Israel mounts biggest incursion into Gaza since intifada
The Independent, April 21, 2003
Israeli troops killed five Palestinians and wounded at least 40 others when a force of 35 tanks, armoured personnel carriers, bulldozers and four-wheel-drives thrust into the Rafah refugee camp yesterday.

Six killed as Israeli tanks push into Gaza
The Guardian, April 21, 2003
Amid calls for peace talks, army begins one of biggest raids for years -- The Israeli government showed yesterday that it would pursue its military agenda, regardless of demands by Washington and London for negotiations, by carrying out one of the largest raids in Gaza since the start of the intifada.

Deadlock in Palestinian cabinet row
BBC, April 21, 2003
The US wants Abbas to govern without interference from Arafat -- Negotiations to break the deadlock over the composition of a new Palestinian cabinet look set to continue. Palestinian officials have been mediating between Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his new Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas.

Forming Palestinian Government in ‘Serious Crisis’: PLC Speaker 
Palestine Media Center, April 21, 2003
April 21, 2003 - Forming a new Palestinian government is facing a “serious crisis” ahead of a Wednesday deadline to announce a new cabinet, as no progress is being made in meetings held by a “mediation committee,” though consultations are still going on to solve the impasse.

U.S. Pressures Palestinians To Form Abbas-Led Government
Islam Online, April 21, 2003
WASHINGTON, April 21 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The United States Monday, April 21, heaped pressure on the Palestinians to end their bickering and quickly install a new government under Prime Minister-designate Mahmud Abbas or risk missing a critical chance for peace.

PA source: We expect Abu Mazen to present gov't within 48 hours  
Haaretz, April 21, 2003
A source close to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat said Monday that he expected Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) to present his cabinet within the next two days. Meanwhile, a European official..said the European Union's Middle East envoy, Miguel Moratinos, has told Arafat that European officials consider Abu Mazen the only acceptable choice for prime minister.

Palestinians: Police gunfire wounds three in Jenin  
Haaretz, April 21, 2003 
Palestinians reported Monday evening that undercover police officers shot and wounded three Palestinians in Jenin and arrested five others.

Israeli army accused of targeting TV man killed in West Bank
The Independent, April 21, 2003
A TV cameraman for the Associated Press news agency died in the West Bank yesterday after he was shot in the head by an Israeli soldier. An eyewitness accused the soldier of deliberately targeting a group of journalists, saying he carefully took aim at them and fired a single shot. The killing came as the father of Tom Hurndall..said he suspected his son was deliberately targeted for helping protect Palestinian civilians.

8 more held in Border Police case
Haaretz, April 21, 2003  
Eight more Border Policemen have been arrested from the same company where four are already detained on suspicion of murdering a 17-year-old Hebron man earlier this year.

Officer ousted, another resigns due to 2 Israelis killed by army
Haaretz, April 21, 2003 
One Israel Defense Forces officer was removed from his post and another has resigned from the military as a result of the findings of the army's probe into the accidental killing in March of two Israeli security guards at an illegal outpost south of Hebron, Channel One reported Monday.

Foreign media call for thorough probe into death of Palestinian photographer  
Haaretz, April 21, 2003  
Demonstrations protesting the IDF's shooting of Palestinian Associated Press journalist Nazeh Dawarzeh were held in Ramallah and Bethlehem yesterday. The demonstrators covered their mouths with black cloth, symbolizing the "gagging" of the media.

Schools Not Teaching Pro-Israel Views To Lose Funding
Rense.com/American Free Press, April 21, 2003
The third-ranking Republican member of the U.S. Senate, conservative Rick Santorum (Pa.), plans to introduce so-called "ideological diversity" legislation that would cut federal funding for thousands of American colleges and universities if those institutions are found to be permitting professors, students and student organizations to openly criticize Israel, which Santorum considers to be an act of "anti-Semitism." 

Qassam hits Sderot building; woman hurt 
Haaretz, April 21, 2003
Two Qassam rockets, fired in retaliation for IDF operations in Rafah the night before, landed in Sderot early yesterday. One hit the roof of a building, and a piece of shrapnel started a fire in a nearby building where a woman suffered from smoke inhalation.

MK Yuri Stern calls on settlers to be ready to fight 'road map'  
Haaretz, April 21, 2003 
The National Union faction convened in Beit El Monday to discuss the proposed "road map" for Middle East peace...MK Yuri Stern called on the settlers to be ready for a struggle over the road map and to begin putting pressure on Knesset members and ministers.

JMCC Poll On Palestinian Attitudes Towards the Palestinian Situation in General
Jerusalem Media and Communication Centre, April 2003
JMCC Public Opinion Poll No. 48: Most Palestinians do not believe the newly created PA prime minister position will serve or hurt the Palestinian cause, and that Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) will not have an influence on the internal situation and the current PA reform process.

IDF cameraman, five Palestinians killed in Rafah  
Haaretz, April 21, 2003 
IDF cameraman Cpl. Lior Ziv, 19, from Holon, was killed early yesterday and three other soldiers were wounded during an operation to destroy a Hamas smuggling tunnel in Rafah. Five Palestinians were killed and 30 others wounded in the operation.

SIS Decries the murder of Palestine TV’s cameraman
International Press Center, April 21, 2003
GAZA, April 21, 2003, (IPC)-- State Information Service (SIS) movingly paid heartfelt condolences for the willful killing of Palestine TV Cameraman Nazeh Darwazeh on Saturday by Israeli occupation forces in Nablus city of the West Bank.

8 Border Police officers suspected of killing Palestinian
International Press Center, April 21, 2003
(Haaretz Daily), 21, April, 2003--Eight Border Policemen were arrested Sunday on suspicion of murdering a 17-year-old Hebron man earlier this year. They join four other officers from the same company already detained for alleged involvement in the same crime.

Hanegbi: If true, police abuse of Palestinians harms the state  
Haaretz, April 21, 2003
Public Security Minister Tzahi Hanegbi said Monday that if the suspicion that eight Border Policemen abused Palestinians in Hebron is true, they have behaved in a way that must be condemned and that seriously damages the state’s image and honor.

Occupation Chronicle Events in Palestine April 21, 2003
Palestine Media Center, April 21, 2003
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) wounded a Palestinian civilian in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah. IOF also detained two citizens from Balata refugee camp, near Nablus. IOF Wound Palestinian Civilian in Rafah / IOF Raid Balata Refugee Camp / At Least 3 Citizens Wounded in Hebron / IOF Close al-Tufah Roadblock

Court defers Temple Mount ruling  
Haaretz, April 21, 2003 
The High Court of Justice heard yesterday a petition from the Temple Mount Faithful, who are demanding that Jews be allowed to conduct prayers at the biblical site in Jerusalem. The justices did not rule on the case, deferring the decision to a later date to enable further study.

In West Bank, a Risky Quest for Peace
Common Dreams/Los Angeles Times, April 21, 2003
Activists' use of human shields is questioned after two members are killed by Israeli forces. --  TULKARM, West Bank -- Wearing sandals and amber-colored earrings in a region where soldiers don bulletproof vests, Radhika Sainath stepped up to the driver's side of an Israeli military jeep on the dilapidated outskirts of the West Bank and demanded an explanation for the armored personnel carriers roaring past.

ISM: Abu Holi Checkpoint, Mas'Ha, Rafah
Scoop/International Solidarity Movement, April 20, 2003
1. ISM Activists open Abu Holi checkpoint, 2. Mas'ha Peace Camp, 3. ISMers in Rafah visit children shot by IOF

Union Discusses Killing Of Arab Journalists In Iraq, Palestine
Palestine Chronicle, April 21, 2003
CAIRO (IOL & News Agencies) - The Arab Union of Journalists vowed on Sunday, April 20, to take measures against the U.S. occupation forces in Iraq and the Israeli occupation army in Palestinian areas for targeting Arab journalists.

Brother of bus bomber charged with failing to prevent the crime
Haaretz, April 21, 2003  
The older brother of Mahmoud al-Kawasma, who carried out a suicide bus bombing in Haifa last month that killed 17 people and injured dozens more, was charged in Adoraim military court yesterday with failing to prevent a crime.

Arafat, Abbas Struggle Over New Palestinian Cabinet Formation
Washington Post, April 21, 2003
JERUSALEM –– Yasser Arafat and his prime minister-designate, Mahmoud Abbas, remained at loggerheads over the composition of the Palestinian Cabinet on Monday, after all-night negotiations failed to produce a compromise.

Arafat-Abbas rift deepens
Middle East Online, April 21, 2003
Less than three days before a deadline to announce his cabinet or step down, Palestinian prime minister-designate Mahmud Abbas was still locked in a battle of wills with Yasser Arafat Monday over his choice of a security chief capable of cracking down on militants.

Abu Mazen issues final ultimatum
Haaretz, April 21, 2003 
With the deadline for presenting a cabinet less than 48 hours away, Mahmoud Abbas - Abu Mazen - the designated Palestinian prime minister, last night reiterated an ultimatum he has used at least three times in a week, Palestinian sources said last night.

Analysis / Brinkmanship in Ramallah
Haaretz, April 21, 2003 
The war of nerves between Yasser Arafat and Abu Mazen reached new levels of tension last night with both sides refusing to change their position regarding the appointment of their people to the new government.

PA official: Arafat may ask another person to form government
Palestinain Information Center, April 21, 2003
Occupied Jerusalem - Mediation efforts to solve the deadlock between Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Aarafat and would-be Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas has apparently reached a dead-end, Palestinian sources said Monday.

Arafat proves to be a hard act to follow - and to negotiate with
The Guardian, April 21, 2003
The future of the Middle East peace process hung in the balance yesterday after the Palestinian prime minister designate stormed out of a discussion with Yasser Arafat and threatened to abandon the premiership before even taking up the post.

Palestinian PM Ponders Next Move
Arab News/The Independent, April 21, 2003
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 21 April 2003 — Amid an Israeli raid on the Gaza Strip that left five Palestinians and an Israeli soldier dead, Yasser Arafat was locked in a tug-of-war yesterday with his prime minister-designate, Mahmoud Abbas, over the formation of a new Cabinet.

Consumer goods imports down 18% in Q1
Globes, April 21, 2003
Car imports plunged 30% in the first quarter of 2003, compared with the first quarter of 2002. -- Central Bureau of Statistics figures show that the fall in private consumption in 2002 carried over into the first quarter of 2003.

Small crowd celebrates Easter in Jerusalem
The Dominion Post, April 21, 2003
JERUSALEM (AP) -- A small crowd of worshippers gathered Sunday in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem to mark Easter, but the somber atmosphere contrasted with the joy of the Christian holiday.

Palestinians In Gaza Demand Release Of Abu Abbas
Islam Online, April 21, 2003
GAZA CITY, April 21 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Dozens of Palestinians demonstrated Monday, April 21, in front of the United Nations office in Gaza City to demand the release of Mohammad Abbas, a Palestinian involved in a 1985 hijacking and captured by U.S. troops in Iraq last week.

Other Middle East News

Jay Garner tours Baghdad
The Guardian, April 21, 2003
Jay Garner, the retired US former general faced with the job of restoring basic services to Iraq, arrived in Baghdad today. General Garner landed at Baghdad airport after a short flight from Kuwait to take up the position of Iraq's postwar civil administrator in a city still largely without power, clean water or a clear direction toward a new political future.

US 'to keep bases in Iraq'
The Guardian, April 21, 2003
The US is planning a long-term military presence in Iraq, in a move which will dramatically extend American power in the region and spread dismay and fear among its opponents across the Arab world. According to reports, the Pentagon intends to retain four military bases in Iraq after the invasion force withdraws.

US won't say how long it will stay
Sydney Morning Herald, April 22 2003
The retired United States general who will be the new ruler of Iraq promised yesterday to restore the country to its former glory while in Washington a senator warned it might take five years before democratic elections were held.

Food aid reaches Baghdad, but US blocks relief in north
The Independent, April 20, 2003
The first emergency shipment of food is due to reach Baghdad today as the United Nations significantly increases the scale of its aid to Iraq in an effort to avert an impending humanitarian disaster.

Inside Nasiriya's looted orphanages
BBC, April 21, 2003
All three of the orphanages in Nasiriya were trashed by looters as soon as the fighting stopped. Now a British aid agency is helping to re-open one of them. -- With its bedrooms emptied of furniture, the kitchen bare and the bathrooms stripped of everything including the piping, it looks more like one of Saddam's notorious torture complexes.

Confusion over Iraqi 'oil minister'
BBC, April 21, 2003 
US troops saved the ministry from looters in Baghdad -- Confusion reigns over who will represent Iraq at this week's emergency meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), after a former Iraqi general declared he would attend. The US said it does not recognise Jawdat Obeidi, who claims he is deputy governor of post-war Baghdad and leader of an Iraqi delegation to Vienna on Wednesday.

US Army Ignored Warnings to Protect Iraqi Museum
Arab News, April 21, 2003
LONDON, 21 April 2003 — The US Army ignored pleas from its own advisers to take measures against the looting that has wrecked Baghdad’s once priceless collection of ancient artifacts, the Observer newspaper reported yesterday.

Self-Proclaimed Baghdad Governor Says To Hold Onto Office
Islam Online, April 21, 2003
DOHA, April 21 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Reacting to a declaration by the new U.S.-run administration in Iraq rejecting his claim to power, the self-appointed "governor" of Baghdad, Mohammad Mohsen Zubeidi, said Monday, April 21, he would hold onto the office.

Hans Blix steps up pressure to allow inspectors back in
The Independent, April 21, 2003
Hans Blix, the chief United Nations weapons inspector, returns to the Security Council this week – not to update the member nations on the hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but rather to pile pressure on the United States to let the UN back into the post-war reconstruction process.

Anthrax, chemicals and nerve gas: who is lying?
The Independent, April 20, 2003
Growing evidence of deception by Washington -- If US and British forces are scratching their heads at their inability to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, perhaps they should talk to Scott Ritter, the United Nations weapons inspector who famously quit in 1998, after seven years on the job, and has been a controversial figure ever since.

Government may block inquiry into Iraqi arms
The Independent, April 20, 2003
The British Government insisted yesterday it would find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq amid growing demands for an inquiry into claims that it misled people to justify an invasion.

Pressure on Blair over reliability of weapons reports
The Guardian, April 21, 2003
The Conservatives said yesterday that Tony Blair had a moral obligation to investigate whether the intelligence services had misled the government into believing Saddam Hussein was harbouring weapons of mass destruction, (WMD) the stated cause of the war in Iraq.

'Time for the coalition to leave'
The Guardian, April 21, 2003
Nasiriyah meeting: Absent Shias expose difficulties for US democratisation of Iraq -- A review of newspaper editorials from around the world.

U.S. praises Syria for barring Iraqis
Tacoma News Tribune, April 21, 2003
WASHINGTON (April 21, 12:59 p.m. PDT) - The Bush administration underscored its newly positive stance on Syria on Monday with praise for Syria's closing its border with Iraq and stopping Iraqi diplomats from boarding flights to Damascus.

Syria Says It Wants Dialogue With U.S.
NewsJournal, April 21, 2003
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP)--Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa on Monday welcomed U.S. President George W. Bush's positive remarks about Syria, saying his country wants dialogue and not heated exchanges with the United States.

Bush Softens Rhetoric Over Syria
Arab News, April 21, 2003
DAMASCUS/WASHINGTON, 21 April 2003 — Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad in Damascus yesterday as America stepped up pressure on Syria to dissociate itself from alleged terrorism.

Iraqi cleric's 'arrest' sparks protests
BBC, April 21, 2003
An upcoming Shia religious festival may now become political -- More than 4,000 Iraqi Shia Muslims have staged a noisy demonstration outside the main hotel housing the international media in Baghdad, calling for the release of a senior cleric they say has been arrested by US forces.

Shia Muslims pour into Karbala
BBC, April 21, 2003
The roads leading to Karbala are lined with pilgrims. The columns, sometimes five or six abreast, stretch for at least 100 kilometres (60 miles). The worshippers sing as they march to their holy city, flinging their arms in the air and then beating their chests in prayer.

Saddam 'alive and in Iraq'
BBC, April 21, 2003
Saddam Hussein and at least one of his sons are being tracked as they move around Iraq, an opposition leader has told the BBC. Ahmed Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress says his supporters have not yet caught up with the ousted dictator but reports of his movements arrive within "12 to 24 hours".

Fears mount of Iraqi border crisis
BBC, April 21, 2003 
Aid agencies fear an outbreak of diseases such as cholera or dysentery -- Fears of a humanitarian crisis have been sparked by the arrival of more than 1,000 people in a no-man's land between Iraq and Jordan. Many of the refugees, of Iranian and Palestinian origin, are said to have fled to the border area following threats by local people as well as from dwindling supplies.

AL Warns Against Permanent U.S. Military Presence In Iraq
Islam Online, April 21, 2003
AMMAN, April 21 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa Monday, April 21, warned against the United States maintaining a permanent military presence in Iraq and joined Jordan in calling for the speedy withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Ba'athists slip quietly back into control
The Guardian, April 21, 2003
They have quietly removed the pictures of Saddam Hussein from their sitting rooms, and reconfigured their memories to transform lives of privilege into tales of suffering. Less than two weeks after the collapse of the regime, thousands of members of the Arab Ba'ath Socialist party, the all too willing instrument of Saddam, are resuming their roles as the men and women who run Iraq.

Missing: 5,000 Years of History 
Common Dreams/Boston Globe, April 21, 2003
BABYLON, Iraq -- The roots of Western law and writing sprang from the Mesopotamian cradle of civilization here, the site of the resplendent Hanging Gardens of Babylon -- one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The palace of Hammurabi and King Nebuchadnezzar -- like antiquities throughout this country -- has met a fate that has devastated Iraqis and archeologists throughout the world.

Baghdad's self-proclaimed 'Mayor' promises Islamic laws
The Independent, April 21, 2003
The man who has proclaimed himself mayor of Baghdad vowed yesterday that anyone from the former regime found to have been responsible for atrocities against the Iraqi people would be prosecuted by the new government. He also said that the new country's constitution would be based on Islamic law.

Tank captain admits firing on media hotel
The Guardian, April 21, 2003
A US army captain has admitted that an Abrams tank under his command fired on the Palestine hotel in Baghdad, killing two journalists, but said he had not been told that the hotel was home to the international press.

Ex-U.S. Official Says CIA Aided Baathists
Truthout, Sunday 20 April 2003
PHILADELPHIA--If the United States succeeds in shepherding the creation of a post-war Iraqi government, a former National Security Council official says, it won't be the first time that Washington has played a primary role in changing that country's rulers. Roger Morris, a former State Department foreign service officer who was on the NSC staff during the Johnson and Nixon administrations, says the CIA had a hand in two coups in Iraq during the darkest days of the Cold War, including a 1968 putsch that set Saddam Hussein firmly on the path to power.

Nasrallah warns of militants' retaliation against US
Middle East Online, April 21, 2003
WASHINGTON - The US-led war in Iraq will encourage Islamic militants to retaliate against the United States, the leader of the Lebanon-based Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah said Sunday.

Mubarak, Nahyan discuss Iraq, Mideast peace
Middle East Online, April 21, 2003
ABU DHABI - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak discussed post-war Iraq and the Palestinian issue Monday with his counterpart in the United Arab Emirates, Zayed Bin Sultan al-Nahyan after arriving in Abu Dhabi.

Bodies of two British soldiers found near Basra
Middle East Online, April 21, 2003
LONDON - The bodies of two British soldiers, at the centre of a controversy after Prime Minister Tony Blair announced they had been "executed" by Iraqi forces, have been found buried in the Iraqi desert, the defence ministry said late Sunday.

Saddam son-in-law 'surrenders'
The Guardian, April 20, 2003
Questions over killed soldier's armour · Pope's message for peace in Iraq · 'Coalition to declare war over' -- Saddam Hussein's son-in-law has surrendered to the Iraqi National Congress in Baghdad after leaving Syria, a London-based spokesman claimed today.

How American power girds the globe with a ring of steel
The Guardian, April 21, 2003
New bases take Pentagon's armed presence far and wide -- Whenever America goes to war, the spoils of victory invariably include more US military bases overseas. Having vanquished Saddam Hussein, the Pentagon is planning to establish four US bases in Iraq, according to reports in Washington yesterday.

Arab League Chief Threatens to Resign
Arab News, April 21, 2003
CAIRO, 21 April 2003 — Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa warned yesterday he could resign following a row with Kuwait over the war in Iraq. “People should treat one another with respect, if not, I will resign,” he told Egyptian television.

Antiwar Movement Tries to Find a Meaningful Message 
Common Dreams/New York Times, April 20, 2003
On Tuesday, the leaders of the antiwar coalition Win Without War will gather for a two-day retreat outside New York City to discuss their group's future now that the war has ended. One of the items on the agenda: Should it change its name to Win Without Wars?

Jordan refuses to accept Palestinian, Iranian refugees
Al-Bawaba, April 21, 2003
Hundreds of Iranian Kurds have fled to the Jordanian border from a refugee camp in central Iraq because they fear their lives are in danger, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said on Sunday, according to Reuters.

US multinational companies wary of backlash
Christian Science Monitor, April 21, 2003
MAKASSAR, INDONESIA – As the war with Iraq winds down and with it the momentum for a global consumer boycott of US products, companies like McDonald's and Coca-Cola should be breathing a sigh of relief. But a bomb blast at a McDonald's in Istanbul, Turkey, on April 15 showed that new threats are emerging.

Iraqi Christians wary of Islamists
Christian Science Monitor, April 21, 2003
Christians worry they will lose religious freedoms if Islamic fundamentalists gain power post-Hussein. -- BAGHDAD, IRAQ – Iraqi Christians, feeling vulnerable in the wave of lawlessness that has swept this city, celebrated Easter Sunday with a special sense of joy and gratitude that the war, and the looting that followed the fighting, are over.

Administration has plan for change in the Middle East
The Nashua Telegraph/Los Angeles Times, April 21, 2003
WASHINGTON – Iraq was only the beginning. Fresh from a rout of the Middle East’s most feared regime, the Bush administration is charting an ambitious plan to further transform the volatile region. Unlike its confrontational approach to Iraq, however, Washington, D.C., is pursuing a four-pronged strategy that aims to bring about gradual change through political and economic incentives, all backed by the unspoken but obvious leverage of its new regional dominance, U.S. officials say.

Christians call for tolerance and equality under new constitution
The Independent, April 21, 2003
Christians congregated in churches across Iraq yesterday to celebrate Easter, nervous at what a new regime would have in store for their dwindling minority.

Cops arrest men they say were filming bridge
Detroit Free Press, April 21, 2003
Dearborn residents are questioned by FBI, face weapons charge -- Two Dearborn men were arrested late Sunday after police said they caught them videotaping the Ambassador Bridge and found two quarter-sticks of dynamite and several shotgun shells in their car...Police were holding the Arab-American men, ages 26 and 30, on a charge of possessing a dangerous weapon, a felony, because officers found a collapsible baton inside the car, a 2001 Cadillac. The baton is similar to the type carried by police.

Tikritis Mourn Their Deposed President's Statue
International Press Center, April 21, 2003
TIKRIT, Iraq, April 21, 2003 (IPC + Agencies) --- "His statue has fallen but no one can tear him from our hearts," uttered one Iraqi citizen as US marines tore down a statue for the deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.