Headlines for 12-14-07

Grenade kills 3, wounds 35 at Palestinian funeral: medics Three Palestinians were killed and 35 others, including children, wounded on Friday when a grenade exploded during a Gaza funeral for a man killed in an Israeli air raid, a medical official said.


New alarm raised over effects of Israeli closure on Gaza Another UN agency joined the chorus of alarm on Friday about the devastating consequences of Israeli restrictions on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, in the run-up to a Palestinian donors' conference.


Israeli Army attacks peaceful Anti-Wall protest near Bethlehem The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Popular Committee against the Wall organized a protest on Friday in the village of al Maa'sarah celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the PFLP and challenging the construction of the Israeli Annexation Wall on the village lands.


Israel and the occupied territories: The rules of engagement Andre Marty sits in on a class in Gaza where Palestinian militants are versed in the legal framework for combat



Education suffers amidst political tension and conflict in Gaza


Saudis' $1.4bn support for Palestinians now in doubt One key reason is thought to be Saudi Arabia's reluctance to be seen to be throwing all its weight behind one of the two parties to the coalition deal which it brokered and which then collapsed in bloody internal conflict and Hamas's seizure of control in Gaza in June.



An Interloper in My Own Land During Israel's establishment, three-quarters of a million Palestinians were driven from their homes or fled in fear. They remain refugees to this day, scattered throughout the West Bank and Gaza, the Arab world and beyond. We Palestinian citizens of Israel are among the minority who managed to remain on our land.


Palestinian aid conference aims to bolster Abbas France hosts an international aid conference on Monday to raise funds for the Western-backed Palestinian Authority and strengthen President Mahmoud Abbas against Hamas Islamists as he negotiates peace with Israel.


Donkey power in demand in Gaza as fuel runs low "Donkeys are better than cars these days," said salesman Odeh Odwan, because merchants and ordinary Palestinians are unable to afford, let alone find, working vehicles or petrol.


Al-Qaida No2 attacks Annapolis peace conference Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has attacked last month's US-sponsored Middle East peace conference as a "betrayal" of Palestine.


Fatah official held by Hamas while visiting Gaza for funeral He had arrived in Gaza on Thursday, from the West Bank, to attend the funeral of his mother-in-law. A Hamas spokesman said only that he was being investigated over "violations to the law".....In the West Bank, Hamas said several of its members had been detained by Fatah officials on Thursday night


Blockade of Gaza even makes dying difficult


Japan?s Emergency Assistance to improve the medical situation of the Palestinians


US to offer Palestinians half bln dlrs: official


Jordanian Islamists stage rare rally to back Hamas Thousands of Jordanian Islamists demonstrated in the capital after Friday prayers, chanting in support of the Islamist movement Hamas and praising its attacks on Israel.


Palestinians say Israel releases Hamas-linked mayor


Hamas denounces PA ban of the movement's festivals in the West Bank


Deputy-speaker of Palestinian parliament calls for a new cabinet


Five wounded in peaceful march on Road 443 near Ramallah


Israel, U.S. to meet to discuss differing assessments on Iran ** Until the release of the American report, the defense establishment believed Israel might find itself involved in a military conflict with Iran in the coming year if Bush decided to act against Tehran and Iran responded against Israeli targets as well The American intelligence community stepped up to the plate and hit a grand slam. They stopped this nation from going into WWIII (at the behest of a foreign nation).


Radical Palestinian group urges Fatah to talk with Hamas


Moscow Mideast peace conference on hold for now: Lavrov Russia will not organise a planned Middle East peace conference until agreements reached in the recent talks in Annapolis in the United States are met, its foreign minister said Friday.


Hebron Reflection: "It used to be normal"


Bill includes U.S.-Israel missile coordination Under the proposal, the secretary of defense must within six months present a plan to Congress a plan "to improve the coordination, interoperability, and integration of the U.S. National Ballistic Missile Defense System with Israel?s missile defense architecture," a statement from Kirk's office said Kirk up for the AIPAC asskisser of the year award. My condolences to his constituents.


Journalists probed for travel to 'enemy' states A top national security commentator, a popular blogger and a travel writer are under police investigation over reporting trips to Syria and Lebanon on behalf of their Israeli news outlets.


The right wing's Jerusalem gambit The Annapolis conference may have been a start, but it has also unleashed a zealotry on U.S. shores that may once again help demonstrate how nearly impossible achieving Middle East peace could really be


Lebanon mourns slain army chief


Walled Nativity Scene Borders On Anti-Semitism, Jewish Leaders Say The sale of Nativity scenes with a wall running through the middle to symbolize Israel's security barrier borders on anti-Semitism, Jewish groups are saying.


U.S. delays Saudi arms sale Pro-Israel sources said they expected the sale to be approved as early as January, albeit after close congressional review.


Israeli cabbie rescued from West Bank IDF soldiers rescued an Or Yehuda taxi driver from the village of Jam'in in the northern West Bank on Friday morning after he was beaten and robbed by some passengers he picked up in Bnei Brak.


UN extends Golan force mandate for six months The Security Council on Friday extended for another six months the mandate of the UN force that has for more than 33 years monitored the ceasefire between Israel and Syria on the strategic Golan Heights.


Sylvan Lake group deepens faith on pilgrimage to Holy Land "You begin to see the poverty of the Palestinian people. Bethlehem is a walled city and you have to go through security checkpoints to get in and out. Some people haven't left Bethlehem for seven years. Because it's a walled city they can barely start an economy.


Residents make plan for holidays Bu Ahmed, a Palestinian senior citizen would like to go back to Nablus in West Bank, but the situation on that area would always stop him from visiting his brothers and some of his relatives in Palestine.


Soft Drink Fizz Goes Flat in Gaza Israel's strategy is to squeeze Gaza's economy, cutting off all but a drip-feed of humanitarian aid in the hope that civilians will turn against the Islamists of Hamas


The man with the silver tongue At the RJC forum in October, declaring that he would act to stop a nuclear Iran, Romney even spelled out some of the measures a military confrontation with Iran might entail, going further than several other candidates in raising the possibility of taking that course of action.


ICAHD?S SUMMER REBUILDING CAMP 2008 In the summer of 2008, ICAHD will once again rebuild a Palestinian home and invites you to participate in the incredible opportunity to learn first-hand about life under Occupation.



Thorn to illuminate Palestinian West Bank sites The UK-based lighting company Thorn, a brand of the Zumtobel Group of Austria, is to illuminate heritage sites in the City of Jericho on the Palestinian West Bank.


Bush delays embassy move President Bush extended a delay on moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem for another six months.



Jo off to Holy Land A CUMBRIAN grandmother is to visit the Holy Land later this month to join Palestinian farmers and Israeli volunteers in the olive harvest.


Bill pushes Iran to pay victims The legislation is based on an earlier stand-alone bill authored by two Jewish U.S. senators, Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.). It is aimed particularly at Iran, which until now has successfully resisted dipping into U.S. assets to pay close to $2.7 billion in damages won in courts by families of the 241 servicemen killed in the 1983 Hezbollah attack on a U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut.


Ackerman hears request for P.A funding hike


Bush reaffirms Lebanon tribunal President Bush slammed Syria and reaffirmed his support for a tribunal investigating assassinations in Lebanon Looks like Assad got too cozy with Washington for somebody's tastes in recent weeks. Hmm? Cui bono ? Who benefits? ? is a question that must ever be asked about Middle Eastern terror - Patrick J. Buchanan.


House passes language on Israel insurance The U.S. House of Representatives approved a provision that would keep travel insurers from discriminating based on travel to Israel.



McCain names Broxmeyer top Jewish adviser Broxmeyer, a New York property developer, is national chairman for JINSA, a group that promotes close Israel-U.S. security ties and that has been one of the most consistent supporters of the Bush administration's Iraq policy. Broxmeyer has taken the lead in promoting JINSA's exchange program for Israeli and U.S. law enforcement officials.


Susan Sarandon exploring request that she cut ties with Leviev over Israeli settlement construction Oscar-winning actress and UNICEF goodwill ambassador Susan Sarandon has told a New York City activist group, Adalah-NY, that she is exploring Israeli diamond magnate Lev Leviev?s construction of Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and exploitation of marginalized communities in other parts of the world.