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Palestinian protesters
force way into Egypt from Gaza
Dozens of Palestinian protesters stormed the Rafah
border crossing with Egypt in two separate pushes on
Tuesday, forcing their way past Egyptian riot police,
security and border sources said. Gunfire was heard
as dozens of protesters tried to push their way across the
Rafah crossing from the Gaza Strip, live footage from
Egyptian state-run television showed. There were no
immediate reports of injuries from the shooting.
No rights, little mercy
Seventy-six-year-old Mustapha al-Jamal goes door
to door, looking for help in finding medicines for his
son. At home, the 53-year-old son Yahya al-Jamal lies back,
staring at the ceiling. By his side, an oxygen cylinder
keeps him going for now. "My son's condition continues
to worsen," Mustapha says. "We've been waiting two
months for the medicines." Last year Mustapaha's
44-year-old daughter, a mother of six, died of breast
cancer. She had been recovering, but the Israeli siege
blocked supply of medicines, and no one could then save her.
Israel trying to thwart UN
condemnation of Gaza blockade
Israel is trying to thwart an effort by Arab
states to win UN Security Council condemnation of the
sanctions imposed by Jerusalem on the Gaza Strip.
Israel: fuel shipment to Gaza to thwart UN
Security Council condemnation of Gaza siege
Israeli government sources stated on Tuesday that the
latest fuel shipment Israel allowed into the Gaza strip is
an attempt to sabotage any Security Council condemnation
of the siege imposed on the Gaza strip by Israel.
Despite entry of fuel shipments to Gaza,
the crisis persists
Israel allowed Tuesday entry of some fuel shipments
to the Gaza Strip on the heels of local and international
protests to latest Israeli closure of Gaza, media sources reported.
Leading article: An unlawful policy
of collective punishment
The siege of Gaza has reached a vicious new intensity.
Last Thursday, Israel blocked the delivery of fuel oil supplies
to the Strip. The result is that Gaza's only power station has
not functioned since the weekend. Hundred of thousands of
homes in the territory have been left without power. Hospitals
have been forced to rely on diesel generators. Bakeries and
petrol stations have closed. International aid organisations
working in the Strip have warned of a threat to sewage
and water supplies if the blockade continues.
Israel/OPT: Israel must allow
basic necessities into Gaza
Israel's decision to block all fuel supplies to the Gaza
Strip constitutes collective punishment and is likely to lead to
a public health emergency, Amnesty International said today.
Five patients dead due to electricity
cutoffs in Gaza hospitals
Hamas claimed Sunday night that five patients died because
of the cutoff of electricity in Gaza hospitals resulting from
the Israeli blockade.
Egypt beefs up border security
with the Gaza Strip
QANTARA, Egypt (Reuters) - Egypt sent about 300 riot
police to boost security at its border with Gaza on Monday
as Palestinians demanded the opening of the Rafah crossing
for patients needing hospital treatment.
Palestinian water authority: 40% of
Gazans lack running water
Gaza Strip residents Monday moved from worrying
about the electricity cuts of the previous 40 hours to
worrying about a water shortage. The municipality
needs electricity to bring water to homes and the houses
need it to pump water to the roof tanks. Hence 40 percent
of Gaza Strip homes - 600,000 people - had no running
water Monday, the Palestinian water authority said.
Israeli official: Gaza food
will run out in days
Palestinian Authority officials in Ramallah
expressed hope that the looming humanitarian
crisis in the Gaza Strip would prompt Palestinians
to turn against the Hamas government. "We hope
the residents of the Gaza Strip will now realize that
Hamas has only brought disaster upon them,
" a senior PA official told The Jerusalem Post.
"The only way to resolve the crisis is by getting rid of Hamas."
The poor and the sick suffer as
Israel cuts power to Gaza
Mansour Rahal lay unconscious in the intensive care
unit of Gaza City's Shifa hospital, linked to an electrically
powered ventilator, the coloured monitor above his head
showing his heart, respiration and oxygen saturation rate.
Pressure mounts on Abbas as PLC speaker
demands a tougher stance towards Israel
The speaker of the Palestinian legislative Council (PLC)
Aziz Dweik issued a statement from his Israeli prison cell
on Monday calling on Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas to take immediate action to end the Israeli siege
of the Gaza Strip.
Hamas calls on Abbas to withdraw from
negotiations with Israel in protest of siege on Gaza
Hamas, the ruling party in the Gaza Strip, called
on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to withdraw
from negotiations with the Israeli government in protest
of Israel's crippling siege of the Gaza Strip on Monday.
Barak threatens to carry out 2nd
phase of sanctions against Gaza
Israeli Minister of Defense Ehud Barak has threatened
to launch a wide-scale military offensive against Gaza to
root out the infrastructure of the Islamic Resistance
Movement of Hamas and other "militant' groups.
Gaza shortages bite after fuel blockade
Palestinians across Gaza and the West Bank protest
at being plunged into darkness after the closure of
their only power plant due to an Israeli blockade on
fuel supplies.
Pictures Showing
The Slaughter In Gaza
British government must immediately act to
uphold international law and end siege of Gaza
Yesterday evening (Sunday 20 January), Gaza 's
only power station was forced to shut down, after
Israel cut fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip.
LIFT THE BLOCKADE ON GAZA!!
A countrywide relief convoy and Israeli demonstration in
solidarity on the Gaza border with a parallel Palestinian
demonstration in the Strip. On Saturday, 26 January 2008,
a humanitarian convoy of supplies headed by peace and
human rights organisations will go from Haifa, Tel Aviv,
Jerusalem and Beer Sheva to the Gaza Strip border,
decked with signs "Lift the Blockade!" The convoy
will meet up at 12.00 noon at Yad Mordechai Junction
and all will then travel together to a hill which
overlooks the Strip, where a demonstration wil
l take place at 13:00.
Al-Haq: End the Siege of the Gaza Strip
:FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
On Sunday 20 January 2008, Israel's ongoing siege
of the Gaza Strip, including the blocking of fuel supplies,
forced Gaza's only power plant to shut down, plunging
over 800,000 Palestinians into darkness. According to
the General-Director of the plant, the shortage of
electricity caused by the lack of fuel will affect the
provision of medical care and water and sanitation
services. On Sunday morning, the Gaza Coastal
Municipalities Water Utility, which normally
operates 130 wells as well as sewage treatment
plants, stated that if the fuel supply is not restored
by Tuesday, these services will cease to function
throughout the Gaza Strip. Since Friday 18 January,
Israel has also closed all Gaza's border crossings and
blocked all humanitarian aid, except in exceptional
circumstances. With some 80 percent of Gaza's
population requiring food aid, the impact of these
measures will be catastrophic. This escalation has
also been accompanied by an intensifying of Israeli
military attacks on the Gaza Strip in the first 19 days
of 2008, costing the lives of 69 Palestinians, including
four children and eight women, and the injury of over 190.
Hamas Leader Pleads Help For Gaza From Arab Nations
The Hamas leadership pleaded with Arab leaders and the
rival Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, on
Sunday, asking them to forget their differences and help the
beleaguered Gazans.
Worldwide anger over Gaza plight
The Arab League and European Union have led worldwide
calls for Israel to end its four-day blockade of the Gaza Strip
that has caused untold suffering to more than a million people.
Defense Ministry sources say move is one-time easing of
blockade, not change in government's policy.
Egypt sends troops to Gaza border
Egypt sent more security forces to its border with the
Gaza Strip Monday for fear that Palestinian militants
may storm the border after Israel tightened its blockade
of the territory, according to security officials.
four Hamas members'
Hamas said on Sunday that Fatah-allied Palestinian
security forces detained four Hamas members in the
West Bank on Saturday. According to Hamas, the
detainees were from the cities of Tulkarem and Jenin,
in the northern West Bank.
Palestinian woman 'beaten by security officer' in Nablus
Nablus – Ma'an Exclusive – A woman from the
West Bank city of Nablus told Ma'an on Monday that she
was assaulted by a Palestinian national security officer.
Thirty-nine-year-old Susan Al-Jayousi spoke with
Ma'an's reporter from her bed at Al-Etihad Hospital
in Nablus. She says Israeli forces arrested her husband,
who works in a shop selling cassette tapes, in front of her
and her daughter two years ago.
Israeli tanks shells civilians
in southern Gaza Strip, no injures reported
Palestinian sources reported that on Tuesday midday
Israeli tanks shelled a group of Palestinian civilians in
Khaza'a village near Khan Younis city in the southern
part of the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army injures a Palestinian youth
and kidnaps him near Hebron city
Israeli troops shot and injured a young Palestinian man
late Monday night in the village of Al Shukh located
north of the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
Israeli army kidnaps at least
14 Palestinians from Nablus
Israeli forces kidnapped at least 14 Palestinians from
several areas in the northern West Bank city of Nablus
in a pre-dawn invasion on Tuesday.
Israeli military invades Qabatiya
and Deir Abu Da'eif village in Jenin
In pre-dawn invasion on Tuesday in the northern
West Bank town of Qabatiya, and village of Abu
Da'eif in Jenin the Israeli army attacked several
civilian homes.
Gaza: man dies of wounds sustained earlier
in the week, while navy attacks fishermen
Palestinian medical sources reported that a
Palestinian man died on Tuesday morning due
to wounds he sustained in Israeli army attacks on Sunday.
Israelis kidnap the Governor's consultant
to religious affairs in Bethlehem
Israeli forces kidnapped, Mohammad Abu Alia, the
Governor's consultant of religious affairs, and a senior
leader of Fatah in Al Duhiesheh refugee camp in the
southern West bank city of Bethlehem. Palestinian
sources reported that at least ten military vehicles
invaded Bethlehem district and drove to the camp
where they invaded the house of the consultant,
kidnapped him and later moved him to unknown detention center.
http://www.imemc.org/article
Soldiers assault and arrest
B'Tselem worker in Hebron
Soldiers assaulted and arrested Issa 'Amro, a B'Tselem
fieldworker, in Hebron yesterday. 'Amro was arrested
while filming a disturbance by settlers in the Wadi Hsein
neighborhood in East Hebron. Yesterday evening
(19 January), a group of settlers began throwing
stones at a Palestinian home and trying to forcefully
enter it. Although a large force of soldiers and police
were present, they did nothing to protect the Palestinians
and remove the settlers.
Lebanese army opens fire on Israeli jets
The Lebanese army has opened fire on Israeli jets as
they flew over the south of the country in violation of
Lebanon's airspace.
Mideast Arabs, Iran's Ahmadinejad worried
over worsening Gaza situation
Syrian Foreign Ministry demanded "an immediate
end to the collective punishment and Israeli crimes,"
saying Israel was violating "the simplest rules of
human rights," while Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad
Saniora described Gaza developments as a serious
escalation of Israel's "racial discrimination and
blatant human rights violations against Palestinians.
should help Palestinian nation
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a telephone
conversation with his Algerian counterpart Abdelaziz
Bouteflika on Monday said that the leaders of Islamic
countries should prepare the grounds for helping the
oppressed people of Palestine.
PRC: 'We will open Rafah crossing by force'
The leadership of the Popular Resistance Committees in
Palestine said on Sunday evening that they will not allow
the Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip to continue, and
threatened to use force to reopen Gaza's borders.
Siege on Gaza / Paying the price
Defense Ministry officials yesterday pointed with
satisfaction at the low number of Qassam rockets launched at
Israel from the Gaza Strip in the past few days. Here was
proof of the wisdom of Defense Minister Ehud Barak's
decision last weekend to impose a total blockade on Gaza,
in response to the ceaseless fire from Hamas. Just last
week there were 42 launches a day on average,
whereas in the past two days there were only four.
And maybe finally, Israelis hope, the magical solution
to the Qassams has been found that will save the Israel
Defense Forces from a major ground offensive with
heavy casualties.
B'Tselem: Israeli attacks on
human rights workers "systematic"
The beating and arrest of a human rights worker
by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank city of Hebron
on Saturday were a part of "a policy of systematically
harassing human rights defenders," the Israeli human
rights organization B'Tselem said on Sunday.
Nablus demonstration in
solidarity with prisoners
On the 21st January 2008, over 200 people
took to the streets of Nablus to demonstrate in
solidarity with Palestinian prisoners currently
held in Israeli prisons. Organised by the local municipality,
Nadi al Aseer (prisoner support club made up of local
community members including family and friends of
prisoners), and the Tan-Weer centre for cultural
enlightenment, the demonstrators called for the
release of all political prisoners.
UN: Despite Israel's promises, West Bank
barriers have increased
A United Nations report released Tuesday shows that
there has been a six-percent rise in the number of
barriers in the West Bank, despite pledges by Israel
to reduce this amount. Click here to see the full report.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen
No peace deal if Israel keeps building:
Palestinian PM
BERLIN (Reuters) - President George W. Bush's
drive for peace between Israel and the Palestinians
by the end of his term in office is unlikely to succeed
unless the Jewish state stops building in the West Bank,
the Palestinian premier said.
PMO denies J'lem building freeze
A war of words erupted between MKs and Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert's office on Monday over the exact phrasing of
a cabinet decision regarding new construction in Jerusalem.
All building in east Jerusalem neighborhoods must now be
approved by the government. In a closed session of the
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Subcommittee on
Settlements, a senior Housing Ministry official said
Olmert had taken control of new building and
construction permits issued over the Green Line -
including in such east Jerusalem neighborhoods as
Ramot, Gilo and Pisgat Ze'ev.
Palestinian group sounds like Al Qaeda
but forgoes violence, Hizb ut-Tahrir moves
to fill void left by Hamas in the West Bank
HEBRON, WEST BANK – A new fundamentalist player
is emerging in Palestinian politics. The group sounds
like Hamas – or even Al Qaeda – but doesn't support
suicide bombings or secret militias. In recent months,
it has shown it can put tens of thousands of supporters
into the streets. Founded in Jerusalem by a Palestinian-
Jordanian judge more than 50 years ago – and once
considered a quiet if quirky religious group with a
utopian vision of returning to a time when the Muslim
world was united – Hizb ut-Tahrir (the Party of Liberation)
is now filling a hole left by Hamas in the West Bank.
Was the crisis a Hamas PR victory?
As far as some Palestinian Authority leaders are
concerned, Israel has handed Hamas a public relations
victory by decreasing fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip in
response to the rocket and mortar attacks. The PA
leadership in Ramallah was hoping that the latest crisis
would trigger an intifada against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Dalia Rabin backtracks in row with
academic over speech in Arabic
Dalia Rabin, the daughter of the former prime minister
Yitzhak Rabin, apologized on Sunday for assailing an Israeli
Arab college director last week, after he gave a speech in
Arabic at a ceremony sponsored by the Rabin Center.
Beyond the city limits
In the last few weeks Bethlehem has played host to some
rather unwelcome guests - at least, as far as the Israeli
authorities are concerned. First up was a trio of Israeli
citizens who were caught in the city, purportedly to "see
the town's fir trees," an excuse that didn't cut much ice with
the Israeli police. One of the three, a serving soldier who
decided to take his M16 along for the trip, received a
month in military jail as punishment for his straying into enemy territory.
Where does it end?
Much of Gaza is once again in darkness, as Israel cut
off the fuel to its only power plant. Hospital patients
have reportedly died, communications are out, and
movement and commerce in an already beleaguered
economy have come to a near halt.
Eileen Fleming: Vanunu Encounters
During my five journeys to Israel Palestine since June
2005, Vanunu and I have crossed paths every time
and in the spirit of Article 19 we have spoken and I
have been freely streaming video of him.
Gilad Atzmon: On Music, War and Empathy
I grew up in Israel in a rather Zionist secular family.
My Grandfather was a charismatic poetic veteran terrorist,
an ex prominent commander in the right wing Irgun terror
organization.
Gaza and the recognition of Israel
As has been covered in the news extensively, Gaza's only
power plant has shut down as there is no longer any fuel left
to run it. 1.5 million people are in darkness and according to a
health ministry official the hospitals " have the choice to either
cut electricity on babies in the maternity ward or heart surgery
patients or stop operating rooms,". The UN is almost out of
bags with which to distribute the pitiful amount of humanitarian
aid Israel allows into the strip. Gaza is a humanitarian disaster
on epic proportions.
Internal Memo Takes on Obama's
Approach to Middle East
A confidential memo questioning Senator Barack
Obama's potential approach to Middle East policy was
circulated earlier this month among staffers at a major
American Jewish organization. In one section, the memo
said that Obama's approach to Iran's nuclear program
"raises questions," while another portion suggested that
Obama expected more from Israel than the Palestinians
in resolving the conflict between the two.
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