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Palestine Diaries

courtesy The Electronic Intifada

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Map of Israel's planned "security fence", adapted for clarity from Gush Shalom map. Gush Shalom notes: The Israeli government did not publish full, official maps of the wall. The path of the Eastern wall was compiled by the Land Research Center and the Palestinian Hydrology Group, based on expropriation orders issued to Palestinian land owners.

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Video Archives
Audio Archives

VIDEO
BBC:
Gap Between CIA
And Bush Stories
posted 10/9/02

VIDEO
BBC:
Region As
Unsettled As It's
Ever Been
10/9/02

VIDEO
BBC:
"No compromise
here"
posted 10/8/02

VIDEO
BBC:
Another Gaza
Attack
posted 10/6/02

VIDEO
BBC:
PA's Erekat: We
Need International
Protection Now
posted 10/6/02

VIDEO
BBC:
Khalil Shikaki, CPR:
'Chances slim for
negotiation'
posted 9/28/02

PHOTOS
Islam Online:
Arafat HQ
Destroyed
posted 9/25/02

PHOTOS
Islam Online:
Nine Palestinians Killed In Gaza
posted 9/24/02

VIDEO
Konscious:
Metal of Dishonor
The Face of US
War on Iraq
posted 9/18/02

VIDEO
BBC:
Sabra & Shatila
Is Sharon A
War Criminal?
posted 9/13/02

VIDEO
CBC:
Israeli
Army Was
Embarrassed
By Release
of Video
released 3/18/02
posted 9/6/02

Video Archives

Conflict..

IOF Destroys Two Houses, Injures One Citizen and Arrests Four International Press Center 8/15/2003 RAFAH, Palestine, August 15, 2003, (IPC+Agencies)- - Israeli occupation forces (IOF) destroyed Friday two Palestinian houses and arrested three citizens in two separated attacks in Rafah and Nablus. Meanwhile one citizen was wounded and an other was arrested in Qalqilia. In the refugee camp of Yebna, in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, IOF destroyed one house and randomly opened fire on the residents’ houses, IPC correspondent said. Israeli bulldozers, backed by armored vehicles, invaded the Al-Barahma neighborhood (in Yebna camp) and destroyed the house of DR. Sliman Barhoom. The armored vehicles were opening fire in the air to terrify the residents and to prevent any attempt of protesting, witnesses told IPC’s. Israeli Troops Assults a Palestinian, Arrests 3 in Qalqyliah International Middle East Media Center 8/15/2003 Israeli troops invaded Qalqyliah early Friday morning and arrested three Palestinians. Local sources reported that Israeli troops invaded the city of Qalqyliah and arrested Fadi nasal, 27, Omar Nazal, 24, and Mohammed Nazal, 27. Invasion in Jenin City and Refugee camp International Middle East Media Center 8/15/2003 Israeli forces invaded the city of Jenin and a neighboring refugee camp in the early Friday morning. The force raided homes and searched them. Eyewitnesses said the forces, that consisted of tens of vehicles and a large number of soldiers, entered the city from the northern and western entrances and came through the city shooting machine guns into the air. Israeli Invasion in Balata Refugee Camp, One House Demolished and Five Arrested International Middle East Media Center 8/15/2003 A large force of Israeli soldiers invaded Nablus city and the suburbs early Friday morning in a rapid military operation. The operation started in Balata refugee camp where the force surrounded the house of Amer Abu Ayyash, a Palestinian who blew himself up in Israel near Sheari Tsedek settlement five months ago. The soldiers forced the family out of the house, destroying it shortly after with explosives. The family was not allowed to get their belongings and furniture from the house before the demolition. Shin Bet: Hamas, Jihad set to renew attacks; IDF kills top militant Ha'aretz 8/15/2003 Senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives have recently resumed planning terror attacks for immediate execution, in defiance of the cease-fire, Shin Bet security service sources said last night. One such operative, the sources said, was Mohammed Sidr, thehead of Islamic Jihad's military wing in Hebron, whom Israel killed yesterday morning during an attempt to arrest him. Border policeman hurt in Qalandia; Hebron sheikh arrested Ha'aretz 8/15/2003 A Border Police officer suffered very light injuries from rocks thrown by Palestinians in the Qalandia refugee camp, south of Ramallah, Israel Radio reported. He received medical treatment at the scene. Meanwhile, after Friday afternoon prayers in Hebron, police arrested Sheikh Taisir Tamimi, a senior official in the Palestinian religious courts, on suspicion of incitement. An Islamic Jihad activist escaped from a Palestinian Authority jail in the West Bank city of Jericho, a fellow Jihad activist Islamic said.   Palestinian wounded in West Bank as Israel frees 73 prisoners Al-Bawaba 8/15/2003 Palestinians reported that one person was injured during exchange of gunfire with Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Qalqilyah overnight Friday. The Israeli forces detained three activists of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in Qalqilyah after surrounding a building in the city, where the shooting took place, according to Palestinian sources. I'm sorry, did you say 'no military response'? Pre-dawn raid on Balata refugee camp International Solidarity Movement 8/14/2003 Multiple eyewitness accounts report an incursion of at least seven jeeps containing between 40 to 50 Israeli soldiers intoBalata camp start at 4am Friday morning. At least one house, identified as the "Abu Ayesh" house, has exploded from IOFdemolition squads, possibly as a collective punishment. BREAKING NEWS: IOF destroys houses in refugee camps International Press Center 8/15/2003 13:00-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) destroyed one house and arrested three citizens in the refugee camp of Balata, near Nablus, (IPC). / 12:12-- Israeli bulldozers destroyed one house owned by Palestinian citizen “Sliman Barhoom, in the refugee camp of Yebna, in the Gaza Strip city of Rafah, south of the Gaza strip, Palestinian security sources said....

Diplomacy..

Israel to Hand Over 4 West Bank Towns The Guardian 8/15/2003 JERUSALEM (AP) - In a major boost for the ``road map'' peace plan, Israel has agreed to hand over an additional four West Bank cities to Palestinian control, Palestinian and Israeli officials said Friday. Israel also announced that it will permit Yasser Arafat to travel to the Gaza Strip to visit the grave of his sister Yousra, who died earlier this week and was buried in Gaza City, Israel TV reported. It would be Arafat's first time leaving his besieged compound in Ramallah in more than a year and a half. More Palestinian prisoners freed BBC 8/15/2003 Israel has freed a further 73 Palestinian prisoners in what, it says, is a gesture to the US-backed peace plan for the Middle East. A fleet of buses took the prisoners to checkpoints in the West Bank and Gaza strip. The release was delayed by three days following two suicide bombings on Tuesday in which two Israelis died. But Palestinian officials have criticised Friday's release saying the prisoners were jailed for crimes like theft rather than any type of militant activity. Al Assad Invites U.S. To Reach "Effective Solutions" Al-Hayat 8/15/2003 Syrian President Bashar Al Assad invited the U.S., "the sole superpower," to focus on "effective political solutions to restore the rights to their legitimate owners" in the Middle East, and to have "a complete vision" about the reasons for the escalation in South Lebanon. While Damascus held Israel responsible for shattering the calm in Lebanon and deteriorating the situation in the Palestinian territories, Islamic Jihad in Palestine said it gave its fighters instructions to retaliate to the assassination of its military official in Hebron, Mohamad Ayoub Sadr. Diplomats say Israel set to continue overflights Daily Star 8/15/2003 Efforts to end tit-for-tat cycle foundering -- Diplomatic efforts to end Hizbullah’s anti-aircraft (AA) fire and Israeli overflights are foundering due mainly to Israel’s apparent determination to continue breaching Lebanese air space, despite a lowering of tension on the Lebanese side of the border since the weekend’s escalation. Diplomats in Beirut are voicing concern that if the “provocative” overflights continue, Hizbullah may retaliate with more cross-border anti-aircraft fire, spurring a fresh escalation along the border. Dahlan Mofaz Meeting, Positive, No Agreement International Middle East Media Center 8/15/2003 Palestinian Minister for Security Affairs Mohammed Dahlan met Thursday evening with Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz to discuss the cease-fire in light of the latest attacks in Rosh Ha’ayn and Ariel. According to Israel Radio, Mofaz requested “real actions” against Palestinian resistance groups in order to proceed with the handover of additional West Bank cities. Assad accuses Sharon of 'strategy of war' Middle East Online 8/15/2003 DAMASCUS - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad rebuffed renewed US pressure to rein in Lebanese militant group Hezbollah Thursday during an unscheduled visit here by Washington's top Middle East diplomat. Assad told William Burns, the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, that Israel and not Hezbollah was the principal source of violence and instability in the region. Israel tries to ensure PA will take fall if peace efforts fail Ha'aretz 8/15/2003 Amid growing fears that the Aqaba process and the hudna will collapse as did previous efforts to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel is making another bid to save the process, or at least to ensure the blame is placed on the Palestinians, in case of failure. "We must assume that everything is going to fall apart, and if so, it had better fall apart on the neighbor's side rather thanon ours," a Jerusalem source said. Video: "Most had been in prison for relatively minor offences BBC 8/15/2003 Report by Damian Grammaticas Turkey asks U.S. to foil Israeli plans for Mount Ha'aretz 8/15/2003 ANKARA - Turkey yesterday asked the United States to intervene urgently to halt Israel's plan to allow non-Muslims to visit and pray on the Temple Mount. The request came after Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat appealed to the Turkish premier, saying that opening the Temple Mount to non-Muslims would rekindle violence in the Middle East. In a message delivered to the U.S. embassy in Ankara, Turkey warned that visits by non-Muslims to the Temple Mount could negatively impact on its ability to implement its recent decision to accede to a U.S. request to send Turkish troops to Iraq. PM: Israel will act wherever it knows Palestinians plan attacks Ha'aretz 8/15/2003 Israeli security forces will act wherever Israel knows that Palestinians are planning terror attacks and where it knows that terror leaders plan to act against Israel, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told Italian newspaper La Repubblica in an interview published Friday. Sharon also said he didn't know whether Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas has the necessary power to dismantle the militant Palestinian groups, according to Israel Radio's translation of sections of the interview. Sharon says committed to Mideast roadmap Middle East Online 8/15/2003 ROME - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Friday his government was committed to the so-called roadmap for Middle East peace but questioned whether the Palestinian leadership had the political will to defeat terrorism. "We remain totally committed to the roadmap," he said in an interview published Friday in left-leaning Italian daily La Repubblica. Israel Frees 73 Palestinian Detainees The Guardian 8/15/2003 JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel freed 73 Palestinian prisoners Friday, the second group in less than two weeks, while a meeting between the Israeli and Palestinian security chiefs on an Israeli troop pullback from additional West Bank towns ended inconclusively....In Friday's release, 73 detainees were driven to the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The prisoners had been scheduled for release Tuesday, but Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had them returned to their cells after Palestinian militants set off two suicide bombings that day. Source: Israel to transfer Jericho, Qalqilyah to PA next week Ha'aretz 8/15/2003 Israel will hand control for security in the West Bank cities of Jericho and Qalqilya back to the Palestinians early next week to help advance the road map and preserve the current cease-fire, security sources said on Friday. Senior Israeli and PA commandersare scheduld to meet Sunday to set a timetable for transferring security responsibility in the two cities. US Mid-East envoy asks Syrian President to rein in Hizbullah Al-Bawaba 8/15/2003 Syria's President Bashar al-Assad received on Thursday Assistant US Secretary of State William Burns and an accompanying delegation, according to the official SANA news agency. The meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara as well. According to a press release from the Department of State, Burns made clear during the talks that the U.S. expects Syria and Lebanon to use their influence to rein in Hizbullah. PA: IDF killing of Jihad leader in Hebron threatens hudna Ha'aretz 8/15/2003 Senior aide to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, Nabil Abu Rdeineh, said Thursday that the IDF operation earlier in the day that killed the Islamic Jihad leader in Hebron was a new violation of the cease-fire by Israel, an escalation and a threat to the hudna, Israel Radio reported. Earlier, a senior Islamic Jihad leader warned that the killing of the leader in the West Bank city was endangering the cease-fire agreement between the Palestinian Authority and militant groups declared on June 29. Dangerous brinksmanship heats up the Levant Christian Science Monitor 8/15/2003 US-Syria tensions, aggressive Israeli jets, and Hizbullah artillery are challenging diplomats. -- BEIRUT, LEBANON – Diplomatic efforts are under way to cap the worst violence along the Lebanese-Israeli border in more than a year. A recent escalation between Lebanon's Hizbullah organization and Israel left one Israeli civilian dead and a Hizbullah antiaircraft gun destroyed in an air strike. Diplomats and United Nations peacekeepers in south Lebanon fear fighting might soon resume unless a diplomatic solution is reached that will end the dangerous brinkmanship between Hizbullah and the Israeli military. Israel agrees handover of cities BBC 8/15/2003 Israel has agreed to hand control of four West Bank cities back to the Palestinians, according to Palestinian officials. Israel has also agreed to permit Yasser Arafat to travel to the Gaza Strip to visit the grave of his sister Yousra, who died earlier this week and was buried in Gaza City, Israel TV reported. It would be the first time Mr Arafat left his besieged compound in Ramallah in more than a year and a half. Al-Assad confers with Burns on ME developments Arabic News 8/15/2003 Concerning the last escalation on the Lebanese front, the president stressed that it is unavoidable to look at the picture completely, instead of just selectively looking at the events linked to Arab side only. It is unacceptable to disregarde the killing and assassinations acts perpetrated by Israel, whereas, Lebanon is being demanded to be silent and to have self-control. Israel Detains 9 Palestinians, Frees 73 Criminal Detainees Islam Online 8/15/2003 NABLUS, West Bank, August 15 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - As always the case before or in parallel with the release of any Palestinian detainees, Israeli occupation forces detained nine Palestinians in the occupied territories before freeing 73 Palestinians held on criminal charges on Friday, August 15. Israel seeks release of spy Middle East Times 8/15/2003 The Israeli official who dealt with the case of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard is back in favor with the Israeli government and may be behind recent efforts to get the former US Navy intelligence analyst released from prison. During recent talks between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and US President George W. Bush at the White House, Sharon had a petition, signed by 112 of the 120 Knesset members, that asked that Pollard be released, US and Israeli officials said. But because of diplomatic wrangling over the road map, the petition was not presented to Bush. Israel Frees 75 More Prisoners New York Times 8/15/2003 JERUSALEM, Aug. 15 — Israel released some 75 Palestinian prisoners today, one of several small steps it took to tamp down friction from one of the tensest weeks to confront the peace effort here. None of the steps amounted to a major breakthrough for the American-led plan, widely viewed as having stalled for weeks. But after two suicide bombings on Tuesday that killed two Israelis, and subsequent stepped-up threats from top Israeli officials to freeze any concessions until the Palestinians began dismantling militant groups, the moves today seemed to head off, for the moment, any more immediate fraying of cooperation between the distrustful sides.

Human Rights..

UN blasts Israeli marriage law BBC 8/15/2003 A United Nations panel has urged Israel to repeal a new law forcing Palestinians who marry Israelis to live separate lives. The Geneva-based Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination unanimously approved a resolution saying the Israeli law violated an international human rights treaty. However the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, accused the panel of bias. "Thirsting for Justice - violations of the human right to water in Palestine" Electronic Intifada/UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 8/15/2003 Report, CESR, 15 August 2003 -- It is becoming more and more evident that the "Road Map" drawn up by the Quartet and promoted by the U.S. can achieve neither lasting peace nor even a fair "process" to arrive at peace. At the most basic level, the "Road Map" fails to stipulate that Israel must relinquish its matrix of control over Palestinian lives, territory and resources. As with the Oslo Accords, fundamental questions of human rights and national rights, which should form the basis of any lasting peace, have instead been pushed aside and postponed until the illusory end of the peace process. Report: Thirsting For Justice: Violations of the Human Right to Water in Palestine - Acrobat format UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 8/15/2003 Full report - Thirsting For Justice: Violations of the Human Right to Water in Palestine, Center for Social and Economic Rights, August 2003 - PDF file Palestinians March Against the Separation Wall in Beit Sahour International Middle East Media Center 8/15/2003 Palestinians and Internationals marched at the separation wall in the Bethlehem district in a demonstration called for by the national and Islamic forces in the Bethlehem area. The march began around one o’clock on Friday from the eastern entrance of the town of Beit Sahour near Bethlehem. Around 150 marchers including Internationals marched carrying banners that read, "The new Israeli Berlin Wall must fall" and "No peace with settlements, the wall should be removed." Human Rights Defender in Lebanon Is Now an Imprisoned Defendant Washington Post 8/15/2003 A prominent Lebanese human rights lawyer and activist, among the few who have dared to defend Lebanese citizens imprisoned in Syria, was arrested last week in Beirut on the charge of "impersonating a lawyer". Muhammad Mugraby, 64, who has degrees from the Lebanese University School of Law and Columbia University Law School, has documented the disappearance and detention of Lebanese citizens in Syria in a report for Human Rights Watch titled "An Alliance Beyond the Law." ISM Update: Anin Advisory / Hebron / Balata International Solidarity Movement 8/15/2003 1) Press Advisory: "Don't Take a Fence" -- Joint Action Saturday / 2) Report on student takeover of Hebron Polytechnic / 3) Report on house demolition in Balata The right to water in Palestine: a background - Acrobat format Center for Social and Economic Rights FACTSHEET: The right to water in Palestine: a background (PDF) Center for Social and Economic Rights

Economy..

July CPI drops 0.7 percent, inflation at -1.2 percent Ha'aretz 8/15/2003 The consumer price index for July announced Friday dropped 0.7 percent, surprising most economists who predicted the July rate at between -0.3 and -0.6 percent. July's CPI is the fourth consecutive negative index and from the start of the year, theCPI has dropped 1.2 percent. Teachers may strike over canceled benefits Ha'aretz 8/15/2003 The Teachers Union yesterday declared a labor dispute over the cancellation of various benefits, preparing the way for a strike on the first day of school should its demands not be met. Billing firm Amdocs closes in on two massive deals Ha'aretz 8/15/2003 Billing software developer Amdocs has reached the advanced stages in a $100 million tender conducted by credit card and financial services company Visa, according to a source in the industry. ABN AMRO, the world's 10th largest bank, is also examining Amdocs solutions.

People..

"Flowers and Rocks", Children Workshop Jerusalem Times 8/14/2003 The Jalaa Institution for Culture and Arts in Gaza recently finished a workshop for children with the title "Flowers and Rocks" as part of a cultural project for kids through drama with the support of Tamkeen Institution. Director of the project Riham Shami explained that the workshop lasted for eight days with the participation of 55 children on bases of 24 training hours by legal teachers and experts. / Recreational Show for Children in Ramallah: The Cultural Department at the Ramallah municipality recently organized a recreational show for children in the Family Park, in which the Palestinian artist Fadi el-Ghoul and his troupe participated. [more reports]   The miracle worker Ha'aretz 8/15/2003 Leaning over a young woman sitting nervously at a piano, Deborah Schramm covers her student's fingers with her own and presses them onto the correct keys. "Mi, Re, Sol," she says patiently in her soft Boston accent. "Forte! Forte, straight down, Rasha!" Rasha, a lanky 26-year-old with wiry black hair tied in two pigtails, rocks back and forth on the bench, silently expressing her frustration. Rasha is blind, mentally disabled and autistic. Before coming to Schramm, she could neither count nor understand the language her teacher spoke. And, while most of Schramm's students are religious Jews, Rasha Hammad is a Palestinian Muslim. 1 in 4 North American immigrants leave Ha'aretz 8/15/2003 One quarter of immigrants from North America who arrived in Israel since 1989 have left the country for good, according to a Haaretz analysis based on Interior Ministry border control statistics regarding immigrants. Although the statistics are not exact (they do not include people who left on government postings or others who live elsewhere but return every few months), it appears that the highest proportion of immigrants who leave are from North America: Canada (25.8 percent) and the United States (22.5 percent). They are followed by immigrants from South Africa (19.8 percent of whom return), Britain (19.3 percent) and France (16 percent). Pan-Arab song contest fuels passions in Jordan Middle East Online 8/15/2003 A pan-Arab television song contest is fuelling nationalist passions as Jordanians mobilise to win support for compatriot Diana Karzon, who will face a Syrian finalist in the show's closing segment Sunday. Superstar, the weekly Arabic version of UK hit Pop Idol, has been broadcast for several months on Lebanon's satellite channel Future TV, taking Jordan and several other Arab countries by storm. Stallone backing action TV series set in Mideast Daily Star 8/15/2003 The superstar production team of Sylvester Stallone, Elie Samaha, Joseph Merhi and Youssef Mansour has created Triple I ­ International Investigation Incorporated ­ an action and adventure television series for the world. Triple I will be jointly produced by Franchise Pictures of Hollywood and Action Film in Cairo, Egypt. The television series will be filmed in the Middle East and will seek to show off the beautiful landscapes and culture of Lebanon, Egypt and surrounding countries. Funeral for Arafat's sister in Gaza Arabic News 8/15/2003 More than 2,000 Palestinians yesterday in Gaza held a eulogy for the sister of the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

International..

Saudi Arabia to question '12,000 citizens' The Guardian 8/15/2003 Riyadh launches full-scale anti-terrorism sweep as rulers acquiesce to American demands to interrogate long list of potential suspects -- Saudi Arabian authorities have embarked on a vast anti-terrorism operation in which up to 12,000 citizens will be questioned at the behest of the US, a Saudi opposition group has told the Guardian. "The Saudi government is doing a full-scale sweeping activity," said Saad al-Fagih, of the London-based Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia. U.S. hopes economic pressure will alter Syrian behavior Ha'aretz 8/15/2003 The American administration believes that the economic pressure it is exerting on Syria will force it to change its behavior and stop supporting Palestinian terrorist organizations and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The U.S. has closed the oil pipeline from Iraq to Syria and also blocked the cross-border trade routes between the two countries. Since Washington estimates that trade with Iraqaccounted for some 40 percent of Syria's gross domestic product, it believes that it will be difficult for Damascus to survive the loss of these revenues for long. Possible Israeli Strike At Iran's Nuclear Plants? Al-Hayat 8/15/2003 Sources close to the Israeli Premier denied reports that Sharon had discussed last month with President Bush the possibility of Israel carrying out a preemptive strike at Iran's nuclear plants. Army Radio reported diplomats at the Israeli embassy in Washington saying that "Sharon informed Bush that the Iranian nuclear reactor in Boushar would be a threat to Israel if it reached the stage of producing uranium, and this would require speedy intervention." Sympathizers Are Terrorists Too: Abdullah Arab News 8/15/2003 JEDDAH, 15 August 2003 — Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, yesterday vowed Saudi Arabia would triumph over evil in its war against terror. In an address to the nation, Prince Abdullah urged Saudis to give their full cooperation to the Kingdom-wide crackdown on militants, and warned that sitting on the fence was not an option. New American-Style TV Show Is Beamed to Tehran in Persian New York Times 8/14/2003 WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 — At first glance, the broadcast that emanates each afternoon from a small studio in the Voice of America headquarters near the National Mall looks like a typical American news program. A sophisticated anchor recounts the major events of the day. Satellite images from across the globe accompany her commentary, giving the broadcast a polished look. The program, however, is broadcast in Persian, and domestic news refers to events in Iran....In response [to previous VOA programs], the Iranian government has jammed radio and television satellite signals, making it difficult for people in Iran to receive the programs consistently. Lebanon fears plunge into darkness Middle East Online 8/15/2003 Lebanese will have watched with keen interest news reports on the blackouts that hit New York and areas hundreds of miles around it on Friday, because they risk being plunged into darkness themselves. But while US and Canadian officials were taking hours to figure out what caused the North American power failure, the Lebanese, already suffering from chaotic rationing, know in advance what it would be in their case. The government has announced that it will no longer bankroll the heavily indebted national electricity company. Libya accuses France of blackmail Middle East Online 8/15/2003 NDJAMENA - Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel Raman Shalgham accused France on Friday of blackmail after Paris threatened to block an agreement on lifting UN sanctions unless more money was paid to the families of victims of the bombing of a French airliner in 1989. "France is using pressure and blackmail and we do not accept this," said Shalgham, adding that his government had made its position clear to French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin. U.S. Will Keep Penalties Against Libya, Officials Say New York Times 8/15/2003 WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 — Bush administration officials said today that even if the United Nations lifted sanctions against Libya the United States would keep its own in place because of Libya's lethal weapons programs and other activities. Hezbollah leads "passive resistance" against Baalbek arts festival Middle East Times 8/15/2003 Hezbollah, the Shiite group fighting a guerrilla war against Israel, is also putting up "passive resistance" against a festival in eastern Lebanon hosting the steamy cabaret musical "Chicago." Hezbollah has marked its territory from the Rayak fork on the main road to Baalbek, the ancient eastern "city of the Sun" which is a stronghold of the guerrilla group backed by Lebanon, Syria and Iran. In the middle of the road, Hezbollah banners show an arm raising a Kalashnikov rifle and marked "Allahu Akbar"; God is great. Professor with Al-Arian ties pleads guilty to immigration charges ABC News 8/15/2003 ORLANDO - A University of Central Florida professor pleaded guilty Thursday to charges that he lied on immigration forms in the 1990s. As a Tampa student in 1988, Jubara helped Sami Al-Arian found the Islamic Concern Project, which federal prosecutors have characterized as a front for a Palestinian terrorist group. Jubara stayed with the organization until 1995, when federal agents closed it down. U.S.-Muslim Policewoman Faces Dismissal Over Hijab Islam Online 8/15/2003 WASHINGTON, August 15 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – An American female police officer is facing a dismissal for wearing hijab (Islamic headscarf) while on duty, press reports said Friday, August 15. Officer Kimberlie Webb, 40, a converted Sunni Muslim and an eight-year police veteran, went to work wearing hijab earlier this week, but she was reprimanded and sent home without pay until she removed the religious head covering, said The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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