Headlines for 12-21-07

Palestinian shot dead near Gaza border The 17-year-old was shot in the chest near the fence separating Israel from Gaza, east of the central town of Khan Yunis.


Peres apologizes for 1956 massacre On October 29, 1956, a Border Police platoon shot and killed 48 unarmed Arab civilians in the village of Kafr Kassem east of Petah Tikva because the residents were unknowingly in violation of a curfew imposed on the village due to the onset of the Sinai Campaign.


Gaza residents discuss the closure Two months ago my wife had our first baby. I look at him and I want to give him a better life, but I don't know how to.


Israel ministers urge Hamas talks "What is essential is that it stop rocket fire and all other attacks against Israel from Gaza and that it agrees to stop arms smuggling on the Egypt border,"


UN Council urges donors to meet Palestinian pledges


Candle procession in Beit Sahour calling for a Just Peace On Friday Palestinian residents of Beit Sahour marched through the town, east of Bethlehem marking the beginning of the three-day, Joy to the City festival. The marchers carried signs, calling for a Just Peace, and signs against the annexation wall that is being built on Palestinian land.


O little (divided) town of Bethlehem "It's disgusting," he says. "We are in a chicken cage." For Mr Salsaa, who last managed to get a permit, as part of a church delegation, to visit Jerusalem a year ago, it is one of several factors behind Bethlehem's marked economic decline. This in turn helped to trigger the much-discussed flight of (often, but not always, relatively prosperous middle-class) Christian Palestinians from the city, and indeed from the West Bank altogether. This in turn helped to trigger the much-discussed flight of (often, but not always, relatively prosperous middle-class) Christian Palestinians from the city, and indeed from the West Bank altogether. He calculates that since the Six Day War, but mainly since the beginning of the intifada in September 2000, which made Bethlehem a frequent theatre of conflict between militants and Israeli forces, about two-thirds of his extended family or clan ? between 250 and 300 people ? have gone abroad, chiefly to the US. "The reason was economy and no security; people didn't feel safe." He insists that this had nothing to do with reported friction between Muslims and Christians. "We have warm relations," he says. Who's driving the Christians from the Holy Land?


EU: International force for Gaza will be set up as soon as agreement is made


Israel may buy rapid-fire cannon The Jerusalem Post has learned that the Defense Ministry is holding high-level talks with the Pentagon on purchasing a rapid-fire cannon to protect strategic installations from the primitive Palestinian rockets.


Security Council hails donors' aid pledge to Palestinians


'Father Christmas' beaten in West Bank demo: organisers Israeli guards beat five demonstrators, including one dressed as Father Christmas, during a protest on Friday against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank, organisers said.


Soldiers indicted on charges of abusing Palestinian prisoners During the journey, the soldiers grabbed the prisoners by their hair, struck their chests and necks and demanded they repeat the number soldiers had previously assigned them with. When a prisoner would say the correct number, the soldiers would fall upon him in a beating frenzy.


Outgoing senior FM official calls for military pact with Washington ** Signing a defense pact with the U.S. would mean that Washington would treat any attack on Israel as an attack on the U.S. and would act to protect Israel or retaliate against the assailant. However, such a pact could also limit Israel because it would require the Americans' approval for any military act Israel would consider.
Oh bullsh#t. The sovereignty of this nation, the national security of this nation has been utterly compromised by foreign elements. Israel seeks to make ITS problems OUR problems to the detriment of THIS nation.


Inside Gaza: The challenge of clans and families


Project to lure Jews out of Iran proves unsuccessful "If there is an attack by either the United States or Israel on Iran, it seems clear to me that even the Iranian Jews know it would be too late at that point for them to get out or not be persecuted," Eckstein said. "In my opinion, they are playing a very dangerous game of not committing to come out to Israel.".......For the past 25 years, the IFCJ has given millions of dollars solicited from evangelical Christians in the United States to help Jews immigrate to Israel from the former Soviet Union, India, Argentina and the United States. Some evangelicals believe that the return of Jews to Israel will hasten Christ's second coming.


Rabbis join clerical call for Iran talks A number of rabbis have joined Christian and Muslim clerics in signing a plea for direct U.S.-Iran talks.


Conference of Presidents backs united Jerusalem


Rice: Sharon's settler ties were an issue Condoleezza Rice said Ariel Sharon's ties to the settlement movement discouraged her from promoting Israeli-Palestinian peace


Bolton back on JINSA board JINSA, which promotes security ties between Israel and the United States and other U.S. allies, shares Bolton's outspoken criticism of Bush administration overtures to North Korea and what he says is the slow pace of U.S. efforts to confront Iran.



Congress must stand up to Israel If we get a new president next year we can hope that person has the courage to assert our sovereignty and require the State of Israel to honor the U.N. Security Council resolutions and return the West Bank and Gaza to the Palestinian people. It is in the interest of all of us. Amen.


Congress gives qualified OK to Bush request on P.A. aid "To ensure maximum accountability and full transparency, Congress has required mandatory audits of P.A. finances and withholds part of the funds until the P.A. enacts a series of specific civil service and budgetary reforms," AIPAC, the pro-Israel powerhouse, said in a statement. "In order to provide the funds, the president must report on specific steps that the P.A. has taken to arrest terrorists, confiscate weapons and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure."


What Will Israel Do? ** "I came back from a trip to Israel in November convinced that Israel would attack Iran," Bruce Riedel, a former career CIA official and senior adviser to three U.S. presidents--including Bush--on Middle East and South Asian issues, told me Thursday, citing conversations he had with Mossad and defense officials. "And that was before the NIE. This makes it even more likely. Israel is not going to allow its nuclear monopoly to be threatened." .........One reason for Bush's abruptly announced nine-day visit to the region in mid-January is to deal with the fallout from the NIE, which includes not only the possibility that Israel will act unilaterally but also that Bush's prized Annapolis peace process will stall.


A journey to the Holy Land The Palestinian Christian community has been in decline in recent years due to strong anti-Christian sentiment.
Says Woods, "The Israeli Government appears to have been actively trying to encourage Palestinian Christians to leave because they have seen them as able to get jobs and so forth elsewhere?they want to occupy more territory and the Palestinian Christian community is more mobile than the Muslim community." Who's driving the Christians from the Holy Land?


Hariri court to be based in former Dutch intelligence HQ: official


Jo's Holy Land return A THRELKELD grandmother will visit the Holy Land to join Palestinian farmers and Israeli volunteers in the olive harvest.


Wiesenthal Center: Vatican must repudiate Sabbah's call to end Jewish state In the wake of the Catholic Church's chief cleric in Jerusalem declaring that Israel's identity as a Jewish homeland discriminates against non-Jews, the Simon Wiesenthal Center called on the Vatican to reject Patriarch Michel Sabbah's demand for Israel to "discard its identity as a Jewish State".


In photos: 'Bethlehem - Christmas preparations'


Comedic Trio Takes Tour to Middle East Mr. KADER: Because that's where you see bad headlines, in the paper, where the Israeli - Israeli tank was scratched by a rock. (Soundbite of laughter) Mr. KADER: Damn Arabs.
(Soundbite of laughter) Mr. KADER: Palestinian attacks bullets with body.


Israel must call W.Bank building freeze now -Qurei


No More Slam Dunks by Philip Giraldi ** An alarmed Israel, where the report?s conclusions have been rejected by both politicians and media, is considering taking unilateral action against the principle Iranian nuclear facility at Natanz. If Israel were to attack Iran, it would need Washington?s help, and U.S. forces would almost certainly be involved in any Iranian retaliation......Both the Iraq NIE and the 2005 NIE on Iran suffered from White House staffers, mostly neoconservatives from Vice President Cheney?s office, participating in the review process. To deal with the problem of such political pressure, Director of Central Intelligence Michael Hayden and DNI Mike McConnell isolated analysts from policymakers and also took steps to deal with the groupthink problem. The efforts of these guys who refused to be cowed by the neoconservatives can not be overstated. God bless 'em.


Palestinian gas project 'is wrecked by Israel' Industry sources blamed Israel for the failure of negotiations with the British multinational BG Group after the Jewish state repeatedly reduced its offer price for the gas.


Notes from underground: the secret life of Gaza's most wanted With respect to the last sentence: Israeli soldiers refer to themselves as Yahood, which in Arabic means Jews. So when the IDF come knocking on the doors in Palestine, they identify themselves as the such.


Holy Land exhibition shows rare religious harmony


The writing on Bethlehem's wall: British artist seeks to lure tourists


Bush proposal threatens Lebanon stability: Hezbollah Hezbollah said on Friday a proposal by U.S. President George W. Bush for Lebanon's Western-backed governing coalition to elect a new president unilaterally was a threat to the country's stability.


Tourists see writing on Bethlehem's walls