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PM Olmert okays 750 new
West Bank settlement homes
The project, which is expected to include an estimated
750 homes in the Agan Ayelot neighborhood of Givat
Ze'ev, near Jerusalem, drew criticism from the
Palestinian Authority over Israel's commitment to
the peace process. The prime minister's spokesman
said the project was in line with the state's current
policy on construction in existing settlements.
Deal: Outpost evacuation in return for settlement building
Defense Ministry offered settlers to evacuate 18 illegal outposts
in coming months, in exchange for new housing units in settlement
blocs, Ynet learns. Yesha Council denies report
Reuters video: West Bank settlement expansion
Mar. 9 - Israel's announcement to expand a West Bank settlement
adds further fuel to Mideast tensions. Israel's unveiling of plans
to extend a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank near
Jerusalem by 750 homes has been denounced by Palestinians as
another hammer-blow to U.S. brokered peace talks. Paul Chapman reports
Settlers vow revenge over Jerusalem massacre
As violence spirals and calls for peace talks grow, extremists say
they will build a new West Bank settlement for each of the eight students killed
West Bank closure extended for at least 24 hours
The Israeli government decided to extend the comprehensive
closure on the West Bank for at least 24 hours on Sunday. The
government will review the situation again on Monday. Israeli
police will continue to be on high alert throughout the country,
especially in Jerusalem. Extra security forces will be deployed at educational institutions.
Palestinians: Ceasefire in south already in effect
Gaza sources claim Israel, armed Palestinian factions reach
understanding on ceasefire in area, effective as of this weekend.
Only one rocket fired at Negev in last two days, no IDF strikes
registered in Strip. PMO denies any deal reached with Hamas –
In exchange for the suspension of rocket attacks, the sources said,
Israel has committed to halting ground operations and air strikes in
Gaza. However, the Prime Minister's Office on said that it was
"unfamiliar with any agreement on a ceasefire with Hamas."
Egyptian plan, with US and EU backing, engages
Hamas, PA and Israel in resolving Gaza crisis
Egyptian diplomatic sources revealed the details of a ceasefire
proposal that Cairo plans to present to Israel and to Palestinian
leaders from both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. They
explained that the Egyptian role is larger than just mediation
between Hamas and Israel, because it aims to achieve a truce,
an end to the Israeli blockade, and a resumption of talks between
Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. The proposal still has many
hurdles to cross before it is approved, however.
Top Israeli Defense Ministry official visits Cairo for talks on Gaza calm
Amos Gilad met with Egypt's head of intelligence, Lt. Gen. Omar Suleiman
to discuss the ongoing crisis in the Gaza Strip and the meetings between
Egyptian officials and the members of Hamas.
Egypt allows aid to Gaza via Israel-controlled crossing
Egypt Sunday allowed convoys carrying humanitarian aid into
the Gaza Strip through the Israel-controlled Karam Abu-Salem
border crossing, according to Egyptian security officials. The
Karam Abu-Salem border crossing, where the borders of Egypt,
Israel and Gaza meet, is about 14 kilometres south of the Rafah
border between the Strip and Egypt. The passage of the relief
aid via the Israeli-controlled crossing was believed to have been
to ensure that no weapons were smuggled into the Gaza Strip.
Second Israeli soldier dies from Islamic Jihad's border ambush
A second Israeli soldier has died of wounds he sustained on Thursday
when Palestinian fighters bombed an Israeli military jeep on the border
with the Gaza Strip. Twenty-year-old Liran Banai was critically injured
in the attack near the Kisufim crossing point.
Palestinian shot by Israeli forces near Kisufim
A Palestinian was shot by Israeli forces stationed at the Kisufim
military site, east of the town of Al-Qarara, on Sunday, Palestinian
medical sources said. He is said to be in serious condition. Israeli
sources claimed that Palestinian fighters opened fire at Israeli
soldiers near Kisufim on Sunday, but reported no injuries.
Report: Hamas leader says hundreds of
militants trained in Iran, Syria
Hamas has sent hundreds of militants to train in Iran and Syria in
the past two years, a commander in the Iz al-Din al-Qassam military
wing of Hamas said in a rare interview with The Sunday Times of
London. Speaking on the record but on condition of anonymity, the
Hamas commander, already a senior figure in his late twenties, told
the British newspaper that Hamas had been sending militants to
Iran for training in both field tactics and weapons technology since
Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip in 2005. Others, he said, go to
Syria for more basic training.
Palestinians: Hamas, Hezbollah cooperated
on Jerusalem terror attack
The gunman who murdered eight students at Mercaz Harav Yeshiva i
n Jerusalem last Thursday was acting on instructions from Hamas
leaders in Damascus, in coordination with Hezbollah, Palestinian
defense sources said. So far no Palestinian or Arab organization
has claimed responsibility for the attack, although Palestinian sources
have said that the attack had been planned by a Hamas network in
the West Bank acting on orders from its leaders in Damascus.
Hamas' leadership in Gaza was not privy to the plan, which was
drawn up in coordination with Hezbollah, the sources said. In a
television interview in Lebanon, a Hezbollah man on Saturday
denied any connection to the attack. Hamas spokespeople in the
Gaza Strip said they were checking whether their organization
was connected to the attack.
Heads to the right - by Gideon Levy
Nothing, of course, can justify the horrible killing of young boys
in a library. Still, it would be appropriate to recall, even at this
difficult hour, what this yeshiva has brought forth. . . No one
can explain in depth the magical powers of extortion this group
has obtained. Nor can anyone ignore the damage it has caused
the country. Without the settlement enterprise, peace might
have reigned here already; without the Gush Emunim movement,
supported by successive Israeli governments, there would be no
settlements; and without the Mercaz Harav yeshiva, there would
be no Gush Emunim. This institution, then, was the cradle of the
settlement enterprise and its driving force. From Mercaz Harav
emerged the rabbis that led the vilest move in Zionist history.
Most of the delusional right-wing perpetrators and the
mongers of hate for Arabs came from this flagship.
Education minister verbally attacked at Mercaz Harav yeshiva
Tamir pays condolence visit to yeshiva that lost eight students in
terror attack, greeted with hostile chants, including 'murderer.' This
reminded me of the period before Rabin's murder, she says
Haaretz editorial: Blood, religion and negotiations
The murderous attack at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in Jerusalem
raised anew the questions inherent in striving for an Israeli-Palestinian
peace agreement. From an Israeli viewpoint, the victims of the massacre
are akin to any other eight fatalities, most of them secular, in a lethal
terror campaign. But in the eyes of the murderer and his dispatchers,
evidently, there is an added religious aspect, like that which accompanied
Baruch Goldstein's horrific crime at the Tomb of the Patriarchs 14 years
ago. It is clear that should the religious aspect reign supreme, it would
undermine the possibility of reaching a compromise between two political entities.
Behind the current Israeli escalation in
Gaza: Questions and answers
Hamas lashes out at OIC leader for condemning Jerusalem attack
Hamas criticized the Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic
Conference, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, on Saturday for condemning
Thursday's deadly shooting attack on a religious school in West
Jerusalem. Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri lashed out at
Arab leaders who condemn the Palestinian resistance. He called on
Arab and Muslim leaders to support the Palestinian struggle.
Intelligence report: Chances of third intifada slim
(VIDEO) - The chances of a third intifada erupting are slim, but the
outbreak of a limited violent revolt is possible should the Temple
Mount complex be damaged or if the number of Palestinian casualties
increases significantly, according to an intelligence briefing given to
members of cabinet on Sunday.
MK Yossi Beilin: Don't repeat mistake of 2000
Only recently we were thankful for the relative quiet of 2007, yet again we
see ambulances, the dead, and the wounded. Yet we must not repeat the
grave mistake we made in the fall of 2000, when it appeared that an iron
fist would cut off the enemy's arm. The iron fist gave rise to hatred,
revenge, and many clenched fists – never before have so many civilians
been killed in Israel as were killed in the first years of the third millennium.
We must not return to September 2000.
No day is women's day in Gaza
Mahasen Darduna suffers in ways the world recognizes; her suffering
comes at the hands of the Israelis. But there are many Palestinian women
whose suffering the world does not see, because their hell is inflicted on
them by fellow Palestinians. One way or another, no day is woman's day
in Gaza – I "The dire economic situation is one of the causes of an increase
of violence in Gaza," Abu Nahla told IPS. With resistance to the siege and
military attacks, religious fanaticism has grown, and that has contributed
to an increase in violence against women, she said.
On International Women's Day, Palestinian
women continue their struggle
Palestinian women have been impacted by the policy of collective
punishment and the siege imposed by IOF against the Gaza Strip,
especially since June 2007. Such measures have impacted living
conditions of Palestinian women. In particular, sick women, like
other patients, have been denied access to medical treatment
outside the Gaza Strip. Since June 2007, seven women have died
due to the denial by IOF of their access to medical treatment outside
the Gaza Strip. Additionally, another six women died while being
stuck together with other civilians at the Rafah International
Crossing Point, which had been closed for at least two months previously.
Women in Palestine still attacked and harassed by the Occupation
The Al Haq institution which defends human rights issued a statement
marking the Eighth of March, International Women's Day, and stated that
Palestinian women are subjected to abuse of their fundamental rights by
the 40-year old Israeli occupation. Al Haq added that since last
International Women's Day, 24 Palestinian women were killed by
the Israeli army, among them five children. The army has killed 288
women, including 105 children, since the beginning of the second
Intifada in late September 2000. The institution added that
Palestinian women are denied their basic rights and protection within
their own society. Al Haq also said that one of the issues of immense
concern is the continued "honor killings" which became known as
"femicide", and added that due to the lack of law enforcement and
lack of pressure within the community, all forms of violence against
women continue to occur with impunity.
Interview with a female detainee imprisoned by Israel
Detainee Qahira Al Sa'dy, imprisoned in Telmond Israeli prison voiced
an appeal to every Palestinian woman to act for the "support of all
detained women, for the pain, sadness and anger of the imprisoned
women who are suffering and dreaming of a day when they can hug
their children once again."
Interview with Fouad al-Khuffash of the Ahrar Center about
Palestinian women prisoners
Q. Recently, you published a report about detainee Ahlam Jawhar.
Can you tell us, first, when was Ahlam abducted by the Israeli
occupation forces, and what has happened to her since then?
A. Sister Ahlam Jawhar is a thirty-year old Palestinian woman who
was living with her family in Huwwara village near Nablus. She works
in the human rights field as a peace activist, with the group 'Friends of
Humanity International', based in Vienna, Austria. Sister Ahlam was
kidnapped forty days ago on January 12th, 2008.
The core issue is not Jerusalem, but the mutual
perception of Israelis and Palestinians
In the more than 100 years of their conflict, Israelis and Palestinians have
not found a way to limit their mutual suspicion and prejudices. On the
contrary: As the years pass the hatred grows, the frustration intensifies,
the desire for vengeance increases, and each side becomes less and less
able to develop an understanding for the distress and anxieties of the other.
Whatever happened in 1947-1948? Part I
Ten Years of Research into the 1947-49 War – The expulsion of the
Palestinians re-examined – by Dominique Vidal December 1997
Whatever happened in 1947-1948? Part II
By Moshe Machover, Race & Class, Vol. 30, No. 4, 87-93 (1989)
Review: The birth of Israel: myths and realities By Simha Flapan
(London, Croom Helm, 1987). 277pp. The birth of the Palestinian
refugee problem, 1947-1949 by Benny Morris
(Cambridge Middle East Library, Cambridge
University Press, 1987). 380pp.
Making the most of a sad little zoo
GAZA CITY–People have called the Gaza Strip a great many things,
but it's a fair bet no one has recently described the place as a great
spot to take the family on a weekend outing. Even at the best of times,
this 40-kilometre stretch of Mediterranean seafront is hardly bursting
with non-violent recreational options. True, in the summer, there's the
beach – a ribbon of off-white sand that stretches the length of the
territory. In winter, the choices are more limited. Gaza used to have
three movie houses, but now there are none. You could head out
to Luna Park on the outskirts of Gaza City, a modest family amusement
centre that boasts a wobbly-looking Ferris wheel, along with a few other
rides. Apart from that, about the only recourse left is a trip to the zoo.
Palestinian teachers to strike over pay
The Palestinian Teachers Union announced a series of strikes
starting on Wednesday and Thursday because the teachers feel
their needs are not being met by the Palestinian Authority. Teachers
and public employees are demanding higher salaries to match the
rising price of consumer goods, food, and transportation.
Protest in Paris over Israeli attacks
Paris was the scene of massive nonviolent protests on Saturday against
the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip and against the visit of Israel's
President, Shimon Peres, to the country as part of his European tour.
The procession was organized by the Palestinian Students Union in a
Parisian neighborhood which has been home to a large number of
Arabs and Palestinians, especially university students.
Jewish agency to start anti-terror drive after Jerusalem attack
Hundreds of JA and World Zionist Organization envoys will receive
kits with photographs of the attack and information material to hold
memorial events and rallies. The campaign is also aimed to counter
pro-Palestinian campaigns following the IDF's operation in the Gaza Strip,
which killed 120 Palestinians.
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