The settlements – Israel's most criminal venture – by Gideon Levy
A festive day for peace: Israel is planning to announce a freeze on construction in the settlements as compensation for refusing to discuss the core issues. Undoubtedly, Israel wants peace. But a tiny detail seems to have been forgotten: Israel has signed a series of binding agreements to freeze settlement activity, which it never intended to fulfill. Of the 40 years of occupation, only during three has construction been stopped despite all the agreements and promises to do so. There is no reason to believe that Israel will behave differently this time. Of all Israel's iniquities in the occupied territories - the brutality, the assassinations, the siege, the hunger, the blackouts, the checkpoints and the mass arrests - nothing serves as witness to its real intentions than the settlements. Israel does not want peace; Israel wants occupation.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/925054.html

 
FM Livni: Palestinian state is solution for all Palestinians, including Israeli Arabs
She said on Sunday that the future Palestinian state would provide a solution to Palestinians worldwide - including Israeli Arabs - in their struggle for national expression. "It must be clear to everyone that the State of Israel is a national homeland for the Jewish people," Livni said, adding that the national demands of Israeli Arabs should end the moment a Palestinian state is established.  Livni's comments infuriated Israeli Arab members of Knesset.  Hadash party Chairman Mohammad Barakeh said that "the Palestinian Arabs in Israel live in their homeland. They did not immigrate. It is the state that immigrated." MK Ahmed Tibi (Ra'am-Ta'al) said that Livni has shown her "extreme face," adding that she is preparing the ground for the expulsion of Arab citizens from Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/925328.html

 
MK Eldad says PA Arabs already have a country - Jordan
National Union Knesset Member Prof. Aryeh Eldad declared that Arabs in Judea, Samaria and Gaza have no need for a new Arab state because one already exists for them in Jordan. "70% of Jordan is Palestinian," he said, criticizing Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni for thinking that Israeli Arabs will be satisfied with a new PA state within the current borders of Israel. "Whoever surrenders Judea and Samaria will not succeed in stopping the Galilee and Negev" from becoming part of the proposed PA state, MK Eldad added.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/136660

 
U.S. said to be unhappy with Israeli positions
JERUSALEM (AP) -- The U.S. is pressuring Israel to declare a complete freeze on West Bank settlement construction ahead of a high-stakes peace conference, rejecting Israel's long-standing policy of expanding existing communities, Israeli government officials say. The U.S. also wants Israel to release more Palestinian prisoners than it plans to free before the meeting, expected to take place in Annapolis, Maryland, later this month, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal the information.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/ISRAEL_PALESTINIANS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-11-18-05-50-02

 
See you at the next summit – by Zvi Bar'el
The Annapolis conference is over before it started. . . . Next came Olmert's impressive promise to dismantle unauthorized outposts and freeze construction in the settlements. But which outposts is Olmert talking about? Those that have already won legal status or those that will in the future? And which construction does he plan to freeze? Construction that has already started and is about to be completed? Construction in communities slated to remain in Israel's hands after the withdrawal? Construction that will be included in the framework of border adjustments? Or 'only' construction designed to meet the needs of natural growth? And in general, will the freeze come after the Palestinians fulfill the road map's directive to stop terror, before this, or in parallel? And what does it mean to wipe out terror? Dismantle Hamas?
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/925053.html 

 
Settler enclave mocks Mideast peace prospects
HEBRON – [The newest settlement, established this September] does not yet have the iron fences and barbed wire of the more established settlements in the occupied West Bank, but it has a checkpoint, a small guard tower, and a sniper's nest on the roof under camouflage netting. . . The settlements continue to expand against a backdrop of peace negotiations aimed at creating a viable Palestinian state in the West Bank. Earlier this month the Israeli Peace Now movement which monitors settler activity reported that construction is under way in 88 settlements, ranging from single buildings to developing hundreds of homes.
http://www.metimes.com/Politics/2007/11/16/settler_enclave_mocks_mideast_peace_prospects/afp/  

 
Israelis oust wildcat settlers from West Bank
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel on Thursday removed a dozen Jewish settlers and hardline right-wing militants from a wildcat settlement called Harhivi near the Eilon Moreh settlement close to the Palestinian town of Nablus, where they have been entrenched since September, police said. Israel's Peace Now movement estimates there are around 100 inhabited wildcat settlements in the West Bank -- 56 of which were established after former prime minister Ariel Sharon came to power in March 2001.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071115/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictwestbanksettlers_071115135830

 
Palestinians seek pre-conference settlement freeze
Western diplomats say Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is under Western and Arab pressure to go beyond the partial freeze he was expected to announce before the U.S.-sponsored conference planned this month as a way to bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The diplomats say Olmert sought to exempt the occupied West Bank's major settlement blocs, which Israel wants to keep under any final peace deal. Washington was cool to that idea, an Israeli source said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071117/wl_nm/palestinians_israel_dc_2

 
Erekat: No agreement without release of political prisoners
Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat on Saturday stated that the Palestinian negotiating team would not agree to any peace deal that did not include a release of political prisoners from Israeli jails. "Israel adopts racist views with regard to the prisoners issue; therefore, there should be a balanced outlook towards the women and sick prisoners. We no longer tolerate Israeli handling of the issue," Erekat said. He also confirmed that "any agreement with the Israeli side should not be signed unless it guarantees reopening of all the Palestinian Authority's offices in east Jerusalem, removal of all Israeli settlements and the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the West Bank."
http://www.imemc.org/article/51583

 
Sources: Palestinians drop out of all deals set for joint draft
The Palestinian Authority has retracted its support for all agreements set until now for a joint document to be presented alongside Israel at an upcoming regional peace conference, senior political sources in Jerusalem said Sunday. The sources said that the talks between the sides have stalled again. The Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams will meet once more on Sunday to attempt to bridge the rifts between them..
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/925282.html

 
The young prisoners of the West Bank
In January, 15-year-old Ayat was arrested at a checkpoint in Hebron after Israeli soldiers discovered a kitchen knife in her school bag. She had no history of violence or trouble, and did not injure, or threaten, anyone. But interrogators took her into custody and hours later -- outside the presence of a parent or lawyer -- she signed a confession stating she had planned to use the knife to kill an Israeli soldier. The confession was written in Hebrew, a language she doesn't read. Since then, she has been held without bail. During the last seven years of violence in the Middle East, Israel has put more than 5,000 Palestinian children behind bars, human rights groups and Palestinian officials estimate.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.childprisoners18nov18,0,84328.story?track=rss

 
Israeli troops storm school in Qalqilia
An Israeli patrol broke into a school yard in the northern West bank town of Azzun, near Qalqilia, on Sunday morning. The principal of Azzun secondary boys school, Ayman Majd, said the soldiers stormed the school at 8:15am. Asked to leave by the school's staff, the Israeli commander said he could storm any school "whenever he wishes, and nobody can prevent that."
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=26347

 
Turkish team: Israelis destroying Muslim artifacts in Jerusalem
The Turkish delegation that visited Jerusalem in March to inspect the excavations at the Mughrabi Gate near the Temple Mount finished writing its report in July, but the Turkish government decided against publishing it out of concern it would harm Turkish-Israeli relations. "The work being conducted by Israel does not abide by the appropriate [excavation standards], and the dig testifies to the fact that Israel is interested in destroying artifacts from the Islamic periods," the report quoted the envoy as saying.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1195127525875&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Arabs foil PA condemnation of Hamas takeover of Gaza at U.N.
NEW YORK - The Arab lobby at the United Nations, backed by Russia, foiled a Palestinian Authority initiative to include a condemnation of Hamas' seizure of the Gaza Strip in a UN resolution against Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/925220.html

 
Siege continues at refugee camp; PFLP vows vengeance if PA seizes fighters
PA security forces laid siege to Ein Beit El-Ma refugee camp near Nablus on Sunday in an attempt to detain four PFLP fighters and one Fatah member accused of illegally firing their weapons. The PFLP's military wing, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, announced Sunday that it would react 'fiercely' if Palestinian security forces arrest any of its activists ahead of a peace conference in the United States this month. Palestinian officials said that consultations are ongoing among Palestinian, American, and Israeli authorities in order to decide the fate of the PFLP fighters.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=26354

 
PA Security seizes seven more Hamas members in the West Bank
A Hamas press statement said Palestinian officers seized three people, including Sheikh Muhammad Salama, the imam of a mosque in the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia. The other detainees were from the cities of Nablus and Jenin in the north, and Ramallah in the central West Bank.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=26349

 
Palestinian interior minister: "PA will disband all armed groups"
including the Al-Aqsa Brigades, affiliated with his own ruling Fatah party. Al-Yahya said that the last seven years of armed Intifada, or uprising, have been "disastrous" for the Palestinian situation. The Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority is currently implementing a US-supported multimillion dollar security plan in the West Bank city of Nablus, that while reducing crime, has been seen by some as a political move to consolidate Fatah's authority in the West Bank.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=26343

 
Under siege, life in Gaza just shrinks
A trickle of the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza can now leave their tiny coastal strip for any reason whatsoever. The streets are ghostly, with little traffic, and the private economy is dying, lacking needed imports and unable to export. Israel says that it will ensure that no one starves in Gaza, and that the essentials of life will be provided. But Israel also wants to see that Hamas suffers, by making Gazans suffer, to impress on them that the best path lies in accommodation and negotiation with Israel for a Palestinian state.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/weekinreview/18erlanger.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

 
VIDEO interviews with four Gazans about their life now
a mother of 13 children in Jabaliya Camp, the owner of an idled  factory, the deputy director of a Catholic school, a farmer.
http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/weekinreview/20071118_GAZA_FEATURE/index.html

 
Israeli defense officials predict limited conflict in Gaza after summit
Senior defense officials believe that if the Annapolis peace conference fails, this would lead to a wide-scale military operation in Gaza. Army sources fear that Hamas could reach its full military capacity within a few months, and the consensus among the IDF top ranks is therefore that the sooner Israel attacks in Gaza, the better it would be in terms of minimizing Israeli casualties. According to intelligence sources, Hamas is just 2-3 years away from obtaining the same military capabilities it took Hizbullah a decade to obtain. Experts estimate that the Palestinian rocket range, which in recent years has grown from two kilometers to 12, could soon reach 20 kilometers and put Ashdod within rocket range.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3472673,00.html

 
Human rights groups again seek court injunction against Gaza power cut
Ten Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups on Sunday filed a petition with the Israeli Supreme Court of of Justice to grant an injunction against the government's decision to cut fuel and electricity supplies to the Gaza Strip. While the same groups sucessfully filed such a petition several weeks ago, with the result that the Israeli Attorney General ordered the government to refrain from implementation while the impact of such a move be examined, the Israeli administration ignored the petition and, this week, proceeded with the initial stages of the plan, cutting the power supply by 12%
http://www.imemc.org/article/51591

 
Al-Quds Brigade members survive Israeli air strike in southern Gaza
Eyewitnesses reported that several missiles were fired at one car as it drove along Fukhari road in eastern Khan Younis city, in the southern Gaza Strip. No further details have been released. The al-Quds brigades are the armed wing of Islamic Jihad.
http://www.imemc.org/article/51585

 
Human Rights Watch: inquiry into Gaza rally deaths must result in prosecutions
More than 90 demonstrators were wounded and seven lost their lives when Hamas security forces opened fire. In a speech on Thursday, deposed Prime Minister Haniyeh announced the creation of an "honest, fair and transparent" commission to investigate Monday's violence. He also ordered the release of Fatah members and supporters arrested after the demonstration, except for those "involved in riots and disturbances." [long story about the incident, with eyewitness reports]
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=26357

 
Blair: PA, Israel to unveil plans to spur Palestinian employment
Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad will announce a number of economic projects that could create tens of thousands of jobs for Palestinians and give a sense of progress on the ground, international Mideast envoy Tony Blair said Sunday. Among the projects will be a Turkish-sponsored industrial park in the southern West Bank, a sewage project in northern Gaza and road construction in the West Bank, a Palestinian official said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/925317.html

 
Making the inevitable happen – by Bernard Avishai and Sam Bahour
Anybody who knows anything about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict knows that the leaders expected at a summit meeting in Annapolis, Md., later this month, won't devise a deal. That's because the outlines of the deal have already been devised, in bits and pieces, through the Clinton parameters; the Taba summit; the Arab League proposal; international law, including myriad U.N. resolutions; and semiformal understandings, such as the Geneva Initiative.  So couples therapy is not what's needed at this stage; it's tough love.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-op-avishai18nov18,1,4755732.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

 
How to get out? – by Uri Avnery
Not one of the three leaders is still dreaming of an achievement. All they hope for now is to minimize the damage - but how to get out of a situation like this? As usual, our side is the most creative at this task. After all, we are experts in building roadblocks, walls and fences. This week, an obstacle larger then the Great Wall of China appeared. Ehud Olmert demanded that, before any negotiations, the Palestinians "recognize Israel as a Jewish state". Is there any precedent at all for a state to demand the recognition of its domestic regime? What is a "Jewish state"? That has never been spelled out. Are the Palestinians required to recognize something that is the subject of debate in Israel itself?
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1195337091/

 
FILM REVIEW: To see if I'm smiling
In the documentary, the six former female conscripts describe how they were traumatized for life by the residual guilt that they humiliated, abused and papered over torture of Palestinians. One of the female soldiers is shown stripping a Palestinian man to his underwear and then beat him. Another one is scrubbing corpses of Palestinians to hide signs of abuse by Israeli soldiers. "How in hell did I think I'd ever be able to forget?" she says, fighting back tears.
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/story-11170750243.htm

 
Missiles stolen from Israeli military base in the Golan Heights
15 anti-tank missiles were stolen this weekend from an Israeli military base in the Golan Heights, Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv reported on Sunday. The Hebrew-language newspaper quoted Israeli military sources said that the Israeli Northern Command could not explain the robbery, given the tight security at the base.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=26353

 
Despair, hope in ruined Lebanon camp
NAHR EL BARED, Lebanon – Palestinian refugee families driven out by summer battles between the army and militants get started on repairs – When  Mowaffak Akel first returned to his four-room home in this shattered refugee camp after almost four months away, he found shell casings and spent ammunition cartridges on the floor. "My wife had a panic attack when she saw the photo of our late son lying on the floor covered with dirt," Akel said. "We felt total despair."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-camp18nov18,1,7064421.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

 
United Arab Emirates call for more help to Palestinian refugees
NEW YORK — The UAE issued a strong call yesterday to intensify global efforts to alleviate sufferings of Palestinian refugees. In a statement, Hamad Obaid Al Zaabi, Member of the UAE delegation at UN, asked the participating countries to double their contribution to strengthen the budget of United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA).
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2007/November/theuae_November449.xml&section=theuae&col =  

 
BOOK REVIEW: Treacherous Alliance by Trita Parsi
As the prospects of a limited 'strike' or a full out attack on Iran become more and more familiar in the media, and as the end date for the Bush-Cheney regime in the United States draws ever nearer to its close, a better understanding of the tripartite relationship between Iran, Israel, and the U.S. requires a strong presentation of the underlying so far verbal conflict between the three governments. Trita Parsi succeeds in this goal in Treacherous Alliance, in which he discusses the relationship between the three.
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/story-11170750130.htm