Headlines for 01-20-08

Israeli missile strikes kill two Gaza militants


Gaza plunged into darkness as Israeli fuel blockade takes effect From Damascus, Khaled Mashaal, the exiled leader of Hamas, appealed to Arab leaders and his rival, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, to forget their differences and help the Gazans: "All Arab leaders, exercise real pressure to stop this Zionist crime ... Take up your role and responsibility. We are not asking you to wage a military war against Israel ... but just stand with us in pride and honour."


Illegal West Bank settlers vex Israel Badriya Amer, 60, produced a document from the Israeli military administration in the West Bank listing the land where the outpost is located as the property of her late father. She said she was chased away by settlers a few months ago when she went to the area to pick olives.



West Bank settler population up 5pc The rise is attributed both to settlement expansion and to a high birth rate among religious communities.


Abbas wants end to Gaza blockade Several hundred Palestinians held a candle-lit rally in the centre of the West Bank political capital of Ramallah to show solidarity with their compatriots who were plunged into darkness in Gaza.


Gaza economy crushed by embargo With no raw materials getting in and no finished products getting out, Gaza's industrial sector has collapsed. Over 100,000 Palestinians have lost their jobs in the last six months, according to local unions.


Israeli blockade forces Gaza's only power plant to shut The British charity group Oxfam called the ban on fuel supplies "ineffective as well as unlawful". Gisha, a prominent Israeli human rights group said "punishing Gaza's 1.5 million civilians does not stop the rocket fire; it only creates an impossible "balance" of human suffering on both sides of the border".


Israel arrests 6 Palestinians in West Bank


Hamas says willing to apologize for seizing Gaza during dialogue Hamas is ready to apologize to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement for taking over the Gaza Strip by force, but only after dialogue with Fatahis resumed, a Hamas spokesman said Sunday.


Saudi prince offers full relations A Saudi prince said if Israel accepts an Arab League peace plan it could have full normalization with the Arab world.


Israel orders closure of Gaza crossings as Palestinian anger and casualties increase Wadia had been working at a mechanics' market on Tuesday morning when the Israeli military launched a major ground incursion, beginning a new round of intense fighting in Gaza. When he heard the sound of gunfire, Wadia began to leave but was knocked to the ground by the force of an Israeli shell. It sliced off his left foot, shattered his right leg and shrapnel lacerated his stomach.


Source: Israel won't free two-thirds of prisoners Hamas wants released


An elderly Palestinian man plants olive trees during a demonstration against the Israeli separation barrier


Egyptian killed near smuggling tunnels


Palestinians pray for Mideast peace, too


Canada removes U.S., Israel from torture watchlist Canada's foreign ministry, responding to pressure from close allies, said on Saturday it would remove the United States and Israel from a watch list of countries where prisoners risk being tortured.


Hezbollah Decries Bush's Mideast Trip Hezbollah's reclusive leader appeared in public for the first time in a year on Saturday, accusing President Bush of using a recent Mideast tour to incite Arabs against Iran and telling Arab governments to confront his "satanic visions."


Anti-Iran Coalition in the Gulf? Read This. Before Bush's Middle East visit, White House briefers were telling correspondents that the president would be pushing the Israelis for a Palestinian settlement in return for Arab backing of a tough stance with Iran. It was suggested that Israel might be more tractable if the "Iranian nuclear threat" were removed.


Did 'The Times' Leave Judy Miller Out in the Cold Because She Was Jewish? And Other Parochial Asides from an Angry Bill Kristol I?ve often written that the neoconservatives became far less transparent about their devotion to Israel once they attained power. It was one thing to write as Jewish intellectuals about Middle East policy in books and little magazines in the 1970s, as Norman Podhoretz did when he said American isolationism was "a direct threat to the security of Israel," and quite another to be actually affecting that foreign policy and talking openly as Jews about Israel.


Education Ministry drops Arabic studies from core curriculum The Education Ministry has decided against including Arabic in the compulsory core curriculum that was made public several weeks ago for the first time.


Israel's Yehoshua calls for U.S. boycott Yehoshua further described all West Bank settlements as illegal and described the "Jewish lobby" as having "become a powerful tool of influence on Israel's behalf within the U.S. administration."


Pope to change liturgy offensive to Jews When Pope Benedict brought back the prayer, the chief rabbis of Israel expressed their concern in a letter to the pope, as did the Anti-Defamation League.


Rift between Israel, Druze growing Alluding to the historic alliance between Israel and the Druze, who serve in the IDF and contribute to the state in a wealth of other respects, Naffa noted that ?we (the Druze) had hoped that serving in the military would afford us equal rights to those of other Israelis. We soon, however, discovered that this is mere illusion when we awoke to a very harsh reality.?


Gazan hearts saved in Israel as conflict rages on


Third of Jerusalem residents are poor: report Poverty is higher among Arab families with 62 percent of them living under the poverty line of around 1,000 dollars a month, said the report by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies.




A commercial model for Mideast would foster peace


Why Republican candidate Mike Huckabee worries Jewish voters A few Jewish community leaders question whether his support for Israel stems from his sense that "we've got one true ally in the Middle East, and that's Israel," or whether it's linked to his desire to hasten the End of Days, Armageddon.


Internal Memo Takes on Obama?s Approach to Middle East A confidential memo questioning Senator Barack Obama?s potential approach to Middle East policy was circulated earlier this month among staffers at a major American Jewish organization. In one section, the memo said that Obama?s approach to Iran?s nuclear program ?raises questions,? while another portion suggested that Obama expected more from Israel than the Palestinians in resolving the conflict between the two.



When radio voices paint vivid pictures of far away places When an Israeli tank rolls down a Palestinian street, parked cars can often be completely crushed under its tracks. And I remember hearing of a few people in Nablus gathering quietly round an old Fiat that had just been flattened into a long strip of metal only a few inches high. Then the car's owner said, "Anyone got some jump leads? Perhaps it'll still start". That sort of black humour is part of the stuff of life in the West Bank, and in its way, it is significant. It helps people cope with the stress


Palestinian hip hop featured at Sundance


Israel's Shimon Peres calls for referendum on any peace deal


Israeli envoy slams torture claim as minister Bernier backtracks "Israel doesn't engage in torture, it's prohibited by Israeli law. Whoever had written this manual simply didn't know, or was misguided, or didn't understand." LOL


Jordan hides doubts over Bush's Mideast peace drive A senior Jordanian official with no sympathy for Islamists privately predicted disaster unless Bush pressed Israel hard for a deal in line with an Arab initiative that offered full peace with all Arab states in return for Israeli withdrawal to 1967 lines, a Palestinian state and an agreed solution for refugees.


Israeli ministers slam 'sewage rat' Nasrallah


Berman likely to head House Foreign Affairs Committee A member of the foreign affairs panel since he entered Congress in 1982, Berman is primarily known as a strong supporter of Israel. Early in his career, he wrote legislation funding joint U.S.-Israeli assistance projects in the developing world, and has worked over the years to increase aid to Israel.