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Palsetine Today 093008
IMEMC News - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 9/30/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 4m 0s || 3. 66 MB ||Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org for Tuesday September 30, 2008. LEDE: Palestinians in Gaza celebrate the holy days of the Eid under siege, and Palestinian Authority releases some Hamas political prisoners, these stories and more are coming up, stay tuned. Palestinian Muslims as well as Muslims in other parts of the world today celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the end of the fasting month Ramadan. Palestinians in Gaza in particular remain under a 16-month old siege that is destroying all aspects of life in the besieged coastal region. One family, similar to many others, is living the Eid days separated from one another, some besieged in Gaza and the rest in Israel. The family of Ramadan al-Hour from al-Nusseirat refugee camp, has been separated. . . more.. e-mail
Qassam lands on Palestinian territory
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 9/29/2008
First rocket in two weeks fired towards Israel from Gaza, but lands on Palestinian side of border; no injuries or damage reported - A Shana Tova greeting from terror organizations:A Qassam rocket was fired Monday afternoon from the northern Gaza Strip towards Israel, but landed on the Palestinian side of the border. There were no reports of injuries or damage. Following the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, rockets and mortar shells have scarcely been fired from the Gaza Strip. However, the calm is breached from time to time, leading to the temporary closure of the crossings. About two weeks ago, a rocket fired from Gaza hit an open area in one of the neighborhoods of the southern town of Sderot. One man was reported as suffering shock and was taken to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon. more.. e-mail
A Palestinian homemade shell lands near the border with Israel
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 9/29/2008
A Palestinian homemade shell landed on Monday near the border fence with Israel on Gaza-Israel eastern border lines, Israeli media sources reported. The sources said that the homemade shell landed near the Nahal Auz crossing , to the east of Gaza City and that no causalities were reported. In June of this year, Israel and the Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza agreed to an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire. Since then, about 27 homemade shells laded on nearby Israeli areas , according to Israeli sources. Despite the ceasefire deal, the Israeli army has killed at least two Palestinians as the Israeli naval forces attack fishermen on board, almost on daily basis, according to Palestinian sources. more.. e-mail
Gaza militants fire Qassam at Israel, in fresh truce violation
Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 9/30/2008
Gaza militants fired a Qassam rocket at Israel on Monday in a fresh violation of the truce between Israel and Hamas in the coastal territory, according to Army Radio. The rocket did not reach Israeli territory, though, exploding within the bounds of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip a few hours before the start of Rosh Hashanah. The cease-fire reached June 19 between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas has been occasionally violated by Palestinian rocket and mortar fire, leading Israel to punitively shut Gaza’s border crossings. [end]
Amputated hand and other injuries as Israeli forces invade Nal’in
PNN, Palestine News Network 9/29/2008
Nal’in -- Eyewitnesses report that Israeli forces invaded the western Ramallah town of Nal’in Monday. At least 15 military vehicles descended from the north and south in an attempt to encircle the village and arrest more young people in an ongoing campaign. Several youth threw stones as the army shot gas and stun grenades. Four are hospitalized. After several hours the mosque loudspeakers called out the reading of the Qur’an in spite of the intensive military presence in the town well-known for its nonviolent resistance to the practices of occupation. During today’s invasion four young men were injured and are now hospitalized. Mohammed Fakhri was shot and transferred to Sheikh Zayed Hospital. Nabil Zaki Al Khawaja’s hand was amputated after Israeli soldiers hit him with a grenade. Medical sources report he will undergo surgery in a Ramallah hospital. more.. e-mail
Israeli troops break into Palestinian houses, detain residents
International Middle East Media Center News 9/29/2008
Israeli troops broke into several Palestinian-owned houses on Monday in the Fawar refugee camp in Hebron in the West Bank. Palestinian sources reported that the Israeli soldiers ransacked houses causing panic to those inside, especially to children. In nearby Beit Awwa on the outskirts of Hebron, Israeli soldiers searched a number of houses and held a number of youth for several hours. Media sources reported on Monday that the Israeli military stormed the local mosque of Na’leen, wounding two youth slightly after confronting those inside the mosque. Ayman Nafe’, Mayor of Na’leen, told media outlets that the soldiers were concentrated in the entrance to Na’leen. In the West Bank city of Jenin, Israeli forces took four Palestinian residents prisoner after invading Zanouba and Silat Alharthiya villages on the outskirts of Jenin. more.. e-mail
Two Bethlehem residents hospitalized in separate Israeli attacks
Najib Faraj, Palestine News Network 9/29/2008
Bethlehem -- Israeli forces invaded Bethlehem’s Hussan Village on Monday and shot 17 year oldImmad Hassan Hamamreh. The teen is receiving hospital treatment for the bullet wound. The invasion began this morning when Israeli tanks plowed into the area and soldiers imposed checkpoints at all village entrances. Youth began throwing stones as soldiers fired machineguns, concussion grenades and gas. Hamamreh was among the young people. Hussan residents report that Israeli forces have invaded the village on a nearly daily basis during the month of Ramadan at the times of prayer or the pre-dawn meal. Eyewitnesses indicate that house raids are violent with soldiers abusing families. An Israeli military spokesperson said that today’s invasion was conducted because youth threw stones at passing settler cars. more.. e-mail
Israeli soldiers close streets, prevent entry to mosques; two youth injured
Ma’an News Agency 9/29/2008
Ramallah – Ma’an – Two Palestinians were injured when clashes broke out between Israeli forces and Palestinian youth in the West Bank village of Ni’lin. Mayor of Ni’lin Ayman Nafi reported the entry of dozens of Israeli military jeeps into the area Sunday evening, which closed streets and banned Palestinians from entering local mosques for the evening prayers. As a result, fierce clashes erupted in the center of the village. Those injured from the clashes were 22-year-old Muhammad Srour and 25-year-old Nabil Fayiz, who were hospitalized in Sheikh Zayid Hospital in Ramallah. Nafi said Israeli forces erected a permanent checkpoint at the village’s main entrance. [end]
Palestine Today 092908
IMEMC News - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 9/29/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 3 m 30s || 3. 20 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org for Monday September 29, 2008 LEDE: Israeli troops invaded on Monday different parts of the West Bank, rounding up some Palestinian residents. Meanwhile, the outgoing Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, called for withdrawing from the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem. These news and more are upcoming, stay tuned. The News Cast Israeli soldiers, backed with armored vehicles, broke into Palestinian-owned houses in different parts of the West Bank, rounding up at least 5 residents. The residents were reportedly from Hebron, Jenin, Nablus and Ramallah. Israeli military attacks on the Palestinians in the West Bank happen on daily basis , as the West Bank still lies under a strict Israeli military occupation since June04, 1967. more.. e-mail
IDF awards soldiers citations for March offensive in Gaza Strip
Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 9/29/2008
The Israel Defense Forces GOC Southern Command awarded citations to eight soldiers on Sunday for conduct during a major March operation in the Gaza Strip. Maj. Gen. Yoav Gallant handed out the medals at a ceremony held in the southern Eshkol region. In attendance were many officers and soldiers were who are involved in the daily securing of Israeli communities that border on the Hamas-controlled territory. The army said the decision to award the citations was reached in light of the troops’ display of initiative and determination and for their adhering to their mission and striving for victory during Operation Warm Winter. In the offensive, which came after prolonged rocket fire against southern Israel, two IDF soldiers were killed and eight wounded. more.. e-mail
Palestinian nabbed in Jerusalem in possession of knife
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 9/29/2008
Border Guard officers patrolling Old City arrest 19-year-old man carrying knife, two suicide notes declaring he plans to be a shahid; security forces on high alert ahead of High Holidays - A young Palestinian was arrested Monday morning on suspicion of planning to carry out a stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Old City. Border Guard officers patrolling the area detained the 19-year-old man and found a knife and two suicide notes in his possession. In the notes, the man declared that he plans to be a shahid (martyrs). He was taken in for questioning by the Jerusalem Police. The Israel Police declared Sunday that it would be functioning at the highest alert level throughout theJewish New Year, while Defense Minister Ehud Barak has ordered the IDF to impose a full closure on the West Bank after the security establishment received Ten specific warnings and. . . more.. e-mail
IOF impose hermetic closure on West Bank and raises alert to the highest leve
Palestinian Information Center 9/29/2008
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority imposed a hermetic closure on the West Bank on the eve of the Jewish New year which falls on Monday night. The state of alert was also raised to its highest level. This closure coincides with the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr, which falls at the end of Ramadan and is expected on Tuesday or Wednesday depending on the sighting of the new moon. Israeli military sources said that the closure will be lifted on Wednesday evening depending on the security situation and pointed out that it could be extended further. Israeli police intensified patrols in the 1948 areas and at the border between the 1967 and 1948 occupied Palestine. Israel security sources said that there were a number of warnings of the intention of some Palestinian factions carrying out attacks against occupation targets. more.. e-mail
PM: Evil wind of extremism threatens Israeli democracy
Jpost.com Staff, Jerusalem Post 9/28/2008
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned Sunday that Israeli democracy has been threatened by right-wing extremists, who lightly wounded left-wing academic Ze’ev Sternhell last week by setting a pipe bomb outside the door of his Jerusalem apartment. Olmert compares attempt to hurt Prof. Sternhell to Rabin assassination - "An evil wind of extremism, of hatred, of malice, of violence, of lawlessness is blowing through certain sections of the Israeli public and threatens Israeli democracy," Olmert said at the weekly cabinet meeting. This action has undermined "the ability of those entrusted by the State of Israel to make decisions and the ability to freely express one’s views without fear of being attacked by wild, violent law-breakers, who disregard all frameworks of proper, democratic life," he said Although the police have said they fear a new Jewish underground was responsible. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli military invades Nablus city
Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 9/28/2008
A large Israeli military force invaded the West Bank city of Nablus early on Sunday morning, Palestinian security sources reported. Witnesses said that Israeli army vehicles drove across the city for many hours and that the Israeli soldiers conducted house-to-house searches. There were no causalities or arrests reported. Israeli military actions throughout West Bank cities, towns, villages and refugee camps happen on a daily basis. The West Bank has remained under Israeli military occupation since June 4, 1967. [end]
Gazan fiserman’s boat sunk by Israeli fire in local waters
Ma’an News Agency 9/28/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – Shots were fired by the Israeli military on Gazan fishermen of the Rafah shore on Sunday afternoon, sinking the fishing boat and endangering the lives of those aboard. According to the de facto ministry of agriculture the sinking vessel and its operators were rescued by nearby boats. Omar Al-Habeel, the owner of the boat, said it was cracked down the side, but rescued from sinking. Israeli forces continued to fire shells at fishermen in the area, and shots were also reported in the northern Gaza Sea, according to Hasan Azzam, director of fisheries in the de facto government agriculture ministry. Local Gazan fishermen, who depend on their boats for their livelihood, were horrified. Azzam condemned the actions, saying they highlighted the cruelty and continuation of occupation despite the “unilateral withdrawal” in 2005. more.. e-mail
Bomb detonated under police vehicle in Rafah
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 9/28/2008
Unknown assailants detonated an explosive device underneath a Palestinian police vehicle on Sunday morning in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. Palestinian security sources said that the blast occurred in the Tal-Alsultan neighborhood to the west of Rafah city and that no causalities were reported. The bombed van was completely destroyed. In the past three months, many incidents of internal unrest ripped through the Gaza Strip despite a state of calm in the region following an Egyptian-brokered truce deal in June of this year. [end]
QB: military maneuvers part of preparation for possible showdown with IOF troops
Palestinian Information Center 9/27/2008
KHAN YOUNIS, (PIC)-- Abu Ahmad, the spokesman of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, explained on Saturday that the military maneuvers of his group and the rest of the Palestinian resistance factions were part of the preparation for the new stage after the calm. Abu Ahmad’s confirmation were uttered during expanded military maneuvers held by fighters of the Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad, south of Gaza Strip, which was attended by high-ranking political and military officials of the Movement. Anti-armor projectiles, mortar shells, and live bullets were used during the military exercises, according to sources in the Islamic Jihad. The spokesman added that the fighters were trained how to capture Israeli soldiers, and how to attack IOF troops’ posts, and how to deal with the elite units of the Israeli occupation army in a proper way to avoid losses during engagement. more.. e-mail
Rising tide of settler violence threatens to overwhelm Israeli government
Ma’an News Agency 9/28/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – For the third time since August Israeli politicians are worrying about the increase in violence directed towards Palestinians by angry Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. Coming at the same time as increased pressure from foreign countries for Israel to stop settlement expansion, and even consider the evacuation of West Bank settlements, the calls for legal or military measures to regain control over “rampaging” settlers have grown louder. The most recent attacks have shocked Israeli politicians even more than earlier incidents. On Sunday Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak suggested taking a “tougher stance” on settler violence in response to individuals taking the law into their own hands. Barak was particularly concerned about the increased aggression that settlers were exhibiting towards Israeli soldiers charged with their protection. more.. e-mail
Jewish settlers ’kill Palestinian’
Al Jazeera 9/28/2008
A Palestinian shepherd has been shot dead by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian security and government officials. The young man, identified as Yehia Apa Riham, was among a group of shepherds grazing their flocks south of Nablus and near the Itamar settlement when they were attacked by the settlers, security officials said. Ghassan Daglas, a Palestinian local government official, said two teenagers had reported seeing a white car belonging to some Israeli settlers pursue the shepherd late on Saturday and then hearing shots. Israel police confirmed that the youth’s body had been found with bullet wounds and taken to an Israeli forensics centre for an autopsy. "At approximately midnight, the body of a 17-year-old Bedouin was found by a family member," Micky Rosenfeld, a police spokesman, said. more.. e-mail
Defense Minister: Violent settlers must be punished
Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 9/28/2008
Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday urged cabinet ministers to adopt a tougher stance on punishing West Bank settlers over violent acts against Palestinians. Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Barak cited the unruly behavior of settlers who he said tended to take the law into their own hands, causing damage to Palestinian property. The defense minister also stressed that settler attacks on Israel Police officers and Israel Defense Forces soldiers stationed near settlements presented a danger to Israeli public service. He said that of late, IDF officers have arrested a number of settler youth charged with disturbing peace. Although the incidents have been recorded, Barak said, the offenders have rarely been brought to court or tried for their actions. more.. e-mail
VIDEO - Security agencies fear recent incidents point to rise in rightist violence
Haaretz Staff and Channel 10, Ha’aretz 9/29/2008
Haaretz. com/Channel 10 daily feature for September 28, 2008. After security forces evacuated the illegal outpost of Yad Yair earlier this month, West Bank settlers responded by torching fields belonging to Palestinian villagers and puncturing tires of Israel Defense Forces vehicles. Right-wing elements in Israeli society appear to be increasingly turning against the rule of the law, determined to take their ultranationalist cause into their own hands, employing violence against anyone they perceive as enemies, be they soldiers or civilians, Israelis or Palestinians. Intelligence and security sources fear that violence will escalate into something much more dramatic than scorched fields and punctured tires. more.. e-mail
IDF soldier attacked with acid may regain sight, say doctors
Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 9/29/2008
An Israel Defense Forces soldier wounded last week when a Palestinian woman threw acid at his face is likely to regain sight despite initial concerns that he would be permanently blinded, doctors said Sunday. The medical condition of Golani soldier Stanislaw Davidoff has significantly improved, said the doctors. He has already begun in the last few days to see again out of his left eye and doctors now believe his right eye can also be saved. The Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva sain in a statement that his right eye had been seriously damaged in the attack, but said his condition could improve following extensive rehabilitation. Davidoff underwent surgery last week on the right eye. The results of the operation will be evaluated in the coming days. Doctors initially believed Davidoff would lose a large percentage of the. . . more.. e-mail
’Jewish underground may be emerging’
Abe Selig And Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post 9/28/2008
A new Jewish underground could have been responsible for Thursday morning’s attack on left-wing professor Ze’ev Sternhell, security forces said on Sunday. Sternhell, a political scientist from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem known for his vocal criticisms of the settler movement and IDF actions in the West Bank, was lightly wounded around 1 a. m. on Thursday morning when a small pipe bomb exploded outside his Jerusalem apartment. A security official told The Jerusalem Post, "The investigation is continuing and we are looking into a wide range of possibilities. The main fear is that there is a new underground cell that is planning additional attacks. " Flyers found near Sternhell’s apartment offering an NIS 1 million reward to anyone who killed those associated with the left-wing group Peace Now are one of several clues that have led security officials to speculate that this attack was planned by Jewish right-wing extremists. more.. e-mail
Israeli troops kidnap two residents in southern Gaza
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 9/26/2008
Israeli troops kidnapped on Friday afternoon two Palestinian residents to the south of Gaza Strip, Palestinian media sources reported. Witnesses said that an Israeli army contingent swept about 100 meters depth into the Khez’a town to east of Khan Younis city in southern Gaza Strip. Witnesses added that the invading force detained two residents from the area and took them to unknown destination. The Israeli military action on Friday took place amidst a three-month-old Egyptian-mediated ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza. Due to frequent Israeli actions including attacks against fishermen onboard, as well as some homemade shells fire from Gaza onto nearby Israeli towns, the ceasefire could possibly collapse at any time, some commentators believe. more.. e-mail
IOF troops kidnap two Palestinians after an incursion into Khan Younis
Palestinian Information Center 9/26/2008
GAZA, (PIC)-- The IOF troops kidnapped two Palestinians on Friday evening in a brief incursion into Kan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. PIC correspondent said that IOF troops crossed the borders and penetrated 150 meters east of Qarara to the east of Khan Younis and added that the identities of the two Palestinians kidnapped by the occupation forces was not yet known. This latest attack is another naked breach of the truce between the occupation forces and the Palestinian resistance factions. [end]
Israeli army seizes two Gazans near Khan Younis
Ma’an News Agency 9/26/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli soldiers abducted two Palestinians from eastern Khan Younis on Friday, according to Palestinian sources. The two Gazans were taken to an undisclosed location. Sources also told Ma’an that Israeli forces also invaded the area with a number of armored vehicles. Soldiers reportedly came as close as 100 meters east of the Khaza’ah area of Khan Younis before turning back. [end]
IOF soldier injured at the Qalandia road block, arrests in West Bank
Palestinian Information Center 9/26/2008
Palestinian women prvented from crossing Qalandia roadblock to attend Friday prayers at Aqsa Mosque - RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- IOF troops raided the northern West Bank city of Nablus on Friday morning and arrested two Palestinian men after raiding and ransacking a number of homes in the city. Meanwhile, Sulaiman Sawarka (32 years) the hamlet of Janajra in the northern West Bank district of Jenin according to local sources who also reported that the IOF troops have intensified their presence since Thursday night on the main Jenin-Haifa road around the villages west of Jenin and around the village of Yamon. The troops later raided the Yamon village and drove around it firing live ammunition and stun grenades terrorising the local residents. Meanwhile, Israeli occupation sources said that an occupation soldier was slightly injured as a result of stone throwing which took place at the. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli soldier 'showered with stones' and lightly injured at Qalandiya
Ma’an News Agency 9/26/2008
Bethlehem - Ma’an - An Israeli soldier manning the Qalandiya checkpoint between the central West Bank and Jerusalem was showered with stones thrown by angry pilgrims barred from praying at the Al-Aqsa mosque. Several Palestinian citizens, frustrated by the long wait and harsh treatment at the hands of soldiers as they waited to be allowed into Jerusalem for prayer, picked up stones from the ground and threw them at an Israeli soldier. The soldier was lightly injured, according to Israeli sources. Thousands crowded the checkpoint, and hundreds were turned back as Israeli forces tightened their restrictions on Palestinians allowed to enter Jerusalem. [end]
Three detained by Israeli forces in Nablus, Jenin
Ma’an News Agency 9/26/2008
Bethlehem - Ma’an - Israeli forces arrested three Palestinian citizens from northern West Bank cities before dawn on Friday. According to Israeli sources, three "wanted" Palestinians were arrested in Nablus and Jenin and taken to investigation centers for questioning. The detainees have not been identified. [end]
Al-Quds Brigades says fighters anticipating Israeli attacks
Ma’an News Agency 9/26/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – An Al-Quds Brigades spokesperson said Friday that military exercises are being carried out by resistance factions preparing for post-truce operations. Abu Ahmad said that the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement is in a “preparation” phase, anticipating Israeli attacks and planning hypothetical responses to them. “This stage will be difficult, as Israel has begun taking advantage of the Palestinian internal security situation to carry out strikes against resistance fighters,” Ahmad said. But the political situation in Israel is not particularly cohesive, which he pointed out, and warned that the Jewish state will “continue to achieve internal victories at the expense of the Palestinian cause. ”Ahmad’s statements came as Brigades fighters carried out “large military maneuvers” in case Israel attempts to capture “wanted” Palestinians in Gaza. more.. e-mail
This week in Palestine week 39 2008
IMEMC News - audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 9/26/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file ||14 m 40s || 13. 4 MB ||This Week in Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org, for September 20 through 26, 2008. Lede: Palestinian leadership still hopeful of a two-state solution despite of the ongoing Israeli policy of land garb. Palestinians on the other hand, continue their nonviolent resistance against the wall and settlements, these stories and more are coming up, stay tuned. Nonviolence As usual, we begin report with nonviolent actions and protests in Palestine during which dozens of Palestinians were wounded this week. Ni’lin Dozens were treated for gas inhalation in the village of Ni’lin, near the west Bank city of Ramallah on Friday afternoon during an anti-wall protest. The Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements organized a nonviolent protest in the village after the Friday prayer. more.. e-mail
Israeli troops detain three Palestinians in the West Bank
International Middle East Media Center News 9/25/2008
The Israeli troops rounded up on Thursday morning three Palestinian youth from the Na’leen village , to the west of Ramallah city in the West Bank. Media sources reported that the Israeli troops invaded the Na’leen village early in the dawn and began opening fire on different directions, as clashes broke out between the village’s residents and the Israeli soldiers, resulting in no causalities. Meanwhile, the Israeli troops detained three Palestinian residents, identified as Barahim Serour, 18, Said Attalah Omaira, 20 and Mo’men Khawaja, 17, after having handed them over warrants to meet the Israeli intelligence service in the area. [end]
Israeli forces storm Bethlehem, Duheisha Refugee Camp
Ma’an News Agency 9/25/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli forces seized a Palestinian teenager at Duheisha Refugee Camp in Bethlehem and stormed a house there early on Thursday morning, security sources said. Ibrahim Munir Arafah was abducted and soldiers searched the home of Ahmad Tawfiq Tayeh. Israeli forces stormed through parts of the city before raiding Duheisha. Meanwhile, Israel released Na’el Aiman Mfarreh and Khader Yousef Da’oud Salah after each had served six months in prison. [end]
IOF soldiers detain 8 Palestinians including a teenager
Palestinian Information Center 9/25/2008
RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces at dawn Thursday detained eight Palestinian civilians in different West Bank areas, the Hebrew radio reported. The broadcast said that the detainees were taken for investigation, but would not reveal their affiliations, if any. IOF soldiers manning the Kufrayat roadblock south of Tulkarem detained the 18-year-old teen Dia Shamashne after beating him up, eyewitnesses reported. [end]
Palestine Today 092508
IMEMC News - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 9/25/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 3 m 30s || 3. 20 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org for Thursday September 25, 2008. Lead: On Thursday morning, Israeli troops detained three Palestinian residents from the West Bank village of Ni’lin, near Ramallah. Also today an Israeli military court sentenced a Gaza PFLP leader to a12-year-long imprisonment. These stories and more are coming up, stay tuned. The News Cast On Thursday morning, Israeli troops invaded the West Bank village of Ni’lin with a heavy barrage of gunfire. Clashes erupted between the soldiers and the locals, but no casualties were reported; however, three Ni’lin residents were detained. Also on Thursday, an Israeli military court sentenced Ali al-Kafarna, a local leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in Gaza to 12-years of imprisonment. more.. e-mail
One of settler teen’s killers gets life sentence
Ali Waked, YNetNews 9/25/2008
Judges say Bassam Shafik Atiya Ahtiya took Eliyahu Asheri’s life in June 2006 ’without any remorse or scruples. ’ PRC spokesman: Sentencing won’t prevent Palestinian organizations from continuing to try and kidnap soldiers -A military court sentenced on Thursday Palestinian security officer Bassam Shafik Atiya Ahtiya to life in prison plus 10 years for his involvement in the June 2006 kidnapping and murder of 18-year-old Eliyahu Asheri from the Jewish settlement of Itamar. " He who can take another’s life in cold blood is not worthy of walking freely among people in a civilized society," the judges said in their ruling. "Eliyahu Asheri’s only ’sin’ was that he was Jewish"¦In his act the accused ended the life of a young boy who had his entire future ahead of him, without any remorse or scruples. The defendant is not worthy of any mercy. more.. e-mail
An Israeli court sentences a Gaza PFLP leader
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 9/25/2008
An Israeli military court sentenced on Thursday a Palestinian resident from the northern Gaza Strip city of Beit Hanoun with a 12-year-imprisonment. The Israeli court issued the verdict against Ali Qasem aL-Kafarna, a local leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), who was detained by the Israeli troops during an Israeli invasion of Beit Hanoun in 2006. During the first Intifada of 1987, aL-Kafarna used to be wanted for the Israeli occupation authorities. Later on he moved to Syria, until he came back to Gaza in 1995, upon arrival of the Palestinian police forces. [end]
Authorities arrest six Arabs who stole, sold IDF soldiers’ guns
Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 9/25/2008
The police and the Shin Bet arrested five Palestinians and an Israeli Arab resident of Taibeh for allegedly stealing assault rifles from two Israel Defense Forces soldiers in Tel Aviv and then selling the guns in the West Bank. Authorities on Thursday afternoon lifted a media gag order on the details of the affair, according to which a Palestinian resident of the West Bank village of Nur el-Shams, Omar Shafai, admitted to investigators that he swiped the guns belonging to two IDF soldiers near the Haganah Bridge in Tel Aviv in two separate incidents. The first theft occurred in late January of this year, when Shafai assaulted a soldier who was standing near the bridge adjacent to the Ayalon Freeway. Shafai wielded a rock against the soldier’s head and fled with his weapon. more.. e-mail
Border Police arrests top Palestinian fugitive on West Bank bus
Jpost.com Staff, Jerusalem Post 9/25/2008
Border police forces arrested top Palestinian fugitive, Amed Yousef Amur, during a routine check on a Palestinian bus in the West Bank, security officials announced Thursday night. Amur was transferred to the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) for interrogation. [end]
Palestinian youths throw molotov cocktails at Israeli vehicles in Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 9/25/2008
Bethlehem - Ma’an - Israeli sources said that Palestinians threw Molotov cocktails at Israeli vehicles south of Nablus Thursday evening. There were no reports on causalities. [end]
Israeli secret service: Israeli Wall to blame for recent attacks
Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 9/25/2008
According to the Israeli secret service, Shin Bet, the Israeli Annexation Wall that has been constructed on Palestinian land over the last six years has fueled resentment and anger that brought on the spate of recent attacks by Palestinians in Jerusalem. The announcement by Shin Bet comes just two days after a Palestinian resident of Jerusalem plowed his car into a crowd of Jewish-Israeli pedestrians, mainly soldiers. Two similar attacks using vehicles have occurred in the last three months in Jerusalem. Shin Bet has a reputation for advocating a strong military approach to the Palestinian civilian population, so their recognition of the resentment brought about by the construction of the Wall marks a change in the agency’s approach. "In the past, terrorists from East Jerusalem acted mainly as support units for attacks, usually under instruction by outside networks in the Gaza. . . more.. e-mail
The demolition reflex
Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 9/25/2008
Monday night’s terror attack in Jerusalem, apparently by a driver gone amok, has brought in its wake - as a kind of conditioned reflex - the usual demand to raze the terrorist’s house immediately. The fact that this is the immediate reaction, as formulated late at night by newspaper columnists, and also (due to different reasons, of course) vociferously demanded by the extreme right the following morning, need no longer surprise anyone. It is a bit more surprising that Defense Minister Ehud Barak has chosen to put himself at the helm of the camp making this demand. Hardly half an hour had passed between the first report of the attack and the directive issued by Barak’s bureau "for a drastic abridgement of the legal procedures" which delay demolition of the homes of East Jerusalem terrorists. more.. e-mail
Police holding suspect in attack on Jenin prosecuter
Ma’an News Agency 9/25/2008
Nablus – Ma’an – A police spokesperson told Ma’an on Thursday that Palestinian Authority (PA) intelligence services arrested the alleged attacker of Jenin prosecutor Mohammad Hanoun four days ago. PA intelligence in Nablus claimed to have arrested and obtained a full confession by the accused shooter within 24 hours of the attack. The statement indicated that the accused man is from a village south of Nablus. Other than his confession, the suspect reportedly refused to provide a motive or discuss anything related to the attack. [end]
Rightist convicted of incitement wins appeal; verdict overturned
Aviad Glickman, YNetNews 9/25/2008
Yekutiel Ben-Yaakov appeals Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court decision to find him guilty of indictment, distribution of offensive material. Capital’s District Court quashes conviction citing lack of sufficient evidence - Yekutiel Ben-Yaakov, an extreme right-wing activist who was convicted by the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court for incitement, won a District Court appeal on Thursday, and his conviction was overturned. According to the case file, Ben-Yaakov stood outside a Jerusalem cemetery in the winter of 2004 and handed out instigative fliers to people attending a memorial service for Rabbi Meir Kahane. "We want to launch a referendum and give every family in Israel the chance to finally speak out"¦ to give the masses supporting the (Rabbi Kahane) preachings the chance to express their belief - that only the expulsion of Arabs from all of Israel will lead this country towards a patulous existence," read the fliers. more.. e-mail
Bethlehem boy shot and arrested during invasion of refugee camp
Najib Farrag, Palestine News Network 9/24/2008
Bethlehem -- Seventeen year old Ahmed Khalil Jaafari was shot in the foot after midnight. Israeli soldiers injured the boy while invading Bethlehem’s Deheisheh Refugee Camp early Wednesday. Israeli forces hit the camp from several axes and surrounded the Jaafari father’s home. Dozens of soldiers were involved in the raid during which they told the family that they intended to arrest the teenager. According to an army spokesperson Jaafari tried to escape detention and was shot. The family says that the soldiers were violent and erratic. During the invasion of Deheisheh Camp Israeli forces raided several other houses, conducted invasive searches and tampered with personal contents. Families were forced into the narrow streets of the refugee camp where they waited for hours. The Israeli military also tore through nearby Al Doha and Al Khader villages, arresting three teenagers. more.. e-mail
Shin Bet: Separation fence fueling attacks by East Jerusalem Arabs
Reuters, Ha’aretz 9/25/2008
The West Bank separation barrier is fueling attacks by East Jerusalem Arabs who feel isolated from fellow Palestinians and are increasingly likely to lash out independently, the Shin Bet security service said on Wednesday, two days after an East Jerusalem resident plowed his car into a crowd in Jerusalem, wounding 17. The findings by the Shin Bet, which has usually championed tough tactics against a Palestinian uprising that erupted in 2000, appeared to dovetail with Palestinian arguments that a peaceful resolution of Jerusalem’s status is key to addressing the causes of political violence in the city. Citing a need to keep out suicide bombers, Israel has been erecting a network offences and barricades in the West Bank which loop around Jerusalem. Palestinians see it as a de facto border designed to cut their political ties to East Jerusalem. more.. e-mail
IDF: 4 Palestinians arrested after trying to run over soldier
Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 9/25/2008
The Israel Defense Forces yesterday arrested four Palestinians who allegedly tried to run over a soldier at a roadblock just north of Ramallah. According to soldiers on duty, two vehicles were spotted approaching at high speed, and their drivers ignored signals to slow down. The soldiers responded by closing the roadblock entirely, at which point the driver of one of the vehicles allegedly tried to run over a soldier. The troops managed to stop the car and arrest the driver. Army interrogators later said the incident, which resembled three recent attacks in which Palestinians from East Jerusalem ran over Jewish pedestrians with vehicles, was apparently not premeditated. Last Monday, Qassem al-Mughrabi of East Jerusalem plowed his car into a crowd of pedestrians at a busy intersection in Jerusalem. more.. e-mail
IOF troops round up 16 Palestinians including one after wounding him
Palestinian Information Center 9/24/2008
BETHLEHEM, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces at dawn Wednesday rounded up 16 Palestinians in various West Bank areas including one near Bethlehem who was wounded during the IOF incursion, locals reported. A local source in Doheisha refugee camp south of Bethlehem said that a large IOF unit stormed the camp at dawn and broke into many homes while firing rubber-coated bullets at the civilian homes. He added that Ahmed Al-Ja’bari was wounded in the shooting but was taken in custody despite his injury. The remaining Palestinians were rounded up in Al-Khalil, Bethlehem and Tulkarem districts. Two of those were university students in Bal’a village, Tulkarem district, who were deported from Jordan at the pretext that they were Hamas supporters. Local sources said that the IOF soldiers wreaked havoc in both homes of the students before taking them away. more.. e-mail
Four Palestinians arrested at checkpoint
Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post 9/24/2008
Four Palestinians were arrested Wednesday afternoon after they allegedly tried running through a roadblock near the settlement of Ma’ale Levona north of Ramallah. No one was wounded in the incident. The IDF said that the Palestinians tried driving through an earth barrier near the settlement in three vehicles - two cars and a bulldozer. While initial reports claimed that it was a terror attack, defense officials said it was possible that the incident was criminally-motivated. The soldiers shot in the air and at the bulldozer and captured the assailants who were then transferred into police custody. The incident came two days after on Monday night 19-year-old Kassem Mughrabi from east Jerusalem rammed his BMW into a group of soldiers at a central Jerusalem thoroughfare, wounding fifteen people before being shot dead by an off-duty IDF officer. more.. e-mail
Israeli troops wound a young man in Bethlehem, rampage continues elsewhere
International Middle East Media Center News 9/24/2008
The Israeli occupation troops wounded and arrested two youth from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, as the Israeli army rampage against Palestinians continued elsewhere. Early on Wednesday, Israeli troops broke into the Dehaisha refugee camp to the south of Bethlehem city, wounding and detaining 18-year-old Ahmad Alja’fary. Witnesses said that the soldiers stormed the Aja’afary house under a barrage of fire, causing the injury to Ahmad. Also in Bethlehem, mainly in the Alkhader neighborhood, the Israeli soldiers detained Salem Esa Salah, 22, after breaking into and ransacking his house. In the West Bank city of Tulkarem, Israeli troops arrested five residents including a girl. Palestinian security sources reported that at least 15 military jeeps swept the Bal’a village and detained Emad Wasef Alhaj, 22, and Osama Mohammad Shahrour, 22. more.. e-mail
2 attacks against soldiers thwarted
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 9/24/2008
Palestinian attempts to stab soldier at Hawara checkpoint; troops gain control of terrorist, arrest him. Earlier, four Palestinians driving two cars, a bulldozer, break through IDF roadblock north of Ramallah, try to run over soldiers. Troops open fire, foil attack; suspects apprehended - West Bank terror attack thwarted:A Palestinian arrived Wednesday afternoon at the Hawara checkpoint, south of the city of Nablus, and attempted to stab a soldier. The 16-year-old Palestinian arrived at the checkpoint at around 5 pm, approached a soldier and pulled out a 10-centimeter (4-inch) knife. The soldier cocked his weapon, and the terrorist let go of the knife. The other troops stationed at the checkpoint gained control of the terrorists and took him in for questioning. There were no reports of injuries. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces detain five Palestinians in West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 9/24/2008
Tulkarem – Ma’an – Israeli forces on Wednesday apprehended five Palestinians, including a young woman, in the Dhinnaba neighborhood of Tulkarem and the town of Bal’a east of Tulkarem. Palestinian security sources told Ma’an that a large Israeli force stormed Dhinnaba and ransacked the home of Raghib Tabbal. Forces detained his 23-year-old daughter, Rima and his 19-year-old son, Islam. Israeli soldiers also seized 28-year-old Farouq Abu Sarris. Sources added that Israeli forces raided Bal’a and seized 22-year-old Imad Al-Hajj and 22-year-old Osama Shahrour. Soldiers also ransacked the Al-Ihsan and Al-Khadr mosques in the Dhinnaba. [end]
Israel seizes 16 Palestinians in late-night raids across West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 9/24/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israel seized 16 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank Tuesday night, Israeli press reported Wednesday. Israel forces did not release the names of the detained Wednesday, but sources said the Palestinians were taken for questioning. [end]
6 dunums confiscated in Ramin for checkpoint expansion
Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, Stop The Wall 9/22/2008
On the morning of 21 September, Occupation forces issued a military order requiring the confiscation of 6 dunums of agricultural land from the village of Ramin, southeast of Tulkarm. The confiscated land will be used for the expansion of the Enav military checkpoint. The residents of the village were informed that the military order would result in the in the bulldozing of 11 olive trees. However, villagers have reported that three times as many will be lost, as there are close to 30 olive trees found on the threatened land. This is not the first time village land has been confiscated; during the beginning of the second intifada, Occupation forces annexed 450 dunums of agricultural land for use in the nearby Enav settlement. Farmers were barred from reaching the area and harvesting from isolated trees. Those that tried to enter were exposed to mistreatment and attacks from soldiers, who consider the area a closed zone. more.. e-mail
Palestinian cell charged over killing two Israeli border policemen, Israel says
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 9/25/2008
Israeli online daily, Haaretz, reported on Wednesday that three Palestinians of East Jerusalem were arrested and charged with planning two recent attacks in Jerusalem in which one Israeli border policeman was killed. The police lifted a gag order on the issue on Wednesday. The Israeli prosecution filed its indictment ten days ago to the District Court in Jerusalem. The indictment states that the cell is responsible for the killing of Border Policeman Rami Zuari, in a shooting attack which was carried out in January of this year in Shu’fat refugee camp in east Jerusalem. Another border policeman was wounded in the attack. The arrestees are also accused of carrying another shooting attack in July at the Lion’s Gate at the entrance of the Old City of Jerusalem. Haaretz reported that after these attacks were carried out, the Shin Bet security services and the Jerusalem police launched. . . more.. e-mail
’J’lem cell suspected of killing cops’
Jerusalem Post 9/24/2008
Three Arab residents of east Jerusalem have been charged with the murders of two Border Police officers in separate shootings in the city this year, police announced Wednesday. Coming on the heels of Monday night’s vehicle "terror" attack near Jerusalem’s Old City, the announcement served to highlight the growing phenomenon of Jerusalem Arabs who are linked to terrorism. The three suspects, who were arrested last month, have confessed to the killings and reenacted them, Jerusalem Police chief Cmdr. Aharon Franco said at a police briefing. The three men are suspected of killing officer Rami Zuari on January 24 near the city’s Shuafat refugee camp, and officer David Shriki on July 11, near the Lions Gate. Two other border policemen were wounded in the shooting attacks. more.. e-mail
Historian Ze’ev Sternhell lightly wounded in ’ideological’ attack
Jpost.com Staff, Jerusalem Post 9/25/2008
A small pipe bomb was left outside the home of historian and Israel Prize winner Professor Ze’ev Sternhell, a resident of Jerusalem, Army Radio reported late Wednesday night. Sternhell was lightly wounded and evacuated to Haddasah Ein Karem Hospital in the city. Police speculate that the incident was "ideologically" motivated. The professor, who spent the last few months overseas, had been harassed over the phone. [end]
IDF soldiers foil attempted attack at West Bank roadblock
Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 9/25/2008
Israel Defense Forces troops foiled a terror attack on Wednesday, stopping a convoy of Palestinian vehicles as it attempted to run them over after having burst through a West Bank roadblock. Soldiers positioned near the Palestinian village of Singil, north of Ramallah, fired warning shots into the air after noticing the three vehicles, including a tractor, speeding toward them. The troops, who were IDF reservists, succeeded in detaining four Palestinians who have been handed over to police for interrogation. Troops also confiscated the tractor. No IDF soldiers were wounded in the incident, nor was any property damage caused. The attempted attack came after a Palestinian plowed his car into pedestrians at a busyJerusalem intersection on Monday, wounding more than a dozen soldiers. more.. e-mail
Three E. J’lemites indicted for two terror killings
Jonathan Lis, Ha’aretz 9/25/2008
Three East Jerusalem residents believed to have belonged to a terror cell have been indicted for killing two security forces members in Jerusalem, it emerged yesterday. The three were indicted for the murders 10 days ago, it was revealed after the Jerusalem District Court lifted a gag order on the arrests yesterday. The suspects are Mohammed Khalil Adnan Abu-Sneina, 21, of Beit Hanina; Mohammed Julani, 21, of Shuafat and Louis Abu Najama, 23, also of Shuafat. According to the charge sheet, Julani and Abu-Sneina purchased a gun and planned to abduct a soldier near the Shuafat refugee camp 10 months ago, and on the night of January 24 they approached a roadblock manned by police officers Rami Zuari and Shoshana Samindev. Abu-Sneina pulled out the concealed weapon, shot Zuari in the head from close range and wounded Samindev before fleeing with Zuari’s short-barreled M-16 rifle. more.. e-mail
Shin Bet: Change law to prevent attacks by east J’lem Arabs
Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post 9/25/2008
In face of a growing terror threat originating in east Jerusalem, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) has recommended legislative changes to permit financial sanctions on the families of terrorists as well as the indictment of suspects caught in the early stages of planning attacks. The recommendations were revealed on Wednesday by senior Shin Bet officials. Since the beginning of the year, the agency said, close to 250 east Jerusalem Arabs had been arrested for terror-related offenses, compared to 37 in 2007 and just nine in 2005. The recent incidents includes two bulldozer attacks, which killed three Israelis, and the car that rammed into a group of soldiers late Monday night near the Old City. The Shin Bet said Wednesday that it was in favor of demolishing the homes of terrorists as well as imposing financial sanctions on their families, for example canceling National Insurance Institute benefits. more.. e-mail
VIDEO - Security forces uncover east Jerusalem terror cell
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 9/24/2008
(Video) Shin Bet, police apprehend terror cell suspected of murdering Border Guard officers David Shriki, Rami Zuari, plotting to assassinate Shas minister. Security officials say rise in east Jerusalem terror due to increased Hamas activity - VIDEO - Cleared for publication: The Shin Bet and Israel Police have recently uncovered a terror cell operating out of east Jerusalem. The cell, consisting of seven Arabs, six of them east Jerusalem residnets, carried out two attacks in the past year in which two Border Guard officers were killed and two others were injured, it was cleared for publication on Wednesday. Ten days ago, the Jerusalem District Prosecution filed indictments against the terrorists for murder, attempted murder, illegal possession of firearms and weapons trafficking. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 092408
IMEMC News - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 9/24/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 4m 0s || 3. 66 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org for Wednesday 24, 2008 Israeli troops shot and wounded a Palestinian young man in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, as rampage continued elsewhere. Meanwhile, the Hamas leadership in Gaza reaffirmed commitment to previously-signed national unity deals. These stories and more are coming up,, Stay tuned. The News Cast Early on Wednesday morning in the Al-Khader village on the outskirts of Bethlehem city, Israeli soldiers, ransacked the home of a young Palestinian man and wounded him, as they were randomly shooting. Also in Bethlehem - the soldiers detained another man after searching his home in the Deheisha refugee camp to the south of the city. more.. e-mail
Relatives of tunnels’ victims accuse Egyptian security of executing five citizen
Palestinian Information Center 9/24/2008
GAZA, (PIC)-- Relatives of victims of the tunnels between Egypt and the Gaza Strip have accused the Egyptian security forces of deliberately blasting a tunnel on Tuesday while knowing that Palestinians were inside it. The relatives said in a statement on Wednesday that the explosion, which they said fell in line with the "savage war on the besieged Gaza people", killed five citizens. The statement said that it was ironic that those Egyptian forces started looking for bodies after blasting the tunnel. It noted that the number of tunnels’ victims thus rose to 45 citizens since the start of 2008, and charged that the Egyptian security was obviously doing all what it could to win Israel’s satisfaction. The relatives vowed that they would not remain idle towards such developments and would act on the Arab and international levels to expose those "crimes", describing what happened (the tunnel explosion) as a "stab in the back". more.. e-mail
5 Palestinians killed as Gaza-Egypt tunnel collapses
Associated Press, Jerusalem Post 9/24/2008
The bodies of five Palestinian smugglers have been pulled from a tunnel that collapsed along the Gaza-Egypt border, Gaza security officials said Wednesday. The five were bringing contraband goods from Egypt into Gaza when there was an explosion and the tunnel collapsed, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the information had not been cleared for publication. Two bodies were located shortly after the explosion Tuesday, and the rest were removed early Wednesday. Three smugglers survived and emerged on the Egyptian side, where police arrested them, according to an Egyptian security official. The three told police they were smuggling fuel. Residents of the Gaza border town of Rafah had said Tuesday that the tunnel had been blown up by the Egyptians, who have been cracking down on the thriving underground smuggling trade along the border. more.. e-mail
Four killed, two wounded, in a tunnel explosion at the Gaza-Egypt border
Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 9/24/2008
Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported on Tuesday at night that Palestinian medics recovered the bodies of four residents, who were killed in an explosion that took place on Tuesday evening in a tunnel at the Gaza-Egypt border. At least one was wounded and was moved to a local hospital n Rafah. The sources stated that the bodies of Mustafa Saleh Al Najjar, 19, Omar Fayez Barghout, 21, Ahmad Abdul-Latif Al Najjar, an a fourth unidentified body were located under the rubble, and that one wounded resident was also evacuated from the scene. The explosion took place in a tunnel in Al Brazil area, on the borders with Egypt in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Information Center, run by Hamas, Egyptian security forces detonated the tunnel while five residents were in it. more.. e-mail
VIDEO / Father of Jerusalem attacker: My son’s no terrorist
Haaretz Staff and News Agencies, Ha’aretz 9/24/2008
The family of a Palestinian shot dead after his car plowed into pedestrians at a busy Jerusalem intersection challenged on Tuesday Israeli police allegations that he had carried out a deliberate terror attack. But police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said authorities were convinced the attack was politically motivated. "We’re 100 percent sure. . . he deliberately drove into people," Rosenfeld said. Israeli police on Tuesday beefed up patrols around Jerusalem, hours afterMore than a dozen soldiers, on a late-night excursion to the city ahead of the Jewish New Year next week, were injured in Monday’s incident. No Palestinian group has made a credible claim of responsibility. Police, including undercover agents, were out on Jerusalem’s streets in larger numbers, on the lookout for suspicious activity and conducting spot checks of Palestinian pedestrians and vehicles, Rosenfeld said. more.. e-mail
Jerusalem car crash ’an accident’
Al Jazeera 9/24/2008
The family of a 19-year old Palestinian man shot dead after his car ploughed into pedestrians in West Jerusalem have challenged Israeli police allegations that he had carried out a deliberate attack. More than a dozen soldiers and civilians were injured in the incident late on Monday. Micky Rosenfeld, an Israeli police spokesman, described the incident as a "terror attack" and said the driver was shot and killed. However, the family of Kassem Mughrabi said that the incident was an accident. ’Road accident’ - Mahmoud Mughrabi, Kassem’s father, said his son did not have a driving licence and apparently lost control of the car. "What happened yesterday was a natural road accident. Israel has more 7,000 road accidents a year, not one or two," he said. more.. e-mail
Barak urges fast track for demolition of 'terrorists'’ homes
Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 9/23/2008
Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday commented on the previous night’s "terror" attack in the capital, in which a Palestinian man drove a BMW into a crowd at a busy Jerusalem intersection, calling for an expedited process to legalize the demolition of terrorists’ homes immediately following the attack, to increase the deterrent value. The demolition process is "stuck in a quagmire of cumbersome rules imposed by the legal system, which are not tailored to the emergency situation facing Israel," Barak said. The defense minister added that "we mustn’t delude ourselves - demolition alone will not stop this, we need deeper intelligence activity and operational ability, as well as vigilance. " "We saw another good example yesterday of a soldier that did not hesitate for a moment, and immediately shot the terrorist," Barak. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli troops rampage various West Bank areas
International Middle East Media Center News 9/23/2008
Israeli troops rampaged on Tuesday morning a number of West Bank areas, as Israel continues a grip military control over the region. In the West Bank city of Nablus, witnesses said that an Israeli contingent broke into the city through the southern entrance and that many armored vehicles cordoned off the old city of Nablus. In Bethelahem city, Palestinian security sources reported that an Israeli army force, made up of armored vehicles, stormed the Taqou village, to the east of the city. The sources said that the Israeli soldiers ransacked several houses, rounding up brothers , identified as , Mohammad and Khalil Jebril as well as Khlaed and Mahmoud Abed Sabbah. The Israeli troops also broke into the Dar Sallah village, east of Bethlehem, handing over a warrant to one citizen Raed Ahmad Salah, that he refers to the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of Etsion, where the Israeli intelligence service exists, the sources added. more.. e-mail
A new group warns of blowing up the Rafah terminal if it remains closed
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 9/23/2008
A new Gaza-based group, calling itself the Brigades for Supporting the Oppressed, threatened on Tuesday to blow up the Rafah crossing terminal "if Egypt continues to close it. "In a statement emailed to media outlets the newly-emerged group threatened also to kidnap Egyptian security personnel in order to swap them with Palestinians imprisoned by Egyptian authorities. In addition, the statement urged the ruling Hamas party to unilaterally stop dealing with Egypt as a mediator for a potential Israeli-Palestinian prisoner swap deal and to promise not to take part in the Cairo-mediated national dialogue until Egypt allows stranded patients and students to go exit and enter the Strip freely. Earlier this week, sources close to the ruling Hamas party slammed the Egyptian authorities for what they termed as "Egypt’s improper operation of their side of the crossing terminal," as a lot of people have been denied exit. more.. e-mail
Group threatens to shell Rafah crossing, abduct Egyptian soldiers
Ma’an News Agency 9/23/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – An unnamed group threatenedto shell Rafah crossing on Tuesday if Egyptian authorities continue closing it to Palestinian travelers. A statement was released saying that “the crossing will be our target and we advice Palestinian policemen not to stand against us. ” There was no indication as to what sort of affiliation the group has. The statement threatened the abduction of Egyptian soldiers and intelligence members and noted that “they will not be released unless Palestinian detainees in Egyptian prisons are released. ”The statement accused Egyptian security personnel of harassing women at the Rafah crossing when it was opened on Saturday and Sunday, and threatened them with execution. The de facto government has also called for ending relations with Egypt and not going to Cairo for unity talks until Egypt pledges to open the crossing for patients and students. more.. e-mail
One dead, four wounded as bomb goes off near mosque in Ain al-Hilweh
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 9/24/2008
AIN AL-HILWEH: One man was killed when a bomb exploded in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of the Lebanese port city of Sidon on Tuesday, a Palestinian official told AFP. "One person was killed and four others were wounded," said Munir Maqdah, the camp’s Fatah commander who heads a multi-factional security committee. It was the latest in a spate of outbreaks of violence in Ain al-Hilweh, the most populous of Lebanon’s dozen Palestinian refugee camps with more than 45,000 residents. A witness told AFP that gunfire was heard after the bombing. Dozens of masked gunmen took to the streets and blocked off access to the scene. An official said the bomb was hidden behind a motorcycle that was reduced to mangled metal by the blast. The official said the bomb exploded near the camp’s Al-Noor Mosque, which houses an office belonging to Sheikh Jamal al-Khattab, spokesperson for the Islamic Movements Alliance. more.. e-mail
Five Palestinians trapped after Egypt ’detonates’ Gaza tunnel
Ma’an News Agency 9/23/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – Five Palestinians were trapped under the remains of a collapsed tunnel at the Gaza-Egypt border Tuesday night, witnesses said. Eyewitnesses reported that the "huge explosion" occurred in the Al-Barazil area in the southern Gaza Strip. Civilians in Rafah told Ma’an that five Palestinians were inside when "Egyptian security forces detonated the tunnel. "Their conditions are not yet known. Witnesses also added that Egyptian workers were digging through the rubble Tuesday night in a bid to rescue the five trapped men. Earlier, medical sources at Gaza’s European Hospital reported receiving the corpse of 35-year-old Kamal Al-Imam. He apparently fell from an object near a different tunnel, officials said. more.. e-mail
Five Palestinians killed after Egyptian forces detonate smuggling tunnels
Reuters, Ha’aretz 9/24/2008
At least five Palestinians were killed and four others were wounded on Tuesday when Egyptian forces blew up two smuggling tunnels beneath the Egyptian-Gaza border, medical workers and residents said. Residents said the tunnels, used to bring goods from Egypt into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, collapsed when Egyptian soldiers detonated explosives in an attempt to curb smuggling. Egyptian officials were not immediately available for comment. Many Gazans use tunnels to bypass an Israeli blockade that was tightened after Hamas Islamists seized the coastal strip last year. Israeli officials have said many of the tunnels are also used by militants to smuggle weapons from Egypt into Gaza #newsletterLink a {text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer;} #newsletterLink img {border:0px;} #newsletterLink{width:470; margin-bottom:20px;} . more.. e-mail
Nineteen Israelis, mainly soldiers, wounded in a Palestinian attack in Jerusalem
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 9/23/2008
Israeli sources reported on Monday night that 19 Israelis, most of them soldiers, were wounded when a Palestinian from East Jerusalem plowed his vehicle into a group of soldiers at a busy intersection in the city late on Monday at night. At least two of the wounded are in serious condition and the driver who carried out the attack was shot dead by one of the soldiers. The assailant was driving a BMW with Israeli license plates. The attack was carried out at approximately 11pm. Initial reports reveal that the assailant was in his twenties and that police and sappers arrived at the scene to examine it for explosives. The attacker is from Jabal Al Mokabbir in East Jerusalem, but his name has not yet been released for publication. Medics arrived at the scene and evacuated the wounded to hospitals in Jerusalem. more.. e-mail
Barak calls for demolishing homes of those launching attacks
Palestinian Information Center 9/23/2008
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Israeli war minister Ehud Barak has called for demolishing the home of Qassem Al-Mughrabi who struck with his car a group of Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem last night. Barak, during a meeting with commanders of security apparatuses, said that the measure should be adopted immediately as a deterrent. The minister had issued orders for the demolition of homes of two Palestinians who used tractors to hit a number of cars in the same area a couple of months ago but both decisions were still being discussed in courts. He said that the judiciary should act quickly to allow the security apparatuses to demolish the homes of "saboteurs" immediately after they embark on their attacks. Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces at dawn Tuesday stormed a number of Palestinian cities and villages in the West Bank. more.. e-mail
17 hurt in Jerusalem car attack
Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem, The Guardian 9/23/2008
A Palestinian driver crashed his car into a group of Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem on Monday night, injuring 17 people in what Israeli police described as a "terror attack". The driver was immediately shot dead by an army officer. The incident happened at a crossroads between east and west Jerusalem, close to the walls of the Old City. Two of the injured were seriously hurt, and the rest had light or moderate injuries, police said. The soldiers, from the Artillery Corps, were on a tour of Jerusalem in the run-up to the Jewish new year next week. Micky Rosenfeld, an Israeli police spokesman, said the incident was an attack, not a traffic accident. "We can confirm it was a terror attack," he said. "The man was shot and killed. " The driver’s family were reported as saying yesterday that the man, named as Qassem al-Mughrabi, 19, did not have a driving licence and was agitated after the refusal of a marriage proposal. more.. e-mail
Palestinian driver hits 13 Israeli soldiers
The Independent 9/23/2008
Thirteen Israeli soldiers were hurt, two of them seriously, when a man drove his car into a crowd in a street yesterday. Police said the incident was a "terror attack" and that the Palestinian driver, who lived in east Jerusalem, was shot and killed by an army officer in the group. A rescue worker said the group of pedestrians was about to cross a road near the so-called Green Line separating the Arab and Jewish areas of Jerusalem when a black BMW struck them just before 11pm. Despite the late hour, the streets were busy as people walked back from Jerusalem’s Old City. "A man in a vehicle struck a number of people in [Israel Defence Forces Square]," said a police spokesman. Israeli television showed footage of a soldier on a stretcher, holding his head, as he was wheeled into an ambulance. Israeli radio reported that the officers from the Artillery Corps were on a tour of the city ahead of the Jewish new year holiday next week. more.. e-mail
Driver’s father rejects terror claim: ’Just a fatal accident’
Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 9/24/2008
Again, that same story. A young man from an East Jerusalem neighborhood, who never belonged to a terror organization, plows into Israelis with a vehicle. The previous two times it was a bulldozer, on Monday it was a BMW car. The "terrorist-drivers" lived in three adjacent villages: Sur Baher, Umm Tuba, and now, Jabal Mukkaber, the home of Qassem al-Mughrabi, 19. This time, too, the family claims it was just a fatal car accident. Qassem’s father, Mahmoud, yesterday sat in his yard, which overlooks the separation barrier. He was surrounded by about 15 men, who appeared to be shocked by the events of the day before. Someone had put up a loudspeaker that broadcast prayers, which increased the sense of drama. "Right before the accident I spoke to Qassem by phone. He promised me he was on his way home," his father said. more.. e-mail
Police maintain: Jerusalem car attack was an intentional act of terrorism
Tomer Zarchin Jonathan Lis and Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 9/24/2008
Qassem al-Mughrabi, who plowed his car into a crowd of pedestrians at a busy intersection in Jerusalem on Monday night, carried out the attack shortly after his cousin turned down his hand in marriage, police yesterday learned. Investigators believe Mughrabi deliberately tried to harm the Jewish pedestrians and that his motivation was nationalistic, though they admit that so far, no evidence linking him to any terrorist organization has been found. "The terrorist was rejected by his cousin to whom he was supposed to become engaged and took the family car while he was in a rage," Jerusalem District Police chief Aharon Franco said. "He later carried out the attack. "Nine of the 19 people wounded in the attack are still in hospital, including one woman who is in serious to moderate condition. Mughrabi had no prior criminal record, although he had been suspected of fraud. more.. e-mail
’I did what any soldier would do’
Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 9/24/2008
"I did what any officer or soldier should have done under those circumstances," said Lt. Elad Amar, the artillery officer who killed the "terrorist" in Jerusalem on Monday. Amar, 23, a graduate of the Bnei Akiva yeshiva in Kiryat Shmuel, said he belonged to a group of some 80 soldiers who were touring the Old City walls Monday night before attending Selihot services, the penitential prayers recited before the High Holy Days. "When we reached the traffic island near Tzahal Square, I saw a black BMW driving toward King Solomon St. ," he recounted. "The driver accelerated, pressing down as hard as possible on the gas pedal. I was a short distance away from the group of soldiers standing on the traffic island, so I jumped aside. But the other soldiers didn’t manage to do so, and they were run over. I saw them go flying. more.. e-mail
Olmert: Jerusalem attacks unpreventable
Roni Sofer, YNetNews 9/23/2008
Outgoing prime minister hints at division of capital as only strategy that may halt current onslaught of terror attacks. ’Tell Arabs: You live in your neighborhoods, stay out of ours,’ he offers -Following a fourth terror attack carried out in Jerusalem by a resident of the eastern part of the capital, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday that it was becoming increasingly difficult to prevent these attacks from taking place. "Whoever talks in grandiose and bombastic slogans about Jerusalem should remember that there is no simple way to avoid this phenomenon, unless we tell the Arabs in the Arab neighborhoods: You live in your neighborhoods and stay out of ours," the resigning prime minister said, hinting at the possibility of dividing the city. Olmert, on an official visit to Kiryat Shmona, also spoke about the strategy of razing terrorists’ homes. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 092308
IMEMC News - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 9/23/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 5 m 0s || 4. 58 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org for Tuesday September 23, 2008. Israeli military forces rampaged today through a number of West Bank areas, rounding up some Palestinians including one physician. In Gaza, campaigners against the Israeli blockade of Gaza announced that the third Free Gaza boat will be arriving very soon. These stories and more are coming up, stay tuned. The News Cast One Palestinian suffered facial injuries as Israeli troops fired gas bombs and concussion grenades as a delegation from the European Union was visiting the village of Ni’lin Tuesday at noon. According to a press release by the Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign sent to IMEMC Ahed Al-Khawaja sustained serious injuries as one of the grenades. . . more.. e-mail
Palestinian driver killed after hitting 19 on edge of Old City
PNN, Palestine News Network 9/23/2008
Jerusalem - Ultra-Orthodox Jews chased Palestinians through the streets of East Jerusalem on Monday night, beating several. The random attacks began just after 11:00 pm when a black BMW hit a crowd of Israeli soldiers on the edge of the Old City, injuring 19. A soldier shot and killed the driver of the car registered to a resident of East Jerusalem’s Jabal Mukabar Village. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak referred to the driver of the car as a "terrorist" and called for the demolition of his family home. Initial reports indicated that this was a traffic accident. Two of the injured Israelis are reported in serious condition while four were moderately injured. Thirteen were lightly injured. The Israeli press is making note that this is the third time a Palestinian vehicle has hit Israelis in Jerusalem during the summer, referring to the two bulldozer incidents of July. more.. e-mail
Three Palestinian residents wounded by Israeli army fire at a Nablus checkpoint
International Middle East Media Center News 9/22/2008
Three Palestinian residents including a woman were reportedly shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers on Monday at the Israeli checkpoint of Huwwara on Nablus land, Palestinian sources reported. Sources said that the Israeli shooting came right after an Israeli soldier was exposed to chemical substances thrown by a young Palestinian woman at the checkpoint. Medical sources reported that the Israeli army shot and wounded a lady in her right leg and that one of the wounded youths sustained a bullet to his kidney; the other was shot in his left leg. All wounded were evacuated to the local hospital of Rafedia, medics confirmed. Witnesses told media outlets that Israeli soldiers closed the Huwwara checkpoint following the incident and that people were denied entry in and out of Nablus. The assailant girl, in her twenties and wearing a long dress and a head-covering, was detained by the Israeli army. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces open fire in both directions at Huwara Checkpoint, arrest girl throwing acid
Amin Abu Wardeh, Palestine News Network 9/22/2008
Nablus -- Eyewitnesses report that Israeli soldiers at southern Nablus’ Huwara Checkpoint opened random fire on awaiting Palestinians Monday morning. Hundreds of people were attempting to pass the barrier between Nablus City and surrounding villages in the northern West Bank. Palestinian medical and security sources confirmed that Israeli soldiers opened fire on both sides of the checkpoint after a young woman attempted to throw acid in the face of one of the soldiers. Eyewitnesses said the soldiers caught the 25 year old woman and arrested her while other soldiers began shooting wounding at least three people including a nurse, Ayed Hussein. The woman and a man were both shot in the leg and another man was shot in the back. All are being treated at Nablus’ Rafidiya Hospital. According to witnesses soldiers closed the checkpoint and began searching the area, taking some people waiting in the queue for questioning. more.. e-mail
Palestinian woman pours acid on soldier
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 9/22/2008
IDF soldier manning Nablus checkpoint loses sight after Palestinian woman hurls acidic substance into his eyes. Army slams ’cynical use’ of humanitarian aid at crossings - An IDF soldier has lost sight in one of his eyes after a Palestinian woman attacked him with acid at the Hawara checkpoint on Monday afternoon. The checkpoint is located south of the West Bank city of Nablus. Troops managed to apprehend the woman, who is believed to have carried out a similar attack several weeks ago at the same crossing. She was arrested and taken for questioning. The soldier was evacuated to the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva for treatment. In the previous incident, the woman arrived at the Hawara checkpoint and attempted to cross through the humanitarian aid lane, which is meant for medical emergencies and therefore has limited security. more.. e-mail
Soldier attacked with acid may lose eye
Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post 9/22/2008
An IDF soldier may lose sight in one eye after a Palestinian woman threw acid in his face on Monday as she tried crossing the Hawara checkpoint outside Nablus. The soldier was hospitalized with light-to-moderate wounds and doctors said there was a chance that he would lose the sight in one of his eyes. The woman, identified as a 19-year-old resident of Nablus, was behind a similar attack earlier in the month when she threw acid in the face of an officer at the checkpoint but succeeded in fleeing back into Nablus. On Monday she was captured and taken into police custody. Lt. Avihai Weitzman, commander of the soldier’s platoon, said that the wounded soldier was scheduled to undergo surgery on his eye on Tuesday. He said that the IDF would probe the incident and possibly change its deployment at the checkpoint. more.. e-mail
IDF soldier blinded in one eye after Palestinian woman throws acid in his face
Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 9/23/2008
A soldier was lightly to moderately wounded on Monday, when a Palestinian woman threw acid in his face at the Hawara checkpoint near Nablus. The terrorist was arrested by security forces, and the soldier was rushed into surgery because doctors fear he may have lost vision in one eye as a result of the attack. IDF troops in the area have been on high alert since last week’s infiltration of Yitzhar by a Palestinian militant, an incident which sparked a settler rampage in the nearby Palestinian village of Assira al-Kubliyeh. During the infiltration last Saturday, a 9-year-old boy was lightly wounded when he was stabbed in the hand. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared after the incident last week that Israel’s government will not allow settlers to carry out "pogroms against non-Jews in the State of Israel. more.. e-mail
Injuries in Jerusalem car attack
Al Jazeera 9/23/2008
About 15 people have been hurt at a busy Jerusalem intersection after a driver steered his car into a group of pedestrians, Israeli rescue services said. Describing the incident as a "terrorist attack", police said the driver was shot and killed after the incident late on Monday. Israel Radio reported that two of the wounded were in serious condition. The injured reportedly included Israeli soldiers. The intersection is near the invisible line between the Jewish and Arab sections of Jerusalem, near the Old City. "A man in a vehicle struck a number of people in Kikar Tzahal," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. "We can confirm it was a terror attack. The man was shot and killed. " The incident took place just before 11pm (2000 GMT). Vehicles as weapons - Jacky Rowland, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Jerusalem, said: "The incident took place in West Jerusalem, near Jaffa street, not so far from the Old City, and close to the scene of recent attacks involving tractors. more.. e-mail
'Terror' attack in Jerusalem, 17 wounded
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 9/23/2008
At least 17 reported wounded as "terrorist" runs private car into pedestrian crowd at busy intersection in central Jerusalem. Paramedics say two in serious condition. "Terrorist" reportedly shot dead by IDF officer - A "terrorist" driving a black BMW ran his car into a crowd of pedestrians at a busy intersection in central Jerusalem near the Old City on Monday evening. At least 17 people were confirmed wounded at Zahal Square, most in light-to-moderate condition. Magen David Adom paramedics evacuated those wounded to the Hadassah Ein Karem and Shaare Zedek hospitals for treatment. Most of those wounded are reportedly soldiers belonging to the Artillery Corps who were on a ’Selichot Tour’ in Jerusalem. Selichot are Jewish penitential prayers said during the High Holidays. The terrorist, a Palestinian from east Jerusalem, was shot dead by an IDF officer holding the rank of lieutenant who was with the soldiers. more.. e-mail
'Terrorist' in car rams 19 in J’lem
Jonathan Lis, Ha’aretz 9/23/2008
Nineteen people, most of them Israel Defense Forces soldiers, were wounded in a "terrorist" attack in downtown Jerusalem last night, when a Palestinian driving a black BMW drove up on the sidewalk and ran over a group of soldiers. The attack took place at Tzahal (IDF) Square, at the corner of Shivtei Yisrael St. Two of the victims were seriously injured. The driver was killed by an officer of the stricken platoon. He realized it was a "terror" attack and shot the attacker after the car had stopped. A previously unknown group claimed responsibility for the attack, which was perpetrated by an Arab resident of East Jerusalem. After the driver was killed, police sappers and rescue workers checked to make sure the car was not booby-trapped and that it contained no weapons or explosives. "A man in a vehicle struck a number of people in Tzahal Square," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. more.. e-mail
19 injured after Palestinian from East Jerusalem crashes car into crowd of soldiers
Ma’an News Agency 9/23/2008
Jerusalem - Ma’an - Palestinian Qasam Salah Al-Mughrabi was the driver of a black compact that drove into a group of Israeli soldiers visiting Jerusalem. The 19-year-old from the Al-Faruq area on Mount Scopus was shot and killed by an Israeli lieutenant on the scene, according to local sources. Israeli medical sources say 19 Israelis were injured, ten of which are in serious condition, nine sustained moderate wounds, and at least eight of the injured are Israeli soldiers. Al-Mughrabi’s car veered off the road and hit the group near the Jaffa Gate to the Old City of Jerusalem on Sunday night. A phone call to Ma’an a group calling themselves Nisour Al-Jalil claimed responsibility for the incident. The incident follows two similar attacks where bulldozers from Jerusalem construction sites were driven into traffic this summer, causing tens of injuries and two deaths. more.. e-mail
19 hurt as 'terrorist' plows car into Jerusalem crowd
Jonathan Lis and Amos Harel , and The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 9/23/2008
At least 19 people were wounded at around 11 P. M. Monday night when a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem drove his car into a crowd of Israel Defense Forces soldiers at a busy intersection in the capital. Two of wounded were in serious condition, four were moderately hurt and the rest were lightly wounded, the Magen David Adom rescue service said. Most of the wounded were IDF troops on their way to the Western Wall to mark the upcoming Jewish New Year when the attack at the Tzahal intersection, close to the Old City, took place. Jerusalem Police Commander Ilan Franco said the driver of the black BMW was shot and killed by an IDF officer who was among the crowd targeted in the attack. Franco said the driver was apparently acting alone. "A man in a vehicle struck a number of people in Tzahal Square," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. more.. e-mail
IOA to open big synagogue near Aqsa Mosque
Palestinian Information Center 9/22/2008
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage revealed Sunday that the IOA will open soon a large synagogue 50 meters away from the Aqsa Mosque built on Islamically-endowed (Waqf) land in the Hammam Al-Ein area and near the Buraq wall. The foundation said the IOA and Zionist institutions such as the Itoret Kuhanim organization intends to open the synagogue in the area soon, where the final building works are continuing throughout day and night hours. According to the foundation, there will be two main gates for this synagogue, one is located at entrances leading to Jerusalimite houses belonging to the families of Al-Zarba and Awadallah at the expense of Islamically-endowed land and the other is a rear door located within the borders of Awadallah houses. The Israeli police also threatened the Jerusalemite families with arrest and detention if they interfered in the building works going on in their real estate. more.. e-mail
Salah reveals Zionist scheme to terminate Palestinian presence in Jerusalem
Palestinian Information Center 9/21/2008
UM AL-FAHAM, (PIC)-- Sheikh Ra’ed Salah, the leader of the Islamic Movement in the 1948 areas, has revealed a Zionist scheme aimed at terminating Palestinian presence in occupied eastern Jerusalem by the year 2020. Sheikh Salah in an interview with Quds Press said that another Zionist scheme targets terminating Palestinian presence in all of Jerusalem by the year 2050, pointing to the Israeli occupation authority’s measures such as confiscating IDs, expulsion of Jerusalemites, demolition of houses and confiscation of lands. He explained that all those measures fall in this direction. He spoke about he IOA’s effort to judaize Jerusalem through seizing its real-estate and institutions, and added that the IOA ethnic cleansing was taking a new shape. The Islamic leader further charged that the IOA was planning the gradual demolition of the holy Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem to realize their dream of building their alleged temple on its ruins. more.. e-mail
15 wounded in 'terror' attack at busy Jerusalem intersection
Etgar Lefkovits, Shelly Paz And Jpost.com Staff, Jerusalem Post 9/22/2008
An Arab resident of east Jerusalem rammed his vehicle into a group of soldiers at a central Jerusalem thoroughfare late Monday night, wounding fifteen people, before being shot dead by an off-duty IDF officer, police and rescue officials said. It was the third such attack in the city in as many months. The attack took place at the city’s Kikar Tzahal near Jaffa Gate. Two of the casualties were in moderate condition, the rest were lightly hurt. The assailant, who was driving a BMW, crashed into a group of off-duty soldiers on the sidewalk, where his car came to a grinding halt. Jerusalem police chief Aharon Franco said that the attacker was shot dead "within seconds" by an off-duty IDF officer who was touring the city with his unit. He added that there was no intelligence information ahead of the attack, but noted that Jerusalem was under heavy security alert due to Ramadan. more.. e-mail
Police: Dead teen carried out Yitzhar stabbing
Jonathan Lis, Ha’aretz 9/23/2008
The 14-year-old Palestinian who was killed on Saturday in an attempt to attack the settlement of Yitzhar was the same terrorist who had infiltrated the settlement the week before and stabbed a child, police said yesterday. Following an investigation and a forensic examination, the Judea and Samaria District police determined that the Palestinian, who was shot and killed by a Border Police force while attempting to throw a Molotov cocktail at the settlement, had stabbed the 9-year-old boy and set fire to a house in Shalhevet, an outlying neighborhood of Yitzhar. The Associated Press reported that according to Palestinian sources the 14-year-old was Suheib Salah of Asira al-Kabaliya, a village close to Yitzhar. The IDF said the terrorist had approached the southern part of Yitzhar in a car, and upon exiting the vehicle, had planned to light and throw the Molotov cocktail. more.. e-mail
Police: Palestinian teen killed in Yitzhar Saturday had infiltrated before
Jonathan Lis, Ha’aretz 9/23/2008
Samaria and Judea District Police on Monday announced that the Palestinian teen killed while trying to perpetrate an attack in Yitzhar on Saturday had infiltrated the settlement one week before. Police made the discovery using forensic evidence while conducting their investigation. In the previous incident, the Palestinian youth stabbed a 9-year-old boy and set fire to one of the homes in the West Bank settlement. In the wake of that attack, Yitzhar settlers went on a rampage in the nearby Palestinian village of Assira al-Kabaliya, burning olive groves and injuring at least eight Palestinians. Border Policemen thwarted the second attack on Saturday, after seeing the youth get out of a car and advance toward Yitzhar by foot, intending to throw a Molotov cocktail at the settlement. more.. e-mail
Israeli troops detain three brothers in Ni’lin
George Rishmawi & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 9/22/2008
Three brothers from the Ni’lin were taken prisoner early this morning when Israeli forces invaded the village at 1am. Sufiyan, 19, Sadam, 21 and Nafar Nafar, 31 were kidnapped from their homes before Israeli forces left the village at 3am and were taken to an undisclosed location. Eyewitnesses reported that over 70 soldiers and border police entered the village on foot from the surrounding hills, backed by at least 6 military vehicles. Soldiers fired a number gas bombs and concussion grenades in the village causing panic, especially among children. International solidarity activists in the area were out in the village attempting to reach the home of a member of the village’s Popular Committee because they have been repeatedly targeted by the Israeli army and police, who attempt to kidnap them. According to an International Solidarity Movement report, Israeli soldiers declared the area a closed military zone. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces detain two near Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 9/22/2008
Tulkarem – Ma’an – Israeli forces took two Palestinians the northern West bank village of Far’un into custody take into custody, after they were summoned to Israeli District Coordinating Offices on Monday morning. Yazan Zandiq and his cousin Walid Zandiq were identified as those detained, according to Ma’an’s correspondent. [end]
Palestine Today 092208
IMEMC News - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 9/22/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 3 m 30s || 3. 20 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org for Monday September 22, 2008. Three Palestinians civilians including a young woman were wounded by the Israeli soldiers’ fire at an Israeli military checkpoint. Efforts are underway at the internal and political levels. These stories and more are coming up, please stay tuned. Israeli soldiers, manning the Huwwara checkpoint at the entrance of the West Bank city of Nablus, wounded three Palestinian residents, while lining up at the checkpoint, on Monday morning. It is believed that the shooting came in retaliation to a Palestinian woman attack with acid at an Israeli soldier at the same checkpoint. Israeli media sources said the soldier may be blinded in one eye. more.. e-mail
A window on the massacre
Nadav Shragai, Ha’aretz 9/23/2008
For Arnon and the Jewish comtmunity of Hebron, this is additional documentation of the horror that forms part of the right to restore the city’s Jewish community. - Twenty years ago, a Jew around the age of 70 entered the home of Gershon Gera, a researcher of the Land of Israel and its photos, and placed a package of pictures wrapped in old brown paper on the table. "You’ll know what to do with these," said the man, who refused to identify himself or explain where the photos came from. He rushed out of the house. When Gera opened the package, he was shocked. Insidewere 111 photos of corpses, victims of the 1929 massacre in Hebron, a short time after their murder, as well as photos of the injured. On the back of each photo was the name of the victim, age and where he or she was hospitalized (if that was the case), alongside other details. Gera set this material aside. As a serious researcher, his wife Shulamit explained a few days ago, he was unable to publish material whose origin was unknown. more.. e-mail
Mastermind of Rehavam Ze’evi murder sentenced to life
Ofra Edelman, Ha’aretz 9/22/2008
The Jerusalem District Court on Monday sentenced Majdi Rimawi, the mastermind behind the assassination of former Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze’evi, to life in prison, plus an additional 80 years. Rimawi, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was found responsible for planning Ze’evi’s murder and recruiting the operatives who carried out the 2001 attack. The charges against him included murder, membership in a terrorist organization, weapons charges and involvement in various terror attacks in Israel in 2001, which injured at least 18 people. The court ruled that "the accused in front of us initiated and planned a long line of attacks, placed explosive devices and car bombs in various locations in Israel during 2001 with the clear intent to kill people and cause damage. more.. e-mail
Ze’evi murder mastermind gets 105 years in prison
Aviad Glickman, YNetNews 9/22/2008
Jerusalem District Court sentences Majdi Rahima Rimawi, believed to be handler of gunmen who shot tourism minister in 2001, to consecutive life imprisonment, additional 80 years in jail -The Jerusalem District Court on Monday sentenced Majdi Rahima Rimawi to life imprisonment and an additional 80 years, to be served consecutively, for his part in the 2001 assassination of Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze’evi at the Jerusalem Hyatt Hotel. Rahima, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), is believed to be the mastermind behind the assassination, and the two gunmen, Basel al-Asmar and Hamdi Quran’s, direct handler; supplying them with a photo of Ze’evi, a fake Israeli ID and details about the layout of the hotel. Palmach Ze’evi:’Arabs look at Israel as weak’ / Roi Mandel Assassin of Minister Rehavam Zeevi sentenced to 125 years imprisonment. more.. e-mail
Israel sentences assassin of an Israeli minister
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 9/22/2008
The Israeli Central Court sentenced on Monday Majdy Alrimawi, who has been convicted with assassinating Israeli tourism minister Ra’b’aam Zeaivi in the occupied east Jerusalem in 2001. Alrimawi, member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was sentenced to life-imprisonment plus 80 years, Palestinian media sources reported. According to Ramattan News Agency, Alrimawi and his lawyer defied the Israeli court’s ruling by saying that the assassination took place in east Jerusalem, which is an occupied Palestinian territory, so the ruling was invalid. Israel detained Alrimawi and four of his comrades including PFLP’s leader hmad Sa’adaat in March 2006, when Israeli troops cordoned off the Palestinian Authority prison of Jericho. more.. e-mail
ISRAEL-OPT: Sderot enjoying calm as ceasefire holds
Tamar Dressler/IRIN, IRIN - UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 9/22/2008
SDEROT, 22 September 2008 (IRIN) - Sderot is enjoying a period of relative calm thanks to a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas reached in June but residents are worried that fighting will resume. While there are still sporadic rocket and mortar attacks on the town, just 800m from the northern border of the Gaza Strip, residents say the calm "makes a difference of night and day". Only one rocket has landed on the city since the school year began this month. Last year, the conflict prevented many children from going to school. "I am really enjoying the calm," said Ruti, who runs a cafe in the town of 20,000 people. "Not having to run for shelter, it’s very good," she added. Before the lull, residents would regularly hear the "red alert", letting them know a rocket had been launched from Gaza. The rockets have killed 12 people over the last seven years and residents. . . more.. e-mail
14-year-old boy killed near Nablus by Israeli gunfire
IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center News 9/20/2008
Israeli security guards killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy on Saturday morning near the Israeli settlement of Yitzhar as he came near the settlement, Palestine News Network (PNN) reported. The boy later was identified as Suheib Saleh from the village of Asseera Al-Qibliyeh, near the West Bank city of Nablus. Eyewitnesses said the boy died immediately as he received a fatal bullet. Suheib’s brother was killed in the same place in 2002. The sources said that the boy was only 100 meters away from his home, but the settlement was built on land that belongs to the villagers, so it is adjacent to the villagers houses. Israeli sources claimed that the boy was in procession of a Molotov cocktail and a knife and he kept walking ignoring orders by the soldiers to stop, which had them to open fire on him and kill him. This claim was strongly rejected by the head of the village council Hosni Sharif. more.. e-mail
IOA confiscates Palestinian lands in Jordan Valley
Palestinian Information Center 9/20/2008
RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority has confiscated dozens of dunums of Palestinian lands in the village of Bardala, Tobas district, for settlement purposes. Locals in the village said that Israeli occupation forces stormed agricultural lands and handed farmers notifications of the decision to seize their fields. They added that the decision stipulated the confiscation of 140 dunums of the lands located in the northern Jordan Valley in the Tobas district. The targeted area is near to the 1948 occupied lands, the farmers noted, adding that the decision aims at forcing the migration of the Jordan Valley inhabitants out of their lands. The IOA has already confiscated vast areas in the Jordan Valley this year for settlement purposes. more.. e-mail
Israeli soldiers kill boy in southern Nablus
Amin Abu Wardeh, Palestine News Network 9/20/2008
Nablus -- Israeli soldiers guarding Yitzhar Settlement killed a Palestinian boy in southern Nablus Saturday morning. Settlers from Yitzhar have escalated attacks against residents and their property for over a week, including an assault on Asira Village and burning olive groves. The guards say the youth, later identified as 14 year old Yasser Saleh from Asira Village , intended to attack the settlement. The head of the Asira Village Council, Hosni Sharif, told PNN that the Israeli claim is untrue. "The boy was 100 meters from his home. "The Israeli settlement was built on southern Nablus land leading all residents to be "near the settlement. "Sharif continued to tell PNN Saturday, "The boy was not armed at all. The killing comes in a series of deliberate attacks on our houses and people. " Eyewitnesses report that soldiers opened fire causing him immediate death. more.. e-mail
IDF, Border Guard thwart attack near Yitzhar
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 9/20/2008
Troops open fire at Palestinian spotted advancing towards West Bank settlement with Molotov cocktail, find knife concealed on his person. Police investigating possible connection to stabbing of nine-year-old boy last week - IDF and Border Guard police forces thwarted a terror attack near the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar on Saturday morning. Soldiers manning an observation post spotted a Palestinian advancing towards the settlement, located south of Nablus, at around 6:00 am. Border Police and Golani Brigade infantry troops stationed in the area tracked the man down, opening fire at him after he lit the Molotov cocktail he had been carrying. A subsequent search of his body revealed a knife and other tools concealed on his person, which defense officials say were meant to aid him in breaking into the settlement. more.. e-mail
Youth with firebomb killed near Yitzhar
Yaakov Katz And Tovah Lazaroff, Jerusalem Post 9/20/2008
Exactly one week after a terror attack in Yitzhar sparked a settler rampage through a nearby Palestinian village, border policemen thwarted an infiltration into the settlement Saturday when they shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian carrying a firebomb. Policemen manning an IDF observation post spotted the youth approaching the settlement armed with a Molotov cocktail at around 6 a. m. Troops opened fire after the Palestinian youth lit the device, the IDF said. A knife was discovered on his body. Security officials said it appeared that he planned to enter Yitzhar - which is not surrounded by a fence - to perpetrate an attack. RELATEDRise in settler violence feared The youth was identified as Suhayeb Saleh, from the village of Assira al-Kubliyeh near Yitzhar. more.. e-mail
IOF troops kill Palestinian near settlement
Palestinian Information Center 9/20/2008
RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces on Saturday shot down a Palestinian youth near the Yitzhar settlement at the pretext he was planning to toss a Molotov cocktail at the settlement. Eyewitnesses said that soldiers guarding the settlement fired at the young man, whose identity was not known yet, at an early morning hour when he approached the settlement. The IOF command, for its part, claimed that soldiers guarding the settlement detected the youth with a firebomb in his hand, and added that he was preparing to throw the bomb when the soldiers fired and killed him. It claimed that a knife was found on his body, "which he intended to use inside the settlement". Israeli police said that its forensic experts were investigating whether he was the same youth who started fire in. . . more.. e-mail
IDF releases 'video' of thwarted Yitzhar attack
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 9/20/2008
(Note: Video not functioning on this page at time of posting) Army video shows Palestinian hurling Molotov cocktail near Yitzhar before being killed - The IDF released Saturday evening a video of the thwarted terror attack near the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar earlier in the day. The video show a Palestinian approaching the community and at one point lighting up the Molotov cocktail he was holding. Seconds later, the Palestinian hurled the Molotov cocktail, which apparently exploded not too far from him. Video: IDF Spokesman’s Office The video was shot using a thermal camera and does not feature the actual killing of the Palestinian youth who threw it. Saturday morning, soldiers manning an observation post in the area spotted a Palestinian advancing towards the settlement, located south of Nablus, at around 6 am. Border Guard forces and Golani Brigade infantry troops stationed in the area subsequently killed him. more.. e-mail
'VIDEO' / IDF thwarts terror attack near Yitzhar settlement
Yuval Azoulay, and The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 9/21/2008
[Note: No video found on this page at time of posting] Israel Defense Forces and Border Police troops on Saturday killed a Palestinian teenager trying to infiltrate the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar while carrying a Molotov cocktail and a knife. He was later identified by his parents, who said he was 14. The Palestinian approached the area by car. He then got out of the car and advanced toward Yitzhar by foot, intending to throw a Molotov cocktail at the West Bank settlement. Soldiers manning an IDF observation post saw him in action and directed ground troops to the area. When the Palestinian noticed the Israeli forces he lit the Molotov cocktail and aimed it at them. In response, the soldiers shot and killed him. A subsequent search of his body revealed a knife. The boy, Suhayeb Saleh, was from the village of Assira al-Kubliyeh, near Yitzhar. His parents identified his body at a nearby hospital. An IDF spokesman said it did not know how far the boy was from the soldiers or the settlement. more.. e-mail
Israeli troops shoot boy
Associated Press, The Observer, The Guardian 9/21/2008
Israeli soldiers in Nablus on the West Bank shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy who was holding a firebomb with a lit fuse about 30 metres from them. The boy, identified as Suhayeb Saleh, was close to the Jewish settlement of Yitzhar when he was shot dead, the military said. The boy was from the village of Assira al-Kubliyeh, near Yitzhar, said his parents. They said that his older brother was killed by Israeli troops in 2002, after he opened fire on an army patrol. [end]
Jewish terrorists rampage through Arab village
Palestinian Information Center 9/14/2008
From Khalid Amayreh in the West BankIsraeli occupation troops and paramilitary Jewish settlers on Saturday rampaged through several Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, killing at least one Palestinian civilian and injuring several others, including three people suffering critical gunshot wounds. The most serious incident took place at the village of Asira al Qibliyeh, south of Nablus, when heavily armed Jewish settler terrorists rampaged through the village, shooting indiscriminately on Palestinians and vandalizing their homes and property. According to the head of the local village council, dozens of armed settlers took part in the rampage which lasted for several hours. Hosni Sharaf said the settlers carried out their aggression in broad daylight as Israeli soldiers were watching passively. more.. e-mail
Outpost evacuated, settlers riot on Palestinian land
Nadav Shragai Yuval Azoulay and Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 9/19/2008
Settlers vandalized Palestinian property in several locations yesterday after the Israel Defense Forces evacuated the outpost of Yad Yair in the northern West Bank. The evacuation itself was not violent, but incidences of settler violence elsewhere in the West Bank were apparently a response to the evacuation. "If the police haven’t yet gotten it, then they will - there’s a price to be paid for hitting settlements and outposts," a settler activist told Haaretz. In one incident, a field north of Yitzhar was set ablaze. Two Yitzhar residents were detained for questioning. Palestinians charged that settlers also set fire to olive groves in the villages of Madameh, Burin and Asira al-Kabaliya, south of Nablus. In addition, they said, stones were thrown at Palestinian cars in the area between Ramallah and Nablus. more.. e-mail
Israeli settler and soldier attacks on Nablus: I awoke to the sound of heavy gunfire
Amin Abu Wardeh, Palestine News Network 9/19/2008
Nablus -- Israeli settlers and settlements exist in contravention to international law, yet they remain and expand in the West Bank. As the Israeli government attempted to evacuate a small Ramallah area settlement, attacks rose. Palestinians were the prime target, but even an Israeli military checkpoint, used to restrict Palestinian freedom of movement and not affecting settlers in the slightest, was the target of a stoning by Israeli settlers. The crimes of settlers against Palestinians and their property are normally carried out in full view of the Israeli military, with soldiers actively participating at times. During the past week attacks were on the rise. On Saturday morning dozens of settlers from the Yitzhar Settlement hit the southern Nablus town of Asira. Soldiers occupying the West Bank accompanied the settlers in order to protect them as they attacked the Palestinian town. more.. e-mail
Settlers burn Palestinian olive groves, crops in several West Bank areas
Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 9/19/2008
According to Israeli sources, a number of incidents of violence by Israeli settlers took place in different parts of the West Bank on Wednesday after the removal of some settlers from the outpost of Yad Yair. Israeli settlers, living illegally on stolen Palestinian land in the West Bank, burned a number of olive groves belonging to Palestinian families in the villages of Madameh, Burin and Asira al-Kabaliya. In addition, settlers burned a field of crops near the Israeli settlement of Yitzhar, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus. According to Palestinian sources, the Israeli military prevented fire trucks from arriving in a timely manner - but the Israeli military retorted that it was the Civil Administration of the Palestinian Authority that was to blame for the delayOne Israeli settler told the Israeli daily newspaper Ha’aretz, " If the police haven’t yet. . . more.. e-mail
OPT: Protection of civilians weekly report 10 - 16 Sep 2008
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - OCHA, ReliefWeb 9/16/2008
Military activities affecting civilians: A 16- year-old boy killed while throwing stones This week, the IDF killed two Palestinians (including a 16-year-old child) and injured 20 others (including four children) during military operations in the West Bank. The killing of the child and the injury of one male occurred when the IDF opened fire at Palestinian stone throwers in Tuqu’ village (Bethlehem); this took place in the aftermath of multiple search operations throughout Bethlehem governorate, during which the IDF raided the house of the headmaster of Tuqu’ Boys School and reportedly threatened that the school would be demolished if students do not stop throwing stones at the IDF from the school. In another raid on Ni’lin village (Ramallah), the IDF injured two children and four adults, conducted a search operation and arrested four children and five adults. more.. e-mail
Car explodes near Israeli settlement east of Qalqilia
Ma’an News Agency 9/19/2008
Qalqilia - Ma’an - Eyewitnesses said a car exploded on the main street leading to the Israeli settlement of Qarnieh Shomron east of Qalqilia on Thursday night. According to Israeli sources, the blast was an accident. They say it exploded as a result of a problem with the fuel tank, adding that no one was injured. Israeli forces still closed the road linking the areas of Qalqilia and Nablus, near to where the explosion occurred. Sources also reported that Israeli vehicles were showered with stones and Molotov cocktails by Palestinian youth near Qalqilia. [end]
This Week in Palestine Week 38 2008
IMEMC News - Audio Deot, International Middle East Media Center News 9/19/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 11 m 0s || 10. 00 MB || This Week in Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org, for September 13 through 19, 2008. Internal unrest in the Gaza Strip escalates this week despite of rapprochement attempts in Cairo, as Israeli military assaults in the West Bank continues. In Israel ruling Kadima party elects a new chief, these stories and more are coming up, stay tuned. Non-Violence We begin our weekly report with the anti-wall nonviolent actions in the villages of Bil’in and Ni’lin near Ramallah. Bil’in The residents of Bil’in joined by international and Israeli peace activists organized a protest against the building of the Wall, and settlements on Palestinian land. The protest today was also in commemoration of 26th year since the massacre of the refugees of Sabra and Shatela refugees’ camp in Lebanon. more.. e-mail
Dikhter calls for wiping out Palestinian factions in Gaza
Palestinian Information Center 9/17/2008
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Israeli internal security minister Avi Dikhter called for exterminating all Palestinian resistance factions in the Gaza Strip, saying that Israel cannot allow a hostile authority to exist in the Strip. "We must eliminate the Palestinian factions in Gaza when the (Israeli) army declares that it is ready for the mission," Dikhter said. For his part, Dr. Ahmed Shweideh, the PA minister of prisoners’ affairs in Gaza, called on the international criminal court in the Hague to issue an arrest warrant against Dikhter, who is in charge of Israeli jails, and director of prison authority Benny Keniak for committing war crimes against 11,000 Palestinian prisoners. In a press statement received by the PIC, Dr. Shweideh pointed out that this call on the international criminal court came in its capacity as a body competent to try perpetrators of serious crimes and genocide. more.. e-mail
Israel closes Gaza crossings
Al Jazeera 9/15/2008
Israel has closed crossings into Gaza following a rocket attack on the Israeli town of Sderot by Palestinian fighters. Monday’s closures were the first during this Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting. The rocket hit an open area in Sderot, starting a fire but causing no casualties. The attack, the first in nearly three weeks, violates a June ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian faction that rules Gaza. No one claimed responsibility for the rocket fire. Following the incident, Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, ordered that the crossings be closed indefinitely. The move effectively seals off the Gaza Strip which badly needs supplies for its 1. 5 million Palestinians. Hamas denounced the Israeli reaction as an act of "sabotage" against the truce. more.. e-mail
Palestinian stabs soldier near Dead Sea
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 9/15/2008
IDF soldier stabbed at junction on Jerusalem-Dead sea road, evacuated to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital with mild to moderate injuries. Palestinian flees to nearby gas station, apprehended by police -A Palestinian stabbed an IDF soldier Monday afternoon at Almog Junction, located on the Jerusalem-Dead Sea. The soldier was lightly-moderately injured, and was evacuated to Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital in Jerusalem. The terrorist succeeded in stealing the soldier’s weapon, after which he fled the scene and took cover in the men’s room of a nearby gas station. A detection squadron from Ma’aleh Adumim Police Department located the terrorist’s hiding place and detained him. They also confiscated the weapon he had stolen. They began to interrogate him at the gas station. During the interrogation the terrorist, a resident of the West Bank city. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli military court sentences senior Al-Aqsa brigades leader to 25 years
Ma’an News Agency 9/15/2008
Tulkarem – Ma’an – Senior Al-Aqsa Brigades leader Mohammad Adel Zeitawi “Ash-Sheikh” from Tulkarem was sentenced by the Israeli court at Salem DCL to 25 years in Israeli prisons. Zeitawi was sentenced on Monday in the Israeli military court north west of Jenin after being detained since 16 November 2006, when he was taken from his home in a large-scale military raid that destroyed parts of his home. According to Israeli sources, Zeitawi was accused of killing eight Israelis, and following his capture Israel carried out a large campaign throughout the Tulkarem governorate targeting senior Al-Aqsa members. The Al-Aqsa brigades are the military wing of Fatah. [end]
Israeli forces detain 3 civilians in Ar-Rashaydah south east of Bethlehem
Ma’an News Agency 9/15/2008
Bethlehem - Ma’an - Israeli forces detained three civilians early Monday morning from Ar-Rashaydah village south east of Bethlehem. Head of the village council Fawwaz Rashaydah told Ma’an that large Israeli forces surrounded the village and closed all pathways around it. Forces searched houses in the village and detained three civilians; Ahmad Issa Salem Rashaydah a member of the local council, Mifleh Ibrahim Mohammad Rashaydah and Bajes Ali Mohammad Rashaydah. The military operation lasted until 10:30am. Troops guarding entrances to the village prevented school teachers from getting to work in the village until the operation was completed. [end]
Israeli forces apprehend four Palestinians near Tulkarem
Ma’an News Agency 9/15/2008
Tulkarem – Ma’an – Israeli forces apprehended four Palestinians on Monday after raiding the northern West Bank town of Attil, north of Tulkarem. Palestinian security sources told Ma’an that Israeli forces stormed the town and searched several Palestinian homes. Soldiers then seized 30-year-old Amir Sha’ban and 27-year-old Majdi Yasin, who are affiliated with Fatah. Israeli forces also took 22-year-old Eyhab Al-Ajami, of Islamic Jihad, and 26-year-old Bashar Ratib, a Hamas affiliate. In a separate incident, several Israeli military vehicles stormed the town of Illar near Tulkarem and ransacked several homes there. No arrests were reported. [end]
Israeli forces raid Qalqilia; inspect shops
Ma’an News Agency 9/15/2008
Qalqilia – Ma’an – Israeli forces on Monday morning raided the northern and the eastern entrances of Qalqilia in the northern West Bank and deployed additional troops in several nearby neighborhoods. Palestinian security sources said that invading Israeli forces ransacked several shops selling agricultural equipment. [end]
IDF troops open fire towards Molotov cocktail wielding Palestinians
Jpost.com Staff, Jerusalem Post 9/16/2008
IDF troops opened fire towards two Palestinians who threw Molotov cocktails near Beit El on Monday night. The Palestinians were moderately wounded and evacuated to Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital in Jerusalem. The two will be transferred to a security interrogation after receiving medical treatment. [end]
A Palestinian policeman shot dead and another wounded in Gaza city
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 9/15/2008
A Palestinian policeman of the Hamas-led police forces was killed and another was wounded on Monday during a chase of some suspects in Gaza city. Spokesman of the Hamas-led interior ministry, Islam Shehwan, asserted that Abdelkarim Khzaiq, of his twenties, was killed and another was injured after the police chased a number of suspects ,who are involved in criminal cases. The police sources said that the police department has cordoned off the vicinity of the Gaza municipality building in Gaza city. The police affirmed it would arrest those involved very soon. [end]
Jewish settlers burn Palestinian olive trees, IOF troops round up more civilians
Palestinian Information Center 9/15/2008
NABLUS, (PIC)-- Settlers of the Israeli settlement of Itamar, south of Nablus city, on Sunday burnt olive groves in the village of Awarta as Israeli occupation forces continued to kidnap Palestinian citizens in the West Bank. Hebrew media reported that owners of those trees had agreed with the IOF and the so-called civil administration of the West Bank to harvest their olive trees next month but the settlers were quick to burn those trees on Sunday. Local sources reported that the Israeli settlers burnt 70 dunums planted with olive trees. Meanwhile, IOF soldiers at dawn Monday kidnapped four citizens in Attil village, north of Tulkarem after a large-scale search campaign in the village homes. Other IOF units stormed the city of Tulkarem and the village of Allar but no arrests were reported. IOF troops also raided the city of Qalqilia and searched a number of shops while in. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli reactions to Saturday settler riots range from fulsome to foul
Ma’an News Agency 9/15/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Israeli response to Saturday’s settler attack on the Palestinian village of Asira Al-Qibliya ranges from total support, calling the attacks “necessary” and even “healthy” to total condemnation where Israeli Minister of Defense said police should ensure attackers are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The incident that precipitated the settler attack was the appearance of a Palestinian in the unsanctioned settlement outpost Shalhevet near the larger settlement of Yitzhar, south of Nablus. The man was seen setting fire to empty homes, when a 9-year old settler boy caught him off guard. The man stabbed the boy, who sustained mild injuries, and ran towards the nearby village of Asira Al-Qibliya. Approximately 100 settlers participated in the attack on the village that followed the incident. more.. e-mail
Lawsuit: SWAT team leader assaulted settler during Amona evacuation
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 9/15/2008
Yesha rights group files punitive damages claim on behalf of settler claiming he was beat over the head with a club during clashes with police -The Yesha Human Rights Organization filed a claim for punitive damages with the Petah Tikva Magistrates’ Court Monday on behalf of a Jewish settler who claims to have been assaulted by a SWAT team during the violent evacuation of the illegal West Bank outpost of Amona in 2006. According to the lawsuit, the officer kicked the settler in the back, ribs and stomach and beat him over the head with a club. The complainant, David Hashash, said he lost consciousness as a result of the attack and received medical treatment. The statement of claim said the Shai Police District officer, who holds the rank of chief inspector, did not prevent the officers under his command from beating the demonstrators and even assaulted them himself. more.. e-mail
Police arrest second Palestinian suspect in stabbing of IDF soldier
Jpost.com Staff, Jerusalem Post 9/16/2008
A second Palestinian suspected of involvement in the stabbing of an IDF soldier at the Almog Junction on Monday afternoon was arrested by police. Police began searching for the second man after the initial suspect, caught by police directly after the incident, claimed to have been assisted in the act. Police caught the first suspect, armed with the soldier’s stolen weapon, in a gas station not far from the scene. The soldier was lightly to moderately wounded in the attack. [end]
Two arrested after Dead Sea stabbing
Jpost.com Staff, Jerusalem Post 9/15/2008
Palestinian "terrorists" stabbed an IDF soldier Monday afternoon at the Almog Junction, north of the Dead Sea. The soldier was lightly to moderately wounded in the back and was evacuated to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. The "terrorists" also managed to wrest the soldier’s firearm away from him before fleeing the scene. A team of detectives from the Ma’aleh Adumim police station dispatched to the area, found a suspect hiding in the bathroom of a nearby gas station and overpowered him. The soldier’s weapon was found in the man’s possession. Police officers began interrogating the suspected "terrorist" on the scene, in the gas station. During the investigation, the man said he had not operated alone, sparking a search by police for another suspect, caught later Monday night. In late March, Defense Minister Ehud Barak eased restrictions on Palestinian movement in the West Bank, removing some 50 unmanned roadblocks. more.. e-mail
Israeli sources: a Palestinian stabs an Israeli soldier near Jericho
Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 9/15/2008
Israeli sources reported on Monday afternoon that a Palestinian resident stabbed an Israeli soldier near the West Bank of Jericho. The sources said that the assailant snatched the soldier’s rifle and then stabbed him, causing moderate injuries. The sources identified the assailant as a resident of the West Bank city of Ramallah and that he was detained while fueling his car at a gasstation, as he was apparently heading for Ramallah. [end]
Palestine Today 091508
IMEMC News - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 9/15/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 3 m 30s || 3. 20 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org for Monday September 15, 2008. Lede: A Palestinian police man was killed and another wounded in Gaza city. Meanwhile, Israeli sources reported that an Israeli soldier was stabbed by a Palestinian near the West Bank city of Jericho. These stories and more are coming up, Stay tuned. The Newscast Palestinian security sources confirmed the death of a policeman and also the injury of another in Gaza city. The policeman was shot dead during a crackdown on a number of criminals Monday. Meanwhile, Israeli sources said today, that an Israeli soldier was stabbed near the West Bank city of Jericho. The sources suspected that a Palestinian from the West Bank city of Ramallah, snatched the soldier’s rifle and then stabbed him. more.. e-mail
Swastikas, defamatory slogans sprayed in Arab city
Sharon Roffe-Ofir, YNetNews 9/15/2008
Arabs protest supposed comments by acting mayor Yitzhak Wald saying after daily Ramadan fast, Muslims, "come home in evening to gulp like pigs’ - Tempestuous winds are blowing in Baqa-Jatt, an Israeli-Arab city in the Haifa District. Slanderous slogans were sprayed Sunday night on the municipality walls against Baqa-Jatt’s acting mayor Yitzhak Wald. Amongst other things, the perpetrators sprayed, "death to the Jews"¯ and a swastika. Police arrested a youth and teenager from the city for presumably doing the deed. The act was apparently carried out in protest of comments made by the Interior Ministry-appointed acting mayor who allegedly said that Muslims, "eat like pigs"¯ during the Ramadan break fast. Wald made these comments two weeks ago at a parent-student meeting in the city’s middle school. more.. e-mail
Palestinian woman killed by a stray bullet in Nablus
IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center News 9/12/2008
The Palestinian police in Nablus, in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, reported that a 48-year old Palestinian woman was shot and killed on Thursday by a stray bullet in Qabalan town, near Nablus. The woman was moved to a local clinic but died of her wounds and her body was moved to Rafidia governmental hospital in Nablus. The police said that it is probing the incident and that several gunshot were heard in the town before the woman was killed. [end]
Youth throw bottles and stones, Soldiers open fire
PNN, Palestine News Network 9/12/2008
Ramallah -- Only a few Palestinians were arrested Friday morning in the West Bank during pre-dawn raids. Israeli forces hit Ramallah and Jenin, claiming three people were ’wanted. ’ Israeli forces arrested another man near the Israeli settlement of Kedumim. He was unarmed and Palestinian sources believe he worked in the settlement. Israeli radio broadcast news this morning that young people threw incendiary bottles and stones at the army in Tulkaram’s Anabta Village. Israeli forces were overtaking the area and opening fire when youth from Anabta made Molotov cocktails and began throwing them at the military vehicles and soldiers. Israeli forces shot a youth who is now in a Tulkarem hospital. more.. e-mail
This Week in Palestine Week 37 2008
IMEMC News - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 9/12/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 12 m 30s || 11. 4 MB || This Week in Palestine a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org for September 6th through the 12th 2008. Lead: In This week, Report Palestinian factions fail to settle their differences while, Palestinian officials express uncertainty regarding reaching an agreement with Israel before by the end of this year, and the siege on Gaza remains in place. These stories and more are coming up,, stay tuned. Nonviolent Resistance Lede: Let us begin this week’s report with the nonviolent actions in the West Bank, where International and Israeli activists join Palestinians in Bethlehem and Ramallah in their nonviolent protests. Al-Ma’asara Under the slogan "Boycott Israeli Products,"¯ the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in al-Ma’asara village near. . . more.. e-mail
Two killed in Rafah tunnel system in 24 hours
Ma’an News Agency 9/11/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – Two Palestinians have been killed in 24 hours in the tunnel system underneath the Rafah border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. Sources in Gaza said on Thursday that 22-year-old Hani Mahmoud Khalaf, from Khan Younis, fell to his death in one tunnel, and 22-year-old Faysal Sulaiman Abu Sultan, from Rafah, who died from an electric shock. Both were working in the tunnel system. Rafah locals blamed both accidents on Egyptian security forces, who regularly demolish the tunnels, using water, gas, and explosives, when they discover them. Dozens have been killed by these demolitions. Smugglers dug the elaborate system of tunnels in order to counter the Israeli-imposed siege of the Gaza Strip. Since June 2007, Israel has severely limited shipments of commercial and humanitarian goods to the Gaza Strip. more.. e-mail
Army: Settlers have crossed red line
Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post 9/11/2008
Senior IDF officers on Thursday lambasted the legal system’s inability to effectively crack down on radical West Bank settlers after a group of young far-right activists went on a rampage that culminated in an attack on an IDF position near Ramallah. Late Wednesday night, some 40 activists arrived at an IDF position - manned by reservists - near the settlement of Talmon, just west of Ramallah. The activists attacked the reservists, tried to enter the post and damaged the pipe system that carries water to the base. The reservists tried to fend off the attackers, who called the soldiers "Nazis. " Earlier in the day, soldiers clashed with settlers near the settlement of Yitzhar, south of Nablus, after they began throwing rocks at passing Palestinian cars. In the Binyamin Region, settlers attacked officials from the Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria who had. . . more.. e-mail
IOF troops execute Palestinian civilian in cold blood
Palestinian Information Center 9/11/2008
RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces on Wednesday evening executed a Palestinian youth after shooting him during an incursion into Nablus city then leaving him to bleed to death, local sources reported. Medical sources said that Walid Freitekh, 25, was hit with several bullets fired at him by the IOF special forces that stormed Ras Al-Ein neighborhood in Nablus to round up AMB activists. Local sources told PIC reporter that the IOF soldiers mounting 30 armored vehicles raided the suburb and opened indiscriminate fire at citizens prompting tens of young men to throw stones at them while PA chief Mahmoud Abbas’s security elements evacuated the streets of the city. The witnesses said that Abbas’s security men evacuated the streets of the city before the raid. They said that the IOF soldiers arrested two AMB activists amidst angry reaction on the part of citizens over the. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli troops invade a West Bank village
International Middle East Media Center News 9/11/2008
The Israeli troops invaded early on Thursday morning the West Bank village of Abu Enjaim, to the south of Bethlehem city in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian security sources told media outlets that an Israeli army contingent stormed the village, through its main entrance and then enforced tightened security measures, preventing access of local residents in and out of the village. Witnesses said that the Israeli soldiers broke into the residents’ houses, vandalizing furniture and then arresting an inhabitant. Israeli army invasions of Palestinian cities, towns, villages and refugee camps in the West Bank take place on daily basis, where the Israeli occupation continues for more than four decades now. more.. e-mail
Nablus mourns man killed by Israeli troops in Wednesday incursion
Ma’an News Agency 9/11/2008
Nablus – Ma’an – Crowds of Palestinians on Thursday mourned Walid Freitekh, a 25-year-old Palestinian who was gunned down by Israeli troops during an incursion in the West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday evening. During the funeral procession, Freitekh’s body was carried from Rafidya Hospital, to his family’s house, and then to a cemetery. Israeli troops shot Freitekh in the legs several times during an arrest raid targeting wanted Palestinian fighters. Freitekh bled to death before medical crews could reach the area. [end]
Israeli forces seize two Palestinians during raids in Tulkarem area
Ma’an News Agency 9/11/2008
Tulkarem – Ma’an – Israeli forces seized two Palestinians during a dawn raid in the West Bank city of Tulkarem and the nearby town of Anbata. Palestinian security sources said that Israeli troops forces their way into a number of private homes, ultimately detaining 21 year-old Muhammad Omar Ashqar from Tulkarem and 20-year-old Ghassan Abu Rayya from Anabta. Israeli forces withdrew in the early morning. It is not known where Ashqar and Abu Rayya are being held. [end]
Palestinian young man falls and dies in smuggling tunnel in Rafah
Palestinian Information Center 9/11/2008
RAFAH, (PIC)-- A Palestinian young man called Hani Khalafallah, 22, was proclaimed dead after he fell into a 15-meter-high smuggling tunnel gate under construction near the Egyptian-Palestinian borders in Rafah. Palestinian medical sources said that Khalafallah reached the Abu Yousif Al-Najjar hospital dead and his body was transferred to forensic medicine to complete legal procedures pursued in such cases Two days ago, a young man from the Abu Sulaiman family had died as a result of his exposure to electrical shock inside another smuggling tunnel near Al-Salam neighborhood, southeast of Rafah. According to Palestinian medical and human rights reports, 53 Palestinians have died since the beginning of this year as a result of similar incidents that happened inside smuggling tunnels at the Egyptian-Palestinian borders. more.. e-mail
Bomb on Gaza border, none wounded
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 9/11/2008
Explosive device planted near border fence, detonated against IDF patrol near Kissufim crossing -An explosive device was detonated against IDF troops patrolling along the southern Gaza border on Thursday evening. None were injured; however damage was caused to the fence infrastructure. The Al-Tawhid Brigades, an unknown Islamic faction, claimed responsibility for the bombing. This is the first bombing in the region for several weeks. Palestinian witnesses said they saw plumes of smoke rising from the blast location. The shaky truce with Hamas was last violated a fortnight ago - when two Qassam rockets were fired from northern Gaza towards the western Negev. One rocket landed near two kibbutzim belonging to the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council. No injuries were reported and no damage was caused. more.. e-mail
Israel accuses Gaza fighters of bombing attack
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 9/12/2008
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Militants in Hamas-ruled Gaza on Thursday detonated a bomb near an Israeli Army patrol along the border fence, causing no injuries but shaking a fragile truce, an Israeli Army spokeswoman told AFP. "An explosive device was set off against an army force patrolling the fence in central Gaza, south of the Kissufim crossing, causing some damage to the fence but no injuries," the spokeswoman said. A Gaza witness said that an Israeli ambulance had been at the scene, at the border between Israel and the central Gaza Strip, but the army said nobody was injured. A second explosion went off minutes later in the same area, but also caused no injuries, the Israeli Army said. An Egyptian-brokered June 19 truce between Israel and Hamas has virtually halted the violence in and around the Gaza Strip, although militants occasionally still fire rockets and mortar rounds. more.. e-mail
West Bank: 2 soldiers lightly injured in clashes with settlers
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 9/11/2008
IDF forces, Civil Administration workers assaulted after arriving at Yad Yair outpost to seize equipment used for illegal construction; one soldier bitten by settler’s dog, another breaks finger. Army official: Red line crossed -Two IDF soldiers were lightly injured on Wednesday, during clashes with Jewish settlers in the West Bank. In the first incident, which took place in the afternoon hours, IDF forces and Civil Administration workers arrived at the Yad Yair outpost to confiscate equipment used for illegal construction at the site. During the ensuing clashes with dozens of settlers, the tires of a vehicle belonging to the Civil Administration were punctured and, according to the IDF, one settler unleashed his dog on a soldier, who sustained light injuries. Another soldier broke his finger during the clashes. more.. e-mail
IOF gunboat collides with Palestinian fishing boat wounding fisherman
Palestinian Information Center 9/11/2008
GAZA, (PIC)-- A Palestinian fisherman was wounded when an Israeli gunboat deliberately hit his fishing boat off the Gaza coast at a late hour on Wednesday, the Palestinian fishermen syndicate said. The head of the syndicate, Nizar Ayesh, said that the gunboat intentionally crashed into the fishing boat, which destroyed it completely and wounded its owner Ahmed Al-Hassi. He noted that four fishing boats headed from Gaza fishing pier to the scene of the incident, rescued Hassi and recovered his wrecked boat. Hassi said in a press statement from his hospital bed at Shifa complex that he was surprised with the big gunboat speeding towards him and hitting the starboard of his boat. He told Ramattan news agency in a televised interview that the "Israelis are fighting us in our sustenance". Meanwhile, the director of the general petroleum authority in the Gaza Strip, Ahmed Ali,. . . more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 091108
IMEMC News - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 9/11/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 3 m 0s || 2. 75 MB ||Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org for Thursday September 11, 2008. Israeli troops invaded a West Bank village; detain one, as an Israel naval vessel crashed a Palestinian fishing boat with fishermen on board on Gaza shores, these stories and more coming up, stay tuned. The News Cast Israeli troops invaded on Thursday morning the West Bank town of Abu Enjaim in the outskirts of Bethlehem city. The Israeli soldiers ransacked several houses in the village and eyewitnesses said, one person was taken prisoner. Also in the West Bank, the Israeli center for human rights in the occupied territories, "B’tselem, published a report stating that the Israeli settlement expansions have doubled over the past few years. more.. e-mail
Soldiers kidnap five civilians in the West Bank
Marina Ayyoub, International Middle East Media Center News 9/9/2008
Israeli troops invaded the West Bank cities of Bethlehem, Nablus and Jenin kidnapping five civilians on Tuesday dawn, local sources reported. Soldiers invaded Duhaisha refugee camp located south of Bethlehem and launched a wide scale house-to-house search campaign and kidnapped Adel Hammash, 17, taking him to an unknown destination. In Nablus district, in the northern part of the West Bank, soldiers invaded the nearby village Kufor Qalil and randomly searched and ransacked several houses before kidnapping Salem Mansur, 20. Soldiers also invaded the northern West Bank city of Jenin and the Jenin refugee camp, and fired rounds of live ammunition and sound bombs before breaking into and searching a number of houses. Troops kidnapped three residents from the area and took him to an unknown destination. more.. e-mail
Soldiers invade Hebron, 4 nearby villages, kidnap two civilians
Marina Ayyoub, International Middle East Media Center News 9/9/2008
Israeli troops invaded on Tuesday at dawn the West Bank city of Hebron and four nearby villages, kidnapped four civilians and handed four others military orders to head to an adjacent security center for interrogation. Soldiers invaded the villages of Beit Ola, Al Shiokh, Al Samoa’, and Al Karmel, and conducted military searches of homes after breaking into them. Also, troops kidnapped of Issa Al Halaika and took him to an unknown destination after breaking his home and searching it, damage was reported. Moreover, soldiers kidnapped Mau’ad Abu Karsh, 17, after searching his house they took him to an unknown destination. In Al Karmel village, troops handed a number of civilians military orders to head to an Israeli security center for interrogation. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces seize three Palestinians in Jenin
Ma’an News Agency 9/9/2008
Jenin – Ma’an – Israeli forces on Tuesday morning raided the northern West bank city of Jenin and seized three Palestinians. Local sources said that Israeli troops ransacked several houses in the city and Jenin refugee camp, firing heavily into the air. The sources identified the arrestees as Husam Abu Ubeid, Muhannad Hussein and Tariq Uweis. [end]
Israel uses restrictions on Palestinians to Judaize Occupied East Jerusalem
Mel Frykberg , Inter Press Service, Daily Star 9/10/2008
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: The Israeli government is attempting to Judaize Palestinian East Jerusalem, and maintain a Jewish majority against the "demographic threat" of a higher Palestinian birth rate. To that end, the Israeli government is enforcing a number of policies aimed at establishing facts on the ground to limit the number of Palestinian residents in the city. To make any future division of Occupied Jerusalem almost impossible, the Israeli authorities are applying a combination of strategies including limiting family reunification permits, redrawing Occupied Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries, enlarging illegal Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem and establishing new ones. Under international law, the Green Line divides Jewish West Jerusalem from Palestinian East Jerusalem. However, Israel has illegally occupied East Jerusalem since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 090908
IMEMC News - audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 9/9/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 3 m 0s || 2. 75 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org for Tuesday, September 09, 2008. As Palestinian factions representatives are meeting in Cairo with Egyptian officials for the sake of national unity between the Palestinians, Israel media sources reported that Israeli has been preparing a list of prisoners, who would be released within a prisoners swap deal. These stories and more are coming up, stay tuned. The News Cast: Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, speaking to a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, asserted that the Palestinian leadership won’t accept any partial agreements with Israel, the way stated by Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert. Abbas also briefed the ministers on the latest talks on national unity between the Palestinian factions and Egyptian officials. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces seize Palestinian man near Tulkarem
Ma’an News Agency 9/8/2008
Tulkarem – Ma’an – Israeli forces on Monday seized two Palestinians from the northern West Bank town of Illar, north of Tulkarem. Witnesses in the village said Israeli forces invaded the town at 2am and raided several houses before detaining 21-year-old Muqbil Asrawi. Witnesses added that the Israeli troops damaged the interiors of the houses. [end]
Islamic Jihad uncovers 'network of collaborators' in southern Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 9/8/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Islamic Jihad’s military wing, the Al-Quds Brigades on Monday said they exposed a network of collaborators who are providing information to Israel in the southern Gaza Strip. “A game of wits between our men and the Shin Bet [security service] is ongoing. This time we won a round after our security succeeded in discovering a network of collaborators with Israel in the southern Gaza Strip,” an official in the group said. The group released a statement saying they had tricked an Israeli officer into revealing information about his network of informers in Gaza. The statement said:“Members of Al-Quds Brigades telephoned Israeli officer referred to as ‘A’ after they obtained his number and other numbers from collaborators who confessed after questioning. The officer was made to believe that the caller would be giving him information about Palestinian factions and about Al-Aqsa Brigades fighters. more.. e-mail
Politicians sign reconciliation agreement in northern Lebanon
Associated Press, Jerusalem Post 9/8/2008
Top politicians in northern Lebanon signed a reconciliation agreement Monday, calling for an end to the sectarian violence that killed and wounded scores in the past three months. The six-point agreement calls for abstaining from force, the deployment of the army to tense areas and a timetable for the return of displaced people. It also calls for finding temporary homes for those whose houses were damaged and compensating people, mainly in Lebanon’s second city, Tripoli. The agreement was signed at the residence of north Lebanon’s grand mufti. more.. e-mail
Netanya: 4 hurt in criminal shooting
Raanan Ben-Zur, YNetNews 9/8/2008
Brother of slain mobster Fleix Abutbul severely injured in assassination attempt in local restaurant - Four people were injured Monday afternoon in a criminal assassination attempt in Netanya’s industrial zone. Among the injured was Charlie Abutbul, the brother of slain mobster Felix Abutbul, who was murdered in Prague several years ago. Abutbul was critically hurt in the attack, while two of the other people sustained moderate wounds. The shots were fired into a restaurant, located not far from a restaurant belonging to the Abutbul family. Eyewitnesses reported seeing a motorbike fleeing the scene. Abutbul was hospitalized at the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera, where local police deployed increased security around his hospital room for fear of a repeated assassination attempt there. more.. e-mail
Roadside bomb detonated near an Israeli settlement east of Nablus
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 9/7/2008
In a joint statement issued yesterday night, both the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed offshoot of Preseident Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party, and the struggle and return brigades, declared responsibility for detonating a roadside bomb near the Israeli settlement of Etamar, east of Nablus city. The statement read that a large contingent of the Israeli army rushed to the place and that the perpetrators have returned bake safely to basis. The two factions asserted that yesterdays bombing were a part of the Palestinian resistance against the continued Israeli attacks on the West Bank. Israel continues to occupy and impose forceful military control over the West Bank since 1967. No Israeli sources verified this news. more.. e-mail
Fatah’s military wing claims responsibility for roadside bomb attack near settlement
Ma’an News Agency 9/7/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – The military wing of Fatah, the Al-Aqsa Brigades, claimed responsibility for a roadside bomb explosion near the Israeli settlement Etamar security complex east of Nablus in the northern West Bank. The military group said in a statement on Sunday that several Israeli forces were seen combing the area after the incident, but that none of the men responsible for the attack were apprehended. The group said the explosion came as part of retaliation for ongoing Israeli assaults against the Palestinian people. Israeli sources have not confirmed the explosion. [end]
Israeli forces arrest 13 Palestinians in Nablus and Ramallah
Ma’an News Agency 9/7/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli forces arrested 13 Palestinians from their homes in several different West Bank cities, Israeli sources said on Sunday. According to Israeli media, 11 of the arrestees were from Nablus in the northern West Bank and two were from Anata village near Ramallah in the central West Bank. All arrestees were taken for questioning to interrogation centres. [end]
Al-Qaida inspired group warns Hamas
Associated Press, Jerusalem Post 9/7/2008
A shadowy Palestinian group inspired by al-Qaida threatened the Gaza Strip’s Hamas rulers on Sunday, demanding that their jailed leader be released. The Army of the Nation said that it would use its "own means" to free Abu Hafs Makdisi, although it did not specify exactly what it would do. The statement was posted on a terrorist Web site on Sunday. Makdisi was jailed last week after he criticized Hamas for not strictly imposing Islamic law in Gaza. Hamas, itself an Islamic group, has controlled Gaza since June 2007. The Army of the Nation is one of several small groups in Gaza that look to al-Qaida as their model, but they aren’t believed to belong to the global terrorist network, and their capabilities appear to be limited. more.. e-mail
Gaza evacuees: Government throwing sand in settlers’ eyes
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 9/7/2008
Former Gush Katif residents angered by Sunday’s cabinet discussion on compensation for settlers who voluntarily leave West Bank. ’This is a spin aimed at diverting the attention from the real problems,’ says woman evacuated from Neve Dekalim - Former Gush Katif residents who now live in caravan sites in southern Israel were surprised to hear that the government would discuss on Sunday an initiative put forward Vice Premier Haim Ramon, proposing the voluntary evacuation and compensation of Israeli settlers living in the West Bank. " On the other hand, we are not surprised by anything anymore," said Hagit Yaron, who was evacuated from the settlement of Neve Dekalim during the2005 pullout from Gaza. "This government is not leading any ideological statement or line in any case. "Upcoming DiscussionGovernment to discuss evacuation-compensation plan for West. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli newspaper: Israel intends to build 2,000 settlement units in Jerusalem
Palestinian Information Center 9/6/2008
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli Yerushalayim weekly newspaper reported that the IOA is intending to build 2,000 settlement units in the Pisgat Ze’ev settlement, north of occupied Jerusalem, after finishing paving an avenue which connects the settlement with Jerusalem. According to the newspaper, immediately after finishing paving the new street, tenders will be published in newspapers for the building of the new settlement units. An Israeli settlement committee had demanded the alleviation of traffic congestion through paving the new street before building the new settlement units; whereas, an Israeli company called Morey had begun its paving works in the street in 2007. [end]
Hamas: Israel killed 2 Palestinians in August; arrested 175
Ma’an News Agency 9/6/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – During the month of August Israeli forces killed two Palestinians and arrested 175, according to a Hamas statement released on Saturday. The arrests were conducted during 136 separate raids into West Bank cities, towns and villages; of those arrested two were women. In the Gaza Strip, the statement said, those dead because of the siege (lack of food, medicines, ability to travel for treatment etc. ) rose to 241. The number of dead rose by 20 during August. [end]
Israeli forces detain 16 Palestinians in the West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 9/5/2008
Hebron – Ma’an –Israeli forces detained 17 Palestinian citizens from West Bank cities on Friday. From Beit Kahil north of Hebron, 13 were detained, and another four from towns surrounding Ramallah. Ma’an’s correspondent reported from Beit Kahil, sayingthat a military operation involving at least 25 military vehicles was conducted in the village late Thursday night. The vehicles overran the area and broke into dozens of homes, arresting 13. Those arrested were:Ahmad Muhammad Ibrahim Al-‘Eqel , a school teacherNafeth Muhamad Al-‘Asafreh, a teacherMuhammad Issa Al-‘Asafreh, a university studentAhmad Abdel Qader Al-‘AsafrehSami Abdullah Al-‘AsafrehTwo members from the Az-Zuhur family (Mu’tasem Khaled Az-Zuhur and Muhessein Abdullah Al-‘Atawneh) received a statement from the Israeli intelligence unit instructing them to surrender. more.. e-mail
Palestinians hurl stones at IDF troops north of Jerusalem
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 9/5/2008
Some 100 Palestinians riot at Qalandiya checkpoint, dispersed by Israeli security forces. Mass Ramadan prayer session at Temple Mount passes without any unusual incidents; Palestinians, leftists hold anti-fence rallies in Bil’in, Naalin - Shortly after the prayer session marking the first Friday of Ramadan concluded at the Temple Mount in east Jerusalem, some 100 Palestinians rioted at the Qalandiya checkpoint north of Jerusalem. The Palestinians hurled stones at IDF soldiers and Border Guard officers manning the checkpoint. Israeli security personnel were forced to use crowd-dispersal apparatus, but no injuries have been reported as of yet. Two additional disturbances were reported nears the West Bank security fence west of Ramallah. One of the anti-fence rallies is being held in the Palestinian village of Naalin with the participation of some 150 Palestinians, who are hurling stones at Israeli forces. more.. e-mail
Three Molotov cocktails thrown at Israeli car near Qalqiliya
Ma’an News Agency 9/5/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Three Molotov cocktails were thrown at an Israeli car on Thursday afternoon near the village of Deir Istiya southeast of Qalqiliya. No injuries were reported. Deir Istiya is a small village located between two settlement blocks. To the north, are Ma’ale Shomeron, Qarne Shomron, Nofim, Yaqir, and Immanu’el, with a combined population of over 11,000 settlers. To the south of the village are the settlements of Barqan, Qiryat Netafim, Revava and Ari’el, with a combined population of approximately 20,000. To the west of Deir Istiya is an Israeli patrolled road, which is not open for Palestinian vehicles. [end]
Israel court okays Kach demo in Umm el-Fahm
Middle East Online 9/5/2008
TEL AVIV - The Israeli High Court gave permission on Thursday for a demonstration by a far-right racist Jewish group to go ahead in an Arab town despite police objections on public order grounds, a judicial source said. The court upheld the appeal by the Kach movement even though the group has been outlawed since 1994 when it expressed support for the actions of party member Baruch Goldstein in shooting dead 29 Muslim worshippers in the West Bank city of Hebron. Party leaders Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben Gvir told public television that they planned to drive through the Israeli Arab town of Umm el-Fahm in a convoy of vehicles draped in Israeli flags. They did not give a date. Police had objected to the planned rally after residents of the town threatened to stop it, violently if necessary. The Kach movement campaigns explicity for the expulsion of the over 1. more.. e-mail
Israeli High Court allows extremist right wingers to protest in Um Al Fahim Arab city
Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 9/5/2008
The Israeli High Court of Justice ruled on Thursday in favor for allowing extremist Israeli right wingers to protest in Um AL Fahim Arab city. The Israeli police proposed that the protest should be held on the southern entrance of the city as holding it in its center could lead to clashes but the court rejected the proposal. On Wednesday, right wing extremists filed an appeal to the high court to allow them to protest in the center of Um Al Fahim and the prosecution said that it does not intend to bar them from protesting as "the protest falls under the freedom of expression". The prosecution said that it suggested that the protest should be held on the southern entrance of the city in order to ensure that the protestors receive "sufficient police protection ". The prosecution filed the appeal to the high court and said that such a protest could lead to serious clashes with the. . . more.. e-mail
High Court to state: Allow rightists to march through Umm al-Fahm
Tomer Zarchin Yoav Stern and Jack Khoury, Ha’aretz 9/5/2008
The High Court of Justice yesterday instructed the state to formulate a plan that would allow right-wing activists to march through the northern Israeli-Arab town of Umm al-Fahm. The activists, led by former Kach movement activist Itamar Ben Gvir, claimed that the police’s refusal to let them carry Israeli flags through the town was a gross violation of their freedom of expression. Hadash chairman MK Mohammed Barakeh said the High Court ruling crossed a dangerous line by giving a stamp of approval to an organization "that has terrorist characteristics and should be outlawed. "Barakeh said Umm al-Fahm residents would band together with other Israeli Arabs to prevent the march from taking place. Police told the court that allowing the march could spark unrest that would threaten the public order. The justices rejected this argument, and also dismissed a police proposal to move the march to an alternative site on the town’s periphery. more.. e-mail
South Hebron Hills land dispute turns violent
Tovah Lazaroff And Yaakov Lappin, Jerusalem Post 9/4/2008
Farmer Yohanan Sharet says he was beaten up this week by 20 fellow settlers who want him to leave the land he has worked for eight years so it can be used to build a new neighborhood for Sussiya in the South Hebron Hills. Sharet, who has filed a complaint with the police, spoke with The Jerusalem Post on Thursday. "Twenty thugs arrived at my ranch at 5:45 in the morning [on Wednesday]. One man told the others: ’What are you waiting for? ’ They began striking me on the head, chest and back until I fell to the floor," Sharet said. He said that all those who came to his home were employees of the Hebron Hills Regional Council. After the beating, "They then cut off my water supply, electricity, and forcefully stole some of my belongings. They even cut me off from the sewage system," Sharet said. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces invade West Bank cities, kidnap 5
Marina Ayyoub, International Middle East Media Center News 9/4/2008
Israeli military forces kidnapped five Palestinian civilians as they invaded the West Bank cities of Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem and nearby villages, on Thursday at dawn, local sources reproted. A number of Israeli military vehicles troops were seen in several streets in Nablus at dawn. Troops did house-to-house search and detained 5 civilians after breaking into the homes. In Jenin, eyewitnesses reported that a number of Israeli military vehicles and jeeps invaded the city and centered in several streets, however, no one was taken prisoner. Moreover troops invaded Jaba’ village south of Jenin. Military vehicles drove through the streets and an Israeli Special Force positioned in a building in an unfinishedbuilding in the village. Troops stayed in the village for couple of hours and later on withdrew without making any detention. more.. e-mail
High Court says rightists can march in Umm al-Fahm
Aviad Glickman, YNetNews 9/4/2008
Court orders State Prosecutor’s Office, police to find way to enable far-right flags’ procession in Arab town; but local residents threaten they will fight to block procession - The High Court of Justice on Thursday ordered police to meet with extreme-right activists Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben Gvir, in order to devise a solution that will enable them to hold a rally in the Arab-Israeli town of Umm al-Fahm. The State Prosecutor’s Office appealed to the High Court against the activists’ intent to hold a procession of Israeli flags through the town on Wednesday, claiming that choosing to hold te rally in the middle of an Arab town would be unnecessarily inflammatory, and may result in harm to people or property. Restricted FreedomsState prohibits right-wing procession in Umm al-Fahm / Prosecutor’s Office claims before High Court that Itamar Ben-Gvir’s. . . more.. e-mail
Right-wing Umm-el-Fahm march okayed
Jerusalem Post 9/4/2008
The High Court of Justice on Thursday ordered the police to find a "creative" way to allow a group of right-wing extremists to march through Umm El-Fahm waving Israeli flags even though the police warned that the event would "almost certainly" threaten public security and order. During the hearing, Justice Edmond Levy said the group, headed by Itamar Ben-Gvir and Baruch Marzel, who were senior activists in the Kach movement before it was declared a terrorist organization, should be allowed to march in the city and called on the police to find a "creative" way in coordination with the petitioners to let them do so. The Internet news site Ynet quoted acting Umm el-Fahm Mayor Mustafa Sohel as saying, "On the day of the march, there will be a human blockade of 50,000 people. Itamar Ben-Gvir is not wanted in Umm el-Fahm. more.. e-mail
The Israeli military forces kidnap 2 civilians from Hebron
Marina Ayyoub, International Middle East Media Center News 9/4/2008
The Israeli military forces invaded the West Bank city of Hebron on Thursday dawn kidnapping 2 civilians local sources reported. Troops searched and ransacked Mahmud Jamjum aged 22, and Salamah Abu Hadeed aged 40 before kidnapping them. The two were taken to an unknown destination. Moreover, a group of Israeli settlers from Kiryat Arba’ settlement in Hebron attacked Wassim Jaber by throwing stones at him causing him scratches and an injury in the head. He was immediately transferred to a local hospital. Most of the settlers attacks go unreported or documented, a number of settler assaults against Palestinians have been documented on tape especially in Hebron. [end]
Nine Palestinians arrested, one injured by Israelis overnight
Ma’an News Agency 9/4/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli forces seized nine Palestinians during dawn raids in the West Bank cities of Bethlehem, Hebron, and Nablus. Another Palestinian was injured by settlers. In Hebron, in the southern West Bank, Israeli forces arrested 22 year-old Mahmoud Maher Jamjoum and40 year-old Salameh Abu Hadid, abducting both men from their homes, Palestinian security sources said. In addition, Wasim Akram Jaber, a Palestinian man was hospitalized after he was pelted with stones thrown by settlers from the Kiryat Arba settlement in Hebron. Israeli forces also raided the town of Beit Awwa, near Hebron, and seized several stolen cars. BethlehemIn the Bethlehem area, security sources said that ten military vehicles entered the village of Beit Ta’mir. In the village they raided four houses with the help of dogs. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 090408
IMEMC News - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 9/4/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 3 m 30s || 3. 20 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org for Thursday September 4, 2008. As peace-related summits continue to be held in world capitals, Israeli military forces go on rampage in Palestinian cities rounding up Palestinian residents. These stories and more are coming up, stay tuned. The News Cast Israeli troops detained on Thursday at dawn four Palestinian residents; two from Hebron and the other two from Bethlehem. Such detention is part of almost daily Israeli military operations in different West Bank areas. Meanwhile, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will be meeting on Thursday evening with his Israeli counterpart, Shimon Peres in the Italian capital of Rome. The meeting comes on the sideline of a Rome special conference on Friday, addressing Arab-Israeli ties. more.. e-mail
Sheikh Betawi to PNN: attackers serve interests of occupation
Fadi Yacoub, Palestine News Network 9/4/2008
PNN -- Security chaos in the West Bank is ongoing as the two-year internal conflict between the two governments leads Hamas and Fateh party members to target one another. Sheikh Hamed Al Betawi is a Palestinian Legislative Council Deputy and an attorney. He spoke with PNN on Thursday after his car was shot at in eastern Nablus’ Rujib Village. He accused the attackers of being those who "serve the interests of occupation. "The Sheikh explained that he was leaving the village mosque at the time of the shooting in the parking lot. He immediately called the Palestinian Preventative Security to find the culprits. Al Betawi told PNN that fighting must be "against the Israeli occupation of our Palestinian land," not internal, adding that "occupation soldiers often do this type of thing to add confusion and foment sedition in Palestinian society. " more.. e-mail
Gun men fire on Hamas lawmaker’s car in Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 9/4/2008
Nablus – Ma’an – Gunmen opened fire on Wednesday evening on a car belonging to Shiekh Hamid Al-Bitawi, a Hamas-affiliated member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, just after he entered a local mosque or prayer. Ahmad Al-Bitawi, Sheikh Bitawi’s son told Ma’an that his father parked his Volkwagon in front of the Roujib Mosque, in the east of Nablus. Moments after he went inside the building, armed min fired 15 bullets into the car, then fled the scene. No one was injured. Al-Bitawi asked the Palestinian Security forces to investigate the incident. The Hamas-run de facto government in Gaza denounced the attack, calling it an “assassination attempt. ”[end]
Court allows rightists to march through Israeli Arab town
Tamar Zarchin and Yoav Stern, Ha’aretz 9/4/2008
Itamar Ben GvirThe High Court of Justice on Thursday instructed the state to formulate a plan within 15 days that would allow for right-wing activists to hold a procession through the Israeli Arab town of Umm el-Fahm. The rightists, among them former Kach movement activist Itamar Ben Gvir,claimed that the police’s refusal to permit the march is a gross violation of their right to freedom of expression. In their defense to the court, the police argued that allowing the march could spark unrest that would endanger the public. The justices rejected this argument, and also dismissed a police proposal to move the march to an alternative site on the town’s periphery. Hadash chairman MK Mohammad Barakeh said the High Court ruling crosses a dangerous line by giving a stamp of approval to an organization "that has terrorist characteristics and should be outlawed. more.. e-mail
Dozens of Israeli settlers arrested attempting to place caravan near Shufat camp
Ma’an News Agency 9/4/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Dozens of right-wing Israeli settlers were arrested after attempting to place a mobile home near Shufat refugee camp in northern Jerusalem on Thursday. Israeli sources reported that the settlers were attempting to lay claim to the area, which lies on land Israel occupied in 1967. [end]
NCO who spied for Hizbullah jailed for 11 years
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 9/4/2008
Former Israeli NCO Louai Balut expresses regret at military court hearing after being convicted of passing sensitive information to Lebanese terror group. Despite severity of charges, judges hand down 11-year prison sentence - The Tel Aviv Military Court on Thursday sentenced First Sergeant Major Louai Balut to 11 years in prison after convicting him of spying for the Hizbullah terror organization. Balut was convicted of espionage and aiding the enemy while serving as tracker in the IDF Northern Command. The court also ordered he be discharged from the IDF. Balut, 35, resides in the village of Fasuta in the Upper Galilee. According to the indictment, from December 2007 to February 2008 Balut was in contact with a Lebanese citizen and Hizbullah operative known as Abu Hassan. In cellular telephone conversations between the two, Balut provided the. . . more.. e-mail
IDF court jails Israeli Arab tracker for spying for Hezbollah
Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 9/4/2008
A Tel Aviv military court on Thursday sentenced an Israeli Arab tracker in the Israel Defense Forces to 11 years jail time for spying for the Lebanese militia Hezbollah. The court convicted Sgt. Maj. Louai Balut, the army’s first Christian tracker, of giving the Shi’ite group sensitive military information and holding contact with a foreign agent while serving on Israel’s northern border. The material he handed Hezbollah agents pertained to the deployment of IDF forces. In addition to the jail time, the court also ordered Balut’s discharge from the army. The tracker protested during the trial that he was "no traitor and no spy. "Balut’s conviction was the result of a plea bargain, according to which the prosecution removed graver charges of treason and aiding the enemy in wartime. more.. e-mail
Israelis warned not to travel to Sinai
Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post 9/4/2008
Hizbullah has stepped up its efforts to kidnap Israelis in recent weeks, a top official in the Counter-Terrorism Bureau told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday, as a new travel advisory was issued warning Israelis not to travel to Sinai and southern Thailand. "Hizbullah wants to harm and mainly kidnap Israelis," said Brig. -Gen. (res. ) Elkana Har-Nof, a top official in the bureau. "The group has increased its efforts in recent weeks. " The bureau’s new travel advisory comes ahead of the High Holy Days later this month, when tens of thousands of Israelis are expected to travel abroad. Last month, the bureau issued a general travel advisory warning of Hizbullah’s plans to kidnap Israeli nationals in retaliation for the February assassination of arch-terrorist Imad Mughniyeh, which Hizbullah blames on the Mossad. more.. e-mail
VIDEO - New ’chameleon’ uniforms meant to boost IDF performance in different environments
Haaretz Staff and Channel 10, Ha’aretz 9/4/2008
The Israel Defense Forces is currently negotiating with an American company in a bid to acquire recently developed state-of-the-art camouflage uniforms. To improve readiness on both Israel’s northern and southern fronts, the IDF is seeking uniforms that can adapt to different physical surroundings and even seasons. T he U. S. Army developed the Chameleon Uniforms, following research on animal camouflage patterns, as a result of its presence in Afghanistan. Related articles: Four wheels and an electronic brain: Meet IDF’s newest soldierIDF to spend NIS 550 million on reservist units in coming year IDF to reestablish unit aimed at monitoring military telephones more.. e-mail
IDF spy for Hizbullah gets 11 jail years
Jpost.com Staff And Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post 9/4/2008
Sergeant Major Louis Balut, convicted of spying for Hizbullah during the Second Lebanon War, will spend 11 years in jail, an IDF Military court ruled on Thursday evening. Balut, the first Christian tracker in the IDF, was convicted of giving sensitive military information to Hizbullah and of holding contacts with a foreign agent between December 2007 and February 2008. The thirty-five year old father of three from Fassuta in the northern Galilee was not convicted on counts of treason and aiding the enemy in wartime, which appeared in the original indictment and for which he would have received far more serious punishment. Balut was convicted of giving the sensitive information to Hizbullah as part of a drug deal with three Lebanese people associated with the Islamist group. The court also ordered that Balut be expelled from the IDF. more.. e-mail
UN peacekeeper killed by IDF bomb from Second Lebanon War
Reuters, Ha’aretz 9/4/2008
A Belgian peacekeeper was killed on Wednesday while clearing cluster bombs that Israel dropped on southern Lebanon during its 2006 war with Hezbollah guerrillas, witnesses said. There are some 370 Belgian soldiers in the UN peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, that is helping the Lebanese army patrol a border zone in the south under a UN Security Council resolution mandate that ended the 34-day war. The witnesses said a second Belgian peacekeeper was lightly wounded. The chief of public information for UNIFIL, Neeraj Singh, confirmed that a peacekeeper had died but would not disclose his nationality. "A member of a UNIFIL explosive ordnance disposal team died from an explosion around midday today while carrying out an unexploded ordnance clearance recce mission in the vicinity of Aitaroun," he told. more.. e-mail
Israeli warplanes terrorize residents of Tyre
Daily Star 9/4/2008
TYRE: Six Israeli warplanes flew over South Lebanon and broke the sound barrier twice over the port city of Tyre on Wednesday, a security official said. "Six Israeli warplanes flew all over southern Lebanon and the city of Tyre at low altitude for more than an hour and broke the sound barrier twice over Tyre," the official told AFP. The overflight prompted scared shoppers to flee Tyre’s main market, witnesses said. Residents also poured on to the streets nervously watching the skies, little more than two years after the summer 2006 war with Israel devastated much of southern Lebanon, the correspondent added. There has been a mounting war of words between Hizbullah and Israel in recent weeks with the resistance leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah vowing to "destroy Israel" in any new conflict. For their part Israeli cabinet ministers have warned that Lebanon’s civilian infrastructure. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli forces seize ten Palestinians during West Bank raids
Ma’an News Agency 9/3/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli forces on Wednesday morning seized ten Palestinians during raids in the West Bank. According to Israeli sources, the arrestees were from Nablus and Qabatiya in the northern West Bank as well as Halhul in the southern West Bank. Palestinian security sources said that Israeli military vehicles invaded the old city of Nablus and forcibly searched several homes before they arrested 6 young men. The sources identified the arrestees as, 16-year-old Ra’id Hamdan, 17-year-old Nasr Mabroukah, 21-year-old Ramiz Jum’ah, 20-year-old Eyhab Al-Arboudi, his brother 23-year-old Tha’ir and 19-year-old Zahi Fatayir. [end]
Israeli violations increase during August in spite of 'official truce’
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 9/3/2008
The National and International Department in the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) issued a press release documenting the Israeli violations during the month of August. It stated that the Israeli army killed 2 Palestinians, shot and wounded 131, including 26 children, demolished 5 homes in addition to 22 patients that died in Gaza due to the ongoing Israeli siege. In its report, the department stated that soldiers shot and killed 18 year old Ahmad Younis Amira from Nil’in, a village near the central West Bank city of Ramallah. Amira was killed by a live round fired by an Israeli soldier while she joined hundreds of residents and peace activists in a protest against the Annexation Wall. Also, an Israeli contractor shot and killed a Palestinian youth working for him. Furthermore, soldiers shot and wounded 131 Palestinians, including 26 children, all in the month of August. more.. e-mail
Armed resistance in Gaza prepares for Israeli onslaught
PNN, Palestine News Network 9/3/2008
Gaza -- Recent Israeli threats against the Gaza Strip are intensifying. With the siege and random invasions ongoing, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is now making statements about further attacks. In light of this latest development, the Nasser Salah Addin Brigades, the armed resistance wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, announced on Wednesday that they would be ready. Preparations are underway in the Strip to confront any increase in Israeli aggression. They carried out maneuvers in the streets of Gaza City, practicing and reviewing fighting skills. Away from the crowds they fired weapons, hoping to not have a repeat of the deaths in both the northern Strip and Khan Younis caused by the stray bullets of training resistance groups. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights has issued numerous reports regarding deaths and injuries due to maneuvers such as this. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli military forces kidnap 7 civilians from several West Bank cities
Marina Ayyoub, International Middle East Media Center News 9/3/2008
Israeli troops invaded the West Bank cities of Nablus, Jenin, Tubas and Tulkarem at dawn, kidnapping 7 civilians on Wednesday, as reported by local sources. A number of Israeli military vehicles invaded the city of Nablus, positioning themselves in the streets and surrounding several houses. Troops searched and ransacked several houses before kidnapping 6 civilians, taking them to an unknown detention camp for investigation. The Israeli military claims that the 6 detainees are wanted for allegedly being members of the Palestinian armed resistance. In addition, Israeli troops invaded the West Bank city of Jenin and 3 nearby cities, kidnapping one civilian. Troops were centered in several streets in the area and shot sound bombs and heavy gun fire at random before surrounding a number of houses and kidnapping one civilian. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces seize Islamic Jihad fighter in Qabatiya
Ma’an News Agency 9/3/2008
Jenin – Ma’an Israeli forces on Wednesday arrested an Islamic Jihad activist in the northern West Bank town of Qabatiya, Islamic Jihad sources said. “Dozens of Israeli military vehicles raided the town and launched a search campaign allegedly looking for wanted activists affiliated to the Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades. Then, the invading forces apprehended ShadiZakarnah after they ransacked his family home,” the forces said. “Israeli forces also stormed several Islamic leaders’ homes, damaging their contents,” the sources added. They explained that armed confrontations broke out between Israeli forces and Al-Quds Brigades sections in different parts of Qabatiya. [end]
Shooting reported near governor’s home in Salfit
Ma’an News Agency 9/3/2008
Nablus – Ma’an – Gunmen opened fire near the home of the governor of the West Bank district of Salfit on Wednesday, witnesses said. Governor Munir Al-Abboushi said, “A gunman opened fire 500 meters away from my house near an Israeli watchtower without any casualties. ”He said earlier reports that his house had come under direct attack were false. He added that that Palestinian security forces searched the area and found ammunition cartridges and opened an investigation. [end]
Palestine Today 090308
IMEMC News - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 9/3/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 3 m 30s || 3. 20 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org for Tuesday September 3, 2008. Israeli troops storm a number of West Bank cities, rounding up 7 Palestinians while in Gaza, Israeli authorities deny International activists passage out of the Gaza Strip, these stories and more are coming up, stay tuned. The News Cast The frequent Israeli military offensives against Palestinian cities, towns, villages and refugee camps in the occupied West Bank today, resulted in the detention of seven Palestinians from Jenin, Nablus and Tulkarem. Witnesses said that scores of Israeli military vehicles swept into the said areas earlier at dawn and that the soldiers ransacked and searched residents’ homes, rounding up and taking the seven residents to unknown destinations. more.. e-mail
UNIFIL soldier killed by cluster bomb
Reuters, YNetNews 9/3/2008
Belgian peacekeeper clearing bomblets in southern Lebanon dies after charge explodes, another lightly wounded - A Belgian peacekeeper was killed on Wednesday while clearing cluster bombs that Israel dropped on southern Lebanon during the Second Lebanon War in 2006. There are some 370 Belgian soldiers in the UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL, which is helping the Lebanese army patrol a border zone in the south under UN Security Council Resolution 1701. The witnesses said a second Belgian peacekeeper was lightly wounded. The chief of public information for UNIFIL, Neeraj Singh, confirmed that a peacekeeper had died but would not disclose his nationality. "A member of a UNIFIL explosive ordnance disposal team died from an explosion around midday today while carrying out an unexploded ordnance clearance mission in the vicinity of Aitaroun," he told. more.. e-mail
Attack victim returns to Jerusalem yeshiva
Kobi Nahshoni, YNetNews 9/3/2008
Naftali Sheetrit, who was critically injured in Mercaz Harav shooting, greeted in moving ceremony half a year after bloody attack. ’This is our greatest revenge,’ says yeshiva source - Six months after the massacre in Mercaz Harav yeshiva’s library, the last attack victim returned Tuesday to a nearby seminary for juveniles. Naftali Sheetrit, 14, who was critically injured in the bloody attack, was hospitalized for months at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, and is now in the midst of a long rehabilitation process. The yeshiva’s staff, the rabbis and Naftali’s fellow students greeted him at the seminary in a moving ceremony attended by his parents, the paramedic who attended to him that night, Yitzhak Dadon who killed the terrorist, and ZAKA Chairman Yehuda Meshi Zahav, who identified the bodies of the eight students killed in the attack. more.. e-mail
Police open fire on Palestinian bulldozer driver
Jerusalem Post 9/2/2008
In the wake of two bulldozer terror attacks in Jerusalem in recent months, police opened fire at a Palestinian man who tried to escape on a tractor on Tuesday afternoon near Modi’in. The Palestinian man did not heed to the calls of the policemen asking him to stop, and tried to drive away on his tractor. The policeman apparently felt threatened when the man raised the tractor’s bucket and fled from the scene, and shot at the escaping tractor’s wheels. Army Radio reported that the incident appeared to be criminal and not terror-related. The Palestinian, who was caught driving negligently, did not stop the tractor when instructed to do so, but rather tried to flee from the area while raising the construction vehicle’s bucket. From the initial investigation it appears that man was afraid of being arrested as he did not have the necessary legal documentation to work in Israel, and was trying to escape back into the West Bank. more.. e-mail
Palestinian arrested after fleeing with stolen tractor
Eli Senyor, YNetNews 9/2/2008
Police fire several shots at bulldozer near Modi’in for fear of another terror attack; driver not injured, apprehended. Incident not terror-related -Police officers opened fire at a Palestinian who stole a tractor near Modi’in Tuesday afternoon. The man, who was not injured in the incident, was eventually caught and taken into custody. A police spokeswoman said the incident was not terror-related. Hadas, a Modi’in resident who witnessed the chase told Ynet "We stopped at a red light near the Shilat junction and suddenly saw a tractorheading toward a small jeep, whose driver was trying to dodge it. Then a police squad car stopped in the middle of the road; the tractor’s driver proceeded to make a u-turn on a traffic island, attempted to flee the scene and then came to a stop. "A police officer then stepped out of his vehicle and fired a few shots at the tractor," she recounted. more.. e-mail
Israeli terror plot suspects charged
Jerusalem Post 9/2/2008
Two Israelis who were arrested by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) in August for allegedly setting up an Islamic Jihad cell near Ramallah and planning to assassinate air force pilots and scientists were indicted on Tuesday. Anis Zfori, a 20-year-old student at Bir Zeit University north of Ramallah, and Husam Halili, a 19-year-old who studies in Jordan, are both residents of the Western Galilee town of Shfaram. Zfori was charged with aiding the enemy during a time of war, conspiracy to assist the enemy, membership in an illegal organization and conspiracy to commit murder. His cousin, Halili, was charged with transferring money to the Islamic Jihad. In August, the pair had confessed to contacting Islamic Jihad’s headquarters in Syria and to raising funds to buy weapons. The cell allegedly underwent training and planned a shooting attack on an IDF. . . more.. e-mail
2 Israeli Arabs indicted for Jihad plot to kill pilots, scientists
Jack Khoury, Ha’aretz 9/2/2008
Prosecutors on Tuesday indicted two Israeli Arabs for a series of grave security offences including forming an Islamic Jihad cell and planning to assassinate Israeli pilots, scientists and university professors. The pair are Shfaram residents Anis Sappori, 20, who studies communications at Bir Zeit University in Ramallah, and Hussam Khalil, 19, who studies electrical engineering in Jordan. They reportedly attempted to contact Islamic Jihad operatives in Syria, with the intent of receiving money and expertise in order to help them carry out terror attacks in Israel. The two suspects used the internet to find the names of physics professors at Israeli universities, and proposed using remote operated car bombs to kill them. The two also planned to carry out attacks on Israeli pilots, telling investigators that they wanted to take revenge for Israel Air Force operations in the Gaza Strip. more.. e-mail
Israeli Arab who planned assassinations indicted
Ahiya Raved, YNetNews 9/2/2008
State files grave charges against Shfaram’s Anis Saffouri, thought to be behind plot targeting Israeli pilots, scientists -The State Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday filed indictment against Anis Saffouri, 20, of Shfaram for allegedly plotting terror acts against Israeli Air Force pilots and various scientists. TheIslamic Jihad cell’s assassination plot was exposed in a joint IDF, Shin Bet and police operation, last week. The indictment against Saffouri further listed counts of aiding and abetting an enemy at war, membership in an illegal organization, contacting a foreign agent, raising funds for terror activities, forming a terror cell, conspiracy to kidnap, conspiracy to commit murder and various weapons charges. Security-Related AffairIslamic Jihad suspects deny allegations/ Court extends remand of two Israeli Arabs suspected of planning to assassinate Israeli pilots, scientists. more.. e-mail
Rightists try to block roads in protest of settler eviction warrants; 50 detained
Eli Senyor, YNetNews 9/2/2008
Dozens of right-wing activists attempt to hold protest rally outside Central Command chief’s Reut home; large police forces block their path -Dozens of right-wing activists were detained Tuesday afternoon for attempting to hold an illegal demonstration in front of the home of IDF Central Command Chief Maj. -Gen. Gadi Shamni in Reut, near Modi’in. Shamni recently issued three restraining orders against settlers residing in the West Bank settlements of Yitzhar and Adi-Ad, banning them from the area pending the conclusion of the upcoming Palestinian olive harvest. The protest did not receive prior police approval and was therefore considered illegal. Large police forces have boosted security around Shamni’s home in the past few hours, and major traffic arteries in the area were blockedto prevent more protesters from approaching. more.. e-mail
Right-wing Reut rally-goers arrested
Tovah Lazaroff And Yaakov Lappin, Jerusalem Post 9/3/2008
Some right-wing 50 activists were detained Tuesday night at the Modi’in police station for their involvement in a rally at Reut to protest the temporary eviction of three settlers from the West Bank in advance of the olive harvest season. OC Central Command Maj. -Gen. Gadi Shamni issued the restraining orders against the three settlers, who the IDF said were provocateurs. On Tuesday evening, right-wing activists had planned a rally in Reut in front of Shamni’s home in defense of the three, who they say were innocent of any wrongdoing and should not be kept away from their homes. But many of the activists were stopped by police en-route and never made it to the rally. Police said they detained the activists before their arrival at the rally as well as those at the event itself on the grounds that they were participating in an illegal demonstration. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 090208
IMEMC News - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 9/2/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 3 m 30s || 3. 20 MB || Palestine Today Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org for Tuesday September 2, 2008. Israel beefs up police presence in Jerusalem on the second day of Ramadan, and the Gaza siege continues, these stories and more coming up, stay tuned. The News Cast The deposed Palestinian Ministry of Health of the ruling Hamas party in Gaza announced on Tuesday that the death toll of patients, dying for being denied access abroad for medical treatment is increasing on daily basis. The ministry called on all concerned parties to intervene immediately for lifting the Israeli blockade on Gaza, which has been in place for more than 14 months. In the West Bank, Israeli troops took prisoner two brothers in Al-Fawwar refugee camp near the southern city of Hebron. more.. e-mail
Fearing terrorist attack, cop fires at Palestinian who stole tractor in Modi’in
Roni Singer-Heruti, Ha’aretz 9/2/2008
A police officer on Tuesday fired at a Palestinian man who stole a tractor from a work site and was driving recklessly at a high speed near the entrance to the city of Modi’in. The police officer noticed the tractor driving at a high speed near the entrance to the city and when he and a police volunteer ordered the driver to halt. The driver refused and attempted to hit the police volunteer with the shovel of the tractor. In response, the police officer shot at the tractor’s wheels, causing a puncture and bringing the vehicle to a halt. The officer and the volunteer then managed to pull the driver from the tractor and place him under arrest. Police suspect the driver was a Palestinian from the West Bank who wanted to steal the tractor. They do not believe that he was intending to carry out a terrorist attack. more.. e-mail
Israeli police fire on Palestinian who ’attempted to steal tractor’
Ma’an News Agency 9/2/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli police officers opened fire at a Palestinian who reportedly attempted to steal a construction vehicle near the Israeli town of Modi’in on Tuesday afternoon. According to Israeli media, the driver of the tractor was arrested after the run-away bulldozer sparked fears of a violent attack. An Israeli police spokeswoman said the incident was “not terror-related. ”No one was injured. Three people were killed on 1 July when a construction worker drove a bulldozer off a construction site in Jerusalem. Another bulldozer driver was shot dead on July 22 in what appeared to be another attack in Jerusalem. [end]
Cars allowed into Rachel’s Tomb area for first time in years
Nadav Shragai, Ha’aretz 9/2/2008
Israeli security authorities opened the Rachel’s Tomb compound to private car traffic Monday, in response to pressure from rightist MKs and groups, after years in which only bulletproof buses were allowed into the area surrounding the shrine, located on the outskirts of the West Bank town of Bethlehem. However, despite widespread requests, for the time being, entering the compound on foot remains prohibited for the time being. The arrangement is to be in effect on a trial basis for a month, at which time it may be extended. The decision was made jointly by the police and the Border Police,following a directive by Public Security Minister Avi Dichter, and after lobbying by a number of groups acting together to press for the new arrangement. Among them were right-wing Nation Union-National Religious Party MK Uri Ariel and ultra-Orthodox. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli naval vessels shoot and wound two fishermen in Gaza
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 9/1/2008
The Israeli naval vessels shot and wounded today two Palestinian fishermen, while on board fishing on the northern Gaza coast of Sudaniya. Medical sources reported that Hussam Assultan, 32, was hit in head and that his injury was described as critical, while Mohammad Ani Assultan, 19, was hit with shrapnel onto his body. The said shooting on Gaza coast comes amidst a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian factions, Cairo brokered on June19, 2008. Recently, many of such factions have warned of possible collapse of the ceasefire due to what they say ’Israeli breaches’. Gaza’s coast, according to Oslo accords of 1993, can be used by Palestinians within 12 nautical miles, yet Israel has grossly tightened restrictions on movement of Palestinian boats since June2007, as the Islamic Hamas party took over the coastal region. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 090108
George Rishmawi Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 9/1/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 4 m 0s || 3. 66 MB ||Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org for Monday September 1, 2008. As the first day of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan starts, Israeli soldiers are ordered not to eat or smoke on checkpoints, meanwhile, Israeli gunboats open fire at Palestinian fishermen, these stories and more coming up, stay tuned. The News Cast As the Month of Ramadan starts in Palestine today during which Moslems fast during the daylight and eat after the sunset, Palestinian media sources quoted Israeli reports that the Israeli soldiers, manning the checkpoints in the West Bank have been ordered not to eat or smoke in front of Palestinians passing by the checkpoints. This is the first time soldiers are asked to maintain such behavior during Ramadan. more.. e-mail
15-year-old arrested at Huwwara checkpoint
Ma’an News Agency 9/1/2008
Nablus – Ma’an – Israeli forces arrested a Palestinian boy at the Huwwara checkpoint south of the West Bank city of Nablus on Monday afternoon after he reportedly attempted to stab an Israeli soldier. Fifteen-year-old Ahmad ‘Aref Mohammed Saleh Hamayel was arrested. Local sources in the village of Beita, Hamayel’s home, denied reports that he had been carrying a knife. According to sources in the village, Hamayel left for school on Monday morning and never returned. Hamayel is in the 10th grade. The boy’s relatives appealed to the Palestinian Authority and humanitarian organizations to intervene with the Israeli side in order to release their son. [end]
PA: Israeli forces seized 56 Palestinians, injured 10 last week
Ma’an News Agency 9/1/2008
Ramallah - Ma’an - Israeli forces detained 56 Palestinians last week and injured ten, the Palestinian minister of interior, Riyad Al-Maliki said. Al-Maliki made the announcement at a press conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday. Israeli forces invade West Bank cities nightly to arrest Palestinians. [end]
Palestinian seriously wounded in Ni’lin
Jerusalem Post 9/1/2008
Ayed Sroor, 40, was critically wounded by the IDF early Monday morning when soldiers entered his family’s home to arrest his brother in the Palestinian village of Ni’lin, outside of Modi’in Illit. Ni’lin has been the site of numerous anti-fence demonstrations in the last few months, many of which have turned violent. The IDF said Ayed’s brother, Aqal Sadeq Sroor, was suspected of throwing a smoke grenade at security forces during one of those demonstration and the IDF had come to his home to arrest him. Once inside the home, the army said that Ayed went wild and was promptly put in a room to calm him down. As soldiers left the home with Aqal Sadeq, his brother Ayed came out of the room swearing, according to the IDF. He shouted "Allah Huakhbar" ("God is great") and tried to grab a gun from one of the soldiers. more.. e-mail
Israel allows private cars into Rachel’s Tomb compound in Bethlehem
Ma’an News Agency 9/1/2008
Bethlehem- Ma’an – Israeli authorities opened the Rachel’s Tomb compound near Bethlehem to private cars for the first time in years on Monday. Until Monday, the tourist destinationwas accessible only by armored bus from the Israeli side of the separation wall. The Israeli barrier snakes into the middle of a Bethlehem neighborhood in order to isolate it on the western side of the wall. The decision was reportedly made under pressure by right-wing members of the Israeli Knesset, including Nation Union-National Religious Party MK Uri Ariel and ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism MK Meir Porush, former rightist MK Hanan Porat. Entering the compound on foot is still prohibited. more.. e-mail
Map: Zionist colonies in Palestine, 1920
Palestine Think Tank 8/25/2008
more.. e-mail
Diplomacy
Pentagon approves sale of F-35 fighter jets to Israel
Jerusalem Post 10/1/2008
The US Department of Defense has approved the sale of 25 F-35 stealth-enabled Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) to the Israeli Air Force (IAF), Israel Radio reported Tuesday evening. According to the report, the deal is valued at $15. 2 billion and includes an option to buy 50 additional bombers in the coming years. Each plane is estimated to cost between $70 million and $80m and will be equipped with F-135 or F-136 engines by the IAF. The report quoted a Pentagon official saying that the sale of the stealth jets to Israel was essential to American national interests and was meant to ensure that Israel maintained its qualitative edge over armies of neighboring countries. A department in the Pentagon responsible for cooperation with foreign powers reportedly relayed a message to Congress announcing the approval of the deal, where it is expected to be confirmed within 30 days, before the November 4 US presidential elections. more.. e-mail
Federal judge upholds right of U.S. terror victims in Israel to sue PLO
The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 10/1/2008
The Palestine Liberation Organization cannot win dismissal of a lawsuit by victims of bombings in Israel by claiming the attacks were acts of war rather than terrorism, an American judge ruled Tuesday. District Judge George Daniels said the 2004 lawsuit on behalf of victims and their families can proceed toward trial. It seeks up to $3 billion in damages from attacks between January 2001 and February 2004. The lawsuit alleges that the PLO carried out the attacks to pressure the United States and Israel to submit to its demands and to terrorize, intimidate and coerce the civilian population of Israel into acquiescing to its political goals. Daniels rejected the PLO’s argument that two machine-gun attacks and five bombings were acts of war. The Jerusalem-area incidents killed 33 people and wounded hundreds, including scores of U. more.. e-mail
Olmert: Israel should quit most occupied land
Reuters, YNetNews 9/30/2008
’We should withdraw from almost all of the territories, including in east Jerusalem and in the Golan Heights,’ PM tells Yedioth Ahronoth in special Rosh Hashana interview. Palestinian FM: We wish we had heard this personal opinion before he resigned -Israel should withdraw from nearly all territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war in return for peace with the Palestinians and Syria, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was quoted on Monday as telling a newspaper. Olmert, in a caretaker role since quitting on September 21, said he was breaking new ground in calling for a broad pullback from the occupied West Bank, where Palestinians hope to establish a state, and in the annexed Golan Heights, which Syria wants back "(I am saying) what no previous Israeli leader has ever said: we should withdraw from almost all of the territories, including in east Jerusalem. . . " more.. e-mail
U.S.: Brief Talks with Syria Spur Speculation
Jim Lobe, Inter Press Service 10/1/2008
WASHINGTON, Sep 30(IPS) - A series of meetings between U. S. and Syrian diplomats, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her counterpart, Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, at the United Nations over the past week is stirring speculation that Washington may at last be moving toward engaging Damascus. Instead of focusing on specific issues of special interest to the U. S. -- mainly Washington’s demands that Syria crack down hard against the infiltration of Sunni extremists into Iraq and stop supplying Hezbollah in Lebanon -- the discussions also reportedly covered other topics as well, notably Damascus’s appeals for Washington to involve directly itself in a burgeoning peace process between Syria and Israel. Both Damascus and Tel Aviv have called for U. S. engagement as a way of furthering year-old indirect talks that have been mediated by the Turkish government. more.. e-mail
Report: Syria FM met with Rice in NY last week
Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 9/30/2008
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moualem met with U. S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in New York last weekend, according to an interview with Moualem published Tuesday in the Wall Street Journal. According to the report, Moualem and Rice met Friday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, and the Syrian foreign minister had more detailed talks with U. S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch. A State Department official told the Wall Street Journal that the U. S. discussed its support for Israel-Syria peace talks, and also used the meet to air its grievances with Syria, including Damascus’s hand in the security situations in Lebanon, Iraq, as well as the West Bank and Gaza. Moualem is quoted as saying the talks represent "good progress in the American position," and said Syria vows to "continue this dialogue. more.. e-mail
’Rice satisfied by Syria-Israel talks’
Jpost.com Staff, Jerusalem Post 9/30/2008
In what may be a sign that the recent hardline American position towards Syria is softening, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem met with US Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice last week, and with Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch on Monday to discuss various issues concerning the region, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. According to the report, Rice and Moallem held brief talks on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. Moallem then had a more detailed meeting with Welch a few days later. "[Rice] expressed her satisfaction with the situation moving forward in Lebanon, also about the indirect talks between Syria and Israel," the Syrian foreign minister told the paper in an interview on Monday. "She said they support these talks and they are ready to assist. more.. e-mail
Assad: Relations with Iran to continue even if peace with Israel achieved
Ali Waked, YNetNews 9/30/2008
Wall Street Journal reports senior American, Syrian diplomats held series of meetings in New York. Syrian president says relations with Tehran to persist even if peace with Israel achieved. FM Moallem tells daily most important thing is ’to have the political will to achieve peace based on land-for-peace’ -The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that senior American and Syrian diplomats held a series of meetings in New York over the past week, in what the New-York-based daily said was "a sign of a potential thaw between the US and a country that President George W. Bush has alleged is a principal sponsor of international terrorism. " PM’s VisionOlmert: Israel should quit most occupied land/ Reuters ’We should withdraw from almost all of the territories, including in east Jerusalem and in the Golan Heights,’ PM tells Yedioth Ahronoth in special Rosh Hashana interview. more.. e-mail
In a lengthy interview with Yedioth Ahronoth, Olmert outlines his 'vision’ of the Middle East
Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 9/30/2008
Several hours after he announced his resignation, outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave a lengthy interview to the Israeli Newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, in which he said that Israel must withdraw from most of the Occupied Palestinian Territories and compensate the Palestinians for the remainder of the Israeli-occupied land, in addition to trying to achieve a peace agreementwith Syria. Highlights of the statements made by Olmert in the interview:-Syria knows the price of peace; that’s why the nation is ending its relations with Iran. -Iran is a powerful country, the international community must counter its nuclear program. -Israel must withdraw from most of the Palestinian territories, and compensate the Palestinians for remaining lands we will keep. -Any Israeli leader who wants to keep Arab neighborhoods as part of Jerusalem, mustallow the entry of 270. more.. e-mail
Olmert: It’s time to withdraw from East Jerusalem, Golan Heights
Ma’an News Agency 9/30/2008
Bethlehem - Ma’an - Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told members of the Israeli press on Tuesday that withdrawing from East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights would be necessary to achieve peace. In an interview with Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Aharonoth, Olmert said Israel "has no choice" but to "withdraw from the most decisive areas of the territories. " "In exchange for the same territories left in our hands, we will have to give compensation in the form of territories within the State of Israel," he said. The latest comments highlight the outgoing prime minister’s escalating interest in achieving some sort of agreement before he leaves office. Olmert also noted that achieving peace with Syria would almost undoubtedly require giving up the Golan Heights, which Israel has occupied since 1967. "I’d like to see if there is one serious person in the State of Israel. . . more.. e-mail
Israel will have to reinstate pre-1967 border for peace deal, Olmert admits
Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem, The Independent 9/30/2008
The outgoing Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert, has publicly acknowledged for the first time that "almost all" of the territory seized during the Six-Day War in 1967 will have to be given back in return for peace with the Palestinians. In an interview with Israel’s biggest-selling newspaper, Yedhiot Ahronot, in which he underlined the urgent need for an agreement to be reached while the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas remains in office, Mr Olmert warned that the alternative was "the very great danger that there will be a bloody clash, which will thwart any possibility of continuing negotiations". Declaring that "what I am saying. . . has not been said by any Israeli leader before me", Mr Olmert also went further than any member of his government in laying down some of the minimum requirements he believes he, or his successor will need to fulfil if there is to be a deal with Mr Abbas. more.. e-mail
MIDEAST: Final Hours Find Newly Conciliatory Olmert
Ali Gharib, Inter Press Service 10/1/2008
WASHINGTON, Sep 29(IPS) - In an interview with a newspaper on the eve of the Jewish holidays, outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave a frank assessment of the concessions that Israel would have to give to achieve a lasting peace with its neighbours. Olmert told the Israeli daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth that Israel would need to end its 41-year occupation of the West Bank and also give up most of its territory in East Jerusalem to the 270,000 Palestinians who live there. The comments come as Olmert is on his way out of office. Olmert resigned just over a week ago facing pressure from an ongoing corruption probe. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was chosen as his successor to lead the centre-right Kadima party. As she attempts to put together a coalition, Olmert remains on as the head of a caretaker government. more.. e-mail
Olmert: Israel has to return occupied lands to achieve peace
Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem, The Guardian 9/30/2008
The Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said his country would have to withdraw from "almost all" the land it captured in the 1967 war and divide Jerusalem in order to agree long-awaited peace deals with the Palestinians and Syria. His comments came in a newspaper interview ahead of the Jewish new year but days after his resignation. He remains in his post as a caretaker prime minister, but is thought unlikely to be able to follow through with any of his proposals. In the interview with Nahum Barnea and Shimon Shiffer, two senior political columnists for Yedioth Ahronoth, Olmert talked about peace with the Palestinians and the Syrians, as well as continuing to maintain his innocence over a series of high-profile corruption investigations, which forced him to step down. more.. e-mail
US Consul congratulates Palestinian Muslims at start of Eid Al-Fitr
Ma’an News Agency 9/30/2008
Jerusalem - Ma’an - The US Consulate in Jerusalem congratulated Muslims in Palestine on Tuesday, the first day of the annual Eid Al-Fitr celebrations. "I would like to send my warm congratulations to the Palestinian people celebrating Eid Al-Fitr," US Consul General Jacob Walles wrote in an open letter to the Palestinian people on Tuesday. "This is my fourth Ramadan here in Jerusalem among my friends, the Palestinians. The fact is that I feel humbled by their reception and by so many invitations by Palestinian families to share in their Ramadan nights and activities. Their values of humility, reflection and charity - that are the fundamental meaning of Ramadan - are also the universal values that are appreciated and respected by all. " "As millions of American Muslims and non-Muslims across the United States celebrate during the holy month of Ramadan," the consul also sent "the best of wishes for Palestinians celebreating Eid. more.. e-mail
Israel to purchase 25 new Lockheed jets
Reuters, YNetNews 9/30/2008
US Government approves $15. 2 billion sale of Joint Strike Fighter aircrafts, with option for 50 more in coming years; pentagon explains deal is vital for US assistance in Israel’s development of ’strong self-defense capability’ -The US Government on Tuesday said it approved the sale to Israel of 25 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft built by Lockheed Martin Corp and an option for 50 more in coming years - a deal valued at up to $15. 2 billion. The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), which oversees major arms sales, said the deal is vital to US national security interests to assist Israel as it develops and maintains "a strong and ready self-defense capability. " Israel needs the aircraft to enhance its air-to-air and air-to-ground defense, the agency said. The DSCA notified Congress about the proposed arms sale before lawmakers head back to their districts for the November election. more.. e-mail
U.S. approves sale to Israel of 25 F-35 fighter jets
Reuters, Ha’aretz 10/1/2008
The U. S. government on Tuesday said it approved the sale to Israel of 25 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft built by Lockheed Martin Corp and an option for 50 more in coming years - a deal valued at up to 15. 2 billion Euros. The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), which oversees major arms sales, said the deal is vital to U. S. national security interests to assist Israel as it develops and maintains "a strong and ready self-defense capability. " Israel needs the aircraft to enhance its air-to-air and air-to-ground defense, the agency said. The DSCA notified Congress about the proposed arms sale before lawmakers head back to their districts for the November election. Lawmakers now have 30 days to block the sales, but such action is rare, since the agreements are usually carefully vetted beforehand. more.. e-mail
McCain camp: Claim that Palin endorsed Hamas is ’libel’
Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 9/30/2008
"Yeah, well especially in that region, though, we have to protect those who do seek democracy and support those who seek protections for the people who live there. "- A representative of the McCain campaign on Monday accused a blogger on the Atlantic website of ’slander’ in response to a blog on the website entitled "Palin endorses Hamas. "The blog mocked McCain running mate Sarah Palin’s difficulty answering a question from Katie Couric, in which she gave a sweeping endorsement of democracy in the Middle East. Michael Goldfarb of the McCain campaign issued a statement to the Atlantic Monthly on Monday saying "Governor Palin did no such thing, and your title is nothing short of slander. Having read your work for some time I doubt that you believe Hamas qualifies as "those who seek democracy. "That you would put those words in Governor Palin’s mouth is libel. " more.. e-mail
McCain’s pander to Jewish voters
Richard Silverstein, The Guardian 9/30/2008
I swear that Howard Kohr, the executive director of Aipac, must have been briefing John McCain for the presidential debate against Barack Obama last week. The pro-Israel lobbying group has been shreying for years about the "existential threat" posed to Israel by Iran. And so McCain seemed to be reading from the Aipac script when he warned: If Iran acquires nuclear weapons, it is an existential threat to the state of Israel and to other countries in the region because the other countries in the region will feel [a] compelling requirement to acquire nuclear weapons as well. Now we cannot [allow] a second Holocaust. Let’s just make that very clear. "Existential threat to the state of Israel"? Check. "Second Holocaust"? Double check. He’s following those talking points right down the line. Good boy, John. They’ll be some cheques in the mail come Monday. more.. e-mail
Olmert: West Bank, East Jerusalem price of peace
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 9/30/2008
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel must give up almost the entire Occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem as the price for peace with the Palestinians, in an interview published on Monday. "What I am saying to you now has not been said by any Israeli leader before me," Olmert told the Yediot Ahronot in what was widely seen as the political testament of an outgoing leader left with only limited powers. "We have to reach an agreement with the Palestinians, the meaning of which is that in practice we will withdraw from almost all the territories, if not all the territories," said Olmert, who heads a transitional government following his September 21 resignation. "We will leave a percentage of these territories in our hands, but will have to give the Palestinians a similar percentage, because without that there will be no peace," he said. more.. e-mail
Israel’s settlements, intransigence, lack of good faith threatening Annapolis process, risking Middle East peace, Saudi Arabia tells Security Council
United Nations Security Council, ReliefWeb 9/26/2008
Palestinian Authority Says Impossible to Rationalize Talks amid Settlement Activity; Israel Says Attacks, Threats on Ground, Not Settlements, Impeding Peace - Continued Israeli settlement activity threatened the Annapolis peace process, and Israel’s intransigence and lack of good faith on the issue compounded the already difficult Middle East problem, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia told Security Council members, including 10 Foreign Ministers today, as it met at his request to consider the situation. Saud Al-Faisal said the settlements were changing the demographics of the Palestinian territories and were clearly in contradiction to international agreements. They made it virtually impossible to establish a future Palestinian State or to convince Palestinians of the possibility of peace. more.. e-mail
Returning pilgrims to pass through Egyptian border
PNN, Palestine News Network 9/29/2008
Rafah - Egypt is slated to open the Rafah crossing immediately after Eid al-Fitr to facilitate the return of Palestinian pilgrims to the Gaza Strip. Egyptian border sources say they expect some 1,300 Palestinians to cross after trips to Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. The Gaza Strip has been under Israeli siege for approximately two years with commercial crossings frequently closed and passengers traffic not allowed to move. The border crossing with Egypt is the only recourse although it is more often that not also closed. Some view the Egyptian government as being in collusion with the occupation authorities while others point out that Egypt has no real control after the Palestinian Authority signed the crossings agreement in 2005. Students trapped in the Strip after last weeks two-day opening that was cut short on Sunday appealed to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak asking. . . more.. e-mail
UNRWA and AAAID cooperate to help poor Palestine refugees in Gaza and Lebanon
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in, ReliefWeb 9/28/2008
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development (AAAID) are cooperating again to help poor Palestine refuges in Gaza and Lebanon. Today, UNRWA’s Commissioner-General Ms. Karen Koning AbuZayd has signed three agreements with AAAID’s President, H. E. Mr. Abdul Kareem Al-Amri. The ceremony took place in Dubai. The first agreement of US$ 2 million will help UNRWA create jobs mainly related to agriculture and fishery in Gaza. The number of beneficiaries directly supported by this funding is 2,312 who will in turn support approximately 11,560 dependents AAAID is also assisting UNRWA with the reconstruction of houses belonging to extreme poor in South Lebanon, those would could not otherwise afford a decent place to live. The Arab Authority is donating US$ 250,000 towards this project. more.. e-mail
Bibi: I’ll resume settlement activity
Jerusalem Post 9/29/2008
Binyamin Netanyahu will resume building in existing West Bank settlements if he is elected prime minister, the opposition leader told Walla! News on Sunday. "I don’t understand why there can be natural growth in Arab neighborhoods, but not in Jewish neighborhoods," he said. "There is a difference between the plans of a family that has more children and wants to close off its balcony and the building of additional neighborhoods. There is no reason why there shouldn’t be development of existing [Jewish] neighborhoods. " The opposition leader reiterated that there was currently no chance of a peace deal with the Palestinian Authority and therefore, the only option was an economic arrangement. He said that after such an agreement had been kept properly, a peace deal could be examined. Nevertheless, in recent closed conversations, Netanyahu has stated that in any peace deal, he would not evacuate Jewish neighborhoods. more.. e-mail
Olmert: Israel must quit East Jerusalem and Golan
Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 9/30/2008
Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in remarks published Monday that Israel would have to withdraw from East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights if it was serious about making peace with the Palestinians and Syria. In an interview with the Yedioth Aharonoth daily, Olmert said that as a hard-line politician for decades he had not been prepared to look at reality in all of its depth. "Ariel Sharon spoke about painful costs and refused to elaborate," Olmert told the daily. "I say, we have no choice but to elaborate. In the end of the day, we will have to withdraw from the most decisive areas of the territories. In exchange for the same territories left in our hands, we will have to give compensation in the form of territories within the State of Israel. ""I think we are very close to an agreement," Olmert added. more.. e-mail
Olmert: Israel must hand back land for peace with Palestinians and Syria
Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem, The Guardian 9/29/2008
The outgoing prime minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert, has said his country will have to withdraw from "almost all" the land it captured in the 1967 war and divide Jerusalem in order to agree long-awaited peace deals with the Palestinians and Syria. His comments, which were unusually far-reaching for an Israeli leader, came in an interview with an Israeli newspaper ahead of the Jewish new year and days after his resignation. He remains in his post in a caretaker capacity and is thought unlikely to be able to follow through with any of the proposals he has made. In the long interview with two senior political columnists at the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Olmert talked about peace with the Palestinians and Syria. His comments, which were unusually far-reaching for an Israeli leader, came in an interview with an Israeli newspaper ahead of the Jewish new year and days after his resignation. He remains in his post in a caretaker capacity and is thought unlikely to be able to follow through with any of the proposals he has made. more.. e-mail
Olmert: We must leave most of W. Bank
Jpost.com Staff And Ap, Jerusalem Post 9/29/2008
Israel will have to give up virtually all of the West Bank and east Jerusalem if it wants peace with the Palestinians, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a farewell interview published Monday, saying Israel faced a stark choice and needed to make a decision soon. Olmert also said Israel would have to leave the Golan Heights in order to obtain peace with Syria. The comments were the clearest sign to date of Olmert’s willingness to meet the Palestinians’ demands, but their significance was uncertain, since Olmert’s days in office are numbered and peace negotiations will soon become the responsibility of a different Israeli leader. More than anything, the interview marked Olmert’s transformation from a vocal hard-liner who for decades opposed any territorial concessions to the Palestinians to a leader whose views are virtually identical to those of the dovish politicians he once pilloried. more.. e-mail
Olmert advocates Israeli pullouts
Al Jazeera 9/29/2008
Ehud Olmert, Israel’s outgoing prime minister, has said that Israel will have to leave much of east Jerusalem and allow Palestinians to form a state equal in size to the area of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In an interview with the Yediot Ahronot newspaper, published on Monday, Olmert also said that peace with Syria would require withdrawal from the Golan Heights. "[I am saying] what no previous Israeli leader has ever said: we should withdraw from almost all of the territories, including in East Jerusalem and in the Golan Heights," he was quoted as saying. Olmert resigned on September 21 amid corruption allegations and will officially step down once a new government has been formed. Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, agreed at a meeting in the United States last November to push for a comprehensive peace deal before the end of the year. more.. e-mail
Outgoing Israeli PM: Israel should withdraw from Jerusalem’s Arab neighborhoods
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 9/29/2008
Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stated yesterday that Israel should reach an agreement with Palestinians and Syrians, encouraging Israel to withdraw from Arab neighborhoods in the occupied east Jerusalem. In an interview published Monday with the Israeli daily Yediout Ahronot, Olmert declared that there was still a room for a solution, making clear that he has been wrong in past years when believed that Israel could wrest control in all parts of Jerusalem. On the Syrian-Israeli track, the outgoing premiere said that contact with Damascus has remained secret and that a potential agreement with Syria could prove risky. He also believed that any peace deal with Syria should include an Israeli withdrawal from the Syrian Golan Heights, which Israel occupied along with the east Jerusalem in June 4, 1967. more.. e-mail
Parting wisdom
Ian Black, The Guardian 9/29/2008
It’s not clear why anyone should bother listening to Ehud Olmert any more: Israel’s now caretaker prime minister resigned earlier this month after losing his long battle against corruption allegations. He will shortly be replaced by Tzipi Livni, who will have to lead their Kadima party in a bruising fight against the Likud’s Bibi Netanyahu in the next general election. There’s no point pretending that this discredited politician will be sorely missed. But Olmert’s valedictory Jewish New Year message is worth listening to as a bald, if belated, re-statement of the only way to resolve the world’s most intractable conflict - even if he failed to achieve it. "We have to reach an agreement with the Palestinians, the meaning of which is that in practice we will withdraw from almost all the territories,. . . more.. e-mail
Abbas wishes Olmert, Livni happy Rosh Hashanah
Barak Ravid, Ha’aretz 9/30/2008
The Israeli and Palestinian leaders have called to greet each other ahead of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Id al-Fitr, which ends the month of Ramadan. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas telephoned outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert, and wished a happy new year both to him and to the Israeli public in general. Olmert, in turn, expressed his best wishes ahead of the Muslim Id al-Fitr holiday - which coincides with Rosh Hashanah this year. The Israeli and Palestinian leaders also made arrangements to meet next week. Shortly after, Abbas telephoned Foreign Minister and newly-elected Kadima chair Tzipi Livni to express his best wishes. Livni likewise greeted chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia ahead of the holiday. Related articles:Editorial: Making this a good year Haaretz. more.. e-mail
ANALYSIS / Olmert’s epiphany is too little, too late
Aluf Benn, Ha’aretz 9/30/2008
At the age of 63, just moments before his departure from premiership, Ehud Olmert has reached an extraordinary epiphany. In order to make peace with the Palestinians and the Syrians, Israel must withdraw from "nearly all the territories, if not all. "As he told Yedioth Aharonoth in a holiday interview, even East Jerusalem must be given to the Palestinians. Whoa. What an epiphany: In order to make peace with the Arabs, we must give them land. How come we never thought of that before? And where was Olmert when the Israeli left, and the whole international community, was repeatedly exhausting this claim? Was he really among the screaming spokesmen for the camp opposing all agreements and all compromises? Or was that just the evil child within him, and not actually the real Olmert? Olmert is repenting now for his sins: For. . . more.. e-mail
Noam Shalit tells son Gilad: Forgive us, we have failed
Jack Khoury , and Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 9/30/2008
Noam Shalit, father of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, on Monday asked his son for forgiveness for failing to bring him back from captivity in time for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. "Forgive us for not saving you from this horrible imprisonment," Shalit said during a protest dinner held across from the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem. Shalit further called on outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert to do everything within his power to bring Gilad home before stepping down from office. "The abduction took place on your watch and therefore it is your obligation to bring him back," Shalit addressed Olmert. The "Friends of Gilad Shalit" group decided to implement its decision not to celebrate any of the Jewish holidays until the return of Israel’s captive soldier. more.. e-mail
’Forgive us, we have failed’
Ahiya Raved, YNetNews 9/29/2008
Gilad Shalit’s father participates in protest dinner outside prime minister’s Jerusalem residence. "I want to ask for Gilad’s forgiveness - we have failed to bring him home,’ he says - "I want to ask Gilad for his forgiveness,"said Noam Shalit on Monday. "I want to ask for his forgiveness for the fact that despite all of our efforts, we have failed to bring him home. " The father of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit spoke at a protest Rosh Hashana dinner held outside Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s Jerusalem home. The dinner was organized by the Headquarters of the Public’s Campaign for the Hostages’ Release, which has focused its recent efforts on bringing about the Hamas held soldier’s release. Shalit, accompanied by his son Yoel, said that he held Olmert responsible for Gilad’s fate, adding that he was sorry to see how the government treats a captive soldier as nothing more than a commodity. more.. e-mail
Shalit: Israelis will celebrate while Gilad rots in captivity
Ahiya Raved, YNetNews 9/29/2008
Kidnapped IDF soldier to spend third Jewish New Year in Gaza prison. ’The fact he and we cannot celebrate with the rest of the country is particularly painful and difficult,’ his father Noam tells Ynet. Gilad’s friends organizing holiday meal outside PM’s residence - Another holiday without him: This is the third year the Shalit family will mark the Jewish New Year without its son Gilad, who is being held captive in Gaza. "It’s not easy knowing that while all the people of Israel - almost - are celebratingRosh Hashana, Gilad is still rotting in captivity," Shalit’s father Noam told Ynet. The "Friends of Gilad Shalit" group is organizing a holiday meal which will be held outside the prime minister’s residence on Monday evening. The group announced that the menu would be particularly lean. more.. e-mail
Schalits hold protest holiday dinner
Tovah Lazaroff And Judy Siegel, Jerusalem Post 9/28/2008
The family and friends of captive soldier Gilad Schalit held a Rosh Hashana dinner Monday night outside the Jerusalem home of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to protest the government’s failure to secure his release from Hamas. For the family, who last saw their 22 year-old son in June 2006, this is their third New Year without him. "Just like the last ones, we are not celebrating," Gilad’s father, Noam, told The Jerusalem Post. But unlike the previous years they do not plan to sit in their Mitzpeh Hila home in the upper Galilee. "For us, this is not a holiday, there is no happiness," Noam said. Instead, in a move of solidarity with their son, they will set out a table outside Olmert’s home with very basic food, the kind they imagine that Gilad would have in Gaza. RELATEDShana Tova, Gilad Earlier in the. . . more.. e-mail
Ahmadinejad accepts Israel’s right to exist
Peter Tatchell, The Guardian 9/29/2008
Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has made a remarkable announcement. He’s admitted that Iran might agree to the existence of the state of Israel. Ahmadinejad was asked: "If the Palestinian leaders agree to a two-state solution, could Iran live with an Israeli state? " This was his astonishing reply: "If they [the Palestinians] want to keep the Zionists, they can stay. . . Whatever the people decide, we will respect it. I mean, it’s very much in correspondence with our proposal to allow Palestinian people to decide through free referendums. "Since most Palestinians are willing to accept a two-state solution, the Iranian president is, in effect, agreeing to Israel’s right to exist and opening the door to a peace deal that Iran will endorse. Ahmadinejad made this apparently extraordinary shift in policy during a [Democracy Now] interview last week when he was in New York to address the UN general assembly. more.. e-mail
Teheran: Enrichment will continue
Associated Press, Jerusalem Post 9/29/2008
Iran said Monday it will continue its disputed uranium enrichment activity despite a new UN resolution seeking suspension of the process. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Hasan Qashqavi said in his weekly briefing that enriching uranium was Iran’s "right" and that it intended to continue to do so. He describes as "beyond the law" demands for the suspension of Iran’s uranium enrichment. The US and Russia on Friday sponsored a new UN resolution reaffirming three previous resolutions that imposed sanctions on Iran for refusing to halt its uranium enrichment program. The US and several European nations say Teheran wants to build nuclear weapons. Iran denies the accusation. Meanwhile, in a farewell interview withYediot Aharonot published Monday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said talk of a unilateral Israeli strike on Iran was "part of our delusions of grandeur. more.. e-mail
Despite new UN resolution, Iran to continue uranium enrichment
The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 9/30/2008
Iran on Monday said it will continue its disputed uranium enrichment activity despite a new United Nations resolution seeking suspension of the process. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Hasan Qashqavi said in his weekly briefing Monday that uranium enrichment is Iran’s right and that it intends to continue to do so. He described demands for the suspension of Iran’s uranium enrichment as beyond the law. The U. S. and Russia on Friday sponsored a new UN resolution reaffirming three previous ones that imposed sanctions on Iran for refusing to halt its uranium enrichment program. Israel, the U. S. and several European nations accuse Tehran of covertly seeking to build nuclear weapons. Iran denies this, saying its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only. more.. e-mail
ElBaradei urges Iran to end secrecy
Associated Press, Jerusalem Post 9/29/2008
A six-year probe has not ruled out the possibility that Iran may be running clandestine nuclear programs, the chief UN nuclear inspector said Monday, urging Iran to reassure the world by ending its secretive ways. Europe also urged Teheran to fully cooperate with a UN probe that is trying to assess all of its past and present nuclear activities. An EU statement on the opening session Monday at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 145-nation conference declared: "The international community cannot accept the prospect of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. " Iran, along with ally Syria, figures directly at the Vienna conference because they are among four nations seeking their geographic region’s nomination for a seat on the IAEA’s decision-making 35-nation board. Iran’s bid is strategic. Teheran is running to counteract a US push to have Afghanistan or Kazakhstan. . . more.. e-mail
Israel slams fresh Arab move to isolate it at IAEA
News Agencies, Ha’aretz 9/30/2008
Israel on Monday condemned the renewed Iranian-backed Arab effort to isolate it at a UN atomic watchdog assembly. Arab League states prepared to table a resolution called "Israel’s nuclear capabilities" urging all Middle East states not to test or develop atom bombs and not to stand in the way of a regional nuclear-free zone. The Arab states shelved a similar measure at the annual conference of 145 International Atomic Energy Agency member states a year ago. But resentment continues to fester over inaction regarding what is assumed to be the Middle East’s only nuclear arsenal in Israel, which critics say causes an imbalance of power and spurs adversaries in an unstable region to seek nuclear weaponry. Israel, which has called the Arab move "substantially unwarranted and flawed", filed a motion on Monday for it to be struck off the IAEA General Conference agenda. more.. e-mail
Iran resolution shelved in rare defeat for 'Israel Lobby'
Jim Lobe, Electronic Intifada 9/29/2008
WASHINGTON (IPS) - In a significant and highly unusual defeat for the so-called "Israel Lobby," the Democratic leadership of the US House of Representatives has decided to shelve a long-pending, albeit non-binding, resolution that called for President George W. Bush to launch what critics called a blockade against Iran. House Congressional Resolution (HR) 362, whose passage the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) had made its top legislative priority this year, had been poised to pass virtually by acclamation last summer. But an unexpectedly strong lobbying effort by a number of grassroots Iranian-American, Jewish-American, peace, and church groups effectively derailed the initiative, although AIPAC and its supporters said they would try to revive it next year or if Congress returns to Washington for a "lame-duck" session after the November elections. more.. e-mail
IAEA urges Iran to end nuclear secrecy
YNetNews 9/29/2008
International Atomic Energy Agency launches annual meeting, pleads with Tehran to implement transparency measures where nuclear program is concerned. Meeting to focus on Syria, Iran’s bid for seat on IAEA board -A six-year probe has not ruled out the possibility that Iran may be running clandestine nuclear programs, the chief UN nuclear inspector said Monday, urging Iran to reassure the world by ending its secretive ways. Europe also urged Tehran to fully cooperate with a UN probe that is trying to assess all of its past and present nuclear activities. An EU statement on the opening session Monday at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 145-nation conference declared: "The international community cannot accept the prospect of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. " more.. e-mail
ANERA awarded $50 million USAID grant bringing major water and infrastructure program to the West Bank and Gaza
American Near East Refugee Aid - ANERA, ReliefWeb 9/29/2008
Jerusalem, Washington, Tel Aviv, September 29, 2008 - American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) signed a "Cooperative Agreement", making ANERA responsible for implementing the Emergency Water and Sanitation and Other Infrastructure Program in the West Bank and Gaza. The $50 million program will span five years. Through the program, which begins on October 1, 2008, ANERA will provide emergency relief primarily in the water and sanitation sectors and address other infrastructure needs in Palestinian communities. ANERA will rehabilitate, expand and upgrade water and sewage systems and deliver potable water to communities in need. This includes installation of new pipes to carry potable water or sewage, as well as repair of water and sewer line breaks and small pumping systems. more.. e-mail
On Rosh Hashanah, Obama calls to achieve ’peace, security for Israel’
Natasha Mozgovaya, Ha’aretz 9/30/2008
WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Monday wished Jews around the world a happy new year ahead of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which begins at sundown. "As Jews around the world celebrate Rosh Hashanah, I want to send my best wishes for a happy, healthy, and sweet new year," the Illinois Senator said. "This marks not just a time for rejoicing, but for reflecting on the hopes the new year brings, and on our responsibilities to see them fulfilled. ""As families come together to mark the High Holy Days, upholding a proud Jewish tradition," Obama said. "Let us all rededicate ourselves to the task of repairing this world for our children and grandchildren, and to working to achieve peace and security for Israel. " He added: "On behalf of all of the Obamas and Bidens, Shana Tovah. " more.. e-mail
Flag raised over LA’s Israeli consulate
Jta, Jerusalem Post 9/29/2008
The Israeli flag was raised over the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles for the first time since its opening in 1973. Israeli consulate offices around the world generally do not fly the Israeli flag openly for fear they will be targeted for violence. Sunday’s outdoor flag-raising event, under extensive security, was an old-fashioned, lift- your-voices, wave-the-flag celebration, with a little bit of everything. Maria del Jesus had been waiting under the warm sun for three hours, pressed up against a police barricade, for a good look as the blue and white flag was hoisted ceremoniously in front of the Israeli consulate. " This is for the Holy Land," del Jesus said emotionally. Next to her stood 79-year old Miriam Blick, who wanted a close-up of her grandson singing with his classmates from the Stephen S. more.. e-mail
Israeli flag raised outside LA Consulate for 1st time
Yitzhak Benhorin, YNetNews 9/29/2008
Los Angeles rings in new Jewish year with ceremony including raising of an Israeli flag brought from Sderot, a paratrooper display, national anthem sang by Noa Tishby, and 60 people blowing shofar -Los Angeles rang in the new Jewish year on Sunday with a display boasting two paratroopers diving through the air with an Israeli flag, 60 people blowing the shofar (ram’s horn), and 60 students singing Israel’s national anthem, accompanied by Noa Tishby. The ceremony also marked a historical precedent: For the first time an Israeli flag was raised outside a Consulate’s doors in the US, and it stood waving openly on one of the city’s main boulevards. Consul General Jacob Dayan was proud of this achievement. "When I came to Los Angeles, it was 11 months ago. One of the first questions I asked was why we don’t have an Israeli flag outside the consulate," Dayan said in an interview last week. more.. e-mail
Foreign Ministry ’concerned’ over Austria elections
Anat Shalev, YNetNews 9/29/2008
Ministry spokesman tells Ynet that Israel is ’very worried about the rise to power of people who promote hatred, Holocaust denial, and befriend Neo-Nazis. We see it as a disturbing development and are following the matter very closely’ -The sudden surge in power enjoyed by the extreme Right in Austria has been raising global concerns, as many commentators are postulating that these political parties may soon join the Austrian government. Israel joined those expressing concern on Monday with a statement from the Foreign Ministry. Ministry Spokesman Yigal Palmor told Ynet that Israel is concernedly following the Austrian elections and the rise of the extremists to power. "We are very concerned over the rise to power of people who promote hatred of foreigners and Holocaust denial, and befriend Neo-Nazis. more.. e-mail
Israel supplied with long-range radar, but US to get missile warning first
Ian Black, The Guardian 9/29/2008
American personnel in charge of desert airbase - The US has supplied Israel with a powerful long-range radar system that would provide an extra early warning in case of an Iranian missile attack, it was confirmed yesterday. Israeli officials said the equipment was flown in last week along with 120 American staff and has been set up at an air force base in the southern Negev desert. It is believed to be the first time American personnel have been stationed in Israel since the 1991 Gulf war, when Patriot anti-missile batteries were deployed - to little effect - against Iraq’s Scud missiles. In spite of the close strategic relationship between the two countries, Israel has traditionally preferred to staff its own defences and not depend on foreigners. Ephraim Kam, an analyst at Tel Aviv University’s institute for national security studies, called the radar system an "important addition" more.. e-mail
Sheikh Salah: ending the occupation will end threats facing Jerusalem
Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 9/28/2008
Chairman of the Israeli-Arab Islamic movement inside the Green Line (Israel), Sheikh Raed Salah, said on Sunday that ending the Israeli occupation in Jersusalem will solve ’dangers’ facing the holy city. In a statement sent to media outlets, Sheikh Salah maintained that the continued Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories would perpetuate and increase the dangers that the holy city of Jerusalem is currently facing. The Islamic leader referred to Israeli excavations underway beneath the Al-Aqsa mosque of Jerusalem, which is the third holiest place for Muslims worldwide. He accused Israeli authorities of following what he termed ’malicious means’ to evacuate the city of Palestinians, turning it into an exclusively Jewish city. He considered such Israeli moves as a part of Israel’s genocide against the indigenous Palestinian residents of the occupied east Jerusalem. more.. e-mail
Sheikh Salah: end of occupation only means of ending danger to Aqsa
Palestinian Information Center 9/28/2008
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the Islamic movement inside the green line, said on Sunday that the only way circumvent dangers to the Aqsa Mosque is to end the occupation of the holy city. Salah said that the continued Israeli occupation of the city poses dangers to the holy city and its mosques, especially the Aqsa Mosque, which is in more danger than ever as a result of continued Israeli excavations, demolitions and Judaization. He accused the occupation authorities of using devious ways to empty the holy city from its indigenous Palestinian population in an attempt to make it a purely Jewish city, pointing out the Israeli occupation policies of demolishing Palestinian homes and banning them from building new ones, land confiscation and forcing Palestinian Jerusalemites to leave the city. more.. e-mail
24 members of Al Aqsa released into effective house-arrest
PNN, Palestine News Network 9/28/2008
Nablus -- Israeli forces released 24 Palestinian political prisoners from its jails yesterday. All are members of Al Aqsa Brigades, a Fateh-affiliated armed resistance group. The men were released into the custody of the Palestinian security services in the West Bank. Two are permitted, undermandate of the occupying army, to move freely within the West Bank. Fourteen cannot move out of the Oslo-era designated Areas A, which are under Palestinian Authority control. Without being able to pass outside of Area A, the released men are essentially confined toa single city and some of its surrounding villages. The West Bank is divided by settlements and Israeli roads in such a way that in order to move throughout the West Bank it is virtually impossible to not pass through Area C, which is ostensibly under Israeli security and civil control. more.. e-mail
Olmert said to offer Palestinians Jordan Valley land swap
Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 9/29/2008
Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has offered the Palestinians sovereignty over the Jordan Valley, in exchange for Israel retaining three main settlement blocs in the West Bank, Army Radio reported on Sunday. The deal would allow Israel to retain the West Bank settlements of Ariel, Ma’aleh Adumim, and the Gush Etzion bloc, according to the report. Olmert has recently carried out closed-door meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and the two have reportedly been close to an agreement over final borders but have not been able to see eye-to-eye on the issues of refugees and Jerusalem. Olmert has also offered Abbas a deal that would not be implemented until stability is reached in the region. Related articles:Olmert formally submits his resignation to Peres The decision will be made any moment now. more.. e-mail
Quartet Statement issued from New York
Palestine News Network 9/28/2008
PNN - The Quartet released its Friday statement from the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session in New York. The group consisting of representatives of the European Union, United States, Russia and the UN faced Arab League criticism for being ineffective, while the Hamas party echoed another long-standing accusation that the committee is dominated by the US. The Quartet Statement follows. Representatives of the Quartet - U. N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, U. S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union Javier Solana, European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner - met today in New York to discuss the situation in the Middle East. more.. e-mail
PRC: Release 1,400 prisoners or Shalit will spend many holidays in captivity
Ali Waked, YNetNews 9/28/2008
Spokesman for group holding IDF soldier says toughened stance result of Israel’s ’foot-dragging’ in prisoner exchange negotiations; adds ’ we have no problem releasing Shalit once prisoners are freed’ -A senior figure in one of the Palestinian organizations holding Gilad Shalit told Ynet on Sunday that the captors are considering reneging on the general outline agreed upon during the Egyptian-mediated negotiations and demand the simultaneous release of 1,400 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the IDF soldier. On Thursday the Israel will free in exchange for Shalit. The committee approved half of the names demanded by Hamas. According to the agreed upon outline, the Palestinian prisoners are to be released in three stages. The source said the toughened stance was the result of Israel’s ’foot-dragging’ and the fact that the Jerusalem was "not taking the negotiations seriously". more.. e-mail
Abu Marzouq condemns Damascus explosions, says relations with Syria strong
Palestinian Information Center 9/28/2008
DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- Hamas condemned the huge explosion that rocked Damascus on Saturday describing it as a criminal and terrorist act, rejecting, at the same time, any attempts to link it with the Palestinian presence in Syria which extended since 1948. Dr. Mousa Abu Marzouq, the deputy head of the Hamas political bureau, in a statement to Quds Press, condemned the terrorist attack and rejected the notion that any Palestinian faction could be responsible for such a heinous crime. He said that suggestions about the explosion being the result of an alleged change of the Syrian leadership’s position towards Palestinian resistance movements are stupid and not worth an answer. He added that all Palestinian factions condemned the criminal attack and expressed his belief that the attack, which took place in a public place and resulted in the death of 17 people and the wounding of 14 others,. . . more.. e-mail
Jibril accuses some Arab states of aiming at isolating Hamas
Palestinian Information Center 9/27/2008
DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- The secretary-general of the PFLP-GC Ahmad Jibril has accused Friday a number of Arab countries of conspiring to isolate Hamas and the rest of the honorable Palestinian resistance factions in the Palestinian arena. "We want the [national] dialogue, but they [Arab states and Fatah faction] want from the dialogue to isolate our brothers in Hamas and to marginalize the honorable forces in the Palestinian arena", asserted Jibril as he addressed thousands of participants in a rally organized by Palestinian factions in the Palestinian refugee camp of Al-Yarmouk, east of Damascus city, in celebration of the Quds (Jerusalem) international day. He pointed out that those calls have "mixed poison with the cream" as they aim at, he added, "Reinstating [PA chief] Mahmoud Abbas to lead the Palestinian people from a negotiating table to another in Herzelia, Natania, and occupied Jerusalem". more.. e-mail
Miki Goldwasser on Shalit talks: Government impotent
Yaheli Moran Zelikovich, YNetNews 9/28/2008
Mother of deceased IDF captive says funds transferred by Israel to Gaza used by Hamas to purchase more weapons, proposes closing Gaza crossings until Shalit released -"Do you really think the funds Israel is transferring to the Hamas regime in Gaza are allocated to the civilians there? The money is used to purchase more and more weapons that are later aimed at us. Our government is impotent," Miki Goldwasser, the mother of deceased IDF captive Ehud Goldwasser said Sunday. Last week the parents of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit demanded that Israel stop funneling funds to Gaza and convene a cabinet meeting which would discuss their son’s abduction. Should their demand be turned down, they threatened, they would petition the High Court of Justice. The demand was made in a letter sent by the lawyers of Aviva and Noam Shalit to Prime Minister. . . more.. e-mail
Messianic Jews promote Ethiopian aliya
Ruth Eglash, Jerusalem Post 9/28/2008
Run by the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America (MJAA), Operation Tikva is contravening the Israeli government’s attempts over the last year to wind down official aliya operations in Ethiopia, and the project is being viewed in Jerusalem with alarm. -- Under Operation Tikva, through which thousands of people in Ethiopia are provided with clean water, money for food and educational services, they are also reminded often that they are Jews and that the people of Israel are waiting for them. What makes Operation Tikva different than other Jewish aid programs in Ethiopia, however, is that neither the Israeli government, the Jewish Agency for Israel, nor any other recognized aliya organization is involved in it. In fact, The Jerusalem Post has learned it is a program run by Messianic Jewish missionaries, and very few people in Israel even know about it. more.. e-mail
Americans deploy anti-missile radar in Israel - radio
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 9/29/2008
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: The United States has recently deployed an anti-missile radar in Israel that is mainly to warn of incoming Iranian weapons, Israeli state radio reported Sunday. The radar, said to have a range of more than 2,000 kilometers is located in the south of the country, the radio added, and is operated by a permanent 120-strong US Army staff. Questioned by AFP, an Israeli Defense Ministry spokesman said he did "not know about such a deployment. "A senior Pentagon official had said in late July that US Defense Secretary Robert Gates agreed to explore deploying a powerful radar in Israel. "The idea here is to help Israel create a layered missile defense capability to protect it from all sorts of threats in the region, near and far," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Besides the radar, Gates also agreed to explore sharing early warning launch. . . more.. e-mail
US: IDF can’t man Negev radar system
Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post 9/28/2008
An IDF request to permit Israeli soldiers to control the new high-powered radar that the US has deployed in the Negev has been declined, senior defense officials told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday. The X-Band radar’s arrival in Israel last Sunday was kept under tight wraps until it was revealed over the weekend by Defense News, an industry newsletter. The system, which came in a convoy of 12 transport planes and together with a 120-member crew, has been set up temporarily at the Nevatim air base in the Negev and will be moved to a permanent site in the next few months. The high-powered radar, known as FBX-T, will be hooked up to the US military’s Joint Tactical Ground Station and, assisted by satellites, will be capable of picking up a ballistic missile shortly after launch at which point it can estimate the time and location of its impact. more.. e-mail
US ’deploys’ radar system in Israel
Al Jazeera 9/28/2008
The US has deployed an anti-missile radar in Israel that is mainly to warn of incoming Iranian ballistic missiles, Israeli state radio reports. The radar with a range of more than 2,000km is sited in the south of the country, the radio station said on Sunday. It is operated by a permanent 120-strong US army staff. The Associated Press news agency quoted officials as saying that the new radar was flown into Israel last week along with some 120 American crew members and has been set up at the Nevatim air base in the Negev desert. The system can pick up a ballistic missile shortly after launch. That will cut the response time of Israel’s Arrow system, designed to intercept incoming missiles. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the radar’s arrival has not been officially made public. more.. e-mail
What do Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, Moshe Ivgy and Jesse Dylan have in common?
Nathan Burstein, Jerusalem Post 9/28/2008
In an attempt to combat what it calls a "smear campaign" against US presidential candidate Barack Obama, a new YouTube group called Israelis4Obama has released an on-line video describing the Democratic senator as "100% kosher," and calling it "hutzpa to question Obama’s commitment to Israel. " Former IDF chief of General Staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, Israeli film star Moshe Ivgy and Jesse Dylan, son of music legend Bob, are just some of the well-known Israeli and American figures involved in the video, which was shot in Israel in July and added to YouTube last week. Filmed over three days in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the video features both Israeli supporters of Obama and Americans who will vote for the candidate from Israel. "I was sitting [in the US] and felt that the Israel I know was never shown on the news," said Alma Har’el, the video’s Israeli director. more.. e-mail
First-ever US presidential-style debate held in Jerusalem
Ynetnews, YNetNews 9/28/2008
Obama, McCain representatives spar over Jerusalem, Iranian threat and Sarah Palin during heated debate before hundreds of American citizens residing in Israel - In an historic first, the American Israeli Action Coalition (AIAC) organized and sponsored a US presidential style debate held at Jerusalem’s Heichal Shlomo Thursday evening. A full house of hundreds of American citizens residing in Israel listened enthusiastically as representatives of the Israel and its neighbors, the status of Jerusalem, granting a pardon to Jonathan Pollard, the current US economic crisis, energy policy, healthcare and why each of the candidates would make the best president and vice-president. The latter issue became so heated that Zell rose to his feet and challenged Schorer’s assertion that Governor Sarah Palin had authorized books to be banned from an Alaskan library. more.. e-mail
Arab newspapers see Israel behind deadly bombing in Syria
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 9/29/2008
AMMAN: Israel’s Mossad spy agency was behind a deadly car bomb attack in Damascus on Saturday which killed 17 people, according to a columnist in the semi-official Jordanian daily Ad-Dustour. "It’s a US-backed Israeli conspiracy to destabilize the Syrian regime and create enough chaos to produce an opposition that would develop and grow under the sponsorship of Israel and the United States," Hashem al-Khaledi wrote in an editorial published on Sunday. "They seek to topple the regime of President Bashar Assad, who is seen by the United States and Israel as an obstacle facing their schemes in the region. "Without making specific allegations, Syrian official daily Ath-Thawra said on Sunday that recent acts of "terrorism" in the country had been planned abroad, and that their perpetrators crossed the border to carry them out. more.. e-mail
IDF concerned about Hizbullah infiltration over holiday season
Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post 9/29/2008
The infiltration of a border community or an attack on an IDF outpost are some of the scenarios the Northern Command is preparing for as intelligence assessments point to the possibility that Hizbullah may take advantage of the holiday season to avenge the assassination of Imad Mughniyeh. While the IDF is concerned that Hizbullah will try to kidnap soldiers - as it has done in the past - current fears are that terrorists will cross into Israel, infiltrate a border community like Shlomi and barricade themselves inside a home with civilians. The defense establishment is concerned that Hizbullah will use the holiday season, as well as the switchover in government - from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Kadima Party head Tzipi Livni - to launch an attack. Intelligence assessments have raised the possibility that Hizbullah believes that with Olmert heading a transition. . . more.. e-mail
Rice acknowledges meeting Moallem to discuss peace talks
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 9/29/2008
NEW YORK: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice confirmed on Saturday that she met her Syrian counterpart, Walid Moallem, to discuss Middle East peace efforts despite renewed criticism from Washington over Syria’s policies. Moallem told the Dubai-based satellite channel Al-Arabiyya that the meeting in New York on Friday was "positive and marked the start of an upcoming dialogue. "He said the US secretary of state had "voiced optimism about regional developments," particularly the resolution of the longstanding deadlock between pro- and anti-Damascus factions in Syria’s smaller neighbor Lebanon. Syrian and US diplomats said the talks touched on Iraq, Lebanon and Middle East peace negotiations. Rice said she held a brief meeting with Moallem at the iftar evening meal breaking the daily Ramadan fast. "I did on the margins of the iftar last night have an opportunity to speak with my. . . more.. e-mail
’New’ Iran resolution affirms old sanctions
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 9/29/2008
UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Security Council on Saturday unanimously adopted a resolution again urging Iran to suspend its sensitive nuclear fuel work but offering no new sanctions and merely reaffirming existing ones. Resolution 1835 calls on Iran "to fully comply and without delay with its obligations [under relevant UN resolutions] and to meet the requirement of the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] board of governors. "The resolution also reaffirmed the council’s "commitment to an early negotiated solution to the Iranian nuclear issue," and welcomes the "dual-track approach" by Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, the six powers trying to curtail Iran’s nuclear program. US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad immediately welcomed the adoption of the resolution by all 15 council members. more.. e-mail
U.S.: Iran Resolution Shelved in Rare Defeat for 'Israel Lobby'
Jim Lobe, Inter Press Service 9/26/2008
WASHINGTON, Sep 26(IPS) - In a significant and highly unusual defeat for the so-called "Israel Lobby", the Democratic leadership of the House of Representatives has decided to shelve a long-pending, albeit non-binding, resolution that called for President George W. Bush to launch what critics called a blockade against Iran. House Congressional Resolution (HR) 362, whose passage the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) had made its top legislative priority this year, had been poised to pass virtually by acclamation last summer. But an unexpectedly strong lobbying effort by a number of grassroots Iranian-American, Jewish-American, peace, and church groups effectively derailed the initiative, although AIPAC and its supporters said they would try to revive it next year or if Congress returns to Washington for a "lame-duck" session after the November elections. more.. e-mail
Berri accuses Israel of launching intelligence war against Lebanon
Daily Star 9/27/2008
BEIRUT: Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday accused Israel of launching an intelligence war against Lebanon in a bid to block reconciliation. Berri, addressing an iftar banquet hosted by his Amal movement, praised the agreement reached with Future Movement leader Saad Hariri on removing banners and posters from Beirut within three days, saying it was a good start. The speaker also voiced support for meetings being held across Lebanon in order to facilitate reconciliation. He said Israel was in the process of obtaining sophisticated weapons while it prevents Lebanon from acquiring night-vision equipment for its army. Berri said that the Lebanese, the army and the resistance would succeed in adopting a defense strategy. The speaker met on Friday with Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud to discuss Saturday’s session to examine modifications and reforms introduced by the Parliament’s Justice and Administration committee to the electoral law. more.. e-mail
Hamas and Islamic Jihad hold Jerusalem Day march in Gaza City
Ma’an News Agency 9/26/2008
Gaza - Ma’an – Hamas and Islamic Jihad organized a joint march on Friday near the Legislative Council building in Gaza City to commemorate Jerusalem Day. Marches began after Friday prayers. Crowds chanted slogans about the Al-Aqsa Mosque and denounced attacks against Muslims and their holy places. Islamic Jihad Khader Habib praised resistance fighters working toward “the liberation of Palestine” and called for “national unity to face Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people. ”Dr. Ahmad Abu Halabeyeh of the Jerusalem Committee appealed to Arabs, Muslims and human rights organizations to “act quickly to save the Islamic holy sites in Palestine, and in Jerusalem, to stop “violations committed by Israel against Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. ” more.. e-mail
Israeli ex-commander calls for reoccupying parts of Gaza to get Shalit released
Palestinian Information Center 9/26/2008
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Israeli ex-Southern Corps commander Tsvika Fogel called for an Israeli military operation against the Gaza Strip to free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who was captured over two years ago by Palestinian resistance. Fogel added that the situation in the Gaza Strip is completely different than what it was before the truce, claiming that Gaza has turned into another Lebanon and that Hizbullah experts are working in Gaza and building underground shelters, adding that despite the small area of the Gaza Strip, it has become more complicated than southern Leabnon. Fogel made these remarks during an interview on the Israeli seventh channel where he also said that it was about time that Israel took the initiative to free Shalit and that the time was right for such a move. He also said that Palestinian organizations exploited Israeli credulity and continue to arm. . . more.. e-mail
UN debates Israel settlements
Al Jazeera 9/27/2008
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and Arab countries have slammed Israel over its settlement expansion policy in the West Bank during debates at the United Nations. Abbas told the Security Council on Friday that the Israeli settlements: "Will not allow for the emergence of a viable Palestinian state because they divide the West Bank into at least four cantons. "In a speech to the General Assembly, Abbas deplored as "racial terrorism" what he said were daily attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian civilians, and urged the international community to take action. Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, whose country formally called for the debate, said Israel must halt settlement activity and obey international law. more.. e-mail
Abbas: Settlement construction contradicts UN resolutions
Yitzhak Benhorin, YNetNews 9/26/2008
Palestinian president tells Security Council he plans to continue negotiating with Jewish state, but warns, ’If we fail, the entire region will deteriorate into another round of violence. ’ Israel’s UN Ambassador Shalev says progress can only be made through dialogue - WASHINGTON -Saudi Arabia, the Arab League and the Palestinian Authority urged the United Nations Security Council on Friday to save the faltering Middle East peace process by demanding an end to Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory. Saudi Arabia requested the debate to coincide with the General Assembly, which has brought a host of world leaders to New York. Israel’s last-ditch efforts to prevent athe meeting failed. One of the Arab leaders to attend the discussion was Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The Palestinian president presented during the debate maps starting from 1937. "Here we hope to establish a Palestinian state which will live in peace alongside Israel," he said. more.. e-mail
Israeli Ambassador to UN: ’Settlements aren’t the biggest problem’
Jerusalem Post 9/26/2008
During a Friday UN Security Council meeting called at the request of Arab states to deal with the sole issue of Israeli settlement-building in Palestinian territory, Saudi Arabia, the Arab League and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas asked the Security Council to save the faltering Middle East peace process by demanding an end to Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reminded the Council that "just one year ago, there was no peace process," and noted that Israel and the Palestinians continue their negotiations, along with many other partners. She said US President George W. Bush had met with Abbas on Thursday, and that she would be meeting him later Friday. Rice also noted that the recognized format for discussion of the Middle East peace process is the Quartet, the working partnership of the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union. more.. e-mail
Security Council to debate Israel’s illegal settlements
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 9/26/2008
UNITED NATIONS: The Security Council will hold a ministerial debate on Israel’s settlement expansion in the Occupied Palestinian Territories Friday, a UN spokesman said Thursday. "The meeting will take place tomorrow [Friday] at ministerial level," Farhan Haq said. At the behest of Saudi Arabia, the Arab group at the United Nations has been lobbying for weeks for a debate on the issue but the United States, Israel’s staunchest ally, had so far expressed reservations. A diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Arab group pushed for a debate Friday to take advantage of the presence of several foreign ministers currently attending the UN General Assembly’s annual debate. In August, Israel approved construction of 400 new homes in a Jewish neighborhood in illegally annexed East Jerusalem and invited bids for construction of another 416 settler homes in the Occupied West Bank. more.. e-mail
At request of Arab foreign ministers Security Council discusses Israeli settlement policy
Palestine News Network 9/26/2008
PNN -- The United Nations Security Council is meeting today to discuss Israeli settlement policy and activity in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The formal request for an emergency session was presented by the Arab foreign ministers to the council president. Long-standing United Nations resolutions demand an end to Israeli settlement activities and their full withdrawal while the Fourth Geneva Convention deems all settlements in contravention to international law. The United States is expected to voice its rejection of even holding a discussion on the issue. Already US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said there was "no point" in discussing Israeli settlements "at this time. "She suggested that the Quartet take up the issue when the timing is right. The Quartet is also meeting Friday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session in New York City. more.. e-mail
Abu Zneid demands the Security Council to take a decisive stance of Israel’s settlement activities
Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 9/26/2008
Palestinian Legislator of the Fateh Parliamentarian Bloc, Jihad Abu Zneid, demanded the Security Council to take a decisive stance towards Israel’s illegal settlement activities in Jerusalem as the Israeli government is ongoing with constructing and expanding settlement around the city. Abu Zneid added that if Israeli is serious in its peace talks with the Palestinians it should halt all of its settlement activities around theHoly City. In a press release issued by her office in Jerusalem, Abu Zneid said that the Security Council must act and practice pressure on Israel o implement all Security Council and United Nations resolutions regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. "If it want successful peace talsk", She said, "The Security Council, she added, must ensure that Israel stops all of its settlement activities in the occupied West Bank and around Jerusalem". more.. e-mail
Thousands march in Gaza to mark Quds day
Palestinian Information Center 9/26/2008
GAZA, (PIC)-- Thousands of Palestinians participated in a huge demonstration to mark the International Quds Day jointly organised by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. The march started from the Omari mosque and ended outside the PLC building in Gaza city. Demonstrators chanted with our blood and souls we protect Aqsa mosque and called on Muslims around the world to save the Aqsa mosque from Zionist schemes. Dr. Abu Halabeyya, speaking on behalf of the Hamas movement called on Arabs, Muslims and all free people around the world support the Palestinians in their efforts to save their holy places and historic buildings. He called for putting pressure on the occupation government to stop the demolition of the Supreme Islamic Council building in Jerusalem and to stop bulldozing the Magharbeh hill which leads to the Magharbeh gate (one of the gates of the Aqsa Mosque. more.. e-mail
Palestinian Brigades on Jerusalem day: Palestinians must unite to protect holy sites
Ma’an News Agency 9/26/2008
Gaza - Ma’an - The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, released a statement on the occasion of Jerusalem Day that the city is an “integral part” of the Islamic faith and should be liberated and protected. The statement, sent to Ma’an, congratulated all the other brigades on their steadfastness in standing next to the Palestinian people, and thanked all fighters who they called the defenders of the land. In this the ninth year of the second intifadah, they said, we need even more strength and steadfastness from Palestinian fighters in order to continue our struggle. The group called on all Arab and Islamic peoples to support the Palestinian resistance in their attempts to liberate Jerusalem. The brigades demanded all Palestinian factions unite, since they are responsible for ending the current state of internal division. more.. e-mail
Hamas lawmaker calls for suicide attacks as thousands march in Gaza
AFP, YNetNews 9/26/2008
Lawmaker Ahmed Abu Helbiya tells crowd of over 2,000 protestors, ’We call on all the factions to undertake efforts to contain the enemy and halt its aggression by planning martyrdom operations’ - A Hamas parliamentarian called on Friday for more suicide attacks against Israel as thousands of Palestinians marched through Gaza in honor of Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day, an Iranian-declared observance. "We call on all the factions to undertake efforts to contain the enemy and halt its aggression by planning martyrdom operations," Ahmed Abu Helbiya told a crowd of over 2,000 protestors. Helbiya saluted recent attacks in Jerusalem, including a shooting in March at a Jewish seminary that killed eight students and an incident earlier this week when a Palestinian crashed a car into a group of Israeli soldiers, wounding 16 people before being shot dead. Neither attack was claimed by any armed Palestinian faction, and Israeli authorities said both were apparently carried out by disgruntled individuals. more.. e-mail
Egypt trying to use Shalit as pawn in Palestinian reconciliation
Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 9/26/2008
Last week Ofer Dekel, the Israeli official charged with negotiating the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, visited Cairo to be briefed by Egyptian officials on their proposal for a prisoner exchange with Hamas. Thursday, a ministerial committee headed by Vice Premier Haim Ramon agreed to draw up a new list of 450 Palestinian prisoners that Israel would be willing to release in the exchange. The new list will include 250 of the approximately 350 prisoners whose inclusion in the deal Hamas has demanded. Ostensibly, differences between Hamas and Israel on this issue have never been smaller. However, Egypt’s insistence on a broader package deal, whose details were published in the daily Maariv Thursday, may yet thwart the exchange. Egypt wants to combine Shalit’s release, for which Israel would pay. . . more.. e-mail
Israel grants full amnesty to 10 Fatah men
Ali Waked, YNetNews 9/26/2008
Group of ten pardoned as part of Israel’s deal with the Palestinian Authority, 22 more released from prison for probation trial terms - Palestinian sources confirmed on Friday that Israel has granted amnesty to another group of men belonging to Fatah’s military wing. The amnesty extended to the members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades as part of the agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority is described as an Israeli goodwill gesture to the PA ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday next week. Ynet has learned that Israel recently handed over a list of 49 wanted men who will be granted amnesty, 22 of them are currently being held in PA prison facilities as part of the agreement. After their release the men will enter a three-month probation period. A second group of wanted men, who have been detained by the Palestinian Authority, will be released. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli sources: 'Israel grants amnesty to several Fateh fighters'¯
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 9/27/2008
Israeli sources reported on Friday that Israel pardoned ten fighters of the Al Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fateh movement, as part of a deal with the Palestinian Authority headed by Mahmoud Abbas. As part of the deal 22 more fighters were released on probation. Sources in Fateh movement stated that Israel also granted amnesty to another group of fighters of the Al Aqsa Brigades. The Israeli Ynet News reported that Israel granted amnesty to 45 wanted fighters who will be able to move "freely" in the West Bank without fearing arrest. Several other fighters will be granted partial amnesty. The agreement was described in Israel by a good gesture to Abbas and the Palestinian Authority ahead of the Eid Al Fitir Muslim feast which marks the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan next week. According to the Ynet, Israel handed a list of more than 49 wanted fighters who were granted. . . more.. e-mail
Abbas hears ’hopeful’ words during talks at White House
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 9/26/2008
WASHINGTON: US President George W. Bush told visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday that he remained "hopeful" of a Middle East peace breakthrough before leaving office in January. "I’ve got four more months left in office, and I’m hopeful that the vision that you and I have worked on will come to pass, and my only pledge to you is that I’ll continue to work hard," to see that it can come to pass," said Bush. "We will continue to work with you, and we will continue to keep the hope alive in order to reach a political solution for our issue and for the Middle East," Abbas said. Forty days before the US elections, four months before Bush’s term ends, both sides have worked to show that the political calendar won’t slow efforts to create a Palestinian state "living side by side at peace with Israel. more.. e-mail
MP Mansour: Abbas can’t decide fate of Palestinian refugees
Palestinian Information Center 9/26/2008
RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Palestinian lawmaker MP Muna Mansour of Hamas’s bloc in the PLC has strongly condemned the idea of naturalizing Palestinian refugees in their host countries, asserting that Palestinian refugees must return to Palestine. The lawmaker was reacting to the idea of PA chief Mahmoud Abbas of naturalizing Palestinian refugees in Jordan, underlining that the homeland of the Palestinian refugees is Palestine and that they have the full and legal right to return to it. "I am against the principle of naturalization and I think that any idea of this kind would infringe on the right of return of our people in diaspora", she underscored in an interview with the PIC. She stressed that such an idea of the PA chief reflects weakness on his part, and proves that the negotiations that the PA leadership was and still is holding were indeed of no value. more.. e-mail
Hamas: Abbas-Bush meetings deceptive
Palestinian Information Center 9/26/2008
GAZA, (PIC)-- The Hamas Movement has categorically rejected Thursday the meeting between PA chief Mahmoud Abbas and US president George W. Bush, asserting that such meetings were meant to deceive the Palestinian and international opinion. In a statement it issued and a copy of which was obtained by the PIC, Hamas asserted that the Abbas-Bush meeting aims at adding more pressures and dictates on Abbas to preserve Israel’s security, and to pay the "bill" of the US financial and political support at the expense of the Palestinian people’s legal rights and national constants. "We attach no hopes to those meetings in supporting any of our legal rights and constants; but we see them altogether an attempt to deceive the Palestinian and international opinion although the main reason for the Palestinian people’s tragedies was the US support and political cover for Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people", the Movement asserted. more.. e-mail
Contact man’s murder delays Syria nuclear probe
Middle East Online 9/26/2008
VIENNA - The UN atomic watchdog’s probe into alleged illicit nuclear work in Syria has been delayed because the agency’s contact man in Syria was murdered, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei revealed Thursday. "The reason that Syria has been late in providing additional information (is) that our interlocutor has been assassinated in Syria," ElBaradei told a closed-door session of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-member board. A recording of his remarks was obtained by AFP. He did not provide any further details about the identity of the man or circumstances of the assassination. But according to Arab media reports last month, a brigadier general was assassinated. The Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat said the victim was a senior Syrian officer "in charge of sensitive files and closely linked to the Syrian top brass. more.. e-mail
Israeli organization accuses Denmark of funding anti-Israel groups
Ma’an News Agency 9/26/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – An Israeli organization has accused the Danish government of funding anti-Israeli projects in Palestine. The report from the Israeli Center for Public and State affairs ranked Denmark first on its list of nations that fund what they call “anti-Israeli-non-governmental organizations. ”The report said that those societies and groups funded by the Dames are “carrying out intensified campaigns against Israel and its policies,” and that they are “taking advantage of the International Human rights conventions, the international law and racist separation to justify their offensive campaigns against Israel. ”The NGO-Monitor Report was handed over to the Danish representative in the West Bank city of Ramallah this week. The report explicitly accused a group called Danida, which received a reported 100 million US dollars from the Danish government, of participation. . . more.. e-mail
Norway to increase budget support to the Palestinian authorities by NOK 85 million
Government of Norway, ReliefWeb 9/26/2008
Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stųre chaired a meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee for Assistance to the Palestinians (AHLC) on Monday 22 September. The meeting, which was the third at ministerial-level since September 2007, reaffirmed strong international political support for a two-state solution and the establishment of a Palestinian state. "Clear recognition of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s reform efforts in the financial and security sectors was expressed at the meeting today," said Mr Stųre. "The considerable support the donors are providing for the Palestinian economy was also acknowledged. I’m glad that the international funding to the Palestinians over the last year has been in line with donor countries’ pledges. It is important now to ensure that the Palestinian authorities are able do their job. "Together with a number of other donor countries, Norway emphasised. . . more.. e-mail
Sleiman presses Bush on land, Palestinian refugees
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 9/26/2008
WASHINGTON: Lebanese President Michel Sleiman emphasized on Thursday the need to liberate Lebanese territories occupied by Israel and told US President George W. Bush that the future of Palestinian refugees was in their homeland, not in Lebanon. Bush welcomed Sleiman for talks Thursday to underline US support for democratic rule in Beirut free from any undue foreign influence. Lebanese-Americans "want Lebanon to be free and sovereign and independent, and so do I, and so do you," Bush told his guest during a brief joint public appearance as they met in the Oval Office for the first time. "We are here, also, to reaffirm our right to have a prosperous, Lebanon, a democratic Lebanon, a country that is diverse in its nature and through its people," Sleiman said. Bush praised Lebanon’s ongoing national reconciliation talks, which bring together rival political leaders in a national dialogue. . . more.. e-mail
Israel claims to have thwarted 50 Hizbullah abduction attempts
Compiled by, Daily Star 9/27/2008
Israel’s defense establishment has reportedly received more than 50 warnings about Hizbullah attempts to abduct high profile public and security officials over the past few years, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Friday. Senior security officials briefed the Israeli cabinet on the warnings during a special meeting discussing the security risks Israelis face when traveling abroad, as well as the recent travel advisories issued by the Counter Terrorism Bureau, according to Yedioth. The senior security officials reportedly said that at least 10 of the foiled plots were supposed to mimic the abduction scenario of Elhanan Tannenbaum. Tannenbaum, an Israeli businessman and a former Israeli military colonel, was abducted by Hizbullah in 2002, after being lured out of Israel under the false pretense of a drug deal. more.. e-mail
Nasrallah: Return of Jerusalem and Palestine closer than ever
Yoav Stern and News Agencies, Ha’aretz 9/27/2008
Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah spoke on Friday night in a televised speech in honor of Al- Quds Day saying the developments taking place show the return of Jerusalem and Palestine is not far, and could even happen soon. "No one has the right to give up a grain of soil in the holy land, said Nasrallah, speaking through a video link on a giant screen. He added that "Jerusalem must return to its rightful owners and it will, God willing. "Nasrallah’s remarks came at a rally held in Beirut by Hezbollah as millions of Palestinians marked Al-Quds Day - Al-Quds is the Arabic name for Jerusalem. The last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan is observed in many Muslim countries as "Al-Quds Day," as a way of expressing support to the Palestinians and emphasizing the importance of Jerusalem to Muslims. more.. e-mail
Nasrallah: Palestine belongs to Palestinians from sea to river
Roee Nahmias, YNetNews 9/26/2008
Speaking in Beirut in honor of al-Quds Day, Hizbullah secretary-general says, ’No one has the authority to concede a grain of earth, wall or stone of the holy land’; adds his organization will continue resistance against Israel. ’Today more can be done than ever before,’ he notes - No place for Israel in the Middle East? "Jerusalem and Palestine, from the sea to the river, belong to the Palestinian people, the Arabs and the Muslims, and no one has the authority to concede a grain of earth, wall or stone from the holy land," Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said Friday evening. Speaking in Beirut in honor of al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day, an Iranian-declared observance, Nasrallah added, "Its stones, olives and figs are sacred, and no one has the right to give it up. This land must belong to its owners, and it will return, God willing. more.. e-mail
Nasrallah: Palestine, from sea to river, entirely Arab property
Jpost.com Staff And Ap, Jerusalem Post 9/26/2008
Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah stated the entire land of Palestine was holy and belonged solely to the Arabs, in a speech held on Friday in honor of the "al-Quds Day,". "Palestine, from the sea to the river, is the property of Arabs and Palestinians and no one has the right to give up even a single grain of earth or one stone, because every grain of the land is holy. The entire land must be returned to its rightful owners, " Nasrallah said on a day commemorating Muslim claims to the holy city of Jerusalem. Nasrallah claimed that Israel and the Jewish lobby ruled the world and influenced the US and its allies, and explained jihad was the only way to achieve results. "Our lands will be liberated not by begging the US or the West, but with will, determination, resistance and sacrifices made by the region’s peoples," he said. more.. e-mail
Rice says Lebanon better off since Bush administration came to power
Daily Star 9/27/2008
BEIRUT: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in comments published Friday that Lebanon was better off today than it was under the previous US administrations. "Lebanon today is different. It is much better off since the current US administration came to power," Rice said in remarks published by the pan-Arab Al-Hayat newspaper in Arabic. When asked to comment about reports that the US has "lost" Lebanon because Hizbullah has kept its military power and transformed the country into an Iranian base, Rice said: "I spent some time with President Michel Sleiman who spoke about US help to build a better Lebanese army. "Let us remember," she told the newspaper, "that before the year 2006 the Lebanese army wasn’t present in the South of the country. "Let us remember that the army took measures against [refugee] camps, a move it was unable to carry out in the past. more.. e-mail
VIDEO / Despite UN speech, Jews dine with Ahmadinejad in New York
Reuters, Ha’aretz 9/27/2008
Despite Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s speech Tuesday where he railed against "Zionist murderers," a group of Jews had dinner with the Iranian President Thursday in New York. The Jews were part of a larger group of some 200 people of various faiths including Mennonites, and Zoroastrians who said they wanted to promote peace by meeting such a prominent foe of the United States. Outside the Manhattan hotel near the United Nations where the dinner took place, protesters held up placards such as "No feast with the beast" and likening Ahmadinejad to Hitler. On Tuesday the Iranian leader launched a blistering attack on Israel in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly, dwelling on what he described as Zionist control of international finance. President Shimon Peres has said the Iranian president’s address was reminiscent of one the most notoriousanti-Semitic tracts in history. more.. e-mail
Israel and Azerbaijan close multi-million dollar arms deal
Yossi Melman, Ha’aretz 9/27/2008
Israel and Azerbaijan have closed a weapons deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars. According to agreements signed by the Defense Ministry and the government of Azerbaijan, which borders on Iran, Israel will sell the southern Caucasus state ammunition, mortars and radio equipment. Predominantly Muslim Azerbaijan has increasingly been caught in a tug-of-war for influence between its large southern neighbor, and the secular, democratic West. Rumblings of Shi’ite political Islam have been particularly noticeable in the more conservative regions that border Iran, and the secular government has displayed concern over Iranian influence. An number of Israeli firms were involved in the various deal. Soltam will sell mortars and ammunition to Azerbaijan, Israel Military Industries will sell the country rocket artillery and Tadiran Communications will sell it radio equipment. more.. e-mail
Rafsanjani warns Western support for Israel will eventually ’backfire’
Compiled by, Daily Star 9/27/2008
A former Iranian president warned the West Friday that its support for Israel would backfire as hundreds of thousands of people staged rallies in support of Palestinian and Muslim claims to the holy city of Jerusalem. Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who is still considered influential in Iranian politics, said the US, Britain and France’s backing of Israel is dangerous. "They will put themselves in trouble, eventually," Rafsanjani said during a Friday prayer ceremony in Tehran marking "Al-Quds Day" - the Arabic word for Jerusalem. Israel could "take tougher and more offensive action" than the United States against Iran and the Arab world, warned Rafsanjani, who is the head of a powerful clerical body that has the ability to appoint and dismiss the country’s supreme leader. He added that the current financial crisis in the US is connected to Washington’s campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. more.. e-mail
Six world powers agree to ’new’ UN resolution on Iran
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 9/27/2008
UNITED NATIONS: Six powers trying to scale down Iran’s nuclear ambitions agreed Friday on a draft Security Council resolution confirming existing UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear defiance, Russia’s foreign minister said. "Our intention is to confirm all previous decisions," Sergei Lavrov told reporters after meeting with his counterparts from Britain, China, France, the United States and Germany. He was referring to the three previous rounds of Security Council sanctions against Iran for its refusal to halt sensitive nuclear fuel work. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband told reporters after the Iran meeting: "We will be presenting a short resolution for consultations today that reaffirms existing resolutions and the unity of the E3+3. " French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner confirmed that a draft resolution would be submitted later Friday. more.. e-mail
IAEA chief: Iran mastering technology needed to build atomic bomb
Reuters, Ha’aretz 9/27/2008
Iran is on its way to mastering technology that would enable it to build atomic bombs, if it so chose, International Atomic Energy Agency director Mohamed ElBaradei said in remarks published on Friday. Meanwhile British Foreign Secretary David Miliband told reporters the six world powers had agreed on a draft resolution on Iran’s nuclear program and would submit the draft text to the 15-nation U. N. Security Council for discussions on Friday afternoon. A vote could come as early as Saturday. Iran says its uranium-enrichment program is for civilian purposes only, including electricity generation, but is currently under IAEA investigation and has been hit with UN sanctions over past undeclared activity and failure to prove its intentions are wholly peaceful. ElBaradei said having nuclear arms unfortunately still symbolized prestige. . . more.. e-mail
Palin: We mustn’t send Iran message U.S. would allow second Holocaust
Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 9/27/2008
Republican vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin on Thursday told CBS that the United States must not let Iran think it would allow a second Holocaust to occur. Pressed by the TV network’s Katie Couric to explain her often-repeated comment that the U. S. should not "second guess" Israel’s stance on Iran, the Alaska governor said: "We shouldn’t second guess Israel’s security efforts because we cannot ever afford to send a message that we would allow a second Holocaust. "Palin was apparently referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s many calls for Israel’s destruction. Haaretz reported earlier this month that the U. S. denied Israel a security aid packageout of concern that Israel would use it to attack nuclear facilities in Iran. Palin added that Israel is "our closest ally in the Mideast? We need them. more.. e-mail
Rice to UN: Iran’s threats should be focus of Mideast peace talks
Shlomo Shamir and News Agencies, Ha’aretz 9/27/2008
The United States will demand a special meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the content of an address given by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad earlier this week in which he accused the "Zionists" of controlling the UN and the world, U. S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced Friday. In his address before the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Ahmadinejad said that "a small but deceitful number of people called Zionists" had seized control over financial and political centers in Europe and the U. S. in "a deceitful, complex and furtive manner. " Rice made the announcement at a Security Council discussion on Israel’s expansion of settlements in the West Bank, called by the Arab League. Rice stressed that the Arab world has an obligation to advance peace in the Middle East. more.. e-mail
Six powers agree on Iran resolution
Al Jazeera 9/27/2008
Six world powers have agreed on a draft resolution on Iran’s nuclear programme, which did not include new sanctions, in line with Russia’s insistence, senior US and European officials have said. David Miliband, the British Foreign Secretary, told reporters that the six powers had agreed to submit the draft text to the 15-nation UN Security Council for discussions on Friday. A vote could come on Saturday. According to a text seen by Reuters news agency, the 10-line draft resolution would call on Iran to "fully comply, without delay" with previous council resolutions, which demand that it halt enriching uranium. It also urges Iran to meet the requirements of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board of governors. more.. e-mail
Ahmadinejad: Zionism has nothing to do with Jewish people
Reuters, YNetNews 9/26/2008
Iranian president sits down to interfaith dinner in New York with Mennonites, Zoroastrians and Jews, who, in turn, ask him to abandon rhetoric that ’minimizes the Holocaust’ - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had dinner on Thursday with around 200 people of various faiths including Mennonites, Jews and Zoroastrians who said they wanted to promote peace by meeting such a prominent foe of the United States. Outside the Manhattan hotel near the United Nations where the dinner took place, protesters held up placards such as "No feast with the beast" and likening Ahmadinejad to Hitler. On Tuesday the Iranian leader railed against "Zionist murderers" in a speech at the UN General Assembly, dwelling on what he described as Zionist control of international finance, echoing the libel that blamed a world Jewish conspiracy for all the world’s troubles. more.. e-mail
Iran warns West on al-Quds day
Al Jazeera 9/26/2008
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former Iranian president, has warned the West that its support for Israel will backfire. As thousands of Iranians rallied on al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day, Rafsanjani said supporting Israel was dangerous and that the US, Britain and France will "put themselves in trouble". The powerful politician warned supporters at the rally, which is held every year on the last Friday of Ramadan, that Israel could take "tougher and more offensive action" than the US against Iran and the Arab world. Al-Quds Day was started by the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as a way of expressing solidarity with the Palestinians and underscoring Jerusalem’s importance to Muslims. Solidarity call Hundreds of thousands of Iranians rallied in cities across the country to protest against Israel’s occupation and annexation of East Jerusalem. more.. e-mail
Rice slams Iranian anti-Israel rhetoric
Associated Press, Jerusalem Post 9/26/2008
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday denounced Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for calling for Israel to be wiped off the map and said America would ask the UN Security Council to take up the threat to the existence of a UN member nation. On Tuesday, Ahmadinejad lashed out at Israel before the UN General Assembly, saying "the Zionist regime is on a definite slope to collapse, and there is no way for it to get out of the cesspool created by itself and its supporters. " "I do not believe that the Iranian people as a whole hold these views," Rice told the Council on Friday, "but their president has said that another member of this body, the United Nations, should be wiped from the face of the map, should be destroyed, and should not exist. "That is simply unacceptable," she told the Security Council. more.. e-mail
Israel’s ’long operational arm’ has been rehabilitated
Ha’aretz 9/26/2008
Over the past year a number of reports of malfunctions have emerged regarding the Iranian nuclear project. Among them: An Iranian general who defected, Ali-Reza Asgari, had been involved in leading his country’s contacts with Hezbollah; an Iranian dealer in sophisticated communications equipment was charged with spying for Israel and sentenced to death; his sons, engineers who helped build the Iranian centrifuges, were fielded as double agents for the CIA. "Thwarting" involves psychological warfare, leaks to the international media and diplomatic moves to embarrass the Iranians and enlist Western countries against it. In one case, the Iranians destroyed a facility near Tehran they were using to develop nuclear weapons, and covered it with a soccer field after its existence was leaked to the International Atomic Energy Agency. more.. e-mail
Iran holds annual pro-Palestinian march
Dudi Cohen, YNetNews 9/26/2008
Thousands gather in Tehran for national holiday of ’Jerusalem Day,’ chanting ’Death to Israel’; former Iranian president says cooperation of Muslim world can ’break Zionist spirit’ -If the entire Muslim world "would come together to support the Palestinian people, it would break the spirit of the Zionists," said former Iranian president Akbar Rafsanjani in a Friday morning press conference. The press meeting marked the opening of Iranian celebrations of ’Jerusalem Day’, a national day to demonstrate Shiite solidarity with the Palestinians and Shiite support of the goal to ’emancipate’ Jerusalem from Israel. It has been held every year since 1979 in the Islamic Republic on the last Friday of the month of Ramadan. more.. e-mail
Iranians chant ’death to Israel’, unveil book mocking Holocaust at Al-Quds Day rally
News Agencies, Ha’aretz 9/27/2008
AFP reported that Iranians chanted "Death to Israel" as a group of Islamist students unveiled a book mocking the Holocaust in an annual Al-Quds Day parade on Friday to show solidarity with Palestinians. Featuring dozens of cartoons and sarcastic commentary, the book "Holocaust" was published by members of the Islamist Basij militia. Education Minister Alireza Ali-Ahmadi was present in the capital’s Palestine Square for the presentation of the book "Holocaust. " According to the news agency, the cover shows a Jew with a crooked nose and dressed in traditional garb drawing outlines of dead bodies on the ground. Inside, bearded Jews are shown leaving and re-entering a gas chamber with a counter that reads the number 5,999,999. A former Iranian president warned the West on Friday that its support for Israel would backfire. . . more.. e-mail