Home • Letters
Background • Links
What Can I Do?
Events • Cartoons
Search • Contact
About Us • Donate
E-Mail Us

Palestine Diaries

courtesy The Electronic Intifada

This webpage uses Javascript to display some content. Please enable Javascript in your browser and reload this page.

 

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

Get Audio/Video Player
Video Archives
Audio Archives

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Video Archives

Conflict..

Second Israeli Strike Kills Three Palestinians, Wound Others in Gaza City International Press Center 10/20/2003 GAZA, Palestine, October 20, 2003 (IPC + Agencies)-- Israeli military helicopters bombed Gaza City for the second time in three hours, targeting a Palestinian pickup truck in a crowded street. IPC correspondent reported that the Israeli helicopters fired several missiles at a pickup truck traveling down Al Jala'a street, a crowded traffic artery in the city of Gaza. The blast destroyed the truck completely, killing three citizens, and wounding many other bystanders, including schoolchildren...Tenother citizens, including schoolchildren, were also wounded, one critically. Israeli jets attack Hamas in Gaza The Guardian 10/20/2003 Israel launched two attacks against suspected Palestinian militants in Gaza City today, the first targeting a suspected weapons factory and the second killing two Hamas members and a Palestinian bystander. In the first strike, Israeli warplanes attacked a house under construction, where the army says Hamas was making small rockets. After the air strike, two masked men were seen loading belongings into a white pick-up truck. Less than three hours later, Israeli helicopters fired two missiles at the truck, demolishing the front of the vehicle and ripping out its engine. Israeli soldiers killed in ambush The Guardian 10/20/2003 Three Israeli soldiers were killed in an ambush by Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank last night. Israeli security sources said gunmen ambushed an army foot patrol in the Palestinian village of Ein Yabrud, north of the Palestinian West Bank capital of Ramallah. Three soldiers were killed and another was seriously wounded. The gunmen fled the scene in a car, they said. The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, an offshoot of Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, claimed responsibility for the attack. It said the operation was in retaliation for Israeli raids in southern Gaza in which 15 people have been killed in the past week. Israelis shoot dead four Palestinians Al-Jazeera 10/20/2003 Israeli forces have shot dead four Palestinians in the occupied territories, including a senior member of Hamas, a woman bystander and a teenager, medics said. In the southern Gaza Strip, witnesses said troops shot dead Tariq Abu al-Husayn, 39, a local leader of Hamas' military wing, in a clash which began at Brazil refugee camp when fighters attacked soldiers who entered the camp three days ago....Another Hamas member was killed in the Gaza' shootings in the southern Rafah district and a woman, 30, was killed by shrapnel from a tank shell after emerging from her house....In a separate clash on Saturday, soldiers shot dead a 16-year-old boy during a confrontation in the West Bank city of Tulkarm. Palestinian witnesses said the troops opened fire on stone-throwers, hitting the boy. 8 Qassams hit Negev; boy killed, 20 houses demolished in Rafah Ha'aretz 10/20/2003 Eight Qassam rockets fell in the Western Negev yesterday, including three in the Sderot area, and the rest in open fields, including those of a kibbutz, its cemetery, and an access road to the kibbutz. No injuries or damage were reported. The Hamas military wing, the Azzadin al Qassam Brigade claimed responsibility for the attacks yesterday morning, saying in a leaflet that it was in response to the killing of a senior Hamas official in Gaza the night before. Meanwhile, a Palestinian youth, Shadi Abu Alwan was killed, and three others moderately wounded when the wall of a building being demolished by IDF bulldozers crashed on them, in the area known as Block 6 in the Rafah refugee camp near the Egyptian border. Rockets strike Israel The Guardian 10/20/2003 Palestinian fighters in Gaza have fired a barrage of more than eight homemade rockets at Israeli towns that border the coastal strip, the Israeli army said. No casualties were immediately reported in Sunday's attack. Three rockets landed in the Negev Desert town of Sderot, and five others landed in open areas in nearby towns, a spokesman added. Meanwhile, Israeli troops continued to operate in Rafah on the Egyptian border, including the densely populated Salem area. Israel moved its troops from the Brazil refugee camp along the border early on Sunday, after a four-day raid in which they demolished at least 15 homes and killed four guerrillas and four bystanders, witnesses said. Israeli Air Strike in Gaza Wounds at Least 12 Yahoo! News 10/20/2003 GAZA (Reuters) - An Israeli warplane bombed a building next to the home of an Islamic Jihad leader in the Gaza Strip (news - web sites) on Monday, wounding at least 12 people but leaving the senior Palestinian militant unharmed. The Israeli army said it had not been aiming at Abdallah al-Shami of Islamic Jihad but instead had destroyed a weapons factory run by the militant group Hamas in an uninhabited house next door. IDF reservist battalions called up as Mofaz enacts anti-terror measures Ha'aretz 10/20/2003 Three Israel Defense Forces reservist battalions were called up yesterday for operations in the territories. The reservists were conscripted on emergency orders authorized by Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, following numerous intelligence warnings about planned terror attacks. The reservists complained about the short notice they received for their three-week service stints. The IDF plans to conscript two other reservist battalions in the near future. Zionist enemy deprives Jenin of drinking water Palestinian Information Center 10/20/2003 Jenin - The West Bank city of Jenin and its refugee camp are suffering from acute water shortage after the Zionist enemy forces destroyed the water network in the area. Walid Abu Muweis the municipality chief in the city said that Jenin was suffering from acute shortage of water supplies as a result of the “”Israeli” destruction of the main pipeline to the west of the city four days ago. He said that occupation tanks destroyed the pipeline on the Jenin-Haifa road, noting that the Zionist authorities had turned down several requests to repair the damage. IOF Kills a Child in Rafah, Wounds Three Palestinians while Jewish Settlers Steal Olive Crops International Press Center 10/19/2003 RAFAH, Palestine, October 19, 2003 (IPC + Agencies) - - Israeli occupying forces (IOF) killed this evening a Palestinian child in the city of Rafah, Palestinian security source said. Palestinian security sources said that IOF opened fire towards a Palestinian child in the city of Rafah, south of Gaza Strip, killing him. Medical sources at "Abu Yousif Al Najjar" hospital in Rafah told IPC correspondent that 14-year old Shadi Abu Olwan arrived at the hospital with fractures bruises all over his body....Also in the city of Rafah, another citizen was shot and wounded by IOF troops, while being inside him home. Eyewitnesses said that Hamdan Al Sha'er, 19, was inside his house, when IOF troops, who were stationed on several house rooftops, started opening random gunfire at Palestinian houses...Meanwhile in the city of Jenin, two citizens, including a child, were wounded when IOF opened fire towards them, IPC correspondent reported...In the city of Nablus, the attacks of the armed packs of Jewish settlers continued, as several Palestinian farmers were harvesting their olive crops, when they were shot at by a gang of armed Jewish settlers from the nearby Jewish colony of "Alon Moreh". While The City Faces a "Human Tragedy", Army Killed 3, Wounded 16 in Rafah International Middle East Media Center 10/19/2003 Two Hamas operatives and women were killed and 16 others wounded, as soldiers opened fire at a group of Rafah city residents in Alsalam Neighborhood. Troops continued operating in the southern Gaza Strip city. Army claimed that the group was armed and attempted to plant a bomb along paths used by army tanks, but failed to explain how a women was killed and 16 by-standers were wounded....The governor of Rafah called upon all local and International aid bodies to provide immediate assistance to the people of Rafah, whom "are facing a human tragedy". The governor said that in addition to the 2000 residents, who were turned homless and currently sheltering in local schools, the city suffers a sever shortage of food and medical supplies. A Palestinian Child Murdered by Israeli Soldiers in Tulkarem International Press Center 10/18/2003 TULKAREM, Palestine, October 18, 2003. (IPC+Agencies)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) slaughtered Saturday one Palestinian child and wounded five other citizens in the neighborhood of Shofeh, in Tulkarem, IPC correspondent said. Yehia Rehan, 14-year-old, was instantly killed Saturday when Israeli soldiers shot him in the head. Five other citizens were wounded, two of them seriously, named as Akram Ba’lawi, shot in the head, and Nidal Nasser, shot in the back, Thabet Thabet hospital sources in Tulkarem said. The child Rehan was shot and killed while he was leaving school. Palestinian Death Toll Rises to 15 in Rafah Palestine Chronicle 10/18/2003 RAFAH, Gaza Strip - Three Palestinians, including a woman, were killed by Israeli tank shellfire in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah early on Saturday during a new reinvasion that began several days earlier, to raise the Palestinian death toll since Sunday to eight and to at least 15 since October 10, and the number of wounded to more than 22, many of them seriously, in less than a week. Ten other Palestinians were injured in the shooting Saturday, three of them seriously. The Israeli Racist Separation Wall: Consequences and Violations International Press Center 10/20/2003 The Israeli racist separation wall expelled 1,402 Palestinian families, isolated 210 thousand citizens, and confiscated 164 thousand dunums, most of these lands are from Jenin, till the end of august, 2003. This racist separation wall is being built on Palestinian lands within the West Bank, not along the Green Line as Israel alleges. The width of this wall ranges from 80 to 100 meters and its length is 360 Kilometers. It swallows thousands of dunums of Palestinian agricultural lands. Israel has finished building two thirds of it and has broken in Qalqilya and Tulkarem and seized hundreds of meters. Jabara residents struggle to deal with fence Ha'aretz 10/20/2003 Up until October 9, the inhabitants of the village of Jabara thought that their main challenge now was the locked gate in the separation fence. The separation fence - two barbed wire fences and between them ditches, trackers' paths, an asphalt road and another electronic fence - passes to the east of their village and their lands and cuts them off from the very nearby villages to the south of Tul Karm....To the best of their knowledge, the arrangement is that the gate will be opened twice a day, in the morning and in the afternoon, for the students: not for farmers, not for the passage of goods, not for people who need medical treatment. Only for students....Two weeks ago, the gate was not opened for five days, between October 4 and October 8. Al-Aqsa Brigade claims deadly ambush Al-Jazeera 10/20/2003 The Palestinian resistance group, al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, has claimed responsibility for the killings of three Israeli soldiers near Ram Allah in the West Bank. Several more soldiers were wounded in the drive-by shooting as they enforced an occupation of the Palestinian village of Ein Yabrud near the Israeli settlement of Ofra. In a statement, the Brigade said the attack was in response to “Zionist massacres against our people” and Israeli raids in southern Gaza in which 15 Palestinians had been killed in the past week. Palestinians held for attack on US convoy Al-Jazeera 10/20/2003 Six members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) have been detained in connection with last week's deadly bombing of a US convoy in Gaza. Palestinian security forces "arrested six of our members four days ago in Jabaliyya refugee camp (just north of Gaza City) as part of an arrest campaign launched Wednesday," the group said in a statement. The arrests followed the bombing of a US diplomatic convoy in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday that left three US security guards dead. Series of Apache Attacks on Gaza City International Middle East Media Center 10/20/2003 While Ra'anan Gissin, an advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon described the attacks as "part of the war against terrorism", Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei' condemned them as acts of aggression that will hinder the possibilities to arrive at a truce and end violence. "Suddenly, a big flame came from the sky and hit the car in front of me, School children were trying to cross the road [at the time]... I saw a person in the car being evacuated and his body was completely burned. I also saw a teenager on the side of the street covered with blood but he was alive." Several Injured, Including Children, in Renewed Israeli Assassination Attempt Palestine Media Center 10/20/2003 Al-Shami Survives F-16 Strike -- A senior Islamic Jihad leader survived an Israeli extra-judicial assassination bid when an F-16 fighter jet bombed a residential building close to his in al-Shujaya neighborhood in Gaza City Monday morning. Abdullah al-Shami survived the assassination attempt when the fighter jet bombed a house 200 meters away from his, witnesses say. Initial reports say six Palestinians were injured, including two children, aged two and three. Most of the two-storey house was destroyed. The Israeli military denied that the Jihad spokesman was the target of the early morning raid. Instead, it claims it was targeting a Hamas weapons-making factory. Thousands Of Israeli Reservists Sent To West Bank, Gaza Palestine Chronicle 10/20/2003 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM - The Israeli occupation army was deploying thousands of reservists to the West Bank and Gaza Strip Sunday, October 19, under the pretext of intelligence that Palestinian activists were planning more attacks. Israeli media reported that five reserve battalions - each composed of at least 500 troops - had been called up on the orders of Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, despite the misgivings of Chief of Staff General Moshe Yaalon, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP). IDF kills six Palestinians in territories Ha'aretz 10/19/2003 Six Palestinians died in weekend clashes with the Israel Defence Forces, including a woman who was laying mines in the Gaza Strip and, in the West Bank town of Tul Karm a 14 year old who reportedly threw a Molotov cocktail. On Friday, Palestinians sources reported, Shadi Sakar and Walid Ala'el, both armed, were killed during an IDF operation in the Barzil neighborhood adjacent to Rafah's refugee camp. Dozens of IDF tanks and armored personnel carriers circled around the neighborhood at the time the two were killed, the Palestinian sources said. Zionist troops inflict more death, havoc on town Palestinian Information Center 10/19/2003 Occupied Jerusalem - In the absence of adverse international reactions, Israeli occupation troops on Sunday kept up their brutal rampage of murder and terror against the southern Gaza community of Rafah. Palestinian sources said Zionist forces killed at least one Palestinian at a nearby refugee camp Sunday, bring to five the number of Palestinians killed during the past 24 hours. The Israeli army also destroyed partly or completely as many as 20 homes along the Egyptian borders, rendering homeless another 20 impoverished families. Breaking News: IOF Raids Abu Falah, East of Ramallah International Press Center 10/20/2003 18:10-- Israeli occupying troops break into several Palestinian homes in the village of "Abu Falah", east of Ramallah City, force the house owners to leave, searched and messed up the furniture, before imposing a curfew on the city. Israel launches air strikes against Hamas in Gaza The Independent 10/20/2003 Israeli helicopters and warplanes launched three air strikes within four hours in Gaza City today, killing two Hamas members and a bystander. At least 23 people, including four children and a 70-year-old woman, were wounded in the first two attacks, Palestinian hospital officials said. No one was immediately reported wounded in the third attack. In that attack, Apache helicopters launched two missiles at a car. One hit the vehicle, completely destroying it, while the other landed unexploded in a nearby field. The car's passengers apparently fled before the missile hit, witnesses said. Troops Ambushed Near Ramallah, 3 Soldiers Killed, One Seriously Wounded International Middle East Media Center 10/20/2003 According to Israeli army and medical sources three soldiers were killed and another soldier was seriously wounded as they were ambushed by three gun men while they were conducting a patrol on foot in the village of Ein Yabroud, east of the west bank city of Ramallah. While local eyewitnesses said that the passengers of a passing private car opened fire at the group of soldiers, military source said that the three gunmen were hiding behind a low concrete fence and surprised the patrol, firing their machine guns at close range. Israeli Jetfighters Strike Gaza, Target Islamic Jihad Spokesman International Press Center 10/20/2003 GAZA, Palestine, October 20, 2003 (IPC + Agencies)-- Israeli jetfighters struck Monday morning a house in a Gazan neighborhood, in an attempt to target Sheikh Abdullah Al Shami, spokesman of the Islamic Jihad movement. Local Palestinian sources said that Israeli warplanes bombed a house close to that of Al Shami, in the Al Jidaiyda area of the Al Shijaiya neighborhood, east of Gaza City. The sources added that at least fourteen civilians, including an elderlywoman, were wounded while Al Shami survived the Israeli attack. Three killed in Israeli airstrikes Al-Jazeera 10/20/2003 Three Israeli missile strikes on Gaza have killed at least three Palestinians and injured 14 people including four women and three children. The airstrikes, fired from Israeli jets and helicopters in a space of four hours, slammed into densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip. The target of the first attack was Abd Allah al-Shami, a senior Islamic Jihad official who narrowly escaped being hit. The rocket missed its target and slammed into a building opposite al-Shami's house, causing widespread damage. Three Israeli Strikes Kill Three in Gaza The Guardian 10/20/2003 GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Israeli helicopters and warplanes launched three airstrikes at Gaza City neighborhoods Monday, killing two Hamas members and a bystander and wounding 23 other Palestinians on the street, including at least four children. The missiles destroyed what the military called a Hamas rocket factory. The flurry of strikes, all within a period of four hours, took place after Palestinian militants fired a barrage of homemade rockets into southern Israel from Gaza on Sunday. Such attacks - including Sunday's, rarely cause casualties, but they often provoke a strong response from Israel. Also Sunday, a Palestinian ambush in the West Bank killed three Israeli soldiers and wounded a fourth.

Diplomacy..

Syria said to control $3 billion for Saddam International Herald Tribune/NYT 10/20/2003 U.S. fears money may finance attacks -- WASHINGTON American investigators have evidence that $3 billion that belonged to Saddam Hussein's government is being held in Syrian-controlled banks in Syria and Lebanon, Bush administration officials say.A delegation led by the Treasury Department has spent nearly two weeks in Damascus trying to win access to accounts established by the former Iraqi government or its confederates, the officials said last week. Syria has promised to cooperate, but has so far failed to do so, the officials said. Alleged Terrorists Lying Low in Syria The Guardian 10/20/2003 DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Their offices are closed, their mobile phones are off and they're hard to find in Damascus. Yet the Palestinian militants Syria has harbored continue to cast a shadow over relations with America and fuel tension with Israel. Since Secretary of State Colin Powell asked President Bashar Assad in May to close the offices of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front of the Liberation of Palestine and other groups branded by Washington as terrorist, the militants have gone underground. Geneva team planning to promote the accord Ha'aretz 10/20/2003 The Israelis behind the Geneva Accord met at ZOA House in Tel Aviv yesterday, one week after returning from Jordan where the initial draft was forged. They discussed ways to promote the agreement and build public support for it ahead of a putative November ceremony in Geneva. Palestinian and Israeli representatives will not sign the understandings at the ceremony to make it clear that their joint initiative is not intended to "undermine" the government or state, but is a model that proves it is possible for the two sides to craft a permanent status agreement. Israel: a Bid to Transfer "Wall" Issue to International Court Is "Extremely Dangerous" International Middle East Media Center 10/19/2003 The UN General Assembly will convene Monday to discuss a proposal, submitted by the Arab block, condemning Israel for building the separation wall on West Bank territories. The Arab block reverted to the General Assembly after the U.S. vetoed a similar proposal, which was submitted to the Security Council, demanding for Israel to stop building the "wall" and return to the former status quo. The newely draft proposal asks the International Court to issue an advisory opinion on whether Israel should be required to halt construction and to dismantle fence sections already built. The court would also be asked to determine whether the fence is legal, and whether by building it, Israel was violating international law. Israeli diplomats in New York described the resolution, which authorizes the UN to transfer the separation wall issue to the International Court as "extremely dangerous." Hizbullah in disagreement with US over passage of convoy Daily Star 10/20/2003 Political circles were preoccupied over the weekend with Hizbullah’s denial of passage to a US convoy in Labboune near Naqoura on Friday. The United States described the incident as “unacceptable,” while Hizbullah said the convoy had no reason to be in such a “sensitive” area. With the exception of unofficial statements made by some Hizbullah officials and comments expressed by acting Foreign Affairs Minister Michel Samaha, the Lebanese authority made no statement about the incident until Sunday evening. The authorities appeared to be trying to contain Friday’s incident in light of the current regional insecurity. U.S. envoy Wolf not returning for now Ha'aretz 10/20/2003 The U.S. administration has informed the Israeli government that special envoy John Wolf will not be returning to the region for now. Wolf is in charge of overseeing the implementation of the U.S.-backed road map for Middle East peace. The U.S. will only decide if and when to send Wolf back to Jerusalem once the future of the new Palestinian government, led by Ahmed Qureia, becomes clear. A Palestinian Delegation to Hold Talks in Washington International Press Center 10/20/2003 RAMALLAH, Palestine, October 20, 2003 (IPC + Agencies)-- A Palestinian delegation composed of several political figures flew to Washington to meet with US congressmen to discuss a number of key issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Political sources said that the Democrat members of the United States Congress have invited several Palestinian politicians, including Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) members and senior Fateh movement members, to come to Washington and discuss several issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A Fatah Delegation in Washington for Cease-Fire Talks International Middle East Media Center 10/19/2003 Three senior Fatah officials departed early Sunday to Washington for talks with U.S. officials and legislators. The three young Fatah leaders and Palestinian Legislative Council members Hatim Abdel-Qader, Qadora Faris, and Ahmed Ghoneim had been invited by Democratic members of the Congress. In addition to meeting Congress members, the delegation is scheduled to meet with U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Near East Affairs David Satterfield, American Jewish leaders, and former Middle East envoy Dennis Ross. Egypt Demands Instant International Interference in Palestine International Press Center 10/19/2003 NEW YORK, October 19, 2003 (IPC + Agencies)-- The Egyptian permanent representative to the United Nations, Ahmed Abu El Gheit, affirmed today that the present situation in the Palestinian territories requires instant and effective international interference to protect the Palestinians from the Israeli continued attacks on their lives, properties, and lands. Arab bloc pushing proposal in the United Nations against security fence Ha'aretz 10/19/2003 Israel is leading a concerted diplomatic effort in the United Nations and European capitals to block a UN General Assembly proposal that includes an official appeal to the International Court of Justice in The Hague to determine whether the separation fence is legal. The General Assembly will convene for an emergency session tomorrow to discuss am Arab bloc proposal condemning Israel for building the West Bank separation fence. PM opens Knesset session with assault on Geneva Accord Ha'aretz 10/20/2003 Prime Minister Ariel Sharon opened the winter session of the Knesset on Monday with a speech slamming the Geneva Accord proposal for an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Sharon accused the members of the opposition who had worked with Palestinian officials on the proposal of providing the Palestinian Authority with an excuse to escape its formal understandings with the government. PM Qurei: Israel Exploits the Situation to Continue Building the Separation Barrier International Press Center 10/20/2003 RAMALLAH, Palestine, October 20, 2003 (IPC + WAFA)-- Palestinian Prime Minister, Ahmad Qurei, stressed Monday that Israel would exploit any possible means to construct the separation barrier and continue settlement activities. Qurei was speaking in a press briefing in Ramallah following a meeting with international diplomats in the Palestinian territories. Prisoner-swap negotiations slow as Germans blame Israeli ‘blabbering’ Daily Star 10/20/2003 German-mediated negotiations for a prisoner-swap deal between Hizbullah and Israel slowed over the weekend amid statements from Hizbullah officials that they were unwilling to make concessions to Israel. “The only formula that would make our detainees (in Israeli prisons) come back home, without begging or seeking favors, is that of power and the ability of the resistance,” said Sheikh Nabil Qaouk, Hizbullah’s top official in the South, on Sunday....Meanwhile, Israel’s daily Yediot Ahronot reported that German mediators threatened to halt their mediation effort “because of Israeli blabbering.” Prisoner exchange talks with Hezbollah slow down Ha'aretz 10/19/2003 Snags delayed progress last week in prisoner exchange talks between Israel and Hezbollah. Israeli officials indicate the negotiations have continued longer than expected. The head of Israel's negotiating team, Israel Defense Forces Major General (res.) Ilan Biran, returned from Germany late last week. Today, he is to brief Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, who travels to Berlin on Tuesday. Shalom will meet with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. PM vows not to trade prisoners without cabinet OK Ha'aretz 10/20/2003 Prime Minister Ariel Sharon promised yesterday that he will not railroad cabinet approval for a prisoner exchange deal with Hezbollah. "Approval for a prisoner exchange with Hezbollah will not be secured rashly," Sharon stated at yesterday's cabinet meeting. "Government ministers will have sufficient time to study the subject, and express their views on it." Israel: No nukes on our cruise missiles Ha'aretz 10/20/2003 Israel has informed the U.S. that it has not modified sea-launched "Harpoon" cruise missiles so they could carry nuclear warheads. The U.S. asked Israel to clarify the status of its Harpoon missiles after The Los Angeles Times reported on October 12 that Israel had modified the submarine-based weapons to carry have nuclear payloads. Israel has introduced various technical (non-nuclear) modifications to the Harpoon cruise missiles.

Human Rights..

Grave and Blatant Next Step: Israeli Military Order Calls Wall "Demarcation Line”! Palestine Monitor/PENGON/Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign 10/13/2003 Throughout this week, villagers whose lands have been isolated by the Wall in the northern West Bank found an Israeli military order declaring that the lands isolated behind the Wall formed a “demarcation border” and prohibiting passage to these areas almost entirely. The orders, which constitute a grave and blatant next step in Israel’s illegal land grab, come at the same time that the United Nations postponed voting on a Security Council resolution regarding Israel’s Apartheid Wall....The order stipulates that all crossing into the isolated areas are prohibited unless a “permit” from the Occupation “Civil Administration” is obtained, which can only be done by land owners who “prove” that they have land residing behind the Wall or are “officially registered” workers. Starving Residents into Expulsion: Farmers’ “Protest Tents” Targeted to Ensure no Land Access StopTheWall.org 10/15/2003 The expulsion of Palestinians from the de facto annexed land behind the Apartheid Wall continued yesterday as some 50 Israeli soldiers invaded the area near the village Jayyus. The soldiers confiscated the identity cards of some 40 farmers and residents who had built tents on their isolated land, telling them their cards would only be returned at the Wall’s gate as people were forced to leave the area entirely. Residents were told that the gate will remain closed until the Jewish holiday ends and that thereafter “permits” will be required for anyone seeking to cross the gate. Numerous soldiers ambushed farmers, shooting at 19 year old Na’el Nofal as he approached the gate returning home from his lands. “This is our land!”: Jubara’s Residents Reject Israeli Permit System StopTheWall.org 10/17/2003 In late August 2003, the Israeli occupation forces informed the Red Crescent that there would be “real changes” taking place in Jubara, a small hamlet of 300 residents south of Tulkarem. Such declared changes, then not specified yet predictable, had already begun with the building of the Apartheid Wall and are now escalating as Israel’s expansionist policies are advancing to expel residents from Jubara. The Apartheid Wall cuts east of Jubara, isolating it in the de facto annexed area by Israel and rendering it entirely inaccessible to the West Bank...On October 3rd, the gate remained closed, causing students to be absent for the fifth consecutive day. Yet each day, Jubara’s residents had gathered at the gates in an effort to pressure the Israeli forces to allow passage through the gate; the gates remained locked. Jubara has now been under closure for the sixteenth day—no one is allowed in or out of the village which, considering that all services are only available outside the village, is having stark consequences for the residents. Seizing Land in Beit Furik International Solidarity Movement 10/18/2003 Today we again returned to Beit Furik to assist farmers in attempting to harvest their olive groves. Harvesting seems to be starting earlier and earlier, some going to the fields as early as 5 am we believe, to avoid the harassment and potential dangers from residents in the settlement of Itamar, where many of them believe that it their right to take all the land of the West Bank, by any means necessary. We arrived later, meeting other internationals who were already there. Settlers had already been spotted on the ridged high above the groves, toting the usual M16, and also binoculars and mobile phone. Then the army arrived, exiting a gate in the settlement fence, about a half kilometer away from our position. THE DESTRUCTION OF RAFAH…. More Palestinians are killed as occupation of Al Barazil continues International Solidarity Movement 10/18/2003 The Israeli occupation army has been rampaging throughout Rafah for the past two weeks, taking advantage of nearly complete American acquiescence and international silence. The ongoing wave of Israeli military attacks on Rafah neighbourhoods has thusfar resulted in the killing of 16 Palestinians and the injuring of over 100 others. Israeli tanks and bulldozers have destroyed entire neighbourhoods, leaving hundreds of civilians homeless. The Apartheid Wall furthers Israeli Colonization of Azzun Atma’s Land StopTheWall.org 10/19/2003 Today secondary students in Azzun Atman were forced to remain inside their classrooms and banned from playing football outside by Israeli soldiers--who then tore down the school’s Palestinian flag. Adjacent to the village’s co-educational school in the south is an Israeli military checkpoint; just a few hundred meters thereafter lies the Israeli settlement Sha’are Tiqva. While residents’ lives are increasingly imprisoned by the Apartheid Wall, which isolates Azzun Atma into the de facto annexed area behind the Wall, Israeli Jewish-only settlements and by-pass roads continue to steal and expand over their land. Press Alert: Tired and Cold Farmers Held Without Food or Shelter International Solidarity Movement 10/19/2003 [Jayyous , Qalqilya Region, West Bank] At 6pm this evening in Jayyous, farmers coming home from harvesting olives were detained by the Israeli military. They are being prevented from passing through the South Gate in the "Separation Wall" and returning to the village from their land. Seven farmers, including one elderly man, have been detained since 6pm without food, adequate clothing, or shelter. One soldier claimed this is "as punishment", and told volunteers from the International Solidarity Movement present that the farmers will be held until the names of those who damaged the gate earlier today have been provided. Jayyous Action Update: Farmers Still Detained, DCO Lying to Callers International Solidarity Movement 10/19/2003 Six of seven farmers held since 6pm outside of Jayyous are still locked outside the gate and unable to return home. The seventh was taken away for interrogation and his whereabouts are unknown. The Israeli DCO claimed to several callers that the farmers ad been released hours before and that Hamoked, an independent Israeli human-rights organization, had verified this: both lies. Seven Farmers Detained at South Gate All Night, One Arrest International Middle East Media Center 10/20/2003 Seven farmers from Jayyous village, near Qalqilia city, north of the West Bank, spent the night locked behind the damaged South gate of the Separation Wall by soldiers demanding the names of those responsible. The villagers, including one elderly man, were dressed only in day clothes and warm clothing and food was finally allowed to be passed through the gate at around midnight. Four International Solidarity Movement volunteers stayed at the gate to provide support. The Destruction of Rafah... International Solidarity Movement 10/19/2003 We apologize for the volume of email today and for the delay in getting this report to you.We know we're not a news site and only try to report to you what we see, when we can.Truely the response of the international community to the near complete destruction of Rafah is shameful.Thousands of Palestinian civilians have been terrorized, over 1200 left homeless, over 100 injured and 16 killed in Rafah over the last 6 days. In the West Bank Palestinian farmers are told they now need permits to be on their land; they try to reason with the Israeli soldiers who have near total control of their lives. Gaza refugee camps donate for Rafah victims Palestinian Information Center 10/20/2003 Nusseirat - The league of Nusseirat refugee camp’s mosques in cooperation with the Zahra women center has organized a large-scale fund-raising campaign to alleviate sufferings of victims of the Zionist devastation in Rafah. The fund-raising campaign started after the Maghreb prayers on Saturday 18/10/2003 when mosques called on citizens to donate for their brothers in Rafah through loudspeakers. Men donated money and relief material while women donated gold and jewelry. Four deaths, not one answer The Guardian 10/20/2003 Tom Hurndall, a 22-year-old student and peace activist from Tufnell Park, north London, on life support machine in UK after being shot on April 11. Family inquiry accuses Israel of 'fabricating evidence' to justify shooting. Authorities say a soldier fired at an unidentified gunman - Rachel Corrie, an American peace activist, 23, was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer on March 16 as she defended Palestinian homes in Gaza Strip. The army described the incident as a 'regrettable accident' and said the protesters were acting 'irresponsibly'. Her parents want the US Congress to investigate.... Families seek truth over Israeli deaths The Guardian 10/20/2003 Chris McGreal talks to the relatives of three British and American victims as they struggle to find out how their loved-ones came to die at the hands of the Israeli army -- The family of a British peace activist shot in the head by an Israeli soldier is considering applying to the courts for permission to turn off his life support machine. Doctors in Britain have told Tom Hurndall's family that he does not feel a thing. But his family find that hard to believe as they watch the twisting body and contorted face of the 22-year-old who is in a "vegetative state" after being shot in April. Soldiers Harass at Gunpoint Members of ISM Miftah/ISM 10/20/2003 Two things came to my mind, first the fact that I felt like I was in a Bantustan in South Africa 20 years ago, the cop reminded me of an Afrikarrner secret police, his hatred so very clear, his willingness to use violence palatable, in fact he wanted to very badly. Second, was the mental image of Jewish neighborhoods being stormed in the night, orders barked, confusion and raw fear created, friends and possessions left behind in a slightly controlled panic. -- So, last time I hollered I was about to leave for our Peace Camp, near the Apartheid Wall, in a village outside of Jenin called Tora Shakir. Our plan was to bring attention to the plight of the Palestinians there, in particular the farmers. The wall has taken the best of their land and they are being denied access. Building new homes without permits is illegal, but no new permits have ever been issued. Customs there dictate that a couple can't get married until the husband has built and furnished a home, so the entire social culture has been put on hold. All of the events occurring in Tora Shakir fit into the larger rubric of making life unlivable on many levels for the Palestinians, so they'll leave. Israeli Prison Authorities Deport Palestinian Prisoner to Gaza International Press Center 10/20/2003 RAMALLAH, Palestine, October 20, 2003 (IPC + Agencies) - - The "Friends of the Political Prisoner" association announced that a Palestinian prisoner will be deported to the "Erez" checkpoint, prior to its expulsion to Gaza Strip. The association said in a written press release that the "Negev desert" detention camp administration informed Samed Wahdan, a prisoner in the camp, that the Israeli courts decided to deport him to "Erez" checkpoint, north of Gaza Strip, prior to his expulsion to the Strip. Occupation authorities move Hamas leader to new prison Palestinian Information Center 10/19/2003 Al-Khalil - Zionist occupation authorities have moved Sheikh Hassan Yousef, Hamas spokesman in the West Bank, from Nafha to Askalan prison in line with the policy of destabilizing detainees. Sources close to the Sheikh noted that this was not the first time he was moved from one prison to another in order not to allow him enough time to influence other detainees. URGENT Appeal for the Children in Rafah International Solidarity Movement 10/18/2003 1,240 people are homeless in Rafah, Gaza as a result of Israeli forces demolishing 249 homes and damaging another 10 in addition to 117 other buildings. Since the beginning of the current Intifada three years ago, 7,523 Palestinians have been left homeless in Rafah, which puts the figure for all of Gaza at 11,987. There is a tremendous need for the newly found homeless, and there are many organizations working together to meet the challenge. KinderUSA in conjunction with our subsidiary office, KinderPAL, has completed an assessment of immediate needs and are appealing to you for assistance in caring for 320 of these families, approximately 18,000 people. Press Conference with Dr Mustafa Barghouthi, Health Development and Information Policy Institute Palestine Monitor 10/16/2003 The purpose of the press conference was to present an update of conditions within the Occupied Palestinian territories, after 3 years of the Second Intifada, which began on the 28th of September 2000. Israeli measures taken against the Palestinians have been and are perhaps more dangerous than those taken in 1948. Under Sharon’s plan for the Palestinians, they may now be clustered in ghettoes over no more than 9% of historic Palestine. 3 Palestinians dead after 3 Israeli aerial attacks on Gaza City Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 10/20/2003 PCHR strongly condemns the latest assassination attack carried out by Israeli occupying forces this morning in Gaza City, which left dead 3 Palestinians. 2 of the dead were targeted by Israeli occupying forces for involvement in attacks against Israeli targets and the third victim was a bystander. PCHR has repeatedly reiterated its condemnation of the Israeli policy of extra-judicial killings of Palestinians which constitutes a grave breach of international humanitarian law.

Economy..

Peretz to Netanyahu: Resume talks or face all-out strike Ha'aretz 10/20/2003 The chairman of the Histadrut labor federation, Amir Peretz, called on Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to resume talks in an effort to end the current sanctions by the civil servants or face intensified labor action. In a letter to Netanyahu, the Histadrut chief demanded an end to pension reforms and immediate resumption of negotiations. The labor federation decided earlier Monday to step up the strike if no progress is made in the upcoming round of talks with the treasury. Funds allege reform will cut pension pay by 12-16% Ha'aretz 10/20/2003 The reform in the new pension funds will lead to an average 12-16 percent cut in members' pensions, according to research recently commissioned by Histadrut pension funds. The paper was prepared by consulting company Kesselman Finances, a subsidiary of accounting firm Kesselman and Kesselman....Kesselman says retroactive reforms - that is, harming moneys already accrued in the new pension funds - reduce public confidence in the funds and have destructive ramifications for the future of Israel's entire pension sector. Muslims call for renewed economic boycott of Israel Globes 10/19/2003 A call for the renewal of the economic boycott against Israel was included in the concluding statement of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) 10th Session of the Islamic Summit Conference that ended yesterday in Malaysia. The 106-article closing statement included several items pertaining to Israel. They included a call for Muslim nations to renew the economic boycott of Israel in response to attacks on Palestinians. The conference stressed the need to implement the boycott's principles, which would be submitted for legislation prior to being implemented. Study: 150,000 households lack food Globes 10/19/2003 Families suffering from nutritional insecurity consume fewer essential dietary requirements such as proteins, iron and calcium. -- 150,000 households, 8% of all Israeli households, lack food, according to a Brookdale Institute survey on nutritional insecurity in Israel. The survey will be presented at the Van Leer Institute in Jerusalem today. Industrial production down annualized 0.9% in first 8 months Globes 10/19/2003 Work-hours per employee fell by an annualized 3.4% in January-August 2003. -- Industrial production fell an annualized 0.9% in January-August 2003, after falling 1.9% in 2002, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported today. Private consumption down again in August Globes 10/19/2003 Private consumption fell again in August. Trade and services proceeds fell by an annualized 2.5% in January-August 2003, after falling almost 1.5% in 2002. Seasonally-adjusted figures indicate that trade and services proceeds fell by an annualized 3.3% in August, after rising 5.5% in the preceding months. "The Economist": Purchasing power in Israel down 20% in three years Globes 10/19/2003 Israel's per capita purchasing power has shrunk from over $20,000 to under $16,000, due to the recession and intifada. -- Israel's per capita purchasing power has shrunk by 20% in the past three years, due to the recession and intifada. Per capita purchasing power is now less than $16,000 a year, $4,000 less than in mid-2000, before the outbreak of the intifada.

People..

Palestinians divided over 'armed Intifada' Al-Jazeera 10/20/2003 The Palestinian Intifada, or uprising for statehood, is now in its fourth year, but Palestinians themselves remain divided over what form it should take. Unlike the previous Intifada (1987-1992), in which mass demonstrations and stone throwing at the Israeli occupying military were the chief means of protest, the ongoing al-Aqsa uprising looks more like an armed insurrection. It has provoked a concerted and draconian Israeli response, resulting in the killing and maiming of thousands of Palestinians, most of them civilians. Poll: Majority of Palestinians Back Suicide Bombing Yahoo! News 10/20/2003 RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Seventy-five percent of Palestinians support the suicide bombing at an Israeli restaurant two weeks ago in which 21 people, including four children, were killed, a Palestinian survey showed Sunday. The survey by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, which questioned 1,318 respondents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (news - web sites), also showed that 85 percent of Palestinians support a "mutual cessation of violence by both sides."The poll found considerable anti-American feeling among Palestinians. Just over 95 percent of respondents said the United States was "not sincere" when it says it seeks to establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Film maker flies high in Venice and at home with The Kite Daily Star 10/20/2003 Lebanese cinema benefits from Randa Chahal Sabbag’s critical acclaim at international festival -- The day Randa Chahal Sabbag won the Silver Lion for her film, The Kite, at this year’s Venice Film Festival, was not only a personal triumph but also a triumph for Lebanese film. Although France usually funds Sabbag’s films, whether documentaries or features, they are almost always about Lebanon. The director will be receiving the Chevalier of the Order of the Cedar from President Emile Lahoud’s office later this month in recognition of her work; but despite this Sabbag remains a controversial figure in her own country....The Kite’s subject ­ living in divided territory after an occupation ­ may be a topic Lebanese have left behind since the Israelis withdrew from the South. Billionaire Shaked helps turn wheels of Geneva Accord Ha'aretz 10/20/2003 Avi Shaked, the furtive billionaire who played a major part in the Geneva initiative, is hardly an unknown to the Israeli peace camp. Essentially, Shaked is one of the veterans of the camp, and his acquaintanceship with the chairman of the Shahar movement, Yossi Beilin, began back in the late 1970s, in political activity of the Labor party. It was then that Shaked also got to know MK Shimon Peres, and became identified with his camp. (Shaked was an invited guest at Peres' birthday celebration, which was heavily covered in the media last month.) Moderate Jewish movement and Arab leader close ranks in Ofakim Ha'aretz 10/20/2003 When voters in upcoming local elections cast ballots, one southern town will stand out as a place where a moderate Jewish political movement has fused with the local Muslim leadership. A general physician heads the "Mahapakh" list, which is vying in Ofakim's upcoming municipal elections. Dr. Abbad Abdalgani, 49, who heads a Kupat Holim Clalit health maintenance organization clinic in Ofakim, wants to add the struggling southern town to his list of patients. His party list promises to fight municipal corruption, and improve education and public services for town residents. U.S. Nationals Stick To Gaza Islam Online 10/20/2003 GAZA CITY, October 20 (IslamOnline.net) – Although the U.S. State Department has advised all American nationals to leave the Gaza Strip following the killing of three Americans last week, they were adamant about leaving the strip having an unshakable belief that the Palestinians posed no threat to their lives. They further voiced their resentment at the way their country was handling the dormant Middle East process. "I will leave only in one case, if one of the Palestinian (resistance) groups claimed the killing of the (three) American diplomats," Suzanne Platt, a teacher at the AmericanSchool in Gaza City, told IslamOnline.net. PSR Poll: President Arafat's Popularity Highest in Five Years, 97% Say US Policy Biased in Favor of Israel International Press Center 10/18/2003 RAMALLAH, Palestine, October 18, 2003 (IPC + Agencies)-- A Palestinian research and survey center recently published the results of a poll conducted on a sample of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which revealed the highest increase in the popularity of President Yasser Arafat in five years, as well as a lack of trust towards the United States' policies in the Middle East. PSL denounces American official’s anti-Islam statement Palestinian Information Center 10/19/2003 Nablus - The Palestine Scholars League has condemned the offensive media utterances of Gen. William Burns, deputy to the American secretary of state, which offended Islam and Muslims. The League issued a statement charging that such “rude” utterances constituted clear atheism and outright insult to Islam and to more than 1.3 billion Muslims. The statement affirmed that the utterances contravened all heavenly religions and humanly laws and ethics, describing them as “racist, blind hatred, anti-Semitic and terrorist”. Interview: Perle's horizons Jerusalem Post 10/17/2003 Meet Richard Perle - Consider an astonishing fact: Richard Perle has never met Ariel Sharon....Here is a man who might be taken for Donald Rumsfeld’s or Paul Wolfowitz’s or Dick Cheney’s intellectual doppelganger. The difference is that Perle is not so constrained by considerations of political or bureaucratic tact. He says what he thinks. And what he thinks, one suspects, is what George W. Bush thinks, or what he will think, sooner or later. -- It is the second day of the Jerusalem Summit, and Perle is to be awarded a prize in memory of Henry "Scoop‘ Jackson, the late Democratic US Senator from Washington for whom Perle worked as an aide in the 1970s. We meet around midday in his King David hotel suite, with a terrific view of the Old City walls. Fenced in: Ariel Sharon talks to the ’Post' Jerusalem Post 10/17/2003 Sharon explains why Israel cannot expel Yasser Arafat, the security fence’s other advantage, why attack Syria, whither the rabbinical courts, and what to do about Iran. --Though his premiership enters its fourth year this winter amid ever-mounting regional mayhem, domestic turmoil, and family scandal, Ariel Sharon is showing no sign of even contemplating an abrupt departure. Not only does he say he is determined to complete his current term in office — which does not expire until 2007 — he also doesn’t rule out running for re-election that year, at 79. Book: The Politics of Denial Palestine Monitor October 2003 by Nur Masalha, Published by Pluto Press (London) October 2003 -- The aim of this book is to analyse Israeli policies towards the Palestinian refugees as they evolved from the 1948 catastrophe (or nakba) to the present. It is the first volume to look in detail at Israeli law and policy surrounding the refugee question. Drawing on extensive primary sources and pr