Israeli Troops Kill Six in West Bank, Gaza
Reuters, April 19, 2003
NABLUS, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli troops shot dead six Palestinians including a television cameraman in a surge of violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Saturday, witnesses and medics said. The new bloodshed cast a shadow over U.S. preparations to unveil a "roadmap" peace plan once Palestinians install a reform cabinet, now delayed by a power struggle between President Yasser Arafat and prime minister-designate Mahmoud Abbas.

IDF penetrates Rafah refugee camp in Gaza, killing five Palestinians
Haaretz, April 20, 2003
Dozens of Israeli tanks, covered by attack helicopters, surrounded the center of the crowded Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip early Sunday. At least five Palestinians were killed and 40 wounded in one of the largest operations in 30 months of fighting.

AP Cameraman Shot and Killed in West Bank
The Guardian, April 19, 2003
NABLUS, West Bank (AP) - An Israeli soldier shot and killed a cameraman with Associated Press Television News who was covering a skirmish between troops and rock-throwing Palestinians in the West Bank city of Nablus on Saturday, witnesses said.

Abu Mazen storms out of meeting with PLO committee, Arafat
Haaretz, April 19, 2003 
Palestinian sources Saturday expressed pessimism about the chances of prime minister-designate Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat reaching an agreement on the makeup of the new cabinet, after Abu Mazen stormed out of a meeting with Arafat and the PLO central committee in Ramallah.

Abu Mazen quits after row with Arafat
Jerusalem Post, April 19, 2003 
A drama was underway in Ramallah Saturday night after Palestinian prime minister-designate Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) stormed out of a meeting of Fatah's central council to announce that he was quitting...It was unclear if Abbas's decision is final. Several Palestinian officials were trying Saturday night to talk Abbas into meeting with Arafat to solve the crisis.

Large incursion underway in southern Gaza
Jerusalem Post, April 19, 2003
The IDF launched a large scale incursion into the Rafah refugee camp in the south Gaza Strip on Saturday night, Palestinians reported that over thirty tanks, jeeps and infantry entered the area from three different directions as IAF combat helicopters flew overhead.

IDF enters Gaza refugee camp; three Israelis hurt near Jenin
Haaretz, April 19, 2003
IDF troops backed by dozens of tanks, armored vehicles and attack helicopters, pushed into the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Saturday evening, during one of the largest military incursions on the Egypt-Gaza border in the 30 months of fighting.

Israel rapped over youth arrests
BBC, April 19, 2003
Some 300 Palestinian minors have been rounded up by the Israeli army over the past year and are being held in crowded lockups, some of them without charges or trial, human rights monitors say. The monitors - including the respected Israeli B'tselem group - say that by treating those detained under 18 as adults, the Israeli army violates the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Clashes between left-wingers and settlers at Maon Farm near Hebron
Jerusalem Post, April 19, 2003 
Two left-wing activists were lightly injured by bullet shards when a settler from the southern Hebron hills fired shots from his gun into the ground near their feet during scuffles between settlers and left-wing activists.

Abed Rabbo: Assassination of Cameraman is Evidence to Israel’s Insistence on Oppressing Media
Palestine Media Centre, April 19, 2003
The Minister of Information and Culture, Yasser Abed Rabbo, condemned the killing of cameraman Nazeeh Darwazeh, who works for Palestine Television and AP news wire, by Israeli Occupation Forces in Nablus.

PNA Casts Doubt on Israeli Public Relations ‘Concessions’ 
Palestine Media Centre, April 19, 2003
April 19, 2003 - The Palestine National Authority (PNA) cast doubt on Israeli public relations “concessions” and said they were not a substitute for full Israeli acceptance of the internationally- adopted “roadmap” for peace in the Middle East.

Entry of Medical Personnel Denied - High Court Rules Nurse Could Be Used as “Unknowing Collaborator”
Physicians for Human Rights - Israel, April 13, 2003
The Circle of Suspicion Becomes Endless -- "… the petitioner may be made use of – even without his knowledge - for hostile activity in Israel…": Israel’s High Court of Justice explaining why Muhammad Arjoub, a resident of the Hebron region and a licensed nurse, cannot be granted a permit to continue working in "Sha'arei Tzedek" Medical Center in Jerusalem.

Syria Won’t Fail Anti-Israel Resistance: Hizbullah
Islam Online, April 19, 2003
CAIRO, April 19 (IslamOnline.net) - Syria will not bargain with the United States over Hizbollah in view of the latest bellicose threats against Syria after Saddam Hussein’s regime had passed into history, Hizbullah’s Spokesman Hassan Ezzudin told IslamOnline.net late Friday, April 18.

Oregon Muslims Protest Monthlong Detention Without a Charge
New York Times, April 19, 2003
PORTLAND, Ore., April 18 — Behind the metal doors of a federal penitentiary near here, Maher Hawash has been imprisoned for 29 days without charge, linked to a terrorist plot in ways that the government refuses to describe.

French Journalists to Film Foreign Peace Activists Detained by Israeli Authorities
Palestine Media Centre, April 19, 2003
Israel has detained two French journalists who came to the Jewish State en route to the occupied Palestinian territory to film the plight of foreign peace activists working there....The journalists wanted to make a program about peace activists who come in solidarity with Palestinians in the occupied territory, protest the Israeli occupation in non-violent methods and help prevent the demolition of Palestinians’ homes.

Zionist entity admits acquiring names of Iraqi scientists
Palestinian Information Center, April 19, 2003  
Occupied Jerusalem- Zionist military sources have denied the French retired army General’s revelation that 150 Zionist commandos were in Iraq to assassinate 500 Iraqi scientists connected to the Iraqi chemical, biological, nuclear and missile arms programs.

Israeli fire kills Palestinian cameraman, injures at least 17 in Nablus
Al-Bawaba, April 19, 2003
Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian cameraman during a clash with Palestinians in the West Bank city of Nablus on Saturday, Palestinian witnesses and medics said.

IOF Kill Palestinian Cameraman, Wound 3 Children
Palestine Media Centre, April 19, 2003
Court Holds Israeli Soldiers Accused of Killing Palestinian Youth  -- April 19, 2003 - Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed a Palestinian cameraman in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, a day after three Palestinian children were injured when IOF tanks shelled Palestinians’ houses in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah.

IOF Kills a Palestinian Journalist, Injures 14 Civilians in Nablus
International Press Center, April 19, 2003
NABLUS, Palestine, April 19, 2003, (IPC)-- Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed Saturday morning a Palestinian photojournalist and wounded 14 civilians in the West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian medical sources said.

Palestinian cameraman shot dead by Israeli army in Nablus
Reporters Without Borders, April 19, 2003
Reporters Without Borders called for an immediate investigation into the killing by the Israeli army in Nablus today of Palestinian cameraman Nazeh Darwazi, who was working for the APTN (Associated Press Television Network) news agency and the Palestinian state television.

Cameraman Darwazeh Often at Front Lines
The Guardian, April 19, 2003
JERUSALEM (AP) - Nazeh Darwazeh, a cameraman for Associated Press Television News, was often on the front lines, filming clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians in the West Bank, where he met his death Saturday at age 43.

Colleagues say cameraman fatally shot by Israeli soldier
The News & Observer, April 19, 2003
NABLUS, West Bank (AP) - An Israeli soldier shot and killed a cameraman with Associated Press Television News who was covering a skirmish between troops and rock-throwing Palestinians in the West Bank city of Nablus on Saturday, witnesses said.

One Palestinian killed, Israel escalates seige measures, detains two French journalists
Arabic News, April 19, 2003
The Palestinian Omar Abu Ramadeya ( 18 year old) was killed after four Israeli soldiers beat him as he was arrested in a detention in Hebron.  The Israeli forces admitted the incident and said that Omar was strongly wounded in the head and this resulted in his death. His body was left near a fuel station in Hebron.

Palestinians attend slain cameraman's funeral
ABC, April 19, 2003
Over 1,000 Palestinians have turned out for the funeral of a Palestinian cameraman killed by Israeli gunfire in the northern West Bank.

PNA Leadership Warns of Israeli Schemes and Maneuvers
International Press Center, April 19, 2003
RAMALLAH, Palestine, April 19, 2003, IPC— The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) issued today a statement accusing Israeli occupation forces of continuing to commit crimes against the Palestinian people as the Israeli forces have committed today morning a new heinous crime by opening fire at a group of journalists in the city of Nablus resulting in the killing of Nazeeh Adel Darouza a cameraman and injuring 17 others including a number of journalists.

Occupation Chronicle Events in Palestine April 19, 2003
Palestine Media Centre, April 19, 2003
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed a Palestinian cameraman in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. IOF also wounded three children in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah. IOF Kill Palestinian Cameraman in Nablus / 3 Children Wounded by IOF Gunfire in Rafah / IOF Storm Saida Town

'Islam and Peace' conference condemns terrorism
Middle East Online, April 19, 2003 
'Tunis Declaration for Peace' condemns those who consciously or unconsciously assimilate Islam with terrorism. -- TUNIS - An international "Islam and Peace" conference has closed in the Tunisian capital with a declaration condemning terrorism and calling for dialogue between the world's different cultures and religions.

Jews, Muslims sit down together
Daily Hampshire Gazette, April 19, 2003
Saturday, April 19, 2003 -- AMHERST - At a time when the world is focusing on conflict between Jews and Muslims, local professionals of both faiths have been meeting over dinner to promote mutual understanding. The night before the start of Passover, they met at the Lord Jeffery Inn for the third time and talked for more than two hours. The six people at the dinner agreed that just getting together is a political statement.

Counting on Arafat  
Haaretz, April 19, 2003
1. Who's afraid of the road map?: People have heard Minister Avigdor Lieberman say that the road map is a recipe for the elimination of the state of Israel within 10 years.

No headline talk at dinner, please
Haaretz, April 19, 2003 
As far as Rumsfeld and his strategic adviser Richard Perle are concerned, the Europeans can use the road map to make paper airplanes. -- American Ambassador Dan Kurtzer held an informal dinner last week for six Israeli politicians who could have formed the "dream team" of a secular government. The Likud was represented by Limor Livnat and Tzipi Livni, and Labor by Ophir Pines-Paz, Colette Avital and Yuli Tamir. Avraham Poraz from Shinui was also there. The meal was kosher for the host's sake.

Maimonides, the Muslim  
Haaretz, April 19, 2003
These days, when the urge to draw closer seems squelched by events, the decision for Israeli Arabs and Jews to study in a mixed group is not self-evident.

Other Middle East News

Report: U.S. wants access to military bases in Iraq  
Haaretz, April 19, 2003 
The United States is planning a long-term military relationship with the emerging government of Iraq, which would allow the Pentagon access to military bases and "project American influence into the heart of the unsettled region," The New York Times quoted senior Bush administration officials as saying Sunday.

Shia clergy denounce US troop presence
Al-Jazeera, April 19, 2003 
A cleric at one of Shia Islam’s holiest shrines in the Iraqi city Karbala denounced the presence of US troops in the country during Friday prayers, saying it amounted to imperialism by “unbelievers.”

US accused of blocking medical relief plane
Al-Jazeera, April 19, 2003
A British aid agency accused the United States on Friday of disregarding the plight of children in northern Iraq by refusing to allow a plane full with medical supplies to land in the city of Arbil. Save the Children argued the validity of US claims that it was unsafe to land at Arbil, which is between the oil-rich cities of Mosul and Kirkuk, saying the city was “as safe as many parts of London.”

Embedded Photographer: “I Saw Marines Kill Civilians”
Palestine Media Centre/Le Monde/CounterPunch, April 19, 2003
Laurent Van der Stockt, a photographer working for the Gamma agency and under contract for the New York Times Magazine, followed the advance of the 3/4 Marines (3rd battalion, 4th regiment) for three weeks, up to the taking of Baghdad on April 9.

Gunfire interrupts first press conference by 'Pentagon's man'
The lndependent, April 19, 2003
As Ahmed Chalabi, the Pentagon's candidate for leader of Iraq, was being asked if he was a thief, the sound of gunfire interrupted the press conference.

'They did the destroying. So why can't they get everything working again?'
The lndependent, April 19, 2003
As the stifling heat of the summer begins to bite in Baghdad and the rare trickle from the tap turns a sludge brown, the people of Baghdad are still waiting for the Americans to restore electricity and water.

Democracy flourishes in the streets, but with a warning for Allies
The lndependent, April 19, 2003
For nearly 30 years, Ahmed Ismail Kalaluz lived in Baghdad as a "sleeper", a Kurdish undercover agent presenting himself to the outside world as an iron and wood trader. Yesterday he was working openly in his new office.

Baghdad's banks stripped as US soldiers stand by
The lndependent, April 19, 2003
A wave of brazen bank robberies has swept through the centre of Baghdad in the past few days in full view of the occupying American forces, and the astonishing dimensions are only now becoming clear. A tour of 20 banks in the city by The Independent yesterday found 15 wrecked, torched and looted. Even the front doors are missing from a few.

Aid agencies say security concerns are holding them back
The Guardian, April 19, 2003
The first major UN food convoy headed for Baghdad yesterday as aid agencies warned that poor security was now seriously hampering their work.

Protesters pour from the mosques to reclaim the streets for Islam
The Guardian, April 19, 2003
Iraq's huge political differences erupted into the open in the capital yesterday as tens of thousands of religious protesters called on the US to leave the country even as Washington's closest protege, Ahmad Chalabi, told a press conference that "the moral imperative is on the US to provide leadership and the Iraqi people will accept it".

Islamic leader blames US for the chaos
Salaam, April 19, 2003
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sis-tani, the highly influential Iraqi Shia cleric, yesterday criticised what he called the "foreign domination" over Iraq and blamed the US-led coalition for the lack of security that provoked chaos after the fall of the regime.

U.S. Actions Questioned After Killing
Common Dreams/Washington Post, April 18, 2003
Family in Mosul Angered by Death -- MOSUL, Iraq, April 17 -- Yasin Mohammad Salih felt a surge of hope when this northern Iraqi city was freed from the grip of Saddam Hussein's forces a week ago. But on Thursday, the 46-year-old mechanic was seething about the U.S. military. His mentally disabled brother lay dead, shot two days earlier during a riot in which U.S. troops killed at least seven people.

Psychiatric hospital in chaos amid claim that patients were raped by looters
The lndependent, April 19, 2003
Even on a good day, the Rashad psychiatric hospital in north-east Baghdad is a place of little joy. Patients shout and scream as they wander around in their nightclothes. There are wails at the sound of gunfire, and there are few doctors and little to eat or drink.

Kurds hand Saddam's oil minister to US forces, fourth of the 'most wanted'
The lndependent, April 19, 2003
Another senior member of Saddam Hussein's regime, its acting Oil Minister, Samir Abd al-Aziz al-Najim, was in US custody yesterday after being captured by Kurdish forces near the city of Mosul in northern Iraq.

Saddam's Ex-Finance Minister Is Captured
The Guardian, April 19, 2003
Officers from Iraq's newly revived police force arrested Saddam Hussein's former finance minister - one of the 55 ex-leaders on the U.S. most-wanted list - and turned him over to the Marines, the U.S. Central Command said Saturday.

Iraqis Accuse US of Cultural ‘Crime of the Century’
Arab News, April 19, 2003
BAGHDAD, 19 April 2003 — US troops committed the cultural “crime of the century” when they failed to protect priceless Iraqi artifacts from looters and likely trampled archaeological sites during the invasion, top antiquities officials here charged yesterday.

Sunnis and Shiites Unite to Protest U.S. and Hussein
New York Times, April 19, 2003
BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 18 — The struggle for power in postwar Iraq came sharply into focus today as Shiite and Sunni Muslims united in a demonstration that railed against both the United States and Saddam Hussein, while an Iraqi exile backed by the Pentagon emerged from well-guarded seclusion in an exclusive club to stake a claim to a role in Iraq's future.

US has no legitimate right to Iraqi oil and lifting of sanctions must wait, say neighbours
Al-Jazeera, April 19, 2003
In a joint statement released early Saturday morning, Iraq's neighbours said US has no right to Iraqi oil and that sanctions cannot end until Iraq has a legitimate government.

Arab states hurry to ease American concerns
Al-Jazeera, April 19, 2003 
Middle East countries, fearing their own political futures, are taking steps to ensure the United States does not perceive them as assisting Iraq.

Syria Bans Iraqis Without Visas
ABC, April 19, 2003
Syria has banned Iraqis without visas from entering the country, airline sources confirmed Saturday, an apparent effort to counter U.S. charges that it is sheltering former members of Saddam Hussein's regime.

Neighbours declare support for Syria
The Guardian, April 19, 2003
Iraq's neighbours stepped up tensions between the US and the Arab world yesterday by calling for the withdrawal of coalition troops from Iraq and declaring their support for Syria as they met for a summit to discuss the region's postwar future.

Fear and anger in Syria
BBC, April 19, 2003
In a year's time, there will be American tanks rumbling through the narrow streets of this typical Middle Eastern city - at least that's what a lot of people here are starting to believe as every day brings more US accusations against Syria.

Fluid Relationships Cause Iran to Move Cautiously
Deepika/Los Angeles Times, April 18, 2003
TEHRAN, Iran--If the rival factions that dominate Iranian politics have drawn one common lesson from the war in Iraq, it is not to underestimate Washington's resolve in confronting what it considers ``rogue states'' in the region.

Jordan Seizes Iraqi Art Believed Stolen
The Guardian, April 19, 2003
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - Jordanian customs authorities have seized 42 paintings believed to have been looted from Iraq's National Museum, government officials said Saturday.

Finding their voices in free Iraq
The Scotsman, April 19, 2003
FOR Iraq’s Shiite majority, it was a day of celebration; for United States and British forces, a day of warning. -- Tens of thousands of Shiite religious pilgrims obeyed their leaders yesterday by starting out on foot for the holy city of Karbala to mark the 40th day after the commemoration of the "martyrdom" of Imam Hussein in the eighth century.

US shamed by looting of antiquities
The Scotsman, April 19, 2003
THE ACRID smell of cordite and burning metal consumed Mushin Hasan as he drained the last of the "drinking water" supply from the rusting air conditioning vent - around him, Baghdad shuddered as the allied bombing continued into the night.

Peacekeeping in Iraq Worries Americans
Arab News, April 19, 2003
WASHINGTON, 19 April 2003 — A new poll shows Americans are becoming concerned about becoming embroiled in a potentially difficult peacekeeping mission in Iraq. An ABC News/Washington Post poll released Thursday reported 73 percent of those polled are concerned the US will get “bogged down in a long and costly” mission to maintain peace in Iraq.

Bush Plans to Ask U.N. to Lift Penalties Against Iraq in Phases
New York Times, April 19, 2003
WASHINGTON, April 18 — The Bush administration plans to ask the United Nations to lift international penalties against Iraq in phases, retaining United Nations supervision of Iraq's oil sales for now but transferring other parts of its economy to a new Iraqi authority in coming months, administration officials said today.

Power struggle in Iraqi town
BBC, April 19, 2003
US forces in the eastern Iraqi city of Kut are holding talks with local leaders to try to resolve a dispute over who is in power after the town hall was taken over by an Iranian-backed Muslim cleric. The Americans believe that he does not have popular support and are now trying to dislodge him.

Nobel Laureates Tell United States: Now Win the Peace 
Common Dreams/The lndependent, April 18, 2003
Interviews with Nobel laureates conducted as part of a special series for 'The World Today' on BBC World Service.

White House Mulls U.N. Iraq Resolutions
The Guardian, April 19, 2003
CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) - The Bush administration envisions a series of U.N. resolutions on postwar Iraq to help close rifts within the Security Council, working up to the toughest questions such as lifting sanctions against Baghdad.

Status report on US war goals
Christian Science Monitor, April 18, 2003
The report card so far: A few checked off as "done." Some partially accomplished. Several of the most important goals still prominently on the "to do" list. -- WASHINGTON – The symbols of US victory in Iraq grow daily.  Gen. Tommy Franks has entered Baghdad as Dwight Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur did in Germany and Japan a generation earlier.

Christians Cancel Easter Celebrations Over Iraq
Islam Online, April 19, 2003
CAIRO, April 19 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Christians in Egypt and across the Arab world will not celebrate Easter this and next week to show their heartfelt solidarity and sympathy with the Iraqi people, a spokesman for the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) said Saturday, April 19.

Volunteers Recall Bitter Memories, Betrayal In Iraq
Islam Online, April 19, 2003
TUNISIA, April 19 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - After three tough weeks in Iraq, Tunisian volunteers who fought against the U.S.-led invasion forces returned home with haunting memories and bitter feeling of betrayal and hatred.

American congressman enters Iraq against gov't, military requests
Jordan Times, April 19, 2003   
WASHINGTON (AP) — Bucking protests from the US military and the State Department, congressman Chris Shays crossed over the Kuwait border into Iraq Wednesday, saying he was frustrated that humanitarian aid was not reaching the Iraqi people fast enough.

Amnesty says fears for safety of four Egyptian antiwar activists
Jordan Times, April 19, 2003       
CAIRO (AFP) — Rights group Amnesty International said Thursday it is concerned over the safety of four Egyptian antiwar activists, including one journalist detained by state security forces four to five days ago.

Response to demonstrations, disorder in Iraq shockingly inadequate — Amnesty
Jordan Times, April 19, 2003
AMMAN (JT) — Amnesty International expressed concern today at the continuing violence in the northern city of Mosul. At least three people were killed and 12 injured — including two children — in an incident Wednesday in which US forces exchanged gunfire at a demonstration near the governor's building, according to an Amnesty statement Thursday.

Iraq war weighs heavily on Arab economies
Middle East Online, April 19, 2003
War on Iraq spells heavy burden for Arab economies who rely heavily on tourism, oil revenues. -- The cost of the US-led war in Iraq will weigh heavily on the economies of the Arab world, experts said this week, despite the aid expected to flow in from Western countries and international organisations.

Interview: The Importance of Iraqi Oil to the US
Palestine Chronicle, April 18, 2003
"Iraq’s reserves are estimated at around 115 billion barrels…which equals the total reserves of the United States, Canada, Mexico, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, China and the whole non-Middle Eastern Asia .." -- (Al-Jazeera) - Dr. Abdul Hay Zallom is the author of “The New Empire of Evil” and “Forewarnings of Globalization”. He was a key player in the formation of three major oil companies in 1959, two of them owned by two OPEC member states. He is also a founder and board chairman of “Zallom and Associates”, an oil industry consultation company.