|
Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines ~ |
|
New Israeli wall another barrier to peace
Out on Highway 60, just outside Jerusalem, the bulldozers are at work. Next to the road that leads south from Jerusalem to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the big yellow machines are scraping the earth, carving a flat, white, dusty shoulder. Along that strip, a high concrete wall is already being built, part of the newest segment of Israel's "separation fence." The planned route loops around the cluster of settlements known as the Etzion Bloc, putting them on the Israeli side of the de facto border.
http://www.therecord.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=record/Layout/Article_Type1&
c=Article&cid=1160085014106
Bil’in Defiant in Midday Sun
Not deterred by the intense midday heat and their empty stomachs, many villagers decided to continue the protest by marching down the slope along the wall and were immediately attacked by Israeli forces firing multiple rounds of tear gas. Around 20 protesters suffered from the effects of the gas and were forced to disperse into the olive groves where they watched as the IOF turned their attention to children in the olive groves on the opposite side of the road. Snipers took up positions and started firing rubber bullets at children in the groves who responded by throwing stones.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2006/10/06/bilin-06-10-06/
Commentary: Universal instincts - By Azmi Bishara
What are significant are the conditions. These the Palestinian Authority (PA) has to agree to in order to end the boycott, because by rejecting these conditions the elected government brought on the boycott to begin with." This is how people succumb to the logic and aims of the boycotters. It is how conditions stipulated by hostile external forces become the political agenda of a segment of internal forces. In the process, the freedom to choose and national unity are cast aside in exchange for the promise of bread for the masses. In turn, the masses become an instrument to topple the government and elect one the West approves of.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/815/re2.htm
Gaza shootings kill Fatah activist
Muhamed Suleiman Atiyya was killed after evening prayers on Thursday in the southern Gaza town of Rafah. The AFP news agency reported that shortly afterwards a Hamas member of the interior ministry security force was injured when two hand grenades were thrown outside a Rafah hospital. Earlier, a Hamas member had been shot and wounded in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza strip.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/BC2A5226-D641-49AE-BCF8-10F6595D194D.htm
Palestinian PM urges Abbas to resume unity talks
Haniyeh is embroiled in an increasingly bitter power struggle with Abbas, fueled by their failure to agree a unity coalition that Palestinians hope will lift Western sanctions. "I urge the leadership of Fatah and Hamas to hold an urgent meeting, tonight, in my presence, to put an end to the internal strife. (But) we will not recognize Israel," Haniyeh said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/06/AR2006100600484.html
Israel is creating Mogadishu next to its Silicon Valley
Following the peace accords, scores of other Palestinian-Americans moved to the West Bank and Gaza. Professors came to teach at universities. Doctors came to help modernize the healthcare system and treat patients. Artists came to exhibit and perform. Other business professionals came to invest, modernize the economy and create jobs. Each, in their way, wanted to help build an independent Palestine. Each served as the real ambassadors of America, so different from the American-made Apache helicopters and F-16 fighter jets Israel uses to rain destruction on the Palestinian economy, cities and villages. But Israel has decided that we Americans are not welcome.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=75935
Pregnant Palestinians give birth at Israeli checkpoints
"I named my daughter Ma'abar [Arabic for 'crossing'] to recollect the sufferings and hardships we both had at the Rafah terminal," she added. According to the Health Ministry's report, there are currently 117,600 pregnant women in the Palestinian territories. This includes 17,640 women who are suffering difficult pregnancies due to a lack of prenatal and postnatal care. "Inadequate medical care during pregnancy is the third leading cause of death among Palestinian women of childbearing age," said Abu Shaaban.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article5820.shtml
A time for peace?
In the summer of 2001, says Woodward, Bandar brought a blunt message to Bush, the sharpest ever delivered by him to an American president. The crown prince, Bandar told the astonished president, is planning to cut off all ties with you. We will not consider any U.S. interests and will act as we see fit. Why? Because of then prime minister Ariel Sharon and his war against the Palestinians. It is clear to us, the Saudi ambassador told the president, that the U.S. has made a "strategic decision" that means "adopting Sharon's policy." Bush protested. That's not true, he said to the ambassador. Two days later, Bush sent the crown prince a two-page letter in which he declared, for the first time, his support for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/771153.html
Former U.S. President urges restoring aid to Palestinians
"The attempt to coerce Hamas leaders by starving the Palestinian people has failed, and it is time for the international community to alleviate their suffering and resort to diplomacy," Carter said in a statement. The former president added that he is doubtful that Palestinian leaders will make any progress toward reconciliation with Israel "as long as the Palestinians are subjected to this kind of debasement and personal suffering."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/771469.html
Israeli settlers take over Hebron mosque under armed protection of Israeli soldiers
Official Palestinian sources in the town told PNN on Thursday that the Israeli settlers carried machine guns and other weapons while overtaking the mosque for a half hour of Jewish prayer. Israeli soldiers occupying the area guarded the northern Hebron's mosque on behalf of the settlers.
http://www.imemc.org/content/view/21860/1/
Troops invade Balata refugee camp in Nablus
The Palestine News Network (PNN) reported that at least eight army vehicles and a military bulldozer, invaded the cap through Rojeeb street. The bulldozer destroyed doors and front walls of several shops in the area and fired rounds of live ammunition at street lights, especially in Al Hashasheen neighborhood.
http://www.imemc.org/content/view/21885/1/
Several residents injured while attempting to reach the Al Aqsa Mosque for Friday prayers
Palestinian sources reported on Friday that Israeli soldiers and policemen barred hundreds of Palestinians from reaching the Al Aqsa Mosque for Friday prayers, marking the second Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, several residents, including children, were injured.
http://www.imemc.org/content/view/21884/1/
Sukkot: Full closure on Gaza, West Bank
A general closure was imposed Friday on Palestinian territories and will remain in affect until the end of Sukkot; police have raised their alert level ahead of the holiday. The closure, which went into effect during the early morning hours and will be lifted in 24 hours
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3311856,00.html
Haniyeh promises right of return
Haniyeh sharply condemned the international community's economic blockade on the Palestinians. “The American regime is leading this seige to make us surrender and to politically exhaust us, but we are telling you – they won't wring us out and our fortress won't fall.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3311891,00.html
At least 2 dead in Gaza tunnel blast
Palestinian sources said an explosion collapsed a tunnel under the Gaza-Egypt border early Friday, trapping five militants inside and killing at least two. The Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a violent offshoot of the Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the five were members. The group refused to say what they were doing.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3311787,00.html
Senior Hamas official: Shalit deal to be finalized within 2 weeks
Yousef denied reports of Syrian involvement in the prisoner exchange negotiation process. "This is a matter within the Gaza Strip, and all of the sources handling the negotiations are there as well," he said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/771216.html
Israeli DM promises to transfer tax revenues to Palestinians if captured soldier returns
"The key to releasing funds to the Palestinian (National) Authority is tied to the issue of returning Gilad Shalit home and to other issues that are part of our conditions, such as the halt of Qassams (rockets) and violence against communities in the Gaza area," Peretz said.
http://english.people.com.cn/200610/06/eng20061006_309461.html
Muslim leader gets interfaith award in U.S. despite Jewish protests
Speaking at a Jerusalem Day rally, Hathout said: "We did not come here to condemn the condemned atrocities committed by the apartheid brutal state of Israel because butchers do what butchers do and because what is expected from a racist apartheid is what is happening now." (Perhaps too honest? )
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/771440.html
Carlos Santana coming to Israel
Guitarist Carlos Santana is scheduled to give a concert in Jerusalem in the spring of 2007 in the framework of project “Bridges of Music,” which was launched by Roy Scott in 1988 to advance peace between Jews and Muslims. The event will be sponsored by the Jerusalem Fund and the Foreign Ministry. ( Will people living behind the WALL have access to that "Peace" concert? )
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3311865,00.html
PM: Israel will help PA create better environment
The Rice visit was coolly received by Hamas leaders yesterday. PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said the secretary's visit was meant to serve Israel's interests and to "categorize the states of the region," a reference to the Bush administration's tendency to distinguish between moderates and extremists in the Middle East
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/770544.html
Despite, not because
What can be done? The Israeli instinct has always been to spill all the old cliches over such scenes, from "there is no one to talk with" to jets of racist scorn for "the Arabs." We are having a hard time with them? They are also having a hard time with us. When at the beginning of the week, 12 Palestinians were killed in Fatah-Hamas battles, this of course made front page headlines in Israel. But the hundreds whom Israel has killed just in the darkened and hungry Gaza Strip over the past few months have already become stale non-news. The riots in the territories are a big asset for all haters of any agreement with those rioting gangs.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/771192.html
Siege within
While Western media reports tend to focus on the political scuffling between the Hamas government and Fatah, the once dominant party of President Mahmoud Abbas, the humanitarian crisis is duly ignored. If not for the sensitive and perceptive reporting of a few individual journalists such as Amira Hass of the Israeli daily Haaretz and Donald Macintyre of the British Independent, the untold suffering of the Palestinian people would have gone completely unnoticed.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/opinion/2006/October/opinion_October17.xml&
amp;section=opinion&col=
Gaza Clashes - The Struggle for Palestine's Soul
If Peretz and others are to be believed, the gunmen could have done themselves and the 1.4 million people of Gaza a favour and simply executed Shalit weeks ago. Israel doubtless would have inflicted terrible retribution, such as the bombing of the Strip's only power station -- except, of course, it had already done that to avenge Shalit's capture. But, with the Israeli soldier dead, there would have been no obstacle to sitting down and talking.
http://www.counterpunch.org/cook10062006.html
Palestinian Affairs: Blazing battles
Mahmoud Abbas, his aides complained this week, is perhaps the only person in the Palestinian Authority who still thinks that Hamas can be transformed into a party that is willing to accept the Oslo Accords, renounce violence and implement all agreements that were signed between the PLO and Israel. "He really believes that Hamas will change, and that it will finally recognize Israel,"
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1159193378614&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Divide and rule
True, Rice did manage to deliver UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which gave Israeli political advantages that it had not secured military on the ground. The resolution did not, however, invoke Article 7 of the UN Charter and did not confer upon the international forces that later poured into Lebanon the authority to forcefully disarm Hizbullah. Yet the US did succeed in packing 1701 with a number of political landmines that could be triggered at any moment. Now the American diplomatic machine is on the move again, even as the Israeli war machine -- for the time being, at least -- has ground to a halt, and everyone is wondering what Rice has up her sleeve this time.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/815/op2.htm
Israeli Bomblets Plague Lebanon
Since the war between Israel and Hezbollah ended in August, nearly three people have been wounded or killed each day by cluster bombs Israel dropped in the waning days of the war, and officials now say it will take more than a year to clear the region of them. United Nations officials estimate that southern Lebanon is littered with one million unexploded bomblets, far outnumbering the 650,000 people living in the region.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/06/world/middleeast/06cluster.html?hp&ex=1160193600&
en=7e4e9f554d5fd023&ei=5094&partner=homepage
UN warcrimes prosecutor attacks international double standards
"We are faced with conflicts where, according to credible reports, serious violations of international humanitarian law were committed, for instance during the recent Israel-Lebanon conflict, but no independent criminal investigation is taking place," she told a seminar of international prosecutors here. "As lawyers, we have an obligation to ensure that the same rules apply everywhere. However, double standards exist today in the treatment of similar crimes," she argued at the two-day meeting in The Hague.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061006/wl_mideast_afp/warcrimesmideastponte_061006182942
Russia, China reject use of force, ultimatums against Iran
"Iran is a large regional nation that has noticeable influence on the situation in a wide and very tense region. Speaking to it in the language of threats and ultimatums, attempts to drive it into a corner, are counterproductive," the agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev as saying.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/771443.html
Wartime hosts acknowledge - with regret - thefts by northern refugees
Another person who hosted northerners during the 34-day conflict, and who - according to one report - came home to find "half the family's possessions gone" is also not willing to elaborate. "She says she's the one-in-a-million it happened to and she doesn't want her little incident to change anything," explains a friend.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/771215.html
Straw faces angry backlash over Muslim veil comments
Straw revealed in a newspaper article Thursday that he usually asked Muslim women attending his constituency consultations to remove the veil because he felt 'uncomfortable about talking with someone whose face you cannot see.'
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/uk/article_1208988.php
Rice urges Kurds to work for peaceful, unified Iraq
"The Kurdish people will ... certainly be better served if Baghdad and its surrounding areas are stable and democratic," Rice told reporters at a joint press conference with Barzani. "We had a very good discussion about the national reconciliation process and the vision of unified democratic Iraq that is stable, that is at peace and at peace with its neighbors," she said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061006/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_061006194139 |
| For further information contact Shadi Fadda |
|
|
