows entry ban on Darfur refugees
Laurie Copans, Associated Press in Jerusalem, The Guardian 8/20/2007
Israel yesterday said it planned to turn back refugees arriving from Sudan's war-torn Darfur area, prompting arguments over whether the Jewish state had a duty to take in people fleeing persecution. David Baker, an Israeli government spokesman, said people from Darfur would not be immune from Israel's ban on unauthorised migrants. He said: "The policy of returning anyone who enters Israel illegally will pertain to everyone, including those from Darfur." Late on Saturday Israel handed over 48 Sudanese, allegedly including Darfurians, to the authorities in Egypt, security officials in Egypt said. For months Israel has been concerned about how to deal with the flow of Africans, including some people from Darfur, who have passed over its southern border with Egypt's Sinai desert.
African Refugees / Expulsion to Egypt may contravene int'l law
Ruth Sinai, Ha'aretz 8/19/2007
Egypt did not meet its obligations, and the UN concluded that Sweden had violated international conventions against torture since it was aware of Egypt's troublesome record on such matters. Israel's expulsion of 50 nationals of African countries to Egypt on Saturday may also be viewed as a violation of that same convention, in light of testimonies received in the past about the conditions of incarceration and the torture suffered by African asylum-seekers who were expelled to Egypt from Israel. Attorney General Menachem Mazuz argues that Israel did not "expel" the refugees, but rather Israel "prevented their entry" into the country and is therefore not violating international accords. On the basis of this argument, a practice had been instituted called "immediate return," which permits deporting anyone caught crossing the border into Israel back to Egypt.
PM aide: AG Mazuz okayed deportation of African refugees
Barak Ravid Mijal Grinberg and Yoav Stern, Ha'aretz 8/19/2007
Israel yesterday deported 50 Africans to Egypt, for the first time since Prime Minister Ehud Olmert obtained Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's consent to such a move last month. According to the Israel Defense Forces, most of the deportees were from Sudan's war-torn Darfur region. Human rights organizations blasted the deportations, saying that the Africans should have first been given the chance to request asylum in Israel. But Olmert's office insisted the deportations were legal and had been approved by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz. All of the deportees had been caught by army patrols over the weekend and held on IDF bases in the South. Before dawn yesterday, they were bused to Egypt via the Nitzana crossing. According to government sources, the deportations were in line with the internationally accepted...
Soldiers abuse a patient near Jenin as he was heading to hospital in Ramallah for surgery
International Middle East Media Center 8/19/2007
Palestinian sources reported on Saturday that a Palestinian patient from Jenin, in the northern part of the West Bank, was attacked and abused by Israeli troops stationed at Al Hamra roadblock near Tubas as he was heading to a Palestinian hospital in Ramallah for surgery. The sources stated that the patient, Nasser Jamal, carried the needed medical reports which prove his health condition that requires a surgery in his stomach, but the soldiers forced him and out of the car, and made him wait along with dozens of residents who were stranded there for several hours. "I became unable to stand anymore, I felt sharp headache, I felt nausea and the driver went to the soldiers and told him that I am sick and cannot wait any more", Jamal said, "and then the soldiers asked to see me".
Palestinian detainees in Israeli detention center threaten hunger strike
Palestinian Information Center 8/19/2007
NABLUS, (PIC)-- Palestinian detainees in the Israeli Petah Tikwa detention center have threatened to go on a hunger strike if they remained in investigation cells. Mohammed Feidi, one of those detainees, said that physical and psychological pressures in the center were in violation of all rules. The complaints were voiced during a visit by a lawyer of the Nafha society for defending prisoners and human rights. The same lawyer visited the Hawara detention center and reported similar incarceration conditions where 50 detainees are crammed into the detention rooms that are small in size and are offered poor quality and quantity of food. [end]
Palestinian and International peace activists plant trees in isolated village
IMEMC Staff, International Middle East Media Center 8/19/2007
In spite the high August temperatures in Palestine, and the burning summer sunshine, dozens of international peace activities joined Palestinian villagers of Atouf village, east of Tubas in the West Bank, in order to aid the residents of the isolated village in planting their lands which dried out due to the Israeli siege and closure over the area. The activity, which was called for by the Palestinian Agricultural Relief, started two days ago and Palestinians from different West Bank areas, accompanied by international supporters, arrived in the area and planted 120 trees, and planted roses in a public garden, in Atouf village. The residents of the village aided the volunteers and provided them with the needed services in order to cope to the extreme summer heat.
Palestinian detainee's parents appeal for medical care for their ill son
Ma'an News Agency 8/19/2007
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Palestinian parents from Aida refugee camp in the Bethlehem area on Sunday appealed to human rights organisations to preserve the life of their son who is detained in Israeli jails. The family of detainee, 27-year-old Khalil Musallam, said he is suffering from several diseases, including ulcers, nasal problems, back pain and slipped discs. The family added that he is in urgent need of ulcer surgery. Musallam, who was abducted by Israeli forces five years ago, has been suffering from these ailments for a long time, said his family. Head of Public Relations in the Palestinian Prisoners Society of Bethlehem, Ahmad Huseiniya, said that Musallam was sentenced to eighteen life sentences and is held in Nafha prison. Huseiniya appealed to human rights organisations to exert pressure on Israel...
Palestinian combatants claim responsibility for resistance operations in the West Bank and Gaza
Ma'an News Agency 8/19/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – The military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, the An Nasser Salah Addin Brigades and the Al Aqsa Brigades of Fatah announced joint responsibility for launching four mortar shells at Nahal Oz and Karni military posts, bordering the Gaza Strip, on Sunday morning. In a combined statement the brigades said the operation was "part of the retaliation for Israeli aggression against Palestinian people in the occupied territories." The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Qassam Brigades of Hamas claimed joint responsibility for injuring two invading Israeli soldiers in Ein Beit el Ma refugee camp, north of Nablus, in the West Bank, also on Sunday morning. The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades told Ma'an's reporter "fierce clashes erupted between...
Corpse of missing Palestinian man discovered in old Israeli settlement
Ma'an News Agency 8/19/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – Palestinian medical sources reported on Sunday that they discovered the corpse of Palestinian man Kareem Abu Mhady, aged 44, in empty land in what used to be Netzarim settlement in central Gaza. The sources said that the body was riddled with bullets. Abu Mhady's family received an anonymous telephone call telling them that he was dead and his body was in Netzarim. Abu Mhady went missing seven days ago from An Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. His family launched an appeal to find their missing relation. The family said that Abu Mhady received a call from an Israeli mobile a week ago on Saturday night. He left his home in An Nuseirat refugee camp on Sunday at noon and called his family to say he was in Al Zahra' area, west of Gaza City.
Unknown assailants bomb home of Fatah leader in Gaza
Ma'an News Agency 8/19/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – The Fatah movement reported on Sunday that unknown assailants detonated an explosive device at the home of one of its leaders in Gaza, Majdi At Talla'. Talla' lives in the Sheikh Radwan area of Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip. Eyewitnesses said that the bomb was timed to detonate and was hung in a nylon sack on the door handle. The bomb exploded minutes after it was planted and caused damage to the door. [end]
2 Qassam rockets land in western Negev
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 8/19/2007
No injuries reported; Islamic Jihad's military wing claims responsibility for firing rockets. Three mortar shells later land in Kissufim area Two Qassam rockets landed near a western Negev kibbutz on Sunday evening. There were no reports of injuries. The Islamic Jihad's military wing, the al-Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility for firing the rockets. Western Negev residents told Ynet that the Color Red alert system was activated, followed by two strong blasts. One of the rockets landed inside Sycamore Ranch, which belongs to the family of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Sappers who were dispatched to the area are expected to determine whether the rockets were improved Qassams. Three mortar shells were later also fired from the northern Strip, landing in an open area near Kibbutz Kissufim.
Palestinian security services abduct 12 Hamas members in the West Bank
Ma'an News Agency 8/19/2007
Nablus – Ma'an – The Hamas movement revealed that the Palestinian security services abducted twelve Hamas members on Saturday night from different regions of the West Bank. Hamas issued a statement announcing that the security services detained four members from Silat adh Dhahr village, south of Jenin. Hamas accused armed Fatah fighters of breaking into the centre of the union of Beit Al Maqdes Authors in Rafidia, west of Nablus. Hamas alleged that the Fatah combatants seized several computers and other possessions, and damaged the furniture. Hamas added that this is the second such attack in recent weeks. Hamas said that the security services arrested five members from Nablus, one of whom is a student at An Najah University in Nablus, and three from Qalqilia, Anabta village and Tulkarem, all in the northern West Bank.
Executive Force leader admits to violence and torture in Gaza
Ma'an News Agency 8/19/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – Leader of Hamas' Executive Force in Gaza, Jamal Jarrah, on Sunday acknowledged that the EF has been the source of violence in the strip. However, he said there is "exaggeration in the news published about these violations". Speaking to Gaza-based newspaper, Al Yawmiyya, which is controlled by the deposed government, Jarrah said "we try to minimise violations and avoid them through the training of our members." Torture - Jarrah also admitted that there were some cases of torture in the Executive Force prisons. He said "there were some minor cases, which we have admitted and we condemn any such practices." He added, "The EF has formed investigation committees in order to investigate all the violations and seriously address all the cases in the prisons.
Haniyya calls for early elections for the Palestinian National Council
IMEMC Staff, International Middle East Media Center 8/19/2007
Ismail Haniyya, the Palestinian Prime Minister of the Palestinian government which was dissolved by president Mahmoud Abbas, but still performing his duties in the Gaza Strip, stated on Saturday that Hamas recognizes the legitimacy of Abbas as a president and called for early elections for the Palestinian National Council (PNC). The statements of Haniyya came during an interview with several Arab and international media outlets in Gaza. Haniyya said that his government recognizes Abbas as the president of the Palestinian National Authority but does not recognize his decrees which, according to Haniyya, violate the constitution. He reiterated the position of Hamas in rejecting the calls of Abbas to hold early presidential and legislative elections in order to end the current crisis.
Deposed government forms committee to end attacks on its property
Ma'an News Agency 8/19/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – The council of ministers in the deposed Palestinian government has ruled that a committee is to be established to end the attacks on government property in the Gaza Strip. The media office of the government said "the committee will include the land authority, ministry of justice, ministry of housing, ministry of local affairs and ministry of the interior." A statement from the media office said that the committee will begin operation on Monday and a media campaign will be launched to end the assaults on property. The campaign will also clarify the job of the committee to citizens and notify citizens before action is taken. The statement added that the committee will present a timetable to the council after its first week of operation. [end]
Haneyya: Abbas is not allowed to sign anything concerning Palestinian rights
Palestinian Information Center 8/19/2007
GAZA, (PIC)-- Ismail Haneyya, the premier of the legitimate PA caretaker government, confirmed that no one is delegated at this stage to negotiate on behalf of the Palestinian people over any issue, and that any Palestinian leadership is not allowed to sign anything concerning the rights of the Palestinian people." In the past, yes we granted the PA chief Mahmoud Abbas authorization in his capacity as the head of the PLO, but now we say no one is authorized at this stage to negotiate at the expense of Palestinian rights, because we have fears of this political scrambling under the pressure of the political crisis," Haneyya stated during a meeting with representatives of international news agencies and papers. Haneyya said that Hamas recognizes Abbas as the president of the Palestinian people, but it does not recognize his edicts which clash with the law and the constitution...
Al Mezan Center demands a probe into the death of a Gaza resident
International Middle East Media Center 8/19/2007
The Al Mezan Center of Human Rights issued a press release on Sunday demanding a probe into the death of a Palestinian resident who went missing last week, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, and his body was found on Sunday morning bearing torture marks and a gunshot injury. Initial investigations by the Center revealed that the family of Nimir Abul-Karim Abu Mhadi, 44, received a phone call on Sunday at dawn, and the caller informed them that their son is near the evacuated settlement of Nitzarim, in the southern of the Gaza Strip. When his family went to the location they found their son bleeding and took him to Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City where he died of his wounds. The investigation also revealed that an unknown caller phoned Abu Mhadi on his mobile at 2 a.
Palestinians in the territories on expired tourist visas appeal for full ID's
Ma'an News Agency 8/19/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – Dozens of Palestinian citizens who came to Palestine on tourist visas and did not leave, have appealed to the Palestinian Authority to issue them ID's so they are able to travel around the Palestinian territories. The citizens complained that they have tried for more than twelve years to obtain Palestinian ID's, which will enable them to travel within the territories and outside, for treatment and study, or even visit relatives in Israeli jails. The citizens all still have the blue ID's, which means they are not full Palestinian citizens and cannot move inside the country. They held a strike in front of the Palestinian Legislative Council building in Gaza and held up placards calling for President Abbas, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and deposed Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to solve their problem.
Germans protest sale of food from West Bank settlements
Assaf Uni, Ha'aretz 8/20/2007
BERLIN - The opening of "Israel Week" at the Galeria Kaufhof department store in Berlin spurred a demonstration Saturday against Israeli food products originating in the territories. Protesters held signs reading "No to settlement products" and "Stop the Israel-EU Association Agreement." Groups protesting included The Jewish Voice, a Jewish-German organization opposed to the occupation, and Solidarity with Palestine, German teenagers affiliated with the radical left. A counter-group of pro-Israel radical leftists waved Israeli flags and ate Israeli food." We have to encourage the Germans to be more critical of the Israeli occupation," said Ruth Fructman, a Berlin journalist who was demonstrating. "Right now it's still hard for them, especially because every time they criticize Israel, they're accused of anti-Semitism," she said.
Israel denies any intentions to grant amnesty to 110 'wanted' Palestinians
Ma'an News Agency 8/19/2007
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Israeli daily newspaper Maariv on Sunday quoted sources from the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office denying reports in the Palestinian press that Israel is to pardon 110 'wanted' Palestinians. Maariv said that Olmert's office has denied the announcement, which was made on Saturday by leader of the preventive security services in Nablus, Akram Rajoub. Rajoub, from the northern West Bank city of Nablus, asserted that Israel is to grant amnesty to a group of predominantly Fatah fighters. Olmert's office said, "There is no new agreements regarding the wanted Palestinians, nor have any new names been added to the wanted list." [end]
"No new amnesty deal"
Associated Press, YNetNews 8/19/2007
Israel denies it is prepared to offer amnesty to 110 more Palestinian gunmen - Israel on Sunday denied Palestinian reports that it is prepared to drop its pursuit of more than 100 West Bank gunmen. On Saturday, Palestinian officials said Israel had submitted a list of 110 militants to whom it was prepared to grant amnesty, most from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement. There was no immediate confirmation from Israel, and on Sunday, government spokesman David Baker said there was no basis to the report. "No such list has been presented to the Palestinians," Baker told The Associated Press. Since early July, Israel has offered amnesty to 214 gunmen, most from Fatah, even as it continues its arrest raids against militants in the West Bank.
Israel proposes 'goodwill' gestures for Palestinians during Ramadan
Ma'an News Agency 8/19/2007
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Israeli radio alleged on Sunday morning that the Israeli government intends to make some 'goodwill concessions' to Palestinians during the holy month of Ramadan, which is to begin in mid-September. Israeli radio claimed that among the steps to be taken are "the release of a number of Palestinian prisoners and the issuance of permits to Palestinian residents of Israel to visit their relations in the West Bank." Israeli security sources said that the Israeli forces have opposed permits being issued to Palestinian Israelis to visit relatives in Gaza since Hamas established control over the strip. [end]
France circulates resolution calling for permanent Lebanon-Israel cease-fire
Hani M. Bathish, Daily Star 8/20/2007
BEIRUT: France distributed a draft UN Resolution to Security Council members on Friday which stressed the need for greater progress in achieving a permanent cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon as envisioned by Resolution 1701, which brought an end to last summer's war with Israel. The draft resolution, which would extend the mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) by one year, will be discussed this week by the Security Council. The council is widely expected to ratify the extension of the UNIFIL mandate until August 31, 2008, in response to the Lebanese government's request as expressed in a letter from Premier Fouad Siniora to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on June 25. In the draft text, obtained by The Daily Star, the Security Council commended "the active role and dedication of the personnel...
UNIFIL in Lebanon unlikely to get greater authority
Barak Ravid, Ha'aretz 8/19/2007
UNIFIL troops in Lebanon are unlikely to be granted more authority as part of the extension of their mandate by the UN Security Council later this month, Foreign Ministry Director General Aharon Abramovich said in a briefing to the cabinet yesterday. A senior government official said that Israel "gave up in advance" on its intention to ask for an "upgrade" of the mandate after realizing that it would not have the support of the United States and France. UNIFIL's mandate expires on August 31. The Security Council will hold a vote on the extension of the force's term in the next several days. Last week, Foreign Ministry officials and members of Israel's delegation to the UN held talks with the U.S. and French ambassadors to the organization over the issue.
Israeli official: UNIFIL must expand
Ronny Sofer, YNetNews 8/20/2007
Top diplomatic source tells Ynet international community not interested in securing Lebanon-Syria border, ending weapon smuggling to Hizbullah 'due to sensitivity near border'. Meanwhile, Israel tries to make amendments to UNIFIL's mandate document to include sign of life from kidnapped soldiers - The international community is not willing to take on responsibility for closing the border between Lebanon and Syria in order to prevent the continued smuggling of weapons to Hizbullah, a senior Israeli official told Ynet on Sunday. UNIFIL's mandate on southern Lebanon, which was declared along with the ceasefire that ended the Second Lebanon War, will expire on August 31. In order to continue to strengthen the force in the area, which is made up of 13,286 soldiers from some 30 countries, the mandate must be renewed.
Barghouthi holds press conference to expose Israeli criminal behaviour
Ma'an News Agency 8/19/2007
Ramallah – Ma'an – Palestinian Legislative Council member, Mustafa Barghouthi, on Sunday held a press conference in Ramallah to reveal recent Israeli violations of human rights in the Palestinian territories. Barghouthi said that Israel adopts several methods to disguise its criminal behaviour in the Palestinian territories, especially holding high-level Israeli-Palestinian meetings. Barghouthi said that each of the 543 stationary and 610 flying checkpoints is used to harass Palestinians. He showed pictures of the gates erected in the separation wall in the Qalqilia area. Palestinian citizens are denied passage through these gates and are prevented from reaching their area of residence. Citizens must obtain an Israeli permit in order to pass and it only allows passage during a short period.
Haneyya asks Assad to help in ending tragedy of Palestinian refugees
Palestinian Information Center 8/19/2007
GAZA, (PIC)-- Ismail Haneyya, the premier of the PA caretaker government, on Sunday called on Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad to help in solving the ordeal of Palestinian refugees fleeing persecution in Iraq and trapped at its common borders with Syria. Haneyya addressed a message to Assad, a copy of which was obtained by the PIC, hailing the Syrian president's national and positive stands regarding the Palestine cause and his "incessant effort in service of the Palestinian people". The premier then hoped that Assad would personally intervene to end those refugees' tragic conditions and to allow them to live in Syria, explaining that such a step would be a mere extension of the president's national measures in support of Pan-Arab causes. He appealed to Assad to personally follow up the issue...
Italian MP urges Abbas to open dialogue with Hamas
Palestinian Information Center 8/19/2007
RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Ali Rashid, a member of the Italian Parliament of Palestinian origin, has called on PA chief Mahmoud Abbas to open channels of dialogue with Hamas for the supreme national interest, underlining his readiness to meet with the Hamas leaders. In a press statement to Al-Jazeera website, Ali Rashid criticized Abbas and Fatah officials' rejection to meet with Hamas representatives who were elected democratically, while they beg negotiations with IOA. The MP hailed the Italian government's attitudes toward the Palestinian cause, describing them as the most advanced if compared to Arab and even some Palestinian officials' position. Regarding the early elections called for by Abbas, the MP said that there is no justification for holding early general elections...
Red Sea canal plan 'threat'
Omar Khalifa, Al Jazeera 8/8/2007
The World Bank has finished a series of public hearings on a project that would see a canal linking the Red Sea to the depleted and polluted Dead Sea, which lies between the West Bank and Israel to the west, and Jordan to the east. But the Bank has been accused of presenting the canal as the "only option on the table" by environmental groups and geologists, who say the plan could in fact damage three local ecosystems, including the Dead Sea itself. Perceived as a "peace conduit" at the behest of the Palestinian Authority, Israeli and Jordanian governments, opponents to the project say the political nature of the solution has meant arguments about saving the environment have fallen by the wayside. The water level of the Dead Sea is dropping by an average of 1 metre per year.
Arab officials: Syria not planning to attack Israel
Amos Harel Barak Ravid and Yoav Stern, Ha'aretz 8/19/2007
Two friendly Arab countries have told Israel that Syria is not planning to attack in the coming months. The messages were relayed by senior-level officials and are based in part on talks with the officials' Syrian counterparts. This is part of a broader effort by moderate Arab states to contain the tension emerging between Jerusalem and Damascus. The officials say the Syrian military preparations are defensive, and are a "mirror image" of similar Israeli movements in the Golan Heights. Meanwhile, Syria has received 10 batteries of advanced anti-aircraft missiles, Russian sources say. This is the first in a series of shipments that are to include 36 such batteries. The anti-aircraft missiles are part of a $900 million arms deal, Moscow's Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported Friday, citing Russian military industry sources.
IDF to beef up security measures for hitchhikers who ignore terror warnings
Yuval Azoulay, Ha'aretz 8/19/2007
In an effort to bolster Israeli hitchhikers' security in the West Bank, the Israel Defense Forces has decided to install electronic surveillance and other equipment in at least 10 major stops frequented by settlers along Road 60. The issue of securing Israelis in the territories is one that has consistently troubled the security forces, which recognize that civilians, lured by the relative calm in the West Bank into taking risks, are "soft targets" for militants. The hitchhiker stops that the IDF plans to secure at a cost of NIS 2 million are mostly along Road 60 and are situated close to many of the larger West Bank settlements. In addition to the installation of surveillance cameras that will film vehicles passing on both sides of the route, an electronic communications system will allow hitchhikers in danger to call for help.
The refugee road
Nurit Wurgaft, Ha'aretz 8/19/2007
Returning from a visit at Ketziot prison, now a temporary home for many stranded African refugees, before reaching the main highway between Nitzana and Be'er Sheva, we saw six Africans walking by the roadside. Some wore wool hats, others had swathed their heads in shirts to protect them from the blistering midday sun. They looked like they had been walking for a long time, with their backpacks and bottles of water in hand. They were refugees from Ethiopia and Darfur, and this was their first day in Israel. Actually, they had reached the Israeli side of the border a week before. "It took four days before we reached an army base," one of the Ethiopian refugees said. "The soldiers brought us onto the base and we stayed there for three days. Last night [Sunday, N.
Woman wearing veil refused entry into swimming pool
Anat Bereshkovsky, YNetNews 8/20/2007
Bedouin family wishing to spend day in southern town of Ofakim told they would only be able to enter pool after mother removes her veil. Pool owner: I didn't want her to cause the other bathers to flee - The Malahi family from the Bedouin town of Rahat only wanted to spend a day of fun at the Ofakim swimming pool on Sunday. After the father paid the entry fee and the three children were about to jump into the water, the pool owner told them that they would not be able to enter the place before the mother removes her veil. For the children of the Malahi family - 3-year-old Yakim, 7-year-old Muhammad and 10-year-old Eitam - this was the first day this summer they were about to spend at the swimming pool in the southern town of Ofakim. The father, Kayed Malahi, a teacher, told Ynet, "All we wanted...
Yisrael Beiteinu: Gov't musn't discriminate between survivors
Anshel Pfeffer, Ha'aretz 8/20/2007
A spokesperson for Yisrael Beiteinu expressed outrage Sunday at the government's failure to reach a decision on "second circle" Holocaust survivors, accusing the government of discrimination and reluctance to deal with the issue." Second circle" survivors are those who fled Nazi-occupied areas, and never lived in ghettos or camps. The majority suffered under the Soviet regime, and came to Israel in recent years. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed Sunday to pay Holocaust survivors who did survive concentration camps and ghettos a stipend of NIS 1,200 and ensure they receive total welfare payments of at least NIS 3,400 per month. However, the government and survivor groups continued to disagree on whether "second circle" survivors should receive payments.
Cabinet to end Jewish Agency monopoly on immigration
Anshel Pfeffer, Ha'aretz 8/19/2007
The cabinet is scheduled to vote on a NIS 19 million allocation in the 2008 state budget for two independent immigration organizations. The resolution on funding Nefesh B'Nefesh and AMI, which support Jewish immigration from North America, Britain and France, is expected to pass. It was pushed off the cabinet agenda yesterday by security issues. Both groups have received state funding since 2005. The cabinet resolution would make the temporary allocation a permanent line item in the immigration absorption budget. It would also pave the way for future expansion, in accordance with criteria set by Absorption Minister Jacob Edery, who sponsored the resolution. The resolution would also enable the organizations to receive funds not only for their absorption activities within Israel but also for their emissaries stationed abroad.
Gaza-area mayors: PM promised reinforced homes, did not deliver
Mijal Grinberg, Ha'aretz 8/20/2007
There is no money for reinforcing houses in communities near the Gaza Strip in the proposed 2008 state budget, Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal and the heads of four Gaza-area regional councils charged in an angry letter to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last week. Olmert had met with them in January and promised to reinforce Gaza-area homes in the coming year. A few months later, businessman Arcadi Gaydamak offered to finance the reinforcement of Sderot himself; two days after that, the Prime Minister's Office declared that a government project to do so had just been launched. The project began with a Construction and Housing Ministry survey of the needs and the expected costs. According to sources involved in the survey, its conclusion was that the reinforcement would cost over NIS 1 billion ¬ just as the Israel Defense Forces' Home Front Command had previously estimated.
IDF top brass to consider delay in purchase of F-35 joint strike fighter
Amos Harel, Ha'aretz 8/20/2007
The Israel Defense Forces will conduct a force structure review this week under the guidance of deputy Chief of Staff Moshe Kaplinsky, and will consider postponing the procurement of the F-35 stealth strike fighter. The review, essentially a workshop of the General Staff's top brass, is expected to analyze the shape the IDF will take in the coming years, particularly in terms of large procurement projects. The review, originally scheduled to take place on the eve of the Second Lebanon War last summer, is part of a broad series of changes then-chief of staff Dan Halutz sought to initiate in the army. One of the main changes Halutz sought to implement, which met with vociferous opposition from ground force generals, revolved around further cuts in the numbers of reserve armored brigades.
Jewish education group slams Tamir over budget cut
Tamar Trabelsi-Hadad, YNetNews 8/19/2007
Education minister cuts budget of Association of Centers for the Promotion of Jewish Education that relies on national service volunteers to provide lessons in Jewish heritage, Zionism - An umbrella group that promotes Jewish education in Israeli schools on Sunday slammed Education Minister Yuli Tamir over her decision to slash their government budget. The Association of Centers for the Promotion of Jewish Education said Tamir's decision was politically motivated, accusing the education minister of targeting the group over their religious orientation. Tamir said that across-the-board budget cuts introduced by the government in the 2008 state budget were behind her decision to cut the association's budget by 35 percent and to reduce its workforce from 270 to 130 female staff was part.
Shin Bet nixes PM's Italian vacation
Yossi Verter, Ha'aretz 8/19/2007
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will be forced to spend his summer vacation next week - all five days of it - within the walls of the chilly, ceremonial fortress known as the Prime Minister's Residence, at 3 Balfour St. in Jerusalem. Olmert does not want to go to a Galilee bed-and-breakfast, so as not to ruin the vacation of thousands of Israelis with the Shin Bet's extreme security measures. As a result of these security arrangements, the prime minister's motorcade (a recognized nuisance in the capital) ran over a young girl who was crossing the street at the entrance to the city on Friday. Olmert's original plan was to spend his vacation in Italy. He wanted to rent, and pay out of pocket for, a house in a remote part of northern Italy for a quiet week with his family.
Gov't approves establishment of national service administration
Barak Ravid, Ha'aretz 8/19/2007
The government unanimously decided on Sunday to fully adopt the Ivri Committee report and establish a national service administration for young people who have been exempt from military service. The decision will mainly affect Arab youth and ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students, who are exempt from military service by law. Beyond a preliminary budget of NIS five million, an overall budget framework is yet to be approved. The administration would be run by the Prime Minister's office, in order to dispel fears among ultra-Orthodox circles that it would work under either the IDF or the Defense Ministry. In the first stage, the administration would recruit 500 volunteers annually. For a period of at least a year, they would engage in various types of community work, including care for the elderly, work at...
With Bishara in exile, Balad faces political extinction
Yoav Stern, Ha'aretz 8/19/2007
The Amman home in which former Knesset member and Balad chairman Azmi Bishara is residing has become a pilgrimage site. Last week, seven Balad-affiliated academics paid him a visit, and three Balad MKs were scheduled to meet with him yesterday. Since Bishara resigned from the Knesset and distanced himself from Israel, avoiding a possible arrest on charges of aiding an enemy during war, the Balad party has been left with many unresolved issues. At the top of the list is the question of party leadership. Balad, Israel's third largest Arab party, has entered uncharted waters. Members and affiliates, as well as political rivals interviewed for this report, were all in agreement: The party is trying to find its way out of its most serious crisis.
C'tee findings support creation of conversion authority
Anshel Pfeffer, Ha'aretz 8/19/2007
The inter-ministerial committee on conversion will present its report today to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Among the main recommendations in the report is the establishment of a national conversion authority, which will deal with all preparatory stages for conversion, as well as the relevant courts. The overall process would come under the supervision of Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar. Conversion to Judaism in recent years has been handled locally by a variety of preparatory bodies, who prepare the candidates on the basis of a various standards, and by special conversion courts that lack a clear hierarchical authority. According to the committee's report, the number of conversions among the estimated 300,000 immigrants who are not Jewish according to halakha (Jewish law), is relatively low, and this...
Meretz MK suggests changing IDF pledge to counter refusal
Shahar Ilan, Ha'aretz 8/20/2007
Meretz MK Avshalom Vilan has submitted a letter to Defense Minister Ehud Barak requesting he change the service oath of Israel Defense Forces soldiers, in order to counter refusal of orders among IDF troops. Vilan's recommendation would add the word "only" to the end of the line that states "I will follow the orders and instructions of my commanders." The initiative follows the refusal Vilan also suggested changing a line that states the soldier will sacrifice his life for the sake of Israel, to "to dedicate my all." According to Vilan, the current line is antiquated. Under Vilan's plan, the service oath would have to be submitted personally, in writing as opposed to the current system where the oath is given orally as part of a call and answer routine where units of soldiers call out "I swear" in unison to a series of vows.
The High Court of Justice as public enemy
Ehud Asheri, Ha'aretz 8/20/2007
There is something deceptive about the character of Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann. It begins with the odd gap between the smug, self-indulgent tone of voice and the provocative, belligerent messages; between the desiccated, academic packaging and the dramatic content behind it. Those who are impressed by the external image, and that applies to most media consumers, are apt to miss the scheming, manipulative, almost aggressive aspect of his personality. It is very easy to be seduced by the facade of the harmless, apolitical professor devoid of personal interests, like a fish out of water in the government. One must look beyond the external characteristics in order to see that the justice minister is one of the most sophisticated, populist, megalomaniac politicians in this country.
Call to Order / Professional badmouthers
Shahar Ilan, Ha'aretz 8/19/2007
Officially, Knesset members speak out a lot against verbal violence. But what do they really think about shouting, honed insults, curses and comparisons to Nazis? Dr. Ariel Livneh interviewed 30 legislators from previous Knessets for his doctoral thesis, and found that at least some of them see verbal violence as an existential necessity and a "working tool." They also understand other parliamentarians' political need to hurt and insult them. "For an MK to win the esteem of those around him, he has to come off as the offender," says Livneh. This, of course, is how to get media coverage, which is essential to political survival. Sometimes, MKs told Livneh, vociferous fights in the plenum are planned and agreed on in advance. Livneh, a criminologist, wrote his thesis on two professions where violence is part of...
Gaza hit by power plant shut down
BBC Online 8/19/2007
The Gaza Strip's main power plant shut down operations on Sunday saying it had depleted fuel reserves, after the EU halted financing of fuel deliveries. Israel had opened a border crossing - closed earlier amid Israeli security concerns - to allow fuel into Gaza. But Israeli energy firm Dor Alon has yet to deliver fuel after the EU said it would not pay for Sunday's shipment. The EU said it was reviewing the fuel aid programme for Gaza, which is controlled by the militant Hamas group. The Gaza Generating Company, which powers 25% of the coastal strip, cut power to nearly half of Gaza's residents on Friday after Israel closed the Nahal Oz fuel crossing. It shut off the last of its four generators on Sunday - after its fuel reserves were depleted - extending the power outage even further.
Morgan Stanley: Inflation exposed
Globes Online 8/19/2007
"The exchange rate no longer masks rising inflation. " - In a new report on Israel, Morgan Stanley says, "Inflation pressures are no longer hidden behind the exchange rate effect. The consumer price index (CPI) recorded a shocking 1. 1% increase in July, exceeding our own forecast of 0. 8%, but still in line with our overall reading of inflation dynamics. As a result, the year-on-year inflation rate moved from minus 0. 7% in June to 0. 3% last month. Although the latest figure is below the lower limit of the central bank's target range, it nevertheless represents a turning point. The cumulative increase in the CPI since March reached 2. 3%, and the seasonally adjusted annualized inflation rate over three months surged from minus 1. 5% in April (and an average of 0.
Zelekha: Leumi affair worst corruption in Israel's history
Zeev Klein, Globes Online 8/19/2007
The Accountant General: Burden of public corruption nearly as severe as the defense burden. "The attempt to manipulate the Bank Leumi tender was the worst case of corruption in Israel's history. The tender revealed serious failures in the rule of law," Accountant General Dr. Yaron Zelekha told the Knesset lobby against public corruption, chaired by MK Arieh Eldad (National Union-National Religious Party). Zelekha warned that corrupt political, public, and legal officials had managed to undermine the gatekeepers in the war against corruption. He added that public corruption was a heavy burden on the economy and the country. "The burden of public corruption is almost as severe as the defense burden. I'm saying this as the Accountant General of the State of Israel, who fully understands what an economic burden is," he said.
Water technology exports seen to grow to over $1b in 2007
Merav Ankori, Globes Online 8/19/2007
270 companies and institutes are active in the water technologies sector, including 60 start-ups. A Ministry of Industry Trade and Labor survey of Israel's water technologies industry predicts that exports will grow 28% to $1. 1 billion in 2007. The sector had $850 million in exports in 2006, up 21% on 2005. The ministry attributes the sector's rapid growth to higher sales by existing companies and exports of newly launched products by start-ups. 270 companies and institutes are active in the water technologies sector, including 60 start-ups. The industry has an estimated 8,000 employees. The global water market is currently estimated at $410 billion, and is expected to exceed $600 billion by 2015. The Ministry of Industry said that Israel is already is a key player with a large share in the global water technologies industry.
Organized crime
Ran Reznick, Ha'aretz 8/19/2007
Last April, A. A. , a 21-year old from Kfar Manda, saw an intriguing ad in a popular Arab newspaper: "Wanted, kidney donor, any blood type. Reward paid throughout recuperation period." The ad suggested contacting "Dr. Mohammed" on the cellular phone number provided. A. A. worked in a fowl slaughterhouse and had been depressed because of familial problems. He called and spoke to Mohammed Jit, who promised him $7,000 for harvesting one of his kidneys in a Ukrainian hospital for transplant into an Israeli patient. At first A. A. was skeptical, but Jit - who wasn't a doctor as the ad purported - and his partner, Hassan Zahakla, were persuasive. Beyond the fortune promised, they said he would have a fun trip. They also claimed a person could live with only half, or even a quarter, of a kidney, and that the operation would leave a tiny scar; he then could resume his life as usual.
Gov't to blacklist labor law violators
Ruth Sinai, Ha'aretz 8/19/2007
The government and the local authorities may not sign a contract with a manpower agency unless the Industry Ministry certifies it has not violated any labor laws for the past three years, according to new orders issued by the Finance Ministry's accountant general last month. Hezi Ophir, who heads the Industry Ministry department responsible for issuing the certificates, noted that the rule currently applies only to contracts for workers such as security guards. However, he said he hopes it will eventually be expanded to cover all government contracts, so that equipment suppliers, too, will have to prove they do not violate labor laws in order to win a government tender. In the month since the new rule took effect, some bidders for government contracts have already been disqualified, Ophir added.
Public starts to feel stock market crisis
Hagai Amit, Ha'aretz 8/19/2007
The stock market crisis is now reaching the general public, and they may soon begin to feel the pain. In the first two weeks of August, provident funds, a major pension investment for much of the public, lost 4. 5 percent on average. Considering that the entire sector showed gross nominal yields of 8. 77 percent since the beginning of the year, then over half of this value has already been wiped out in only two weeks. Altogether, the lost value is NIS 12 billion out of a total of NIS 274 billion that the funds manage. Such an enormous loss in such a short amount of time is almost unimaginable - especially since the provident funds are defined as "pension savings." However, these funds turned out to be no different than those in other investment sectors.
Government to guarantee exports to Vietnam
Ron Stein, Globes Online 8/19/2007
The agreement with Vietnam is the second with a priority export market. Ministry of Finance Accountant General Dr. Yaron Zelekha and Deputy Accountant General Ami Landau have signed a financial protocol for the opening of a special credit line worth $150 million to finance Israeli exports Vietnam. The two men signed the directive in a ceremony attended by the Israeli ambassador to Vietnam, Efi Ben Matityahu, and Ashra Israel Export Insurance Corp. Ltd. managing director Uri Bernstein. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, assisted in negotiating the terms of the credit line. The financial protocol sets out a mutual guarantee framework, under which the Israeli government will provide guarantees to Israeli exporters involved in deals requiring long-term finance, in...
Israeli vacationers take wrong turn, end up in Jericho
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 8/19/2007
Family gets lost on way to vacation resort in Tiberias, ends up in Jericho. Car pulled over by Palestinian police, handed over to Israeli police at checkpoint - Liat and Dudu Dror are unlikely to forget this summer's holiday. On Sunday, the couple and their three young children, on their way from Jerusalem to a resort in Tiberias, took a wrong turn at the Almog junction and found themselves in the West Bank city of Jericho. The family car was pulled over by Palestinian police officers. The couple alerted the Israeli police and 20 minutes later, they were joined by an Israeli police car, which escorted them back to safety. "We were going to drive to Tiberias through the Jericho bypass road. We turned left at Almog junction and saw a checkpoint"¦ the soldiers asked us where we were from, we told them...
Helicopters pound militants with 400-kilogram bombs at Nahr al-Bared
Hesham Shawish, Daily Star 8/20/2007
BEIRUT: Two Lebanese soldiers were fatally wounded by Fatah al-Islam snipers during gun battles on Saturday, as the conflict at the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in North Lebanon enters its third month. One of the soldiers was killed Saturday night by sniper fire and the second died on Sunday of his wounds. Their deaths bring to 138 the number of soldiers killed since the outbreak of violence on May 20. Snipers among the remaining militants have been firing on army troops from inside buildings and wreckage in the camp, an army source told The Daily Star on condition of anonymity. "You don't expect that there's somebody in these buildings," he said. Army reports said three Fatah al-Islam militants had been killed, although the exact number had not been confirmed, the source added.
Fadlallah calls for steering clear of inter-Arab conflicts
Daily Star 8/20/2007
BEIRUT: Senior Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah warned the Lebanese on Sunday against aligning with clashing Arab states, saying that this would be "dangerous to Lebanon because the current Arab political situation is full of contradictions." "The US is promoting Arab-Arab conflicts so as to push them to hold dialogue with Israel and normalize ties with this state," he said in a statement. Fadlallah said the Lebanese ought not to take part in conflicts among Arabs, "because this is likely to bring more divisions on the internal political level," and urged Lebanese to adopt a "milder" political rhetoric. "The political rhetoric in Lebanon has sunk to very low levels and instigated further tensions on the Lebanese political scene," he added.
Egyptian police forces find explosives cache near border with Gaza
The Associated Press, Ha'aretz 8/20/2007
Egyptian security forces found 500 kilograms of TNT explosives Sunday hidden in sacks near the country's border with the Gaza Strip, a police officer said. Police discovered the cache covered with bushes in northern Sinai after receiving a tip from local Bedouins, an official told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. He said Bedouins employed by local authorities then led police to the explosives stash near el-Toayel village, some 25 kilometers west of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Smuggling weapons, cigarettes, asylum and employment-seekers across the border into Gaza or Israel has long provided a livelihood for some Bedouin in the Sinai Peninsula. Israel has repeatedly accused Egypt of not doing enough to stop weapons smuggling into Gaza, particularly through tunnels.
Mufti calls on Riyadh to halt aid to South, Dahiyeh
Daily Star 8/20/2007
The Mufti of Mount Lebanon, Sheikh Mohammad Ali Juzu, urged on Sunday the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to stop its aid to residents of South Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs or Dahiyeh after strong comments from pro-Syrian politicians against Riyadh and its role in the Lebanese crisis. "We urge the kingdom to stop its assistance to people who don't have one atom of loyalty. These people don't deserve that we stand by them for their feelings of enmity toward us." He added that the kingdom has played an important role in Lebanon's history and honored residents of South Lebanon and Dahieyh, who had betrayed the Saudis to please the Syrian regime. Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest contributors to Lebanon's reconstruction process following last year's war with Israel.
Water reform efforts stuck in neutral as crisis looms
William Long, Daily Star 8/20/2007
BEIRUT: In an increasingly thirsty region, Lebanon remains unique when it comes to what has been described as the most important natural resource of the 21st century: water. Unlike most of its neighbors, not to mention the Middle East as a whole where only 1 percent of the world's renewable fresh water is located, Lebanon is blessed with average annual rainfall in excess of 800 million cubic meters. Above 2,000 meters, meaning the Mount Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges, that precipitation helps to sustain more than 2,000 springs during the seven-month long dry season. Added to this, Lebanon has an impressive river and underground aquifer network for such a comparatively small country - one that, significantly, rises and empties largely within national borders.
IRAQ: Conflict blamed for increase in number of sterile men
DVIC, IRIN - UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 8/20/2007
BAGHDAD, 19 August 2007 (IRIN) - Youssef Obeidi, 32, last week left Karada Hospital's family planning clinic with news that he will not be able to have children unless he undergoes lengthy treatment to reverse his sterility. Doctors told him that in war conditions, there is a higher chance men can become sterile. "For three years I have been blaming my wife because she couldn't get pregnant. But after a long examination in this clinic, a doctor said that she was fine and in perfect condition to become a mother. For this reason, I had to have myself checked," Obeidi said. "Initially I refused [to be tested] because in our Arab society it is a disgrace for any man to be sterile. But later my desire to become a father overcame this and I went to the clinic, where I learnt that I couldn't become a father because the low speed of my sperms cannot fertilize an ovule," he added.
Iraq parties agree on talks agenda
Al Jazeera 8/19/2007
Iraqi leaders have agreed on the agenda for a summit called by Nuri al-Maliki, the prime minister, in an effort to save his unity government, according to one of the state's vice-presidents. "The breakthrough came on the second day of preparatory talks involving the country's most senior political leaders," Tareq al-Hashemi said on Sunday. "We reached agreement on a number of issues. The most important is the agenda for the summit and who will attend the meeting," a statement said. On Sunday, the leaders held a fresh round of talks to find a political settlement. New alliance - The development cameafter the country's top Shia and Kurdish leaders formed a new political alliance on Thursday, but without Sunni leaders. The talks are being attended by Nuri al-Maliki, the prime minister who is Shia;...
Kouchner pays unexpected visit to Iraq as feuding leaders agree on summit agenda
Daily Star 8/20/2007
Iraq's fractious leaders on Sunday agreed on the agenda for a political summit called by embattled Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in a bid to salvage his crumbling unity government as the French foreign minister paid an unexpected visit to the beleaguered nation. The breakthrough came on the second day of preparatory talks involving the country's most senior political leaders, Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi said in a statement. "We reached agreement on a number of issues," the statement said. "The most important is the agenda for the summit and who will attend the meeting." Talks involving Maliki, Kurdish President Jalal Talabani, Hashemi, who is a Sunni, Shiite Vice President Adel Abdel Mahdi, and Masud Barzani, president of the northern Kurdish region, began on Saturday and continued into Sunday, an official from Talabani's office said.
Articles
ILA leasing Arab-owned land in J'lem to Ateret Cohanim
Meron Rapoport, Ha'aretz 8/19/2007
The Israel Lands Administration (ILA) is working together with the Ateret Cohanim association to wrest from Palestinian landowners control of 30 dunams (7.5 acres) of land in East Jerusalem and to transfer it to the association without a tender. Such is the claim outlined in a petition submitted two weeks ago to the High Court of Justice, and appearing in documents which Haaretz has received. Ateret Cohanim promotes settlement of Jews in and around the Old City, and at times takes over Palestinian assets in East Jerusalem so as to "Judaize" that area.
The land in question, an olive grove called Kerem Hamufti, is in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. From the documents received, it emerges that the ILA has signed a contract with Ateret Cohanim for "the agricultural cultivation" of the land, even though the association has no experience in such work. The documents indicate that the contract was signed even though the land that the ILA leased apparently does not belong to it and the Interior Ministry recognizes that the Palestinian landowners "have an interest" in it. A senior source at the ILA has said the contract was signed in order "to keep the territory in Jewish hands."
Land grab in East Jerusalem
Haaretz Editorial, Ha'aretz 8/19/2007
It is difficult to escape the sense that the Israel Lands Administration, a governmental body, worked hand in glove with the settlers' non-profit organization Ateret Cohanim to take control of the 30-dunam (7.5-acre) plot in East Jerusalem known as Kerem Hamufti. (See article by Meron Rapoport, Page 4.) This plot, one of the most expensive and desirable in East Jerusalem, is located on the slopes of the Sheikh Jarra neighborhood, facing the ridge of Mt. Scopus.
The area is named for the grand mufti of Jerusalem during the British Mandate, Hajj Amin al-Husseini, who aided the Nazis in the Second World War and whose family owned the land. After the Six-Day War, the government announced it intended to expropriate the land for public use, but it was only last March - nearly 40 years later - that the state carried out the expropriation, by force of an order issued by then finance minister Abraham Hirchson.
The conflict over the land is between the Arab Hotels Company, which argues that its claim to the land has been recognized, and the ILA, which leased the plot some years ago to Ateret Cohanim for "agricultural purposes."
Who is loony?
Gideon Levy, Ha'aretz 8/20/2007
Benjamin Netanyahu has once again demonstrated he is a political virtuoso. One may even start to suspect that he invented Moshe Feiglin. Talk is one thing - "we'll uproot Feiglin" - but the result is something else: The Feiglins helped reinvent the Likud Party leader. Now Netanyahu is portrayed exactly as he wished: as a moderate leader, responsible, enlightened and level-headed, as opposed to all those Feiglins. They are "loony," and he is a statesman; they are extreme, a foreign growth, and he is the next prime minister, who will bestow peace and security on Israel. Netanyahu should be grateful to the man who enabled him to deceive the media and the public.
Nonetheless, the question must be asked: What exactly is the difference between Netanyahu and Feiglin? How are Netanyahu's positions - while it's doubtful anyone knows exactly what they are - different from his rival's "extremist" positions? This question was not raised at all in the ridiculous Likud party primaries. The bitter truth is that Netanyahu is essentially no different than Feiglin. They are all Feiglins in the Likud. The difference lies only in the media coverage and the rhetoric.
Give them the Temple Mount
Akiva Eldar, Ha'aretz 8/19/2007
The good news is that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert recognizes that the only way to restore Mahmoud Abbas' stature, which Ariel Sharon stripped from him, is to translate the concept of "political horizon" into practical terms - i.e., into a document of principles for a final status agreement. The bad news is that Israel is sticking to the same basic conceptions that thwarted earlier attempts to deal with the "core issues" of borders, Jerusalem and the refugees.
Just like at the Camp David summit seven years ago, policy-makers today expect that the Palestinians will give up on the issues of the territory on which the settlement blocs are built, the Temple Mount and the right of return. Once more, the language being employed in the country is of a zero-sum game. Palestinian concessions mean an Israeli victory; Israeli concessions mean a Palestinian victory. Except the price may be much higher. The Gaza Strip's fall into the hands of Hamas may only be a "down payment" before the transfer of control over the towns of the West Bank - a mere five minutes from Kfar Sava, as they say - to the government of Hamastan.
Violence in God's name: the Islamists' debate
John L. Esposito, Daily Star 8/20/2007
Why is Islam such a violent religion? Does the Koran condone acts of terrorism? Why haven't Muslims denounced the 9/11 attacks and suicide bombing?
Whether in the media or public discussions, these are common and persistent questions. But, in fact, major Muslim religious leaders and Muslim organizations have and do speak out. The media tends not to find these fatwas (religious legal opinions) and statements newsworthy but they are available on the Internet.
Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, for example, Muhammad Abdul-Rashid, the most senior Muslim chaplain in the American armed forces, asked for a fatwa about whether American Muslim military could participate in the war in Afghanistan and in other Muslim countries. A group of prominent religious authorities concluded that "[a]ll Muslims ought to be united against all those who terrorize the innocents, and those who permit the killing of non-combatants without a justifiable reason," and that it was acceptable "to partake in the fighting in the upcoming battles, against whomever their country decides has perpetrated terrorism against them.
Islam, like other religions, distinguishes between legitimate and illegitimate acts of violence. The Koran does not advocate or condone illegitimate violence or terrorism. The Islamic tradition places extensive limits on the use of violence and rejects terrorism, hijackings and hostage taking. However, Muslims are permitted, indeed at times required, to defend their religion, their families and the Islamic community from aggression.
0 Have Your Say!:
Post a Comment