(5 Dec) The Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip is having ever more serious consequences on its population. In the past month the supply of humanitarian aid and basic necessities to Gaza has been reduced from a trickle to an intermittent drip. The blockade has become tighter than ever since the breakdown of a five-and-a-half-month ceasefire between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants on 5 November. "The Israeli authorities might be allowing through enough for the survival of Gaza's population, but this is nowhere near enough for the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza to live with dignity," said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International's researcher on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/
Gaza resident killed by Israeli tank shell
(6 Dec) Palestinian medical sources in Gaza reported on Saturday evening that one resident was killed after the Israeli army fired a tank shell into an area east of Gaza City. The Israeli army denied any responsibility for the shelling and claimed that the Palestinian resident died while planting an explosive charge. The slain resident was identified as Raed Yousef, 21. Medical sources reported that Yousef's body was severely mutilated.The Salah Ed Deen Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, stated that Yousef is one of its members.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
Tel Aviv police seize Israeli-Arab boat set to deliver aid to Gaza
(7 Dec) Israeli police on Sunday foiled an attempt by Israeli Arabs to set off in a boat from Israel to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip with a cargo of food and medical supplies. The Israeli Arab Islamist Movement organized what was to have been the first boat journey from Israel to the Gaza Strip with humanitarian supplies. But police in the port of Jaffa instructed the boat's owner not to set off for Gaza and ordered him to move the vessel to the nearby Tel Aviv marina, where it was put under watch.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Toys, food, and medicine seized from Israeli boat planning voyage to Gaza
(7 Dec) A group of Israeli Knesset members (MKs) and peace activists preparing to sail aid to Gaza from the Jaffa port south of Tel Aviv were halted and the ship, along with three of the crew, were seized by Israeli police. According to Israeli media sources the ship, and its cargo of food, medicines and toys for the Eid celebration, has been transferred to a nearby Tel Aviv marina. Police reportedly arrested the activists and halted the ship in accordance with the Israeli law that prohibits citizens from entering Gaza without a permit. The law is designed to keep out the settlers removed from the area in 2005, and also prevent moderate or even curious Israelis from visiting the Gaza Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Boat owner: I didn't think we'd dock in Gaza
(7 Dec; photos) The police on Sunday prevented peace activists and Arab Knesset members from sailing to Gaza by seizing the boat scheduled to take them there and a truck carrying humanitarian equipment. The owner of the vessel rented for the planned journey tried to shake off his responsibility, telling Ynet that "no one said anything about Gaza". The man, Itzik Avneri, stressed that the organizers of the sail, who rented his services and boat, only told him that they wanted to "sail towards Gaza", despite the fact their clear statement from last week that they plan to reach the Strip's shores. "I viewed it like any regular work," Avneri said Sunday morning.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Blackouts as Gaza power plant runs out of fuel
(7 Dec) The Gaza Strip power plant ran out of fuel and ceased working completely on Sunday afternoon, plunging half of the Strip into darkness, a senior Palestinian energy official said. Kan'an Ubeid, the deputy chief of the Palestinian Energy Authority said that Gaza City as well as the north and central areas of the Gaza Strip are expected to be without power. Israel allowed 400,000 liters of fuel last Thursday through the Nahal Oz terminal, an insufficient amount to fully operate the plant's generators. The fuel transfusion was rationed and finally ran out on Sunday. Israel has closed the Gaza crossings for 32 consecutive days and only selectively allowed deliveries of humanitarian supplies to enter on 17, 24, 26 and 27 November and 4 December.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Gaza to celebrate the feast by candlelight
(7 Dec) The Gaza power plant will totally shut down on Sunday as it has run out of industrial fuel needed to run the power generators. The residents of the Gaza Strip will have to remain without power and welcome the Al Adha Muslim feast on candle light, if there are any candles left. The Gaza Power Company said that the plant cannot run anymore as it has run out of fuel due to the ongoing Israeli siege on Gaza. Israel recently allowed a limited amount of fuel into Gaza, but within a few days it completely dried up. If the situation continues as it is, the Gaza Strip will remain without electricity.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
UNRWA in Gaza: Food supply will run out in two or three days
(7 Dec) UNRWA food aid reserves in the Gaza Strip will run out in two or three days if Israel continues to close commercial terminals, the UN aid agency announced Sunday. UNRWA spokesman in Gaza Adnan Abu Hasana told the press that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza was increasing. He called on the international community to demand Israel allow the shipment of food aid to Gaza. He noted that over 750,000 people in the area rely almost entirely on the aid. Abu Hasana confirmed that despite constant appeals, Israel has given them no indication when or if crossings will reopen.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Iranian doctors denounce crimes in Gaza
(7 Dec) TEHRAN (IRNA) A group of Iranian doctors sent a letter on Saturday to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemning the inhuman crimes of the Zionist regime and urged the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to immediately ship medicine and foodstuffs to the occupied territory which is on the verge of humanitarian catastrophe.Some 260 patients have been victimized due to Gaza seizure and some 71 percent of children in that region are now suffering malnutrition, pointed out the letter.
http://www.tehrantimes.com/
World Bank warns Gaza banks may collapse
(7 Dec) RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — The World Bank and International Monetary Fund warned Saturday that Gaza's severe cash shortage may cause local banks to collapse. It was the most serious warning yet regarding the consequences of Israel's continued refusal to allow new money infusions into banks in the Palestinian territory.Israel has not allowed money to enter Gaza since October, barring Palestinian banks from transferring cash to their Gaza branches.
http://www.google.com/
ADU: Health disaster in Gaza looming
(6 Dec) CAIRO, (PIC)--The Arab Doctors Union has warned that a health disaster would imminently befall the Gaza Strip and neighboring countries if urgent assistance was not expedited to the besieged Strip. An ADU statement said that the siege would lead to spread of epidemics in the light of the lack of necessary vaccines and adequate potable water. Meanwhile, demonstrations hit the streets of Istanbul and Amman on Friday demanding an immediate end to the siege on Gaza.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
IAF bombs Gaza militants preparing to fire Qassams
(7 Dec) The Israel Air Force on Sunday bombed a group of Palestinians militants in Gaza as they were preparing to fire Qassam rockets at the western Negev. The Israel Defense Forces reported a direct hit and said casualties were identified. The strike came just as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's cabinet on Sunday allocated NIS 600 million for the reinforcement of homes in communities near the Gaza Strip border.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Two PRC fighters injured in Khan Younis
(7 Dec) Two Palestinian fighters were injured by an Israeli artillery shell in the Al-Faraheen neighborhood of Khan Younis Sunday morning. According to the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) Israeli forces fired on the fighters from close range from near the Kissufim military base east of Khan Younis. The injured activists have not yet been identified. On Saturday Israeli tanks, warplanes and helicopters breached the Gaza borders on Saturday in pursuit of resistance activists preparing to launch projectiles at Israeli targets. One fighter was killed and another seriously injured in three separate incidents. Throughout Saturday five homemade projectiles were launched from the Gaza strip towards Israeli targets.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
PFLP military wing fires two projectiles at Ashkelon
(7 Dec) The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades claimed the launch of two homemade projectiles at the Israeli city of Ashkelon on Sunday morning. The Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said the projectiles were in response to Israeli massacres in the Gaza Strip and settler assaults against Palestinian citizens in Hebron in the southern West Bank.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Gaza fighters say they clashed with invading Israeli forces
(7 Dec) Palestinian fighters said they threw a Molotov cocktail at an Israeli military vehicle in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, sparking an exchange of fire with the Israeli forces. In a statement, the An-Nasser Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, and the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, said the Israeli force had invaded the east of Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Meanwhile the An-Nasser Brigades claimed responsibility for launching two homemade projectiles at Ein Hashlosha kibbutz, east of the city of Khan Younis, and for launching a mortar shell at a military installation in the area....
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Livni wants to rethink Gaza truce in wake of Qassam barrages
(7 Dec) Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said she intends to request an urgent meeting with the minister of defense and the prime minister, to reevaluate the cease-fire with Hamas. Referring a barrage of more than 20 Qassam rockets and mortar shells fired at Israel by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip over the weekend, Livni said: "The agreement isn't being observed by the other side anyway." No injuries or damage were reported in the attacks, and Israeli security forces refrained from retaliating. [The truce expires on 19 December]
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Israeli journalist speaks to Palestinians in Ramallah after spending three weeks in Gaza
(7 Dec) Israeli journalist Amira Hass spoke at a conference in Ramallah's Baladna Cultural center on Saturday where she described her experiences in the Gaza Strip during the three weeks she spent reporting from the area. Hass reports for the Israeli daily paper Haaretz, and was based in Gaza for a number of years in the 1990s, after which she moved to Ramallah until forced to leave Palestinian areas by the Israeli government. Hass speaks fluent Arabic. On entering Gaza Hass said she was accompanied by Hamas-appointed security personnel at all hours, and was prevented from entering any of the Strip's refugee camps. She said she had been warned by the security men that there was a chance that she would be abducted by extremists during her time in Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Egypt police seize explosives near Gaza border
(6 Dec) EL-ARISH, Egypt (AFP) – Egyptian police have found two caches of explosives in the Sinai Peninsula that were probably destined for the Gaza Strip , a security official said on Saturday. Police seized about 250 kilogrammes (550 pounds) of TNT near the town of Sheikh Zwayyed, the official said, asking not to be identified. At Al-Qusayima in central Sinai, they found more than 200 unexploded rockets from the Arab-Israeli wars from which the smugglers had intended to extract the explosives, the official added.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
Hamas bars hajj pilgrims from leaving Gaza
(6 Dec) By Ashraf Khalil and Rushdi abu Alouf --Thousands are stranded. The militant group and rival Palestinian faction Fatah are embroiled in a power struggle over who has the right to hand out visas for the pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.--Hamas forces, which have controlled Gaza for nearly 18 months, were blocking more than 2,000 people from crossing into Egypt, despite the fact that the Egyptian government temporarily opened the long-shuttered Rafah crossing to admit the pilgrims headed to the holy city of Mecca. By blocking the pilgrims, Hamas risks alienating the population of Gaza, which has largely continued to support the group despite an Israeli-backed blockade that has shattered the already limited economy of the tiny coastal strip. "I never expected Hamas as an Islamic movement to do this. It's a crime against humanity," said Abu Thaeer, the jeweler.
http://www.latimes.com/news/
Palestinian leader Abbas attacks Hamas over hajj
MECCA, Saudi Arabia, Dec 6 (Reuters)-Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday blamed Hamas for preventing thousands of Palestinians taking part in the haj pilgrimage, saying even Israel had not held back pilgrims from the sacred rites. "Unfortunately, this is the first time in the history of the Palestinian people that pilgrims were prevented. Israel never once prevented pilgrims," Abbas told reporters during the haj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
http://africa.reuters.com/
In pictures: Hajj pilgrimage
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_
Muslim hajj pilgrimage culminates on Mt. Arafat
(7 Dec, AP) By Ali Akbar Dareini-- MOUNT ARAFAT, Saudi Arabia – Creating a sea of white robes, nearly 3 million Muslims converged on a rocky desert hill outside Mecca on Sunday to perform the ritual of forgiveness marking the climax of the annual hajj...The Saudi grand mufti used the occasion of the day's ritual to warn Muslims that extremism could lead to terrorism and urged the faithful to show "the bright face of Islam" and spread teachings calling for "forgiveness, peace and love." Al-Sheikh's sermon, which was cited by the official news agency, also declared that the world economic crisis stemmed from an abandonment of Islamic prohibition of usury.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/
Israel: 231 Palestinian prisoners to be released Sunday
(7 Dec) Despite early claims the release would be cancelled the Israeli cabinet approved the Sunday release of 231 Palestinian prisoners in advance of the Muslim holiday Eid Al-Adha. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had initially promised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas 250 prisoners but at the last minute removed the names of 20 Gazan prisoners from the list. Those slated for release are mostly affiliated with Abbas' Fatah party, and are seen by Israel as being low-level threats. These are the names of the prisoners slated for release:
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Israel pulls 20 Palestinians from list of 250 prisoners set for release
(7 Dec) The ministerial committee overseeing the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails approved on Sunday the release of 230 prisoners as a gesture of goodwill toward the Palestinian Authority ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. The Israel Defense Forces issued a statement outlining additional gestures of goodwill to be afforded to the Palestinians for the duration of the Eid al-Adha holiday, including the extension of the operation hours of the Hawara, Awarta, Beit Furik and Beit Iba crossings. In addition, Palestinian men over 45 will be allowed to enter the Temple Mount, Israeli Arabs will be allowed to enter Area A in the West Bank to visit family members, Palestinian families in the West Bank will be granted entry into Israel to visit immediate family, and restrictions at several other crossings will be eased.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Israeli military detains a number of residents including a freed prisoner
(7 Dec) On Sunday, Israeli military detained a number of Palestinian residents, including a female prisoner that was set free, from different areas of the West Bank, Palestinian media sources and witnesses said. The Palestinian Center for Prisoners Affairs Studies in Bethlehem confirmed that yesterday the Israeli military detained the freed prisoner, Nawal Alsa'di (Um Ibrahim),age 49, from her house in the West Bank city of Jenin. Als'adi was released by a court's ruling after she was arrested along with her husband Bassam, at a military checkpoint in Nablus city. In the West Bank refugee camp of Aljallazoun, in northern Ramallah city and in Jenin city, Israeli soldiers detained two Palestinian residents and transported them to nearby detention centers.
http://imemc.org/article/57932
Western Ramallah's nonviolent resistance draws dozens in solidarity with Hebron
(6 Dec) Na'lin /PNN-On land adjacent to that currently overtaken by bulldozers, residents of western Ramallah's Na'lin Village held Friday prayers...After the sermon and prayers, residents began a march with foreign activists joining in solidarity. Although soldiers surrounded the town from all directions, the crowd headed toward the confiscated land. The Israeli army opened fire with gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. Dozens suffered injuries related to gas inhalation. Seven people fell with bullet wounds, including activists from Spain and Denmark.The nonviolent protest split into groups in order to avoid Israeli snipers en route to the site of the heaviest land dredging. From the south the occupation forces stormed the town and fired gas near homes causing suffocation among children and the parents who were keeping them close by. Israeli soldiers also fired at an ambulance from the Red Crescent and a journalist, photographer Fadi Aruri. Other ambulances were held back as were journalists.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.
Israeli forces detain wife of Islamic Jihad leader for second time in Jenin
(7 Dec) The wife of prominent Islamic Jihad leader Bassam As-Sa'di was detained for a second time on Saturday; taken out of her family home in Jenin by Israeli forces. The 49-year-old Nawal As-Sadi was previously detained at the Huwwara checkpoint south of Nablus, and kept in prison for 18 days. Bassam As-Sa'di is currently serving a five-year sentence in an Israeli prison. Two of Nawal's sons were killed by Israeli forces during the second Intifadah.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Demonstration against Homesh settlement: "These settlers have completely changed our landscape"
(6 Dec, photos) Today's demonstration was instead focusing on the extreme loss of land around the settlement, dunams where Palestinians used to grow olives, apples, apricots and walnuts. After the evacuation many of the Burqa, Sebastiya, Beit Imreen, Talluza, Deir Sharaf and Silat adh Dhahr residents returned to their long neglected lands to replant, though much of their work has already been reversed when settlers have come to uproot and burn the newly planted trees. In addition many of the farmers' storage areas and wells have been sabotaged or damaged by settlers. In April of this year settlers poured toxic chemicals into the water of the wells.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/
settlers-have-completely-
IWPS: Settlers burn olive groves in Immatin
(6 Dec) At about 2 p.m. on Friday, December 5, 2008, farmers in Immatin, a village in Qalqiliya, noticed a fire had broken out in olive groves several kilometres south of the village. The farmers estimate that the fire spread over an area of 100-150 dunums (1 dunum =1,000 square meters, 1/4 acre) before Palestinian firefighters were able to arrive and put it out. An estimated 150 to 200 trees, manly olive but also a few almond and fig trees, were affected by the fire.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/
Israel eases traffic restriction in West Bank city
(6 Dec) NABLUS, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian motorists drove freely out of this bustling West Bank city for the first time in six years Saturday after Israel eased long-standing travel restrictions in an apparent goodwill gesture ahead of a Muslim holiday...In Nablus, Palestinians crowded into cars to take advantage of their newfound freedom. "I hope this is permanent," said Wissam Hassouna, a 37-year-old grocer who planned to go for a drive with his wife and children. "I really want to drive quickly in my car. I've never taken my car outside of Nablus before. I want to know what it feels like to speed," he said, as he waited in a line to pass through the Hawara checkpoint.
http://www.google.com/
Israel eases movement on West Bank checkpoint
(6 Dec) NABLUS, West Bank (AP) – Palestinians packed into cars to leave the West Bank city of Nablus on Saturday after Israel eased restrictions on residents leaving the town in vehicles for the first time in six years. Luay Saadi, head of Palestinian-Israeli security coordination in Nablus, said Saturday that he was told by his Israeli counterparts that Palestinian men and women over age 50 can now leave the town in their cars, without prior permission from Israel's army. An Israeli army spokeswoman could not confirm the new policy. Most Nablus residents cross an Israeli checkpoint on foot to leave town or obtain a permit from Israel's military to exit in a vehicle. Palestinian taxi drivers working around the large Israeli checkpoint of Huwara on Nablus' southern outskirts said they were told by Israeli soldiers that the measure was a goodwill gesture for an upcoming Muslim holiday, meant to begin on Monday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/
An iron gate is the only way out of the Amer home surrounded on four sides by the Wall
(6 Dec) Nablus /Amin Abu Wardeh-The home of Hani Amer has become a meeting place for dozens of photographers, journalists and representatives of diplomatic missions. Fifty one year old Amer, Abu Nidal as he is known, lives in the western Salfit town of Mas'ha. This northern West Bank home has come to represent the pain caused by the Wall. There is small entrance that he is able to use to enter and exit his house. Abu Nidal expressed simply that it seems as if he lives in another world. He has a small garden in his modest home while nearby are the houses of the Jewish settlement Al Qanah. The eight member Amer family includes a 10 year old boy, Shaddad, who cannot find anyone to play with. The youngest member of the family uses the Wall as his companion, kicking the football against the grey cement that surrounds his house.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.
New tensions in Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods
(6 Dec) By Isabel Kershner--JERUSALEM — A series of recent Israeli actions in the mainly Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem have raised tensions there, with Palestinian and Israeli critics contending that they are part of a wider plan to "Judaize" historically charged areas around the Old City. The actions, ostensibly unconnected, include the demolition of two Arab homes in Silwan, a neighborhood adjacent to the Old City above the ruins of an ancient Jewish site; the start of a controversial infrastructure project there; and the eviction of a Palestinian family from its home in Sheik Jarrah, another neighborhood coveted by Jewish nationalists near the Old City. None of these actions in themselves are that unusual here. But the spate of high-profile, highly symbolic moves in the past few weeks has reignited concerns that an increasing Jewish presence in Arab areas will further complicate the chances of reaching an Israeli-Palestinian political agreement based on a two-state solution, which calls for a division of powers in a shared capital.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/
17-year-old who beat Arabs sent to jail
(7 Dec) A 17-year-old youth was sentenced to one year in prison on Sunday after being convicted of assaulting Arabs with sticks, clubs and knives along with several other teenagers on the eve of Holocaust Day. "I can't imagine that throughout his life the accused never heard of the Jews' Holocaust and was never exposed to the horrors in the pursuit of people for belonging to a different race," the Jerusalem Youth District Court wrote in her ruling. According to the indictment, several young people of the Pisgat Ze'ev neighborhood in the capital conspired to hurt Arabs on the eve of the past Holocaust Day.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Witnesses: Israeli police, soldiers 'deeply involved' in settler attacks following 'House of Contention' eviction
(7 Dec) .. According to witnesses, the response of the Israeli troops in Hebron was neither sharp nor immediate. On the contrary, the soldiers actively enabled the settlers. The Israeli forces in the area, it was a case of criminal negligence [not] to stop what now appears to be a coordinated assault on the civilian residents of the neighborhood. "When they pulled the settlers out of the house, a large number of settlers came down. I was filming them. I went down to my uncle's house, where settlers shot my cousin and uncle," said Abu Sa'ifan. ."Five minutes later, when my relatives were taken to the hospital, the army came and took all the young men in the area and put them in one house in the valley," he said. "Then the settlers came and set fires. They doused palm leaves in gasoline set fire to them in piles....Why were the settlers not detained or otherwise separated from the Palestinians in the area?Surely, after weeks of escalating and increasing mobilization on the part of settler groups, the government must have foreseen the carnage. Asked this question, officers in the Israeli military spokesperson's office claimed that the Israeli police had made the decision. Asked the same question, police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld claimed said that it had been the decision of the military not to arrest the settlers.... [of course many soldiers, including officers, and perhaps most of the policemen are settlers themselves]
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Settler who shot Palestinians in Hebron remanded 4 more days
(7 Dec) The Jerusalem Magistrates Court on Sunday extended by four days the remand of Zeev Braude, the settler who was filmed shooting at Palestiniansfollowing the evacuation of a disputed house in the West Bank city of Hebron last week. An activist with the B'Tselem human rights group caught Braude on film shooting at Palestinians at short range, hitting one. In the video, the injured man is seen falling to the ground. He then gets up and begins throwing stones at Braude. Braude turned himself in to the police last week, saying he had come to complain the Palestinians shown in the film had tried to lynch him. However, the Jerusalem judge on Sunday rejected Braude's line of defense, and stated that the video shows him clearly taking aim at the Palestinian and instigating the confrontation.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Hebron shooting: Lawyer claims suspect fired in defense
(7 Dec; photo) Jerusalem court remands for additional four days a Kiryat Arba resident suspected of shooting two Palestinians after eviction of disputed Hebron house, but says Palestinians also at fault. Police representative: Brauda's aim was to cause an entire population to rise up against us--Referring to the video that documented the incident, Judge Malka Aviv said "the suspect can be seen veering off the trail he was supposed to walk on and confronting the local face to face. At a certain point the suspect pushes and strikes (the Palestinian)." However, the judge said the Palestinians were partly at fault for what had transpired. "There are a number of question marks regarding the behavior of the (Palestinians) who were allegedly shot by the suspect, as they can be seen (in the video) getting up and continuing to throw stones at him," she said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Hebron settlers accuse IDF of collective punishment
(7 Dec) The Hebron Jewish Community Council sent an angry letter Saturday to local Israel Defense Forces commanders, accusing the IDF and police of implementing a "price-tag policy" of "collective punishment" on the Jews of Hebron. The council claims it is witness to deliberate neglect of Jewish residents in the Hebron area. "Time after time Jews suffer life-threatening attacks by Arabs as soldiers and police stand from afar and don't act to stop the attacks or to enforce the law against Arab rioters, all while claiming that these are the instructions they have received," the council wrote.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
House torched in the Old City of Hebron
(6 Dec, photo) A Palestinian family of the Old City of Hebron had the top floor of their home torched by a mob of settlers early Saturday morning. In addition to the fire the violent settlers also attacked the lower floors of the home, completely ransacking and ruining the Al-'Uweiwi family's kitchen. During the attack Nidal Al-'Uweiwi, his wife and his nine children were all forced to barricade themselves inside a small room of the house so as to not be attacked by the settlers.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/
Soldier files assault complaint against Haaretz photographer
(7 Dec) An IDF soldier flied a complaint with the Hebron Police Sunday against Haaretz photographer Tess Scheflan, who he claimed assaulted him over the weekend while she was covering the events in the city. Scheflan claimed the soldier beat her, leaving her lightly wounded, and she was taken to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. Police have launched an investigation into the incident. According to the IDF, the soldier claimed that he struck the photographer only after she had attacked him first. The IDF Spokesperson's Office said the soldier conducted himself inappropriately even if it was the Haaretz photographer who initiated the scuffle.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Analysis /Nothing justifies striking a photographer armed only with a camera
(7 Dec) BY Amos Harel--One thing can be said for the Israel Defense Forces following the striking of photographer Tess Scheflan by a soldier in Hebron: The top brass quickly understood the potential damage of the incident. Nothing justifies punching Scheflan's face and striking her head with a rifle butt, as described by Haaretz journalist Fadi Eyadat. The army said last night that the matter was under investigation. But it can already be said that the incident reflects an old problem in the territories: the enormous extent of military control with endless points of friction in which small groups of soldiers can beat or abuse civilians (usually Palestinians, sometimes Israelis). To this must be added the feeling of soldiers and sometimes officers that the media is the enemy, working for the Palestinian side.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Olmert: I am shamed by Hebron settlers' pogrom
(7 Dec) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday lashed out at settlers in Hebron who attacked Palestinians and their property in recent days, joining other Israeli figures in branding the attacks a 'pogrom'. "We are the children of a people whose historic ethos is built on the memory of pogroms," Olmert said during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. "The sight of Jews firing at innocent Palestinians has no other name than pogrom." "I am ashamed that Jews could do such a thing," Olmert went on. "I have asked the defense minister and other relevant elements to do all it takes, with all the strength needed and in any place controlled by the State of Israel, in order to stop this phenomenon."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Longing for the settlers of yore
(7 Dec) By Zvi Bar'el--How did glory depart from this world?Take, for example, the first generation of settlers in Hebron, law-abiding, innocent and honest, who established, with authorization, Kiryat Arba, the Avraham Avinu quarter, Tel Rumeida and the various farms. That magnificent generation beat up soldiers, imprisoned Palestinians in the industrial zone, smashed the windows of their Palestinian neighbors, took over the vegetable market and kept tens of thousands of Hebron's residents in their sealed city. A fine generation, which created parallel laws. But back then their mission was steeped in messianic vision, which even allowed for the establishment of a heroic underground that blew off the legs of mayors with bombs.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
No children of mine
(7 Dec 2008) By Fania Oz-Salzberger--The pogromists of Hebron have brought down a catastrophe upon the Jewish-Israeli nation. They destroyed this generation's last chance of discussing unity. Their actions, the actions of a violent occupier sponsored by the army and aided by lobbyists, divided the Jewish people of Israel into three unequal parts.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Hamas: Abbas not president "one day" after 9 January
(6 Dec) Hamas will not consider Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas legitimate after his term ends on 9 January, according to Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri in Damascus on Saturday. "I think that some Arab parties support Mahmoud Abbas and they chose the wrong person because Abbas created political cover for Israel to slaughter the Palestinian people and threaten their rights, particularly in Jerusalem," Abu Zuhri claimed.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Radwan: Abbas aimed to exploit dialog to liquidate the Palestinian cause
(6 Dec) GAZA, (PIC)--Ismail Radwan, one of the Hamas's political leaders in the Gaza Strip, has charged that PA chief Mahmoud Abbas was planning to exploit the inter-Palestinian national dialogue to endorse settlement projects that would liquidate the Palestine cause. Radwan told PIC on Friday that statements by Tony Blair, the international quartet's envoy to Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds, revealed that Abbas had reached a "kind of agreement" with outgoing Israeli premier Ehud Olmert. He explained that Abbas intended to use the national dialog to endorse this agreement. The Hamas leader further charged that the presence of such an agreement encouraged the Israeli occupation authority to escalate aggressions on the citizens in Al-Khalil. Blair also incited the Palestinians in Gaza by saying that their life could be much better if they sought a peaceful solution to the "Israeli-Palestinian" conflict.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Fatah's Al-Aqsa Brigades in Gaza: We have not talked with Hamas
(7 Dec) Fatah's military wing the Al-Aqsa Brigades said they have never met with Hamas delegates about the issue of the ceasefire agreement with Israel. Responding to a 2 December report from Hamas that it has met with all Gaza factions on the issue, the Al-Aqsa Brigades announced their commitment to abide by decisions made by Fatah officials in Ramallah. The Brigades stated they would "stick to the decision of our political leadership regarding the ceasefire" even though their position is that it "does not serve Palestinian people's interests."
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Palestinians speak of widespread torture in PA jails
(6 Dec) By Khalid Amayreh in Occupied East Jerusalem--Despite denials by officials of the Ramallah-based Palestinian government , detainees recently released from Palestinian Authority (PA) jails and interrogation centers in the West Bank have spoken of widespread torture, excessive abuse, and harsh treatment" at the hands of security interrogators. According to testimonies gathered directly from a number of former detainees in the Hebron region, the most common forms of torture include severe beating, usually using electric cables and water hoses and the notorious "Shabah technique."
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Fatah official: Hamas-Israel ceasefire turns Gazans into 'beggars'
(6 Dec) GAZA, Dec. 6 (Xinhua)--A Fatah official said Saturday that the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire between Hamas, which currently rules the Gaza Strip, and Israel has turned the Gazans into 'beggars'. "The lull only resulted in more siege, starvation and closure and made the people beggars," said Ibraheem Abu al-Najja, a Fatah leader based in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
PA bars Al-Jazeera from Muqata'a
(7 Dec) The Palestinian Authority has decided to ban a number of journalists from entering the presidential Mukata [Muqata'a] compound in Ramallah. The decision is aimed at punishing the journalists because of their criticism of the PA leadership or for reporting about the activities of Hamas leaders. Al-Jazeera reporters and TV crews are among those who now appear on the PA's blacklist. They have been denied access to the Mukata for the past two weeks. Other journalists working for Arab and Western media outlets have also been told that they are no longer welcome to visit the compound.The decision to ban Al-Jazeera came after the popular TV station failed to carry a live broadcast of a speech given by PA President Mahmoud Abbas in front of the PLO Central Council in Ramallah. Instead, the station broadcast live from Damascus, where Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal was addressing a conference of radical groups.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/
The Israeli approach: "If the Palestinians do more, we will do less"
(6 Dec) "...Jones explained in an interview why the security initiative is working. The Israeli approach is, "If they will do more, we will do less," he says. "That has built upon itself. There is more trust and confidence, with the Palestinians moving up the ladder to higher-end missions."
http://friday-lunch-club.
Arab parties mull joining forces
(7 Dec) United Arab List-Ta'al head, Balad chairman said to explore possibility of uniting parties ahead of upcoming Knesset elections--Head of the Southern Islamic Movement and United Arab List-Ta'alChairman Knesset Member Ibrahim Sarsur sent a letter to BaladChairman MK Jamal Zahalka over the weekend, calling on him to step up the party's unity talks.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Report: Israel a discriminatory state
(7 Dec) Association for Civil Rights published report probing bias in Israel in 2008, says Israeli Arabs systematically discriminated against, as are immigrants. Women, handicapped suffer bias in the workplace and situation in West Bank 'reminiscent of apartheid in South Africa'--The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) warned Sunday that "the Israeli democracy is in danger". The stark warning was noted in an Association report on discrimination in Israel, published on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the UN human rights decree. The report examined civil rights observations and breaches in Israel and the territories in 2008, and its finding indicate severe detriment to basic human rights, the likes of the right to dignity, privacy, healthcare, education and housing.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Shin Bet admits intervening in Muslim cleric appointments to public office
(7 Dec) By Akiva Eldar--The Shin Bet security service has confirmed for the first time that it regularly intervenes in the appointment of Muslim clergymen to public office, Haaretz has learned. The issue surfaced after the state recently declined to appoint Sheikh Ahmed Abu Awaja to serve as Imam at Jaffa's Jabalya mosque, even though Abu Awaja was the only certified candidate to fit the threshold requirements. When he appealed to the Tel Aviv Labor Court against the decision not to hire him, the district prosecutor's office told the court that "according to the assessments of the Shin Bet, the claimant's appointment to serve as an imam on behalf of the Ministry of Interior may jeopardize security and peace in Jaffa, ...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Ethiopian oleh seeks slot in Likud as young candidate
(6 Dec) The Likud's presentation of its MK hopefuls continued last week with the introduction of 27-year-old Gadi Yavarkan, who is originally from Ethiopia but is competing for the young candidate's slot (No. 35), rather than for an immigrant slot (21 or 30). "The Likud is the natural home of the Ethiopian community in Israel, which remains loyal to the party whose leaders made it possible for Ethiopian Jews to make aliya," said Yavarkan, a former IDF officer who is soon to complete his law studies. [aiming to be Israel's Obama?]
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/
Aliyah fairs aim to bring Israelis home
(5 Dec)Jewish Agency, Immigrant Absorption Ministry plan to hold fairs in Europe, North America to use global economic crisis to encourage Israelis abroad to return home, Diaspora Jews to make aliyah
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Video: Bridge over the Wadi aims to bridge divide
(1 Dec) Small school founded in Wadi Ara in 2003 by Jewish, Arab parents seeks to promote peace, understanding, humanitarian values in next generation. Arab co-principal Hussam Abu-Baker hopes students serve as emissaries of coexistence
http://www.ynetnews.com/
US evangelicals fund Druze academy
(6 Dec) A new right-wing Evangelical organization last week pledged to help fund the military academy in Dalyat al-Carmel, following a first official visit by a Christian Zionist delegation to Israel's only Druze city last month. The project, if completed, would be the first such contribution by Evangelicals to the Druze community. Although they speak Arabic and practice a variation of Islam [?], the majority of Israel's 120,000 Druze view themselves as a distinct ethnic group. Like all Druze male citizens, the institution's 30 students are subject to mandatory service in the Israel Defense Forces.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
O Little Town of Bethlehem
(6 Dec) Israel, Palestine, and American Christian Hypocrites-By Francis A. Boyle--Periodically I had attended UCC Christmas Season Church Services in town with my family. When it came time for prayers from the congregation, I always got up and asked everyone to help the Palestinians along the following lines: "…Bethlehem is cut-off and surrounded by the Israeli army–the Church of the Nativity too. The Israelis are inflicting ethnic cleansing upon all the Palestinian, both Muslims and Christians. They are also pursuing a policy of deliberately forcing Palestinian Christians out of Palestine as part of a perverse strategy to turn a war of national liberation into a religious crusade, figuring it would play better in the United States. And these are the original Christians, going back to Jesus Christ and the Apostles.
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/
Boston Globe editorial: Israel's domestic threat
(6 Dec) Israel was defending the rule of law Thursday when, to implement a High Court decision, 100 police special forces evicted extremist Israeli settlers from a house they had been occupying illegally in the West Bank city of Hebron...For too long, settler extremists have acted against the best interests of Israel, either defying the government or getting their way by means of political blackmail. Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said publicly that without a two-state solution soon with the Palestinians, Israel will be finished as a democratic Jewish state. The settler fanatics are the enemy within that has to be overcome if Israel is to be saved.
http://www.boston.com/
Audio: Neve Gordon of Ben Gurion University on his book Israel's Occupation
http://www.zmag.org/zaudio/
Sheikh's handshake with Peres sparks row
(7 Dec) A photo showing Egyptian al-Azhar University Sheikh Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi shaking hands with Israeli President Shimon Peres at last month's Interfaith Dialogue Conference in New York caused a storm throughout the Arab world. In response to the harsh criticism by Arab politicians, religious leaders and columnists, the top Sunni sheikh initially claimed he did not know who Peres was and that the hand shake was simply an instinctual act. "The hand that shook Peres' hand is tainted with the blood of Palestinians and reeks of the smell of their corpses and remains," wrote Egyptian columnist Fahmi Huwaidi.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Egyptian paper urges top cleric to purify hand after Peres handshake
(6 Dec, AP) Several opposition newspapers and lawmakers in Egypt called on the country's top Islamic cleric to resign Saturday for shaking the Israeli president's hand at a conference. Al-Osboa newspaper said in an editorial Saturday that Peres' hands were tainted with the blood of thousands of Palestinians who have lost their homes in Israel. Egypt is one of the only Arab countries to make peace with Israel, but the attitude of the country's citizens toward the Jewish state remains cool over the treatment of the Palestinians. Tantawi, who was appointed by the Egyptian government, was quoted in Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper and several others as saying he shook the Israeli president's hand without recognizing him.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Saturday: 15 Iraqis killed, 50 wounded
(6 Dec) Excerpt: At least 15 Iraqis were killed and 51 more were wounded in the latest round of violence. No Coalition deaths were reported. Meanwhile, Muslims have begun the haj pilgrimage to Mecca, and several Iraqi provinces have strengthened their security measures during the religious observances.A bomb planted in a cafe in Baqubawounded 19 people, many of them Awakening Council (Sahwa) members.
http://www.antiwar.com/
Sunday: 9 Iraqis killed, 65 wounded
(7 Dec) Excerpt: At least nine Iraqis were killed and 65 more were wounded during the latest attacks. In one, the mayor of Baquba suffered injuries. No Coalition deaths were reported. Meanwhile, a National Police commander announced new programs as Iraqi forces begin to take over more responsibility for security, while Foreign Ministry undersecretary Labid Abbawi said that he is working on a new security agreement for British troops. Also, a video has raised questions over the deaths of two U.S. soldiers in 2006. A bomb killed three people and wounded 42 others in Baquba.
http://www.antiwar.com/
Iraqi women, fighting for a voice
(7 Dec) Activists Confront Dual Powers of Religion, Tribalism By Sudarsan Raghavan--IRBIL, Iraq--Hawjin Hama Rashid, a feisty journalist in bluejeans and a frilly blouse, had come to the morgue in this Kurdish city to research tribal killings of women. "A week doesn't pass without at least 10," the morgue director said, showing Rashid pictures of corpses on his computer screen. From the southern port city of Basra to bustling Irbil in northern Iraq, Iraqi activists are trying to counter the rising influence of religious fundamentalists and tribal chieftains who have insisted that women wear the veil, prevented girls from receiving education and sanctioned killings of women accused of besmirching their family's honor.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
rss_world%2Fmideast
In Iraq, 'a prison full of innocent men'
(6 Dec) By Amit R. Paley ..." I'm not looking at whether they are guilty or innocent ," said Air Force Maj. Jeff Ghiglieri, the president of the review board that convened in May. "We're trying to determine as best we can whether they will do bad things if we release them." Minutes later, the panel unanimously voted to detain Farkhan for another six months. This proceeding is what has amounted to due process for many of the 100,000 prisoners who have passed through the American-run detention system in Iraq. Although the legal controversy over detainees at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has attracted far more attention, 100 times as many prisoners have been held at Camp Bucca and other Iraqi sites with far fewer legal rights and no oversight by the American court system. The Iraqis are not charged with crimes, permitted to see the evidence against them or provided lawyers.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Baqubah a minefield of Iraqi sectarian tensions
(7 Dec) By Ned Parker--The city and the rest of Diyala province still deal with fallout of the Sunni insurgency and Shiite mistrust--The governor of Diyala, Raad Tamimi,has survived 10 assassination attempts; 25 of his bodyguards have been killed.
http://www.latimes.com/news/
Maliki's survival game
(6 Dec) By Ranj Alaaldin--Chief among the concerns is the current state of the relationship between prime minister Maliki, his central government, and his political rivals. Iraq's politicians are still the same Iraqi politicians that came to power in the aftermath of 2003: power hungry, intent on survival, and keen to play their part in developing Iraq towards prosperity.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Iraqis react to Blackwater indictments with anger and satisfaction
(7 Dec) On Nisour Square here in the Iraqi capital, where at least 17 civilians were killed last year by guards working for the private security firm Blackwater Worldwide, Iraqis reacted with satisfaction and anger to the news that five Blackwater guards had been indicted by the United States Justice Department. "They started shooting randomly at people without any reason," recalled Ali Khalf Selman, a traffic policeman who said he witnessed the killing of 21 people on the day of the shootings. "I wish I could see the criminals in person, and I hope that they will pay a price for killing people who just happened to be in the wrong place on that bad day."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
US in charge of Iraqi shores' security
(6 Dec)Iraq 'has signed an agreement' to put the US in charge of the security of its shores along the Persian Gulf without parliament's approval.
http://www.presstv.com/detail.
Anti-Qa'eda militiamen, policeman killed in Iraq
(6 Dec) BAQUBA, Iraq (AFP) – Three anti Al-Qaeda militiamen and a policeman were killed in two separate incidents in northern Iraq on Saturday, a senior army officer said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
Kurds defend policies in sharp rebuke to Iraqi government
(1 Dec) BAGHDAD — The Kurdish regional government released a pointed rebuttal on Monday to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki's recent criticism of its policies, in a sign of growing fault lines between the Kurds and Iraq's central government. Mr. Maliki gave a speech on Nov. 20 in which he said the Kurds were pursuing several unconstitutional policies, including the development of an oil business independent of Baghdad and the opening of representative offices in foreign countries.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/
Most Muslims convinced of US control over UN
(6 Dec) Dubai: There is widespread belief in Muslim countries that the United Nations is controlled by the United States, a survey of up to seven predominantly Muslim nations has found. The survey by WorldPublicOpinion.org covered Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Iran, Indonesia, the Palestinian Territories, Azerbaijan and Muslims in Nigeria.
http://archive.gulfnews.com/
"I have looked into the eyes of courageous elected leaders from Iraq, Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian Territories"
(6 Dec) "On Friday, Bush gave a self-glorifying speech on his Middle East policy at the Saban Forum in Washington, DC." via Informed Comment, here...Bush overthrew the elected government of the Palestine Authority in 2007, having for some time winked at Israeli kidnapping of elected Palestinian parliamentarians and cabinet members on a large scale. He authorized a war on one of the major elected parties in the Lebanese parliament in 2006 and lobbied against a ceasefire that would have saved Lebanon hundreds of lost lives and billions in economic losses. Israeli politicians make key decisions for or rule by fiat and undemocratically over more than 3 million stateless Palestinians. Bush more or less admits that during the Cold War, the US overthrew elected governments (Syria, Iran) in the region and deployed dictators against the Middle Eastern Left:...."
http://friday-lunch-club.
Interview with Noam Chomsky: The US invasion of Iraq has increased terror risk
(6 Dec) Professor Chomsky, President Bush made what is thought to be the final speech. He used it to justify the invasion of Iraq on the basis that 9/11 proved that the United States is in great danger. Your thoughts?Chomsky: Well the United States and the rest of the world are in danger, and in fact the invasion of Iraq has significantly increased that danger. Using government statistics, terrorism analysts have shown that terror attacks increased by a factor of seven after the invasion of Iraq. The most careful scholarship on the Jihadi movement has shown that the invasion of Iraq inspired the Jihadi movement, which originally had been highly skeptical and in fact quite critical of Osama bin Laden's adventurism, but that re-constructed it.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.
Peacemaker Brown to talk to Middle East leaders
(7 Dec) By Uzi Mahnaimi in Tel Aviv--Gordon Brown will try to revive the Middle East peace process when he meets the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers in London next week in a move said to have been coordinated with Barack Obama. On December 15 Brown will meet Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister, who will be in London for a conference on investment, and his Israeli counterpart, Ehud Olmert, who will be making an official visit. The talks are seen as an attempt to secure an understanding between the two before a general election in Israel in February.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/
Obama team's warring Middle East views
(6 Dec) By Ben Smith--President-elect Barack Obama and his presumptive secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton, both pledged during the campaign to press for peace in the Middle East. But the Middle East conflict is, perhaps unsurprisingly, already playing out on a small scale within Obama's own transition.
http://www.politico.com/news/
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www.TheHeadlines.org
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