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Conflict..
IOF Kills Palestinian in Nablus, Wounds Girl in Khan Younis and Jewish Settlers Reconstruct Outpost in Hebron
International Press Center 12/27/2003
NABLUS, Palestine, December 27, 2003 (IPC + Agencies) - - The Israeli occupying forces (IOF), as a part of its ongoing military aggression on the Nablus governorate in particular, killed today a Palestinian youth, as additional forces were re-invading the Balata refugee camp. As well, Jewish settlers reconstructed a settlement outpost in Hebron and a girl was shot and wounded in the Gaza Strip. IPC correspondent reported that the Israeli occupying forces invading the Nablus governorate shot dead a Palestinian citizen today afternoon and wounded 17 others....The Israeli occupying forces continued to isolate the eastern part of the [Balata] camp from its western part, using large sand barriers they piled last night, banning Palestinian citizens, employees and students from moving between the two parts...In the Gaza Strip, Palestinian security and medical sources said that a Palestinian child was shot and wounded by Israeli gunfire in the Khan Younis western refugee camp.
Fresh IOF Invasion, Half the Population of Balata Camp Herded in Open Air
International Press Center 12/27/2003
NABLUS, Palestine, December 27, 2003 (IPC + Agencies)-- Massive troops of the Israeli occupying forces re-invaded today morning the Balata refugee camp of Nablus. Earlier, the Israeli forces on Friday evening gripped its control over the camp, and strictly closed all its entrances and intersections....The invading Israeli tanks coming from different directions, accompanied by the whizzing live bullets on early Friday morning, advanced to the old town of Nablus, IPC's added. Israeli soldiers took over a residential apartment building and obliged its dwellers by using loudspeakers to evict their apartments. Afterwards, the soldiers started to check the citizens’ ID’s.
One Palestinian Dies of Wounds, IOF Injures Five Children in Khan Younis
International Press Center 12/27/2003
KHAN YOUNIS, Palestine, December 27, 2003 (IPC + WAFA)-- A Palestinian died of his wounds Friday and five children were wounded in Khan Younis by the Israeli occupying fire. 27-year old Adnan Abu Jwe’d died of wounds he sustained when the Israeli occupying forces opened their gunfire at the citizens’ houses in the western partition of Khan Younis refugee camp, WAFA reported. The same sources added that the soldiers there also shot and wounded Friday noon five Palestinian children when the soldiers opened their fire at the funeral procession of Mohammed Al Dosouqi....WAFA reported the children were; Khaled Abu Mossa, 8, Mustafa and Belal Wadi, 11, Ahmed Berek, 16, and Nidal Wadi, 11.
Soldiers Used Live Ammunition against Peace Activists
International Middle East Media Center 12/27/2003
Soldiers used live ammunition against peace activists close to the Palestinian village of Masha . Gil Na'amati , an Israeli citizen from Kibbutz Nimri, sustained serious wounds and a foreign peace activist was lightly wounded. Few hundred protesters, members of Anarchist Movement against the Wall and the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) protested Friday against the construction of the separation wall. Demonstrators, who gathered at the Palestinian side of the fence, shacked one of the gates as few attempted to cut the fence with wire cutters.
Israeli troops fire on schoolchildren
Al-Jazeera 12/27/2003
One Palestinian teenager was killed and up to five wounded after Israeli occupation soldiers opened fire on schoolchildren returning home in the West Bank town of Nablus. According to Aljazeera's correspondent there, 17-year old Rajaei Rayan of the Balata refugee camp, was struck in the head by Israeli troops who fired live or rubber bullets. The extent of the injuries of those wounded is not known. The Israeli soldiers claimed they were responding to stones hurled at tanks and armoured personnel carriers....Our correspondent, Khaled Amayreh, further reports that Israeli troops continue to terrorise civilians by forcibly evacuating entire families from their homes in order to use their rooftops as "outposts" and "watchtowers".
Zionist enemy uses new missiles in assassination of commando
Palestinian Information Center 12/27/2003
Gaza - The Palestinian human rights center and medical sources have revealed that the Zionist entity had used new missiles in the assassination of Islamic Jihad commander Mukalad Hamid on Thursday. The center said that the missiles used in past assassination crimes led to burning the entire body of targeted martyrs while this one did not but rather caused many holes in the body of the martyr. It said that explosion of those new missiles spread hundreds of small cubic piercing blocs that hit anyone present at scene of the explosion. [For more information, see Israeli Assassination Attack in Gaza Kills 5 Palestinians and Injures 15, PCHR, 12/26/03 - http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/PressR/English/2003/147-2003.htm - Ed.]
Four Palestinians wounded in Zionist fire at funeral procession
Palestinian Information Center 12/27/2003
Khan Younis - Zionist terrorist forces yesterday opened heavy machinegun fire at Palestinian civilians participating in the funeral procession of martyr Mohammed Akram Al-Desouki, 23, in the Khan Younis suburb of Amal. The Quds Brigades, military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, yesterday mourned the death of Desouki, who was martyred while planting an explosive device near the Jani Tal Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip at dawn Thursday 25/12/2003.
IOF Seal off Nablus, Balata Refugee Camp
Palestine Media Center 12/27/2003
At least two IOF battalions, backed by dozens of tanks and military vehicles, on Friday invaded, sealed off and imposed a strict curfew on the northern West Bank city of Nablus and the adjacent Balata refugee camp, evacuating the inhabitants into the cold winter weather, as Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were laying to rest their latest victims who were extra-judicially assassinated by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF).
Qassam Brigades fire five missiles and three mortar shells at Zionist targets
Palestinian Information Center 12/27/2003
Gaza - The Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas Movement, yesterday took the credit for firing five missiles and three mortar shells at Zionist settlements and military outposts in the Gaza Strip. A Qassam communiqué said that two Qassam-1 missile were fired at the Karni crossing and one was fired at the Netsarim settlement at dawn Friday.
Eyewitness Report From Rafah: 26 December
Rafah Today 12/26/2003
The number of homes that have been demolished is still not known up till now, but there are over 10 killed and 45 injured, most of whom were children and 4 women. The UNRWA clinic was also partially demolished. The children and the women who were injured this time were not injurd by Israeli bullets but from the dogs of the Israeli soldiers who let their predator dogs loose to attack people. This is our life... daily attacks with outrageous killing in all sorts of ways. We write and no one reads; we scream and no one hears; we are torn apart and no one sees our torn bodies; we get killed and no one feels for us.
Eyewitness Report From Gaza: 26 December
Rafah Today 12/26/2003
New attack by Israeli Apaches. They struck one of the streets in Gaza City last night leaving 5 killed and over 25 injured. The attack came a few hours after killing 3 Palestinians in Khan Younes Refugee Camp. Israeli media as usual comforted its audience by announcing that the targeted people were from Islamic resistance and Islamic Jihad. Gaza Strip has become the worst place in the world. They burn the bodies of the people now. The killed and injured people arrive to Al Shifa hospital as just black bodies.
Israel troops fire on peace rally
BBC 12/27/2003
Israeli soldiers have opened fire on a demonstration in the West Bank, injuring two peace activists. The incident took place when about 100 protesters demonstrated near the Palestinian village of Mahase against the barrier Israel is constructing. One Israeli man and one foreign woman were wounded....One of the demonstrators, Jonathan Faulk, told the Israeli Haaretz newspaper that soldiers opened fire with no warning, adding that the soldiers' lives were never in any danger.
Rafah Governor: Destruction “An Unprecedented Earthquake"
International Press Center 12/27/2003
RAFAH, Palestine, December 27, 2003 (IPC) - - As the dusk was breaking, the residents of the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah were on a new date with killing and havoc. At 3:00 am of Tuesday, December 23, a massive contingent of the Israeli occupying forces accompanied with 30 tanks, armored personnel carriers and several D-9 military bulldozers advanced deep from the military posts at the borderline with Egypt inside Rafah City, particularly Yebna refugee camp and Al Qassas area, under an aerial shield of combat helicopters and amidst a barrage of random fire at citizens' houses.
IOF Wounds Two Internationals near Apartheid Wall in Mas'ha
International Press Center 12/27/2003
SALFIT, Palestine, December 27, 2003 (IPC + Agencies)-- The Israeli occupying forces (IOF) shot and wounded two international peace activists while demonstrating against the construction of the Apartheid wall in the village of Mas'ha, Salfit district. Sources at the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) in Salfit told IPC correspondent that many Palestinian citizens, international peace activists and representatives of international organizations marched to a section of the Apartheid Wall built in the area of Bidya, and tried to cross it, when the IOF started opening random fire at the protestors, wounding two international peace activists, an American and an Israeli.
IOF Extrajudicial Execution Policy at Large Again Against Palestinians
International Press Center 12/27/2003
GAZA, December 27, 2003 (IPC)-- The latest Israeli extrajudicial execution of five Palestinian citizens and resistance activists last Thursday once again proves to the world that the Israeli government is not interested in any peaceful solution or dialogue with the Palestinian side. In its security cabinet meeting Friday night, the Israeli Defense Minister, Shaul Mofaz, announced that the extrajudicial execution policy the Israeli occupying forces have been adopting against the Palestinian resistance activists and civilians alike, would resume.
Israeli, U.S. Pacifists Injured In Anti-Wall Demo
Islam Online 12/27/2003
Qalqiliya, December 27 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Two Israeli and American pacifists protesting Israel's erection of a separation barrier on the West Bank were wounded by Israeli gunfire Friday, December 26, one day ahead of a mass rally in this northern West Bank town to mark the 'Resistance Day of the Wall". The incident came as some 400 Palestinians and 150 foreign activists, including Israeli pacifists, took part in the protest in the village of Masha, southeast ofQalqiliya and near the Jewish settlement of Elkana, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Israel, Palestinians mull reprisals
Middle East Online 12/27/2003
Israeli military chiefs were meeting Friday to consider retaliation for a deadly Tel Aviv suicide blast, as militant group Islamic Jihad vowed to avenge the deaths of two of its members assassinated by Israeli gunships in Gaza. Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz met with army commanders and officials of the Shin Beth domestic security service at the ministry's headquarters in Tel Aviv, near the scene of Thursday's bus-stop suicide attack, which claimed the lives of four Israelis.
Israel plans revenge for Christmas attacks
The Guardian 12/27/2003
Israel closed the West Bank and Gaza Strip yesterday and was planning further retaliation for the Christmas Day suicide bombing that killed four people. The first suicide bombing for almost three months happened minutes after an Israeli helicopter fired two missiles at a car in Gaza, killing three members of Islamic Jihad and two bystanders....The Israelis have decided to retaliate against the PFLP and Islamic Jihad but not Hamas, which they accept has suspended attacks in Israel.
Israeli occupation army ransacks refugee camp, interns civilians
Palestinian Information Center 12/27/2003
Occupied Jerusalem - Israeli occupation forces have been attacking and ransacking the Balata refugee camp outside Nablus, the largest town in the West Bank, Palestinian sources reported. The sources said Israeli troops, backed by tanks and armored personnel carriers, imposed a tight curfew on the Balata refugee camp Friday night, brutalizing civilians and vandalizing their property. Troops forced all male citizens between the age of 16 and 60 into local schoolyards in sub-zero temperature where they were interrogated and beaten.
Quds Brigades vow earthshaking reprisal
Palestinian Information Center 12/27/2003
Gaza - The Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, yesterday threatened the Zionist enemy of an earthshaking reprisal act in retaliation to the assassination of Mukalad Hamid, commander of the Brigades in the Gaza Strip. The Quds Brigades bore the glad tidings on martyrdom of Mukalad, who was described in the communiqué, as one of the great commanders, along with a number of other martyrs in the Zionist cowardly assassination act on Thursday 25/12/2003.
Israel seals West Bank and Gaza
BBC 12/26/2003
Israel has imposed a total closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip after a suicide bomber killed four Israelis. The blast, near Tel Aviv, was the first Palestinian suicide bombing in Israel for more than two months. Israeli defence and intelligence officials met on Friday to discuss a response. However no statement was expected from the meeting....After the latest suicide bombing, Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz ordered the borders sealed between Israel and the Palestinian territories - already under a tight blockade.
Audio: "The Israeli defence minister... has convened a meeting"
BBC 12/26/2003
The BBC's Simon Wilson: "The Israeli defence minister... has convened a meeting"
1 Palestinian killed, 3 hurt in clashes with IDF troops in Nablus
Ha'aretz 12/27/2003
Israel Defense Forces troops scouring a West Bank militant stronghold killed a Palestinian and wounded three others in clashes with stone-throwers on Saturday, witnesses and medics said. The witnesses said Regai Rayan, 20, was fatally shot in the chest while confronting troops who have stepped up searches in the Balata refugee camp, in Nablus, since a suicide bomber from the nearby village of Beit Furik killed four Israelis in a suicide bombing at a bus stop near Tel Aviv on Thursday.
Palestinians assassinated in Gaza by Israel; Palestinian groups vow that Israeli civilians are targets
Arabic News 12/27/2003
The military wing for both the Islamic resistance movement, Hamas, and the Islamic Jihad, and the Democratic Front For Liberation of Palestine, vowed to retaliate operations conducted by the occupation forces against the Palestinians, stressing that these crimes will not go unpunished, and that escalating resistance will be the only answer for the occupation practices. The leading figure in the Islamic Jihad Movement, Khaled al-Batish, said that his movement will not be ready to avoid what is known "Israeli civilians" as long as Israel does not do the same under commitments and guarantees.
Israeli troops kill Palestinian, wound three others in Nablus
Al-Bawaba 12/27/2003
Israeli troops on Saturday re-invaded the Balata refugee camp of Nablus. One Palestinian was killed and three others were wounded, witnesses and medics said. The three Palestinians wounded were hit in the legs by bullets, medics said. An Israeli government spokesman said the Nablus sweep was made in response to intelligence alerts of imminent attacks. "These are routine anti-terrorist operations," said Avi Pazner of the Prime Minister's Office. "Israel will not allow Nablus to become the springboard of Palestinian terrorism against Israel."
Thursday Escalation Threatens Truce and Dialogue Efforts
International Middle East Media Center 12/26/2003
Around 18:20 , on Thursday, Said Hanani, 18, from Beit Furik, near Nablus , detonated an explosive belt, warped around his body, at a bus stop under the Geha bridge on Jabotinsky Street , between Petah Tikva and Bnei Brak. The huge explosion, which reduced the bus stop to a skeletal frame, took the lives of four Israelis and wounded 15 others, 3 very seriously....In particular, the massive military operations inside Balata refugee camp, near Nablus , and Rafah refugee camp, south of the Gaza Strip, in which more than 15 residents were killed, opened the gate for further escalations.
Israelis detain Barghouti's son
BBC 12/25/2003
Israel has confirmed it is holding the eldest son of jailed Palestinian political leader Marwan Barghouti. Qassam, 19, was stopped on Wednesday as he entered the West Bank from Jordan. In a separate incident, the Israeli army said it had foiled an attempted Palestinian militant attack in Gaza by shooting a man dead....Qassam Barghouti - whose father is on trial in Israel, accused of involvement in the deaths of 26 Israelis - is reportedly being held in the Ofer prison, near Ramallah.
Breaking News: Girl shot near Khan Younis, another death by Israeli fire in Balata
International Press Center 12/27/2003
14:00-- The girl Hanin Sakeb Abu Zarqa shot with shrapnel in the neck when the Israeli soldiers positioned at Al Tufah barrier, west of khan Younis opened indiscriminately at the houses in the perimeter of the illegal Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim, IPC said. / 12:00-- Ra’d Rayan has been killed in Balata refugee camp of Nablus as well as 4 others wounded by the Israeli occupying troops, IPC correspondent reported....
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 Diplomacy..
Hamas Spurns Israel’s Claim On Sparing Its Leaders
Islam Online 12/27/2003
GAZA CITY, December 27 (IslamOnline.net) - Hamas scorned Saturday, December 27, Israeli claims of not targeting its leaders as part of a crackdown on Palestinian activists, and maintained that Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilians foil efforts to spare civilians on both sides. Sayed Siyam, member of Hamas's political leadership, said Israeli Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon's statements that Israel will not target Hamas leaders is aimed at "tarnishing the image of the resistance". He told IslamOnline.net that Israel was only trying to drive a wedge between Hamas and other Palestinian resistance factions.
Hamas to be exempt from Israeli retaliation strikes
The Independent 12/27/2003
Israel will target and kill Palestinian militants in retaliation for a suicide bombing that killed four Israelis, senior security sources said yesterday. The suicide bombing on Thursday came minutes after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed three Islamic Jihad militants and two civilians. The attacks ended a relatively calm period in the conflict and threatened tentative steps to renew peace talks. Shaul Mofaz, the Defence Minister, and his officials decided yesterday to target militants from Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - which admitted responsibility for the bombing, said security sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
PM: Attack only brings unilateral steps closer
Jerusalem Post 12/27/2003
Terrorist attacks like Thursday's bring Israel closer to carrying out the unilateral steps Prime Minister Ariel Sharon spelled out in his Herzliya speech a week ago, senior officials in the Prime Minister's Office said. "We are still committed to the road map and will try to implement it," the official said. "But there is no doubt that these types of attacks, the continuous instigation, the lack of any preventive action, and the fact that [PA Chairman Yasser] Arafat heads the PA security apparatus and keeps them from taking any action will bring us closer to the security steps needed to ensure the security of our citizens."
EU's Patten sees Turkey in EU, but not Israel
Ha'aretz 12/27/2003
LONDON - European Union external affairs commissioner Chris Patten said on Saturday the bloc was nearing the limits of its expansion but he hoped Muslim NATO member Turkey could yet be accommodated. Patten said, however, it was unlikely Israel, suggested for inclusion by some European politicians, could become a member of the bloc that is due to expand from 15 to 25 members next year. "There must be a line somewhere where the EU ends. We have almost got to the line," Patten told Britain's BBC radio.
Zionist security sources demand strikes against Syria
Palestinian Information Center 12/27/2003
Occupied Jerusalem - Senior Zionist security officials have demanded assaulting Syria in retaliation to the Palestinian attack in Tel Aviv on Thursday that left three Zionists dead and twenty others wounded. The Hebrew TV’s first channel quoted those unidentified officials as saying that Damascus provided shelter for the PFLP, which took the credit for the operation, and other “terrorist” organizations.
Iranian DM delivers strong warning to Israel
Al-Bawaba 12/24/2003
Iran's Minister of Defense and the Armed Forces Logistics rear admiral Ali Shamkhani said on Wednesday said that Iran would give strong response if Israel ventures to attack Iranian nuclear installations. Asked whether Iran will use Shahab-3 long range missile if Israel ventures to attack Iran, the defense minister said that Shahab-3 is "one" of the weapons, IRIB website reported. "We will strike Israel with all weapons at our disposal, if the Zionist regime ventures to do so." "Israel is a 'fragile glass garrison'. The Zionist leaders are cherishing the dream of a rule over the globe," he said.
Egyptian editor slams PA following Maher attack
Al-Bawaba
The editor of a leading Egyptian weekly has slammed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for the assault on Egypt's foreign minister in Jerusalem last Monday. "It is now time to adopt a new attitude toward the Palestinian Authority, to tell them 'No' a thousand times, as we are not so naive as they think," Ibrahim Saada wrote in an editorial of Akhbar Elyom on Saturday. Maher was pushed and shoved by Palestinians, who shouted he was not welcome when he visited Al Aqsa Mosque.
Egyptian paper slams Arafat over J'lem attack on FM
Ha'aretz 12/27/2003
In a rare attack for an Egyptian newspaper, the editor of an influential weekly has assailed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for the assault on Egypt's foreign minister in Jerusalem this week. "It is now time to adopt a new attitude toward the Palestinian Authority, to tell them 'No' a thousand times, as we are not so naive as they think," Ibrahim Saada wrote in an editorial of Akhbar Elyom on Saturday.
EU envoy stresses need to resume negotiations on Syrian- Lebanese tracks
Arabic News 12/27/2003
European Envoy for Middle East peace Marc Oti has stressed the necessity for resuming negotiations on the Syrian and Lebanese tracks in order to realize just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East. In a statement to Saudi Okaz newspaper published on Friday, Oti said that Syria is an important state in the region, asserting that the EU is exerting efforts to resume negotiations on the Syrian and Lebanese tracks as soon as possible, to achieve stability and peace in the region.
Analysis / No such thing as a free hudna
Ha'aretz 12/26/2003
The relative hiatus in terrorist attacks in recent weeks was attributed by the Palestinians to a sort of unofficial hudna (cease-fire) between the sides. The Israelis said it resulted from the defense establishment's success in foiling such attacks. After yesterday's suicide bombing on Geha Road and the Israeli air strike in Gaza, the argument is no longer important. There is no hudna, period. Perhaps it is no coincidence that in both of these incidents, the name of two relatively small Palestinian organizations were mentioned. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine was once a large left-wing Marxist group, which perpetrated the worst terrorist attacks in the 1970s. Today it is a small organization that fiercely opposes the peace process.
BBC: Shaaban: Syria ready for freeing the whole region from weapons of mass destruction
Arabic News 12/27/2003
"Syria is ready to any initiative for negotiations that frees the whole region from weapons of mass destruction," Syria's Expatriates Minister, Buthaina Shaaban underlined on Friday, pointing out that Syria's is commited to cooperation with all parties to reach a basic solution. In an interview with the BBC, the minister said that what happened in Iraq and the Libya must focus world attention towards the big nuclear arsenal in the region possessed by Israel.
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Government..
Israel general predicts ceasefire
BBC 12/26/2003
The Israeli army chief of staff has predicted a ceasefire with Palestinian militants could happen within weeks. Lieutenant-General Moshe Yaalon, said he believed violence between Israelis and Palestinians had reached its peak. His made his remarks in a newspaper interview conducted before attacks on both sides on Thursday.
Shinui: Likud got all the money
Jerusalem Post 12/26/2003
Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu gave the entire additional budget fund of NIS 1 billion to areas demanded by Likud ministers, and left "nothing" for Shinui, the second-largest member of the coalition, Shinui MK Ehud Rassabi said Thursday. Rassabi said Shinui "made it clear" that the faction could not support the budget in a meeting on Wednesday with Treasury budget director Ori Yogev on Wednesday. On Thursday, the Treasury made "no contact" with the Shinui party for talks, according to party leader Yosef Lapid's office.
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Human
Rights..
Hundreds protest in Tel Aviv against IDF use of live ammunition
Ha'aretz 12/27/2003
Some 300 people protested late Saturday opposite the Defense Ministry building in Tel Aviv, to protest the Israel Defense Forces' use of live ammunition to disperse a demonstration against the separation fence near the West Bank village of Meskhah. An Israeli demonstrator was seriously injured and an American was lightly wounded Friday when IDF troops opened fire on protestors....Gil Na'amati, an Israeli citizen from Kibbutz Re'im in the Negev sustained serious wounds, while an American "tourist" was lightly hurt. Na'amati is currently in stable condition at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, while the American woman has been released from hospital.
Socio-Economic Report on Arab Citizens and Local Councils
Mossawa Center December 2003`
The Government Has Not Fulfilled its Decisions and Has Deepened the Suffering: Three years after the government decision to invest 1 billion shekels per year in the Arab sector, (22.10.00) a special report prepared by the Mossawa Center points to the government’s omission from the 2004 budget of the "4 Billion Shekel Development Plan” and its intention to allocate to all Arab locales only 4 % from the government’s development budget.This is a return to investment levels of 1999.As a result of the unfulfilled government decisions and the emergency economic plan, the socio-economic situation has worsened for Arab Local Councils as well as individuals and families.The government has also has failed to heed the Or Commission’s recommendations (01.09.03) in regards to budgetary discrimination against Arab citizens.
Governmental Decisions and Agreements Between the Israeli Government and Arab Local Councils and Their Lack of Implementation
Mossawa Center December 2003
This report addresses the Israeli government’s institutionalized discrimination against its Arab citizens[1].Specifically, this discrimination is demonstrated through an examination of governmental decisions and agreements, signed between representatives of the Arab citizens of Israel and the government, starting in the 1990s.These governmental decisions and agreements acknowledge the discrimination against the Arab citizens of Israel and aim at correcting that discrimination, but have yet to be implemented. As a result, these decisions and agreements have amounted to nothing but empty promises and the socio-economic status of the Arab citizens continues to deteriorate.
The Political Representation of Palestinian Women in Local Politics in Israel - 2003
Mossawa Center 12/16/2003
Another Municipal election has ended and the results regarding the representation of Palestinian women in Israel is as disappointing as ever, if not more so: each time there is hope that this time – since Palestinian women are more educated, more active, have greater initiative and willingness to compete in the political field and confront conventions – their representation will grow. This time, however, only three women were elected as council members – two in Nazareth and one in Ilabon, a village in the Galilee – two from Hadash and one from the Islamic Movement. The names we heard prior to the election evaporated, just as they did in previous elections.
Autopsy Report Findings Mandate Appointment of Investigatory Judge to Examine Unnatural Death of Palestinian Bedouin Citizen of Israel
Adalah 12/22/2003
Based on new evidence obtained from an autopsy report as well as from police sources, on 11 December 2003, Adalah submitted a second motion to the Magistrate Court in Beer Sheva (Beer el-Sebe) seeking the immediate appointment of an investigatory judge to examine the circumstances surrounding the unnatural death of Mr. Meteb Al-Nebari, a Palestinian Bedouin citizen of Israel.
Adalah Petitions Supreme Court to Cancel Discriminatory Governmental Decision Designating National Priority Areas
Adalah 12/24/2003
On 22 December 2003, Adalah filed a petition to the Supreme Court of Israel in its own name and on behalf of the High Follow-up Committee for Arab Citizens in Israel and the Follow-up Committee on Arab Education against the Prime Minister. The petitioners' seek the cancellation of a 1998 governmental decision, which divides the country into national priority areas in an arbitrary and discriminatory manner, without legislative authorization or clear objective criteria. While this governmental decision classified 553 towns and villages as national priority "A" and thus eligible to receive a host of lucrative educational benefits, for example, only four small Arab villages were included.
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Economy..
Over half of Israel’s Arab youth live in poverty
Al-Bawaba 12/27/2003
More than half of Israel’s Arab children live under the poverty line. According to a report issued by the National Council for the Child, this rate is 2.5 times higher than the percentage of Jewish children living below the poverty line. Some 40 percent of Israel’s total youth live in poverty, of which 54.4 percent are Arab, the report reveals. Last year’s rate was 29.6 percent with 656,000 children living below average standards. In the poorest communities children are 60 percent of the population, compared to just 22 percent in wealthier ones.
Gov't will try to pass budget by end of year
Ha'aretz 12/26/2003
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed yesterday that the framework for the 2004 budget will not be increased and that the additional funds and changes demanded by the coalition MKs will not alter the size of the budget approved by the government in the summer. The government and the coalition will try to push the budget through the Knesset for approval by Wednesday, December 31 if Netanyahu manages to reach a deal with Shinui, the National Religious Party and the National Union to back the budget in meetings with them today.
Treasury, Histadrut may sign pact to end strikes Saturday night
Ha'aretz 12/27/2003
The Finance Ministry and the Histadrut labor federation said Friday that they have made substantial progress on core disputes, and could announce a draft agreement as early as Saturday night to end months of strikes and work sanctions.
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People..
Palestine's neglected treasure trove
Al-Jazeera 12/22/2003
As home to the earliest known human settlements and the world’s holiest cities, historical Palestine is literally a treasure chest of antiquities. Remnants of Canaanite temples and towns, Byzantine mosaics and monasteries and Mamluk and Ottoman mosques all stand witness to the region’s long and colourful past. Many of the most important archaeological and historical sites are located in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. But years of conflict have left Palestinian antiquities in a sad state and in many cases out of Palestinian control.
Israeli-Palestinian expedition to scale unclimbed mountain
Jerusalem Post 12/27/2003
An atypical delegation of Israelis and Palestinians, tired of failed peace talks and treaties, has decided to tackle a new kind of summit. On Saturday, the team of eight were to ship off for a 35-day expedition that will land them in Antarctica, to scale and name a previously unclimbed peak. After flying to Madrid and then Chile, they will board a yacht on January 1, and sail to the world's iciest continent. There they will spend 7-10 days walking on glaciers, driving sleds, and finally ascending a virgin peak, to plant Israeli and Palestinian flags.
Unexpected international success confirms validity of artistic life
Daily Star 12/27/2003
Salwa Zeidan takes 4th prize at contemporary art festival in Italy -- It was the last day of the fourth International Biennale of Contemporary Art in Florence, Italy. Everyone was busy at the awards ceremony, but Salwa Zeidan didn’t feel like joining the crowd. Instead, she decided to take down her paintings from the wall reserved for her and leave ahead of time. But then suddenly, she felt she at least had to take a look at what was happening in the assembly hall. "I left my painting there on the floor and as soon as I entered the ceremony hall, I heard my name being called out: Salwa Zeidan, winner of the fourth prize for the painting category.”
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International..
Iran quake death toll to rise further
Middle East Online 12/27/2003
Rescue workers swamped by corpses flowing into Bora’s cemetery after earthquake kills 20,000. -- Rescue teams were swamped Saturday by the huge numbers of corpses being pulled out of the rubble after Iran's devastating earthquake, as dozens of Iranian military aircraft were mobilised to evacuate the wounded. Cars and trucks loaded with piles of bodies were flowing into the cemetery of the stricken town of Bora, southeast of Bam. Many corpses were abandoned in a corner of the cemetery, with grave diggers overwhelmed by the rush.
Bam disaster: Iran ready to accept aid from all countries, but not from Israel
Al-Bawaba 12/27/2003
International rescue teams were flying into Iran on Saturday to join a massive search for survivors from an earthquake that devastated the ancient Silk Road city of Bam, killing some 40,000 people. "We need help, otherwise we will be pulling corpses, not the injured, out of the rubble," Brigadier Mohammadi, commander of the army in southeast Iran, told state television....Meanwhile, Jahanbakhsh Khanjani, a spokesman for Iran's Interior Ministry, said Saturday that Iran would accept aid from all countries of the world, aside from Israel.
Ma'ariv: Turkish- Israeli agreement to fight terrorism
Arabic News 12/27/2003
The Israeli minister of [internal security - Ed.], Tsahi Hanighbi, signed during his visit to Ankara on Thursday with the Turkish minister of the interior Abdul Qader Akso an agreement for cooperation on fighting terrorism, and proposed that Turkey mediate between Israel and Syria. The Israeli radio said that the agreement includes intelligence cooperation, joint training for border police units in the two countries. It is, however, decided that units from the border police and terrorism fighting in Turkey will head for Israel to receive training in February 2004.
Turk bombers originally targeted Israeli ship-paper
Ha'aretz 12/27/2003
ANKARA - A militant Islamist group which plotted last month's devastating suicide bomb attack against the British consulate in Istanbul had originally intended to hit an Israeli ship instead, the Milliyet newspaper said on Saturday. Quoting Harun Ilhan, a Turkish militant linked to Osama bin Laden and now under arrest, Milliyet said the group decided to strike the consulate only at the last minute after the Israeli vessel failed to dock at Turkey's Mediterranean port of Alanya.
Missionaries Rush To Iraq, Fear Door May Be Closed Soon
Islam Online 12/27/2003
LONDON, December 27 (IslamOnline.net) – Shrouded in secrecy and under the guise of humanitarian aid, American missionaries, mainly evangelicals, are pouring into the predominantly Muslim Iraq, fearing the now "open door" may be soon closed when an Iraqi government takes over power in six months' time, a mass-circulation British daily reported on Saturday, December 27.
Saddam Threatens to Expose US
Arab News 12/27/2003
JEDDAH, 27 December 2003 — Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, now being grilled by American investigators, has reportedly warned US authorities that he will expose Washington’s “political games” and its behind-the-scene role in the occupation of Kuwait. “Saddam threatened that if they continue to pressure him he will reveal startling facts — about America’s political games with his country — that would shock the whole world,” Al-Watan Arabic daily quoted a high-level European source as saying.
Libya Tells U.N. Will Accept Snap Nuclear Checks
Reuters 12/27/2003
TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya said on Saturday it would sign on to snap U.N. nuclear inspections allowing short-notice checks of its nuclear sites and called on Israel to start dismantling any weapons of mass destruction. "Libya will cooperate and deal with the agency (the IAEA) with complete transparency...and Libya will sign the Additional Protocol." Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Abderrhmane Chalgam told a news conference. "This is a clear message to everybody, especially the Israelis, they must start dismantling their weapons of mass destruction," he added.
Chalabi aide slams Jordan for ''harboring Saddam loyalists, oil smuggling''
Al-Bawaba 12/24/2003
A spokesman for the Iraqi National Congress of Governing Council member Ahmad Chalabi has attacked Jordan, accusing it of sheltering ousted leader Saddam Hussein cronies, smuggling oil and meddling in Iraq's domestic affairs. Jordan is sheltering "Saddam Hussein's daughters, the son of (former deputy prime minister) Tareq Aziz and several figures associated with the old regime," Entifadh Qanbar told reporters on Tuesday.
Ben Affleck: Americans ignore Mideast issues
Middle East Online 12/24/2003
Hollywood actor Ben Affleck, on a Christmas visit to US sailors in Bahrain, confessed to a fascination with the Middle East and berated Americans for their ignorance of the issues. "I've always been drawn to the Middle East as an area of study because it always seems sort of mysterious and exotic," he said after cheering the troops on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise off Bahrain on Tuesday...."Most people in the United States don't even know the difference between Persians and Arabs. I mean they are really in a fundamental lack of understanding ... They don't know what is the nature of the disagreement over Palestine, people don't understand that."
Nader Rules Out Green Party Run
Palestine Chronicle 12/24/2003
WASHINGTON (AP) - Ralph Nader's decision against running as the Green Party's presidential candidate has upset some party officials who thought he would be the likely nominee, but not Dave Cobb. Cobb, the party's general counsel and candidate for president, welcomes the open field. "I am finding myself in the position of being the clear front-runner in the party," said Cobb, a California attorney. But Nader, who carried the Green Party banner in 2000, hasn't ruled out an independent bid for president.
Cuban anger at US over Guantanamo
Al-Jazeera 12/26/2003
Cuba has charged the United States with running a concentration camp at the Guantanamo base on the eastern tip of the island.This is the Cuban government's first attack on the use of the facility to hold men Washington has seized in its "war on terror". "In the territory illegally occupied by the Guantanamo naval base, hundreds of foreign prisoners are subjected to indescribable abuses," said a statement passed by parliament earlier this week and broadcast by the state-run media in Havana on Friday.
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