Six Palestinians killed in Israeli air raid over central Gaza
Ma'an News Agency 8/20/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – Six Palestinians were killed in an Israeli shelling of a car in central Gaza on Monday. Director of ambulances and emergencies in the Palestinian ministry of health, Dr Muawiya Hassanein, said that six corpses arrived at hospital. The bodies were charred and in pieces, said Dr Hassanein. Several other Palestinians were evacuated to Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital to be treated for moderate injuries. Spokesperson of the Israeli military said that the shelling targeted Palestinians who had fired missiles at Israeli locations from a nearby area of Gaza. Eyewitnesses reported that Israeli fighter jets launched four rockets at a car driven my members of Hamas' Qassam Brigades, two of whom work with the Executive Force, also of Hamas.
EU Commission decides to stop its support to Gaza Power Plant
International Middle East Media Center 8/21/2007
The European Commission decided on Monday to cut its financial support for the Gaza Power Plant, from Thursday until Monday, after it received information that Hamas movement, which controls the Gaza Strip, is receiving the benefits of the power plant. The Commission stated that Hamas carried measures which aim at transferring the profits of generating electricity to its own account. "We are ready and willing to resume our support to the power plant within hours", the Commission stated, "But we need guarantees that our aid is beneficial to the people". The EU Commission supported that power plant after the Israeli army shelled it in June 2006, and implemented an emergency program in order to maintain its facilities in order to keep providing the residents with power.
Hamas Bloc accuses Fayyad's government of cutting off power from Gaza
Palestinian Information Center 8/20/2007
GAZA, (PIC)-- The parliamentary Hamas affiliated "Change and Reform" Bloc accused Salaam Fayyad's unconstitutional government of instigating the EU not to provide the necessary fuel for the operation of Gaza electricity company." The scenario was prepared in Ramallah where Ryadh al-Maliki and Sadi al-Karnaz, the ministers of Fayyad's government, collaborated in the fabrication of charges and preparation for such incitement," MP Yahya Moussa said during a press conference held on Sunday. Yahya Moussa added: "They accused the executive force of collecting funds in its favor and of using these funds to finance the Palestinian resistance so as to instigate the Europeans and make them refrain from supplying the power plant with fuel,"He confirmed that the electricity company is a private company and its funds are deposited in its own bank accounts.
Three residents injured, one kidnapped in an invasion to Nablus
International Middle East Media Center 8/21/2007
The Palestinian News Agency WAFA reported on Monday at night that Israeli troops invaded the northern West Bank city of Nablus, shot and injured three residents and kidnapped one. Sources in Nablus reported that soldiers opened fire in several directions and surrounded a building in Aseer Street. Two residents identified as Fadi Khreem and Aseed Taha were injured by military fire, and one resident, identified as Abdullah Al Ekir was taken prisoner. Also, soldiers surrounded several buildings and demanded the residents to evacuate them prior to conducting military searches of homes and constructions. Army claims that the invasion was carried out in order to arrests members of the resistance. [end]
Israeli army attack Palestinian police officers in Hebron and kidnap one civilian
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 8/20/2007
An Israeli army force stopped a Palestinian police car as it patrolled the Palestinian Authority controlled area of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, on Monday. Israeli troops stopped the car and attacked the Palestinian officers. Witnesses stated that Israeli soldiers tried to confiscate the weapons of the police officers. In the nearby Yatta village, an Israeli force attacked and searched residents homes. During the three-hour-long search, Israeli soldiers kidnapped Wasfi Abu Taha, 28, form his home in Yatta, and took him to unknown detention camp. [end]
Jerusalemites stripped of residency rights
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 8/21/2007
Palestinians living in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem are being stripped of their rights at an alarmingly high rate, according to newly-released statistics. According to the new numbers released by Israel's Interior Ministry this week, the number of Palestinians who had their permanent residency status in Jerusalem revoked by Israeli authorities increased by six-fold this year. When the state of Israel was created in 1947, splitting Palestine in half to make a Jewish state on the western half, Jerusalem was designated as an international city under United Nations control. After Israel annexed the eastern side of Jerusalem in 1967 -- a move never recognized by the international community -- the Arab residents there were allowed to apply for full Israeli citizenship.
Large swaths of Gaza blacked out; the risk of collapse of health and other sectors threatens of a new humanitarian crisis
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, ReliefWeb 8/20/2007
Gaza's only power plant has completely cut power supplies after Israel's four-day closure of the border crossing through which fuel supplies enter the Strip and the European Union's freezing of funds. Gazans' already hard living conditions are expected to rapidly aggravate without proper power supplies. Israel, which has full control of Gaza's border crossings, has continued its policy of closure; a serious measure of collective punishment against Gaza. Since 2000, it tightened the closures, but has completely sealed off the Strip in June and imposed unprecedented restrictions on the movement of people and goods. Gazahas seen substantial shortage in food and other basic goods, and its economy is at the verge of full collapse. On 16 August 2007, Israelclosed the fuel crossing for alleged security reasons.
Gazans face the progressive collapse of their economy
United Nations World Food Programme - WFP, ReliefWeb 8/20/2007
Gaza, 20 August 2007 - Arnold Vercken, WFP Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, has warned of a progressive collapse of the Gazan economy as a result of border restrictions and a breakdown of services. Kirstie Campbell reports. It is mid-morning on Salahadeen Street, the main thoroughfare into Gaza from Israel. It is an ordinary weekday but the streets, which are normally vibrant and noisy, full of colour and emotion, are eerily quiet. The myriad militant groups who swarmed Gaza only two months before have vanished, replaced by a single Hamas force which has brought order back to its streets, even to its notorious traffic. But not everything is running so smoothly. The rotting piles of rubbish that line Gaza's streets are a quiet indicator of what lies beneath the surface.
Gazans battle blackouts as EU suspends fuel aid
Sakher Abu El Oun Agence France-Presse - AFP, ReliefWeb 8/20/2007
Gaza hummed with the sound of generators on a fourth day of power cuts on Monday as the European Union reviewed whether to resume paying for fuel of the impoverished territory's sole power plant. Candles disappeared from supermarket shelves as the coastal strip's residents stocked up on supplies in one of the world's most densely populated places where most people depend on outside aid for survival. "Our life is becoming more and more difficult," said Umm Jaber, a 40-year-old mother of six in Gaza City. "They've closed the borders, they've cut jobs. Today they've cut the electricity, tomorrow they'll cut the air for us." The power cuts were the latest blow to hit the territory that has been effectively sealed off by Israel since the Islamist Hamas movement seized control two months ago, sparking fears of a humanitarian crisis.
High Court presses state to recognize mosques as holy sites
Aviram Zino, YNetNews 8/20/2007
Court asks state to justify failure to recognize mosques as religious sites, provide maintenance funds - The High Court of Justice demanded Monday that the state explain its failure to recognize Muslim sites of worship and to funnel sufficient funds to preserve mosques in Israel. "Why shouldn't the National Authority of Religious Services respect the relevant laws and introduce ordinances to ensure that all Muslim religious sites in Israel are preserved? ," Justice Edmond Levy wrote in response to a petition against the state by the Arab advocacy center Adalah. During a hearing on the petition last month, the state argued that there was no need for new ordinances and vowed to earmark NIS 2 million (about $476,000) for the maintenance of mosques in Israel.
Second PLC deputy head resigns
Rashid Hilal, International Middle East Media Center 8/21/2007
Second Deputy Head of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), Hasan Khreisha, submitted his resignation on Monday in protest to the continuous obstruction of PLC sessions and conducts. Khreisha, who is an independent member of the Council and was supported by Hamas during the Legislative elections, stated in a press conference in Ramallah on Monday that he informed the first deputy head of the PLC, Dr. Ahmad Bahar of his decision. He called on all parliamentarian blocs to hold a PLC session in order to elect a new committee for the PLC. The PLC is suffering from political and legal crises as its legal mandate expired last March and was renewed by a request from Hamas for additional four months which ended in July. Hamas rejected a request from the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, to hold a new opening...
Hamas: Fatah security forces restart abduction campaign against Hamas members
Ameen Abu Warda, International Middle East Media Center 8/20/2007
Hamas sources have reported that abduction operations against its members are still ongoing and that the organization had been subjected to several attacks. Hamas stated that security forces in the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia kidnapped Hamas member Mohammad Abu Sayaf and confiscated his personal computer. In Boreen village, located in the West Bank City of Nablus, security forces abducted Ala' Qadoos twice on suspicion of involvement with Hamas. The Security force also abducted Ayman Al Sayeh. In northern West Bank city of Jenin, unknown gunmen stormed the Directorate of Education, and in Tubas the security force kidnapped Mohammad Nimer Bani Odeh. [end]
Israeli forces arrest 15 in West Bank
Ma'an News Agency 8/20/2007
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Fifteen Palestinians were arrested by Israeli forces in the West Bank on Monday morning. Israeli radio reported that the army made arrests in Tulkarem and Qalqilia in the northern West Bank, Ramallah in the central West Bank and Hebron in the south. Ma'an's reporter in Tulkarem quoted Palestinian security sources as saying that an Israeli infantry unit went into the eastern neighbourhood of the city besieging a house where two Fatah activists were stationed. They then stormed the house and arrested Fadi Matar, 25, and Muhammad Nassar, 19; both are classified as 'wanted. ' They also arrested a third Fatah operative, Firas Al Haroun, 26, at his home. The radio station also reported that Israeli forces arrested a Hamas activist in the city, Fadi Al Ammori 30.
Peace Now to IDF: Disclose costs of outpost evacuation
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 8/20/2007
Group claims army spending huge amounts of taxpayers' money on evacuation of illegal outposts in West BankPeace Now has recently demanded that the IDF disclose information regarding the costs of the recent evacuation of illegal West Bank settlements set up by right-wing activists, Ynet has learnt. In a letter sent to Central Command chief Maj-Gen Gadi Shamni, the group's director-general Yariv Oppenheimer said, "Peace Now has received dozens of eyewitness reports regarding the establishment of illegal outposts by settlers. I am asking that you work toward eradicating this phenomenon and provide the public with information on how much this activity is costing the State. Oppenheimer told Shamni that during the summer vacation many settler teens not only erect illegal outposts but also harass local Palestinians.
Hamas: Israel should be ready for strike's effects
Associated Press, YNetNews 8/20/2007
Spokesman for group's military wing says 'Zionist enemy will shoulder consequences of crime', says they have 'more dangerous weapons than rockets' - After six Hamas operatives were killed in an IDF airstrike Monday afternoon, the organization identified them as members of its military wing and implied that they would seek revenge. A spokesman for the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades described Israel's action as an "ugly Zionist massacre" and said "all options were open" for a response. "The Zionist enemy (Israel) is playing with fire and they will have to shoulder the responsibility for the consequences of this crime," Izz al-Din al-Qassam spokesman Abu Ubaida said. The vehicle, which Hamas said was hit as it arrived at a Hamas security post near the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, contained local Hamas commander Mohammed abu Arab.
Al Aqsa Brigades leader escapes Israeli assassination attempt
Ma'an News Agency 8/20/2007
Nablus – Ma'an – One of the most prominent leaders of the military wing of Fatah, the Al Aqsa Brigades, escaped death on Monday afternoon when an Israeli Special Force attempted to kill him in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Ma'an's correspondent reported that a huge military contingent, comprising more than 30 army vehicles, supported the Special Force which stormed Nablus. The Special Force besieged one of the buildings holding spokesperson of the Al Aqsa Brigades, Nassir Kharraz. Ma'an's correspondent reported that the Israeli forces blocked off Asira and Sikka streets and raided the Salhab building, west of the city. Kharraz said earlier to Ma'an that the Al Aqsa Brigades refuse to be influenced by the so-called 'wanted' list; he also accused the Palestinian Authority of using the list for manipulation.
Allied Palestinian brigades launch mortar shells at Israeli military post
Ma'an News Agency 8/20/2007
Bethlehem – Ma'an – The military wings of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP); the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, Fatah; the Al Aqsa Brigades, and the Popular Resistance Committees; the An Nasser Brigades, claimed responsibility on Monday for launching five mortar shells at the Israeli military post near Kisufim, bordering the Gaza Strip, in a combined operation. The military wing of Islamic Jihad, the Al Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility for launching three homemade projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot, bordering Gaza, on Monday afternoon. The brigades issued a statement declaring that the operation was "retaliation for Israeli crimes against Palestinians in the territories." [end]
The armed wings of the PFLP and the Islamic Jihad clash with Israeli undercover unit near Erez
Ma'an News Agency 8/20/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – The armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa brigades, and the Al-Quds brigades of Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for detonating an explosive device and clashing with an Israeli undercover force near the Erez crossing in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday. They said in a joint statement that the operation marks the continuation of joint resistance against Israeli occupation. [end]
Gunfire from Palestinian village towards Israeli settlement causes superficial damage
Ma'an News Agency 8/20/2007
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Israeli media sources reported that armed Palestinians shot from 'Azzun village, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, into the Israeli settlement of Ma'ale Shomron on Monday evening. The sources added that there were no casualties, but slight damages to some of the buildings in the settlement. Israeli forces have begun an investigation in the area. [end]
Egypt to continue supplying electricity to Gazans
Jerusalem Post 8/21/2007
Egypt declared Monday that it would continue to supply electricity to the Gaza Strip. The announcement followed a European Union decision to suspend fuel payments to the Gaza power plant out of suspicion that some electricity revenues could be going to Hamas. Egypt declared Monday that it would continue to supply electricity to the Gaza Strip. The announcement followed a European Union decision to suspend fuel payments to the Gaza power plant out of suspicion that some electricity revenues could be going to Hamas. "No one is permitted to deny the Palestinians the right to basic needs and Egypt is obligated to provide them," read a statement by Egyptian Foreign Ministry. Egypt declared Monday that it would continue to supply electricity to the Gaza Strip.
Israel to PA: Give W. Bank welfare or Hamas will win
Ha'aretz 8/21/2007
The Palestinian Authority must establish a strong welfare system in the West Bank to win elections and gain more support than Hamas, according to a plan formulated by a senior Israeli official. The proposal predicts a Hamas takeover in the West Bank within two years if the Fatah-dominated PA does not provide sufficient welfare to the population there. The plan, which was recently handed to senior Palestinian officials during a closed conference at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, was compiled by Rani Loewenstein, who is considered one of the closest Israeli officials to Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad and Israel's main liaison with the Palestinians on economic and financial affairs over the last five years. Senior American, Palestinian, Egyptian and Jordanian officials attended the conference, which was headed by Dennis Ross and David Makovsky.
Olmert and Abbas to meet next week
Ma'an News Agency 8/20/2007
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert is scheduled to meet with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas next week and again the following week, the Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv reported on Monday. The report said that Olmert wants to draw up a team of negotiators to continue working on major issues leading to the final status compromise. Ma'ariv reported that Israeli Vice Premier, Haim Ramon is most likely to be in charge of political negotiations with the Palestinians. The Israeli Prime Minister and the Palestinian President are also scheduled to take part in the Palestinian-Israeli business conference in Tel Aviv in October. The Quartet's Middle East commissioner, Tony Blair will also attend, along with dozens of Israeli and Palestinian businessmen. [end]
ISRAEL: Bedouins demand improved access to health care
Shabtai Gold, IRIN - UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 8/21/2007
A woman walks back home from a visit to the local clinic. In some cases, the clinics are located at great distances from residential areas, making access difficult - BEERSHEBA, 20 August 2007 (IRIN) - A new legal petition to Israel's High Court demands the state connect 11 primary health care clinics in the unrecognised Bedouin villages in the Negev desert to the main power grid in order to provide better health services. The clinics, which were established as a result of previous petitions, use generators, but only during opening hours. Afterwards, the electricity shuts off. This, attorney Sonia Boulos said, "violates the right to health and equality to which residents of the unrecognised villages in the Negev are entitled". Boulos, from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), filed the petition...
Ex-prisoner Lu'ay Al Ashkar leaves Israeli detention in a wheelchair
Maisa Abu Ghazala, International Middle East Media Center 8/20/2007
The lawyer for the ex-prisoner Lu'ay Al Ashakr has brought criminal charges against Israeli officials in the hope of gaining compensation for his client. Al Ashkar entered detention with full use of his legs, but after repeated torture was released paralyzed from the waist down. Bishara Jabali, Al Ashkar's lawyer, has initiated a lawsuit against the state of Israeli, the previous head of Shabak (Avy Dekhter), the current head of Shabak (Youval Desken) and the investigators of Shabak, asking for the compensation of his client. Al Ashkar, who was held for two years, was kidnapped from his home in April 2005 on suspicion of involvement in an explosion in Israel. After undergoing medical tests in prison which proved his good health, Al Ashkar sustained a broken back after being tortured for three consecutive days.
Cigarette ends found in prison food
Ameen Abu Wardeh, International Middle East Media Center 8/20/2007
The Nafah committee for Palestinian Prisoners' rights issued a report on Monday stating that Israeli soldiers manning the Howwara detention camp, located near Nablus city in the northern part of the West Bank, are dumping Cigarette ends in the food given to the Palestinian political detainees. According to reports the committee received from the detainees, the Israeli soldiers have previously dumped dirt, sand and human waster in the provided food. According to the committee, the food is usually unfit for human consumption, but that prisoners have no choice but to eat it as food brought by the families of detainees is not enough. On Monday, the Palestinian detainees in Howwara detention camp refused to take the daily meal in protest against its sub-standard quality.
Palestinian supreme judge condemns Israeli violations against Al-Aqsa mosque
Ma'an News Agency 8/20/2007
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Thirty eight years ago on tomorrow (Tuesday) marks the anniversary of the attempt to burn down one of the most revered symbols of the Islamic religion - the Al-Aqsa Mosque, opposite the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. On Tuesday 21st of August 1969 Dennis Michael Rohan, a non-Jewish tourist from Australia, set fire to the Salah Addin pulpit, and the platform of Prophet Zakariyya in addition to other parts of the mosque. The south east wing of the Mosque was gutted. When he was arrested Rohan said he wanted to burn down the Mosque so the Jewish Temple could be rebuilt on Temple Mount. In court he said he had been given "divine instructions" to commit the act to hasten the coming of the Messiah. Rohan was judged to be suffering from mental illness and was hospitalised before later being deported from Israel.
Groom arrested at his wedding
Ma'an News Agency 8/20/2007
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Israeli forces stormed into a wedding celebration in a village east of Bethlehem on Monday night and arrested the groom and his brother. Twenty-five-year-old Nawaf Suleyman Mubarak was receiving guests at his wedding in the village of Al Rashaidah when an Israeli military vehicle appeared and Nawaf and his brother, Mubarak, 30, were taken away. One of the villagers, Abu Atef, told Ma'an, "what happened is really sad. Why would a person be arrested at his wedding?" [end]
Israeli policewoman suspended for hitting Palestinians
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 8/20/2007
(VIDEO) Border Guard officer caught on film hitting Palestinian kids at military checkpoint; policewoman says children taunted her - VIDEO - A Border Guard policewoman was suspended after she was filmed hitting a Palestinian child at an IDF checkpoint along the separation fence by the Palestinian organization Palestine Monitor, which sent the footage to reporters. The brief film shows three Palestinians on a donkey cart approach the Israeli checkpoint. After an inaudible verbal exchange, the policewoman is seen hitting two of the Palestinians. Neither appeared to have been injured. During an initial investigation, the policewoman said she reacted violently after being taunted by the children. However, Border Guard officials stressed that officers were expected to remain calm and in control in every situation.
IOF troops kidnap branch manger of Nafha society in Qalqilya
Palestinian Information Center 8/20/2007
QALQILYA, (PIC)- A large number of the IOF troops stormed at dawn Monday the house of Zaki Dawoud, the branch manger of Nafha society for the defense of prisoners and human rights in the Qalqilya city, northern West Bank and took him to an unknown destination. In an official statement issued on Monday, the society condemned the recent arrest campaigns executed against hundreds of Palestinians which exceeded the number of those released by the IOA as a "goodwill gesture" to the PA President in Ramallah, where the IOF troops kidnapped more than 350 Palestinians within two weeks. The society also stated that the kidnapping of Dawoud comes in the framework of punishing anyone who seeks to expose the Israeli crimes against the Palestinian prisoners inside the Israeli jails.
OPT: Report No. 44 - Implementation of the agreement on movement and access, 25 Jul - 07 Aug 2007
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - OCHA, ReliefWeb 8/7/2007
1. Overall Progress: During the reporting period, Israel has allowed 5,166 Palestinians stranded in Egypt for two months to return to Gaza through Nitzana Border Crossing on the Israeli-Egyptian border and then by bus to enter Gaza via Erez Crossing. An unknown number of Palestinians such as students and medical patients are still unable to enter Egypt from Gaza at this time. Erez crossing remained open for a limited number of Palestinian senior traders, a limited number of medical cases and a small number of Palestinians working for international organizations. A single-lane conveyor belt at Karni Crossing was open for two days in this reporting period for the import of grains and animal feed with the crossing remaining closed for all other imports and exports.
Al Haq, Popular Campaign Against the Wall met with international diplomats in Ramallah
International Middle East Media Center 8/21/2007
The Al Haq Intuition, which is active in defending Human Rights, and the Popular Campaign Against the Wall, held on Monday a meeting with several representatives of international diplomatic missions in Ramallah, in the northern part of the West Bank, and informed them on the latest conditions in the Jordan Valley as Israeli continue to implement its plans which aim at removing the Palestinian residents from that area. The meeting was conducted at the office of South African representative in Ramallah. Jamal Jom'a, representative of the Popular Campaign, stated that Israel is ongoing with its settlement plans and annexation activities in order to force the residents out, especially from the Al Bqei'a valley. Also, Jom'a stated that dozens of residents received military orders to evacuate their homes since the army intends of demolish them.
Dahlan returns to the Palestinian territories
Ma'an News Agency 8/20/2007
Ramallah – Ma'an – The office of former Fatah strongman, Mohammad Dahlan, on Monday announced that he returned to the Palestinian territories after allegedly spending six weeks receiving medical treatment abroad. The office issued a statement announcing that "Dahlan is in good health and will be able to return to his duties and life as usual." For three months this year, Dahlan held the post of national security advisor and headed the Palestinian national security services. The services rapidly fell to Hamas during the recent infighting in Gaza and Dahlan resigned from his post. Some in Fatah have blamed Dahlan for the rapid fall of their forces in Gaza and saw his absence during the fighting as an abandonment of the forces in the field. Hamas has blamed Dahlan for its conflict with Fatah.
Hamas has no intention of establishing an Islamic state in Gaza, says Haniyeh
Ma'an News Agency 8/20/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – Deposed Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, on Monday denied accusations that Hamas intends to establish an Islamic Emirate or state in the Gaza Strip. In a telephone conversation with Saudi Prince Al Faisal, Haniyeh assured that the Hamas movement is committed to the unity of the country and the Mecca Agreement. Haniyeh also said that the deposed government is concerned about the internal situation. [end]
Palestinian ministrty of health send medicines to Gaza Strip
Ma'an News Agency 8/20/2007
Ramallah – Ma'an – Two shipments of much-needed medical aid have been sent to the Gaza Strip under the direction of the Palestinian Health Minister, Fathi Abu Maghli. The shipment was made in coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO). The director of public relations at the Ministry of Health, Omar An Nasr, said, "the shipment came as part of a series of shipments which have been sent to the Gaza Strip after Hamas took over." He explained that the shipment included important medicines for kidney diseases and other chronic diseases. [end]
Second Vice deputy-speaker of the PLC resigns from post
Rashid Hilal, International Middle East Media Center 8/20/2007
The second Vice Deputy Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Hassan Khreshah, resigned from his post on Monday in protest against the continuous obstruction of the democratic process. Khreshah announced his resignation at a press conference in the central West Bank City of Ramallah on Monday afternoon. Khreshah is an independent Palestinian parliamentarian, who was supported by Hamas during the 2006 Parliamentary elections. Khreshah's resignation deepens the political crisis faced by an administration whose legal term of office has already expired. While the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas recently called on Hamas to elect a new administrative committee for the PLC, the Hamas movement refused to do so. Hamas currently holds 75 of 120 seats in the PLC, making it the largest Parliamentray bloc.
IDF source: Army will no longer pay for 35 settlements' security
Ha'aretz 8/21/2007
The Israel Defense Forces does not intend to renew its contract with some 170 security guards in West Bank settlements, military sources told Haaretz on Monday. The Israel Defense Forces currently holds contracts until the end of 2007 with employed civilian guards who provide security for 35 settlements. The IDF had hired up to eight guards in each settlement, usually residents of that settlement, the sources said. Guards patrolled the settlements' boundaries and constituted the communities' first line of defense in terror attacks. Guards were trained by the IDF via a program known as "Fortress," and received military equipment as well as full salaries and benefits. An officer in the IDF Central Command explained that the defense establishment is not interested in renewing the contracts because that would oblige the Defense Ministry to make the Fortress guards permanent employees.
Court demands state set up body to address risk of Dead Sea flooding
Irit Rosenblum, Ha'aretz 8/20/2007
The High Court of Justice has ordered the State to submit within 60 days a revised plan for dealing with the danger of flooding of Dead Sea hotels. The court said the plan must include the establishment of a specially designated administration. In the petition, the Dead Sea Hotel Association claimed that the State was responsible for dealing with a potential crisis, because it had encouraged the construction of the hotel area, despite predictions that sea level may rise due to the industrial activity at the Dead Sea Works. It also claimed that the State had failed to abide by its own schedule - even though the adequate budget had been allotted - and to promote a long-term solution to the matter. To date, an administration has not been established and a professional project manager has not been appointed.
PLO factions discuss Nablus situation
Ma'an News Agency 8/20/2007
Nablus – Ma'an – Faction members of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) on Monday convened to discuss the situation in Nablus and the daily Israeli incursions into the area. The factions also addressed the rises in prices of basic goods and products, such as bread and transportation fares. The meeting appealed to the Palestinian government to support the stationary prices of basic goods, especially in the period preceding the beginning of the school year and Ramadan. [end]
IDF mulls spending plan
Aryeh Egozy, YNetNews 8/20/2007
Army's general staff will discuss spending budgets as Air Force, Navy, and Ground Forces prepare to grapple over their slice of the pie - The IDF General Staff will convene a week-long workshop on Monday to discuss its long-term and short-term spending budgets, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Monday. The Air Force, Navy and Ground Forces will grapple over NIS 50 billion (about $12 billion) earmarked for the defense establishment for 2008, with each of the armed forces wanting to secure enough funds for new purchases. The Air Force wants to purchase about 100 F-35 aircraft in addition to expanding its cargo aircraft fleet and replenishing its stockpile of satellite-guided bombs that were exhausted during last summer's war with Hizbullah.
Knesset speaker apologizes to Shoah survivors on State's behalf
Amnon Meranda, YNetNews 8/20/2007
'Israel demanded reparation funds from Germany, but did not allocate them in a just and logical manner,' Dalia Itzik says. MK Pines-Paz: According to the deal, if Anne Frank were alive today she would not have been recognized as a Holocaust survivor - Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik apologized Monday to Holocaust survivors on behalf of the State for neglecting their needs over the past few decades. During a special Knesset session held following Sunday's agreement between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the survivors' representatives, Itzik said, " Israel demanded reparation funds from Germany, but did not allocate them in a just and logical manner to those who needed them. "We are here to rectify the situation so that we may be able to look into the survivors' eyes, and tell them on behalf of Israeli society - 'We apologize'," she said.
Interpol chief in Israel suspected of fraud, breach of trust
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 8/20/2007
Police investigating whether local Interpol head helped criminals get US visas, received valuable relics as perks - Head of the Interpol branch in Israel, Chief Superintendent Asher Ben-Artzi, was recently sent on forced leave after an investigation was launched against him on suspicion of fraud and breach of trust. The Police Investigation Unit is examining whether Ben-Artzi used his connections at the American consulate to assist criminals receive visas to the United States. The unit is also looking into suspicions that the local Interpol chief received valuable relics as perks. The Police Investigation Unit confirmed that a probe was being carried out against Ben-Artzi. Police officials added that in addition to the investigation, disciplinary measures may be taken against him.
"Converting non-Jews vital for Israel's future"
Ynet, YNetNews 8/20/2007
Immigration and Absorption Ministry recommends establishment of new conversion authority in attempt to help olim complete conversion process, encourage an increase in applicants - The establishment of a new conversion authority was recommended by the Immigration and Absorption Ministry as the solution to help thousands of immigrants convert to Judaism each year. The ministry made its recommendation in a report sent to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Monday. The recommendations included adding more rabbinical judges to conversion courts, removing bureaucratic obstructions, and introducing a special committee headed by the Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, to deal with halachic issues. Presently, Israel is home to about 300,000 immigrants who arrived in the country under the Law of Return, but are not defined as Jews according to the halacha.
Barak disappointed by 'minimalist' defense budget
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 8/20/2007
Defense minister says Israel needs to increase its weapon inventories, boost its force order; tells reporters he intends to set up two new divisions - The "minimalist budget" allocated for Israel's future defense needs "does not match the strategic reality of the region," Defense Minister Ehud Barak told reporters Monday. Barak said that since beginning his stint as defense minister, he has noted with disappointment many "problems with inventory, force order and long-term standing ability, due to continuous budget cuts throughout the years." Barak stated he believed that Israel should build a missile interception system that would provide a defensive shield to most areas of the country. According to the defense minister, such a system could be erected within three to five years, and prevent most missiles fired at Israel from reaching their targets.
Barak: I was flabbergasted by state of IDF
Jerusalem Post 8/21/2007
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Monday that upon his arrival at the start of his new post some two months ago he was flabbergasted by certain aspects of IDF supplies, the organization of the forces and the "stamina" of the army and the defense establishment. Barak told military reporters that the flaws were a result of budget cuts made in recent years by those opposed to "the current strategic reality being created in the Middle East." Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Monday that upon his arrival at the start of his new post some two months ago he was flabbergasted by certain aspects of IDF supplies, the organization of the forces and the "stamina" of the army and the defense establishment. Barak told military reporters that the flaws were a result of budget cuts made in recent years by those opposed to "the current strategic reality being created in the Middle East.
IDF to probe commander's alleged abuse of troops
Ha'aretz 8/21/2007
The Military Advocate General (MAG) Monday ordered an investigation into allegations that a platoon commander had abused his troops. One of the accusations levelled at the staff sergeant was that he ordered a soldier to put gravel in his underpants and rub it in "to simulate the pain of a wound." The staff sergeant was sentenced by his commander to 28 days in prison for inappropriate behavior. Another 28-day sentence against him for violence was annuled following the decision to open a Military Police probe into the affair. A military spokesman said Monday that the staff sergeant's behavior was antithetical to the IDF's spirit, its values and the chief of staff's commands, saying the IDF will take action to uproot such behavior wherever it occurs. The spokesman said the army condemned any soldier who resorted to violence or abuse...
EU: Funding of Gaza fuel depends on Hamas
Associated Press, YNetNews 8/20/2007
EU says won't finance fuel deliveries without guarantees that Hamas will stop 'diverting' electricity revenues, drop plans to introduce electricity tax - The European Union said Monday it would resume the financing of fuel deliveries to Gaza only when it gets assurances that Hamas will "divert" electricity revenues and not introduce taxes on electricity bills. Power was cut in parts of the Gaza Strip on Sunday after the EU halted funding for fuel deliveries to the impoverished territory's sole power plant. On Monday, the organization said the payments wouldn't resume because it had received word that Hamas was "diverting" electricity revenues. "We are ready to resume our support to the Gaza power plant within hours once we receive the appropriate assurances that all the funds will be exclusively used for...
Following security concerns, European Commission interrupts support for the delivery of fuel to Gaza Power Plant
European Commission - EC, ReliefWeb 8/20/2007
Following security concerns in North Gaza last week, the European Commission decided to interrupt the support for the delivery of fuel to the Gaza Power Plant between Thursday and Sunday. In the meantime, the European Commission received information indicating that steps were being taken by Hamas to divert part of the revenues deriving from the production of electricity in Gaza. We are extremely concerned about this and are carefully verifying the situation. We are ready to resume our support to the Gaza Power Plant within hours once we receive the appropriate assurances that all the funds will be exclusively used for the benefit of the Gaza population. EU external aid, in Palestine as well as all over the world, is directed at relieving suffering of populations in need.
As Gaza falls into darkness, Hamas and Fatah exchange accusations
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 8/20/2007
As of Sunday, the only power plant supplying the Gaza strip with electricity ceased functioning, leaving 50% of the coastal region with no power. In the aftermath of the blackout, Hamas and Fatah have done little but trade accusations, each blaming the other for the power cut. The Gaza power plant produces between 25% and 30% of the needed electiricty in the coastal region, with the rest coming from Israel and Egypt. The plant was forced to shut down all its generators on Sunday after the EU, which provides the fuel for the plant, ceased funding the operation.... During a press conference in Gaza City, Yihia Mussa, a Hamas parliamentarian, told reporters that the Abbas-appointed government has lied to the EU, telling the body that Hamas controls the plant and is collecting money from the residents that is used...
Palestinian information minister claims Israel will cease pursuit of many 'wanted' Palestinians
Ma'an News Agency 8/20/2007
Ramallah – Ma'an – Palestinian Information Minister, Riyad Al Maliki, on Monday announced that Israel has agreed to end its pursuit of several of the Palestinians on its 'wanted' list. However, Israel refuses to grant amnesty to the remainder of the list which contains 210 Palestinians. During a press conference in Ramallah, Maliki said that Palestinians from the Gaza Strip who intend to make the pilgrimage for the Muslim holiday of Hajj to Mecca in Saudi Arabia this year should register their names at the ministry of Awqaf (religious heritage). Regarding the electricity crisis in Gaza, Maliki said "it is still on". He added that the government is waiting for a decision from the EU regarding funding for the Gaza electric company. Maliki also revealed that his budget for this year will be $2,668,000,000 US, and comes mostly from foreign aid.
PFLP leader meets delegation from the Islamic Movement in Israel
Ma'an News Agency 8/20/2007
Ramallah – Ma'an – Deputy Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Abdulrahim Mallouh, met with a delegation from the Islamic Movement in Israel, headed by Sheikh Sarsour, in Ramallah on Monday. Mallouh commended the work of the Islamic Movement in Israel and the efforts to bridge the divide between Palestinian factions. During the meeting, Mallouh urged the Hamas movement to return the Palestinian situation to its state prior to Hamas establishing control over the Gaza Strip on the 14th June." The end of the crisis in the Palestinian arena requires Hamas to back down and return things in the strip to the way they were," said Mallouh. [end]
Syrian newspaper: US pushing Israel to war
Roee Nahmias, YNetNews 8/20/2007
Baath mouthpiece Tishrin daily says US preventing Israel from restarting peace talks with Syria, pushing Jerusalem to war with Damascus 'after last year's defeat at hands of Hizbullah' - A Syrian newspaper accused the United States on Monday of pushing Israel to war with Syria. Tishrin, the mouthpiece of the ruling Baath Party,held Israel and the United States responsible for instability in the Middle East. "Even if Israel is not directly responsible for the daily killings, tragedies, and war crimes in the region, it is an accomplice to those," the daily wrote in its editorial. The newspaper slammed Washington's decision to boost military aid to Israel whom it promised $30 billion over the next 10 years. "American aid to Israel comes at a time when it is not only rejecting peace but also threatening...
Hundreds of Tunisian intellectuals protest newspaper's participation in Israeli competition
Ma'an News Agency 8/20/2007
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Hundreds of Tunisian jurists and intellectuals have condemned the participation of a Tunisian newspaper in a competition for children organised by an Israeli centre. They threaten to legally challenge what they describe as "symbols of normalization with the Israel." This competition, called "The World's Children and Picasso's Dove of Peace", is being organised by the Leo Safeer institution which is part of the Israeli Shimon Peres centre for peace. The competition is for children to express their opinions about peace in newspaper articles, taking their inspiration from Picasso's painting, "Dove of Peace". Signatories to a petition protesting against the Tunisian newspaper's participation in the competition include the secondary and elementary education unions, the popular resistance...
UNIFIL unwilling to monitor Syrian border, Israeli officials say
Compiled by, Daily Star 8/21/2007
The international community is not interested in monitoring the Lebanese-Syrian border "due to sensitivity near the border," a senior Israeli official told Yediot Ahronot's Web site Ynetnews. "At the moment, the donor countries don't want to expand UNIFIL's mandate beyond the area where they are deployed in southern Lebanon. This does not necessarily have to do with [Lebanese Premier Fouad] Siniora's willingness or unwillingness, but with their willingness. They do not want it due to the sensitivity of the border area," the Israeli source said. This week, the United Nations Security 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 Siniora to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Quoting the...
Most Sderot schools unfortified
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 8/20/2007
Hundreds of local children not enrolled in schools due to fear of Qassam rockets - Only four out of nine schools in Sderot have been completely fortified, despite an order by the High Court of Justice to complete the fortification of all schools in the town by the beginning of the school year. As a result, many of Sderot's children have not enrolled in the town's schools due to the threat of Qassam rockets. According to Miriam Sasi, head of the education department at the Sderot Municipality, hundreds of names have "disappeared" from the municipality's student records since last year. "It's two weeks before the beginning of the school year, and there are still many students that finished kindergarten but have not yet enrolled in first grade," Sasi said.
Hamas men killed in Gaza airstrike
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 8/20/2007
IAF missile hits car in central Gaza containing Qassam-launching cell; six operatives killed, Palestinian medical sources say - A missile fired from an Israeli aircraft killed six Hamas operatives travelling in a car in central Gaza on Monday, Palestinian officials said. The military said they had been targeted as participants in terror activities. The vehicle was leaving a Hamas military installation when it was targeted by Israeli aircraft, said Dr. Muawiya Hassanin of the Palestinian Health Ministry. Hamas members reported earlier that the car was hit as it approached a Hamas security post. According to the IDF spokesperson's office, the occupants of the car were members of a rocket-launching cell that had fired a Qassam and a number of mortar shells towards Gaza vicinity communities earlier the same day.
Palestine Today 082007
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 8/20/2007
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file - || File 3. 66MB || Time 4m 0s || - Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www. imemc. org, for Monday August 20th, 2007. In the West Bank, Israeli forces invade a number of areas, kidnapping at least 15 Palestinians. In the Gaza Strip, meanwhile, The European Union has indicated that it will resume the funding of fuel for the region's only Power Plant, but only if it receives assurances that Hamas will not impose taxes on electricity bills. These stories and more coming up. Stay tuned. The West Bank - The Israeli army stormed several areas of the West Bank on Monday morning, kidnapping 15 Palestinians. Israeli forces invaded the Tulkarem, Bethlehem and Qalqiliya areas, ransacking homes and forcing residents to leave while searching for so-called "wanted Palestinians".
Return to Gaza
Jane Corbin, BBC Online 8/20/2007
The big green banner with its cheery message hung across the dusty street: "No more threat for our foreign visitors and guests." I was being driven through Gaza City with a bodyguard provided by Hamas, the group that now controls this place. They wanted to reassure me and my Panorama colleagues Darren Kemp and Jonathan Young that the fate of our colleague Alan Johnston was not in store for us. Alan had been released a few weeks before after being kidnapped by a local clan. We soon found ourselves at a Hamas training session in the middle of a scarily realistic kidnap scenario. Screeching tyres and blasts of live fire swirled around us as the Executive Force demonstrated how they rescue kidnap victims. Calmer streets - The armed wing of Hamas is better known for its suicide bombers, who have killed more than 100 Israeli civilians.
Islamic Jihad: Fayyad's agenda tends to terminate the Palestinian cause
Palestinian Information Center 8/20/2007
GAZA, (PIC)-- Islamic Jihad movement strongly criticized the political program of Salam Fayyad's unconstitutional government, saying "it tends to liquidate and terminate the Palestinian cause." "The political agenda of this government is moving towards liquidation and termination of the Palestinian cause in a way which does not serve the aspirations of the Palestinian people, and its practices in the West Bank would not help heal the inter-Palestinian rift," Khader Habib, an Islamic Jihad leader stated. Regarding the suspension of thousands of civil servants' salaries by Fayyad's government, Habib stated that this measure serves to consolidate the state of division and fragmentation within the Palestinian ranks. With regard to the international conference called for by the American president, he said: "We are aware of the true intentions of the American administration against our people..."
Ezra urges cellular phone ban on trains and buses
Jerusalem Post 8/20/2007
Environmental Protection Minister Gideon Ezra on Monday urged Transportation Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer to ban the use of cellular phones on the first carriage of trains and on the front half of buses. Environmental Protection Minister Gideon Ezra on Monday urged Transportation Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer to ban the use of cellular phones on the first carriage of trains and on the front half of buses. A report compiled by the Environmental Protection Ministry claimed radiation emissions from the phones endangered the health of passengers. Environmental Protection Minister Gideon Ezra on Monday urged Transportation Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer to ban the use of cellular phones on the first carriage of trains and on the front half of buses.
High school teachers threaten strike on September 2
Moran Zelikovich, YNetNews 8/20/2007
Head of secondary school teachers' association informs teachers across country school year will not open as planned due to Finance Ministry's failure to meet organization's demands - After negotiations between representatives of the Secondary School Teacher Association and the Finance and Education Ministries derailed Monday, head of the association Ran Erez sent a letter to the teachers informing them that the school year will not open as planned on September 2. In his letter, Erez noted that despite countless meetings between the two sides, the Finance Ministry has ignored almost all the demands presented by the teachers regarding wages and employment conditions, including those that did not involve substantial funding. Erez's message was sent to all secondary school teachers by email, and some received instant messages to their cellular phones.
Fischer: No drama
Ran Rimon, Globes Online 8/20/2007
The Bank of Israel Governor says the losses in the US since the crisis broke were predictable. Governor of the Bank of Israel Prof. Stanley Fischer has moved to reassure the markets. Speaking at a press conference this morning he said, "I have called this press conference in light of recent events. Although I don't have a dramatic announcement to make, my goal is to explain how events overseas will affect us. "The volatility began, as everyone knows, with the sub-prime crisis," continued Fischer, who knows the American market well from his days as chairman of the IMF and as a senior economist in the US. "Once the problems started, it was predictable that there should be losses in the US. "The mortgages should have had a small impact. The problem began because nobody knew who exactly was holding them.
Mon: TASE stumbles at close
Roy Meltzer, Globes Online 8/20/2007
A weak opening on Wall Street caused the TASE to lose ground, with the Tel Aviv 25 index down 0. 2%. The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) fell today. The Tel Aviv 25 index fell 0. 19% to 1054. 44 points, the Tel Aviv 100 fell 0. 10% to 1025. 91 points, but the Tel-Tech rose 0. 79% to 401. 18 points. Turnover was NIS 1. 91 billion. A good start to the week on most Asian and European markets gave the TASE a boost today, but the market made a U-turn in afternoon trading, and weak opening on Wall Street finally sent the TASE into negative territory. In the foreign currency market, the shekel appreciated 0. 85% against the dollar to NIS 4. 202/$, a six-week low for the exchange rate, and appreciated 0. 4% against the euro to NIS 5. 6672/€. In the stock market, the usual cohort had the day's largest trading volumes.
3 Japanese firms sue Israeli businessman over alleged fraud
Yitzhak Danon, Globes Online 8/20/2007
The respondent allegedly stole millions of shekels through fictitious transactions. Three Japanese and Singaporean companies, one a public company in Japan, have filed a NIS 19. 5 million lawsuit with the Tel Aviv District Court against Israeli businessman Moshe Haimov. The companies claim that Haimov presented himself as having extensive business ties in Russia and other countries, and that he carried out a sting operation against them, which netted him several million dollars by creating fictitious diamonds transactions. Haimov is a scion of a well-known family of diamond merchants. The petitioners claim that Haimov presented himself as being involved in Russia's gold and oil industries, as well as in diamond transactions in Europe, and as the controlling shareholder in US corporations worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Study: 25,000 high-tech workers left for U.S. in last seven years
Ido Solomon, Ha'aretz 8/20/2007
Roughly 25,000 high-tech workers have left Israel in the last seven years to work in electronics and software companies in the United States, according to Shraga Brosh, president of the Manufacturers Association of Israel. Brosh reached the number through an analysis of emigration data, Shalem Center research, information from lawyers helping Israelis secure work permits abroad and figures supplied by high-tech companies. According to Brosh, the reason for the brain drain is the continuous slash in government budgets for research and development. Economists from the Manufacturers Association estimate that the loss of knowledge from human resources costs Israel approximately NIS 6. 5 billion each year." The continuous cutting of NIS 4. 5 billion, since 2000, in research and development has caused a number...
Severe pollution suspected at Tel Aviv rail station
Dalia Tal, Globes Online 8/20/2007
Passengers at the Hashalom station are exposed to several sources of pollution, including the Ayalon Highway. Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians are exposed daily to severe air pollution at the Hashalom train station adjacent to the Azrieli Towers in Tel Aviv, the Ministry of the Environment fears. The ministry's concerns are due to the train station's closed structure over the Ayalon Highway, which is used by hundreds of thousands of vehicles daily and which emit multiple pollutants into the air. In addition, locomotives also emit air pollution, which is trapped within the building. The Ministry of the Environment says it has received numerous complaints from soldiers and civilians worried out air pollution at the train station.
Paramedics attacked in Akko's old city
Ahiya Raved, YNetNews 8/20/2007
Residents assault medical team that arrived in response to emergency call, prevent them from entering patient's home and steal medical gear. Patient died on way to hospital - An emergency Magen David Adom medical team was attacked by residents of Akko's old city Monday afternoon, while on their way to help a man who had collapsed at home. The assailants blocked the paramedics from entering his home and stole medical equipment. Although the gear was returned following the intervention of the sick man's family, the patient died on the way to the hospital in Nahariya. Paramedics Yuval Sabag and Alon Horesh arrived at the 46-year-old man's house after family members placed an emergency call, saying that he had collapsed. "When we got out of the ambulance, we were surrounded, cursed at, spit on and pushed," recalled Sabag.
Evidence suggests that people who attend synagogue live longer
Ofri Ilani, Ha'aretz 8/20/2007
Adults who attend synagogue regularly live longer than their peers who do not attend synagogue, according to a recently published study carried out by researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The research, conducted by Professor Howard Litwin of the university's Israel Gerontological Data Center (IGDC), was published in The European Journal of Aging. The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between social interaction and longevity. Litwin heads the IGDC, which was established with support from the Central Bureau of Statistics with the objective of researching aging in Israel. The study was based on a Bureau of Statistics survey conducted in 1997, for which 5,000 Israeli men and women aged 60 and above were interviewed about their way of life.
Army steps up siege of Nahr al-Bared, former general assures militants are 'doomed'
Michael Bluhm, Daily Star 8/21/2007
BEIRUT: The battle at the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in North Lebanon reached the three-month mark on Monday with more air raids and intense clashes between the Lebanese Army and Fatah al-Islam, as the army continued to step up its offensive to finish off the remaining militants. Two soldiers died on Monday, while the judiciary filed charges against more than 220 people allegedly connected to Fatah al-Islam, including 119 individuals still at large. Palestinian demonstrators and political leaders also drew attention to plight of Nahr al-Bared residents and the looming reconstruction of the camp. Inside the wreckage of the camp, army helicopters made numerous sorties to drop 400-kilogram bombs aimed at suspected Fatah al-Islam underground bunkers, said a report from the National News Agency (NNA).
Hezbollah defiant a year after war
Andrew North, BBC Online 8/20/2007
BBC News, Beirut - What is Hezbollah up to one year on from its war with Israel? It is a question many are asking both inside and outside Lebanon. Even more so after its leader Hassan Nasrallah promised Israel was in for a "big surprise" if it attacked again - one which would change the course of any war and the whole Middle East. Newspapers have been asking if Hezbollah now has new anti-aircraft weaponry to shoot down Israel's warplanes - or even if it has acquired some kind of chemical weapons capability from its two main sponsors - Syria and Iran. Or is Mr Nasrallah's "big surprise" just bluster? Given his past record for doing what he says, and following Hezbollah's success in resisting the might of Israel's US-backed forces in last year's fighting - forging its reputation as...
March 14 vows to block foreign bid to pick president
Mirella Hodeib, Daily Star 8/21/2007
BEIRUT: Christian members of the March 14 Forces consecrated themselves as the best Christian authority to decide on the identity of Lebanon's next president. "The March 14 Christians form a Christian authority that would have a basic and active role in electing a new president for Lebanon," Lebanese Forces (LF) MP Elie Kayrouz, who read the meeting's minutes, told reporters after six consecutive hours of deliberations. The large-scale meeting of 29 Christian March 14 memberswas held at the residence of LF leader Samir Geagea in Maarab to examine the September 25 presidential election, in addition to name the official March 14 Forces candidate, and the formation of a committee responsible of discussing the election with other Lebanese groups, including the opposition.
Iraqi leader in Syria for talks
Al Jazeera 8/20/2007
Iraq's prime minister arrived in Syria on Monday to discuss trade, security and refugees, marking his first trip to the neighbouring country since he took office early last year. Nuri al-Maliki will meet Bashar al-Assad, Syria's president; Faruq al-Shara, vice-president; and Walid Muallem, foreign minister, during his three-day visit. Al-Maliki's visit comes after he visited Iran earlier this month. Both Tehran and Damascus have been accused by the US of fuelling violence in Iraq. Iraq and Syria restored diplomatic ties in November after a 26-year break over Syria's support for Iran in its eight-year war with Iraq. The talks will examine resuming commercial agreements made prior to the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, the reopening of an oil pipeline between the two countries, and security issues.
Iraq governor dies in bomb attack
Al Jazeera 8/20/2007
An Iraqi governor has died in a roadside bomb attack, the second assassination of a provincial leader in nine days. Mohammed Ali al-Hassani, governor of al-Muthana province, died when the blast hit his convoy in the provincial capital Samawa at about 8am (0400GMT) on Monday, said Zaman Hadi, head of security at the city's general hospital. One of the governor's bodyguards also died in the blast, with two more seriously injured, according to police reports. Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, called for Iraqis to exercise restraint, saying the perpetrators were seeking to "drown the province in chaos". Meanwhile, in Baghdad, a bomb planted in a parked car killed five people and wounded 20 more in the Shia-dominated Sadr City area.
Egypt Brotherhood's trial resumes amid fresh arrests
Middle East Online 8/20/2007
CAIRO - The military trial of 40 members of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood on charges of money-laundering and financing a banned organisation resumed on Sunday amid a continuing clampdown on the movement. Police have arrested at least 34 other members of Egypt's main opposition movement over the past two days, feeding accusations that the politically charged trial is part of a broader policy of silencing the powerful group. Police arrested 18 Muslim Brothers in towns north of Cairo on Sunday, having already detained 16 leading members in another swoop in the capital on Friday. "There's only one explanation for this oppression, it's the sign of a faltering regime that is riven with corruption," the Brotherhood's supreme guide Mohammed Mehdi Akef said.
Iran's Ahmadinejad plans to visit Iraq
Middle East Online 8/20/2007
TEHRAN - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is planning to make his first visit to Iraq, the highest level trip by an Iranian leader since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki invited Ahmadinejad after he visited Tehran earlier this month, the ISNA student news agency reported. "This invitation has been accepted and the preparation is underway. When the trip becomes definite we will make an announcement," Mottaki said in Iran's holy second city of Mashhad late on Sunday. Mottaki visited Iraq himself in May 2006 while Iran's top national security official Ali Larijani travelled to the conflict-torn country in April 2007. However neither Ahmadinejad nor his predecessor Mohammad Khatami have visited Iraq since the toppling of Saddam in 2003.
US officer tried over Abu Ghraib
BBC Online 8/20/2007
The court martial of the only US Army officer charged over the abuse scandal at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison has begun, but two key counts have been dismissed. Lt-Col Steven Jordan, 51, is accused of cruelty to detainees and dereliction of duty. Charges of lying on oath and making a false statement were dropped. The inquiry was triggered by pictures of US soldiers humiliating and abusing Iraqi prisoners in 2003 and 2004. Lt-Col Jordan has pleaded innocent and says he is being used as a scapegoat. If convicted on all charges, he faces a maximum penalty of eight and a half years in prison. Two of the most serious charges against him were dismissed after an investigating officer told the court he had not read Lt-Col Jordan his rights during a 2004 interview.
War without end, but an entertaining one
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 8/21/2007
LOS ANGELES: Encouraged by widespread opposition to the conflict in Iraq, Hollywood filmmakers are preparing to unleash an unprecedented wave of war movies on cinema-goers. In a notable break with the past - where anti-war films were released several years after the conflict in question - a whole new genre has been created even while US troops remain on the front lines of the so-called "War on Terror." The release in the United States next month of "In the Valley of Elah," a gritty drama from Oscar-winning director Paul Haggis about the murder of an Iraq-war veteran, signals the start of the onslaught. The film is one of several that is going to test the willingness of movie-goers to embrace dramas about sensitive subjects such as post-September 11 security and the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Articles
"We will replant these trees again"
Anne Paq, International Middle East Media Center 8/20/2007
Resisting the ongoing Nakba: the story of Artas
Visitors of Artas are amazed by the beauty of this small village located South-East of Bethlehem. Artas is renowned for its water sources and fertile lands that run throughout the valley covered by greenhouses and trees. It has around 4,000 inhabitants and hosts and annual Lettuce Festival.
Artas, however, is also located close to the ever-expanding Gush Etzion settlement bloc and the route of the Wall. Last year, construction started on the hills surrounding Artas. In May this year, inhabitants discovered with concerns that the bulldozers were moving increasingly down, in the direction of the valley. The first land threatened with confiscation and destruction was a plot covered with beautiful apricot trees belonging to the Abu Sway family.
Unofficial information was disclosed to the family according to which the land would be confiscated and all the trees uprooted in order to build a sewage facility for the nearby settlements. It has also become increasingly obvious that the Wall would be built in this location. Construction of the illegal Wall and its associated regime, combined with the expansion of the settlements at the mouth of the valley and surrounding hills, will be a disaster for the whole village of Artas. It will not only entail more confiscation and pollution of agricultural lands, but also the destruction of a beautiful landscape and important natural heritage.
Miss C.
Uri Avnery, MIFTAH 8/20/2007
INTRODUCING Miss Calculatsia, that fashionable foreigner, the new star in Israeli discourse.
To a Hebrew ear, she sounds like a young beauty, like "Miss Israel". But Miss-Calculatsia, the Hebrew version of "miscalculation", is neither young nor beautiful, nor even female: just another pretentious foreign word taking the place of a perfectly good Hebrew one.
(In Latin, "calculus" is a small stone. These were built into the abacus, which was used by the Romans long before they ever dreamed of computers.)
The miscalculation spoken of is not a beauty queen, but a queen of ugliness: a war between Israel and Syria that may break out any minute - not because Israel wants it, nor the Syrians, but because one side misjudges a provocative act that will push the other into war.
Like all wars, it will be a campaign of death and destruction, with bereavement and refugees, suffering and misery for both sides. And nobody can foresee how it will end.
ALMOST EVERY day the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense and their minions declare that Israel is not interested in war. Not at all. Perish the thought.
Why Israel?
Jason Kunin, ZNet 8/19/2007
In January 2007, a group of us who are active in District 12 of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) tried to pass a motion supporting the international campaign of boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) against Israel. Since I was the mover of the motion, many people afterwards became angry with me. Others were merely confused. Everyone, however, wanted to know the same thing: Why Israel? After all, they would correctly point out, there are so many terrible countries, so many other human rights abuses in the world – some of them here in Canada. Why does Israel alone deserve sanctions and not the myriad of other countries committing gross human rights violations? Why not Sudan, for example? Or Saudia Arabia? Or China? For that matter, if colonialism is the issue, why not shed a light on the Canadian government's on-going abuse of our own aboriginal peoples? There's certainly plenty of work to do here.
The premise that lies behind such questions is that Israel is, if no better than other countries, at the very least no worse. And indeed, there is a certain truth to the fact that all states contain varying degrees of inequity, state enforced imbalances of power and privilege (always gendered and frequently racialized), and a predatory ruling class who view the state as a tool for expanding their own power and wealth to the detriment of other nations.
Acknowledging all this, however, has no bearing on the argument for boycotting Israel. Indeed, to object to a campaign of boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel on the basis that all states do bad things is to miss the point. As the British BDS activist Roland Rance recently told a small group of Toronto activists, no one believes that boycotting Israel is going to bring the Israeli economy to its knees – not unless BDS activists are somehow able to reach the hearts and minds of international arms dealers and diamond traders. (Highly unlikely.) The boycott campaign, rather, is primarily an educational tool aimed at provoking awareness and action at the grassroots level. Given the way political leaders, even in the Arab world, have retreated from supporting the Palestinian cause, a grassroots campaign that can put pressure on political leaders is one of the few recourses left to Palestinians and their supporters.
Israelis airdrop an occupation
Simba Russeau, Electronic Lebanon, Electronic Intifada 8/20/2007
BEIRUT, 17 August (IPS) - With an estimated one million unexploded land ordnances meaning lack of access to their lands, many farmers in southern Lebanon see cluster bombs as an Israeli "occupation."
An estimated 25 percent of cultivated land is now inaccessible in the south. Last summer, Israel pounded Lebanon with over four million cluster bombs and artillery shells that destroyed villages, displaced thousands and wrecked more than 70 percent of the southern economy. Financial losses to the livestock sector alone were estimated at nearly 22 million dollars.
"In the village of Aita al-Shaab (on the border between Lebanon and Israel) there were three farms where all the animals died not just because of the destruction but also because after the villagers left they were without food or water," says Saada Allaw, a reporter with the Arabic language Lebanese newspaper As-Safir.
Electricity cuts exacerbate dire situation in Gaza
Report, Al Mezan, Electronic Intifada 8/20/2007
Gaza's only power plant has completely ceased providing power after Israel's four-day closure of the border crossing through which fuel supplies enter the Strip and the European Union's freezing of funds. Gazans' already hard living conditions are expected to rapidly aggravate without proper power supplies.
Israel, which has full control of Gaza's border crossings, has continued its policy of closure, a serious measure of collective punishment against Gaza. Since 2000, it tightened the closures, but completely sealed off the Strip in June and imposed unprecedented restrictions on the movement of people and goods. Gaza has seen substantial shortage of food and other basic goods, and its economy is at the verge of full collapse. On 16 August 2007, Israel closed the fuel crossing for alleged security reasons.
Israel's abuse of its control, including control over fuel supplies into Gaza, has extensively contributed to the deterioration of the humanitarian and human rights situation, especially economic and social rights.
MIDEAST: U.S. Arms Create New Divisions
Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani, Inter Press Service 8/20/2007
CAIRO, Aug 20(IPS) - Last month, Washington approved massive military-aid packages and arms sales to its Arab allies, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and a number of smaller Gulf States. But while U.S. officials say the deals aim to bolster the "forces of moderation" in the region, some local commentators see the move as an unnecessary -- and dangerous -- provocation.
"The arms deals represent a continuation of U.S. policy aimed at creating tension and polarising the region," Ahmed Thabet, professor of political science at Cairo University told IPS.
On Jul. 28, the Bush administration announced its intention of providing Egypt with a 13 billion dollar military assistance package, to be paid out over the next ten years. The deal comes within the framework of the Camp David peace accord, to which Egypt, along with Israel, has been a signatory since 1979.
The White House also announced its willingness to sell some 20 billion dollars worth of advanced U.S. weapons systems to several Gulf States, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Despite a degree of domestic opposition, the sales are expected to be approved by the U.S. Congress next month.
Iraq, the Unavoidable Global Trauma
Pablo Ouziel, Middle East Online 8/20/2007
If we are not courageous enough to stand up for other human beings and the carnage infringed upon them by western imperialist foreign policy, maybe we can research our recent history and reflect on the consequences of such actions on 'us' and 'our' children. Many decades ago in Mein Kampf Adolf Hitler stated the following; "I believe today that my conduct is in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator." By now we have all had a chance to evaluate the consequences of that "will". In 2003 an article by the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, quoted a Palestinian leader claiming Bush said to him; "God told me to strike at Al-Qaeda. And I struck them. And then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did. And now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East."
Studies conducted over the last few decades in regards to the impact of National Socialism on ordinary life in Germany during and after that period have catalogued a serious of civilian attitudes such as keeping silent, looking over one's shoulder and feeling frightened, and have moved on to evaluate the aftermath of such attitudes and the results of accepting such extreme violence perpetrated on others. A lot of these studies have shown collective signs of guilt, depression and even collective post-traumatic stress disorder.
Israel Covets Palestinian Natural Gas (Possibly Oil Too!)
Genevieve Cora Fraser, MIFTAH 8/20/2007
Since the Palestinian election in January 2006 that brought Hamas to power, the United States, their Western allies, and Israel have successfully boycotted, sealed off, and starved 1.3 million citizens of Gaza. Along with non-stop military assaults by Israeli Occupation Forces, the US and Israel have poured 10s of millions of dollars into arming and training Fatah to take on and destroy the popularly elected Hamas government. According to reports out of Gaza, Mohammed Dahlan - President Abbas' right hand man until his recent "resignation" - had employed one hundred 5-man death squads across the region. That fed Hamas' desire to rid itself of Fatah intervention.
What is not widely known is that British Gas (BG) has a joint franchise in the Gaza Marine gas field off the Gaza coast, which contains some 37 billion cubic meters of gas.It is believed that large oil reserves are also present.However, the Palestinian Authority is slated to receive only 10% from the deal.According to the Gulf Times, Hamas claims it is unreasonable that the owner of the gas, Palestine, gets 10% only.The recently Fatah-deposed Prime Minister Ismail Haniya intends "to ask for changes in the agreement with BG Group, giving it a bigger slice of the proceeds from a pending natural-gas deal with Israel."
Audio: Islamic democracy and the "war on terror"
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