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Palestine Diaries

courtesy The Electronic Intifada

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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.

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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 Soldiers Kill Teenager in Ongoing Attack on Nablus Palestine Media Center 1/6/2004 Occupation Forces Invade Tulkarem, Tamoun, Tubas in North -- Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) shot dead a Palestinian teenager and critically injured a 14 year-old boy in Ein Beit al-Ma’ refugee camp in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, while occupation forces invaded the city and refugee camp of Tulkarem. Taj-eddein Abdel Kareem Saif, 17, was shot in the chest by an Israeli sniper in Ein beit Al-Ma’ refugee camp while Imad Fidda, 14, was critically injured when he was shot in the mouth, medics said....Also in the north, IOF soldiers, manning armored personnel carriers, and backed by a helicopter gunship, raided the West Bank city of Tulkarem and its refugee camp on Monday, Palestinian security sources said. IOF also raided the villages of Tamoun and Tubas, near Jenin in the north of the West Bank. IOF Tears down Three Houses and Arrests Three Brothers in Gaza Strip International Press Center 1/6/2004 PALESTINE, January 6, 2004 (IPC+ Agencies)-- The Israeli occupying forces (IOF) demolished completely two houses, east of Rafah crossing, just south ofRafah city, south of Gaza Strip along with a third one in the central Gaza Strip city ofDeir Al Balahafter arresting three youths dwelled it. Palestinian security sources told IPC correspondent that two IOF D-9 bulldozers supported by four military convoys advanced deep into east of Rafah crossing from the border line with Egypt amid a barrage of random gunfire....Furthermore, the IOF bulldozers razed 70 dunums of the Palestinian-owned lands in Al-hiker area, south of Deir Al Balah, WAFA reported....In the meantime, Mahmoud al Aloul, governor of Nablus said that the Israeli occupying forces pulled back today morning its troops and heavy artillery from the Nablus city and its outskirts to be deployed around the city, leaving behind grand havoc. Israeli occupation army storms towns, terrorize inhabitants Palestinian Information Center 1/6/2004 Occupied Jerusalem - Israeli occupation troops, backed by some 25 tanks and armored personnel carriers, on Monday stormed the northern West Bank town of Tulkarm, terrorizing inhabitants and vandalizing streets and infrastructure. Palestinian citizens reached by telephone described the rampage as “resembling what the Gestapo was doing.” “The tanks crushed everything, street embankments, telephone poles, lampposts, everything,” said Muhammed Jalad. Five Palestinians arrested in various West Bank areas Palestinian Information Center 1/6/2004 Ramallah - Zionist army forces arrested five Palestinians in various West Bank areas on Sunday evening on suspicion of affiliating with Palestinian resistance factions and launching numerous armed raids against Zionist targets. Army sources said that units of the so-called border guards arrested a PFLP activist in Qalqilia and another in Abu Dees to the east of occupied Jerusalem. Zionist soldiers beat up women in Badors Palestinian Information Center 1/6/2004 Ramallah - Zionist occupation troops last night broke into a number of houses in the Badors village to the west of Ramallah city and beat up women at the pretext of assisting youths throwing stones at those soldiers. One of the villagers said that the soldiers stormed two houses in the town and used batons in assaulting women. Meanwhile, inhabitants charged the occupation forces of robbing more than 60 olive trees that were uprooted by those forces in the village. No Israeli soldiers jailed in intifada Middle East Online 1/6/2004 Report reveals not one Israeli soldier has been jailed over Palestinian deaths since start of intifada. JERUSALEM - The Israeli army has launched dozens of investigations into the killing of Palestinians by its troops since the start of the intifada in September 2000 but not one has ever been jailed, according to a report published Tuesday. No less than 72 investigations were opened but only 13 soldiers were indicted, said a report by the military prosecution quoted in Israel's Haaretz newspaper. Soldiers demolish 2 tunnels near Rafah Ha'aretz 1/6/2004 The IDF yesterday demolished two Palestinian tunnels that were discovered this week southeast of Rafah, near the Kerem Shalom checkpoint. One tunnel was nine meters deep and was uncovered by a Border Patrol unit working with engineering and Bedouin reconnaissance forces near a road used by IDF armored vehicles. Southern Command sources said that the tunnel was meant to conceal a large explosive device that would be set off remotely when a tank went by, as in the case of the effort to blow up the Hardon outpost two weeks ago. Roadblocks are slightly eased, but IDF is still firmly in control of West Bank Ha'aretz 1/6/2004 ....The IDF's announced easing of conditions in recent days - lifting closures and sieges around some of the cities of the territory - mostly serves the Arab towns in the seam area of the Green Line. But for towns deeper inside the West Bank, such as Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Hebron, the army's moves barely make a difference in the problems resulting from the intifada. Roadside bombs change game on border Daily Star 1/6/2004 Tensions raised in South after Israelis breach Blue Line -- The planting of roadside bombs along the Lebanon-Israel border appears to be the latest attempt by Hizbullah to maintain pressure on the Israelis as part of its unrelenting psychological war against its foe. Israeli troops have discovered at least four separate clusters of roadside bombs in the past two months planted beside or near the border security fence. In the latest incident, the Israeli Army and UNIFIL were locked in debate Monday to pinpoint the exact location of the Blue Line just north of the Israeli settlement of Zarit after several bombs were spotted there. Police raise alert level on infiltration warning Ha'aretz 1/6/2004 Police declared a security alert in the Sharon region Tuesday afternoon and erected roadblocks near Kfar Sava and Taibeh after receiving information of a possible terrorist infiltration. Earlier in the day, Palestinians said Israel Defense Forces troops Israeli forces had withdrawn from the West Bank city of Nablus after a three-week operation. The army said, however, that the operation, aimed at militants, was ongoing. One Palestinian killed and eight wounded Jerusalemites 1/6/2004 One Palestinian teenager has been shot dead and eight other Palestinians wounded in clashes with Israeli occupation troops in separate incidents on the West Bank. Eight Israeli border guards were also injured in the second incident. The shooting of the 17-year old came two days after Israeli soldiers killed four Palestinians in Nablus during some of the bloodiest confrontations there for at least two weeks. On Saturday, Israeli forces opened fire on a group of mourners in Nablus at the funeral of three Palestinians killed earlier in the day also by Israeli gunfire. Jihad uses accounts of activists' wives to funnel money Jordan Times 1/6/2004 Islamic Jihad has been using the bank accounts of senior activists' wives as a means of funneling money from Damascus headquarters to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Shin Bet security service has discovered. Senior Islamic Jihad activist Sheikh Bassam Sa'adi, 43, who was indicted Sunday for transferring money to militants in Jenin, told the Shin Bet during his 90-day interrogation that the money was used to help the needy. Occupation forces arm female conscripts with advanced machineguns Palestinian Information Center 1/6/2004 Gaza - The armament unit in the Zionist occupation army has declared intention to supply the army's female conscripts with advanced, small M-16 machineguns. The new plan was taken in view of the Palestinian commando's armed raid in the Jewish settlement of Netsarim two months ago that left two of those conscripts killed. 72 Zionist assassination attempts in the past year Palestinian Information Center 1/6/2004 Ramallah - The Zionist entity launched the biggest number of assassination attempts in the course of the past year of 2003 launching 72 such crimes equally divided between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Quds Press issued a special report including statistics on those operations in 2003 indicating that 196 Palestinians were martyred as a result of those attempts out of a total of 698 martyrs murdered at the hands of Zionist occupation forces last year. News Briefs: Houses destroyed in Gaza, teenager shot dead in Nablus International Middle East Media Center 1/6/2004 The military explodes a house in Gaza and bulldozes another one: Earlier this dawn, the army exploded a house southeast the district of Rafah. Locals mentioned that a military bulldozer supported by more than seven military Jeeps entered that area and invaded some neighborhoods while shooting heavily towards the houses. / Troops kill a Palestinian child in Nablus: Yesterday evening,Taj Ezz Ed-deen Saif in his early teens, was shot dead after a soldier shot him in the neck in Ein- Elma' refugee camp in Nablus. Daily Situation Report in the OPT Palestine Media Center 1/6/2004 Daily Situation Report by Palestinian Monitoring Group - 08:00 04 January 2004 – 08:00 05 January 2004 - detailed accounting of closures, curfews, demolitions and other daily operations conducted by the IDF in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Diplomacy..

We won't scrap WMD stockpile unless Israel does, says Assad The Telegraph 1/6/2004 The Syrian president talks exclusively to Benedict Brogan in Damascus -- Syria is entitled to defend itself by acquiring its own chemical and biological deterrent, President Bashar Assad said last night as he rejected American and British demands for concessions on weapons of mass destruction. In his first major statement since Libya's decision last month to scrap its nuclear and chemical programmes, he came closer than ever before to admitting that his country possessed stockpiles of WMD. Report: Israeli delegation to visit Libya later this month Ha'aretz 1/6/2004 Following the announcement by President Muammar Gaddafi last month that Libya is willing to forego its weapons of mass destruction, Israel has initiated diplomatic contacts with Tripoli. The head of the Foreign Ministry's diplomatic team, Ron Prosor, met some two weeks in Paris with an Arab diplomatic, in order to establish a channel of communications with Tripoli. The meeting was coordinated with Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Mossad chief Meir Dagan. Syria complains to UN over Israel Golan plan Al-Jazeera 1/6/2004 Syria has lodged a complaint at the UN Security Council over Israel's possible drive to double Jewish settlers in the occupied Golan Heights. "This provocative Israeli decision comes a few weeks after the Syrian initiative for the resumption of peace talks...it unveils the true intentions of Israeli leaders that contradict the goal of establishing peace," the official Syrian news agency quoted a letter to the Council and the world body as saying. Arafat slams Israeli Prime Minister's ''vision of peace'' Al-Bawaba 1/6/2004 Palestinian president Yasser Arafat said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon "does not want peace," speaking after the Israeli leader again threatened unilateral measures to separate Israel from the Palestinians. "[Israeli Prime Minister] Sharon does not want peace; he wants to continue to build the (West Bank) wall and to conduct military operations," Arafat told journalists at his office in Ramallah. Palestinian NGO’s refuse USAID grants in protest to “terrorism” pledge Al-Bawaba 1/6/2004 Palestinian aid groups are refusing US government financial support in protest to the pre-requisite of signing a document stating that funds will not be channeled to “terrorists”. Last year, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) imposed a condition on receiving parties worldwide, obliging them to pledge that grants would not "provide material support or resources to any individual or entity that advocates, plans, sponsors, engages in or has engaged in terrorist activity." Palestinian activist groups have refused to sign the document fearing that the United State’s definition of terrorist-supporting activities would cover the majority of projects underway in the West Bank and Gaza. Qorei calls off efforts to meet Sharon Daily Star 1/6/2004 Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei said Monday he has called off efforts to schedule a summit with his Israeli counterpart, aimed at restarting talks amid ongoing violence in the 39-month long conflict....Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon faced the sound and fury of his Likud party’s most die-hard right-wingers on Monday at a convention set to challenge his policies toward the Palestinians....Central Committee members submitted a long list of items for discussion, including proposals to expel from the Likud any legislators who vote for a Palestinian state on occupied land, “transfer” of Palestinians to a state that they believe could be established in northern Jordan and forcing Sharon to share the premiership with Netanyahu. Nabil Sha’ath: European Union Has to Open a Dual Peace Initiative International Press Center 1/6/2004 LISBON, January 6, 2004 (IPC+ Agencies)-- Palestinian Foreign Minister, Nabil Sha’ath, said that the European Union have to open a new ‘dual peace initiative’, for the Middle East, given the U.S engagement in the due 2004 elections. Sha’ath was quoted as saying: “we need for two parallel initiatives so as to resume the stalled peace process and to protect the Palestinian people from the long-run consequences of the Israeli practices against the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), particularly the construction of the Apartheid Wall”. Ex-Mossad chief: Road map cannot be implemented Ha'aretz 1/6/2004 Israel, the United States and the Palestinians all know the road map peace plan cannot be implemented, but they hope it will be a catalyst to renew negotiations, former Mossad head Efraim Halevy said Tuesday. Halevy said the Palestinians cannot confront, dismantle and disarm militant groups as the road map demands. In addition, the plan's timeline - which calls for a preliminary Palestinian state by 2003 and a permanent entity by 2005 - is irrelevant, he added. Report: Israeli delegation with Mossad officials to visit Libya as Kadhafi agrees to compensate Libyan Jews Al-Bawaba 1/6/2004 An Israeli delegation is expected to visit Libya with the aim of reaching a mutual understanding on the signing of a peace agreement, according to the Kuwaiti A-Siyasa newspaper Tuesday. European diplomatic sources said Monday that senior Libyan and Israeli officials met in Vienna last Friday in the presence of an American diplomat from the Vienna embassy, and agreed that a joint Israeli delegation consisting of officials from the foreign ministry, defense department and Mossad will pay a visit to Tripoli in the second half of this month, with the goal of discussing the end of relations of hostility between the Libyans and Israelis and building normal ties between both countries. Abbas and Dahlan meet former intelligence official Palestinian Information Center 1/6/2004 Occupied Jerusalem - Zionist businessmen Yossi Ginosar has met in his house near Kfar Sava last Friday with former Palestinian Authority premier Mahmoud Abbas and his security affairs minister Mohammed Dahlan. The Zionist TV tenth channel revealed last night that Zionist premier Ariel Sharon had prior knowledge of the meeting and gave his approval. Shalom leaves for visit to Addis Ababa Ha'aretz 1/6/2004 Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom leaves today for Ethiopia on the first visit there of an Israeli foreign minister since 1991. He will hold talks with government leaders in Addis Ababa - including Ethiopia's president, prime minister and foreign minister - as part of a renewed effort to strengthen Israel's ties with African countries. Sharon vows again to break from Palestinians The Independent 1/6/2004 In the face of international opposition and amid jeers from his own party, the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, vowed yesterday to press ahead with his plans for unilateral separation from the Palestinians unless the Palestinian Authority (PA) dismantles militant groups as part of a negotiated peace within months. As Mr Sharon spoke in Tel Aviv, Ahmad Qureia, the Palestinian Prime Minister, announced in Ramallah that he had abandoned efforts to arrange a summit with Mr Sharon to restart peace talks. Nine Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops in a week. Ranteesi denies presence of hudna with Zionist entity Palestinian Information Center 1/5/2004 Gaza - Dr. Abdul Aziz Ranteesi, one of the Hamas Movement's prominent political leaders in the Gaza Strip, has denied the presence of any undeclared hudna or ceasefire with the Zionist enemy. He said that the absence of majored attacks in the past few months did mean the presence of a hudna. Treatment Frustrates Palestinian Refugees Los Angeles Times 1/4/2004 CAIRO — As the foreign minister of Egypt — the largest Arab country — Ahmed Maher might have expected a warmer welcome from Palestinians when he joined their worships in Jerusalem. But the scuffles that erupted at Al Aqsa mosque last month, with Islamic extremists yelling, "You are collaborating with the killers of Muslims," underscored a strong current of discontent among many Palestinians toward Arab states. The anger is focused chiefly on Egypt and Jordan for having signed peace treaties with Israel, but it goes further — to the frustration of having lived as second-class citizens in neighboring Middle Eastern states for 55 years since fleeing their homes when Israel.

Human Rights..

Israeli soldiers won't be punished Al-Jazeera 1/6/2004 No action will be taken against Israeli occupation soldiers who shot and wounded a Jewish-Israeli protester during a demonstration over the West Bank apartheid wall, the army said on Tuesday. The shooting caused an outcry in Israel and sparked calls for the military to re-evaluate its rules of engagement and the way it deals with unarmed protesters. During a demonstration 10 days ago, troops fired at a group of peace protesters who tried to cut through a fenced portion of the barrier, moderately wounding an Israeli demonstrator in his legs and lightly injuring an American protestor. Sarra Checkpoint - A Week of Severe Abuse B'tselem 1/6/2004 Today B'Tselem released a report describing a series of cases of severe abuse by IDF soldiers over the past week at the Sarra checkpoint, next to Nablus. B'Tselem's checkpoint monitors took testimonies from ten Palestinians who were assaulted between December 27-31 by soldiers serving at the checkpoint. The abuse included a mock execution, severe beatings and tying up the victims. The abuse occurred on a regular basis. After documenting the first case on December 28, B’Tselem sent urgent appeals to various IDF officials to stop the abuse, remove the soldiers from the checkpoint and initiate investigations. In spite of these appeals, the abuse continued all week....Download full report http://www.btselem.org/Download/Sarra_Checkpoint_eng.doc PNA Condemns Transfer of 7 Palestinian Prisoners from Negev Prison International Press Center 1/6/2004 GAZA, Palestine, January 06, 2004 (IPC+Agencies)-- The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) strongly decried the Israeli occupation authoritiesdecision to transfer seven Palestinian administrative detainees from the Negev jail to unknown destination. Ghassan Al Khatib, Palestinian Labor Minister, indicated that the Palestinian Authority denounced the transfer pursuit Israel is practicing against the Palestinian people.“Such transaction is a grave breach of the terms of the international law , which prohibits the occupyingforce to forcibly transfer the civilians under occupation,” he signaled out. Occupation authorities renew detention of 77 prisoners in five days Palestinian Information Center 1/6/2004 Ramallah - Zionist occupation authorities have renewed the administrative detention of 77 Palestinian prisoners since the start of this month in an unprecedented campaign against those captives. Prisoners said that the renewal of the detention was for periods ranging from three to six months. Those authorities renewed the detention of more than 86 administrative detainees in the past month of December without giving reasons for such a measure, which in most cases took place on the date the prisoner was scheduled to be released. Health care committees appeal for humanitarian assistance to besieged Nablus Palestinian Information Center 1/6/2004 Nablus - The health care committees in the West Bank city of Nablus have called on the international medical and humanitarian institutions to provide medicine and necessary foodstuffs to the besieged inhabitants of the city. They issued a statement describing the conditions in the city and refugee camps as “disastrous” after almost two weeks of ongoing Zionist devastation and siege. The statement pointed out that 15 martyrs fell over the past fortnight in the city along with a big number of wounded as a result of the Zionist occupation soldiers’ extensive use of firearms and teargas canisters. Shabak offers deal to administrative detainees Palestinian Information Center 1/6/2004 Ramallah - Prisoners in the Negev desert prison have said that the Zionist security apparatus the Shabak was offering administrative detainees a deal to switch their imprisonment status into convicted prisoners. The sources said that the prison administration last Thursday met with Sheikh Tayseer Al-Aruri, the prisoners’ representative along with others representing various Palestinian factions. Children of illegal workers ask court for residency rights Ha'aretz 1/6/2004 The Tel Aviv District Court was yesterday asked to grant permanent resident status to four children of illegal foreign workers, who were born and raised in Israel. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel petitioned the court for a precedent-setting ruling, which would solve the problem of other children of foreign workers in Israel. The petitioners were born in Israel and educated here, Hebrew is their mother tongue and Israel is their homeland. Yet for the state, they have no personal status, because their parents are illegal aliens. Army defends shooting of Israeli BBC 1/6/2004 The Israeli army says troops who wounded an unarmed Israeli protesting against the West Bank security barrier did not break rules about opening fire. Human rights groups complain that few soldiers are charged in cases where civilians are killed or injured. In a statement, the army says that although the incident had serious consequences, the soldiers acted according to regulations. The case caused great controversy because an Israeli was wounded. It has also raised new questions about army investigations into incidents where Palestinian civilians are casualties. IDF won't act against soldiers who shot protester Ha'aretz 1/6/2004 Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon is going to wait for a Military Police report on the incident at the Maskha gate in the separation fence, where Israeli protester Gil Na'amati was shot by IDF forces, before deciding on whether to take action against the soldiers involved in the shooting. Yesterday evening, a few hours after a press conference by Anarchists Against the Wall and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel presented videotape and eyewitness reports on what happened at the fence leading up to the shooting and following it, Ya'alon received an army report on the incident....There is some concern in the army about "problematic operational norms" that were exposed by the incident... B'Tselem reports more abuse Ha'aretz 1/6/2004 Despite recent easing of restrictions at roadblocks in the territories, a report by the human rights group B'Tselem details additional cases of abuse of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers. According to the report, released on Sunday, B'Tselem researchers noted 10 cases of abuse by soldiers of Palestinians who tried to circumvent or pass through a roadblock near Nablus, between December 27 and December 31.

Economy..

Israel posts budget deficit of 5.6% of GDP Ha'aretz 1/6/2004 Israel posted a budget deficit of 5.6 percent of gross domestic product in 2003, well above its official target of 3.0 percent of GDP, the Finance Ministry said on Tuesday. December's deficit, which does not include credits granted, was 6.5 billion shekels, bringing 2003 to a total budget gap of 27.7 billion shekels, the ministry said in a statement. Can a family of three live in dignity on NIS 2,240 a month? Ha'aretz 1/6/2004 The High Court of Justice has given the state 10 days to explain how it has decided that a cut in guaranteed income allowances to almost 100,000 families does not violate their basic right to live in dignity. The court order has put the state in a difficult dilemma. Apparently the state attorney's office and the treasury believed that the justices would accept their claim that the cut does not affect the right to live in dignity and that the decisions about the amount of the allowances stem from socioeconomic policy, which is the purview of the government and the Knesset and therefore not subject to court intervention. Analysis / The road to annulment Ha'aretz 1/6/2004 The order nisi issued yesterday by the Supreme Court, which compels the state to set the standards to define what is considered a "dignified human existence," is the first step toward the possibility that the court will rule that a law cutting guaranteed income payments is illegal....The Basic Law on Human Dignity and Freedom (1992) recognizes the right to "dignity." This is a phrase that can be interpreted in more than one manner. One broad definition could include social rights, such as the right to earn a living wage and the right to basic health care. Average monthly job-seekers up 3.1% to over 202,000 in 2003 Globes 1/6/2004 The figure is low due to the labor sanctions at the eployment service during the past three months. -- 202,470 job-seekers a month on average applied to the Israel National Employment Service (INES) in 2003, 3.1% more than the average of 196,383 job-seekers a month in 2002, according to a Bank of Israel analysis of Central Bureau of Statistics figures. Clerks union likely to declare labor dispute at local authorities Globes 1/6/2004 The National Union of Clerical, Administrative and Public Service Employees: The Ministry of the Interior is pressuring local authorities to cut staff. -- The National Union of Clerical, Administrative and Public Service Employees, headed by chairman Leon Morozovsky, will hold an urgent meeting tomorrow to decide on measures in its battle with the local authorities. The union will probably declare a labor dispute at local authorities throughout Israel in a few days. BDO customers to invest $500m in Israel Globes 1/6/2004 BDO Ziv Haft managing partner Shlomo Ziv: The investments will be in real estate, infrastructures, and industry. -- Customers of accounting firm BDO International BV will invest $500 million in Israel's private sector in the coming months, BDO senior partner Chris Swinson told Minister of Industry Trade and Labor Ehud Olmert yesterday. Swinson did not disclose the customers' names. Swinson arrived on Sunday on his first visit to Israel. Israel hi-tech seen raising another $1 billion in 2004 Ha'aretz 1/6/2004 Israeli high-tech companies raised $1 billion from Israeli venture capital funds and other investors in 2003 and are projected to win the same amount this year, the Israel Venture Capital Research Center said on Tuesday. The high-tech sector drove Israel's economy in the 1990s and in 2000 but then suffered during the global economic downturn. After raising a record $3.3 billion in 2000, Israeli tech companies raised only $1.3 billion in 2001 and saw an outflow of $128 million in 2002 as the returning of capital to investors outstripped new fund raising. Jerusalem calling Globes 1/6/2004 400 Israeli workers provide call center services in perfectly accented English to dozens of US and European companies. -- ....The customer calling the service center from Newark, New Jersey would certainly be very surprised to hear that the warm and nice place to which the agent is referring is a communications building on Har Hahotzvim in Jerusalem a 10-hour flight from the eye of the storm.

People..

Palestinian women protest against French headscarf ban Ha'aretz 1/5/2004 Some 300 female supporters of Islamic Jihad marched Monday through the streets of Gaza City protesting a French proposal to bar Muslim women from wearing headscarves in state schools. Chanting, "Islamic women against the French orders," the women marched to the French cultural center here in a show of solidarity with their Muslim sisters in France. Beirut, on film and wartorn once again, depicts coldness of a future society Daily Star 1/6/2004 O.U.T. is second short offering of self-taught filmmaker -- Laya Rahman smiled gloriously, tossing her brown feathered locks against flashing cameras as she sat above the bar stool at Yosha Bar on Monnot Street Sunday night where the premiere screening of her second short film O.U.T. was about to be presented. New TV and Prestige magazine were a few of the media there to catch the event....A fast-forward effect takes us to an aerial view of Beirut, and then closer into war-torn streets with frantic sirens, gunfire and burning buildings. Only this is not the familiar Lebanon of a war gone by, but that of the future. Research on Arab/Islamic science opens doors to new fields of knowledge Daily Star 1/5/2004 Work of award-winning historian George Saliba outlined at USJ lecture -- In the 16th century, a French delegation sent by King Francois I headed to the Turkish court in Constantinople to negotiate a treaty, which was to become the French-Ottoman alliance treaty of 1536. One of the travelers on this delegation was a man by the name of Guillaume Postel, who was commissioned to bring back oriental manuscripts for the king’s library. He had been appointed to this task because he knew Hebrew and Arabic. Among the documents he brought back was a manuscript on theoretical astronomy....the famous astronomer and polymath, Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (d. 1274)...developed a theorem known today as the Tusi Couple, which was described in this text.As it now appears, Nicolas Copernicus, said to be the founder of modern astronomy and a contemporary of Postel, wouldn’t have been able to develop his work without this theorem. Somewhere, Home: an evocative look at our need to belong Daily Star 1/6/2004 Book offers string of dreamy meditations on the various meanings of home -- Who better than a Lebanese to convey the melancholic drama of exile, both physical and emotional, and the insistent pang of homelessness that gnaws at so many of modernity’s abandoned and confused progeny?....A string of dreamy meditations on the various meanings of home, Nada Awar Jarrar’s first novel assumes the formidable task of imparting a sense of Lebanese history through the individual experiences of a select group of characters.

International..

Iran, Egypt agree to renew diplomatic ties after 25 years Ha'aretz 1/6/2004 Arabic television Al Jazeera said on Tuesday that Iran and Egypt have agreed to resume full diplomatic ties which were broken 25 years ago. Within minutes, Iran's Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi confirmed the report. "The two countries have decided to restore ties. It's a definite move and right now they are making the preparations," Abtahi said.The television, quoting its correspondent, in Tehran said both countries will make an official announcement within the next two days. Turkey welcomes Syrian president BBC 1/6/2004 Bashar al-Assad has begun a state visit to Turkey - the first by a Syrian head of state, marking much-improved ties. Israel and Iraq were expected to be the focus of talks in snow-covered Ankara. Turkey, with its strong ties to Israel, is reported to be offering to help Syria make progress with its recent overtures towards the Jewish state. Warm welcome for Assad's Turkey trip BBC 1/6/2004 As Syrian President Bashar al-Assad begins his visit to Turkey - the first by a Syrian president since the country's independence in the 1940s - the press in Ankara is hoping for a thaw in the hitherto chilly relations. The new order in Iraq, fears of a resurgent Kurdish nationalism and regional instability are forcing the two regional powers to put old rivalries behind, Turkish papers say. Bush Renews U.S. Sanctions On Libya Islam Online 1/6/2004 ST. LOUIS, United States, January 6 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Despite positive Libyan overtures on unconventional arms, President George W. Bush renewed Monday, January 5, long-running U.S. sanctions on Libya, demanding more "concrete steps". "The crisis with respect to Libya has not been fully resolved, and I have therefore determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared [in 1986] with respect to Libya and maintain in force the comprehensive sanctions against Libya," Bush said in a statement during his visit to Saint Louis, Missouri. EU suspends anti-Semitism seminar Ha'aretz 1/6/2004 BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Union's head office said it was suspending preparations for a seminar on anti-Semitism in Europe after Jewish leaders accused it of "intellectual dishonesty and moral treachery" in handling the issue. European Commission President Romano Prodi said in a letter to the World Jewish Congress and its European branch that the seminar, called amid a backdrop of rising vandalism against Jewish targets in Europe and strains with Israel, could not be held next month as planned. "The attitude you have shown in your letter... forces me to suspend the preparations," he said. Syrian FM welcomes new US ambassador, calls for dialogue Al-Bawaba 1/5/2004 Syria's Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara received separately on Monday new ambassadors to Damascus and accepted their credentials. Within this framework, al-Shara received the new American ambassador to Syria Margaret Scobey and accepted her credentials. The Syrian minister, welcomed Ms. Scobey and wished her success in her mission in away that will "improve the bilateral relations between Syria and the USA," SANA reported. Protesters wary of new tactic by feds San Francisco Chronicle 12/30/2003 Obscure 1872 law cited in case against Greenpeace -- Bay Area nonprofits and anti-war leaders are fuming about what they see as an attempt by the Justice Department to clamp down on peaceful dissent by filing criminal charges against a group for the nonviolent actions of its followers. Local activists are closely watching a case winding through the federal courts in Miami. There, a federal prosecutor has dusted off a 19th century law designed to prevent bar owners from luring sailors ashore with booze and prostitutes to file charges against Greenpeace in connection with an April 2002 case in which two activists tried to hang an anti-President Bush banner on a container ship headed into port. Saudi man charged for firecrackers on US plane Jordan Times 1/6/2004 BOSTON (Reuters) — A Saudi man was charged on Monday for carrying firecrackers in carry-on luggage on a plane from Germany to Boston amid US warnings of a possible attack bigger than the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked plane strikes, officials said.US officials in Boston said..[he]..had “three small firecracker-type explosive or incendiary devices” in his carry-on luggage on a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt on Saturday....Almohandis was charged with carrying explosive or incendiary devices on an airplane, which is prohibited by federal law. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison for carrying the firecrackers on board a plane, up to five years on charges of making false statements and a fine of $250,000. Halliburton 'off overcharging hook' BBC 1/6/2004 A senior US army officer has cleared the American engineering company Halliburton of any wrongdoing in relation to a contract to deliver fuel from Kuwait to Iraq, according to a newspaper report. The Wall Street Journal says that the commander of the Army Corps of Engineers, Lieutenant General Robert Flowers, has exonerated the company's subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root after Defense Department officials complained that the government had been overcharged by $100m.

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