Headlines for 10-11-07

Rice seeks Israeli 'clarification' on land grab Israel on Tuesday ordered the confiscation of Arab land outside east Jerusalem, officials said, reviving fears that the occupied West Bank could be split in two and challenging peace overtures. Rice will blather about it but will take zero action.


DFLP slams Israel?s decision to annex 1200 Dunams of Palestinian lands in Jerusalem The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) issued a statement on Thursday slamming the Israeli decision to annex 1200 Dunams of Palestinian lands in the Jerusalem area, and considered this decision as a direct violation to the international law.


Five Gazans wounded in Israeli incursion Israeli troops and armoured vehicles rolled into the central Gaza Strip on Thursday in an incursion that sparked gunfights and wounded five Palestinians, witnesses and medics said.


Gaza goes hungry as Israeli sanctions bite The army recently banned the import of hearing aid batteries for Gaza's school for the deaf on the grounds that they could be used to make bombs. Unbelievable.


Abbas meets US envoy ahead of Rice visit


Palestinian students continue to face exclusion As the discrimination against Palestinian students continues, the UK University and College Union (UCU) announced last month that it would not be legal for it to discriminate against Israeli academics, students and institutions in protest against Israel's treatment of Palestinians.


Palestinian leader Abbas rejects talks with Hamas


Israel continues with house demolition in the Negev


Lebanese PM condemns Israeli confiscation of Palestinian lands "Calling for an international conference for Mideast peace will not be beneficial" if the Jewish state continued occupying Palestinian lands, said Seniora, adding that Israel would only increase hostility against its citizens if it continued on its current policy.


Abu Rudeinah: peace talks will fail unless Israeli attacks cease


Fayyad says Palestinians need more donor aid The Palestinian Authority (PA) will suffer a "crisis" if international donors do not commit to giving more funds before the year's end, Salam Fayyad, the premier of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' caretaker government, warned Thursday. ....Fayyad also said the PA budget needs "the delayed financial tax dues from Israel" that are meant to be paid every month.


Israeli military attacks Beit Fourik: one Palestinian injured Israeli military forces invaded the village of Beit Fourik, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, on Thursday morning and opened fire with tear-gas near a girl's school, causing students breathing difficulties.



Pro-Israel Oppressors Cherished at Columbia University The stark contrast between Columbia's treatments of the Shah and of Ahmadinejad is not an isolated case. It fits into the established pattern of Columbia's behavior toward Israel.


Desolation Awaits Returning Palestinian Refugees


Lean times for holiday shoppers in Gaza The withered economy has left few people with money to shop with, anyway. The markets, usually jammed with buyers near the end of Ramadan, are uncrowded


Journalists tour Syria bomb site Syria took journalists on a tour of the site Israel allegedly bombed last month, calling it an agricultural research center.




Jewish groups plan Jerusalem coalition Several U.S. Jewish groups are establishing a coalition that would oppose any plan to divide Jerusalem.


Clinton Steps Away From Pro-Israel Lobby on Measure to Rein in President Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton has built a reputation for strictly adhering to the pro-Israel line, but she now appears, for the first time, to be supporting legislation that is opposed by pro-Israel lobbyists.Clinton announced last week that she would co-sponsor an amendment, proposed by Virginia Democrat Jim Webb, that would require the president to seek congressional approval before taking military action against Iran. Maybe AIPAC is backing off of this one due to the overwhelming attention they are receiving with regard to their undue influence over Capitol Hill, among other places.


Lebanon reaps deadly Israeli bombs one year after war Two civilians, including a six-year-old boy, were killed by cluster bombs only last week.


Clues surface in killing of Arab American leader "(Alex) was a messenger of peace," Sami Odeh said. "He advocated the right of the Palestinians and that led to his killing by an extreme Jewish group."


Lieberman warns against discussing "core issues" at upcoming summit Minister of Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman warned Thursday that if the Palestinian Authority and Israel attempted to address issues like borders, Jerusalem and refugees at the upcoming summit, the Israeli government would dissolve.



A riddle of rockets Why launch a Grad and raise the tension with Israel now? One possible motive for either Hamas or the other militants may be to provoke just such a harsh Israeli response, so as to derail the coming Israeli-Palestinian peace summit expected next month or in December Question: Has Israel ceased killing Palestinians in the weeks up to now, leading to this summit? Nope. The Economist has some obvious bias here.


Unprecedented Muslim call for peace with Christians


Camp in Lebanon fosters peace and tolerance in a region marked by conflict


All's quiet on Israel's northeastern front, for now Maj. Gen. Wolfgang Jilke , the 59-year-old Austrian officer who oversees the 1,300-strong United Nations Disengagement Observer Force in the area, and his observers could see nothing to substantiate the Israeli press reports of a Syrian military buildup. "From our point of view, this is just misleading information," said Jilke, who's one of the few people in the world who can drive the 135 miles between Damascus and Jerusalem .
Israel, mislead? Nooooo, say it ain't soo....


Lebanon PM asks UN, Arab League to stop arms from Syria


Israeli cluster bomb kills British deminer in Lebanon A British member of a demining team was killed on Thursday by a cluster bomb dropped by Israeli forces during last year's war in Lebanon, officials said.


Palestinians try to rebuild lives in devastated Lebanon camp


Assad slams Lebanese parties who follow Israel Syrian President Bashar al-Assad slammed Lebanese who he said had chosen to side with Israel and submit themselves to foreigners instead of taking the Arab path and that of resistance.


Israel worried by Turk-Armenian debate Israel's government expressed concern Thursday over the U.S. congressional debate on the mass killings of ethnic Armenians in Turkey 90 years ago, but tried to deflect pressure from Turkey to take its side in the dispute.


New York state official visits Israel, visits historic sites New York Lt. Gov. David Paterson was in Israel Thursday, fulfilling what he said was a lifelong dream of visiting a country that's fascinated him since the 1967 Mideast War _ and attending to some official business.