Headlines for 02-15-08

Senior Islamic Jihad leader killed in Gaza blast The Israeli army denied any involvement. Islamic Jihad said an air strike caused the blast, which also killed three other militants as well as the wife and two young children of the commander, Ayman Fayed, better known as Abu Abdallah.


UN shocked by 'grim' life in Gaza Undersecretary General John Holmes said it was the result of Israel closing its border crossings and the "limited food and other materials" allowed in.


Situation of Palestine refugees - UNRWA press briefing The most serious aspect of the crisis was the energy shortage. The director of a large public hospital in Gaza told him last week that he could no longer deal with the health problems of the population, as he had to spend his whole day looking for fuel. Without it, the generators would stop and vital structures, such as incubators for infants, would shut down


IDF removes checkpoints surrounding Palestinian town of Tulkarm The IDF lifted a lock-down on the town of Tulkarm which was placed Thursday overnight following intelligence that indicated terrorists in the town were planning an attack.


Militants bomb Gaza YMCA library So far no-one has claimed responsibility for the attack, which has been condemned by all the main Palestinian factions.


Reflection HebronThis Is Not Israel "There will never be peace here as long as you claim everything to be Israel, as long as you intend to steal all this land from the Palestinians. The real reason for not allowing these shepherds to be on their own land is that you are helping the settlers to steal this land."



Israeli settlers set up new community on West Bank hill Nine Israeli families have moved to a valley deep in the West Bank, setting down six trailer homes and promising Friday to bring more to the disputed area the Palestinians want for a future state. The action _ funded in part by a private U.S. group _ is the latest Israeli
settlement activity to anger Palestinians Private American groups are thusly supporting war crimes and getting away with it. For, those settlements built on occupied Palestinian territory are a violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.


One Palestinian journalist injured by army fire in Bil'in weekly protest The villagers of Bil'in, located near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, along with international and Israeli supporters, conducted their weekly protest against the illegal Israeli wall being built on village land. Israeli troops attacked the protest and injured one journalist.


PLC deputy head slams attack against YMCS in Gaza


Palestinians say Israel not meeting commitments Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki accused Israel on Friday of failing to meet commitments made at peace talks relaunched at a U.S.-hosted conference in Annapolis, Maryland, in November.


Hamas supporters protest over Prophet cartoon


Palestinian official asks Turkey to help with Hamas


The Hamas-dominated government says truce is now in Israel's court


Syria says will prove who killed Hezbollah leader


ASA Hosts Experts on Gaza To further communicate the impact that the conflict has on the lives of Palestinian casualties, Whitler showed a short documentary about a young Palestinian girl caught in Israeli crossfire and wounded in the head in 2003.


FBI asks terror squads for threat data The FBI said Thursday it has put its domestic terror squads on the alert for any threats against synagogues and other potential Jewish targets in the United States following the killing of a Hezbollah commander.


'Jewish' MSNBC plaint led to Libby conviction Levine, who was once employed by Matthews, did not believe the fast-talking host was deliberately targeting Jews, but faulted him for constantly citing Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle and Libby, then a top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney.


The War Party Targets Obama The Lobby went after Paul, and with a vengeance, launching a campaign that climaxed in a classic smear job in The New Republic ? where else? ? which accused the good-natured Paul of being the second coming of Adolf Hitler. It isn't hard to imagine that the same circles have it in for Obama.


Hizbullah joins hunt for Mughniyeh's killers


Spring rolls are off as Asian chefs go on strike in Israel Proprietors are angry at government plans to purge Japanese, Chinese and Thai eateries of Asian cooks and replace them with Israelis as part of a broader programme to cut the number of foreigners working in the Jewish state.


For the World, Gaza Is Reality TV "If this enforced starvation of one and a half million people was happening to Americans, would they accept it?"


Jewish Clinton officials defend Malley A recent e-mail and internet campaign claims that Malley, one of a host of former officials who have offered advice to the presidential campaign of Obama (D-Ill.), "hates" Israel and is allied with Arab radicals.


Iranian foreign minister meets with heads of Hamas, Islamic Jihad in Syria


Lantos committee postpones resolutions The committee was due to "mark up," or vote on whether to refer to the full House, a number of bills Thursday, among them a non-binding resolution on joining the claims of Palestinian refugees and Jewish refugees in the event of a Palestinian-Israeli peace deal; a non-binding resolution commending the opening of Holocaust-era archives in Bad Arolsen, Germany; and a non-binding resolution urging the preservation of Jewish cultural sites in Europe.



As protests rage, Jewish leaders lobby in Georgia Georgia, a state of less than 5 million, might seem an unlikely player on the stage of great-power politics. But on issues of importance to Israel and the United States, Georgia occupies a key position, and it is being courted aggressively.


Doctor claims her activism got her fired Wilkerson, who has worked at the clinic for five years, is an outspoken critic of the local Jewish community's support for Israel.


Palestinian trio's music will be 'oud' and clear


McCain Touts Stance on Israel Asked last year about Iran's nuclear ambitions, he jokingly sang the words "Bomb, bomb, bomb. Bomb, bomb Iran" to the tune of the Beach Boys hit "Barbara Ann" - this despite the opposition of most Americans to another Middle East war and growing Democratic support for engagement with the mullahs......"Senator McCain has a deeper record on Israel than Senators Clinton and Obama," said Scheunemann, noting that the Arizonan had met every Israeli prime minister since Menachem Begin and backed Israel during the 2006 Lebanon war. The Democrats, Scheunemann said, "are advocating policies that would endanger Israel's security, such as a precipitous retreat from Iraq or opening talks with Iran." Notice to this pro-Israeli, 'opening talks with Iran' is anti-Israel. But is it in the best interests of THIS country - the country for which McCain seeks the presidency? Never a consideration.


Actress embraces soul of the controversial Rachel Corrie


Lecture lives up to billing Alison Weir, a former Sausalito, Calif., journalist and founder of the If Americans Knew media watchdog group that monitors news coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, spoke to a packed audience of up to 300 people at the library's Cole Auditorium.



Embattled Middle East Hand Strikes Back At Political Critics Camera, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, published an article exploring Malley's family roots. The article argues that "Malley's parents were rabidly anti-Israel" and that Malley's articles on Middle East issues "demonize Israel only slightly less than his father."


Palestine woman jailed by Israelis A military court jailed a Palestinian woman for 15 years yesterday after convicting her of a plot to kidnap and murder an Israeli in 2006.


Quake shakes Mideast, causes injuries in Lebanon A Lebanese man and two Palestinians were injured in Tyre when a balcony fell on top of them, the Lebanese National News Agency reported.


TV bunny rouses Gaza kids against Israel, Danes The latest in a line of cartoon-inspired characters that take the message of the Hamas Islamist movement to Palestinian children, the actor in the Bugs Bunny-style outfit also railed against "Zionist filth" and Israel's control of Jerusalem.


Rice and Livni discuss Gaza, Iran in Washington talks: israeli official


Syria 'directly responsible' for situation in Lebanon: US official "I would describe the situation as one of continuing blockage and the continued eruption of violence in Lebanon ... We regard Syria as directly responsible for this situation," said David Satterfield


Israel to demand PA preserve Jewish sites The issue was brought to Livni's attention by Minister Ruhama Avraham-Balila (Kaima) following settler complaints regarding the dire condition of the Joseph's Tomb compound near Nablus, which was ransacked in the aftermath of the IDF's retreat from the site on October 7, 2000.