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Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines ~ |
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Global Conference in Geneva to Sharpen Focus on Boycotts of Apartheid Israel
The Swiss committees of “Collectifs Urgence Palestine” and the European Coordination for Palestine (ECCP) will hold an international Conference in Geneva, May 26-28. With boycott workshops and presentations organised, and a wide array of speakers and activists in attendance, the conference has the potential to inject fresh vigour into the various boycott Apartheid Israel initiatives.
http://stopthewall.org/worldwideactivism/1153.shtml
A Joint March of Palestinians and Israelis
The Wall, which bisects the main street of A-Ram, has critically damaged the life of the residents. It has divided families, stopped workers from reaching their workplace and cut off teachers and students from their schools; in fact, three schools have already been forced to close. The Wall has turned a thriving urban center into a jail.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2006/05/11/a-joint-march-of-palestinians-and-israelis/
Rachel Corrie's Legacy
As the world now knows, their 23-year-old daughter, an Evergreen State College student, died while defending a Palestinian home from demolition by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). A bulldozer killed her. It took over my life, says 58-year-old Cindy, a onetime flautist who, like her husband, wears a green plastic bracelet with the dates of Rachels birth and death. Living in Olympia, Cindy and Craig, a 59-year-old former insurance executive, now work full time seeking accountability, not only for Rachels death, but for what they believe are the unjust policies that caused it.
http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/0619/rachel-corrie.php
Judge rejects state bid to void Palestinian compensation case
The Tel Aviv District Court rejected the state's request Wednesday to turn down a demand by four Palestinians from Qalqilyah for compensation for their greenhouses, which were destroyed by the IDF during the early days of the Intifada in 2000.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=714547
(ILLEGAL) Settlers prepared to leave West Bank outpost
the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot reported on Tuesday. The conditional offer marks a departure from the settlers' longheld policy of fighting all West Bank evacuations. The decision was taken during a secret meeting of their leaders on Monday, the paper said in its front-page report.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/&articleid=271233
Uprooting and Land Devastation – Renewed Attacks in Ramin
Occupation Forces destroyed over 50 trees belonging to villagers in Ramin on the evening of Monday May the 8th, as devastation of Palestinian land in the region continued. Soldiers used chainsaws to uproot 6 dunums of land running close to a main Palestinian road. The road now usurped by settlers for their own exclusive use has been a frequent scene of settler attacks on Palestinian farmers and their families in recent months.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/1152.shtml
75- year old man seriously injured after settler rammed him with his car
The resident was heading towards his farmland located north of Efrat settlement which is installed on Palestinian annexed lands. Meanwhile, Israeli sources claimed that the resident was hit by a vehicle of an American tourist driving in the area.
http://www.imemc.org/content/view/18598/1/
A Short History of Unilateral Separation
Olmert's "convergence" plan, his version of disengagement for the West Bank (except this time only about 15 per cent of the territory's 420,000 settlers will be withdrawn) has salved the West's conscience just as surely as did his predecessor Sharon's pullout from Gaza last year. The neighsayers will be dismissed, as they were then, as bad-sports, anti-Semites or apologists for terror.
http://www.counterpunch.org/cook05112006.html
Five injured in Fateh-Hamas clashes
The five residents were injured in four separate shooting attack on Thursday, just one day after leaders of the two movements agreed to stop the in-fight and chaos that took over the streets in Gaza.
http://www.imemc.org/content/view/18599/1/
Hamas, Fatah Members Draft Joint Platform
The document was formulated by senior Hamas and Fatah members who are imprisoned by Israel, and was presented to Abbas on Wednesday. Abbas, the moderate leader of Fatah, said he backs the draft which also authorizes him to lead peace talks with Israel. Hamas spokesman Mushir al Masri praised the effort, but said it was only a beginning. "It could be a good base for a national platform and a national dialogue, but it still needs more discussion,"
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1948859
Hamas official heads for Norway amid controversy
Hamas is on the European Union and US lists of terrorist organisations. Norway, broker of the now defunct Oslo peace accords, uses the United Nations' list of terror organisations, a list which does not include Hamas. The Norwegian Palestine Committee said Edwane was expected in Oslo late Friday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060511/wl_mideast_afp/mideastpalestinians_060511182824
Ambassador Ayalon: We'll oppose paying PA workers
“I hope that the Quartet mechanism doesn't plan to finance the salaries of PA workers under the Hamas government,” said Ayalon. “It is known that the Quartet wants to promote humanitarian aid for the Palestinians, just as Israel wants to promote this. But paying the salaries of civil servants isn't the way. External financing of salaries will only strengthen Hamas, intensify violence, and block any chance of a solution.”
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000089979
Arrest fears prompt Israeli general to avoid Britain
The Israeli army has scrapped plans to send one of its generals to a course at a British military academy over fears he could be arrested on war crimes allegations.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060511/wl_mideast_afp/mideastisraelarmyjusticebritain_060511111343
Israeli troops arrest Islamic Jihad leader in West Bank town
Palestinian youths threw stones at the more than 15 army jeeps involved in the operation, witnesses said. The army responded by firing rubber-coated steel bullets, wounding five Palestinians, the witnesses and medical officials said.
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?rep=2&aid=294485&sid=WOR
Negotiating on Behalf of Palestinians?
We are now witnessing one of the more bizarre chapters in the history of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. A final peace agreement - negotiated between Tel Aviv and Washington - is already in the process of being implemented. As a side show, the Palestinians are being told to shape up or starve in exchange for an invitation to negotiations that were concluded way back in October 2004. It's all a little like getting an invitation to attend your own funeral - a year after the burial.
http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093112374
Arab League unable to transfer funds to Palestinians
The league's secretary general "Amr Mussa called (Palestinian Authority president) Mahmud Abbas today and informed him that the league is not in a position to transfer the money offered by the Arab countries," Hanna Amireh -- a member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation executive committee -- told AFP on Thursday. "This is due to the refusal of the banks to transfer the money as a result of American and international pressure."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060511/wl_mideast_afp/mideastpalestinianarab_060511161003
Israel defence minister urges Palestinian boycott rethink
New Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz is pushing for a rethink of the government's blanket boycott of the Palestinian Authority, which he fears is only strengthening Hamas, reports said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060511/wl_mideast_afp/mideastpoliticspeace_060511182143
Aid may flow again to Palestinians
With the Palestinian economy lurching toward the breaking point, Israeli officials said Wednesday that they would not oppose a decision by Middle East peacebrokers to resume financial aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA), even though its government is controlled by Hamas.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20060511/wl_csm/ofunds_1
Jordan arrests 20 Hamas activists
Judeh said that since the discovery, 20 Hamas activists had been detained, and investigations could reveal more people involved in a plot "targeting locations, military and civilian officials". The government suspects that more hidden weapons have yet to be found, constituting a "great danger to Jordan's national security", he said.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F2D8709B-FC05-461B-B958-6A289DE5E22E.htm
Palestinian govt rejects Olmert ultimatum
Government Spokesman Ghazi Hamad said Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's six-month ultimatum is "yet another maneuver aimed at misleading the international public opinion to cover up Israel's aggressive plans against the Palestinian people.
http://www.upi.com/InternationalIntelligence/view.php?StoryID=20060511-105142-1891r
Hamas PM receives Qatar invite
A statement said that Haniya had received an invitation from his counterpart in Doha, Abdallah bin Khalifa al-Thani, although no date was given for the invitation nor any word as to whether Haniya would accept.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060511/wl_mideast_afp/mideastpalestinian_060511160829
72% of Palestinians support government's stance
In a poll conducted by Future Research Centre, 74. 2% of Palestinians say they oppose any government compliance with the current US and Israeli pressures. 20 % of those who participated in the poll said they would like the government to respond so that the crisis would come to an end.
http://www.maannews.net/en/do.php?name=News&file=article&sid=10704
Western diplomats worried by prospect of Israeli unilateralism
A western diplomat told Haaretz on Wednesday that "the Americans also know our position on this matter, and they recognize that we will not look favorably on unilateral steps at this stage." He added that talks between Israel and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas could lead to "much more positive results than unilateral actions."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/714548.html
EU Looks for Ways to Resume Money Transfer to Palestine
Commission representatives reminded the financial aid was halted at the end of March, but now, the United States, Russia and United Nations have assigned the EU the task of resuming the monetary transfer to the Palestinian people.
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=hotnews&alt=&trh=20060510&hn=33001
Israeli rabbis awarded Japan peace prize
Israel's Rabbis for Human Rights, which has built up a reputation for battling abuses by soldiers and (ILLEGAL) settlers in the (OCCUPIED) Palestinian territories, was honoured in Japan with a leading peace prize.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060511/wl_mideast_afp/mideastisraelrabbisrightsjapan_060511095407
Emergency aid may be too little, too late for Palestinians trying to survive a crisis
But while security reasons are often cited for not allowing patients into Israel, Dr Basem Naim, the Palestinian Health Minister, said that many of the 270 patients awaiting visits to Israeli hospitals were unable to go because the PA simply did not have the money to pay for their treatment. Whether the emergency measures pledged in New York will come soon enough or be wide-ranging enough for patients like Ms Majdalawi remains to be seen.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article363793.ece
Catching the Conscience: Lessons Drawn from My Name is Rachel Corrie
From Tel Aviv to Bethlehem, Bosnia to Afghanistan and New Orleans, people gathered to read words of this 23-year old member of the International Solidarity Movement (a nonviolent movement of Palestinians, Israelis and internationals who serve as human rights observers in Palestine) who was crushed to death by an Israeli army-driven Caterpillar bulldozer as she attempted to protect the home of a Palestinian pharmacist and his family.
http://www.brooklynrail.org/2006-05/theater/catching-the-conscience
MK Sarsur: Settlers can live in Palestine
Head of the Islamic Movement MK Ibrahim Sarsur (United Arab List-Ta'al) proposed a new solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Thursday during a meeting with rabbis and Islamic religious leaders: Allow settlers to remain in their (ILLEGAL) settlements and be citizens of a future Palestinian state that will be established in the territories.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3249869,00.html
Israel deliberately minimizing rocket threat?
Al Aqsa leaders previously told WND they fired seven rockets from the Jenin area in December and January aimed at nearby Jewish communities. The IDF at first denied any rockets were fired, but later confirmed in January it found one rocket that had been launched from northern Samaria, likely from Jenin.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3249653,00.html
Arab MKs kept out of key Knesset posts
Representatives of the Arab parties are outraged over what they term discrimination in the distribution of Knesset positions: No representatives of Arab parties will chair any committees or belong to the Knesset Presidium.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/714557.html
Two dozen killed in Iraq as politicians consider security revamp
In a bid to curb the violence, which President Jalal Talabani said Wednesday had killed 1,091 people last month alone, Iraq is considering a move that would merge all of Baghdad security bodies, including a controversial infrastructure protection force, under a single command.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060511/ts_afp/iraq_060511180945 |
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