Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines March 6, 2008 ~

Today In Palestine
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Sue Israel for Genocide before
the International Court of Justice


Report: 22 Palestinian students
killed in Gaza last week
The Palestinian education ministry issued a report
on Thursday stating that 22 Palestinian students were
killed in the latest Israeli attacks on the
Palestinian coastal region.

Army attacks Palestinian volunteers inside
the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem
On Thursday, Israeli border police troops attacked a
group of Palestinian volunteers who were doing
renovation and cleaning work inside the Al Aqsa
mosque in the old city of Jerusalem.

An elderly woman killed as Israeli soldiers
attack her home in Balata refugee camp
An elderly woman, Zakia al-'Amory, from Balata refugee
camp in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, died on
Thursday morning when the Israeli army attacked her
home in order to kidnap her son.

One killed in Gaza as the army
continue shelling the coastal region
One Palestinian resistance fighter was killed and
one injured in an Israeli air raid targeting Jabalia
refugee camp in the northern part of the Gaza
strip on Thursday.

Palestinian killed, settler
injured south of Hebron
Palestinian medical sources reported that one
resident was shot and killed on Wednesday evening
during a shootout that took place near Ithna village,
south of Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank.
One Israeli settler was injured in the incident.

Humanitarian situation in Gaza,
the worst since 1967
Several Human Rights organizations in the United
Kingdom stated in a report on Tuesday that the
humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is now
worse than it was at any time since Israel occupied
the Palestinian territories in 1967.

Palestinian farmer critically wounded
by Israeli army gunfire in Bilin
A Palestinian young man was wounded by Israeli
army gunfire in the village of Bilin near the northern
West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday afternoon.

Israeli army jeep blown up on
Gaza border -witness
An Israeli military jeep was blown up on the Gaza
Strip border on Thursday after apparently running
over a landmine, a Palestinian witness said. The witness
said an explosion ripped through the jeep at Kissufim border
crossing, and that two tanks and an ambulance rushed
to the scene. "I believe the jeep was destroyed, because
it was consumed by flames," the witness said. An Israeli
military spokeswoman had no immediate details on the incident.

Gaza militants kill 1 Israeli soldier
KISSUFIM CROSSING, Israel — Palestinian militants
ambushed an Israeli army jeep patrolling the Gaza border,
then attacked a rescue crew that rushed to the scene,
killing one soldier and wounding three in a brazen
cross-border attack, according to military and witness accounts.

Hamas calls for international investigation
over US scheme to spark civil war
Ezzat Al-Resheq, a member of the Hamas political
bureau, called for opening an international investigation
over the involvement of the American administration
and PA leaders in a scheme to ignite a civil war in
Gaza and the West Bank, pointing out that dozens of
Palestinians in Gaza were killed at the initiation of this conspiracy.

Palestinian security forces arrested six
members of Islamic Hamas movement in the
West Bank, Hamas said on Tuesday
In a statement sent to the media, Hamas said the
forces, loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas of rival
Fatah movement, arrested the six in the cities of
Nablus, Hebron and Salfeet.

'Evacuate Gazans so IDF can attack'
Defense Minister Ehud Barak is seeking legal approval
to evacuate thousands of residents of Gaza City to
locations in the south of the Strip to enable the
IDF to attack terror infrastructure without
hurting civilians, Channel 2 reported
Wednesday evening.

Zionist rabbis says Torah
permits killing Palestinian civilians
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)--The association of
rabbis for the people and land of Israel headed by
extremist rabbi Dov Lior issued on Wednesday a
religious ruling legitimizing the shelling of
Palestinian civilian gatherings by IOF troops at
the pretext of responding to the rocket attacks
carried out by the Palestinians.

Parents of detainees from Jerusalem
protest, demand probe into a
death of a detainee
Dozens of residents, families of Jerusalem residents
imprisoned by Israel, held a protest on Wednesday
in front of the Red Cross in the city demanding an
immediate probe into the death of detainee Fadil
shaheen who died recently in
Be'er Shiva Israeli prison.

The Popular Committees appeals human
rights groups to save the life of a
Nablus detainee
The Palestinian Popular Committees issued a press
release appealing International Organizations and the
International Red Cross to intervene and save the
life of detainee Shukry Jamil Yaish, 32, who is
seriously ill and imprisoned in the Israeli Negev
detention camp.

Gaza violence sparks West Bank fury
Wrapped in a Palestinian flag, his pale face
uncovered, the body of Hammad Saleh, an
18-year-old schoolboy, emerged from the
side entrance of Ramallah hospital on Monday.
Carried aloft by friends and relatives, the corpse
was greeted by hundreds of flag-waving protesters
chanting: "The martyr is the love of God!" and "God is great!"

West Bank Barriers Keep Rising Despite
Promises of Relief, Commute Becomes
'Daily Humiliation'
AZUN, West Bank -- Karim Edwan's skepticism
about the U.S.-backed Middle East peace process
is rooted in his morning commute.
To travel from his home in this West Bank village
to his job as an emergency room doctor, the
35-year-old must take at least two cabs, skirt a
barbed-wire fence, climb a dirt mound, talk his
way through multiple Israeli checkpoints and
remove his shoes for a full-body security check.

EU pushes for deal to reopen
Gaza-Egypt border
The European Union said on Monday it was pushing
for agreement between Cairo, Israel and Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas to reopen Egypt's border
crossing with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

Egyptian anger over Israel
"approaching boiling point"
Fury erupted on the streets and in parliament this
week following violent Israeli military operations
in the Gaza Strip. But as protests were held
nationwide in support of besieged Palestinians
next door, Cairo continued to keep the volatile
Rafah border crossing -- the only means out of
the strip not under direct Israeli control --
tightly sealed.

Arab League to leave nuclear treaty if
Israel admits to atomic weapons
Arab countries will walk away from the Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty if Israel ever officially
acknowledges it has nuclear weapons, the Arab
League announced in a statement Wednesday.

Qatar seen bankrolling Hamas
Abu Mazen's men are now making sure that no
money goes to any Palestinian lest it falls in
Hamas hands. ""Qatar gives Hamas millions of
dollars a month [on average]," a senior aide to
Mr. Abbas told The Washington Times on the
sidelines of the Rice-Abbas meetings in the
West Bank city of Ramallah. "They say the
money is for the people of Gaza, but Hamas
steals it, and some of it may be used to
buy weapons.

Diplomat James Cunningham to be
named U.S. envoy to Israel
The U.S. State Department was set to announce
Wednesday the appointment of James Cunningham
to the post of United States Ambassador to Israel.

Rice: Israeli, Palestinian negotiators
likely to meet Thursday
U.S secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, stated
on Wednesday in Jerusalem that Palestinian and
Israeli negotiators are likely to meet on Thursday
after they were halted when Israeli initiated its
recent military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian drag queens at
odds with nearly everyone
A small crowd had gathered on a south Tel Aviv
street as The Bride opened his mouth and began
to sing — in Arabic. To be more accurate, The
Bride was lip-synching the words of a political
anthem by one of Lebanon's best-known divas.
"Let the jails' door be destroyed," he sang as
bewildered Israelis on dates wandered by. "
Let this madness be defeated, and let anyone
who betrays us become stones."

Barring Palestinians from Highway 443
prevents attacks on Israel, court hints
The High Court of Justice said Wednesday it
would hand down its decision on a petition
protesting an army order barring Palestinians from
driving on Highway 443 at a later date. But
during the final hearing on the petition, the court
indicated that over the years, the road has become
a key highway serving tens of thousands of Israelis
whose safety would be endangered if Palestinians
were allowed to use it unrestrictedly.
"You submitted your petition at a very late date,"
Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch told
ACRI attorneys Dan Yakir and Limor Yehuda,
who are representing 30 Palestinian petitioners
- including the local heads of six Palestinian towns
and villages strung along the segment of the highway
which is situated inside the West Bank. "
The restrictions on the road started in 2002."

U.S. Policy is Gasoline on the Gaza Fires
Once upon a time, Israelis and Palestinians looked
to the U.S. to intervene at moments of heightened
confrontation to mediate between the two sides and
contain the damage. The Bush Administration,
however, has proved entirely incapable of playing this
role, because its own diplomatic efforts are hidebound
by the requirements of its own war on Hamas.

Peace now, in Belfast
BELFAST – You look up to the sky and something is
missing there – there are no helicopters. Their
tireless 24-hours-a-day buzz is gone.
Belfast 2008 looks just like any other British city
these days; it's almost boring. I walk around the
streets of this formerly torn city and I can't
believe my eyes: Tourists are frequenting areas that
only a few years ago constitute life threatening danger.
A tour guide points to a graffiti and says: This is a painting
from the old days of the Protestant underground
organization, which is almost inactive. And here we had a
butcher shop where the Catholic underground placed a
bomb and many people were killed. But now, as you can
see, everything is quiet.

Crossing the Line interviews
Israeli historian Ilan Pappe
This week on Crossing The Line: The word "genocide"
is one of the most powerful words used to describe
criminal killing and destruction. It has been used to
describe the Nazi holocaust, the killing fields of
Cambodia, and Rwanda. More recently, Israeli
author and historian Ilan Pappe has used this
word to describe Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip.
Host Naji Ali* speaks with Pappe about why he sees
Israel's ongoing occupation and killing of Palestinians
in Gaza as genocide.

Gallup: Record number dissatisfied
with US global position
According to a new Gallup poll, a record number of
Americans are dissatisfied with their country's global
position. "Americans' view of the United States' position
in the world has undergone a complete reversal over
the course of the Bush administration," Lydia Saad writes
for Gallup. "Since February 2001, Americans'
dissatisfaction with the country's position in the world
has more than doubled."