(29 Nov) OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)--The Islamic-Christian front for the defense of Jerusalem warned that a group of Zionist settlement enterprises especially the Israeli municipality had earmarked more than $300,000,000 for the demolition of a whole neighborhood in the Silwan town called Al-Bustan located southeast of Jerusalem's old city...Dr. Khater also said that the IOA will displace more than 1,500 Palestinian natives from the neighborhood in order to build a Jewish neighborhood in its place, pointing out that the IOA actually started to send large trucks laden with iron bars and building materials to the area.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Tadhamon: Israel escalated demolition of houses since the beginning of this year
(30 Nov) OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)--The international Tadhamon (solidarity) society for human rights stated Sunday that Israel had escalated its oppressive policy against the Palestinian people especially the demolition of houses in the West Bank since the beginning of this year. In a report received by the PIC, the society said that the demolitions concentrated during November in occupied Jerusalem in an Israeli attempt to tighten the screws on the Palestinian residents in order to force them to leave the city. The society underlined that the Israeli repressive policy is not confined to demolition, but it goes beyond that, where Israel arrests Palestinian home owners, expels them from their houses by force and gives these homes to Jewish families as was the case in Jerusalem and Al-Khalil.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Rightists riot in Hebron during night
(30 Nov) Already something of a routine, dozens of so-called 'Hilltop Youths' rioted in Hebron on Saturday night, vandalized Palestinian property and damaged a Border Guard patrol car. Under the cover of darkness some 50 extreme-right activists arrived at Erez Alley in Hebron. The youths pelted Palestinian homes with rocks, and damaged at least 40 cars. One youth was detained at the scene, and then taken for questioning at the Hebron police station. Prominent extreme-rightist Itamar Ben-Gvir: "It's no secret that Hebron is on fire, the difference is that we blame the government and the High Court. Before there was talk of expelling Jewish from the 'peace house,' the city was relatively quiet. Now that the police are provoking us and the Arabs are rioting – we won't sit idly by."
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Two Palestinians, two settlers injured in clashes in Hebron
(29 Nov) "Settlers and Palestinians hurled stones at each other in the West Bank city of Hebron on Saturday before Israel Defense Forces soldiers separated the two sides," the army and Palestinian witnesses said. "Two Palestinians and two settlers were injured in the clashes," they said. One of the Palestinians is a researcher with the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem. An IDF spokeswoman said the clashes erupted near a building whose ownership is disputed. Settlers have been defying a November 16 ruling by Israel's High Court that they must leave what they dubbed the "Peace House" or face eviction.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
11 hurt in Hebron clashes
(29 Nov; photos) Violent Saturday in Hebron: Palestinians, settlers hurl stones at each other near disputed home in West Bank city; Jewish teens, two Border Guard officers among injured. No arrests made in connection with clashes
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Five hurt in clashes outside West Bank disputed house
(29 Nov) HEBRON, West Bank (AFP) — Five people were injured on Saturday in clashes between Jewish settlers and Palestinians outside a disputed house in the West Bank city of Hebron, the Israeli army and witnesses said. "At least three Palestinians were hurt by stones being thrown and were taken to hospital in Hebron," a witness said. "The settlers also shot at the Palestinians but did not wound anyone."An army spokeswoman said "two settlers were wounded, and the army, border guards and police were trying to separate the two sides."
http://www.google.com/
Barak to right-wing leaders: Avoid clashes over Hebron house
(30 Nov) Defense minister meets settler representatives, asks them to refrain from clashing with security forces carrying out High Court order to evacuate disputed house in West Bank city; promises them IDF will protect house from Palestinian squatters
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Unquiet grave: West Bank tomb a magnet for strife
(29 Nov) By Steven Gutkin--HEBRON, West Bank (AP) — With its dueling street names, barbed wire barricades and the tomb of a shared patriarch split between two religions, the city of Abraham takes the feud between Israelis and Palestinians to its outer limits. Even a humble olive harvest is a cue for violence in Hebron, where 600 of Israel's most radical citizens have carved out an enclave bristling with guns and watchtowers in the midst of 170,000 Palestinians. Yet for all the city's complexities, the essence of Hebron's anguish is simple: one forefather, one city and two peoples — one feeling invaded, the other convinced it has come back to its biblical birthright, right down to the deed of sale recounted in the Book of Genesis, when Abraham purchased a burial plot for 400 silver shekels. Jews and Arabs both claim descent from the biblical patriarch, but their relationship in Hebron is anything but brotherly.
http://www.google.com/
Traditional tomb of Abraham stirs emotion
(30 Nov) By Shawna Ohm--HEBRON, West Bank (AP) — In the divided city of Hebron, Jews toss slips of paper with handwritten prayers into a room over the traditional burial place of Abraham. At the same site, Muslims raise their hands into the air invoking the name of Ibrahim. Both are revering the same forefather. In a city inflamed with animosity between Jew and Arab, a delicate balance of power keeps passions in check at the site known to Jews as the Tomb of the Patriarchs and to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque.Most of the time, the grandiose stone structure is divided into Jewish and Muslim sections to prevent contact, except for 10 days a year when each religion gets the whole site to itself. Palestinians go through checkpoints guarded by Israeli soldiers before walking up a long staircase and entering the mosque's wide arched halls. Jews travel through Arab neighborhoods in bulletproof buses to reach the shrine.
http://www.google.com/
Battle looms at Hebron house
(28 Nov) "This is our land," reads a hand-scrawled sign on the door. Inside, the four-story building's rooms are concrete shells, adorned with childrens' drawings and cluttered with mattresses and sleeping bags. In the property they have dubbed the "House of Peace", Jewish right-wingers bent on living in the Israeli-occupied West Bank are gearing up for their next major battle with the government. Activists have been converging on the city of Hebron since a Supreme Court ruling gave several families living in the building three days to leave, permitting the government to use force to evict them if they refuse. About 20 families, comprising some 100 people, are living in the draughty rooms with polythene sheets for doors.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/
ISM: Settlers injure 10 Palestinians as they continue to riot in Hebron
(29 Nov) At around 10am, 29th November, Palestinians living between the occupied Rajabi house and the settlement Kiryat Arba in Hebron were attacked by a group of up to 300 settlers and were again attacked at 2:30 pm. The settlers were throwing stones at Palestinians and their houses. The settler rampage continued for two hours. According to some eyewitnesses, settlers were also shooting handguns into the air to intimidate people living in the area.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/
in-hebron/
Video: Israel demolishes al-Alami house
(posted 29 Nov) By Hiba al-'Almi, a student--My family's dream was to buy our own house. In 2002, my father bought an apartment from Mr. Majed Abu 'Isha, who had built an apartment house. My father paid $200,000 for it, investing all his savings. The contractor showed him the building permit he had received. In 2005, we received the apartment from Mr. Majed. My father completed the interior work and furnished it gradually. We did without a lot of things to save money to buy the furniture. On 12 June 2006, we moved in. The next day, policemen and Jerusalem Municipality officials came and handed us a demolition order.
http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/
Israeli desecration of Islamic cemetery in Jerusalem
(29 Nov) Jewish extremists continue their attacks on Arab property in Jerusalem, but this time not on the living. The target is an historic Islamic cemetery as the Israelis are already desecrating Maman Allah (Mamilla) for a "Museum of Tolerance." Mohammed Dajani told PNN today that his family tomb was destroyed in East Jerusalem's Jabal Seyun, Mount Zion. "Extremists belonging to a Jewish school removed some of the graves and headstones, while the administration demolished the wall which protected the cemetery for hundreds of years." The Chairman of the Committee for the Care of Islamic Graves, Mustafa Abu Zahra, said that the occupation authorities demolished the cemetery fence. The Israeli administration is sponsoring projects in the area affecting the cemetery that is one dunam with approximately 200 graves. Abu Zahra said that the cemetery dates back to Salah Addin [Saladin]. "It is imperative to support this process and effort of protecting the cemetery because these graves, their history and heritage, do not belong to the people of Jerusalem and Palestine, but to the King of the Islamic nation and history. The mosques of Jerusalem, cemeteries and monuments, all belong to the Islamic nation.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
Soldier arrested for protesting outpost eviction
(30 Nov) An IDF soldier was arrested last Wednesday on suspicion that, while in uniform and holding his military-issued rifle, he protested with force against the eviction of the Adi Ad outpost. Ynet was informed that the soldier, who lives in the outpost and serves in the military rabbinate, joined residents in throwing stones at border guard policemen who had come to evict them early last week. He was also suspected of having pushed one of the border guards.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
IDF soldiers get cash reward for refusing to evict settlers
(30 Nov) Deputy State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan has instructed police to launch an investigation regarding a ceremony that was held to praise soldiers who refused an order to evict settlers from the Hebron market. During the ceremony these soldiers received payment as reward for their refusal. The order was given following a police investigation that raised suspicion that soldiers were incited to refuse commands, an act which under Israeli law is a crime in itself.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
SOS Israel under investigation for refusenik prize
(30 Nov) The State Prosecution has requested the police open an investigation against SOS Israel, an organization that held an awards ceremony in late 2007 for soldiers who refused to evict Jewish residents from the Hebron wholesale market in an operation carried out in August of that year.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
A mockery, not a compromise
(30 Nov) By Lara Friedman and Hagit Ofran of Peace Now--As a new American president prepares to take office, and as Israel prepares for national elections, the government of Israel has announced a "compromise" on the illegal West Bank outpost of Migron. The deal makes a mockery of government pledges to deal seriously with illegal settler activity. It also challenges the seriousness of Israel's commitment to achieving peace with the Palestinians. Understanding why requires a closer examination of the details hidden behind the announcement. Here are the facts: In December 2006, the Israeli government admitted that Migron, the flagship of the outpost movement, was illegal-its residents little more than thieves squatting on Palestinian private property-and should be evacuated. After delaying action, to try to placate the settler law-breakers, the government has now arrived at a deal with settler leaders: the eventual relocation of Migron to a site that is part of the municipal area of the West Bank settlement of Adam.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Report: Israel probes fraction of Palestinian deaths
(26 Nov) JERUSALEM, (Reuters)-Israel has prosecuted five soldiers after investigating just 73 of 2,219 fatal shootings of Palestinian civilians over seven years of a violent uprising, an Israeli rights group said on Wednesday. The Yesh Din group, which monitors the legal rights of Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, also said in a report that charges were filed against soldiers in only 13 cases. None of these cases ended in a manslaughter conviction for killing a Palestinian civilian, the group said. The report covered the period from September 2000, when a Palestinian uprising erupted after peace talks failed, through to the end of 2007.
http://www.aawsat.com/english/
Israeli forces invade Jayyous in attempt to prevent protest against the apartheid wall
(29 Nov, photos) More than 200 Palestinian, Israeli and international activists were prevented from leaving the village to demonstrate against the new path of the Apartheid Wall, when Israeli army and police forces invaded the village, blocking roads and implementing a "Closed Military Zone". Approximately 40 Israeli army forces blocked the road from the village to the Wall, menacingly brandishing rifles and batons.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/
-protest-against-the-
Israeli army attacks nonviolent anti-Wall protest in Ni'lin Friday
(28 Nov-informative map) Four demonstrators were hit by rubber bullets at a non-violent demonstration against the wall in Ni'lin village at the west of Ramallah at this Friday noon. The people of Ni'lin made Friday prayers near the land that will be confiscated by the Israeli people. As the demonstration reached the construction area, Israeli soldiers started to shoot tear gases and rubber-coated steel bullets at the protesters.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
9-year-old boy wounded in nonviolent protest near Bethlehem
(28 Nov) 9-year-old Hareth Bregieyh from Al-Ma'asara, South of Bethlehem, has been injured after he was brutally beaten by Israeli soldiers this Friday afternoon, during a nonviolent protest. The boy suffered cuts and bruises in his arm after troops pushed at the barbed wire.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
Undercover Israeli force seizes Palestinian near Tulkarem
(30 Nov) An undercover Israeli military force arrested an Al-Aqsa Brigades activist from east of Tulkarem on Sunday. The main was said to have been "wanted" by Israeli authorities. Local sources identified the man as 21-year-old Nasser Khayri Hannun. He was at a car wash when the undercover force stormed the area, seized Hannun and was followed by a back-up patrol to cover the exit of the force. The young man, from the northern West Bank village of Anabta, was seized near his home. According to locals he was an activist for the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the military wing of Fatah.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
ReliefWeb: Gaza blockade approaches 4 week mark (23-29 Nov)
(29 Nov) November 29 marked the 25th day of the Israeli imposed closure on the Gaza Strip. Throughout the week, Israeli allowed a few deliveries of food and fuel supplies into Gaza, but not enough to make a dent in the humanitarian crisis ravaging the area. On November 25, Gaza's sole power plant was closed due to a breakdown of its electricity-generating units because of the all too frequent shutdowns. The plant has been forced to close down several times in the last 3 weeks as Israel refuses to allow regular shipments of industrial fuel. Currently, only certain sections of the plant are working, while the equipment and spare parts necessary to repair the damage have not been allowed through.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/
EU Commissioner: Israel blocking European aid to Gaza
(30 Nov) A high-ranking European commissioner on Saturday expressed concern at the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza as resulting from Israel's closure of the borders since June 2007. Louis Michel, the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, called the continued closure of Gaza crossings "a form of collective punishment against Palestinian civilians, which is a violation of International Humanitarian Law." The European Union sends millions of dollars in aid to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Because of the closure of Gaza, not all of that aid is getting through.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
oPt: Consolidated appeal for 2009 focuses on food
JERUSALEM, 30 November 2008 (IRIN)-Food aid accounts for over two thirds of the 2009 US$462 million requested by UN agencies and NGOs to fund humanitarian aid programmes in the occupied Palestinian Territories (oPt). Food accounts for $209.4 million; next comes cash assistance ($133.3 million), followed by protection, emergency jobs, water and sanitation. The consolidated appeal, launched on 26 November in Jerusalem to fund 96 projects from the NGO community and 63 from UN agencies, is a response to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the oPt. "This is getting pretty close to handouts, and we are quite sure that Palestinians would prefer to be in another situation," said UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the Palestinian Territories Maxwell Gaylard.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/
Gazans build mud stoves using tunnels' sand; no fuel expected in coming days
(30 Nov) Piles of sand and mud began popping up in front of houses in Rafah last week. The traditional signs of home renovations or construction, the neighborhood wondered about the reasons behind these piles, since no construction materials have come into Gaza for months. The sand excavated from the hundreds of tunnels snaking beneath the Gaza-Egypt border is being given a second life. The latest construction projects in Gaza are mud and sand stoves powered by firewood. Since the siege stopped the transfer of food, fuel and construction materials into the Strip, Gazans have been forced to get creative if they are going to survive. Abu Yasser, a resident of Rafah city, saw the value of the sand early, and made a deal with tunnel diggers to have some of the sand delivered to his home. His was one of the first buildings in front of which a mud and sand stove appeared.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Three Palestinian fighters wounded by Israeli fire in Gaza
(30 Nov) Three Palestinian fighters were injured late on Saturday night by Israeli shelling after reportedly hurling an explosive device at Israeli special forces who entered the Gaza Strip east of Al-Maghazi Refugee Camp. According to An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, Israeli soldiers were also injured in the event.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Israeli artillery wounds three fighters in central Gaza Strip
(30 Nov) The Salaheldin brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, announced on Sunday that three of its fighters were shot and wounded by Israeli artillery fire to the east of Maghazi Refugee camp in central Gaza Strip. A statement by the brigades, emailed to press, read that the Israeli artillery shelling came after a group of fighters planted an explosive device for an Israeli special undercover force in east of Maghazi. The statement added that at 11:15 pm yesterday night, the brigades fighters spotted an Israeli military undercover force and then exchanged gun fire, as three fighters were wounded. In the meantime, Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak, announced that Gaza's crossings would remain closed due to continued homemade shells fire from Gaza into nearby Israeli towns.
http://imemc.org/article/57855
Political play snares Gaza pilgrims
(30 Nov) Thousands of Palestinian pilgrims seeking to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj have been blocked from leaving the Gaza Strip in the latest twist of the territory's internal political divisions. Security forces for Hamas, the Palestinian faction in control of Gaza, reportedly turned pilgrims back from the Rafah border crossing into Egypt on Saturday. Hajj, the annual pilgrimage obligatory once in a lifetime for all Muslims with the means to afford it, is set to begin next week.
http://english.aljazeera.net/
Gaza journalist tortured by de facto police while reporting on Gaza pilgrims
(29 Nov) A Palestinian journalist with Saut Al-Quds (voice of Jerusalem) Radio Station accused members of the de facto government security in Gaza of torturing him as he attempted to cover the story of Gazan pilgrims waiting at Rafah crossing. Ala Salamah said he was harshly beaten and forced to eat food full of sand. The journalist was fasting in the days leading up to Eid Al-Adha, and the police forced him to eat and break his fast.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Islamic Jihad: Pilgrims are not part of the political division; Arab states must intervene
(29 Nov) Arab countries should take responsibility for the pilgrims stranded in Gaza, said a spokesperson for Islamic Jihad on Saturday. The party insisted that pilgrims should be provided with facilities in Mecca regardless of whether they were registered in the West Bank or in Gaza. The pilgrims should be kept out of political division, said the statement, and all parties must do their utmost to allow their safe passage to Mecca.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Hamas slams Saudi over visas for pilgrims from Gaza
(29 Nov) GAZA CITY (AFP) – A senior official in the Islamist Hamas movement on Saturday slammed what he called a decision by Saudi Arabia not to grant visas to Palestinians from the Gaza Strip who want to go on the hajj pilgrimage . In remarks posted on Hamas 's website, Atef Edwan said Riyadh had allowed thousands of people registered with the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank to have visas but not the 2,200 in Gaza who applied through Hamas.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
Fatah lashes out at Hamas for blocking Gaza pilgrims' departure
(30 Nov) Fatah reject Hamas' accusation that Saudi Arabia and Egypt are to blame for Gaza pilgrims' inability to cross into Egypt and then travel to Mecca for the Hajj. "[Hamas Interior Minister Sa'id Siyam's] instructions to confiscate pilgrim's documents and passports as well as beat some of them at the crossing nullify Hamas' accusations that Egypt is to blame for preventing their departure," said Fatah spokesperson Ahmad Abd Ar-Rahman. The Rafah crossing, where 3,500 pilgrims are waiting to leave to Saudi Arabia for Hajj, the once in a lifetime Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, was closed for the second day on Sunday. A power struggle between the Hamas government in Gaza and the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority in Ramallah caused the pilgrimage to be put on hold.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Libyan health minister: Our hospitals open for all Palestinian patients
(29 Nov) GAZA, (PIC)--Dr. Mohamed Rashid, the Libyan minister of health, on Saturday highlighted the solidarity of his government and people with the besieged Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, stressing that Libya's hospitals are open for all Palestinian patients at any time...Official Libyan sources had reported on Tuesday that a Libyan ship left the Zuwara port, west of the Libyan capital, and is currently heading to the Gaza Strip carrying humanitarian aid. The ship, which is the first Arab ship to challenge the Israeli siege, is expected to reach Gaza in five days. It carries on board food and medical products.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Al Marwa, the first of several Arab ships to break the siege
(30 Nov) Palestinian Legislator, head of the Popular committee Against the Siege, Jamal El Khodary, stated on Sunday that the Libyan ship "Al Marwa" will reach the Gaza port on Monday, and added that this ship is one of several Arab ship which will challenge the Israeli siege and deliver humanitarian supplies to the residents of the Gaza Strip. On Saturday, El Khodary phoned the Libyan Health Minister, Dr. Mohammad Rashed, and thanked him, the Libyan resident and the Libyan people for their efforts to break the Israeli siege.
http://imemc.org/article/57854
Israel keeps Gaza border sealed as violence persists
(30 Nov) JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel said it was keeping all border crossings with the Gaza Strip sealed on Sunday in response to persistent fire by militants based in the impoverished territory... Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz , who is also a deputy prime minister , called for tough measures against the Islamists of Hamas but no reoccupation of the territory where 1.5 million people live. "I have always opposed occupation of the Gaza Strip. What we need to do is to strike the leadership (of Hamas), strike the infrastructure and halt all deliveries of fuel and other goods," Mofaz told public radio.Israel has allowed food into the Gaza Strip on only three days since the flare-up of violence on November 4 prompted it to tighten its blockade of the aid-dependent territory. Israeli officials were also mulling what action to take against a Libyan cargo ship laden with almost 3,000 tonnes of goods that was headed to the Gaza Strip after weighing anchor on Wednesday. It is the first time a foreign government has attempted to break the Israeli blockade... "From our perspective, it is a hostile ship that left from an enemy country and we will treat it accordingly," added the unidentified official.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
Vigil honors victims of Gaza siege
(30 Nov) Hundreds of Gazans attended a vigil on Saturday honoring victims of the Israeli siege that began in June 2007. At the vigil, Jamal Al-Khudari, Palestinian lawmaker and head of the Popular Committee Against the Siege lit a torch in the shape of the number "261," the number of victims the committee claims have died as a result of the siege. The vigil was attended by the victims' relatives along with hundreds of dignitaries and ordinary Gazans. In a later press conference, Al-Khudari claimed that all 261 victims died as a result of being denied medical treatment abroad and warned that many others would follow in their footsteps if the "crippling" siege continued.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Hamas claims attack on Israeli army base near Gaza
(30 Nov) GAZA (Reuters) – The Palestinian group Hamas has claimed responsibility for Friday's shelling of an Israeli military base along Israel's frontier with the Gaza Strip where six soldiers were wounded. "In response to the crimes of the (Israeli) occupation, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam brigades attacked the Nahal Oz military base," Hamas's armed wing said Saturday, referring to the border kibbutz that has a military garrison. Three mortar bombs landed in Nahal Oz Friday, hours after Hamas said an Israeli air strike wounded two of its militants in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army denied carrying out any air strike.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/
Hamas: Attack on army base does not spell lull's end
(29 Nov) Despite Friday's rocket attack on the IDF base in Nahal Oz, which left eight soldiers wounded, sources within Hamas signaled Saturday that the group is still interested in continuing its ceasefire with Israel. Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan said that the shooting on Nahal Oz was "a natural reaction to the enemy's crimes, to the blockade (on Gaza) and the closing of the Gaza crossings." The act, he stressed, "was not meant to violate the truce. We are simply responding to the enemy's violations."
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Qassam barrage hits Sderot Sunday afternoon, no injuries
(30 Nov) One rocket launched from Gaza crashes into square in center of western Negev town, another lands in Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council. MK Orlev, who was near Sderot impact site, told Ynet he now better understands fears of Gaza-vicinity residents . In addition a barrage of five mortar shells landed in open areas in the Eshkol Regional Council.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Al-Aqsa Brigades claim responsibility for projectile attack; no injuries reported
(30 Nov) The Al-Aqsa Brigades, the military wing of Fatah, claimed responsibility for launching a projectile at Sderot on Sunday evening. The Brigades said in a statement that the attack came in retaliation for ongoing Israeli atrocities. Israeli media sources said the projectile landed in an empty field in the western Negev and reported no injuries.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Gaza communities' fortification to receive additional funding
(30 Nov) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On consented to allot an additional NIS 600 million (approx. $152.183 million) to the fortification of the Gaza vicinity communities, the State informed the High Court of Justice on Sunday.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
IDF soldiers: We tried to no avail to have base near Nahal Oz relocated
(30 Nov) Israel Defense Forces soldiers and their commanding officers stationed at the military base near Kibbutz Nahal Oz for the past year and a half have been trying to get the base moved as a result of mortar fire.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Israeli MK suggests Palestinian prisoners be used as human shields to prevent projectile attacks
(29 Nov) Hamas and Islamic Jihad prisoners in Israel should be used as human shields to protect Israeli targets around Gaza, according to the suggestion of an Israeli Knesset member published in the Hebrew daily newspaper Maariv in Saturday. Member of the Knesset (MK) with the center-right Likud party Gilad Arden was quoted in the paper responding to the reports of eight injured Israeli soldiers after several projectiles were launched from the Gaza Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Israeli leaders call for war in Gaza, Likud MK calls for using detainees as human shields
(30 Nov) Several Israeli right wing leaders called for a full invasion into the Gaza Strip especially after eight soldiers were wounded by Palestinian homemade shells. A Likud member of Knesset called for establishing an open air prison in the Negev area in order to imprison Hamas and Islamic Jihad members in it as use them as human shields against Qassam shells.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
Gaza incursion becoming more likely: Israel
(29 Nov) JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel said on Saturday a major incursion into the Gaza Strip was becoming more and more likely after militant mortar fire wounded seven soldiers at a nearby base on Friday, army radio reported. "There's no doubt we are approaching a huge military operation in the Gaza Strip," Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai told the station in Beersheba.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
Al-Qassan Brigades: All armed factions will meet in Gaza to discuss truce
(30 Nov) The Al-Qassam Brigades have called an all-factions meeting in Gaza in advance of the 18 December expiration of the truce between the factions and Israel. The truce, although still in-force on paper, has been violated dozens of times over the past month and several factions have declared the agreement defunct. Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum said the proposed meeting will consider points: the ongoing Israeli violations of the terms of the truce and continued blockade; the necessity for a national consensus on any decision taken regarding truce; Palestinians' interests; and the input of all concerned sides especially Egypt, who initially brokered the agreement.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
'Everything is from the tunnels,' says savvy Gaza nine-year-old
(30 Nov) By Amira Hass--At 9 A.M., the children noticed that the numbers on the electric clock were flashing. "The electricity is back," they cried, but 8-year-old Sereen said dismissively: "It came back a long time ago. Didn't you notice?" She points to the colored pencils and says: "They are from the tunnels. Everything is from the tunnels. The notebooks, too. And the pencil case. Dad, isn't it true that they bring everything from the tunnels?" Her father, Mustafa, confirms: "Almost everything, that's right."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Indirect prisoner-swap talks resume under Egyptian mediation
(29 Nov) Palestinian sources reported on Saturday that a Hamas delegate will be heading to Cairo soon in order to resume the Egyptian mediated indirect prisoner-swap talks between Hamas and Israel. Israel recently proposed the release of 220 detainees from a list of 450 detainees presented by Hamas. The list of detainees suggested by Hamas includes detainees who are sentenced to very long terms and leaders of resistance groups.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
Israel to free Hamas 'bargaining chips' arrested over Shalit kidnapping
(30 Nov) By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff--Israel will soon be freeing all the 'bargaining chips' it arrested in 2006 in order to trade them for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit: Dozens of Hamas parliamentarians, along with several Hamas ministers, will have to be released within the next year, even if no deal for Shalit is struck, because they will have finished serving their two-to three-year sentences. "Everyone understands that the arrests of these men will not have helped Shalit much," a security official involved in the affair said. On June 29, 2006, four days after Shalit was kidnapped, Israel arrested dozens of Hamas members throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including eight ministers in the Hamas government and some 20 Hamas parliamentarians. Others were arrested in the following weeks. Though Israel never said so officially, it was clear that this was retaliation for Shalit's abduction, and that the detainees were meant to serve as bargaining chips for his release.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Israeli cabinet to approve release of 250 Palestinian prisoners
(29 Nov) Israeli cabinet ministers are expected to approve the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners during its weekly Sunday meeting. The prisoner release will come in advance of the Muslim Eid Al-Adha, a celebration commemorating the willingness of Abraham to obey God and sacrifice his eldest son. This year the holiday falls on 8 December. According to Israeli radio those slated for release are Fatah-affiliates. The list of prisoners was prepared by Israeli public security and the Ministry of Justice, and will be published pending approval by the cabinet ministers on Sunday.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Two hunger-striking former fighters moved to hospital from PA prison
(30 Nov) Two former Palestinian fighters have been hospitalized a day after they and 11 others began a hunger strike demanding their release from a Palestinian Authority (PA) prison. The hunger-strikers are all members of the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah. They are held in the PA's Juneid prison near the West Bank city of Nablus as a part of an amnesty agreement with Israel. Under the arrangement, fighters, usually Fatah members, agree to give up their weapons and serve a term in prison exchange for a "pardon" from Israel. These thirteen have not received their pardons after a year in prison, and are demanding that Israel resolve their dilemma.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Abbas security apparatuses round up 19 Hamas supporters
(29 Nov) RAMALLAH, (PIC)--PA security apparatuses loyal to PA chief Mahmoud Abbas have rounded up 19 Palestinian supporters of the Hamas Movement in the West Bank over the past 24 hours. Local sources said that the detained citizens included university students, ex-prisoners in occupation jails, teachers, Imams and others. They said that the arrests were made in Nablus, Bethlehem, Jenin, Qalqilia and Salfit districts. [End]
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Israeli police issue interrogation orders to Palestinian officials in front of international delegation
(30 Nov) High-ranking Palestinian officials were stopped by Israeli police during a top-level tour with international businessmen and ambassadors in Jerusalem on Sunday. Soldiers interrupted the work of Head of the Presidential Bureau Rafiq Al-Husseini and Prime Ministerial Consultant for Jerusalem Affairs Hatem Abd Al-Qader and handed them orders to appear at the Russian Compound Center on Sunday evening for questioning. The two were detained near the protest tent of Mrs Al-Kurd, whose family was forcibly evicted from their home early in November by a group of Israeli settlers.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
EU police mission to continue in Palestinian Territories
(30 Nov, RTTNews)-The European Union peacekeeping force will continue to serve in the Palestinian Territories for two more years. This was disclosed by Colin Smith, the head of the European Union Police Mission for the Palestinian Territories (EUPOL COPPS). Addressing a press conference in Brussels, he said the EU extended the term of the mission, which was due to expire this year, until 2010. Formed with the aim of supporting the Palestinian Authority in establishing effective civil policing, EUPOL COPPS started its operations in January 2006 with the participation of 53 countries. Smith said the Palestinian police is a "very capable force," but lacks equipments and advanced training.
http://www.nasdaq.com/
RTTRADERUSEQUITY_0005.htm
Former IDF Gaza chief charged in son's ATV cover-up
(28 Nov) The former commander of the Gaza Division of the Israel Defense Forces, Brig. Gen. Moshe Tamir, was charged Thursday with a number of offenses stemming from his decision to allow his 14-year-old son to drive an army ATV and the subsequent cover-up after the boy collided with a civilian vehicle. The case could jeopardize Tamir's military career. He completed a two-year stint in Gaza last week, and before the April 2007 incident came to light, was thought to be up for promotion to major-general.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Maj.-Gen. Almog: Universal jurisdiction used to delegitimize Israel
(30 Nov) Retired IDF Southern Command chief, who is wanted in UK for allegedly violating Geneva Conventions, says 'groups like Yesh Gvul conspired with groups in London to bypass Israeli legal system'--Doron Almog spoke passionately about the case where an arrest warrant was served against him in London so he chose to stay on the plane and returnto Israel. Almog spoke of the fact that he was in the UK at the time to raise money for a camp for autistic children which he dedicated to the memory of his son who died prematurely from autism. The retired former southern commander in the IDF explained ironically that the Israeli Army bases its military law on the British mandate system. He said that all IDF soldiers are taught a high respect for international law and that the army has legal officers integrated at all levels of the army hierarchy.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Bruiting about brutes
(29 Nov) A marketing campaign to rebrand an Israeli army unit notorious for its role in the West Bank? Talk about doomed to failure--By Rachel Shabi- Whenever I see the words "IDF" and "creative" in the same sentence, I'm inspired to read on. In this case, it was an article in Haaretz recently about a particular army unit revamping its image to appeal to fresh recruits. Kfir ("Lion Cub") Brigade has put a new mock-up of a Palestinian village – complete with Kasbah, mosque, market and, of course, checkpoint – in its induction base as a cool informational aid. This comes months after another Israeli newspaper announced the same brigade was embarking on a recruitment campaign in the face of dwindling applicants. The village mock-up is a lovely idea. It reassures anxious, soon-to-enlist teenagers about what the enemy street looks like, while, at the same time, casting the unit soldier as a sort of cheerful Bobby on the beat, comfortably strolling West Bank city streets and chatting with local market traders.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
What do Israeli sex tourists in Thailand really think?
(30 Nov) ...Brucker surmises that Israeli sex tourism, like domestic violence and sexist attitudes towards women, is directly connected to service in the IDF. As a combat fighter who was wounded during his service in the Israel Air Force's elite Shaldag commando unit, and through his work at a facility researching behavior of IDF troops, Brucker sees a clear connection between IDF service and sex tourism. "You see how we have a culture of personal glorification, of saying that who you are is related to the occupation of the other. This is how people grow, through the subjugation of others.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Rabin murderer on hunger strike
(30 Nov) Yigal Amir, the assassin of late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, began a hunger strike on Sunday in protest of his punishments for giving unauthorized interviews to the media in late October. These include transfer to Ramon Prison. The prison in the southern Negev, which houses some 700 Palestinian security prisoners, is considered one of Israel's most secure prisons. He is being held there is solitary confinement for the time being
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Daughters of the desert
(29 Nov- photo essay) In Israel, the Bedouin village of Al Zarnouk, along with 44 other Bedouin villages in the area, does not exist. It is 'unrecognised' by an Israeli government that refuses to accept the land claims of the Negev Desert's indigenous people, and deprives them of basic infrastructure and services such as roads, sewage systems, running water, electricity, and healthcare clinics. About 75,000 Bedouins live in this region. Observer photographer Karen Robinson travelled there to discover their plight and see at first hand the extremes that the Israeli government are going to to break down these communities
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Controversy over the presidency and the hajj
(29 Nov) By Ma'an Deputy Chief Editor Ibrahim Milhim--Whether President Abbas' term of office ends on 9 January 2009, according to the Hamas calendar, or in 2010, according to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the Palestinian presidency is right now the umbrella under which rivals can disagree and dispute each other. President Abbas, while his term is still legitimate, ensures at least some democratic conventions in the current crisis. As such the office of the president should remain outside factional controversy and tit-for-tat squabbles since it is the only safety net for the Palestinian national organizations.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Nobel laureate: There is a way toward peace in Palestine
(29 Nov) By Mairead Corrigan Maguire of Northern Ireland-- In this the 21st century many of us take freedom for granted, but not everyone has freedom here in Israel/Palestine. I realized this, yet again, when I told a Palestinian friend I was attending this conference and he told me that though he was born in Jerusalem he is not allowed to come into East Jerusalem.
http://electronicintifada.net/
Barak Ovadya, candidate
(29 Nov) By Uri Avnery--The Israeli Obama. What will he look like, the Israeli counterpart of Barack Obama? What will be his attributes? That is a tantalizing question. It goes without saying that one cannot construct a human being according to a recipe, like a cake from a cook book. But one can, at least, consider a few of the desired traits.
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/
The irresponsibility of Thomas Friedman
By Jerome Slater--The author argues that Friedman, lead foreign policy columnist of the New York Times , has perpetrated untruthful mythologies that are harmful to Israeli/Palestinian peace prospects--Tikkun editor's note: Jerome Slater's critique raises important questions about the role of journalists in mis-shaping public understanding of the Israel/Palestine struggle.
http://tikkun.org/magazine/
US-funded youth center aims to lure Palestinian teens from extremism
(30 Nov, AP) A U.S.-funded youth center that has opened in the West Bank village of Beita is meant to show America at its can-do best: It will teach English and computer courses, hoping to provide an antidote to political extremism along the way. But if organizers hope the locals will also learn to love America a little-that's a much harder sell. Many Palestinians believe the U.S. routinely sides with Israel and thus is directly responsible for their hardships under Israeli occupation, such as the ubiquitous army roadblocks that disrupt movement in the West Bank. Beita, a village of 10,000 residents-about 1,500 of them unemployed-is no exception.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Discovering Palestine
(30 Nov) By Wesley Granberg-Michaelson--I've tried to remember when I first learned that there were Christians living in Palestine and then met them. I know how strange that sounds. But the assumptions of evangelical Zionism that infused my Christian upbringing made me predisposed as a young person to believe that Israel was on the right side of any conflict. I didn't know the stories of Palestinians—and ironically, I didn't really know the stories of the Jews, but only the version of Jewish settlement in Israel interpreted through the lens of Christian Zionism...Evangelical Zionism is the enemy of Christian witness and mission in the Middle East. It's not just a theological aberration. Rather, it's a doctrine that actually endangers fellow Christians and cripples the effective proclamation of Christian faith throughout the region. The brutal situation in the Holy Land dehumanizes Palestinians and Israelis alike and undermines the peace and security of the region and the world. The support of Christian Zionists and the United States government for expansionist policies and actions of Israel, and the turning of a blind eye to the persistent illegal activities of the Israeli government, undermines our ability to serve as peacemakers or honest brokers in that area of the world.
http://www.morungexpress.com/
Iran proposes nuclear plants with Arab countries
(30 Nov) TEHRAN, Iran, (AP) – Iran's official news agency says Tehran has proposed building joint light-water nuclear power plants with neighboring Arab countries. Sunday's IRNA report quotes the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Gholam Reza Aghazadeh. He says Iran is ready to offer a proposal to Arab countries if they are interested. Iran's Arab neighbors have been suspicious of the Persian country's controversal nuclear program, and several Arab countries have announced plans to develop their own nuclear programs.
http://www.asharqalawsat.com/
Saturday: 44 Iraqis, 3 contractors killed; 32 Iraqis, 14 contractors wounded
(29 Nov) Excerpt: A rocket attack in Baghdad killed three UN contractors and wounded 14 others near the international Green Zone. None of the victims were Iraqis. At least 44 Iraqis were also killed and 32 more Iraqis were wounded in separate attacks. No Coalition deaths were reported. Meanwhile, the UN has delayed its report on disputed Kurdish areas in Iraq until after January elections in order to avoid stoking the conflict.
http://www.antiwar.com/
Sunday: 5 Iraqis killed
(30 Nov) Excerpt: Only five deaths were reported today in an unusually quiet beginning to the workweek. No Coalition deaths were reported either. Still, a number of important news stories came out of Iraq today. The Iraqi court ordered the release a photojournalist in U.S. detention. Meanwhile, the Iraqi government brushed aside criticisms over the U.S.-Iraqi security agreement now awaiting ratification from the presidential council. Also, Iran and Iraq exchanged the remains of soldiers killed during their long war in the 1980s.
http://antiwar.com/updates/?
Key clerics criticize new US-Iraq security deal
(29 Nov) McClatchy Newspapers-BAGHDAD-Influential religious leaders across Iraq are voicing reservations about a U.S.-Iraq security agreement that allows Americans to remain in the country for another three years.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/
"I'm still tortured by what I saw in Iraq"
(29 Nov) The leader of an interrogations team assigned to a Special Operations task force in Iraq in 2006, writing under a pseudonym for security reasons, has this in Sunday's WaPo. "....Americans, including officers like myself, must fight to protect our values not only from al-Qaeda but also from those within our own country who would erode them. Other interrogators are also speaking out, including some former members of the military, the FBI and the CIA who met last summer to condemn torture and had spoken before Congress--at considerable personal risk....
http://friday-lunch-club.
Iraqi army finds 30 bodies in shallow graves
BAGHDAD, Nov 29 (Reuters)-The Iraqi army unearthed 30 decomposed bodies in a series of shallow graves in northern Iraq's volatile Diyala province, the army said on Saturday. The bodies were found over three days in the predominantly Shi'ite village of Albu-Toma, north of Baghdad, where Sunni Islamist al Qaeda militants once ruled and carried out frequent mass sectarian killings against Shi'ites.
http://www.alertnet.org/
Iraqi forces search for suspects in UN rocket attack
(30 Nov) BAGHDAD, (AFP) – Iraqi forces surrounded a working-class neighbourhood in Baghdad on Sunday, searching cars and houses for militants behind a rocket attack that killed two UN contractors, officials said. Security forces searched cars leaving the Al-Amin neighbourhood and distributed flyers requesting information on two men suspected of firing the rocket, which struck near the UN compound in the heavily-fortified Green Zone on Saturday.
http://www.asharqalawsat.com/
Livni states that the [Mumbai] targets were Jewish and Israeli (another codeword for Western?)
(30 Nov) Livni: "During the past days the entire world, and we in Israel, have witnessed a murderous terror attack in India. There is no doubt that among the targets chosen by the terrorists were Jewish and Israeli targets, which are viewed as Western." Why is there "no doubt"? It is always good practice in events like this to have ONLY doubt, since certainty is lacking. Among the targets were also train stations, hotels, restaurants…. Sites that are places of aggregation for people in transit, be they locals or foreigners. I didn't really know before this moment that the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, headquarters of the Central Railway was Jewish, Israeli or even Western, and how does one explain the bombing of the Vile Parle railway, which is basically a suburban residential area? Is that all of a sudden a Western target too?
http://palestinethinktank.com/
-codeword-for-western/
Bush to Olmert: Why are you giving Syria the Golan for nothing?
(30 Nov) WASHINGTON-U.S. President George Bush believes that Israel is offering Syria the Golan Heights without getting anything in exchange, according to sources briefed on his White House meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last week. After Olmert updated Bush on Israel's indirect talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad, the U.S. president demanded, "Why do you want to give Assad the Golan for nothing?" the sources said. "It's not for nothing," Olmert insisted. "It's in exchange for a change in the region's strategic alignment." Bush persisted: "Why should you believe him?" And to that, Olmert did not reply.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Obama policy key to future Israeli-Palestinian peace talks
JERUSALEM, Nov. 29 (Xinhua)--As Israel prepares for February's general election and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' term nears its end in January, U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's involvement in the peace process will play a crucial role in directing future Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, analysts said. While the one-year anniversary of the 2007 Annapolis peace conference passed with no conclusive agreement in sight, Israel, the United States and the Palestinians all accepted that there would not be a peace accord before U.S. President George W. Bush leaves office in January.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
www.TheHeadlines.org
0 Have Your Say!:
Post a Comment