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Peace Now: Government investing excessively in
West Bank [colonist] roads
According to the report, at least 6 new roads, some 33 kilometers each, are currently being built to service West Bank settlers. The cost of these projects, according to a Peace Now probe, is at least NIS 315 million. All these roads are being built east of the West Bank separation fence, and serve a very small number of people, the report maintains. Also in the report, the group maintains that the government invests a minimum of NIS 50,000 per vehicle in the West Bank, not including safety expenditures. The roads are built solely for settlers and are not intended for use by Palestinians.
Settlers, state discuss legalizing some outposts, removing others
The Yesha Council of Settlements is negotiating illegal outposts with Defense Minister Ehud Barak's bureau. The main points of the agreement being hammered out are to evacuate outposts to which no legal solution can be found, while legalizing some and moving others. [all this merely over outposts of settlements, not settlements themselves of course]
Israeli Committee against House Demolitions:
The Bedouin of Israel – BBC documentary this week
Call for a letter-writing campaign For about two years now, the Israeli government has been carrying out an unwritten policy of wiping from the face of the earth entire villages of Bedouins in the Negev. This policy is well demonstrated by the repeated demolition of 'Tawil Abu Jarwal' village in the eight-month period between September 2006 and May 2007. . . It can be seen from the above that the State of Israel is engaged in persecuting its Bedouin citizens, while coveting their remaining lands. The terrible situation in the townships proves that these were established not out of concern for the Bedouins, but from the desire to evict them from their lands.
Gideon Levy:
For (High Court President) Beinisch and her supporters
Advocates of law and human rights are now being asked to defend this same Supreme Court against Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann's plot to clip its wings. The High Court is the most faithful and dedicated partner of the occupation enterprise, granting legitimacy to most of its injustices. If it had spoken up during the early days of the occupation, we would not be where we are now. If only it had ruled, for example, that the settlements violate international law, perhaps today we would not be facing a criminal enterprise numbering a quarter of a million people. If the court had fulfilled its role and ruled that international law prohibits transferring prisoners outside an occupied territory, or obligates the occupier to ensure the welfare of the residents living in the territory it controls, the reality in the territories would be different today. The High Court has never ruled about the settlement enterprise.
Al Mezan condemns
Israel's denial of ID for 100,000 Palestinians
Over 100,000 Palestinians who live in Gaza and the West Bank, but do not hold ID cards produced by Israel, have been stripped of their civil and political rights. Without an ID card, Palestinians' movement between Gaza and the West Bank, or leaving either, is impossible. In 1967 tens of thousands of Palestinians fled OPT. After 1994, many returned after obtaining permits from the Israeli authorities. And many have stayed. A significant number of their children have since been born in Gaza and the West Bank, yet have been denied ID. Thousands of families have been deprived from family unification or visits after returning to OPT. In 2000, Israel almost completely halted issuance of permits, thus prohibiting those who entered from any chance to meet with their families, or travel for education, work or healthcare.
ISM:
Religious fervor induced over theft of Palestinian land
From August 18th, 2007 through to the 22nd, international Human Rights Workers (HRWs) in the Susiya region noticed an increase of activity on Palestinian land. At least one month ago settlers erected a tent on the hilltop of the land in question. During the last few weeks, approximately 25 olive and fig trees have been planted on the land. The settler draws water from the cistern, also on the appropriated Palestinian land, to tend his trees. As with the land itself, Palestinians are unable to access this valuable water resource. . . The settler told the HRWs to leave the area, claiming that it was his land: Israeli land. The settler was zealous in his declarations, fervently repeating: "Father, this is your land, this is my land," in Hebrew, while throwing his arms up to the sky.
Half of IDF's new combat officers are religious Jews
Another reason these statistics are significant is that many religious soldiers have been refusing orders to evict Jews from their homes in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. If half of the IDF's new officers are religious, this means that the refusal movement could indeed have a deep deterrent impact on the IDF and government when and if it decides to attempt additional pullouts from territory, as the movement's leaders claim.
West Bank settlers diverse
MODIIN ILLIT, West Bank -- This ultra-religious city became the largest Jewish settlement in the West Bank this year, but visitors are hard-pressed to find the orange solidarity ribbons that became standard dress among settlers since Israel`s uprooting of the Gaza settlements two years ago. The ultra-Orthodox and mainline settlers are both strictly religious but have different reasons for colonizing the West Bank. Nationalist settlers want to hold on at all costs to the land claimed by the Palestinians as a future state. In contrast, ultra-Orthodox are seeking West Bank real estate as a low cost alternative to crowded neighborhoods in Jerusalem. . . `The state is taking advantage of that fact that these people need unique housing solutions, and the only place that they are offering them solutions is on the other side of the Green Line,` said Yariv Oppenheimer, the spokesperson for Peace Now. `By doing that, they force them to become settlers, even though they aren`t ideological.`
B'Tselem statistics
for Palestinian and Israeli casualties in 2007 through August 15
Israeli civilians killed by Palestinians in the OT: 2; in Israel: 10. Israeli security forces killed by Palestinians in the OT: 2; in Israel: 0.
Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the OT: 189; in Israel: 0
Palestinians killed by Palestinians: 315
ISM: Colored people to the back of the bus
Now, I will prove to you how the apartheid wall is completely useless for keeping suicide bombers out of Israel. We stuck four white people in the front seat of that bus, and we drove through the checkpoint without so much as a second glance from the soldiers. All the kids cheered. Now see how easy it is to sneak Palestinians (legally or illegally) into Israel? The inherent racist legal system allows it. As long as you are white, you can go though many checkpoints in a car unhindered and unquestioned. Because it's so easy, if a Palestinian really wants to enter Israel badly enough, he or she will find a way. The kids were elated to go to the mosque and to play in the water. Most of them had never seen the sea before.
Infant dies at Erez Crossing
A one-year-old Palestinian infant died while waiting with his family at the Israeli-controlled Erez Crossing, between Israel and Gaza, on Sunday. The family were waiting to be transported to Israel for medical treatment. Director of ambulances and emergencies in the Palestinian ministry of health, Dr Muawiya Hassanein, said that Ibrahim Ali Abu Nahil died due to the long wait at the crossing. Dr Hassanein said that the child was suffering from heart disease and died in his father's arms while waiting in the hot summer sun to go to hospital.
Family of assassinated 11-year-old child reveals
barbaric conduct of Israeli soldiers
Israeli occupying forces shot intensively at a child on Friday, while he was sitting in a fig tree in Seida village, near the northern West Bank town of Tulkarem. 11-year-old Mahmoud Al Qarnawi was left bleeding on the ground by the Israeli troops. Mahmoud's sister, 16-year-old Ruqaiya, said she had watched as Mahmoud was murdered. Ruqaiya continued, "Mahmoud was on the ground under the fig tree. He was moving but without sound or speech. There was a lot of blood around him."My mother asked one of the soldiers "is my son alive?" and he answered her in an ironic way in Arabic "maybe he is still." A local lady said that the soldiers interrogated one of the other boys from the Al Qarnawi family, Safwat. "They questioned him and beat him. After that they got a football and began playing in the garden."
Ex-Fatah fighter in battle for justice
after daughter killed by Israeli border police
Mr Aramin's 10-year-old daughter Abir was killed as she walked down a busy street in Anata, on the West Bank, last January. Witnesses said the officers in a Jeep were firing as she fell. Part of what makes the case unusual stems from the life story of Mr Aramin, a former Fatah militant who - long before his daughter`s death - renounced violence and now devotes his spare time to fostering peaceful dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis. He has had the backing of a group of Israeli ex-soldier friends in the unique organisation, Combatants for Peace. Also unusual is the faith of Mr Aramin, as a Palestinian, that the perpetrator of Abir`s death will be identified. He said he was 'angry but not surprised' that the file was closed; few of the more than 800 deaths of Palestinian children in conflict since 2000 have even been investigated.
IOF extra-judicially execute two Palestinians
and wound three others in Jenin
PCHR strongly condemns the latest extra-judicial execution committed by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) on Saturday, 25 August 2007, which left dead 2 members of the al-Quds Brigades (the armed wing of Islamic Jihad). Since the beginning of the current Palestinian Intifada, 657 Palestinians, including 221 civilian bystanders, have been extra-judicially executed by IOF. The victims have included 73 children.
Israeli ministers call for full wide-scale attack on Gaza Strip
Israeli National Security Interior Minister Avi Dichter said the army should occupy missile launching areas north of Gaza. Israeli interior Minister Meir Sheetrit urged -- on entering by force to Gaza Strip-- to go after what he called Palestinian terrorists, noting that not doing so would allow their missiles to reach further into Israel. Israeli Tourism Minister Yitzchak Aharonovich also called for fully attacking Gaza to curb Hamas' presence there, and warning that Hamas might be trying to duplicate Hizbollah's recent experience with Israel.
Shin Bet: Hamas seeks 'large-scale' attack on Israel
The second in command of Israel's Shin Beth internal security services was quoted by a senior government official as telling ministers during the weekly cabinet meeting that the Islamist group's exiled leadership in Damascus is calling for such an attack. Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said in an interview with AFP last week, "As long as Israel does not put an end to its occupation and its settlements and as long as it does not recognise Palestinian rights, our policy of resistance will be the only option."
Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jail
was beaten to death, Asrana confirms
The Asrana ("our prisoners") media office in Jerusalem on Sunday blamed the Israeli authorities in Ramla prison for the death of Palestinian detainee 'Umar Masalmah, aged 24. Masalmah, from Hebron, was allegedly in good health just two days before he died, on Saturday. Director of the Asrana media office, Munqith Abu Roumi, said the organisation can confirm that Masalmah died after being severely beaten by Israeli soldiers. Masalmah was arrested by Israeli forces for entering Israel without a permit and was transported to Ramla prison.
Family of prisoner in need of
urgent medical treatment applies for his release
Jihad Ibrahim Al Awja, aged 36, is from 'Askar refugee camp, east of Nablus. The family said that Jihad was abducted from his home and severely beaten before he was incarcerated in Huwwara detention centre. His health started to deteriorate after that and he was transported to an Israeli hospital before being detained in Ofer jail, near Ramallah.The prisoner's relatives said he is suffering from severe pains in his head, lungs and joints, and needs urgent treatment. Jihad Al Ajwa is a father of four children.
Leaked Kadima document
implies Israel may agree to prisoners swap for Shalit
The document, which is in Hebrew, said Israeli evaluations suggest there will be an opportunity for a prisoners swap in the near future. The document also said that Olmert is aware that his government needs a great accomplishment at social and security levels in order to obtain public confidence.
Israeli forces abduct brother
of fighter killed on Saturday in Jenin
They arrested 19-year-old Mustafa Abu Surour, the brother of an Al Quds Brigades fighter. The soldiers were deployed outside the Abu Surour home and ordered the family to leave, before ransacking the house and taking Mustafa to an undisclosed destination. Security sources said that the Israeli forces patrolled the streets of Jenin refugee camp and stormed numerous homes, claiming they sought so-called 'wanted' Palestinians. In Qabatiya, south of Jenin, they transformed Palestinian homes into military posts.
Palestinian fighter loses hand
during violent clashes with Israeli forces in Nablus
28-year-old Samir Mabrouk, leader of the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), lost his hand whilst attempting to throw a heavy bombing device at Israeli troops. Mabrouk was evacuated to a secret location to receive treatment and sources revealed that his condition is stable.Palestinian security sources said that armed clashes erupted between resistance fighters and Israeli forces when soldiers attempted to storm Ein Beit el Ma refugee camp and several other neighbourhoods of Nablus city.
Israeli troops nab six Palestinians
who climb over Gaza border wall
Six Palestinian youths infiltrated Israel Sunday morning but were caught almost as soon as they climbed over the border wall, an Israeli military spokesman said. The six were taken for questioning. Their motives were not immediately clear, but it appeared they infiltrated into Israel in order to look for work. However, Israeli villages in the vicinity were placed on alert and residents ordered not to leave their homes
Ban on truckloads of paper set to hit Gaza schools
The Israeli ban on deliveries of paper to Gaza is not only threatening to create a shortage of textbooks in the Strip but also shining a spotlight on what constitutes legitimate humanitarian aid. Israel is allowing in food, medicines and fuel, which it sees as essential aid, but not paper, even though many would see education as a vital sector in need of all the support it can get. The latest development serves as an indicator of the difference of opinion between many aid organisations and Israel on what is considered "humanitarian aid". "We are trying to get raw materials into Gaza," but without success, said Sebastien Kuster of CARE France, adding that the materials, including pipes, asphalt and cement for water and sanitation projects were humanitarian goods. "These are needed to complete work to guarantee continuous access to water for the people in Gaza."
Israel allows 75 Palestinians with foreign work permits out of Gaza
More than 4,000 Palestinians with overseas work and study permits have been living in fear of losing badly needed jobs and academic credits after Israel and Egypt clamped a closure on Gaza following the Islamist group's takeover. Several hundred foreign nationals and Palestinians with dual citizenship, as well as a few Palestinians working and studying abroad, had already been permitted to cross through Israeli territory en route to other points. But Sunday's departure from Gaza was the first by a large group of Palestinians with foreign permits.
B'Tselem: Israel prevents
Palestinians from going to the Dead Sea
The reason for the prevention, apparently, is to enable Israelis to use the recreational sites without Palestinians present. Contrary to the perception commonly held in Israel, the northern section of the Dead Sea is an integral part of the West Bank. Over the years, Israel has established a number of settlements and recreational sites in the area, and has severed it from the rest of the West Bank, including the Jordan Valley . However, until March 2007, Palestinians were permitted entry into the area.
Dahlan not offered any political position by Abbas
Since Fatah strongman and former Palestinian National Security Advisor, Mohammad Dahlan, returned to the Palestinian territories, several days ago, there have been rumours regarding his future in the Palestinian arena. The source said "since Dahlan resigned as national security advisor, the president has not offered him any other position."
Islamic Jihad exchanges fire with Israeli forces near Jenin
The military wing of Islamic Jihad, the Al Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility on Sunday morning for armed clashes with invading Israeli forces in Qabatiya, near the northern occupied Palestinian West Bank refugee camp of Jenin.
PA arrests eight Hamas members
Hamas said that Mohammad Badran and Moaath Masri were arrested in 'Askar refugee camp and Eba, east of the northern West Bank city of Nablus . In addition, four brothers were arrested, Ismael, Nasir, Mansour and Waddah Abdulkarim. In the Salfit area, south of Nablus, the PA arrested Saad Yousef and in Jenin, Slama Khamaysa was arrested.
The girl who urges children to fight Israel
– with clean teeth
11-year-old Saraa Barhoun is the new star of Hamas TV, spearheading efforts to persuade the youth of Gaza and the West Bank to follow a path of religious devotion, resistance to Israel and clean teeth. Saraa explains her role as twofold - to help the West understand Islam and to be a role model for Palestinian youth. Saraa is the soft side of the Hamas approach to power. She does her live show every Friday without a script and it is repeated throughout the week. She talks and argues with callers from Gaza and the West Bank and discusses politics and good behaviour with a bumblebee.
Uri Avnery: The language of force
Hamas leaders mock Mahmoud Abbas and his supporters in Ramallah for expecting an Israeli withdrawal without armed struggle. The Israelis, they say, will not give up one square inch without being compelled to do so. The people around Abbas respond by mocking Hamas for believing that they can win against Israel by force of arms. They point to the immense superiority of Israeli forces. According to them, all the violent actions of the Palestinians have only provided Israel with a pretext to reinforce the occupation, steal more land and increase the misery of the occupied population. And indeed, the personal situation of the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is now incomparably worse that it was on the eve of the first intifada, when they could reach any place in the country, work in all Israeli towns, bathe on the Tel-Aviv sea-shore and fly from Ben-Gurion airport. Both views contain much truth.
Rahat mayor:
IDF killing of Israeli Arab boy may spark violence
Mahmoud al-Karnawi was visiting his mother's family near Tul Karm when Border Police officers stormed the building in pursuit of a wanted militant. Mahmoud, who lives in the southern Bedouin town of Rahat with his parents, was killed in the crossfire. Al-Karnawi's family claims the troops shot the boy dead after they had already wounded him. Family members added that the boy's mother told the soldiers that he was an Israeli citizen. Family members were later outraged when an ambulance driver transporting the boy's body to the Bedouin town of Rahat refused to enter the city.
IDF officer in Dahariyeh scandal
defends operation in TV report
The platoon commander in custody after being charged with grievous bodily harm during an operation in Dahariyeh last month said in a video-taped testimony aired Friday night on Channel 2 that he got into trouble because of his desire to carry out his mission. The officer, a lieutenant, is charged with abducting a Palestinian taxi driver, handcuffing him and taking his taxi to Dahariyeh, south of Hebron.One of his soldiers then opened fire on an unarmed Palestinian, wounding him in the shoulder, and left the scene without offering medical assistance.
Zvi Bar'el:
Imminent peace makes killing children permissible
Suddenly, it seems that everything is permissible because "there is a summit." It is permissible to kill children in Gaza, it is all right to continue to harass civilians at checkpoints, it is permitted to continue to strangle a million and a half people in Gaza - because there will soon be a summit and everything will be fine; we just need to liquidate another senior wanted man before the peace. And perhaps it is all a prolonged summer delusion.
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