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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..

Four Palestinians Killed During an IOF Wide Scale Invasion of Nablus International Press Center 12/18/2003 NABLUS, Palestine, December 18, 2003 (IPC + Agencies)-- Four Palestinian citizens were killed today morning and more others were wounded in Nablus City of the West Bank during an IOF large-scale invasion. Palestinian medical sources stated that Aladin Da'awiyeh, 25, a bakery worker, was killed during the Israeli invasion of the old town of Nablus. Da’awiyeh was going to his workplace when the Israeli soldiers opened fire at him; he was left bleeding for two hours until he breathed his last breath....Palestinian security sources told IPC correspondent that one of the Israeli soldiers held the family of Safwat Al Assi in one room of the house and fired a tear gas canister inside the room before firmly closing the door when the family asked the soldiers to give them back the stolen money and jewelry they robbed from the houses. IOF Shoot Dead Boy, Teenager and 5 Palestinians in Nablus Palestine Media Center 12/18/2003 Elderly Denied Medical Access, Dies at Israeli Military Roadblock -- Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) shot dead seven Palestinians in 48 hours in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, including a 13-year-old boy and a teenager, while an elderly died after the occupation troops denied him access to a hospital through a military roadblock. At least fifty IOF military vehicles, including tanks and backed by helicopter gunships, invaded Nablus from the west early Wednesday, and imposed curfew on the northern West Bank city, opening sporadic gunfire and conducting house-to-house searches, WAFA reported. Palestinian family wounded in Zionist campaign in Balata Palestinian Information Center 12/18/2003 Nablus - The ongoing Zionist army campaign in the Palestinian refugee camp of Balata, to the east of Nablus city, yesterday led to the injury of 12 Palestinians including the entire members of one family. Medical sources said that six members of Al-Asi family along with six other civilians in the camp were wounded in the Zionist assaults. Eyewitnesses said that occupation soldiers broke into the house of Al-Asi family and crammed its members in one room then stole large amounts of money. When the family members argued with the soldiers they fired a big number of teargas canisters at them and closed all doors of the house. Life Under Siege: Hebron’s al – Shal La La Palestine Monitor 12/16/2003 On Friday, Israeli soldiers in Hebron permitted 75 Palestinian shops in the city’s al-Sha La La market to reopen for the first time in over a year. The move was hailed in the Israeli and Western press as a gracious concession by the Israeli government and a significant step forward in the notoriously fragile relations between Israeli occupying forces and the Jewish settlers they protect in Hebron’s old city, and the Palestinian local population. A picture in The New York Times bore the caption, “Back in business in Hebron”. The reality, for the al-Sha La La shopkeepers finally permitted to return to their source of livelihood, is somewhat different. The old city remains subject to severe military restrictions and an unrelenting curfew. The area around the market itself is closed off by iron gates guarded by Israeli soldiers who limit Palestinian access to the market with id and security checks.... Rabbis issue prohibition against evacuating settlements Ha'aretz 12/18/2003 The rabbinical council representing the West Bank and Gaza Strip issued a public statement Wednesday saying the government must not evacuate settlements and outposts. "The government is forbidden by a total religious prohibition to evacuate any outpost or settlement, and has no right to give away parts of the land of Israel to strangers, and anything done toward this aim is void," said the statement from the Yesha rabbinical council, named for the Hebrew acronym for the territories. News Briefs: IOF delays ambulance near Nablus, wounded man dies International Middle East Media Center 12/18/2003 Troops delay an ambulance on a check point near Nablus , the patient dies: Yesterday noon, Hafez Dar Mohammad, 65 years old, died on a checkpoint near Nablus while he being transferred to a hospital in an ambulance.... / Four Palestinians Killed in Nablus: Earlier this morning, the troops killed four Palestinians in a wide military operation which targeted the old city... Shin Bet finds sharp drop in Israeli Arabs' terror involvement Ha'aretz 12/18/2003 According to the numbers, shown here for the first time, the Shin Bet knew in 2003 (so far) of 43 Arab citizens detained for suspected involvement in terrorist activity against the state. This followed a steep rise of four consecutive years and at its peak in 2002, the list included 78 citizens. The latest number represents a 45 percent drop since 2002 and a 16 percent drop from 2001, when the Shin Bet reported on 51 Arab citizens detained for suspected involvement in efforts intended to harm Jewish citizens. Five Israelis lightly injured in two separate W. Bank incidents Ha'aretz 12/18/2003 Five Israelis were lightly injured Thursday evening in two separate West Bank incidents. Four people were lightly injured near the West Bank town of Bethlehem after stones were hurled at their vehicle. An Israeli resident of Ramat Gan suffered light injuries after shots were fired at his vehicle Thursday evening at the Idna Junction west of the city of Hebron in the West Bank. The man continued driving to the Tarqumiya check post, where he received medical treatment. The cross-Judea road, where the shooting attack took place, was closed. Israeli troops murder five Palestinians in 24 hours Palestinian Information Center 12/18/2003 Occupied Jerusalem - Israeli occupation forces continued to kill Palestinian civilians under the rubric of fighting Palestinian freedom fighters struggling for independence from Israeli military occupation. Medical sources in the West Bank and Gaza Strip reported Thursday that Israeli troops killed at least five Palestinian civilians in the past 24 hours. On Thursday, at least four Palestinian inhabitants of Nablus, the largest town in the West Bank, were shot and killed in a manner eyewitnesses said resembling an execution. Lethal Israeli raid on Nablus Al-Jazeera 12/18/2003 Israeli soldiers killed four Palestinians during a raid into the West Bank city of Nablus, one man being shot nine times in the chest. Palestinian hospital sources identified one 25-year-old victim on Thursday morning as Ala al-Din Dawaya. Dawaya, a bakery worker, was shot in the chest nine times along with three others whose identities are not yet known, the sources said. Our correrspondent added Israeli occupation forces shot the four as they were looking for "wanted activists". Israel Kills 4 Palestinians, Ends Separation Wall By 2005 Islam Online 12/18/2003 GAZA CITY, December 18 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Four Palestinians were killed by Israeli occupation forces in a fresh incursion into the West Bank city of Nablus in the small hours of Thursday, December 18, as Israeli officials vowed to complete the construction of the widely-criticized separation wall by 2005. Israeli sources admitted shooting dead three people in ensuing clashes after the incursion, claiming automatic weapons were found by their bodies, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP)....In the meantime, the Israeli Defense Ministry announced that the separation wall, which has drawn a barrage of international criticism for snaking through large swathes of Palestinian territories, should be completed by the end of 2005. Breaking News: Six Palestinians arrested, one immediately expelled to Jordan International Press Center 12/18/2003 13:00-- At least six Palestinian citizens have been arrested by the Israeli troop during storm-ins campaign on the Palestinian citizens in Hebron city and Bni Naeim , Al Thaheryia and Beit Owrra towns. One of the arrested, named Mohammed Abed Al Razeq Abu sharekh, 20, has been expelled to Jordan, immediately after his arrest as standing before “Hebron University”, Palestinian prisoner society said./ 10:00-- Israeli occupying forces (IOF) arrest three Palestinian citizens from the town of Qabatya, south of the city of Jenin, during a house-to-house search and vandalize campaign of the town, IPC. Israeli army raids Nablus, kills five Palestinians Al-Bawaba 12/18/2003 Israeli forces killed five Palestinians early Thursday in Nablus. The operation, which began Tuesday, is directed at Fatah-Tanzim cells in the West Bank city, which Israel claims are responsible for the most recent attempts to send suicide bombers to carry out attacks inside Israel. According to Israeli reports, in one of the incidents, three Palestinian fighters were killed in a fire exchange near an abandoned building in the old city.

Diplomacy..

PM: Unilateral steps if Palestinians don't follow road map Ha'aretz 12/18/2003 Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Thursday pledged his commitment to the internationally-brokered road map to Middle East peace, and said that the implementation of the plan was both possible and necessary. Speaking at the Herzliya Conference on issues of Israeli security, Sharon said, however, that Israel would "not wait indefinitely" for peace talks with the Palestinians, and said he would take unilateral steps if the Palestinians failed to stick to the road map....He said that the "disengagement" plan would involve the redeployment of Israel Defense Forces troops and changing the distribution of settlements to reduce the number of Israelis near centers of Palestinian population, and that uninhabited settlement outposts would be removed, "period." The prime minister said that any measures would be coordinated with the United States, which received the contents of the address several hours before it was delivered. Political source: Sharon to give Qureia 6 months Ha'aretz 12/18/2003 Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is expected to tell the Herzliya Conference on Thursday evening that his political plan for a settlement with the Palestinians is based on a commitment to implement the U.S.-sponsored road map. He will note, however, that if - within a few months - it emerges that Israel has no Palestinian partner and that the Palestinian Authority is not fighting terror, he will consider a series of security measures that will include a redeployment in the territories and also the relocation of settlements. Palestinian militants rebuff new Egyptian efforts to halt attacks against Israelis Daily Star 12/18/2003 Mediators fail in latest effort to revive ‘road-map’ as troops kill teenager in Gaza -- Palestinian militants on Wednesday rebuffed fresh overtures from Egyptian mediators to halt all attacks against Israelis as part of a proposed cease-fire aimed at reviving a US-backed “road map” to peace. The Egyptian mediators wrapped up their latest effort without any progress being reported.Underlining the obstacles to new diplomatic efforts, violence flared in the Gaza Strip. A 17-year-old Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire in the impoverished refugee camp of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, following the detonation of two bombs near an Israeli guard post, causing significant damage but no injuries, the army said. Palestinian groups reject one-year truce proposed by Egypt Ha'aretz 12/18/2003 Palestinian organizations have rejected an Egyptian proposal aimed at forging a one-year cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians. And while attempts to work out a truce continue to falter, attacks against Israeli targets in the Gaza Strip appear to be escalating: Hamas militants detonated a large explosive on an IDF base at the southern end of the strip yesterday. Heads of the Palestinian groups claim that the cease-fire proposal is unworkable because it does not call for a sufficient level of U.S. involvement. In addition, Israel is not offering enough concessions in exchange for the truce, they said. Wolf won't return until bomb probe advances Ha'aretz 12/18/2003 U.S. officials have informed the Palestinian Authority that special road map envoy John Wolf will not return to the region until progress is made in the investigation of a Gaza Strip terror attack in which three American guards were killed two months ago. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State William Burns and other officials have delivered a series of sharp messages to PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and other Palestinian officials over the lack of progress in the probe. German Foreign Minister slams Israel for building fence Ha'aretz 12/18/2003 German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer criticized Israel on Wednesday for the building of the West Bank separation fence, saying it made no sense from a security standpoint for it to cut into Palestinian territory. "No one questions Israel's right to defend itself against the terrorist threat," Fischer said, commenting on the barrier of fence, razor wire, trenches and cement that slices deep into the West Bank in some places. Draft Resolution Over Israel's UN Membership International Press Center 12/18/2003 GAZA, December 18, 2003 (IPC + Agencies)-- The United Nations General Assembly is to vote on a draft resolution set forth by the Arab states to question the membership of Israel at the United Nations by arguing that Israeli is not entailed to represent the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967. The Arab states resolution is a strategic landmark in the Palestinian National Authority endeavors, which took the observance representing of Palestine at the United Nations (UN). Such attempts had started in 1982. Report: Mubarak may visit in Israel as Tel Aviv ''very pleased'' by warming of ties with Cairo Al-Bawaba 12/18/2003 Egyptian President Hosni Muarak may pay his first official visit to Israel, the London-based Al Hayat newspaper reported Thursday. Mubarak has not visited Israel in an official capacity since becoming president in 1981. Mubarak did visit Israel in 1995, however, when he attended the funeral of former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Monday, in an effort to push forward talks between Israel and the Palestinians. The Egyptian minister is expected to hold talks with his Israeli peer and with the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon. Foreign Ministry denies Mubarak weighing visit to Israel Ha'aretz 12/18/2003 The Foreign Ministry on Thursday denied a report by the the London-based Arab-language newspaper Al-Hayyat that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is considering a visit to Israel. Mubarak has not visited Israel in an official capacity since becoming president in 1981, and his arrival would signify an improvement in ties between the two countries, as well as an improvement in relations between Israel and the Palestinians. Foreign Ministry chief: Europe willing to cooperate with Israel Globes 12/18/2003 Israeli Ambassador to the EU Oded Eran: Upgrading Israel's current status is better than full membership in the EU. -- Israeli diplomacy is still over-dominated by military and security figures, said Ministry of Foreign Affairs director-general Yoav Biran yesterday at the Institute of Policy and Strategy's annual Herzliya Conference session on possibilities and opportunities in Israeli-European relations....EU External Relations Directorate General deputy director-general Dr. Michael Leigh listed five key areas in an EU proposal for creating new cooperation with Israel... Arafat’s aide says one unitary state in Palestine is the solution Palestinian Information Center 12/18/2003 Occupied Jerusalem - A prominent Fatah leader and senior aide to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat has voiced his support for a unitary state in all of mandatory Palestine “where Jews, Muslims and Christians live peacefully and equally? Sakhr Habash, a veteran Fatah leader, told the PIC that “everyone realizes that only the one-state solution would work.” Habash argued that Zionism didn’t achieve its main goals, pointing out that there are as many Palestinians as Jews in Israel/Palestine now. Hindi: Egyptian delegation tabled American proposal Palestinian Information Center 12/17/2003 Gaza - Dr. Mohammed Al-Hindi, one of the Islamic Jihad Movement leaders in the Gaza Strip, has disclosed that the visiting Egyptian security delegation had offered American promises in return for a Palestinian ceasefire. Hindi, who was speaking to reporters after meeting the delegation this morning, said that the Americans promised to pressure the Hebrew state into withdrawing its troops to the pre September 28 [2000] borders if the Palestinian factions approved a hudna or ceasefire. He said that his Movement had nothing new to offer, pointing out that his Movement did not trust in American promises.

Human Rights..

Occupation forces prevent twenty farmers from reaching their farms Palestinian Information Center 12/18/2003 Ramallah - Zionist occupation forces have prevented more than twenty Palestinian farmers over the past couple of days from heading to farm their plantations to the west of Ramallah city. The occupation soldiers told the farmers in the villages of Madiya and Na’leen that the plantations were the Hebrew state’s natural sanctuaries. Taha Al-Khawaja, Na’leen mayor, said that the farmers were told that they would be arrested in the event they insisted on going to their lands. Two Palestinians shot dead in Gaza while international volunteers are rounded up in Belata refugee camp Palestine Monitor 12/16/2003 Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip yesterday as they went to rent a plot of land. Wael abu Daharuj (26) and his friend Younis Assawerka (29), from the town of Jebalia in the northern area of the Gaza Strip, had traveled to the town of Beit Hanoun to rent a piece of land and begin work cultivating it....The Israeli army and media have claimed that the two friends were shot trying to break through the border fence and enter Israel. Palestinian ambulance crews called to the scene said that although Younis’ body was recovered from near the fence, Wael’s body was over 300 meters away. Doctor [at] Gaza City’s Shifa hospital said that the two men’s bodies each bore more than 20 bullet wounds, and that it looked as if they had been shot at close range....Meanwhile in Belata refugee camp near Nablus, three international volunteers were rounded up and interrogated by Israeli occupying forces. An American girl was seized by Israeli soldiers, beaten with the butt of a gun and dragged into a military jeep. Nine Palestinians, including two children injured in raid on Nablus refugee camp Palestine Monitor 12/16/2003 A Palestinian boy was left in coma today after being shot in the head by Israeli troops during a raid on the Belata refugee camp in Nablus. Eight more Palestinians were injured in the raid, including a two year-old boy. This morning at 2 am, Israeli soldiers in 15 military jeeps invaded the Belata refugee camp in Nablus and began house-to-house searches looking for Palestinian militants. The troops surrounded the area and occupied four tall buildings overlooking the camp using them as observation and sniper posts. In one of these, the Badra building at the northern entrance to the camp, some 50 inhabitants of the building were forced at gunpoint into a single apartment and restrained. This tactic was repeated in the other three buildings occupied. Waiting to See the Sun: Palestinian Female Political Prisoners in Israeli Jails Reach 75 - Part I International Press Center 12/18/2003 As part of its continuous policy of humiliation to all the sectors of the Palestinian people, the Israeli occupation continues to hold and arrest more than 74 Palestinian female political prisoners in its jails, suffering daily torture and harsh detention conditions. Gathered from all of the Palestinian territories in the same cell, sharing the bitterness of life and the oppression of the occupation; a mother, a sister or a wife of a Palestinian martyr, prisoner or a wanted resistance activist. They were either abducted in the middle of the night or at one of the hundreds of Israeli military checkpoints. 4 killed as Israeli occupying forces invade Nablus Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 12/18/2003 Israeli occupying forces committed 1 willful killing and used excessive force in the slaying 3 other Palestinians, during a wide-scale incursion into Nablus on Thursday, 18 December 2003. These excessive military measures by the Israeli occupying forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territories represent a continuous escalation of the conflict. PCHR is gravely concerned by this escalation and calls upon the international community to fulfill its legal obligations to stop Israeli war crimes....At approximately 03:30, Israeli soldiers fired at 25-year-old ‘Alaa al-Din Dawaia, wounding him with a live bullet in the chest.No ambulances were permitted access to the area and Dawaia remained on the ground bleeding until 04:00.At that time, a number of Israeli soldiers moved towards him and shot him dead with 8 live bullets. National Day for the city of Qalqiliya Palestine Monitor 12/18/2003 INVITATION: The GIPP network (Grassroots International Protection for the Palestinian People), along with The Committee Against the Wall and the Union of Palestinian Women, are about to launch a full program of demonstrations, actions and related activities to take place across the Palestinian Occupied Territories by end of this month (from the 24th to the 31st of December). New Palestinian resistance camp, ISM in the Daily Star International Solidarity Movement 12/18/2003 A group of Palestinian, international, and Israeli activists have chosen the village of Deir Ballut, in the Salfit Governorate, as the site for the next round of activities in opposition to Israel's continued building of Phase II of the Apartheid Wall.Building on the lessons of the successful Mas'ha camp, which brought enormous international attention to the political motives behind the wall, these activists will create a two-week continual presence on their land that is threatened by the building of the wall. Activists have chosen a primary school that is now under construction approximately in the path of the on-coming wall.The camp will function as a center for the dissemination of information about the Apartheid Wall, a planning and strategy forum for resistance to the Wall, and a starting point for various resistance activities in Deir Ballut and neighboring villages. OCHA Weekly Briefing Notes 10-15 Dec 2003 ReliefWeb/UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 12/18/2003 Casualties / Incidents involving ambulances and medical teams / Curfews / House demolitions / Land levelling/confiscation / General Situation Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories 11-17 December 2003 Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 12/18/2003 10 Palestinians, mostly civilians, including 1 woman, killed by Israeli forces /5 of the victims were killed during an Israeli military incursion into Rafah / Israeli forces conducted a series of incursions into the West Bank and Gaza Strip / 31 houses in Rafah and Khan Yunis were destroyed / More areas of agricultural land were razed / Houses were raided and a number of Palestinians were arrested / Construction of the “separation wall” in the West Bank continued / Indiscriminate shelling of Palestinian residential areas continued and a number of Palestinian civilians were injured / A Palestinian house in Hebron was destroyed and the widow of a deceased Palestinian was arrested by Israeli forces as part of the continuing campaign of retaliation against the families of Palestinians accused of involvement in attacks against Israeli targets / Israeli occupying forces have continued to impose a total siege on the OPTs / 1 woman was killed and a number of other civilians were injured or arrested by Israeli soldiers at military checkpoints

Economy..

Israeli developers to build storage, logistics facilities at Karny checkpoint Globes 12/18/2003 The warehouses will facilitate the movement of goods between Israel and Gaza, and prevent the destruction of agricultural produce transported by trucks as a result of delays. -- Groups of Israeli developers are planning to build storage and logistics facilities adjacent to the Karny checkpoint, near Kibbutz Nahal Oz, at a cost of millions of shekels. Sources inform “Globes” that the developers plan to construct warehouses, refrigeration buildings, packing plants, and storage space for Israeli and Palestinian merchants at the Karny checkpoint. Suppressed inflation: Wholesale prices up 3.5% this year Globes 12/18/2003 The wholesale price index is a general indicator for the CPI, after an 8-12 month lag. - Israel has had 1.75% deflation since the beginning of 2003. -- Despite the deflation, there is still potential for price rises next year. Wholesale industrial prices rose 3.5% in January-November 2003, compared with the corresponding period in 2002. The wholesale price index is generally an indicator for the Consumer Price Index (CPI), after an 8-12 month lag. Tunnel network housed illegal Palestinian workers Ha'aretz 12/18/2003 A policeman shining a flashlight into one of the tunnels found last night under a house in the village of Ba'ana in the north. Ten Palestinian laborers without permits to be in Israel were staying in the tunnels, which had been dug from the home's basement and around its foundations, and included escape holes. Number of legal foreign workers down 26% in January-September Globes 12/18/2003 There were 65,700 legal foreign workers in September. The number of legal foreign workers has fallen 33% since January 2002.-- The number of legal foreign workers fell 26.4% in January-September 2003 to 65,700 in September, from 89,300 in December 2002, a decline of 23,600 people. The number of legal foreign workers has fallen 33%, or 32,100 people, since January 2002.

People..

Palestinian Public Opinion Poll Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research 12/16/2003 These are the results of the latest poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip between December 4 and 9, 2003.Total size of the sample is 1319 adults interviewed face to face in 120 randomly selected locations. Margin of error is 3%....Geneva Document: 73% have heard of the Geneva document and the rest has not. But only 4% say they have full knowledge of it. Only 7% have learned about Geneva from the pamphlet containing the document that were distributed with al Quds and al Ayyam newspapers while 79% have heard about it from the media. Support for the document among those who have heard of it (i.e., among 73% of the public) reaches 25% (19% of all the public), opposition 61% (44% of all the public), and the undecided 14%. 37% of all the public are either undecided or have not heard of it. Palestinian Public Perceptions on Politics, Government, and Media in Palestine Palestine Media Center 12/16/2003 Introduction: Politics in Palestine has always played a major role in the day-to-day life of Palestinians. While this can be said about most other people, there is a certain level of specificity in the Palestinian case, namely occupation. Thus, the absence of self-rule rendered them more politically active. Moreover, almost all Palestinians were in one form or another engaged in “resisting” occupation and this has raised the political awareness of the average Palestinian and enabled them to comprehend and appreciate the values of political participation, at least, more intensely than most peoples in the region. Book review: Resistance - My Life for Lebanon By Maureen Clare Murphy, Electronic Intifada 12/18/2003 The greatest struggle in Soha Béchara's life was not plotting to assassinate Antoine Lahad, the Lebanese chief of militia in Israeli-occupied Southern Lebanon during the 1980s. Rather, her true test was somewhat parallel to that of her home country of Lebanon -- to survive living under the tyranny of the occupying Israelis. But in Béchara's case, her prison was a literal one. Born to a family of secular Greek Orthodox Christians, she grew up during Lebanon's fratricidal fighting. Béchara doesn't describe it as religious fighting (Christian vs. Muslim), but as the left versus the right, and she skips over much of the details regarding the Christian minority's struggle to keep the majority of political power from the demographically stronger Muslims. What she does emphasize is that as bad as the fighting during Lebanon's civil wars was, it was nowhere near as horrible as what happened after Israel occupied Lebanon in 1978. Fallen angels: 2 new exhibits examine the spiritual impulse Daily Star 12/18/2003 Gates of the soul, life in the ash offer different views - Nizar Sabour, associate professor at Faculty of Fine Arts of Damascus, is fascinated by ancient religious images -- “This man sees the Angels,” writes author Mounzer Masri in his book about the artist Nizar Sabour. Sabour is fascinated by images used in ancient Christian, Muslim or Pharaonic art. In his current exhibition, Les portails de l’ame (The gates of the soul), at Aida Cherfan Fine Art Gallery, he incorporates tiny figures with haloes, Arabic calligraphy and Egyptian goddesses. At the 2nd International Exhibition of Small Format Art, all the world’s a stage Daily Star 12/18/2003 UNESCO Palace event features 200 works by 100 artists from 40 countries -- Efforts to re-establish Lebanon as a hub for international dialogue have become increasingly evident in recent years. Through economic, political, medical and cultural vessels, Lebanon is taking significant strides in returning to its pre-war diplomatic status. The Francophone, Arab and Geneva summits, as well as recent visits from the Brazilian and Iranian presidents, and increased foreign investment are just a few examples.

International..

US citizens in Saudi Arabia advised to depart Al-Bawaba 12/18/2003 The United States said it would allow its nonessential diplomats to leave Saudi Arabia due to increased security fears, and advised US citizens in the kingdom to consider departing, news reports said late Wednesday. Due to security concerns, the State Department has authorized the departure of family members and non-emergency employees of the US embassy and consulates on a voluntary basis, an official announcement said. Damascus, Ankara sign security understanding memorandum Arabic News 12/18/2003 Turkey and Syria yesterday in Ankara signed during a visit by the Syrian minister of the interior, Ali Hammoud, a security agreement aimed at fighting criminality and terrorism.This coincided with the statements declared by the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that "two neighboring countries cannot live under tension." The Turkish minister of the interior, Abdul Qader Akso, said that Syria and Turkey "stressed they have agreed that cooperation in the field of fighting terrorism is an important matter for regional security." Al-Assad wants good relations between Greece and Turkey; a region free of nuclear weapons Arabic News 12/18/2003 Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and the Greek Prime Minister Constantinous Costa Simitis held a meeting attended by members of the Syrian delegation and the Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, his Deputy and the Greek Ambassador to Syria. Following the meeting, Simitis told the reporters in a statement that President Bashar al-Assad's visit expresses good relations between the two countries, stressing that there is a deep understanding on various issues of joint cooperation. Campaign money laws examined: Laws unlikely to affect Jewish giving JTA 12/16/2003 WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 (JTA) — Jewish community officials say the new campaign finance laws will not change the way they do business or affect the Jewish community’s influence in politics. Most Jewish groups were silent last week when the Supreme Court upheld a ban on unlimited contributions to political parties, known as soft money. The Jewish community had, with some exceptions, remained out of the fray during the years-long debate over campaign finance reform....“Soft money clearly bought access to people and got them seats at various meeting tables and convention tables,” said Ken Goldstein, professor of political science and Judaic studies at the University of Wisconsin, in Madison. “Jews have been major soft money contributors. Palestinian Cabbie Exonerated from U.S. Embassy Bombing Attempt An Nahar 12/18/2003 A Palestinian taxi driver arrested for a suspected role in a recent attempt to bomb the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon has been released, security officials said Thursday. Ibrahim Serhal was detained Dec. 10 outside the fortified embassy compound along with Abed Mreish, who was carrying a suitcase packed with a kilogram explosives. A third man, Mehdi al-Hajj Hasan, was arrested two days later on a charge of masterminding the bombing attempt. Amnesty Urges Lahoud to Suspend 25 Death Sentences An Nahar 12/18/2003 Amnesty International has urged [Lebanese] President Lahoud to "immediately" commute 25 death sentences upheld by Lebanon's clemency commission, the London-based humanitarian organization said in a statement recently received in Beirut. "Amnesty International is strongly urging President Emile Lahoud of Lebanon to use his powers to immediately commute the death sentences," said the statement dated December 15. Church of Nativity deportee held for major theft in Belgium Ha'aretz 12/18/2003 LONDON - One of the 13 Palestinians deported from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in May 2002 was arrested Tuesday in Belgium on suspicion of participating in a number of robberies in which more than $250,000 were stolen. Khalil Mohammed Abdullah al-Nawara received asylum in Belgium following the siege on the church. Saudi battle against Barbie escalates with new import ban Al-Bawaba 12/18/2003 The Saudi government has banned imports of female dolls and stuffed animals, giving storeowners three months to clear out any remaining merchandise, reported Al-Riyadh. Imposed by interior minister Prince Nayef, the restrictions were dispatched to shopkeepers around the country by the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The newspaper did not explain the reasons behind the ban, which could not be confirmed by government officials. In addition to dolls and plush toys, the ban also forbids importations of non-Islamic religious symbols. Quebec Jews upset as paper lists Arafat as possible ‘Man of the Year’ JTA 12/15/2003 MONTREAL, Dec. 15 (JTA) — Outrage from Montreal Jews has prompted a French-language newspaper to withdraw a Person of the Year competition that included Yasser Arafat as a candidate. The competition in the daily La Presse — which also featured Canada’s new prime minister, Paul Martin, Quebec Premier Jean Charest, French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac, champion cyclist Lance Armstrong and author Yan Martel, among others — asked readers to vote at the newspaper’s Web site. Lawyer Unveils Unequal Treatment In Guantanamo Islam Online 12/18/2003 SYDNEY, December 18 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Stephen Kenny, the first civilian lawyer given access to Guantanamo, disclosed Thursday, December 18, "unequal treatment" by the U.S. authorities to the detainees, ruling out his client’s chances for a fair trial. He asserted that the 660 detainees – held for more than two years without charges – were treated differently depending their nationality - with Americans on top. French want Guantanamo prisoners back Al-Jazeera 12/18/2003 Fifty-three French MPs have signed a petition demanding the United States repatriate six citizens held at the Guantanamo military prison. The lawmakers insist the Taliban and al-Qaida suspects should face French justice, denouncing the legal limbo that has allowed some detainees to be held for two years without charge. One Communist lawmaker, Andre Gerin, said deputies from both the centre-right ruling party and the left-wing opposition had all signed, expressing their wish to see the six face "judgement from the tribunals of our own country". Gulf Arab firms create Islamic investment giant Daily Star 12/18/2003 Initial paid-in capital set at $100 million -- MANAMA: Gulf Arab investment firms and investors set up a giant Islamic insurance and assurance firm in Bahrain with a paid-in capital of $100 million and issued capital of $300 million to cash in on promising markets such as Saudi Arabia. The new firm, Solidarity, will initially operate in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, but will extend its activities at a later stage to other markets in the Middle East and Asian Islamic countries.

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