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PCHR Weekly Report: 6 Palestinians killed,
13 injured by Israeli forces
According to
the Palestinian Center for Human Rights
(PCHR)'s Weekly Report, during the week of 24- 30
January 2008, 6 Palestinians were killed and 13
were injured by the Israeli military. In addition,
4 international and Israeli human rights
defenders were wounded by Israeli forces this week.
Barghouthi: Zionist aggressions
increased by 220% after Annapolis
Former Information Minister, Dr. Mustafa
al-Barghouthi, the Secretary General of the
Palestinian National Initiative stated on Thursday
Zionist measures, especially the expansion of
settlements and the building of the wall, expose
the future of the whole region to danger.
Three injured in the
weekly Bil'in protest
The villagers of Bil'in, located near the central
West Bank city of Ramallah, along with international
and Israeli supporters conducted their weekly
protest on Friday against the illegal Israeli
wall being built on the villager's land.
Soldiers terrify a family, force them including
children, under the rain for several hours
Local sources in Jenin, in the northern part of
the West Bank, reported on Thursday that
Israeli soldiers broke into the house of Sami
Hasan Al Sous, in Jenin refugee camp, and
forced him and his children under the rain and
cold winter night, while the soldiers took their
time in thoroughly searching the house and
sabotaging its property before arresting four
family members.
Israeli Army Invade Azzoun, Boy
Shot With Live Ammunition
On 31 Jan 2008, at about 3 pm, two Israeli
Occupation Force (IOF) jeeps and one
Armoured Personel Carrier (APC) invaded the town
of Azzoun, with another jeep creating a flying check
point at the main gate to the town. With sirens
blaring, one jeep and the APC circled the entire
town announcing a curfew. Some young men were
detained in the street and about one hour later,
the APC blocked the small road from the main
street to the newly built Mosque. Six soldiers got
out in the small road and would not let International
Human Rights Workers (HRWs) follow and film
them, swearing at them and even threatening the
HRWs by aiming their guns at them.
Israeli forces beat, shoot Palestinian
civilians in Qalqilia
Occupying Israeli forces beat one Palestinian
man and beat another in separate incidents
near the West Bank city of Qalqilia on
Thursday evening, local sources said.
P.A security arrests eight Hamas
supporters in the West Bank
Sources close to Hamas movement in the
West Bank reported on Thursday that Palestinian
Security Forces, loyal to Fateh movement in
the West Bank, arrested on Wednesday eight
members and supporters of Hamas in several
West bank districts.
Palestinians: Settler hit
teen over snowball
Teen's parents say their son was assaulted by a
Jewish man as he was playing with friends
in the snow; police say settler filed complaint
against teen. Palestinian sources in the West
Bank city of Hebron said Thursday that a Jewish
settler assualted a local teen who he claimed
threw a snowball at him. The teen's parents
told Ynet that on Wednesday they sent their
son, Mahmoud Da'ana, to a neighborhood
grocery store located near the disputed house
that was taken over by Jewish settlers several
months ago. On the way to the store, they said,
Mahmoud stopped to play in the snow with his
friends when a settler appeared and began
to punch him.
Palestine Red Crescent: working
and living under siege in Gaza
Since the sealing off of the Gaza strip by Israeli
authorities in June 2007, the humanitarian
situation of Palestinians has deteriorated
significantly, leaving tens of thousands of
families living in extreme poverty.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS)
has mobilized its volunteers and emergency
teams to provide essential relief to some of
the most vulnerable people through its medical
services, health centers, programme for
disabled children and psychosocial services.
PRCS volunteers are going door-to-door,
doing needs assessments and distributing
emergency items, including blankets, candles,
hygiene articles, mattresses, water and lamps,
to alleviate some of the suffering.
UNESCO chief: We are trying to
mediate over Mugrabi Gate
PARIS - UNESCO is attempting to mediate among
Israel, Jordan and the Waqf Muslim religious
trust over construction at the controversial
Mugrabi Ascent in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Gaza blockade amounts to
collective punishment: HRW
NEW YORK (AFP) — Israel's blockade of Gaza
denies 1.4 million Palestinians the food, fuel and
medicine they need to survive, Human Rights
Watch said on Thursday, calling it collective
punishment and a violation of international law.
[Facts] Israeli
Occupation
[Facts] Settlements and Demolitions
Over the years, Israel has adopted a policy of
building up its own settlements on occupied
Arab land, while indiscriminately tearing down
Palestinian homes in military operations --
actions that displace thousands of civilians
and threaten the peace process.
[Facts] Settlements
and Demolitions
Study: Arab women most exploited
group in Israeli workforce
There is someone in Israel more exploited than the
migrant workers or janitorial staff and it is Arab women.
For instance, N.A., a 20-year-old from the Nazareth
area, got a job in a bakery upon finishing high school.
Morning shifts were eight hours, night shifts were six
hours. But no matter how many shifts she worked,
at the end of every week, N.A. got the equivalent
of NIS 60 per day in cash or something between
NIS 7.5 and NIS 10 per hour. The legal minimum
wage was NIS 19.25.
Gaza blockade
Since September 2007 employment, education and healthcare have been badly affected. The blockade has left homes, hospitals and factories without electricity. The lack of fuel has crippled Gaza's water supply and sewage system. Rivers of untreated sewage flow through the streets. Power cuts interrupt business and people's ability to light and heat their houses and refrigerate food.
Israeli delays mean no
Gaza schoolbooks: UN
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Children in Gaza will start
the second half of their school year on Saturday
without textbooks because Israeli authorities
delayed authorising imports of paper to print them
on, a UN official said.
Report: Meshal says abducted
IDF soldier Shalit 'alive and well'
Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal
said that abducted Israel Defense Forces
soldier Gilad Shalit is "alive and well," in
an interview with the Italian weekly Panorama
published Friday, Israel Radio reported.
A Hamas hardliner, The prickly
defiance of Mahmoud Zahhar
A FLORID pink and green mural on the
front of Mahmoud Zahhar's house "congratulates"
the family on the hasty passage of his son Hussam
to "paradise", courtesy of an Israeli missile on
January 15th, felling the second of two sons to
die for Hamas's cause. Dr Zahhar remains
unbowed in his determination, sense of
rightness and argumentative humour.
All power to Hamas
DAMASCUS - When Hamas came to
power in January 2006, trading the
bullet for the ballot, many believed the
Islamic group - as we knew it - was
finished. History after all is riddled with
stories of resistance groups that fell from grace
the minute they abandoned warfare in favor of
government office. The National Bloc of Syria is
a good example, accredited with leading the
anti-French struggle during the 1930s and early 1940s.
Hamas frees Fayyad advisor
detained in Gaza over a month ago
An advisor to Palestinian Prime Minister
Salam Fayyad who was arrested by Hamas
forces in the Gaza Strip was freed on Friday
after being held by the Islamist group for more
than a month, Hamas and Fayyad's office said.
Egypt, Hamas restore order to Gaza border
RAFAH, Egypt: The Egypt-Gaza border was
sealed off to Palestinian vehicles on Thursday
as talks began in Cairo to resolve a crisis triggered
when militants blew holes in the frontier barrier
last week to break a devastating Israeli blockade.
Egyptian security forces and members of the
Islamist movement Hamas which controls
Gaza were working in tandem to control the
frontier, an Egyptian policeman said.
Palestinians feud, but Egypt and
Hamas working more closely
Cairo - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
dug in his heels Wednesday after a meeting with
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to address
the crisis over the Gaza border, publicly refusing
to work with his Palestinian rival Hamas and
calling for forces loyal to his government to
take control of the border.
Report: Egypt to seal border
with Gaza Friday
Egyptian paper al-Ahram reports local
security forces expected to seal breached
border with Gaza on Friday, once all
Palestinians return to Strip.
Haniyeh aide: Gaza should turn
toward Egypt, away from Israel for
electricity, fuel
Ahmed Yousef, a former political advisor to
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, said that
Hamas seeks to end the Gaza Strip's
economic dependency on Israel and by
working with Arab and Muslim countries,
particularly neighboring Egypt.
Gazans demanding passage out
of Egypt continue sit-in for ninth day
Hundreds of Gazan students, patients and
businesspeople and workers continued a sit-in
for a ninth day in front of the Egyptian interior
ministry's offices in the Sinai region on Thursday.
They are demanding that Egyptian authorities let
them pass to the international airport in Cairo so
they can fly to their destinations abroad.
Gaza : MEPs paint a picture of despair
Many MEPs on Wednesday deplored the dire
straits that drove Gazans to breach the wall
around the Gaza strip, after an Israeli blockade
lasting several weeks. The EU's alignment with
US policy in the region was criticized by several
MEPs in a plenary debate with EU foreign policy
High Representative Javier Solana and external
relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
Postcard: Gaza
Amran Lubbad lay sleepless in Gaza early in
the morning of Jan. 23. Lubbad, a darkly handsome
Palestinian, was going to be united with Hiba, his
fiancé in Egypt. He had treated himself to a sharp new
haircut. The pair have been engaged for two years,
but Israel and Egypt sealed off the border with Gaza
in early 2006, and Hiba was trapped on the other side.
At last, Lubbad had scraped together $1,500 to smuggle
her through a sandy tunnel under the border fence.
A whirlwind wedding in Gaza
"When Palestinians blew open the border
between Gaza and Egypt, television pictures
showed thousands of Palestinians pouring into
Egypt to buy much-needed medicine and basic
supplies. However, some Palestinians made
the reverse journey in order to be reunited with
their loved ones, and get married."
VIDEO: Flood misery, snow fun in Mideast
The season's first major storm caused flooding
and transport chaos in Gaza, the West Bank,
Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.
Hyde Park: The Gaza Strip: World's
largest open-air prison?
So Gaza plunges into a literal darkness
to accompany the misery that has become a
constant in the lives of its 1.5 million prisoners.
Israel declared the strip a "hostile entity" in
September 2007, reserving the right to cut off
its food, fuel, and electricity, even though such
collective punishment violates international law.
Israel has now closed off all of Gaza's borders,
effectively securing its status as the world's largest
open-air prison. Little came in or out – until Palestinians
conducted the largest prison break in history.
Seeing as Gaza's solitary power plant is almost
completely dependent on fuel supplies purchased
from Israel, the plant was forced to shut down on
January 20.
Palestine asks for Russia's support
in Gaza crisis - ambassador
Palestinian Ambassador to Russia Baker
Abdel Monem said on Thursday the Palestinian
people ask for Russia's support as the situation
in the Gaza Strip is close to catastrophe.
Qatar pledges 5.5 million
USD to Gaza Strip
Qatar announced on Wednesday that it will
offer 5.5 million US dollars in emergency aid
to the Gaza Strip for basic medical supplies,
food, and for repairing damaged the sewage system.
They shoot blind people, don't
they, By Gideon Levy
Ahmed Sabarneh feels his way in the dark.
He can see shadows and figures only and can
identify individuals only from up close. He can
barely read, even when his face is on top of the
text. A rare hereditary disease is gradually making
him blind. Now Ahmed also needs to use crutches.
He climbs the stairs to his home with difficulty, one
step at a time, coping with his poor vision and his
injured leg. Israel Defense Forces soldiers shot Ahmed
in the foot and since then he has had difficulty walking.
They claimed he threw rocks at them but Ahmed says
he can't see well enough to do so.
Young, alive but
not very heaven
GAZA and Kenya have more in common than
short names ending in "a" and violent squabbles
apparently not ending at all. Both have too many
people, or, to be more exact, too many young
men without either jobs or prospects.
The resulting frustration is one of the causes
of their present discontents.
Yet another nothing
While Hamas is changing facts on the ground
at Rafah, the latest talks between Abbas and
Olmert go nowhere, writes Khaled Amayreh
in occupied East Jerusalem.
Visiting U.S. singer Badu says
backs Farrakhan, Palestinian cause
Sporting a huge, billowing afro and a T-shirt with an anti-Iraq war slogan, Erykah Badu expressed her support of black leader Louis Farrakhan and the Palestinian cause Thursday before a crowd of Israeli fans and journalists in Tel Avive
Unity in struggle George Habash
(1925-2008)
It is perhaps no surprise after so much use
that the heart of George Habash, who
struggled his whole life for the liberation of
Palestine, should give way. A lifelong advocate
of Arab unity and a single state Palestine of all
of its citizens, Habash never accepted that
justice was but an idea or that a land and its
people could be seized and erased. He died
at the age of 82 in Amman on Saturday
PLO envoy raps Lantos on 'insult'
The PLO envoy to Washington accused
a top congressman of insulting the Palestinian
people. Afif Safieh earlier this week had issued
a statement noting the death of George
Habash, the founder and one-time leader
of the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine. Safieh called Habash a "great
leader" and opened a condolences registry
at the Washington office of the Palestine
Liberation Organization.
'Hatikva' in Arabic?
"Hatikva," Israel's national anthem, is about to
have a bumper year with the country's upcoming
60th anniversary celebrations. "Hatikva," as is,
has been a problem for Israel's Arab citizens.
When the Israeli national soccer team competes
overseas and "Hatikva" is played, Arab Israeli
players who are representing Israel stand silent.
Israeli television cameras zoom in on those silent
lips, highlighting a problem that resurfaces daily
with school choirs, ribbon-cutting ceremonies,
sporting events and official visits. Can we possibly
imagine an Arab citizen, however loyal and
dedicated to Israel, singing with pride and
joy the words "as long as deep in the heart a
Jewish soul beats" and "our 2,000-year-old hope
of being a free nation in our land?"
Construction halted at site near J'lem
despite pledge to Shas
Israel says it is suspending the construction of a
neighborhood in the Givat Ze'ev settlement north of
Jerusalem, contrary to the prime minister's promise to
Shas leader Eli Yishai that there would be no construction
freeze in the greater Jerusalem area.
Amnesty Int'l: Winograd report fails
to address Israel's war crimes
Human rights organization Amnesty International
on Thursday called the Winograd Commission's
final report on Israel's conduct during the
Second Lebanon War, published Wednesday,
"deeply flawed," in its failure to address war
crimes committed by Israel.
Top IDF brass: Winograd report on
Lebanon war an 'earthquake'
Senior officers in the Israel Defense Forces
have characterized the Winograd Committee's
findings on the army's performance in the Second
Lebanon War as "nothing less than an earthquake."
Election power of the Israel lobby
As US presidential candidates battle it
out to become the leader of the world's
only superpower there is one subject on
which they all, in public at least, agree
- the US relationship with Israel.
Bloggers try to counter anti-Israel
media bias with bad news on other states
What began six months ago as a brazen attempt
to counter a perceived anti-Israel slant in the
Dutch media, has evolved into a network
monitoring the media in eight countries
across the world. The idea is simple:
Beat press bias at its own game by advertising
only bad news about one place. Over the past
months, seven activists from Israel and
elsewhere have been exposing online readers
to scandalous yet accurate reports from media
in Britain (violent drunk teens), France
(high homeless mortality), Norway
(serial child molesters), Finland
(sexual harassment in parliament),
Sweden (soaring suicide rates),
The Netherlands (menacing Muslim unrest),
Mexico (rampaging flood victims)
and Los Angeles (drive-by killings).
Palestinians Have
Little Faith In Bush
Most Palestinians have little faith in U.S.
President Bush's peace efforts and a slim
majority oppose firing rockets at Israel,
a poll released Wednesday said.
Researchers for al-Najah University in Nablus
questioned 860 Palestinians from Gaza and
the West Bank, the Israeli news agency
Ynetnews.com reported.
the Palestinian Center for Human Rights
(PCHR)'s Weekly Report, during the week of 24- 30
January 2008, 6 Palestinians were killed and 13
were injured by the Israeli military. In addition,
4 international and Israeli human rights
defenders were wounded by Israeli forces this week.
Barghouthi: Zionist aggressions
increased by 220% after Annapolis
Former Information Minister, Dr. Mustafa
al-Barghouthi, the Secretary General of the
Palestinian National Initiative stated on Thursday
Zionist measures, especially the expansion of
settlements and the building of the wall, expose
the future of the whole region to danger.
Three injured in the
weekly Bil'in protest
The villagers of Bil'in, located near the central
West Bank city of Ramallah, along with international
and Israeli supporters conducted their weekly
protest on Friday against the illegal Israeli
wall being built on the villager's land.
Soldiers terrify a family, force them including
children, under the rain for several hours
Local sources in Jenin, in the northern part of
the West Bank, reported on Thursday that
Israeli soldiers broke into the house of Sami
Hasan Al Sous, in Jenin refugee camp, and
forced him and his children under the rain and
cold winter night, while the soldiers took their
time in thoroughly searching the house and
sabotaging its property before arresting four
family members.
Israeli Army Invade Azzoun, Boy
Shot With Live Ammunition
On 31 Jan 2008, at about 3 pm, two Israeli
Occupation Force (IOF) jeeps and one
Armoured Personel Carrier (APC) invaded the town
of Azzoun, with another jeep creating a flying check
point at the main gate to the town. With sirens
blaring, one jeep and the APC circled the entire
town announcing a curfew. Some young men were
detained in the street and about one hour later,
the APC blocked the small road from the main
street to the newly built Mosque. Six soldiers got
out in the small road and would not let International
Human Rights Workers (HRWs) follow and film
them, swearing at them and even threatening the
HRWs by aiming their guns at them.
Israeli forces beat, shoot Palestinian
civilians in Qalqilia
Occupying Israeli forces beat one Palestinian
man and beat another in separate incidents
near the West Bank city of Qalqilia on
Thursday evening, local sources said.
P.A security arrests eight Hamas
supporters in the West Bank
Sources close to Hamas movement in the
West Bank reported on Thursday that Palestinian
Security Forces, loyal to Fateh movement in
the West Bank, arrested on Wednesday eight
members and supporters of Hamas in several
West bank districts.
Palestinians: Settler hit
teen over snowball
Teen's parents say their son was assaulted by a
Jewish man as he was playing with friends
in the snow; police say settler filed complaint
against teen. Palestinian sources in the West
Bank city of Hebron said Thursday that a Jewish
settler assualted a local teen who he claimed
threw a snowball at him. The teen's parents
told Ynet that on Wednesday they sent their
son, Mahmoud Da'ana, to a neighborhood
grocery store located near the disputed house
that was taken over by Jewish settlers several
months ago. On the way to the store, they said,
Mahmoud stopped to play in the snow with his
friends when a settler appeared and began
to punch him.
Palestine Red Crescent: working
and living under siege in Gaza
Since the sealing off of the Gaza strip by Israeli
authorities in June 2007, the humanitarian
situation of Palestinians has deteriorated
significantly, leaving tens of thousands of
families living in extreme poverty.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS)
has mobilized its volunteers and emergency
teams to provide essential relief to some of
the most vulnerable people through its medical
services, health centers, programme for
disabled children and psychosocial services.
PRCS volunteers are going door-to-door,
doing needs assessments and distributing
emergency items, including blankets, candles,
hygiene articles, mattresses, water and lamps,
to alleviate some of the suffering.
UNESCO chief: We are trying to
mediate over Mugrabi Gate
PARIS - UNESCO is attempting to mediate among
Israel, Jordan and the Waqf Muslim religious
trust over construction at the controversial
Mugrabi Ascent in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Gaza blockade amounts to
collective punishment: HRW
NEW YORK (AFP) — Israel's blockade of Gaza
denies 1.4 million Palestinians the food, fuel and
medicine they need to survive, Human Rights
Watch said on Thursday, calling it collective
punishment and a violation of international law.
[Facts] Israeli
Occupation
[Facts] Settlements and Demolitions
Over the years, Israel has adopted a policy of
building up its own settlements on occupied
Arab land, while indiscriminately tearing down
Palestinian homes in military operations --
actions that displace thousands of civilians
and threaten the peace process.
[Facts] Settlements
and Demolitions
Study: Arab women most exploited
group in Israeli workforce
There is someone in Israel more exploited than the
migrant workers or janitorial staff and it is Arab women.
For instance, N.A., a 20-year-old from the Nazareth
area, got a job in a bakery upon finishing high school.
Morning shifts were eight hours, night shifts were six
hours. But no matter how many shifts she worked,
at the end of every week, N.A. got the equivalent
of NIS 60 per day in cash or something between
NIS 7.5 and NIS 10 per hour. The legal minimum
wage was NIS 19.25.
Gaza blockade
Since September 2007 employment, education and healthcare have been badly affected. The blockade has left homes, hospitals and factories without electricity. The lack of fuel has crippled Gaza's water supply and sewage system. Rivers of untreated sewage flow through the streets. Power cuts interrupt business and people's ability to light and heat their houses and refrigerate food.
Israeli delays mean no
Gaza schoolbooks: UN
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Children in Gaza will start
the second half of their school year on Saturday
without textbooks because Israeli authorities
delayed authorising imports of paper to print them
on, a UN official said.
Report: Meshal says abducted
IDF soldier Shalit 'alive and well'
Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal
said that abducted Israel Defense Forces
soldier Gilad Shalit is "alive and well," in
an interview with the Italian weekly Panorama
published Friday, Israel Radio reported.
A Hamas hardliner, The prickly
defiance of Mahmoud Zahhar
A FLORID pink and green mural on the
front of Mahmoud Zahhar's house "congratulates"
the family on the hasty passage of his son Hussam
to "paradise", courtesy of an Israeli missile on
January 15th, felling the second of two sons to
die for Hamas's cause. Dr Zahhar remains
unbowed in his determination, sense of
rightness and argumentative humour.
All power to Hamas
DAMASCUS - When Hamas came to
power in January 2006, trading the
bullet for the ballot, many believed the
Islamic group - as we knew it - was
finished. History after all is riddled with
stories of resistance groups that fell from grace
the minute they abandoned warfare in favor of
government office. The National Bloc of Syria is
a good example, accredited with leading the
anti-French struggle during the 1930s and early 1940s.
Hamas frees Fayyad advisor
detained in Gaza over a month ago
An advisor to Palestinian Prime Minister
Salam Fayyad who was arrested by Hamas
forces in the Gaza Strip was freed on Friday
after being held by the Islamist group for more
than a month, Hamas and Fayyad's office said.
Egypt, Hamas restore order to Gaza border
RAFAH, Egypt: The Egypt-Gaza border was
sealed off to Palestinian vehicles on Thursday
as talks began in Cairo to resolve a crisis triggered
when militants blew holes in the frontier barrier
last week to break a devastating Israeli blockade.
Egyptian security forces and members of the
Islamist movement Hamas which controls
Gaza were working in tandem to control the
frontier, an Egyptian policeman said.
Palestinians feud, but Egypt and
Hamas working more closely
Cairo - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
dug in his heels Wednesday after a meeting with
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to address
the crisis over the Gaza border, publicly refusing
to work with his Palestinian rival Hamas and
calling for forces loyal to his government to
take control of the border.
Report: Egypt to seal border
with Gaza Friday
Egyptian paper al-Ahram reports local
security forces expected to seal breached
border with Gaza on Friday, once all
Palestinians return to Strip.
Haniyeh aide: Gaza should turn
toward Egypt, away from Israel for
electricity, fuel
Ahmed Yousef, a former political advisor to
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, said that
Hamas seeks to end the Gaza Strip's
economic dependency on Israel and by
working with Arab and Muslim countries,
particularly neighboring Egypt.
Gazans demanding passage out
of Egypt continue sit-in for ninth day
Hundreds of Gazan students, patients and
businesspeople and workers continued a sit-in
for a ninth day in front of the Egyptian interior
ministry's offices in the Sinai region on Thursday.
They are demanding that Egyptian authorities let
them pass to the international airport in Cairo so
they can fly to their destinations abroad.
Gaza : MEPs paint a picture of despair
Many MEPs on Wednesday deplored the dire
straits that drove Gazans to breach the wall
around the Gaza strip, after an Israeli blockade
lasting several weeks. The EU's alignment with
US policy in the region was criticized by several
MEPs in a plenary debate with EU foreign policy
High Representative Javier Solana and external
relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
Postcard: Gaza
Amran Lubbad lay sleepless in Gaza early in
the morning of Jan. 23. Lubbad, a darkly handsome
Palestinian, was going to be united with Hiba, his
fiancé in Egypt. He had treated himself to a sharp new
haircut. The pair have been engaged for two years,
but Israel and Egypt sealed off the border with Gaza
in early 2006, and Hiba was trapped on the other side.
At last, Lubbad had scraped together $1,500 to smuggle
her through a sandy tunnel under the border fence.
A whirlwind wedding in Gaza
"When Palestinians blew open the border
between Gaza and Egypt, television pictures
showed thousands of Palestinians pouring into
Egypt to buy much-needed medicine and basic
supplies. However, some Palestinians made
the reverse journey in order to be reunited with
their loved ones, and get married."
VIDEO: Flood misery, snow fun in Mideast
The season's first major storm caused flooding
and transport chaos in Gaza, the West Bank,
Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.
Hyde Park: The Gaza Strip: World's
largest open-air prison?
So Gaza plunges into a literal darkness
to accompany the misery that has become a
constant in the lives of its 1.5 million prisoners.
Israel declared the strip a "hostile entity" in
September 2007, reserving the right to cut off
its food, fuel, and electricity, even though such
collective punishment violates international law.
Israel has now closed off all of Gaza's borders,
effectively securing its status as the world's largest
open-air prison. Little came in or out – until Palestinians
conducted the largest prison break in history.
Seeing as Gaza's solitary power plant is almost
completely dependent on fuel supplies purchased
from Israel, the plant was forced to shut down on
January 20.
Palestine asks for Russia's support
in Gaza crisis - ambassador
Palestinian Ambassador to Russia Baker
Abdel Monem said on Thursday the Palestinian
people ask for Russia's support as the situation
in the Gaza Strip is close to catastrophe.
Qatar pledges 5.5 million
USD to Gaza Strip
Qatar announced on Wednesday that it will
offer 5.5 million US dollars in emergency aid
to the Gaza Strip for basic medical supplies,
food, and for repairing damaged the sewage system.
They shoot blind people, don't
they, By Gideon Levy
Ahmed Sabarneh feels his way in the dark.
He can see shadows and figures only and can
identify individuals only from up close. He can
barely read, even when his face is on top of the
text. A rare hereditary disease is gradually making
him blind. Now Ahmed also needs to use crutches.
He climbs the stairs to his home with difficulty, one
step at a time, coping with his poor vision and his
injured leg. Israel Defense Forces soldiers shot Ahmed
in the foot and since then he has had difficulty walking.
They claimed he threw rocks at them but Ahmed says
he can't see well enough to do so.
Young, alive but
not very heaven
GAZA and Kenya have more in common than
short names ending in "a" and violent squabbles
apparently not ending at all. Both have too many
people, or, to be more exact, too many young
men without either jobs or prospects.
The resulting frustration is one of the causes
of their present discontents.
Yet another nothing
While Hamas is changing facts on the ground
at Rafah, the latest talks between Abbas and
Olmert go nowhere, writes Khaled Amayreh
in occupied East Jerusalem.
Visiting U.S. singer Badu says
backs Farrakhan, Palestinian cause
Sporting a huge, billowing afro and a T-shirt with an anti-Iraq war slogan, Erykah Badu expressed her support of black leader Louis Farrakhan and the Palestinian cause Thursday before a crowd of Israeli fans and journalists in Tel Avive
Unity in struggle George Habash
(1925-2008)
It is perhaps no surprise after so much use
that the heart of George Habash, who
struggled his whole life for the liberation of
Palestine, should give way. A lifelong advocate
of Arab unity and a single state Palestine of all
of its citizens, Habash never accepted that
justice was but an idea or that a land and its
people could be seized and erased. He died
at the age of 82 in Amman on Saturday
PLO envoy raps Lantos on 'insult'
The PLO envoy to Washington accused
a top congressman of insulting the Palestinian
people. Afif Safieh earlier this week had issued
a statement noting the death of George
Habash, the founder and one-time leader
of the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine. Safieh called Habash a "great
leader" and opened a condolences registry
at the Washington office of the Palestine
Liberation Organization.
'Hatikva' in Arabic?
"Hatikva," Israel's national anthem, is about to
have a bumper year with the country's upcoming
60th anniversary celebrations. "Hatikva," as is,
has been a problem for Israel's Arab citizens.
When the Israeli national soccer team competes
overseas and "Hatikva" is played, Arab Israeli
players who are representing Israel stand silent.
Israeli television cameras zoom in on those silent
lips, highlighting a problem that resurfaces daily
with school choirs, ribbon-cutting ceremonies,
sporting events and official visits. Can we possibly
imagine an Arab citizen, however loyal and
dedicated to Israel, singing with pride and
joy the words "as long as deep in the heart a
Jewish soul beats" and "our 2,000-year-old hope
of being a free nation in our land?"
Construction halted at site near J'lem
despite pledge to Shas
Israel says it is suspending the construction of a
neighborhood in the Givat Ze'ev settlement north of
Jerusalem, contrary to the prime minister's promise to
Shas leader Eli Yishai that there would be no construction
freeze in the greater Jerusalem area.
Amnesty Int'l: Winograd report fails
to address Israel's war crimes
Human rights organization Amnesty International
on Thursday called the Winograd Commission's
final report on Israel's conduct during the
Second Lebanon War, published Wednesday,
"deeply flawed," in its failure to address war
crimes committed by Israel.
Top IDF brass: Winograd report on
Lebanon war an 'earthquake'
Senior officers in the Israel Defense Forces
have characterized the Winograd Committee's
findings on the army's performance in the Second
Lebanon War as "nothing less than an earthquake."
Election power of the Israel lobby
As US presidential candidates battle it
out to become the leader of the world's
only superpower there is one subject on
which they all, in public at least, agree
- the US relationship with Israel.
Bloggers try to counter anti-Israel
media bias with bad news on other states
What began six months ago as a brazen attempt
to counter a perceived anti-Israel slant in the
Dutch media, has evolved into a network
monitoring the media in eight countries
across the world. The idea is simple:
Beat press bias at its own game by advertising
only bad news about one place. Over the past
months, seven activists from Israel and
elsewhere have been exposing online readers
to scandalous yet accurate reports from media
in Britain (violent drunk teens), France
(high homeless mortality), Norway
(serial child molesters), Finland
(sexual harassment in parliament),
Sweden (soaring suicide rates),
The Netherlands (menacing Muslim unrest),
Mexico (rampaging flood victims)
and Los Angeles (drive-by killings).
Palestinians Have
Little Faith In Bush
Most Palestinians have little faith in U.S.
President Bush's peace efforts and a slim
majority oppose firing rockets at Israel,
a poll released Wednesday said.
Researchers for al-Najah University in Nablus
questioned 860 Palestinians from Gaza and
the West Bank, the Israeli news agency
Ynetnews.com reported.
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