Israeli VP Ramon: Parts of Jerusalem must be given to Palestinians
to avoid losing U.S. support. Ramon told Army Radio that he is "convinced that all Jewish neighborhoods, including Har Homa [Abu Ghnaim], should be under Israeli sovereignty and the Arab neighborhoods should not be under Israeli sovereignty because they pose a threat to Jerusalem being the capital of Jewish Israel. Israel annexed the land  now called Har Homa and placed it inside Jerusalem city boundaries drawn in the aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War. That annexation is not recognized internationally.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/932610.html

 
Foreign Minister Livni: Israel will evacuate West Bank settlements
Israel plans to evacuate [how many?] West Bank settlements as part of a peace agreement with the Palestinians, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Friday. "Israel wants to end this conflict with the Palestinians, and understands it would have to make concessions for a Palestinian state to be established. We evacuated settlements from Gaza and we plan to do so in the West Bank as well," she told reporters after meeting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Brussels .
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3480123,00.html

 
200 right-wing activists march to site of West Bank outpost
The new outpost [is] to be located between Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adumim in area E-1. Settler activists said they planned to try to set up nine two additional West Bank outposts and try to reclaim five other outposts already evacuated in recent months. Settlers began setting up outposts more than a decade ago in an effort to break up Palestinian areas and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state. The more than 100 outposts range from isolated trailers to permanent construction on a larger scale. Many are near existing, authorized settlements, in effect extending their reach.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/932636.html

 
Bethlehem under attack while Har Homa settlement expands
Nine families from around Bethlehem are to be made homeless after Occupation forces this week issued them with notice that their homes are to be demolished. The demolition orders hit areas across the Bethlehem district. In Um Rukbe, south of al-Khadr, West Bethlehem , six houses close to the Apartheid Wall and settler-only road were targeted: five are newly built and one is in the final stages of construction.The Occupation uses the permits system to prevent Palestinian communities from expanding. Palestinians in areas such as Bethlehem are refused permission to build to accommodate the population, forcing many to build without the permit. The Occupation then destroys the homes with impunity. Construction in adjoining settlements continues unchecked.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/1579.shtml

 
Toronto community groups oppose fundraising for illegal 'Canada Park'
On December 2nd, 200 people from a host of community organizations braved the first snowstorm of the winter to protest the Jewish National Fund (JNF) annual Negev Dinner held at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Toronto. This year's JNF dinner aimed to raise 7 million dollars for the refurbishment of the illegal `Canada Park`. Protesters denounced fund raising for the park, which is built on the destroyed Palestinian villages of Beit Nuba, Yallu and Imwas, seized and destroyed by the Israeli military in 1967. The 10,000 Palestinian residents of these villages were expelled and have been denied the right to return to their homes for the past 40 years.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=23908

 
Despite NYC Palestinian rights protest, Dershowitz buys jewelry from settlement mogul Leviev
[includes videos] Wealthy Madison Avenue holiday shoppers were greeted Saturday afternoon by boisterous music and dancing, as 60 New Yorkers protested in a growing campaign to boycott Israeli diamond magnate Lev Leviev over his settlement construction in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Participants performed a joyous dabke, a traditional Palestinian dance, and chanted to music from the eight-piece Rude Mechanical Orchestra. During the protest, Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz entered LEVIEV New York and emerged to jeers as he displayed a LEVIEV shopping bag to the crowd.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/12/09/adalah-ny-despite-nyc-pales tinian-rights-protest-dershowitz-buys-jewelry-from-settlement-mogul-leviev/  

 
Palestinians observe 20^th anniversary of the first Intifada on Sunday amidst division
It began with mass protests in Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on December 9, 1987 after an Israeli military vehicle ran over a group of Palestinian workers at Erez checkpoint. Israeli forces killed more than 1,500 Palestinians during the uprising, and left thousands of others injured or disabled. This year the anniversary comes during an unprecedented state of division in Palestinian society with Hamas in control of Gaza Strip, and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority in charge of the West Bank. Palestinian political factions issued statements marking the 20th anniversary of the Intifada by calling on Hamas to relinquish control of the Gaza Strip, and calling on Fatah to accept dialogue with Hamas.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails& ID=26694

 
PA security forces seize director of PLC speaker's office
Abdul-Qahir Surur was seized on Saturday evening, Hamas said. Hamas said that Surur was summoned for interrogations in the Palestinian Preventive Security's headquarters and detained. Acting PLC speaker Ahmad Bahar held Preventive Security responsible for Surur's life, because, he says, Surur suffers from a heart condition. PLC Speaker Aziz Dweik has been imprisoned in Israel since the summer of 2006.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=26693

 
PA security seizes 26 Hamas members in West Bank on Saturday
The detentions took place in Jenin, Nablus, Salfit, Tubas, Ramallah, Hebron, and Jericho, Hamas said.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails& ID=26697

 
Israeli forces seize two Palestinians near Ramallah
Israeli forces seized two Palestinians in the West Bank village of Nil'in, near the city of Ramallah on Sunday morning, Israeli media reported. The sources said the detainees were 'wanted' by Israeli security.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails& ID=26692

 
Palestinian found with bomb in West Bank
Authorities outside the West Bank city of Nablus arrested a Palestinian man Saturday after learning he was carrying two knives and a pipe bomb. Palestinians also have been blamed for an attack on an Israeli car in the city of Ramallah Saturday, that resulted in no deaths or injuries despite the use of six Molotov cocktails. The Post said Palestinians were the main suspects in an earlier mortar attack in the desert Negev region, which also did not result in damage or injury.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/12/08/ palestinian_found_with_bomb_in_west_bank/2270/  

 
Stealing from children: West Bank children's park further threatened by impending demolition
Only a few months from now the entire children's park on the outskirts of Azzoun will be in ruins, demolished by the Israeli Occupation Force (IOF). The reason given is the lack of building permit from the Israeli authorities, even though the park is located on Palestinian land. It was in early 2006, when the IOF first razed the children's park, demolishing it within an hour. The park, just off the road between Azzoun and Jayous, attracted many children both from Azzoun but also from the many surrounding villages, being the only of its kind in the region. The cost of US $200,000 was financed mainly by USAID through the YMCA, with some money coming from the village of Azzoun.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/12/08/stealing-from-children-azzoun -children%e2%80%99s-park-further-threatened-by-impending-demolition/ 

 
The inner light shines on Susya, Hannuka 2007
Friday. Fourth candle of Hanukka. Ehud and I drive out from (our home kibbutz) Shoval on a routine visit to our Palestinian friends of Tuwane and Susya, 40 minutes to our east. Arriving at Susya we detect a chopped-down olive grove along the tiny ravine not far from the dwelling tents of Susya's few villagers. 32 fruit-bearing trees, faithfully tended by their owner – Yassar Radi Nawaj'a - cut down close to the ground. This must have taken place during the night between Wednesday and Thursday. That same night some of the Jewish Susya colonists celebrated in a small outpost they built about two years ago west of their colony. I recall how a year and a half ago colonists of Elon Moreh ravaged olive trees of neighboring Salem village and the old man who relentlessly tended to his grove. Then it was to honor (Israeli) Independence Day 2006. So why not have Hanukka 2007 shine its inner light, too? How deep the pain.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=23893

 
31^st Palestinian dies from Israeli prevention of medical transfer
Sources told Kuwait News Agency KUNA that Aisha Abu-Ghanima, a resident of Shujaiya district, passed away this morning in Al-Shifa'a Hospital in Gaza after suffering a fatal heart disease. With her demise, the number of deaths of patients banned from traveling from Gaza Strip has increased to 31. Hundreds of other Palestinian patients who are in serious condition are in dire need for medication and medical facilities in Gaza Strip that has been under the tight siege.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx? id=1863932&Language=en

 
Hamas seizes hundreds of pounds of marijuana – and burns it in public
Hamas displayed tables full of marijuana, neatly pressed blocks of hashish, small piles of cocaine and ecstasy pills at a news conference to show the results of a two-week-long drug raid, said Ihab Ghussain, spokesman for the Interior Ministry. Ghussain said some of the drugs, valued at $4 million, were smuggled through tunnels into Gaza from Egypt . Ghussain blamed the rival Palestinian group Fatah for allowing drugs to flourish in Gaza, and said they collaborated with Israel to destroy the area's youth
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/932638.html

 
Palestinian chief judge Tamimi accuses Hamas-affiliated media of libel
Tamimi called on these media to find out the truth before publishing news reports. He also called on websites to avoid spreading rumors without first checking their sources. Hamas-affiliated media had implicated Tamimi in a decision by the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority to cut off the salaries of Health Ministry employees in the Gaza Strip. Tamimi denied the accusation.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails& ID=26701

 
Hamas denies intentions to give up Gaza facilities for dialogue
The radical Islamic Hamas movement on Saturday asserted it would not hand over Gaza Strip ministries and security compounds in exchange for dialogue with President Mahmoud Abbas of rival Fatah. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri was commenting on reports by local independent news agency Maan which said that Hamas had accepted to give up the Gaza facilities, including crossing points, to the Palestinian presidency. 'All the information in Maan's report are untrue and aim at creating more troubles,' Abu Zuhri said. He added his movement was interested in dialogue, but accused Abbas and Fatah of 'blocking the talks by outlining unacceptable preconditions.'
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/news/article_137 9472.php

 
Two Palestinian military groups engage Israeli forces in Gaza
The military wing of the PFLP, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, and Fatah's Al-Aqsa Brigades claimed responsibility for firing a rocket-propelled grenade at an Israeli military vehicle east of Gaza City on Sunday. They said in a joint statement that their fighters clashed with the Israeli troops after the attack. It was not clear whether anyone was injured.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails& ID=26703

 
Imposed hunger in Gaza
Israel's government says that its sanctions are legal – i.e., are not a disproportionate reprisal, which is a war crime – so it is logically saying that these food and other cutoffs are not worse than the Gazan rocketing of Israel. So, if that is the case, Israel should be willing to agree to a simple switch: Gaza gets the power and right to effectively cut off 59% of Israel's food (as well as being able to shut its electricity, fuel, communications, medical supplies, travel rights, airspace etc.), and Israel gets the right to rocket Gaza as Gaza has rocketed Israel, i.e., in a manner that has killed Israeli civilians at the rate of roughly one every four months.
http://www.counterpunch.org/nairn12082007.html

 
The impossible forfeit
Israeli Arabs must not be expected to accept a Jewish state – While most Jews - but not all - clearly define Israel as a Jewish state, not every Israeli does. To ask a Muslim or Christian who is an Israeli citizen to regard himself as a citizen of a Jewish state is to expect him to declare himself a perennial outsider within his own country.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/932410.html

 
Shift in tactics brings safer Israeli streets
There has been only one suicide bombing in Israel in 2007, an attack in January that killed three people at a bakery in the Red Sea resort of Eilat. A Palestinian shift to rocket and mortar attacks as their main weapons against Israel has proved largely ineffective: Only two Israelis have died this year from more than 2,000 Qassam rockets and mortars fired into Israel. At the height of the attacks in 2002, there was an average of one suicide bombing a week. Israel's government began building its controversial separation barrier -- an expanding chain of concrete walls and electronic fencing that cuts through the West Bank and eliminates easy access to Israel for most Palestinians. Israel also assassinated top Hamas leaders. [how odd that no Western media mention Hamas's repeated one-sided truces and decisions to stop suicide bombing as a factor]
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071209/NEWS 07/712090631/1009

 
A Jewish Israel needs a wholesome, healed Palestine – by Rami G. Khouri
It seems obvious that Israeli and Palestinian demands for reciprocal national acknowledgement must be, above all, just that - reciprocal. Israelis cannot realistically expect the Arabs to recognise the Jewish nature of Israel in a void, unilaterally, or at the start of negotiations, without some reciprocal signals or firm gestures on the three issues that are of the same magnitude and importance for the Palestinians: the Palestinian state to be created in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem; the condition and rights of the Palestinian Arab citizens who make up nearly one-fifth of Israeli citizens; and a resolution of the Palestinian refugees' status.
http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=4162

 
London's burning for Dichter – by Gideon Levy
Bring Israeli war criminals to justice – even abroad. The Foreign Ministry advised [Internal Security Minister] Avi Dichter not to participate in a conference [in London], because he could be arrested for involvement in the assassination of Hamas leader Salah Shehadeh, when he was Shin Bet security service head. The one-ton bomb used to target Shehadeh in 2002 left 15 people dead. . . In the 'targeted killing' planned by Dichter's Shin Bet, Mohammed Matar lost his daughter, his daughter-in-law and four toddler grandchildren. The pictures of the horror from the Gazan neighborhood have haunted me ever since. Someone, I thought, must pay for this.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/932411.html

 
How they stole the bomb from us – by Uri Avnery
A real catastrophe: the American intelligence community, comprising 16 different agencies, reached a unanimous verdict: already in 2003, the Iranians terminated their efforts to produce a nuclear bomb, and they have not resumed them since. Even if they change their mind in the future, they will need at least five years to achieve their aim. Shouldn't we be overjoyed? Shouldn't the masses in Israel be dancing in the streets, as they did on November 29, 1947, sixty years ago? After all, we have been saved!
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/119 7157608/ 

 
Olmert: Israel will work to expose Iranian nuclear plan
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday his country would work alongside the International Atomic Energy Agency to 'expose discreet Iranian activity,' particularly regarding what he said was its nuclear weapons programme. He said Israel has not changed its position on the Iranian nuclear issue, and still sees it as a relevant threat. Last week other Israeli leaders warned against easing the stand on Iran and said it was probably continuing with its nuclear program. On Friday the deputy defense minister said Israel did not rule out a military strike over the nuclear issue.
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/news/article_137 9677.php

 
Nori al-Okbi: I am no trespasser.  I was born on this land
In the beginning of this week, Bedouin rights activist Nori al-Okbi returned to the al-Arakib land north-west of Be'er Sheba [in the Negev], from where his tribe had been expelled. He came directly from the hospital where he had undergone nine days' treatment and operation, following a police attack in which a tendon was torn in his hand. On the following day, when he went to a follow-up medical examination, he found on his return that the police once again confiscated his tent with all contents. 'They were not ashamed even to small-mindedly steal my pita bread and some bottles of mineral water. . . .
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=23906

 
Civil rights group: Israel has reached new heights of racism
Racism against Israel's Arab citizens has dramatically increased in the past year, including a 26 percent rise in anti-Arab incidents, according to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel's annual report. The number of Jews expressing feelings of hatred toward Arabs has doubled, the report stated. According to the June 2007 Democracy Index of the Israel Democracy Institute, for example, only half the public believes that Jews and Arabs must have full equal rights.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/932384.html

 
Israeli Holocaust survivor's last relative may be forced to leave
Last month Anna Jagnos-Paliashkon, 80, petitioned the High Court of Justice to protect what is left of her family. Jagnos, a Holocaust survivor, immigrated to Israel five years ago with her family from Ukraine. Her husband is in a geriatric hospital. Her daughter died of cancer a year ago. She herself underwent open-heart surgery last July. And now the Interior Ministry wants to deport her son-in-law, Sergei Dzhedan, who takes care of her, because his wife died before he completed the naturalization process.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/932429.html

 
Former Arafat aide discusses leader's life in new book
Marwan Kanafani, has published a new book about the life and times of the iconic leader entitled Years of Hope. Kanafani was a member of Arafat's entourage for the last 20 years of his life. The 600-page book is divided into six parts each containing several chapters chronologically depicting Palestinian history, except for the first part which discusses the death of Yasser Arafat and his long journey from Egypt to Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia, back to the Palestinian territories, and finally his illness and death in France.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails& ID=26696

 
Islamophobia and Holocaust denial – by Norman Finkelstein
A frequent allegation used to demonize Muslims is that Holocaust denial is widespread in the Muslim world. Yet, there are many understandable reasons why Holocaust denial is to be found in the Muslim world. The assertion that the Nazis exterminated millions of Jews in an assembly-line fashion does seem hard to believe. Moreover, because Israel has consistently lied about the history of the Israel-Arab conflict, alleging that Palestine was empty before the Jews came and that the Arabs are responsible for all the wars Israel has fought, it is unsurprising that many Arabs would also conclude that Israel is lying about what happened to Jews during World War II. It is also true that the Nazi holocaust has been used as a weapon to legitimize Israel's crimes against the Palestinians as well as against its Arab neighbors.
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=11&ar=1369

 
America's Palestinians – Seize the land, chain the peace activists
While Homeland Security announced the forced occupation and takeover of Lipan Apache lands in Texas for the border wall, I was at the Arizona border once again being bullied by the US Border Patrol. All along the border, Homeland Security's Border Patrol is intimidating and harassing the people who have lived here all their lives. The Tohono O'odham have lived here since time immemorial. Now their land has been seized and taken over by the Border Patrol, the contractor Boeing and the invading National Guardsmen, for construction of the border wall. The graves of O'odham ancestors have been dug up, according to the traditional O'odham now speaking out against the militarization and abuse.
http://www.counterpunch.org/norrell12082007.html