Israeli army chief says Palestinian 'threat like a cancer'
The Independent, August 27, 2002
The hardy few trying to rekindle peace amid the cinders of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were in despair yesterday after the new head of the Israeli army, Lieutenant-General Moshe Ya'alon, said the Palestinian "threat" had "cancer-like attributes".

Rabbi warns of Israel's 'tragic path'
BBC, August 27, 2002
Dr Sacks: "Conflict is against ideals of Judaism": Britain's chief rabbi has taken the unprecedented step of warning that Israel's stance towards Palestinians is incompatible with Judaism. Professor Jonathan Sacks described the current situation in the Middle East as "nothing less than tragic."

We must destroy Palestinian threat, army chief says
Guardian, August 27, 2002
Israeli leftwingers astonished and outraged by new commander's blunt comments: The newly appointed Israeli chief of staff, Lieutenant-General Moshe Yaalon, is urging a decisive victory to destroy the "cancer-like" threat posed by the Palestinians.

Israeli forces break into Jenin by tanks and helicopters, demolish homes
Arabic News, August 27, 2002
The Israeli forces on Monday broke by tanks into Jenin and its camp, and carried out a campaign of arrest and large scale detentions amid intensive fire. Among the detainees were Jamal Abu al-Haija one of the members of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas and his aide Islam Jarrar.

Israeli Army arrests 2 top Hamas men in Jenin raid
Arab News, August 27, 2002
JENIN, West Bank, 27 August — The Israeli Army stormed the northern West Bank town of Jenin yesterday, capturing two Hamas leaders, as violence flared across the Palestinian territories following the fresh invasion by Israeli tanks.

IDF arrests 6, including PFLP spokesman, in Ramallah
Ha,aretz, August 27, 2002 
The IDF arrested six suspected individuals in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Tuesday, Palestinian sources reported. Among those arrested was Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine spokesperson Ali Jadat, as well as two other senior activists.

Palestinian Economy is 'Almost Completely Destroyed': Report
Palestine Chronicle, August 27, 2002
RAMALLAH: An official report, issued recently by the Abu Dhabi-base Monetary Fund (AMF), revealed that Israel's occupation of Palestinian cities and towns have smashed the Palestinian economic backbone by destroying industrial and agricultural facilities.

Waterless world
Al-Ahram Weekly, August 22 - 28, 2002
"We shall bloom the desolate land and convert the spacious Negev into a source of force and power, a blessing to the state of Israel," declared David Ben Gurion, Israel's first prime minister: Today, the Negev Desert in southern Israel shows Ben Gurion's dream slowly becoming a reality. Israel's blessing has been the Palestinians' curse, however. 'Blooming' the Negev desert has meant even less water for the West Bank and Gaza.

Israel restricts chemical sales
BBC, August 26, 2002
Common chemicals may have been used in attacks: The Israeli army has restricted the sale of certain chemicals in the West Bank, saying they could be used to make home-made explosives.

Prophet of hope
Guardian, August 27, 2002
Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks has always wielded more clout than the size of his 280,000 strong flock would suggest, but now he has embarked on his most ambitious mission yet: to map out a way for different cultures to get along in a globalised world. He tells Jonathan Freedland why he is willing to talk to even pro-Taliban imam Abu Hamza.

Poll: Palestinian support for Islamic groups is on the rise
Ha,aretz, August 27, 2002   
Palestinian support for Islamic movements has narrowly overtaken that for Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, according to a new public opinion poll published yesterday.

Palestinian poll shows 84 percent support fundamental reforms of the Palestinian Authority
Al-Bawaba, August 27, 2002
In a poll conducted in the West Bank and Gaza last week by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, a large majority of 84% said they supported fundamental reforms of the Palestinian Authority, while 69% said they backed the appointment or election of a Palestinian prime minister. 1,320 local Palestinians participated in the poll.

Israel pledges to ease restrictions on Gaza Strip, Bethlehem
Al-Bawaba, August 27, 2002
Israel will start to lift a series of restrictions on the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday due to a significant drop in violence in the area, Israeli commanders and their Palestinian counterparts agreed in a security meeting held Monday night.

Syria's Chief of Staff accuses Israel of launching media blitz against all Arabs
Al-Bawaba, August 27, 2002
Syria's Chief of Staff said in remarks published on Monday that Washington's ambitions to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein were part of an effort to rearrange the Middle East region to U.S. and Israeli interests.

Settlers plan PR`defeat' of Palestinians; Ya'alon's remarks buoy right, ire left
Ha,aretz, August 27, 2002  
Buoyed by the chief of staff's remarks Sunday about the Palestinians, the settlers have begun a campaign "to defeat the Palestinians, to end the war," while the left has voiced serious concern about Lieutenant General Moshe Ya'alon's statements.

Saadat observes hunger strike
Arabic News, August 27, 2002
The secretary general of the People's Front for the Liberation of Palestine Ahmad Saadat on Sunday evening started a hunger strike in prison in protest of his continued detention since May despite the decision of the supreme Palestinian court to release him.

Israeli gov't tells court expulsions of Palestinians do not violate int'l law
Jordan Times, August 27, 2002       
TEL AVIV (AP) — The expulsion of relatives of Palestinians suspected of anti-occupation activities from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip does not violate international law, the Israeli government told the supreme court in a landmark case Monday.

Palestinians see post of PM a prospect after end of occupation
Ha,aretz, August 27, 2002
Palestinian officials said on Tuesday that Palestinian political reforms could include the appointment of a prime minister, but only after the end of the Israeli occupation gave way to an independent state.

Olmert: Gov't must prevent collapse of part of Western Wall
Ha,aretz, August 27, 2002 
Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert Tuesday morning called on the government to take immediate action to prevent the "historical and human disaster" that will happen if the southern portion of the Western Wall collapses.

A-G says might bar Muslim extremists from Temple Mount 
Ha,aretz, August 27, 2002
Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein said Monday that he would not rule out the possibility of approving a request to prevent Muslim extremists from frequenting the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, if he is asked to do so by the security establishment. He said that such a decision would be possible, "just as Jewish extremists are prevented from doing so."

Remand extended for 3 East Jerusalem Hamas cell members
Ha,aretz, August 27, 2002
The Magistrates Court in Jerusalem extended by ten days the remand of three members of the Hamas cell from East Jerusalem, which was exposed last week, and is alleged to have carried out eight terror attacks including the Hebrew University attack in which nine people were killed.

Feature: Some Arab leaders admit a red line was crossed
Ha,aretz, August 27, 2002 
Talking to Sheikh Abdullah Nimar Darwish, the senior religious arbitrator for Muslims in Israel and a founder of the Islamic Movement, one can hear optimistic remarks intermingled with somber news.

Israel Says 'Most Wanted' Activist in the West Bank Arrested
Palestine Chronicle, August 27, 2002
JENIN: Israeli forces have arrested a leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, saying he is the ‘most wanted man’ in the West Bank. He is being held on suspicion of helping to carry out a number of attacks that killed Israelis.

7 Israelis Arabs held as terror suspects
Ha,aretz, August 27, 2002  
Seven Israeli Arabs, all from the same clan, are under arrest as accomplices in the Meron Junction bus bombing on August 4, which killed nine and wounded dozens.

Israeli Arabs may face demolitions next
Ha,aretz, August 27, 2002
Public Security Minister Uzi Landau is expected to ask the defense establishment for authorization to demolish the homes of two Israeli Arabs suspected of involvement in planning the Meron Junction suicide bombing. Deputy Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra said yesterday that he believed the suspects' homes should be demolished since they had played a key role in the bombing.

Paper: 500,000 Former Soviet Union Immigrants to Israel Not Jews
Palestine Chronicle, August 27, 2002
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (IAP News): The London-based pan-Arab newspaper, al Hayat, on Sunday quoted Russian immigrants to Israel as saying that nearly half of the immigrants to the Hebrew state from the countries of the former Soviet Union (FSU) are not Jewish.

Aloni outraged over A-G's plan to probe her visit to Arafat HQ: MKs Tibi and Barakeh also to be questioned 
Ha,aretz, August 27, 2002 
Former minister Shulamit Aloni is outraged by Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein's order to investigate her and two Arab MKs for violating a 2000 military order banning Israelis from Palestinian-held territories.

High Court hears sides in deportation; told deterrents work
Ha,aretz, August 27, 2002  
Even the terrorist organizations say that deportations and house demolitions are the most effective weapons against terrorism, the state told the High Court of Justice yesterday.

Israeli curfew thwarts Palestinian vote on reform   
Jordan Times, August 27, 2002   
RAMALLAH (R) — Palestinian legislators put off a vote of confidence in a new reform cabinet on Monday when West Bank deputies had to scurry home early to beat an Israeli military curfew.

Qarisli invites Arab members in Israeli Knesset to visit Germany
Arabic News, August 27, 2002
The German member of parliament Jamal Qarisli has invited several Arab members in the Israeli Knesset, including Azmi Beshara, and the chairman of the Arab Democratic Party Abdul Wahab al-Drawesha and many of his colleagues in the party to visit Germany.

Mideast conflict hits Earth Summit
Ha,aretz, August 27, 2002    
JOHANNESBURG - South African police at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg stepped in yesterday to keep small groups of jeering Palestinian and Israeli activists apart.