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.
IOF Wounds Five Palestinians in West Bank, Razes Lands in Bethlehem and Rafah
International Press Center 8/5/2003
NABLUS, Palestine, August 5, 2003 (IPC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) shot and wounded three Palestinians Monday in the West Bank city of Nablus. Basima Al-Hamamy was shot with a live bullet in the right side of her pelvis, due to which she was transferred into hospital to receive medical attention, Rafidia Hospital sources in Nablus, said. Israeli soldiers randomly opened fire at residential neighborhoods in the middle of Nablus injuring one woman, witnesses told IPC's. In the mean time, two others were wounded when Israeli occupation forces opened fire at their car in Salem Village, near Nablus.
IDF detains 41 activists protesting fence near Qalqilyah
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
DPA - Israel Defense Forces troops detained 41 pro-Palestinian activists near the West Bank city of Qalqilyah Tuesday morning, one of the activists said. The 35 foreigners and six Israelis had set up camp near the separation fence Israel is building between itself and the West Bank, the activist from the International Women's Peace Service told Deutsche Presse-Agentur. They were taken by bus to a police station in the northern West Bank settlement of Ariel.
Bethlehem Isolated, Army Bulldozers Destroy Cultivated Land
International Middle East Media Center 8/5/2003
After announcing Sunday Bethlehem as a closed military area, Israeli troops closed all the checkpoints around Bethlehem preventing residents from moving into or out of the county. Meanwhile Israeli army bulldozers destroyed cultivated land at two sites in the Bethlehem region. Villagers of Beit Fokeen west of Bethlehem said that Army Bulldozers accompanied by dozens of Israeli settlers and guarded by soldiers destroyed Monday morning their cultivated land at Muswan southwest of the village.
Medical Sources: Israeli Troops Dragged the Body of Nihad Rizq on The Ground For a Long Distance
International Middle East Media Center 8/5/2003
The pilot Nihad Rizq Mohammad Qasem (27) from Alras town, in Tulkarem, died as a result of gun shots to the head fired from a short distance. A Palestinian medical source reported refuting the early Israeli army release that he died while planting an explosive device. The medical sources said that several shoots in the head caused the death of Riziq. Signs indicated that Riziq’s body was dragged for long distances after being killed.
Israel extends closure of Palestinian Orient House by six months
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
Public Security Minister Tzachi Hanegbi extended on Tuesday the closure of Orient House, a symbol of Palestinian nationalism in Jerusalem, ignoring a call in a U.S.-backed peace plan to reopen Palestinian institutions it has shut down in the city....Palestinian cabinet minister Yasser Abed Rabbo called the Israeli move a violation of the peace "road map" and accused it of seeking to "reopen a door to struggle" a month into a three-month cease-fire declared by Palestinian militants.
Information minister says car bomb was work of Israel
Daily Star 8/5/2003
A bomb blast which killed a veteran Hizbullah militant in a southern Beirut suburb last week was an “Israeli terrorist operation,” the Lebanese information minister charged Monday. Speaking about the car-bomb attack in which Ali Saleh died, Michel Samaha said: “On Saturday morning we witnessed an Israeli terrorist operation which constitutes a blatant and direct aggression against (our) internal security.”
IDF says Hezbollah to retaliate for Beirut bombing
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
Hezbollah is planning to carry out a terrorist attack in Israel in retaliation for the assassination of a Hezbollah leader in Beirut on Saturday, according to an intelligence report Israel has received. A senior Military Intelligence officer told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee yesterday that the IDFis taking seriously Hezbollah threats to kidnap IDF soldiers and use them as bargaining chips.
Security sources: Iran has financed most attacks since truce
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
Most terror attacks carried out since the cease-fire agreement between the Palestinian Authority and militant factions was signed in June were organized by Fatah members, who received orders and financing from Iran, security officials said Tuesday. According to security sources, the militant organizations are also trying to send representatives abroad through the Rafah crossing in the Gaza Strip, which borders the Israel-Egypt frontier.
Israel Says It Foiled Assassination Plot
The Guardian 8/5/2003
JERUSALEM (AP) - Israeli security agents broke up a Hamas cell that was gathering information for a possible assassination attempt on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the government said. The cell was uncovered with the arrest in mid-June of two Palestinians from Jerusalem who allegedly drove suicide bombers into the city in May and June to carry out attacks that killed 24, the government said in a statement Monday.
Beit El East outpost comes down - and moves to Mount Artis
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
Beit El residents yesterday began to dismantle the Beit El East outpost (Tel Haim) in accordance with a compromise reached with the Israel Defense Forces. Under the agreement, caravans at Beit El East will be moved to an outpost on Mount Artis, located next to Beit El.
Group wants to lay Temple cornerstone
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
The Temple Mount Faithful, led by Gershon Salomon, has asked the police to allow the group to hold a symbolic cornerstone-laying ceremony for the rebuilding of the Temple this Thursday, Tisha B'Av, the day of mourning for the destruction of the First and Second Temples.
Fanatic Jews plan desecration of Aqsa Mosque on Thursday
Palestinian Information Center 8/5/2003
Occupied Jerusalem - The Zionist so-called higher court of justice has asked the Zionist police to explain reasons for turning down the request of the Jewish fanatic movement the Temple Mount Faithful to lay the foundation stone of the so-called temple in the Aqsa Mosque on Thursday. The group led by terrorist Girshon Solmon had tabled an appeal with the court today after police turned down their request to offer their strange rituals and lay down the foundation stone of their alleged temple in the holy Aqsa Mosque.
IDF troops arrest six wanted Palestinians in West Bank
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
Six wanted Palestinians were arrested in the West Bank overnight Monday by Israel Defense Forces troops in the West Bank, Israel Radio reported. Three Palestinians were arrested in al-Bira, east of Ramallah, and three others were arrested in Nablus, the report said.
Israeli Settlers Chase Palestinian Villagers Using Light Planes
International Middle East Media Center 8/5/2003
Palestinian Villagers of Howarah south of Nablus reported that settlers of Yitshar are chasing villagers out of their fields using light airplanes.
Palestinian boy killed after bomb explodes in hands
Jerusalem Post 8/5/2003
A Palestinian boy died in a Gaza Strip hospital after an explosive device went off in his hands, hospital sources said. Details of the incident and the boy's name and age were not immediately available.
Occupation forces exclude Palestinian house from village
Palestinian Information Center 8/5/2003
Nablus - Zionist occupation tractors and bulldozers protected by scores of army soldiers and armored vehicles yesterday excluded a Palestinian house from his Masha village near Nablus. Inhabitants of the village and neighbors of the citizen, Hani Abdullah Amer, confronted the Zionist tractors and tried to obstruct their work, which fell in line with the racist fence construction.
Askalan prisoners demand restoring their confiscated belongings
Palestinian Information Center 8/5/2003
Nablus - Prisoners in the Zionist occupation prison of Askalan have asked the prison authority to return their belongings especially the electrical appliances that were confiscated last week in the wake of the jailers’ assault on the prison cells.
Aqsa Martyrs: Zionists murdered our cadre in cold blood
Palestinian Information Center 8/5/2003
Tulkarm - The Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the West Bank city of Tulkarm have accused Zionist occupation forces of murdering one of the Aqsa cadres in the district in cold blood. A statement for the Aqsa Martyrs said that occupation troops had assassinated Nihad Rezq Qassem, 27, who worked with the Palestinian Authority’s intelligence apparatus and threatened to avenge his murder.
Killing of Hizbullah official has far-reaching security implications
Daily Star 8/5/2003
Hizbullah’s politburo member Ezzeddine:Assassination proves existence of israeli cells -- The assassination of a Hizbullah member in the party’s stronghold is undoubtedly a blow to the country’s security, with implications that could touch the party’s sponsors, Syria and Iran. Soon after Ali Hussein Saleh’s car exploded in the southern suburbs of Beirut, instantly killing him, he was identified by both the police and his family as a member of the party who worked at the Iranian Embassy.
Israeli Military Detains 41 Peaceful Activists
International Solidarity Movement 8/5/2003
August 5, 2003, 8:10 am, Mas'ha, Occupied Palestine -- As of this writing, 41 internationals and Israelis have been removed from the land they were peacefully protecting. -- First they arrested the people filming their brutality. Then they beat several people who were trying to get into help, one seriously enough that his ribs may be cracked. And now they are busy demolishing the A'ameer home in Mas'ha. And for what? Because the settlers on the other side of this farmer didn't want the Apartheid fence to be close to their illegal settlement, and, after all, peace activists and Palestinians are expendable in this occupation by the Israeli government. So the settlers demanded that the fence be moved so that it cut through the farmer's land, ruining his home and his method of making a living.
ISM: Update on Mas'ha activists detained
International Solidarity Movement 8/5/2003
Action Alert! - Update on Mas'ha activists detained -- ** OVER 45 HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS DETAINED TODAY, 5/8/03 ** AT LEAST TWO ARRESTED - DETAINEES ARE FROM PALESTINE, ISRAEL, U.S., U.K., ITALY, SWEDEN, FRANCE, DENMARK, JAPAN, IRELAND, GERMANY AND CANADA - [Occupied West Bank] At approximately 7am this morning, Palestinian, Israeli, and international human rights activists were detained while attempting to block the demolition of part of a Palestinian family's home, near the village of Mas'ha. The building had been slated for demolition by the Israeli Military because it lay in the path of the Apartheid Wall that Israel is building on occupied Palestinian land.
ISM activists arrested for erecting tent near security fence
Jerusalem Post 8/5/2003
Several dozen members of the International Solidarity Movement together with Israeli activists were arrested Tuesday after erecting a tent near the West Bank city of Kalkilya. The tent was erected along the newly-built security fence in the area and military officials said that the activists were arrested for entering a closed military zone.
Diplomacy..
Abbas and Sharon cancel meeting
The Guardian 8/5/2003
A summit between Palestinian and Israeli leaders was cancelled today as the US-backed road map to peace ran into further trouble. Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon were due to meet but both sides are understood to be angry over recent developments. Palestinian sources said their side had pulled out because of Israel's decision to release 440 Palestinian prisoners - about 100 fewer than originally thought - and with few long-term prisoners among them.
Prisoner List Disappoints Palestinians
Arab News 8/5/2003
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 5 August 2003 — Israel on Monday published a list of 342 Palestinian prisoners it plans to free tomorrow but Palestinians cried foul. Palestinian officials noted that 31 of the men were to have completed their sentences this month anyway, and that Israeli officials said earlier 540 would be freed. Palestinians want a general release of all 6,000 of their brethren in Israeli jails.
339 Palestinians to be freed Wed.; high alert at prisons
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
Some 339 Palestinian prisoners and security detainees are to be released at 2:30 P.M. on Wednesday, with 99 more Palestinians set for release at a later date. The prisoners will be taken by bus to a number of checkpoints along the seam line with the West Bank, where their relatives or PA representatives will be waiting to welcome them. Any prisoner refusing to sign a document stating that he will not re-engage in terror activities will not be released.
Analysis / A trawl through the prisons to net the smallest fry
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
A study of the list of Palestinian prisoners due to be released by Israel reveals that, in the final analysis, the government held back on making far-reaching gestures to the Palestinian Authority. The list was published yesterday by the Prisons Service...But what is more significant is the composition of the list. It does indeed include more than 100 prisoners from the Islamic organizations, but there are no "big names" nor are there prisoners who were involved in extremely serious crimes.
Sharon implies Israel has not given PA anything yet
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
"It's possible to say that we have not yet given anything" to the Palestinians, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday at a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Sharon was responding to a question from the chairman of the Yesha Jewish settlers lobby, MK Yehiel Hazan (Likud), who asked whether it was logical to release prisoners when the Palestinians still have given nothing to Israel.
State Dept.: Reports of cuts in loan guarantees 'premature'
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
A U.S. State Department official on Tuesday downplayed as "premature" reports that the Bush administration is planning to cut loan guarantees to Israel to match the cost of the security fence east of the Green Line. "We have urged them [the Israelis] to consider the route that the fence is taking. They have affirmed that they are considering the route of the fence and are taking our views under consideration," said the State Department official. "All talk of deduction of loan guarantees is premature."
Israel suspends pullback from occupied areas
The Guardian 8/5/2003
Gun attack on settlers and Arafat's detention of Palestinian militants endanger peace process -- Israel's defence minister, Shaul Mofaz, called a halt to the military withdrawal from Palestinian cities yesterday following the wounding of a Jewish settler and her three children near Bethlehem on Sunday. Mr Mofaz also said there would be no further prisoner releases in addition to the 342 Palestinian detainees to be freed tomorrow as a "goodwill gesture" towards the road map peace process.
19 claimed to be wanted by Israel are detained in Jericho
International Middle East Media Center 8/5/2003
According to Alayam Newspaper, a top official in Fatah declared that the PA moved last week, 19 Palestinian operatives claimed to be wanted by Israel to a prison in Jericho. The official who preferred to be anonymous, said to France Press, “19 operatives from four different regions in the West Bank, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Qalqilia and Salfit were moved to Jericho.”
Arafat’s Close Aide, Israel is Not Cooperating with American Efforts to End Muqata’ Standstill
International Middle East Media Center 8/5/2003
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s Adviser Nabil Abu rudinah said Monday that Israel is not cooperating with the Palestinian side to end the standstill inside the Presidential compound and insure moving the “claimed to be wanted by Israel” Brigades members to Jericho or Gaza.
Failures of the list of the "to be released" prisoners
International Middle East Media Center 8/5/2003
Israel announced the names of 531 Palestinian prisoners to be released on Wednesday. 198 were detained for criminal offenses, 342 for security reasons, 159 for administrative reasons, and the rest were convicted for security offences. The Palestinian prisoners’ society described the list as deceptive pointing out to the following...
Bereaved mother 'attacks' Sharon over prisoner releases
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
An altercation broke out yesterday between a bereaved mother and the prime minister over the issue of releasing Palestinian prisoners. As Ariel Sharon left a meeting of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, he was approached by the mother, Yehudit Dassberg, who lost her daughter and son-in-law in a terrorist attack near Beit Shemesh seven years ago. She asked him how he could free murderers when people were still being killed and maimed in the streets.
Palestinians slam prisoner release list
Daily Star 8/5/2003
Israel mulls changes to route of separation barrier -- Palestinians voiced disappointment at a list published Monday by the Jewish state of hundreds of prisoners it is ready to free, while Israel said it was considering sweeping changes in the route of a planned separation barrier to accommodate US and Palestinian concerns. At the same time, the two sides’ prime ministers lined up talks to salvage the troubled peace process as Israel’s defense minister said he would not withdraw from more West Bank towns until the Palestinians acted against militants.
Israel seeks to leverage road map dialogue into improved status at UN
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom brought up an unusual request in a meeting this week with his counterpart, Palestinian Minister for External Affairs Nabil Sha'ath. "Here you've changed the tone," said Shalom to Sha'ath, "but in international organizations, you still use harsh language and try to pass anti-Israeli resolutions and decisions. If you change that, it will help you and us in the public's opinion." Sha'ath shot back: "We're strong in international organizations. You're strong in the U.S. Help us persuade Jewish organizations to help the Palestinians."
Hamas leader: US proposal is ‘shameless', Egyptian delegation expected in Gaza soon
Al-Bawaba 8/5/2003
Amidst reports of a US proposal to dismantle both the Hamas and Islamic Jihad military infrastructures in return for amnesty for all Palestinian prisoners, Hamas leader - Dr. Abdel Aziz al Rantisi - has labeled the initiative as ‘shameless’. Earlier on Tuesday, the London based Arabic daily Al Sharq Al Awsat - citing US sources in Cairo – reported about a US-proposed plan that would have Israel issue general amnesty for all Hamas and Islamic Jihad prisoners in return for the total disarmament of the two movements’ and the dismantling of their military infrastructures.
Neither Israel Not Palestinians Can Carry Out All Terms Of Roadmap
Al-Hayat 8/5/2003
Neither Israel nor the Palestinians can carry out all the terms of the U.S.-backed Roadmap peace plan, Israeli Interior Minister Avraham Poraz said Monday. The plan calls for an end to nearly three years of violence and leads through three phases to creation of a Palestinian state in 2005. Both sides have accepted the plan, though Israel added a list of 14 qualifications. Poraz, speaking in Jerusalem to the Foreign Press Association, said that while the Palestinians are unable to stop all terrorism, Israel cannot halt all construction in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. "So there is a balance," he said. "No one respects 100 percent of their obligations."
In Israel, Settlers Resist
Washington Post 8/5/2003
NOFEI NEHEMIA, West Bank -- On a blistering day last week, Michael Plotkin stood beside a bright new children's swing set and listened to the sounds of his expanding outpost in the desert...."We need families," said Plotkin, unofficial mayor of this burgeoning Jewish outpost on the West Bank, about 25 miles north of Jerusalem. "If we have a lot of families, nobody will try to remove us."...As of this week, an estimated 105 outposts dot the West Bank -- more than half of which have been established since Sharon took office in February 2001, according to Peace Now documents. That figure is similar to totals recently provided to the Israeli parliament by defense officials.
U.S. May Reduce Aid to Get Israel to Halt Barrier
New York Times 8/5/2003
WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 — The Bush administration, looking for ways to press Israel to halt construction of a barrier separating its citizens from Palestinian areas, is considering a reduction in loan guarantees for Israel that were approved by Congress this spring, administration officials said today. Any such punitive step by the United States toward Israel would mark a change in President Bush's longstanding efforts to avoid any kind of confrontation with the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Abbas meets militant leaders for talks on truce, prisoners
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas met Tuesday evening with leaders of the militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad organizations, for talks on issues including the cease-fire and the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. Ahead of the Gaza Strip meeting, members of the two terror groups said that they intend to express their disappointment at the poor Israeli performance in the diplomatic process.
Truce threatened by roadmap deadlock
Middle East Online 8/5/2003
A month after it was declared, the Palestinian militant groups' truce is as fragile as ever, equally threatened by Israel's failure to press on with the peace roadmap and the Palestinian Authority's attempts to implement it. Armed Palestinian militants have conditioned their suspension of attacks on a release of all 6,000 prisoners held by Israel, while Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon demands the PA crack down on these same militants before taking significant steps.
399 prisoners to be released Wed. afternoon
Jerusalem Post 8/5/2003
Some 399 Palestinian prisoners will be released at 2:30 P.M. Wednesday and an additional 99 Palestinians will be released at a later date. The prisoners will be driven by bus to several roadblocks throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip where their relatives and representatives of the Palestinian Authority will be waiting to greet them, Israel Radio reported.
Growing tension between PA, Israel over issue of prisoners: Sharon-Abbas meeting cancelled
Al-Bawaba 8/5/2003
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas' office late Monday announced that the meeting with Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had been cancelled, due to what it regarded as limited good-will gestures from Israel towards the Palestinians, especially concerning the release of Palestinian prisoners. Sharon's bureau also announced late Monday night that the meeting scheduled for Wednesday with Abbas had been cancelled in light of Sunday night's shooting attack near Bethlehem, in which four Israeli settlers were wounded.
Sharon-Abbas meeting canceled as sides trade barbs
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
Both Israel and the Palestinians confirmed Tuesday that a meeting scheduled for Wednesday between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas has been cancelled. The two leaders were to have met shortly after the scheduled release of 443 [now 339] Palestinian prisoners from Israeli detention facilities. Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom also postponed his planned Tuesday meetings with Palestinian Authority ministers.
Shoval: US will not connect loan guarantees to security fence
Jerusalem Post 8/5/2003
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's foreign policy adviser, Zalman Shoval, said he does not believe the Americans will decide to connect the loan guarantees to the security fence issue, based on the precedent former US Secretary of State James Baker set in 1992.
Palestinian Detainees Ministry: Release of 360 Detainees Undermines Truce
International Press Center 8/5/2003
RAMALLAH, Palestine. August 5, 2003. (IPC+WAFA)--- Palestinian Ministry of Detainees Affairs confirmed Tuesday that the Israeli release of 360 Palestinian detainees on Wednesday is an Israeli deceptive step. A ministry’s statement stressed that the said detainees’ sentences have almost terminated. The statement quoted Sharon’s speech that underestimated the significance of releasing the Palestinian detainees, when Sharon asserted that he would give the Palestinians nothing.
‘Roadmap’ Deadlocked as Palestinian, Israeli Premiers Cancel Meeting
Palestine Media Center 8/5/2003
Sharon to Knesset: Israel Has Given Palestinians Nothing So Far -- Palestinian and Israeli sources announced Tuesday that a meeting between premiers Mahmud Abbas and Ariel Sharon scheduled for Wednesday was cancelled, amid a deadlock resulting from Israel’s stalling in the implementation of its “roadmap” commitments. Sharon on Monday told a defense and foreign affairs committee of the Israeli Knesset (parliament) that Israel has given the Palestinians nothing so far.
PM Abbas Puts Off Meeting with Sharon over Prisoners
Inter Press Service 8/5/2003
RAMALLAH, Palestine, August 5, 2003 (IPC + Agencies)-- Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) called off Tuesday a meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Ariel Sharon, accusing the latter of not taking steps to further the "Road Map" peace plan. Close sources to the Palestinian premiere said today that Abu Mazen called off a meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister that was due Wednesday, because "he didn't see any serious signs of Israeli side commitment to the 'Road Map' ", pointing out that the main problem is the Israeli intransigence to release large numbers of Palestinian prisoners.
Barguthi: Extension of truce linked to Zionist commitment to conditions
Palestinian Information Center 8/5/2003
Bethlehem - Marwan Al-Barguthi, secretary of the Fatah Movement in the West Bank and currently detained in occupation jails, has said that extension of the Palestinian truce was hinged on Tel Aviv’s commitment to its conditions.
Government..
Abbas tells senior Fatah men to rein in rogue cells
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas met last night with senior Fatah activists in the West Bank, urging them to strengthen the cease-fire and rein in rogue cells, such as the one that opened fire Sunday night on the road to Gilo wounding a mother and her two chidren.
Goldberg repeats assertion PM was in conflict of interest
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
State Comptroller Eliezer Goldberg on Tuesday repeated comments he made in his annual report, released in April, in which he stated that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was in conflict of interest when he moved to influence a decision by the Israel Lands Authority on the rezoning of farmland as commercial real estate. Goldberg on Tuesday rejected Sharon's claim that his actions in this matter did not pose a conflict of interest, sending the prime minister a ten-page letter stating that he would not alter comments in his April report on Sharon's involvement the affair.
Sharon gained from ILA decision, but it wasn't criminal, attorney general says
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's intervention in Israel Lands Administration Decision 755 "did not have an unequivocal personal aspect," and therefore a criminal investigation against the premier was not warranted, Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein said.
Netanyahu denies promising tax cuts to dozens of settlements
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday denied claims that he is planning to grant income tax cuts to residents of around 60 settlements and outposts in the West Bank and Gaza. The current economic reality makes it impossible to grant any tax breaks, Netanyahu told National Union Chairman Avigdor Lieberman.
Police: Ban on visits to Temple Mount also applies to MKs
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
Police officials said Tuesday that Knesset members will not be permitted to visit the Temple Mount compound on Thursday, which is Tisha B'Av, the Jewish day of mourning for the destruction of the First and Second Temples, Israel Radio reported. The officials made the announcement in response to recent statements by right-wing MKs that they intended to visit the disputed religious site in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Israel completes hand-over of tax levied for Palestinian Authority
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
Over the course of the last four months, Israel has handed around NIS 2 billion over to the Palestinians, thereby repaying all of the country's debts to the Palestinian Authority. After deductions covering the PA's debts to Israeli companies, the Palestinian treasury received some NIS 1.15 billion from Israel.
Human
Rights..
PCHR calls upon the international community to provide immediate financial assistance for UNWRA’s emergency appeal
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 8/3/2003
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) calls upon the international community to provide immediate financial assistance to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). PCHR urges all member states of the United Nations, in particular those of the Arab and Islamic world, as well as private donors and organisations to take immediate steps to contribute to an emergency appeal for US$103 million.
Depriving Palestinians married to Israelis of the right to citizenship
Come And See 8/3/2003
The Sharon government voted against the law depriving Palestinians married to Israelis of the right to Israeli citizenship and forced the Knesset to accept its position and to enact a law that grossly discriminates against Israel's Arab citizens. This new law is critical to the small Christian Community that lives in Israel and Palestine. What God Has Joined - Israel tries to seperate.
U.S. suggests new Israeli citizenship law is discriminatory
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
WASHINGTON - The U.S. State Department suggested on Monday that an Israeli law that denies Palestinians citizenship or residency status if they marry Israelis was discriminatory but said it would withhold comment until any Israeli legal challenges to the law are resolved...."It's a one-year measure that applies only to non-Israeli residents of the West Bank and Gaza, the vast majority of whom are Palestinian. In this regard, the new law singles out one group for different treatment than others," State Department spokesman Philip Reeker told reporters.
Security more important than human rights in marriage law: minister
ProLog.net 8/4/2003
JERUSALEM, Aug 4 (AFP) - Security concerns outweighed human rights when it came to drafting a controversial law blocking Palestinians from acquiring Israeli citizenship through marriage, Israeli Interior Minister Avraham Poraz admitted Monday. "I'm not happy with the law, I'm not happy at all. It's unfair, because most (Palestinians) have no intention to be involved in terrorism," Poraz told reporters. "But even though their human rights are affected, our obligation to prevent terrorism is on a higher scale," he told the Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem.
Adalah submits petition to Supreme Court against new law banning family unification
Electronic Intifada 8/4/2003
Yesterday, Adalah submitted a petition to the Supreme Court of Israel challenging the constitutionality of a new law that prohibits the granting of residency or citizenship status to Palestinians from the Occupied Territories who are married to Israeli citizens....Adalah requested that the Supreme Court cancel the law, and instate alternative procedures for the granting of citizenship and residency status in Israel for Palestinian spouses of Israeli citizens. Together with the petition, Adalah also filed a motion for injunction asking the Supreme Court to freeze the implementation of the law, pending a final decision on the case.
Suffering in isolation - A report on life under occupation in the Mawasi areas in the Gaza Strip
Electronic Intifada 8/5/2003
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights has issued a report, entitled "Suffering in Isolation: A report on life under occupation in the Mawasi areas in the Gaza Strip." The report details the dire situation in the Mawasi areas in the southern Gaza Strip and includes an examination of the violations of international human rights and humanitarian law perpetrated by the Israeli belligerent occupation forces and Israeli settlers in the area from the beginning of Al Aqsa Intifada (September 2000) to the end of May 2003.
Economy..
Ituran: Hudna causes 19% jump in car theft
Globes 8/5/2003
Ituran managing director Eazy Sheratzky: The hudna has caused the Israeli Police and Border Guard to relax their patrols along the Green Line. -- The hudna (truce) has caused a 19% jumped in car thefts in July 2003, compared with January-June, Ituran (TASE:ITRN) owner and managing director Eazy Sheratzky told "Globes". He predicts that car thefts will multiply and the damage to insurance companies increase if the cease-fire continues.
Mass court appeals planned against welfare cuts
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
The protest against the government's planned cuts to welfare payments is being ratcheted up a notch. One month after single mother Vicki Knafo set out on a one-woman march to Jerusalem, later to be joined by dozens of women in similar situations at her protest camp outside the Finance Ministry, another form of protest is now taking shape: inundating the labor courts with private appeals against the welfare cuts.
Managers, self-employed tax receipts down 20% in Q2
Globes 8/5/2003
Corporate tax collection was down 2.9%. The figures indicate zero or negative growth in the quarter. -- It is too soon to celebrate the end of the recession and a recovery in private consumption. The crisis in tax revenues continued in the second quarter of 2003. Tax revenues from the self-employed plunged 20% in the second quarter, after falling 2.9% in the first. Tax revenues from company managers and employees also fell 20% in the second quarter, after falling 10.9% in the first, according to a Bank of Israel analysis of Ministry of Finance figures.
IDF interested in Boeing Future Combat Systems
Globes 8/5/2003
Boeing will ask Israeli companies to participate in developing the $15 billion program. -- Sources inform “Globes” that the IDF is interested in procuring the "Future Combat Systems" under development by Boeing (NYSE:BA). A Boeing delegation displayed the technology in Israel this week. The US Army will deploy the system by the end of the decade.
FIABCI: Jerusalem world’s 10th most expensive city
Globes 8/5/2003
A survey by the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) showed that Jerusalem was the 10th most expensive city in the world in euro per sq.m., at €2,600 per sq.m.
People..
Poll: Majority of Palestinians support cease-fire
Jerusalem Post 8/5/2003
A majority of Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip support the current cease-fire on attacks against Israel, but nearly 78 percent said Israel will be the one to break the truce, according to a new poll. The poll, conducted by Birzeit University's Development Studies Program, said 61 percent of respondent support a renewal of the cease-fire for an additional three months.
Coaching clinic: an alternative kind of peace plan
Daily Star 8/5/2003
NBA vice-president believes sports can mend fences -- Don Casey, the senior vice-president of the National Basketball Coaches Association in the United States, held a productive three-day training session for a group of regional coaches over the weekend....Casey was astonished at the horrible lives Palestinians lead and the realities of the conflict there. He was extremely surprised to hear that Israel is building its “separation wall” all across Palestinian land, and asked: “How can they get away with this?”
Om Radi Looks Forward to Seeing Her Detained Son Before She Passes Away
International Press Center 8/5/2003
NABLUS, Palestine, August 5, 2003 (IPC + WAFA)-- “My health is getting worse as I am getting older, my heart has broken over time, while I am eagerly waiting the moment my son is released out of the Israeli prison to hug him before I pass away”, with these words Om Radi started telling WAFA her story. Om Radi, 72 years old, and mother of Palestinian detainee, Said Alatba, who has been detained in the "Asqalan" Israeli prison since 26 years, said in a bitter tone, while recalling the day when Said was arrested by the Israeli occupation forces in the Jabal Alshamali area in Nablus city.
Daniel Barenboim Press Conference & Piano Recital in Ramallah
Palestine Monitor 8/2/2003
Dr Mustafa Barghouthi described Barenboim as a dear friend who is fully supportive of the Palestinians’ right to freedom, justice, self-determination and independence. He stressed that Barenboim’s presence in Ramallah was an act of solidarity, and proof that despite Israeli imposed walls and checkpoints, they cannot prevent people from reaching each other and promoting peace.
Muslims Embrace New Finance Alternatives
Wilmington Star 8/5/2003
For more than a decade, Daoud Othman and his family have rented a small apartment and dreamed of owning a home with a yard for the children to play in. Othman thought about applying for a mortgage from a bank, but as a devout Palestinian Muslim he couldn't, bound by a prohibition in the Quran against paying interest. But now, Othman and many others like him are joining the ranks of homeowners using special Islam-approved financing, a fast-growing phenomenon that has been common in Muslim nations for years, but is only now catching on in this country.
International..
ADL criticizes law denying citizenship to Palestinians who marry Israelis
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
A major American Jewish organization has publicly come out against the new Knesset law preventing Palestinians who marry Israeli citizens from obtaining Israeli citizenship or residency permits in Israel. In an unusual step, the influential Anti-Defamation League also called on the Knesset to review the law when it expires next year.
Bronfman calls on Bush to press Sharon on separation fence issue
Globes 8/5/2003
A letter to the US president has whipped up a storm among Jewish leaders. -- World Jewish Congress president Edgar Bronfman Sr. has called on US President George W. Bush to pressure Prime Minister Ariel Sharon over construction of the Green Line separation fence, according to documents obtained by "Globes". Bronfman and Lawrence Eagleburger wrote to Bush on the eve of the Bush-Sharon meeting in Washington last week. Eagleburger was the Secretary of State at the end of President George Bush Sr.'s term in 1992 and currently heads the international committee examining the insurance policies of Holocaust victims.
New Syrian government to face challenge of modernisation
Middle East Online 8/5/2003
DAMASCUS - A new government due to be unveiled by President Bashar al-Assad will face the challenge of modernising Syria on the economic and political fronts. Calls have mounted in the media and from MPs to speed up reforms to the state-run economy and for political reforms to keep in step with the climate of change in the Middle East since the US-led war in next-door Iraq.
Arab League rules out sending troops to Iraq, seeks end of occupation
Middle East Online 8/5/2003
Arab foreign ministers ruled out a US request to send troops to stabilise Iraq at a meeting here Tuesday and discussed ways to end its occupation, Arab League secretary general Amr Mussa said. "There was an agreement that (sending) Arab forces cannot be considered in the current circumstances," Mussa told reporters.
Arab Nations Won't Recognize Iraq Council
The Guardian 8/5/2003
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Arab League members decided Tuesday not to recognize Iraq's U.S.-appointed Governing Council, saying they will wait until a government is elected. Arab officials welcomed the council's creation as a first step toward new leadership in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq. But the decision Tuesday showed that Arab governments are keeping some distance from the body - dismissed by many in Iraq and across the Arab world as a puppet of Iraq's U.S. and British occupiers.
Iran In Late Stage Of Building A Nuclear Bomb
Al-Hayat 8/5/2003
Iran appears to be in the late stages of building a nuclear bomb and has sought help from scientists in Russia, China, North Korea and Pakistan, the Los Angeles Times reported on Monday. Citing its own three-month investigation into Iran's clandestine nuclear capacity, the Times said it had strong evidence Iran's commercial program masked a plan to become the world's next nuclear power and it was "much closer to producing a bomb than Iraq ever was."
Iran Won’t Hand Over Al-Qaeda Men to US
Arab News 8/5/2003
TEHRAN, 5 August 2003 — Iran said yesterday it would not hand over any detained members of Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network to Washington and denied trying to strike a prisoner exchange deal with the United States. Iran publicly acknowledged for the first time last month that it was holding some senior Al-Qaeda figures and said it planned to extradite some of them to “friendly countries”.
Debate intensifies in Iran on nuclear inspections
Ha'aretz 8/5/2003
TEHRAN - Debate has intensified in Iran on whether to agree to snap inspections of its nuclear facilities, pitting reformists keen to ease international pressure against hardliners who say signing up to the checks would be a betrayal. Legal experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were in Tehran on Tuesday to try to convince Iran to sign an Additional Protocol to the nuclear-Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which would permit more intrusive, no-notice inspections.
Qatar's Emir names fourth son as new crown prince
Al-Bawaba 8/5/2003
Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani replaced the state's crown prince on Tuesday, naming his fourth son, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, as his new heir apparent. According to the official Qatari News Agency, the Emir issued an order "accepting the stepping down" by the Heir Apparent Sheikh Jassem bin Hamad al Thani from his post.
Move to Establish National Dialogue Center Welcomed
Arab News 8/5/2003
JEDDAH, 5 August 2003 — The Saudi Cabinet yesterday welcomed the establishment of the national dialogue center saying the move would provide a channel for responsible exchange of views based on Islamic teachings and national unity.
'Safe' alternative to uranium shells
Eureka Alert/New Scientist 8/2/2003
Contraversial anti-tank shells tipped with depleted uranium may be phased out if an alternative material proves its worth. The US Army is expected to award a contract this week for the manufacture of prototype ammunition incorporating a "liquid metal" alloy. The new rounds could be in service within two years.
Muslim Scholar Refutes Newsweek Qur’an Article
Palestine Chronicle 8/5/2003
The chief hypothesis of the said scholar, identified as Christoph Luxenberg, is that the original language of the Qur’an was not Arabic but 'something closer to Aramaic ..'" -- WASHINGTON - A highly respectable Muslim scholar refuted Monday, August 4, an article by a U.S. magazine claiming the Muslim Glorious Book was "mistranscribed." Even though attempts to smear Islam are not new, the article by the massively-circulated Newsweek caused an uproar among Muslim scholars, officials and the public, prompting the banning of the magazine in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
US F-16 offer to India resented
The Dawn 8/5/2003
ISLAMABAD, Aug 4: Pakistan expressed on Monday its angry reaction to Washington's reported offer of F-16 aircraft to India, declaring it as "very, very disturbing" as it would cause "very, very negative impact on the South Asian security situation"....In reply to a question on the reported impending visit of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to India, Mr Masud Khan termed it a serious development for the region and said the "burgeoning Indo-Israel defence cooperation" would have a negative impact on the security situation in South Asia.
Arab foreign ministers discuss Iraq, ''road map''
Al-Bawaba 8/5/2003
Representatives from 12 Arab countries held discussions Tuesday on forging a unified stance on how to deal with Iraq, mainly its U.S.-appointed Governing Council. The ministers, meeting at the headquarters of the Arab League, were also expected to review the U.S.-backed "road map" for Israeli-Palestinian peace.
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