Headlines for 04-26-08

Israel limits impact of aid to Palestinians: World Bank Billions of aid dollars pledged to the Palestinians to bolster peace talks with Israel are having a muted economic impact because of Israeli restrictions on travel and trade, the World Bank said on Sunday.


PFLP delegation to head to Egypt for truce talks A delegation of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) will head to Egypt on Monday for talks with senior Egypt officials on a possible ceasefire with Israel, the group said on Saturday.


AT-TUWANI: Palestinians delayed by Israeli settlers gathering in defiance of military order the settlers made their way off the road onto cultivated Palestinian land, causing damage through the presence and grazing of their animals. Despite this threatening behaviour, a Palestinian family continued throughout to harvest their wheat in a nearby field.


Egypt detains two in alleged Hamas plot Authorities have arrested two members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood for allegedly plotting attacks with Hamas against US and Israeli interests in Egypt, a security official said on Saturday


Orthodox Christians hail 'holy fire' of Easter in Jerusalem Orthodox Christians who are Palestinian and live in the nearby West Bank are generally not allowed by Israel to enter the Holy City. Many of them hold similar ceremonies at churches in their own towns and villages, such as Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Christ.


Palestinian plight is flip side of Israel's independence joy "For 60 years, Israel has been sitting on my heart. It kicked me out of my home, my nation, and deprived me of many things," And each Israeli birthday makes it harder for 70-year-old Shaikha and his elderly gin rummy partners in the camp's coffee house to cling to dreams of going back to Beit Nabala, one village among hundreds leveled to make way for the influx of Jewish immigrants into the newborn Jewish state.


Arab League warns of 'humanitarian catastrophe' in Gaza


Israel's ex-deputy defense minister says truce with Hamas not in Israel's interest Israel's former deputy defense minister says it's not in Israel's interest to strike a truce deal with Gaza's Hamas rulers.


Palestinians reject Israeli official's comments on fuel crisis The Palestinian gas union on Saturday rejected a statement by an Israeli official blaming Palestinians, led by Hamas, for the fuel shortages in Gaza Strip.


Egypt: Egyptian mediation focussed only on Israeli-Hamas truce


UNRWA calls on militants to halt attacks on crossings The United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian refugees called on Gaza militant groups on Saturday to stop armed attacks on Gaza border crossings.


Egypt: Israel's stance on Hamas truce offer not final


US Congress: Israel homeland for Jewish people In honor of Israel's 60th anniversary, Congress passes resolution pledging to strengthen US-Israel bond; Israel's US Ambassador: Resolution testimony to America's unwavering support Wow. Why not just hoist the Israeli flag over Capitol Hill and be done with it? Ridiculous.


UN refugee agency hopes for early end to Gaza food aid suspension 'From our experience, I don't think this issue will last for long because there are urgent intensive communications with the Israeli side on all levels,' UNRWA spokesman Adnan Abu Hassna told Voice of Palestine radio.


Hamas denies Egyptian paper?s report on obtaining drones


Hamas urges Abbas to declare peace talks a failure (Roundup)


INTERVIEW-Abbas doubts deal with Israel possible this year "The gaps between us and Israel on final status issues are wide. Will we reach a deal by the end of the year? I don't know, we will see," he said in an interview as he flew from Washington to Sharm el-Sheikh for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.


Mashaal: Truce a 'tactic' in Palestinian struggle Earlier Saturday, Mashaal said that Hamas is still waiting for Israel's official response to the group's sixtruce offer. During a press conference in Qatar, Mashaal said he had asked for a written commitment from Israel to open all of Gaza's border crossings, including the one at Rafah.


Abbas aide warns government may 'disappear' Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat warned yesterday that the U.S.-backed government of President Mahmoud Abbas may "disappear" if a permanent peace deal with Israel is not concluded by the end of the year.


Over Dh52m raised through Sharjah TV telethon A telethon to gather funds for Palestinian children has raised more than Dh52 million by 12am on Sunday through Sharjah TV.


Intelligence on Syria delayed to avoid fight "Our first concern was to prevent conflict and broader confrontation in the Middle East," said one of the top senior intelligence officials, who held a briefing with reporters late yesterday afternoon.



ANALYSIS-Congressional calculus triggered Syria disclosures


Evidence-based bombing by Scott Ritter While vexing, the Syrian position is totally in keeping with its treaty obligations, and so it is Syria, not Israel, that was in full conformity with international law at the time of Israel's September 6 2007 attack. A good read.


"Farewell Israel": Myth and Reality Israel's military leaders and their political yes-men don't believe, and never have believed, that Iran, if it possessed nuclear weapons, would unleash them in a first strike against the Zionist state. The real problem for its leaders is that the moment Israel ceased to be the only nuclear-armed power in the region, would be the moment it lost its ability to impose its will on the region. And actually the world.



The Americans' Vanunu AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) - the Jewish lobby in Washington - is the bluntest conceptualization of institutionalizing near treason and turning it into an enormous octopus of a political mechanism with enormous dimensions and numerous victims.


Hizbollah builds up covert army for a new assault against Israel 'They were guerrillas during the occupation but shocked Israel in the war by standing and fighting from fixed positions. Even badly outnumbered, they held territory with minimal losses even under assault from tank units,' he says. 'Now they want to expand to make sure they can stop the next invasion before the tanks reach the flat plains of the Bekaa, where Israel's armoured units will have the advantage.'



Abbas arrives in Egypt for talks on Palestinian issue


U.S. fumes after Israeli envoy to UN brands Carter 'a bigot' The United States registered an official protest with Israel against its ambassador to the United Nations, Dan Gillerman, for calling former U.S. President Jimmy Carter an "enemy of Israel" prior to Carter's recent visit to the region. Interesting.


Muslim group urges Malaysians to boycott Chelsea football tour "Malaysians should boycott the match," Mohamad Azmi said. "We should unite with the Palestinian people and fight for an independent homeland for them."


Syrian President, Turkish PM meet on peace process with Israel Syrian President Bashar al-Assadon Saturday held talks with visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on activation of the peace process in the Middle East.


Syria says will help Turk PM on mediation with Israel


McCain woos Jewish donors as GOP tries to lure them from Democrats The fund-raiser for McCain at the Ocean Ridge home of Lothar and Carlyn Mayer was put together as a way of "thanking and acknowledging Sen. McCain's longtime relationship with and support for Israel," said one of the event's hosts, Jeffrey Feingold, a Delray Beach periodontist active in state and national Jewish outreach for the GOP. Pucker up, Johnboy.


Israel Might Have Many More Spies Here, Officials Say The elderly New Jersey man arrested last week on charges of spying for Israel years ago was probably still working for the Jewish state?s espionage service in tandem with another, as yet unidentified spy, former American intelligence officials say


My Middle East dialogue - Jimmy Carter was right on Hamas. We mediators can take more risks than elected politicians I remember once telling Yasser Arafat he had a yiddisher kop (a creative Jewish mind) and I wasn't sure how he was going to treat me once he found out I was Jewish. He responded by embracing me and saying: "Some of my best friends are Jewish. I used to play with the Cohen boys when I was young. Now help me make peace." But he and Fatah could never deliver it, because they lacked the means to enforce it.