Home • Letters
Background • Links
What Can I Do?
Events • Cartoons
Search • Contact
About Us • Donate
E-Mail Us

Palestine Diaries

courtesy The Electronic Intifada

This webpage uses Javascript to display some content. Please enable Javascript in your browser and reload this page.

 

Map of Israel's planned "security fence", adapted for clarity from Gush Shalom map. Gush Shalom notes: The Israeli government did not publish full, official maps of the wall. The path of the Eastern wall was compiled by the Land Research Center and the Palestinian Hydrology Group, based on expropriation orders issued to Palestinian land owners.

Get Audio/Video Player
Video Archives
Audio Archives

VIDEO
BBC:
Gap Between CIA
And Bush Stories
posted 10/9/02

VIDEO
BBC:
Region As
Unsettled As It's
Ever Been
10/9/02

VIDEO
BBC:
"No compromise
here"
posted 10/8/02

VIDEO
BBC:
Another Gaza
Attack
posted 10/6/02

VIDEO
BBC:
PA's Erekat: We
Need International
Protection Now
posted 10/6/02

VIDEO
BBC:
Khalil Shikaki, CPR:
'Chances slim for
negotiation'
posted 9/28/02

PHOTOS
Islam Online:
Arafat HQ
Destroyed
posted 9/25/02

PHOTOS
Islam Online:
Nine Palestinians Killed In Gaza
posted 9/24/02

VIDEO
Konscious:
Metal of Dishonor
The Face of US
War on Iraq
posted 9/18/02

VIDEO
BBC:
Sabra & Shatila
Is Sharon A
War Criminal?
posted 9/13/02

VIDEO
CBC:
Israeli
Army Was
Embarrassed
By Release
of Video
released 3/18/02
posted 9/6/02

Video Archives

Conflict..

Israeli army lifts its blockade on Jenin after four months ReliefWeb 1/2/2004 JENIN, West Bank, Jan 2 (AFP) - The Israeli army loosened the noose on the northern West Bank city of Jenin Friday after more than four months of blockade, an AFP correspondent reported. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) had announced Thursday that the blockade had been lifted but tanks were still blocking the entrances to the city on Thursday night. They pulled back on Friday morning, putting an end to a tight blockade which was imposed on August 19 following a suicide attack in Jerusalem....Israeli troops can still go in and out of Jenin and other cities as they please to carry out searches and arrests. Tens of Palestinians Arrested In West Bank, Curfews Imposed West Of Nablus International Middle East Media Center 1/2/2004 Tens of Palestinians arrested through the West Bank: Earlier this dawn, ten Palestinians were arrested from Al-Yamoon village near Jenin; these arrests came after the troops invaded the village and stayed in it for several hours. / Eight Palestinians killed last week, including two children: As a result of the Israeli policy of using excessive force against the Palestinians in the territories, eight Palestinians were killed last week alone. / Army impose curfew over several villages West of Nablus: The military imposed curfew earlier this morning over several areas located at the west of Nablus . The curfew was imposed after the army entered several villages announcing curfew over them. New Year in the OPT: IOF Expels a Palestinian Prisoner, Arrests 24 Others in West Bank International Press Center 1/2/2004 GAZA, Palestine, January 2, 2004 (IPC + Agencies) - - As the Palestinian people prepare to embrace the dawn of the new year 2004, the Israeli occupying forces (IOF) expelled a Palestinian prisoner to the Gaza Strip on Thursday, while arresting 24 others in separate raids on West Bank cities. Palestinian security sources said that the Israeli occupying forces expelled Mustafa Abed, 40, a father of seven children from Nablus City, to the Gaza Strip. Israeli military sources also confirmed the expulsion of Abed. ...despite the news talking about the IOF uplifting the siege imposed on the Jenin governorate, Palestinian security sources said that the Israeli occupying forces arrested early this morning seven brothers of Palestinian resistance activists in the governorate....eyewitnesses said that the Israeli occupying troops arrested today 13 Palestinian citizens, mostly youngsters, in the city of Hebron, and led them into an undisclosed location. IDF lifts blockades from all W. Bank cities, except Nablus Ha'aretz 1/2/2004 Israel Defense Forces in recent days has lifted blockades and closures from all Palestinian cities in the West Bank, except for Nablus, Channel Two television reported Friday. IDF troops continued operations in the West Bank city on Friday, and were attacked in two incidents - shots were fired at soldiers and an explosive device detonated next to a jeep. Also, north of Jenin shots were fired at troops. There were no injuries in any of the incidents. Israel Kills Palestinian Boy for Building Stone Barrier, Truce Efforts Resume An Nahar 1/2/2004 Efforts toward a truce to stop three years of bloody Israeli-Palestinian violence were resuming in the shadow of Hamas threats for revenge after a botched Israeli air strike in Gaza, with Israeli security forces on high alert. Osama el-Baz, top aide to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, was due in the West Bank on Thursday for talks with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, part of Egyptian efforts to forge a cease-fire....In the West Bank late Wednesday, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian who was in a group of youths throwing rocks at Israeli cars on a road west of Nablus, relatives said. The military said the youth was building a stone barrier across the road. 2 officers wounded in Nablus Jerusalem Post 1/2/2004 Two IDF officers were moderately wounded when a bomb exploded near their jeep while searching for fugitives in the Nablus casbah on Thursday. The officers were taken to the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva. In an unrelated matter, after assessing the situation on the ground, the army lifted a four-month-old blockade on Jenin, which became the sixth West Bank city to be granted unrestricted access to its environs. Roadside Blast Hits Nablus; No Casualties The Guardian 1/2/2004 NABLUS, West Bank (AP) - A roadside bomb blew up next to an Israeli army jeep Friday night in the West Bank city of Nablus, where the military has been carrying out raids against militants, the army said. There were no casualties. The explosion reverberated throughout the city and knocked out power in the area. Witnesses said the Israeli army had closed off the area, and emergency military vehicles rushed to the scene. A helicopter hovered overhead. Civilians in the cross-hairs/Just another day By Khaled Amayreh, Al-Ahram Weekly on-line 1 - 7 January 2004 As Israel rages through the West Bank and Gaza, Bethlehem celebrates another dismal Christmas under occupation -- The Israeli army killed Palestinian civilians in retaliation for two Palestinian attacks targeted mainly against Israeli soldiers. Israeli troops, backed by tanks, armoured personnel carriers and helicopter gunships, retaliated by attacking Palestinian towns and villages, killing and maiming scores of Palestinian civilians. / Just another day: As in the three previous years, Christmas joy is in conspicuously short supply in the birthplace of Jesus. As in towns throughout the West Bank, life is steeped in poverty and despair. Sealed within the town by a series of Israeli military checkpoints, with the memories of tanks rolling through the streets, it is difficult for residents to remember that "'tis the season to be jolly". IOF Wounds a Boy in Tulkarem, Demolishes Four Houses in Khan Younis and Attacks 70, Including Internationals in Budrus Village International Press Center 12/31/2003 WEST BANK, December 31, 2003 (IPC + WAFA) - - The Israeli occupying forces shot and wounded a boy in Tulkarem refugee camp and arrested several, fully demolished four houses west of Khan Younis refugee camp and wounded 70 Palestinians in Budrus Village of Ramallah. A 12 year old Mahmoud Aref was wounded today noon in Tulkarem refugee camp by a live bullet in the back, Palestinian medical sources said. Palestinian security sources said that the Israeli troops swooped on the camp day by day and opened a hail of gunfire indiscriminately and started to intimidate and traumatize the citizens there. Don't serve in Gaza, soldier told The Guardian 1/2/2004 An Israeli man has forbidden his daughter from serving in the Gaza Strip settlement of Netzarim, saying he would rather see her imprisoned than risk her life. Moshe Ofek, a major in the military reserves, said Gali, who was conscripted into the army about two months ago, had not received the necessary training to serve in the battle zone that Netzarim has become. The army said Ms Ofek had been stationed according to army rules, and was being treated as an AWOL soldier. Occupation authorities arrest two brothers Palestinian Information Center 1/2/2004 Ramallah - Zionist occupation forces arrested Thursday two brothers in the village of Qibya to the west of Ramallah city after ransacking their family house. Local sources said that Zionist soldiers in ten army jeeps stormed the village and broke into the house of Khaled Hussein Ghaithan, 28, and arrested him along with his brother Hassan, 21, and their nephew Osama, who arrived on a visit to his relatives from Jordan. Settlers unmoved by Golan Heights politics CTV News 1/2/2004 Although Israeli cabinet ministers' approval of a plan to expand settlements on the occupied Golan Heights has angered Syria and threatened efforts to resume peace talks, Jewish settlers are applauding the move. Micha Vaadia is a winemaker at the Golan Heights Winery, established in the fertile, "disputed" highlands of northern Israel in 1983. The operation has grown to produce nearly four million bottles a year -- staffed entirely by local Jewish settlers....Results of a poll commissioned by state broadcaster Israel Radio and released Thursday showed 53 percent of Israelis support an expansion of Golan settlements. Photo Report: Home demolitions in Rafah Rafah Today The Israeli army has destroyed over 350 homes and damaged 500 in the Rafah neighborhoods. This is being done to make way for a gigantic steel wall along the Egyptian border, on which Israel began construction in October 2002. IDF winds up five-month siege of Jenin Ha'aretz 1/2/2004 The Israel Defense Forces decided yesterday to lift the blockade of the West Bank city of Jenin for the first time since the hudna (cease-fire) collapsed in August 2003. The decision followed a decline in the number of terror warnings in the area. The IDF will remove some of the roadblocks surrounding the city and will enable Palestinian cars to pass through other IDF roadblocks. Israeli army lifts Jenin blockade Al-Jazeera 1/2/2004 Palestinians in a flashpoint West Bank city now separated from Israel by a controversial barrier have awoken to a rare sight - streets empty of Israeli forces who had lifted a long encirclement. The army said on Friday removal of the strict blockade it imposed on Jenin in August - after a truce declared by Palestinian factions collapsed under Israeli pressure - was "in keeping with assessments of the security situation"....Residents said routes were opened between the city's eight entrances and surrounding villages after Israeli troops dismantled roadblocks and tanks pulled back.

Diplomacy..

Arafat, Egypt discuss peace process Al-Jazeera 1/2/2004 Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat has met with Egyptian President Husni Mubarak's top advisor, Usama al-Baz, to discuss reviving the flagging Middle East peace process. "What I heard during my meeting with the president has reassured me and given us hope for the future," al-Baz said after meeting Arafat on Thursday for more than two hours. "We hope that for its part Israel will also follow its commitments so that we can reach a compromise," he said. Egyptian intelligence chief to visit W. Bank next week Ha'aretz 1/2/2004 Egyptian security chief Omar Suleiman will travel to the West Bank next week, where he will meet with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and senior Palestinian security officials, including Jibril Rajoub. The planned meeting is part of Egypt's intensive pressure on Palestinian factions to halt their terror attacks against Israeli targets, and follows a Thursday meeting between Arafat and Osama Al Baz, a senior aide to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, in Ramallah. U.S. criticizes Israeli plan for more Golan settlers International Herald Tribune 1/2/2004 JERUSALEM The United States has expressed disapproval following Israel's announcement that it plans a major expansion of Jewish settlements in the Golan Heights. "It has been our long-standing policy that there should not be settlement activity in land that the final status of which has not been determined through negotiations," said a State Department spokesman, Adam Ereli. He added, "The State Department supports direct negotiations between the Israelis and Syrians to resolve the issue of the Golan.". US calls for halt to Golan settlement Jerusalem Post 1/2/2004 The Bush administration on Thursday called for freezing Israeli settlement expansion, in response to comments by Israeli officials suggesting a plan to double the number of settlers in the Golan Heights over the next three years. "We have seen press reports. We refer you to the government of Israel for clarification. As the president has stated clearly and consistently, "Israel should freeze settlement construction, dismantle unauthorized outposts, end the daily humiliation of the Palestinian people, and not prejudice final negotiations with placement of walls and fences," said Lou Fintor, a spokesman at the State Department. PA: Egypt humiliates visiting Palestinians Jerusalem Post 1/2/2004 The Egyptian authorities have imposed severe restrictions on the entry of Palestinians into Egypt, Palestinian travelers and Palestinian Authority officials said on Thursday. They complained that the Egyptians were deliberately seeking to humiliate them in response to the recent attack on Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher at al-Aksa mosque. Last week, hundreds of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip were turned back at the Rafah border crossing. Israel in no hurry to clear the nuclear fog Sydney Morning Herald 1/3/2004 And the US is unlikely to apply much pressure, argues Craig Nelson in Jerusalem. -- When the "brother leader and guide of the revolution" emerged from his burrow of international isolation last month and declared in essence, "My name is Muammar Gaddafi. I'm the president of Libya. I want to negotiate," Washington struck another name from the list of wannabe members of the doomsday weapons club. But Gaddafi's announcement that Libya was ready to dismantle its nuclear weapons caused few, if any ripples in Israel, possessor of arguably the most secretive weapons of mass destruction program in the world. Israel readies to join regional WMD clean-up after Libyan, Iranian moves Ha'aretz 1/2/2004 Libya's December 19 announcement agreeing to eliminate its weapons of mass destruction and Iran's acceptance of increased international monitoring of its nuclear facilities have reawakened discussion of weapons monitoring in the Middle East. Israel has begun to prepare for the day when it, too, will be asked to do its share. The Foreign Ministry and the defense establishment have already begun to feel the sea change. The question will soon be put to the test over whether Israel should "volunteer" to initiate monitoring of its weapons or wait for external demands and pressures. Syria blacklists Italian ship for doing business with Israel Ha'aretz 1/2/2004 DAMASCUS, Syria - Syria has blacklisted an Italian ship for dealing with Israel, in line with a call by the Arab League to boycott companies that do business with the Jewish state, a government-run newspaper reported Friday. The Ministry of Economy issued a directive ordering Syrian companies to refrain from doing any business with the ship, the Favola, upon a recommendation from the Damascus-based Central Boycott Office of the 22-member Arab League, Al-Thawra said. Al Baz Visits Ramallah, Hold Talks With President Arafat and Palestinian Officials International Press Center 1/2/2004 RAMALLAH, Palestine, January 2, 2004 (IPC + Agencies) - - The Egyptian President's advisor, Dr. Osama Al Baz, arrived yesterday at Ramallah City and held talks with the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, in an effort to revive the deteriorated peace process. Palestinian sources in Ramallah said that the political advisor of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Dr. Osama Al Baz, convened Thursday with President Yasser Arafat at his Ramallah office.

Human Rights..

Hundreds protest against separation fence at al-Garbiyeh Ha'aretz 1/2/2004 Hundreds of protestors rallied Friday in the Israeli Arab town of Baka al-Garbiyeh against the contruction of the separation fence to the east of the town. Police at the scene of the demonstration say that there have been no untoward incidents recorded so far. The protestors are bitter about the erection of the fence, which they say divides residents from the Palestinian section of the town, Baka al-Sharqiya. Palestinians demonstrated on the opposite side of the fence. The protestors carried signs decrying the "Apartheid fence." Swedish MP arrested during fence protest to leave Israel Ha'aretz 1/2/2004 member of Sweden's parliament, arrested as he took part in a protest against the construction of the West Bank security barrier, is to be freed Thursday evening and fly home, a spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry said. Green Party lawmaker Gustav Fridolin, 20, was one of four foreigners arrested Wednesday during a scuffle with troops at Budrus, a West Bank village near the line with Israel southeast of Tel Aviv, where bulldozers are clearing ground for a section of a 750-kilometer (450-mile) barrier around the West Bank. All four were slated for deportation. Court seeks more data on Palestinian deaths Jerusalem Post 1/1/2004 The High Court of Justice indicated on Wednesday that the army's refusal to investigate incidents of Palestinian civilian fatalities during the current intifada except in special circumstances was too sweeping. The panel of justices including Mishael Cheshin, Dalia Dorner, and Miriam Na'or, ordered the state's representative, Attorney Shai Nitzan, to provide more details about the circumstances in which Palestinian civilians have been killed during the so-called Aksa intifada. Tel Aviv expels four foreigners Palestinian Information Center 1/2/2004 Occupied Jerusalem - The Tel Aviv authorities have decided to expel four foreign activists for participating in an anti-separation fence demonstration in the West Bank village of Badors on Wednesday. Hebrew sources said that the interior minister Abraham Poraz signed Thursday an order stipulating the expulsion of the four foreigners who grouped two Swedes and two American women. Adalah to Israel Prisons Authority: Immediately Permit Sheikh Raed Salah to have Physical Contact with his Newborn Son Adalah 12/30/2003 On 20 December 2003, Adalah sent a letter to the Director of the Kishon Detention Facility demanding that the Israel Prisons Authority (IPA) immediately permit Sheikh Raed Salah, the head of the Islamic Movement in Israel, to have physical contact with his newborn son during family visits. This request is one of a series of interventions undertaken by Adalah during the last year challenging the legality of the IPA practice of preventing physical contact between "security prisoners" and their children.

Economy..

Histadrut and treasury officials sign draft deal Ha'aretz 1/2/2004 Histadrut and Finance Ministry officials signed a draft agreement ending their dispute over structural changes in government offices, treasury budget director Uri Yogev told the Knesset Finance Committee on Friday morning. If a final agreement is signed Saturday night, civil servants will probably end three months of labor sanctions next week. Under the draft agreement, no employees at ministries or state-run entities will be fired in 2004. An attack on the governor himself Ha'aretz 1/2/2004 A special meeting of the Bank of Israel's senior staff, which was called two days ago by the bank's governor, David Klein, to discuss the situation within the bank, suddenly took a surprising turn and became a nearly unanimous attack on Klein. The senior officials - department heads and their deputies - sharply criticized both the governor and the manner in which the bank is managed. Marketing to US Jewish communities will boost food exports Globes 1/2/2004 Food exports to the US totaled $56.5 million in January-September 2003. -- Food exports to North America are expected to be 30% higher in 2004 than in 2003, said Wissotzky Tea (Israel) president and CEO Shalom Seidler. Seidler was appointed chairman of the Israel Export Institute food division this week.

People..

We have the weapons, and they are staying: poll exposes security fears Sydney Morning Herald 1/3/2004 One in four Israelis believe their country should give up its presumed nuclear arsenal as part of a comprehensive move to rid the Middle East of weapons of mass destruction, a new poll has found. Widely believed to be the only regional nuclear power, Israel has come under closer scrutiny since Libya said it was abandoning its weapons program. Half of Israelis back Golan expansion Reuters 1/1/2004 JERUSALEM (Reuters) - About half of Israelis back plans to expand Jewish settlements in the occupied Golan Heights that have outraged Syria and fly in the face of U.S. policy, according to a poll. A three-year government scheme was disclosed on Wednesday that would mean increasing by some 900 families -- or about one third -- the number of settlers on the fertile, grassy highlands seized from Syria during the 1967 Middle East war. A poll commissioned by state broadcaster Israel Radio showed on Thursday that 53 percent of Israelis supported an expansion of Golan settlements, far more than recent surveys have indicated would keep all the Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Man of the Year Al-Ahram Weekly on-line 1 - 7 January 2004 Edward Said -- "Speaking both as an American and as an Arab I must ask my reader not to underestimate the kind of simplified view of the world that a handful of Pentagon civilian elites have formulated for US policy in the entire Arab and Islamic worlds, a view in which terror, pre-emptive war, and unilateral regime change -- backed up by the most bloated military budget in history -- are the main ideas debated endlessly and impoverishingly by a media that assigns itself the role of producing so-called "experts" who validate the government's general line. Reflection, debate, rational argument, moral principle based on a secular notion that human beings must create their own history have been replaced by abstract ideas that celebrate American or Western exceptionalism, denigrate the relevance of context, and regard other cultures with contempt." -Preface to Orientalism, 7 August, 2003. Edward Said died on 25 September, 2003. Shifting visions Al-Ahram Weekly on-line 1 - 7 January 2004 It is only after their formal beauty has left its mark that you realise the narrative power of Abbas' photographs -- Abbas, Iranian-born photographer and a member of the Magnum collective, strikes a precise balance between the terms compounded in the name of his profession -- photojournalism. His books confront massive social realities -- the Iranian Revolution, Christian resurgence, militant Islam -- with an aesthetic virtuosity that reveals their most telling details. Shots across the bow Ha'aretz 12/31/2003 Last month saw the start and conclusion of one of the more bizarre libel trials recorded in the annals of the Israeli press. Its origins lie in a check for NIS 3,000 that the Nazareth-based Arabic-language paper, Kul al-Arab, sent to Zaka (acronym for Identification of Disaster Victims, an organization made up largely of members of the ultra-Orthodox community, which has become known for its work at scenes of terrorist attacks). The paper viewed this as a donation to a worthy humanitarian cause. However, the recipients of the money took a different view. Palestinian population in the world tolls 9.7 million, 3.7 million of them are in the west bank, Gaza Arabic News 1/2/2004 The number of Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories and the Diaspora reached 9.7 million by the end of 2003. A population census study, published on Wednesday by the central statistical bureau of the Palestinian authority, said that some 3.7 million of those Palestinians are living in the West Bank and Gaza, and that one million of them live in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1948. Palestinians, Israelis on peace trip Al-Jazeera 1/2/2004 Four Palestinians and four Israelis, who plan to conquer and name a lonely icy peak in Antartica, have hoisted sails on an expedition for peace dubbed "Breaking the Ice." The expedition set sail aboard two ships from Puerto Williams, 2300 kms south of Santiago. "They were to leave on Friday, but decided to take advantage of calm seas late on Thursday," an official at the port city told reporters. The explorers set out to show that peace and cooperation is possible between Israelis and Palestinians as they sail and climb an Antarctic mountain.

International..

Hawks tell Bush how to win war on terror The Telegraph 12/31/2003 President George W Bush was sent a public manifesto yesterday by Washington's hawks, demanding regime change in Syria and Iran and a Cuba-style military blockade of North Korea backed by planning for a pre-emptive strike on its nuclear sites. The manifesto, presented as a "manual for victory" in the war on terror, also calls for Saudi Arabia and France to be treated not as allies but as rivals and possibly enemies. The manifesto is contained in a new book by Richard Perle, a Pentagon adviser and "intellectual guru" of the hardline neo-conservative movement, and David Frum, a former Bush speechwriter. They give warning of a faltering of the "will to win" in Washington. News Report on Illegal Outposts Prompts Calls for Probe of WZO Forward 1/2/2004 American Jewish communal leaders are calling for an investigation into the activities of the World Zionist Organization, a Jerusalem-based confederation of Diaspora Zionist groups, following an Israeli news report alleging that the body was funneling money to illegal settlement outposts. The Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported on December 26 that Israeli government ministries were using the WZO as a conduit for government funds used to pay for trailers and permanent structures built on hilltops in the West Bank without government authorization. WZO officials denied the Ha'aretz report, saying that the body's settlement division, which they say is fully funded by the Israeli government, only supports activities beyond the Green Line that are legal. Software To Aid Military in Civilian Areas Forward 1/2/2004 WASHINGTON — The American military is looking to Israel for expertise in dealing with Iraq's civilian population, possibly adapting Israeli software for use in teaching American soldiers how to minimize friction with occupied Iraqis. The IDF officer who initiated and directed the production of the educational software, Lt. Col. Amos Guiora, confirmed during a visit to Washington last month that both American and European officials have seen the software and expressed interest in it. The IDF is now translating the software into English. Bush Seeks To Pressure Iran, Syria On Weapons Forward 1/2/2004 Libyan Decision Sends a Shock -- WASHINGTON — Encouraged by Libya's surprise decision to abandon its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, the Bush administration has instructed its Middle East experts to seek ways of pressing for similar changes in Syria and Iran. Staffers at the State and Defense departments have been told to step up efforts to elicit change in the policies of the two countries and to induce them to curtail their pursuit of nonconventional weapons and support of terrorism, administration officials said. Washington has also tapped its European allies to join the effort....Nowhere was the shock greater than in Israel, where officials admitted they had been caught completely off-guard and grumbled privately over Washington's failure to alert Israel to the talks. U.S. Restricts Demonstrations In Iraq Islam Online 1/1/2004 BAGHDAD, January 1 (IslamOnline.net) - U.S. occupation authorities in Iraq have imposed strict restrictions on the right of the Iraqi people to demonstrate, particularly in the capital Baghdad, in what Iraqi political analysts described as the real face of sugar-coated democracy clichés. A statement issued by the U.S.-led authority and broadcast by the Iraqi media network Wednesday, December 31, said no individual or group is allowed to organize marches or demonstrations or even gather in streets, public places or buildings at any time without a prior from the occupation command. Conference on burdens the Islamic charities suffer due to September 11 incidents Arabic News 1/2/2004 Economists from several Islamic countries have expressed their concern over the pressures the Islamic charity work is exposed to following the incidents of September 11 in the USA. They stressed that these pressures cannot much affect the process of charity activity especially al-Zakat ( endowment ). Several participants in the world conference for al-Zakat, which concluded its deliberation in Qatar on Wednesday, considered that certain campaigns which are launched against the Islamic charities work, is part of a position that stands against Islam itself, reflecting an ignorance in the Islamic values. Syria Opts for a Muslim-Backed President Unopposed by Bkirki An Nahar 1/2/2004 Syria has come up with a new formula to govern the election of a new President for Lebanon in the fall of 2004 based on a double-barreled concept that the Muslim community would support him and the Maronite Church would not veto him, An Nahar reported on Tuesday. "One essential aspect of the upcoming presidential elections is that it would be a serious test of the relationship between the Assad regime and the Maronite Church," wrote columnist Nicholas Nassif in an An Nahar editorial. Iraqis Protest U.S. Raids On Mosques Islam Online 1/2/2004 BAGHDAD, January 2 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Massive demonstrations erupted in Baghdad Friday, January 2, in protest at a U.S. military raid on a capital mosque and detention of a number of prominent Sunni scholars a day earlier....“The wave of detentions - carried out on false pretexts - reveal concealed plots to drive a wedge between people of the same religion,” said Adel-Samaray, a mosque imam in Baghdad. Iran rejects US delegation plan BBC 1/2/2004 Iran says the time is not right for a high level visit by a US delegation in the wake of the Bam earthquake. US officials were considering sending Senator Elizabeth Dole, a former head of the American Red Cross, on a humanitarian mission. But the State Department said the Iranians were holding the visit "in abeyance" and the US had decided not to pursue it for the moment. Bush denies wanting warmer ties with Iran Middle East Online 1/2/2004 US President George W. Bush said Thursday that sending aid to Iran after last week's devastating earthquake was a sign of compassion, not a message that he wants warmer ties with Tehran. "What we're doing in Iran is we're showing the Iranian people that the American people care, that they've got great compassion for human suffering," he said after hunting quail in Falfurrias, Texas, with his father, former president George Bush. U.S. Group Pushes Israeli Nutrition Bill Forward 1/2/2004 WASHINGTON — In a highly unusual step, the National Council of Jewish Women has called on its members and supporters to encourage Israeli legislators to support a bill that would provide every Israeli student with a daily hot, nutritious meal. American Jewish organizations rarely lobby Israeli Knesset members on legislation, and the NCJW is no exception to the rule, said Sandra Lief Garrett, executive director of NCJW, who admitted that calling members to launch an e-mail campaign to lobby Israeli legislators could trigger criticism for intervening in Israel's lawmaking process. "But we feel that we have an appropriate role to play in influencing social policy and the social welfare of Jews wherever they might be, and in this case in Israel," she said. Jewish knowledge reaches deep into Howard Dean’s past — and his home JTA 12/31/2003 Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean’s closest connection to Judaism is his Jewish wife and the couple’s two children, who have defined themselves as Jews. But Dean says his connection to the religion actually goes back decades. -- CONCORD, N.H., Dec. 30 (JTA) — In the middle of a rowdy rendition of “I Have a Little Dreidel” at the Sobelson family Chanukah party, Howard Dean walks in and declares himself the cantor. The Democratic presidential candidate recites the blessings over the candles in near-perfect Hebrew in a dining room crowded with campaign staffers. “It’s another Jewish miracle,” Carol Sobelson exclaims. Jews for Jesus Draws Opposition in Florida Forward 1/2/2004 Under pressure from Jewish groups, local newspapers refused to publish the advertisements from the missionary group, but agreed to run a warning from the Jewish Federation about the campaign. -- HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — A fierce religious turf battle exploded in South Florida last month, as a Christian missionary blitz drew fierce opposition from Jewish groups. As part of its "Behold Your God" campaign, several dozen Jews for Jesus activists spent two weeks in mid-December attempting to win over members of the 225,000-person Jewish community in Palm Beach County. The missionary group held rallies, speeches and religious concerts at churches throughout the county, as well as an event at Florida Atlantic University. Lebanon's Health Bill is World's 2nd Highest after U.S. An Nahar 1/2/2004 Lebanon is spending up to $2 billion a year on healthcare - a 12.3 percent chunk of the Gross Domestic Product and an average that is topped world-wide only by the United States. It even exceeds the spending of all individual Arab and European countries, and, sadly, most of the money comes out of the pockets of the already financially strapped citizens as the government is shouldering only 23 percent of the burden through its National Social Security Fund and other social services.

ISM News

Best viewed with Internet Explorer 5.0+ and Real player

Return to top of page