Unexploded Israeli rocket detonates killing two children in Gaza
Ma'an News Agency 8/7/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – Palestinian child, Hala Wael Abdalah, aged 7, and her brother, Islam, aged 9, were killed in an explosion on Tuesday morning in a housing estate, in the An Nada area of the northern Gaza Strip. Eight others were injured in the incident. The cause of the explosion has not been verified. Palestinian medical sources from Kamal Adwan Hospital said that Hala arrived dead, with her body severely burnt and in pieces. Her brother, Islam, died shortly after arriving at hospital. Ma'an contacted local residents in the area to decipher the cause of the incident. Many said they believe it was a Palestinian homemade projectile, launched by one of the factions and targeting Israel, which landed in the area and killed the two children. None of the factions have as yet announced responsibility for launching the projectile.
Gangs of Israeli settlers in Hebron set ablaze a mosque and attack fire fighters
Ma'an News Agency 8/7/2007
Hebron – Ma'an – Israeli settlers set fire to a Palestinian mosque in the old city of Hebron on Tuesday morning and prevented the fire services from reaching the blaze. Ma'an's correspondent reported that one fire fighter said "we heard the settlers taunting the Palestinians through the telephone when the people in the mosque made distress calls to us. The Palestinians also called for the Israeli soldiers to help to stop the attack on the mosque." Sources from the fire services department in the old city told Ma'an that they received a telephone call from Israeli officials requesting that they go and extinguish the fire in the mosque. A source from the fire services said "when we reached the area we were met by dozens of Israeli settlers who attacked us with stones and rocks."
Peres' aides confirm plan for PA state on land equal to 100% of West Bank
Akiva Eldar, Ha'aretz 8/8/2007
Aides to President Shimon Peres confirmed Tuesday a Haaretz report that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is examining a new framework for peace, in which Israel will propose transferring to the Palestinian state areas equivalent to 100 percent of the territories conquered in 1967. According to the aides, the proposal was formulated while Peres was vice premier, and presented to Olmert a few days after he entered the President's Residence. The PMO, however, denied the existance of the proposal Tuesday. "We do not know of any plan as described in the [Haaretz] article," the prime minister's office said in a statement. "We would like to clarify that such a plan has not been considered, nor is it being raised for discussion in any forum." The proposal includes a timetable for negotiations for the final status agreement...
Decades in limbo
Al Jazeera 8/7/2007
Nearly six decades after the creation of Israel, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are still living as refugees in neighbouring Arab countries. The vast majority of Palestinians in the world today are stateless - that is, there is no state that recognises them as their nationals. The most vulnerable group are so called non-ID refugees, not registered by either the UN Relief and Works Agency or the Lebanese authorities. Zeina Khodr reports on those who are not only stateless, but also without a legal identity. Many children look forward to a life of opportunity. But at the age of 10, Mohammed Rantissi appears to be stuck in a futile trap because he doesn't have the right papers. His father, Abdel Aziz, has already been condemned to living that life and cannot find a legal job.
PFLP: Bush and Olmert use Abbas's weakness to impose solutions
Palestinian Information Center 8/7/2007
GAZA, (PIC)-- The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PLFP) warned that the American administration and the Israeli government are working on investing the Palestinian division and the vulnerability of PA chief Mahmoud Abbas to impose solutions undercutting the national rights of the Palestinian people." Repeated meetings between Abbas and Olmert did not succeed in removing one of the hundreds of roadblocks which fragment the West Bank; besides, it did not lead to the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners, or to the dismantling of settlements and the apartheid wall which devoured half the West Bank's lands," Jamil Mizher, the Front's spokesman stated in a press release received by the PLC, commenting on the meeting of Jericho between Abbas and Olmert.
Yousef: "Hamas and Fateh and holding secret talks"
IMEMC Staff, International Middle East Media Center 8/8/2007
Dr. Ahmad Yousef, the advisor of Ismail Haniyya who is still acting as a prime minister of the displaced government in Gaza, stated that there are secret talks taking place between Fateh and Hamas with the participation of political figures from other factions and independent figures, in order to end the crisis between Hamas and Fateh and resume comprehensive national talks. Speaking to the Palestinian Media Network, Yousef stated that Palestinian factions and figures, in addition to Arab initiatives are carrying efforts in order to reduce the gap between Hamas and Fateh, but added that these initiatives are carried out away from the media. Yousef added that these talks aim at finding the conflicting points between Hamas and Fateh and implementing a mechanism to resolve these issue in order to regain unity.
30 injured, four arrested as police evacuate families, supporters from Hebron market
Nadav Shragai, Ha'aretz 8/7/2007
Some 30 people were injured yesterday morning when security forces clashed with settlers whom they were evacuating from the wholesale market area in Hebron. According to police, 11 policeman were wounded in the skirmishes that erupted at the market, where Jewish settlers and right-wing activists were illegally occupying several buildings. Three policemen were taken to the hospital. Local Jewish community leaders said that 26 activists were treated for injuries. Police took four protesters into custody. The evacuation began shortly after 6 AM, after hundreds of right-wing activists had barricaded themselves inside three apartments in the market and had encircled the market with barbed wire, oil drums, and burning tires. Protesters also locked and welded shut the doors to the apartments.
Islamic Jihad combatants shell Israeli targets and snipers shoot four soldiers
Ma'an News Agency 8/7/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – The military wing of Islamic Jihad, the Al Quds Brigades, announced responsibility for launching several projectiles at Israeli army posts and towns on Tuesday. The brigades issued a statement saying that a group of snipers shot four Israeli soldiers, two of whom were at Kisufim Crossing, one at the military base in Kisufim and another at Al Farahin military base, all on the eastern border of the Gaza Strip. The group also announced that they shelled the Israeli military post near Kisufim with two mortars. The brigades confirmed in a statement that the operations were "part of the retaliation for Israeli aggression and attacks on Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian lands." [end]
Israeli rights group B'Tselem slams West Bank checkpoints as 'illegal'
DPA, Ha'aretz 8/7/2007
Israeli rights group B'Tselem said Tuesday most of the dozens of manned checkpoints and hundreds more physical roadblocks set up in the West Bank are "illegal" and constitute collective punishment. B'Tselem stated in a report that some 47 Israel Defense Forces checkpoints and 455 physical obstructions on roads currently exist throughout the West Bank. The roadblocks were originally erected in response to "specific security threats" during and since the outbreak of the current Palestinian Intifada (uprising) against Israel almost seven years ago, the human rights group conceded. But since then, their purpose has also become to facilitate the safe passage of settlers on roads restricted to Palestinians, B'Tselem said, calling this an "ulterior interest" that made many of the roadblocks illegal under international law.
Detainees in Azion detention facility facing solitary and abuse
Najeeb Farraj - IMEMC, International Middle East Media Center 8/7/2007
The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) reported on Tuesday that Palestinian detainees held in the Azion Israeli detention and interrogation facility, in Azion settlement bloc west of Bethlehem, are facing abuse, torture, and that their conditions are gradually declining. One of the lawyers of the society stated that he visited a number of detainees in Azion and that there are 80 detainees imprisoned in the detention facility, totally isolated from the rest of the world since two months as visitation for their parents and are not allowed. Detainee As'ad Al Haimouny stated that he was kidnapped by the army two months ago and was subjected to different sorts of torture during interrogation, and added that he and the rest of the detainees are placed in detention rooms that lack the basic component of human livelihood.
Israeli army kidnaps 6 Palestinians from Talouza, 2 from Balata refugee camp near Nablus
Ameen Abu Warda, International Middle East Media Center 8/7/2007
The Israeli army escalated military operations around the Nablus area over the past day, implementing a widespread abduction operation in the area to search for so-called "wanted Palestinians." In the early hours of Tuesday morning, an Israeli force invaded Talouza town and the Balata refugee camp, located in northern West Bank city of Nablus, launcing an abduction campaign in both areas. Palestinian sources reported that a huge number of military vehicles invaded Talouza town, ransacking homes and kidnapping 6 Palestinians. Israel military sources claimed that the abducted persons were members of Hamas. The abducted Palestinians were later identified as Jebriel Darawsheh, Ja'far Darawsheh, Mohamad Al Fares, Ammar Darawsheh, Ali Awaysah and Fadi Salahat.
Israeli border control arrests Palestinian returning to Gaza
Ma'an News Agency 8/7/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Tuesday said that Israeli forces arrested a Palestinian who, along with 1,200 other Palestinians, was returned to the Gaza Strip on Monday. He was arrested at the Erez Crossing in northern Gaza. The ICRC informed the family of the detained man, Ahmad Aisawai, aged 27, that their son was arrested at the crossing. This is the first Palestinian that the Israeli forces have arrested on his return home. The man was staying in Egypt for medical treatment. Hamas earlier objected to agreements between Egypt and Israel to return Palestinians stranded on the Egyptian side of the border to the Gaza Strip through Israeli-controlled crossings. Hamas said Israel would take advantage of the situation to detain so-called 'wanted' Palestinians.
Israeli forces seize 'wanted' Hamas operative and four members of his family
Ma'an News Agency 8/7/2007
Tulkarem – Ma'an – The Israeli forces on Tuesday launched an early morning incursion in Bal'a, in the Tulkarem area of the northern West Bank. The soldiers were in search of Hamas operatives in the region. Ma'an's correspondent said that the Israeli soldiers invaded and ransacked several Palestinian homes and seized three Palestinians, before storming the home of Shiekh Omar Mohammad Jabir. Jabir is a member of Hamas and has been 'wanted' for several years. Local sources said that the Israeli army assaulted Jabir's family and arrested his wife, two sons and brother-in-law. Israeli radio said that the Israeli forces launched an arrest campaign in the West Bank and arrested thirteen citizens in Nablus, Tulkarem and Ramallah. [end]
IOF troops kidnap wife, sons of wanted activist
Palestinian Information Center 8/7/2007
TULKARM, (PIC)-- IOF troops at dawn Tuesday kidnapped the wife and two sons of a wanted Hamas activist in the village of Ektaba, Tulkarm district, after failing to arrest him, locals reported. Eyewitnesses reported that the soldiers broke into the home of Omar Abu Jaber, 45, one of the Hamas political leaders in the village, and thoroughly searched it before kidnapping his wife and both his sons Jaber and Osama along with his niece, son-in-law and two other young men in the village. The Abu Jaber family got accustomed to such IOF storming of their home at the pretext of looking for Omar. They have been the target of repeated humiliation and threats that included a threat to kill Omar, who has been wanted for five years, if he did not turn himself in. In Bala'a, another village in Tulkarm district, IOF soldiers burst into many homes and kidnapped three youths...
Palestinian lady dies at Beit Hanun crossing, a youth arrested
Palestinian Information Center 8/7/2007
RAFAH, (PIC)-- A Palestinian woman in her fifties was declared dead Monday evening while on her way home to the Gaza Strip after spending a month and a half stranded at the Egyptian side of the Rafah border with Gaza. Dr. Muawia Hasanein, director of emergency in the PA health ministry in Gaza, said that Amna Haji's health condition badly deteriorated at the Oja crossing after one and a half month of miserable hold-up at Rafah border. He said that medical teams desperately tried to save her life after reaching Beit Hanun crossing but she died before entering Gaza. The number of those who died at the Rafah terminal, while waiting to enter into the Strip, thus reached 33, in less than two months. The IOF closed the Rafah border terminal since mid June thus barring thousands of Palestinians, mostly patients, from returning home.
Israeli occupation army, Abbas's forces hound, round up Hamas activists in WB
Khalid Amayreh in the West Bank, Palestinian Information Center 8/6/2007
Israeli occupation forces and masked militiamen belonging to the American-backed Palestinian Authority regime in Rmallah have been raiding Palestinian population centers, arresting dozens of Hamas supporters and activists, local sources and relatives of the detainees said. The campaign coincides with a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, due to take place in the Palestinian town of Jericho Monday afternoon. In the central West Bank , near Ramallah, Israeli occupation troops on Sunday arrested three Palestinian activists at the village of Abu Falah, north west of Ramallah. A fourth activist was arrested at the Jalazone refugee camp also near Ramallah. The Israeli army said it arrested a fifth young Palestinian in the Hebron region.
Hamas: Abbas's "inquisition" courts would drag Palestinians into serious stage
Palestinian Information Center 8/7/2007
GAZA, (PIC)-- The Hamas Movement on Tuesday warned of the seriousness of trials being organized in the West Bank for 18 Palestinians on charges of membership in an outlawed organization, in reference to Hamas. In a statement, Hamas described such trials as legally "null and void" because they were held for resistance fighters, and charged that the trials were more like the medieval "inquisition courts". Such a step came in harmony with the Israeli occupation trials and threatened the Palestinian society other than serving a clear blow to resistance, Hamas charged. Those trials and those who sanctioned them in Ramallah wish to drag the Palestinian arena into a "very serious stage" in the future of inter-Palestinian relations, Hamas further charged. It asked the Palestinians not to deal with those courts...
Hamas calls for boycott of Palestinian courts responsible for sentencing Hamas and Islamic Jihad members
Ma'an News Agency 8/7/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – Hamas on Tuesday urged for a boycott of the Palestinian courts that are responsible for trying arrested Hamas and Islamic Jihad members. Hamas called on all Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the judges, but also the prisoners of both movements who are to be tried by these courts, to support Hamas in their efforts. The call was made by Hamas after 18 of its members were tried and sentenced to prison for periods that range from 3 to 15 years, in addition to the payment of huge fines. In a statement released by Hamas, the movement said that "the trials will not frighten the movement." Hamas likened the courts to "the inquisition in the Middle Ages", saying that these courts "aim to end the government." Hamas also warned of the dangers that these courts pose "they are dangerous...
Gazan police force to be bolstered by female officers
Ma'an News Agency 8/7/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – The deposed Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Tuesday announced the founding of a women's section for the police force in the Gaza Strip. They will be employed in prisons and will attend interrogation sessions of female inmates. A spokesman for the Interior Ministry of the deposed government, Ihab Al Ghusein, said that "according to the decree issued by Haniyeh, 90 to 120 female police officers were recruited; the first group will serve in the Palestinian jails." Al Ghusein added that that the first group of 120 was accepted into the police force after filling out an application form and being interviewed. A large number of women applied for the job in only two weeks, according to the spokesman. He stated that the women will receive the necessary training this month.
Women recruited in new PA police force in Gaza
Palestinian Information Center 8/7/2007
GAZA, (PIC)-- The interior ministry in the legitimate PA caretaker government in Gaza has announced that dozens of women have been recruited to work in the police force especially as wardens in women jails. Ihab Al-Ghussain, the ministry's spokesman, said in a telephone statement to the PIC that two weeks ago the ministry announced intention to recruit women and opened registration that ended with drafting around 100 women. He pointed out that they would be trained on means of supervising and dealing with women prisoners in addition to searching and arresting women suspects. If the candidates successfully pass the training courses then they would be enlisted in the police force, he clarified. [end]
Mofaz: Airport security checks no longer discriminatory
Roee Nahmias, YNetNews 8/7/2007
Transportation minister announces end to different color stickers being used during airport security check to identify Arab, Jewish citizens traveling abroad. But security personnel say that no real change has been made as new identical white stickers bear different numbers to signify what belongs to whom - Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz announced Tuesday that Jewish and Arab citizens traveling abroad will receive the same color stickers for their luggage during security checks at the airport. Prior to the decision, security personnel at Ben Gurion Airport used different color stickers for each population sector, each color indicating a different security level. From now on, all citizens traveling abroad will receive a white sticker, indicating that they have already gone through the security check.
Colored tags for Arabs' luggage at Ben Gurion airport discontinued
Zohar Blumenkrantz, Ha'aretz 8/8/2007
Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz announced on Tuesday that Ben Gurion International Airport security would no longer mark the luggage belonging to non-Jews with colored tags, in order to spare these passengers embarrassment. Instead, Mofaz explained, the luggage of non-Jewish passengers will be stamped with the same color sticker as the Jewish passengers, only with a different number. In the past, the color of the sticker on the passenger's luggage would indicate to airport security personnel the level of security check they must administer. This practice mainly affected Arab passengers. The security checks at Ben Gurion have been denounced by many in the Arab sector as degrading. "We're talking about frequent degradation of Arab passengers, which causes great anger and frustration," MK Nadia Hilou (Labor)...
IDF to halt training in populated West Bank villages
Amos Harel, Ha'aretz 8/8/2007
The Israel Defense Forces will no longer conduct reserves training exercises which involve the "capture" of populated villages in the West Bank, the military Advocate General Brigadier General Avihai Mandelblit announced this week. Mandelblit informed the human rights organization Yesh Din of the army's decision pending the completion of an investigation into the practice. Yesh Din approached the advocate general in March, after several complaints were filed by reserves soldiers serving in paratrooper battalions. The battalions were trained in the capture of villages in the West Bank as well as battle in residential areas. These exercises were carried out without any military justification. The 'dry-run' exercises were carried out without live fire, but nonetheless sparked panic among the residents of the villages.
Prisoners call on Palestinian organizations to highlight their plight
Ali Samoudi, International Middle East Media Center 8/7/2007
Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention centers have directed a call to all the Palestinian organizations, factions and leaders to revive the prisoners' cause, asking that they not be forgotten. In a message sent to the Prisoners' Center for studies and research, prisoners stated that "we are loosing our lifetime far from the excitement of life, far from our wives and children, for the sake of our nation". There are approximately 11,000 prisoners in Israeli detention centers, among them over 300 elderly prisoners, some of whom have spent 30 years in prison. Ra'fat Hamdonah, director of the Prisoners' Center for studies and research, stated that the center publicized the message for all the concerned parties. The prisoners' messages refers to medical neglect, ransacking operations, and the practice...
Israeli occupational army prevents children from Bil'in from flying kites
Ma'an News Agency 8/7/2007
Ramallah - Ma'an – The Israeli army threw sound bombs at hundreds of children from a village near Ramallah on Monday afternoon, to prevent them from flying their kites near the separation wall. The children from the village of Bil'in were taking part in activities as part of the summer camp for children, supervised by the local sports club. The Director of the club, Hossam Al Khatib said, "the children have been waiting for this day for a long time. It was part of the programme go to the wall to visit the land behind it, play football, music, enjoy the natural surroundings and to fly kites" "The Israeli occupying soldiers killed this dream in the hearts of the children, and denied them their most basic rights," he added. Al-Khatib described the actions of the Israeli army as an insult to the rights of children to live safely and freely. -- See also: Army bars children from flying their kites in Bil'in village
Army is expanding Huwwara detention facility near Nablus
IMEMC Staff, International Middle East Media Center 8/7/2007
The Nafha Society for Defending the Rights of the Detainees and Human Rights reported on Tuesday that the Israeli army is currently expanding the Huwwara detention facility near the northern West Bank city of Nablus due to the increasing number of kidnappings carried by the army during the daily invasions and attacks in the West Bank and especially in Nablus area. The Society started that the detainees are not provided with sufficient and decent food, are not allowed to receive clothes from their parents and are repeatedly beaten, abused and confined to solitary. The Society also stated that the Red Cross did not provide the detainees with sufficient essential foods and that they do not have sugar, salt, and tea since ten days, and they have did not have water for two days.
Unknown gunmen open fire on Hamas member
Ameen Abu Warda, International Middle East Media Center 8/7/2007
The Hamas member, Awny Al Obwah, 31, was shot by unknown gunmen on Monday night between 9:30- 10:00, and sustained critical wounds to his stomach. Awny was walking with his wife while a number of gunmen drove past in a car and opened fire on him. Awny was transferred to the local hospital in Nablus for medical treatment. Medical sources have indicated that Awny currently lies in intensive care in a critical condition, after one of his kidneys was removed in the aftermath of the attack. Hamas condemned the attack on one of its members. [end]
Ecologists, government officials grapple with how to clean Lebanon's shore following last summer's war
Agence France Presse, Daily Star 8/8/2007
AMCHIT, Lebanon: Thick, black oil still clings to the rocks at the bottom of the seabed, an ugly legacy of Israel's war against Lebanon last summer. All along the stony beach of Amchit, some 40 kilometers north of Beirut, every nook and cranny is stained black and effluent washes ashore from a nearby industrial plant, caught up in the sticky flow. It seems a world away from the glitzy tourist resort, traditional fishing port and UNESCO World Heritage Site of Byblos just five kilometers down the coast. Here the sand and pebble beaches have been cleaned up in an effort to bring things back to normal, sparking accusations of unfair prioritizing by environmentalists. "Thirty kilometers of coast north of Byblos have not been cleaned. Historic and tourist sites have been privileged, but nowhere else," says Fifi Kallab from the environmental group Byblos Ecologia.
Israeli warplanes buzz South, Chouf, Bekaa
Daily Star 8/8/2007
Four Israeli warplanes flew at a medium and low altitude on Tuesday over Jezzine in south Lebanon and Iqlim Toufah in the Chouf area. The warplanes also flew over West Bekaa and launched mock air raids in Libaya, Machgara, Sohmor, Yohmor and Karaoun. The Israeli airplanes continue to breach Lebanese skies almost daily violating United Nations Security Council resolution 1701which ended last summer's war. [end]
Thirty hurt as police evict Jewish settlers from centre of Hebron
Rory McCarthy in Gaza City, The Guardian 8/8/2007
Israeli police and soldiers forcibly removed two dozen illegal settlers and hundreds of their supporters yesterday from the centre of Hebron, in the occupied West Bank. The settlers threw stones, water, oil and cement powder as they tried to resist being carried out one by one. Thirty people were hurt, with one settler and six policemen needing hospital treatment after the three-hour confrontation. More than 400,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, but the few hundred who live in Hebron have proved the most hardline. The two settler families evicted yesterday had moved into a two-storey building in the city centre's long-closed market area last autumn but ignored a supreme court order to leave. Hundreds of supporters joined them in recent days, ahead of yesterday's operation.
Palestinian brigades shell Israeli targets
Ma'an News Agency 8/7/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – The An Nasser Salah Ad Din Brigades, affiliated to the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), claimed responsibility for launching a homemade projectile at the Israeli town of Sderot on Tuesday morning. In a statement, the brigades said that the operation "came as part of the natural reaction to the Israeli crimes and aggression." The An Nasser Salah Ad Din Brigades also claimed joint responsibility with the Al Aqsa Brigades of Fatah for the shelling of the Israeli military post Karni Crossing on the border of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday at dawn. The brigades claimed they fired three 80mm mortar shells. [end]
Armed assailants attack banks after money is deducted from salaries
Ma'an News Agency 8/7/2007
Nablus – Ma'an – Palestinian banks in Nablus closed their doors on Tuesday in protest against an armed attack on the Arab Bank and Palestine Bank in the city. An armed masked assailant told Ma'an's reporter "the reason for the attack is the banks' administration deducting huge sums from the salaries of the employees; they didn't even consider the employees' situation." Several armed men opened fire at the Arab Bank branch in the city centre and forced the administration to close the bank. Other armed assailants attacked Palestine Bank, shooting at it and attempting to storm it, before the administration closed the doors. Following the attacks on the two banks, the rest of the banks in the city closed in protest. Dozens of Palestinian security services personnel were deployed in the streets following the incidents.
Palestine Today 080707
IMEMC - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 8/7/2007
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file - || File 7. 08 MB || Time 7m 44s || - Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www. imemc. org, for Tuesday August 7th, 2007. Two families and several hundred right-wing Israeli settlers have been removed from two illegally-occupied buildings in the city centre of the West Bank city of Hebron. In the Gaza Strip meanwhile, two children were killed and 5 others injured when a device exploded in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya. The West Bank - The Israeli police on Tuesday morning removed two families and several hundred teenagers who had illegally occupied two buildings in the old market area of the southern West Bank city of Hebron. The removal of the settlers began at approximately 6:30 am when a large force...
Police may press charges against Bar Ilan professor
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 8/7/2007
Prof Hillel Weiss was heard cursing Hebron brigade commander, wishing him dead, following evacuation of Jewish settlers from two residences in city's marketplace - The Judea and Samaria district police announced Tuesday it was considering investigating and possibly filing criminal charges against Hillel Weiss, a professor at Bar Ilan University Faculty of Jewish Studies and Orot Israel College. Weiss, who was protesing when IDF forces evicted settlers from two residences in the West Bank city of Hebron Tuesday morning, was heard cursing IDF Hebron brigade commander Colonel Yehuda Fox. "May your mother be bereaved, your wife be widowed, your children be orphaned and may you be struck down in the next war and any memory of you be erased," Weiss said.
Israel replies in shooting inquiry
Rory McCarthy in Gaza City, The Guardian 8/8/2007
Israel's attorney general yesterday asked Britain for more information about an analysis of an audio recording which may shed new light on the killing of British journalist James Miller in Gaza in 2003. Britain's former attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, wrote to his Israeli counterpart in June, presenting the analysis and asking him to begin legal proceedings within six weeks against an Israeli officer suspected of firing the fatal shot. The letter explained the new analysis of the audio track of footage filmed by a news agency crew at the time of the shooting, which the family's lawyers say indicates the shots were fired from the same source, an Israeli armoured vehicle. Israel has maintained there was crossfire in the area at the time and that it is not clear which side fired the fatal shot.
Israel 'delays' in shooting inquiry
Al Jazeera 8/7/2007
Israel has responded to British demands for a new inquiry into the death of a British journalist shot dead by an Israeli soldier. The Israeli attorney-general asked for more information from Britain on Tuesday as a deadline passed for him to respond to a letter requesting he consider expert analysis of a videotape of James Miller's death. But the family sees the move as nothing more than a further delay in the judicial process. Miller was killed in the Gaza Strip in 2003 as he worked on a documentary about the effect of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on people on the ground. An inquest into his death held in Britain last year found that he was unlawfully killed by a single shot fired by an Israeli soldier. In 2005, the Israeli army had said it would take no action against an officer accused of involvement in the shooting, citing lack of evidence.
Israel seeks shot Briton footage
BBC Online 8/7/2007
Israel has asked the UK for more information on the death of British cameraman James Miller, who was shot in Gaza in May 2003. Attorney general Menachem Mazuz has asked to see footage of the incident, which was filmed by a local TV crew. It comes as a deadline set by the UK government for Israel to open a criminal investigation expired. An Israeli inquiry cleared a soldier of firearms misuse but a UK inquest later ruled Mr Miller was unlawfully killed. Mr Miller, from Devon, was filming a documentary when he was shot dead in the town of Rafah. His family says there is clear evidence the 34-year-old was killed by an Israeli soldier. White flag - The film has already been analysed by an acoustic expert working for the Metropolitan Police.
Abbas: Palestinians' daily lives will soon improve
Barak Ravid, Ha'aretz 8/8/2007
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas promised Palestinians on Tuesday their lives would improve as a result of his talks Monday with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. "Many issues which affect the Palestinians in their day-to-day lives will be resolved," Abbas told Voice of Palestine radio in his first public comments on his meeting on Monday with Olmert in the West Bank city of Jericho. Palestinian officials said they received assurances from Olmert that Israel would approve as early as next week the removal of some of the hundreds of checkpoints, roadblocks and barriers that restrict Palestinian travel in the West Bank. Similar pledges in the past have not been fully implemented following opposition from Israeli security officials. Abbas also sought the release of more Palestinian prisoners held by Israel...
Three Israeli initiatives for a peace deal
Barak Ravid, Ha'aretz 8/7/2007
A plethora of diplomatic initiatives for a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority have emerged in recent weeks. In addition to the Arab League initiative, and President George Bush's reaffirmation of his vision in a speech three weeks ago, there are three Israeli initiatives: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Agreement of Principles, Vice Premier Haim Ramon's "agreed convergence," and President Shimon Peres' initiative, reported yesterday in Haaretz. The three plans have many points in common, and all are based on a substantial Israel withdrawal from the West Bank. The Olmert plan: The prime minister would like to negotiate with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on an Agreement of Principles for the establishment of a Palestinian state on most of the territory of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Palestinians press Israel again for weapons shipments
Amos Harel, Ha'aretz 8/7/2007
Less than two months after Hamas tattered the rule of its rival Fatah faction in the Gaza Strip and took control of the area, the Palestinian Authority - under Fatah leader Chairman Mahmoud Abbas - is once more requesting large shipments of weapons, ammunition and armored vehicles. This time, the PA is seeking Israel's approval for shipments from Egypt and Jordan, intended for the West Bank. Israel has not yet answered and has reservations about some of the requests. The PA had made similar requests in the months before Fatah's collapse in the Gaza Strip. Israel refused most of the demands, but agreed to allow Jordan to supply Fatah's forces in the Strip with over 5,000 AK-47 and M-16 semi-automatic assault rifles. Some of these rifles apparently ended up in the hands of Hamas militants, following the organization's violent seizure of power last June.
Peres expects U.S., European support for peace proposal
Akiva Eldar, Ha'aretz 8/7/2007
President Shimon Peres expects to receive American and European support for the peace proposal he submitted to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert this week. Sources in Jerusalem said they have heard from American counterparts that the Iraq imbroglio has increased Washington's interest in an Israeli-Palestinian breakthrough. Peres also hopes that his former colleagues in the Kadima and Labor parties will back Olmert in adopting the proposal, which calls for an "agreement of principles" in which Israel would promise a Palestinian state on territory equal to 100 percent of the West Bank and Gaza, to be achieved via territorial exchanges. The document also calls for establishing a Palestinian state in temporary borders as a first stage. Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who used to be bitterly opposed to the...
Abbas to hold talks with Egyptian leadership to discuss international peace conference in New York
Ma'an News Agency 8/7/2007
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is to arrive in the Egyptian city of Alexandria on Wednesday to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Abbas will also meet with Arab League Secretary General and Egyptian Intelligence Minister Omar Suleiman when he arrives in Egypt on Tuesday. Palestinian sources said that Abbas will brief Mubarak on his talks with Israeli PM Ehud Olmert in Jericho on Monday. The two leaders will also discuss the international peace conference in autumn, called for by US President George Bush. Media advisor to the president, Nabil Amr, criticised the date and venue of the imminent conference, which is to be held in New York, on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly meetings." This will diminish the significance of the conference as it will become...
Haniyeh slams Abbas - Olmert meetings
Ma'an News Agency 8/7/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – The dismissed Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has warned of the consequences of the recent spate of meetings between the Palestinian and Israeli administrations. Haniyeh stated that the meetings were an "American trap that sought to close the Palestinian case for the sake of waging wars against Islamic states in the region" and warned the Palestinian people not to fall into this "dangerous trap. "Haniyeh warned also of the illusory nature of the "progress" thus far achieved, highlighting unity as the only mechanism by which the Palestinian cause could be fulfilled:"There are no political advantages to be gained from these meetings, and the Israeli red lines still lie in front of us. Steadfastness, unity, and Palestinian kinship are the major principles with which Palestinian rights will be fulfilled," Haniyeh stated.
Abbas, Olmert Set up Mechanisms for Joint Cooperation
MIFTAH, MIFTAH 8/7/2007
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met yesterday, August 6 at the Jericho Intercontinental Hotel for the first in a series of bilateral meetings between the two sides. The meeting was reportedly held over two phases – a private meeting between the two leaders and a luncheon for the two teams. Later in Ramallah, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who also attended the meeting, held a press conference, divulging the main points discussed in Jericho. Erekat said the two leaders primarily agreed on holding a series of meetings leading up to the November summit to be held in Washington under the auspices of US President George W. Bush. He said Israel agreed to look into the return of Palestinians exiled during the Nativity Church standoff in 2002 who have been living in Gaza and abroad since then.
Haneyya: Meetings with Israelis "dangerous trap"
Palestinian Information Center 8/7/2007
GAZA, (PIC)-- Ismail Haneyya, the premier of the PA caretaker government in Gaza, has warned in a press release that "the meetings between Palestinian and Israeli parties come in the framework of an American scheme to dissolve the Palestinian question," describing such a scheme as a "dangerous trap." Haneyya, who was commenting on the Monday meeting between PA chief Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli premier Ehud Olmert in Jericho, said, "We believe that there are no political gains out of such meetings, only steadfastness and reunion of the Palestinian people are the key factors for the restoration of the usurped Palestinian rights." Regarding the Qatari position towards the Palestinian cause, Haneyya praised "the role of Doha in support of the Palestinian people, and its supreme national interests."
Resheq: Abbas-Olmert meetings conspire against Hamas, Palestine cause
Palestinian Information Center 8/6/2007
DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- Ezzet Al-Resheq, political bureau member of the Hamas Movement, on Monday castigated PA chief Mahmoud Abbas for insisting on meeting with Israeli premier Ehud Olmert, opining that such meetings fell in line with the conspiracy against Hamas and the Palestine cause. Resheq, in a press statement, belittled the importance of Abbas-Olmert meeting in Jericho, the first in a PA-controlled city, charging that it posed as a new string in the series of conspiracies against the Palestinian cause. He said that the meeting was the result of USA-Israeli pressures to crystallize something regarding the settlement process. However, Resheq did not expect anything concrete to emerge from such meetings because Abbas has completely bowed to the Zionist speculation that refuses any discussion of the final status of crucial issues.
Muzzaini denies IOA claims on new contacts over Shalit
Palestinian Information Center 8/7/2007
GAZA, (PIC)-- The Hamas Movement on Tuesday denied presence of any new contacts through Egyptian mediation with the Israeli occupation over the issue of captured IOF soldier Gilad Shalit. Dr. Osama Al-Muzzaini, one of the Hamas political leaders in the Gaza Strip, said in a press release that what the Hebrew paper 'Ha'aretz' published on Tuesday on resumption of those contacts was "incorrect". He said that the "Zionist enemy and its press publish those lies to calm down the Zionist street, which is angered over its government's unconcern with this issue". The Hamas leader said that Tel Aviv was trying to spread the illusion among its people that the contacts over Shalit's case were ongoing through Norwegian or Egyptian mediation just to cool down the "Zionists' anger".
Israel and Hamas renew talks on freeing abducted soldier Shalit
Barak Ravid, Ha'aretz 8/7/2007
Israel and Hamas have renewed negotiations over the release of captured Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, with the help of Egyptian mediation, a senior political official in Jerusalem said Monday. The official said the talks were restarted about a week ago, after having been suspended since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in June. The Shalit issue came up in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's meeting with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Monday. The two leaders discussed the possibility of releasing more Palestinian prisoners, in addition to the 255 prisoners Israel released on July 20 in a bid to boost Abbas. Olmert said he would consider the issue, but took into consideration the impact that Israel's bolstering of Abbas and his Fatah party could have on the rival Hamas.
Confusion over Shalit talks
John Smith, International Middle East Media Center 8/7/2007
A series of contradictory statements have clouded the future of negotiations designed to secure the release of the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. While a senior Israeli official stated on Tuesday morning that Israel has resumed talks with the Hamas movement over the issue, Hamas later refuted this claim. According to the unnamed Israeli official, talks resumed one week ago with the assistance of Egyptian mediation. Hamas, however, claim that no such talks have taken place and negotiations remain suspended as they have done since Hamas' rise to power in the Gaza Strip. Shalit was captured on June 25 of last year when Palestinian resistance fighters attacked an Israeli army post near the Kerem Shalom border crossing. [end]
Egyptian embassy moves from Gaza Strip to Ramallah
Ma'an News Agency 8/7/2007
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israeli television reported on Tuesday evening that the Egyptian embassy has moved from the Gaza Strip to Ramallah. The move comes after the embassy was attacked by Hamas members during its fifty day rule of the Gaza Strip. Israeli television Channel 10 described the attack on the embassy as an attack on the country of Egypt. During the attack the car of the Egyptian diplomatic delegation was attacked. Hamas denies the television channel's claims. Egypt had been the mediator in the case of the the kidnapped Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit. Abu Mujahid, the spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committee (PRC), told Ma'an news that Shalit's case would still be held in Gaza and not be transferred to Ramallah. He also added "the Egyptian delegation has been the only mediator.
Arab Liberation Front calls on Mahmoud Abbas to intervene in the case of a prisoner held for almost twenty years
Ma'an News Agency 8/7/2007
Khan Younis - Ma'an - The Arab Liberation Front has called on Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, to intervene immediately in the case of a prisoner held in an Israeli prison for almost twenty years. Ahmad Shukri was arrested in 1989. In a statement The Arab Liberation Front said that the crimes committed by the Israeli prison administration were against both international law and against human rights. [end]
Complaint filed against Hadera mayor for expelling refugees
Yael Branovsky, YNetNews 8/7/2007
Hotline for migrant workers files police complaint against abduction of refugees from Hadera and their expulsion to Jerusalem in the dead of night. City workers threatened refugees with firearms and forced them to violate court order determining they must stay in Hadera. City denies claimsThe Hotline for Migrant Workers filed charges against Hadera Mayor Haim Avitan on Tuesday following the expulsion of Sudanese refugees from the city. The hotline workers claim that the refugees were residing in the city on court orders and were in fact forbidden to leave the municipal limits, making the mayor's expulsion of them illegal. The group had been employed by a local orchard. The charges against the mayor accuse him of abusing his position, breaching trust, kidnapping, unnecessary incarceration and trespassing.
Palestinian refugees lacking IDs live in double bind
Nafez Zouk, Daily Star 8/8/2007
BEIRUT: Imagine being asked to produce a document to identify yourself and not possessing one to do so. Or worse, imagine having an ID that, once produced, is rejected on the grounds that it is not valid. You can prove who you are, but it doesn't matter. You don't exist. Unfortunately, this is the fate of around 3,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon who, according to Amnesty International, do not possess valid identification documents and hence "face more severe restrictions on their human rights than registered refugees." The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) estimates that 400,000 Palestinian refugees reside in Lebanon. Records for the 3,000 undocumented refugees, or non-ID Palestinians, do not exist with the Lebanese government or UNRWA.
Mixed press views on Jericho talks
BBC Online 8/7/2007
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas's summit in Jericho on Monday aimed at moving towards a final peace settlement has met with a mixed reception from newspapers in the Middle East and elsewhere. Some Israeli commentators have suggested that Olmert's problems with domestic politics are behind the meeting, and a Palestinian daily says his political weakness may undermine the talks. But another Palestinian paper says at least final settlement talks have begun and a Jordanian daily hails the fall of some barriers to peace. - Herb Keinon in Israel's Jerusalem Post - When Olmert and Abbas sat down in Jericho's Intercontinental Hotel over a traditional Arab dish of chicken and rice, they were talking about issues that affect us deeply - what are increasingly being referred to very vaguely as the "fundamental issues".
UN chief urges Security Council to extend mandate of 13,000-strong peacekeeping force in Lebanon
The Associated Press, Ha'aretz 8/7/2007
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the UN Security Council to extend the mandate of the 13,000-strong UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, praising the troops for helping to establish security in the south following last summer's Israel-Hezbollah war. In a letter to the council president circulated Monday, Ban said Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Siniora has asked to renew the mandate of the force, known as UNIFIL, for a year. The current mandate expires on August 31. The force, along with 15,000 Lebanese troops, was deployed along Lebanon's border with Israel to enforce the Security Council resolution that ended the Israeli-Hezbollah war, which killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon and 159 people on the Israeli side. The swift and effective deployment of UNIFIL has helped to establish a new strategic military and security environment in southern Lebanon, Ban said.
Barak: Find technological solution to missile threat before W. Bank pullout
Amos Harel, Ha'aretz 8/7/2007
Defense Minister Ehud Barak attributes great importance to speeding up the development of technological defenses against rocket fire on the home front, as he considers this a precondition for any significant withdrawal from the West Bank. Such a withdrawal would put Israel's main population centers in Qassam rocket range of the Palestinian Authority. Therefore, Barak believes, Israel must first develop and deploy an effective anti-missile system - a process that is expected to take three to five years. Though Barak has declined to say so explicitly or to point an accusing finger at anyone, he has been unpleasantly surprised by what he has discovered about the Israel Defense Forces' preparedness in the weeks since his return to the Defense Ministry.
Olmert ponders bipartite two-state solution
Ma'an News Agency 8/7/2007
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Israeli daily newspaper, Haaretz, reported on Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is considering a new peace plan which will involve returning the equivalent of 100 percent of the lands annexed by Israel in 1967. In exchange Olmert will request that it maintains five percent of the settlement blocs already in existence in the occupied Palestinian West Bank. The plan also involves the possibility that the Arab community inside Israel will be given settlement blocs within Israeli territory. Haaretz reported that the plan was presented to Shimon Peres a few days after he took position as president on the 15th of July. The proposal includes a timetable for negotiations for the final status agreement and its implementation.
UNCTAD intensifies its assistance to Palestinian customs with €2.5 million European Union funding
European Union - EU, ReliefWeb 8/7/2007
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the European Union (EU) are stepping up their technical assistance activities to help modernize Palestinian customs operations as part of broader efforts to strengthen the capacities of Palestinian institutions. Under the patronage of Dr. Salam Fayyad, Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, UNCTAD and the EU signed a grant agreement on Monday 6 August, whereby the EU will provide a €2. 5 million grant to finance the Palestinian Customs Modernization Programme: ASYCUDA-Phase III technical assistance project that will implemented by UNCTAD. The ASYCUDA++ computerized system will serve as the backbone of the modernised Palestinian Customs and Border Management and spearhead trade facilitation efforts.
Strengthening resilience: Food insecurity and local responses to fragmentation of the West Bank
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - FAO, ReliefWeb 4/30/2007
Executive Summary - The Palestinian economy in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS) has sustained significant losses as a result of Israeli measures taken in the aftermath of the outbreak of the second Intifada in September 2000. These losses were primarily driven by the closure regime, the construction of the Barrier, and, recently, the international economic and political boycott of the PA. Israeli measures on the ground are de facto fragmenting the West Bank, while access to the Gaza Strip is severely restricted. Further, the international boycott of the PA and Israel's withholding of PA tax revenue have disempowered Palestinian institutions, undermined services, and allowed important infrastructure to decay. As a result, key food security determinants-such as wage labour, food trade and social security schemes-are...
Gaza jobs meltdown: an ice-cream firm's tale
Dan Murphy, The Christian Science Monitor, ReliefWeb 8/7/2007
Some 68,000 jobs have been lost since Hamas's takeover spurred an Israeli blockade of the struggling area. - Gaza City, Gaza - When the mercury soars and the cloying humidity of the Mediterranean coast makes heading outside a shirt-drenching ordeal, Mazen Masri is usually one of the few Gazans wearing a smile. But today, Mr. Masri casts a dejected look around his mostly idle ice-cream factory. "This should be the best time of our year," he says. "But I go into the factory and my heart almost breaks." The Al-Arusa Ice Cream Factory is one of Gaza's oldest industrial-scale businesses. But its prospects are melting under an Israeli economic blockade that has denied it access to its main market, the West Bank, and to the dairy products and chocolate needed to churn out ice-cream sandwiches and Popsicles.
Despite poverty in the Palestinian territories, bread prices rise
Ma'an News Agency 8/7/2007
Nablus – Ma'an – Despite the difficult Palestinian situation in the territories, the bakery syndicate has decided on Tuesday to raise the price of bread, which is considered one of the Palestinians' most important sources of food. The new rate for a kilo of bread will be 3. 5 NIS, an increase of 0. 5 NIS. The new prices are expected to become effective from August, 11th. Ma'an asked many Palestinians what they think about the new rates. Abu Khalid responded by saying that it will "complicate the situation and force the Palestinians to leave the country to look for a living." Palestinian citizen, Abu Mahmoud, said "I wonder how I will maintain my family, especially as I am unemployed." He called on Abbas and the government to intervene and find suitable solutions to the problem.
C'ttee passes 2007 budget cuts despite Kadima absences
Lilach Weissman, Globes Online 8/6/2007
NIS 1. 2 billion will be transferred to the Ministry of Defense and will also finance a pay hike for teachers. The Knesset Finance Committee today approved a NIS 1. 2 billion across-the-board cut in ministerial budgets for 2007. The cabinet approved the cut in early July. The money will be transferred to the Ministry of Defense and used to finance a pay hike for teachers. The absence of Kadima MKs on the Finance Committee almost torpedoed the measure, and the committee was forced at the last minute to rely on the support of three replacements for the absentee MKs: MK Michael Nudelman and MK Menahem Ben-Sasson (both Kadima) and MK Michael Melchior (Labor-Meimad). The transfers approved today are as follows: NIS 406 million to the Ministry of Education to pay for the teachers' pay hike; NIS 269 million...
State is secretive, emissions rules unenforced
Avi Bar-Eli, Ha'aretz 8/7/2007
The atmosphere in Israeli government circles ahead of the 2008 visit by OECD delegations can best be described as panicky. It's like soldiers preparing for inspection by a particularly tough sergeant. Israel has waited 13 years for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to invite it to open official membership discussions, and the teams are coming to see how Israel meets its standards. They will have their work cut out for them. So this is a time of ideas, committees, fixing and polishing. But Israel is liable to wind up with a gleaming surface that covers the usual mess festering underneath. That concern is demonstrated vividly by a fat document the Environmental Protection Ministry prepared back in 2004, comparing the situation in Israel with the OECD's criteria.
Former court presidents meet with Friedmann to restore calm
Yonatan Lis and Barak Ravid, Ha'aretz 8/7/2007
Two former Supreme Court presidents, Aharon Barak and Meir Shamgar, met with Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann Tuesday night at their own request to discuss the growing hostility between the minister and Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch. Both sides agreed not to publish the details of the conversation, which took place at Friedmann's home in Tel Aviv, and they did not issue a statement to the press. But sources familiar with the content of the talks told Haaretz that the former court presidents voiced their unhappiness over the Friedmann-Beinisch conflict, and particularly the grating tones adopted by both principals. They also voiced their objections to some of Friedmann's proposals for reforming the justice system, mainly those that would reduce the Supreme Court president's powers.
Palestinian ministry of education releases Tawjihi results
Ma'an News Agency 8/7/2007
Bethlehem - Ma'an - The Palestinian ministry of education on Tuesday morning announced the results of the Tawjihi exams in the West Bank. Minister of education Lamees Al-Alami stated that the ministry had taken all the necessary steps to ensure the success of both the school year and the examinations process. The minister stated that 43,340 of a potential 43,817 people sat the exams, adding that 25,510, or 58. 86% students, passed. [end]
Car passenger injured by fiery high school celebrations
Raanan Ben Zur, YNetNews 8/7/2007
Bullet fired by high school students celebrating end of matriculation exams in Qalqiliya hits Israeli passenger on Road 6 - A 51-year-old Israeli passenger was injured by a stray bullet fired from a rather bizarre location: Qalqiliya's high school. Students celebrating the conclusion of their matriculation exams fired bullet rounds in the air in jubilation, but little did they know that one bullet would end up piercing the window of an Israeli car driving on Road 6 and injuring a passenger. The car's driver heard bullet fire while driving northbound and stopped to inspect the damage to his window only to find that his passenger had been lightly injured in the chest. The passenger received emergency treatment by paramedics who rushed to the scene and was later transferred to the Beilinson Medical Center in Petah Tikva.
Co-existence summer camp
Tova Dadon, YNetNews 8/8/2007
Peres Center for Peace holds fifth annual summer camp for Israeli, Palestinian children. Hopes to create environment for children to interact in on regular basis - Israeli and Palestinian children recently took part in a special summer camp at kibbutz Gat. The summer camp, sponsored by the Peres Center for Peace, was a week long and hosted 180 children. This is the project's fifth year and, so far, more than 1,800 children, ages six to fourteen, have participated in it. Creating an environment in which Palestinian and Israeli children can interact is part of the center's ongoing mission to educate the country's youth about the Israeli-Arab co-existence. This week's activities brought together young girls from Kiryat Gat, Kiryat Malachi and Be'er Tuvia with girls from the West Bank city of Nablus and the town of Beit Safafa.
Woman who impersonated IDF officer for 5 years gets arrested
Reuters and Haaretz Service, Ha'aretz 8/8/2007
The police arrested on Tuesday a Jerusalem resident who impersonated an Israel Defense Forces officer for five years, and even took part in last summer's war in Lebanon. Police said the 24-year-old woman had visited army bases throughout the country dressed in uniform and carrying a replica M-16 assault rifle that had been bought from a store. Three fake assault rifles and 4 uniforms were found during a raid of the woman's apartment, Army Radio reported. Each replica weapon was estimated at a value of NIS 4,000. A map of the locations of paratroopers' detonators was also found, and police believe it was stolen during one of the woman's tours of army bases. The woman told the police during questioning that she was in the habit of sleeping at dorms designated for the use of soldiers across the country.
27 US youths make aliyah to enlist in IDF
YNetNews 8/7/2007
Flight carrying 210 new olim from North America lands in Israel Tuesday - A Nefesh B'Nefesh flight carrying 210 new immigrants from North America arrived in Israel Tuesday morning. On board the plane were 27 youths from the US who have come to Israel to enlist in the army. The olim were greeted by a reception ceremony at the Ben Gurion Airport attended by former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and hundreds of veteran olim. Tuesday's flight is the third out of the 15 Nefesh B'Nefesh flights scheduled to land in the country this summer. According to the organization's data, some 3,200 people are expected to make aliyah to Israel from the US and Canada in 2007, 90% of them through Nefesh B'Nefesh. [end]
W. Bank swimming pools help Palestinians brave the heat
Avi Issacharoff, Ha'aretz 8/7/2007
DURA - Lifeguard Ahmed Rajoub jumps to his feet and whistles loudly. "Stop it right now," he shouts at a group of boys causing a ruckus. "This pool is the pride of the West Bank," he says, still eyeing the boys. The clover-leaf-shaped pool, one of whose walls is adorned with the word "welcome" in Arabic, formed out of small stones, is not the only attraction at Al-Khahuf (the caves). "Come back in the evening, you can even see the sea from here," Rajoub says. The view from this small recreation complex in the village of Dura, near Hebron, is indeed breathtaking. Al-Khahuf sits on a topographical saddle between two hills that slope westward toward Beit Govrin. The hills are covered with terraces of grape vines, olive orchards, figs and other fruit trees.
Archaeologists discover sixth-century mosaic floor near Palmahim
Ofri Ilani, Ha'aretz 8/7/2007
A floor mosaic dating back to the sixth century, depicting trees and fruit baskets, was uncovered this week at the Yavneh-Yam archaeological site near Kibbutz Palmahim. The floor, discovered during excavations by Tel Aviv University's Institute of Archaeology, decorated the dining room of a Byzantine villa, containing unbroken pottery. The Yavneh-Yam site, 15 kilometers south of Jaffa, served as a seaport from the middle of the second millennium B. C. E. until the ancient Islamic period. The numerous artifacts uncovered at the site point to extensive cultural and trade ties with Egypt, Lebanon, Cyprus and the Greek Isles. At the end of the fifth century, it was home to a monk known as Peter the Iberian - a charismatic bishop of Georgian origin who gathered around him a circle of intellectuals.
Passenger claims harassment due to religious observance
Roi Mandel, YNetNews 8/7/2007
"All of a sudden I see him outraged and I hear him yelling and cursing," Kravitz told Ynet. "I took the earphones off and he kept on yelling 'you're all draft dodgers, you all refuse orders, that's the kind of education your stinking rabbis give you. I hate that you're living in my country. '" - Security guard lashed out at kippah-wearing passenger over good morning greeting. 'I was humiliated', says passenger. 'No need to blow things out of proportion,' says security company manager - Mark Kravitz, 30, was verbally assaulted by a security guard at Haifa's central bus station Tuesday, just for wearing a kippah. Kravitz entered the bus station, as he does every morning, to get on the bus which takes him to work. This morning, however, he failed to greet the security guard.
Hotel employees demonstrate outside T.A. hotel over right to unionize
Ido Solomon, Ha'aretz 8/7/2007
Some 60 hotel employees Tuesday morning held a demonstration outside the entrance of the David InterContinental hotel in Tel Aviv, demanding that the hotel's management allow the hotel's 500 employees to unionize and renegotiate their terms of employment with the Histadrut. The demonstrators were stationed at the entrance to the hotel for an hour and a half, but were turned away by security when they attempted to enter its lobby. The Histadrut has been holding negotiations with the hotel's management over unionization of its employees. According to the Histadrut, the Hotel's management has been sabotaging the employees' legal right to unionize. The hotel management denied that the employees are Histadrut members, and said that none of them reported Histadrut membership even though they had been requested to do so.
Despite allegations of mass fraud, no criminal probe launched yet
Etti Aflalo and Carmel Ben-Zur, Ha'aretz 8/7/2007
The police, in conjunction with the Justice Ministry, has decided not to launch an investigation into Heftsiba at this time. A police spokesman told TheMarker that no complaints had been filed regarding the bankrupt real estate developer. The police are not obligated to wait for a member of the public to file a criminal complaint if there are suspicions of criminal conduct. Knesset Finance Committee Chairman Stas Misezhnikov yesterday demanded in a letter to Police Commissioner David Cohen that a criminal investigation be launched. Financial institutions seeking to seize collateral at the beginning of the week, raised claims of criminal conduct in petitions filed with various courts. Bank Hapoalim wrote in its petition: "Apparently there is a substantial difference between the group's presentations and its data...
Army moves deeper into Nahr al-Bared, seizes weapons
Iman Azzi, Daily Star 8/8/2007
BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army continued its 11-week fight against Islamic militants in Nahr al-Bared Tuesday, pushing deeper inside the Palestinian refugee camp and confiscating weapons, while the information minister confirmed the death of Fatah al-Islam's deputy commander. A spokesperson for the Lebanese Army told The Daily Star that fierce fighting between the army and militants from Fatah al-Islam continued Tuesday. "We seized more weapons, ammunition and explosive materials today," he said. Information Minister Ghazi Aridi announced late Monday that Abu Hureira, a Lebanese whose real name is Shehab al-Qaddour, was killed last week by police in Tripoli. "The Cabinet was informed by Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa that Lebanese security forces have killed Fatah al-Islam's number two in the Abu Samra neighborhood"...
PLO appoints new commanders in Beirut, Sidon
Daily Star 8/8/2007
The Palestinian Liberation Organization in Lebanon appointed Colonel Khaled Aref its former representative in South Lebanon, a commander in Beirut and Mounir Maqdah, the military commander of Fatah, its representative in Sidon. Sources close to the PLO said these new appointments come as part of the Palestinians efforts to reorganize their ranks. Aref and Maqdah will be responsible for refugee camps in Beirut and South Lebanon, respectively. [end]
Government to probe phone lines installed by Hizbullah
Daily Star 8/8/2007
BEIRUT: Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh said Tuesday the Defense, Interior, Telecommunications and Justice ministries would launch an "immediate" investigation into the creation of new telephone cables by Hizbullah in the Nabatieh region of Zawtar Sharqieh. "We have discovered by accident that a new telephone network is being created along that of the state in Zawtar Sharqieh," Hamadeh told Voice of Lebanon radio. "Technical reports also showed that cables have reached Yohmor and other Tyre regions," he added. Hamadeh also said there was information that similar works were being conducted in Beirut and Dahiyeh. "All that information has forced the government to ask the relevant ministries to look into into the matter," he said, describing works being conducted as a violation of the Lebanese sovereignty and the state's "exclusive" right to establish land lines.
More ministers walk out on Iraq PM
Al Jazeera 8/7/2007
The unity government of Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister, has been plunged deeper into crisis after five ministers withdrew from cabinet meetings, less than a week after the main Sunni Arab bloc quit. Seventeen ministers - nearly half of al-Maliki's cabinet - have now quit or are boycotting meetings, leaving it with no Sunni members. The boycotting ministers all belong to the political bloc loyal to Iyad Allawi, the former interim prime minister. The group of mostly secular Sunnis and Shia accused al-Maliki of not responding to their demands for political reform. Wijdan Michael, Iraq's human rights minister and one of those staying away, said: "We are still in the government but we are boycotting cabinet meetings." The withdrawal comes at a time when the prime minister is under growing...
Iraq power system 'near collapse'
BBC Online 8/7/2007
Iraq's national power grid is on the brink of collapse, the country's electricity ministry has warned. Water supplies to Baghdad have also been cut off for days at a time, with summertime pressures on key systems said to be more intense than ever. The ministry blamed poor maintenance, fuel shortages, sabotage by insurgents and rising demand for the problems, and said some provinces hold onto supplies. The US Army told the BBC that Iraq must now take charge of fixing the problems. The general in charge of helping Iraq rebuild its infrastructure, Michael Walsh, said that although Iraqi authorities only have one-quarter of the money needed for reconstruction, solving the problem was now up to them. Gen Walsh told the BBC that the US had jump-started reconstruction but that, working with donor nations, the Iraqi government needed to do the rest.
IRAQ: Continuing violence boosts funeral industry in Baghdad
Afif Sarhan/IRIN, IRIN - UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 8/8/2007
Muhammad Abdel Kader makes around 20 coffins a day - BAGHDAD, 7 August 2007 (IRIN) - The continuing violence in Baghdad is fuelling a boom in the funeral industry. Back in Saddam Hussein's time, coffin maker Abdul-Wahab Khalil Mohammed used to sell one or two coffins a day at US$5-US$10 each. Now he produces an average of 15 to 20 coffins a day and charges $50-$75 for each one. "Our business is booming," said Mohammed pointing to at least seven caskets in front of his tiny shop in Baghdad's central Allawi area. Professional mourners like 51-year-old Um Ali, who attends funerals to add emotion to the ceremony, are also cashing in. "I feel like I'm a death toll meter. Since the end of 2005, I've been doing a daily average of three to five funerals," said Um Ali.
Turkey wins Iraqi pledge to take action against Kurdish militants
Daily Star 8/8/2007
Turkey and Iraq agreed to try to end the presence of a Kurdish rebel group in Iraq, Turkey's prime minister told a news conference Tuesday, while four more US soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq as US troop levels reached an all-time high of about 162,000. "We have reached an agreement to spend all efforts to end the presence of the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK in Iraq," Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a news conference together with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Erdogan said the leaders signed a memorandum of understanding and agreed to speed up work to finalize a counterterrorism agreement to combat the Kurdish guerrillas who have escalated their attacks on Turkey from bases in northern Iraq. "We are in agreement with Turkey on the issue of combating terrorism," Maliki said.
Syrian economic recovery remains on track - report
Daily Star 8/8/2007
Banque Audi Saradar released an economic report on Syria, which highlighted the main economic indicators in 2006 and saw considerable growth in some sectors. The report said Syria would be able to maintain growth provided that reforms are implemented on time. The Daily Star publishes the conclusion on the Syrian economy. Syria has undeniably been enjoying an economic revival in recent years, with the economy doing remarkably well in 2006. Although GDP growth rates differ according to the various sources, there is no doubt that the economic recovery that began in 2004 remains on track. The Economist Intelligence Unit estimated real GDP growth at 4 percent last year. The Syrian Central Bank reported growth at 6. 3 in 2006, against 5. 2 percent the year before.
Interpreters 'abandoned' in Iraq
BBC Online 8/7/2007
Iraqi interpreter - perhaps one of the most dangerous jobs in the world - Iraqi interpreters who have risked their lives to help UK forces will not get asylum, a report has claimed. Whitehall officials ignored appeals by high-ranking army officers for asylum to be given to 91 interpreters and their families, according to the Times. BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says interpreters are marked men who "face a horrific death". The MoD says it considers requests for help from serving or ex-employees on their "individual merits". 'Cold shoulder' - However, the Times reported that one appeal for asylum was rejected even though it was accompanied by a glowing recommendation from a British commanding officer. "As a matter of honour, we have to look after them.
European mosque plans face protests
Tom Heneghan - PARIS, Middle East Online 8/7/2007
Petitions in London, protests in Cologne, a court case in Marseille and a violent clash in Berlin -- Muslims in Europe are meeting resistance to plans for mosques that befit Islam's status as the continent's second religion. Across Europe, Muslims who have long prayed in garages and old factories now face scepticism and concern for wanting to build stately mosques to give proud testimony to the faith and solidity of their Islamic communities. Some critics reject them as signs of "Islamisation". Others say minarets would scar their city's skyline. Given the role some mosques have played as centres for terrorists, others see Muslim houses of worship as potential security threats. "The increasingly visible presence of Muslims has prompted questions in all European societies," Tariq Ramadan, one of Europe's...
POLITICS-US: Polls Find Broad Support for Greater Altruism
Eli Clifton, Inter Press Service 8/2/2007
WASHINGTON, Aug 6(IPS) - The U.S. public rejects the idea that the United States should revert to a more isolationist foreign policy, but expresses dissatisfaction with the current role of the U.S. in the world and the destabilising effect it is having, concludes a compilation of recent public opinion polls. "People have the impression that public opinion data gives highly discrepant results and that's really not true. If you take all of the polling data it's really quite coherent," PIPA director and WPO editor Steven Kull told IPS. "We don't look at polling as a one shot thing, but accumulating a body of knowledge where every piece of data is useful." The compilation, conducted by the Programme on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) and World Public Opinion (WPO), found that a majority of U.
RIGHTS: First Nations Feel Betrayed by Canada at UN
Am Johal, Inter Press Service 8/2/2007
VANCOUVER, Aug 7(IPS) - Even though it took two decades to draft a U. N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Canada has been actively opposing the document for much of that time period. The declaration was to be finalised on Nov. 28, 2006 at the U. N. General Assembly in New York before Native leaders charge it was driven into the "diplomatic ditch" by countries such as Canada, the United States and Australia. A recent National Aboriginal Day of Action in June highlighted Canada's First Nations frustrations with the federal government and their policymaking on reconciliation. Chief Stewart Phillip, Grand Chief of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, told IPS, "Canada's position is terribly unfortunate. They have not supported this over the last 20-year period and it doesn't bode well for the genuine hope for reconciliation with aboriginal peoples.
Articles
Palestine: a policy of deliberate blindness
Régis Debray, Le Monde Diplomatique 8/7/2007
Last year President Jacques Chirac asked Régis Debray to study the situation in the Middle East. On 15 January 2007 Debray sent the French authorities the following document on Palestine. It is an important key to understanding a long policy drift whose results are now obvious.
Dennis Ross, formerly the United States envoy to the Middle East, admitted back in 2000 that mistakes had been made in the 1978 Camp David accords: the diplomatic process had not taken enough account of developments on the ground, especially the settlements. The number of Jewish settlers in the Palestinian territories doubled from 1994 to 2000. As many Israelis have settled in the West Bank since the Oslo accords of 1993 as in the previous 25 years. With an international conference again being discussed, it would be a mistake to continue to ignore the real state of affairs. There is no need for a committee of inquiry. The report has already been drawn up, many times over. No conflict in the world is as well documented, mapped and recorded.
The OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs)
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