Headlines for 12-23-07

Israel kills two militants in Gaza - Hamas


Olmert rules out ceasefire as strikes on Hamas continue


All beds booked in Bethlehem for first time in seven years


Israel confirms settlement plans "Every day we hear a new settlement expansion plan - this cannot be tolerated."


Christmas under Hamas rule "Of course, I am a Christian believer, but politically I am a Palestinian Muslim. I resist Israel's military occupation, obviously not with weapons. ......"We have lived alongside Muslims here since Islam was born," said Fr Musallam, waving his arm at the stage.


Israel defends new apartment plans for Jerusalem The housing ministry's budget includes funds for 500 homes in the Har Homa neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, and 240 in the nearby settlement of Maale Adumim.


Housing budget confirms disputed plans The proposal comes two days after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told jounalists that Israel has taken steps showing that it understands the seriousness of the settlement issue and its responsibilities under the 'road map.' Total shysters.


Peace compliance reports will be secret Israel wants to keep the judging process secret, while the Palestinians are in favor of disclosure. Israel just announced plans for MORE new settlements. Hello...


Rice: Israel 'understands' settlement issue Rice may have been referring to a freeze Israel put recently on apartment building in Har Homa, an east Jerusalem neighborhood abutting Bethlehem. Two days later, however, the proposed 2008 budget presented by Israel's housing ministry included requests for funding to construct 500 apartments in Har Homa and 240 apartments in the settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim.



Israeli, Palestinian talks to resume amid disputes The Palestinians said substantive negotiations over borders, and the fate of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees would not begin until Israel committed to halting all settlement activity, as called for under the long-stalled "road map" peace plan.....Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he could not understand why Israel was "carrying out frenzied settlement activity during final status negotiations".


Christians in Gaza want cheer back in the Holy Land Mr Talhami was leading a group Palestinians, and western peace activists, dressed as Santa to demonstrate against the barrier Israel is building to separate the Jewish state from the West Bank.


Israel preparing public for war


Palestinians Still Reject Hamas Rule in Gaza The vast majority of Palestinian adults are against Hamas? military takeover in Gaza, according to a poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.


Hamas says uncovered network of collaborators


High Court defers evacuation of disputed Hebron house Court suspends Civil Administration's decision to remove Jewish residents from house allegedly owned by local Palestinian




Palestinian prisoner battered, soldiers shield culprit Dozens of Givati Brigade soldiers present as one of their own batters Palestinian prisoner with blunt object. None of the soldiers willing to confess. One soldier, still in custody, refuses to name guilty party, claims 'I am innocent'. IDF Prosecutor?s Office: ?This is aggravated assault?


In Bethlehem, a bond is born The 15-member delegation, called the Cambridge-Bethlehem People-to-People project, set out to gather stories of the city's residents, and investigate how the separation barrier that Israel has built around and through the city has affected life in the region. Among their conclusions: The barrier has devastated the local economy and, as described in the familiar carol, Bethlehem does indeed lie still......As a Jewish member of the delegation and as someone who had escaped from the Nazis in Vienna, Eva Moseley, 76, said the trip left her with "complicated feelings about the Holocaust," because "on top of the usual outrage and horror at what it was, I feel another layer of outrage at the way it is used to punish the Palestinians, who had nothing to do with it."



Palestinian Christians say they are invisible to visiting U.S. evangelicals "They think of us as terrorists. They think everyone living in the Palestinian territories and Arab countries is Muslim," Fida Mousa said. "They only come to visit Nativity Church and leave. They give us no chance to show that we're normal human beings."


Qassam lands near factory in Ashkelon; no injuries reported


Erekat: Abbas-Olmert summit necessary Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Sunday that holding a summit between President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "is necessary."


Palestinian security men take charge in Bethlehem Hundreds of Palestinian security officers deployed in Bethlehem on Sunday as Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's forces continue their Western-backed drive to take charge of West Bank cities.


Fatah strongman prefers political settlement with Hamas


Two more Palestinians arrested for breaking in to judge's Jerusalem home


Senators write Bush on Christians Two U.S. senators cited the Holy Land's dwindling Palestinian Christian community in a letter to President Bush.


N.J. to disinvest from Iran Gov. Jon Corzine is expected to sign the bill, initiated in New Jersey by NORPAC, a pro-Israel political action committee


Room, but few children at Bethlehem 'inn' Sister Sophie, who runs the home, said: "The wall makes Bethlehem feel like a zoo. It makes it difficult for mothers to travel and so these children are being delivered in poor conditions and then abandoned on the street.


In Nablus, improved security promises a safer Christmas "What people have been interested in seeking, both Christians and Muslims, is a sense of the rule of law and to stop those who violate it," says Mr. Awad. "I know many Muslims who felt scared, too, who were also having difficulty with criminals targeting them. Now, the government making a very tough stand with militant groups who carry guns in the streets. This was a very prominent scene, and Christians and Muslims suffered from it. Now this is illegal and the government has taken some real steps to stop it."


Syria says US 'torpedoing' Lebanon deal: report "At the moment when Syria and France were searching for a way forward on Lebanon, the US scurried to send two envoys to Lebanon --- Elliott Abrams and David Welch -- known for their partiality to Israel, with the aim of torpedoing an accord between the different factions in Lebanon,"


Israel to spend $230m on defence shield


National title game brings Abdallah family back to New Orleans to finish their story The most telling tale, Nader said, belongs to his dad, who grew up in a refugee camp outside Nablus in the West Bank: "Thirteen people lived in one tent. It was a war-torn area, and they had nothing."


Struggle over identity of Zionism organization symbolizes dispute over Israel's character The challenge to the JNF's longstanding resistance to selling its land to Arabs highlights the frictions inherent in Israel's description of itself as both a Jewish and democratic state, at once wanting to be part of the Western democratic tradition, but still fearing it might be swallowed up by the region's Arab majority.......Anticipating the court action, Israel's parliament overwhelming passed in an initial reading a bill that would bar the agency from selling land to Arabs. Any further readings will depend on the agreement the court reaches with the JNF and the state, its sponsors say.



Graffiti Artists Decorate Bethlehem Barrier