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Palestine Diaries

courtesy The Electronic Intifada

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

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Video Archives
Audio Archives

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Video Archives

Conflict..

Fresh Israeli Incursions, Two Palestinians Killed Islam Online 10/23/2003 GAZA CITY, October 23 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Israeli occupation forces pressed ahead with large-scale incursions into the Gaza Strip Thursday, October 23. Backed by 20 tanks and armored vehicles, the Israeli army pushed hundreds of meters into the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, raiding dozens of houses and scooping up large swathes of farmlands, Palestinian security sources said. “A number of local inhabitants were wounded, one seriously and another moderately,” said the director of Naser hospital. 'Collaborators' shot in West Bank BBC 10/23/2003 Gunmen have publicly executed two men accused of collaborating with Israeli intelligence in the Palestinian areas.The two were shot dead in front of a crowd in the West Bank refugee camp of Tulkarem after the playing of a video tape of their "confessions". Palestinian gunmen have killed scores of alleged collaborators during the conflict with Israel. Local security officials said the latest victims, aged 21 and 25, were accused of betraying a wanted militant. Israel to build 333 new homes in West Bank settlements Ha'aretz 10/23/2003 The Housing Ministry issued Thursday a tender for the construction of more than 300 new apartments in two West Bank settlements. A ministry official said tenders had been issued for 153 new apartments in the Karnei Shomron settlement, near Nablus in the northern West Bank, and 180 in Givat Ze'ev, near Jerusalem. The road map calls for a freeze on all settlement activity, including construction for natural growth, in the first stage of the Israeli-Palestinian agreement. The Peace Now movement said the government has issued tenders for 1,627 housing units in the settlements since the beginning of the year. Settlers kill Palestinian in firefight Al-Jazeera 10/23/2003 A Palestinian man has been killed during a firefight with armed settlers and soldiers in the West Bank town of Hebron. Israeli military sources said the clash broke out in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood, which is home to radical Jewish settlers, on Wednesday. The sources orginally said two soldiers had been lightly wounded in the incident, but later reported it was two armed settlers instead. They added the Palestinian man opened fire at an army patrol before being gunned down by settlers in the vicinity. As Army continued to operate in WB, 5 Palestinians were Killed on Wednesday International Middle East Media Center 10/23/2003 Israeli settlers in Hebron, attacked residents of the old city of Hebron using rocks, and damaged Wednesday afternoon their properties. The attack followed a shooting incident in which two settlers were wounded. Troops demolished late Wednesday the home of Rafiq Kanabi, who carried out the shooting attack and was killed in an exchange of fire with settlers and soldiers. Army accused Kanabi of membership in Hamas’s military wing. Army has plan to expel Arafat Jerusalem Post 10/23/2003 The IDF is ready to carry out the cabinet's decision to remove Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat the moment the orders are given, a senior military source told The Jerusalem Post Wednesday. "We have presented plans showing the risks and the chances of the operation itself, including the options to remove him alive or not," he said. "The government has to make a decision to allow the army to act. The army is ready. The army always plans for all possibilities," he said. Zionist soldiers assault AP cameraman Palestinian Information Center 10/23/2003 Nablus - Zionist occupation forces yesterday beat up a Palestinian reporter working with the American news agency the Associated Press for taking photos of soldiers while smashing Palestinian cars in the Salem town near Nablus. The cameraman Majdi Eshtiye, 23, said that he saw four soldiers smashing the window shields of four Palestinian civilian cars at the Salem roadblock to the east of Nablus and took photos of the incident. FBI pressures Palestinians on Gaza bombing investigation Jerusalem Post 10/23/2003 The FBI agents meeting Palestinian officials investigating last week's deadly attack on US Embassy security guards in the Gaza Strip are trying to determine whether the PA arrests made after the attack are for real, a US official said Wednesday. The FBI agents, who met Wednesday with PA officials, want specific information regarding who the Palestinians have investigated so far, and what they have discovered. Fence construction damages Byzantine monastery Jerusalem Post 10/23/2003 In an unusually bitter public dispute, the Antiquities Authority has lambasted the Defense Ministry for "seriously damaging" an ancient Christian archeological site while building the security fence around Jerusalem. A hasty and uncoordinated start to construction near Abu Dis at the end of August led to severe damage to about a third of a sixth-century Byzantine monastery, authority spokeswoman Osnat Guez said Wednesday. The Defense Ministry denied the charge and challenged the authority to file a complaint with police. Barrier turns holy city into hostile fortress The Guardian 10/23/2003 Despite the UN's vote of condemnation, Sharon remains intent on redrawing Jerusalem's borders -- Jerusalem came to the unsuspecting people of Nu'man in 1967 as an imaginary line across their hamlet's parched, rock-studded hills far beyond the city. In the wake of Israel's drubbing of the Arab armies in the Six Day war and occupation of the West Bank, the conquerors drew a wide arc deep into Palestinian territory and declared it the new boundary of the Jewish state's "eternal and indivisible capital". Hamas barrage follows Israeli raids The Guardian 10/22/2003 Hamas launched a barrage of missiles at targets inside and outside Gaza yesterday in response to the heaviest air raids ever carried out by the Israeli military. Three homemade Qassam rockets were fired at a town beyond Gaza, one narrowly missing a synagogue, while at least seven mortars were fired at settlements inside the strip. Monday's air strikes were launched in retaliation for the firing of eight Qassam rockets inside Israel, which left 14 people dead, including 10 civilians. More than 100 people were injured. An opinion poll published yesterday suggested that the continuing violence and the impasse in peace talks between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority had persuaded Palestinians to reaffirm their support for suicide bombings and their president, Yasser Arafat. Football pitch and hope all that's left for Rafah's homeless refugees ReliefWeb 10/23/2003 RAFAH, Gaza Strip, Oct 23 (AFP) - His hands in his pockets, Mohammad Radwan gazes nostalgically at the pitch. The football stadium which was packed with his best memories as a player and coach is now packed with Palestinian refugees whose homes were razed by Israeli bulldozers. This small ground in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah was where the 39-year-old played his first game in the local junior team and where he returned as a coach after playing professionally in Jordan and notching up a few laps with the national squad. Now his wife and six children sleep in the changing rooms and the men have lined up mattresses on the concrete terracing. Life resembles a "prison" for West Bank villagers left in limbo ReliefWeb 10/23/2003 BARTAA, West Bank, Oct 23 (AFP) - Cut off from the rest of the West Bank by a concrete wall to the south and forbidden from crossing into Israel to the north, the residents of Bartaa say their village has come to resemble a giant prison. Life in Bartaa, which was first ruptured when the village was split into two at the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, took another turn for the worse when the Jewish state decided that it would be included within the contours of its controversial separation barrier. The 5,000 residents of the village now find themselves in limbo -- unable to travel freely in and out of Bartaa to other areas of the West Bank but also facing arrest if they try to cross into Israel itself. Aqsa guards blocked Zionist minister’s entry into Mosque Palestinian Information Center 10/23/2003 Occupied Jerusalem - Officials in the Islamic Awkaf department in occupied Jerusalem have denied Zionist reports on previous coordination with those officials on the Zionist internal security minister Tsahi Hanegbi’s visit to the Haram Al-Sharif. Sheikh Mohammed Hussein, director of the Aqsa Mosque, said that he was surprised with presence of the fanatic minister at the doors of his office along with his accompanying delegation. He said that they quickly left his office without discussing any issue pertaining to the situation in the Aqsa Mosque. Zionist occupation forces demolish house of commando Palestinian Information Center 10/23/2003 Al-Khalil - Zionist terrorist troops demolished the house of martyr Mohammed Rafiq Eknaee after midnight yesterday for attacking an army outpost in Tal Rumaida in the West Bank city of Al-Khalil. The commando wounded two soldiers, one of whom was in serious condition, before other soldiers shot him dead. Occupation authorities claimed that another Mujahid was with Eknaee but managed to escape from the scene of the attack. Israeli jets roar over Lebanon despite UN warning MSNBC 10/22/2003 BEIRUT, Oct. 22 — Israeli warplanes roared across Lebanon on Wednesday breaking the sound barrier over the northern city of Tripoli, witnesses said, despite a United Nations call to Israel last week to stop overflights.Witnesses said Israeli jets also circled over the capital Beirut and swooped over parts of southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa valley -- a stronghold of Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hizbollah. Israeli minister on Temple Mount BBC 10/23/2003 A top Israeli has visited the Temple Mount for the first time since Ariel Sharon's visit there three years ago helped spark the Palestinian uprising. Israel said Internal Security Minister Tsahi Hanegbi and his police chiefs were checking the site ahead of the Muslim festival of Ramadan next week...."This is a provocative visit and an attempt to take over our responsibilities," said Sheikh Hussein al-Khatib, director of the Waqf. Israel denies targeting Gaza civilians BBC 10/22/2003 Israel has released video footage of what it says is its air strike on Monday night into a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians say that Israel fired a missile into a crowd killing seven people but Israel says its footage shows it did not fire into a crowded area. The Israeli army very rarely releases pictures of any of its missile strikes but it has come under great criticism for its attack on the Nusseirat camp. So it has decided to release more than two minutes of grainy footage filmed by a drone....[the] question to the Israeli army is simple. If there was no crowd around the car then why were so many people injured and killed? Gazans: Israeli claims about Monday’s carnage are “brazen lies” Palestinian Information Center 10/22/2003 Occupied Jerusalem - Palestinian Red Cross officials and eyewitnesses described as “brazen lies” Israeli army claims that its helicopter gunships didn’t target a civilian crowd at the Nussierat refugee camp on Monday, killing and maiming more than 110 people, all of them civilians. The Israeli army claimed Wednesday that all of the victims of Monday’s air strikes on Gaza were “militants and terrorists.” Video could confirm high toll in air strike: Israeli military Sydney Morning Herald 10/24/2003 An Israeli military official has acknowledged that an air force video appears to show Palestinians gathering in an alley near the site of a helicopter attack in the Gaza Strip, and that their presence could account for the high casualty toll in a missile attack on Monday. On Tuesday the Israeli military took the unusual step of showing to foreign journalists a videotape of two missiles hitting a Palestinian car carrying suspected Hamas members in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Monday....But close viewing of the grainy black-and-white video appears to show people rushing into an alley near the car after the first missile was fired and before the second missile struck, about one minute later. Hamas militant gets 16 life terms for role in Sbarro bombing Ha'aretz 10/23/2003 A female Hamas activist was sentenced by a military tribunal Thursday to 16 consecutive life terms for assisting the terrorist who blew up the Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem two years ago, killing 15 people. Hamas activist Ahlam Tamimi drove the suicide bomber to the site of the attack on August 9, 2001. Fifteen people were killed and more than a hundred others were wounded when the landmark restaurant in the center of Jerusalem was blown up. News Briefs: IOF Bulldozes Factory, Homes in Gaza, Hebron International Middle East Media Center 10/23/2003 Invasion in Gaza with Tanks and Bulldozers / Israeli forces demolish the house of Al-Qneibi family in Hebron / Young man died of his wounds in Jenin... Israel set to build new homes at W.Bank settlements Reuters 10/23/2003 JERUSALEM, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Israel published tenders on Thursday for building 323 new homes in two Jewish settlements in the West Bank, defying a U.S.-backed peace plan for the second time this month. Earlier this month Israel unveiled plans to build more than 600 new homes in Jewish settlements in the West Bank, drawing international and Palestinian condemnation. A Housing Ministry official said tenders had been announced for building 143 new apartments in the Karnei Shomron settlement, near Nablus in the northern West Bank, and 180 in Givat Zeev, close to Jerusalem. Collaborators File Opened Again, Two Publicly Executed in Tulkarem International Middle East Media Center 10/23/2003 In Tulkarem refugee camp, two men, Samer Ufi and Mohamed Faraj, bth in their early twenties were shot dead Thursday by masked activists in front of a crowd of people. The two were kidnapped a week ago. On Wednesday, Al-aqsa martyrs’ brigades distributed a video tape of their confessions about collaborating with Israeli intelligent service officers. Palestinian killed, 2 Israelis injured in Hebron gunfight Ha'aretz 10/23/2003 A Palestinian was killed and two settlers were wounded in a gunfire attack yesterday near a caravan site in Hebron's Tel Rumeida neighborhood. The incident occurred early yesterday afternoon, when a Palestinian gunman opened fire on a group of Israel Defense Force soldiers who were on patrol at a junction near the entry to Tel Rumeida, a neighborhood that is isolated from the other Jewish settler areas in Hebron. Three killed in West Bank violence Al-Jazeera 10/23/2003 Two Palestinians have been executed in public and a third has died of wounds sustained in a mysterious car explosion in the West Bank. Witnesses to the first incident said gunmen shot and killed the men, aged 21 and 25, after they had confessed to collaborating with Israeli intelligence.They said the gunmen played a videotape of the confessions to residents of the Tulkarm camp before executing the suspects in the street.

Diplomacy..

80 U.S. Senators Sign for Sanctions if Syria Doesn't Quit Lebanon American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee 10/23/2003 Eighty U.S. Senators out of 100 have signed an Accountability Act that stipulates for American sanctions against Syria if it fails to pull out its army from Lebanon, give back Lebanese sovereignty and discontinue support to Hizbullah and Palestinian militants, An Nahar reported on Thursday. Israel ignores UN condemnation of 'security fence' The Independent 10/23/2003 The United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly yesterday to condemn the "separation fence" Israel is building in the West Bank, and to demand that the project be brought to a halt. Israel responded that it would ignore the non-binding resolution and keep building the "fence" - actually a series of walls and fences. UN Resolution Condemning Israel’s Construction of the Wall: Full Text Palestine Chronicle 10/22/2003 Tuesday October 21 2003 - ILLEGAL ISRAELI ACTIONS IN OCCUPIED EAST JERUSALEM AND THE REST OF THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY - THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY Palestinian public committees in Syria ask Arafat to sack document signatories Palestinian Information Center 10/23/2003 Damascus - The Palestinian public and social committees defending refugees’ right of return and supporting the intifada in Syria today delivered a cable of protest to the PLO representative in Damascus, Mahmoud Al-Khaledi. The cable, addressed to Palestinian Authority chief Yasser Arafat, declared rejection and denunciation of the so-called “Switzerland document” that surrendered the Palestinian refugees’ right of return to their original homeland. The committees declared insistence on the refugees’ inalienable right of return and rejection of all ideas in that agreement. French, Swiss FMs: 'Geneva Initiative' supports road map Jerusalem Post 10/23/2003 French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin looked favorably at the private peace plan known as the Geneva Initiative on Wednesday, calling it an "important contribution" and explaining that it compliments rather than contradicts the official US-backed road map. Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey also said she supports the initiative and plans to bring it with her when she travels to meet with her British counterpart Jack Straw in London, and present it to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York. Villepin met Wednesday in Paris with the authors of the Geneva Initiative, former justice minister Yossi Beilin and former Palestinian Authority minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, who are seeking support among European leaders for the plan ahead of a ceremony marking its formal signing in Geneva on November 12. Sudan refuses to close down Hamas and Islamic Jihad offices Palestinian Information Center 10/23/2003 Khartoum - Sudan has turned down an American request to close down the offices of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad Movements in Khartoum, according to AFP. The French agency quoted Ibrahim Omar, secretary general of the ruling national conference party, as saying that the American secretary of state, Collin Powell, had tabled such a request. Fatah members try to promote truce initiative in Washington Ha'aretz 10/23/2003 Three senior Fatah members completed a series of meetings Thursday in Washington in an attempt to promote a cease-fire agreement among all the Palestinian factions in Israel, Israel Radio reported. The three delegates, Fares Kadura, Mohammed Gneiem and Hatem and Abdel Kader are associated with Marwan Barghouti, the jailed leader of the Fatah military wing. The three met with State Department officials, senators and congressmen and told them that there were no winners in the military standoff between Israel and the Palestinians and that a comprehensive cease-fire would be the only way to resume negotiations between the sides. Rightist MKs want Sharon to rethink Hezbollah swap Ha'aretz 10/23/2003 Right-wing Knesset members called yesterday on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to reconsider the appropriateness of carrying out a prisoner exchange deal in return for the release of Elhanan Tannenbaum following the publication of the circumstances of his kidnapping by Hezbollah. Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee MK Yuval Steinitz (Likud) said the release of hundreds of prisoners in exchange for a single Israeli civilian - rather than for an IDF soldier who fell prisoner while in the service of the state - would set a dangerous precedent. Iran said to have aided Hezbollah in Tannenbaum kidnap Ha'aretz 10/23/2003 An Israeli security source revealed Wednesday that Iranian intelligence services assisted Hezbollah with the October 2000 abduction of Israeli businessman Elhanan Tannenbaum. According to the source, Hezbollah would have found it extremely difficult to transfer Tannenbaum from Abu Dhabi to Lebanon without assistance. The source assessed that Iran supplied Hezbollah with a jet that carried Tannenbaum from Abu Dhabi to Lebanon, via Iran, in addition to the safe house in Abu Dhabi where Tannenbaum was held immediately after his abduction. Syria Capable of Creating 'Balance of Deterrence' Against Israel An Nahar 10/23/2003 Syria is capable of establishing a "balance of deterrence" that stops Israel from waging further attacks on Syrian soil, according to Syrian army chief of staff Gen. Hassan Turkmani. "We're not incapable of creating this balance of deterrence and we're not incapable of retaliating to any new adventurous aggression," Turkmani said in a graduation ceremony of a new batch of army officers at Latakia's military academy on Wednesday. President Katsav condemns Geneva plan Ha'aretz 10/23/2003 President Moshe Katsav condemned the Geneva Accord on Thursday, saying it hampers the road map will impede the government's ability to negotiate with the Palestinians in the future, Israel Radio reported. He made the comments shortly after meeting with at least some of the drafters of the unofficial peace plan negotiated by Palestinians and left-wing Israeli opposition members. The report did not disclose the identity of the people present at the meeting. U.S. to back Russia's UN resolution endorsing road map Ha'aretz 10/23/2003 Russia will soon call on the UN Security Council to adopt the road map as the accepted international plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Moscow also proposes that the Quartet (Russia, the UN, the European Union, and the U.S.) be acknowledged as a mediator in the dispute. The United States is expected to back the proposal, which should be approved without difficulty. Russia brought up the proposal several months ago, at which time Washington deferred support for it. Now, in view of Russia's support for Security Council resolutions on Iraq, the U.S. government is not inclined to oppose Russia's position on the road map. Hawke's peace initiative a mystery Sydney Morning Herald 10/24/2003 Israeli and Palestinian authorities say they have no knowledge of an Australian-backed peace initiative announced this week by the former prime minister Bob Hawke.A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry said: "We have absolutely no information about that. It's fairly unrealistic. I do think the Foreign Ministry would know about this."He did not rule out the possibility of discussions through back channels. However, Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, also said he knew nothing about an Australian-backed initiative. Goals of Road Map Remain Only Viable Paths to Peace UN Coordinator Tells Middle East Media Seminar United Nations 10/22/2003 SEVILLE, 22 October -- The second day of the international media seminar on the question of peace in the Middle East, now taking place in Seville, Spain, reaffirmed the usefulness of dialogue and mutual understanding among the parties to the conflict in the region. In his welcoming remarks this morning, Manuel Chaves, President of the Regional Autonomous Government of Andalucia (Junta de Andalucia), noted that the presence in Andalucia of the United Nations, and the message sent by the Secretary-General to this meeting, as well as the involvement in the meeting by the Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, and the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, showed the commitment of the world body to peace in the Middle East. Media Coverage of Middle East Among Issues at UN Seminar United Nations 10/22/2003 SEVILLE, 21 October-- The international media seminar on the question of peace in the Middle East, now taking place in Seville, Spain, reaffirmed the utility of dialogue and mutual understanding.The participants heard four speakers in the morning session and four speakers in the afternoon session of the two-day meeting. In his opening remarks, the moderator, Shashi Tharoor, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, expressed his hope that the seminar would be an occasion for dialogue and conciliation rather than condemnation and criticism.Speakers addressed the questions of the role of the media in the conflict, and the role of culture, literature and education in facilitating the dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians.

Human Rights..

Women March Against the Wall; Demand right to feed their children International Solidarity Movement 10/21/2003 [Jayyous, Qalqilya] For the first time since the construction of the Separation Wall, Jayyous women will collectively demonstrate their opposition to the Israeli Occupation and the confiscation of their farmland.The Jayyous Women’s Charitable Society will be organizing and leading a women’s march on Thursday, October 23 beginning at 8 am. The march will proceed from the Jayyous Charitable Society Building down to the West Gate of the Separation Wall. The Wall is built 6 km inside the Green Line, cutting through Jayyous farmland and impeding the natural agricultural cycle and olive harvest. The farmland in Jayyous, and all over the West Bank, provides the major source of income to Palestinian families, and the recent gate closures mean financial crisis for much of the local community. International women are invited to join the women of Jayyous in solidarity to draw attention to the suffering of men, women, and children. OCHA Weekly Briefing Notes No. 24, 15 - 21 Oct 2003 ReliefWeb/UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 10/23/2003 Palestinians: 25 deaths, 94 injured Israelis: 4 deaths, 5 injured Internationals: 3 deaths (American diplomats), 1 injured (American diplomat)Incidents involving ambulances and medical teams: Denial of access: 3 incidents, Delay (60 to 300 mins): 8 cases, Attack/abuse of ambulances and staff: 5 incidents, Shooting at ambulance: 3 incidents, Detention of ambulance staff: 0 Refugee Voices: Three homes demolished, many lives changed, in Um Ratam Refugees International 10/22/2003 Systematically expelled during and after the 1948 war, and then transferred against their will to the northern part of Beersheba, the indigenous population of the Negev, or Bedouin, face land confiscation, house demolitions, destruction of fields and trees, and an Israeli plan to forcefully displace them again.About half of the 130,000 Bedouin in the Negev live in seven urban townships planned and built by Israeli government.Those who refuse the state's relocation plan, live in 45 ‘unrecognized’ villages, where the provision of public services, such as water, electricity and sanitation, access roads and transportation, as well as medical clinics and schools, is absent. Devastation in Rafah ReliefWeb/Islamic Relief 10/22/2003 Disaster Zone: Nine people were killed and at least 93 people injured after massive incursions into Rafah refugee camp in Gaza, Palestine last week. Two children, aged eight and twelve, were amongst those killed during the violence which began on Thursday 9th October. Bulldozers and missiles reduced hundreds of homes to rubble, leaving over 250 families homeless. The governor of Rafah has declared the camp a "disaster area", while a senior UN official described it as looking like it had been struck by a severe earthquake. Homeless: Around 1800 people remain homeless, including the elderly and many children. Some families have taken temporary shelter in Rafah Sports Centre and Municipality Library. During a lull in the violence, refugees sifted through the rubble of their destroyed homes, attempting to salvage some personal possessions.... Alert: Palestinian political prisoner Amina Mouna in danger Palestine Monitor 9/20/2003 According to the testimony to the Palestinian prisoners’ organisation “Club of prisoners” by Hala Djabr, a Palestinian woman who has just been released, on September 7, after 14 months imprisonment in the Neve Tirza women prison in Ramleh, the aggression of the Israeli’s against Amina Mouna (Muna Hamayra), spokesperson for the women prisoners in Neve Tirza, has increased awfully. The guards have thrown boiling water and detergents over her body and in stead of bringing her to the hospital she was put in isolation. Hala said further that this assault was pre-programmed and that the Israeli’s in fact want to kill Amina Mouna. Zionist jailers plant mines around Ofer jail Palestinian Information Center 10/23/2003 Bethlehem - The number of Palestinian internees in the Ofer detention camp had increased to 900 due to the influx of new detainees following the intensified Zionist arrest campaigns in lines of the Palestinian people. Lo’ui Abdo, one of the prisoners, told the Palestinian prisoner’s club that a new ward was opened in that jail to lock up newly detained prisoners....Abdo further revealed that the prison administration had planted mines at the northern area of the prison in addition to barbed wires. Palestinian juvenile detainees suffer humiliation and torture Palestinian Information Center 10/23/2003 Bethlehem - The Palestinian prisoner’s club has said that the number of Palestinian juvenile detainees in the Zionist occupation jail of Atsion had risen to 13 due to the continuing occupation army’s campaign of arrests. The club quoted those juveniles as complaining of constant torture, beatings and insults at time of arrest. Lebanese man held in administrative detention in Israel Ha'aretz 10/23/2003 The Tel Aviv District Court released for publication Thursday that a Lebanese citizen has been held in administrative detention for the past year, after having served five years in an Israeli jail. The judge enabled only partial disclosure of the affair, leaving out many details still regarded as confidential. The detainee, Ibrahim Abu-Zeib, a Lebanese Christian, was sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted of membership in the Lebanese Hezbollah militant organization. Palestine: Economic and Social Dislocation International Solidarity Movement 10/21/2003 Jenin - Roy R. - 21 Oct 03 -- That long and winding road; leads me to....? In previous messages back home I have mentioned the terms economic and social dislocation without describing this in detail. However, this week a perfect example presented itself. I was attempting to travel alone (not recommended, but I had no choice) from a village close to Ramin back to Jerusalem. I was told I would need to get up at 5am to get a taxi from the village. The early start was necessary because the taxi could not go straight to the village, the road blocks prevented this. After 40 minutes we arrived at a deep, wide ditch gouged out of the road and a pile of rubble and concrete on the other side of it. The blockage was enough to stop a tank, never mind the taxi. Abnormality, Up-close-and-personal International Solidarity Movement 10/17/2003 Nablus - CJ - 17 Oct 03 -- I’ve been traveling a lot and that puts you up-close-and-personal with the roadblocks, the checkpoints (the guns), the tanks, the soldiers, the horrible roads. Talking to people reminds you of how this is not a normal life for them, that they want it to change. Walking down the street reminds you how much this country has been economically cut off and suffocated. And when you’re at home hoping to get away from it all, you hear the tanks or the F-16s flying over head. As per my last report we had been kicked out of the West Bank and were in Jerusalem. A group of us decided to go to Nablus in order to help with the Olive Harvest activities there. On our "tour" of Nablus we were greeted by rubber bullets and tear gas. Street Schools International Solidarity Movement 10/13/2003 Jenin - CJ - 13 Oct 03 -- On October 13th ISMers met with educators from Jenin regarding the underground ’street schools’ that began today. Jenin has been under curfew since 8/20 with brief periods of 1-3 days of curfew being released. The headmaster said that since the beginning of the school year (beginning of September) there have only been 12 days of school. He said that the only obstacle to the students’ education has been the near-constant curfew. Therefore educators in Jenin arranged the ’street schools’ in private homes (this one was at a day care). The students and parents felt a bit safer defying curfew in this case since the schools were held close to the homes so that if there was a problem with the soldiers, the students could easily run home to safety. The Occupation has become so oppressive that leaving one’s house is a form of resistance.

Economy..

Gaza's fishing boats lie idle Al-Jazeera 10/21/2003 The southern fishing zone of the Gaza Strip has been inaccessible for months due to Israeli closures. --The once bustling fishermen’s wharf in Gaza lies dormant, with hundreds of redundant vessels tied along the shore. Nearby dozens of fishermen sit under makeshift canopies, sheltering from the sun. The fishermen’s cafeteria is full of the fishless unemployed, who spend the day playing cards....Israeli military boats, known locally as Dabur, monitor the coast and are ruthless in their response. The Dabur have shot indiscriminately at the fishermen, thrown boiling water on them and forced them to undress and jump into the sea. Such treatment violates the Fourth Geneva Convention, which enshrines the rights of non-combatants in wartime. Histadrut threatens to begin general strike November 3 Ha'aretz 10/23/2003 Histadrut chairman Amir Peretz announced Thursday that the labor federation would begin a nationwide general strike November 3, unless the treasury reaches an agreement with the Histadrut before then. The announcement came after weeks of the Histadrut's threats that it would launch a wide-ranging strike that would virtually shut down the country. India rejects IAI demands for large Phalcon down payment Globes 10/23/2003 Source: The down payment is designed to protect IAI from political pressures, like the ones that forced the cancellation of the Phalcon deal with China. -- Sources inform “Globes” that signing the commercial deal for the sale of three Phalcon AWACs planes to India is being delayed, due to Israel Aircraft Industries' (IAI) demand for a exceptionally large down payment. Israel-America Chamber of Commerce takes steps to smooth bureaucracy Globes 10/23/2003 Israel-America Chamber of Commerce exective director Nina Admoni, has been appointed observer to the special committee of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, responsible for issuing permits to foreign companies operating in Israel who employ experts.

People..

Citing Political Oppression, Egyptian Writer Spurns Award Islam Online 10/23/2003 CAIRO, October 23 (IslamOnline.net) – A renowned Egyptian novelist adamantly refused Wednesday, October 23, to receive a prestigious award protesting "the regime’s political oppression of the Egyptian people and its reaction to Israeli aggressions against the Palestinian people." "I relinquish any awards from an authority that oppresses Egyptian people and links its foreign policy to Israel," firebrand Sonallah Ibrahim addressed a dumbfounded audience of Egyptian, Arab and foreign intelligentsia in Cairo Opera House. With Egyptian Culture Minister Farouq Hosni standing ready to award him the LE 100,000 (16,000 dollars) prize, Ibrahim opened his salvoes at the government. 'Promises' filmmaker to share insight, experience The Clarion-Ledger 10/23/2003 For five years, many believed that Promises, a documentary that looked at the Middle East conflict through the eyes of seven Israeli and Palestinian children, would not get made. One of the filmmakers, Justine Shapiro, found herself showing up for the shoot every Sunday, and began asking the inevitable question: "Am I crazy?" The host of the Lonely Planet travel series and her collaborators, B.Z. Goldberg and Carlos Bolado, went unpaid during that time. But in February 2001, it was. Shown on the film festival circuit, Promises was showered with applause and awards, and even was nominated for an Oscar. Icebreakers The Guardian 10/23/2003 Michael Greenspan reports on an 'extreme peace mission' to Antarctica, a unique collaboration between Israeli and Palestinian adventurers designed to bring their warring communities closer together -- In January, a small group of Israelis and Palestinians will set off on a much longer journey in an attempt to show their countrymen and the world that determination, cooperation and courage can overcome the yawning gulf of enmity and distrust that separates them. To prove their point they will travel all the way to Antarctica on a unique mission of peace that they call Breaking the Ice. Is this where Jesus bathed? The Guardian 10/22/2003 A shopkeeper running a small souvenir business in Nazareth has made a sensational discovery that could dramatically rewrite the history of Christianity. Jonathan Cook reports -- Elias Shama's small souvenir shop in Nazareth, the town of Jesus's childhood, barely catches the eye....Shama began excavating the tunnels after he and his Belgian wife, Martina, bought the shop in 1993, and found a series of 4ft-high passages, separated by columns of small bricks supporting a white marble floor. In one corner they found a walled-off room where a residue of wood ash revealed it once served as a furnace. The American excavators are convinced that what Shama has exposed is an almost perfectly preserved Roman bathhouse from 2,000 years ago - the time of Christ, and in the town where he was raised. 13th International puppet Festival in Jerusalem Palestine Monitor October 10 - 25, 200 The Palestinian National Theatre are very glad to inform for you our 13th International puppets Festival, that will take place at the theatre in Jerusalem, the festival will be between October 10 and last for 25th , many Puppets shows, street performances, workshops, children activities and many fun activities will be organized.

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Al-Jazeera reporter freed on bail BBC 10/23/2003 A journalist from the al-Jazeera television network who stands accused of belonging to an al-Qaeda cell has been granted bail by a Spanish judge, court sources say. Tayseer Alouni who is best known for interviewing Osama Bin Laden after the 11 September attacks on the United States, was arrested in early September in southern Spain. Palestinian, Lebanese students march on US Embassy Daily Star 10/23/2003 Demonstrators protest Syria Accountability Act -- Some 100 demonstrators from various Palestinian and Lebanese student organizations staged a protest outside the US Embassy in Awkar Wednesday. Internal Security Forces and Civil Defense personnel, who outnumbered the demonstrators, blocked the road leading to the embassy with barbed wire. The Civil Defense was also equipped with water hoses to scatter demonstrators in case of confrontation. After they gathered in Dbayeh, demonstrators walked toward the embassy waving flags of Hizbullah, the Amal Movement and the Syrian Social National Party. They chanted: “Death to America, death to Israel.” Some demonstrators raised banners reading: “Isn’t killing Palestinian children and destroying houses by American jets terrorism?” Australians at odds over giving peace prize to Ashrawi Ha'aretz 10/23/2003 SYDNEY - Palestinian campaigner Hanan Ashrawi will receive the 2003 Sydney Peace Prize, but the Lord Mayor of Australia's biggest city will boycott the presentation, organizers confirmed yesterday. The city of Sydney is the main sponsor of the prize previously won by South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson. But Mayor Lucy Turnbull has ordered officials to play no part in the November 6 award ceremony. Attorney says military probe into USS Liberty was cover-up Ha'aretz 10/23/2003 WASHINGTON - A former Navy attorney who helped lead the military investigation of the 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty that killed 34 American servicemen says former President Lyndon Johnson and his defense secretary, Robert McNamara, ordered that the inquiry conclude the incident was an accident. In a signed affidavit released at a Capitol Hill news conference, retired Capt. Ward Boston said Johnson and McNamara told those heading the Navy's inquiry to "conclude that the attack was a case of 'mistaken identity' despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary." Saudis warn over protests BBC 10/23/2003 Saudi Arabia has warned its people not to stage further protest rallies, after an opposition group called for a new round of nationwide demonstrations on Thursday.The warning comes nine days after hundreds of people took part in a rare public protest in the capital, Riyadh. It was issued by the Saudi interior minister, Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, who said such gatherings were illegal. Troops take to Beirut Streets As Workers Protest 'Starvation Policies' An Nahar 10/23/2003 Army troops and police deployed on major intersections in Beirut Thursday as Lebanon's workers, civil servants plus school and university teachers began a day-long general strike and planned street demonstrations to protest what they called "government starvation policies." Helmeted riot police toting sub-machineguns with clubs strapped to their waists patrolled the streets that the demonstrators planned to take to converge on the cabinet headquarters during government discussions of the 2004 fiscal budget. Galloway expelled by Labour BBC 10/23/2003 George Galloway has been expelled from the Labour Party in the wake of his outspoken comments on the Iraq war. The MP for Glasgow Kelvin immediately denounced the decision as "politically motivated" and he pledged Labour would rue the day it decided to throw him out. But Labour chairman Ian McCartney insisted that party had been right to expel a man who "incited foreign forces to rise up against British troops". Testimony Before The Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Peace Now 10/15/2003 By Mr. Dror Etkes, Director of Peace Now’s Settlements Watch Project - Chairman Chafee, Ranking Member Boxer, and other distinguished members of this subcommittee: Shalom.My name is Dror Etkes, and I am the Director of the Israeli Peace Now movement’s Settlements Watch Project.It is a great honor and a tremendous privilege for me to appear before you today on behalf of Peace Now to discuss the settlement movement and its relationship to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which regrettably has stalled because of the violence and failure of both sides to implement their basic obligations.As an Israeli who is deeply committed to his country and works every day to preserve its future as a Jewish, democratic state, I deeply appreciate this subcommittee for taking such an interest in my homeland and our search for peace with our neighbors.I also appreciate the high level of support that Congress has provided to Israel since its inception.Your consistent backing has been, and will continue to be, essential to the well-being of my country. U.S. Muslims Launch New Awareness Campaign In Ramadan Islam Online 10/23/2003 WASHINGTON, October 23 (IslamOnline.net) - In the hope that the Muslim community will use it to educate others about the Muslims holy fasting month and its traditions, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Thursday, October 23, announced the release of its "Ramadan 2003 Publicity Kit". The kit, now online, is designed to assist Muslim local communities in offering people of all faiths accurate information about Ramadan and Eid ul-Fitr, the holiday at the end of the fast, the Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group said in a press release. U.S. Erecting a Solid Prison at Guantánamo for Long Term New York Times 10/22/2003 GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba — The detention facility here for prisoners captured mostly in the Afghanistan war is increasingly taking on a permanent air as the authorities are building a hard-walled traditional prison alongside the corrugated metal units that have housed detainees for nearly two years. Although the International Committee of the Red Cross has taken the unusual step of publicly criticizing the United States for the open-ended nature of the detention, officials here say they are planning changes that will allow for the long term. Pentagon: General Won't Be Fired for Islam Remarks Reuters 10/22/2003 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush said Wednesday he disagreed with a senior Pentagon intelligence official's comments that Muslims worship an idol and not a "real God," but a top aide to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said there were no plans to fire the official. Lawrence Di Rita, Rumsfeld's chief of staff, also praised Army Lt. Gen. William Boykin's "very distinguished" military career. He cited Boykin's statement last week embracing freedom of speech and freedom of religion, and said "when you weigh the preponderance of all those things, nobody's thinking about asking him to step aside."

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