New Israeli party for annexation of territories
New Jersey native Yechiel Aaron has decided to start a new political party to advocate for the annexation of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip. Lashuv (Return) represented a "return to our ways of strength," he told The Jerusalem Post over the weekend. "It is the return to where we care more about God, our country and our people." Asked how he would deal with the millions of Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza , he said that if they observed Israeli law they would be provided with citizenship after a 25-year waiting period.
Atira village: report and background on Sunday's action
At 8:00am, Palestinian, Israeli and international activists participated in a demonstration against the closure of the only road leading out of the village of Atira. It is surrounded by two large illegal settlements: Beit Horon and Giv'at Ze'ev. The village itself has only one entrance at which there are a number of road-blocks and a large metal gate. This gate is opened only three times a day to the residents allowing them in and out of the village. Five people have been reported to die as a direct result of not being able to access medical treatment in a timely manner as ambulances cannot reach the village.
Sec'y Gen'l of DFLP Hawatmeh: Abbas does not represent the Palestinian people
The leader-in-exile, who currently resides in Syria, said that the Palestinian Legislative Council elections of 2005 and 2006 were unrepresentative as they only included the votes of 40% of the Palestinian population. "Therefore, neither the presidency, nor the PLC represent the Palestinian people," said Hawatmeh. Hawatmeh appealed for new elections on the basis of "full proportional representation, excluding any kind of political monopoly."
Leading PA figures seek to establish 'Palestinian Kadima'
Disillusioned with Fatah and Hamas, a group of Palestinian businessmen and academics has decided to establish a new political party to run in the next Palestinian Authority election. The group is led by the widely-respected billionaire Munib al-Masri of Nablus, who does not belong to any political faction. Other prominent businessmen who have joined the initiative include Mazen Sinokrot, Bassem Khoury, Muhammad Hirbawi, Maha Abu Shusheh and Said Kan'an. Masri said one of the main goals of the party, which would be formally announced in October if all went well, would be to reunite the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Erekat: Olmert to list 'major' West Bank checkpoints slated for removal
National Infrastructures Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer confirmed Defense Minister Ehud Barak is considering a removal of some roadblocks, but suggested there would not be far-reaching changes. "The safety of Israelis takes precedent," he said.
U.S. Congressman Lantos warns against early roadblock removal, dismisses US peace effortsl
U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos on Sunday told journalists in Jerusalem that "premature removal of checkpoints is a guarantee of violence and terrorism erupting," on the same day that PM Ehud Olmert's office announced it would decide on their removal soon.
Governor Ta'mari says Israeli checkpoints in Bethlehem increasing steadily
He said that Israeli soldiers manning the checkpoints have been harassing passersby on a daily basis by holding them for prolonged hours, denying them smooth movement. The Palestinian official denied Israeli claims on reduction of checkpoints and roadblocks, noting that the restriction of locals' movement has been concurrent with continuous Israeli army incursions as well as construction of the Apartheid Wall deep into the city of Bethlehem.
People of Salfit, near Nablus, appeal for end to checkpoints and reopening of main road
One local resident said "the stationary checkpoints and the mobile ones make this city hell." He added "this closure costs the town huge financial losses and divides it into three parts." The main road through Salfit was closed at the beginning of the second intifada in September 2000.
New Israeli precondition for peace deal
In all previous negotiations between the parties the West Bank withdrawal assumed prominence above all. Now a new West Bank factor has entered the stage aside from the land issue -- Palestinian rockets. Perceived as a future threat to the security of Israel by none other than Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, the rocket issue is about to be accepted as a new precondition for any West Bank withdrawal. According to various reports, Barak says Israel would need a comprehensive missile defense system in place and be ready to protect it from Palestinian rocket fire before it could carry out a large-scale pullback in the West Bank. In this context, Barak envisions a multilayered system capable of intercepting anything from Iran's long-range Shibab-3 missile to the short-range Palestinian Kassems.
Two months' stipend to be paid to prisoners
The minister of prisoners' affairs, Ashraf Ajrami, said on Sunday that two-month's allowance for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails will be paid by the ministry of finance on Monday. He added that cigarettes for Palestinian prisoners will be distributed to Israeli jails and a batch has already arrived at the Negev desert prison. The Palestinian Authority pays a stipend to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails to cover the costs of food and basic necessities. [Let me get this straight – the Palestinians have to pay the Israelis for imprisoning their people?!?]
Israeli jails transformed into schools by prisoners, says Hamdoneh
President of the prisoners centre for research, Ra'fat Hamdoneh said "the illiterate prisoner soon learns how to read and write, he becomes an educated person who loves to read and eventually studies languages and the Qu'ran. He will read science and research, and specialise in the fields he enjoys." Hamdoneh expressed pride in the ability of prisoners to forge unity between the different factional affiliates inside the prisons. "The national prisoner movements in jails reflect a democratic and responsible society," he said.
Palestinian fighters bomb invading Israeli vehicles in Nablus
The Al Aqsa Brigades – Night Lions Group - of Fatah, the Al Quds Brigades of Islamic Jihad and the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed joint responsibility for the operation in the northern West Bank city. The brigades alleged that they used a 20 kilogram bomb to attack the Israeli forces. During the same invasion, an allied group from the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades and the Qassam Brigades of Hamas, claimed responsibility for bombing another Israeli military vehicle.
Recent surge of arrests in Gaza not political, says Hamas leader
"None of the arrests have a political background," said Abu Marzouq, adding "the prisons are open for anyone who wants access to see the conditions of the prisoners." On the 24th July, families from the Beit Hanoun area of northern Gaza accused Hamas' Executive Force of invading a wedding party, and arresting and torturing eleven youths. In response to the allegations, Abu Marzouq said "the Executive Force was ambushed by some people connected to the Fatah movement, and attacked with stones as they tried to defend themselves and called for support." He continued "the position of the cameras on the roofs was a fabrication to give the impression that Hamas attacks weddings but Hamas does not attack weddings, or pursue people."
Israeli marine police resume search for Palestinian corpse
Khatib drowned in Lake Tiberius , in northern Israel, on Friday. The police will restart the search for Khatib, which Haddad said was halted due to the Jewish holiday of Shabbat on Saturday. The stoppage in the search angered the Palestinian family of Khatib, which issued statements on Saturday denouncing the Israeli authorities for neglecting Khatib because he is not Jewish.
Popular Resistance Committees: Schalit's family not doing enough
The Popular Resistance Committees blames captive IDF Cpl. Gilad Schalit's family for keeping him in jail, PRC spokesman Abu Mujad said Sunday. According to Abu Mujad, Schalit's parents have not put enough pressure on the diplomatic echelon in Jerusalem to secure their son's release, Army Radio reported. Abu Mujad appealed to the Schalit family, saying, "You are neglecting your duty to your son, and your government has left him in the field - not freed him."
Palestinian fights to receive top care in Israel
(Associated Press) An 'errant' Israeli missile killed Mariya Aman's mother and brother, and left the 6-year-old Palestinian girl paralyzed from the neck down. Now the government wants to cut off the medical care she has been receiving in Jerusalem and force her to leave to the West Bank, where hospitals are ill-equipped to treat her. The government initially refused to let her father into the country to see his daughter, but following critical local media reports, the Defense Ministry is now paying for a room for him and his surviving son, Moaman, 4, to stay at Alyn. Hamdee Aman says he won't ask for compensation for the harm done to his family. What he does want is Israeli citizenship for himself and his two remaining children, so they can be together and Mariya's medical care can be guaranteed throughout her lifetime.
Haaretz Editorial: Restrain the defense minister
more than six weeks have gone by since the prime minister promised Abbas to remove nonessential roadblocks, and despite persistent requests, the defense minister has not managed to extricate from the Israel Defense Forces a new map of the roadblocks. The replacement of Amir Peretz with Barak has signaled no change whatsoever in the lenient attitude toward the illegal outposts and Jewish hooligans abusing their Palestinian neighbors.
Livni, Abbas to meet in Jericho Wednesday
The foreign ministers of Jordan and Japan will also attend the meeting.
Israeli police release security video of Jerusalem attack
The edited footage shows Khatib following two security guards in the Old City's narrow streets, snatching a gun from one of them and firing at the guard before fleeing the scene. Both guards gave chase in the streets, which were full of visitors, while exchanging fire with the assailant. A source involved with the investigation told Haaretz that after viewing the footage, he determined that the guard had indeed shot the assailant after the assailant already collapsed, but that this was necessary.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy9gzO28IXA
IDF 'humiliates' peace activists
Peace activists claimed they were humiliated by IDF soldiers during a security check Friday, when they arrived at a checkpoint near Nablus with bags of clothing for Palestinian children. When the transfer was complete, the Palestinian members of the organization were asked to open the bags in order for the IDF soldiers to conduct another security check. "The soldiers made us open the bags of clothing, and emptied them on the ground. Shataiyeh said he did not understand why the soldiers threw the clothing on the ground after having checked them already. "The problem isn't with the check. The problem is with the humiliation and the behavior that followed when the soldiers threw the clothes on the ground. Only God knows the effort the Windows activists put into collecting the clothes and getting them to the Palestinian children."
High Court bars Gazan students from studying in West Bank
The High Court of Justice on Tuesday rejected a petition by a group of Palestinian students from Gaza against Israel 's policy of barring students from the Gaza Strip from studying in the West Bank, even when there is no evidence that they pose a security threat to the state.
Arafat's doctor: his blood had HIV, but poison killed him
Yasser Arafat's blood contained the deadly HIV virus, Arafat's personal physician told Jordanian media over the weekend. Dr. Ashraf al-Kurdi stressed, however, that Arafat did not die of AIDS - which is caused by the virus. Jordanian news site Amman quoted al-Kurdi - a former Jordanian health ministry official - as saying that the virus had been injected into Arafat's bloodstream close to his death, and that the real cause of the chairman's death was poison.
Yehuda Litani: Explosive and malignant
Hebron is like an ongoing operation where surgeons are helpless -- Following ongoing pressure by the settlers, the Tomb of the Patriarchs - a Muslim mosque in every sense - has been turned into a Jewish synagogue and into a sure source of tension, both in the past and in the present. Abraham's burial place, the father of Yitzhak and Ishmael, has become – with the active help of the Jewish settlers and Palestinian terrorists – one of the most malignant sites in the Holy Land. Despite it being divided into the Jewish H1 zone and the Palestinian H2 zone, despite the IDF ostensibly being in control there, despite there being an international observation force in place, Hebron is still the most explosive area in the territories.
Hebron settlers suspected as Qurdoba girls' school set ablaze
Quartaba girls school is located directly across from Beit Hadassah settlement. The settlers had placed the metal frame of a bed on top of a table and set fire to it, along with pictures of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. The burning effigy was placed directly in front of a metal door that the children and teachers use to enter the school. The fire had been burning for about 10 minutes before nearby Palestinian residents came with buckets of water and managed to put the fire out and keep it from spreading.
Israeli military shuts down Palestinian business in Hebron's Old City market
Abu Hatim Jaudat Hasula's hardware store was locked up and welded shut by the Israeli occupation forces. The 64-year-old shopkeeper had dared to defy both the Israeli occupation forces' illegitimate threats and the appeasing surrender of other local shop-owners that had many other Palestinians shut down business and leave the area. The Israeli occupation forces justified their decision to close down these shops by claiming that they were trying to prevent Palestinians from blowing holes in the backs of their shops and entering a nearby rabbinical school.
Gideon Levy: No to evacuation
The Hebron "evacuation" show serves the settlement policy of the government, which raves about the importance of peace. Two families were evacuated with feigned force, in the face of feigned resistance, and the pictures were displayed all over the world; proof that there is a government in Israel. It's a false display. As this group was being evacuated, construction on hundreds of other homes in the territories continued, on stolen land. But the settlers, of course, are the main beneficiaries of the "evacuation." Israel is now discussing the marginal refusal by a dozen soldiers to obey orders to evacuate, instead of evacuating tens of thousands, and the president is proposing a territory exchange as a solution to the "impossible" evacuation of the settlements.
Environmentalists slam World Bank over Red-Dead canal
The document generated by the World Bank's committee omits what environmentalists widely agree upon as the best solution to the gradual disappearance of the Dead Sea: rehabilitation of its sole tributary, the heavily polluted Jordan River, to act as a natural pipeline to stabilize the sea's water levels. The proposed canal would carry water from the Red Sea, through the Arava, to the Dead Sea. As the water level falls, the surrounding fresh water springs move closer to the sea, but the plant life is unable to follow suit, resulting in the destruction of the ecosystem dependent upon the Dead Sea.
The Middle East peace process scam – by the former head of the American Jewish Congress (!)
The problem is not, as Israelis often claim, that Palestinians do not know how to compromise. The Palestinians made much the most far-reaching compromise of all when the PLO formally accepted the legitimacy of Israel within the 1949 armistice border. With that concession, Palestinians ceded their claim to more than half the territory that the UN's partition resolution had assigned to its Arab inhabitants. It is the failure of the international community to reject (other than in empty rhetoric) Israel's notion that the occupation and the creation of 'facts on the ground' can go on indefinitely, so long as there is no agreement that is acceptable to Israel, that has defeated all previous peace initiatives and the efforts of all peace envoys. Future efforts will meet the same fate if this fundamental issue is not addressed.
New Book by Mearsheimer and Walt due out Sept. 3
The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. Now in a work of major importance, Mearsheimer and Walt deepen and expand their argument and confront recent developments in Lebanon and Iran . They describe the remarkable level of material and diplomatic support that the United States provides to Israel and argues that this support cannot be fully explained on either strategic or moral grounds. The authors provocatively contend that the lobby has a far-reaching impact on America's posture throughout the Middle East—in Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, and toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—and the policies it has encouraged are in neither America's national interest nor Israel's long-term interest.
More videos of Bil'in nonviolent protests against the Wall and IOF response
Lebanon's 9/11, or 'Why do they hate us?'
WARNING – very graphic pictures.
Stench of corpses at besieged camp in Lebanon hampers fight against Islamists
An officer on the ground who requested anonymity said that the rotting corpses littering the devastated Nahr Al Bared refugee camp had made the air there unbreathable. A hospital source said several soldiers had been admitted due to severe vomiting. "The army is continuing to make slow progress in demining the area while limiting its losses., a Lebanese military spokesman said. More than 200 people, including 136 soldiers, have been killed since the conflict erupted on May 20, the worst internal violence since the end of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war. Most of the camp's 31,000 residents have fled since the battles began, but about 60 women and children related to Fatah al-Islam fighters remain inside. The army has accused the Islamists of using them as human shields.
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