|
Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines ~ |
|
21 year old Palestinian tortured in IOF jail
On Friday the 18th of November at 15:00, the IOF released 21 year old Hamza Samara from custody on a 10,000 NIS bail. ISM would like to thank all of you who donated money to the ISM Palestine Legal Fund, making Hamza's release possible. During 25 days in jail, Hamza was subjected to torture and insults on several occasions.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2005/11/20/21-year-old-palestinian-tortured-in-iof-jail/
Images of the West Bank divide
Photographer Elisheva Smith, 73, the Israeli and Holocaust survivor who took the pictures, has an opinion some might not expect. "I am against it," said Smith, in a phone interview from her home in Israel. "It is like a monster that is threatening everything on both sides." "I can see the agony of the Israeli people," Giles says, but the barrier "escalates division and hatred and makes violence even more likely."
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/living/religion/13211972.htm
From Strength to Strength; Bil'in to Abud
Both are located to the west of Ramallah, are inhabited by roughly 2500 people each, and are being affected by the construction of the Wall. The Wall in Bil'in has confiscated 60% of it's agricultural land, and the village of Abud (at which construction has just begun) they will lose a similar percent as well as access to water.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2005/11/20/from-strength-to-strength-bilin-to-abud/
Jerusalem Muslim Leaders Appeal for OIC, UNESCO Protection
Palestinian Muslim leaders on Saturday held Israel totally responsible for the dilapidation of Jerusalem's historical walls, and appealed to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (IOC) and its Jerusalem Committee as well as to the UNESCO to immediately intervene to protect the city's Islamic and human heritage, at a time the Israeli expansion of the colonial settlements in the Holy City continues unabated.
http://www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=1&id=1040
Jordan denies Jerusalem's Old City in danger of collapse
"This is not true," Religious Affairs Minister Abdel Salam Abbadi, who heads a Jordanian committee responsible for the maintenance of Al-Aqsa mosque compound, told state-run Petra news agency Sunday. "This is a pretext to intervene in Al-Aqsa mosque," Abbadi said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051120/wl_mideast_afp/mideastisraeljerusalem_051120135007
Suspect's family: Shin Bet harassing us
The security services are looking for Mohammad's 22-year-old younger brother Ali. According to the Shin Bet, Ali is wanted for interrogation, and as long as he hasn't handed himself over to Israel's security services, his brother and father will have to do the daily trip from their village near Ramallah to Ofar.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3172137,00.html
IOF Arrests 7 Teenagers, a Security Man
Security sources said that Israeli soldiers backed by tanks and armoured vehicles swept into al-Khader town, south of Bethlehem city, and launched a house-to-house search campaign into citizens' houses, causing a state of panic among residents, mostly children and women.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?id=4657
Firebrand Islamic leader visits Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem
Salah was released from prison under the condition he would not come to Jerusalem during the first four months after his release. The ban expired last Thursday and Salah decided to visit the mosque on Sunday together with Islamic Movement activists and members of his family.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/647659.html
Abbas mulls postponing PLC election to change voting law
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has ordered the elections committee overseeing parliamentary elections to prepare for the possibility that the January 25 elections will be postponed.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/647372.html
Hamas opposes postponing Palestinian elections
Mahmoud Zahar, a prominent Hamas leader in Gaza, said Hamas received informa tion that there are instructions to the Central Elections Committee to prepare for possible postponement of the parliamentary elections and the movement rejects any delay.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-11/20/content_3809067.htm
World Bank pessimistic about Palestinian economy
The unemployment rate is expected to reach 25%, and the poverty rate 45%. Unless the economic and security circumstances change, the World Bank predicts that the PA’s GDP per capita will fall to $1,063 in 2007, the unemployment rate will rise to 31%, and the poverty rate to 50%.
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000030930&fid=942
Israeli Arab leaders urge police action against weapons in Arab sector
Abed Anbathawi, the head of the municipality leaders, said the conciliatory police attitude on the matter was deliberate. "So long as the violence is internal, police ignore it, as part of the entire Israeli establishment's policy against the Arab sector," he said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/647637.html
Fayad resignation to deliver blow to Palestinian reform drive
Azmi Shuabi, the head of the parliament's economic committee, said Fayad was furious that Qorei had ensured that 350 million dollars was continuing to be channelled towards the 60,000 people employed by the security services.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051120/wl_mideast_afp/mideastpalestinianpoliticseconomy_051120115926
Abbas, Svoboda discuss EU role in Middle East
The European Union is the most useful assistant in solving the Palestine-Israel conflict, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in his meeting with Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda. The EU wants to monitor the crossing which Svoboda does not support.
http://www.ctk.cz/english/services/english/index_view.php?id=158519
Israel-Palestine Crossing Accords
Israeli public radio informed that the vehicles driven by Israelis will circle from Gaza and the West Bank Tarqumie crossing, near Hebron. The source described this operation as experimental. The transportation of Palestinian passengers will start on December 15 and trucks on January 15, 2006.
http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7B3F0ABA49-ED50-4080-A87D-BA9C65298CC5%7D)&language=EN
Amid talk of Likud exit, PM woos Peres with future cooperation
"Shimon, this is the beginning of our joint work," Sharon told the 82-year-old Peres during Sunday's cabinet meeting, likely to be the last of the unity government. "I won't let you... turn away from completing the missions you are destined for. I will call on your assistance in the future."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/647403.html
Labor Party votes to quit PM Sharon's government
"The motion has passed by an absolute majority," party secretary general Eitan Cabel said. Peretz emphasized domestic economic issues Sunday in his first campaign speech, as elections were to be brought up to March.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/647739.html
PNA calls for int'l conference on Palestinian-Israel issues
The Palesti nian cabinet issued an official statement saying that the PNA calls for preparing for an international peace conference, which has a clear agenda and a specific schedule for immediately starting negotiations on the final status issues.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-11/20/content_3808869.htm
EU foreign ministers to give green light to Gaza border monitoring mission
EU officials said a first contingent of 12 officers and experts could be deployed to the Palestinian Authority-controlled outpost by the end of this week to prepare for the official start of their mission on November 25, when the Rafah border crossing opens. In total, between 50 and 70 officers and experts will be sent.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/647702.html
Hamas lays out post-election agenda
“The national interest demands that we not cooperate with Israel in the security, political, or economic spheres,” Zahar explained. “The facts should lead us to cut off our relations with the Israeli enemy by all means.” “The question,” he said, “is whether to do this gradually or all at once.”
http://www.jnewswire.com/library/article.php?articleid=868
For first time, Arab citizen appointed to panel that vets senior civil service nominees
Azayzah expressed satisfaction at his appointment to the Revivi Commission and said he does not intend to serve as a "rubber stamp" but rather to positively influence the commission's work.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/647729.html
Palestinians make slow progress transforming former Gaza settlements
The PA says there are 10 main projects that will begin in Gaza "in the coming months," including removal of rubble, rebuilding the north-south road and building a port near Netzarim, reopening the Dahaniyeh airport and building an industrial area near the former Kfar Darom.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/647371.html
Elections apparently set for March 28
“It appears that elections will be held on 28 March," Labor Party Faction Chairman Ephraim Sneh said Sunday, following a meeting with Coalition Chairman Gideon Sa'ar in Tel Aviv earlier. A final date is to be set following a series of meetings with several factions.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3171905,00.html
Vanunu freed after W Bank visit
Police held him at a checkpoint north of Jerusalem as he was returning by bus from the West Bank on Friday. Asked what he had done to prompt the arrest, he said: "Nothing. They just want to arrest me again. They don't want me to enjoy freedom."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4454248.stm
Sharon fails to confirm plans to leave Likud
Ariel Sharon, prime minister, kept Israel guessing on Sunday about his political future amid frantic speculation that he was about to leave the ruling Likud and form a new centrist party to fight an election in four months' time.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/364f17d2-59ec-11da-b023-0000779e2340.html
And if Khaled Meshal wants to visit?
for example, Hamas leaders Khaled Meshal and Mussa Abu Marzuk, or the leader of Islamic Jihad, Ramadan Abdallah Shallah. This is no more than an official consultation that "will not take more than six hours." And, again, the last word belongs to the Palestinian Authority.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/647393.html
Arab football star may join Israel's most racist club
In one of the more counter-intuitive transfer bids in recent football, Betar is trying to lure the international player Abbas Suan from Bnei Sakhnin, the club he captains, based in an Israeli Arab town in the Galilee. Last year, Sakhnin became the first Arab club in Israel's history to win its equivalent of the FA cup.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article327985.ece
Lahoud denies Tunis handshake with Shalom
Lahoud denied shaking Shalom's hand, saying the account was "based on imagination." Israel and Lebanon are sworn enemies. Israel does not at this time foresee opening peace talks with Lebanon, Regev said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/647368.html
IDF: Millions needed for Gaza vicinity towns
We urgently need NIS 70 million (about USD 15 million) in order to complete an alert and warning system against Qassam rockets and to protect buildings in the communities surrounding Gaza, Home Front Commander Major-General Yitzhak Gershon said Sunday.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3171892,00.html
Iraq violence flares as Rumsfeld vows to stay the course
The killings followed two days of nationwide bombings in which at least 120 Iraqis were killed, most of them Shiites. The British soldier died in the southern port city of Basra when his patrol vehicle was blown up by a roadside bomb. Four other Britons were wounded in the blast, the military said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051120/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_051120174108
Frontline police of new Iraq are waging secret war of vengeance
Last July an Observer investigation reported that Iraqi police commandos were running secret torture units, and last week there was international outrage when an Iraqi government bunker was found being used as a makeshift prison. American forces found 173 half-starved prisoners being held in dreadful conditions. Most were Sunnis.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1646743,00.html |
| For further information contact Shadi Fadda |
|
|
