Seven gunmen killed in Gaza raid Seven Palestinian militants have been killed and three Israeli soldiers wounded in fierce clashes near a refugee camp inside Gaza.
Palestinian child dies due to the Israeli siege on Gaza Rawan Nassar, a 15 year old girl, died from kidney failure, she needed to undergo a dialysis session, but because of the army siege in the Gaza strip she was not able to leave the costal region to get the treatment she needed.
Muslim feast day marred by Israeli military restrictions On Wednesday 19 December, the Israeli military obstructed the way to the Ibrahimi Mosque, in Hebron?s Old City, for over one hundred Muslim worshippers. Wednesday was the first day of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, when Muslims around the world attend morning prayers at their local mosques.
No room at the inn: Christmas bonanza in Bethlehem Israel's separation barrier has confiscated farm land, uprooted olive trees, isolated the town from Jerusalem and helped to quicken emigration and keep unemployment at more than 50 percent. Israeli raids are still frequent.
Caritas visits Palestinian cancer and dialysis patients in hospital over Christmas The cancer patients are all from Gaza and come to the hospital to undergo chemotherapy treatment. Most of these lucky few (that can obtain permission to enter Jerusalem for treatment) come to the hospital under a special permit and they are not allowed to leave the premises.
Rice welcomes 'good step' from Israel on settlements Israel's housing ministry abandoned the plans for the Atarot area in east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as the capital of their future state.
Report: Cluster bomb left over from war kills man in S. Lebanon The bomb went off as Mohammad Hamzeh was collecting firewood in the town of Zibqine near the southern port city of Tyre. According to the National News Agency, Hamzeh was instantly killed.
Israel says it opposes Russian plans for Moscow peace summit
Bethlehem residents vandalise Banksy graffiti "We're humans here, not donkeys," said Nasri Canavati, a restaurater. "This is insulting. I'm glad it was painted over."
Bush 'loses patience' with Syria "The reason why is because he houses Hamas, he facilitates Hezbollah, suiciders go from his country into Iraq, and he destabilises Lebanon."
Aliyah up from U.S., Britain Immigration to Israel from the United States, Canada, and Britain is up, though total aliyah is down.
Hebron mezuzah incident investigated The Hebron casbah, from where many Palestinian residents have fled during the past six years of violence, is off-limits to Israeli civilians out of concern that settlers might try to squat in its buildings.
American Zionist group slams U.S. gov't on campus anti-Semitism The Office of Civil Rights, which operates under the auspices of the Department of Education, said in a report released last week that some Muslim student activities were offensive to Jewish students.
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But the report concludes the speeches, marches and other activities were based on opposition to Israeli policies, not the national origin of Jewish students. And to the extremist ZOA, that's anti-Semitism (criticism of Israel).
Campaigner protest over Palestinian deaths
PEACE campaigners gathered outside Sheffield Town Hall with a small coffin and placards listing the names of 34 Palestinians, including children, who they say have died as the result of an Isreali siege of the Gaza strip.
Syria says working for end to Lebanon crisis Syria is working to help resolve Lebanon's presidential crisis, the foreign minister said on Thursday, responding to reports that France's patience was wearing thin with Damascus over a stalled presidential election.
'IDF ability to fight Qassams limited' Chief of army intelligence speaks at TAU meet, says military has limited resources when fighting camouflaged Qassam launchers in Gaza. 'It's like looking for a needle in a haystack,' he says
Five Palestinians arrested for breaking into judge's home
'Bad for the Jews' Take a look at the agendas of some of the most influential Jewish organizations, like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Anti-Defamation League, the Zionist Organization of America and the American Jewish Committee itself; each has historically associated itself with the hawkish side of the debate--and some have done so even when Israel took the more dovish side (the Jewish equivalent of being holier than the Pope).
Toy guns and real fears - it's playtime in Gaza
Why the US hasn't seen smuggling tapes The decision to send the tapes to the Israeli Embassy in Washington was made by Israel's top defense echelon to influence the appropriations process in Congress ahead of a decision to withhold part of the foreign aid granted to Egypt.
Aid and art cheer up Christians in the Holy Land Despite the sombre mood, Mr Ishaq said that the Christian presence in the Holy Land would endure. ?Those here by choice are determined to bear witness. I will take my choir to sing wherever I can. As for the future, we have to keep the faith; there is nothing else we can do but hope.?
Postcard: Bethlehem I was 8 when my family moved to Bethlehem in 1949. We were Muslim refugees from the newly created Israel. Back then, nearly all the townspeople were Christian. I went to a Christian school and sang in a church choir. I loved to go to Sunday service and shut my eyes, listening to the cadences of Latin Mass--which I didn't understand--and breathing in the fragrance of incense.
Judge: U.S. rightly excluded scholar he was excluded on the grounds that he aided a terrorist group by making charitable contributions from 1998 to 2002.....The United States did not outlaw contributions to the group until 2003.
Israel's supporters should push for talks with Iran The release of the NIE report should prompt more than silence from Jerusalem, however. It should prompt a re-thinking of Israel?s -- and the pro-Israel community in America?s -- approach toward Iran
Spinka rabbi arrested for tax fraud Six other men were charged in the scheme; four were arrested Wednesday. Two others are believed to be in Israel.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Headlines for 12-19-07
At-Tuwani: Clearing the Land The Israeli government has simply taken Palestinian land for Israeli settlements and roads. As in the Highlands, the ?victors? have used pseudo legal means to steal land.
Ayalon, Mofaz favor truce talks Two Israeli Cabinet ministers said the government should consider holding truce talks with Hamas.
Palestinian shepherds forced to move on Several weeks earlier he and all his fellow villagers, 37 families numbering 272 people, were evacuated by the Israeli military from Qassa and told to find a new home somewhere else........Some villagers noted that Qassa sits between Israel's Separation Barrier and the pre-1967 Green Line border, and felt this was a factor in the eviction.
"Hamas reached 'secret deal' with Israel" Senior Fatah officials claimed Tuesday that a "secret deal" was keeping Israel from killing top Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian Patient dies due to the Israeli siege on Gaza
Israel considers new settlement The Haaretz newspaper said the Atarot plan - south of Qalandia checkpoint which controls access to East Jerusalem from Ramallah - envisaged construction of 10,000 flats, making it the largest housing project for Jews
Bush to make first presidential visit to Israel Bush will find a receptive audience in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states over his concerns about Iran's increasing dominance in the region. Bush insists that Iran remains a potential threat to world peace in spite of a US intelligence analysis that it had stopped a nuclear weapons programme in 2003.
Hebron Update: 10-16 December 2007
Hamas offer for peace rejected by Israel The Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who just hours earlier declared ?war on Gaza?, refused to acknowledge an offer for peace made by the deposed Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyya.
Hamas seeks truce talks with Israel Gaza's embattled Hamas leaders are seeking a cease-fire after months of Israeli attacks and sanctions, going so far as to make an unprecedented appeal through the Israeli media, a Hamas official confirmed Wednesday.
Donors' Palestinian budget aid short of target Fayyad had asked for $3.9 billion in budget aid to cover running costs, such as civil servants' salaries, and the foreign ministry said only $1.54 billion of the funds pledged were in the form of budget aid.
Mideast Catholic leader says peace depends on Israel "The strong party, the one with everything in hand, the one who is imposing occupation on the other, has the obligation to see what is just for everyone and to carry it out courageously."
State to reconsider cutting electricity and fuel to Gaza
Catholic leader rejects Israel's Jewish identity ''If there's a state of one religion, other religions are naturally discriminated against,'' Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah told reporters at the annual press conference he holds in Jerusalem before Christmas
Is charity Peace Oil really the best way to help the Middle East?
Assassination Jars Nascent US Détente With Syria it seems that Washington's move toward détente with Damascus is being strained again, and as usual, the latest flashpoint is Lebanon, or rather, the assassination of a political figure in Lebanon. Awful strange, that.
Israel worried about Hamas hajjis Israel believes that hundreds of Palestinians who left on the pretext of a pilgrimage will receive military training in Iran.
Congress approves extra anti-terror funds Jewish groups have received a lion?s share of the funds since the program was instituted by the Department of Homeland Security in 2005. Last year they received 251 of the 308 grants awarded.
Report: Bush snubs Knesset U.S. President George W. Bush reportedly turned down a request to address Israel's Knesset during his visit next month.
Assad: We rejected nukes in '01 The Syrian president said in an interview published Wednesday that in 2001, his regime was approached by Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan's atomic architect, who offered in a letter to sell Damascus nuclear missiles. "We do not know if the letter was authentic or if it was an Israeli trap,"
Jerusalem: What's in your fridge? Khalil Abu Arqub is a 50-year-old Palestinian headmaster who lives in Jerusalem.
Israeli Consulate in L.A. evacuated
Palestinian refugees from Iraq stranded in desert camp Many have known no home outside Baghdad ? they're the offspring of parents who settled in Iraq in 1948 after being driven from Haifa as when Israel became an independent nation
Mazuz: Int'l law not broken in Kfar Kana Israel exonerates itself from blame for another war crime.
The Wages of Intervention Turkish-Syrian-Iranian rapprochement has provoked the wrath of the Israel lobby in Washington, and this was a key factor in getting the Armenian genocide resolution through Congress, which further alienated Ankara.
Ministers discuss Palestinian refugee situation with Commissioner General of UNRWA
Foreigners head to Syria to learn Arabic Syrians point to the young foreigners in the capital as proof that their country ? which is under U.S. sanctions and on its list of state supporters of terrorism ? is not the closed, anti-American rogue nation often depicted in Western media.
Sarkozy demands Syrian action on Lebanon: report
Mideast peace in 2008 unlikely due to U.S. vote: Assad Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said achieving Middle East peace in 2008 looked unrealistic because the United States would be preoccupied with the presidential election.
For Israel's Arab Citizens, Isolation and Exclusion "Inside the Green Line, people have not awakened to their role of the last 100 years," Stern said, referring to the 1949 armistice line that marked Israel's boundary until it seized the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war. "If we fall asleep here, we will wake up to an Arab majority.".......The rejection letter followed a conversation the Zubeidats had with an official from the Misgav Regional Council, which oversees Rakefet and dozens of other nearby towns. He told them, Fatina recalled, that although they were "very nice people," he would have to begin marketing Rakefet as a "mixed community" to possible buyers in Tel Aviv if they moved in. The designation would hurt sales.
A prayer from Bethlehem In Bethlehem this December, there will be Santas handing candy out in the streets, markets selling toys and decorations, and a Christmas Eve procession to the Church of the Nativity, honored as Jesus' birthplace. Palestinian Christians will go to midnight Mass, eat a festive meal with their families and sing Christmas carols.
West Bank villagers celebrate St. Nicholas as protector, miracle man Because of Israeli checkpoints and closed roads, the cousins get to see each other only a few times a year, although they live less than an hour apart.
Israel sets up wartime liaison unit The authority is an outcome of an interim report issued by Israel's commission of inquiry into the 2006 Lebanon war, which found that the offensive against Hezbollah and efforts to control damage caused by its rockets were stymied by poor government oversight.
Israel's Olmert: 'There is a war in Gaza'
Israel tests advanced Patriot Israel tested an advanced version of the U.S.-supplied Patriot missile.
Israel Recognised by Govt, Not By People
Cost stalls West Bank wall Work on Israel's separation barrier has virtually halted as the country's attention ? and budget funding ? have shifted away from the threat of Palestinian suicide bombers from the West Bank
Corrie play not helpful to dialogue, QIC director says The politically charged play My Name is Rachel Corrie, which is now playing in Montreal, is not a basis for discussion on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, says the director of the Quebec-Israel Committee (QIC).
Well hello, dolly! At a landfill in the West Bank town of Yata, a young Palestinian dump scavenger holds up his latest find, which he will try to sell.
Mizrahi staying at The Israel Project The Israel Project also announced that five U.S. senators and one member of Congress have joined its board of directors. They are Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) and Susan Collins (R-Me.), and Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.). Americans beware. The Israel Project is a pro-Israeli outfit which was behind some of the campus witchhunts of recent years.
Report: Palestinian NGOs pull plug on Madrid forum
Russia, Israel agree to be visa-free Jewish Agency for Israel chairman Zeev Bielsky welcomed the agreement between Moscow and Jerusalem, saying it would encourage more young Russian Jews to visit their ancestral homeland.
Ex-CIA man predicts U.S. war with Iran ** Those who hope to prevent a military conflict in Iran should make their voices heard, he said......He cited the close American relationship with Israel, which he said considers Iran a threat, as a driving force behind a potential strike.
A dove departs A politician who paid the price for telling Israelis unpalatable truths
Ayalon, Mofaz favor truce talks Two Israeli Cabinet ministers said the government should consider holding truce talks with Hamas.
Palestinian shepherds forced to move on Several weeks earlier he and all his fellow villagers, 37 families numbering 272 people, were evacuated by the Israeli military from Qassa and told to find a new home somewhere else........Some villagers noted that Qassa sits between Israel's Separation Barrier and the pre-1967 Green Line border, and felt this was a factor in the eviction.
"Hamas reached 'secret deal' with Israel" Senior Fatah officials claimed Tuesday that a "secret deal" was keeping Israel from killing top Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian Patient dies due to the Israeli siege on Gaza
Israel considers new settlement The Haaretz newspaper said the Atarot plan - south of Qalandia checkpoint which controls access to East Jerusalem from Ramallah - envisaged construction of 10,000 flats, making it the largest housing project for Jews
Bush to make first presidential visit to Israel Bush will find a receptive audience in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states over his concerns about Iran's increasing dominance in the region. Bush insists that Iran remains a potential threat to world peace in spite of a US intelligence analysis that it had stopped a nuclear weapons programme in 2003.
Hebron Update: 10-16 December 2007
Hamas offer for peace rejected by Israel The Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who just hours earlier declared ?war on Gaza?, refused to acknowledge an offer for peace made by the deposed Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyya.
Hamas seeks truce talks with Israel Gaza's embattled Hamas leaders are seeking a cease-fire after months of Israeli attacks and sanctions, going so far as to make an unprecedented appeal through the Israeli media, a Hamas official confirmed Wednesday.
Donors' Palestinian budget aid short of target Fayyad had asked for $3.9 billion in budget aid to cover running costs, such as civil servants' salaries, and the foreign ministry said only $1.54 billion of the funds pledged were in the form of budget aid.
Mideast Catholic leader says peace depends on Israel "The strong party, the one with everything in hand, the one who is imposing occupation on the other, has the obligation to see what is just for everyone and to carry it out courageously."
State to reconsider cutting electricity and fuel to Gaza
Catholic leader rejects Israel's Jewish identity ''If there's a state of one religion, other religions are naturally discriminated against,'' Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah told reporters at the annual press conference he holds in Jerusalem before Christmas
Is charity Peace Oil really the best way to help the Middle East?
Assassination Jars Nascent US Détente With Syria it seems that Washington's move toward détente with Damascus is being strained again, and as usual, the latest flashpoint is Lebanon, or rather, the assassination of a political figure in Lebanon. Awful strange, that.
Israel worried about Hamas hajjis Israel believes that hundreds of Palestinians who left on the pretext of a pilgrimage will receive military training in Iran.
Congress approves extra anti-terror funds Jewish groups have received a lion?s share of the funds since the program was instituted by the Department of Homeland Security in 2005. Last year they received 251 of the 308 grants awarded.
Report: Bush snubs Knesset U.S. President George W. Bush reportedly turned down a request to address Israel's Knesset during his visit next month.
Assad: We rejected nukes in '01 The Syrian president said in an interview published Wednesday that in 2001, his regime was approached by Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan's atomic architect, who offered in a letter to sell Damascus nuclear missiles. "We do not know if the letter was authentic or if it was an Israeli trap,"
Jerusalem: What's in your fridge? Khalil Abu Arqub is a 50-year-old Palestinian headmaster who lives in Jerusalem.
Israeli Consulate in L.A. evacuated
Palestinian refugees from Iraq stranded in desert camp Many have known no home outside Baghdad ? they're the offspring of parents who settled in Iraq in 1948 after being driven from Haifa as when Israel became an independent nation
Mazuz: Int'l law not broken in Kfar Kana Israel exonerates itself from blame for another war crime.
The Wages of Intervention Turkish-Syrian-Iranian rapprochement has provoked the wrath of the Israel lobby in Washington, and this was a key factor in getting the Armenian genocide resolution through Congress, which further alienated Ankara.
Ministers discuss Palestinian refugee situation with Commissioner General of UNRWA
Foreigners head to Syria to learn Arabic Syrians point to the young foreigners in the capital as proof that their country ? which is under U.S. sanctions and on its list of state supporters of terrorism ? is not the closed, anti-American rogue nation often depicted in Western media.
Sarkozy demands Syrian action on Lebanon: report
Mideast peace in 2008 unlikely due to U.S. vote: Assad Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said achieving Middle East peace in 2008 looked unrealistic because the United States would be preoccupied with the presidential election.
For Israel's Arab Citizens, Isolation and Exclusion "Inside the Green Line, people have not awakened to their role of the last 100 years," Stern said, referring to the 1949 armistice line that marked Israel's boundary until it seized the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war. "If we fall asleep here, we will wake up to an Arab majority.".......The rejection letter followed a conversation the Zubeidats had with an official from the Misgav Regional Council, which oversees Rakefet and dozens of other nearby towns. He told them, Fatina recalled, that although they were "very nice people," he would have to begin marketing Rakefet as a "mixed community" to possible buyers in Tel Aviv if they moved in. The designation would hurt sales.
A prayer from Bethlehem In Bethlehem this December, there will be Santas handing candy out in the streets, markets selling toys and decorations, and a Christmas Eve procession to the Church of the Nativity, honored as Jesus' birthplace. Palestinian Christians will go to midnight Mass, eat a festive meal with their families and sing Christmas carols.
West Bank villagers celebrate St. Nicholas as protector, miracle man Because of Israeli checkpoints and closed roads, the cousins get to see each other only a few times a year, although they live less than an hour apart.
Israel sets up wartime liaison unit The authority is an outcome of an interim report issued by Israel's commission of inquiry into the 2006 Lebanon war, which found that the offensive against Hezbollah and efforts to control damage caused by its rockets were stymied by poor government oversight.
Israel's Olmert: 'There is a war in Gaza'
Israel tests advanced Patriot Israel tested an advanced version of the U.S.-supplied Patriot missile.
Israel Recognised by Govt, Not By People
Cost stalls West Bank wall Work on Israel's separation barrier has virtually halted as the country's attention ? and budget funding ? have shifted away from the threat of Palestinian suicide bombers from the West Bank
Corrie play not helpful to dialogue, QIC director says The politically charged play My Name is Rachel Corrie, which is now playing in Montreal, is not a basis for discussion on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, says the director of the Quebec-Israel Committee (QIC).
Well hello, dolly! At a landfill in the West Bank town of Yata, a young Palestinian dump scavenger holds up his latest find, which he will try to sell.
Mizrahi staying at The Israel Project The Israel Project also announced that five U.S. senators and one member of Congress have joined its board of directors. They are Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) and Susan Collins (R-Me.), and Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.). Americans beware. The Israel Project is a pro-Israeli outfit which was behind some of the campus witchhunts of recent years.
Report: Palestinian NGOs pull plug on Madrid forum
Russia, Israel agree to be visa-free Jewish Agency for Israel chairman Zeev Bielsky welcomed the agreement between Moscow and Jerusalem, saying it would encourage more young Russian Jews to visit their ancestral homeland.
Ex-CIA man predicts U.S. war with Iran ** Those who hope to prevent a military conflict in Iran should make their voices heard, he said......He cited the close American relationship with Israel, which he said considers Iran a threat, as a driving force behind a potential strike.
A dove departs A politician who paid the price for telling Israelis unpalatable truths
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Headlines for 12-18-07
Palestinian refugees still adamant they must return home UN General Assembly Resolution 194, passed in December 1948, asserts the refugees' right of return to live at peace in their old homes or to receive compensation for their losses. Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country."
Palestinian President Abbas welcomes idea of international force in territories
Islamic Jihad vows renewal of suicide attacks against Israel Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad vowed Tuesday to retaliate for its recent losses from Israeli air strikes with suicide attacks inside Israel, threatening "a wave of martyrdom operations" in an e-mail to reporters.
Turkey: Another Ally Lost by Philip Giraldi Giraldi reveals the Israel factor with respect to US-Turkey relations.
Sweden Increases Aid To The Palestinian People
Secure and stable environment for Palestinian development - a high priority
UAE gives $300 million for Palestinian rebuilding
Russia stands for Palestinian statehood Russia is to allot $10 million and 50 armored fighting vehicles for supporting Palestinian statehood.
Qassams, mortars hit western Negev The Islamic Jihad announced retaliatory action is underway, as its spokesman vowed the "organization will respond to this grave Israeli crime over the course of the following days."
Iceland to Support Palestine
Hamas-run Gaza will likely see little of the $7.4 billion in aid to the Palestinians
Bush: Iran still a threat "We need to take their threats seriously about what they have said about one of our allies, Israel," Bush said during a speech Monday in Fredericksburg, Va. "And therefore my attitude hasn't changed toward Iran."
Abbas backs French call for international force
A daily exercise in humiliation A report released last week by the International Committee for the Red Cross singled out the checkpoints and the isolation of Nablus as key parts of a system that denies Palestinians "normal and dignified lives." The broad rebuke of Israel for its 40-year-old occupation of the West Bank was surprising from an organization that makes an effort to remain neutral.
Israeli army crimes 'unpunished' Yesh Din's report said offences included "illegal shooting causing the death and injury of civilians, violence and abuse, intentional damage to property, looting, taking bribes".
Bush set for tour of Middle East George W Bush will make his first visit as US president to Israel and the West Bank in January, in an attempt to revive the Middle East peace process.
Cyprus to give $2 mln aid to Palestinians
Belgium pledges 86 million euro at the International Donors' Conference for the Palestinian State
Senior Chinese legislator meets Palestinian guest Oyunqemag said China would continue as it has always done to support the just cause of Palestine, maintain friendly ties with the DFLP and make joint efforts to promote China-Palestine friendship and the development of the Middle East peace process.
Christian voices from Bethlehem How can we celebrate Christmas when people are in captivity -when Bethlehem is in prison?
New committee to consider Palestinian family reunification requests Interior Ministry establishes committee comprising security, public officials to consider granting Palestinians temporary residence status in special humanitarian cases
Palestinian spray-paints recipe on Israel's West Bank barrier as protest «I think it's important for Palestinians to see that people from around the world are supporting their cause,» said Nabil Kukali, an expert on Palestinian opinion on Israel. «They are happy to see this type of organization standing with them and understanding their suffering.
The Netherlands releases ten million euros extra for Palestinian Territories
Qassam lands near IDF base in Negev; 6 soldiers suffer from shock Rocket fired by Palestinians in Gaza lands in Kibbutz Zikim area; female soldiers stationed nearby suffer from shock, state of alert declared at all nearby army bases; few minutes prior to attack Qassam lands in open field north of Sderot
Palestinian premier says Paris results beyond expectations Acting Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Tuesday in Ramallah that the results of the Paris donors' conference held Monday 'have exceeded our expectations.'
Deputy PM Ramon: Swap Pre-1967 Land With PA Speaking with IDF Army Radio on Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Chaim Ramon acknowledged that Israel would continue construction within some of the larger Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria. However, he added, parts of pre-1967 Israel will be
relinquished to the Palestinian Authority in return for those settlement blocs retained.
India's support to Palestine cause unwavered: Pranab
Ministry pushes new neighborhood for Jews in E. J'lem The neighborhood, near Atarot, is slated to contain more than 10,000 apartments, making it the largest Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem.
Let him write your text on this Wall
Mideast investment conference due in Bethlehem: British PM Britain and the United States together will organize a Middle East investment conference in Bethlehem in March or April, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Tuesday
UNICEF creates a safe haven to help refugee children in north Lebanon
Recruiting begins for anti-Iran coalition Jewish umbrella groups have asked constituents to recruit non-Jewish supporters to an anti-Iran coalition.
Pledge for Palestine We read with interest about donor pledges in aid for Palestinians (Donors pledge billions in aid for Palestinians, December 18). Médecins du Monde (Doctors of the World) has a number of projects in the Palestinian territories and we have seen first-hand the suffering of the civilian population.
Energy bill with Israel grant passes President George Bush is set to sign a bill that includes a provision for Israeli-U.S. energy cooperation.
Meeting the Other: U.S. Jews visit Palestinians in Bethlehem The popularity of Encounter?s trips to Palestinian-populated cities has prompted the program to expand its offerings. Encounter recently led a tour for Jewish federation executives, and the group is planning trips for other American Jewish delegations.
Lebanon's turmoil worries Israel as Iran, Syria make power plays
Dodd letter supports peace talks ?As the only democracy in the Middle East, the United States must remain a steadfast supporter of Israel and its right to defend itself from terrorist threats,? Dodd wrote, adding that Israel must maintain a commitment to a freeze on new settlements, the dismantling of illegal West Bank settlements and a reduction in the number of roadblocks and checkpoints.
ANALYSIS: Hurdles face Palestinian economic revival despite donations
LEBANON: Palestinians Brave a Hazardous Profession An unprecedented hundreds of thousands of cluster bombs were scattered throughout south Lebanon's rural towns, agricultural fields and valleys by Israel in the final days of last year's summer conflict. There have been 26 fatalities since the conflict's end, and 196 wounded.
Gov't official: No 'smoking gun' on Iran Israel does not have "smoking gun" intelligence that will force an American reassessment of its National Intelligence Estimate that Iran halted its nuclear weapons plan in 2003, a government official told The Jerusalem Post Monday. ......The official said it was clear that the Americans pretty much know what Israel knows about the Iranian nuclear program and that the difference is not over the facts but rather over their interpretation.
EI Reader Appeal: You count on us, can we count on you?
Israel hands out sweets, smooths travel to Bethlehem for growing number of tourists Israel will allow 500 Christians from the Gaza Strip to enter Israel and the West Bank for up to one month during the Christmas season
New $16.5 M Bethlehem Hospital Unites Abrahamic Faiths Christians broke ground Tuesday on Bethlehem?s first specialty hospital which organizers envision will be a center bringing together Christians, Jews, and Palestinians to heal the sick in a land rife with sectarian violence.
UNRWA university scholarship programme for 2007-2008 The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for the Palestine Refugees in the Near East has received more than US $2 million donation for the university scholarships program in Lebanon for the school year 2007-2008.
Palestinian President Abbas welcomes idea of international force in territories
Islamic Jihad vows renewal of suicide attacks against Israel Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad vowed Tuesday to retaliate for its recent losses from Israeli air strikes with suicide attacks inside Israel, threatening "a wave of martyrdom operations" in an e-mail to reporters.
Turkey: Another Ally Lost by Philip Giraldi Giraldi reveals the Israel factor with respect to US-Turkey relations.
Sweden Increases Aid To The Palestinian People
Secure and stable environment for Palestinian development - a high priority
UAE gives $300 million for Palestinian rebuilding
Russia stands for Palestinian statehood Russia is to allot $10 million and 50 armored fighting vehicles for supporting Palestinian statehood.
Qassams, mortars hit western Negev The Islamic Jihad announced retaliatory action is underway, as its spokesman vowed the "organization will respond to this grave Israeli crime over the course of the following days."
Iceland to Support Palestine
Hamas-run Gaza will likely see little of the $7.4 billion in aid to the Palestinians
Bush: Iran still a threat "We need to take their threats seriously about what they have said about one of our allies, Israel," Bush said during a speech Monday in Fredericksburg, Va. "And therefore my attitude hasn't changed toward Iran."
Abbas backs French call for international force
A daily exercise in humiliation A report released last week by the International Committee for the Red Cross singled out the checkpoints and the isolation of Nablus as key parts of a system that denies Palestinians "normal and dignified lives." The broad rebuke of Israel for its 40-year-old occupation of the West Bank was surprising from an organization that makes an effort to remain neutral.
Israeli army crimes 'unpunished' Yesh Din's report said offences included "illegal shooting causing the death and injury of civilians, violence and abuse, intentional damage to property, looting, taking bribes".
Bush set for tour of Middle East George W Bush will make his first visit as US president to Israel and the West Bank in January, in an attempt to revive the Middle East peace process.
Cyprus to give $2 mln aid to Palestinians
Belgium pledges 86 million euro at the International Donors' Conference for the Palestinian State
Senior Chinese legislator meets Palestinian guest Oyunqemag said China would continue as it has always done to support the just cause of Palestine, maintain friendly ties with the DFLP and make joint efforts to promote China-Palestine friendship and the development of the Middle East peace process.
Christian voices from Bethlehem How can we celebrate Christmas when people are in captivity -when Bethlehem is in prison?
New committee to consider Palestinian family reunification requests Interior Ministry establishes committee comprising security, public officials to consider granting Palestinians temporary residence status in special humanitarian cases
Palestinian spray-paints recipe on Israel's West Bank barrier as protest «I think it's important for Palestinians to see that people from around the world are supporting their cause,» said Nabil Kukali, an expert on Palestinian opinion on Israel. «They are happy to see this type of organization standing with them and understanding their suffering.
The Netherlands releases ten million euros extra for Palestinian Territories
Qassam lands near IDF base in Negev; 6 soldiers suffer from shock Rocket fired by Palestinians in Gaza lands in Kibbutz Zikim area; female soldiers stationed nearby suffer from shock, state of alert declared at all nearby army bases; few minutes prior to attack Qassam lands in open field north of Sderot
Palestinian premier says Paris results beyond expectations Acting Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Tuesday in Ramallah that the results of the Paris donors' conference held Monday 'have exceeded our expectations.'
Deputy PM Ramon: Swap Pre-1967 Land With PA Speaking with IDF Army Radio on Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Chaim Ramon acknowledged that Israel would continue construction within some of the larger Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria. However, he added, parts of pre-1967 Israel will be
relinquished to the Palestinian Authority in return for those settlement blocs retained.
India's support to Palestine cause unwavered: Pranab
Ministry pushes new neighborhood for Jews in E. J'lem The neighborhood, near Atarot, is slated to contain more than 10,000 apartments, making it the largest Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem.
Let him write your text on this Wall
Mideast investment conference due in Bethlehem: British PM Britain and the United States together will organize a Middle East investment conference in Bethlehem in March or April, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Tuesday
UNICEF creates a safe haven to help refugee children in north Lebanon
Recruiting begins for anti-Iran coalition Jewish umbrella groups have asked constituents to recruit non-Jewish supporters to an anti-Iran coalition.
Pledge for Palestine We read with interest about donor pledges in aid for Palestinians (Donors pledge billions in aid for Palestinians, December 18). Médecins du Monde (Doctors of the World) has a number of projects in the Palestinian territories and we have seen first-hand the suffering of the civilian population.
Energy bill with Israel grant passes President George Bush is set to sign a bill that includes a provision for Israeli-U.S. energy cooperation.
Meeting the Other: U.S. Jews visit Palestinians in Bethlehem The popularity of Encounter?s trips to Palestinian-populated cities has prompted the program to expand its offerings. Encounter recently led a tour for Jewish federation executives, and the group is planning trips for other American Jewish delegations.
Lebanon's turmoil worries Israel as Iran, Syria make power plays
Dodd letter supports peace talks ?As the only democracy in the Middle East, the United States must remain a steadfast supporter of Israel and its right to defend itself from terrorist threats,? Dodd wrote, adding that Israel must maintain a commitment to a freeze on new settlements, the dismantling of illegal West Bank settlements and a reduction in the number of roadblocks and checkpoints.
ANALYSIS: Hurdles face Palestinian economic revival despite donations
LEBANON: Palestinians Brave a Hazardous Profession An unprecedented hundreds of thousands of cluster bombs were scattered throughout south Lebanon's rural towns, agricultural fields and valleys by Israel in the final days of last year's summer conflict. There have been 26 fatalities since the conflict's end, and 196 wounded.
Gov't official: No 'smoking gun' on Iran Israel does not have "smoking gun" intelligence that will force an American reassessment of its National Intelligence Estimate that Iran halted its nuclear weapons plan in 2003, a government official told The Jerusalem Post Monday. ......The official said it was clear that the Americans pretty much know what Israel knows about the Iranian nuclear program and that the difference is not over the facts but rather over their interpretation.
EI Reader Appeal: You count on us, can we count on you?
Israel hands out sweets, smooths travel to Bethlehem for growing number of tourists Israel will allow 500 Christians from the Gaza Strip to enter Israel and the West Bank for up to one month during the Christmas season
New $16.5 M Bethlehem Hospital Unites Abrahamic Faiths Christians broke ground Tuesday on Bethlehem?s first specialty hospital which organizers envision will be a center bringing together Christians, Jews, and Palestinians to heal the sick in a land rife with sectarian violence.
UNRWA university scholarship programme for 2007-2008 The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for the Palestine Refugees in the Near East has received more than US $2 million donation for the university scholarships program in Lebanon for the school year 2007-2008.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Headlines for 12-17-07
Israeli raids kill Gaza militants At least five Palestinian militants, including a senior Islamic Jihad commander, have been killed in two Israeli air strikes in Gaza
Gaza Strip at risk from sewage lake Funding is not the problem, says Mr Ali. But the project has been held back for three years because of Israel's decision to impose tight curbs on shipments of raw materials and other goods into Gaza.
Army survey criticizes behavior Israel's Channel 2 television news, meanwhile, made public a picture of an Israeli soldier forcing a blindfolded Palestinian detainee to pose with a knife in his hand. Channel 2 blurred the face of the soldier, but said he was smiling in the picture, which evoked recollections of the photographs showing prisoner abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
More than a quarter of Palestinians seek immigration, poll finds More than a quarter of West Bank and Gaza Palestinians or some 27 per cent say they cannot take current conditions any more and seek immigration, a public opinion poll published Monday has found.
Palestinians raise $7.4B in recovery aid Time and again, the world has stood up for the Palestinians. That is, the world except for two countries - the US and Israel. The latter stand in the way of justice.
Palestinian child goes free with prisoner-mother
US Must Reevaluate Its Relationship With Israel by Scott Ritter ** In threatening the world with war because America opted for once to embrace fact instead of fiction, Israel, sadly, has become like a cornered beast, lashing out at any and all it perceives to threaten its security interests......The United States must redefine its national security priorities in the Middle East and position Israel accordingly. At the very least, American aid must be linked to Israeli behavior modification. The standards America applies to other nations around the world when it comes to receiving aid must likewise apply to Israel. Mr. Ritter speaketh my language. My kinda guy :)
Israel to approve new cellphone network for Palestinians Israel controls all frequencies
for cellular phones in the West Bank and Gaza
Hamas: Paris donors conference declaration of war The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Gaza on Monday slammed the conference held in Paris to bolster the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) led by modest President Mahmoud Abbas.
Israeli military kidnaps two from al Far'aa refugee camp
Income drops in Gaza since Hamas takeover-WFP
Annapolis Failed To Address Human Rights Issues The Annapolis summit failed to address human rights issues in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute just as previous initiatives including Oslo failed before it, Donatella Rovera, chief researcher for Amnesty International on Israel and the Palestinians, told The Jerusalem Post Sunday.
Palestinian faction leader expects China's bigger role in resolving Middle East conflicts
Palestine remembered at ANC conference "We are here to create awareness - people are forgetting that apartheid still exists [in Israel],"
U.S., Israel meet to discuss Iran U.S. officials told JTA that John Rood, the assistant secretary of state for nonproliferation, flew to Israel for the negotiations Sunday night. Rood is meeting with Foreign Ministry Director Aharon Abramowitz, as well as officials from the Israeli defense ministry, the Mossad and the Foreign Ministry?s Strategic Affairs Department, according to Ha'aretz......Israeli officials told Ha'aretz that they plan to give Rood their most up-to-date information about Iran?s nuclear program
Australia pledges $45m to aid Palestinian state
Donor nations offer billions to boost Palestinian economy The French President Nicolas Sarkozy stressed that a main priority of the event would be to provide immediate support "to the entire population of the Palestinian territories", including Gaza, whose "prolonged isolation carries huge political, economic and security risks". He also urged Israel to lift the travel restrictions against the Palestinians, imposed for security reasons, saying that such a move was in Israel's own "best interests".
Donor nations pledge billions for Palestinians
Rice: Hamas to blame for Gaza conditions US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday militant Palestinians, not Israel, are to blame for deteriorating conditions in the sealed-off Gaza Strip Wow.
Iran to Azerbaijan: Show proof for claims of spying on Israel Tehran on Sunday demanded that Azerbaijan provide evidence to back up the convictions of more than a dozen people found guilty of passing information about Western interests to Iranian intelligence.
Fatah says Hamas responsible for escalation of violence in Gaza
Experts warn major Israel quakes fast approaching
Fatah armed wing in Nablus freeze attacks against Israel
Arab postage stamp launched to support Palestinians
UN's Ban calls for steps to to revive Gaza economy UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday asked international donors gathered for a one-day conference on Palestinian aid for urgent action to revive the deadlocked economy of the Gaza Strip.
Abbas urges Israel to stop settlement expansion
Quartet voices concern over Israeli settlements
How is the European Commission responding to the needs of the Palestinians
Israel to allow building in settlements A senior Israeli official said: "America doesn't have to approve or not to approve if we are doing something that we think, as a sovereign state, we should do." Cut the aid to these rogues. See how they like them apples.
Israeli Arab gets life for killing soldier An Israeli Arab was sentenced to life in prison for the politically motivated murder of a soldier.
No papal visit to Israel in '08 Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi in a briefing to reporters cited the "general situation of pacification" as the reason for the delay, as well as unresolved bilateral issues with Israel. Lombardi appeared to be referring to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian fighting, as well as the Vatican's request for more lenient Israeli entry regulations for Catholic clergy from Arab countries.
Muslim leader addresses Reform biennial She also said American Jews need to understand Muslim concern for the Palestinians and not assume it stems from anti-Jewish sentiment.
Barenboim slams Israel over border spat Conductor Daniel Barenboim criticized Israel on Monday for preventing a Palestinian musician from entering the Gaza Strip for a concert.
Jerusalem Diary: Monday 17 December Suleiman Jacir may have been from a prominent Bethlehem family, but he also could easily pass for a Sephardic Chief Rabbi. My Palestinian friend did not blink: "We are all cousins, after all," he pointed out.
Bethlehem profits from peaceful Christmas
Church leaders urge Middle East peace
'Iranian threat not understood' Defense officials said recently that Gantz's new position would be of extreme importance for Israel in the coming years, ahead of possible military action against Iran and an American withdrawal from Iraq that could have potentially detrimental consequences for Israel.
Canada joins world in rallying to aid of Palestinians at donor conference "It is hard to see how the Palestinians can make reasonable progress without improved access in their territories," said Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, a conference co-chairman.
U.S. security envoy to hold talks in Israel
A Christmas Message from the Bishop of Lichfield The Christmas card from the Archbishop of Canterbury this year is a photo of a little boy and a little girl, dressed as Mary and Joseph for a nativity play and holding hands. That normally makes for a cheerful card, but these two are Palestinian children from a primary school in Bethlehem and their solemn expression is difficult to read
Dichter: Mourning Nakba harmful for Arab sector Kadima, he added, rejects any kind of radicalism: "Any talk of transferring Israeli-Arab citizens to the Palestinian Authority is nothing but pure nonsense."
Kuwait to reiterate support for the people of Palestine
Dr Balaji attends Paris conference on Palestine Singapore will design a US$700,000 technical assistance package administered by the Singapore Cooperation Programme as part of its support for the Palestinian people.
Living In Bethlehem Today
Linkage of two conflicts key to peace in Mideast The long-running struggle between Israel and the Palestinian people "is the mother-of-all grievances" for many in the Muslim world ? and the United States' backing of Israel is the root cause of the antagonism that many in the Muslin world harbor for this country, Levy argues......Last month, Levy helped draft an open letter from a bipartisan group of U.S. foreign policy experts to President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. It urged them to back a peace agreement that returns Israel to its 1967 borders and creates an independent Palestinian nation. It also called for Jerusalem, which both the Palestinians and Israelis claim, to serve as the capital of both states.
Israeli Restrictions Leave Palestinians With Less Animals For Sacrifice
Darwish: Palestinian state will bring Muslim recognition of Israel Sheikh Abdullah Nimr Darwish, the founder of Israel's Islamic Movement, says the Muslim world, including Hamas, will be willing to negotiate recognition of the State of Israel only after a Palestinian state is created.
West Bankers Israel and the Palestinians must make the most of donors' new funding pledges.
Israel, Palestinians say joint solar power projects possible
'O little town of Bethlehem how troubled we see thee lie'
As Ethiopian aliyah nears end, advocates push for 8,500 more Israeli officials? insistence on a cap underscored fears that Ethiopians with dubious claims to Jewish ancestry would exploit the system to escape Africa?s desperate poverty for a better life in Israel.
Gaza Strip at risk from sewage lake Funding is not the problem, says Mr Ali. But the project has been held back for three years because of Israel's decision to impose tight curbs on shipments of raw materials and other goods into Gaza.
Army survey criticizes behavior Israel's Channel 2 television news, meanwhile, made public a picture of an Israeli soldier forcing a blindfolded Palestinian detainee to pose with a knife in his hand. Channel 2 blurred the face of the soldier, but said he was smiling in the picture, which evoked recollections of the photographs showing prisoner abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
More than a quarter of Palestinians seek immigration, poll finds More than a quarter of West Bank and Gaza Palestinians or some 27 per cent say they cannot take current conditions any more and seek immigration, a public opinion poll published Monday has found.
Palestinians raise $7.4B in recovery aid Time and again, the world has stood up for the Palestinians. That is, the world except for two countries - the US and Israel. The latter stand in the way of justice.
Palestinian child goes free with prisoner-mother
US Must Reevaluate Its Relationship With Israel by Scott Ritter ** In threatening the world with war because America opted for once to embrace fact instead of fiction, Israel, sadly, has become like a cornered beast, lashing out at any and all it perceives to threaten its security interests......The United States must redefine its national security priorities in the Middle East and position Israel accordingly. At the very least, American aid must be linked to Israeli behavior modification. The standards America applies to other nations around the world when it comes to receiving aid must likewise apply to Israel. Mr. Ritter speaketh my language. My kinda guy :)
Israel to approve new cellphone network for Palestinians Israel controls all frequencies
for cellular phones in the West Bank and Gaza
Hamas: Paris donors conference declaration of war The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Gaza on Monday slammed the conference held in Paris to bolster the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) led by modest President Mahmoud Abbas.
Israeli military kidnaps two from al Far'aa refugee camp
Income drops in Gaza since Hamas takeover-WFP
Annapolis Failed To Address Human Rights Issues The Annapolis summit failed to address human rights issues in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute just as previous initiatives including Oslo failed before it, Donatella Rovera, chief researcher for Amnesty International on Israel and the Palestinians, told The Jerusalem Post Sunday.
Palestinian faction leader expects China's bigger role in resolving Middle East conflicts
Palestine remembered at ANC conference "We are here to create awareness - people are forgetting that apartheid still exists [in Israel],"
U.S., Israel meet to discuss Iran U.S. officials told JTA that John Rood, the assistant secretary of state for nonproliferation, flew to Israel for the negotiations Sunday night. Rood is meeting with Foreign Ministry Director Aharon Abramowitz, as well as officials from the Israeli defense ministry, the Mossad and the Foreign Ministry?s Strategic Affairs Department, according to Ha'aretz......Israeli officials told Ha'aretz that they plan to give Rood their most up-to-date information about Iran?s nuclear program
Australia pledges $45m to aid Palestinian state
Donor nations offer billions to boost Palestinian economy The French President Nicolas Sarkozy stressed that a main priority of the event would be to provide immediate support "to the entire population of the Palestinian territories", including Gaza, whose "prolonged isolation carries huge political, economic and security risks". He also urged Israel to lift the travel restrictions against the Palestinians, imposed for security reasons, saying that such a move was in Israel's own "best interests".
Donor nations pledge billions for Palestinians
Rice: Hamas to blame for Gaza conditions US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday militant Palestinians, not Israel, are to blame for deteriorating conditions in the sealed-off Gaza Strip Wow.
Iran to Azerbaijan: Show proof for claims of spying on Israel Tehran on Sunday demanded that Azerbaijan provide evidence to back up the convictions of more than a dozen people found guilty of passing information about Western interests to Iranian intelligence.
Fatah says Hamas responsible for escalation of violence in Gaza
Experts warn major Israel quakes fast approaching
Fatah armed wing in Nablus freeze attacks against Israel
Arab postage stamp launched to support Palestinians
UN's Ban calls for steps to to revive Gaza economy UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday asked international donors gathered for a one-day conference on Palestinian aid for urgent action to revive the deadlocked economy of the Gaza Strip.
Abbas urges Israel to stop settlement expansion
Quartet voices concern over Israeli settlements
How is the European Commission responding to the needs of the Palestinians
Israel to allow building in settlements A senior Israeli official said: "America doesn't have to approve or not to approve if we are doing something that we think, as a sovereign state, we should do." Cut the aid to these rogues. See how they like them apples.
Israeli Arab gets life for killing soldier An Israeli Arab was sentenced to life in prison for the politically motivated murder of a soldier.
No papal visit to Israel in '08 Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi in a briefing to reporters cited the "general situation of pacification" as the reason for the delay, as well as unresolved bilateral issues with Israel. Lombardi appeared to be referring to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian fighting, as well as the Vatican's request for more lenient Israeli entry regulations for Catholic clergy from Arab countries.
Muslim leader addresses Reform biennial She also said American Jews need to understand Muslim concern for the Palestinians and not assume it stems from anti-Jewish sentiment.
Barenboim slams Israel over border spat Conductor Daniel Barenboim criticized Israel on Monday for preventing a Palestinian musician from entering the Gaza Strip for a concert.
Jerusalem Diary: Monday 17 December Suleiman Jacir may have been from a prominent Bethlehem family, but he also could easily pass for a Sephardic Chief Rabbi. My Palestinian friend did not blink: "We are all cousins, after all," he pointed out.
Bethlehem profits from peaceful Christmas
Church leaders urge Middle East peace
'Iranian threat not understood' Defense officials said recently that Gantz's new position would be of extreme importance for Israel in the coming years, ahead of possible military action against Iran and an American withdrawal from Iraq that could have potentially detrimental consequences for Israel.
Canada joins world in rallying to aid of Palestinians at donor conference "It is hard to see how the Palestinians can make reasonable progress without improved access in their territories," said Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, a conference co-chairman.
U.S. security envoy to hold talks in Israel
A Christmas Message from the Bishop of Lichfield The Christmas card from the Archbishop of Canterbury this year is a photo of a little boy and a little girl, dressed as Mary and Joseph for a nativity play and holding hands. That normally makes for a cheerful card, but these two are Palestinian children from a primary school in Bethlehem and their solemn expression is difficult to read
Dichter: Mourning Nakba harmful for Arab sector Kadima, he added, rejects any kind of radicalism: "Any talk of transferring Israeli-Arab citizens to the Palestinian Authority is nothing but pure nonsense."
Kuwait to reiterate support for the people of Palestine
Dr Balaji attends Paris conference on Palestine Singapore will design a US$700,000 technical assistance package administered by the Singapore Cooperation Programme as part of its support for the Palestinian people.
Living In Bethlehem Today
Linkage of two conflicts key to peace in Mideast The long-running struggle between Israel and the Palestinian people "is the mother-of-all grievances" for many in the Muslim world ? and the United States' backing of Israel is the root cause of the antagonism that many in the Muslin world harbor for this country, Levy argues......Last month, Levy helped draft an open letter from a bipartisan group of U.S. foreign policy experts to President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. It urged them to back a peace agreement that returns Israel to its 1967 borders and creates an independent Palestinian nation. It also called for Jerusalem, which both the Palestinians and Israelis claim, to serve as the capital of both states.
Israeli Restrictions Leave Palestinians With Less Animals For Sacrifice
Darwish: Palestinian state will bring Muslim recognition of Israel Sheikh Abdullah Nimr Darwish, the founder of Israel's Islamic Movement, says the Muslim world, including Hamas, will be willing to negotiate recognition of the State of Israel only after a Palestinian state is created.
West Bankers Israel and the Palestinians must make the most of donors' new funding pledges.
Israel, Palestinians say joint solar power projects possible
'O little town of Bethlehem how troubled we see thee lie'
As Ethiopian aliyah nears end, advocates push for 8,500 more Israeli officials? insistence on a cap underscored fears that Ethiopians with dubious claims to Jewish ancestry would exploit the system to escape Africa?s desperate poverty for a better life in Israel.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Headlines for 12-16-07
Palestinians want help more than handouts in Paris Jiftlik, home to 5,500 Palestinians, is surrounded by settlements, Israeli military bases, nature reserves and roads set aside mostly for Israeli-owned cars only. The past 40 years of occupation have swallowed most of their grazing and farmland, and the farmers describe constant harassment from Israeli soldiers. Many farmers live in tents because it is almost impossible to get an Israeli permit to build a house; in 2005 and 2006 the Israelis demolished 24 homes and structures there. This is Israeli democracy, folks. More like apartheid.
Aid can only go so far for isolated Palestinians Time and again, the trucks carrying the harvest were stopped at the crossing into Israel and refused permission to leave Gaza. "There the produce stayed, sometimes for seven days. We brought it back and had to throw it away," recalls Fawzy Edwan, a farm labourer......In the West Bank, too, the economy is suffering from Israeli security measures. Roadblocks, checkpoints and the need for Palestinians to obtain permits to travel within the territory "have fragmented the Palestinian economy into disconnected cantons", the World Bank says.
Israel unveils new strategy on Iran There have been calls within the government to reveal at least part of the Israeli assessments of the Iranian programme, but these have been rebuffed by the intelligence community.
Israeli report finds widespread checkpoint abuse Yediot Achronot on Sunday published a study commissioned by Maj.-Gen. Gadi Shamni, the chief of Israeli forces in the West Bank, which indicated that 25 percent of his soldiers have either harassed Palestinians at checkpoints or heard of comrades who committed such abuses.
Israeli team in US to counter new Iran assessment: press
Palestinians warn settlement plan will cloud talks Israel's plan to build houses on occupied land near Jerusalem will cloud renewed peace talks, the Palestinian Authority said on Sunday, the day before an international aid conference opens in Paris.
World powers gather in Paris to bankroll Palestinian state
Quarter of Israeli troops in West Bank witness to abuse: report The abuse includes humilitations, gratuitous delays and bribe-taking. One soldier reported forcing a Palestinian truck driver to remain on his knees for four hours for lying that he had a permit to cross the roadblock.
Israeli airstrike in Gaza wounds four Hamas militants: Hamas Ezzadine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, said gunmen unleashed a barrage of gunfire and missiles at Israeli forces after they entered the city to try to arrest a leader of the group. Israeli forces then launched a missile at a car carrying the leader, wounding four fighters.
Israel plays down split with US on Iran The Israelis are also hoping to receive additional information from the U.S. report, which for the most part was classified, the officials said. .....The U.S. and Israel will hold additional formal meetings on the matter in coming weeks, the Israeli officials said. Israel will use these forums to try to persuade the Americans that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, and to present top secret Israeli intelligence material, the officials said.
Dutch Web site puts message on fence Van Oel says the project is aimed to send a single, simple message: "Palestinians are human beings, just like anyone, with a sense of humor and a lust for life."
Israel lets Gazans leave for Hajj The Palestinians left Gaza on Sunday by the Erez checkpoint, controlled by Israel and usually closed to civilians.
Politicians held as Israel cracks down on Hamas raids Israeli troops have arrested 24 Hamas activists in Nablus and other West Bank towns, with many of those grabbed from their beds politicians and intellectuals rather than the gunmen usually snared in the nightly raids by Israel since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June. Among those rounded up was Ahmed al-Hajj Ali, a member of the Palestinian legislative council, bringing to 46 the number of MPs now in Israeli custody.
Seoul pledges $13 mln to Palestine: official
Blair nears $5.6bn for Palestinianeconomy
Olmert muzzles Cabinet on Iran Ehud Olmert ordered his Cabinet ministers to keep quiet on Iran's nuclear program.
Peace of Christmas in Bethlehem Palestinians lit a four-story Christmas tree in this biblical town Saturday, kicking off a holiday season free of fighting with Israel that officials say will bring the most pilgrims since hostilities broke out seven years ago.
Egypt finds two Gaza smuggling tunnels Egyptian authorities have discovered two underground tunnels used for smuggling weapons into the Gaza Strip from the Sinai peninsula, a security source told AFP on Sunday.
Palestinians Recount Rigors of Haj Journey The Palestinian Haj delegation, comprising 2,186 people, thanked the Saudi government for its continuous support since their arrival in the Kingdom following a gruesome seven-day trip from occupied Palestine.
Banksy work in Bethlehem Christmas sale The money will be donated to children's charities in the occupied territories.
The Israeli army does not do enough to combat abuse of Palestinians B'Tselem recently received figures on such investigations which illustrate the enormity of the problem. Over the past seven years, only 36 indictments were filed against soldiers on charges of abusing Palestinians. These figures relate to all abuse, not only to abuse at checkpoints, and do not include death and injury due to gunfire, or damage to property.
Report: Gov't won't grant rights to Palestinians west of fence The State of Israel will not grant permanent or temporary residency to West Bank Palestinians whose homes were annexed to the Jerusalem municipal area by the separation fence, the Palestinian newspaper Al Quds reported on Sunday.
Palestinian rocket injures 2-year-old boy
PFLP asserts concern over Palestinian national consensus The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) rebuffed Sunday statements by Hamas's spokesperson, Sami Abu Zuhri, in which he believed that the PFLP and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), can not take the role of mediators between Hamas and Fatah.
Spokesman: Hamas not to end Gaza takeover before resuming dialogue Sami Abu Zuhri, Islamic Hamas movement spokesman said Sunday his movement would not hand over Gaza Strip before resuming dialogue with rival Fatah movement.
Gaza embargo puts hope on life support
Cabinet okays renewing controversial Temple Mount Mugrabi excavation Excavations at the site, a walkway leading to the Mugrabi Gate at the Temple Mount, were halted in June after they raised an international protest.
Israel?s bold new UK strategy Israeli diplomats are to mount an aggressive new strategy in Britain, making Israel?s case more actively in the media and taking their message out of London.
Ayalon: Gaza op must be carefully planned
Azerbaijan: 15 convicted of treason gave Iran information on Israel n a statement released Saturday, the National Security Ministry revealed new details about the group, which allegedly passed to Iranian agents details on Western embassies, companies, pipeline operations and employees operating in Azerbaijan in 2005-2006.
This just seems like it's bull and may be a precursor for other things to come.
Dialogue effort is largest of its kind Yoffie told conference participants, who had gathered for a massive Shabbat service in a converted ballroom, that the Union for Reform Judaism chose the Islamic Society as its partner because the Muslim group has repeatedly condemned terrorism and supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel, Quebec sign cooperation pact The agreement is expected to create new joint venture opportunities, as well as further cooperation
in the fields of technology, science, medicine and education.
It's time to stop the hypocrisy of U.S.- Saudi relationship Odds are the legislation proffered by Specter, Widen and Weiner will die on the vine, never making it out of committee; I'm afraid the Saudi lobby will win this battle easily. Indeed, similar legislation in recent years has gone nowhere, even when there was the hardest of evidence proving that the Saudi government was paying the families of suicide murderers and directly supporting Hamas. One reason for the past failure was the lack of a concerted, unified push by the legendary pro-Israel lobby.
Note the source.
'Arabs will never do national service' Israeli Arabs will never agree to do national service for the State of Israel because it would call into question their loyalty to the Palestinian cause, the founder of Israel's Islamic Movement, Sheikh Abdullah Nimr Darwish, said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
Deck the mall in Arab Jordan there is a grim edge to the Christmas cheer, caused by continued restrictions on movement for West Bank residents. At least five parish priests from the area are stuck, either at home or outside the Palestinian territory, after the Israeli interior ministry rescinded automatic re-entry visas for Christian Arab religious leaders earlier this year.
Blair sees Mideast solution beyond territory
Annapolis unsettled Har Homa was widely denounced as contravening international law and publicly criticised by President Bill Clinton. The point of Har Homa (which means "mountain wall") was to close the last corridor linking Arab east Jerusalem to Bethlehem and the West Bank. It is the last rampart in the wall of settlements encircling east Jerusalem, closing off any chance of it becoming the capital of a future Palestinian state. Just as talks restart on the borders of the two states, the possibility of sharing Jerusalem - essential to that outcome - is being foreclosed......Unless it wants another failure, Washington must tell Israel it can either have peace or keep all its settlements on occupied land. It cannot have both.
Israel's cabinet recognizes Greek Orthodox patriarch More than two years after Theofilos III was sworn in as the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in the Holy Land, Israel's cabinet on Sunday recognized his appointment, apparently ending a religious and political saga.
Report: Poverty among Arab population growing Socioeconomic gap between Jewish, Arab sectors in Israel increasing, study shows. 'Without the government's massive intervention, this trend may worsen in the coming years,' researcher says
Letters for December 16 In recent weeks, Republican Mike Huckabee has appeared in television interviews and Internet videos suggesting a different sort of solution, a relocation of Palestinians to another part of the Middle East. Never mind that Palestinians have lived in historical Palestine for centuries.
Israel rules out attacks by Hezbollah, Syria in 2008: report Israel's Aman military intelligence does not think that Syria or Lebanon's Hezbollah militia will carry out a largescale offensive against Israel in 2008, an Israeli daily said on Sunday.
Aid can only go so far for isolated Palestinians Time and again, the trucks carrying the harvest were stopped at the crossing into Israel and refused permission to leave Gaza. "There the produce stayed, sometimes for seven days. We brought it back and had to throw it away," recalls Fawzy Edwan, a farm labourer......In the West Bank, too, the economy is suffering from Israeli security measures. Roadblocks, checkpoints and the need for Palestinians to obtain permits to travel within the territory "have fragmented the Palestinian economy into disconnected cantons", the World Bank says.
Israel unveils new strategy on Iran There have been calls within the government to reveal at least part of the Israeli assessments of the Iranian programme, but these have been rebuffed by the intelligence community.
Israeli report finds widespread checkpoint abuse Yediot Achronot on Sunday published a study commissioned by Maj.-Gen. Gadi Shamni, the chief of Israeli forces in the West Bank, which indicated that 25 percent of his soldiers have either harassed Palestinians at checkpoints or heard of comrades who committed such abuses.
Israeli team in US to counter new Iran assessment: press
Palestinians warn settlement plan will cloud talks Israel's plan to build houses on occupied land near Jerusalem will cloud renewed peace talks, the Palestinian Authority said on Sunday, the day before an international aid conference opens in Paris.
World powers gather in Paris to bankroll Palestinian state
Quarter of Israeli troops in West Bank witness to abuse: report The abuse includes humilitations, gratuitous delays and bribe-taking. One soldier reported forcing a Palestinian truck driver to remain on his knees for four hours for lying that he had a permit to cross the roadblock.
Israeli airstrike in Gaza wounds four Hamas militants: Hamas Ezzadine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, said gunmen unleashed a barrage of gunfire and missiles at Israeli forces after they entered the city to try to arrest a leader of the group. Israeli forces then launched a missile at a car carrying the leader, wounding four fighters.
Israel plays down split with US on Iran The Israelis are also hoping to receive additional information from the U.S. report, which for the most part was classified, the officials said. .....The U.S. and Israel will hold additional formal meetings on the matter in coming weeks, the Israeli officials said. Israel will use these forums to try to persuade the Americans that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, and to present top secret Israeli intelligence material, the officials said.
Dutch Web site puts message on fence Van Oel says the project is aimed to send a single, simple message: "Palestinians are human beings, just like anyone, with a sense of humor and a lust for life."
Israel lets Gazans leave for Hajj The Palestinians left Gaza on Sunday by the Erez checkpoint, controlled by Israel and usually closed to civilians.
Politicians held as Israel cracks down on Hamas raids Israeli troops have arrested 24 Hamas activists in Nablus and other West Bank towns, with many of those grabbed from their beds politicians and intellectuals rather than the gunmen usually snared in the nightly raids by Israel since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June. Among those rounded up was Ahmed al-Hajj Ali, a member of the Palestinian legislative council, bringing to 46 the number of MPs now in Israeli custody.
Seoul pledges $13 mln to Palestine: official
Blair nears $5.6bn for Palestinianeconomy
Olmert muzzles Cabinet on Iran Ehud Olmert ordered his Cabinet ministers to keep quiet on Iran's nuclear program.
Peace of Christmas in Bethlehem Palestinians lit a four-story Christmas tree in this biblical town Saturday, kicking off a holiday season free of fighting with Israel that officials say will bring the most pilgrims since hostilities broke out seven years ago.
Egypt finds two Gaza smuggling tunnels Egyptian authorities have discovered two underground tunnels used for smuggling weapons into the Gaza Strip from the Sinai peninsula, a security source told AFP on Sunday.
Palestinians Recount Rigors of Haj Journey The Palestinian Haj delegation, comprising 2,186 people, thanked the Saudi government for its continuous support since their arrival in the Kingdom following a gruesome seven-day trip from occupied Palestine.
Banksy work in Bethlehem Christmas sale The money will be donated to children's charities in the occupied territories.
The Israeli army does not do enough to combat abuse of Palestinians B'Tselem recently received figures on such investigations which illustrate the enormity of the problem. Over the past seven years, only 36 indictments were filed against soldiers on charges of abusing Palestinians. These figures relate to all abuse, not only to abuse at checkpoints, and do not include death and injury due to gunfire, or damage to property.
Report: Gov't won't grant rights to Palestinians west of fence The State of Israel will not grant permanent or temporary residency to West Bank Palestinians whose homes were annexed to the Jerusalem municipal area by the separation fence, the Palestinian newspaper Al Quds reported on Sunday.
Palestinian rocket injures 2-year-old boy
PFLP asserts concern over Palestinian national consensus The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) rebuffed Sunday statements by Hamas's spokesperson, Sami Abu Zuhri, in which he believed that the PFLP and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), can not take the role of mediators between Hamas and Fatah.
Spokesman: Hamas not to end Gaza takeover before resuming dialogue Sami Abu Zuhri, Islamic Hamas movement spokesman said Sunday his movement would not hand over Gaza Strip before resuming dialogue with rival Fatah movement.
Gaza embargo puts hope on life support
Cabinet okays renewing controversial Temple Mount Mugrabi excavation Excavations at the site, a walkway leading to the Mugrabi Gate at the Temple Mount, were halted in June after they raised an international protest.
Israel?s bold new UK strategy Israeli diplomats are to mount an aggressive new strategy in Britain, making Israel?s case more actively in the media and taking their message out of London.
Ayalon: Gaza op must be carefully planned
Azerbaijan: 15 convicted of treason gave Iran information on Israel n a statement released Saturday, the National Security Ministry revealed new details about the group, which allegedly passed to Iranian agents details on Western embassies, companies, pipeline operations and employees operating in Azerbaijan in 2005-2006.
This just seems like it's bull and may be a precursor for other things to come.
Dialogue effort is largest of its kind Yoffie told conference participants, who had gathered for a massive Shabbat service in a converted ballroom, that the Union for Reform Judaism chose the Islamic Society as its partner because the Muslim group has repeatedly condemned terrorism and supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel, Quebec sign cooperation pact The agreement is expected to create new joint venture opportunities, as well as further cooperation
in the fields of technology, science, medicine and education.
It's time to stop the hypocrisy of U.S.- Saudi relationship Odds are the legislation proffered by Specter, Widen and Weiner will die on the vine, never making it out of committee; I'm afraid the Saudi lobby will win this battle easily. Indeed, similar legislation in recent years has gone nowhere, even when there was the hardest of evidence proving that the Saudi government was paying the families of suicide murderers and directly supporting Hamas. One reason for the past failure was the lack of a concerted, unified push by the legendary pro-Israel lobby.
Note the source.
'Arabs will never do national service' Israeli Arabs will never agree to do national service for the State of Israel because it would call into question their loyalty to the Palestinian cause, the founder of Israel's Islamic Movement, Sheikh Abdullah Nimr Darwish, said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
Deck the mall in Arab Jordan there is a grim edge to the Christmas cheer, caused by continued restrictions on movement for West Bank residents. At least five parish priests from the area are stuck, either at home or outside the Palestinian territory, after the Israeli interior ministry rescinded automatic re-entry visas for Christian Arab religious leaders earlier this year.
Blair sees Mideast solution beyond territory
Annapolis unsettled Har Homa was widely denounced as contravening international law and publicly criticised by President Bill Clinton. The point of Har Homa (which means "mountain wall") was to close the last corridor linking Arab east Jerusalem to Bethlehem and the West Bank. It is the last rampart in the wall of settlements encircling east Jerusalem, closing off any chance of it becoming the capital of a future Palestinian state. Just as talks restart on the borders of the two states, the possibility of sharing Jerusalem - essential to that outcome - is being foreclosed......Unless it wants another failure, Washington must tell Israel it can either have peace or keep all its settlements on occupied land. It cannot have both.
Israel's cabinet recognizes Greek Orthodox patriarch More than two years after Theofilos III was sworn in as the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in the Holy Land, Israel's cabinet on Sunday recognized his appointment, apparently ending a religious and political saga.
Report: Poverty among Arab population growing Socioeconomic gap between Jewish, Arab sectors in Israel increasing, study shows. 'Without the government's massive intervention, this trend may worsen in the coming years,' researcher says
Letters for December 16 In recent weeks, Republican Mike Huckabee has appeared in television interviews and Internet videos suggesting a different sort of solution, a relocation of Palestinians to another part of the Middle East. Never mind that Palestinians have lived in historical Palestine for centuries.
Israel rules out attacks by Hezbollah, Syria in 2008: report Israel's Aman military intelligence does not think that Syria or Lebanon's Hezbollah militia will carry out a largescale offensive against Israel in 2008, an Israeli daily said on Sunday.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Headlines for 12-15-07
Palestinian leftist party presents initiative to end infighting
Sealed off by Israel, Gaza reduced to beggary "Essentially, it's the ordinary people, caught up in the conflict, paying the price for this political failure," said John Ging, director of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency in Gaza, which serves the majority refugee population. "The humanitarian situation is atrocious, and it is easy to understand why -- 1.2 million Gazans now relying on U.N. food aid, 80,000 people who have lost jobs and the dignity of work. And the list goes on." Thus do the deaf children, among others, suffer under the policy of collective punishment doled out by the Israeli government - in another parallel to the policies of the Nazis.
Gaza crowds mark Hamas's founding At least 300,000 people have turned out in Gaza City for a rally to mark 20 years since Hamas was founded.
Key Olmert ally vows to nullify Annapolis This afforded Mr Lieberman, who has come under fire from the right-wing for sitting in a government engaged in a controversial diplomatic process with the Palestinians, a chance to burnish his hard-line credentials.
Israel fails to convince US of Iran's 'serious' nuclear threat
Hamas warns of Intifada Hamas threatened to launch a new uprising against Israel on Saturday when hundreds of thousands of Islamist supporters rallied in Gaza City to mark the group's 20th anniversary.
Abbas leaves for Paris ahead of donor conference
Donors have little choice put to pay up to aid Palestinians, but the risks of failure are high «We don't need the billions of the world. We need Israel to remove the checkpoints,»
European Union provides 433,000 Euros to help facilitate Palestinian trade The European Union (EU) signed an agreement Saturday with the Palestine Trade Center and the Palestinian Shippers? Council, to help promote Palestinian trade with neighboring Arab countries and improve market access for Palestinian products.
OCHA special focus: The closure of the Gaza Strip - The economic and humanitarian consequences, Dec 2007 Low stock levels, rising prices, increased joblessness and loss of incomes are having devastating consequences for the population and local economy and the livelihoods of the people of Gaza.
Livni to tell donors Israel backs PA aid Livni is expected to tell delegates that Israel will cooperate with the Palestinian Authority as long as Israeli security is not impaired.
Israel: US report on Iran may spark war ** Israel will work to change the American intelligence agencies' view of Iran, said Dichter, a former chief of Israel's Shin Bet secret service agency
PNI rejects political arrests, abductions in Gaza, calls for dialogue The Palestinian National Initiative PNI in the Gaza Strip issued a press release slamming political arrests and abductions in the Gaza Strip, and called for a comprehensive dialogue to end the current situation, political arrests and abductions.
Three injured in Bil'in weekly anti-Wall protest
26 Hamas members arrested in W Bank The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) Saturday announced that Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas have arrested 26 members of the movement in the West Bank.
Palestinian gov't denounces Hamas' "abduction" of official in Gaza
Hamas requests political asylum from Qatar He also suggested that Hamas will hand over the major security headquarters and institutions to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas through Qatari and Egyptian mediation in exchange for negotiating with Fatah. Mash'al stipulated that a number of Hamas leaders be guaranteed political asylum in Qatar.
A what-if on the Mideast According to Tom Segev, whose book "One Palestine Complete," chronicles the British Mandate, the early Zionists feared Wilson's obsession with democracy. "Democracy in America," a Zionist publication, explained, "too commonly means majority rule without regard to diversities of types or stages of civilization . . . ." Since Zionists were a majority in neither Palestine nor the rest of Greater Syria, American style democracy would be bad for the Jews.
Israeli FM rules out peace talks with Syria due to Damascus' "current conduct"
In pictures: Hamas anniversary
Bethlehem: Safe for Tony Blair and Israelis, too On Wednesday evening, a group of 20 Israeli high-level businessmen from across the economic sectors of Israel dined with their Palestinian counterparts and Palestinian Tourism Minister Khouloud Daibes at Jacir Palace Intercontinental Hotel before a tour in the city.
New Poll: Americans Don't Believe Iran Suspended Nuclear Program A new bipartisan poll (Word Document) commissioned by The Israel Project (TIP) LOL.
Bush must stop Israel on new settlement plan
Overcoming Isolation in the West Bank In the village of Jayyous, for example, 70 percent of the land is divided by the Israeli security barrier. Mary Clarke has just returned from three months in Jayyous, where she worked on the World Council of Churches' Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme, helping people overcome problems such as getting to work, school and their land.
Study: West Bank pollution threatening Israeli groundwater
Jerusalem troubled by political deadlock gripping Lebanon Israel is becoming increasingly concerned with the deadlock in Lebanon over the election of a new president and the possibility that Hizbullah will gain a third of the seats in the cabinet, granting it the power to veto major government decisions That would explain this.
Religious Zionism is Racism
Pro-Israel Group Puts Emissaries on Campuses Jewish student leaders from Columbia University, New York University, and Queens College will receive up to $1,000 a year from the advocacy group StandWithUs to bring speakers and films to campus that portray Israel in a positive light. Interesting.
Israel-Palestine: Settlements As The Death of Peace To her credit, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice quickly expressed U.S. opposition to the settlement?s expansion -- but that is unlikely to make a difference. The United States has a long record of expressing formal opposition to the settlement enterprise while doing nothing that indicates any seriousness about it.
Turkey detains seven over immigrant boat tragedy: Anatolia Only six people, who have identified themselves as Palestinians, are known to have survived.
Letters | Jews vs. Israel No, crazed Israelis don't kill and torture innocent Palestinians on their way to the mosque. No, you're right, Eva Gold. They wait til they are already IN the mosque. And then like-minded wingnuts honor this madness. Research before you open your yap next time, genius.
Sealed off by Israel, Gaza reduced to beggary "Essentially, it's the ordinary people, caught up in the conflict, paying the price for this political failure," said John Ging, director of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency in Gaza, which serves the majority refugee population. "The humanitarian situation is atrocious, and it is easy to understand why -- 1.2 million Gazans now relying on U.N. food aid, 80,000 people who have lost jobs and the dignity of work. And the list goes on." Thus do the deaf children, among others, suffer under the policy of collective punishment doled out by the Israeli government - in another parallel to the policies of the Nazis.
Gaza crowds mark Hamas's founding At least 300,000 people have turned out in Gaza City for a rally to mark 20 years since Hamas was founded.
Key Olmert ally vows to nullify Annapolis This afforded Mr Lieberman, who has come under fire from the right-wing for sitting in a government engaged in a controversial diplomatic process with the Palestinians, a chance to burnish his hard-line credentials.
Israel fails to convince US of Iran's 'serious' nuclear threat
Hamas warns of Intifada Hamas threatened to launch a new uprising against Israel on Saturday when hundreds of thousands of Islamist supporters rallied in Gaza City to mark the group's 20th anniversary.
Abbas leaves for Paris ahead of donor conference
Donors have little choice put to pay up to aid Palestinians, but the risks of failure are high «We don't need the billions of the world. We need Israel to remove the checkpoints,»
European Union provides 433,000 Euros to help facilitate Palestinian trade The European Union (EU) signed an agreement Saturday with the Palestine Trade Center and the Palestinian Shippers? Council, to help promote Palestinian trade with neighboring Arab countries and improve market access for Palestinian products.
OCHA special focus: The closure of the Gaza Strip - The economic and humanitarian consequences, Dec 2007 Low stock levels, rising prices, increased joblessness and loss of incomes are having devastating consequences for the population and local economy and the livelihoods of the people of Gaza.
Livni to tell donors Israel backs PA aid Livni is expected to tell delegates that Israel will cooperate with the Palestinian Authority as long as Israeli security is not impaired.
Israel: US report on Iran may spark war ** Israel will work to change the American intelligence agencies' view of Iran, said Dichter, a former chief of Israel's Shin Bet secret service agency
PNI rejects political arrests, abductions in Gaza, calls for dialogue The Palestinian National Initiative PNI in the Gaza Strip issued a press release slamming political arrests and abductions in the Gaza Strip, and called for a comprehensive dialogue to end the current situation, political arrests and abductions.
Three injured in Bil'in weekly anti-Wall protest
26 Hamas members arrested in W Bank The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) Saturday announced that Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas have arrested 26 members of the movement in the West Bank.
Palestinian gov't denounces Hamas' "abduction" of official in Gaza
Hamas requests political asylum from Qatar He also suggested that Hamas will hand over the major security headquarters and institutions to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas through Qatari and Egyptian mediation in exchange for negotiating with Fatah. Mash'al stipulated that a number of Hamas leaders be guaranteed political asylum in Qatar.
A what-if on the Mideast According to Tom Segev, whose book "One Palestine Complete," chronicles the British Mandate, the early Zionists feared Wilson's obsession with democracy. "Democracy in America," a Zionist publication, explained, "too commonly means majority rule without regard to diversities of types or stages of civilization . . . ." Since Zionists were a majority in neither Palestine nor the rest of Greater Syria, American style democracy would be bad for the Jews.
Israeli FM rules out peace talks with Syria due to Damascus' "current conduct"
In pictures: Hamas anniversary
Bethlehem: Safe for Tony Blair and Israelis, too On Wednesday evening, a group of 20 Israeli high-level businessmen from across the economic sectors of Israel dined with their Palestinian counterparts and Palestinian Tourism Minister Khouloud Daibes at Jacir Palace Intercontinental Hotel before a tour in the city.
New Poll: Americans Don't Believe Iran Suspended Nuclear Program A new bipartisan poll (Word Document) commissioned by The Israel Project (TIP) LOL.
Bush must stop Israel on new settlement plan
Overcoming Isolation in the West Bank In the village of Jayyous, for example, 70 percent of the land is divided by the Israeli security barrier. Mary Clarke has just returned from three months in Jayyous, where she worked on the World Council of Churches' Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme, helping people overcome problems such as getting to work, school and their land.
Study: West Bank pollution threatening Israeli groundwater
Jerusalem troubled by political deadlock gripping Lebanon Israel is becoming increasingly concerned with the deadlock in Lebanon over the election of a new president and the possibility that Hizbullah will gain a third of the seats in the cabinet, granting it the power to veto major government decisions That would explain this.
Religious Zionism is Racism
Pro-Israel Group Puts Emissaries on Campuses Jewish student leaders from Columbia University, New York University, and Queens College will receive up to $1,000 a year from the advocacy group StandWithUs to bring speakers and films to campus that portray Israel in a positive light. Interesting.
Israel-Palestine: Settlements As The Death of Peace To her credit, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice quickly expressed U.S. opposition to the settlement?s expansion -- but that is unlikely to make a difference. The United States has a long record of expressing formal opposition to the settlement enterprise while doing nothing that indicates any seriousness about it.
Turkey detains seven over immigrant boat tragedy: Anatolia Only six people, who have identified themselves as Palestinians, are known to have survived.
Letters | Jews vs. Israel No, crazed Israelis don't kill and torture innocent Palestinians on their way to the mosque. No, you're right, Eva Gold. They wait til they are already IN the mosque. And then like-minded wingnuts honor this madness. Research before you open your yap next time, genius.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Headlines for 12-14-07
Grenade kills 3, wounds 35 at Palestinian funeral: medics Three Palestinians were killed and 35 others, including children, wounded on Friday when a grenade exploded during a Gaza funeral for a man killed in an Israeli air raid, a medical official said.
New alarm raised over effects of Israeli closure on Gaza Another UN agency joined the chorus of alarm on Friday about the devastating consequences of Israeli restrictions on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, in the run-up to a Palestinian donors' conference.
Israeli Army attacks peaceful Anti-Wall protest near Bethlehem The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Popular Committee against the Wall organized a protest on Friday in the village of al Maa'sarah celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the PFLP and challenging the construction of the Israeli Annexation Wall on the village lands.
Israel and the occupied territories: The rules of engagement Andre Marty sits in on a class in Gaza where Palestinian militants are versed in the legal framework for combat
Education suffers amidst political tension and conflict in Gaza
Saudis' $1.4bn support for Palestinians now in doubt One key reason is thought to be Saudi Arabia's reluctance to be seen to be throwing all its weight behind one of the two parties to the coalition deal which it brokered and which then collapsed in bloody internal conflict and Hamas's seizure of control in Gaza in June.
An Interloper in My Own Land During Israel's establishment, three-quarters of a million Palestinians were driven from their homes or fled in fear. They remain refugees to this day, scattered throughout the West Bank and Gaza, the Arab world and beyond. We Palestinian citizens of Israel are among the minority who managed to remain on our land.
Palestinian aid conference aims to bolster Abbas France hosts an international aid conference on Monday to raise funds for the Western-backed Palestinian Authority and strengthen President Mahmoud Abbas against Hamas Islamists as he negotiates peace with Israel.
Donkey power in demand in Gaza as fuel runs low "Donkeys are better than cars these days," said salesman Odeh Odwan, because merchants and ordinary Palestinians are unable to afford, let alone find, working vehicles or petrol.
Al-Qaida No2 attacks Annapolis peace conference Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has attacked last month's US-sponsored Middle East peace conference as a "betrayal" of Palestine.
Fatah official held by Hamas while visiting Gaza for funeral He had arrived in Gaza on Thursday, from the West Bank, to attend the funeral of his mother-in-law. A Hamas spokesman said only that he was being investigated over "violations to the law".....In the West Bank, Hamas said several of its members had been detained by Fatah officials on Thursday night
Blockade of Gaza even makes dying difficult
Japan?s Emergency Assistance to improve the medical situation of the Palestinians
US to offer Palestinians half bln dlrs: official
Jordanian Islamists stage rare rally to back Hamas Thousands of Jordanian Islamists demonstrated in the capital after Friday prayers, chanting in support of the Islamist movement Hamas and praising its attacks on Israel.
Palestinians say Israel releases Hamas-linked mayor
Hamas denounces PA ban of the movement's festivals in the West Bank
Deputy-speaker of Palestinian parliament calls for a new cabinet
Five wounded in peaceful march on Road 443 near Ramallah
Israel, U.S. to meet to discuss differing assessments on Iran ** Until the release of the American report, the defense establishment believed Israel might find itself involved in a military conflict with Iran in the coming year if Bush decided to act against Tehran and Iran responded against Israeli targets as well The American intelligence community stepped up to the plate and hit a grand slam. They stopped this nation from going into WWIII (at the behest of a foreign nation).
Radical Palestinian group urges Fatah to talk with Hamas
Moscow Mideast peace conference on hold for now: Lavrov Russia will not organise a planned Middle East peace conference until agreements reached in the recent talks in Annapolis in the United States are met, its foreign minister said Friday.
Hebron Reflection: "It used to be normal"
Bill includes U.S.-Israel missile coordination Under the proposal, the secretary of defense must within six months present a plan to Congress a plan "to improve the coordination, interoperability, and integration of the U.S. National Ballistic Missile Defense System with Israel?s missile defense architecture," a statement from Kirk's office said Kirk up for the AIPAC asskisser of the year award. My condolences to his constituents.
Journalists probed for travel to 'enemy' states A top national security commentator, a popular blogger and a travel writer are under police investigation over reporting trips to Syria and Lebanon on behalf of their Israeli news outlets.
The right wing's Jerusalem gambit The Annapolis conference may have been a start, but it has also unleashed a zealotry on U.S. shores that may once again help demonstrate how nearly impossible achieving Middle East peace could really be
Lebanon mourns slain army chief
Walled Nativity Scene Borders On Anti-Semitism, Jewish Leaders Say The sale of Nativity scenes with a wall running through the middle to symbolize Israel's security barrier borders on anti-Semitism, Jewish groups are saying.
U.S. delays Saudi arms sale Pro-Israel sources said they expected the sale to be approved as early as January, albeit after close congressional review.
Israeli cabbie rescued from West Bank IDF soldiers rescued an Or Yehuda taxi driver from the village of Jam'in in the northern West Bank on Friday morning after he was beaten and robbed by some passengers he picked up in Bnei Brak.
UN extends Golan force mandate for six months The Security Council on Friday extended for another six months the mandate of the UN force that has for more than 33 years monitored the ceasefire between Israel and Syria on the strategic Golan Heights.
Sylvan Lake group deepens faith on pilgrimage to Holy Land "You begin to see the poverty of the Palestinian people. Bethlehem is a walled city and you have to go through security checkpoints to get in and out. Some people haven't left Bethlehem for seven years. Because it's a walled city they can barely start an economy.
Residents make plan for holidays Bu Ahmed, a Palestinian senior citizen would like to go back to Nablus in West Bank, but the situation on that area would always stop him from visiting his brothers and some of his relatives in Palestine.
Soft Drink Fizz Goes Flat in Gaza Israel's strategy is to squeeze Gaza's economy, cutting off all but a drip-feed of humanitarian aid in the hope that civilians will turn against the Islamists of Hamas
The man with the silver tongue At the RJC forum in October, declaring that he would act to stop a nuclear Iran, Romney even spelled out some of the measures a military confrontation with Iran might entail, going further than several other candidates in raising the possibility of taking that course of action.
ICAHD?S SUMMER REBUILDING CAMP 2008 In the summer of 2008, ICAHD will once again rebuild a Palestinian home and invites you to participate in the incredible opportunity to learn first-hand about life under Occupation.
Thorn to illuminate Palestinian West Bank sites The UK-based lighting company Thorn, a brand of the Zumtobel Group of Austria, is to illuminate heritage sites in the City of Jericho on the Palestinian West Bank.
Bush delays embassy move President Bush extended a delay on moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem for another six months.
Jo off to Holy Land A CUMBRIAN grandmother is to visit the Holy Land later this month to join Palestinian farmers and Israeli volunteers in the olive harvest.
Bill pushes Iran to pay victims The legislation is based on an earlier stand-alone bill authored by two Jewish U.S. senators, Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.). It is aimed particularly at Iran, which until now has successfully resisted dipping into U.S. assets to pay close to $2.7 billion in damages won in courts by families of the 241 servicemen killed in the 1983 Hezbollah attack on a U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut.
Ackerman hears request for P.A funding hike
Bush reaffirms Lebanon tribunal President Bush slammed Syria and reaffirmed his support for a tribunal investigating assassinations in Lebanon Looks like Assad got too cozy with Washington for somebody's tastes in recent weeks. Hmm? Cui bono ? Who benefits? ? is a question that must ever be asked about Middle Eastern terror - Patrick J. Buchanan.
House passes language on Israel insurance The U.S. House of Representatives approved a provision that would keep travel insurers from discriminating based on travel to Israel.
McCain names Broxmeyer top Jewish adviser Broxmeyer, a New York property developer, is national chairman for JINSA, a group that promotes close Israel-U.S. security ties and that has been one of the most consistent supporters of the Bush administration's Iraq policy. Broxmeyer has taken the lead in promoting JINSA's exchange program for Israeli and U.S. law enforcement officials.
Susan Sarandon exploring request that she cut ties with Leviev over Israeli settlement construction Oscar-winning actress and UNICEF goodwill ambassador Susan Sarandon has told a New York City activist group, Adalah-NY, that she is exploring Israeli diamond magnate Lev Leviev?s construction of Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and exploitation of marginalized communities in other parts of the world.
New alarm raised over effects of Israeli closure on Gaza Another UN agency joined the chorus of alarm on Friday about the devastating consequences of Israeli restrictions on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, in the run-up to a Palestinian donors' conference.
Israeli Army attacks peaceful Anti-Wall protest near Bethlehem The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Popular Committee against the Wall organized a protest on Friday in the village of al Maa'sarah celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the PFLP and challenging the construction of the Israeli Annexation Wall on the village lands.
Israel and the occupied territories: The rules of engagement Andre Marty sits in on a class in Gaza where Palestinian militants are versed in the legal framework for combat
Education suffers amidst political tension and conflict in Gaza
Saudis' $1.4bn support for Palestinians now in doubt One key reason is thought to be Saudi Arabia's reluctance to be seen to be throwing all its weight behind one of the two parties to the coalition deal which it brokered and which then collapsed in bloody internal conflict and Hamas's seizure of control in Gaza in June.
An Interloper in My Own Land During Israel's establishment, three-quarters of a million Palestinians were driven from their homes or fled in fear. They remain refugees to this day, scattered throughout the West Bank and Gaza, the Arab world and beyond. We Palestinian citizens of Israel are among the minority who managed to remain on our land.
Palestinian aid conference aims to bolster Abbas France hosts an international aid conference on Monday to raise funds for the Western-backed Palestinian Authority and strengthen President Mahmoud Abbas against Hamas Islamists as he negotiates peace with Israel.
Donkey power in demand in Gaza as fuel runs low "Donkeys are better than cars these days," said salesman Odeh Odwan, because merchants and ordinary Palestinians are unable to afford, let alone find, working vehicles or petrol.
Al-Qaida No2 attacks Annapolis peace conference Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has attacked last month's US-sponsored Middle East peace conference as a "betrayal" of Palestine.
Fatah official held by Hamas while visiting Gaza for funeral He had arrived in Gaza on Thursday, from the West Bank, to attend the funeral of his mother-in-law. A Hamas spokesman said only that he was being investigated over "violations to the law".....In the West Bank, Hamas said several of its members had been detained by Fatah officials on Thursday night
Blockade of Gaza even makes dying difficult
Japan?s Emergency Assistance to improve the medical situation of the Palestinians
US to offer Palestinians half bln dlrs: official
Jordanian Islamists stage rare rally to back Hamas Thousands of Jordanian Islamists demonstrated in the capital after Friday prayers, chanting in support of the Islamist movement Hamas and praising its attacks on Israel.
Palestinians say Israel releases Hamas-linked mayor
Hamas denounces PA ban of the movement's festivals in the West Bank
Deputy-speaker of Palestinian parliament calls for a new cabinet
Five wounded in peaceful march on Road 443 near Ramallah
Israel, U.S. to meet to discuss differing assessments on Iran ** Until the release of the American report, the defense establishment believed Israel might find itself involved in a military conflict with Iran in the coming year if Bush decided to act against Tehran and Iran responded against Israeli targets as well The American intelligence community stepped up to the plate and hit a grand slam. They stopped this nation from going into WWIII (at the behest of a foreign nation).
Radical Palestinian group urges Fatah to talk with Hamas
Moscow Mideast peace conference on hold for now: Lavrov Russia will not organise a planned Middle East peace conference until agreements reached in the recent talks in Annapolis in the United States are met, its foreign minister said Friday.
Hebron Reflection: "It used to be normal"
Bill includes U.S.-Israel missile coordination Under the proposal, the secretary of defense must within six months present a plan to Congress a plan "to improve the coordination, interoperability, and integration of the U.S. National Ballistic Missile Defense System with Israel?s missile defense architecture," a statement from Kirk's office said Kirk up for the AIPAC asskisser of the year award. My condolences to his constituents.
Journalists probed for travel to 'enemy' states A top national security commentator, a popular blogger and a travel writer are under police investigation over reporting trips to Syria and Lebanon on behalf of their Israeli news outlets.
The right wing's Jerusalem gambit The Annapolis conference may have been a start, but it has also unleashed a zealotry on U.S. shores that may once again help demonstrate how nearly impossible achieving Middle East peace could really be
Lebanon mourns slain army chief
Walled Nativity Scene Borders On Anti-Semitism, Jewish Leaders Say The sale of Nativity scenes with a wall running through the middle to symbolize Israel's security barrier borders on anti-Semitism, Jewish groups are saying.
U.S. delays Saudi arms sale Pro-Israel sources said they expected the sale to be approved as early as January, albeit after close congressional review.
Israeli cabbie rescued from West Bank IDF soldiers rescued an Or Yehuda taxi driver from the village of Jam'in in the northern West Bank on Friday morning after he was beaten and robbed by some passengers he picked up in Bnei Brak.
UN extends Golan force mandate for six months The Security Council on Friday extended for another six months the mandate of the UN force that has for more than 33 years monitored the ceasefire between Israel and Syria on the strategic Golan Heights.
Sylvan Lake group deepens faith on pilgrimage to Holy Land "You begin to see the poverty of the Palestinian people. Bethlehem is a walled city and you have to go through security checkpoints to get in and out. Some people haven't left Bethlehem for seven years. Because it's a walled city they can barely start an economy.
Residents make plan for holidays Bu Ahmed, a Palestinian senior citizen would like to go back to Nablus in West Bank, but the situation on that area would always stop him from visiting his brothers and some of his relatives in Palestine.
Soft Drink Fizz Goes Flat in Gaza Israel's strategy is to squeeze Gaza's economy, cutting off all but a drip-feed of humanitarian aid in the hope that civilians will turn against the Islamists of Hamas
The man with the silver tongue At the RJC forum in October, declaring that he would act to stop a nuclear Iran, Romney even spelled out some of the measures a military confrontation with Iran might entail, going further than several other candidates in raising the possibility of taking that course of action.
ICAHD?S SUMMER REBUILDING CAMP 2008 In the summer of 2008, ICAHD will once again rebuild a Palestinian home and invites you to participate in the incredible opportunity to learn first-hand about life under Occupation.
Thorn to illuminate Palestinian West Bank sites The UK-based lighting company Thorn, a brand of the Zumtobel Group of Austria, is to illuminate heritage sites in the City of Jericho on the Palestinian West Bank.
Bush delays embassy move President Bush extended a delay on moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem for another six months.
Jo off to Holy Land A CUMBRIAN grandmother is to visit the Holy Land later this month to join Palestinian farmers and Israeli volunteers in the olive harvest.
Bill pushes Iran to pay victims The legislation is based on an earlier stand-alone bill authored by two Jewish U.S. senators, Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.). It is aimed particularly at Iran, which until now has successfully resisted dipping into U.S. assets to pay close to $2.7 billion in damages won in courts by families of the 241 servicemen killed in the 1983 Hezbollah attack on a U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut.
Ackerman hears request for P.A funding hike
Bush reaffirms Lebanon tribunal President Bush slammed Syria and reaffirmed his support for a tribunal investigating assassinations in Lebanon Looks like Assad got too cozy with Washington for somebody's tastes in recent weeks. Hmm? Cui bono ? Who benefits? ? is a question that must ever be asked about Middle Eastern terror - Patrick J. Buchanan.
House passes language on Israel insurance The U.S. House of Representatives approved a provision that would keep travel insurers from discriminating based on travel to Israel.
McCain names Broxmeyer top Jewish adviser Broxmeyer, a New York property developer, is national chairman for JINSA, a group that promotes close Israel-U.S. security ties and that has been one of the most consistent supporters of the Bush administration's Iraq policy. Broxmeyer has taken the lead in promoting JINSA's exchange program for Israeli and U.S. law enforcement officials.
Susan Sarandon exploring request that she cut ties with Leviev over Israeli settlement construction Oscar-winning actress and UNICEF goodwill ambassador Susan Sarandon has told a New York City activist group, Adalah-NY, that she is exploring Israeli diamond magnate Lev Leviev?s construction of Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and exploitation of marginalized communities in other parts of the world.
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