Three Palestinians killed in Gaza Strip
Al-Bawaba, March 27, 2003
"..a rescue worker said..Israeli troops kept medical teams out. "Our cars came under fire three times when we tried to evacuate injured and dead people from the site." -- Palestinian fighters clashed with Israeli troops in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun early Thursday. Three Palestinians were killed, Palestinians said. Some 10 Israeli tanks also headed for the residential part of the town. The troops left Beit Hanoun several hours later.

U.N. Expert: Israeli Barrier Is Illegal
The Guardian, March 27, 2003
GENEVA (AP) - A barrier separating Israelis and Palestinians that Israel claims is needed for protection represents ``de facto annexation'' and is illegal under international law, a United Nations human rights expert said Thursday.

UN rights expert: Security fence is illegal annexation
Haaretz, March 27, 2003  
GENEVA - The security fence between Israelis and Palestinians, which Israel claims is needed for protection represents "de facto annexation" and is illegal under international law, a United Nations human rights expert said Thursday.

Rafa - Israeli army terrorize 2 ISM activists while destroying Mosque
International Solidarity Movement, March 27, 2003
Last night, Israeli forces destroyed a Mosque with a bullozer. While doing so, they terrorized a house containing Internationals just a few doors down. The two Internationals are both American and are members of ISM, the International Solidarity Movement. Last night, the Israeli forces shot a tank shell at the house knowing that the unarmed Internationals and a civilian family were inside.

Breaking News: Elderly Palestinian Woman Shot by IDF
International Press Center, March 27, 2003
18:30 Israeli occupation soldiers stationed near the area of Abu El Ajeen, east of the town of Deir El Balah, opened fire at an elderly Palestinian woman there, wounding her in the shoulder. The elderly citizen was taken to Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir El Balah for treatment.

Israeli bulldozers demolish Mosque in Rafah
Palestinian Information Center, March 27, 2003
Occupied Jerusalem - Israeli army bulldozers on Thursday demolished a mosque in Rafah at the southern tip of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources said. The sources said Israeli bulldozers demolished “Masjid al Nur” (al-Nur Mosque) in southern Rafah in early morning hours Thursday without any explanation.

Israeli Army arrests 13 Palestinians in West Bank
Xinhuanet, March 27, 2003
GAZA, March 27 (Xinhuanet) -- The Israeli army carried out at pre-dawn on Thursday a large-scale searching campaign in many towns of the West Bank and arrested at least 13 Palestinians, an official Israeli security source reported.

PNA Cabinet Censures Deceiving Information Regarding the “Road Map”
International Press Center, March 27, 2003
RAMALLAH, Palestine, March 27, 2003, (IPC+ WAFA)--In a cabinet meeting headed by President Yasser Arafat, in Ramallah Saturday evening, the Palestinian cabinet censured the deceiving information that a Palestinian demanded to impede the declaration of “Road Map” peace plan and considered it as a mere attempt to blackout the repudiation from the international commitments and sabotaging the efforts exerted by the international Quartet committee.

Bush promises Mid-East plan 'soon'
BBC, March 27, 2003
President George W Bush has promised that the so-called road map for peace between Israel and the Palestinians will be published "soon".

Poll finds more than half of Palestinians favor end to uprising
Jerusalem Post, March 27, 2003 
Not surprisingly, more than 60% of the Palestinians support Iraq in its present confrontation with the US, according to a poll published Thursday by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion.

Occupation forces kill 445 Palestinian children since eruption of intifada
Palestinian Information Center, March 27, 2003
Gaza- The Palestinian human rights and environment protection society “Qanoon” (LAW) has charged the Zionist occupation forces of pursuing a policy of premeditated murder of Palestinians. The society noted that those forces had killed 445 children since breakout of the intifada, which represented 22% of the total Palestinian martyrs.

Zionist court extends detention of Palestinian MP
Palestinian Information Center, March 27, 2003
Nablus- A Zionist court in Betah Tekwa has decided to extend detention of Palestinian legislative council member, Husam Khader, for 15 days. Lawyer Riyad Al-Anees, spokesman of the lawyers committee defending Khader, said that the three-member committee had attended the hearing.

Settlers retake evacuated Hill 26 outpost
Haaretz, March 27, 2003  
Settlers moved back into the outpost on Hill 26 last night, two days after they were evacuated from the site by the Civil Administration and police, acting on orders from the High Court.

Border Police opens fire on Christian family in Bethlehem
Come and See, March 26, 2003
 "Suddenly they began to fire at us. I turned back to my daughters who sat in the back seat. I shouted Christine, Christine, and she did not answer. There was no Christine". This is what Najwa Saada told Ynet, while sitting near the bed of her husband George in Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital in Jerusalem, while not believing that she will burry her little daughter in the following day.

Thousands of Palestinians protest Anglo-American invasion of Iraq
Islamic Association for Palestine, March 27, 2003
Occupied Jerusalem: 27 March, 2003 (IAP News): Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets in several West Bank towns Thursday to protest the Anglo-American war on Iraq. Protests took place in al-Khalil, Ramallah, Nablus, Tulkarm, and Bethlehem where demonstrators burned American and Israeli flags as well as effigies of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and President Bush.

Deaths continue in relative calm of West Bank
The Independent, March 27, 2003
The deaths of three Palestinian children in the West Bank this week served as a reminder that the other Middle East war is by no means over.

Gaza raid 'kills two Palestinians'
BBC, March 27, 2003
There has been an Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip in the northern town of Beit Hanoun. Palestinian medical sources say two Palestinian national security officers were killed and six people injured.

Israeli Helicopter Fires at Palestinian Police Post, Killing 2
New York Times, March 27, 2003
GAZA (Reuters) - An Israeli helicopter fired two missiles at a Palestinian police post during a raid in the Gaza Strip on Thursday killing two policemen, Palestinian hospital sources said.

IOF Invade Beit Hanoun, Kill Three Palestinians
Palestine Media Center, March 27, 2003
Israeli Detention, Demolition Spree Persists -- March. 27, 2003 - Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed three Palestinians and wounded fifteen others after raiding the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun Thursday morning in the first raid by the IOF in Gaza in ten days and the first since the US-led war on Iraq began over a week ago.

Hear Palestine, March 26, 2003
Hear Palestine
NEWS: Hebron: Resident Wounded; Campaign of Raids / Gaza Strip: Tightened Israeli Military Measures / Bethlehem: Ongoing Home Raids, searches and Arrests / Jenin: Child Critically Wounded in Direct Israeli Fire; Soldiers Raid 2 Schools / Tulkarem: Israeli Soldiers Raid Residential Quarter, Arrest Residents / Nablus: Home Raids, 1 Resident Arrested   FEATURES: Jenin: Israeli Snipers Murder Youngster "Ahmad" in front of his Child Brother

Occupation Chronicle Events in Palestine March 27, 2003
Palestine Media Center, March 27, 2003
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed three Palestinians in a pre-dawn raid on the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun. IOF also demolished a house in Rafah and 2 in Hebron and detained at least 13 citizens in Jenin in the West Bank. Three Citizens Killed in Beit Hanoun Invasion / IOF Demolish 3 Houses / At Least 4 Citizens Detained in Rafah / IOF Detain 13 Citizens in Jenin / IOF Make Way for Segregation Wall

Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories 20-26 March 2003
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
As the US-British War on Iraq Began, Israeli Human Rights Violations in the OPT Continued: 7 Palestinians, including 3 children, were killed by Israeli forces / Four of the victims, including a child, were killed in an assassination / Israeli forces conducted a series of incursions into Palestinian areas, accompanied by indiscriminate shelling / The Israeli retaliatory campaign continues against families of wanted Palestinians and those who allegedly have carried out armed attacks against Israeli targets  / A number of Palestinians have been detained  / The severe siege of the OPT has continued

Remand extended for 2 Israeli Arab bombing suspects
Haaretz, March 27, 2003  
The Haifa Magistrate's Court on Thursday extended by four days the remand of two Israeli Arabs who were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the March 3 terror attack on Haifa's bus No. 73, which killed 17 people and wounded dozens.

Arafat hold telephone talks with Chirac
Arabic Nes, March 27, 2003
The Palestinian President Yasser Arafat yesterday made a telephone call with the French President Jacque Chirac to discuss latest developments concerning the situation on the Palestinian and Iraqi arenas, according to Arafat's advisor Nabih Abu Rudinah yesterday.

Gov't to push for economic plan approval before Pesach
Haaretz, March 27, 2003  
The government is hoping to get much of its new economic program approved by the Knesset before the Passover holiday begins on April 16. A first reading of the bill will be held on April 6 or 7.

Israeli papers outraged at Britain over Israel-Iraq comparison
Sydney Morning Herald, March 28 2003
Israeli newspapers yesterday were outraged at Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw for comparing US-led action against Iraq for refusing to heed UN resolutions with Israel's own alleged non-compliance. The daily Ha'aretz, a leading centre-left daily published in both English and Hebrew, called comparisons of the situations in Israel and in Iraq "contemptible."

People and Politics / Roll out the carpet for Silvan Shalom
Haaretz, March 27, 2003  
Since he was appointed the first Palestinian prime minister, Abu Mazen has become one of the most desirable people in Washington. He is so desirable that the Americans were glad to hear him saying that it would be better to postpone the implementation of his invitation from the administration for a first visit to the city wearing his new hat.

Quiet, they're shooting in Iraq
Haaretz, March 27, 2003 
Since the outbreak of the war in Iraq, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been running the country as though Israel were on a distant planet, and the crisis has nothing to do with us. ..From the day he became prime minister, Sharon has set down a clear order of priorities in relations with the United States: The Palestinian issue comes first and everything else is secondary.

Focus / Sudden revival for the road map
Haaretz, March 27, 2003  
In the midst of the Iraq war, diplomacy on the Israeli-Palestinian front has suddenly come to life.

Anglican Bishop: "Eternal Life for all martyrs of Palestine"
Come and See, February 14, 2003
According to Riah Abu Asal, Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem and the Middle East, martyers receive eternal life: "Do not consider those that were killed for the sake of God as dead, but alive with their Lord".

ISM Reports: A Bone from Rafah / Ethnic cleansing
International Solidarity Movement, March 27, 2003
1) A Bone from Rafah, by Starhawk, 2) Myriad forms of ethnic cleansing, by Kristen Ess

Subject: Portrait of a Palestinian family scattered by conflict
Islamic Association for Palestine/LA Times, March 26, 2003
A Family Tested but Intact -- Three generations of a Palestinian clan have been scattered, some as far as the U.S. Now, war may leave those in Baghdad with one less place to call home. BETHLEHEM, West Bank-- Their family name, Rahal, means "one who journeys," and for this widely scattered Palestinian clan with kinship bonds strengthened and sundered by generations of hardship and exile, the war in Iraq is only the latest chapter in a remarkable voyage.

Police impose restrictions on Friday prayers at Temple Mount after 'violence alert'
Jerusalem Post, March 27, 2003 
Bracing for possible Palestinian violence after Friday Muslim prayers at Jerusalem's Temple Mount, Jerusalem police announced Thursday night that they were imposing age restrictions on Palestinian worshippers at the site.

Israel criticizes reported US pressure to freeze India arms deal
Jerusalem Post, March 27, 2003 
Israel should go ahead with the sale of an advanced airborne radar system to India despite reported US pressure to halt the deal, the chairman of parliament's Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee said Thursday.

Palestinian Journalists Join Colleagues Worldwide in Condemning Iraq Invasion
Palestine Media Center, March 27, 2003
March. 27, 2003 - Palestinian intellectuals and journalists have joined Arab and international colleagues in protests against the US-British invasion of Iraq as two Nobel Peace Prize winners were arrested near the White House in antiwar protests Wednesday.

Ma’ariv: US Lead Aggression on Iraq Resembles Israeli Crimes Against the Palestinians
International Press Center, March 27, 2003
Tel Aviv, March 27, 2003, (IPC+ Ma’ariv) — An Israeli based paper, made a comparison between the aggression launched by the US and Britain on Iraq and the Israeli offensive on the Palestinian territories as Washington and London labeled Israeli actions more than once as “violent”.

Iraq War News

Iraqi source: Swapping POWs with Palestinian detainees possible
Palestinian Information Center, March 27, 2003
Baghdad- The Iraqi leadership was currently considering a Palestinian call for swapping western prisoners of war (POWs) with Palestinian detainees in Zionist jails, according to an Iraqi source.

Al-Jazeera Defends Iraq War Coverage
The Guardian, March 27, 2003
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Responding to criticism for airing footage of dead U.S. and British soldiers, the Arab satellite television channel Al-Jazeera channel said Thursday it had a duty to show the world casualties on all sides in the Iraq war.

IraqBodyCount.net
The worldwide update of reported civilian casualties in the war on Iraq

U.N. Human Rights Body Rejects Debate
The Guardian, March 27, 2003
GENEVA (AP) - The top U.N. human rights body Thursday rejected a proposal to hold an emergency meeting on Iraq, sparing the United States from likely criticism over its war to oust Saddam Hussein.

10 people wounded during anti-war protest in Lebanon; Syrian grand Mufti calls to launch ''martyrdom operations''
Al-Bawaba, March 27, 2003
Anti-war demonstrators Thursday tried to storm an American fast-food restaurant in northern Lebanon, leading to clashes with police that left at least 10 people injured. About 40,000 students initially marched peacefully through the northern city of Tripoli.

Blair says US military should control post-Saddam Iraq
The Independent, March 27, 2003
Tony Blair lined up staunchly behind George Bush last night in agreeing that the United States military should administer a post-Saddam Iraq before handing the country over to the United Nations.

French medical supplies cross border with Jordan on long journey to Baghdad
The Independent, March 27, 2003
The medical aid agency Médecins sans Frontières sent two trucks full of emergency medical supplies to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, yesterday, achieving what has caused American and British troops so much difficulty – getting humanitarian aid into Iraq.

Antiquities experts guarding treasures
The Independent, March 27, 2003
Iraqi archaeologists are risking their lives to guard some of the world's most important ancient treasures.

Blair: Allied forces have disabled Iraqi threat 'from the west'
Haaretz, March 27, 2003
Bush also said that the "road map" for ending the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians would be released "soon," and that the U.S. and Great Britain are strongly committed to its implementation. -- The Allied forces have "disabled Iraq's ability to launch external aggression" from the western part of the country, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said at a joint press conference with U.S. President George W. Bush after the two leaders met at Camp David on Thursday to discuss the war in Iraq.

Assad: Syria fears becoming next coalition target
Haaretz, March 27, 2003 
Syrian President Bashar Assad was quoted in the Lebanese newspaper As-Safir Thursday as hinting that Syria expects to be the next target of coalition forces.

On a day of destruction, the Allied leaders discuss reconstruction - and reinforcements
The Independent, March 27, 2003
The Americans are already talking of reinforcements, and the US Army announced yesterday it would deploy its hi-tech 4th Infantry Division to the Gulf to join the war, with the first troops likely to leave today. -- On the seventh day of the Iraq war, the two leaders of the Allied coalition met to talk of destruction and reconstruction. It was hard to tell which was uppermost in their minds.

Thousands of refugees flee Basra and Nassiriya
Haaretz, March 27, 2003  
1,000 U.S. troops parachuted into northern Iraq; Allies to step up attacks due to better weather; Baghdad hit again; Iraq: over 350 civilians killed.  -- News agencies reported Thursday that thousands of people were fleeing the southern Iraqi cities of Basra and Nassiriya.

US calls it ‘dirty war’; Iraqis depend on it
The Peninsula, March 26, 2003
LONDON: If you want a foretaste of the battles around Baghdad, consider what has happened in the last day or two.

Arab Journalists, TV Deny Signs of Uprising in Basra
Arab News, March 27, 2003
KUWAIT, 27 March 2003 — Al-Jazeera television said yesterday there were no signs of unrest in the southern Iraqi city of Basra despite British reports that an uprising against President Saddam Hussein may have started there. Correspondents in Basra for Al-Jazeera and for Abu Dhabi Television reported yesterday they had seen no signs of unrest.

Exclusive: Resentment, Relief, and Resistance
Arab News, March 27, 2003
UMM QASR, 27 March 2003 — A day after US/UK forces entered the residential area of this small town, with a population of 45,000, local Iraqis here told Arab News that they are still hungry and thirsty.

Convoy hijacked in aid 'disaster'
BBC, March 27, 2003
The much heralded operation to distribute humanitarian aid to the people of the Iraqi border town of Safwan on Wednesday has been a "disaster", according to the vice chairman of the Kuwaiti Red Crescent - the organisation which despatched the lorry convoy of food parcels.

Interviews of US Iraqis: outreach or overreach?
Christian Science Monitor, March 27, 2003
HOUSTON – The questions go like this: Do you support Saddam Hussein? Do you know any Saddam sympathizers? What is your religious affiliation? What are the names and addresses of your Iraqi family members living in the United States? 

Hundreds Protest in New York's Anti-War 'Die-In'
Common Dreams, March 27, 2003
Hundreds of chanting anti-war demonstrators lined Manhattan's Fifth Avenue on Thursday and dozens lay down in the street to begin a day of planned civil disobedience actions...Officers, some in riot gear, clamped plastic handcuffs onto protesters and loaded them into police vehicles.

Nobel Winners Arrested at White House War Protest
Common Dreams, March 26, 2003  
WASHINGTON - Police arrested two Nobel Peace prize winners along with more than 60 other people protesting on Wednesday near the White House against the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

US-Turkey tensions ease amid signs of greater collaboration
Christian Science Monitor, March 27, 2003
DIYARBAKIR, TURKEY – Turkey's top military chief said yesterday that Turkey was actively preparing to send more troops into northern Iraq, but that it would do so only if the threat against Turkey escalates - and in coordination with the United States.

Former U.S. ambassador criticizes Bush administration
Laramie Boomerang, March 27, 2003
Anti-war sentiments were heard on the University of Wyoming again Wednesday night as former U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait Francois Dickman criticized the Bush administration’s actions in Iraq. “The president, in my view, is gambling with a very risky policy — severely stressing our military and economy,” Dickman said. He said President Bush did not want to confine his war to Al Qaeda or the Taliban.

War in Iraq - Fighting the people
Iraqwar.ru, March 26, 2003
March 26, 2003, 1230hrs MSK (GMT +3), Moscow - As of the morning March 26 fierce battles have resumed in Iraq along the entire front. As was previously expected the sand storm has halted the advance of the coalition forces. Additionally, the coalition troops were in serious need of rest, resupply and reinforcement.

350 Iraqis Killed In U.S. Cluster Bombing: Iraq
Islam Online, March 27, 2003
BAGHDAD, March 27 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - More than 350 people were killed and 3,650 others injured in the first week of the U.S.-led aggression against Iraq, Iraqi Health Minister Umid Medhat Mubarak said Thursday, March 27.

U.N. Member States Line Up Against War
Islam Online, March 27, 2003 
UNITED NATIONS, March 27 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – As the U.S.-led invasion forces ended a grim week of massive aggressions against Iraq, most speakers in a public session of the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, March 27, condemned the unauthorized war with a likely humanitarian disaster.

U.S. Failed To Get A Fatwa Legalizing War On Iraq
Islam Online, March 27, 2003
WASHINGTON, March 27 (IslamOnline.net) - The U.S. government has been unable to find any Muslim American organization to issue a Fatwa, a religious ruling, ascribing legality to the war against Iraq. This failure is noteworthy in the face of the intimidating laws such as USA-PATRIOT Act, which can serve to blackmail non-compliant Muslims.

Hackers replace Al-Jazeera web site with American flag
Jerusalem Post, March 27, 2003
Hackers on Thursday replaced the English-language Web site for Arab satellite television network Al-Jazeera with a US flag and the message "Let Freedom Ring."

Iraqi Shiite opposition says not fomenting Basra unrest
Jordan Times, March 27, 2003
DUBAI (AFP) — The main Iraqi Shiite opposition group is not urging civilians to rebel in Iraq's Shiite-populated southern city of Basra, nor do British forces massed at the outskirts have an interest in engineering an uprising, a spokesman said Wednesday. “We did not call for an uprising because we do not want to be part of the (US-British) invasion” of Iraq."

New US spending bill allocates $1.1b for Jordan
Jordan Times, March 27, 2003   
AMMAN — Jordan would receive $1.1 billion under a new spending bill proposed by the American administration this week to cover the costs of war. If approved by the United States Congress, Jordan would receive $700 million in general aid and $406 million in military assistance, out of the massive $75 billion spending measure.

Critics see hypocrisy in US demands that Iraq treat captured soldiers according to Geneva Conventions
Jordan Times, March 27, 2003
SAN JUAN (AP) — Critics are asking how the United States can demand the protection of the Geneva Conventions for soldiers captured in Iraq while not fully complying in its treatment of “terror” suspects in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The United States is “giving some excuse to the Iraqis” to mistreat prisoners, said Khalid Al Odah, a Kuwaiti whose 25-year-old son has been held in Guantanamo for more than a year without charge or access to a lawyer.

Muslim Man Set Aflame, Groups Blame ‘Irresponsible Rhetoric’
Palestine Chronicle, March 27, 2003
"The incident left the 37-year-old Afghanistan-native with burns on over 60 percent of his body, the Council on American-Islamic Relations reported today .." -- WASHINGTON D.C. (MPAC) - The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) said it’s “shocked and disturbed” by reports that a Indianapolis Muslim man was set on fire by two men who burst into his restaurant on Friday, March 21, 2003.

Al-Jazeera suffers DoS attack
Al-Jazeera/ZDNet UK, March 27, 2003
Within hours of an English version of Al-Jazeera's Web site coming online, it was blown away by a denial of service attack
The Web sites of Al-Jazeera have been taken offline, in what has been confirmed by the Qatar-based media organisation as a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack against the company's Domain Name Servers (DNS).