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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..

Ramallah Invasion Death Toll Rises to Five Palestinians as a Child Killed by IOF in Nearby Village, Young Girl Dies of Israeli Tear Gas International Press Center 12/3/2003 RAMALLAH, Palestine, December 3, 2003 (IPC + Agencies)-- The Israeli occupying forces (IOF) massive invasion of the city of Ramallah last Monday, resulted in five killed Palestinians, including a child. Palestinian medical sources in Ramallah City said that a fourth body of a Palestinian citizens was exhumed from under the rubble of a building torn down by the occupying forces during its invasion of the city. The fourth body was later identified as Hasanein Rommana, 37, from the city of ElBireh....In the Gaza Strip, Palestinain medical sources declared Wednesday that Hend Sulaiman Sharatha, 21, of the northern refugee camp of Jabalya, died of a heart attack after having been suffocated out of tear gas fired by Israeli soldiers at the vicinity of Alquds university in the Jerusalem Arab neighborhood of Abu Dies, where Sharatha has been studying medicine. IOF troops stationed at both the Abu Holy and Al Matahen military checkpoints abruptly closed both of them, trapping thousands of Palestinian citizens traveling between the north and southern parts of Gaza Strip. Jerusalem's borders are being redrawn Ha'aretz 12/3/2003 "People here have lost all interest in what's happening around them. Nobody explains to anyone what is going to happen and what the situation will be like tomorrow," said Jihad Abu Znaid, a Fatah field leader in the Shuafat refugee camp northeast of Jerusalem. Like others in the camp, Abu Znaid watched this week as Defense Ministry surveyors showed up every day to the area and marked off the route of the separation fence in northeast Jerusalem....The fence will completely change the lives of more than 100,000 people who live in northeast Jerusalem. Some 70 percent of them have blue ID cards identifying them as residents of Jerusalem, though they are not Israeli citizens. The rest are West Bankers living in those neighborhoods. Israel Approves Construction Of More Homes At Settlements Washington Post 12/3/2003 JERUSALEM -- The government of Israel has approved the construction of more than 1,720 new houses in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip this year, according to critics of the settlements who say they undercut a U.S.-backed peace plan that mandates a freeze on settlement expansion. The planned building is in addition to at least 1,000 homes and other infrastructure projects under construction in the West Bank, which Israel is also encircling with a massive fence complex, according to groups and officials that monitor settlement activity. Israel steps up West Bank raids BBC 12/3/2003 Israel has arrested some 30 Palestinian militants in a series of raids on the eve of talks in Egypt aimed at securing a new truce from Palestinian groups. Seventeen members of Islamic Jihad were arrested in Jenin, and other militants were held after raids in Ramallah, Israeli army sources said. The news comes amid a row between the US and Israel over the unofficial Geneva peace plan for the Middle East....Three Hamas militants and a Palestinian boy of six were killed by Israeli forces in Ramallah on Monday, hours before the alternative peace deal took the international stage in Geneva. 3% of the Palestinians Became Handicapped By IOF Fire International Press Center 12/3/2003 GAZA, December 3, 2003 (IPC + Agencies)-- The handicapped among the Palestinian society recorded 3% largely due to unleashing Israeli aggressions against the Palestinian people fore more than half a century....Palestinian Social Affair Minister Intisar Al Wazeer, said that during the Israeli occupation the figures of the handicapped in the Palestinian territories reached to around 109,053, among were 69,145 from Gaza governorates, referring that the rate of handicapped in the Palestinian society recorded 3%, the highest rate in the world, due to the cruelty of the Israeli occupying practices against the Palestinian people for more than 50 years, in addition to hereditary diseases, chronic malnutrition and road accidents. IDF troops nab would-be suicide bomber near Jordan Valley Ha'aretz 12/3/2003 Elite Israel Defense Forces troops on Wednesday arrested a Palestinian near the Jordan Valley who apparently intended to carry out a suicide bombing inside Israel. The Palestinian, who was arrested in the village of Bardele, had an explosives belt ready for use. Another Palestinian, who was apparently serving as a guide for the attack, was also arrested. Israel detains resistance fighters Al-Jazeera 12/3/2003 Israel has arrested 17 members of the Islamic Jihad movement on the eve of talks in Cairo designed to persuade Palestinian resistance groups to declare a new truce. An Israeli army spokesman said on Wednesday that the wanted activists were detained in and around the northern West Bank city of Jenin. A Palestinian security source said the Israeli soldiers stormed Jenin on board a dozen tanks and jeeps. The arrest operation comes two days after a similar sweep in the West Bank city of Ram Allah in which three members of the larger Hamas movement were killed and about 30 arrested. Israeli MP tries to prevent burial of Muslims in Al Aqsa Mosque compound Al-Bawaba 12/3/2003 Israeli Parliament Member Aryeh Eldad from the ultra right-wing National Unity party has submitted a law proposal, which states that only with the government's approval, can corpses be buried on the Temple Mount (Al Aqsa Mosque) compound, in accordance with "Jewish tradition."By this new suggestion, it seems, Eldad seeks to thwart the alleged Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's desire to be buried at Al Aqsa Mosque compound. MP Aryeh Eldad's draft law, submitted Wednesday, calls for preventing the burial of Muslims on Temple Mount. Israeli police on high alert as Ramallah death toll rises; White House: ''Roadmap'' favored Al-Bawaba 12/3/2003 Israeli police forces were on high alert for in the north of the country on Wednesday, mainly in the Wadi Ara area and Beit She'an, due to intelligence that Palestinian activists were about to enter Israel to carry out bombing attacks, Israel Radio reported Wednesday. Road blocks were erected on main roads in the area, an a major road was closed to traffic as police beefed up its forces in the region, the radio said. An Israeli raid and another funeral Al-Jazeera 12/3/2003 Even as Palestinian and Israeli politicians were launching the “Geneva Accord”,Israeli forces were raidingRam Allah, the de-facto capital of the Palestinian autonomous authority. The purpose of the post-midnight raid on Monday was, as Amos Harel of the Ha’aretz newspaper put it, “to reap some last-minute (Palestinian) fruits” before the conclusion of a possible truce or cease-fire between the Israeli occupation army and Palestinian resistance groups. The main target of the raid was Salih Talahmah, a veteranHamas leader in the West Bank. Two more Palestinians were killed in the 16-hour raid: Sayyid Abd al-Karim al-Shaikh, a fellow Hamas fighter, and six-year-old Mauayad Mazin Hamdan. Breaking News: Israeli Bulldozers Close Gaza Road, IOF Razes Hebron Land International Press Center 12/3/2003 15:30 -- Israeli military bulldozers, backed by tanks, closed and bulldozed the Gaza coastal road that connects northern and southern parts of Gaza Strip, WAFA reported. /13:30-- Israeli occupying forces raze vast areas of arable Palestinian lands in the West Bank city of Hebron, WAFA reported. / 12:50-- Israeli occupying forces launch a large-scale search campaign of Palestinian houses in the West Bank town of Tubas, WAFA reported. Israel continues hunt for Palestinian militants Middle East Online 12/3/2003 Israel continued its pursuit of Palestinian militants Wednesday on the eve of talks designed to persuade armed groups to call a truce as a rift between Israel and Washington over the response to an unofficial peace plan widened. An Israeli army spokesman said that 17 wanted members of the Islamic Jihad movement were detained in and around the northern West Bank town of Jenin. A Palestinian security source said the Israeli soldiers had entered the town on board a dozen tanks and jeeps at around dawn. Israel Builds New Settlement in Jerusalem, Expands Outposts Palestine Media Center 12/3/2003 UN General Assembly to Hold a Special Session on Apartheid Wall -- Bulldozers of the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) on Monday began the construction of a new illegal Jewish settlement in occupied east Jerusalem while an Associated Press inspection found the illegal Jewish settlers have expanded the “unauthorized” outposts significantly despite Israeli public relations statements that the Israeli government was about to dismantle them. Meanwhile the UN General Assembly is set to hold a special session next week to discuss Israel's construction of its Apartheid Wall on occupied Palestinian Territory in the West Bank. IOF Wounds Two Palestinians, Including Elderly, Demolishes House and Arrests Several Citizens International Press Center 12/2/2003 GAZA, Palestine, December 2, 2003 (IPC + Agencies) - - In a new wave of military escalation throughout the Palestinian territories, the Israeli occupying forces (IOF) wounded two Palestinian citizens, including an elderly, while demolishing a house in East Jerusalem and arresting five citizens in the West Bank. In the town of Deir El Balah, middle of Gaza Strip, Palestinian security and medical sources told IPC correspondent that IOF troops stationed at the Abu Holy military checkpoint opened heavy and random gunfire at Palestinian citizens and their houses, wounding Abed Rabbo Al Qaoud, 73....In a separate incident, IOF troops stationed at the Beit Eba military checkpoint, north of Nablus City, opened fire at the Palestinian citizens who were passing through, which led to the injury of Saher Thaher, 19, in the left foot, according to medical sources....In the occupied East Jerusalem, the Israeli authorities continued its arbitrary measures against the local Palestinian population, and demolished another house in the Nusseiba neighborhood in the city. Segregating Rantis village lands The Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem 12/2/2003 On the 23 June 2003, the Israeli government endorsed a plan to build the so-called ‘Security wall’ running into the full length of the west bank, and is expected to be completed by year 2005. Based on ARIJ satellite images, this Segregation Wall has already annexed vast areas of Palestinian agricultural lands containing approximately 57 Israeli colonies inhabited by almost 300,000 Israeli colonists. About (385.000) Palestinians will be effectively isolated and most of the West Bank’s fertile lands are under the threat of confiscation. (See Map of the Segregation Wall) Rantis village, to the northwest of Ramallah district, is a typical example of the Israeli violations in the West Bank where most of its lands will be confiscated for the construction of the Segregation Wall. Death Toll Rises to Five in Ramallah Palestine Media Center 12/3/2003 IOF Kill Three Palestinians in West Bank -- Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) on Tuesday shot dead two Palestinians in the West Bank as the body of a third martyr was recovered from the rubble of a house demolished during their invasion of Ramallah on Monday, which raises the death toll in the city to five. A 23-year old university medical student died also of teargas in Jerusalem....IOF announced they had detained “29 Hamas operatives” in Ramallah Monday....In Jerusalem 23-year old Al-Quds University medical student Hind Sulaiman Sharatha, from Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza Strip, died on Tuesday as the result of teargas she inhaled earlier when IOF dispersed Palestinian civilians near Abu Dis. 17-year-old Israeli Arab indicted for links with Hamas Ha'aretz 12/3/2003 The Tel Aviv District Court on Wednesday indicted a 17-year-old Israeli Arab from the village of Taibe in the north of the country on suspicion of contacting a senior Hamas operative and conspiring to smuggle a suicide bomber into Israel. The youth was also remanded in custody for two weeks The indictment against the youth claims that in September, a resident of the territories met with the senior Hamas operative and volunteered to serve as a suicide bomber.

Diplomacy..

Washington warns Israel not to rock the Mideast boat Ha'aretz 12/3/2003 The U.S. administration has lowered its level of interest in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and ceased efforts to renew the political process as it focuses on the war in Iraq and President George W. Bush's reelection. Everything else is secondary and, as far as the administration is concerned, that means Israel and the Palestinians are required not to get in the way of those two goals. According to messages reaching Jerusalem from Washington, the Israeli side does not always seem to understand the American interests, and does not always help advance those interests. Powell Effort Aims To Pressure Sharon On Peace Accord Washington Post 12/3/2003 Secretary of State Colin L. Powell plans to meet Friday with the authors of an unofficial Israeli-Palestinian peace accord as part of a Bush administration strategy to put increasing pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, U.S. officials said yesterday. The administration had not previously embraced the initiative, known as the Geneva Accord, but officials said in recent weeks that the administration had become increasingly frustrated with Sharon and decided to use it to prod Sharon to take steps to deal with Palestinian grievances....In a choreographed sequence, the chief negotiators of the agreement -- Yossi Beilin, a former Israeli justice minister and longtime peace negotiator, and Yasser Abed Rabbo, former Palestinian information minister -- will meet with William J. Burns, the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, and Elliott Abrams, the senior National Security Council official for Israeli-Palestinian issues. Then Powell is scheduled to drop by the meeting, U.S. officials said. U.S. to Israel: Don't harm Arafat or foil future Palestinian state Ha'aretz 12/3/2003 The U.S. administration has lowered its level of interest in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and ceased efforts to renew the political process as it focuses on the war in Iraq and President George W. Bush's reelection. Everything else is secondary and, as far as the administration is concerned, that means Israel and the Palestinians are required not to get in the way of those two goals. Shalom asks EU not to allow Hague court to discuss fence Ha'aretz 12/3/2003 Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom has asked European Union officials to not to support a Palestinian attempt to take the matter of the West Bank security fence to the International Court of Justice at the Hague. Shalom, who met with the officials at the two-day Euro-Mediterranean Partnership summit in Naples, warned that such a move would render the U.S.-backed road map for Middle East peace totally meaningless. "If this is how it will be, then we can skip the negotiations and take everything straight to the Hague," said Shalom. Israel Fumes at U.S. Opening to Doves, Steps Up Raids Reuters 12/3/2003 JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel fumed on Wednesday over Secretary of State Colin Powell's plan to meet the authors of a symbolic Middle East peace deal that the Israeli government has rejected as capitulation to Palestinian demands. Israeli opposition left-wingers and Palestinian moderates conceived the Geneva Accord to fill a void after three years of grinding violence bereft of serious negotiations, even after Washington launched a "road map" peace plan last June. Israel's right-wing government has condemned the unofficial Geneva initiative, which received a gala launch in Switzerland on Monday, for requiring handovers of territory it deems critical to Israeli security and sacred to the Jewish faith. PNA to Take Apartheid Wall Issue to International Court as Israeli Plans of Transferring 100,000 Palestinians from Jerusalem Unveiled International Press Center 12/3/2003 GAZA, December 3, 2003 (IPC + Agencies)-- The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has decided to resort to the International Court of Justice to resolve the issue of the controversial Apartheid wall, as a Palestinian organization in occupied East Jerusalem warned that the Israeli authorities were planning to transfer 100,000 Palestinians from Jerusalem for the sake of the wall. The PNA decision came after an official report released last Friday by the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, in which Annan said that Israel failed to comply with the General Assembly demand to halt the construction of its Apartheid wall. UN to meet again on separation fence Ha'aretz 12/3/2003 UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations General Assembly will meet in emergency session next Monday to discuss putting more pressure on Israel after it rejected a demand to stop building a separation fence that extends deep into the West Bank. The meeting was announced yesterday by General Assembly spokeswoman Michele Montas. Arab nations and the Palestinian envoy to the United nations asked for the meeting after United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan reported last week that building what Israel calls a "security fence" would violate international law and increase Palestinian suffering. Israel helped arrange Cairo hudna talks Ha'aretz 12/3/2003 In a week when the non-binding, non-official Geneva Accord peace initiative has captured world attention, Israeli officials have been at work in Cairo, trying to arrange a cease-fire deal with the Palestinian Authority, and in Italy, where they have finalized an energy-sharing deal with the PA. An Israeli security delegation traveled this week to Cairo, to help set the stage for cease-fire talks which are to be held there later in the week among Palestinian organizations. Shalom lists conditions for resumed talks with Syria Ha'aretz 12/3/2003 Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom yesterday listed three conditions for resuming peace talks with Damascus: Syria must stop supporting terror; it must stop facilitating arms shipments from Iran to Hezbollah; and the talks must begin without any preconditions. Shalom was responding to a proposal by Syrian President Bashar Assad to resume negotiations. The foreign minister left yesterday for the Euro-Mediterranean Conference of Foreign Affairs in Naples. His counterpart from Damascus, Farouk Shara, is also taking part in the event EU warns Israel against "invading" Palestinian territory with barrie ReliefWeb 12/3/2003 NAPLES, Italy, Dec 3 (AFP) - The EU delivered a stern warning to Israel on Wednesday, declaring that its security barrier "must not invade" Palestinian territory, as a two-day EU-Mediterranean summit ended here. While Israel's "fundamental" security needs were obvious, "the route of the wall must not invade Palestinian territory," Foreign Minister Franco Frattini of EU president Italy told a final news conference. Palestine peace plan branded treacherous Al-Jazeera 12/2/2003 Israel's opposition politicians and prominent Palestinians have launched an alternative peace plan amid accusations of treason from both sides. A former Israeli justice minister and co-author of the so-called Geneva Accord, Yossi Beilin, warned on Monday that time for settling the Arab-Israeli conflict peacefully was running out. "The opportunity to have pragmatic partners belonging to the mainstream of our two societies is not open-ended," said Beilin before he shook hands with Yasir Abd Rabbu, his Palestinian counterpart in the peace effort. Export labels split Israel Christian Science Monitor 12/3/2003 Israel agreed last week to EU demand to specify products made in settlements. -- MISHOR ADUMIM, WEST BANK – It is a clear winter's day in the Judean hills, but clouds are gathering around dozens of Israeli firms in the occupied territories that export to the European Union. Last week, during talks with the EU, Israeli Trade and Industry Minister Ehud Olmert agreed that Israel will begin specifying the place of origin of its exports. The decision could threaten the well-being of Israeli West Bank firms producing everything from humus to skin-care products. The agreement will enable the EU, Israel's largest trade partner, to distinguish between exports coming from Israel - entitled to customs exemptions under a free trade agreement - and those from the occupied territories. Powell Urged Not to Meet Accord Authors The Guardian 12/3/2003 JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel reacted with disappointment Wednesday after U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell confirmed he will meet with organizers of an informal Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty. The comments by Zalman Shoval, an adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, was the latest expression of Israel's stiff opposition to the meeting, seen as a U.S. gesture toward the ``Geneva Accord'' that Sharon has denounced. White House Favors Bush's Mideast Plan The Guardian 12/3/2003 WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House said Wednesday that President Bush's blueprint for peace in the Middle East is the best formula, but left the door open for Secretary of State Colin Powell to meet with those who drafted an alternate plan. ``The secretary of state will make determinations about who he meets with,'' presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said. The alternate plan is opposed by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and some senior Palestinian officials. It's an informal agreement that resulted from three years of talks between former Israeli and Palestinian negotiators working in private without representing their governments. Bush Set to Meet With Jordan's King The Guardian 12/3/2003 WASHINGTON (AP) - Jordan's King Abdullah II will meet with President Bush at the White House on Thursday to discuss the Middle East and developments in Iraq. Press Review: 'The road map must be set aside' The Guardian 12/3/2003 Press Review: The alternative Middle East peace plan has divided observers -- Neue Zürcher Zeitung Editorial, Switzerland, December 2: "What will be the purpose and effect of the unofficial peace accord, signed on Monday in Geneva between protagonists from Israel and the Palestinian territories in the presence of illustrious guests? For the time being, it should be emphasised that this is a private initiative between independent citizens from Israeli and Palestinian society. The Geneva accord does not oblige the official leaders of both sides in any way at all to take binding steps. They can, if they deem it expedient, simply ignore it. The main purpose of the Geneva initiative is that it provokes reflection. At least there is a glimmer of hope in lively discussion and controversy.".... Non-Belligerency Pact with Lebanon Revives Syrian-Israeli Peacemaking? An Nahar 12/3/2003 A plan has been reportedly proposed by a 'third country' calling for a moratorium on air, sea and land hostilities between Israel and Lebanon's Hizbullah as a prelude for a resumption of peace negotiations between Syria and the Jewish state. The report was carried on Wednesday by the Tel Aviv daily Maariv, which said Ariel Sharon's government rejected the plan on the grounds it constitutes a precondition for resuming peace talks while Israel's standard policy is a return to the negotiating table without prior conditions. Wolfowitz to meet Geneva Accord authors in Washington Ha'aretz 12/3/2003 The principal architects of the Geneva Accord, Yossi Beilin and Yasser Abed Rabbo, are scheduled to meet United States Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz in Washington on Friday, Army Radio reported Wednesday. The confirmation of the meeting came after the Israeli government expressed displeasure at reports that the authors of the accord would meet with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell during a planned visit to Washington. EU welcomes Syrian move to revive peace talks Ha'aretz 12/3/2003 NAPLES - The European Union welcomed on Wednesday Syrian moves to revive peace talks with Israel, as the bloc prepared for a round of talks with Damascus designed to boost EU-Syrian trade. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in an interview published in the New York Times on Monday, urged Washington to help revive the talks which collapsed several years ago over the Golan Heights, land Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in 1981. Ireland decides not to file UN resolution on anti-Semitism Ha'aretz 12/3/2003 NEW YORK - Ireland on Wednesday decided that it would not be presenting a proposal to the United Nations condemning anti-Semitism and calling on all UN member states to take steps against anti-Semitism. Ireland, whcih proposes a UN resolution on religious intolerance every 20 years, drew up the resolution on anti-Semitism as part of a compromise with Israel, which wanted the original proposal to include an out-and-out condemnation of anti-Semitism. Israel, US in spat over Geneva deal Al-Jazeera 12/3/2003 JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel fumed on Wednesday over Secretary of State Colin Powell's plan to meet the authors of a symbolic Middle East peace deal that the Israeli government has rejected as capitulation to Palestinian demands. Israeli opposition left-wingers and Palestinian moderates conceived the Geneva Accord to fill a void after three years of grinding violence bereft of serious negotiations, even after Washington launched a "road map" peace plan last June. Jordan, Israel vow to salvage Aqaba environment Ha'aretz 12/3/2003 AMMAN - Jordan and Israel yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding to salvage the environment in the Gulf of Aqaba. Israeli Embassy spokesman Amir Weissbrod said the memorandum was signed on the sidelines of a workshop on the environment, attended by Jordanian, Israeli and U.S. officials. The signing ceremony was attended by the director-general of the Environment Ministry, Micky Heran, along with Aqaba Authority Commissioner Aqel Baltagi and U.S. diplomats in Amman, Weissbrod said. Report: Israel rejects Syrian proposal for ceasefire on Lebanese border Al-Bawaba 12/3/2003 Israel has recently rejected a Syrian proposal for a ceasefire on its northern border with Lebanon. "The proposal was conveyed to Jerusalem over the past few weeks by a third party, a known international element that enjoys good working relations with Damascus," the Israeli daily Maariv said Wednesday. The newspaper said the proposal was supposed to be a first step towards the resumption of peace talks between Israel and Syria. "Israel was to cease flights over southern Lebanon and halt all military action on the northern front. In return, Hezbollah would completely cease its attacks on Israeli targets in the north," said Maariv. Israel Urges Syria to Discourage Attacks New York Times 12/2/2003 JERUSALEM, Dec. 1 — Israel's president, Moshe Katsav, said Monday that Syria must stop supporting armed factions that attack Israel if it is serious about restarting negotiations with Israel over the Golan Heights. President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, in an interview with The New York Times on Sunday, urged the United States to use its muscle to renew talks on the Golan, the strategic territory Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 war. Israel and Syria appeared to narrow their differences in negotiations in 2000, but the talks broke down. Resolving Israeli-Palestinian conflict, restoring calm in Iraq among Middle East challenges, UN GA told ReliefWeb/UN 12/2/2003 The General Assembly today kicked off its debate of the situation in the troubled Middle East, focusing on a host of challenging issues, from the importance of restoring calm in Iraq, to quelling tensions in the Syrian Golan and bringing an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- which many believed was the key to ensuring peace throughout the entire region. It was now more important than ever, stated Australia's representative, for the international community and the United Nations to work together to overcome the destructive forces in the Middle East and build a better future for its people.

Human Rights..

'We're air force pilots, not mafia. We don't take revenge' The Guardian 12/3/2003 Israel's F-16 and Black Hawk refuseniks say why they could not obey illegal orders and kill innocent Palestinians -- For two months, a rebel group of Israeli Black Hawk helicopter and F-16 fighter pilots has been denounced as traitors for saying they will no longer bomb Palestinian cities. Until now they have maintained a resolute silence on their motives, preferring to limit their criticism of Ariel Sharon's war to a letter signed by 27 reserve and active duty pilots refusing to carry out what they described as illegal orders, and denouncing the occupation as eating at the moral fabric of Israel. Protests held against new settlement in East Jerusalem; Report: Israel approves expansion of settlements Al-Bawaba 12/3/2003 Dozens of Israel's Peace Now activists and demonstrators from other left-wing organizations protested Wednesday in the occupied East Jerusalem village of Jabal Mukaber against the construction of a new Jewish settlement in the area. Demonstrators tried to block bulldozers and prevent them from uprooting olive trees. They also confronted police forces, who used teargas to disperse the protesters. A Palestinian who tried to block a bulldozer was lightly injured. A short while later the protesters left the area after the intervention of an Israeli parliament member. Gaza is Israel’s new dumping ground Al-Jazeera 12/3/2003 While in the past many Palestinians were sent into forced exile in neighbouring Arab countries, the latest deportees find themselves confined to a closer territory. First, there were the two relatives of a Palestinian fighter who were dumped in a field near an illegal Israeli settlement in the Gaza Strip early last year. Then came the Bethlehem 30, banished to the impoverished and overpopulated Strip in a pre-arranged deal to end the Church of the Nativity crisis last April. And just recently, three more Palestinians were deported here from the West Bank, with another 15 on the way. All nameless numbers – a simple unimportant statistic as far as the world is concerned. Arab communities verging on 'catastrophe', leaders warn Ha'aretz 12/3/2003 Leaders of the Arab community in Israel are warning of a "catastrophe" and an "explosion due to a loss of faith in the legitimate political system." The warning comes on the heels of figures published Tuesday, ahead of the approval of the 2004 state budget, which show the extent of the plight of the community. A report by the Mossawa Center, the Advocacy Center for Arab Palestinian Citizens of Israel, recently presented to the Knesset and media, presents a host of official figures which succinctly show the growing plight of the community. The Bedouin community of the Negev, for example, is at the bottom of every civilian area of life, including infant mortality rates which are on a par with the Third World (17 out of every 1,000 births). Interim injunction blocks screening of 'Jenin, Jenin' Ha'aretz 12/3/2003 The High Court of Justice issued an interim injunction on Wednesday prohibiting the showing of the controversial movie "Jenin, Jenin." The injunction, issued by Justice Eliahu Mazza, follows a decision by the court to hold a further discussion on permitting the movie by director Mohammed Bakri to be screened in Israel. The movie, which portrays the fighting in Jenin during Operation Defense Shield in April 2002 from a Palestinian perspective, was due to be screened this week for the first time in Israel at the country's Cinematheque cinemas. Sabra, Shatila victims explore prosecution options Daily Star 12/3/2003 Lawyers consider united nations route following dismissal of case in belgian courts - Possibilities include filing complaint against Belgium for watering down war crimes law before case was adjudicated -- BEIRUT: Lawyers representing the families of the victims of the Sabra and Shatila massacres are looking into options to keep the war crimes case against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon alive after it was officially dismissed by Belgium’s supreme court in September. One possibility under consideration is to file a complaint before the United Nations Human Rights Committee against Belgium for watering down a war crimes law that was used to prosecute Sharon for his role in the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacres against Palestinian refugees. The Latest Israeli Military Incursions Result in the Killing of Four Palestinian Civilians, including One Child Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 12/1/2003 In the early hours of Monday, 1 December 2003, Israeli occupation forces, using excessive and indiscriminate force, killed four Palestinian civilians during several incursions into the West Bank.These unlawful killings represent the most recent war crimes perpetrated by Israeli occupation forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). Two of the victims were killed when Israeli occupation forces detonated explosive devices inside a house in the Sharafa area east of Al Amari refugee camp, near Ramallah.Israeli occupation forces claimed that the two civilians were wanted by the Israeli occupation authorities.A six year old child and another Palestinian were also killed in separate incursions Monday. Mother fights Israel for answers Al-Jazeera 11/30/2003 The mother of a British peace activist shot in the head by Israeli soldiers says she will continue her fight to find justice for her son. Tom Hurndall, 22, a photographer from London was recording the work of a peace group in Rafah, Gaza when he came under fire from Israeli soldiers. He was shot on 11 April after going to help a Palestinian child when Israeli soldiers opened fire in the direction of the boy. Tom is severely brain damaged and lies in a London hospital where he is in a vegetative state and isn't expected to recover. Israel court lifts prison secrecy BBC 12/2/2003 Israel's supreme court has ordered the government to release information about a secret jail for "high-risk" inmates. The government only recently admitted the existence of Facility 1391, an army detention centre dubbed "Israel's Guantanamo Bay" by the Israeli press. Palestinian prisoners have reportedly been held in disorienting conditions and barred from outside contact. Government lawyers said the location was an army secret, but inmates had the right to meet their lawyers elsewhere....The government says there are currently no prisoners being held at the centre. Israeli interior minister forbids general secretary of Abnaa elBalad from going abroad Alternative Information Center/Abnaa elBalad 12/3/2003 Israel’s Interior minister Avraham Poraz issued an administrative order, which forbids the secretary general of the Abnaa elBalad movement Muhammad Kana’ane (Abu As’ad) from going abroad during the next six months. The order was given to Comrade Kana’ane at 8:30 am in the first day of the ‘Id elFitr holiday, Tuesday 25.11.03. The Ministry of Interior justified this racist act as required “in order to defend the security of the state”’, relying on the draconian anti-democratic Emergency Law, inherited from British colonialist rule and still enforced by Israeli colonialism even in the 1948 occupied territories to oppress Palestinian political activists.

Economy..

Netanyahu, Peretz to meet Friday in bid to end strike Ha'aretz 12/3/2003 Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Histadrut labor federation chief Amir Peretz are due to meet on Friday for intensive talks in an attempt to end months of labor sanctions by public sector workers. The officials decided on Wednesday that intensive talks are the only way to end the stand-off and negotiating teams are due to meet Thursday. The teams from the Histadrut and the Civil Service Commission are aimed at signing an agreement protecting the rights of workers under the planned structural changes to the government ministries. Finance Ministry, Histadrut to resume talks tomorrow Globes 12/3/2003 Civil servants and customs workers have escalated their labor sanctions. -- Ministry of Finance and Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) negotiating teams are scheduled to resume talks tomorrow, after informing the National Labor Court that some progress had already been made. Minister of Finance Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday invited Histadrut chairman MK Amir Perez to hold continuous negotiations, in view of the previous progress. State mulls privatizing via NYSE Globes 12/3/2003 NYSE's David Griffiths has met Israeli officials to discuss floating Bezeq, Oil Refineries, Israel Electric Corporation and Israel Aircraft Industries. -- Sources inform “Globes” that Prime Minister's Office director-general Avigdor Yitzhaki is trying to list government companies such as Bezeq (TASE:BZEQ), Oil Refineries, Israel Electric Corporation (IEC), and Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Yitzhaki raised the subject with NYSE senior managing director and EMEA head David Griffiths, who arrived in Israel yesterday. Eurelectric report assigns IEC to Palestinian Authority Globes 12/3/2003 The pan-European organization apologized to Israel's Minister of National Infrastructures following an official complaint. -- Union of the Electricity Industry - Eurelectric wrote a report a few months ago that did not include Israel in a map of electricity for Europe and the Mediterranean basin. The only mention of Israel is as follows, "We expect that Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) will at some point in the future be transferred to the Palestinian Authority (PA), in order to increase the delivery of electricity to Palestine and to in order to reduce dependence on Israel." Instead of "Israel", the maps in the body of the report only mention "Palestine". The Ministry of National Infrastructures is infuriated by the report. Labor court lifts ban on general strike Ha'aretz 12/3/2003 The National Labor Court yesterday revoked a ban it instituted 12 days ago that stopped the Histadrut from announcing a general strike. The seven-judge panel said its decision is to remain in effect until December 11, at which time the court will review anew a request submitted by employer associations asking for an injunction banning the general strike. BDI: 55,000 businesses likely to close this year Globes 12/3/2003 The number of non-payment claims in November was 27% higher than the monthly average in January-June 2003. -- 16% more companies and businesses closed down in November than the monthly average this year, according to Business Data Israel (BDI) figures. BDI predicts that if the current rate of closings continues in December, the number of companies and businesses closing down in 2003 will reach 55,000, compared with 45,000 in 2002. "The Economist " praises Netanyahu Globes 12/3/2003 The "Economist Intelligence Unit" predicts a significant expansion in exports, while domestic demand and private consumption are recovering. -- The "Economist Intelligence Unit" this week published a very positive forecast for Israel for 2004-05, and praised Minister of Finance Benjamin Netanyahu's economic policies. Syrian Petroleum Co chairman: Israel, PA not included in Arab gas pipeline Globes 12/3/2003 Non-inclusion in the $1 billion project means Egypt requires a separate pipeline. -- At the European Union (EU) Euromed Conference on Energy, Direct Investments and Infrastructures in the Mediterranean basin in Rome, Syrian Petroleum Co. - Natural Gas Development Directorate chairman Ali Abaas said yesterday that the Arab countries participating in the Arab natural gas project would not include Israel or the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the project. TAT Technologies in $6.4M deal with Lockheed Martin Globes 12/3/2003 TAT Technologies will supply turbine power units for F-16 aircraft. -- TAT Technologies limited (Nasdaq: TATTF, TATWF), this week announced a new Memorandum of Agreement with Lockheed Martin. TAT will supply turbine power units for F-16 aircraft.

People..

Police, protesters clash at site of new J'lem neighborhood Ha'aretz 12/3/2003 Dozens of Peace Now activists and demonstrators from other peace organizations protested Wednesday at the East Jerusalem Arab village of Jabel Mukaber against the construction of a new Jewish neighborhood in the area. Demonstrators tried to block bulldozers and prevent them from uprooting olive trees. They also confronted police troops, who used teargas to disperse the protesters. A Palestinian who tried to block a bulldozer was lightly hurt and taken to hospital. A short while later the protesters left the area after the intervention of Meretz MK Ran Cohen. Geneva Initiative finds few friends in camps Daily Star 12/3/2003 Palestinians protest pact’s signing - Some refugees at Ain al-Hilweh describe agreement as ‘a catastrophe to match the Balfour Declaration’ -- Refugees in Ain al-Hilweh, one of the country’s biggest refugee camps, responded to news that the Geneva Initiative had been signed Monday with dismay, with some describing it as a “catastrophe to match the 1916 Balfour Declaration depriving Palestinians of their homeland.”...The signing of the accord dominated conversation in the camp. One resident condemned “the nerve of some Palestinian leaders who oppose national unanimity and yet sign an agreement to relinquish their homeland and deprive the Palestinian people.” Poster Art, Painted With A Palestinian Perspective Washington Post 12/3/2003 Dan Walsh, a graphic arts collector and political consultant from Silver Spring, is at his most intense when the subject is Palestine. He has poured his life, time and money into promoting understanding of this most troubled piece of real estate on planet Earth. He has studied, and is fluent in, Arabic, he has visited the West Bank and worked with the PLO. Even though he conducts business at home in a T-shirt and shorts, when he talks about Israel and Zionism, he is unmasked as a type-A politics junkie who speaks and thinks at a supersonic clip. Cat banned for scaring residents BBC 12/3/2003 A black cat has been barred from the stairwell of a housing block in Israel because he scares local residents. Kooshi, a seven-year-old mixed breed with a jet-black coat and green eyes, looked ferocious, residents in Rishon Letzion complained to town officials. The cat's owners were ordered to cradle the animal when using the staircase - or risk having it impounded. But the cat's owners object to the pet being "singled out" because of its colour and say they may go to court.

International..

Turkish FM: Syria, Iran cooperating in fight against terrorism Al-Bawaba 12/3/2003 Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Wednesday neighbors Iran and Syria were cooperating in the fight against terrorism.Gul's comments come amid growing signs that al-Qaeda may be behind the attacks that killed 61 people in Istanbul last month."There are still people being sought," Gul said in an interview aired Wednesday by private NTV television. "There are names who went abroad, there are some important names." Syria on Sunday extradited 22 people to Turkey as part ofthe investigation. Twenty of those extradited by Syria have since been released. Lula on landmark visit to Syria Middle East Online 12/3/2003 DAMASCUS - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrived on Wednesday in the Syrian capital Damascus for the first leg of a five nation tour of the Middle East, the first visit by a Brazilian head of state to the region since 1870. The tour is aimed at boosting Brazil's economic ties in the region and will see Lula later visit Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Libya. In an interview with an Egyptian newspaper before leaving for the Middle East trip, Lula said that he wanted to implement hundreds of dormant cooperation accords with Arab countries. OPEC Fund extends US$570,000 grant to help finance capacity building projects in Palestine ReliefWeb 12/3/2003 December 2, 2003, Vienna, Austria - The OPEC Fund for International Development today approved a grant of US$570,000 to help finance four capacity building projects designed to address some of the most urgent needs of the poorest, hardest hit communities in the West Bank. The aim is to enable them to secure a decent standard of living. Resources will be divided among the following non-profit, non-governmental organizations.... U.S. issues new warnings on Iran's nuclear program Ha'aretz 12/3/2003 WASHINGTON - Undersecretary of State John Bolton warned on Tuesday that the United States will act decisively to impede transfers of nuclear and missile technology to Iran and any further violations of Tehran's nuclear obligations will go before the UN Security Council. At a security conference, Bolton also had strong words for other major powers, saying they face a test over whether they will remain united against Iran's "illegitimate" nuclear weapons program or succumb to the Islamic republic's "economic incentives and aggressive propaganda." Shelved EU report on anti-Semitism posted on Internet by WJC Ha'aretz 12/3/2003 VIENNA - The World Jewish Congress made public yesterday a disputed anti-Semitism report kept under wraps by the European Union. It also accused the EU of not facing up to anti-Jewish sentiment among Muslim immigrants in Europe. The WJC and Jewish community organizations in the 15-nation EU put the report on their Web sites, even though it has not been released by the EU's European Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC), which commissioned the study. Egypt-US media at new war of words Middle East Online 12/3/2003 In a dragged-out war of words between the Egyptian media and the US government, a newsweekly has attacked Radio Sawa, the station Washington is funding as part of efforts to burnish its image among Arabs. Al-Ahram Hebdo, a French-language weekly published by the government Al-Ahram group, accused Radio Sawa of falsely reporting the death of Nobel literature laureate Naguib Mahfuz and misreporting an accident as an attack. "While the Americans accuse our public and private media of broadcasting erroneous and anti-Semitic news and of attacking all day long US occupation forces in Iraq and Afghanistan," Radio Sawa "broadcasts lies," it said. US fires Guantanamo defence team The Guardian 12/3/2003 A team of military lawyers recruited to defend alleged terrorists held by the US at Guantanamo Bay was dismissed by the Pentagon after some of its members rebelled against the unfair way the trials have been designed, the Guardian has learned. And some members of the new legal defence team remain deeply unhappy with the trials - known as "military commissions" - believing them to be slanted towards the prosecution and an affront to modern US military justice. Al-Arian transcripts questioned St. Petersburg Times 12/2/2003 Interpretation of key evidence used to build the case against the suspected terrorism supporter is inaccurate, a co-defendant says. -- TAMPA - One of Sami Al-Arian's co-defendants says federal prosecutors misinterpreted and distorted the taped conversations used to indict him on terrorism charges. In a 51-page court motion, Sameeh Hammoudeh provides his own transcripts of many of the conversations, offering the first verbatim glimpse into a handful of the 200 or so conversations in the indictment. If accurate, Hammoudeh's translations paint a mundane picture of him talking about his family, personal finances and charity fundraising - a sharp contrast to the prosecutors' portrayal of an active fundraiser for a deadly terrorist organization. FBI Wary of Anthrax Probe Disclosure The Guardian 12/2/2003 WASHINGTON (AP) - Disclosure of what the FBI knows about the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks could enable terrorists to engineer biological weapons to escape detection, the FBI says in documents filed in response to a lawsuit by a scientist labeled a ``person of interest'' in the case. Citing the criminal investigation and national security concerns, the Justice Department is trying to persuade a federal judge to delay the lawsuit filed by Dr. Stephen J. Hatfill, who contends the government invaded his privacy and ruined his reputation by leaking information to the media implicating him in the attacks.

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