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Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines ~ |
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`O little ghetto of Bethlehem'
The beloved words of the Nativity story evoke reverence and awe. But a recent visit to Bethlehem left me wondering: If Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem today, would they get in? Would they make it to the manger, or would the holy child be delivered at an Israeli checkpoint? The city of Christ's birth is now partially surrounded by a wall, much of it 25 or more feet high, an unbroken expanse of solid, gray concrete, a medieval city wall updated with 21st Century cameras and razor wire.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0612240391dec24,1,1707180.story?coll=chi-opinionfront-hed
Pope calls for 'just and lasting peace' in Middle East
In his Urbi et Orbi message beamed to 102 television stations in 63 countries, the pope said, "I express my hope that the way will be opened to a just and lasting peace, with respect for the inalienable rights of the peoples living (in the Middle East).
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1880207,00050003.htm
Court hears appeal of Hamas MPs banned from living in J`lem
The revocation of the officials' residency drew attention to the complex legal standing of more than 200,000 Palestinians who live in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed. Most Jerusalem Palestinians hold permanent residency cards, having rejected Israel's offer of citizenship.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/805357.html
Poverty-struck Palestinians turn to drugs
Since then he has been unemployed, a situation that drove him to drug addiction. Overall, drug dependency in the Palestinian territories is on the rise, according to drugs police and doctors. This, they say, is due to a sense of hopelessness among ordinary Palestinians and the lack of both effective policing to catch the dealers and of a clinical safety net to help those already addicted.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56838&SelectRegion=Middle_East&SelectCountry=OPT
Israeli forces besiege northwestern West Bank
Israeli forces imposed several military barriers throughout the night at the entrances to villages east of Tulkarem. At the checkpoints Israeli forces stopped cars, forcing Palestinians to stand in the cold for hours. At the tunnel that is now the route for Palestinians in and out of the city of Tulkarem, Israeli forces occupying the West Bank brought dogs to search the people.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1290
IDF arrests top militant in West Bank; Qassam hits Ashkelon
"The leader [Nazzal] will be replaced by a thousand leaders and resistance will continue," PRC spokesman in Gaza, Abu Mujahed, said, adding that "We tell the Zionist enemy that your message has been received and now you should await the response."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/805295.html
Armed wing of Islamic Jihad shells southern Israel
In a statement sent to reporters, the brigades said that a group of its fighters fired one mid-range homemade missile into Sderot city in southern Israel in response to the Israeli army raids in the West Bank.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-12/25/content_5530358.htm
Palestinians say soldiers threw rocks, destroyed property
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) has submitted a complaint to the Military Police over the issue. Residents complain of rock-throwing, property destruction and being imprisoned in their homes for hours. The incidents occurred in the communities of Al-Carmel, Ma'in and Al-Tawana.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/804997.html
Israel to UN: Qassams unacceptable
"The continuous rocket attacks and grave violation of Israel's sovereignty constitutes a grim threat to peace and security in the region... which may bring to a deterioration of the situation," Gillerman continued in the letter.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3344490,00.html
Israel deports a detainee from Jenin to the Gaza Strip
The detainee, Abdullah Yassin, 35, was imprisoned at the Negev detention facility without trial or charges for six months, before the Israeli Prison Authorities decided to deport him to Gaza
http://www.imemc.org/content/view/23360/1/
Jerusalem's Latin patriarch condemns Palestinian infighting
"To set myself up against my brother is to set myself up against God, the creator of my brother and my own creator ... these fratricidal struggles are another danger for all Palestinians and for the Christians of the Orient," Sabbah said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061225/wl_mideast_afp/mideastchristmas_061225105326
Acting Finance Minister: salaries finally being paid
The Acting Minister of Finance and Minister of Planning, Dr. Samir Abu Eisha, began disbursing salaries to public sector employees who had not received funds provided by the European Union for those who receive more than 2,500 shekels per month. Dr. Abu Eisha also began paying the maximum amount owed, regardless of the base salary.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1291
Palestine President on Regional Tour
Palestine President Mahmud Abbas has started a diplomatic regional tour to gain support in the dispute with Prime Minister Ismail Haniye... The first stop of Abbas will be the Jordanian Hashemite kingdom, whose monarch Abdala II is in favour of the Abbas negotiation plan, as well as Egypt, which is the second stop of the president.
http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7B06AA0A24-5575-4001-91BF-C2BD4EBF517F%7D)&language=EN
PA official: Haniyeh, Abbas will meet in Jordan later this week
"The Jordanian prime minister has extended an official invitation from his majesty King Abdullah to Prime Minister Haniyeh to visit Jordan and to meet with President Abu Mazen [Abbas] to discuss the latest developments and the issues of difference," Ghazi Hamad said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/805397.html
Israel orders 'immediate' easing of Palestinian restrictions
"The prime minister ordered the immediate easing of restrictions on the Palestinian population in order to strengthen the moderate elements and in accordance with the agreements reached during his meeting with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas" on Saturday, his office said in a statement.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061225/wl_mideast_afp/mideastdiplomacyisrael_061225182155
Israel agrees to remove some West Bank roadblocks
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's cabinet on Monday approved the removal of 27 Israeli roadblocks in the occupied West Bank, a move officials said was meant to bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L252781636.htm
IDF opposes Olmert plan to dismantle checkpoints
"The roadblocks assist in thwarting and preventing the movement of wanted men in the West Bank." Naveh suggested that instead of dismantling the checkpoints, Israel should decrease the scope of security checks at these checkpoints by examining only some vehicles rather than all of them.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/805001.html
OIC chief meets Hamas head in Syria
The head of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has met Khaled Meshaal, head of the Hamas political bureau, in Damascus, Meshaal's deputy Mussa Abu Marzuk told AFP. "The meeting between Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu and Mr Meshaal focused on resuming inter-Palestinian talks and on ways of breaking the impasse provoked by Abu Mazen's speech, which closed the door to dialogue," Marzuk said Monday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061225/wl_mideast_afp/syriaoicpalestinian_061225165042
Ynet poll: Government to approve prisoner release
Half a year after he was kidnapped by Hamas, 12 Israeli ministers out of 24, are ready to release Palestinian prisoners ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, a poll conducted by Ynet among the ministers reveals. Five ministers, including two deputy prime ministers, oppose the Israeli gesture. Another five ministers abstained, and two ministers have yet to answer. The government is expected to vote on the sensitive issue in the coming days
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3344486,00.html
Noam Shalit: Fate of my son is in the hands of Hamas, not Abbas
"From the outset we knew that Abu Mazen [Abbas] is not holding Gilad and has no control over his fate. Israel's gesture to Abu Mazen cannot contribute to the efforts to release Gilad on a practical level, but it can cause a change in the atmosphere on the Palestinian street and push in the right direction," Shalit said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/805030.html
UAE to transfer $30m to Palestine
The UAE will transfer $30 million to the Palestinian Authority to ease the plight of Palestinians facing a Western boycott since Hamas took power this year, the Wam news agency said.
http://www.tradearabia.com/tanews/newsdetails_snECO_article116657_cnt.html
Olmert: Right focuses on blood, fire
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert decided to respond Monday to the criticism directed at him regarding Israel's restraint policy. During a Kadima faction meeting in the Knesset the prime minister said, “We hope to formulate a diplomatic plan soon. The difference between us and the Right is that they only speak of blood, sweat and tears, but they do not offer a diplomatic plan or course. They have no proposal.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3344398,00.html
Barenboim's coexistence orchestra
"I did after all grow up here and I know how things developed," he says. "If we don't do what's necessary to be accepted by our neighbors, the future of Israel will be at stake. We shall not achieve security just by US aid and missiles, but by being accepted by our neighbors. "It's not a good enough argument to simply say 'they don’t want us'. Of course they don't want us. We emerged from the war with an independent army, and they don't have a state. The moment you are in such a position, you can't say 'they don't want us.'"
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3343876,00.html
The test is yet to come
The Palestinian Authority is being torn apart in an internal struggle and is on the verge of civil war, while Olmert has lost public support and is worried about potentially destabilizing his coalition. Under such conditions, despite the importance of the meeting, the two leaders will have a hard time turning it into a real political process.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/805014.html
Military Intelligence officer: Syria serious about negotiations with Israel
"The Syrian regime believes that dialog with Israel will only better its position and improve its standing," Baidatz said. Last week, however, Mossad director Meir Dagan expressed the opposite opinion, saying that Syria is not prepared to return to the negotiating table with Israel
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/805362.html
Olmert: “We will negotiate with Syria if it cuts its ties with Iran”
Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, said on Monday that Israel will negotiate with Syria over a peaceful settlement to the conflict if it cuts its ties with Iran. The statements of Olmert came after the Israeli military Intelligence said that the Syrian President, Bashar Asad, is serious in his call for negotiations with Israel.
http://www.imemc.org/content/view/23359/1/
Intel. tribunal urged to try killers of journalists in Iraq, Palestine
Up to 175 journalists had been killed in Iraq since the eruption of the war in March, 2003, while 12 Palestinian journalists were killed by Israeli occupation forces in the last two years. "The figures necessitate an international tribunal to bring to justice the criminal perpetrators," the release added.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=937288
Iraq and Iran protest US arrest of Iranian officials
"Two people who were invited by the president to Iraq have now been apprehended by the Americans, and the president is unhappy with the arrests," Hiwa Osman, President Jalal Talabani's media adviser, told AFP Monday. "The invitation was within the framework of an agreement between Iran and Iraq to improve the security situation," he added.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061225/ts_afp/iraqsecurityiranus_061225132658
At least 18 killed in Iraq violence
At least 18 people died in bombings and clashes in war-torn Iraq, including 10 civilians killed by a car bomb in Baghdad, security sources said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061225/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrest_061225181257
British demolish Iraqi police station after shootout
Major Charlie Burbridge, a British military spokesman, said Monday many of the 127 prisoners held by Basra's notorious Serious Crimes Unit had been tortured and that intelligence reports suggested that they were soon to be killed.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061225/wl_afp/iraqunrestbritain_061225140747 |
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