Occupied Palestine News & Articles

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Man killed in Jerusalem attack
Al Jazeera 8/10/2007
A Palestinian man has been killed and at least 10 people injured near Al-Khalil gate in the Old City of occupied east Jerusalem, Israeli police and medics said. They said the man seized a pistol from an Israeli security guard and shot him in the shoulder on Friday morning, but was shot dead by another guard as he tried to flee. Israeli emergency services treating the wounded at the scene said most of the injuries were minor but at least four people were seriously hurt. Ilan Franco, Jerusalem police chief, said that after the man tried to take the guard's weapon, another guard shot him. Bystanders hit - The incident took place near a crowded market close to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City's Christian Quarter. The guard's gunfire also apparently hit bystanders, Franco told Israel Radio.

IOF troops raid Qalqilya, kidnap Sheikh Walweel and six others
Palestinian Information Center 8/10/2007
QALQILYA, (PIC)-- IOF troops in large numbers raided the northern West Bank city of Qalqilya on Thursday night, carried out a number of house raids and kidnapped Sheikh Reyadh al-Walweel along with six other Palestinians. Eyewitnesses told PIC correspondent that more than twenty Israeli military vehicles raided the neighbourhoods of Ghayatha, Zeid and Kafr Saba, the troops which were accompanied by intelligence officers kidnapped Sheik Walweel, a prominent Hamas leader in the West Bank along with Muhammad Musleh, Bilal Swailem, member of Qalqilya's local council, Sheikh Sharif Hanini, Sheikh Jamal Daud of the rehabilitation society in Qalqilya, Aseed Nassar and Muhammad Walweel. All were taken to the northern crossing which is under Israeli control.... The officer reportedly said: "We will clean Qalqilya for Abbas, anyone that the PA cannot arrest we will arrest."

Hamas member dies after being tortured in jail run by Palestinian Authority
Ma'an News Agency 8/10/2007
Nablus – Ma'an – Hamas have said that Palestinian security sources in the West Bank have confirmed the death of a Hamas member they claim was tortured in a Palestinian security prison. Twenty-two-year-old Mou'aiad Bani Odeh in an Israeli hospital, from Tamon in the north of the West Bank Tobas, died in an Israeli hospital after he was transferred fromAl Junied Jail in Nablus. The Palestinian media centre said that according to Palestinian sources, "Bani Odeh died after he was severely tortured in Al Junied Jail, which is run by the Palestinian Authority. Bani Odeh's family are blaming the Palestinian security services for their son's death. In a news conference Hamas said that this is an example of the torture their members are facing in Palestinian Authority jails.

Israeli troops attack nonviolent demonstration near Bethlehem
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 8/10/2007
About 100 Palestinian villagers, joined by international and Israeli peace activists, on Friday morning marched to the site of land scheduled for annexation for the purposes of the illegal wall, located in the village of Um Salamonah, south of the central West Bank City of Bethlehem. Protesters carried placards condemning illegal land-annexation and commemorating the victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki massacres. As protestors arrived at the location of the Wall, soldiers attacked them with batons and rifle buts. While no injuries were reported, one Israeli peace activist was kidnapped and taken to an unknown location. One of the organizers of the event, Sami Awad, the director of the Holy Land Trust, a Palestinian NGO that promotes non-violent resistance, told IMEMC that soldiers verbally abused demonstrators, shouting that this was Israeli and Jewish land.

Fatah forces infiltrating Gaza
Ali Waked, YNetNews 8/10/2007
Small units of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades members operating clandestinely in Strip against Hamas forces, in bid to topple new regime - Two months after Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip and the consequent escape of Fatah security forces from the area, Fatah units have begun infiltrating the Strip and operating there undercover in a bid to topple the current regime. Ynet has learned that several groups numbering five to 10 members each, have started operating in Gaza City and the southern Strip, under the name al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades - Samih al-Madhoun Cells. The groups are named after the Brigades' former commander, who was executed by Hamas on the last day of the coup in Gaza. The unit members have so far planted explosive devices near Hamas' headquarters in Gaza, and blew up a bomb near Hamas loyalists.

Barak says peace deal a 'fantasy'
BBC Online 8/10/2007
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has been quoted by an Israeli newspaper as saying that a peace deal with the Palestinians anytime soon is "fantasy". Mr Barak also reportedly said Israel would not remove checkpoints from the West Bank for at least several years. He was quoted by the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, which said the remarks had been made in private conversations. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas hosted Israeli PM Ehud Olmert for talks earlier this week. The talks in the West Bank town of Jericho were highest-level talks on Palestinian territory for some years and involved discussions on the broad principles for establishing a Palestinian state. Israelis... can't be fed more fantasies about an upcoming agreement with the Palestinians Ehud Barak Israeli Defence Minister According...

Eight civilians wounded in Bilin's non-violent protest
IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center 8/10/2007
Eight civilians have been injured by Israeli army fire in the West Bank village of Bilin on Friday afternoon. Residents of Bil'in, along with Israeli and international peace activists, on Friday conducted their weekly non-violent demonstration against the illegal annexation of village land for the construction of the illegal Israeli wall. Demonstrators attempted to march to the site of the Wall's construction but were met with an Israeli barrier and showered with sound-bombs, tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. Eight were injured in the Israeli attack, including two internationals, two paramedics and five children. Two internationals and three Palestinians were also arrested. In addition to attacks are arrests, the vehicle of an Al-Jazeera camera crew was also damaged by Israeli soldiers.

Haneyya: there is a five-point scheme to liquidate the Palestinian cause
Palestinian Information Center 8/10/2007
KHAN-YOUNIS, (PIC)-- Ismail Haneya, Prime Minister of the PA care-taker government in Gaza said during the Friday sermon that there is a five-point scheme that aims to liquidate the Palestinian cause. He was delivering the Friday sermon at the central Mosque in Khan Younis. He said that this conspiracy, in which some Palestinian parties are taking part is based on five axes; separation between Gaza and the West Bank, tightening the siege on Gaza, eroding the legitimacy of the Hamas's elected government, destroying the infrastructure of the Palestinian resistance, especially in the West Bank and entering into security and political deals with the Zionist enemy. He stressed that these five axes have become a de facto "code of conduct" for some Palestinian, regional and international parties when dealing with the Palestinian issue.

PCHR Calls for the Immediate Release of Dr. Jum'a El-Saqqa
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 8/9/2007
PCHR strongly condemns the detention of Dr. Jum'a Hilmi El-Saqqa (49), the Director of Public Relations in Shifa Hospital, this morning by members of the Executive Force. The Centre calls for stopping all forms of illegal arrests that are part of power struggle between Fatah and Hamas. This power struggle has affected the work and performance of all governmental institutions, including Shifa Hospital. Information acquired by PCHR indicate that Dr. Basem Na'im, the Minister of Health in the dismissed government in Gaza, issued a decision on 7 August 2007 suspending Dr. El-Saqqa from his work, and referring him to the Ministry Legal Advisor for questioning on administrative violations. However, at approximately 1:30 on Thursday, 9 August 2007, the Executive Force detained El-Saqqa from his house in Shuhada Street in Gaza City.

Hamas forces arrest 19 Fatah members, supporters in Gaza
Ha'aretz 8/11/2007
Forces from the militant group Hamas arrested at least 19 members and supporters of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah group in Gaza on Friday, in one of the largest such sweeps since Hamas seized control over the territory. Spokesmen for both Fatah and Hamas said that at least four senior Fatah members had been taken into custody in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanun. The arrests sparked a protest in the streets of the town staged by the detainees' families. "Four Fatah leaders were arrested not because of who they are, but for violating public security," said Saber Khalifa, a spokesman for Hamas's Executive Force, referring to earlier reports that Hamas had admitted to arresting the four men because of their Fatah affiliation, and not for a specific crime.

Fateh spokesperson: "Fateh armed groups are not operating against Hamas"
International Middle East Media Center 8/11/2007
Ahmad Abdul-Rahman, official spokesperson of Fateh movement, stated on Friday that Fateh is not operating against Hamas, and denied Israeli reports that armed cells of Fateh are acting against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Abdul-Rahman stated that there is not decision or intention in Fateh to violently resist Hamas' "coup in the Gaza Strip". "Our choice is public and democratic act with all national and political factions", Abdul-Rahman said, "Hamas must end its coup, and we will achieve this through democratic means". He also said that such news aim at "concealing the crimes carried by Hamas militias in the Gaza Strip", and added that Fateh refuses to resort to violence in resolving internal disputes. Moreover, Abdul-Rahman accused Hamas of abducting Fateh members in the Gaza Strip, and violently attacking protests there.

Fatah accuses Hamas of dismissing Fatah employees at hospital
Ma'an News Agency 8/10/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – Fatah have accused Hamas of dismissing Fatah employees from the Ash- Shifa' hospital in the Gaza Strip. Fatah asserted that all civil institutions must be free from all factional and political infighting. Fatah also condemned the violations committed by the Hamas Executive Force in the Gaza Strip. [end]

Beilin: Gov't must reach deal with Hamas before Mideast summit
Ha'aretz 8/11/2007
Yossi Beilin said Thursday it is vital Israel reach an agreement with Hamas, directly or indirectly, before the Middle East summit scheduled for this coming fall, otherwise Gaza may "explode." Beilin, speaking at a conference for young journalists in Jerusalem, said a cease-fire negotiated with Hamas would include it taking responsibility for a total cessation of Qassam fire. "Hamas have said they are capable of stopping Qassam fire on Israel, and I believe they can," he said." If they're ready to talk to us, we should talk to them," he added. In order to reach an agreement with Hamas, Beilin stressed negotiations must focus on crossings, in order not to deprive Gazans of vital income during the flower export season beginning November.

Combatants For Peace holds a meeting in Tulkarem
Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 8/10/2007
The Palestinian-Israeli Combatants For Peace Organization held on Friday a meeting in Tulkarem, in the northern part of the West Bank, Palestinian sources reported. The meeting was held in Shoufa village, near Tulkarem. The sources stated that Israeli peace activists and Israeli refuseniks participated in the meetings along with Palestinian and international peace activists. Combatants For Peace identifies itself as "a group of Palestinian and Israeli individuals who were actively involved in the violence in the area". The Israeli members of the groups served as soldiers in the Israeli military and the Palestinians were involved in acts of violence in the name of Palestinian liberations, according to the official statement of the group. The group's statement also states "We all used weapons against one another,...

Haniyeh says Palestinian and regional sides plotting to get rid of Hamas
Ma'an News Agency 8/10/2007
Khan Younis – Ma'an – Deposed Palestinian Prime Minister, Isma'il Haniyeh on Friday accused Palestinian and regional sides of plotting to get rid of Hamas and to separate the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In an before Friday prayers in a mosque in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, Haniyeh accused them of attempting to separate the West Bank and the Gaza Strip; of tightening the crippling siege on the Gaza Strip, endeavoring to topple the legitimate government [the Hamas-led deposed government], making security and political deals with Israel, and striking the infra-structure of the Palestinian resistance, particularly in the West Bank. Haniyeh also said that the US president and the White House are conspiring against the Palestinian people in cooperation with regional and international forces, and that even Palestinians are taking part in the conspiracy.

Palestinian Prime Minister,Salam Fayyad meets with U.S officials
Ma'an News Agency 8/10/2007
Bethlehem – Ma'an – U. SUnder Secretary for Treasury Stuart Levey met on Friday with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to convey U.S. government' support for the Palestinian people and the government of Prime Minister Fayyad. The two also discussed the current economic situation in the West Bank, measures being taken by the Palestinian Authority to improve the lives of Palestinians and the importance of financial transparency. The Under Secretary reconfirmed U. S confidence in the Prime Minister and the government that he leads, and offered the backing of the Department of Treasury. U.S. Consul General Jacob Walles also attended the meeting. [end]

Yemen plans 'to resolve Palestinian differences'
Middle East Online 8/10/2007
SANAA - President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Thursday sent his Palestinian counterpart Mahmud Abbas an initiative to resolve the crisis between Hamas and Abbas's Fatah,that has been accepted by Hamas, the official Saba news agency reported. It quoted Khaled Meshaal, Hamas's exiled political supremo, who left Sanaa after a 24-hour visit on Thursday, as saying Saleh "presented a series of proposals aimed at bridging the differences between Palestinians, resuming dialogue and restoring national Palestinian harmony." Saba did not elaborate on the details of the Yemeni initiative. On Wednesday, Meshaal accused outside forces of trying to block reconciliation between his democratically elected movement and Abbas's Fatah party. He spoke before meeting Saleh for talks on the situation in the Palestinian territories following Hamas's takeover of the Gaza Strip in June.

Hamas welcomes Yemeni Presidents initiative, Abbas rejects it
Palestinian Information Center 8/10/2007
SANA'A, (PIC)-- President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen made an initiative on Thursday with the aim of healing the Palestinian rift and reinforcing Palestinian unity. The initiative was tabled with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Khaled Mishaal, leader of Hamas. The initiative, according to the Yemeni news agency, revolves around the resumption of Hamas-Fatah talks based on the Cairo and the Makka accords, to ensure unity of Palestinian people by overcoming the differences. It also stresses respect for Palestinian legitimacy, law and Palestinian constants by all parties. The initiative also calls for the rebuilding of PA security agencies on professional and patriotic basis. It also calls for the formation of one government capable of carrying out its responsibilities as well as forming an Arab committee to oversee...

Masri warns of Abbas's attempts to recreate illusions in minds of Palestinians
Palestinian Information Center 8/10/2007
GAZA, (PIC)-- MP Mushir Al-Masri, the secretary general of Hamas-affiliated change and reform parliamentary bloc, expressed surprise at PA chief Mahmoud Abbas's statements to the Palestine TV that the dream of a Palestinian state is more realizable today than ever before, warning of his attempt to recreate such illusions in the minds of Palestinians." We give our blood and souls for the establishment of a Palestinian state, but apparently there is an attempt on the part of certain quarters to reproduce illusions about the dream of a Palestinian state with provisional borders not exceeding 10% of the Palestinian land," Masri stated. He added: "We believe that the beneficiary of such an illusion and fait accompli is only the Zionist enemy, and Abbas alone is to blame for this, who must know that any concessions will be rejected by the Palestinian people..."

Qassam rocket hits Sderot, sparks brushfire; no casualties
Ha'aretz 8/11/2007
Palestinian militants fired a Qassam rocket at the western Negev town of Sderot late Friday afternoon, which sparked a brushfire but caused no casualties or damage to property. On Thursday afternoon gunmen in the Gaza Strip also fired three Qassam rockets into the western Negev. Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon reported that one person was treated for shock. No property damage was reported. One of the rockets fired Thursday landed in an animal pen belonging to former prime minister Ariel Sharon's Sycamore Ranch. The pen is not actually within the ranch's bounds, and the rocket caused no damage to it. Palestinians launched two more Qassams late Thursday, one of which hit an antenna in Kibbutz Nir Am. Also Thursday, an Israel Air Force helicopter strike destroyed the disused control tower at Gaza's defunct airport.

Brigades claim responsibility for attacks on Israeli targets
Ma'an News Agency 8/10/2007
Gaza – Ma'an – The military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), the An Nasser Salah Addin Brigades claimed responsibility for setting a trap for an Israeli Press vehicle on a road, east of Gaza City, on Friday. The brigades claimed that one of the Israelis in the vehicle was injured. Meanwhile, the Al Quds Brigade, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, and the PFLP-affiliated Abu Ali Mustafa Brigade, have claimed responsibility for launching several homemade projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot, close to the northern Gaza Strip. In a statement received by Ma'an, both brigades declared that "this operation was in response to Israeli crimes against the Palestinians", and "to demonstrate their continued resistance."

Israel air raid near defunct Gaza airport
Middle East Online 8/10/2007
GAZA CITY - Israeli aircraft fired four missiles at a building in the vicinity of the Gaza Strip's defunct international airport on Thursday night, witnesses said. No casualties were reported but the building was destroyed, they said. Israeli tank movements were also reported in the same sector. An Israeli military spokesman confirmed there had been an air strike, and said it had targeted "three armed men." The army also said two rockets had been fired from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel on Thursday, causing some damage but no casualties. The airport, near the border with Egypt, has been closed for years after having been put out of action following the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising in September 2000. Palestinian killed in Jerusalem shooting - A Palestinian man was shot dead in a...

Israeli guard kills a Palestinian man and wounds eight others in Jerusalem
Palestinian Information Center 8/10/2007
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- A Palestinian man was killed and eight others were wounded while an Israeli guard was seriously wounded in occupied Jerusalem on Friday morning. Israeli occupation police sources claimed that a Palestinian man attacked an Israeli guard, took his gun and shot him at the Christian quarter in occupied Jerusalem wounding the guard seriously. Another Israeli guard opened fire killing the Palestinian man, who has not yet been identified, and wounding eight others, according to Israeli police. Immediately after the incident, IOF troops were rushed to the old city of Jerusalem fearing protests and disturbances. The troops closed the old city and stopped people from going into or out of it. There are tens of armed Israeli guards in occupied Jerusalem whose job is to protect Jewish settlers in the old city and who often assault Palestinians...

VIDEO - LEBANON: Fields of Fire: Cluster bombs in Lebanon
IRIN - UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 11/7/2006
NAIROBI, 7 November 2006 (IRIN Film & TV) - Blackboard - Play Film by clicking BelowTowards the end of the Second World War German technicians developed a new type of bomb which, when fired, would open up and release hundreds of smaller bombs that would then rain down on targets spread over a wide area. These weapons were further advanced during the Cold War and have since become standard weaponry for most conventional armies. There are many types but collectively, they are known as cluster bombs. Federic Gras: "So you have one sub-munition here with a local marking – it's a pile of stones to warn people. You have one impact here – you can see the crater. You have another sub munition here, and another one over there. So it's quite heavily contaminated here. It's not only in the olive groves; it's in all the village...

This Week In Palestine – Week 32 2007
Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 8/10/2007
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file - || File 16. 4 MB || Time 18m 0s | - This Week In Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www. IMEMC. org, for August 4th through August 10th, 2007. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert in the West Bank city of Jericho this week and the Israeli army continued to attack Palestinians killing eight in the West Bank and Gaza strip, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. Nonviolent Resistance in Palestine - Let's begin our weekly report with nonviolent action in the West Bank cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem against the wall and settlements. Bethlehem - About 100 Palestinian villagers, joined by international and Israeli peace activists, on Friday morning marched to the site of land scheduled...

Egypt warns it won't take back refugees who cross into Israel
Ha'aretz 8/11/2007
Egypt warned Israel on Friday that it is not obligated to take back African refugees sneaking into Israel and defended its use of force to stop the illegal border crossings. The warning came as Capt. Mohammed Badr of the northern Sinai police announced Friday the arrest of 11 Sudanese near the border, including four couples in their late twenties, a pregnant woman, and two children. The refugees told police during interrogation that they paid several hundred dollars per person to Egyptian Bedouins to smuggle them into Israel, Badr said. He said the refugees were from northern Sudan and would be deported back to their country of origin. Swamped with rising numbers of African refugees that it does not know what to do with, Israel asked Egypt in July to increase its surveillance of the border and take back...

India and Israel propose joint air defence system project
Ma'an News Agency 8/10/2007
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Indian media sources have reported that Israel and India are proposing a joint project to develop unmanned combat helicopters. The project was discussed during the Israeli Naval Commander's visit to India last week, according to the Indian media. The air defence system will a cost over one billion and a half American dollars. [end]

Nasrallah refuses to meet Azmy Bishara
Ma'an News Agency 8/10/2007
Bethlehem – Ma'an – HassanNasrallah, the secretary- general of Hezbollah, has refused to meet Azmy Bisharah, the most recent Arab member of Israeli Knesset, according to the Arab-Israeli newspaper, Al Senara. Bisharah had asked to meet Nasrallah during his recent visit to Lebanon, but Nasrallah refused, saying he was too busy to meet. [end]

U.S. Officials join Abu Dees community in celebrating US-funded infra-structure improvements
Ma'an News Agency 8/10/2007
Bethlehem - Ma'an - U.S. Consul General Jacob Walles and USAID acting director for the West Bank and GazaStrip, David Hardenon Friday joined Abu Dees mayor, Ibrahim Jaffal and local dignitaries in highlighting infra-structure improvements to the Old City of Abu Dees east of Jerusalem. The improvements were part of city-wide rehabilitation efforts made possible by approximately $144,000 of in-kind assistance provided to the municipal council by USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI). OTI's assistance allowed for the stone tiling of the Old City's unpaved alleys, installation of stone benches and trash receptacles and painting. City-wide improvements included the repair of sidewalks, mounting of 100 street signs, painting of crosswalks, placement of street reflectors, and new bus shelters near Al-Quds university in the city.

Hezbollah showcases 'divine victory' over Israel
Middle East Online 8/10/2007
BEIRUT - One year after its devastating war with Israel, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is celebrating its "divine victory" over the Jewish state with an elaborate exhibition complete with sound and light show. Set in the southern suburbs of Beirut controlled by Hezbollah, the exhibition showcases seized Israeli weapons, military apparel, pictures and video footage highlighting the "crushing defeat" inflicted on Israel in its 34-day war with the militant Shiite group. Bunkers surrounded by sandbags, underground listening posts and detailed maps also aim to recreate the living conditions of the militants on the battlefield, as loudspeakers blare out the sound of bombs exploding, machine gun fire and speeches by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Report: Israelis fighting guerillas in Colombia
Beatrice Overlander, YNetNews 8/10/2007
Colombian paper quotes local defense minister as confirming ex Israeli officers helping government in battle against guerillas, drug lords, while guerrilla group FARC claims Israeli commandos also fighting them in jungles - Colombia's defense minister confirmed recently that ex Israeli military men were helping his government fight guerilla organizations, Colombia weekly Semana recently reported. Meanwhile, Colombian guerilla group FARC stated that Israeli commandos, along with American and British forces, were operating in the jungles against drug lords and guerilla fighters While denying this report, Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos did admit that a group of Israeli advisors was working alongside local defense officials in the last year.

Fatah-Yasser rejects Peres's proposal of establishing Palestinian state in WB
Palestinian Information Center 8/9/2007
GAZA, (PIC)-- The newly established Fatah Al-Yasser movement has declared its rejection of Israeli president Shimon Peres's proposal of establishing a Palestinian state in the West Bank only. A statement for the movement on Wednesday said that any solution to the Palestine cause not recognizing the Palestinian people's rights was rejected. It called on all Palestinian political forces and social institutions to declare rejection of all attempts aimed at endorsing the state of division in the Palestinian arena. The movement also rejected Peres's proposal of solving the Palestinian refugees' question through the proposed Palestinian state in the West Bank or to exchange lands occupied by Israeli settlements in the West Bank with ones of Arab majority in the 1948 occupied lands.

Bardawil: Abbas became part of the Zio-American system
Palestinian Information Center 8/9/2007
GAZA, (PIC)-- MP Dr. Salah Al-Bardawil, the spokesman of Hamas-affiliated change and reform bloc, has belittled the importance of betting on Egypt's role in persuading PA chief Mahmoud Abbas to return to the internal dialogue and not to ignore Hamas because Abbas is no longer an independent Palestinian party but a part of the "Zio-American system." Denying reports of media and political circles that Hamas constitutes a fundamental obstacle to any political project of a settlement, Dr. Bardawil said: "These are false claims because, basically, there is no a settlement process, for the fact that the IOA did not declare its readiness to withdraw to the borders of June 4 of 1967, did not stop the construction of the apartheid wall, did not release the Palestinian detainees, and did not allow the return of refugees, so there can be no process that can be hampered by Hamas."

Ariel 'university' shunned by state
Moran Zelikovich, YNetNews 8/10/2007
The Ariel academic college, which has recently declared itself a "university center" although it hasn't received any authorization to do so from the appropriate bodies, will not receive any support or funding from the state, the Planning and Budgeting Committee (PCB) at the Council for Higher Education said Thursday. "In light of the college's announcement that its status has been upgraded to a university center, I hereby proclaim that we do not perceive this change to be legitimate," PBC Director-General Steven Stav said in a letter to the council. "Therefore, I ask that that no request from the college that is submitted on behalf of the university center be addressed..."

Barak: Suspend Weiss until he apologizes
Moran Zelikovich, YNetNews 8/10/2007
In letter to Bar Ilan University president, Defense Minister Ehud Barak demands suspension of professor who was heard cursing a military commander during Hebron evacuation - Defense Minister Ehud Barak sent a letter to Bar Ilan University President Professor Moshe Kaveh on Thursday demanding the suspension of Professor Hillel Weiss, who was documented by Ynet as cursing the Hebron brigade commander during the evacuation of settlers last week. "A verbal denouncement is not enough in light of such a serious attack against an IDF officer," the letter said, adding that the professor should be suspended until he apologizes. "It is vital that the university portrays the moral message of denouncing what Professor Weiss stands for by not allowing him to continue in his work until he publicly retracts his tongue-lashing," Barak said in his letter.

PFLP, DFLP urge Abbas to spare Palestinians ramifications of political wrangling
Palestinian Information Center 8/9/2007
JENIN, (PIC)-- The PFLP and the DFLP have called on PA chief Mahmoud Abbas to distance the interests of the Palestinian citizens from political disputes, to dispense staff salaries regardless of their political affiliations, and to address the issue of the declaration of high school results, for the sake of students' future. During a meeting with a delegation of Fatah, the two Fronts also called for the need to expedite ending the consequences of the social and economic division between the West Bank and Gaza Strip, to respect the democratic freedom and political pluralism, to create the atmosphere for serious Palestinian national dialogue, and to activate and develop the PLO according to the national accord document and the Cairo declaration in 2005.

Shin Bet security service bars Gazan from studying overseas
Amira Hass, Ha'aretz 8/10/2007
Around 150 Palestinian students applied for an academic scholarship from Germany last year. Only six applicants made the cut, among them Luay Kfafi, 24, a student at Birzeit University in the West Bank and native of the al-Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. But Israel's Shin Bet security service has barred him from traveling abroad. Asked by Haaretz about Kfafi's case, the Shin Bet said that "there is information allegedly linking him to terrorists," and therefore "under the circumstances, his going abroad would appear to endanger national security." In the seven years he has lived in Ramallah, Kfafi has not been arrested, detained or summoned for questioning by the Shin Bet. Last June he even traveled to the Allenby Bridge, where the Shin Bet routinely arrests or detains anyone suspected of posing a risk to national security.

Rahat parents seek to halt transfer of school funds to town
Or Kashti, Ha'aretz 8/10/2007
A group of parents from the city of Rahat will ask the High Court of Justice early next week to demand that educational funds stop going to the Bedouin municipality, and instead be transferred into a separate account. The request follows a report commissioned by the Education Ministry, which found major faults in the management of the municipality. The law governing local authorities stipulates that the education minister has the power to appoint "a person to manage educational budgetary funds" in cases where the local authority's use of the money is not in line with ministry intentions. The High Court petition was put together by parent organizations from several elementary schools in Rahat, in cooperation with the Arab Education Forum in the Negev and with the help of Gadeer Nicola, a lawyer from the human rights program of Tel Aviv University's law school.

Military court releases Hebron rampage suspect
John Smith, International Middle East Media Center 8/10/2007
An Israeli military court on Thursday released a soldier involved in last week's kidnapping and shooting rampage in the south Hebron hills. The company of the soldier in question stands accused of illegally accosting and binding an innocent Taxi driver, and of shooting and seriously wounding a Palestinian bystander. The soldier was allowed to return to his unit while a military enquiry reviews the case. The officer of the unit has been remanded in custody for a further five days. [end]

Caught on the wrong side
David Chater in Beit Lahiya, Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera 8/9/2007
One and a half million people live in the Gaza Strip, crammed into towns and refugee camps. This year, residents have seen countless Israeli blockades and incursions, and factional fighting between Hamas and Fatah on their streets. Al Jazeera looks at how Gaza's people are living under siege. Thousands of Palestinians were trapped when the Rafah crossing was sealed. They are only now starting to return home, two months after factional fighting in the Gaza Strip left Hamas in apparent total control. Caught on the wrong side of the border, their homecoming has been a long and arduous one. Their final barrier: the Israeli-controlled Erez Crossing in the north of the Strip. Exhausted by their ordeal, they were labelled and processed one by one through the checkpoints.

Hamas prisoner at a P.A prison is clinically dead
International Middle East Media Center 8/11/2007
Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, stated that one of its members who was imprisoned and tortured at a Palestinian prison was pronounced clinically dead on Thursday after he was transferred to an Israeli hospital. Hamas added that Moayyad Bani Odah, 22, was severely tortured in Jneid prison in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Legislative Council, dominated by Hamas, stated that Bani Odah was arrested by security forces, loyal to Fateh, in July 2 2007, and was severely tortured in prison. The Council added that this assault is a violation to human rights and violates article number 3 -- 2001 of the Palestinian law. The Council also stated that political arrests violate decision of the previous legislative council which forbids political arrests.

Hamas activists declared dead after being tortured at PA jails
Palestinian Information Center 8/10/2007
NABLUS, TUBAS, (PIC)-- Mo'ayyad Bani Oadah, a 22-year-old Hamas activist was declared clinically dead at an Israeli hospital according to PA security sources. Bani Oadah was moved to an Israeli hospital from the PA Junaid jail in Nablus where he was subjected to torture at the said prison according to Palestinian sources. The family of Bani Oadah held the Abbas's security forces responsible for the death of their son who was arrested by those forces on the 2nd July from his house in Tamoun village. The victim's family say that their son used to work in tiling and that he was in very good health before his arrest. The family said in a statement that they were told by the PA security that their son will be brought before a court in Nablus and that a defence lawyer was appointed to represent him.

UN expands role in Iraq
Al Jazeera 8/10/2007
The UN Security Council has agreed to expand the United Nations mission in Iraq despite the persistent high level of insecurity and resistance from UN staff. The resolution, which was presented by the United States and Britain, was approved unanimously by the council's 15 members. The mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), which would have expired on Friday, has now been extended by one year. The resolution calls on the UN to promote reconciliation between Iraq's rival factions and dialogue with neighbouring countries. It requires UNAMI to "advise, support and assist" Iraqis on "advancing their inclusive, political dialogue and national reconciliation," reviewing their constitution, fixing internal boundaries and staging a census.

US soldiers cleared in Haditha case
Al Jazeera 8/9/2007
A US marine general in Los Angeles has dropped all charges against two marines in the shooting deaths of 24 civilians in Haditha, scene of what Iraqi witnesses said was a massacre by American troops. The dismissal on Thursday of the charges means neither Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt nor Captain Randy Stone will face a court-martial in connection with the events at Haditha, which have brought international condemnation of US troops. Five marines still face charges in the November 19, 2005, shooting of two dozen unarmed men, women and children in Haditha, which prosecutors say came in retaliation for the death of a comrade, Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas, who was killed by a roadside bomb. Sharratt, 22, had been charged with three counts of premeditated murder and Stone, 35, with dereliction of duty for failing to properly report the civilian deaths.

Bahraini Guantanamo returnee complains of torture
Middle East Online 8/10/2007
MANAMA - The last Bahraini to return home from the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba said on Friday he was tortured there but has no plans to sue the US government. "I was subjected to torture on a daily basis at one point and intermittently after that," Issa al-Morbati told reporters. "They used to leave me alone in the interrogation room and release chemical materials which still affect me... At other times, they put on loud music and loud noise... and I was kept in solitary confinement for long periods," Morbati said. The last of six Bahraini nationals to be repatriated from Guantanamo, Morbati arrived in the Gulf island state on Thursday. "I am not thinking of (seeking) compensation or suing the US government... Almighty God will compensate me," he said.

US exports to Arab world set to hit $45 billion in 2007
Khaleej Times 8/1/2007
DUBAI — US exports to Arab world are set to reach $45 billion in 2007, a special report from the National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce, said." 2006 was a record year for US exports to the Arab world, and 2007 is expected to shatter that record," it said. "We are charting new territory in America's trade relations with the Arab world," said David Hamod, president and CEO of the National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce (NUSACC). "The 2006 numbers are unprecedented, and the outlook for 2007 looks even brighter. "Sales of American merchandise to the Arab world in 2006 topped $35 billion, a 28 per cent increase over the previous year. The outlook for 2007 is even more promising, with estimated US sales surging to $45 billion, according to the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy.

Iraqi bloggers at home and abroad
BBC Online 8/10/2007
Several of the Iraqi bloggers featured in previous roundups have left the country. Here's a snapshot of some of those still writing from inside Iraq - and some of those who have left. This page contains links to external websites which are not subject to the usual BBC editorial controls.

US diplomacy with Iran is working
Kaveh L Afrasiabi, Asia Times 8/11/2007
Whereas the United States' new diplomatic approach toward Iran has already yielded tangible results, in light of Iran's enhanced cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the US-Iran dialogue on Iraq's security, the opponents of this approach in the US and Israel are nonetheless upping the ante against Iran, pushing for a military confrontation with the Islamic Republic, which is bound to have disastrous consequences for regional stability and global peace. Led by such conservatives as William Kristol, the editor of The Weekly Standard, and the policymakers clustered around Vice President Dick Cheney, the "get tough on Iran" advocates have based their argument on the premise that the diplomatic approach championed by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has not had any results in...

US school principal quits for 'Intifada' T-shirts
Jerusalem Post 8/11/2007
The embattled principal of an Arabic-themed public school in New York resigned Friday after coming under fire for failing to condemn the use of the highly charged word "intifada" on T-shirts. Debbie Almontaser was supposed to oversee the Khalil Gibran International Academy in Brooklyn. The city's Department of Education says it remains committed to launching the school in September. Almontaser's departure comes on the heels of an editorial flaying in the New York Post and an article this week that connected Almontaser to Arab Women Active in Art and Media. That group is selling shirts imprinted with the words "Intifada NYC." It shares office space with the Saba Association of American Yemenis, which counts Almontaser among its board members.


Articles

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Gaza: The Auschwitz of our time
Khalid Amayreh in occupied Jerusalem, Palestinian Information Center 8/9/2007
      In 1940, several months after invading Poland in September 1939, the Nazis forced about 500,000 Jews into the Warsaw Ghetto, surrounding it with a high wall. Tens of thousands died from hunger and disease. Eventually, 300,000 were sent to death camps, mainly Treblinka in eastern Poland.
     Similarly, Israel is now incarcerating nearly a million and a half helpless Palestinians in the Gaza Strip into a hell similar in nature to the Warsaw Ghetto. The Gaza concentration camp is not only fitted with a wall, but also with every conceivable tool of repression, such as electric fences and watch towers manned by Gestapo-like trigger-happy Jewish soldiers who shoot first and ask questions later.
     Moreover, thousands of Israeli soldiers, are surrounding Gaza in a hermetic manner, shooting and killing any Palestinian trying to escape, e.g. enter Israel to search for work or even food.
     Palestinian kids survive on bread and tea
     Even Palestinian kids playing soccer near the hateful fences, are routinely riddled with bullets or reduced into pieces of human flesh by the "most moral army in the world."
     As a result of these genocidal designs, Gazans in the thousands are dying of malnutrition and illness resulting from anemia. Moreover, Children in great numbers are surviving on a meager and totally inadequate diet consisting mainly of bread and tea.

An Interview with Hedy Epstein
Silvia Cattori blog 6/14/2007
      Hedy Epstein, 82, was born in Freiburg, Germany, in 1924 (*) and lived in Kippenheim, a village located approximately 30 km north of Freiburg. She was the only child of parents who died in the Nazi extermination camps. She is a tireless worker for human rights and for the dignity of all people. Hedy decided to visit Palestine in 2003. She returned terribly shocked with what she had seen there, women and children defenceless, Palestinians locked up into ghettos, an entire people brutalized.
     She had learned to love the people that she met, and was determined to tell the world of the injustices she had seen. Palestinians were being dispossessed of their land,removed from the homes that they had lived in for centuries. Nothing that anyone has done, no protests that have been made, has made Israel stop its treatment of the Palestinians. In fact, it has become worse every time Hedy has returned. So, she is joining other human rights advocates who are sailing to Gaza on the boat, FREE GAZA [1] to demand justice for the Palestinians, and a correction of 60 years of oppression by the Israelis.
     Silvia Cattori: Your entire life has been devoted to justice. But, since 2003, you have increased that commitment by advocating for justice for the Palestinians. I understand you are going to take some risks to make the world aware of the crimes perpetrated against them!?
     Hedy Epstein: I was invited to join the Free Gaza boat by the organizers, and I feel honoured that I was invited to join [2]

Inside Gaza: Redemption Games
Kevin Peraino, MIFTAH 8/10/2007
      At the Game Zone video arcade in Gaza City, the most popular new attraction, according to its owner, Hamdi Abu Sido, is the "redemption machine." Winning involves using a joystick to successfully direct a mechanical puppet on a surf board—the "Shark Hunter"—to wave-riding glory. If you win, the machine spits out a string of white tickets printed with the word WONDERFUL that can be redeemed at the counter for prizes. Game Zone is one of the few places that wealthier Gazan families can bring their kids for a break from the seemingly endless conflict of their region. The only time things get tense at the arcade is when the power flickers off—as it does several times a week—prematurely restarting the electronics. If you've ever flipped the switch on a kid in the middle of a video game, you know what kind of rage that can spawn. Abu Sido just shrugs. "This is Gaza," he says, chuckling.
     On a recent night I sat at a table at the Game Zone with Mona and Ibrahim Shawan, both of whom work at Gaza's Palestinian Center for Human Rights. "There was another one killed," Mona told me, as her 7-year-old daughter and 4-year-old twin boys ran around the place beaming and collecting strings of tickets. Mona was referring to another honor killing; even after the stir caused by the murder of the three Juha sisters a week ago, the trend was continuing, she said. Mona nodded at her kids across the room. "They don't understand what's happening," she said. "We just try to give them a normal life." The Shawans have been planning to take their kids to Cairo for two summers straight now, but their trips always seem to get cancelled. Last summer it was war with Israel, this year it's because the Hamas takeover of Gaza has left the border crossings still locked shut for most residents. "People are really depressed," added Mona's husband, Ibrahim, pointing out that the Game Zone is their palliative. "Even in jail you have something to do for fun—ping-pong or something. That's the same thing we're doing here. We're trying to escape."

Mahmoud Abbas' war against the Palestinian people
Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 10 August 2007, Electronic Intifada 8/10/2007
      "Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was apparently more delighted by the banquetprepared for him by the wife of Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat than he was with meeting President Mahmoud Abbas in Jericho the day before yesterday," the Lebanese newspaper As-Safir reported on its website on 8 August, citing Israel's Channel 10 television station.
     Channel 10's correspondent spoke of the "hospitality and warmth" that marked Abbas' reception of Olmert and his delegation, noting that "Erekat's wife insisted on personally preparing and serving" the banquet. Olmert, the report added, "was unable to conceal his delight and appetite for the rich food and for the hospitality and generosity" the Israelis received from their Palestinian hosts.
     Behind all the theater, the results of the meeting were as meagre as can be expected. Olmert publicly affirmed his commitment to the "two-state solution," while spokesmen briefed the press that Israel was not ready to discuss any fundamental issues, such as borders, halting colonial settlements, or the rights of refugees. The exercise was aimed at maintaining the fiction of a "peace process" from which Abbas will supposedly one day be able to deliver results.

Even Comatose, Israel's Sharon Casts a Long Shadow
Christoph Schult, MIFTAH 8/9/2007
      Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been lying in a coma for more than a year and a half now, but his sons have not given up hope that he will recover. Political camps haven't given up claiming his support for their sides.
     Sheba Hospital on the outskirts of Tel Aviv looks like a small, self-contained city. Eight-hundred-and-fifty doctors and 2,000 nurses work on a campus the size of 80 football fields. The rehab center is located in the eastern section of the complex, and the respiration rehabilitation department is on the building's first floor.
     Two nurses are busy with paperwork at a reception desk and behind them, the doors to the hospital rooms in the short hallway are all open, except the last one. There is neither number nor name on this door, but two powerful-looking young men in civilian clothes seated on either side of it look very warily at anyone who comes within four meters of the room.
     The men are with Shin Bet, Israel's domestic intelligence agency, and they're guarding the country's most famous patient, former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. More than a year and a half ago, the then-prime minister, 77 at the time, had a stroke and went into a coma after surgery.

From "Manifest Destiny" to the "End of History"
Roger H. Lieberman, Palestine Chronicle 8/9/2007
      The responsible patriot has a moral obligation to rescue the libertarian vision of America's Founding Fathers from the small-minded ideologues who wish to permanently impress upon the world our image as an empire of violence and hypocrisy.
     Sixty-two years ago this week, the most destructive terrorist bombings in world history took place. On August 6, 1945, the United States Air Force dropped a 15-kiloton atom bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, and three days later proceeded to devastate the port of Nagasaki with a similar weapon. By current estimates, 140,000 men, women, and children in Hiroshima, and nearly 80,000 in Nagasaki, perished in the immediate explosions, and in the ensuing months and years from radiation poisoning.
     These horrible acts of political violence illustrate in somber colors the power of a military-industrial complex to pervert the academic pursuit of science for destructive ends. The advent of nuclear weaponry ushered in an age of almost unfathomable danger for humanity, from which we have yet to emerge. The revelations of early 20th Century physicists, harnessed to the mass-production of missiles and bombs, have provided the leaders of powerful nations with the means to turn man's most nightmarish myths into self-fulfilling prophecies.

Empty-Hearted Secularism
Azmi Bishara, Palestine Chronicle 8/9/2007
      False oppositions and machinations are rife in the Arab world, where secularism has become a corrupted political fashion.
     Modern Turkey has never experienced as extended a period of stability and economic growth as it has under the last government. This government was led by the Justice and Development Party, which just scored another major electoral triumph in the Turkish general elections. In its victory speeches, the Islamist party pledged to safeguard the constitution of Turkey's secular republic. As I recall, in the trial over the murder of the Egyptian writer Farag Fouda, some mainstream members of the Muslim Brotherhood testified on the behalf of the accused that the killers had been rightfully motivated by religious zeal, because the secularism that Fouda advocated was heresy. What a striking difference! One Islamist party swears to uphold the state's secularist system while another rules that secularism is anathema and justifiable grounds for murder. Not that this kept mainstream Islamist movements from jubilation, in turn, over the victory of a party whose position on secularism they would roundly condemn if that party had declared it openly in their own countries.
     The Justice and Development Party is far from a leftist or liberal democratic party. But it has certainly governed Turkey better than any other Turkish party that I know of, leftist, liberal, republican or otherwise. Even so, it did not have any easy ride. At one point it had to dissolve and change its name. More recently, it was the victim of a massive hate campaign waged by the left and right in concert in the name of secularism.

Play on Corrie Takes the US by Storm
George S. Hishmeh, MIFTAH 8/10/2007
      She is described as "the most talked about playwright in America today" but because she had cast her dice in support of the Palestinians her play, My Name is Rachel Corrie, is the target of vicious attacks by pro-Israeli elements in the country.
     Corrie did not actually write the play. She couldn't because she was crushed to death in March 2003 while blocking a 60-tonne Israeli-driven Caterpillar bulldozer that was planning to demolish a Palestinian home she was protecting in Rafah in the Gaza Strip.
     The bulldozer passed over her body twice and the Israeli authorities unabashedly claimed that her death was an "accident". Her colleagues in the International Solidarity Movement witnessed the incident and were able to retrieve her badly damaged body. The State Department has said that the investigation was neither transparent nor credible.
     British actor/director Alan Rickman and journalist Katherine Viner (of The Guardian) composed the 90-minute monologue from Corrie's letters home, e-mails and journal entries while living in the Gaza Strip with a Palestinian family.

A historian's joy
Tom Segev, Ha'aretz 8/9/2007
      When people in Damascus at the end of the 19th century talked about the "Jewish Quarter," they meant the prostitutes' quarter. The women were called "poets," "players" (as in people who played instruments) or "chanteuses" - and they were all real Jews, between 150 and 200 in number. Non-Jewish prostitutes came to the quarter, too, because they were expelled from other neighborhoods. Prostitution begat crime: "The Jewish Quarter was infested with pimps, drunks, thieves, murders and ordinary thugs," historian Yaron Harel, from Bar-Ilan University, writes in a new book. In the parlance of the time, they were referred to as "brawlers and lovers of scandal."
     The sexual permissiveness among the Jews of Damascus was not confined only to the margins of society: Harel places it within the general atmosphere of what seemed to be the new secularity, which is at the center of the community politics he reconstructs - 170 years of plots and intrigues, chicanery, a lust for dominance, power struggles, corruption, perjury, mutual slander and political hooliganism.
     One of the major scandals took place in the city of Aleppo, the biblical Aram Soba, in northern Syria. In August 1862, the British consul-general in the city reported to his queen that one of the most important rabbis was trying, incredibly, to found a Reform congregation. This was the hakham (great Torah scholar) Raphael Kassin.

The United States and 'Regime Change' in Iran
Stephen Zunes, Middle East Online 8/9/2007
      Despite claims by the Bush administration that the United States has always supported 'liberty' and 'democracy' in Iran, the history of US-Iranian relations during both Republican and Democratic administrations has demonstrated very little support for a democratic Iran.
     Though the Bush administration has repeatedly emphasized its desire for democratization and regime change in Iran, there are serious questions regarding how it might try to bring this about. There is, however, little question about the goal of toppling the Islamist government, with the Bush administration threatening war, arming ethnic minorities, and funding opposition groups.
     These efforts come in spite of the 1981 Algiers Accords, which led to the release of American hostages seized from the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, in which the United States pledged to never again attempt to overthrow the Iranian government. The failure of the United States to honor this signed bilateral agreement has contributed to the Iranians' lack of trust in the U.S. government and overall anti-American sentiment in that country.

When Olmert and Abbas shake hands
Nora Barrows-Friedman writing from Deheisheh refugee camp, occupied Palestine, Electronic Intifada 8/10/2007
      On Monday, Israeli occupation Authority Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and occupied Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas once again met and shook hands, each promising respective constituents that a so-called "peaceful solution" is near. Olmert "agreed" that cooperation between Israel and the PA will expand, something that is not lost on the millions of occupied Palestinians who continue to suffer each day as many other things expand beneath their feet -- the settlement colonies, the apartheid wall, the egregious acts of violence and oppression enacted by the Israeli occupation military.
     What does an expansion of cooperation between the PA and Israel mean when the prisons of the foreign occupier, the nuclear state, are filled to the brim with Palestinian political prisoners, as many as 12,000 people who are tortured and broken and humiliated? An expansion of cooperation comes with Abbas' capitulation to Olmert's designs of an ethno-centric state for Jews only, whose second-in-command, Avigdor Lieberman, is an unashamed proponent of ethnic cleansing from Moldovia who consistently demands that all Arabs be "transfered" or wiped out. An expansion of cooperation is called for as Mahmoud Abbas' private militia continues to beg Israel for arms and power moves against the democratically-elected Hamas party, like a kid asking a rich man for a few pennies to buy candy.

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