Headlines for 12-31-07

Israeli soldiers kill two near border Israeli troops Sunday killed two Palestinians suspected of planting a bomb near the fence dividing Israel from Gaza.



Five killed in Fatah-Hamas clashes in Gaza A 12-year-old boy, two other civilians and a member of the Hamas police were killed in exchanges of gunfire during a rally east of the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis, the sources said.


Israeli army admits killing woman entering Gaza after hajj


Palestine pilgrims forced to travel via Israeli-run crossing The protesters, among 1,100 who had been transferred by bus to the Sinai capital of El Arish from their Red Sea ferries, smashed windows and burned mattresses and blankets. Khadra Massoud, a 67-year-old woman, collapsed and died during a scuffle between pilgrims and Egyptian policemen. Palestinian sources in Gaza said that another woman had died from sickness and seven others were taken to hospital.


Abbas urges Hamas to agree to early elections Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged Hamas Islamists on Monday to agree to early elections and to open a "new page" by ceding control of the Gaza Strip and holding reconciliation talks with his Fatah faction.


Peace talks cannot go on unless settlements stop: Abbas


Israeli army denies chief pushing for Hamas contact


Bush will not visit Arafat's tomb Palestinian Authority officials on Monday expressed deep disappointment after learning that US President George W. Bush, who is expected to visit Ramallah soon, does not intend to lay a wreath at Yasser Arafat's tomb.


Barak to IDF: Put illegal outposts residents on trial Shvut Ami has in recent months become a new symbol of the fight over the outposts and, in the eyes of the security forces, an extreme example of the settlers' ability to harass them. The outpost is located on private Palestinian land, a few hundred meters south of Kedumim, on the other side of the Kedumim-Alfei Menashe road.


Abbas ready for a 'new page' with Hamas Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said on Monday that he was ready to "open a new page" with Hamas if the Islamist movement gave up its control of the Gaza Strip.


Gazans undergo chemotherapy in Holon


Palestinian security forces capture suicide bomber Palestinian security forces in the West Bank recently arrested a Hamas cell that planned a suicide attack in Israel, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said on Monday


Death toll in Arab-Israeli conflict fell in 2007 "Israeli authorities often exploit security threats in order to advance prohibited political interests under the guise of security." It said hardships were imposed on Palestinians to perpetuate Jewish settlements and "effectively annex them to Israel".



Prisoner swap may happen within two weeks According to the Palestinian paper Al-Ayam, a prisoner swap deal exchanging 350 of the 10,000 Palestinians held by Israel for the one Israeli held by Palestinian resistance groups could happen within two weeks.


Aida refugee camp residents say Barrier harming their livelihoods


Israeli troops invade a village near Jenin and open fire at civilians A Palestinian family, from the village of Kufer Dan near Jenin city in the northern part of the West Bank, escaped an almost certain death on Monday morning when Israeli troops invading the village opened fire at them


Abbas reveals: Israel negotiated with Hamas Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas claimed on Monday that despite Israel's stated policy that it would not speak to Hamas, representatives from both parties met for clandestine talks in Switzerland.


Cop gets community service for shooting Kafr Qasem resident A Tel Aviv Court on Sunday sentenced a Border Policeman who shot and paralyzed a Kafr Qasem resident to six months of community service and a one-year suspended prison term.


PCHR Calls for Stopping attacks against Offices of Fatah Movement and Affiliated Institutions in Gaza


ILA publishes two tenders to build in Jerusalem over Green Line The Israel Lands Administration (ILA) recently published two construction tenders for Jerusalem in areas over the Green Line.....The land was expropriated in 1973 from Palestinian residents of the nearby villages of Sur Baher and Jabal Mukaber, which are within the Jerusalem city limits


Landmark terrorism funding case reversed Judge Ilana Rovner said in her decision last Friday that "problematic" sources, including a news release from the Israeli government, a newspaper article and a statement under oath from Stanley Boim, David's father, that "it was public knowledge that Hamas was behind the attack," were behind the original decision.




Reflection: Tae see wirselves as ithers see us*


2008: The year of Palestine?


Jerusalem square to be named after Pollard A Jerusalem square will be symbolically dedicated to Jonathan Pollard ahead of President Bush's visit to Israel....The move is meant to help lobby Bush to pardon Pollard, a former U.S. Navy analyst who is serving a life prison sentence for spying for Israel. Bush leaves office in 2009.


What's the hurry? there is no Jewish leader in the Republican Party who, like Max Fisher in the past, has sufficient enough influence to just phone up the president and quietly take care of things. Most Jewish Republicans who have a degree of access to the White House are not fans of the political process, and some are busy promoting the campaign against a division of Jerusalem, an effort that Olmert perceives as a personal campaign against him and in favor of Benjamin Netanyahu.....At the Prime Minister's Office, the focus is now on Bush's January 9th visit. Expected to top the agenda is the Iranian threat and the ramifications of the American intelligence report that said Iran is not planning to develop a military nuclear capability.


Holocaust auction stirs ire An Israeli auction house drew censure for selling off Holocaust memorabilia......"I think it's despicable,"


Cheering 40 new Iranian olim, did Israel offer hype or help? Iran?s Jews constitute the Diaspora?s oldest Jewish community, represent the largest Jewish population in a Muslim country and, according to their own accounts, have been treated fairly well by their government......Melman asked why the Jewish Agency and the International Fellowship would turn the arrival of the 40 immigrants into a media circus "when they know that hanging in the balance is the fate of entire Jewish community in a Muslim country hostile to Israel."


Israel's 2008 plans: Engage Syria, Palestinian peace, upgrade U.S. ties In an internal memo, Ben Zeev argued forcefully for a formal pact with the United States, primarily on the grounds that it would help deter Iran from attacking Israel. Under the terms of such a pact, the United States would consider any military attack on Israel an attack on America, appreciably strengthening Israel's deterrent posture.


Syria unwilling to pressure Lebanon allies: minister


YOUR LETTERS Second one down.


'Even Israel's good friends see future with J'lem divided' Bush was not pressuring Israel in any way, Olmert said. "He's not doing a single thing that I don't agree to," he said. "He doesn't support anything that I oppose." Rather, Olmert said, both he and the president hoped that the Annapolis timetable, for an accord in the course of 2008, could be met. ......"It's a coincidence that is almost 'the hand of God,'" Olmert said, "that Bush is president of the United States, that Nicolas Sarkozy is the president of France, that Angela Merkel is the chancellor of Germany, that Gordon Brown is the prime minister of England and that the special envoy to the Middle East is Tony Blair." ......"The bottom line is that President Bush hasn't changed his opinion regarding the danger posed by Iran. And I haven't changed my impression regarding President Bush's commitment to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons."


S.African president calls for end to crises in Mideast, Africa South African President Thabo Mbeki on Monday called for an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the resolution of crises roiling several African countries


Action Alert! Mass demonstration against the apartheid highway 443 and the apartheid road system in the occupied territories This Friday, January 4th, Human Rights activists will meet at a mass demonstration against the system of Israeli Apartheid being imposed upon the Palestinian people. They will protest the network of apartheid roads which dissect the West Bank and which Palestinians themselves are blocked from using.




Imams leave her name unsaid The Palestinian columnist Ibrahim D'abes wrote a glowing tribute for Ms. Bhutto in the daily Al Quds newspaper, saying she "was and remains the best example of a courageous and fighting woman."


Youngest Palestinian prisoner released from Israeli detention centre.


Wilson was elected time and again by his constituents and served 24 years in Congress until his retirement in 1996. He was considered a liberal congressman who supported social justice, civil rights and the right to abortion, but he was a wild hawk when i Wilson was elected time and again by his constituents and served 24 years in Congress until his retirement in 1996. He was considered a liberal congressman who supported social justice, civil rights and the right to abortion, but he was a wild hawk when it came to foreign policy. He became a staunch supporter of Israel in its struggle against the Arabs - at least until he visited the Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps near Beirut during the first Lebanon war. After that he transferred his love for Israel to the mujahideen fighters of Afghanistan.


Palestinians remember Saddam year after hanging Saddam remains popular among Palestinians due in part to his payments of millions of dollars to the families of suicide bombers and anti-Israel fighters, as well as his missile attacks on Israel during the 1991 Gulf War.