Shadi Fadda
Al-Kurd family evicted from their home in E. Jerusalem; 7 international solidarity activists arrested from protest camp
(9 Nov) The evicted Al-Kurd family have been staging a 3 1/2 month popular campaign against their eviction, establishing a protest camp and regular community actions ( www.sheikhjarrah.com). This eviction has occurred despite international outrage and objections to the planned eviction, including a formal protest from the United States ( July Haaretz story). The decision paves the way for the takeover of 26 multi-storey houses in the neighbourhood, threatening to make 500 Palestinians homeless and signifying the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Occupied East Jerusalem by the Israeli State.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/
jerusalem-seven-international-
IDF, police evict elderly East Jerusalem couple despite US protest
(9 Nov) In a pre-dawn operation in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of predominantly Arab East Jerusalem, scores of police officers and IDF troops Sunday evicted an elderly Palestinian couple from their home, despite protests by the United States, other countries, and human rights groups. Security forces also detained several activists of the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement who had been sleeping on the family's property, and expelled them to the adjacent West Bank, without pressing charges. Mohammed and Fawziya al-Kurd were then taken from the apartment, which they have been sharing with Israeli settlers since 1999, when Israeli courts evicted their son Raed from an added wing of the property.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Palestinian family evicted from emblematic Jerusalem home
(9 Nov) JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli police evicted a Palestinian family from their east Jerusalem home at dawn on Sunday in the wake of a prolonged court battle with Jewish settlers and just two days before municipal elections. Armed security forces surrounded the al-Kurd family's house in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of mostly Arab east Jerusalem during and after the operation. "They arrived at 3:30 in the morning. They broke into the house by smashing the door and forcefully threw us out, inhumanely," Fawzia al-Kurd told AFP.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
ISM: Israeli soldiers terrorise villagers in Zawata
(9 Nov) Three households were terrorised by Israeli soldiers in the village of Zawata on Friday night. At least twenty Israeli soldiers from the nearby military base at Shave Shomron stormed through the upper parts of the village on foot - throwing sound bombs and firing at family homes; surrounding houses and forcing families out into the night. Soldiers advised the invasion and terror tactics were a response to the discovery of a few small children burning a tyre on the nearby military road.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/
Israeli forces seize six Palestinians in West Bank raids
(9 Nov) Four Palestinians were arrested in Nur Shams Refugee Camp east of the city of Tulkarem in the northern West Bank. Israeli soldiers also stormed the city of Tulkarem and searched several homes. One of the homes belongs to Sami Abu Safa, an officer in the Palestinian general intelligence service. Two others were detained in the town of Al-Khadr south of Bethlehem in the southern West Bank and Dar Salah village east of Bethlehem.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Israeli army treats taped assault as an isolated incident contravening its values
(8 Nov) Jerusalem / PNN – On Friday the Israeli press reported on a reality infamous for Palestinians. The story regarded Israeli soldiers humiliating a young man at a checkpoint in the West Bank. Soldiers were forcing the young man to repeat offensive words which was recorded by a member of the military unit. Far worse incidents are witnessed daily by the victims, passersby and journalists alike, but capturing them on video is next to impossible. Cameras immediately stop an assault and then become the targets themselves. Regardless of the frequency of attacks at checkpoints by soldiers occupying the West Bank, military officials are dealing publicly with the taped assault as an isolated event deserving investigation and attention.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.
ISM: Second arson attack in Burin in a week
(8 Nov) For the second time in one week, Palestinian firefighters were called to put out a fire in Burin, a village south of Nablus. According to eyewitnesses, at approximately 3pm, on Thursday 6th November, Israeli settlers from the nearby illegal settlement of Bracha burnt Palestinian farmers' olive trees and agricultural irrigation systems. The attack took place in lands near to the notorious Huwarra checkpoint, highly visible to all those at the checkpoint. One resident of Burin commented "My friend called me from the checkpoint saying 'come and see the settlers burning the lands'". Burin has faced many arson attacks this olive season by settlers from the Bracha and Yizhar settlements. Ali Eid, the mayor of Burin estimates that over fifty percent of the village's olive groves have been burnt by the settlers, greatly diminishing the yield of this year's harvest. Other attacks on Burin farmers during this harvest include settlers throwing stones at farmers, with one requiring hospitalization; shooting into the air; as well as burning farmers' equipment. In other areas, settlers have severely beaten farmers; smashed cars; and stolen olives before farmers can harvest.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/
Barak at Rabin memorial: Extremists cancerous growth
(9 Nov) Peres warns tens of thousands honoring slain PM of dangers of internal strife in Israeli society. Labor Chairman and Defense Minister Ehud Barak referred to the Jewish extremists' threats. "We used to call them weeds, today they are no less than cancerous growths…There was writing on the wall then that we weren't wise enough to see," he said. "This is not just writing on the wall, this is a sharp undermining of democracy, the rule of law, the IDF, police and all the authorities serving a normal society. We promise you Yitzhak, we will remove this evil from us," said Barak.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
At Rabin memorial, Barak calls right-wing extremists 'cancerous growths'
(9 Nov) Barak also stressed the importance of peace, saying "we have no other country, and no other way, there is no alternative to peace," Barak said. Rabin's government negotiated the first interim peace accord with the Palestinians, and he won a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. Rabin was gunned down on Nov. 4, 1995, at the end of a peace rally by right-wing extremist Yigal Amir, an opponent of his policy of making peace with Palestinians
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews pray at Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem
(9 Nov) Dozens of armored buses brought hundreds of ultra-orthodox Jewish worshippers to pray at Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem on Saturday evening. In 2003 the group lobbied the Israeli Supreme Court to have the route of the separation wall altered so that the site of Rachel's Tomb was annexed to the western side of the wall. The petition was successful and the new route of the separation wall cut large swaths out of the Bethlehem municipal lands, ensuring Israelis access to the Tomb. The tomb is also a holy site for Muslims and Christians, and the location of the Bilal Ibn Rabah mosque, which is now inaccessible to West Bank Palestinians. Many of the area's residents have moved to other parts of Bethlehem since Israel's construction of the wall, and many buildings in the once vibrant neighborhood at the entrance to Bethlehem now stand empty.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Anti-closure events continue in Hebron's Old City; Israeli forces harass officials
(9 Nov) Palestinian dignitaries were harassed on Sunday as they made their way towards Hebron's city center to participate in the week-long National Campaign to Life the Siege imposed by Israel on the area. Delegations were halted at the Ras-Al-Jura checkpoint and detained while identity cards and passports were checked by soldiers. After arriving in the old city of Hebron delegates were told that the area around the Ibrahimi mosque had been declared a closed military zone and no one would be allowed in.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Rice in Jenin: 14 million dollars for Jenin governorate
(9 Nov) The Saturday visit saw Rice promise 14 million US dollars for projects which will be supervised by the US international development agency USAID and will include rehabilitating roads, schools, water sanitation, economic development and youth programs. One of the major initiatives will be the construction new 2,000,000 US dollar co-educational elementary school in a Jenin governorate village.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Increase in violations of press freedoms
(9 Nov) Bethlehem / Najib Farrag – Violations of freedom of the press are on the rise, the Center for Development and Media Freedoms reported Sunday. The campaign of arrests among journalists reached 11 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as part of the ongoing Fateh – Hamas strife. With the indefinite postponement of the comprehensive national dialogue, those working in the media expect the situation to worsen. This month's assaults on the press were not limited to internal issues. The Israeli military arrested three journalists and extended the prison sentence of another. Israeli settlers attacked five journalists in the West Bank.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.
Palestinian university workers begin three-day strike on Monday
(9 Nov) Workers at all Palestinian universities in the West Bank and Gaza will begin a three-day strike for increased pay on Monday union chief Musa Dr Amjad Barham said on Sunday. Barham told Ma'an that the week's protest will include sit-ins in front of the Palestinian cabinet building and the office of Palestinian minister of education. He added that the Palestinian Authority (PA) had forced university workers to accept a pay cut in October.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
FGM: Dignity arrives in Gaza
(8 Nov) Larnaca: The Dignity pulled into Gaza at 9:15 a.m. Gaza time after an uneventful trip from Cyprus. The 23 passengers and crew on board were tired but ecstatic that they'd arrived. The 11 members of various European parliaments, originally denied entrance through the Rafah border, had made the crossing by sea, courtesy of the Free Gaza Movement's blockade-busting boat, the third trip for this human rights organization. "I am here to assess the humanitarian situation in Gaza, especially the medical situation. We have medicine and some medical equipment to deliver," said Baroness Jenny Tonge, one of the parliamentarians. "What Israel does is outrageous when it breaks all international laws. No other country is able to get away with what Israel does."
http://www.palsolidarity.org/
Amira Hass / How we busted the naval siege on Gaza
(9 Nov) Saturday morning, 7:25 A.M., about 40 kilometers west of the Gaza Strip we discovered that we were led by a different ship than we previously had been. Within a few minutes, our suspicions that it was actually a Israel Navy vessel were confirmed when it identified itself to us through its loud speaker system. .. At our port of call a fleet of different sized sailing ships awaited us and their sailors waved at us and shed tears. On the shores, crowds of people lined up. So many beards, I thought, looking at the men and the changes brought about by Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Blackouts flicker through Gaza as power station runs out of fuel
(9 Nov) Gaza residents were experiencing sporadic electricity blackouts on Sunday night as Palestinian officials blamed Israel for cutting off fuel shipments to their power plant. A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, Peter Lerner, said the Palestinians had warned Israel that their Gaza City electricity plant would run out of fuel Monday if shipments were not resumed. Lerner said the shipments had been stopped last Wednesday because of Palestinian rocket attacks, which began in response to an IDF raid on the coastal territory. The Defense Ministry said Sunday that no decision had yet been made about renewing the fuel supplies. The Gaza City plant provides about a quarter of Gaza's electricity. Most of the rest comes directly over lines from Israel, though Egypt also provides a small amount.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Blackout looming in Gaza as fuel deliveries stopped at borders
(9 Nov) Power cuts will soon become regular across the Gaza Strip as the area comes to the end of its first week without sufficient fuel supplies after Israel closed all but two crossing points into the area. The Nahal Oz crossing in the north-west of the Strip remained open at 40% of regular levels transmitting limited types of fuels into Gaza. Fuel for Gaza is provided by a Palestinian company, which must coordinate with Israeli border control at the Gaza crossings to ensure that the fuel gets to the right people. Al-Khudari called the halting of such deliveries "Israeli piracy," and demanded that the fuel paid for by Palestinians be delivered to its owners.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Gaza plant to stop due to fuel shortage
GAZA, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- Gaza solo power plant will stop operating on Sunday evening if Israel not allow fuel to enter the Gaza Strip by midday, Palestinian officials warned on Sunday. Israel shut off all crossing points into Gaza on Tuesday after a flare-up of violence that breached an shaky ceasefire. "The continuation of withholding the fuel deliveries into Gaza would renew the crisis of electricity shortage in Gaza Strip," said Fawzi Hassouna, an official from the ministry of energy. The areas of western and northern Gaza city, which get the electricity from the station, would be largely affected by the power shortage, according to Hassouna. Meanwhile, Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak ordered Gaza commercial crossings to remain closed for the fifth day in a row.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
IOA closes Gaza crossings for sixth day running
(9 Nov) GAZA, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority continued to close all Gaza commercial crossings on Sunday for the sixth day running at the pretext of Palestinian violation of the calm agreement. The Hebrew radio said that war minister Ehud Barak decided to retain the crossings closed after a projectile was fired from the Strip last night at an area south of Majdal, which caused no casualties or damage. An Israeli warplane on Saturday night blasted a missile launcher north of the Gaza Strip but no casualties were reported. An IOF patrol came under fire near the Karni crossing but no casualties were sustained, the IOF command said.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
[Israeli] defense officials: Economic pressure on Gaza becoming ineffective
(9 Nov) Despite blockade imposed on Gaza, 150,000 liters of diesel oil poured into Strip through pipes located under Philadelphi route, while tunnels turn into freeway of goods, essentials -- This is another stage in Gaza's disengagement from its dependency on the State of Israel. Defense officials have admitted that the economic pressure, exerted by Israel on the Strip through the siege and the limitation of goods allowed to enter Gaza, is growing weaker and that today the Palestinians find alternative sources for their energy and goods supplies in Egypt . Israel has so far transferred 120,000 liters of diesel oil into the Gaza Strip on a daily basis. In the recent days, however, the Hamas government conveyed a message to the Jewish state that it no longer plans to continue buying fuel for vehicles, at least not at the extent it used to purchase in the past.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Price of bread drops in Gaza City
(9 Nov) Gaza / PNN - The Association of Bakery Owners in the Gaza Strip decided to reduce the price of a bundle of bread. With the ongoing siege in the Strip, unemployment and poverty are high enough that studies indicate 85 percent of the population now relies to some extent on aid. A bag of bread weighing three kilograms and holding 10 pieces is dropping from seven shekels to 2.33 NIS. In the West Bank bread costs have risen in recent months to 4.5 shekels per package.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.
Charity offers free medical care for one day in Gaza
(9 Nov) Free medical care was administered to about a thousand Palestinians in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood of Gaza City on Saturday by the Patient's Friends Society. According to Dr Hashim Rustim, who supervised the charity event, said free medicine was also given out despite dire conditions in the besieged Gaza Strip. The society's president, Faysal Abu Shahla ... promised more medical charity campaigns, thanking the medical workers for their efforts in easing the suffering of people who cannot normally afford to go to the clinic.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
$1 million Doha aid boost for Gaza organization
(9 Oct) HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani has extended a $1mn donation to the American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera), a non-profit organisation in Gaza. Anera, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), since its incorporation in 1968, has been helping to ease the suffering of Palestinian refugees after the Arab-Israeli War of 1967. It will use the Qatari donation to fund its deliveries of vitamin-fortified milk and biscuits to preschool children in Gaza.
Anera started its 'Milk for Preschoolers' programme in 2003 after co-sponsoring a study that showed young children in Gaza were suffering from anaemia, vitamin-A deficiency and chronic malnutrition.
http://www.gulf-times.com/
id=57&parent_id=56
Siege is the mother of invention; Gaza electricians find alternative sources for copper
(9 Nov) First vegetable oil was used in place of gas and diesel so Gazans could travel from home to work and school as usual. When power outages became more and more frequent and hot water was a luxury solar energy was used and hot showers were once again possible. Then copper was put on the list of banned materials for the Gaza Strip so the repair of electrical equipment was near impossible. Ingenuity saw Gazans melt down the half-shekel coins circulating in the Gaza strip to be used as copper conducting wire ... Muhammad Nasser is a 22-year-old taxi driver, said that the phenomenon is "funny because I need those half-shekels so much!" Not only did Nasser lament the destruction on currency in such a time of economic depression, but he added, "when I take people places and the fare comes to something and a half I can't find any change!"
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Four injured in air attack on northern Gaza Strip
(9 Nov) Gaza / PNN – Since last week's attack on the Gaza Strip during which Israeli forces killed six Palestinians in a single night and another the following day, daily raids have continued. All of those killed last week were members of the armed resistance. Damages and injuries have been sustained throughout the population. Last night [Saturday] Israeli aircraft bombed the northern Strip injuring four Palestinians. Israeli sources say the hit was on a projectile launcher. Members of the armed resistance have also taken this week to launch projectiles at military bases surrounding the Strip with no injuries reported save for two during the night of the first Israeli invasion.On Saturday night the resistance launched a projectile at Israeli forces in the eastern Strip by the Karni Crossing. No injuries or damages were reported.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.
IDF: Air strike destroys rocket launcher in northern Gaza
(8 Nov, includes news video) An Israel Air Force strike on Saturday destroyed a rocket launcher set to fire at Israel from the northern Gaza Strip, an Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman said. Local residents said the launcher was set to go off remotely and no one was wounded. Earlier on Saturday, IDF soldiers exchanged fire with Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip, Hamas sources and Palestinian medical workers said, in the second violent incident this week to rupture the calm of a truce since June.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
IOF troops bulldoze lands in southern Gaza Strip
(8 Nov) KHAN YOUNIS, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces on Saturday advanced into east of Khuza'a town in Khan Younis district, south of the Gaza Strip, and bulldozed agricultural lands, local sources said. They told PIC reporter in the area that the IOF soldiers advanced in three tanks and two bulldozers and leveled sand hills and combed the area going as near as 100 meters east of a school in Khuza'a town. The sources pointed out that the Palestinian farmers could not reach their lands near the border fence fearing for their lives due to the continued shooting at them by soldiers in military watchtowers and army jeeps that monitor the border strip. The IOF troops blasted an explosive device that was planted by the Palestinian resistance elements near the border fence east of Khuza'a.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
13 Qassams fired at Negev over weekend
(9 Nov) Palestinian militants fired at least 13 Qassam rockets and one mortar round into Israel over the weekend from the Gaza Strip. No injuries or damage to property were reported. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the Friday launches which, along with Israeli incursions, threatened to end the shaky cease-fire between Hamas and Israel. Two of the homemade rockets struck an open field south of Ashkelon, others struck areas in the western Negev. Sources within the defense establishment say that despite the exchanges of fire, Hamas is not interested in renewing the fighting with Israel and breaking the six-month cease-fire the organization declared with Israel in June. Moreover, security officials say they believe Hamas is still seeking to restrain other Palestinian militias.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Israeli banks want to stop dealing with Gaza banks
(9 Nov) (IsraelNN.com) The Poalim Bank group has decided to stop conducting deals with banks in Gaza as soon as the end of the coming month. Months of deliberation went into the decision, which is based to a large degree on the Security Cabinet decision to declare Gaza a terrorist entity. Bank Discount also wants to stop providing money and financial services to banks in Gaza, but strong opposition by the Bank of Israel (BOI) is delaying the process. The Bank of Israel is concerned that if it becomes forbidden to transfer money to Gaza, the Arabs might stop using the shekel and switch to the Egyptian lira.
http://www.israelnationalnews.
Surfers find peace in Gaza waters
(8 Nov) By Omar Karmi -- GAZA CITY - Dreams have a stubborn habit of being hard to realise. No one knows this better than Mohammad Abu Jayyad, 34. Lean and sunburnt, Mr Jayyad is a well-known figure in Gaza's small surfing community. The first to put board to wave, he is Gaza's most accomplished surfer and one to whom others look with obvious respect.
http://www.thenational.ae/
A voice of hope in the shadow of loss
(8 Nov) ABU DHABI -- A series of concerts dedicated to the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, featuring his friend and collaborator Marcel Khalife, drew large crowds over the weekend, with the money raised pledged to Palestinian children's charities.
Khalife also performed last night at the American University of Dubai, at an event organised by the Palestinian Arab Cultural Club, with the money raised going to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund.
http://www.thenational.ae/
Egypt postpones Palestinian talks over Hamas boycott
(9 Nov) By Ashraf Khalil. The boycott stems from a failure to reach an agreement with Fatah over jailed supporters. The Hamas-Fatah summit was meant to resurrect the unity government that collapsed in 2007 -- Reporting from Jerusalem -- The Egyptian government indefinitely postponed reconciliation talks between Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas, setting up a possible new leadership battle between the two sides.
http://www.latimes.com/news/
Mubarak 'feels betrayed' by Hamas
(8 Nov) The decision to call off the "national reconciliation" conference is seen by PA officials in Ramallah as a severe blow to Egyptian efforts, with leaders who have been working hard over the past year to end the crisis between Hamas and Fatah. A PA official told the Post Saturday that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was "furious" with Hamas for canceling its participation in the conference at the last minute. The official said that Mubarak had instructed his government to suspend all contacts with Hamas and to keep the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt closed until further notice. President Mubarak feels betrayed by Hamas," the official said, citing unnamed Egyptian government representatives. "From now on we will see a rapid deterioration in relations between Hamas and Egypt."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/
Analysis/ When Hamas boycotts Palestinian unity talks, what does it mean?
(9 Nov) Hamas' image may very well suffer as a result of this perceived sabotage of the reconciliation efforts, but the organization, which fears an Arab-Egyptian trap, prefers to pay a small price now, rather than suffering more massive damage after a deal is signed. For Hamas, signing the Egypt-drafted agreement means relinquishing its assets in the Gaza Strip. The Egyptian deal stipulates that a unity Palestinian government, headed by someone unaffiliated with either Fatah or Hamas, be established as a first step. This, despite Hamas' victory in the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections. For Hamas, one of the most troublesome clauses in the agreement was the reform in the Palestinian security mechanism, which would essentially force the Islamist group to relinquish its control over the Gaza Strip
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Independent Palestinian figures ask Egypt to re-start Palestinian dialogue
(9 Nov) Independent Palestinian figures have launched a last-minute attempt to get intra-Palestinian dialogue back on track after Egypt announced the postponement of a highly anticipated summit meeting of Palestinian factions in Cairo, said Palestinian businessman and academic Dr Yasser Al-Wadiyya on Sunday.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Fatah: Hamas decision will lead to unpredictable future for Palestine
(9 Nov) Official Fatah spokesperson Ahmad Abd Ar-Rahman called Hamas' decision to boycott conciliation talks in Cairo a move that reflects its irresponsibility towards Palestinian destiny and its conflict with Israel. The spokesperson accused Hamas of having unspecified "special concerns" that prevented them from working for reconciliation.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Al Hayya of Hamas: Abbas, his security forces are responsible for failure of the talks
(9 Nov) Al Hayya said that the Abbas-controlled security forces in the West Bank continued their arrest campaigns against Hamas members and supporters, and held these forces responsible for the failure of the Egyptian efforts to hold Palestinian national talks in order to achieve reconciliation. In an Interview with the Qatar-based, Al Jazeera, Al Hayya said that Abbas still denies that his forces are holding dozens of Hamas members captive, and added that Abbas barred West Bank delegates of Hamas from participating in the talks.
http://imemc.org/article/57602
Where now for Palestinian unity?
(9 Nov) By Anita Rice for Al-Jazeera -- The enmity between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah seems yet further entrenched, after Cairo-brokered reconciliation talks between the two groups broke down before they had even officially begun. Tellingly, when the news first broke on Saturday that the talks were off, there was confusion about why they had collapsed and who was responsible ... Dr Mustafa Barghouthi, a human rights activist and Palestinian parliamentarian, says the talks were always doomed. He believes that elections are the only way forwards for the region. "I don't think it is possible to achieve an agreement between Fatah and Hamas. I think talks should be about one issue - how to have new elections, with sufficient observers to ensure that those elections would be fair. The only way out of this crisis is to allow people to decide freely," he says.
http://english.aljazeera.net/
Haniyeh: Hamas would accept state under 1967 borders
(9 Nov) The Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, said on Saturday his government was willing to accept a Palestinian state alongside Israel within the 1967 borders. He spoke at a meeting with 11 European parliamentarians who sailed from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip to protest Israel's naval blockade of the territory. Haniyeh told his guests Israel rejected his initiative. In response to a question about the international community's impression that there are two Palestinian states, Haniyeh said: "We don't have a state, neither in Gaza nor in the West Bank. Gaza is under siege and the West Bank is occupied.... "
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Al-Zahar rejects possibility of long-term truce with Israel
(9 Nov) Day after Hamas leader Haniyeh says Islamic group will never accept Palestinian state unless it means return to '67 borders, another top Hamas official says no movement has no intentions of implementing far-reaching ceasefire as 'there is no one to talk to on the Israeli side'
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Livni: We see the need for a Palestine, as long as it's not a terror state
(9 Nov) Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Sunday that progress had been achieved in peace talks with the Palestinian Authority, and that Israel recognizes the need to establish a Palestinian state, on condition that an independent Palestine does not sponsor terrorism. Speaking after a meeting Sunday with the Quartet of Mideast peace negotiators in Egypt, Livni described the negotiations with the Palestinians as serious and intensive.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Quartet urges Middle East push
(9 Nov) Senior envoys from the Quartet of Middle East negotiators have called on Israel and the Palestinians to move forwards with peace talks despite the process being largely stagnant for the past year. The Quartet - which groups the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States - gathered in Sharm el-Sheikh on Sunday to assess the peace process.
http://english.aljazeera.net/
Livni: No alternative to direct talks with PA, Syria
(9 Nov) Prior to leaving for Quartet conference in Egypt, Kadima chairwoman tells Ynet, 'There's no reason Obama administration won't agree that the current peace process is preferable to hasty negotiation.' Arab world's involvement in the peace process is very important, she adds
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Assad: Israel not genuine about peace
(9 Nov, AP) Syrian president says Jewish state must prove it wants peace by withdrawing from all Arab territory -- Assad spoke Sunday at the opening session of a meeting of Arab parliamentarians in the Syrian capital Damascus. Syria and Israel recently held four rounds of indirect talks, mediated by Turkey. But the talks made no significant headway, and Syria said a fifth round was postponed at Israel's request.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Hebrew University student needs your help
We ask for your urgent support in the case of Ali Baher. Ali is a student at the Hebrew University, who has been kicked out from his dorm room, and is facing a possible suspension from his studies, simply because he refused to shake hands with Shimon Peres, President of the State of Israel. Sign our petition to the Dean of Students and President of the University: http://www.petitionspot.com/
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_
Policeman who killed Palestinian in Jaffa given year in jail
(9 Nov) The Tel Aviv District Court on Sunday sentenced policeman Tomer Avraham to one year in prison for the 2006 shooting death of a Palestinian in Jaffa who had entered Israel illegally. In handing down the sentence, Judge Oded Mudrik said the claims made by the prosecution were exaggerated. Avraham was convicted of the October 2006 killing of Iyad Abu Ra'iya of the West Bank town of Tarqumiya, during a search in Jaffa for people without entry permits. This is the first time since at least 2000 that a police officer has been convicted of killing a Palestinian or Israeli Arab within Israel. No officers were convicted of killing in the wake of the events of October 2000, when 12 Arab Israeli citizens and one Palestinian were shot to death by Israeli police officers.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Border Guard gets one year for shooting illegal resident
(9 Nov) Border guard policeman Tomer Avraham (21), who was convicted of shooting an illegal Palestinian resident to death two years ago, will receive one year of jail time and a year and a half of probation, a Tel Aviv district court ruled Sunday. The former border guard was given a one year sentence because, although it was determined that he had pulled the trigger by accident, he was convicted of recklessness for not having made sure his trigger was locked.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Toughest of jobs: 3 seek to be Jerusalem mayor
(9 Nov) JERUSALEM (AP) — A rabbi, a high-tech investor and a Russian tycoon accused of arms trafficking are vying to be mayor of Jerusalem, the city at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The winner of Tuesday's election takes charge of a troubled piece of land that is being fought over with messianic passion — and sitting on the fault line of just about every divide Israel has: Arab and Jew, religious and secular, rich and poor, young and old. The fate of the city, claimed as a capital by both Israel and the Palestinians, could prove the deal-breaker in fragile peace talks.
http://ap.google.com/article/
Terrorists' aide drops out of Sakhnin municipal race
(9 Nov) Tagrid Saadi, who was convicted of aiding enemy agents in connection with 2002 terror attack in Jerusalem, forfeits city council bid following High Court petition filed by Movement for Quality Government in Israel
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Monks brawl at Christian holy site in Jerusalem
(9 Nov, AP) The clash between Armenian and Greek Orthodox monks broke out in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, revered as the site of Jesus' crucifixion, burial and resurrection. The brawling began during a procession of Armenian clergymen commemorating the 4th-century discovery of the cross believed to have been used to crucify Jesus. [permanent Jerusalem Syndrome at this location, apparently]
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/
Video: Bless me, father, for I have chinned
(9 Nov) Row at holy shrine in Jerusalem sees Israeli police having to break up mass brawl between two sets of Christian monks -- As shocked worshippers look on in horror, the monks kick and punch each other, knocking down tapestries and decorations. One or two of the monks seem to have a handy right hook.
ttp://www.guardian.co.uk/
Rahm Emanuel and Israel
(6 Nov) By Jeffrey Goldberg [author of Prisoners: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide ] -- Peace-processors take heart: Rahm, precisely because he's a lover of Israel, will not have much patience with Israeli excuse-making, so when the next Prime Minister tells President Obama that as much as he'd love to, he can't dismantle the Neve Manyak settlement outpost, or whichever outpost needs dismantling, because of a) domestic politics; b) security concerns, or c) the Bible, Rahm will call out such nonsense, and it will be very hard for right-wing Israelis to come back and accuse him of being a self-hating Jew. This is not to say that he's unaware of Palestinian dysfunction, or Iranian extremism, but that he has a good grasp of some of Israel's foibles as well. All in all, it's a very heartening choice.
http://jeffreygoldberg.
Let's hope Obama won't be a 'friend of Israel'
(9 Nov) By Gideon Levy -- When we say that someone is a "friend of Israel" we mean a friend of the occupation, a believer in Israel's self-armament, a fan of its language of strength and a supporter of all its regional delusions. When we say someone is a "friend of Israel" we mean someone who will give Israel carte blanche for any violent adventure it desires, for rejecting peace and for building in the territories. Israel's greatest friend in the White House, outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush, was someone like that. Let us now hope that Obama will not be like them. That he will reveal himself to be a true friend of Israel. That he will put his whole weight behind a deep American involvement in the Middle East, that he will try to solve the Iranian issue through negotiation - the only effective means. That he will help end the siege on Gaza and the boycott of Hamas, that he will push Israel and Syria to make peace, that he will spur Israel and the Palestinians to reach a settlement.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Saturday: 1 US soldier, 17 Iraqis killed; 28 Iraqis wounded
(8 Nov) Excerpt: Updated at 9:51 p.m EST, Nov. 8, 2008 At least 17 Iraqis were killed and another 28 were wounded in lighter violence today. One American soldier was killed and two more were wounded during a bombing in the capital. Surprisingly, Iraqi President Talabani and two VPs approved a minority rights bill that they and other critics said did not give Iraq's ethnic groups enough representation in provincial governments. Only yesterday, they hinted at a veto. Also, Hungary and South Korea are withdrawing their troops by year's end. Romania and Bulgaria previously announced they would withdraw their troops as well.
http://www.antiwar.com/
Iraq moves on minorities bill
(9 Nov) Iraq's president and two vice-presidents have approved a resolution that guarantees local council seats for Christians and other minorities. The bill, which will reserve six seats on local councils for minorities, has proved controversial, with some minorities arguing that it gives them too little representation.
http://english.aljazeera.net/
Complex persecution
(6-12 Nov issue) Despite political intrigues against Christians, the enduring peace between Muslims and Christians is hard to snuff out, observes Nermeen Al-Mufti
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/
US rejects two Iraqi amendments
(8 Nov) Baghdad: The US administration agreed on three amendments out of five amendments that were proposed by the Iraqi government on the draft security agreement with the Americans.
http://archive.gulfnews.com/
Obama demands Iraq war changes
(8 Nov) President-elect Barack Obama, in one of the first policy statements of his transition, demanded that the Bush administration either submit the proposed US-Iraq "status-of-forces agreement" to Congress or leave an opening for him to change it next year. Obama's transition office posted a statement on its Web site, declaring that any agreement on the future of US troops in Iraq "should be negotiated in the context of a broader commitment by the US to begin withdrawing its troops and forswearing permanent bases." The statement also insisted that the agreement authorizing the presence of US troops on Iraqi soil beyond a United Nations mandate that expires Dec. 31 "must be subject to Congressional approval."
http://www.middle-east-online.
Paid bigots including Walid Shoebat teaching religious war at US Air Force Academy
(8 Nov) Walid Shoebat, Kamal Saleem and Zachariah Anani all claim to be "reformed terrorists." The three men's narratives "border on the fantastic," as a Feb. 7 New York Times story delicately put it, including their claims that they killed hundreds of people while still children. However ludicrous their claims may be, the trio provided Academy brass with yet another opportunity to push the bigoted worldview of the Religious Right, this time under the guise of educating about terrorism.
http://palestinethinktank.com/
-air-force-academy/
Al-Qaida wrongfooted
(9 Nov) Islamist radicals face a dilemma: with a progressive president in the White House, how will their ideas survive? By Amil Khan -- You can almost hear the groans in the caves on the Afghan-Pakistan border. "What's going on?! Why can't they just keep rendering and torturing people?!" A couple of years ago, the battle between American and al-Qaida propagandists for the Muslim world's hearts and minds was an easy one for Osama Bin Laden's men. The group didn't have to do much apart from point out all those instances of death, destruction and torture that showed how what America said bore little resemblance to what it did.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
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