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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..

Israeli Forces Concentrate Pressure, Closure Around Nablus International Middle East Media Center 8/16/2003 Throughout the past week Israeli officials have been discussing the Nablus district, which they fear houses residents who intend to execute operations inside Israel. Although No clear answers have been forthcoming from Israeli sources, one indication of where these talks are headed might be found in the large number of Israeli forces that concentrated around Nablus city entrances this morning. The IDF reportedly instituted strict procedures around the villages and towns of the governorate. Jewish Settlers Harass an old Woman in Bethlehem, IOF Arrest 5 Palestinians in Nablus International Press Center 8/16/2003 BETHLEHEM, Palestine, august 16, 2003, IPC-- A stark contrast to the Israeli claims about ease the situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation soldiers and settlers goes on onslaught against the Palestinian people. A mob of settlers of Jewish illegitimate settlement of "Efrat" severely beat up Saturday an elderly Palestinian woman in Al Khader town of Bethlehem City, IPC Correspondent reported....In Nablus City, Israeli occupation forces IOF arrested Saturday five Palestinian civilians, WAFA said. Palestinian sources affirmed the Israeli occupation forces stormed a number of civilian workshops in Al Auds Street at the city, arrested five civilians. Their whereabouts is still unknown....In Hebron City, Israeli occupation forces have started Saturday erecting of two military outposts in the historic Old City. Dawn Raids Signify Further Israeli Violations of Middle East “Road Map" Palestine Monitor 8/14/2003 Overnight invasions of Jenin and Qalqiliya, arrests and an execution in Hebron and further road and checkpoint closures in Ramallah and Nablus. Incursions which render insignificant Tuesday night’s statement from Israel that a military response to the recent suicide bombings was not planned, having as they stated, “no intention of "breaking the rules" of the cease-fire. The nights events, however, further illustrate how the Israeli approach to the “Road Map” peace initiative is, in fact, characterized by “rule breaking” and violation after violation of the mutually determined conditions that should govern its implementation. Palestinian detainee on hunger strike Palestinian Information Center 8/16/2003 Ramallah - Palestinian detainee Mohammed Kenane was on a ten days hunger strike so far in the Zionist military prison of Ofer protesting his continued detention without trial or charges. Fatema Al-Natshe, lawyer at the Palestinian prisoner’s club, has warned of the worsening health condition of Kenana, 39, who has entered his ninth consecutive day of hunger strike yesterday. Occupation authorities strip-search detainees Palestinian Information Center 8/16/2003 Nablus - Palestinian detainees in the Majjedo prison have said that the prison administration had violated an agreement with representatives of detainees not to strip-search prisoners moved to other prisons. They said that jailers moving 80 detainees to Ansar-3 detention camp separated each one in a jail (formerly they put every four in one cell) then forced them to strip even their underwear. Palestinian female detainee hospitalized Palestinian Information Center 8/16/2003 Bethlehem - Palestinian detainee Mai Zayed, 24, has been hospitalized after deterioration of her health condition due to a hunger strike that continued for eight consecutive days. Zionist occupation authorities had arrested Zayed on 7th August 2003 in her house in Ramallah and she went on hunger strike since then protesting her detention in the military Beit Eil detention camp. Zionist army forces broke into Palestinian houses Jerusalemites 8/16/2003 Large Zionist army forces (ZAF) stormed the West Bank city of Jenin at dawn on Friday. They (ZAF) opened gunfire indiscriminately while advancing into the camp from various axes. Occupation soldiers broke into a number of houses searching for wanted Palestinians activist especially those affiliated with the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of the Fatah Movement. Another army force stormed at dawn today the West Bank city of Al-Khalil in a way similar to the campaign against the Asker refugee camp in Nablus last Friday. Israeli Troops Release Hebron Sheikh On Bail International Middle East Media Center 8/16/2003 On Friday evening Israeli authorities released on bail Sheikh Taisr Tamimi, a senior Palestinian religious Judge and the secretary of the Islamic institute in Jerusalem. Israeli police arrested Sheikh Tamimi Friday afternoon after the noon prayer in a Hebron Abrahamic mosque and detained him for several hours at the Kriyat Arba’ settlement police station. Israeli security sources claimed that he was arrested on suspicion of incitement. Israel pays young couples to move to settlements The Scotsman 8/16/2003 IN A slap at international peace efforts, Israel is offering generous financial incentives to lure young couples to the occupied territories. Couples who sign up to move to Givat Ze’ev during the next four months will receive a grant of £7,100 and a loan for the same amount. Couples moving to other settlements will receive similar largesse. The incentives were announced by the housing minister, Efraim Eitam, the day before the US Middle East envoy William Burns meets Israeli officials, ostensibly to work on the road map, a peace blueprint that calls for the creation of a viable Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel.  Israeli reconnaissance jets overfly South, Beirut Daily Star 8/16/2003 An Israeli reconnaissance aircraft violated Lebanese airspace over the South late Thursday, said an army statement. According to the statement Friday, the jet flew in circles over the cities of Sidon and Beirut at 9.40pm, before leaving at 10.15pm, and heading toward the sea off the coast of Naqoura. Occupation forces incur in Jenin, release criminal detainees Arabic News 8/16/2003 The Israeli occupation forces have released some 74 prisoners who were originally accused of criminal cases and were due to be released on August 12. The release of the said Palestinians was postponed to that said day because of the occurrence of two Palestinian resistance operations in Tel Aviv and Ariel settlement in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinians played down the importance of this Israeli step and said it does not win any worthy importance as the demands relate to releasing the Palestinian prisoners detained for reasons relating to resistance. Israel Air Force buzzes Assad's summer palace Jerusalem Post 8/16/2003 Israel TV Channel 1 reported Friday night that following last week's Hizbullah shelling in the north the Air Force dispatched fighter jets to Syria which buzzed the palace of Syrian President Bashir Assad in a warning to rein in Hizbullah. The warplanes reportedly swooped in low over Assad's summer palace in the port city of Latikia where Assad was at the time. Assad reportedly saw and heard the jets, the TV reported. Quds Mufti: Awkaf responsible for allowing foreigners into Aqsa Palestinian Information Center 8/16/2003 Occupied Jerusalem - The Mufti of Al-Quds and Palestine, Sheikh Ekrema Sabri, has castigated the Zionist government for its aggressive practices against the Palestinian people and holy shrines especially the Aqsa Mosque. Sheikh Sabri, who was delivering the Friday Khutba (sermon) at the Aqsa Mosque, lashed out at the Zionist internal security minister for saying that Zionists would enter the Aqsa Mosque with or without the Awkaf’s approval. New Israeli Financial Incentives to Increase Settlements’ Population Palestine Media Center 8/16/2003 The Israeli housing minister, Efraim Eitam, announced generous financial incentives to lure young Israeli couples to live in illegal settlements build in the occupied Palestinian territory. Couples who sign up to move to the illegal Israeli settlement of “Givat Ze’ev” during the next four months will receive a grant of £7,100 and a loan for the same amount. Couples moving to other settlements will receive similar largesse. Givat Ze’ev is buil[t on] Palestinian land in occupied east Jerusalem and drives a wedge between the holy city and the West Bank city of Ramallah. ‘Manpads’ seen as next choice for terrorists Daily Star 8/16/2003 Civilian airliners everywhere are at risk from Shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles - A disaster waiting to happen: ‘Once planes start falling from the sky, we’re going to be living in a very different world’ -- One day recently a four-engined US Air Force C-130 transport carrying General John Abizaid, the new head of the US Central Command, suddenly began corkscrewing left and right as it made its final approach to land at Baghdad International Airport. The pilot was doing what many of his colleagues do as they land or take off there, practicing violent evasive action intended to confuse heat-seeking surface-to-air missiles fired by terrorists as aircraft are at their most vulnerable. At least three of these shoulder-launched missiles ­ known in the military’s arcane parlance as Manpads, for man-portable air-defense systems ­ have been fired at a US C-130 over Baghdad airport since April 9.  Occupation Chronicle Events in Palestine August 16, 2003 Palestine Media Center 8/16/2003 Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) detained five Palestinians in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. IOF also demolished a Palestinian house in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah. IOF Detain Chief Palestinian Muslim Court Judge.

Diplomacy..

Israeli, PA officials to meet on transfer of 4 W. Bank cities Ha'aretz 8/16/2003 Israeli and Palestinian Authority officials are set to meet Sunday to discuss the transfer of four West Bank cities to Palestinian security control. The details of the plan, which requires the Palestinians to prevent terror attacks and supervise the wanted militants in the cities, were discussed Friday between Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Palestinian Security Minister MohammedDahlan during their second meeting in Jerusalem in 24 hours. Nabil Sha'ath supports right of return for refugees in Lebanon Ha'aretz 8/16/2003 Jerusalem officials rejected Sha'ath's remarks, stressing that no Palestinian immigrants would be allowed to return to the State of Israel. -- Palestinian External Affairs Minister Nabil Sha’ath said during a visit to Beirut Saturday that Palestinian refugees in Lebanon have no alternative solution other than returning to their homeland, Israel Radio reported. Sha’ath said that therefugees have the right to return to the future Palestinian state as well as to Palestinian cities inside Israeli borders. Report: Sha'ath downplays call for right of return to Israel Ha'aretz 8/16/2003 Palestinian External Affairs Minister Nabil Sha'ath downplayed Saturday evening his support the day before for a Palestinian right of return to Israeli cities, saying that such a move would require further negotiation between the two sides, Israel Radio reported. Speaking Friday in Beirut, Sha'ath said that the U.S.-sponsored road map for Middle East peace guaranteed the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in Israel or in the lands conquered in the 1967 Six-Day War, when Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan and the Gaza Strip from Egypt. PNA Dismisses Release of 73 Detainees as ‘Sham’, IOF Detain More Palestinians Palestine Media Center 8/16/2003 Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) detained several Palestinians in the past twenty-four hours following the Israeli Premier’s “good-will gesture” of releasing 73 Palestinian prisoners -- who were arrested on criminal charges -- from Israeli jails Friday. Hours after the prisoners were released, thousands of Palestinians marched through the streets of Gaza City, demonstrating against the continued detention of more than 7,000 Palestinian activists. MI Chief: Cease-fire in steep decline, faces critical point Ha'aretz 8/16/2003 The cease-fire on attacks against Israelis by Palestinian terror groups "is at a critical point," Major General Aharon Zeevi Farkash, Head of the IDF Military Intelligence Corps, said Friday evening. "I estimate that we are not at the end of the hudna, but I think that the hudna is at a critical point, which can be defined as a decline," he said in an interview on Channel OneTV. "I think the decline is very steep, and we don't necessarily have to reach its abyss." Assad defends Hizbullah’s rocket attacks in South Daily Star 8/16/2003 President slams Israeli assassination policy -- DAMASCUS: President Bashar Assad defended recent rocket attacks by Hizbullah guerrillas on the Israel-Lebanon border, telling a US envoy they were a reaction to Israeli provocations. Assad told US Mideast envoy William Burns that a political settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict is key to regional stability, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Buthaina Shaaban told reporters late Thursday. Jerusalem Ups Pressure To Stop Iran Nuke Program Forward 8/15/2003 Israel is stepping up its effort to gather international support to pressure Iran to abandon its nuclear program. The intensified diplomatic effort is based on the assumption — reportedly adopted this month for the first time as part of Israel's official political-military strategic planning — that Iran will have a nuclear weapon and the means to deliver it by 2005 at the latest. According to Israeli press reports, the Israeli strategic plan asserts that while Israel can defend itself against an Iranian nuclear strike, thanks to the Arrow anti-missile system, a pre-emptive strike to eliminate Iran's nuclear program before it becomes operational is not feasible. That is why diplomatic pressure is given priority, according to a report by the authoritative military correspondent of the daily Yediot Aharonot, Alex Fishman. Prisoner Issue "Open Wound" In Peace Process: Dahlan Islam Online 8/16/2003 RAMALLAH, West Bank, August 16 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Israel's refusal to free more than a handful of Palestinian prisoners is like "an open wound" in the peace process which, if not treated, will have serious consequences, Palestinian security chief Mohammed Dahlan said Saturday, August 16. Arafat wary of Israel offer to visit Gaza Jerusalem Post 8/16/2003 Yasser Arafat will not leave his West Bank compound for a brief trip to the Gaza Strip to see his sister's grave, as offered by Israel, unless international mediators guarantee his return, an aide said Saturday. Arafat has been confined to the town of Ramallah for nearly two years by Israel, which seeks to sideline him as a leader tainted by terrorism. PA Minister: We Still Suspect Israel’s Intentions International Middle East Media Center 8/16/2003 Palestinian Cabinet affairs Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said Friday that the Palestinian government will wait the implementation to judge the seriousness of Israel in implementing the road map obligations. Abed Rabbo added : "Our previous experience makes us doubtful about Israel’s real intentions” he continued “ I am afraid for those withdrawal to be only used to avoid international demands for a real and full implementation of the road map.” Dahlan Asserts No Use of Force Against Resistance Groups Following a Deal with Mofaz International Press Center 8/16/2003 PALESTINE, August 16, 2003, (IPC + Agencies) - - The Palestinian Minister of Security Affairs, Mohammed Dahlan, had met on Friday with the Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz. Sources announced that both reached a deal, in which the Israeli troops would pull back from four Palestinian cities: Jericho, Ramallah, Qalqelia and Tulkarem within the next two weeks so as to boost the “Road Map” peace plan and ensure the continuity of the unilateral Palestinian ceasefire declaration (Al Hudna). Palestinians: Deal on wanted terrorists is imminent Jerusalem Post 8/16/2003 Kadoura Fares, a senior Fatah operative in the West Bank, on Saturday denied reports according to which Israel and the Palestinian Authority have agreed to transfer wanted members of Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad to Jericho. But he confirmed that the two sides were close to reaching a deal that would allow all the wanted men to remain in their current positions. PNA warned Israel against continuing its military attacks on the Palestinians Miftah/PNA Minister of Internal Security 8/15/2003 The Palestinian National Authority Thursday warned Israel against continuing its military attacks on the Palestinians and said that such serious violations of the roadmap by Israel are likely to blow up all the efforts that the PNA has done and is doing to maintain the ceasefire and the truce and might even open the door wide for renewal of the bloody confrontation that has wrecked the region in the last three years. Sha’ath: Palestinian Right of Return Guaranteed by ‘Roadmap’ Palestine Media Center 8/16/2003 The right of return for Palestinian refugees to their homes in Israel or the territories the Jewish state occupied in 1967 was guaranteed under the US-sponsored “roadmap” for peace, the Palestine National Authority (PNA) Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said Friday. "No condition has been set for a return (only) to an independent Palestinian state. The right of return is no longer an illusion. It is an integral part of the Arab peace initiative, which is one of the reference points in the roadmap,” Shaath said, speaking at a hotel in the Lebanese capital Beirut. Dahlan, Mofaz Agree Timetable to Withdraw IOF from 4 Palestinian Cities Palestine Media Center 8/16/2003 Sha’ath Doubts Israeli Good Faith in Implementing ‘Roadmap’ -- Palestinian Minister of State for Security Affairs Mohammed Dahlan and Israeli “Defense” Minister Shaul Mofaz have reportedly agreed Thursday on a timetable to withdraw Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) from four reoccupied West Bank cities within the upcoming two weeks, in a bid to salvage a cease-fire that is scheduled to expire on September 29, as the PNA foreign Minister Nabil Sha’ath said that “all the Israeli actions point” in the direction “that the (road) map (peace plan) was imposed on Israel.” Israel: "Absolutely nothing" in the road map about refugees Jerusalem Post 8/16/2003 Israel has rejected the comments made Friday by Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath in Lebanon, in which the Minister said that the right of return for Palestinian refugees to homes within Israel and/or Palestinian territories was guaranteed under the US-backed roadmap for peace. Senior officials in Jerusalem said Saturday that if the comments were meant in the spirit they were said, then it should be made clear that no Palestinian refugees would be allowed to return to settle in Israeli territory. Israel to Hand Over Jericho, Qalqilyah to PA Next Week International Middle East Media Center 8/16/2003 Israeli security sources said that Israel will transfer security control in the West Bank cities of Jericho and Qalqilyah to the Palestinian Authority early next week and will consider the transfer of security over Ramallah and Tulkarem within 10 days. According to a deal reached between Palestinian Security Affairs Minister Mohammed Dahlan and Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, senior Palestinian and Israeli commanders will meet Sunday to set a timetable for the hand over of security responsibilities in the two West Bank cities. Israel To Quit Four West Bank Cities, With Conditions Islam Online 8/16/2003 GAZA CITY, August 16 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Palestinian officials said Friday, August 15, Israel pledged to withdraw from four West Bank cities, including Ramallah, while Israeli media cited a raft of attached conditions including an end to attacks and a detailed Palestinian plan on fighting "terror" and dealing with the issue of individuals wanted by Israel. Israel to withdraw from four cities The Independent 8/16/2003 Israel agreed last night to withdraw its troops from four more West Bank cities within two weeks. In a bid to revive the badly bruised peace process, it also authorised a trip by Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian President, to Gaza to visit the mourning tent of his sister, who died in Cairo on Wednesday. Jericho and Qalqilya will be handed back to Palestinian control next week. Ramallah and Tulkarem will follow a week later. At first Israel refused to pull out of Jericho and Qalqilya, but agreed after pressure from the United States. Obeid decries separation wall as ‘racist’ Daily Star 8/16/2003 Lebanon's Foreign Minister Jean Obeid on Friday warned of the seriousness of the Israeli attempt to build a “racist” separation wall between Israelis and Palestinians. Speaking to reporters after conferring with his Palestinian counterpart, Nabil Shaath, Obeid said there were two walls Israel was trying to build. The first was “the racist one between the Israelis and Palestinians, while the second is the one between US policy and … interests on the one hand and the Arab and Islamic world on the other.” Jumblatt: Resistance Does Not Lead Us To Disaster Al-Hayat 8/16/2003 Walid Jumblatt, head of the Progressive Socialist Party confirmed that the resistance is the strategic option for liberation. And after his meeting with Hezbollah's Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Jumblatt said: "I offered my condolences towards the martyr Ali Saleh, and then we moved to other issues, local and regional in addition to the Arab situation." Israel To Withdraw From Four Cities Al-Hayat 8/16/2003 The agreement reached between Palestinian Security Minister Mohamad Dahlan and Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz paved the way for the Israeli forces' withdrawal from Jericho and Qalqilya next week, to be followed by a withdrawal from Ramallah and Tulkarem. Israeli security sources said that according to the agreement, the Palestinians will present a security plan to regain control over Ramallah and Tulkarem, to be examined by Israel within the coming ten days. Hamas organizes rally in solidarity with detainees Palestinian Information Center 8/16/2003 Gaza - The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, said that it would not bargain or surrender over the question of Palestinian detainees in Zionist jails and would continue Jihad to ensure their release. The rally organized by Hamas in Rafah yesterday under the title “freedom for detainees and dedication to blood of martyrs” was attended by over 10,000 Palestinians along with families of prisoners and leaders of Hamas and national and Islamic forces.

Human Rights..

Hebron Students Reclaim Their School International Solidarity Movement 8/13/2003 Hebron - Jonas, Warren, Elizabetta - 13 Aug 03 -- YES TO EDUCATION, NO TO OCCUPATION: On Wednesday the 13th a group of 17 ISMers from Denmark,Italy, Spain, and the United States, joined students of the Hebron Polytechnic University as they continued their occupation of their main Unversity building. In January, the Israeli Army closed the school and welded shut its doors, and for the past 7 months the buildings have been vacant. The ISM was invited by the student groups and the Christian Peacemaker Teams, who have a continuing presence in Hebron. A unique kind of protest: Arabs and Jews defend Bedouins' rights in the Negev Electronic Intifada 8/15/2003 Press Release, Regional Council Of the Unrecognized Villages, 15 August 2003 -- With the increase in the demolition of Bedouin homes in the Unrecognized Villages of the Negev, culminating in this week's destruction of 10 houses, the "Together Forum" has established a Protest Tent at Shawkat Junction. The Tent opened on August 13th with a unique method of protest, one that is enriched and amplified by cultural activities, art performances and social interaction. During the activities, visitors are singing protest songs, narrating personal stories accompanied by traditional instruments, delivering or listening to lectures focusing on different aspects of the civil resistance, particularly law and human hights; and listening to moving personal testimonies about human rights abuses. UN: Israel must revoke change to Citizenship Law Ha'aretz 8/16/2003 GENEVA - Israel should revoke a new law which forces Palestinians who marry Israelis to live separate lives or move out of the country, a United Nations panel said yesterday. The 18 independent experts on the Committee on the Elimination of RacialDiscrimination unanimously passed a resolution calling for the change, saying the legislation, passed on July 31, "raises serious issues" of compliance with an international human rights treaty. UN Committee Demands Israel to Cancel New Marriage Law International Press Center 8/16/2003 GENEVA , August 16, 03, (IPC+Agencies)-- The United Nation Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination called upon on Friday Israel to cancel the “new marriage law” the Israeli Knesset passed recently, which disallow the Palestinians married to Arab –Israelis from obtaining Israelis citizenship. The UN committee said that the Israeli Knesset resolution is a grave breach to the international human right document.

Economy..

The Bottom Line / The pitfall of breaking promises Ha'aretz 8/16/2003 The projected 2004 budget deficit is huge. All the forecasts have collapsed and any number could come up in the draw. In August, the number NIS 15 billion was being bandied around, but clearly by December the figure will grow. The reasons for theexpansion are many and known. The question is what to do now. A severe budget cut is practically mandatory, meaning another - almost certainly harsher and more painful - hit to the general public, particularly the weaker classes, welfare services and health care. High-tech town at the center of multiple Mideast issues San Diego Union-Tribune 8/16/2003 ARIEL, West Bank – The municipality over which Mayor Ron Nachman, 61, presides, the Jewish settlement of Ariel, is a high-tech wonder. He speaks of virtual networks, wireless Internet and the day when his community, the second-largest settlement of Jews on land Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War, will lead the world in information technology. This ridge-top settlement of 18,000 in the Samarian Hills has garden apartments, manicured lawns, flowering trees, a topflight health club, Internet cafes and a college campus. Is there any way Israel would abandon all this to help create a future Palestinian state?

People..

Orthodox Rabbis Forbid Birthright Trips for Youths Forward 8/15/2003 Several of the world's most prominent ultra-Orthodox rabbis are urging parents not to allow their children to participate in Birthright Israel, a multimillion-dollar program that offers free trips to Israel for young Jews. Rabbis in the United States and Israel signed separate statements condemning Birthright, which is funded by Jewish philanthropists, Jewish charitable federations and the Israeli government. The rabbis accuse Birthright organizers of failing to uphold rules on kosher food and sexual modesty and of exposing children to improper ideas. Palestinian detainee discuses doctorate from prison Palestinian Information Center 8/16/2003 Ramallah - Palestinian detainee Nasser Abdullah Odeh, 38, is to discuss his doctorate thesis over the telephone with a committee of Najah University professors in Nablus in the first such precedence in history of detainees. A statement issued by the Dameer (Conscience) legal institution, catering for affairs of prisoners, said that Odeh is to discuss his thesis behind bars of his Majjedo prison cell. Overseas Travel Rebounding for Israelis Forward 8/15/2003 JERUSALEM — Propelled by the optimism of the Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire and a modest economic upturn, Israelis are traveling abroad this summer in numbers not seen since before the intifada, government and industry spokesmen say. The number of Israelis who left Israel during the first seven months of this year was up 8.5% over the same period in 2002, according to statistics released in early August. Most of that travel came during the past three months following the end of the Iraq war. Hollywood producer could bring Arab hero Saladin to the silver screen MENA Report 8/12/2003 Zeidan Consultancy, a Middle East public relations consultancy, revealed that it is in talks with Zinkler Films of Hollywood to produce a motion picture on the life of the Arab world’s historic hero Saladin El Din Al-Ayubi. Zeidan Consultancy plans to film and produce parts of the movie in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to the attractive media infrastructure and suitable film locations for this project.

International..

Moussa confers with US congress delegation Arabic News 8/16/2003 Secretary General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa has stressed the necessity for reaching a just peace on the Lebanese and the Syrian tracks in line with the international resolutions and "land for peace" formula. In a message directed to members of the US Congress yesterday in Cairo, Moussa called on the members of Congress to hold the responsibility as sponsors of the peace process in the Middle East, asserting that at the time Arabs announce their complete commitment to the strategic option of peace, Israel commits aggressive and inhuman crimes against the Palestinian people. Israeli Center Opened In Baghdad Islam Online 8/16/2003 BAGHDAD, August 16 (IslamOnline.net) – An Israeli center said to be specialized in Mid Eastern studies was opened in the occupied Iraqi capital Baghdad, in a provocative move seen by Iraqi academics as the beginning of an Israeli scheme to infiltrate the Iraqi society....The Iraqis sources said the center is affiliated to the Washington-based MEMRI (short for the Middle East Media Research Institute), an Israeli association set up five years ago, with offshoots in London, Berlin and West Jerusalem. With loan sanctions a possibility, Congress may weigh in on fence JTA 8/13/2003 WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 (JTA) — U.S. lawmakers are gearing up to defend Israel’s security fence to the Bush administration, which continues to raise concerns about the barrier being erected between Israel and the West Bank....The fence issue is likely to remain a political hot potato in the weeks and months ahead. Even with Congress on recess, many lawmakers are gearing up for a fight on Israel’s behalf. Dems Blast Bush Over Threats to Israel Forward 8/15/2003 In what some observers are describing as a campaign to shore up Jewish electoral support, congressional Democrats are blasting the White House for allegedly pressuring Israel to cease construction of its West Bank security fence. Thirty-one congressmen, all but two of them Democrats, signed on to a recent letter blasting administration officials for suggesting, in a New York Times report, that the United States might cut loan guarantees to Israel as a penalty for constructing the fence. Several key Democratic congressmen, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, signed the letter, which was organized by Rep. Nita Lowey, a New York Democrat. Iran develops nuclear plant BBC 8/14/2003 The Iranian Government says it is going ahead with the second phase of its controversial nuclear power plant in Bushehr. Iran's state news agency Irna said the decision was taken by the country's High Council of Atomic Energy, which did not give a start date for the second phase, but did mention for the first time construction of a particle accelerator. Study Urges Investment in Arab Schools Forward 8/15/2003 WASHINGTON — Education is the key to liberalizing and stabilizing Arab countries, according to a new study that recommends that the United States invest money to help develop high-quality, secular schools in the Middle East. The study, "The Youth Factor," was published by the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Washington's Brookings Institution, and focused on the implications of the disproportionately young demographic profiles of Arab countries. US Senator John McCain to arrive in Israel Sunday Jerusalem Post 8/16/2003 US Senator John McCain (R) arrives in Israel Sunday on the first leg of a wider Middle East trip. McCain will meet with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz and Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom. McCain will also meet with Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Minister for Security Affairs Mohammed Dahlan. Another Republican from Arizona, U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe will also take part. Pollard to get a day in court in latest twist of famous spy case JTA 8/13/2003 WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 (JTA) — Sept. 2, 2003 is going to be a big day for Jonathan Pollard: The American Jewish spy is going to get another day in court. Pollard´s lawyers will have 40 minutes in a federal courtroom to explain why they should be permitted to continue efforts to rescind the life sentence he received 18 years ago for committing espionage for Israel.

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