Israeli operation in Rafah ; one Palestinian kidnapped, another injured

In the early hours of Friday morning, according to Palestinian sources, special forces of the Israeli army invaded house in the Al Jaradat neighborhood of Rafah in the southern part of the Gaza.

http://www.imemc.org/article/50966

Nablus woman in serious condition after being injured by army fire two days ago

Palestinian medical sources in Nablus, in the northern part of the West Bank, reported on Thursday that the condition of Rania Al Shakh-sheer, who was shot and injured by army gunfire two days ago, is still in a critical condition, and that she underwent five military operations so far.

http://www.imemc.org/article/50953

Army invades Bethlehem refugee camp , one man kidnapped

On Thursday at dawn, around thirty Israeli soldiers backed by armored vehicles invaded Dehiesha refugee camp in the West Bank city of Bethlehem and broke into a number of houses. Eyewitnesses reported that the soldiers ransacked several homes.

http://www.imemc.org/article/50969

Two Palestinians injured, peace activist held in Wall protest

Two Palestinians were injured and an international peace activist was abducted on Friday, during the weekly non-violent demonstration against the illegal Wall in the village of al Ma'sarah, south of the West bank city of Bethlehem.

http://www.imemc.org/article/50968

B'Tselem : Settler violence on the rise in Hebron

The Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem, reports that settler violence in the West Bank city of Hebron has increased in recent months and Israeli security forces do little to combat the problem. Researchers from B'Tselem and the Association for Civil Rights say that there has been a sharp rise in the number of reported attacks on Palestinians by settlers and Israeli security forces. They point to the establishment in Hebron of the new settlement in the Palestinian a-Ras district as the main reason for the deteriorating situation.

http://www.imemc.org/article/50965

Exiled and suffering: Palestinian refugees in Lebanon

Today, some 300,000 Palestinian refugees reside in Lebanon and constitute nearly a tenth of the country's population.(2) Most are people and their descendants who were expelled from or otherwise fled their homes and lands nearly 60 years ago during the events surrounding the creation of the state of Israel and the Arab-Israeli war of 1948(3). They constitute one of the world's most long-established refugee populations and they remain in a form of limbo. They have virtually no prospect in the foreseeable future of being allowed to return to their lands and homes located primarily in what is now Israel, and to a much smaller extent in the Israeli-Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), even though they have a well-established right to return under international law. They also remain subject to various restrictions in the host country, Lebanon, which places them in a situation akin to that of second class citizens and denies them access to their full range of human rights, even though most of them were born and raised in Lebanon. Thousands have been further displaced even while in exile in Lebanon: some 30,000 remain displaced by the May-September 2007 clashes between the Fatah al-Islam armed group and Lebanese armed forces at the Nahr al-Bared camp. Just over half – some 53 percent - of Palestinian refugees who live in Lebanon, reside in war-torn, decaying and poverty-stricken camps. The conditions for those living outside the camps in towns, "gatherings", villages and rural areas, are also poor.

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/THOU-7853TT?OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=ACOS-635PFR

Implementation of the Agreement on Movement and Access

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/THOU-7853TT?OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=ACOS-635PFR

PA to shut down Islamic charities

In a move aimed at undermining Hamas, the Palestinian Authority government in Ramallah decided Thursday to dismantle all Islamic charitable organizations in the West Bank . Hamas condemned the decision as a "declaration of war" on the needy and warned that thousands of families would be affected.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380595998&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

P.A security forces arrest several Hamas members in the West Bank, Hamas says

Hamas media sources reported on Wednesday that Palestinian security forces, loyal to Fateh movement, arrested on recently several members of the movement in the West Bank cities of Nablus and Salfit.

http://www.imemc.org/article/50954

Lieberman calls more settlements activities in Jerusalem

Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs, Avigdor Lieberman, called on the government on Thursday to intensify its settlement activities in the occupied East Jerusalem, and stated that Israel mist build more settlements regardless of American objections.

http://www.imemc.org/article/50958

Shas: If J'lem even mentioned in Annapolis, we'll bolt coalition

If the division of Jerusalem is even mentioned at the regional peace summit in Annapolis next month, Shas will leave the government coalition, party chairman Minister Eli Yishai told Haaretz on Thursday.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=914844&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1

Jerusalem Disposessed - a Photography Exhibit by Active Stills

http://www.icahd.org/eng/news.asp?menu=5&submenu=1&item=487

Israel: Rebuke Over 'Human Shield'

The former Israeli commander of the West Bank, Brig. Gen. Yair Golan, was reprimanded after an investigation of a "human shield" episode in Nablus, in the West Bank, in March, the army said. The investigation followed the release of a tape of the incident filmed by Associated Press Television, showing a young man forced at gunpoint to lead soldiers from house to house. The army chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, also ruled that General Golan, would be passed over for promotion for the next nine months. The use of Palestinian civilians to shield Israeli soldiers was outlawed by the Israeli Supreme Court in 2005.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/19/world/middleeast/19briefs-general.html?ex=1350446400&en=311e562cec4c4b6f&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Palestinian novelist summoned for interrogation

Israeli intelligence has summoned the well-known Palestinian novelist Waleed al Hodali to present himself immediately to the Ofera detention center, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, for interrogation. A l Hodali, a resident of Ramallah, had been imprisoned in Israeli jails for twelve years and was only released few years ago. His wife, I'taf E'lieyan, is currently in prison and has been sentenced to more than two years of administrative detention in the Israeli facility of Telmond.

http://www.imemc.org/article/50949

Short Documentary on Academic Freedom

A video posted on YouTube explores the contest over academic freedom, with a focus on recent Columbia University controversies. The video looks at Campus Watch, Daniel Pipes, Hamid Dabashi, Joseph Massad, Rashid Khalidi, and Hamid Dabashi. It also shows Stephen Walt about the impact of his thesis critiquing the Israel lobby.

http://www.kabobfest.com/2007/10/short-documentary-on-academic-freedom.html

Egypt: IDF soldiers are aiding arms smuggling to Gaza Strip

An Egyptian document distributed in Congress asserts that Israeli soldiers cooperate with smugglers in allowing arms and military equipment into the Gaza Strip. The document was relayed to senior Israeli officials where it has served to intensify concerns in Jerusalem about Egypt's willingness to stem the flow of weapons from its territory into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Srip.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/rosnerBlog.jhtml?itemNo=914200&contrassID=25&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=1&listSrc=Y&art=1

When PM Blair sat on the Wall

What are the Palestinians supposed to compromise on.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/columnists/eamon-mccann/article3073494.ece

Palestinians live as "ghosts" in Gaza

Officially, Mahmoud Jnaid does not exist. The 25-year-old Palestinian almost made that a reality earlier this month when he doused himself with petrol and tried to set himself alight. Jnaid is one of about 54,000 displaced Palestinians who returned to Gaza and the West Bank from abroad after an interim peace accord in 1993, but still have no identity cards because Israel refuses to approve them. Following years of silence, they recently started holding weekly protests in Hamas-run Gaza to demand the documents, which they need to travel as well as for daily basics like opening a bank account or getting a driving licence.

http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L1887358.htm

Saree Makdisi: Academic freedom at risk on campus

Our campuses are being poisoned by an atmosphere of surveillance and harassment. However, the disruption of academic freedom has grave implications beyond campus walls.

http://palestinechronicle.com/story-10190735238.htm

Just talk

Ordinary Palestinians have no reason to treat the upcoming Annapolis conference as anything but theatre, writes Khaled Amayreh in Ramallah.

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/867/re1.htm

What Christians Don't Know About Israel

American Jews sympathetic to Israel dominate key positions in all areas of our government where decisions are made regarding the Middle East. This being the case, is there any hope of ever changing U.S. policy? President Bill Clinton as well as most members of Congress support Israel-and they know why. U.S. Jews sympathetic to Israel donate lavishly to their campaign coffers.

http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2007/10/19/what-christians-dont-know-about-israel/

Concert cancellation victory against normalization

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and all its partners, individuals and organizations active in art, culture and human rights, regard the cancellation of the Jericho-Tel Aviv event, planned by "One Voice" to take place on 18 October, as a substantial accomplishment for the Palestinian boycott movement. A solid partnership between diverse civil society organizations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory has succeeded in thwarting the event's organizers' attempt to mislead public opinion and to use deceptive slogans to market a political program that concedes some fundamental Palestinian rights. Without the broad grassroots support among Palestinian and Arab institutions and leading figures for the statement calling for boycotting the event, the organizers would not have been compelled to cancel this huge production handsomely funded by dubious foreign sources.

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9052.shtml 

Dr Mustafa Al Barghuthi: 'No peace partner in Israel'

The Palestinian legislator and the Secretary General of the National Palestinian Initiative said on Wednesday that no one should dilute Palestinian issues or remove any of them from the final status list, whether it is the position of Jerusalem, the dismantling of the settlements or the Seperation Wall.

http://www.imemc.org/article/50950

Audio: Crossing the Line interviews Nadia Hijab

This week on Crossing The Line: With the looming November peace conference almost here, many see the event as nothing more than a mere photo-op for the leaders of those countries who have been invited to take part. The US government's role in supporting the Israeli occupation is not a secret, as the US gives billions in unconditional aid to Israel each year. But has this always been the case? Host Christopher Brown speaks with Nadia Hijab, senior fellow at the Institute for Palestine Studies about why, when and how the US stood up in the past to the Israeli juggernaut.

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9048.shtml

Robertson Warns Of God's Wrath : The Reverend Pat Robertson says the United States will be "risking the wrath of God" if it forces Israel to surrender East Jerusalem to the Palestinians.

http://www.kotv.com/news/national/story/?id=137985

A Friday in Jerusalem during Ramadan

This is the second dispatch from Gill Swain, a local writer who has traveled to Palestine1 to work for peace with the World Council of Churches. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims pile out of a multitude of buses, crowd through three ancient gates in the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem and squeeze along a few selected lanes leading to the Al Aqsa mosque. It is a Friday morning during the holy month of Ramadan and for hours the astonishing flow of humanity surges through three or four narrow streets, directed by groups of Israeli soldiers standing watchful on every corner. There is a loud clamour of voices, insistent music blares from the market stalls, people are pushing and jostling and batting away the merchandise which dangles in their faces as they hurry to their prayers.

http://www.stmgrts.org.uk/archives/2007/10/a_friday_in_jerusalem_during_ramadan.html

Palestinian mother and daughter separated since the massacre at Sabra and Shatila reunite

A Palestinian woman was reading poetry on Abu Dhabi TV and was recognized by one of her former neighbors from the Sabra and Shatila camps in Lebanon. The woman had a daughter that she thought was killed in the massacre, she wasn't. The daughter likewise thought her mother had been killed, but she wasn't. This is their reunion.

http://palestineandiraq.blogspot.com/2007/10/ohmygod.html