Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines March 12, 2008 ~

Three civilians kidnapped by
the Israeli army in Hebron
Three civilians were kidnapped by Israeli troops during a
house search campaign the army carried out in several
parts of the southern West Bank city of Hebron
on Tuesday.

Four kidnapped in a Pre-dawn
invasion into Nablus
The Israeli army invaded the northern West Bank city of
Nablus and some nearby villages on Tuesday at dawn,
and kidnapped four civilians.

Gaza: Elderly woman dies of wounds sustained
in Israeli air attacks last week
Palestinian medical sources in Gaza reported that the
an elderly Palestinian woman died on Tuesday after
succumbing to wounds she sustained last week during
an Israeli air raid targeting her family home.

Jihad: Killing militant will bring
retaliation 'deep inside' Israel
The Islamic Jihad militant group on Wednesday
threatened to retaliate "deep inside the Zionist entity"
after Israel Defense Forces troops killed one of its
members early Wednesday near the West Bank
city of Tul Karm.

Sit-in in Bethlehem to protest
the kidnapping of Journalist
The Trade Union of Palestinian Journalists organized in
Bethlehem a sit-in on Wednesday morning to protest the
kidnapping of Palestinian journalist from Bethlehem on
Monday by the Israeli army.

Protest against charity closure goes peacefully
Yesterday at 12.00 in the centre of Hebron city around
1000 students, orphans and concerned people marched
against the closure of a local charity. The Islamic Children's
Centre feeds, houses, educates and provides medicine for
orphans in Hebron. However the charity has been ordered
to close by the High Commander of the IOF in Hebron on
the justification that it trains and funds groups connected
to Hamas.

Dichter to police: Demolish Mercaz
Harav terrorist's home
Public Security Minister Avi Dichter ordered police on
Wednesday to demolish the house of the terrorist who
carried out the shooting attack at the Mercaz Harav
yeshiva. The house is located in the East Jerusalem
village of Jabal Mukabar.

Rightist rabbis urge Jews to avenge
enemies 'measure for measure'
A group of rightist rabbis on Wednesday called on Jews
to avenge their enemies 'measure for measure,' a day
after news reports circulated of an allegedt yeshiva plot
to strike a senior Arab official in retaliation for the terror
attack at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva last week.

Report: Yeshiva graduates plan
revenge attack against Arab figure
Students from the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in Jerusalem,
where an Israeli Arab gunman killed eight students last
Thursday, planned a revenge attack against a senior
Arab official affiliated with a Jerusalem mosque,
Channel 1 television reported Tuesday.

Umm al-Fahm braces for possible
retribution for Jerusalem attack
Northern Israeli city contracts private security firm to
guard against possible vendetta radical elements may
seek for terror attack on Jewish seminary.

Gaza surgeons meet to discuss weapon wounds
"They therefore easily become infected if not rapidly
treated. And because bullets and bomb fragments
strike at such high velocity, they generally cause more
damage than other types of injury. The resulting wounds
have to be managed in a way not usually taught at
medical school".

Gaza's isolation gives rise to growing legion of poor
Gripping a food aid card, Nasser stands in line outside a UN
centre in the Hamas-run Gaza, an overcrowded Palestinian
enclave where a growing number of people survive on
foreign assistance.

Physicians for Human Rights -
Israel/Gaza Update 11 Mar 2008 Four
Deaths: Whose Security?
Access-related deaths of patients referred to medical
care outside Gaza are hard to estimate statistically.
Since several factors are involved, it is very difficult
to define how far the delay or denial of a permit has
influenced the final outcome in each case. However,
there is no doubt that every delay lessens the patient's
chances of recovery, and denies her or him the right to
the best available medical care. The fact that, in Gaza,
the delay has nothing to do with medical constraints of
any kind, but with external reasons, makes the violation
all the more serious and raises questions regarding the
definition of the term "security" in the Israeli GSS
lexicon. For the individual patient, the difference
between receiving a permit and receiving a rejection,
or no answer at all, may be the difference between life
and death.

Israeli officials: Israel accepts a
month-long trial truce with Hamas
Amos Gilaad, the Israeli Defence Minister Adviser for
Security and Political Affairs told Israeli media on
Tuesday that Israel has agreed to announce a
month-long trial truce with Palestinian resistance
groups in Gaza.

Hamas-Israel deal would put Abbas'
men at Gaza crossings
A deal being formulated between Israel, Egypt and
Hamas involves deploying Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas' troops at the crossings with
the Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources told Haaretz Tuesday.

Hamas sets terms for ceasefire with Israel
Hamas set out its conditions on Wednesday for a ceasefire
with Israel, calling for an end to all acts of Israeli "aggression"
in the Gaza Strip and West Bank and the reopening of
Gaza border crossings.

Archimandrite Hanna slams Israeli incitement
against Palestinians, Arabs, in Jerusalem
Archimandrite Atallah Hanna of the Greek Orthodox
Church, stated on Tuesday that he is deeply concerned
by racist statements voiced by Israeli officials against
the Palestinians in Jerusalem and Arab residents of Israel.

U.S. "road map" assessment seen critical of Israel
The United States is not satisfied with the pace at which
Israel is moving to implement a long-stalled peace "road map,"
U.S. and Western officials said ahead of a key meeting to assess
compliance with the plan. Officials said Washington also
believed the Palestinians needed to do far more to meet
their obligations to boost security and rein in militants
in the West Bank, though U.S. officials have privately
complained to Israel that its frequent raids were
undermining those efforts.

Qureia to Livni: 'Shocked' at Israeli plan
to expand settlement
In a letter to Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Tuesday,
Ahmed Qureia, who heads the Palestinian team in the
negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority,
expressed "shock and dismay" at Israel's planned expansion
of West Bank settlements.

Sarkozy's advice was just what
Israel's leaders need to hear
French President Sarkozy has laid down a useful marker
by telling his visiting Israeli counterpart, Shimon Peres,
that his country's policy of "settling" occupied Palestinian
land has to end. A successful peace process is the only
guarantee of the Jewish state's security, Sarkozy said,
and "settlements" undermine that process. Tellingly,
the advice came from a man whose own politics and
Jewish ancestry make him well-disposed toward Israel,
and he prefaced the admonition by stressing that it
came from "a friend."

Israel to boycott Al-Jazeera TV over
alleged incitement to terror
Israel has decided officially to boycott the Qatari-based
al-Jazeera news station, because of what it perceives as
biased coverage, a government official said Wednesday.
"The Foreign Ministry has held discussions on the matter,
and decided to embargo the station," Deputy Foreign
Minister Majali Wahabe told Army Radio, adding:
"These reports are untrustworthy and they hurt us,
and they arouse people to terrorist activities."

Fatah and IOA unite against Al-Jazeera TV
Fatah faction and the Israeli occupation government
have apparently united against the Qatar-based
Al-Jazeera satellite TV as both parties started a
campaign to boycott the Arab satellite TV channel
for unveiling the truth about the Israeli massacres
in the Gaza Strip. Al-Jazeera is considered the most
popular satellite TV channel in the Arab world as millions
of viewers express satisfaction over the balanced stand
of the channel in reporting the news, especially the news
about the Palestinian issue and the events in Gaza Strip
and the West Bank.

Petrol stations in Gaza appeal
for ending the fuel crisis
Society of petrol stations in the Gaza Strip appealed
Wednesday for ending an ongoing fuel shortage crisis in
the coastal enclave, in the shadow of continued Israeli
denial of access of adequate fuel shipments into the region.

Jordan: Squalid conditions at Jerash
camp for Palestinian refugees
JERASH CAMP, 11 March 2008 (IRIN) - A squalid Palestinian
refugee camp near the Roman ruins of Jerash offers an
incongruous backdrop to the surrounding scenic
mountains. Known locally as Gaza camp, Jerash camp,
40km north of Amman, has narrow alleyways that cut
through crumbling houses. There is a pervasive stench
from the effluent that runs through open ditches in the
hilly shanty town.

EU Foreign Ministers debate Hamas
participation in peace negotiations
EU Ministers of Foreign Affairs debated how to deal with the
Hamas movement with regard to the peace negotiations
between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Hamas has
been accused of obstructing the peace process in the past.

Israeli leftist Fahima consoles family of man
who gunned down Yeshiva students
Israeli left-wing activist Tali Fahima, previously convicted
of aiding Palestinian militants, paid a consolation visit to
the family of the man who gunned down students at a
Jerusalem yeshiva last Thursday, killing eight.

Leftist activists call Peres '
criminal' in France
President encounters left-wing protestors
during visit to Nazi resistance museum.

Aussie MP boycotts motion commemorating
Israel's 60th anniversary
Julia Irwin, a frequent critic of Israel's conduct in conflict
with Palestinians, deliberately absent from chamber
during session on motion reiterating Australia's support
of Israel. PM Rudd: We're a pack of pussycats compared
to Knesset members.

Police: Organized crime groups traffic
Palestinians into Israel
Organized crime groups have recently started smuggling
Palestinians into Israel, Superintendent Eli Davidson of
the police national investigations unit told the Knesset
Internal Affairs and Environment Committee on Tuesday.

Blair declares Occupied West Bank '
open for business'
RAMALLAH, Occupied West Bank: International
Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair on Tuesday
urged investors to attend an Occupied West Bank
conference in May, saying Palestine is "open for business."
The conference is an "important opportunity for us to
show that despite all the problems that are obvious and
evident, nonetheless here, in this part of Palestine, it is
actually open for business," the former British premier
said at a news conference with Palestinian Prime
Minister Salam Fayyad.

Pro-Palestinian graffiti found inside
El Al plane in Italy
MILAN - Pro-Palestinian graffiti written in Arabic was
found scrawled inside the cargo hold of an El Al plane
during unloading at Milan's Malpensa airport Monday,
raising Israeli concerns about Italian airport security.

Drawing defiance
It is now almost 21 years since a middle-aged man was shot
and fatally wounded in broad daylight by unknown attackers
in a London street. But the memory of Naji al-Ali, one of the
most talented cartoonists the Arab world has ever known,
lives on. Al-Ali's work, currently being exhibited at a central
London gallery, was based in large part on his experience as
a Palestinian refugee. And at a time when his people are
again making headlines - and in the run-up to the 60th
anniversary of the creation of Israel and what Palestinians
call their nakba ("catastrophe") - it has a poignant relevance.

To rescue the two-state solution,
Israel must make peace with Syria
Here's a truism of Middle East diplomacy. Everyone
knows the outline of the eventual settlement: there will
be two states, one Israeli, one Palestinian, alongside each
other, their borders roughly in line with the parameters
set out by Bill Clinton in late 2000. Everyone knows that.
Yet somehow the two sides cannot seem to reach this
apparently obvious destination. Even back in 2000,
when the Israeli cabinet was packed with doves and the
peace process was led by a US president engaged in every
last detail, the deal remained elusive. Since then, it has
fallen ever further out of reach.

Interview with single-state activist Dr. Haider Eid
"The establishment of a sovereign, independent
Palestinian state on the 1967 borders is unfeasible.
A Bantustan-based system does not guarantee a
comprehensive peace. It never did in Apartheid
South Africa. Ironically, therefore, what the Oslo
Accords, signed in 1993 between Israel and the PLO,
have led to is a situation that was not envisaged by its
signatories, that is the impossibility of establishing a
sovereign independent Palestinian state on 22 percent
of historic Palestine." Dr. Haider Eid speaks with
Anna Weekes.

Obama calls Livni, back's Israel's
right for self-defense
Foreign minister gets unexpected phone call from
presidential hopeful; Obama expresses his condolences
to families of Jerusalem attack victims, says Iran should
be prevented from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Obama's Missile Defenses
In his article about national security published earlier
this year in Foreign Affairs, Obama makes no mention
of missile defenses or the ABM treaty or any other
issues associated with research and development of
high-tech weaponry. A search of Obama's website yields
nothing under homeland security positions, and only one
mention of missile defenses. Curiously, according to the
website, "He has called for continuing U.S. cooperation
with Israel in the development of missile defense systems.

Arab bloggers defy arrest
A number of Arab bloggers say they will continue to
publish their messages online even as regional governments
have started to aggressively restrict their activities. Wael
Abbas, an Egyptian online activist who uploaded
YouTube video clips of two policemen torturing and
sodomising a microbus driver in 2006, says the
government is now pressuring bloggers in his country.
"The government is turning its eyes to us, forcing
bloggers to shut down their blogs and harassing them,"
he told Al Jazeera.

Iraq : At least 67 killed in another
bloody day of US occupation
roadside bomb hit a bus carrying a family returning from
a funeral near the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya, killing
at least 14 people and wounding 10, Iraqi police and the
British military said.

Admiral William Fallon quits
after clash with hawks
The top US military commander for Iraq and
Afghanistan resigned last night after weeks of
behind-the-scenes disagreements with the White House
over the direction of American foreign policy.