Three Palestinians including two women and a member of the Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, were wounded when an Israeli army chopper fired two rockets on northern Gaza.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
2 haredi soldiers accused of beating Palestinian
Palestinian policeman says soldiers in haredi infantry unit assaulted him, leaving him hospitalized for three days.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Israeli Troops Impose Curfew on West Bank Village of Harmallah
Israeli military imposed a curfew on the West Bank village of Harmallah, to the east of Bethlehem city, detaining at least three residents.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
Israeli forces detain five more Palestinians near Bethlehem
Israeli forces seized five Palestinians from the southern West Bank village of Harmalah, near Bethlehem, after imposing a curfew, Palestinian Authority (PA) security sources told Ma'an. It was the second such raid in the Bethlehem area in less than 24 hours. Since Tuesday night, soldiers have abducted at least 11 Palestinians from the Harmalah village and Hebron, Israeli and Palestinian sources reported on Wednesday.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Hamas leader released after detention by PA; 29 others said arrested
Fatah-allied Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces released a Hamas leader in the West Bank city of Tulkarem on Monday evening after detaining him the previous day. Hamas says the PA also arrested 29 other Hamas members during raids on Monday.
Ra'fat Nasif, a member of Hamas' political bureau, told Ma'an in a phone interview, "I wasn't questioned and I wasn't charged with anything. My detention was for political reasons."
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Two Palestinian girls appeal for releasing them from IOA detention center
Two Palestinian children have appealed to legal centers to demand their release from the Israeli occupation authority's notorious Maskobeh detention center in occupied Jerusalem.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Israeli court acquits Israeli who killed Jerusalemite
An Israeli court has acquitted Julian Soufir despite confessing to the murder of the Arab Jerusalemite Tayseer Karki, 35, with a knife almost a year and a half ago.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Hamas: Assassinating Nawahda fruit of security coordination
Hamas on Tuesday charged that the IOF assassination of the Islamic Jihad leader fell in line with the IOF attempt to liquidate Palestinian resistance for rejecting "worthless peace projects".
http://www.palestine-info.co..
Palestinian groups unanimously rule out renewing ceasefire
Palestinian factions did not made a final decision about the fate of June ceasefire that ends by Friday, but they unanimously ruled out renewing the Egyptian-brokered agreement with its current terms. "We are not trotting towards the lull, taken in consideration that the occupation did not commit itself with its obligations since it took effect on June 19," said Abu Obaida, spokesman for Hamas' military wing.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
Hamas leader: No truce unless Israel eases Gaza restrictions
Hamas leader in Gaza Mahmoud Zahar said Tuesday that the six-month Gaza truce with Israel would not be renewed unless Israel lets more food, fuel and other goods into the Gaza Strip. "Until Friday, we're still committed, but after that, no one can tell," Zahar said in an interview with Bloomberg News at his Gaza home, referring to the truce's December 19 expiration.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Jurists tell Barak: Don't shell Gaza population centers
Israel should not use artillery fire to target rocket-launching militants in the Gaza Strip if the fire is aimed at populated areas, the defense establishment's legal adviser recently told Defense Minister Ehud Barak. "Artillery fire is permissible only in relatively open areas," Ahaz Benari wrote in the legal opinion. "Artillery fire at urban areas is problematic, if the assessment is that the chance that the shell will hit the launchers is relatively low, while the risk that many civilians will be hurt is substantial."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Low-intensity clash in Gaza
The "lull" on the Gaza Strip border will not come to an end this coming Friday, because it in fact ended about six weeks ago. In place of the truce, what we have now already is an active clash, yet a low-intensity one. This is the situation at this time, and this is also apparently what we can expect in the near future.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
6 Qassams land in southern community
Two days before end of truce, Gaza vicinity residents wake up to another reminder of shaky situation, with six rockets hitting Eshkol Regional Council; no injuries or damage reported.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Israeli prisons officer: Lets tighten Palestinian jail conditions
Israel should tighten the conditions of Palestinians in Israeli jails, according to a high-ranking Israeli prisons' official in an interview with Hebrew-language newspaper Ma'ariv on Tuesday. The officer, who asked Ma'ariv not to identify her, was quoted as saying that Palestinian prisoners in Israel's custody live in what resembles a boarding school, enjoying excellent life conditions, while captured soldier Gilad Shalit "is rotting in captivity."
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Number of Gaza siege victims reaches 271
Mohammed Saad, 40, has died after a "long battle with cancer" and after the Israeli occupation authority's siege blocked him from travel abroad for treatment, medical sources said on Tuesday.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Lebanon: Program For the "Days of Lifting the Siege of Gaza"
The Arab National Conference, the Islamic National Conference and the Arab Parties Conference invite you to take part in the "Days of Lifting the Siege of Gaza" which begin on Friday.
The program includes:
-Devoting Friday sermons for the occasion.
-Demonstrations and rallies following Friday prayers.
-Public festivals and seminars.
-Sit-ins outside Egyptian embassies across the world to demand the opening of the Rafah crossing.
-Addressing Arab parliaments to pressure their governments to assume their national duty.
-Sit-ins outside United Nations and Arab League headquarters across the world.
-Delivering memos to the Arab League, Arab Foreign Ministers, the United Nations, the Egyptian government and the Palestinian President to take responsibility regarding the Gaza blockade.
-Raising Palestinian flags during all events and in all possible locations.
-Demanding Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to halt negotiations with Israel.
-Dispatching convoys to break the siege.
The organizers will announce other dates to follow up the move under the slogan "Silence on the siege is also a siege."
http://almanar.com.lb/
Egypt's parliament calls for establishing relief mechanism for Gaza
The Egyptian parliament on Tuesday called for the establishment of an official mechanism to provide humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip, the state MENA news agency reported. The Arab Affairs Committee of the People's Assembly (lower house of the parliament) made the call during its meeting on the current situation in the Palestinian enclave.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
Humanitarian scandal in the making
The world can no longer ignore the "humanitarian scandal" developing in Gaza and that is why there are growing calls on Israel to lift the embargo on the impoverished strip, a veteran Palestinian economist has said.
http://archive.gulfnews.com/
Gaza's grim reaper
Israel always manages to commit its worst deeds when no one else is looking. If they happen to be caught, they blame it on the Palestinians – on a few resistance fighters.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/
Gaza truce set to expire
RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS)-Ten days of intensive fighting broke out between Israel and the Islamic resistance organization Hamas last month despite a ceasefire. Israel carried out a cross-border incursion into Gaza, sparking a cycle of tit-for-tat violence which claimed the lives of dozens of Palestinian fighters and lightly injured two Israelis. This serious breach of a six-month ceasefire between the two raises questions whether the current truce, which formally ends in several days will be renewed, or whether Israel will embark on a major military incursion into the Gaza Strip as it has been threatening.
http://electronicintifada.net/
Islamic Jihad calls for ending the truce, vows retaliation for its leader's assassination
The Islamic Jihad movement called on all Palestinian factions to declare the end of true with Israel as the Israeli army did not halt its assaults against the Palestinian people and assassinated the leader of the Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the movement in Jenin, in the northern part of the West Bank.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
Palestine Divided
The division between the West Bank and Gaza is set to endure despite the growing number of international actors who acknowledge that without Palestinian unity, a genuine peace process with Israel is unattainable. Changing the dynamics that have convinced both Fatah and Hamas that time is an ally in consolidating their current positions will be daunting, requiring U.S. engagement with Syria and Iran and a clear signal from the international community that this time it will not oppose a Fatah-Hamas partnership; will judge the government by its conduct, not composition; and will assess the Islamist movement on a more pragmatic basis.
http://www.crisisgroup.org/
Palestinian President: Will Call General Elections 'Very Soon'
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday he'll call general elections "very soon," signaling that he's ready for a new showdown with the Islamic militant Hamas. Hamas, which wrested control of Gaza from Abbas 18 months ago, contends that his term as president ends Jan. 8. Abbas initially said he has another year, but polls indicate most Palestinians disagree with him.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
April Elections – The Slow Motion Train Wreck
It has been reported today that President Abu Mazen has set a date for new Palestinian elections in April. He has reportedly said to Ma'an News, that this date will not change one way or the other. Well, now that we have an apparent date-certain for elections, Palestine Monitor has some other uncertainties we would like to have cleared up. Here they are, numbered for your convenience.
http://www.palestinemonitor.
Abbas-ordered censorship campaign threatens Palestinian press
Bethlehem – Ma'an – The Palestinian Authority (PA) has carried out an unprecedented campaign of censorship and intimidation against West Bank and Gaza Strip journalists in recent months, according to a Ma'an investigation. Long considered among the freest in the Arab world, Palestine's few independent news agencies are being targeted by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's security establishment, particularly the PA's Office of the Attorney General, which is currently headed by Ahmad Al-Mughanni.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Hamas-run court gives death penalty to Gazan for cooperating with Israel
A Palestinian military court on Tuesday sentenced a Gaza Strip resident to hanging for alleged security cooperation with Israel.
The military court, run by Islamic Hamas movement, "ruled to hang Mohammed Ali Saidam, 34, after he was found guilty of committing treason, spying, plotting and cooperating with the Zionist enemy," said Ahmed Attalla, head of Hamas' military judicial system.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
Hamas Orders Man To Hang For Collaborating With Israel
A court martial in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip sentenced a Palestinian man to hang for "treason, espionage and collaborating" with Israel, its chief magistrate said Tuesday. Mohammed Ali Hassan Saidam confessed after his arrest in February to having supplied intelligence to Israel that led to the elimination of Palestinian " resistance fighters," Ahmed Atta said. The sentence must be confirmed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas before it can be carried out. That is considered unlikely since the Islamists Hamas seized power from forces loyal to Abbas in June, 2007. Since the 2000 outbreak of the Palestinian uprising, dozens of Palestinians have been convicted of collaboration or killed by vigilantes. Of those convicted, only two have actually been executed. [end]
http://www.nasdaq.com/
DOWJONESDJO NLINE000455.htm
El Khodary: resolution 1850, protection for the occupation, settlements and annexing Jerusalem
Independent Palestinian Legislator, head of the Popular Committee Against the Siege (PCAS), Jamal El Khodary, stated on Tuesday that the adoption of Security Council resolution number 1850 is unbalanced and favors the Israeli side and the illegal measures of the occupation.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
PLC member: UN resolution "cover" for continued occupation, siege
A prominent Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member in the Gaza Strip brushed aside the importance of UN Security Council Resolution 1850 on Wednesday. PLC member Jamal Al-Khudary, who also heads the Gaza-based Popular Front Against the Siege, commented on the Security Council resolution, saying that it is "unbalanced" and "divides the West Bank and Judaizes Jerusalem.."
"The most dangerous aspect of this resolution is that it places the criminal and the victim on the same level," Al-Khudari wrote.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
All Hamas demands is Israeli respect
The coming days will reveal much about the mettle and the intentions of the Palestinian Hamas movement that now effectively runs a mini-state in the Gaza Strip, after defeating its rival Fatah in street skirmishes last year. The six-month-old cease-fire with Israel ends this week and talks are taking place now between Israeli and Egyptian officials about renewing it.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Hamas Approves First Gaza Bank Under Its Authority
Hamas has approved for the first time the establishment of a new bank in the Gaza Strip under its authority, a move that could open a door to bypass a financial blockade imposed by Israel and its Western allies.
http://www.postchronicle.com/
Hamas to open first Gaza bank in defiance of PA, Israel
Hamas will open its first bank in the Gaza Strip with 20 million dollars in capital by the end of December, Alaa Rafati, the future head of the bank's board of directors, told Ma'an on Wednesday. The bank is being established to deal with the severe international financial crisis, the bankruptcy of major international banks and a shortage of cash in Gaza resulting from Israel's ban on deliveries of banknotes.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Jordanian foreign minister tells Quartet to support PA
Jordanian Foreign Minister Salah Addin Al-Bashir urged the international community to support the Palestinian Authority (PA) in order to help it meet its international commitments. Al-Bashir's appeal came during a meeting of the Quartet of world powers – the US, UN, Russia and European Union – at UN headquarters in New York.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
ANALYSIS-Risks to rise in 09 among Israelis, Palestinians
Israel's strategic focus in 2009 will be on Iran's nuclear plans, on Syria and, to a lesser extent, on Lebanon, arenas where the arrival of the Obama administration in Washington may prompt shifts in tactics.
http://africa.reuters.com/
UN adopts Middle East resolution
Resolution calling for "intensification" of peace efforts adopted by council.
http://english.aljazeera.net//
Israeli-Palestinian peace process is irreversible
AP-The U.N. Security Council approved a resolution Tuesday stressing that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process initiated by the United States last year is irreversible and urging intensified efforts to achieve peace throughout the Middle East.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/
Mideast awaits new leaders, direction in 2009
Former President Jimmy Carter urged new focus on Israeli-Palestinian peace last week. But other accords may be more feasible.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/
British minister: Israeli restrictions largest obstacle for Palestinian economy
The British government is pressing Israel to ease restrictions on Palestinian movement, which remain the largest obstacle to economic recovery in the West Bank and Gaza, the British Minister of Trade and Investment, Gareth Thomas, has claimed. In an exclusive interview conducted via email Thomas responded to Ma'an's questions about a conference that began on Monday in London aimed at boosting investment in the Palestinian private sector. The conference was attended by Palestinian caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, himself an economist and former World Bank employee.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
British PM Brown urges Olmert to end freeze on Palestinian economy
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown pressed outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to lift restrictions on the Palestinian economy during talks Tuesday, his office said. Brown met with Olmert in London a day after hosting talks with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Livni's comments echo most hardliners
Palestinians' expulsion and land swaps are not new but Jews are pondering how to implement them against global opposition.
http://www.thenational.ae/
Mazuz wants affirmative action for Arabs
After ultra-Orthodox block bill granting Arab sector affirmative action, secured posts in public service jobs, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz says haredim don't face same hurdles as Arabs, hopes to pass law in next Knesset.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Poll: Most Israelis oppose Arab peace plan
Sixty-six percent of Palestinians support the Arab League initiative that calls for a full withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders, while only 36% of Israelis support the plan, according to a poll released on Tuesday. The survey also found that the newspapers ads the Palestinian Authority placed in Israeli papers last month in support of the Arab League plan did little to impact Israeli public opinion. Only 25% of Israelis said they saw the ads and only 14% actually read them.
http://www..jpost.com/servlet/
Iraqi ambassador says Israel/Palestine is the 'core' issue behind world terrorism
Further evidence that Israel/Palestine is going to be on Obama's front burner. Today in Washington at the National Council on US-Arab Relations, the well-spoken Iraqi Ambassador to the US, Samir Sumaida'ie said the most essential task the new administration faces in the war with Islamic terrorists is resolving the "festering" Arab-Israeli conflict.
http://www.philipweiss.org/
-blows-iraqi-ambassador-says-
The settlers' presence is a time bomb waiting to happen
The settler riots earlier this month were some of the worst instances of violence in Hebron in many years. But they were not isolated incidents and cannot be divorced from the brittle situation in Hebron that is a direct result of the city's fanatical settler presence, nor from the provocation of the settlement project in occupied Palestinian territory in general.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Who controls Hebron?
The violence that took place in Hebron in early December can tell a lot about who really is in charge in the biggest city in the West Bank. The Israeli army always claims that its job is merely to protect the citizens of Israel, namely the settlers, from any possible threat directed at them by the Palestinians, according to the Israeli law. Any observer of the sequence of events would have doubts about these claims and doubts about the army as an independent body that takes its commands from its military leadership.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
U.S. Professor denied entry into Israel and deported from Ben Gurion Airport
Princeton Professor Emeritus of International Law Richard Falk, the United Nations Human Rights Council´s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian Territory, has been deported from Israel on Monday after being barred from entry at the airport.
http://www.americanchronicle.
Israel's Detention Of UN Expert
Israel's refusal to allow a United Nations expert to transit to carry out his officially mandated functions in the occupied Palestinian territory, his detention and subsequent expulsion is "unprecedented and deeply regrettable," the world body's top human rights official said today. "It is the responsibility of States to cooperate with the independent United Nations experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council ," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay added of the treatment accorded the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, Richard Falk. "That is an important principle."
http://www.scoop.co.nz/
Time to End the Settlement Project
The recent settler violence in Hebron, which was described by Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, as a pogrom, brought to the attention of Israelis and Palestinians the grave danger that settlements and settlers represent. But the riots in Hebron were in fact different only in terms of the level of violence. Otherwise they were part of an orchestrated campaign of settler violence that has been in increasing evidence this past year. The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronot reported 675 violent incidents by Jewish settlers in the West Bank, mainly against Palestinian citizens, but also against Israeli soldiers.
http://palestinechronicle.com/
Boycott of settlements` industries is taking its toll
Adam Keller-Haaretz-The writing is on the wall. Anyone who wants to be part of the international community, and build global, long-term businesses, had better stay away from the settlements.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Pictures: ISM London: Protest outside Leviev store on Old Bond Street, London
http://www.palsolidarity.org/
-london/
Letters: Settlements in Palestine
Gordon Brown urging Israel to stop settlement building (International, 16 December) is like asking an alcoholic to stop drinking. Israel's addiction to building settlements on expropriated land, with the aim of Palestinian transfer, is ingrained in Zionist ideology and Israel's DNA. The more peace conferences are held, the more the illegal building frenzy goes on-through Madrid, Oslo, the road map and lately Annapolis.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Settlement builder met with worldwide protests
Signaling growing outrage at Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev's businesses' global rights abuses, on 12 and 13 December human rights advocates in Dubai, London and two West Bank Palestinian villages held protests against Leviev's settlement construction. According to Gulf News, the protest in Dubai, unprecedented in the United Arab Emirates, came after a screening at the Dubai International Film Festival of a documentary film about Palestinian hip-hop artists. Leviev's sale of his diamonds through Arif Bin Khadra's Levant jewelry stores in Dubai has stirred controversy there.Gordon Brown urging Israel to stop settlement building is like asking an alcoholic to stop drinking.
http://electronicintifada.net/
US Campaign to end the Occupation: Sign Our Open Letter to President-Elect Obama: We Need a Change in Israel/Palestine Policy
http://www.endtheoccupation.
Israeli settlements
"Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, are illegal and an obstacle to peace and to economic and social development [... and] have been established in breach of international law."
http://www.palestinemonitor.
Checkpoints
"The right to freedom of movement provides that people are entitled to move freely within the borders of the state, to leave any country and to return to their country."
http://www.palestinemonitor. org/spip/spip.php?article8
The flourishing State of Judea
The data released Monday by Ariel University Center of Samaria confront Israeli society with the destructive gap between legitimate Israel, which exists inside the Green Line, and the settlements. The data-excerpted from the 2007 statistical yearbook compiled by researchers at the institution on the basis of information from the Central Bureau of Statistics-show that 92.3 percent of Jewish residents of the territories are satisfied with their lives, a higher rate than the national average of 83 percent. The standard of living in the settlements is far higher than the average standard of living in Israel, and the same goes for quality of life.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Remove the blinkers and see the truth
For two years on Cif, I've detailed the miscarriages of justice I've witnessed. But many are still convinced Israel can do no wrong
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Nu'aman: A Palestinian Enclave Inside Israel
The village of Nu'aman, located on the southeastern border of the Jerusalem. Nu'aman is a small Palestinian village, located on the southeastern border of the Jerusalem Municipality, only a few hundred meters north of the West Bank city of Beit Sahour.
http://www.alternativenews.
Permanently unsettled – the story of the Al Kurd Family
Mohammad and Fawwazieh Al Kurd and their family have been living for more than 50 years in their family mansion in Sheikh Jarrah, at the eastern outskirts of Jerusalem. In July this year, the family received an eviction order that got concrete in November, as a group of Jewish settlers claimed ownership of their house. On the night of the 9th of November, Fawwazieh and her husband were violently evicted. Abu Kamal, father of five and the husband of Fawwazieh, was already paralyzed and suffering from bad heath conditions, diabetes and heart problems, and passed away as a consequence. He didn't survive the latest chain of events. For the last month, Fawwazieh has been living in a tent, outside of what used to be her neighbourhood, waiting to get her house back.
http://www.palestinemonitor.
Not built for surprises, by Amira Hass
Planning, organization, self-control and order-these characterized this week's mass rally held by Hamas in Gaza and reflect the organization's modus operandi, both open and concealed. Neither force nor bribery spurred the masses to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the movement's founding. The very large number of women who participated also demonstrated the widespread support Hamas has garnered, despite Israel's assassinations of its leaders, which may even have helped Hamas.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Stripping Israel of Its Blanket Immunity
Politics is a funny game, and as the popular saying goes, also makes strange bedfellows. That is why, when well-known adversaries become unlikely allies, most people are not necessarily fazed or even remotely surprised. Human rights, however, is a different story. Designed to be clear-cut, human rights are supposedly universally applied across the board, regardless of political considerations, race, religion or gender. That is why, when Israel's closest friends are also the world's most democratic ones, Palestinians and their supporters chalk up the inconsistencies to politics. However, when the issue comes to basic human rights, even the most unfazed of us is shocked at just how much Israel can get away with.
http://www.miftah.org/Display. cfm?DocId=18356&CategoryId=3
Palestinian film makes history
Some of the Arab World's biggest stars turned up to support the first fully Palestinian produced film at this year's Dubai International Film Festival (Diff). Filmmaker Najwa Najjar's Al Mor Wa Al Rumman (Pomegranates and Myrrh), which saw its world premiere at the Arabian Nights gala of the festival, was attended by celebrities, including Egyptian superstars Ragaa Al Gidawi and Lebleba. Top-selling Lebanese singer, Najwa Karam, also made a surprise appearance on the red carpet..
http://www.business24-7.ae/
Celebrating the miracle of another film born from Occupied Palestine
DUBAI: Since its inception five years ago, the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) has hosted a red carpet screening for an important film in its Arabic-language panorama program, Arabian Nights. DIFF 2008 has selected "Pomegranates and Myrrh," the debut feature by Palestinian writer-director Najwa Najjar, which also had its world premier at DIFF.
http://www.dailystar.com..lb/
Palestinian voices emerge in Dubai
DUBAI--When Cherien Dabis thinks back to her school days in rural Ohio, it's not the cheerleading team or prom night that first come to mind. Instead, the filmmaker daughter of two Palestinian immigrants to the U.S. recalls an incident that occurred during the first Gulf War.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.
UNRWA takes aim at violence in refugee schools
AMMAN: The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian refugees has launched an initiative to combat violence in its schools in Lebanon and elsewhere across the Middle East by teaching children tolerance and conflict resolution, but teachers and refugees doubt the scheme will work in the poverty-stricken camps.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Solar Energy Used to Heat Gaza Strip Ovens
They say that necessity is the mother of all invention.. In the Gaza Strip, due to the restrictions placed by Israel, one Gazan engineer has developed a solar oven that uses the abundant supply of sunlight to cook food.
http://cleantechnica.com/2008/
Majdal: Home Sweet Home
Home for all of us is the place where we can find peace, comfort, and love, it is where we find passion, and warmth, no matter where we are or who we are it is the place where we want to hide and seek peace. Home is the place where every stone, every corner recalls a memory of a certain event during your childhood; it is where the signs of how tall you became are still carved on the door.
http://palestinechronicle.com/
Top Israeli officer says Hizbullah will be destroyed in five days 'next time'
Israel is developing plans to "destroy" Hizbullah in an armed onslaught of such severity that it would require no more than five days to complete, a senior Israeli military officer has said. The commander of Israel's artillery division, which fired an average of 5,000 shells a day into Lebanon during the summer war in 2006, said.
http://www..dailystar.com.lb/
Blasts kill many in Baghdad
At least 18 people were killed and 53 others wounded by a car bomb, followed almost immediately by another explosion, in central Baghdad on Wednesday.
http://archive.gulfnews.com/
Bomb explosion kills three including student
Security and medical sources reported that three people were killed including a student and a policeman while seven were wounded in a bomb explosion targeting a police patrol on Al Sinaa Street. In central Baghdad near Al Andalus Square, a bomb targeted a police patrol wounding three policemen and two civilians. On the other hand, two people were wounded in a car bomb explosion targeting the convoy of Sciences and Technology Minister Raed Jahed Fahmi near Babel Hotel in Al Karrada. Moreover, three soldiers were wounded in a roadside bomb explosion targeting their patrol in eastern Baquba.
http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/
Seven killed in violence in Iraq
Four Iraqi soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb car exploded near a security patrol in Saadia.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/
As Iraq calms, Mosul remains a battle front
US forces may stay in the volatile northern city beyond the June deadline for Americans to pull back to bases.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/
US hands over members of Saddam's regime to Iraq
The U.S. military says it has handed over 39 detainees — described as former members of Saddam Hussein's regime — to the government of Iraq. The military said in a statement released Tuesday that the detainees were transferred Monday from a U.S. prison facility at Camp Cropper in Baghdad to an Iraqi-controlled prison. The statement gave no names.
http://www.google.com/
Iraq's "Chemical Ali" Remains In US Hands-Lawyer
AMMAN (AFP)--Saddam Hussein's notorious hatchet-man Hassan al-Majid, who is on death row for massacres of Iraqi Kurds and Shiites, is still being held in U.S. custody, a defense lawyer said on Wednesday. Amman-based Badie Izzat Aref said his client Tariq Aziz, a former Iraqi deputy premier, and Majid, who is known as "Chemical Ali," were both not among ousted regime members who have been transferred to Iraqi custody. Majid has been sentenced to death for genocide after ordering the deaths of tens of thousands of Kurds during the 1988 Anfal campaign. He has been also condemned to death for a brutal crackdown on Shiites during a 1991 uprising.
http://www.nasdaq.com/
JONESDJO NLINE000662.htm
Basra seeks to flex muscles in Iraq
A push is under way to make Iraq's oil-rich southern province of Basra a federal region, a move that would give it the same legal powers as autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan and possibly boost Basra's oil income.
http://rss.cnn.com/%7Er/rss/
US worried about need for warrants in Iraq
AP-U.S. soldiers preparing for raids study maps, examine photos of wanted men and check their weapons. Starting next month, they'll have to go see a judge.. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/
General Electric wins $3b Iraqi power deal
US conglomerate General Electric Co. said Tuesday it has been awarded a three billion dollar power generation contract by war-wracked Iraq.
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/
Iraq pomegranates bear grim testimony to Al-Qaeda torture
AFP-Roses line the gravel road, palm fronds rustle in the breeze and wild flowers spread across the meadows where cattle graze--the Iraqi scene would be charming without the stench of death.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
Dick Cheney refuses to admit that Saddam Hussein was not a threat
Scott Ritter: Despite the facts, the vice-president still insists that Saddam Hussein could have produced weapons of mass destruction.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Perino: We're not occupiers in Iraq; we're guests
QUESTION: Why not worry about it?Does it reflect the feelings of the people?
PERINO: I don't think that you can take one guy throwing his shoe as representative of the people of Iraq.
And I will tell you that Prime Minister Maliki and the journalists who were there in the room, who apologized on behalf of the Iraqis, saying this is not how they would treat a guest. […]
QUESTION: But he wasn't a guest. We're occupiers.
PERINO: No, we're not. We are absolutely a guest.
Perino: We're not occupiers in Iraq; we're guests.
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/
Trust ties
How the Iraqi diaspora supports families back home.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-
Rafha Camp Iraqi refugees asked to return home
The Ministry of Immigration and Displaced has called on refugee families in Rafha Camp to return to Iraq as Iraqi and Saudi authorities plan to close off the camp. The Ministry vowed to ensure habitats and provide financial grants and prerogatives to refugees similarly to the case of Iraqis who returned from Iran. To view the video report of this topic, click on play movie.
http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/
Iraq MPs rage over shoe thrower
There are scenes of uproar in the Iraqi parliament as MPs discuss a journalist who threw shoes at the visiting US president.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-
Iraqi official says he's quitting over shoe-tosser
AP-Iraq's parliament speaker announced his resignation Wednesday after a parliamentary session descended into chaos as lawmakers argued about whether to free a journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/
'Broken arm and ribs' for Iraqi who 'shoed' Bush
The Iraqi journalist who hurled shoes at US President George W. Bush is in hospital after being beaten up by security guards, his brother said on Tuesday, as judicial authorities launched a probe into the incident that grabbed headlines around the world. "He has been taken to Ibn Sina Hospital because he has a broken arm.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Judge visits Iraqi shoe-tossing journalist in jail
Al Zaidi was expected to appear in court, but his brother, Durgham, tells The Associated Press he was informed by a judge that another judge has visited him in jail instead. Durgham says he believes the visit suggests his brother was beaten "and they fear that his appearance could trigger anger at the court."
http://archive.gulfnews.com/
Iraqi Shoe-Thrower to Appear in Court
A Wednesday court appearance is the first step in a potential criminal prosecution against the man who threw his shoes at President Bush.
http://www.nytimes..com/2008/
Al-Zaydi refuses to empower Saddam's lawyer to defend him-spokesman
BAGHDAD /Aswat al-Iraq: The official spokesman for the higher judicial council said on Tuesday that Muntadher al-Zaydi refused to entrust Khalil al-Dulaimi, who chaired the commission to defend former president Saddam Hussein, or Arab lawyers to defend him. "The government dealt with defendant al-Zaydi according to 3rd article of the 223 clause of [...]
http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=
Group to protest for shoe-thrower's release at White House
The theatrical anti-war group Code Pink plans to gather outside the White House today to protest for the release of the Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at President Bush over the weekend. The activists plan to show up with a "large supply of shoes" in order to show solidarity with Muntader al-Zaidi, who has been in custody since disrupting a weekend press conference with the size-10 projectiles.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/
Petition: The 50,000 Signatures Campaign for the release of Muntadhar Al-Zaydi
This signature campaign demands of the release of the Iraqi Journalist, Montadhar Al-Zaydi who hurled a pair of shoes at George Bush on 12/14/2008 in Baghdad in reaction to Bush's immoral invasion of Iraq and the war-crimes committed by the occupying forces with the aid of local warlords. We hereby sign below to demand the immediate release of the Journalist Montadhar Al-Zaydi, without any constraints or conditions. We also hold Al-Maliki's government and the Bush administration accountable and responsible for his life, dignity, and well-being
http://www.iraqsnuclearmirage.
Man offers $10m for pair of shoes
An ordinary shoe worn by an Iraqi journalist turned into a memento of pride worth millions of dollars, according to a report carried by Al Arabiya net.
http://archive.gulfnews.com/
Shoe-throwing reporter a hero to some Iraqi colleagues
BAGHDAD — In the U.S., hurling an object at another country's visiting leader wouldn't earn a journalist much respect among his peers.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/
The shoes we longed for
Within a few unlikely seconds, a pair of size 10 shoes have become the most destructive weapon the people of Iraq have managed to throw at the occupying powers, after nearly six years of occupation and formidable resistance. One Iraqi writer called the shoes, hurled by a journalist at George Bush, "Iraq's weapon of comprehensive destruction". While the uprisings of Falluja, Najaf, Basra and Baghdad against the occupation will always remain as landmarks of a people resisting occupation, these incredible seconds have united Iraqis in the most dramatic fashion.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
The boot is on the other foot
Is it any wonder that George Bush had shoes thrown at him as a symbol of utter contempt (Shoe assault, 16 December)?The US has trampled on its own ideals with its illegal wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; it has torn to shreds its notions of democracy and justice for all with its illegal prisons in Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo, and by rendition. As if that wasn't enough, the breathtaking greed and fraud of its Wall Street traders has brought the entire world to its knees. Every economy has suffered the negative effects of the "greatest country in the world".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Ahmed Shihab-Eldin: Lebanese Students Find Hero In Iraqi Shoe Thrower
As former President Carter ended his trip to Lebanon where he spoke to a crowd of students about peace and was only interrupted by generous applause, a soon to be former President was speaking to a crowd of journalists in Iraq when he was interrupted with a kick thrown at him, twice.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Bush's record and the soles of Arab folk
Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi's flinging of two shoes at US President George W. Bush in Baghdad on Sunday has qualified him as a bona fide Arab hero. OK, so maybe the only institutional recognition has come from a charity run by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's daughter, but there is no mistaking the instant.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Al-Zaidi Puts Iraq Back on the Map
I can't lie. I've watched Iraqi journalist Montather Al-Zaidi whip those two shoes past George Bush's head more times than I can count. I loved it; I even got into the corny jokes about the Red Sox drafting Al-Zaidi in the spring (cementing my belief that Iraqis have the second strongest arms in the Middle East—behind Palestinians of course). I also read endless blog coverage and joined the Facebook group, "Release Montather Al-Zaidi and Give Him New Shoes."
http://palestinechronicle.com/
Muntadar al-Zeidi: Hero, Martyr, Symbol of Resistance
Excerpt: The shoe-throwing Iraqi journalist, who is, by now, probably half beaten to death for the "crime" of paying back--in very small measure--George W. Bush for his crimes against the Iraqi people, is a folk hero to millions. And his admirers aren't all Iraqis or other Arabs, not by a long shot.
http://www..antiwar.com/
THE ROVING EYE : The emperor gets the boot
Call it poetic justice, but in the end President George W Bush found his weapons of mass destruction-in the form of two size 10 shoes hurled at his head. Bush may have dodged them with his "cat-like" reflexes, but metaphorically they managed to strike the huge army of assorted profiteers that made the Iraqi tragedy possible, while putting US public opinion to shame. The thrower, meanwhile, is being hailed across the Arab world.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/
The "Arab Culture" and the Shoe: Let's Put on our Orientalist Anthropological Musing Caps On Shall We?
The official play-by-play
Bush: "Shukran Jazeera" (hehehe)
First Shoe: "This is a kiss goodbye, you son of a dog (Ibn kalb)"
Second Shoe: "this is for the widows, the orphans, and all those killed in Iraq."
Not only did those comments and the conjoined hurling of shoes spark what would later be known as "shoe-gate," but it created a flurry of chatter in Western media about the symbolism of "the sole of the shoe in Arab culture," with sweeping, unfounded monolithic anthropologically-oriented assumptions about "Arab culture" reminiscent of Orientalist fascinations of yester-year. Here are some I made note of in Western broadcast news realm.
http://www.kabobfest.com/2008/
Taking a swipe at Bush: Zaidi-inspired shoe game on Internet
AFP-Following in the footsteps of the Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at President George W. Bush, anyone can take a virtual swipe at the US leader on the Internet thanks to a new game.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
e-Holiday Greeting Card: Bush getting shoes thrown at him
http://answer.pephost.org/
*****The ANSWER Coalition is joining with other coalitions, organizations, and networks in a March 21 National Coalition to bring people from all walks of life and from all cities across the United States to take part in a March on the Pentagon on the sixth anniversary of the Iraq war: Saturday, March 21.
Pictures
http://www.latimes.com/la-
Cartoons
http://palestinianpundit. blogspot.com/2008/12/shoe-
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www.TheHeadlines.org
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