Headlines for 03-18-08

Elderly Palestinian man killed by unknown gunmen near Qalqilia


Twelve Palestinians wounded in Israeli raid in Gaza The strike hit a car in which the militants were traveling in the northern Gaza city of Beit Lahya. The other casualties were passers-by



Israeli High Court orders an end to excavations in Silwan On Tuesday, the Israeli High Court of Justice ordered a halt to the excavations in Silwan. This came after several months of excavations, which caused damages to building foundations and resident's houses in the Palestinian neigborhood of Wadi Hilwa of the town of Silwan, in East Jerusalem


Gazans build graves for shuttered factories Palestinians inaugurated a symbolic graveyard on Tuesday for factories forced to close by an Israeli blockade that they say is killing jobs.


Hamas: Egypt demanding answers on Shalit A Web site affiliated with the Palestinian Islamist movement reported Tuesday that dozens of Hamas members who were among thousands of Gazans who streamed into the Egyptian Sinai after the border was breached in January found themselves rounded up by Cairo's security agents.


Cheney to Troops: Mideast Needs Freedom Rallying troops after an overnight stay at an air base, Vice President Dick Cheney said Tuesday that as long as freedom is suppressed in the Mideast, the region will remain a place of "stagnation, resentment and violence ready for export." The supreme irony of that statement being that because of our support of Israel (which isn't going to change any time soon), Israel has been allowed to deny the Palestinians freedom for decades. Cheney's hypocrisy is not lost on the world. The world laughs their collective asses off at the neocon notion of 'freedom' in the Middle East.


Israeli army detains 23 Palestinians in West Bank


Rabbi stabbed in East Jerusalem A police spokesman said the rabbi was a member of the Ateret Cohanim organisation, which helps hardline Jewish settlers buy up property in the mainly-Arab Old City.


Hamas: PA arrested five of its supporters in West Bank


High Court ruling closes off Route 443 to Palestinians The interim decision issued 10 days ago by the High Court of Justice on the use of Route 443 marks the first time the justices have issued a ruling to close a road traversing occupied territory to Palestinian use, for the convenience of Israeli travelers


Mubarak: 'No occupation lasts forever' "Your people's security cannot be attained by exercising a policy of collective punishment, aggression, siege, walls and building settlements," he said in comments broadcast live on state television.


Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories: Safety of medical workers under spotlight in joint campaign ?The campaign reflects a shared concern about the increasing lack of respect for medical services,? says Katharina Ritz, the ICRC?s Head of Mission for the occupied territories. ?Protecting medical staff and facilities from attack and facilitating the evacuation and treatment of the sick and wounded ? no matter who they are ? are fundamental requirements under international humanitarian law?.



Hamas says open to Yemen initiative on Fatah


Israel seals Palestinian territories before Purim holiday


PLO urges Hamas to accept Gaza power-sharing


Suleiman postpones visit to Israel for third time Egypt's intelligence chief calls off trip to Israel once again, citing Israel's 'lack of commitment' to truce in Gaza as main reason for cancellation




PA downgrades renewed talks to protest settlement construction


Intelligence experts called to testify for ex-AIPAC duo


Feiglin to speak in Toronto A controversial Israeli politician banned from Britain is set to speak in Toronto.


McCain begins Israel visit at Yad Vashem McCain grovels at the altar of Israel (in order to win the AMERICAN presidency).


Jewish groups, police teaming on reward in R.I. firebombing Knafo is in the United States as an emissary for the Jewish Agency for Israel. The Afula native works for Hillel serving the two campuses......Both [Mayor] Cicilline and Police Chief Dean Esserman are Jewish, creating a heightened sensitivity to the issues surrounding the incident. The weekend of the attack, a busload of Providence police recruits traveled to Washington to the U.S. Holocaust Museum for instruction tailored to law enforcement officials. I'm just wondering what the US Holocaust Museum has to do with how law enforcement officials do their job in America. Is it to (further) encourage the supremacism of one group above the others (much like the new US State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism does)?


Obama: Pastor's views on Israel 'distorted' Wright has blamed U.S. foreign policy and support for Israel for the anti-Americanism that culminated in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Wright was absolutely correct - his view backed by the findings of the 911 commission. But Americans aren't to know that - which is why the LA Times and Kentucky Herald Leader were the only ones to report on this story.


Apparently Without Irony, Washington Post Says Jewish Advocates Demand that Obama Show 'Fealty to Israel' They portrayed Obama as a dangerous leftwinger, and when the Illinois senator's surrogate defended Obama's statement that the U.S. does not have to cleave to Likud policies, Ann Lewis, Hillary's advocate, responded:
"The role of the president of the United States is to support the decisions that are made by the people of Israel. It is not up to us to pick and choose from among the political parties."



Egypt police find explosives caches near Gaza border


Hebron: Eleventh and Twelfth Stations of the Cross


Ex-diplomat: Syria talks could resume soon after U.S. elections "Damascus will only consider discussing such issues as a way to reducing its international isolation and that means getting American concessions," Liel said. "You need the Americans, and the Americans say we're not coming," he added. "Because the Syrians want the Americans in the room, this, in practice, prevents talks."


McCain rep to Jews: Christian right a 'serious problem' And Eagleburger believes that those people who might want to "cut and run" from Iraq now are endangering Israel. If you?re worried about Israel, he said, "just think" about the consequences of leaving Iraq, essentially making Iran stronger. As I predicted many times in the past, in this election Israel might find itself in the middle of the American internal debate over the Middle East. The McCain camp is definitely going to use Israel as a way of convincing people that leaving Iraq prematurely is going to have grave results. We went in to Iraq - and we will remain in Iraq - for the security of ISRAEL. Note the source.


Obama Harassed by Zionists Sen. Barack Obama's views on the State of Israel have been the subject of much scrutiny in recent weeks. Obama has repeatedly stated that he and his advisors are staunchly pro-Israel, but these declarations have not satisfied Zionist groups, and the witch hunt continues. Many have pointed out his relationship with the pastor of his church, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who has criticized Israel in the past.


Activists to Waldorf-Astoria: Cancel Friends of IDF fundraiser Among other activities, Friends of the Israel Defense Forces explains on its website that it helps to establish and renovate facilities on Israeli army bases. We are shocked that a respected institution like The Waldorf-Astoria would host a fundraiser benefitting a foreign armed group, especially one guilty of egregious human rights violations.


McCain backs Jerusalem as 'Israeli capital' Israel annexed Arab east Jerusalem after the 1967 Middle East war and declared it part of its eternal undivided capital, a claim not recognised by the international community. E. Jerusalem is Israeli-OCCUPIED not owned. To recognize Israel's sovereignty thereof is to recognize a war crime, since Israel's settlements therein are a violation of Article 49 of The Fourth Geneva Convention. Israel's Lebensraumism is applauded, not punished.


Israel's 'religious right' gains clout, complicating peace with Palestinians "We go by halacha [religious law] and our spiritual leader, Rabbi Yosef. He supported the Oslo Accords, but only if it will bring real peace," This Rabbi Yosef is an extremist and a racist.


Police kill Sudanese woman near Israel Israel has asked Egypt to do more to stem the tide of trafficking and weapons flow across Egypt's volatile boundaries in the Sinai ? both the border with Israel and the adjoining boundary separating Egypt and the coastal Gaza Strip, controlled by the Palestinian Hamas.




Israeli defence official in Egypt for Gaza talks Suleiman put off going to Israel two weeks ago because of Israel's ongoing attacks on rocket-launching militants in the Gaza Strip that also killed many civilians.


Report: Israeli Jews increasingly anti-Arab


In Ramallah, diocesan institutions bring hope to Palestinians [Rev] Raheb said he believes that the Holy Land is "heading toward a fully developed apartheid system that will be much worse than South Africa,"


McCain cites Iran's nuclear threat while in Israel US Republican presidential hopeful John McCain Tuesday expressed concern about Iran's possible nuclear armament during his two-day visit to Israel.


McCain visits Israel 'worried' about Iran, Hamas


Situation of Palestinians on Iraq-Syria border continues to deteriorate The situation of more than 2,700 Palestinians who have been stranded and are living in inhumane conditions in two border camps at the Iraq-Syrian border continues to deteriorate


Poll Shows Most Palestinians Favor Violence Over Talks Why, what a coincidence this new poll whose results the NY Times is now trumpeting, ensuring that Americans view the Palestinians as violence-driven when THIS poll, out just days ago, says something very different. Ethan Bronner would appear to be doing damage control for the Israeli lobby, and the New York Times is more than happy to oblige.


Foreign policy experts discuss future at UM There was a round of applause and a few cheers from the more than 120 high school students when senior foreign policy fellow Bruce Riedel said that Barack Obama is the favorite presidential candidate among Israelis overseas. What the hell for?


Switzerland rejects US, Jewish criticism of Iranian gas deal Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey on Tuesday brushed aside US and Jewish criticism of a multibillion-dollar gas deal she helped clinch with Iran, saying the Alpine republic does not need permission from the United States to advance its strategic interests....."Switzerland is an independent country that has its own strategic interests to defend," Calmy-Rey told reporters.
Ahh, the bitter irony in such a statement.


McCain warns of increasing Iranian influence Closing a week-long congressional delegation to the region that included a time in Iraq, McCain expressed concern over a large cache of explosives found in Iraq and alluded that they may have been sent from Iran.




Israelis look ahead to post-Bush White House "I think Bush gave us a sense of security during very difficult times. On the Iraqi issue he turned out to be wrong, but under the circumstances I think he was the best man for the job and was good for Israel,"....."The issue is not what the candidates think about Israel. The issue is what the candidate thinks about a nuclear Iran, about Iraq, terrorism and radical Islamism," In other words, will America continue to do Israel's bidding in the Middle East (and beyond)?


Israeli warship enters Lebanese waters: army An Israeli warship briefly entered Lebanese waters on Monday but was intercepted by an Italian ship operating as part of the UN peacekeeping force, the army said on Tuesday. How long before the Israeli warships too open fire on UN peacekeepers?


Jordan's king meets McCain, stresses "effective" US Mideast role Also attending the meeting with the king were Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut.


Rudd backs Australian Jewish lobby Prior to the declaration of Israel?s formation terrorist Jewish organisations waged a campaign again British occupation in which the British commander in the Palestinian territories was assassinated by Jewish paramilitary organisations. It was obvious from the very beginning that the Zionists, who seized the leadership of the Jewish State, held the objective of creating a "greater Israel" which inevitably meant the expulsion of the Arabs from their homeland.


The Circus Comes to Town Even more importantly, Democrats here must use these weeks to press Clinton and Obama on Iran and its drive for nuclear weapons. There is simply no other issue on which so many lives will hang during the next four years as this one. We know that both favor diplomacy (as does Republican candidate Sen. John McCain and the State of Israel) to persuade the Iranians to drop their push for nukes. But if, as seems likely, Tehran gets the bomb during the next administration, we must know if these leaders are afraid to do whatever it takes, including pre-emptive strikes, to see to it that the mullahs and their genocidal frontman Mahmoud Ahmadinejad don't have the power to unleash mass murder on Israel or any other country. Note the source. These Israel-supporters want to ask of the candidates for the AMERICAN presidency? will you attack Iran for Israel?