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Palestine Diaries

courtesy The Electronic Intifada

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

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Video Archives
Audio Archives

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Video Archives

Conflict..

Israeli Forces Kill Two Palestinian Activists Islam Online 10/29/2003 TULKAREM, West Bank, October 29 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Israeli occupation forces gunned down two Palestinian resistance activists within the past 24 hours, while a third Palestinian died of wounds he sustained earlier during an Israeli aggression on Gaza. A member of the Palestinian resistance group Islamic Jihad was shot dead by Israeli forces early Wednesday, October 29, east of Gaza City, Palestinian security sources and medics said. The security sources said another man accompanying him was detained by the occupation army, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP). Palestinian shot dead in Gaza Strip; Two settlers wounded in West Bank shooting attack Al-Bawaba 10/29/2003 Palestinians wounded an Israeli man and woman as they drove on a highway in the northern West Bank Wednesday, Israeli police said. The man was in serious condition following the shooting. The woman was very lightly wounded. Earlier, one Palestinian man was killed by Israeli gunfire and a second was wounded Wednesday morning when they approached the fence surrounding the Nahal Oz kibbutz along the border of the Gaza Strip, Israel's Army Radio reported. Tanks enter Jenin as settlers attacked Al-Jazeera 10/29/2003 Israeli occupation forces have been firing indiscriminately in the West Bank city of Jenin. Sources in Jenin have told Aljazeera.net that earlier today two settlers were attacked near a settlement in the village of Sabah Al Khar, close to Jenin. It is unclear who attacked the settlers and what kind of injuries they sustained during the incident. Israeli Occupation Forces began to fire intensively in and around Jenin later this evening. An eye witnesses described seeing apache helicopters above the city...A house near Sabah Al Khar was hit by an Israeli tank, local people say that army were trying to demolish the house. The Israeli's allege that the house is being used as a ''weapons factory'' to assist resistance fighters in Jenin. Mofaz slightly eases closure on territories Ha'aretz 10/29/2003 Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz yesterday approved a slight relaxation of the tight closure on the territories. Despite growing support in the IDF's general staff in favor of easing restrictions on the Palestinians, Mofaz is for now only going as far as to ease restrictions on transfering goods to the territories and allowing Palestinian traders to enter Israel. Islamic Jihad fighter shot dead Al-Jazeera 10/29/2003 A Palestinian fighter from the Islamic Jihad resistance group was killed by Israeli army fire on Wednesday at dawn east of Gaza City. Palestinian security sources and medics said another man accompanying him was arrested by the Israeli army. They identified the slain Palestinian as Muhammad Awad, 26, who they said was active in the resistance group's military branch, the Jerusalem Battalions. Meanwhile in Gaza, a 16-year-old, who was seriously wounded during a 20 October Israeli air raid on the Nusseirat refugee camp, succumbed to his injuries, medics said. Zionist army intends to demolish 13 buildings including mosque Palestinian Information Center 10/29/2003 Jenin - Palestinian sources in the West Bank city of Jenin have said that Zionist occupation authorities had passed orders for the demolition of 13 buildings in the village of Akraba near Jenin. The sources noted that the buildings group residential houses, a mosque and a kindergarten. An Israeli Undercover Unit Assassinates One Palestinian, Tens of School Children Wounded, Lands Razed International Press Center 10/29/2003 TULKAREM, Palestine, October 29, 2003 (IPC+ Agencies)— An Israeli undercover commandoshot dead Thursday night a Palestinain civilian in the West Bank city of Tulkarem. Ibrahim Aref Alnaghiesh, 25, of Tulkarem refugee camp, was shot dead yesterday after a contingent of an Israeli undercover troop stormed the camp....In the meantime, tens of Palestinian school children of the Fatimiya Elementary school, in the West Bank city of Nablus, were reportedly wounded as they had inhaled tear gas fired by the Israeli occupation forces on the school. WAFA News Agency reported that several little school girls were vacated to the local hospitals in Nablus as scores were aided on the spot by a number of paramedics....In the Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, Israeli troops, accompanied by bulldozers, incurred yesterday into the Al-delta and Alsatar Algharby neighborhood and began razing vast areas of Palestinian-owned lands in the Satar Algharby (west partition). Zionists to build racist fence separating Palestinian suburbs from Jerusalem Palestinian Information Center 10/29/2003 Occupied Jerusalem - Mickey Levy, the commander of the Zionist police in occupied Jerusalem, has revealed that the army was planning to dismantle the Ram roadblock to the north of occupied Jerusalem when the segregation fence is built in the same area. Levy in a press interview said that the Zionist government and army had tabled a plan that would separate Arab suburbs and townships at the outskirts of Jerusalem from the holy city. He explained that the army would build a very high fence extending in the middle of the road in place of the Ram roadblock forcing inhabitants of the Ram and Barid suburbs along with other areas to use the Qalandya roadblock in order to enter Jerusalem. Occupation soldiers storm Am’ari refugee camp Palestinian Information Center 10/29/2003 Ramallah - Large numbers of Zionist army troops stormed at dawn today the Am’ari refugee camp near the West Bank city of Ramallah and broke into many houses. Palestinian sources in Ramallah said that the Zionist forces besieged the camp at midnight yesterday to the south of El-Bireh city. They added that the forces advanced into the camp after midnight and started a barbaric search of residential houses and arrested a number of citizens. Unconfirmed report: IAF missiles strike house near Jenin Ha'aretz 10/29/2003 Israel Defense Force tanks fired tank shells at a house on the outskirts of Jenin on Wednesday, apparently after tracking down an Al-Aqsa Brigade gunman who had shot and wounded an Israeli man and his wife just hours earlier. An IDF source denied reports that helicopter gunships fired missiles at the house. The missile strike comes shortly after an Israeli man and his wife were wounded by Palestinian gunfire while driving in the northern West Bank. The man was seriously injured and his wife sustained light wounds. Sources: Syria urged Hezbollah to avenge IAF strike Ha'aretz 10/29/2003 Israeli troops remained on high alert along the northern border yesterday, following Monday's shelling by Hezbollah of IDF positions. Security sources said yesterday that Syria was involved in the shelling. They believe that Syria overtly encouraged Hezbollah to fire on the Har Dov area to avenge an Israel Air Force strike on a militant camp near Damascus earlier this month. The sources also said that it was no coincidence that the attack happened as the Syrian and Lebanese chiefs of staff met in Beirut. Zionist enemy plans liquidating Palestinian leaders in PA areas and Damascus Palestinian Information Center 10/29/2003 London - An Arabic-language newspaper based in London has quoted an Arab member of the Zionist parliament as saying that Tel Aviv had finalized a plan to liquidate Palestinian leaders in the Palestinian Authority areas and in Damascus. ‘Al-Quds Al-Arabi’ today quoted Jamal Zahalqa, who is member of the nationalist democratic party, as saying that the Zionist security and intelligence apparatuses had tabled the plan with premier Ariel Sharon. Israel and Hizbullah don’t want major confrontation Daily Star 10/29/2003 Miscalculation could lead to escalation -- Neither Hizbullah nor Israel have any interest in a major confrontation along the volatile Lebanon-Israel border, analysts say. But any miscalculation in the dangerous game of brinkmanship between the two enemies could unleash an unintentional escalation of hostilities. The attack by Hizbullah on Monday against Israeli Army outposts in the Shebaa Farms is being interpreted as a sign that the party’s staunch anti-Israel stance remains unflinching despite the German-brokered negotiations for a prisoner exchange. Mofaz: Hizbullah preparing ''significant attack'' against Israel Al-Bawaba 10/28/2003 Israel's Defense Minister Saul Mofaz warned Tuesday that Hizbullah was planning "a significant terrorist attack" against targets in northern Israel. "We have a very, very deep understanding that on the northern border they (Hizbullah) are planning a more significant attack than artillery and anti-tank fire at Israeli soldiers.." Israel ignores road-map over illegal outposts The Independent 10/28/2003 The Middle East peace process was marred yesterday by fresh violence on the Lebanese border and an admission from the Israeli government that it will provide new services to illegal settlement outposts it pledged to dismantle under the "road-map" peace plan. Hezbollah guerrillas shelled Israeli positions in a disputed southern Lebanese border area for the first time in two months, triggering Israeli air strikes and artillery fire. The army said one soldier was lightly wounded. The attacks came as Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, reaffirmed Israel's determination to press ahead with construction of its vast barrier in the West Bank, in defiance of US and international pressure. Breaking News: Nusairat Death Toll Climbs to 12, 4 Palestinians Shot In Rafah International Press Center 10/29/2003 14:00-- A sixteen-year-old Palestinian child died of wounds he sustained last Monday as he was critically wounded during the Israeli bloody raid on the refugee camp of Nusairat, in the Gaza Strip. The death toll of the Israeli raid reached 12, Hospital sources reported. / 13: 10-- Four Palestinian citizens were shot and wounded, one critically, by Israeli occupation forces in Rafah, (WAFA) / 12:05-- Israeli occupying forces (IOF) shot and killed a Palestinian citizen, Mohammed Awadh, 26, east of Gaza City, security sources said. Awadh is from Beach refugee camp, IPC... Knesset told drug smuggling by soldiers is rising dramatically Ha'aretz 10/29/2003 Ten soldiers were arrested last year on drug smuggling charges, the Military Police head of intelligence, Lt. Col. Nir Golan, told the parliamentary committee on the war on drugs. Golan said there has been a significant increase in the number of officers and soldiers involved in smuggling drugs in exchange for intelligence information, which reaches Hezbollah, about the IDF deployment along the border. 'Pig-brigade' to guard settlements Al-Jazeera 10/29/2003 In a strange twist to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, plans are under way to use pigs to guard illegal Jewish settlements against resistance attacks. Though Jewish customs prohibit raising pigs, the "swine-brigade" has received the approval of prominent rabbis. The pigs – trained to detect explosives and attackers - would be expected to supplement armed guards and watchdogs. The novel idea was mooted by an organisation called the Hebrew Battalion. Israel trains pigs to guard settlements The Independent 10/29/2003 Jewish settlers in the West Bank are being asked to trade in their guard dogs for pigs. The animals, considered unclean in Judaism for thousands of years, would help protect the settlements from attacks by Palestinians. A company which supplies guard dogs to the settlements in the West Bank has asked senior rabbis for approval under Jewish law to train the pigs. The company says they are better than dogs because they have a stronger sense of smell. Because they are considered unclean by Islam as well, their presence could discourage Muslim attackers.

Diplomacy..

Bush: Fence will impede emergence of Palestinian state Ha'aretz 10/29/2003 "The fence is an opportunity to make it difficult for a Palestinian state to emerge,"” U.S. President George Bush said in a news conference Tuesday, after being asked about the security fence Israel is constructing with the stated goal of keeping out terrorists. "There is a difference between security and land acquisition," Bush said, "and we have made our views clear on that issue." With his carefully chosen language, Bush did not object to the barrier entirely, as nearly all the nations of the world did this month at the UN General Assembly. Qurei: Resistance Agreed to Hold Cease-fire talks International Middle East Media Center 10/29/2003 Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, who accepted Tuesday Arafat’s request to form a permanent cabinet, said that resistance groups agreed to hold talks on a new cease-fire agreement. "I have made an offer to all Palestinian groups, those within the Palestine Liberation Organization, as well asHamas and the Islamic Jihad group, for talks over a ease-fire. They welcomed it," Qurei told Reuters. Earlier Tuesday, Hamas Spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin said that his movement is willing to discuss a ossible cease-fire and is waiting for Qurei to arrange for a meeting, but warned that, in any case, Hamas would keep the right to respond to “Israeli crimes,” UN's Annan boosts Nusseibeh-Ayalon, Geneva peace plans Ha'aretz 10/29/2003 UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday gave a boost to Middle East peace activists, who warned him that "time was running out" on an Israeli-Palestinian two-state solution. Sari Nusseibeh, the president of Jerusalem's Al-Quds University, and Ami Ayalon, a retired navy commander and the former head of the Shin Bet security agency, lobbied Annan on their one-page "statement of principles" drawn up as a basis for a peace settlement....Annan applauded their efforts and courage, saying that grass-roots initiatives "helped to create a vision of a common future," according to a UN read-out of the meeting. Middle East peace: 'Time running out' Al-Jazeera 10/29/2003 Middle East peace activists have warned that "time is running out" on an Israeli-Palestinian two-state solution. Sari Nussaibah, the president of Al-Quds University and Ami Ayalon, the former head of Israel's domestic security agency, outlined their own peace plan to the UN secretary general on Wednesday. Scorned by Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, the two campaigners have gathered supporting signatures of 100,000 Israelis and 60,000 Palestinians in a three-month period. Abdel Rahman: World Against Apartheid Wall, Israeli Government Gave Israel Bad Image International Press Center 10/29/2003 GAZA, Palestine, October 29, 2003 (IPC + Agencies) - - Ahmad Abdel Rahman, President Arafat’s political advisor criticized Tuesday American officials for not condemningthe recent Israeli crimes in Gaza, which claimed the lives of 12 Palestinian civilians within just 24 hours, Al Quds Al Arabi newspaper reported. Regarding the Apartheid Wall, Abdel Rahman emphasized that the vast majority vote against the Apartheid wall reassured that the Palestinian national rights recognized by the international community has been branded an international irreversible fact, which Israel was no longer able to wipe out or underestimate, attributing the Israeli military insane escalation on the ground to this recognition of the Palestinian rights. Qureia says truce talks with Hamas 'constructive' Ha'aretz 10/29/2003 Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said Wednesday that truce talks with Hamas have been "constructive." Qureia said he hoped to reach a cease-fire with Palestinian militant groups and then broaden the deal into a mutual truce with Israel. The truce talks are part of ongoing efforts to restart the U.S.-backed road map peace plan, which has bogged down amid violence and efforts to form a stable Palestinian government. Islamic Jihad denies negotiations with Palestinian PM about new truce Al-Bawaba 10/28/2003 he Islamic Jihad movement denied that it is in negotiations with the Palestinian government over a new truce, contrary to what the Palestinian PM Ahmad Qurei, known as Abu Ala, had previously announced. Meanwhile, Hamas reiterated that it will also not be concerning itself with such negotiations. Qurei affirmed that reaching a cease-fire agreement (hudna) with Israel is still one of his top priorities as negotiations between his government and the various Palestinian factions - including Hamas and Islamic Jihad – are underway. Former POWs ask PM to exclude Dirani from Hezbollah swap deal Ha'aretz 10/29/2003 Forty-seven aircrew veterans who were POWs in enemy prisons have asked Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to exclude Mustafa Dirani, the former Amal warden of Ron Arad, from a planned prisoner exchange with Hezbollah, unless Israel receives information about the missing IAF navigator. Arad has been missing since 1996, when Iranian Revolutionary Guards took the airman away from Amal, which held him for about two years after he and a pilot had bailed out of a malfunctioning warplane above south Lebanon. War of words follows Shebaa exchange Daily Star 10/29/2003 Shalom warns both Lebanon and Syria -- Military escalation between Hizbullah and Israel was followed by a war of words Tuesday as Israeli officials threatened Syria and Lebanon with harsher retaliation while Hizbullah warned that it would get impatient should Israel further delay the German-mediated detainee-swap deal. The Haaretz daily quoted Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom as saying that Syria and Lebanon “need to understand that the possibility of being hit exists on both sides. Annan and UN envoy deplore Israeli destruction of buildings in Gaza United Nations News 10/27/2003 27 October – The United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and his senior envoy for the Middle East today strongly deplored Israel’s continuing demolition of Palestinian-owned buildings, especially the destruction of three 13-story buildings in the Gaza Strip over the weekend. Geneva Convention 'Not Out-of-Date,' UNHCR Chief Tells Blair Palestine Chronicle 10/29/2003 "During his monthly press conference last week, Blair said that because of mass migration the Geneva Convention was "just completely out of date' and that 'it doesn’t meet the problems any more ..'" -- LONDON - The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Ruud Lubbers has rebuked Prime Minister Tony Blair for saying that the Geneva convention on asylum was "completely out of date." After meeting Blair in London on Tuesday, Lubbers was reported to have said that the 1951 Geneva Convention remained "relevant and timeless". "It does not provide a migration management regime, and the convention cannot be blamed for the failure to address problems it was never meant to address," he said. Palestinian resistance groups agree to ceasefire talks Palestinian Information Center 10/29/2003 Occupied Jerusalem - The Palestinian Islamic Resistance group, Hamas, has voiced willingness to discuss the conclusion of another hunda or cease-fire with the Zionist regime. Hamas founder and spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yasin told reporters in Gaza Wednesday the movement wouldn’t necessarily reject an invitation from premier Ahmed Qreia’ for talks aimed at reaching a cease-fire. “We are discussing this (offer), and we might accept it or reject it, but in principle we have no objections to discussing this matter,” said Yasin. Fatah leaders go to Washington, but their arguments fall on deaf ears JTA 10/23/2003 WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 (JTA) — Three leaders of the Palestinian Fatah movement came this week to Washington to show they were reformers, but their message didn’t win many followers among Washington’s foreign policy community. Ahmed Ghneim, a Fatah leader from eastern Jerusalem, said Wednesday that he believed dismantling terrorist organizations was a “completely empty concept.” “Do you think, with our weak security services, we have the ability to dismantle any group?” Ghneim said to audience members at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, which hosted the visit of the Fatah members. Bush: There is a Difference between Security and LandAcquisition International Middle East Media Center 10/29/2003 U.S. president George Bush warned in a news conference Tuesday that the separation wall, constructed by Israel in the West Bank, “is an opportunity to make it difficult for a Palestinian state to emerge,” “there is a difference between security and land acquisition” Bush added “and we made our views clear on that issue.” Bush described his problem with the wall and settlements as to how much they interfere with conditions for setting up a Palestinian state.

Human Rights..

Israeli Human Rights Groups Urge Probe of IOF’s Killings Palestine Media Center 10/29/2003 Israeli Undercover units assassinate Palestinian in Tulkarem -- Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) undercover units extra-judicially assassinated Ibrahim A’ref al-Na’neesh, 25, on Tuesday in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem and injured Ma’ath Fuad al-Habal, 17, as two Israeli human rights groups appealed to the Supreme Court to compel the IOF to investigate all incidents where Palestinian civilians are killed by the Israeli military, a spokesman for one of the groups said. Israeli undercover commandos killed an anti-Israeli-occupation activist linked to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement outside a West Bank refugee camp on Tuesday, witnesses and the IOF said. Occupation authorities intensify arrest of Palestinian juveniles Palestinian Information Center 10/29/2003 Ramallah - Zionist occupation authorities have intensified the arrest campaigns in lines of Palestinian juveniles throwing 464 children behind bars in the past three months. The Palestinian Authority’s ministry of prisoners’ affairs recently issued statistics indicating that the number of detained children until end of July 2003 had reached 300 children then reached 391 by the end of August and recently amounted to 464 by 25th October. Zionist soldiers abort pregnant wife of detained Palestinian Palestinian Information Center 10/29/2003 Al-Khalil - Zionist soldiers have assaulted and aborted the pregnant wife of the Palestinian detainee Jihad Mohammed Qassem Abeido during his arrest. The Palestinian prisoner’s club reported that a Zionist force broke into the house of Abeido in the West Bank city of Al-Khalil and attacked the wife while arresting her husband. She was taken to hospital in a serious condition where her yet unborn baby was declared dead. PHRMG is Concerned about the Internal Problems between the Palestinian People [Gunmen etc.] Independent Media Review and Analysis 10/29/2003 The PHRMG is Concerned about the Internal Problems between the Palestinian People -- The PHRMG is concerned by the violations committed by the Palestinian gunmen against the Palestinian civilians, and calls for an immediate halt for such violations. On the 22nd of October, Ghaleb Al-Faroukh was killed by two Palestinian gunmen, while he was on his way to Sa'ir to shop, and on the 23rd of October, Majid Zein was also killed by three firemen in the same area. It is said that the reason behind the crimes is tribal. West Bank villagers set up protest tent against Israeli barrier Miftah 10/23/2003 RAFAT, West Bank (AFP) - Palestinian residents of this small village near Ramallah set up a protest tent in a bid to prevent Israel from seizing land for the construction of its West Bank barrier. Members of the municipal council told AFP they received notice Wednesday from the Israeli civil administration that 1.6 dunams (half an acre, 0.2 hectare) would be seized "for military and security reasons". While it is a small area, the land affected is located on a strategic hilltop that overlooks both Jerusalem and Ramallah. Unprecedented destruction - 3 apartment buildings demolished in Gaza Strip, as Israel continues grave violations of international human rights and humanitarian law Palestine Monitor 10/27/2003 Three apartment buildings were demolished yesterday in the town of al - Zahra south of Gaza City. The small town, home to approximately 3000 Palestinians was invaded during Saturday evening by 30 Israeli military vehicles, including several tanks and one bulldozer. The Israeli forces then began to evacuate the residents of the entire town ordering that they vacate to the nearby Nusseirat refugee camp. The town of al – Zahra lies close to the illegal Israeli settlement of Netzarim. Aside from its illegality and the provocation it represents to the rightful Palestinian inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, the Netzarim settlement has also commanded much controversy within the state of Israel itself. ISM Statement to the Proposed Military Investigation on the Shooting of Tom Hurndall International Solidarity Movement 10/29/2003 The Israeli military advocate general announced on Sunday October 26 his decision to conduct a military police investigation into the April 11th shooting of 21-year-old peace activist Tom Hurndall by an Israeli sniper. The International Solidarity Movement would like to emphasize that this decision comes more than six months after Tom was shot and after the Hurndall family has been denied repeated requests for a fully transparent independent judicial inquiry into the incident. Previous military investigations into the death or injury of other international journalists and peace activists have proven to be partial to blaming the victims and absolving Israeli military officers of any responsibility. IOF Killed Hurndall While Protecting a Palestinian Child, UK Angered by Israeli Shallow Investigation International Press Center 10/29/2003 TEL AVIV, October 29, 2003 (IPC + Agencies) - - After months of delays and postponing, the Israeli military Attorney General, General Menachem Finkelstein, has finally agreed to open an investigation in the critical wounding of a British peace activist by the Israeli forces in the city of Rafah last April, Al Quds Al Arabi newspaper said....an Israeli military delegation delivered the documents and results of the [original] investigation to the British military attaché, who tore the documents apart and destroyed the attached videotape, protesting the superficial and twisted way the Israeli military commanders conducted the investigation. Hundreds of Palestinians stuck at Egyptian borders Palestinian Information Center 10/29/2003 Gaza - Hundreds of Palestinian citizens were stuck at the Egyptian borders awaiting Zionist approval for their entry into the Gaza Strip especially with the advent of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. Zionist soldiers barred around 600 Palestinians from passing via the Rafah border crossing through slowing down measures. The Zionist soldiers deliberately slowed down procedures, which coupled with increasing numbers of Palestinians returning to their homes to spend Ramadan in Palestinian lands, complicated the situation.

Economy..

Defense Ministry: Separation fence will cost NIS 7.5b Globes 10/29/2003 The price does not include the cost of installing terminals. Maintaining the fence will cost NIS 160,000 per km. -- The initial estimate of the cost of the separation fence is NIS 7.5 billion [$1.67 billion at current exchange] but this sum does not include the cost of installing terminals, or the traffic arrangements in the territories, as a result of the expected limitations, nor does it include the regular cost of maintaining the fence, estimated at NIS 160,000 per km [$56,900 per mile]....The Ministry of Defense representative noted that the final length of the fence, including the government’s recent changes, would be 720 km [450 miles], excluding the eastern fence. He added that the cost would be NIS 10 million per km [$3,555,556 per mile]....At the end of the discussion, Simhon estimated that the fence, including the east and west fences, the terminals, and maintenance would amount to NIS 15 billion [$3.33 billion], which Israel would have trouble meeting. Netanyahu, Peretz to meet again Thurs. in effort to avert general strike Ha'aretz 10/29/2003 Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Histadrut labor federation chairman Amir Peretz will hold additional talks Thursday in an effort to avert a general strike tipped to begin Monday, after their five-hour meeting Wednesday ended without success. In a letter to Peretz, the finance minister wrote Wednesday that he was willing to declare a two-month freeze on the implementation of the measures that sparked the strike, but conditioned the move on an end to the current labor sanctions as well as to the threat of an all-out strike. Poor families have tripled over past 13 years, says Bank of Israel report Ha'aretz 10/29/2003 The number of Israeli families living under the poverty line tripled from 1988 to 2001, according to a Bank of Israel survey published yesterday. During the 13-year period examined by the survey, the number of families living below the poverty line increased from about 100,000 to 300,000, the central bank researchers found. The National Insurance Institute defines the poverty line as half the median income. 2003 fiscal deficit will reach NIS 28b - 5.6% of GDP Globes 10/29/2003 The Ministry of Finance forecasts that government debt will reach a peak of 107% of GDP next year. -- Ministry of Finance budget director Uri Yogev today predicted that the 2003 budget deficit would amount to NIS 28 billion, 5.6% of GDP. Yogev submitted the 2004 budget books to the Knesset. He believes that next year’s budget deficit will be only NIS 20 billion - 4% of GDP. Elta expects US license for anti-missile system in Q1 2004 Globes 10/29/2003 The license will enable Israel Aircraft Industries-Elta to supply the systems for thousands of US passenger airliners. -- The licensing process for the Israeli systems for countering missile threats to passenger airliners is slated for completion in the first quarter of 2004. Achieving this target will enable Israel Aircraft Industries subsidiary Elta Electronic Industries to commence sales and deliveries of its systems to hundreds of US airlines, operating 7,000 airliners. Elta has signed a business agreement with US aerospace and missile manufacturer Raytheon (NSYE: RTN), which will be its strategic partner in the US. "Israel top high-tech investment target, with UK" Globes 10/29/2003 As expected, the Israel Hi-Tech and Venture Capital Conference in New York sang the praises of Israeli technology and human capital. -- As expected, the Israel Hi-Tech and Venture Capital Conference, which opened yesterday at Pier 60 in New York praised Israeli technology and human capital. At this stage of the conference, its greatest success has been the relationship between the Israelis and foreigners, in other words, the participating venture capitalists from US and other countries and their interest in investing in Israeli companies.

People..

SIS Poll: 59% of Palestinians in Favor of Continuing the Intifada and 67.8% Support President Arafat International Press Center 10/29/2003 GAZA, Palestine, October 29, 2003 (IPC) - - the State Information Service (SIS) of the Palestinain National Authority has recently conducted a public opinion poll in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip about the Intifada and President Arafat’s destiny. The poll was conducted between October 14 and 18 to get the Palestinian people's opinion on whether the Intifada would continue a fourth year or not. The sample consisted of 938 persons, aged over 18 years, including 428 from the Gaza Strip and 510 from the West Bank. PCPO Poll no.115 of Palestinians 32% Support Geneva Initiative Independent Media Review and Analysis 10/26/2003 In the recent poll prepared by PCPO-president Dr.Nabil Kukali and conducted by the PCPO, 36.1% Are satisfied to various degrees with the emergency government new formed. 43.7% Support to various degrees the appointment of Mr. Ahmed Qre' (Abu El-A'la) as prime -minister. 32% Support to various degrees the draft statement of understanding, which is known as "Switzerland paper". 30.9% Support to various degrees the holding of political elections in the Palestinian territories. Sfeir says people ‘fed up’ with border incidents Daily Star 10/29/2003 The Maronite Patriarch said on Tuesday the Lebanese people are “fed up” with border incidents. Cardinal Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, who spoke following a 30-minute meeting with German President Johannes Rau in Berlin, was referring to an attack launched by Hizbullah against Israeli military targets inside the Shebaa Farms the day before, triggering a wave of Israeli bombardments of civilian targets inside Lebanon. Chronicling an assault on Terra Sancta Daily Star 10/29/2003 Earthquake in April shakes the reader to the core with graphic account of 2002 Israeli invasion of West Bank -- Gradually I began to smell the scent of blood, crime, massacre, occupation, tyranny, tanks, bulldozers, armored vehicles, soldier’s boots, Apaches, Merkavas, generals, mobilization, Mofaz, Sharon, and Ben-Eliezer. How can there be hatred so intense that all of these gather in old Nablus?” Today, the above quote by Nazmi al-Jubeh resonates as both history and prophesy as Israel flexes the full force of its might throughout the Terra Sancta, the Holy Land. The quote appears in Jubeh’s essay, Nablus, Nero, and other Names, in response to the spring 2002 reoccupation by Israeli forces. The essay was written for a book of essays and photographs, Earthquake in April, published in 2003 by RIWAQ-Center for Architectural Conservation and the Institute of Jerusalem Studies. Jubeh is Riwaq’s co-director. Ghada Saghieh shows beauty with plenty of insight Daily Star 10/29/2003 Artist’s affectionate portraits of women in Lebanese society are tinged with melancholy -- “I would like to bring Betty Boop to life,” says Ghada Saghieh. The incomparable animated cartoon, with her baby-girl voice, bubbly curves and cutesy sexiness, couldn’t be further from the silent, stylized women who drift elegantly through Saghieh’s paintings. But this kind of declaration, a wild wish stated strongly and without a waver, is completely characteristic of Saghieh’s talk. It’s the day after her opening at the Alice Mogabgab Gallery in Gemaizeh and the artist has busted into the gallery ranting and raving, jumping around from topic to topic and spewing forth with a litany of cutting observations and passionate statements about the lives of women in contemporary Lebanese society, a topic that lies at the heart of Saghieh’s artistic work.

International..

U.S. Ready to Resume Talks With Iran, Armitage Says Washington Post 10/29/2003 Six months after halting talks with Iran, the Bush administration said yesterday that it is prepared to resume discreet discussions with the Islamic republic over Iraq, Afghanistan and other issues. "We are prepared to engage in limited discussions with the government of Iran about areas of mutual interest as appropriate," Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage said in testimony prepared for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But he stressed that the talks would not be a "broad dialogue with the aim of normalizing relations," which were terminated after the 1979 revolution. Terror suspects' internment challenge rejected The Telegraph 10/29/2003 A challenge by ten suspected international terrorists to emergency Government powers to detain them without trial has been rejected. Special Immigration Appeals Commission judges dismissed appeals by the men's lawyers at a hearing in London. The 10 men, some of whom have been held in high security jails since December 2001, were interned under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act - brought into force two months after the September 11 atrocities. The Special Immigration Appeals Commission was asked to rule on whether the Government had enough evidence to justify interning the men. They include Jamal Ajouaou and Palestinian asylum seeker Mahmoud Abu Rideh. In first, U.S. voices assessment of WMD to Syria Independent Media Review and Analysis 10/29/2003 WASHINGTON [MENL] -- For the first time, the U.S. intelligence community has released an assessment that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction were transferred to neighboring Syria in the weeks prior to the U.S.-led war against the Saddam Hussein regime. U.S. officials said the assessment was based on satellite images of convoys of Iraqi trucks that poured into Syria in February and March 2003. The officials said the intelligence community assessed that the trucks contained missiles and WMD components banned by the United Nations Security Council. Commanders Doubt Syria Is Entry Point Washington Post 10/29/2003 Officers See No Sign Of Foreign Fighters -- SINJAR, Iraq -- Commanders of U.S. military forces responsible for monitoring the border between Iraq and Syria say there is no evidence from human intelligence sources or radar surveillance aircraft indicating that significant numbers of foreign fighters are crossing into Iraq illegally....Commanders from the 101st Airborne repeated this week that neither the aircraft nor human intelligence sources show significant infiltration from Syria. US commanders: Claims about illegal infiltration from Syria to Iraq - ''unfounded'' Al-Bawaba 10/29/2003 Commanders of U.S. military forces responsible for monitoring the border between Iraq and Syria told The Washington Post there is no evidence from human intelligence sources or radar surveillance aircraft indicating that significant numbers of foreign fighters are infiltrating into Iraq illegally. U.S. President, George Bush, on Tuesday blamed foreign fighters for four suicide car bombings in Baghdad on Monday that killed at least 40 people. Rebel Galloway launches new political party Al-Jazeera 10/29/2003 Rebel MP George Galloway has announced the launch of a new political movement which could change the face of British politics for ever. The British anti-war movement will turn into a political force to take on Tony Blair’s New Labour in the European elections in June 2004. The historic announcement was made on Wednesday night in central London where the MP was addressing a rally of the now famous Stop The War movement which has more than two million supporters. Congress Resolution Urges Bush To Reprimand Boykin Islam Online 10/29/2003 WASHINGTON, October 29 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – As the White House is besieged by demands to reprimand him for his anti-Islam remarks, Representative John Conyers Jr. (D-MI) presented Tuesday, October 28, a resolution urging President George Bush to "clearly censure or reassign" Lt. Gen. Williams G. Boykin.

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