(29 Nov) By Abdullah Abu Rahma--Imad Mohammed Yassin Burnat, 36 years old, from the village of Bil'in and a young father of four children, joined the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Bil'in from the moment they started to destroy the Israeli bulldozers on Bil'in's land. He was the first person injured by the Israeli army in Bil'in's resistance. He was chosen from among his colleagues to be the videographer of the Popular Committee in order to monitor and document the violence, brutality, and repression of the occupation soldiers...Imad has participated in all of Bil'in's demonstrations with his camera, in order to capture all violations of the soldiers against the protesters....Imad used the camera as a witness in numerous cases in Israeli courts. In Oct. 6th 2006, while he was documenting an Israeli invasion at the village, he was arrested and sentenced to a month in jail and two months house arrest outside Bil'in. When he was out of that, he returned to his path of resistance again.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
Palestinian resistance shells Israeli military base, wounding 8 soldiers
(29 Nov) After an Israeli invasion on Friday wounded three Palestinians, the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip fired two homemade shells at an Israeli military base, wounding officers and soldiers in their barracks. According to Israeli sources, the shells hit a soldiers' barracks and an officers' quarters, wounding eight – two of them critically.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
8 soldiers injured in mortar attack
(29 Nov) Palestinians fire barrage of mortar shells on IDF base near Kibbutz Nahal Oz in southern Israel. Two mortars land within base, hitting officers' and female soldiers' quarters. Two troops seriously injured, six others sustain light to moderate wounds. Hamas' military wing claims responsibility
http://www.ynetnews.com/
8 IDF troops hurt in W. Negev mortar strike; soldier loses leg
(29 Nov) Six soldiers were still hospitalized Saturday morning. The military base is located near a fuel terminal that supplies much-needed gasoline and cooking fuel to the impoverished Gaza Strip. According to the Israeli military, Palestinian militants fired a total of 11 mortars at southern Israel from Gaza on Friday. Three of them landed at the base, the IDF said. The mortar barrage came after earlier on Friday an IDF patrol clashed with Palestinian militants in the southeastern Gaza Strip near Kibbutz Nir Oz, killing at least one.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Vilnai: Israel nearing wide-scale Gaza op
(29 Nov) Following mortar attack on IDF base which left eight soldiers injured, deputy defense minister says 'their provocations don't leave us with much choice'. Likud MK Erdan suggests moving Palestinian prisoners to unfortified detention facility in Gaza vicinity
http://www.ynetnews.com/
PPP denounces Israeli attacks on Khan Younis villages
(28 Nov) The People's Party of Palestine (PPP) denounced the ongoing Israeli attacks on the residents of the Gaza Strip near the city of Khan Younis after Israeli warplanes shelled the area. The party said in a statement that Israeli attacks are proof that the country has violated the truce. The statement went on to say the shell attacks on the villages of Abasan Al-Kabira and Al-Qarara east of Khan Younis that resulted in the destruction of homes and fields must be seriously opposed by international organizations. [End]
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Palestinian Journalists Union condemns Al-Quds arrest
(29 Nov) The Ramallah-based Palestinian Journalists' Union on Saturday condemned the arrest of an Al-Quds newspaper writer by Palestinian Authority (PA) intelligence services in the West Bank. Na'el Nakhleh, who is a writer for Jerusalem's Al-Quds newspaper, was arrested in Al-Bireh, a town near the West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday. The union said that such arrests by the PA are attempts to "silence media and oppose their freedom," according to a statement on Saturday. The group added that journalists' arrests have increased in recent days as nine were seized in the West Bank and three in the Gaza Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Rafah still closed; Gazan pilgrims registered in Strip will not leave with those registered in West Bank
(29 Nov) The de facto police department in Gaza announced Saturday that Rafah crossing is still closed and no pilgrims have passed through to Egypt despite assurances from West Bank and Gaza governments. The department explained that visas for the pilgrims were not ready as of Saturday night, and added that many passports were not even in Gaza (they are processed off site). They appealed to Saudi Arabian authorities to help expedite the visa authorization process so pilgrims would be able to make the Hajj.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Hamas blocks pilgrims from leaving Gaza
(29 Nov) GAZA CITY (AFP) – Hamas , which controls Gaza, prevented scores of Muslims wanting to attend the annual pilgrimage to Mecca from reaching the Rafah border with Egypt on Saturday, witnesses and would-be pilgrims told AFP. Police from the Islamist group set up checkpoints several kilometres (a mile or two) from the border between the city of Khan Yunis and the Rafah crossing to stop anyone passing through, the witnesses said. Around 10 people were lightly injured when the police used sticks and batons to turn people back, the witnesses added. Egypt had announced on Friday that the Rafah crossing would be open for three days from Saturday to allow the passage of some 3,000 Palestinian pilgrims who hold visas for Saudi Arabia .
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
Gaza pilgrims face obstacles en route to Hajj in Mecca
(29 Nov) Palestinians hoping to leave the Gaza Strip this week in order to participate in the annual Muslim Hajj to Saudi Arabia still face obstacles, despite assurances from both Palestinian governments in recent days...The ongoing crisis originated over disagreements between both the de facto government and the caretaker government over choosing pilgrims by lottery. Both governments registered pilgrims and made their own selections but as a result, the departure of pilgrims has been delayed ever since.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
West Bank Hajj pilgrims arrive in Saudi Arabia
(29 Nov) Hajj pilgrims from the West Bank have arrived safely in Mecca, according to Palestinian Minister of Waqf Jamal Bawatna on Friday. Bawatnah asserted that his ministry made "unprecedented arrangements" this year to guarantee the best facilities and services to Hajj pilgrims. He explained they were staying in five-star hotels close to the Haram in Mecca, as well as in special buildings where they can access the Ka'ba easily. He affirmed that the special arrangements for the pilgrimage were made in direct coordination with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Egyptian sources: Rafah crossing to open Saturday for three days for Hajj pilgrims
(28 Nov) The Rafah crossing into and out of the Gaza Strip will open for three days starting on Saturday to allow Palestinian pilgrims to travel for Hajj, according to Egyptian sources. But the de facto Interior Ministry still maintains that the crossing is closed, insisting that it has not received information on its opening and that the Ramallah-based caretaker government's directing of residents to go to Rafah is misleading. The Awqaf Ministry released a list of names permitted to leave for Hajj beginning on Saturday, and numbering 3,200. Previously, the ministry had organized a sit-in at the crossing to protest its closure.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Israeli troops enter Gaza
(28 Nov) Israeli troops back by tanks mounted an incursion into the southern Gaza Strip on Friday, shelling Palestinian areas, witnesses said. The Israeli army confirmed it conducted an operation along the border, saying troops shot and apparently killed a Palestinian, while witnesses spoke of two dead.
http://www.middle-east-online. com/english/?id=28992
Israeli military injures three Palestinians during invasion of southern Gaza
(28 Nov) Although early reports stated that one Palestinian had been killed during an Israeli invasion on Friday, medical sources confirmed no deaths. Muawiya Hassanein, the head of emergency services in Gaza, said that three young men were wounded by Israeli tank shells during an invasion of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. The Popular Resistance Committees, a Palestinian resistance group, confirmed that one of its fighters had escaped being killed in the attack. The identity of the three men who were injured is unknown, and no other resistance group has claimed that the other two men were members of any group. The invasion is the second this week, at a time when Palestinian factions have been trying to re-negotiate a truce that had been in place for six months until Israel launched a series of wide-scale attacks over the previous two weeks.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
Likud MK calls for using Palestinian prisoners as human shields against Qassam rockets
(29 Nov) MK Gilad Erdan suggested Israel build an open-air, unprotected detention facility in the Western Negev, where the majority of rockets and mortars from Gaza land, and fill it with militants currently held in Israeli jails.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Israel violating international law by Gaza blockade, says UK
(27 Nov) The British government has accused Israel of violating international law by its blockade of Gaza but stopped short of describing the siege as "collective punishment" of the Palestinians.
http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/
Israeli Arabs demonstrate against Gaza blockade
(29 Nov) NAZARETH, Israel (AFP)--Thousands of Israeli Arabs demonstrated in the northern town of Nazareth on Saturday to protest against the crippling Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. The protesters carried pictures of children and sick people in Gaza and placards reading: "No to the hunger of the Palestinian people" and "(U.S. President George W.) Bush and (Israeli Prime Minister Ehud) Olmert are war criminals." Men and women marched separately in the demonstration, which was organized by the radical wing of the Islamic Movement, whose leader Sheikh Raed Salah led the protesters.
http://www.nasdaq.com/
DOWJONESDJONLINE000469.htm
Deaths and no dinner
(27 Nov-3 Dec issue) By Saleh Al-Naami--Fadiya Al-Zaher, 55, was supposed to return last Thursday to her house following routine kidney dialysis at Shuhada Al-Aqsa Hospital in the centre of the Gaza Strip. She used to go three times a week. Her son Amin, was with her when the power supply to the hospital was cut off and the backup generators, short of fuel, failed to kick in. Amin was running up and down the corridor leading to her room, not knowing what to do. His sister, Tahani, suggested that they take their mother to another hospital in Gaza. Amin phoned the hospital and was told that it wasn't ready to take in more patients. Then a nurse came and told Amin that his mother had gone into a coma. An hour later, she was pronounced dead.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/
Cash shortage in Gaza threatens govt salaries
RAMALLAH, West Bank, Nov 27 (Reuters)-Banks in the Gaza Strip face a severe shortage of bank notes, threatening Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's ability to pay government salaries next month, the top Palestinian bank regulator said. "Banks are facing severe liquidity problems," Palestine Monetary Authority Governor Jihad Wazir said in a Nov. 24 letter to the Bank of Israel, obtained by Reuters on Thursday. Wazir said Israel has yet to fulfil last month's Palestinian request to transfer 185 million shekels ($47 million) to Gaza. Wazir warned of a "huge contagious effect to the whole banking system in Palestine" should Israel not allow in funds soon. Salaries are due to be paid by Dec. 4.
http://africa.reuters.com/
Gaza: Show no mercy, dispense no justice
(28 Nov) By Stuart Littlewood-London--Who could have believed that by Christmas 2008 the West would still be unable to summon up courage to discipline Israel for crimes against the Palestinians?The cruel siege of Gaza has been going on for at least 30 months. "It started March 2006 – I was there," says a friend… in other words, as soon as Hamas was inconveniently elected to power. In early April the EU turned off financial aid and the economic blockade had begun. Gaza was already suffering severe hardship when I visited a year ago...Who could have believed that by Christmas 2008 the international community would still turn a blind eye to Israel's persecution of Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land?And who could have believed that the great Churches of Western Christendom would sit back and watch the Holy Land being stolen, and not even prod their politicians into action?
http://palestinechronicle.com/
Palestinian fisherman recounts Israeli navy attack off Gaza coast
(29 Nov) Gaza-BTtselem Report-Muhammad Murad Rajab al-Hasi, 36, married with seven children, is a fisherman and a resident of Gaza City. His testimony was given to Muhammad Sabah on 11 September 2008 at the fishermen's wharf in Gaza... After the Israeli boat went around them a few times, it suddenly picked up speed and came toward us with its front part raised out of the water. It hit our boat with great force. The collision damaged the middle section of our boat, which is made of wood and fiberglass. It also damaged the motor that pulls the nets out of the sea.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Israel releases confiscated fishing boats after rights groups launch Supreme Court case
(28 Nov) Three confiscated Gazan fishing vessels were returned Friday following the launch of legal action against Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Israeli Naval Commander Eli Maron by a Palestinian activist group. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR),The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and Palestinian rights group Al-Mazan filed the case on Thursday. The case demanded the return of the boats, which were confiscated on 18 November after 15 Palestinians and three international activists were detained by the Israeli navy while fishing in Gazan coastal waters.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Motley crew of foreigners defies Israel's blockade of Gaza to help Palestinians fish and farm
(28 Nov) By Diaa Hadid, AP--A tattooed Italian trucker, middle-aged twin sisters from San Jose, Calif., a polite Scottish couple and a solemn-faced Greek hailed a cab in Gaza City, drawing stares from passers-by unused to visitors. The party was off to southern Gaza to plant wheat with Palestinian farmers in a dangerous area near an Israeli-patrolled border.
http://www.orlandosentinel.
License to kill
(27 Nov) By Uri Blau--...As far as the public was concerned, the last declared assassination carried out by the IDF in the West Bank took place in August 2006; at the end of that year the High Court of Justice set strict criteria regarding the policy of assassinations in the territories.
A Haaretz Magazine investigation reveals for the first time operational discussions in which the fate of wanted men and innocent people was decided, in apparent disregard of the High Court decision. Thus it was revealed that the IDF approved assassination plans in the West Bank even when it would probably have been possible to arrest the wanted men ... According to the human-rights organization B'Tselem, the IDF assassinated 232 Palestinians between the start of the intifada and the end of October 2008, in operations that also killed 154 non-targeted civilians.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Pinpointed liquidation and judicial process
(23 Nov) The assassination of gangland boss Ya'akov Alperon has aroused immediate revulsion in all of us. This is murder with no judicial process: without the benefit of counsel for the prosecution or defence. It's merely an execution...But let us indulge in a small analytic exercise. Let's examine the basic reasons why underworld liquidation gets condemned and compare this with the 'targetted assassination' policy of the Israeli government...Like the underworld assassinations, the state of Israel has become a serial executioner without the kind of due judicial process one expects in a democratic country. The vast majority of those liquidated have been killed according to the same kind of settling-accounts underworld logic and not because they were 'ticking bombs'.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_ file.asp?num=30244
New master plan for Jerusalem district will place Palestinians in the city in a stranglehold...
(27 Nov) Adalah Attorney Suhad Bishara emphasized that the plan is a continuation of the planning approach that is followed by Israel in occupied East Jerusalem, and which does not benefit its Palestinian population, but rather seeks to maintain a permanent Jewish majority within the area designated "united greater Jerusalem." Under the plan, the proposed highways and railways will preclude the development of the Palestinian community in East Jerusalem and will cut the Arab neighborhoods off geographically from one another. These transportation networks will also make it more difficult for Palestinians to reach their land. The plan would also further entrench the settlements in East Jerusalem and the surrounding area, as well as connect them to each other and to cities inside Israel.
http://www.adalah.org/eng/
Three Palestinians injured in Hebron settler attacks Saturday
(29 Nov) Three Palestinians were injured after being attacked by hundreds of settlers in the Wad Al-Hussein area adjacent to an illegal Israeli settlement in Hebron on Saturday, according to witnesses. One man, 60-year-old As'ad Al-Ja'bari, sustained injuries to the head, telling Ma'an that Palestinians "were attacked by hundreds of settlers who hurled stones on us and on our homes." He added that Issa Amer, who works as a field researcher for Israeli human rights organization B'talem, was also injured in addition to a third resident. Several homes were also damaged, according to Al-Ja'bari. Local sources said that "Israeli soldiers joined the settlers in the attack by firing aimlessly," hoping to "intimidate the residents."
http://www.maannews.net/en/
5 youths arrested near Hebron house
(28 Nov) Four boys arrested early Friday morning for cutting Kiryat Arba fence, girl detained for throwing stones--Police reported that, about an hour and a half after midnight, forces caught four boys, aged 14 to 16, cutting the fence around the settlement of Kiryat Arba, which is adjacent to the disputed house. They denied the charges. According to police, the four are residents of Jerusalem and not Hebron, and as such, police intend to release them and ban them from the area. At around the same time, police forces detained a 17-year-old girl who was throwing stones at an Arab neighborhood in Hebron.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Just a stone's throw from the Cave of the Patriarchs
(28 Nov) by Meron Benvenisti--The controversy over the evacuation of the House of Contention in Hebron is being conducted according to a script where the ending is known in advance. The only surprise is that the story's banality can arouse such emotion. Everyone involved is simply playing the same standard roles in a drama that has been running for years... The results are known in advance because only the settlers have the troops ready for a stubborn and drawn-out battle, and the left is only willing to give the matter a few minutes for writing a blog or something, and maybe holding a demonstration on a Friday afternoon.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Kristallnacht in Hebron
(28 Nov) By Khaled Amayreh--Unconcerned about arrest by the police or prosecution by the Israeli justice system, fanatical Jewish settlers in the Palestinian town of Hebron (Al-Khalil) have been attacking Palestinians, damaging and ransacking their property, exactly like Nazi thugs did to Jewish-owned property in Germany 80 years ago ... One noted Israeli journalist intimated to this writer last week that Israel was facing two nightmarish scenarios in light of the settlers' determined refusal to leave the West Bank: " We have two alternatives, either we go into civil war or become a fascist or Nazi state. These two choices are becoming starker with the passage of each day ."" http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/
http://palestinianpundit.
Machsom Watch: 'Even a pita with labane cannot be taken'
(25 Nov, checkpoints near Jenin) Near the gate where we are standing, in the concrete cube there is a soldier with his weapon drawn. From time to time he stops somebody who has already been inspected at the interior gate and inspects his documents again. Today, they are very strict about transporting things to the seamline zone. Palestinians who wanted to transport a few containers of oil were sent to take them back. It was forbidden even to take a plastic bottle with pickled olives, of the kind that people take with them to eat during their day's work. It seems that even a pita with labane cannot be taken. People came out empty-handed.
http://www.machsomwatch.org/
Palestinian Health Action Committees worker detained by Israeli forces near Jerusalem
(29 Nov) Israeli soldiers arrested the accountant for the Health Action Committees in Palestine at the Jaba checkpoint on Saturday north of Jerusalem. The HAC are a non-profit group with funding from several organizations in Europe and North America, and are loosely affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) a leftist party in Palestine. The accountant, Khaleel Abu Ghattas, was carrying identification which indicated he worked with the HAC and was en route to the main office of the organization in the West Bank city of Al-Bireh near Ramallah.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Daylong clashes in Jayyous, youth destroy parts of the Wall
(28 Nov) Latest News, Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, November 28th, 2008. The village of Jayyous mobilized this Friday for the weekly demonstration against the re-routing of the Wall through village land. Youth engaged with Occupation forces at the Wall and inside the village, and confrontations continued into the late afternoon. The village remains occupied following the burning of the outer fence this evening.
http://stopthewall.org/
Palestinians: IDF hurt Japanese protester
(28 Nov) Palestinians reported that a Japanese protester was injured Friday during protests against the security fence in Bilin, near Ramallah. According to the Palestinians, soldiers and border guard police used large amounts of tear gas and the man was injured from a direct blast of the gas. He was hospitalized in Jerusalem. The IDF reported two casualties during riot dispersal. [end]
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Six Palestinians wounded in IOF shooting at peaceful marches
(29 Nov) QALQILIA, (PIC)--Two Palestinian villagers were wounded in the Jayus town, northwest of Qalqilia, afternoon Friday when Israeli occupation forces shot at them during a peaceful demonstration to protest the construction of the separation wall on their lands. Eyewitnesses reported that the IOF soldiers fired live bullets at the demonstrators, who included foreign activists, and injured the two...Four other Palestinians were wounded in a similar peaceful march in Na'lin village, west of Ramallah, also afternoon Friday.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Residents report total blackout in Tulkarem suburb
(28 Nov) Homes and businesses near Tulkarem were without power for hours on Friday, according to residents of the Iktaba suburb northeast of the West Bank city. The small town has been without electricity since early on Friday afternoon, according to residents. Local sources told Ma'an that the blackout is a result of a "massive malfunction in the central power station," although maintenance engineers are reportedly working around the clock to bring it back online.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Israeli forces remove roadblock for 'security reasons' near Qalqilya
(28 Nov) A roadblock preventing vehicles from travelling from the village of Kfil Haris to Haris, both south east of Qalqiliya, was removed by the Israeli army on Friday for "security purposes." The roadblock was put in place shortly after the outbreak of the second Intifadah, and travel on the road has been restricted by Israeli forces which protect a "buffer zone" near the settlement and the settler bypass road, which also runs on the lands of Kifl Haris. With the removal of the block, according to the office of the Qalqiliya municipality, all roads in the district are now open and Palestinians can expect free travel.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Imprisoned PLC speaker undergoes surgery following Israeli delay
(28 Nov) The imprisoned speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) underwent surgery on Friday despite Israeli delays and "medical negligence," according to the de facto speaker in the Gaza Strip. Dr. Aziz Duweik has been imprisoned for the past 28 months in an Israeli jail even though he has been "long suffering due to medical negligence by the Israeli prison authorities," the de facto PLC office in Gaza said on Friday. According to a statement sent to Ma'an, Duweik underwent surgery inside the Ramla detention facility to remove kidney stones on Friday.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Female ex-prisoner says Palestinian female captives denied medical treatment
(28 Nov) RAMALLAH, [PIC]--Palestinian ex-prisoner Kholod Al-Masri, who was released from Israeli jails on Thursday, affirmed that Palestinian female captives in Israeli jails were living in harsh prison conditions and deliberately denied proper medical treatment. Masri, who is a councilor in Nablus municipal council, was speaking to the Palestinian center for defending the prisoners shortly after she was released.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Ailing Palestinian prisoner shunted between several prisons, aggravating health conditions
(29 Nov) Hebron-Ma'an – The family of 60-year-old Palestinian prisoner Ahmad Al-Qiq said the man, who suffers from health problems, was transferred between Israeli prisons between four and six times in the past weeks. A few weeks ago Al-Qiq was transferred to the Negev prison, then again transferred to the Ramlah prison where his medical condition worsened. He may then have been transferred back down to the Negev prison and then a few days ago made the trip to Ofer Prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Nablus prisoners start hunger strike over term lengths
(29 Nov) Thirteen Palestinian prisoners affiliated with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of the Fatah movement, have begun a hunger strike in response to "foot dragging" on the part of the Israeli army in regard to their sentences, the governor of Nablus told Ma'an. The 13 prisoners were originally apprehended by PA security forces and held at the Jneid Prison in the West Bank for their own protection, as they were wanted by Israel and targeted for arrest and even extra-judicial assassination. Several have been behind bars for more than one year.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Human rights group accuses Abbas's forces of contempt for a high court decision
(28 Nov) RAMALLAH, (PIC)--The Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) has deprecated Friday the PA security forces in the West Bank for circumventing decisions of the Palestinian High Court banning prosecuting civilians before military courts. The organization also underlined that most of those detained by Abbas's security forces and prosecuted before military courts were civilians, urging the PA security apparatuses in the West Bank to swiftly implement orders of the High Court without hesitation.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Hamas: PA seized 19 affiliates across West Bank
(29 Nov) Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces abducted 19 Hamas loyalists across the West Bank in recent days, according to a statement received by Ma'an on Saturday. Among the 19 allegedly abducted in the latest round of PA arrests are several students and a lecturer at An-Najah National University in Nablus, as well as an imam at a Nablus mosque and a teacher from Salfit. [list of those taken follows] Hamas has accused the PA of detaining hundreds of Hamas members in a bid to consolidate power in the West Bank. Independent human rights organizations have corroborated the claims, if not the exact number of detainees.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Absent good intentions
(27 Nov-3 Dec issue) The sheer level of bitterness between the conflicting parties may forestall all attempts at Palestinian reconciliation dialogue, writes Saleh Al-Naami--With only a candle providing dim light, he searched for the new mobile of an Egyptian official. He eventually found and dialled the number. The official's wife told him that her husband had gone to bed and to call back in the morning. This is how Ghazi Hamad, charged with maintaining contacts between the Haniyeh government in Gaza and the Egyptian government, has been spending nights in his office. He is trying to put together a formula that would enable Hamas and Fatah to agree to resume dialogue between them.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/
Missing Palestinian returns to Gaza after 46-year absence
(29 Nov) A Palestinian was reunited with his family in Gaza City on Saturday after 46 years, decades since the now 72-year-old father disappeared in Iraq. "It's me, Ala, father," his 28-year-old daughter told Ahmad Obeid soon after he was smuggled back into the Gaza Strip through one of the tunnels linking the area with Egypt. Obeid was sentenced to a prison term at the height of the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, at a time when hostility toward Palestinians in the country was rampant, according to a relative. His family was told nothing as Obeid endured 23 years in an Iraqi prison.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
When Abraham wept
(28 Nov) How can it be that what we demand of others we do not demand of ourselves?By Rabbi Reuven Hammer--In addition to attacks on soldiers and Israeli police, I am referring specifically to the desecration of a mosque and of a Muslim cemetery in Hebron. The pictures of those places, defaced with graffiti referring to the prophet Mohammed as a pig, together with Stars of David painted on gravestones, made me shiver. I could not help but see them as the exact duplicate of pictures from Europe and elsewhere where Jewish cemeteries and synagogues were desecrated by anti-Semites and neo-Nazis. In place of the swastika was the star. In place of the "Jews" were Mohammed and Arabs. What has been the reaction of the Jewish world whenever such things were done to us?Thunderous condemnation.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
The ongoing Nakba and Vanunu
(28 Nov) On November 19, 2008, during the final day of Sabeel's [Arabic for The Way ] 7th International Conference: THE NAKBA: MEMORY, REALITY AND BEYOND, Noble Peace Prize Laureate Mairead Maguire inspired nearly 300 internationals to rise up and honor Mordechai Vanunu. Vanunu has been nominated for the Noble Peace Prize annually since 1986 for his courage and truth telling, by providing the photographic evidence that warned the world that Israel had already manufactured upwards of 200 nuclear warheads in 1985. Israel locked Vanunu up for 18 years, has held him under house arrest since April 2004, yet Israel continues to get away with nuclear ambiguity, has never allowed IAEA inspectors into the Dimona, nor have they signed the NPT.
http://palestinethinktank.com/
Holy Land custos visits Bethlehem, Nativity Church
(29 Nov) Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, custos to the Holy Land, on Saturday visited the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem. Pizzaballa was officially hosted in the city of the Nativity, where he is scheduled to provide over a mass on Sunday on the occasion of Saint Catherine's Day in Bethlehem.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Palestinian Sesame Street, Shara'a Simsim, to begin filming new episodes
(27 Nov) Bethlehem – Ma'an – Production for seasons four and five of Shara'a Simsim, the US-funded Palestinian version of the renowned children's program Sesame Street, will focus on teaching Palestinian children basic educational skills as well as local history and culture.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Israel's settlement on Capitol Hill
(28-30 Nov) By Robert Weitzel--Unbeknownst to most Americans, Israel's westernmost settlement is not located in Palestine-Israel, but is 6000 miles away on the high ground overlooking Foggy Bottom in Washington D.C. This Capital Hill settlement of pro-Israel lobbies and think tanks strategically controls the high ground overlooking the United States' Middle East policy landscape by having made kibbutzniks of most members of the executive and legislative branches of the government—including President-elect Obama, Vice President-elect Biden (a wannabe Zionist), and future Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel (a born Zionist).
http://www.counterpunch.org/
Neighbors /War in the Sinai desert
(26 Nov) By Zvi Bar'el--"Seventy-two automatic weapons, 20,000 bullets, communications devices and night-vision gear are all the arms and equipment that Egyptian security forces are searching for now among the Bedouin in northern Sinai," a senior Egyptian official told the news agencies. The Bedouin takeover of this arms warehouse next to Wadi al-Azarak in northern Sinai, where an Egyptian army base is located, is the latest action in a series of violent clashes between the Bedouin of northern Sinai and the Egyptian security forces.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Indian media react angrily to Israeli criticism of Chabad rescue operation
(29 Nov) Indian media have reacted angrily to Israeli criticism of the Indian commando operation against the terrorists who took control of Chabad house in Mumbai. Six of the hostages inside the center were killed, including Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka. Israeli and international media quoted Israeli officials as claiming the operation was risky and premature.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
From Palestine to India, love and solidarity
(28 Nov) Ma'an /Chief Editor-Palestinians follow what is happening hour by hour in Mumbai; the results of the bombings, shots fired at tourists, at hotel workers. Palestinians watch with painful understanding the death of innocent people and police officers in a country not their own...Regardless of who carried out the attacks in Mumbai we as Palestinians announce our condemnation of such an act against our Indian friends...Thirdly: We must assert that the taking of Israeli hostages by the Mumbai attackers in no way indicates Palestinian involvement. Attempts have been made to link the violence in India with Palestinian groups, but these efforts will be unsuccessful.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Not even Palestine
(27 Nov-3 Dec issue) Once again, the Arab collective order is in disarray, even on fundamental Arab issues, Dina Ezzat reports-The extraordinary Arab foreign ministers meeting that was scheduled for yesterday evening at the headquarters of the Arab League did not appear set to achieve its objective of agreeing an Arab plan of action for Palestinian reconciliation and underlining Arab support for the Palestinian team negotiating with Israel the basis of a peace settlement. Even less, the meeting appeared incapable of reaching a consensual stand in solidarity with Palestinians starving in darkness in Gaza as Israel continues to impose a punitive siege on the Strip.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/
International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people
(29 Nov) The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is observed by the United Nations on or around 29 November each year, in accordance with General Assembly mandates contained in resolutions 32/40 B of 2 December 1977, 34/65 D of 12 December 1979, and subsequent resolutions adopted under agenda item "Question of Palestine." The date of 29 November was chosen because of its meaning and significance to the Palestinian people. On that day in 1947, the General Assembly adopted resolution 181 (II), which came to be known as the Partition Resolution. That resolution provided for the establishment in Palestine of a 'Jewish State' and an 'Arab State', with Jerusalem as a corpus separatum under a special international regime. Of the two States to be created under this resolution, only one, Israel, has so far come into being.
http://www.un.org/depts/dpa/
Raids underway in Ain al-Hilweh camp
(29 Nov, AFP) BEIRUT: Fatah official and commander of the Palestinian Armed Struggle Command Munir al-Maqdah said Thursday that a joint Palestinian security force was carrying out raids in Ain al-Hilweh camp in search for six Fatah al-Islam members." He said there are continuous efforts to find the six fugitives, including Fatah al-Islam leader Abdul Rahman Awad. The raids targeted the camp's Taware neighborhood where Awad was staying, he said.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Lebanon 'worst place' for Palestinian refugees
(29 Nov) Country suffers from 'complete lack of integration' By Dalila Mahdawi--Zara Sejberg, Child Protection project manager at Save the Children Sweden, who works to promote the rights of Lebanese children and Palestinian refugee children and who has travelled widely throughout the Middle East, told The Daily Star that over 409,700 Palestinians living in squalid, overcrowded camps in Lebanon suffered from a "complete lack of integration," inadequate services, harmful stereotypes, and discriminatory laws. Over 3000 Palestinians in Lebanon do not even have formal documentation, meaning they are not recognized by either the Lebanese state or UNRWA.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Lebanese cabinet approves establishment of ties with Palestinian state
(29 Nov) The Lebanese Cabinet has approved the establishment of diplomatic relations with "state of Palestine," local media reported on Friday. Following a marathon meeting late on Thursday, Information Minister Tareq Mitri announced the decision of the cabinet to set up diplomatic relations with the Palestinian state, according to Naharnet website. A Palestinian embassy would be established to replace an office in Beirut representing the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO),said Mitri shortly after midnight.
http://english.people.com.cn/
Aid groups face Iraqi Christian influx to Lebanon
(28 Nov) Beirut-Aid groups are scrambling to deal with an influx of Iraqi Christians who have been pouring into Lebanon to escape a wave of killings back home.
http://www.middle-east-online. com/english/?id=28980
US: Alleged Syrian reactor had no peaceful uses
(28 Nov, DPA) American ambassador at IAEA says Friday all data indicate that alleged Syrian reactor bombed by Israel in 2007 was not configured for energy production, ill-suited for research purposes
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Particles of doubt
(27 Nov-3 Dec issue) Damascus won't allow further inspections of Al-Kibar, the site that Israel bombed last September and that the US claims was a nuclear facility, Bassel Oudat reports from Damascus
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/
17 killed, wounded in UNAMI HQ attack
(29 Nov) Seventeen persons were killed or wounded in a rocket attack that targeted the Baghdad headquarters of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) earlier this morning, a spokesperson for the mission said.
http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=
Child killed as rocket hits his home in Kut
(28 Nov) WASSIT /Aswat al-Iraq: A nine-year-old boy child was killed when a rocket fell on the house of his family in northern al-Kut city on Friday, a security source in Wassit said. "A Katyusha rocket fell on a man's house in al-Khajiya, northern Kut, on Friday evening, leaving a child killed and two other family members [...]
http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=
Iraq's PM may be weakened by dealmaking over pact
(28 Nov) AP-Parliament's approval of a security pact with the U.S. has propelled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki into a position of strength unsurpassed among Iraqi political leaders since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/
Fallujah offensive leaves its scars
(28 Nov) By Basil Adas, Correspondent--The US invasion has turned the City of Mosques into a city of graves--Fallujah: Four years after the US launched a military offensive in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, many people remain to be accounted for. "Hundreds of people are still reported to be missing and we know nothing about their fate. Are they in US prisons or are their bodies under the rubble of destroyed houses?"
http://archive.gulfnews.com/
The US-Iraq Deal Doesn't Bode Well
(27 Nov) By Robert Dreyfuss, The Nation --Although the vote is a victory for Maliki, it says little about the future stability and security of the Iraqi state. And it says even less about the future of US-Iraq relations.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/
US pact 'could mean torture'
(28 Nov) From correspondents in Baghdad--A LANDMARK US military pact approved by Iraq's parliament could lead to Iraqi detainees being tortured or executed at the hands of their own government, a London-based human rights group said.
http://www.news.com.au/
Iraqi Academics Assassinated During the US-Led Occupation
(27 Nov) The objective of these targeted assassinations is to "kill a nation", the destroy Iraq's ability to educate its people, to undermine its research and scientific capabilities in literally all fields of endeavor, to transform a nation into a territory, and ultimately to destroy civilization.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/
Referendum Will Arm Iraqi Officials Against US 'Pressures', By Juan Cole
(27 Nov) If this agreement really were a good thing for Bush, would Iran be this happy?
http://www. informationclearinghouse.info/
Number of Iraqi refugees admitted to US up sharply
(29 Nov) California is the top state for resettlement. Among those fleeing the violence is a prosperous family that had to leave many possessions behind and is struggling to make a new life in Los Angeles--After months of processing delays--and widespread complaints by refugee advocates--the U.S. government dramatically increased the number of Iraqi refugee admissions to more than 13,800 in the last fiscal year compared with 1,600 the previous year. This year's current target is 17,000.
http://www.latimes.com/news/
Iraq's soccer team wins Norway tournament
(28 Nov) BAGHDAD /Aswat al-Iraq: Iraq's soccer squad won the Norway four-team tournament after defeating Syria 1/0. Iraq's winner was scored by Hawwar al-Mulla Mohammed in the game played in the Jordanian city of al-Zarqaa, capping the tournament in which four teams – Iraq, Jordan, Syria and Norway – participated.
http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=
Cyber-attack on US Defense Department computers raises concerns
(28 Nov) The 'malware' strike, thought to be from inside Russia, hit combat zone computers and the U.S. Central Command overseeing Iraq and Afghanistan. The attack underscores concerns about computer warfare.
http://www.latimes.com/news/
Now I've Seen Everything, A spy goes to work for a thinktank
(28 Nov) By Justin Raimondo--Well, here's one for the record books: the Middle East Forum has hired Steve Rosen, once the head of policy development for the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Rosen is accused of stealing highly classified information from the U.S. government and passing it on to Israeli government officials.
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/
US Presidential candidate prevented from speaking at human rights conference
(28 Nov) U.S. officials blocked former Green party Presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney from traveling to Syria for a conference on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this week. McKinney was scheduled to give a speech at the conference, with the subject 'Human rights and the denial of the right of return for Palestinians'. Officials detained the former Congressmember at the Atlanta airport as she was about to fly to the conference. [McKinney lost her Congressional seat in 2006, her reelection bid targeted by anti-Palestinian elements, for trying to assert the basic human rights of the Palestinian people]
http://imemc.org/article/57839
Mumbai massacres as the defeat of counter-terrorism
(28 Nov) By Gilad Atzmon--At the time I am writing these notes it is far from being clear what really happened in Mumbai. However one thing is evident. The "War on Terror" is a total disaster. The so-called 'terrorists', whoever they are, have won. America and its allies have been defeated. But it doesn't stop there, throughout this war America has lost its primacy as a super power. It is now financially ruined. Its leadership is regarded by most people around the world as a solid core of evil. It doesn't take a genius to gather that this enormous defeat is an outcome of a chain of events that started with a single orchestrated attack that took place in September 2001.
http://palestinethinktank.com/
--
www.TheHeadlines.org
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