Headlines for 01-19-08

Two Hamas fighters killed in Gaza Members of the military wing of Hamas, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, exchanged fire with the troops. Two militants were later killed when Israeli aircraft fired three missiles at them.


PFLP calls for release of old prisoners in future Hamas-Israel prisoners swap An official from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) on Saturday called on Palestinian militant groups to stress for releasing old prisoners in any future prisoners swap deal with Israel.


Human Rights Advocates Meet United Nations Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process


A week of funerals in Gaza as Palestinians feel Israel's wrath Mariam Rahal, a 53-year-old grandmother and her two sons, were in the wrong place at the wrong time as they drove their donkey cart of oranges home through a mainly residential district of Beit Lahiya. Mrs Rahal was buried yesterday with one of the sons, Mohammed, 23. The pair were innocent victims of a four-day conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants that last night seemed far from over. They were killed when their cart was destroyed by a missile which targeted the car of a rocket-launching crew on Thursday evening.


Indonesia condemns Israeli military operations in Gaza


Jihad spokesman: Different kind of response coming


Acting Palestinian PM criticizes Gaza militants for firing rockets at Israel


Gaza: 4 gunmen turn themselves in to IDF troops


Islamic body urges UN Gaza intervention Ekmeleddin Ihsanogulu, secretary general of the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference, accused the Israeli military of "committing successive massacres in the Gaza Strip, in which civilians were killed."


Hamas claims it seized wouldbe suicide bomber sent by Fatah to kill Gaza PM Haniyeh Hamas claimed Saturday it has caught a wouldbe suicide bomber sent by members of the rival Fatah movement to assassinate Gaza's prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh.


AL condemns Israel's continued aggression against Palestinians


Bush?s Remarks on Refugees Spark Outcry in Jordan Jordan, home to about 1.9 million Palestinian refugees, was this week the scene for deep disappointment over US President George W Bush?s remarks supportive of Jewish Israel and his unequivocal denial of the Palestinian refugees? right to return to their homes which they deserted upon Israel?s foundation in 1948.


Quds Brigades fighters exchange fire with invading forces in Qabatia Fighter of the Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing if the Islamic Jihad, exchanged fire on Sunday at dawn, with Israeli forces invading Qabatia town, near the northern West Bank city of Jenin.


UN rights official slams 'cowardly Israeli war crime' in Gaza "Recent action violates the strict prohibition on collective punishment contained in the Fourth Geneva Convention," Dugard charged in the statement put out by the UN human rights commission.


Gazans brace for more hardship as lockdown sets in "I have eight children, and me and my wife make 10. We will die of hunger. There is no work, nothing,"


Hamas urges Egypt to evacuate Gaza casualties through its borders "We call on Egypt to make a brave decision and open Rafah crossing point in southern Gaza Strip to provide medical treatment for the casualties of the Israeli attacks and bring in the basic humanitarian needs,"


Bush fails to persuade Arab allies Bush's visit coincided with fresh Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip and Palestinian rocket strikes on southern Israel. Images of bloodied and crying Palestinian children being rushed to hospitals flickered across Arab news channels.



More Jerusalem Arabs seek Israeli citizenship "My work and my life are inside Israel ," Shabane said. "I am very proud to be an Arab and Palestinian, but for practical reasons I'm not able to be part of the Palestinian Authority."


Israeli Peace group slams Israel for its attacks on the Gaza strip


Kaffiyeh-wearing protesters greet new Israeli U.K. Ambassador Israel's ambassador to Britain, Ron Prosor, was met by dozens of protesters against the Israeli occupation when he arrived Wednesday to speak at a bastion of anti-Israel criticism in British academia - the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies......Israeli PR efforts in Britain have kicked up a notch since Prosor became ambassador two months ago.....Prosor says he wants to influence British public opinion, which he says is more extreme than the political establishment in its criticism of Israel, and hugely influential.


Bush's Iran/Argentina Terror Frame-Up


Israeli troops detain another Lebanese shepherd


Hezbollah has Israel 'body parts'


Israeli actions root of problems in the Mideast After the 1948 War, Israel occupied 77 percent of historic Palestine and caused the Palestinian refugee problem. U.N. Resolution 194 asserted that the Palestinian refugees wishing to return to their homes should be allowed to do so. Israel has not allowed me or any other Palestinian to return to our homes and land.


Mediterranean EU members back creation of Mediterranean Union Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco are expected to be included in this group.


Israelis, Palestinians to protest Gaza blockade, call for peace As Israel continues a military assault on Gaza, and rockets from Gaza terrify the bordering Israeli village of Sderot, Israeli peace advocates are organizing a relief convoy and peace demonstration, Jan. 26, at a Gaza border crossing. A parallel Palestinian demonstration will take place on the other side of the border.


Clueless in Mideast It is time for the media to start using the correct phraseology: Israel and the Occupied Territories, the West Bank and the illegal Jewish settlements.


Co-defendants deny terror links "I am not al-Qaida. I have never been al-Qaida," said Adham Amin Hassoun, 45, a computer programmer of Palestinian heritage found by a jury to have been Padilla's recruiter for violent jihad overseas. "Your honor, I never wanted to kill anybody. ... Let us go back to our families, our kids."



"Hard left" academics latest anti-Semites, says Dershowitz - "and many of them are Jews." The majority of his remarks focused on what he called a growing group of "hard left academics who hate Israel with a passion - and many of them are Jewish," he added.


Trip makes Israel, Palestine 'personal' for Roman "The Palestinian refugee camps were one of the sadder things we did," said the freshman religion/philosophy major.


Turkish president in Syria for talks Gul will join Arab League chief Amr Mussa, who is in the Syrian capital to help broker a deal over Lebanon's presidential crisis, to launch celebrations marking Damascus being named the 2008 cultural capital of the Arab world.


Production of Arafat's scarf hangs by a thread The keffiyeh may remain a symbol of Palestinian solidarity and has become a fashion accessory from New York to Tokyo, but its sole surviving Palestinian manufacturer has cut production to a fraction of capacity and is in danger of closing.


'07 assassinations that killed civilians to be reviewed The government is working on guidelines for establishing committees to review army assassinations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that killed civilians in the past year.


Obama, Hillary step up outreach efforts to Jews In Nevada, which is holding its caucuses on Saturday, Lewis was boasting the recent endorsement of Clinton by the state's only Jewish member of Congress and one of the most hawkish Democratic voices on Israel, U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley. Also in Nevada, an Obama campaign official visited Jewish leaders to lay out the candidate's record on Israel.