Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines January 03, 2008 ~

Mosque shelled in Beit Lahiya Saturday; at least 14 killed, dozens injured
Israel intensified its ground, air and naval attacks on different parts of Gaza on Saturday, killing some 30 Palestinians and injuring dozens of others. After an airstrike that targeted a local mosque in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza , ambulances transferred dozens of injured to the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital . Some of the Palestinians' bodies arrived in parts. The count since the start of the military operation on 27 December is now 457 dead and at least 2,300 injured, according to medical officials in Gaza ….Absent from the beginning of the ongoing assault on Gaza , Israeli artillery on Saturday joined in the attack, shelling Gaza City from every direction. Israeli tanks fired around 20 artillery shells on open land and its air force continued targeting sites in Jabalia, while naval boats shelled different targets on the coast. Saturday's strikes have been reported as follows: 16:00pmAn Israeli airstrike killed 14 Palestinians at a mosque in Beit Lahiya 2:30pm Two fighters affiliated to Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades were killed as an Israeli reconnaissance plane targeted a car in Khan Younis. Shadi Shurbaji and Mahmoud Arif arrived to Nasser Hospital "torn to pieces." The missile hit them directly. 12:15pm One Palestinian was killed in Khan Younis. 12:00pm Two Gazans succumbed to their wounds at Egyptian hospitals. They were identified as 19-year-old Bilal Suhiel Ghabyen and 34-year-old Auda Hamada Abu Al-Fatya. 7:00am Israeli warplanes destroyed the American School in northern Gaza City , killing its security guard Salim Abu Qalil….
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=34516

Israeli jets level elite American-style school in Gaza
Israeli warplanes leveled an American-style private school on Saturday morning that employees say had no connection to the Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip or to armed activity in the Strip. The American International School in Gaza (AISG) in Beit Lahiya was founded by Americans in 2001. An elite private institution, AISG stressed teaching English as a second language and instilling progressive, enlightened values in its students using an American curriculum.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=34538

Eight days under attack: death toll in Gaza reaches 438
The funeral of three children from Al Astal family killed by the Israeli shelling on their home on Friday – photo by WAFA--An Israeli air attack targeted the American school in Gaza city killing the night guard on Saturday morning. Today the Israeli army announced that a full-scale ground offensive in Gaza is now a matter of hours.
http://imemc.org/article/58293

Three children of the same family killed in one Israeli occupation airstrike
Three Palestinian children from the same family died in an Israeli occupation airstrike at the Qarara village east of the northern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis .
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/

Civilians take brunt of 7th day of Gaza offensive
* Strike kills 3 children playing in street * Hamas vows suicide attacks on "Zionists everywhere" * Palestinian death toll reaches 425 * Protests turn violent in West Bank, Jordan--GAZA, Jan 2 (Reuters) -The civilian death toll climbed in Israel's air offensive against the Gaza Strip on Friday and Palestinian Islamists vowed revenge for the killing of a senior Hamas leader and his family.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/SODA-7MWQEY?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P

Harm to civilians during the fighting in Gaza and Southern Israel
http://gazaeng.blogspot.com/

'Critical emergency' in Gaza after air strike every 20 minutes
Much of Gaza's public infrastructure has been destroyed and the territory is in a "critical emergency" after seven days of devastating bombing with air strikes averaging one every 20 minutes, the UN said yesterday.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/03/gaza-infrastructure-humanitarian-crisis

Hundreds dead, thousands injured and displaced
Report, Al Mezan, 2 January – At approximately 2:40pm yesterday, Thursday 1 January 2008, Israeli aircrafts fired heavy missiles at the house of Nizar Rayyan, a leader in the Hamas movement, in the Jabaliya refugee camp, causing massive destruction in the camp and killing 16 of its residents, 11 of whom were children. The victims were identified as: 49-year-old Nizar Abdul-Qadir Rayyan; 40-year-old Nawal Ismail Rayyan; 46-year-old Hyiam Abdul-Rahman Rayyan; 45-year-old Iman Khalil Rayyan; 25-year-old Shirin Said Rayyan; 2-year-old Asad Nizar Rayyan; 3-year-old Usama Nizar Rayyan; 3-year-old Aiysha Nizar Rayyan; 4-year-old Reem Nizar Rayyan; 5-year-old Halima Nizar Rayyan; 5-year-old Meryam Nizar Rayyan;….
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10099.shtml

Report: Hamas says it foiled IDF infiltration attempt in Gaza
A spokesman for the military wing of Hamas said early Saturday morning that it foiled an attempt by Israel Defense Forces soldiers to infiltrate the Shajaiyeh section of Gaza City , Israel Radio reported. According to Israel Radio, the spokesperson said that after Hamas militants detected the IDF soldiers, Hamas gunmen fired six mortar shells at them. The soldiers reportedly returned fire and then retreated into Israeli territory.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052034.html

Hamas has gone underground
By Mohammed Abdulrahman. The large-scale Israeli offensive in Gaza has sent Hamas leaders and operatives physically under the ground. They are nowhere to be seen. None of them have appeared in public or in the media apart from a recorded speech by Hamas government chief Ismael Haniya. Prominent Hamas leader Nizar Rayan, who chose to remain on ground level, was killed Thursday by an Israeli missile attack on his house. For almost three years, Hamas was busy digging and building an extensive network of tunnels under the cities of Gaza and Rafah for military purposes, leaving smuggling tunnels across the border with Egypt for private entrepreneurs who pay lucrative taxes to Hamas.
http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/090102-hamas-underground

IDF phones Gaza residents to warn them of imminent strikes
Palestinians reported that in some cases, the caller leaves a message on their voice mail warning that the IDF will bomb any house where weapons are rockets are found and the owners of the houses will be the ones to suffer the consequences. The IDF has also used what they are calling "roof knocking" operations, in which they inform the residents of suspected buildings that they have 10 minutes to leave the premises. In some cases, residents of suspected houses have been able to prevent bombing by climbing up to the roof to show that they will not leave, prompting IDF commanders to call off the strike. In these cases, Channel 10 reported Thursday, the IAF sometimes launches a relatively harmless missile at the corner of the roof, avoiding casualties but successfully dispersing the crowd. It appears that the "roof knocking" technique was used in the assassination of Hamas leader Nizar Ghayan Thursday, but Ghayan decided to stay indoors with his family, and the army opted to bomb the house anyway.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052260.html

Posters urge Gazans to inform IDF of Hamas' whereabouts
'Rocket launchers, terror operatives are danger to you and your families,' say thousands of posters dropped on Gaza by Air Force--the army is asking civilians to act against Hamas by informing Israel of the operatives' whereabouts. "Residents of Gaza , Hamas' leadership will lead you to oblivion. Take responsibility for your fate," the posters say in Hebrew and Arabic.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3649430,00.html

Domain hacked in protest to ongoing Gaza offensive
Israeli sources reported on Friday that an Israeli domain server was hacked on Friday and the main pages of major Israeli websites were replaced with images of the casualties of the ongoing Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58292

Gaza braces for Israeli ground assault
After a week of airstrikes on Hamas targets, leaving an estimated 420 dead and scores more injured, Israel is poised to launch what's said to be a "major ground offensive" into the Gaza strip.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Gaza_braces_for_Israeli_ground_assault_0102.html

Israeli TV commentators urge Gaza ground war
Israeli TV commentators have become impatient with the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip. "Let's attack them live on air and show them what a real Israeli strike is; lets teach them the meaning of Israeli power," said one commentator.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=34530

Israel aims to cripple Hamas, warn other foes: experts
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel has thousands of troops massed for a ground offensive on Gaza that would aim to deal a hammer blow to Hamas and re-establish Israel 's military credentials with its other foes, experts said. After Israel 's 2006 war in Lebanon , widely condemned as a fiasco, this campaign has been scrupulously prepared and few experts believe Hamas can halt the waiting army. The number of troops and tanks along the 60 kilometre (37 mile) border is a military secret but Israeli leaders say the force is ready and local media say the assault is imminent.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090102/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictgazaisraelstrategy

Hamas leader says it's ready to confront Gaza invasion
* Bush spells out vision of ceasefire
* Palestinian official says Egypt begins truce initiative
* Hamas leader says group will resist any Gaza invasion
* Palestinian death toll reaches 429
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L2438161.htm

Hamas: Israel faces more abducted soldiers if it invades Gaza
Exiled Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal said in a televised speech from Damascus on Friday that Hamas was ready to resist any Israeli ground invasion of the Gaza Strip and might abduct more soldiers.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052272.html

Despite the carnage in Gaza, Mubarak is not going to open the Rafah crossing
The Egyptian president, Husni Mubarak said on Thursday that he cannot open the Rafah crossing for humanitarian help without a permission from the Israeli occupation.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/

Egypt allows the [limited] opening of Rafah crossing
The Egyptian Authorities allowed the opening of the Rafah crossing, located between Gaza and Egypt , to be open for the third day in row on Saturday. Khaled Atiah, the Palestinian coordinator for crossings in the Palestinian Embassy in Egypt told the Palestinian News Agency Wafa the Egyptian army allowed Gazans who were in Egypt for medical care or been stranded at the borders to cross into Gaza. Atiah added that a new wave of humanitarian aid and medicine will be allowed in Gaza on Saturday. Egypt still refuses to allow the Rafah crossing to be open all the time after pressure from the USA and Israel .
http://imemc.org/article/58296

Egypt, Feeling Pressure From the Arab World on Gaza, Also Feels It From Within
CAIRO — Egypt is the crucial, if reluctant, intermediary between Israel and Hamas, which is no great friend of this moderate secular state. Still, a sustained Israeli ground operation in neighboring Gaza would sharply increase public pressure on President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt to do more to help the Palestinians there.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/03/world/middleeast/03egypt.html?_r=1

Arabs increasingly accuse Egypt of being complicit in Israel's war on Gaza
CAIRO : As the Palestinian death toll pushes past 420, much of popular anger throughout the Arab world has been directed at Egypt-seen by many as complicit in the Israeli campaign. " Israel would not have hit Gaza like this without a green light from Egypt ," Hamdi Hassan, MP for the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt 's largest opposition movement, told IPS .
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=98808

Government contortions, public anger in Egypt
By Jack Shenker. Doublespeak absurdity is plentiful at the moment; I thought I'd had more than my fair share of it in the West Bank this week, watching Israel's brazen PR zealots deliver soundbite after soundbite into television cameras, each of them notable only for their heart-stopping audacity. But that was before I returned to Cairo to hear the Mubarak government's breathtaking contortions as it tried to justify its complicity in Israel 's Gazan bloodbath.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/03/egypt-israelandthepalestinians

Egypt police block Friday prayer, assault hundreds in pro-Gaza downtown [Cairo] protests
Egyptian security forces denied worshippers access to Friday prayers and arrested top Muslim Brotherhood leaders to disperse Pro-Gaza nationwide demonstration, said a Muslim Brotherhood leader. Among the arrested was Chairman of Muslim Brotherhood administrative Bureau in Giza governorate Sayed El Nezeili.
http://www.ikhwanweb.com/Article.asp?ID=18963&LevelID=1&SectionID=0

Coup in Egypt?
I asked a journalist whose knowledge of Egypt I respect about prospects of a coup in Egypt . He sent me this (he chooses to remain anonymous): "actually, there is word (posted on a website for harakat annaseriyyeen al 3arab-which i have not located yet but was told about) of a failed attempt that already happened/was being planned in the past few days and that the perpetrators are now being tried in a secret court, but there is no confirmation yet. one liwa was allegedly involved. (a former failed attempt had taken place during invasion of iraq but was flatly denied and shushed early on. the army by the way has been deployed to stem protests now. obviously, the longer the gaza situation remains as is and hamas puts on a strong defense, the more likely it will happen. one of the journalists who has been in touch with people there says anything that provides a context for a coup at this stage will be used, people are just fed up. one has to be on ground to give smart estimate but i believe chances for either revolt or coup remain low to medium at best-the former less likely than the latter. any sustainable coup in my opinion has either to secure the support or sympathy of ikhwan or get green light from washington-, otherwise it will have no muscle and will be left exposed. but you know these things, when they happen , there is a rupture that one can hardly rationalize. i am phoning a journalist there on the ground tomorrow. will send you any significant updates."
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/01/coup-in-egypt.html

British protestors target Egypt over Gaza conflict
LONDON (AFP) – Protestors rallied outside Egypt 's embassy in London on Friday, urging Cairo to open its border with Gaza , in the latest in a week of demonstrations here over the Israeli military clampdown.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090102/wl_uk_afp/mideastconflictgazabritainprotestus

Egypt hopes Israel will either oust Hamas from Gaza or weaken it sufficiently
As the chairman of the Egyptian parliament's foreign affairs committee said, " Egypt won't tolerate the existence of an Islamic state at its border." At the same time, Egypt 's support for Gaza 's isolation secures the goodwill of Washington and Israel , while preserving its regional role vis-a-vis rivals Iran and Syria .
http://friday-lunch-club.blogspot.com/2009/01/winep-egypt-hopes-israel-will-either.html

Palestinian official: Egypt in talks with Hamas on restoring Gaza calm
The senior Palestinian official, who declined to be named and who has been close to previous talks between Egypt and Hamas, said Egypt had started contacts with Hamas to discuss ideas about restoring a ceasefire to the strip.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052269.html

Hezbollah guns to stay silent despite Gaza bloodshed
BEIRUT (AFP) – Lebanon's Shiite militant group Hezbollah--vying with Hamas as Israel's 'public enemy number one'--will not rush to rescue Gaza Strip Palestinians nor open a second front with the Jewish state, analysts said on Friday. The armed group, which fired thousands of rockets into northern Israel during its war in 2006, will pursue its policy of moral support only, according to the analysts.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090102/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictgazahezbollah

Al-Qassam Brigades: 302 projectiles fired at Israel since beginning of Gaza offensive
an average of 44 per day. Islamic Jihad's military wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility to have launched two homemade rockets towards the Israeli border town of Sderot on Saturday. Fatah's military wing, the Al-Aqsa Brigades, claimed responsibility for firing three mortar rounds at an Israeli intelligence building at the Kissufim military installation….
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=34520

IDF admits to overestimating Gaza rocket severity, but warns worst may be yet to come
The threat that Hamas' ballistic capabilities pose to the people of the Negev is less serious than initially presumed and the residents of the targeted areas are not demonstrating signs of panic, according to an interim analysis by the Israel Defense Forces of the situation nearly a week after the launching of Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052046.html

Ashdod Built on 'Leveled' Arab Suqrir
Ashdod has figured prominently in the western press because one Israeli woman died there as a result of a rocket attack. One hundred times as many Palestinian Arabs have died during Israel 's latest massacre, but the woman who died in Ashdod featured prominently in a Newsweek story.
http://umkahlil.blogspot.com/2009/01/ashdod-built-on-leveled-arab-suqrir.html

Poll: 60% of Gazans say Hamas wrong to end ceasefire
Anti-Hamas sentiment was predictably high among Fatah supporters, 77 percent of whom rejected the Hamas strategy, although a similar number of Hamas supporters believe the decision was right (76 percent). Just a slim majority of Palestinians in Gaza support rocket fire against Israeli targets, with about 54 percent in favor of the continuing bombardment. A nearly identical percentage of Israelis support the ongoing airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, incidentally.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=34531

Did the IAF bomb a Gazan welding truck or a Hamas Grad transport?
(3 Jan; includes video) By Amira Hass. Just before midnight , on December 29, the Israel Defense Forces Spokesman's Office posted an urgent headline on its Web site: Truck packed with weapons attacked near Jabalya. The subheadline went on to read: "At around 6 P.M. , the Israel Air Force attacked a Hamas truck carrying dozens of Grad rockets." ... Human rights groups' investigations, however, present a different testimony altogether. According to B'tselem and the Mezan center for human rights, the truck belongs to Ahmed Samur, 55, and is still standing, burnt, beside his workshop in the Jabaliya refugee camp. Next to it hang scorched oxygen balloons, a blade and cables. "Suddenly I saw a flash of light next to my truck and then it caught fire and I heard the sound of an explosion. I started to run toward the blast, and when I got close and the smoke cleared, I saw bodies, one of them belonging to my son Imad. I fainted. When I woke up they told me that Imad and the seven other young people who were helping him had been killed," Samur recounted.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052258.html

Eyewitnesses in Gaza
Video: Gaza – Life under bombardment
Hatem al-Shurrab, an aid worker for the Gaza-based Islamic Relief organisation, has kept a video diary of the last few days to show what conditions have been like since Israeli air strikes began
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2009/jan/02/gaza-video-diary

Eyewitness: Beir Zeit University assistant - bombing in Gaza
Zain Abu Qasem, an admin assistant at Beir Zeit University in Gaza , gives her account of the bombing.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/03/eyewitness-bombing-gaza

Eyewitness: Teacher and translator Fida Qishta on the air strikes in southern Gaza
Fida Qishta, a teacher and translator in southern Gaza , describes the impact of the air strikes.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/03/eyewitness-bombing-southern-gaza

ACT: Eyewitnesses in Gaza: "They kill our children at home"
GENEVA, 2 January 2009--Bombs continue to fall while the population in Gaza sits by their open windows in the cold, holding their kids and telling lies to the youngest: "It is just new year fire crackers!" No one over the age of five believes it and the adults do not believe what the Israeli minister of foreign affairs, Tzipi Livni, said Thursday: "There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza."
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/222031/123092966856.htm

Laila Al-Arian: After Years in Exile, My Grandfather Returns to Gaza
On Sunday morning, I found out through a note my friend wrote on Facebook, that the Israeli Air Force was attacking my grandfather's neighborhood in Gaza. Safa, who lives near my grandfather in the densely-populated "Asqoola" in Gaza City , recounted the harrowing hours she spent terrorized by what she called "the constant, ominous, maddening, droning sound" of Apache helicopters flying above. "Outside my home, which is close to the two largest universities in Gaza , a missile fell on a large group of young men, university students," Safa wrote over the weekend. "They'd been warned not to stand in groups--it makes them an easy target--but they were waiting for buses to take them home. Seven were killed."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laila-alarian/after-years-in-exile-my-g_b_154827.html

Gaza diary: Ewa Jasiewicz spends a harrowing week documenting life under attack from Israel
Ewa Jasiewicz is a journalist and activist. She is currently the project co-ordinator for the Free Gaza Movement, and one of the only international journalists on the ground in Gaza . Here is her account of a week spent trying to document the attacks.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/03/gaza-attacks-diary-israel-attacks

Karma Nabulsi calls friends in Gaza revealing daily life under daily attack
Last Saturday, the first day of massive air strikes on Gaza , I finally get through to my old friend Mohammed. We speak for a few moments, he reassures me he is OK, he asks about my now-delayed trip to Gaza , and suddenly I ask: "What is that noise?" It is a sort of distant keening, like the roar of approaching traffic, or a series of waves hitting a rocky shore. "I am at the cemetery, Karma", he says, "I am burying my family." He now sounds exhausted. He repeats, over and over again in his steady, tired voice as if it were a prayer: "This is our life. This is our life. This is our life."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/03/israel-palestinians-gaza-attacks

Journal: From the Kabariti kids
I've been asked to send some messages to a couple of the worldwide rallies on Saturday (yay!), and decided that I would much prefer to let Palestinians speak for themselves, especially some of the 50% of Gaza's population who are under 18 years old. (If you can only remember one statistic, that's the one you want.) I slept last night in a sea of blankets with the Kabariti girls, and thank goodness, there were less attacks on the port than the night before and they could get a little sleep. They have provided me with very neatly written messages to you, which I promised would be on this page before their bedtime.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2009/01/02/journal-from-the-kabariti-kids/

Gazans: 'We are living a nightmare'
As the death toll from Israel 's aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip continues to climb, Al Jazeera asked Gazans to describe the situation where they are and to explain how the offensive is affecting them.
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2008/12/20081229103924975479.html

British volunteer: Gazans fear worse to come
A British volunteer in the Gaza Strip has said civilians there believe there is worse to come after seven days of bombardment by Israeli forces. Ms Linnell said: "The Palestinian people have had years of coping with atrocities but they have never seen anything like this before, nothing on this scale. "There is no such thing as normal life here at the moment, everyone knows anyone can be hit at any time."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/7808007.stm

PLO: Abbas en route to New Y ork in effort to stop bloodshed
Saeb Erekat, head of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)'s Negotiations Affairs Department, confirmed that the president intends to pressure member states of the UN to pressure Israel to "unconditionally and immediately" halt its attacks on the Gaza Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=34508

Arab legislators speak out for Gaza from Tyre meeting
SIDON : The Arab Parliamentary Union met in support of Gaza in the southern port city of Tyre on Thursday, calling for a unified Arab stance on the ongoing Israeli attacks on the impoverished enclave. The meeting's final statement called for freezing all sorts of direct and indirect negotiations between Arab countries and Israel .
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=98821

Israeli army detains two Al-Jazeera journalists near Gaza
JERUSALEM (AFP): Israeli troops have detained two journalists from Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television in an area close to the Gaza border that has been decreed a closed military zone, the police said. Earlier, Israel 's Supreme Court ordered the state to allow foreign reporters into the Gaza Strip, but no journalists went in amid disagreement between a foreign press group and the authorities.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Israeli_army_detains_two_Al-Jazeera_journalists_near_Gaza
/articleshow/3928737.cms

Israeli Supreme Court clears police obstruction of Tel Aviv anti-war march
A ruling by the Israeli Supreme Court will allow a massive peace demonstration to go forward in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening.organizers are expecting thousands of Arab and Jewish Israelis to gather in Rabin Square . The coalition of Israeli peace groups, human rights organizations, political parties and labor unions is calling for an immediate ceasefire and the removal of Israel 's crippling blockade of the Gaza Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=34523

'Anarchists' block entrance to IAF base in protest of Gaza strikes
Twenty-one members of the "Anarchists Against the Wall" group were arrested Friday morning after they blocked the entrance to the Sde Dov Israel Air Force base in North Tel Aviv. The protestors, wearing white masks and covered in fake blood, lay on the street and played dead. Ayala, one of the protestors, said that the protest was meant to "show IAF pilots the results of their actions in Gaza . From thousands of feet in the air, a pilot who aims and presses a button can ignore, forget, or be unable to fathom that at that moment he killed innocent people. We came here to remind them of this."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052261.html

IOA seals off West Bank, blocks worshippers from praying at Aqsa
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)--The Israeli occupation army has imposed a hermitic closure on the West Bank for two days starting Thursday midnight on fears that fierce confrontations could erupt with the Palestinian people over the IOF carnage in Gaza. According to Hebrew sources, the IOA sent around 12000 policemen to occupied Jerusalem and to "hot" areas in the 1948-occupied Palestinian lands that witnessed confrontations with the Israeli occupation police over the aggression on Gaza .
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/

Israel tests anti-protest weapons on teenagers near Ramallah
Bethlehem-Ma'an-In another demonstration on Friday in the village of Bil'in, Palestinian, international, and Israeli activists carried Palestinian flags and banners in a weekly march against the Israeli separation wall.
http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/62685/israel-tests-anti-protest-weapons-on-teenagers-near-
ramallah-.html

Israeli army attack funeral of Mohammed Khawaje, the second martyr from Ni'lin in four days
At around 9pm on the 31st December, Mohammed Al-Khawaje died as a result of severe brain damage following being shot in the forehead the previous Sunday.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2009/01/03/israeli-army-attack-funeral-of-mohammed-khawaje-the
-second-martyr-from-nilin-in-four-days/

Israeli army confiscates village home, declares it military post
Qalqiliya – Ma'an – Israeli forces installed a military post in the home of Mohammad Tayem in the village of Al-Funduq east of Qalqiliya Friday. The home is on the main road that passes through the village center, it is used by the residents of the illegal settlement of Qedumim near the village.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=34517

Israeli forces seize Palestinian, beat another near Nablus
Israeli soldiers stormed the northern West Bank village of Yassid , north of the city of Nablus on Friday night, attacking one Palestinian teenager and arresting another. Israeli troops beat16-year-old Uday Shafiq who was hospitalized with severe bruises. The invading forces arrested 30-year-old Farhan Taha before they left the village.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=34521

Palestinian police ban pro-Hamas protests
PA security officers in West Bank treat green flag as sign of dissidents and disperse all rallies protesting Israel's military operation in Gaza--Palestinian police violently cracked down on protests organized by their rivals in Hamas throughout the West Bank on Friday as rallies against the military operation in Gaza turned into demonstrations against the Palestinian Authority... "When I saw the police coming with their batons, I thought of the Jews. They also don't deal with people except with clubs and live bullets," said Najiyeh Awdeh, a 50-year-old protester, referring to Israeli forces.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3649438,00.html

PFLP political bureau member demands release of PFLP leaders detained by P.A
Member of the Political bureau of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Palestinian Legislator, Khalida Jarrar, demanded the Palestinian Authority to release senior PFLP members detained in Al Ein refugee camp in Nablus, in the northern part of the West Bank.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58291

U.N. Secretary General Says Israeli Settlements 'Illegal'
More than a month before Israel launched an air-assault against Hamas targets, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon accused Israel of acting illegally and in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention by continuing to build settlements in the West Bank. Ban, who discussed the findings of two new reports he prepared about the Israel-Palestinian conflict, told the U.N. General Assembly last November that Israel was responsible for human rights abuses against Palestinians.
http://www.pubrecord.org/nationworld/596-un-secretary-general-says-israeli-settlements-illegal.html

Minority Arabs seethe as bombing intensifies
Israel 's Arab minority is seething over the death and destruction being visited upon their fellow Palestinians in Gaza . The war is placing Arabs in Israel , traditionally on the receiving end of discrimination and suspicion despite official proclamations of equal rights, under enormous stress as their state wages war against their people.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/minority-arabs-seethe-as-bombing--intensifies
-1222864.html

Muslim anger grows over Israeli strikes on Gaza
LONDON (AFP) – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday she has no plans to visit the Middle East , as protests stepped up in major capitals and artists urged Barack Obama to speak out against Israel .
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090102/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictgazaworld

Japan PM Aso offers $10m humanitarian aid to Gaza
Prime Minister Taro Aso made the offer in a telephone conversation with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, the government officials said. Premier Aso also called on Abbas to make efforts to bring about a cessation of hostilities during which militants in the Gaza Strip have fired rockets into Israel . On Wednesday, Aso asked his Israeli counterpart Ehud Olmert by telephone to halt the air strikes and allow transportation of humanitarian aid to Gaza .
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iDk55fl26q-f1CjN2iS4HjgXXK3w

Turkey delivers 13 tons medical aid to Gaza Strip
Turkey delivered 13 tons of medical aid to the Gaza Strip, according to a statement. The Turkish Health Ministry noted that these materials will be delivered by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Turkey 's behalf. The ministry added that it is awaiting permission from Egypt to transfer injured Palestinians for treatment in Turkey .
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=34534

Solidarity

Photostory: World demonstrates for Gaza
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10101.shtml

Israelis, Arabs plan Tel Aviv protest together; We 'refuse to be enemies!'
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/events/1230833966

Arab anger over Gaza simmers in Jerusalem
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/01/02/Arab_anger_over_Gaza_simmers_in_Jerusalem/UPI-
24451230919153/

Firebombs hurled in Jerusalem
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3649441,00.html

Anarchists block military airstrip in Israel
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=30932

URGENT! Sign the Appeal to Stop the Attack on Gaza!
http://www.iacenter.org/gazapetition/

Rela Mazali, "Antiwar Activism in Israel, Unseen on TV"
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/mazali020109.html

"Two Big Protests in Israel against the Massacre in Gaza"
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/cpi020109.html

Iranian protesters rally against Gaza raid
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-01/02/content_10594093.htm

International protests grow as bombardment continues
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/international-protests-grow-as-bombardment-continue
s-1222841.html

Demonstrations in most capitals of the world to
protest the Gaza holocaust
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/

Muslims around the world protest Gaza assault
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090103/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians_protests

From Mideast to Europe, protests swell
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Global_protests_against_Gaza_attack/rssarticleshow/3915869.cms

Phil Wilayto, "Richmond Protest Condemns Israeli Attacks on Gaza"
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/wilayto020109.html

Palestinian community in Colombia protests Israeli raids on Gaza
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-01/03/content_10596474.htm

Labor Beat, "Mass Chicago Rally for Gaza"
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/us020109.html

San Francisco rally protests Israel's Gaza action
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11358988

Portland [US] holds second protest demanding justice in Gaza
http://imemc.org/article/58297

UK: Thousands march over Gaza strikes
In London , crowds marched along the Embankment towards Trafalgar Square , shouting "Free, free Palestine " and " Israel terrorists". When they reached Whitehall about a thousand shoes were thrown at the gates of Downing Street . The Metropolitan Police put the total number of demonstrators in London at between 10,000 and 12,000, but organisers claimed that was a gross underestimate. 'We estimate there are between 60,000-75,000 people at today's rally.'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7809656.stm

Thousands protest in Europe at Gaza offensive
LONDON (Reuters)-Thousands of chanting, banner-waving demonstrators marched in cities across Europe on Saturday to demand a halt to Israeli bombing in the Gaza Strip. Protests were held or scheduled in Britain , France , Germany , Greece , Ireland , Italy , the Netherlands and Spain as the Israeli offensive entered its second week.
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE50218020090103

Pictures
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2009/01/02/photos-from-rafah-following-israeli-air-strike-30th-december/

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/01/playing.html

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/01/pretending.html

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/01/non-stop.html

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/01/daily.html

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/01/terrorist-son-of-terrorist.html

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/01/from-beirut-demonstration.html

The roots of Hamas resistance
(2 Jan) By Helena Cobban. Links to several interesting articles on this subject-Hamas's founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, always placed a lot of emphasis on the need for education, self-restraint, and the need to rebuild the social fabric of Palestinian constituencies torn apart by years of Israeli attacks, occupation (including the heinous divide-and-rule tactics of the Shin Bet), and physical and social dispersal. Gaza Islamic University (badly bombed by Israel earlier this week) was just one of an entire network of educational and social-welfare institutions with which Hamas sought to rebuild Gazan society.
http://justworldnews.org/archives/003299.html

Dennis Perrin: Israel/Palestine Debate Is Shifting
Maybe it's me, but the more I read about Israel 's assault on Gaza , the more I'm convinced that the Zionist enterprise is in serious trouble. With each fresh round of bombing, Israel's reputation gets worse, allowing growing numbers of people who might never have said a critical word about that country to finally speak up, if only to friends and family. (I'm excluding racists and anti-Semites, whose vile opinions are disconnected from reality.) I continue to see this on those liberal blogs still talking about Gaza, their commenters increasingly unafraid to voice strong criticism, if not direct condemnation, of Israel's actions. This naturally alarms and frightens those spewing the old fables about "tiny, peace-loving" Israel , driving many of them into rhetorical overkill and incoherence. It may be a small shift online, but it is significant. The full, historical narrative is spreading, and as the Gazan body count rises, perceptions are sharpening. No amount of Israeli PR will reverse this trend.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dennis-perrin/israelpalestine-debate-is_b_154798.html

Ahmed Shihab-Eldin: Israel May Win in Gaza, Hamas Won't Lose and Moderate Arab Leaders and Obama Will Worry
Israel may win this war, but Hamas is not going to lose it. They will suffer great losses, but once this is over, just as Israelis will support their newly elected prime minister, Gaza 's 1.5 million Palestinians will also rally around Hamas, their democratically elected government--and many Arabs will too.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ahmed-shihabeldin/israel-may-win-in-gaza-ha_b_154892.html

Analysis: Operation Cast Lead extends a war due to fail
Ma'an Editorial – Israel 's offensive in Gaza has not, and will not achieve its stated goals. Either the goals are different from what have been stated publically, or the military establishment has backed itself into a corner and has no option other than proceeding with a course doomed to failure. Israel is losing at a game for which it wrote the rules.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=34529

Israel's righteous fury and its victims in Gaza
My visit back home to the Galilee coincided with the genocidal Israeli attack on Gaza . The state, through its media and with the help of its academia, broadcasted one unanimous voice--even louder than the one heard during the criminal attack against Lebanon in the summer of 2006. Israel is engulfed once more with righteous fury that translates into destructive policies in the Gaza Strip. This appalling self-justification for the inhumanity and impunity is not just annoying, it is a subject worth dwelling on, if one wants to understand the international immunity for the massacre that rages on in Gaza . Ilan Pappe comments for The Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10100.shtml

Analysis: Gaza campaign exposes Middle East policy vacuum
By Alistair Lyon. BEIRUT, Jan 2 (Reuters)-Israel's week-old offensive in the Gaza Strip is a violent sequel to a drive led by the United States, with much European and Arab support, to punish Hamas for resisting a largely discredited Middle East "peace process". The campaign is unlikely to eradicate Hamas or make it any easier for the next U.S. president, Barack Obama, to break the cycle of conflict and rescue swiftly receding prospects for a solution based on creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel .
http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL2239354.html

'Arab FMs gave Israel until Monday to achieve mission'
(Al-Manar TV) "The offensive was launched on Saturday, they met only at the level of foreign ministers on Wednesday, just five days following the aggression," Sayyed Nasrallah pointed out. "It is shameful that the Arab foreign ministers met five days after the attack on Gaza, and still we have seen no results since what's happening in Gaza doesn't seem to deserve a summit in their eyes" his eminence added "All what they were able to achieve was forming a delegation to go to the UN Security Council next Monday.
http://palestinianpundit.blogspot.com/2009/01/arab-fms-gave-israel-until-monday-to.html

Selective memory is a problem when dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
By Daoud Kuttab. A well repeated Arab saying dealing with conflicts states: al bad'azlam, the initiator [of a conflict] is the wrong one. So if you are trying to figure out who is wrong in the current round of violence around Gaza all you have to do is figure out who started it. But the moment you begin this search you will find yourself in a more complicated bind namely figuring out what is your starting point, time wise.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daoud-kuttab/selective-memory-is-a-pro_b_154722.html

Molten lead in Gaza
(2 Jan) By Uri Avnery. How Israel is Multiplying Hamas by a Thousand--"ISRAEL MUST defend itself against the rockets that are terrorizing our Southern towns," the Israeli spokesmen explained. "Palestinians must respond to the killing of their fighters inside the Gaza Strip," the Hamas spokesmen declared. As a matter of fact, the cease-fire did not collapse, because there was no real cease-fire to start with. The main requirement for any cease-fire in the Gaza Strip must be the opening of the border crossings. There can be no life in Gaza without a steady flow of supplies. But the crossings were not opened, except for a few hours now and again. The blockade on land, on sea and in the air against a million and a half human beings is an act of war, as much as any dropping of bombs or launching of rockets. It paralyzes life in the Gaza Strip: eliminating most sources of employment, pushing hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation, stopping most hospitals from functioning, disrupting the supply of electricity and water.
http://www.counterpunch.org/avnery01022009.html

Stealing Gaza
(2 Jan) By Brian Eno. An Experiment in Provocation--It's a tragedy that the Israelis-a people who must understand better than almost anybody the horrors of oppression-are now acting as oppressors. As the great Jewish writer Primo Levi once remarked "Everybody has their Jews, and for the Israelis it's the Palestinians". By creating a middle Eastern version of the Warsaw ghetto they are recapitulating their own history as though they've forgotten it. And by trying to paint an equivalence between the Palestinians-with eir homemade rockets and stone-throwing teenagers-and themselves-with one of the most sophisticated military machines in the world-they sacrifice all credibility.
http://www.counterpunch.org/eno01022009.html

If you (or I) were Palestinian
(2 Jan) By Yossi Sarid. This week I spoke with my students about the Gaza war, in the context of a class on national security. One student, who had expressed rather conservative, accepted opinions-that is opinions tending slightly to the right-succeeded in surprising me. Without any provocation on my part, he opened his heart and confessed: "If I were a young Palestinian," he said, "I'd fight the Jews fiercely, even by means of terror. Anyone who says anything different is telling you lies."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052057.html

In Gaza, targeting a nation
By Rami Almeghari writing from the occupied Gaza Strip. At al-Shifa hospital, Gaza 's largest, an unidentified injured man is l ying at the hospital's intensive care unit. He was hit by shrapnel from an Israeli missile that struck a target at the Samer crossroad in the Omar al-Mukhtar street in Gaza City at noon yesterday.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10098.shtml

Analysis /IDF sending Hamas a message: Now it's personal
(3 Jan) The killing of senior Hamas official Nizar Ghayan Thursday in an Israel Air Force strike in Jabalya is a significant development at this stage of the war in the Gaza Strip, due not only to his high position in the Gaza leadership but also because of the message his assassination sends to the Palestinians. Gazans have been asking Haaretz why Israel is hitting Hamas foot soldiers, empty buildings and innocent civilians rather than the leadership. They see this as proof of Israel 's inability to really deal with Hamas. Ghayan's killing shows that Israel is no longer hesitating
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052051.html

Bringing Hamas in from the cold
(2 Jan) By Arthur Neslen. In November, Ahmed Yousef, the speechwriter and aide of Gaza 's prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, claimed that U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's team had been in contact with the group during the U.S. election campaign. The Obama camp denied it, and Yousef now says the talks are on ice. But many of the incoming president's former and current foreign policy advisers favor some degree of U.S. engagement with the group. And if the United States were to stop boycotting Hamas , Israel could suddenly find itself internationally isolated on this point. But conservative and brutal as its politics can be, what is so frightening about talking to Hamas?
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052063.html

Pirates of the Mediterranean
(2 Jan) By Yvonne Ridley. NOT content with committing war crimes and human rights atrocities in full view of the world, Israel has now confirmed itself as a rogue state by launching into international piracy. Dawn had not yet broken over the Mediterranean waters in which the SS Dignity was sailing when an Israeli naval gunboat appeared from the inky black and rammed the aid-bearing ship. The act of aggression on a peace mission was launched in international waters 90 miles off Gaza , without any warning to the captain of the Dignity or the crew.
http://www.ikhwanweb.com/Article.asp?ID=18965&SectionID=0

Gaza and Lebanon: some similarities
By Rami G. Khouri. Here are the most important ones, in my view. The first relates to provenance: Hamas and Hizbullah did not exist before the early 1980s. Their birth and strength must be understood largely as a response to Israel 's occupation and colonization policies in Palestine and Lebanon , alongside other secondary reasons. Hamas and Hizbullah are the ideological stepchildren of the Likud Party and especially of Ariel Sharon, whose embrace of violence, racism and colonization as the primary means of dealing with occupied Arab populations ultimately generated a will to resist.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=98798

Amnesty International: US response to Gaza 'lopsided'
(2 Jan) Human rights group Amnesty International on Friday accused the United States of having a "lopsided" response to the crisis in Gaza and told the top U.S. diplomat to press all sides to reach an immediate cease-fire. A U.S. State Department official who requested anonymity rejected claims that the U.S. response had been pro-Israeli or lopsided.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052270.html

Gaza: Propaganda, Perception, and Reality, by William Cook
As the Israeli military launched an "all out war" with Hamas in the Gaza strip, as casualties mounted to 400 dead and another 1450 wounded, as tanks and troops massed in the area just outside the wall that imprisons the people of Gaza, as preparations for a ground assault into the "closed military zone" around the Gaza strip moved forward, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Saturday the 27th "… instructed the Foreign Ministry to take emergency measures to adapt Israel's international public relations to the ongoing escalation in the Gaza Strip." (Haaretz, 12/28/08 ). "An aggressive and diplomatic international public relations campaign" needed to be launched simultaneously with the estimated "60 raids" that now pummel Gaza each day, raids that, in human terms, have taken the lives of five children, all girls, of the Ba'losha family killed in Bait Lahia City north of Gaza and three children from the Al Absi family in Rafah refugee camp as Israeli rockets collapsed their roof. ( freepalestine.ps, Sameh, Habeeb).
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=14589

Israel has tactics for war, but none for peace
By Jonathan Freedland. A leadership dazzled by its own military might ignores the political reality and believes the only solutions lie in force
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/03/israel-attack-hamas-gaza-peace

Israeli daily propaganda service at the NY Times: Isabel Kershner in action
" Israel broadened the scope of its air offensive against the Hamas infrastructure in Gaza on Thursday." Look at this sentence. This language now justifies wholesale the bombing and destruction of civilian infra-structure by labeling it as "Hamas infrastructure." So the water and electricity and water treatment facilities are "Hamas infra-structures" and their bombing and destruction are justifiable by NYT standards. And next time Israel bombs Lebanon , the New York Times will label them as "Hizbullah infrastructures". Now the dance around the destruction of a civilian building in which a Hamas leading lived, was quite cute….
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/01/israeli-daily-propaganda-service-at-nyt.html

Israel is Not a Victim
Our popular media in the United States has been sold the myth that Israel is the victim in this conflict and is only defending itself against its hostile neighbors. The best scholars of Middle East history have unequivocally refuted this myth. In addition, the current events in Israel and Palestine also dispel and shatter this insidious myth. However, this myth (and others) has been used to perpetuate the hostilities and fuel the violence with Palestinians. Understanding the intricate and subtle aspects of the shallow roots of this myth and seeing how it is used to influence public opinion will help the American public to be more critical consumers of propaganda.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=14590

Obama's deadly silence
By Ali Abunimah. as more than 2,400 Palestinians have been killed or injured--the majority civilians--since Israel began its savage bombardment of Gaza on 27 December, Obama has maintained his silence. "There is only one president at a time," his spokesmen tell the media. This convenient excuse has not applied, say, to Obama's detailed interventions on the economy, or his condemnation of the "coordinated attacks on innocent civilians" in Mumbai in November.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10097.shtml

Mexico Zapatista leader slams Obama over Gaza silence
AFP-Mexico's Zapatista rebel leader "Subcomandante" Marcos slammed US president-elect Barack Obama for failing to speak out on Israel's bombing of Gaza, in a speech on Friday marking the 15th anniversary of his rebellion.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090103/wl_afp/mexicorebelszapatistasusmideastconflictgaza

More oddities in the U.S. 'debate' over Israel/Gaza
(updated below-UpdateII)
This Rasmussen Reports poll--the first to survey American public opinion specifically regarding the Israeli attack on Gaza--strongly bolsters the severe disconnect I documented the other day between (a) American public opinion on U.S. policy towards Israel and (b) the consensus views expressed by America's political leadership. Not only does Rasmussen find that Americans generally "are closely divided over whether the Jewish state should be taking military action against militants in the Gaza Strip" (44-41%, with 15% undecided), but Democratic voters overwhelmingly oppose the Israeli offensive--by a 24-point margin (31-55%). By stark constrast, Republicans, as one would expect (in light of their history of supporting virtually any proposed attack on Arabs and Muslims), overwhelmingly support the Israeli bombing campaign (62-27%).
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/01/02/israel/

The New Iraqi Sovereignty, Just Like The Palestinians Have In Gaza?
There's got to be some irony in the US transference of control to Iraqi security forces while the Israelis pound Gaza . Why?Because, despite the hoopla in the US press and its Iraqi clones, the nature of the control being "given back" to the Iraqis seems quite similar to the control over Gaza that was given them by the Israelis when they withdrew their forces in 2005. In other words, any control the Iraqi government and its security forces might now have can be removed at any time by US forces. Indeed, the US forces are not even withdrawing. They are merely turning the security details they performed for the past five years or so to Iraqi security forces whose essential existence depends on the presence of US forces populating bases around Iraq .
http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticlePrint/20145

Wednesday: 2 US Soldiers, 14 Iraqis Killed; 70 Iraqis Wounded
Excerpt: Updated at 11:47 p.m. EST , Dec. 31, 2008 At midnight Baghdad time, foreign troops came under the authority of Iraqi officials. The number of violent attacks on the last day of a U.N. mandate however points to the fragility of Iraqi peace. At least 14 Iraqis were killed and another 70 were wounded. Two U.S. soldiers were also killed in separate attacks.
http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticlePrint/20144

Iraqi preachers slam Israel's attacks on Gaza
BAGHDAD (AFP) – Iraqi preachers speaking at Friday prayers slammed Israel 's deadly air strikes on the Gaza Strip and urged international leaders to try to make the Jewish state call a halt to the blitz.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090102/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictgazairaq

Nine Muslims removed from flight get AirTran apology
Nine passengers were questioned after teens overheard their chatting about airline safety. The FBI cleared the U.S. citizens but the airline refused them passage.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/mideastemail/la-na-muslim-passengers3-2009jan03,0,
5727945.story

www.TheHeadlines.org