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A third of settlements built on land
taken for 'security purposes'
More than one-third of West Bank settlements were
built on private Palestinian land that was temporarily
seized by military order for "security purposes,"
according to a report by the Civil Administration that
is being published here for the first time. The settlements
in question, which include Ariel, Kiryat Arba and Efrat,
have tens of thousands of residents, and many have
existed for decades. A security source termed this a
"difficult statistic" that is liable to cause trouble for
Israel both in Washington and its own courts.
Short video of settlers stealing Palestinian land
Also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
Many other related videos on YouTube
Blood and champagne – by Uri Avnery
EVERY PEOPLE elevate the profession in
which they excel. [T]he profession in which
Israel is not only one of the biggest, but the
unchallenged Numero Uno is: liquidations. This week
this was proven once again. INDEED, FOR a long time
now there has not been such an orgy of jubilation and
self-congratulation in the Israeli media as there was this week.
We have done it! We have succeeded! We have "
liquidated" Imad Mughniyeh! . . . All the past "liquidations"
of this kind have brought with them dire consequences.
THE COMMON denominator of all these and many other
actions is that they did not harm the organizations of
the "liquidatees", but boomeranged.
Liquidation sale – by Gideon Levy
Whoever killed Mughniyah was once again
playing with the most dangerous fire of all: He
undermined Israel's security. If it was Israel, one
has to ask whether there was any shred of sense in
this move. If it was not Israel, our famed intelligence
agencies would do well to prove this quickly, before
the next disaster. Was the security of Israel's citizens
improved? Was terror dealt a permanent blow?
History, with its multitude of previous assassinations,
teaches that the answer is no.
No cause for celebration – by Zvi Bar'el
There's at least one thing on which everyone agreed:
Mughniyah's elimination will not end terror, nor the
war against it. If anyone still needs proof, just look at
Ahmed Yassin, Abdel Aziz Rantisi and Abbas Mussawi,
or Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq. Their replacements are
worse than they were. So why all the joy, if that's the case?
It's because terror has been bound up with certain key figures,
while the causes behind the terror have been ignored . . .
Hezbollah and Hamas need the umbrella of a state that can
justify their national claims. That is precisely the foundation
that Israel could use in order to fight the terror carried out by
both of these groups.
Hamas advisor: Mesh'al survived
several attempts on his life lately
Ahmad Yusuf accused "Arab intelligence organizations"
of providing Israel and the U.S. with information about the
whereabouts of Hamas commanders in Syria, including
Mesh'al and his deputy Musa Abu Marzuk.Yusuf said the
information included protocols of their moves, the cars they
have been using, their dwelling and interview schedules.
US spy chief: Hezbollah may be behind Mughniyah killing
Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell
said the United States is still reviewing the case
following the death last Tuesday of Mughniyah in a
car bombing in the Syrian capital of Damascus. Hezbollah
blamed Israel and has pledged to attack Jewish targets
worldwide in retaliation. "It is a serious threat," McConnell
said. "There's some evidence that it may have been internal
Hezbollah. It may have been Syria. We don't know yet, and
we're trying to sort that out."
Ambulance service in Gaza stops due to fuel cuts
"Most of the ambulances that belong to the ministry
have stopped working due to the sharp shortage of fuel",
explained the statement from the health ministry. Medical
officials at the Abu Yousef aL-Najjar hospital in Rafah city,
voiced concern today over the shortage of working
ambulances as the Israeli army was attacking the eastern parts
of the city. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert,
declared that the fuel supplies cut to the Gaza Strip will remain in
effect, with more cuts to take place in the upcoming period.
Palestinian woman dies of brain
stroke in besieged Gaza – 96th victim
GAZA, (PIC)-- A 32-year-old Palestinian woman died of a
brain stroke in Jabalia, northern Gaza, on Sunday after
frequent attempts to travel abroad for treatment did not
bear fruit due to the Israeli siege. The popular anti-siege
committee said that the woman, Reem Al-Batesh, tried to
obtain a permit to receive treatment in either Egypt or Israel
but could not due to repeated refusal of the Israeli
occupation authorities.
Olmert: Reduction of power and fuel
supplies to Gaza will continue
The reduction of electric and fuel supplies to Gaza will
continue, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday at the
beginning of a weekly cabinet meeting, adding that Israel
would continue combating terrorism in southern Israel and
will not cease until life returns to normal in the area
Egypt: No Gaza border deal without consent of Israel, PA
The Egyptian source said Cairo was for now likely to stand
by a U.S.-brokered agreement it made when Israel withdrew
troops from Gaza in 2005 that gives Israel an effective veto
over movement across the Gaza-Egypt frontier. That's where
we stand at the moment," the source told Reuters, making clear
Cairo was not prepared to harm relations with Israel, the United
States, European Union and Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas. "The Israelis don't want anything to do with Hamas at all,
even at second-hand."
Palestinian rocket hits Egyptian building on Gaza border
EL-ARISH, Egypt (AFP) - A Palestinian rocket hit and
damaged a building on the Egyptian side of the Rafah
border crossing with the Gaza Strip, causing no casualties, a
security source said Sunday. Egyptian experts who went to
the scene said the rocket, which damaged a wall, was of
Palestinian manufacture, the source told AFP. It was not
clear why a Palestinian rocket hit a target to the south of
the Gaza Strip, although the area around Rafah has been
tense since militants blew open the border on January 23.
Four Palestinians killed, 13 injured as Israeli forces invade Rafah
Two others died of wounds sustained in previous
incursions. Ma'an's reporter said that medical crews
found three corpses of Palestinian activists after the
Israeli forces withdrew from Shuka area near the airport.
Witnesses said that Israeli tanks invaded the area near
the abandoned Yasser Arafat International Airport, near
the city of Rafah, and fought with Palestinian activists
after midnight. Warplanes also flew over Rafah to cover
the invasion, firing several missiles.
Palestinian security in Gaza:
IOF used vacuum bomb in Breij massacre
GAZA, (PIC)-- IOF warplanes dropped a huge vacuum bomb
on the home of Ayman Fayed of the Islamic Jihad Movement
on Friday night which was used for the first time with such
devastating effect, Palestinian security sources in Gaza revealed.
The sources on Saturday said that the big explosion, which
was heard more than 20 kilometers away, and the horizontal
destruction of nearby houses along with the internal wounds
without any outside signs on the bodies of the casualties
pointed to the new type of bomb used in this massacre.
[In the form that exists today, these devices (often dubbed
Fuel-Air Munitions) are said to have been developed in the
1960s and used by the United States during the Vietnam
War – Wikipedia]
Palestinians held by Egypt threaten suicide
if they are not soon released either to the Gaza Strip or a
life of dignity in Egypt. About 500 Gazans are still being
held as prisoners in a sports complex in the border city of
Al-Arish. The Egyptian security officers reportedly
responded to the suicide threat, "Do whatever you like;
we have orders to gather you then transfer you back to
the Gaza Strip." However, the transfer has not yet taken place.
Several of the detained Palestinians have called Ma'an's
office in Gaza, claiming that conditions in the sports center
are appalling, lacking basic medical supplies, food, and clean water.
Gush Shalom: End of the saga?
THE CONVOY. On the morning of Monday, Feb. 18 - after long delays -
the relief convoy of two weeks ago will at last be transferred into the
Gaza Strip; seven tons of basic food and water filters will arrive at the
Sufa Border Crossing; peace activists will accompany the supplies
until the checkpoint, holding up placards: "Lift the Gaza blockade!
" Since the supply convoy and protest action held at the Erez
Checkpoint on Saturday, Jan. 26, with the participation of about
1,500 activists, the military authorities held up the actual transfer
to Gaza of the goods collected.
UN's humanitarian chief John Holmes
condemns Gaza-based homemade shells fire
Holmes' denunciation came during a visit to the southern Israeli
town of Sderot, which has been exposed to barrages of homemade
shells fire from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. We just need to keep
on saying to the people in Gaza, to the Hamas leadership, they
have to stop these rockets. They do no good. They cause
suffering," Holmes said
One third of homes in Qassam range to be fortified
Ministerial committee approves fortification of 3,600
out of 10,750 homes located seven kilometers (roughly 4.5 miles)
away from Gaza; PM Olmert: This isn't a full solution, but it's
reasonable under current circumstances – The plan, expected
to be approved by the government next Sunday, means that
only 3,600 out of the total of 10,750 homes in the range defined
as "dangerous" during Ariel Sharon's tenure will be fortified.
French FM urges Israel to lift Gaza blockade
JERUSALEM (AFP) - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner
urged Israel to lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip and to freeze its
policy of building settlements in the West Bank, at the start of a
visit to the region on Saturday.
French foreign minister meets with wife of Marwan Barghouti
French FM Bernard Kouchner met with Palestinian lawyer Fadwa
Barghouthi, the wife of jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouthi
Saturday. Kouchner sent his greetings to Marwan Barghouthi in
jail in Israel reaffirming that both he and the French government
believe that Barghouthi has played a significant role in Palestinian
people's suffering through fighting for an independent Palestinian
state. He expressed his hope that by the time he next visits the
Barghouthi family, Marwan will be freed, and a Palestinian state
will be established.
IDF soldier gravely injured by sniper fire in Gaza
An IDF soldier was gravely injured by sniper fire on
Sunday morning near the Kerem Shalom border crossing in
southern Gaza. A bullet struck him in the shoulder and he
was evacuated by helicopter to the Soroka Medical Center in
Beersheba. The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military
wing, have claimed responsibility for the incident. However,
later on Sunday, Abu Mujhid, a spokesman for the Popular
Resistance Committees, said the shooter was a senior member
of his organization who was subsequently killed in clashes with the IDF.
Plan to re-route fuel deliveries to Bethlehem
hints at larger Israeli segregation plan
An Israeli decision to re-route fuel deliveries to the West
Bank city of Bethlehem through a checkpoint far to the south
of the city is raising concerns that Israel plans to complete a plan
to isolate Bethlehem from the surrounding area. The governor of
Bethlehem, Salah Ta'mari, said the plan will increase already high
fuel prices, and could signal a plan to complete Israel's illegal
separation wall in the Bethlehem area. He said the plan could
also involve the long-expected closure of Route 60, the main
highway between Bethlehem and Hebron.
Imposing more checkpoints, Israel tightens grip on Nablus
Ma'an's reporter stated that the Israeli forces have
re-erected a military checkpoint near the Yitzar junction five
kilometers south of the notorious Huwwara checkpoint at the
southern entrance of Nablus. According to eyewitnesses, the
Israeli soldiers at the new checkpoint are deliberately delaying
the passage of Palestinians with intensive searches, despite the
fact that they have already been inspected at the Huwwara
checkpoint a few minutes away. . . Muhammad Ahmad, 20-
year-old university student who studies at an-Najah National
University in Nablus told our correspondent that he every day
he waits in line at Huwwara for at least three hours before he
can pass on his way to university.
ISM: Nonviolent protest in southern Hebron hills
The hills south of Hebron are home to many Palestinian
farmers and shepherds who live off the land. But in recent years
a line of settlements have slowly pushed them out of their homes.
The people of Susiya village now live out of tents and caves with
only two hours access to electricity a day, through the use of
solar panels and wind turbines.
300 Palestinians, including 32 minors, kidnapped
by army since beginning of February
The Nafha Society stated that 200 residents were
kidnapped in the West Bank and 100 in the Gaza Strip. It also
said that the 32 kidnapped children were transferred to
interrogation and detention centers in direct violation to the
international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention. The ages
of the kidnapped children are between 14 and 18. Meanwhile,
most of the abductions took place in Hebron, in the southern
part of the West Bank,
Jibreel Rajoub: West Bank-Gaza division
will destroy the Palestinian cause
In an interview with Al-Arabiyya satellite television, Fatah
Revolutionary Council member Rajoub said, "Neither the peace
process, nor the sixth Fatah conference can succeed without
national reconciliation between the two parts of the Palestinian
homeland and the accomplishment of nationalist unity which
is the cue for the establishment of a Palestinian state." As for
the upcoming sixth Fatah conference, Rajoub said the meeting
would seek to change Fatah's platform, while keeping "resistance"
as a key plank. He went on to criticize certain decisions which he
says destroyed the Palestinian Authority, such as getting the
security services involved in armed struggle.
Jewish extremists assault Palestinian graveyard
The Aqsa foundation for the reconstruction of Islamic
holy shrines strongly denounced Sunday the Jewish fanatics
who assaulted the Islamic Hirbij cemetery in the Ibten town in the
Palestinian lands occupied in 1948 and smashed many gravestones,
considering this act as a desecration of the living and the dead
Muslims. This is the third assault on the graveyard in the last two
years, where Jewish extremists had previously written slurs on the
graves against Arabs and Muslims and the Haifa police investigated
into the assault but to no avail
The first Arab city – by Uzi Benziman
When Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit announced last week his
initiative to establish the first Arab city in Israel, the Arab community
in Israel was rather passive about it: It neither knew about it and when
it heard the news, it was indifferent about it . . . The Interior Minister
established that the traditional lifestyle of the Arab citizens of Israel is
what is delaying their inclusion in the country: The new city, he said,
is meant to solve a large portion of their problems, and especially allow
the new generation to distance themselves from their parents' homes,
not having to wait any longer for a piece of land for building a home,
and adopt an advanced way of living. This way, the Arab citizens are
meant to bridge the gaps dividing them from the population of the
Jewish majority. Sheetrit wanted to announce good news, but in
fact he represented, without him knowing, the ugly face of Israeli rule
in its history of dealing with the Arab minority. His point of
departure reflected prejudices about some 20 percent of the
citizens of this country, and a patronizing, arrogant attitude.
Recent tremors raise fears of potentially destructive earthquake
During the Knesset discussion on earthquake precautions held in
January, a representative of Israel's fire department said that in the
case of a serious earthquake, only 29 firefighters would be available
in Jerusalem to handle a situation in which, according to forecasts,
hundreds of houses will collapse and thousands will be killed. A
2005 forecast maintains that if an earthquake measuring 7.5 on the
Richter Scale were to hit Beit She'an [at the junction of the Jordan
and Jezreel valleys], 16,000 people would be killed, 90,000 people
would be hurt and 400,000 would become homeless. 130,000 buildings
will collapse or suffer extensive damage.
Palestinian shot dead in Beirut clash
BEIRUT, Feb 17 (Reuters) - A Palestinian man was shot dead
during clashes between anti-Syrian Lebanese government
supporters and Palestinians close to Hezbollah in Beirut on Sunday,
security sources said. They said fighting with sticks and stones
had broken out between the two sides over political posters in the
Sabra area of Beirut. Shots were fired and a Palestinian was wounded.
He later died in hospital. Future Trend movement of Sunni Muslim
leader Saad al-Hariri denied reports by media belonging to the
Hezbollah-led opposition that it was behind the shooting.
The Lebanese army intervened and ended the skirmish.
Human Rights Watch: Israel's use of cluster
bombs shows need for global ban
Wellington, February 17, 2008 – The human devastation inflicted
on Lebanon by Israel's illegal use of cluster munitions highlights
the urgent need for an international treaty banning the weapon,
Human Rights Watch said in releasing a report today. At a conference
this week, more than 100 states will discuss a treaty to ban cluster
munitions, a process prompted in part by Israel's cluster attacks on
Lebanon in 2006.
BBC apologizes for Middle East comment
The BBC has apologized for a video aired by the British
broadcaster that featured a correspondent referring to a Hezbollah
chief as a "great" national leader. The comment occurred last
Thursday during a BBC World report by Hawkesley, who had been
covering Mughniyeh's funeral and a memorial rally for Hariri in Lebanon.
"The army is on full alert as Lebanon remembers two war victims with
different visions but both regarded as great national leaders,"
Hawkesley said of the two ceremonies.
In praise of Barack
Raanan Shaked explains why he cast his fears aside and
started adoring Barack Obama – Let him be elected, I say. It's good
for Israel, because it's bad for Israel. Just like anyone who had a
rough childhood, Israel too needs someone who will be tough with
it at least some of the time. Well, you saw what happens when such
a great friend of Israel is ruling Washington: Nothing. Any president
who resides in the White House without aiming a double-barreled rifle
to the heads of Israel and the Palestinians so that they get down on
their knees and put their hands up is not quite a friend of Israel.
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