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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..

Teen shot dead by IDF in W. Bank; 3 Hamas men killed in blast Ha'aretz 12/9/2003 A 16-year-old Palestinian resident of a West Bank refugee camp was shot dead by Israel Defense Forces troops Tuesday, Palestinian hospital officials said. Faris Ibrahim, from the Qalandiyah refugee camp between Ramallah and Jerusalem, was among youths throwing stones at nearby IDF soldiers, and was shot in the head by the troops, the sources said. Also Tuesday, three Palestinians were killed in an explosion in a house in the village of Taffuh, close to the West Bank city of Hebron. Palestinians and IDF sources said the three were Hamas activists trying to make a bomb. Israeli troops 'kill two gunmen' BBC 12/9/2003 Israeli soldiers have shot dead two gunmen near the northern border with Lebanon, according to military sources. They encountered the men inside Israeli territory near the border village of Ghajar, an army spokesman said. The nationality of the dead men was not known, he said, adding that there were no casualties on the Israeli side. IOF Troops Arrest Nine Citizens, Wound a Girl While Going Backing from School International Press Center 12/9/2003 WEST BANK, Palestine, December 9, 2003 (IPC + Agencies)-- The Israeli occupying forces (IOF) arrested today morning nine citizens of Nablus City in the West Bank. Eyewitnesses mentioned that IOF advanced deep into several neighborhoods of Nablus City and stormed the students’ sojourns in “Abu Raa’d” residential community and arrested four Palestinians of Al Najeh University....Concurrently, a contingent of Israeli troops swept Balata refugee camp, searching house after house and arresting Latifa Abu Thera’, 37, and another unidentified citizen, Palestinian security sources told IPC correspondent....Meanwhile, the Israeli troops tightened their control over Hebron City, storming and searching several of the citizens’ houses in Al Hawouz area, IPC correspondent said. A contingent of 40 Israeli soldiers backed by military jeeps and armored convoys stormed at 9:00 am in the Al Hawouz area, at the southern tip of the city, the same sources added....Elsewhere, in Khan Younis City of Gaza Strip, 10-year old Fatma Khlaf Allah was shot with a live bullet in her chest when the Israeli soldiers shot her as going back home from school, Palestinian medical sources at Nasser hospital confirmed. IOF Arrests Two Palestinian Women, Detain Hundreds at Checkpoint International Press Center 12/9/2003 RAMALLAH, Palestine, December 9, 2003 (IPC + Agencies) - - The Israeli occupying forces (IOF) arrested two Palestinian women from Ramallah and ElBireh governorate, at the same time as hundreds of citizens were detained at a checkpoint in the same governorate. Palestinian security sources told IPC correspondent that large forces of the Israeli occupation surrounded two Palestinian houses, and arrested two Palestinian citizens from there....Meanwhile, IOF troops manning the military checkpoint of "Atara", north of the Ramallah and ElBireh governorate, detained hundreds of Palestinian citizens at the checkpoint, IPC correspondent said...In the Gaza Strip, IOF tanks stationed at "Green Line" opened heavy and random gunfire at Palestinian houses in the town of Beit Hanun, north of Gaza Strip, Palestinian security sources affirmed. Sharon: Hebron enclave ours forever Al-Jazeera 12/7/2003 Israel will never evacuate the small Jewish colony in the heart of the Arab West Bank city of Hebron, Ariel Sharon has pledged. The Israeli prime minister was referring on Sunday to an illegal settlement of up to 500 Jewish colonists living in heavily fortified compounds among the city's 180,000 Palestinians. Known as al-Khalil to its majority population, the city is host to Tomb of the Patriarchs, religiously significant to both Muslims and Jews, which Sharon also vowed never to abandon. IDF: Armed men killed near northern border were apparently hunters Al-Bawaba 12/9/2003 Israel Defense Forces troops on Tuesday shot dead two armed men on the northern border with Lebanon, between the village of Rajar and Kibbutz Ma'ayan Baruch.The two apparently infiltrated into Israel from Lebanon and Military sources later said that they were apparently hunters.The two men were shot in an area east of the border, but it is unclear if that was where they crossed into Israel. Their bodies are apparently held by the IDF. Donors See Little Result in W. Bank, Gaza The Guardian 12/9/2003 JERUSALEM (AP) - Donor nations, which pumped $6.2 billion into the West Bank and Gaza over a decade, are increasingly frustrated with having to spend most of the money on emergency aid rather than on Palestinian state-building. Much of the blame at a meeting that starts Wednesday in Rome will likely be aimed at Israel: Security closures enforced in three years of fighting have devastated the Palestinian economy and hampered the work of aid agencies, while military strikes against militants have wrecked dozens of donor projects. Some donors are now privately saying that continued aid only allows Israel to avoid the cost of occupying lands where millions of Palestinians live. Israel's Barriers a Major Friction Point Miftah 12/9/2003 Some 200 Palestinian men crowded behind the hip-high, red barrier at the Israeli checkpoint. When one asked when they would be let through, a young soldier shouted, ``Shut up!'' Every day, tensions run high at roadblocks that have severely restricted Palestinian movement in the West Bank in more than three years of violence. The Hawara checkpoint is one of only three passages into Nablus, the West Bank's biggest city, and many of the men had been waiting for two hours to get in when the soldier demanded they form two neat lines. When no one budged, he grabbed several and roughly shoved them into line. Kibbutz sues state to remove 6 suicide bomber graves Ha'aretz 12/9/2003 The government, stymied by the problem of how to dispose of the remains of scores of Palestinian suicide bombers, secretly buried them in anonymous cemetery plots throughout the country, a government official said Monday. The burials became public after residents of Kibbutz Revadim were mortified to discover the bodies of six bombers had been buried in their cemetery without their knowledge. Israeli troops raid northern West Bank ReliefWeb 12/8/2003 GAZA, Dec 8, 2003 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Israeli army forces backed by tanks and armored vehicles raided at predawn on Monday the northern West Bank town of Jenin and its refugee camp, Palestinian residents said. They said that heavy armed confrontations took place in the camp between Palestinian militants and Israeli soldiers in the refugee camp, adding that the soldiers also raided several houses and conducted searches into them. Meanwhile, another Israeli army force, backed by at least 20 armored vehicles, tanks and jeeps, raided the town of Tulkarem on Monday, witnesses said. Black feast in Rafah Refugee Camp Rafah Today 12/3/2003 Black feast in Rafah Refugee Camp: while Arab countries were celebrating in their feast/Eid, the people in Rafah were busy with the funeral of 9 year old Ebraheem Al Rabia who was shot in the head with an Israeli bullet the second day of Eid while playing with the children near his home in Block J Refugee Camp. It seems like the Israeli bullets never endi as though the soldiers are connected to a line of bullets directly from a factory. They did not leave any kind of weapon unused.... News From Gaza: The Second Day of Eid Rafah Today 12/3/2003 In the second day of the feast, there is killings and murder everywhere in the Gaza Strip.. many trees were demolished and three people from one family were killed in just one of the attacks. They are Khaled Al Semere 35 yrs old, Osama Al Semere 30 years old, and Abdullah Al Semere 28 years old... News Briefs: Five arrested in Nablus, Hamas opposes truce International Middle East Media Center 12/9/2003 Five Palestinians arrested in Nablus in a wide military operation: The troops declared that they arrested six Palestinian in a wide operation in several neighborhoods in Nablus and Balata refugee camp in the south of the city. / Hamas Still apposes the Truce under the current circumstances, Fatah tries to reach an agreement: After the talks in Cairo failed to achieve a full truce, some Palestinian officials are seeking new talks in. Nabil Abu Rdeinah said that failing to achieve comprehensive seize fire agreement is not the end of the story calling the parties to maintain national unity among them. The First Intifada: When "Force of the Weak" Won Over "Weakness of Force" International Press Center 12/9/2003 On this day, 16 years ago, the Palestinian people in the occupied Gaza Strip, West Bank and Jerusalem, sparked spontaneous riots and demonstrations to protest against of the Israeli occupation and to launch an outcry against nearly 50 years of oppression, humiliation and dispossession. On December 9, 1987 the Palestinian residents of Jabalya refugee camp, north of the Gaza Strip, took to the streets protesting a car accident between an Israeli truck and two Palestinian vans that killed four Palestinian workers. The Israeli forces opened fire towards the demonstrators, killing 16-year old Hatem Al Sisi, who was the first to be killed in the first Intifada.

Diplomacy..

U.S. warns against unilateral move to impose final agreement Ha'aretz 12/9/2003 Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reiterated Tuesday his determination to stick to the U.S.-backed road map to Middle East peace, but at the same time warned that he working on an alternative plan that would be put into action if the Palestinians show they have failed to meet their commitments laid out in the plan. A senior United States official responded coolly to the announcement later Tuesday, cautioning that any unilateral attempt to impose a final agreement to the conflict would not succeed. U.S.: We have no argument with fence, only with route Ha'aretz 12/9/2003 U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer said in remarks broadcast Tuesday that the Bush administration "has no argument" with the West bank fence as a security tool, but added that the closer that the route of the barrier follows the pre-1967 Green Line border, the less Israel "will hear from Washington" regarding the barrier."...."For the first 14 or 15 months of the construction of the fence, in its first phase, you did not hear a public viewpoint expressed from the United States, because we do support Israel's right to defend itself, and we allow in our own minds, that Israel is going to make its own decisions on how to do that," Kurtzer said. Sheikh Yassin: Door still open to talks Al-Jazeera 12/9/2003 The hardline Hamas movement, which has refused to suspend its campaign of attacks against Israel, has left the door open to more talks but insists that the ball is in the court of the Israelis and Palestinian Authority. "We have not closed the door to dialogue and to talks" with Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority, the movement's founder and spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin said Tuesday....Hamas' leadership says it has learned its lesson from the breakdown of a previous truce. That was announced on June 29 but collapsed seven weeks later following a massive suicide bomb on a bus in Jerusalem after the Israeli assassination of top cadre Ismail Abu Shanab. "It is not possible to talk about a hudna if the other side does not take part," said the wheelchair-bound sheikh, using the Arabic word for truce. Sharon: We won't wait for roadmap collapse Middle East Online 12/9/2003 Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warned Tuesday he will not wait for the international "roadmap" peace plan to collapse to take "unilateral steps" including the evacuation of isolated Jewish settlements. "We will not wait, and we may take unilateral measures, including the evacuation of communities for the sake of Israel's security," Sharon said during a meeting of the parliamentary committee on defence and foreign affairs. Hamas Official Says Suicide Attacks to Resume Reuters 12/8/2003 GAZA (Reuters) - A top official of Islamic group Hamas said Monday the recent lull in Palestinian militant suicide attacks against Israel was just a break between waves. "The martyrdom operations come as waves so there are gaps between the waves," Hamas chief spokesman Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi told Reuters in an interview. "We are just in the period of a gap between waves."A day after the collapse of talks among Palestinian factions on a complete cease-fire with Israel -- which Hamas opposed -- Rantissi said Palestinian militants were emboldened by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's domestic woes and U.S. problems in Iraq and Afghanistan....."They had a very weird analysis of the international situation," said Ahmed Ghneim, a senior official in President Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie's mainstream Fatah faction who participated in the Cairo talks. "They believe the United States, Palestinian Authority and Israel are in a crisis, while they are not." Palestinians Insist On Israeli Guarantees Before Truce Islam Online 12/8/2003 CAIRO, December 8 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Palestinian factions ended talks in the Egyptian capital Cairo late Sunday, December 7, without agreeing to a truce with Israel and refusing to give a full mandate to Prime Minister Ahmad Qorei. Following four days of marathon Egyptian-sponsored talks, the 12 resistance factions insisted on having first mutual Israeli and U.S. guarantees in order to promulgate full or even partial ceasefire. Although the factions, notably Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, neared an accord on a final statement stressing the need "to spare civilians on both sides," they fell short Sunday of reaching a common ground on this issue as well. U.S. Leaders Support New Israel-Palestine Peace Initiatives International Crisis Group 12/5/2003 Washington/Brussels, 5 December 2003: The International Crisis Group (ICG) is pleased to announce that former senior U.S. foreign policy office holders of Republican and Democratic Administrations stretching back over three decades have signed the attached open letter to Israelis and Palestinians in support of two unofficial initiatives to find a path to peace in the Middle East. The letter congratulates and supports the courageous efforts of Israeli and Palestinian civil society leaders who worked on a comprehensive settlement of the issues dividing Israel and Palestine. Former Top US Security Officials Back Geneva Accord By Jim Lobe, Antiwar.com 12/9/2003 Three days after the administration of President George W. Bush shrugged off the unofficial Israeli-Palestinian peace plan released last week in Geneva, a bipartisan group of eight former top U.S. national-security officials said they supported the so-called "Geneva Accord." The endorsement of the group, which includes four former national security advisers, comes amid a growing controversy within the US Jewish community about the plan, as well as indications that Israel's ruling Likud coalition is deeply divided about how to react to it. Fischer blasts Arafat, warns Israel over security fence Jerusalem Post 12/9/2003 German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has warned Israel it could suffer "terrible consequences" for its security fence, while launching an unprecedented attack on Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. Speaking to senior politicians, diplomats, and businessmen at a European-Israeli dialogue in Berlin at the weekend, Fischer said the security fence could end hopes of achieving a two-state solution. US urges PA crackdown Jerusalem Post 12/9/2003 The Bush administration on Monday continued to urge the Palestinian Authority to crack down on terrorist groups, in response to a breakdown of cease-fire talks in Cairo. Israeli FM to meet Egyptian leader in Geneva Middle East Online 12/9/2003 JERUSALEM - Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom is to hold talks with Hosni Mubarak in Geneva on Wednesday in the first meeting between an Israeli official and the Egyptian president since Israel's current government was formed. "This meeting with Mr Shalom comes as a result of the warming of relations between the two countries," Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Moshe Debi said. It will be the first meeting between an Israeli minister and the long-time Egyptian leader since August 2002 when the then foreign minister Shimon Peres met Mubarak. PM Qurei': What Happened at in Cairo Was not a Failure International Press Center 12/9/2003 RAMALLAH, Palestine, December 9, 2003 (IPC + Agencies)-- The Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei' said that the result of the inter-Palestinian dialogue in Cairo could not be considered as a failure, as was reported by some media outlets. PM Qurei' told reporters that he does not consider what happened in Cairo as a failure just because the Palestinian factions could not reach a ceasefire agreement, explaining that the Israeli government categorically refused to deal with any ceasefire agreement, a thing that led to reaching a deadlock between the factions. Sharon Considers Moving Some Settlements The Guardian 12/9/2003 JERUSALEM (AP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told lawmakers Tuesday that moving some Jewish settlements would be part of unilateral measures he is considering toward the Palestinians, according to a lawmaker at the meeting. Sharon's hardline Likud Party has traditionally opposed evacuating Jewish settlements or giving up control of any of the West Bank, which Palestinians claim for a future state. Sharon has hinted recently he might consider such moves, however, saying he expects to detail his plans soon. Syria offer is a 'ploy' Israel says International Herald Tribune 12/9/2003 Sharon dismisses call to restart peace talks -- JERUSALEM Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Monday that a recent suggestion by President Bashar Assad of Syria to restart peace negotiations with Israel was a transparent ploy by Syria to relieve pressure being exerted on it by the United States because of Syria's support for terrorist activities. Sharon insisted that Syria prove its desire for peace by expelling terrorists from its territory and pulling back Hezbollah forces from Israel's border with Lebanon. He accused Syria and Iran of working together to turn Lebanon into a major terror center. Israel Attacks U.N. Over West Bank Barrier Vote Reuters 12/9/2003 JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel accused the United Nations of hypocrisy Tuesday after the U.N. General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice to rule on the legality of a barrier Israel is building in the West Bank. But Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie hailed the U.N. decision as a message from the international community to Israel to halt a project he said was aimed at predetermining the borders of a future Palestinian state. Israeli premier Ariel Sharon came under fire at home from a key partner in his ruling coalition who demanded the government change the route of the barrier because it seized too much Palestinian land and had drawn U.S. criticism. Israel becoming "leper" state, press warns after UN vote on barrier Islamic Association for Palestine 12/9/2003 JERUSALEM, Dec 9-- Israeli newspapers voiced alarm Tuesday at the UN General Assembly vote taking the issue of the controversial West Bank separation barrier to the world court, warning that the Jewish state was growing more isolated in the international community. "The fence, instead of imposing a siege on the Palestinians and on terror, imposes a siege on us. Israel is becoming, slowly but surely, a leper state," said an editorial in the Maariv daily. Settlers vow to fight evacuation as Israel slams UN over barrier vote ReliefWeb 12/9/2003 JERUSALEM, Dec 9 (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Tuesday he may order the evacuation of Jewish settlements despite a warning he would have a "war" on his hands if he tried to dismantle even unauthorised settler outposts. Sharon, who has recently been talking of the need to take "unilateral measures", spelt out in an address to MPs that they were likely to include the evacuation of isolated Jewish settlements. Norway convenes donors' meeting for the Palestinian Territory on 10 December ReliefWeb/Government of Norway 12/8/2003 As chairman of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee for Assistance to the Palestinians (AHLC), Foreign Minister Jan Petersen has invited donors to a meeting of the AHLC in Rome on 10 December. The situation in the Palestinian Territory is very worrying, said Foreign Minister Petersen. It is therefore important that the Palestinians receive a clear political signal that the international community is still supporting them. At the same time, there are aspects of the current situation that indicate there may be a potential for new momentum in the peace process. United Nations Asian Meeting on the Question of Palestine Palestine Monitor 12/9/2003 16 -18 December at the Jianguo Garden Hotel in the center of Beijing -- Dear Friends, I have the pleasure to inform you that the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will convene the United Nations Asian Meeting on the Question of Palestine. With the agreement of the Government of China, the Committee has decided to hold this Meeting on 16 and 17 December 2003 in Beijing. The theme of the Meeting is "Mobilizing international support for a peaceful solution of the question of Palestine". PM says working on 'complex, controversial' diplomatic plan Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, speaking before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, reiterated Tuesday that he will stick to the U.S.-backed road map, but at the same time was working to prepare an alternative plan that would be activated if it is proven that the Palestinians failed to fulfill their part in the road map deal....Sharon said that he may take unilateral steps even before implementing his alternative diplomatic initiative. "Communities may be moved to improve our security situation," he said. General Assembly adopts text requesting International Court of Justice to issue advisory opinion on West Bank separation wall United Nations 12/8/2003 The tenth emergency special session of the 191-member United Nations General Assembly this morning adopted a resolution asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to issue an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's construction of a separation barrier in the West Bank. Adopting the text by a recorded vote of 90 in favour, to 8 against (Australia, Ethiopia, Federated States of Micronesia, Israel, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, United States), with 74 abstentions, the Assembly also expressed grave concern at the commencement and ongoing construction of the wall in and around East Jerusalem -- a departure from the Armistice “Green Line”, disrupting the lives of thousands of protected civilians and the de facto annexation of large areas of territory.(For details of voting, see Annex I.) Doubts over W Bank barrier route BBC 12/9/2003 Israel's justice minister says he will seek to redraw the route of the controversial West Bank barrier. Yosef Lapid's call came as the UN General Assembly approved a resolution asking the International Court of Justice to consider its legality. Israel is building the barrier on occupied Palestinian land, but says it is needed to stop suicide bombers. But Mr Lapid said the current barrier route was "too long, too expensive... and puts the whole world against us". No Ceasefire Under Occupation: Hamas Founder Islam Online 12/9/2003 GAZA CITY, December 9 (IslamOnline.net) - Hamas founder and spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin insisted that the Israeli occupation is the one and only reason triggering the Palestinian resistance and as long as that occupation continues, the Palestinians have no other option but to continue their resistance. In exclusive, lengthy statements to IslamOnline.net on Monday, December 8, Yassin also denied that his movement caused the latest round of inter-Palestinian dialogue - sponsored by Cairo - to end in failure. Hamas rejects authorizing the Palestinian Authority to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people, he stressed, citing previous experiences that led to nothing. Hamas ready for new talks, but not to stop `martyrdom' Ha'aretz 12/9/2003 Hamas yesterday said it was ready for fresh Palestinian cease-fire talks following the failed round of negotiations in Cairo, but signaled it was in no hurry to end its violent struggle. "We will continue the talks in the near future. I expect Abu Ala (Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia) to ask for another meeting in the occupied territories or abroad and I expect we will attend," senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzook told reporters in Cairo. UN Takes Israel’s Apartheid Wall to Int’l Court of Justice Palestine Media Center 12/9/2003 US Objects, EU Abstains, Assembly to Remain Seized of the Matter -- The tenth emergency special session of the 191-member United Nations General Assembly on Monday adopted a resolution asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to issue an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s construction of its Apartheid Wall on occupied Palestinian territory, and adopted a separate decision requesting the world body to remain seized of the matter. Issue of West Bank fence to be reviewed by International Court of Justice; Hamas vows to resume attacks Al-Bawaba 12/9/2003 The United Nations General Assembly voted 90-8 Monday to refer the issue of the West Bank separation fence to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague. Seventy-four states abstained. Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom decided prior to the vote that Israel would cooperate with the international court should the resolution pass and that Israel will argue that the decision to build the barrier was based on self-defense. PNA Welcomes GA vote to Bring Apartheid Wall to the ICJ International Press Center 12/9/2003 GAZA, December 9,2003, (IPC + Agencies)-- The Palestinian National Authority commended the UN General Assembly resolution as a triumph of evenhandedness and the international law and a message from the international community to Israel to halt the aggressions on the Palestinians and the construction of the Apartheid wall. The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly voted -90 GA member states -on Monday in favor of a resolution asking the International Court of Justice in the Hague for an advisory opinion on the legal ramifications of the Apartheid wall built by Israeli around and through the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, in compliance with a proposal sketched out by Arab countries. World court to rule on Israeli wall Al-Jazeera 12/9/2003 The UN General Assembly has backed a resolution asking the International Court of Justice whether Israel is obliged to tear down its controversial wall. The vote in New York on Monday was 90 to 8 in favour, with 74 abstentions. Opposing the resolution were the United States, Israel, Australia, Ethiopia and the Pacific islands of Nauri, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau.Almost all delegations, including the US, spoke against the apartheid wall, 150-km network of fences, wire, concrete walls and trenches that snakes across the West Bank. Report: Shalom may meet with Mubarak in Europe this week Ha'aretz 12/9/2003 Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom will meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Geneva on Wedneday, Israel Radio reported Tuesday. Shalom will ask Mubarak to assist in promoting peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, and to upgrade diplomatic relations between Israel and Egypt, the radio said. Shalom, who will travel to Rome to attend a conference of nations who donate funds to the Palestinian Authority, is scheduled to meet Tuesday with Palestinian cabinet ministers Nabil Sha'ath and Salam Fayad, Army Radio reported Tuesday. Background/ New Mideast peace bids - A pocket guide Ha'aretz 12/9/2003 Without warning, a drought in Middle East peacemaking has yielded to a flash flood of initiatives, trial balloons and truce bids, prompting wide speculation over the shape of an eventual solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Here, in summary and comparison, are a number of the most recent plans.

Human Rights..

Palestinian detainee, 29, dies in hospital Ha'aretz 12/9/2003 A Palestinian security detainee died yesterday at Ha'Emek hospital in Afula. Bashir Awis, aged 29, who was being held at Megiddo prison, was taken to hospital on Thursday and died in the intensive care ward. The IDF has ordered a post mortem. The family requested that a doctor from Physicians for Human Rights be present at the autopsy. According to Ibrahim Mahajneh, Awis' lawyer, the man had complained of severe headaches for a week. Indymedia Israel investigated again, site shut down Infoshop News 12/8/2003 The Israeli company who provided us with space on their server (Actcom) has recieved very threatening phone calls to their homes and offices in regard to a cartoon by Brazilian cartoonist Latuff showing Sharon and Hitler kissing. Further, a police investigation has been started against us in regard to this cartoon, accusing us of incitement. The news about this has been all over the Israeli media. (Ma'ariv, Ynet, etc.) They are accusing us of anti-semitism and incitment. State offers Hebron merchants NIS 1.5m Ha'aretz 12/9/2003 The Defense Ministry has agreed to pay NIS 1.5 million to 75 Hebron merchants whose shops near the Jewish enclave in the West Bank town have been closed by order of the army - and vandalized by settlers - ever since baby Shalhevet Pas was shot dead in March 2001 by a Palestinian sniper. The ministry and State Attorney's Office agreed on the sum in an out of court settlement because they worried that the petition, partially based on the Fourth Geneva Convention, could pave the way for hundreds of thousands of similar law suits from other Palestinians whose livelihoods suffered from the actions of occupation authorities even though they were not involved in any hostilities. PCHR Welcomes GA Decision to Refer Issue of West Bank Barrier to International Court of Justice Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 12/9/2003 PCHR welcomes yesterdays decision by the United Nations General Assembly to refer the issue of the legality of Israel's so-called "Security Fence" to the International Court of Justice. The resolution, adopted by 90 votes in favour, with 74 abstentions, asks the International Court of Justice to issue an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's construction of the "Security Fence" in the occupied West Bank.

Economy..

Gaza unemployment reaches new heights Al-Jazeera 12/9/2003 Hisham moves bricks for a living. It is backbreaking work, and it is definitely not what he envisaged himself doing a few years ago when he earned his university degree in civil engineering. But given that there is no work these days in Gaza, he considers himself lucky to have just found a job, even as a menial labourer. His wife Najla visits al-Azhar University Alumni Association every Tuesday, where unemployed graduates meet up to discuss strategies that may help them find jobs. Palestinians to Seek $1.2 Billion in Aid in Rome Reuters 12/9/2003 RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian officials will be shopping around in Rome this week for countries willing to donate $1.2 billion dollars to the Palestinian Authority's 2004 budget to stave off an economic crisis. The donors conference in Rome which officially kicks off on Wednesday is seen as crucial to helping keep the devastated Palestinian economy afloat and to tackling a humanitarian crisis in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "We want clear commitments from the donors to fund the $1.2 billion in urgent needs for next year's budget and we want to urge them to ask Israel to lift the restrictions on goods and materials...in Israeli harbors and ports," said Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath, who will head the Palestinian delegation with reform-minded Finance Minister Salam Fayyad. Israel turns from net borrower to net lender Globes 12/9/2003 The Israeli economy had a $6.14 billion net assets surplus at the end of September. -- The net overseas external debt of the Israeli economy declined by $2.9 billion in January-September 2003, continuing the trend of the past few years, according to Bank of Israel figures published today. The data show that the Israeli economy has gone from being a net borrower to being a net lender, with a net assets surplus of $6.14 billion at the end of September. 40% plunge in 2003 Israeli defense exports predicted Globes 12/9/2003 New orders of $2.5 billion are projected, compared with $4 billion in 2002. Defense source: The market is shrinking. -- Israeli defense exports are projected to plunge 40% in 2003. New orders from overseas customers will amount to only $2.5 billion this year, compared with $4.01 billion in 2002, the “Defense News” weekly reported, quoting Ministry of Defense sources. Shekel strengthens against dollar by 1.05 percent, closing at NIS 4.388 Ha'aretz 12/9/2003 The shekel continued to strengthen against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, with positive momentum building up as the day wore on. The greenback contracted 1.05% against its Monday rate to a six-month low of NIS 4.388, a hefty 4.7 agorot less than its official rate on Monday, which was NIS 4.435. In late afternoon trade the shekel's strengthening halted. As of writing the shekel-dollar was at 4.385. Labor talks remain frozen; some sanctions to be eased Ha'aretz 12/9/2003 Last night's talks between the government and the Histadrut labor federation remained frozen on two issues - structural reform in government ministries and the pension reforms. As a result, civil servants today will continue labor sanctions that have been in effect since September 29. In addition, the Histadrut is still threatening to call a strike encompassing most of the public sector. Check Point faces class action Globes 12/9/2003 The suit alleges that misrepresentations by the company artificially inflated its share price between July 2001 and April 2002. -- A class action lawsuit has been filed against Check Point (Nasdaq: CHKP) in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The suit alleges that Check Point violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by issuing a series of material misrepresentations to the market during the class period, July 10, 2001 to April 4, 2002, thereby artificially inflating the price of Check Point securities. Citizens burdened by debts of NIS 59 billion, MKs told Ha'aretz 12/9/2003 The sum of the debt in all the files of the Bailiff's Office amounts to some NIS 59 billion, or about one-quarter of the state budget for 2004. A comprehensive report on the operations of the office's various bureaus during the period 1999-2002 was presented yesterday to the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee...."We are living in a reality in which debtors are not paying their debts and are continuing to write bad checks or carry out transactions with no return," Cohen told the lawmakers. Moody's: Israeli public sector is wasteful and bloated Globes 12/9/2003 Moody's VP Jonathan Schiffer applauded the reforms being introduced by Minister of Finance Benjamin Netanyahu. -- Moody's VP Jonathan Schiffer, senior credit officer in the company's sovereign risk unit, is currently visiting Israel and is conducting meetings with senior officials at the Ministry of Finance. Schiffer, who came to Israel for the launch of new ratings agency Midroog, in which Moody's is a partner, commented on Israel's credit rating, and complimented the economic plan being introduced by Minister of Finance Benjamin Netanyahu.

People..

Special Report: Palestine: The people and the land Al-Jazeera Dispossessed, deprived of their birthright and denied basic human rights and freedoms, millions of Palestinians daily endure a rare fate. Just the simple act of surviving through the day under occupation requires enormous resilience in the face of a superior war machine, supported by the world's single superpower. Yet Palestinians have never lost hope that one day they will be able to live in freedom, peace and prosperity in their own independent homeland. Demographer: Holy Land already has non-Jewish majority Ha'aretz 12/9/2003 A Haifa University demographer said Tuesday that there is already a majority of non-Jews within the total area of Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Demographer Amnon Sofer also said that recent estimates of the number of Palestinians to be enclosed on the Israeli side of the West Bank fence had been vastly exaggerated, and that the maximum number would not exceed 30,000. "At this very minute, within the western land of Israel from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the Jordan [River], there is already a non-Jewish majority," Sofer told Israel Radio. 'Israel' already non-Jewish Al-Jazeera 12/9/2003 The dream of Israel's founding fathers of a majority Jewish state in Palestine may have already passed into history, according to an Israeli university professor. The majority of people within the total area of Israel are not Jews, says Amnon Sofer, a Haifa University demographer. "At this very minute, within the western land of Israel from the sea [Mediterranean] to the Jordan [river], there is already a non-Jewish majority", the Haifa University demographer told Israel Radio on Tuesday. Bereaved say no to territories memorial Ha'aretz 12/9/2003 Families of the people killed at Ein Ariq roadblock in the West Bank last March object to the perpetuation of their sons' memory in the occupied territories. A Palestinian sniper shot dead 11 soldiers and civilians in what is considered one of the IDF's worst failures of the intifada. "Soldiers will be forced to guard that dangerous place, where there shouldn't have been a roadblock to start with, and they shouldn't be building there now," Robi Damelin said in the name of the families. The IDF removed the barrier two days after the incident. Israeli Kibbutz Movement in Dire Straits The Guardian 12/9/2003 KIBBUTZ METZUBA, Israel (AP) - After spending World War II in Nazi camps, Esther Cohen saw the swamplands of Kibbutz Metzuba as a paradise. But Cohen's Garden of Eden is dying under a crushing $10.4 million debt, and the 77-year-old Hungarian-born seamstress is not sure whether she will be kicked out of her home. ``We built a different life and we thought it would be to the end of generations,'' she said. ``What happens? Everything collapses in front of our eyes.''...Not all Israelis are sympathetic. Many still resent the communal farms for getting preferential treatment, and such hostility is particularly strong among Sephardi, or Middle Eastern, Jews. Actor Richard Gere goes on Mideast tour The Seattle Times 12/9/2003 RAMALLAH, West Bank — Actor Richard Gere hugged a Palestinian legislator and met with Israeli settlers Tuesday during a tour of Israel and the West Bank. Gere's three-day visit was coordinated by Peacemakers Circle International, a network of organizations working for social justice. The group toured Jordan over the weekend. Encouraging good relations between Israelis and Palestinians and "spreading the culture of peace" are ways Hollywood stars can improve peoples lives, said Daoud Kuttab, a Palestinian adviser for the network. Palestinian Journalist: Making One State will Solve Middle East Crisis Palestine Chronicle/Juneau Empire 12/8/2003 JUNEAU, Alaska - Ramzy Baroud never contemplated throwing a stone at anyone before that day in 1987. He was 14 years old, an age when most American kids are worried about acne and pop quizzes. But Baroud was worried about the safety of young girls in the dusty Gaza Strip refugee camp where he grew up. That day, he and his classmates heard screams from the girls' school down the road. Israeli soldiers, young and inexperienced, intimidating with automatic rifles slung over their shoulders, had entered the school and were harassing the students. Many Palestinian boys are raised to regard their sisters with honor and protect them at all costs. So Baroud and his classmates began running in the direction of the girls' school. Franco-Lebanese rapper is a star waiting for the world to catch up Daily Star 12/9/2003 It’s been said that rap music has grown up and gone out into the world. No one fits this maxim better than Franco-Lebanese rapper Clotaire K. His command post is on the top floor of a dilapidated stone building on the fringe of the old city of Montpellier, in southern France. But his mind, like his music, is in several places at once ­ London and Beirut these days, though not exclusively. The son of an Egyptian from Alexandria and a Lebanese mother, Clotaire, who shares his name with old Frankish kings, prefers to keep mum about his last name and age. He grew up in southern France, spending his summers in Beirut until age 6, but then stopped because of the war. AUB panel explores evolving world of Arab sexuality Daily Star 12/9/2003 Experts discuss formerly taboo issues such as male impotence, female virginity -- Bringing together issues of sexual identity, sexuality and abuse, scholars at the American University of Beirut (AUB) debated the way sexual desire, fantasy and the body were perceived in Arab literature, poetry and society, during a three-day lecture that started over the weekend. Titled Sexuality in the Arab World, the conference acted as a sequel to Sexuality in the Middle East ­ another similar conference that was held in 2000, at St. Anthony’s College in Oxford, England. Tales of Tel Aviv The Guardian 12/9/2003 There's another battle going on - against recession. But Linda Grant finds Israel's economic casualties are fighting back -- On the map of Tel Aviv, Kikar HaMedina appears as a perfect green sphere, mysterious as a crop circle. On the ground it's a traffic roundabout and on its outer edges is the most expensive retail space in Israel. Here is Donna Karan, Versace, Emporio Armani, and there, in the centre, until it was cleared by the authorities two months ago, was Bread Square, a township of tents of the Jewish homeless: not just the poor and the down-and-out, but those who until recently owned an apartment, had a business, took holidays abroad.

International..

Israel trains US assassination squads in Iraq The Guardian 12/9/2003 US special forces teams are already behind the lines inside Syria attempting to kill foreign jihadists before they cross the border, and a group focused on the "neutralisation" of guerrilla leaders is being set up, according to sources familiar with the operations. -- Israeli advisers are helping train US special forces in aggressive counter-insurgency operations in Iraq, including the use of assassination squads against guerrilla leaders, US intelligence and military sources said yesterday. The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has sent urban warfare specialists to Fort Bragg in North Carolina, the home of US special forces, and according to two sources, Israeli military "consultants" have also visited Iraq. US forces in Iraq's Sunni triangle have already begun to use tactics that echo Israeli operations in the occupied territories, sealing off centres of resistance with razor wire and razing buildings from where attacks have been launched against US troops. Tough New Tactics by U.S. Tighten Grip on Iraq Towns New York Times 12/9/2003 ABU HISHMA, Iraq, Dec. 6 — As the guerrilla war against Iraqi insurgents intensifies, American soldiers have begun wrapping entire villages in barbed wire. In selective cases, American soldiers are demolishing buildings thought to be used by Iraqi attackers. They have begun imprisoning the relatives of suspected guerrillas, in hopes of pressing the insurgents to turn themselves in. The Americans embarked on their get-tough strategy in early November, goaded by what proved to be the deadliest month yet for American forces in Iraq, with 81 soldiers killed by hostile fire. The response they chose is beginning to echo the Israeli counterinsurgency campaign in the occupied territories. Concrete, razor wire, ID cards Christian Science Monitor 12/8/2003 Analysts say security tactics in Iraq echo West Bank, as US general forecasts more violence -- "As the guerrilla war against Iraqi insurgents intensifies, American soldiers have begun wrapping entire villages in barbed wire," reads the first sentence of a front page article in Sunday's New York Times. "West Bank East: Americans in Iraq make war the Israeli way" is the headline of an opinion piece Saturday in The Daily Star, a Lebanese paper. The tougher US approach to security in Iraq, begun in early November, draws more parallels to Israeli tactics each day. Arab-Americans protest Seeds of Peace award to Peres Ha'aretz 12/9/2003 DEARBORN, Michigan - Arab-American protesters picketed a dinner honoring former prime minister Shimon Peres on Monday, calling him a war criminal who is unworthy of such awards. About 100 people carrying signs with slogans such as "Peres baby killer," "Yes to peace, no to Peres," and "Peres killed my brother" stood on the grass opposite a hotel where Peres, the head of the Labor Party, and Palestinian peace advocate Sari Nusseibeh were being honored Monday night by Seeds of Peace, a New York-based group that promotes Middle East peace. Jordan Promoting U.S.-Iran Contacts Washington Post 12/7/2003 Jordan's King Abdullah is quietly trying to broker a deal that would lead Tehran to surrender about 70 al Qaeda operatives, including the son of Osama bin Laden, in exchange for U.S. action on the largest Iranian opposition group now based in Iraq, according to U.S. and Middle East officials. Abdullah, who is hoping to revive dialogue between the United States and Iran, discussed prospects with the Bush administration during a private visit to Washington on Thursday and Friday. Blair urges Assad to clamp down on infiltrators Middle East Online 12/9/2003 DAMASCUS - British Prime Minister Tony Blair sent a message to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad urging him to clamp down on militants crossing from Syria into Iraq, a British diplomat said Tuesday. The message, which was delivered by the British minister for the Middle East Baroness Elizabeth Symons, dealt with "the question of foreign militants crossing from Syria into Iraq," Damascus-based diplomat Mark Bell said. Global role seen for Islamic banking Al-Jazeera 12/7/2003 A leading British economist sees a vital role for Islamic banking in international finance. Sir Howard Davies, director of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), said in Bahrain on Sunday that Islamic Banks should be integrated into the international banking system. "Islamic banking should be mainstreamed into the international system. What needs to happen is to encompass both systems ... Having two sets of rules, one for conventional banking and another for Islamic banking, will not do it," Davies told reporters on the sidelines of the 10th World Banking Islamic Conference taking place on Sunday and Monday in the Gulf island state. New round of Syria- EU negotiations Arabic News 12/9/2003 The EU and Syria started a new round of negotiations in Damascus Monday with debates on the prologue of the partnership project and several other articles as well as exchange of agrarian products and food stuffs. U.S. Vetoes Lahoud But Won't Stop Syria from Selecting His Successor An Nahar 12/9/2003 The United States will not intervene to stop Syria from selecting Lebanon's next president but is dead-set against a constitutional amendment that would allow President Lahoud to seek a 3-year extension of his mandate or a full 6-year new term, prestigious Beirut news analysts contend. "Syria will have to introduce plenty of political and security changes to its policy in Lebanon…enabling it to withdraw its army, or at least 90 percent of its troops from Lebanon, without risking adverse ramifications," wrote An Nahar's columnist Sarkis Naoum on Tuesday. More Americans Admit Ignorance of Islam: Poll Palestine Chronicle 12/9/2003 WASHINGTON - A majority of Americans feel they have poor knowledge of Islam and its established principles, but many others believe that it is a religion of peace, a number of recent surveys unveiled. A poll carried out by ABC News network in September 2003 found that 65 per cent of the respondents admitted having no principal understanding of the teachings of Islam, while 33 per cent were standing on the opposite line. Americans are thus still divided on their vision of the religion, with 39 per cent polled consider it from a positive prospective, down from 47 per cent in October 2001, the results have revealed, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) website Sunday, December 7.

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