Headlines for 12-01-07

Six Palestinians, including militants, killed in Gaza


Palestinians commemorate 1947 UN resolution creating state of Israel on their land This date is known as the beginning of the Naqba (Arabic for ?catastrophe?), in which nearly 800,000 people were displaced from their land inside what is now Israel for the creation of that state.


Peace Summit: 'If these talks fail, we will all be in deep trouble'


Rice: I know what it's like to be Palestinian "I know what its like to hear that you can't use a certain road or pass through a checkpoint because you are a Palestinian. I know what it is like to feel discriminated against and powerless," Rice told a closed meeting of Arab and Israeli representatives, according to the Dutch representative at the summit, Franz Timmermans.


Claims of chemical weapon use in Gaza Claims that the IDF used white phosphorus in the Lebanon war last year were initially denied. They were finally admitted by the Israeli minister Jacob Edery in October 2006. White phosphorus causes intense burns and generates choking fumes. I suspect the Israeli government is basing its denials on a technical quibble about whether the chemicals concerned are explicitly banned in international law - to which, anyhow, it is not a signatory.



Palestinian woman Nissrin, 25, right, is congratulated by her father Yussuf, 72, after graduating from the Palestinian police academy


Palestinians: Settlers throw stones at boy, steal his donkey


Palestinian reporter hospitalized after being tortured by PA intelligence officers


Hamas says it has secret, public contacts with Europeans


US unclear on settlement construction Despite differing Palestinian and Israeli assessments of what type of settlement activity is allowed, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's recent comments that construction in the major blocs would continue, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said on Thursday that, "I'm not going to get into interpretations at this point."......"We will not freeze anything in the built-up developed [West Bank] areas we believe will be in Israel in the future. There is already enough we will have to do that will be painful and heartbreaking," Olmert said. .....Israel is relying on Bush's letter to then-prime minister Ariel Sharon in 2004, which hinted that Israel might keep major settlement blocs. In this case, Israel feels it has the prerogative to continue building in those areas.


Egypt calls for more talks between Palestinians, Israelis


Israeli army forcibly evacuate at least 200 Palestinians from Kherbet Qessa At least 200 Palestinian residents of Kherbet Qessa in the Hebron district were left homeless after being forcibly evacuated by the Israeli army in order to establish the annexation wall in their place.


Israeli military invade Nablus and attack two mosques


Abbas says Annapolis conference achieved its goal


Hamas: UN draft resolution withdrawal indicates U.S. unseriousness in bolstering peace talks "The U.S. is unserious... it absolutely supports the Israeli occupation in a way that makes the counting on the biased and unfair U.S. stance strange,"


Report: Gaza closure threatens education of 3,000 students The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) in Gaza has released a report condemning the Israeli ban on the travel of Gaza Strip students to pursue studies in universities and schools abroad.



CHECKPOINT JERUSALEM BLOG: Going to the movies - in Ramallah


Did All Things Considered Self-Censor on Annapolis? If ATC had provided the appropriate factual background it would have become clear that the Palestinians have legal rights that are being denied in violation of international law; it would have become clear that Israel has already stolen most West Bank water; it would have become clear that Israel regularly imposes collective punishment on the Palestinian People. In short, it would have become clear that Israel has its boot on the neck of the Palestinians in repeated and longstanding violation of UN resolutions and that these peace negotiations are not taking place on a level playing field.


Focus Grouping War with Iran ** After joining a half dozen other women in a conference room, she discovered that she had been called in for what seemed an unusual assignment: to help test-market language that could be used to sell military action against Iran to the American public. "The whole basis of the whole thing was, 'we're going to go into Iran and what do we have to do to get you guys to along with it?" Read on to see who's behind the curtain on this one. Surprise!


Livni berates Arab delegates for shunning her


Turks See U.S. as Global Threat, Israelis Cite Iran The results may be tricky to read. The row for the US has the highest percentages. That means that the very first row at the top believe majorically that the US is the greatest threat.


Don't Expect Peace by Charley Reese the Israeli government is not about to dismantle the Jewish settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. The Israelis will not allow the Palestinians to have a viable state even on 18 percent of Palestine. Nor will the Israelis agree to allow the Palestinian refugees to return or even be compensated for their lost property......Israel's real strategic asset is its powerful lobby in the United States, and this lobby is already facing what it dreads most ? becoming a public political issue. Sooner or later, the American public will rebel......I expect our own empire is on the wane, and when we wane, Israel will wane.
Agreed.


Rice reassures Jewish leaders on talks A joint declaration issued at the outset of the talks made the United States sole arbiter of progress in the talks. For some Jewish leaders, this raised the specter of U.S. pressure on Israel.....Participants at the meeting included leaders of religious streams, the pro-Israel lobby and Jewish umbrella groups.


CIA used Jordan to interrogate suspects The detainees included Marwan al-Jabour, a Palestinian who was transferred to Jordan last year from a CIA secret prison and was released several weeks later in the Gaza Strip, the report said.


Will peace cost me my home?


Hamas boycotts Palestinian census "We have not been able to begin census-taking in the Gaza Strip because Hamas has prevented us from doing so,"


Fired Arabic school founder blames Mayor Bloomberg for resignation


Syria describes Annapolis conference as defeat for Palestinians The newspaper, which reflects government thinking, criticized U.S. President George W. Bush's statement at the opening session of the Annapolis meeting in which he referred to Israel as a "Jewish state," calling it a "consecration of Israeli racism."


Confidant of Israel's Barak calls for immediate resumption of peace talks with Syria


Abbas aide: Israel unable to start serious talks with Palestinians


Ambassador Allaf: Palestinian issues tops the King?s priorities Jordan?s permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) Mohammad Allaf said the Palestinian issue tops priorities of His Majesty King Abdullah II, adding the King is exerting efforts with all parties to work towards the establishment an independent Palestinian state.


Protesters decry long school route An estimated 150 protesters Saturday urged the Israeli government to lift roadblocks that lengthen the route of school children in the West Bank.


Canadian woman is trapped behind Gaza borders Most foreigners were evacuated long ago, but Israel has so far refused to let the last of the stranded Canadians out


WITNESS - Stuck in Gaza, the question is 'Why?'


Palestinian HIV doctor weds in Bulgaria


Mideast conflict can't be resolved by force: India Expressing solidarity with the Palestinians, Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed criticised Israel for continued expansion of settlements in the occupied territories and 'relentless' construction of separation wall, stressing that it is creating new facts on the ground and fresh grievances in an old conflict.


Bush's last hurrah