News from Palestine

Palestine News now at www.theheadlines.org

2005-03-10T01:35:00.000Z

Palestine News has now moved to http://www.theheadlines.org/

February 16, 2005

2005-02-16T01:32:00.000Z

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| Today in Palestine! 16 - Feb - 2005 |
| www.TheHeadlines.Org |
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Court allows IDF to level Palestinian grove near Mofaz's home
The High Court Wednesday rejected a petition by Palestinian woman Zuheria Murshad, 72, to bar the IDF from uprooting 60 citrus trees in her grove, adjacent to Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz's home in Kochav Ya'ir. The decision paves the way for the military to clear an 80-meter radius for "security reasons." ( Destory Legal, for sake of Illegal! Talk about Peace! )
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/541160.html

Barrier 'harms West Bank health'
Israel's West Bank barrier is blocking 10,000 chronically ill Palestinians from access to essential treatment, say three leading medical organisations. The organisations also said that over 100,000 pregnant women could suffer from the lack of access to healthcare.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4268079.stm

Jerusalem Resident Delivers Baby Boy at Kalandia Israeli Checkpoint
Israeli soldiers at Qalandia checkpoint,near Jerusalem, denied access to a pregnant womanon her route to one of the Palestinian hospitals in Jerusalem. A medical crew belongs to Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) could assist the woman in her delivery after 15 minutes a baby boy.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2131

ILA admits using banned chemicals to spray Bedouin crops
The petition, filed in May 2004 by attorney Marwan Dalal of Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, claims that "the spraying of crops endangers the life and health of human beings and animals, as well as their environment." Along with the petition, Adalah submitted an expert opinion that stated that crop spraying increases the chances of birth defects and statistical likelihood of developing cancer.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=540778&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Gaza Strip evacuees able to move to West Bank
"I cannot prevent an individual who wants to use his compensation to buy a house in Gush Etzion [a southern West Bank settlement bloc] from doing so," Labour's Isaac Herzog, housing minister in Mr Sharon's coalition, said. "This would be totally within his rights." ( Who expects rights in Illegal State to be Legal? )
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/41c30642-7fc1-11d9-8ceb-00000e2511c8.html

Palestinian women experience major poverty induced by loss of spouses, UN says
Palestinian women are suffering massively from malnutrition, especially when they are pregnant and nursing, and have high rates of poverty as widowed heads of household, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a new report to a UN women's rights panel.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=13358&Cr=Middle&Cr1=Palestin

Gazan students unable to study in West Bank
Bashar Abu Shahala was studying in his room. The other three - Muhanna, Bashar Abu Salim and Mohammad Matar - chatted and watched television. Suddenly, they realized that soldiers were surrounding the house. The soldiers burst into the apartment shortly thereafter. "They treated us like criminals," Abu Shahala said. "They ordered us to gather our belongings and blindfolded us, handcuffed us.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/540738.html

Israel provokes Palestinian resistance groups in Nablus, kills two
Since the announcement of the hudna ("cease-fire"), Nablus hasn't seen anything like a hudna. In what seems to have been a gun battle between the two resistance fighters and the Israeli troops (who were supported by a helicopter), both of them were shot and were left bleeding to death.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3620.shtml

IDF kills two armed Palestinians near West Bank settlement
Al Aqsa members said the two armed men were guarding an abandoned Palestinian house near the settlement and were killed by Israeli troops without provocation. Al Aqsa members indicated they would retaliate.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/540698.html

Motion against targeted killings put on hold due to truce
Deputy state prosecutor, Shay Nitzan, quoted in the court session Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's announcement at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit last week, that parallel with the ceasing of violence on the part of Palestinians, 'Israel shall stop its military actions against Palestinians anywhere'.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/541206.html

Israel publishes list of 500 Palestinian prisoners to be released
The Israeli prison service published a list Wednesday of 500 Palestinians who have been approved for release in the coming days as part of a package of goodwill gestures. The names are being published in order to allow Israelis to file appeals against any of those slated for release.
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?ID=37420

Hebron Settlers Attack and badly injure two OD members in At-Tuwani
Shortly thereafter CPTer Sally Hunsburger, and 2 OD members appeared over the crest of the hill from herding in the direction of Tuba. Settlers reappeared, noticed the video camera and attacked the 2 OD team members.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cpthebron/message/554

Jordanian ambassador to Israel to return Sunday
Jordan said Wednesday that it is returning its ambassador to Israel on post Sunday, setting the stage for a normalizing of diplomatic relations between Amman and Tel Aviv after a four-year break.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=541037&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Sharon firm on West Bank sites
He told a press conference that Jewish "population blocks" had been there for many years and that, in agreement with President George Bush, they "will be part of the Jewish state in the future". ( Peace = Zionists' illegal becomes legal, Palestinians give up legal rights!?? )
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1415290,00.html

PA officials approve new cabinet
The makeup of the government was agreed to on Wednesday at a meeting of Abbas' Fatah movement. "I will present my Cabinet to the legislative council for approval on Tuesday," Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said - referring to the Palestinia legislature - after the meeting.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=541136&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

ECHO Allocates €34 million for Aid to Palestinian People
The European Commission is one of the largest donors of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian population. Since the start of the Intifada in the Occupied Palestinian Territories in 2000, the EC's humanitarian aid department (ECHO) has provided €155 million in assistance to Palestinian people throughout the region.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2133

Israeli MPs approve billion-dollar compensation package for Gaza settlers
Israel's planned pullout from the Gaza Strip took a major step forward when MPs approved a billion-dollar compensation package for the 8,000 Jewish settlers who are to be uprooted from their homes. A total of 59 members of the 120-seat Knesset voted for the evacuation-compensation bill in the third and final reading, while 40 voted against
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=2&u=/afp/20050216/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_050216183258

Abbas authorizes death sentences for 'collaborators'
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has authorized death sentences passed against three Palestinians who were found guilty of "collaboration" with Israel. It's not clear when the three men, whose identities were not revealed, would be executed by firing squad.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1108524044900

Fugitives to join PA security forces
This is the first time that members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad would serve in the PA security forces. "The fugitives who will join the security forces belong to all the Palestinian groups and factions," Naja said. "The move is designed to protect them against Israeli assassination attempts."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1108437732528

Jailed Palestinian leader sees continued bloodshed
Barghouthi, a grassroots figure in the four-year-old revolt, made his remarks to an Israeli newspaper on Wednesday as Israel's parliament met for a crucial vote on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to evacuate settlers from Gaza and parts of the West Bank.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-02-16T110855Z_01_JON639971_RTRUKOC_0_MIDEAST.xml

Blanket scorn for Mofaz decision to halt Ya'alon term
Senior IDF Staff officers said Wednesday that someone must have lost his sense of national responsiblity when reaching the decision to replace both IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon and Shin Bet security service director Avi Dichter prior to the implementation of the disengagement plan.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/541026.html

Herzog's Greater Jerusalem
Jerusalem's new neighborhoods, the ones that effectively separate the Arab eastern parts of the city and the West Bank, were built by Labor people and especially by former Jerusalem mayor, Teddy Kollek. It was also during Kollek's tenure that plans were made for the new neighborhood of Har Homa, an attempt to separate eastern Jerusalem and Bethlehem...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/540773.html

The demographic key
But in effect there is nothing in the disengagement plan that has anything to do with demography. On the other hand, there is a direct connection between the demographic issue and the territorial exchange plan. According to all those plans the route of the geodemographic border was drawn according to the principle of territorial contiguity.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/540753.html

Israeli absence good for UK Mideast talks - Shalom
"It was agreed with Prime Minister (Tony) Blair and Prime Minister (Ariel) Sharon that Israel will not participate in this convention while they are talking only about how to help the Palestinians," the Israeli minister told reporters.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L16657420.htm

Getting tight with the Bible Belt
In Elon's view, it is a productive relationship; Evangelical churches in the United States, with a combined membership of more than 50 million, are the closest thing to the Yesha Council of settlements on the other side of the Atlantic. Church leaders believe the Land of Israel belongs to Jews, and that only after the Jews settle the land will Jesus be able to return.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/540774.html

Protest Israeli president’s visit!
In March, Israeli president Moshe Katsav will tour Australia. We are calling upon all concerned with the systematic injustices of the Israeli state to take this chance to protest. We hope that this will be the first moment of new movements in this country opposed to apartheid Israel, as many opposed apartheid South Africa in the past...
http://stopthewall.org/worldwideactivism/855.shtml

MORE AMERICANS APPROVE OF ISRAEL & PALESTINIANS
More Americans — 29 percent — have a positive view of the Palestinian Authority than in any previous poll, although 62 percent still have a negative view of it. Also, 69 percent of the U.S. public, the highest level in nearly six years, regard Israel positively, according to the Gallup Poll.
http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/40676.htm

Sources: Israel satisfied by U.S. decision to recall Syria envoy
Political sources in Jerusalem expressed satisfaction Tuesday at the decision by the United States to recall its envoy from Syria following the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=540656&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

US ambassador meets Syrian FM
The agency said Mr Shara had "given Mrs Scobey a reply to the message that she, in turn, will transmit to the American secretary of state". SANA quoted Mrs Scobey as "expressing the hope of returning as quickly as possible to her post in Damascus".
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12276472-23109,00.html

Kidnapped Italian journalist appeals for end of occupation
"I beg you, put an end to the occupation. Press on the Italian government to end the occupation," Sgrena said in the video tape, aired by the Dubai-based al-Arabiya TV channel. "I came to Iraq at the end of January, to witness the situation of this people ... Hundreds of civilians were killed, among them children and old people.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/16/content_2585190.htm

February 15, 2005

2005-02-15T00:10:00.000Z

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| Today in Palestine! 15 - Feb - 2005 |
| www.TheHeadlines.Org |
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Israel wall prevents healthcare
illegal West Bank seperation barrier is blocking some 10,000 chronically ill Palestinians from access to essential healthcare, three leading health organizations have charged. Medecins du Monde, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel also said more than 100,000 pregnant women could face difficulties in child birth and 130,000 children will no longer be immunized once the 650-kilometer barrier is completed later this year.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B534582B-6D77-4781-8E4F-9E8A0074C20F.htm

Israel Seizes Palestinian Groundwater
Deputy Chairman of Palestinian Water Authority (PWA), Fadel Kawash, said that Israel controlled 900 million cubic meters of the Jordanian basin and it is now seizing groundwater of the western Palestinian basin. ( Who'll be blamed for the failure of Peace Process? )
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2128

Israel plans barrier checkpoints
But even if checkpoints deep inside the West Bank were dismantled, Palestinians said, replacements along the barrier would turn it into a permanent political border with Israel, gobbling up land they want for a viable state. "It will kill Palestinian hopes and aspirations for independence," Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12265116-23109,00.html

Israel plans new W.Bank settlement
Israel has plans to build a new settlement in the West Bank that could take in settlers uprooted from Gaza, officials say, drawing protest from Palestinians who fear losing land for a state they seek.But President George W. Bush said in 2004 that Israel could expect to keep some of the West Bank land under an accord.
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5539702

A Unilateral Exchange, Not a Disengagement
In practice, Israeli is running a unilateral exchange of Palestinian territories, not disengagement. The land Palestinians so far lost to the separation wall is much larger than areas Israel intends to evacuate under the disengagement plan. The Israeli Knesset is expected to approve the disengagement law on Wednesday.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week3/021505/unilateral-exch.htm

PALESTINE: Risks on Al Aqsa Mosque by Jewish Extremists Boom
"Israeli high level security sources warning of the Chances of an attack on the al Aqsa mosque by Jewish right-wing extremists are far great, that the Arab and Islamic world must join hands in reining in such a risk asserting that the Islamic and Arab silent will encourage the Jewish organizations to go ahead in their plots destroying the Al Aqsa mosque."
http://www.noticias.info/asp/aspComunicados.asp?nid=48371&src=0

Palestinian teenager shot dead
A 15-year-old Palestinian boy was shot dead late today by Israeli troops in the West Bank town of Beitunia near Ramallah, Palestinian medical and security sources said. Medical sources named the victim as Hani Khalil, and said a second boy, aged 14, was seriously injured in the incident near the vast separation barrier which Israel is building in the West Bank.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12265967-23109,00.html

After 3 Years of his House seizure, Citizen Has Hopes to Get it Back
Sabir Aref 33, still has hopes to retrieve his house, located in Shufa village, south of Tulkarem, which Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) took over since three years and turned it into a military post.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2130

Israeli Forces Attack Peaceful Congregation in Hebron
Israeli occupation forces attacked a peaceful congregation of civilians and international peace activists, who were protesting the construction of a new colonial road in Hebron City. Israeli troops used heavy clubs and rifle butts to attack the peaceful demonstration, which included civilians, farmers and international peace activists.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/english/details.asp?name=2643

Wael, Born inside Israeli Prison, Released with his Mother
Wael happened to be the youngest Palestinian prisoner. He was destined to suffer a prison authority which deprived him from all the toys and gifts the international institutions offered him. Wael was deprived from all his needs the way his mother was deprived from all her needs as a pregnant.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2126

Kofi Annan bends to Israeli pressure, doesn't renew Hansen's contract
The Palestinian Network of NGOs issued a press release in response to UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan's, decision to not renew UNRWA head Peter Hansen's contract after nine years. Hansen was a regular target of the Israeli government who tried to have him removed from his position several times.
http://www.palestinenet.org/english/archive2005/feb/week3/150205/15febpngo.htm

2 Border Policemen found guilty of abusing Palestinians
The Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court on Tuesday convicted two former Border Policemen of assault and abuse of 16 bound Palestinian detainees in an incident three years ago. The Palestinians were handcuffed, led to a bus and continously beaten by the two. ( Only the two?! )
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/540631.html

PA making big plans for evacuated Gaza property
Palestinian ministries are busy preparing for the post-disengagement era in Gush Katif and the northwest corner of Gaza, planning among other things for the construction of thousands of apartments in the areas evacuated in Gush Katif, to resettle refugees now living in camps in Gaza.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=540286&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Prisoners release postponed until Monday
Monday at night, an Israeli source reported that the Israeli High Court will review appeals submitted by Israelis against the release of Palestinian detainees; Israeli army announced that it postponed the release of the 500 detainees until next Monday.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week3/021505/until-Monday.htm

Prisoners released without consultation: Palestine
"It is not what we want," Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said. "It is not what our people want." He said the prisoners included those who had already completed their sentence or near of completion. Palestinians want Israel to release prisoners who have spent more than 20 years in jail.
http://www.geo.tv/main_files/world.aspx?id=64865

Sharon : “ Israel will coordinate pullout with the P.A”
In a statement which was described as a “clearest”, Sharon said that disengagement from Gaza will be coordinated with the P.A, the statements of Sharon came during a press conference with the Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week3/021505/coordinate.htm

new Palestinian cabinet to be announced in 24 hours: Abbas
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesday that a new Palestinian cabinet will be announced in 24 hours. Nasser el-Qedwa, representative of the Palestinian National Authority in the United Nations, will hold the post of foreign minister to replace Nabil Shaath. Nabil Amro will hold the post of information minister.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/16/content_2581164.htm

IDF chief opposes transfer of Jericho village to Palestinians
Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Moshe Ya'alon said Tuesday that the military is opposed to transferring the West Bank village of Uja, on the northern outskirts of Jericho, to the Palestinian Authority, thus negating Palestinian claims that an agreement had been reached on the handover of Jericho and its environs.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/540581.html

Pullout from Jericho must include surrounding areas: Dahlan
Former Palestinian Interior Minister Mohammed Dahlan said on Tuesday that a Palestinian delegation will not accept security handover of the West Bank city of Jericho without surrounding areas.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/15/content_2581005.htm

U.S. reevaluating Israel travel warning
"We are now evaluating the travel warning [to Israel] because of the new political and security context," a U.S. official said, adding the United States was not yet considering lifting the travel warning to the West Bank and Gaza Strip. ( Wonder why Gaza & West Bank are unsafe? )
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=540292&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Russia may ship military vehicles to Palestine
A high-ranking Russian official on Tuesday offered to ship military vehicles to the Palestinian territories to reinforce their security, but only with Israel's prior consent, Interfax news agency reported.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/16/content_2581173.htm

Sharon forges ahead with Gaza pullout plan despite opposition
A vote on the bill is not expected until Wednesday with around 100 deputies of the 120-seat Knesset likely to speak at the debate. Some ultra-nationalist opponents of the pullout have said that they intend to read the names of each Gaza settler during their speeches and add the title "Jew, designated for expulsion" to each one.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1503&ncid=1503&e=4&u=/afp/20050215/ts_afp/mideast_050215121003

Israel fears Jewish terror
The minister, Gideon Ezra, said he was prepared to invoke emergency detention laws normally used against Palestinians because of concern that rising incitement was creating a climate similar to that which led to the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin a decade ago.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1414802,00.html

Sharon's brinkmanship with the right
While Mahmoud Abbas spoke about the road map, Sharon concentrated on the short term. He proposed a deal to Abbas. The Palestinian Authority will keep the quiet during the evacuation and get the keys to the settlements. Sharon's stick will be "a reaction unprecedented in its intensity" if the evacuation takes place under Palestinian fire.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/540257.html

IS PALESTINE TO BE A STATE OR A PRISON?
The late Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, always refused to accept any deal that left Israel with 100% of Jerusalem and large swathes of the West Bank. He insisted on some limited right of return for Palestinian refugees and creation of a viable, independent state on the West Bank and Gaza. Abbas has remained mute about these vital questions.
http://www.ericmargolis.com/archives/2005/02/is_palestine_to.php

Abu Mazen: Palestine's last best hope
After the declarations at Sharm al-Sheikh this month, it seems Abu Mazen might pull off his gamble: a ceasefire with Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, all integrated within the Palestinian security forces. But will Israel keep its promises? And will the United States and the international community give him the support he needs?
http://mondediplo.com/2005/02/07mazen

Future of Hamas is Future of Palestine
With the dynamism it has shown in the armed struggle and its public services performances, Hamas has become a group that will leave its mark on the future of Palestine, because any decision made by this organization has more effect than any pledge made by the Palestinian president.
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=columnists&alt=&trh=20050215&hn=16581

U.S. orders its envoy to Syria home after Hariri's death
Before departing, U.S. Ambassador Margaret Scobey delivered a stern note, called a demarche in diplomatic parlance, to the Syrian government, a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Tuesday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/540656.html

US accused of plan to muzzle al-Jazeera through privatisation
Washington has been particularly irritated by the station's coverage of civilian casualties and destruction caused by US troops in Iraq, and by its airing of messages from Osama bin Laden, the al-Qa'ida leader. In Iraq and some other Arab countries, al-Jazeera offices have been shut down.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=611218

Iraqi Shiite coalition names Jafari as PM candidate
Iraq's Shiite coalition that won the country's Jan. 30 elections on Tuesday named interim Vice President and leader of Dawa party Ibrahim al-Jafari as candidate for prime minister, the Dubai-based al-Arabiya TV channel reported.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/16/content_2581034.htm

February 14, 2005

2005-02-14T22:30:00.000Z

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| Today in Palestine! 14 - Feb - 2005 |
| www.TheHeadlines.Org |
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Who Broke the Ceasefire (First)?
However, these media are either marginalizing or not reporting at all some very relevant facts, in particular that Israeli troops killed two unarmed Palestinians in separate incidents prior to the attacks, and that the rocket and mortar attacks were carried out explicitly as a response to the killings. On at least three counts, Israel should therefore be held responsible for endangering the calm in the region.
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=6631&CategoryId=3

Gush Shalom: “Hands of Israeli leaders are also bloody”
Also, Gush Shalom said that Israeli should start releasing the sick and aged detainees, especially the detainees who were arrested before the Oslo agreement. The Israeli Peace Bloc also slammed Sharon and his policy of annexing Palestinian lands and the annexation wall erected in the West Bank.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week2/021405/Gush%20Shalom.htm

IOF Kills Child in Hebron
Witnesses revealed that a 16-year-old child was shot dead with several bullets by an Israeli soldier who was driving a bulldozer in the old city of Hebron.They affirmed that the unidentified child was walking with his friends when the Israeli soldier unjustifiably targeted him with several bullets.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2125

Child killed in Hebron
A local source in Hebron told IMEMC correspond ant that soldiers shot dead a 15-year-old child in the southern West Bank city of Hebron. IMEMC correspond ant stated that residents in the area said that the child did not attempt to attack the soldiers, and the he was shot one bullet to his leg, followed by four other bullets.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week2/021405/Child-Hebron.htm

AMW 3-month analysis of BBC Radio 4 Today programme
The effect of the barrier was mainly discussed from an Israeli perspective, on two separate occasions during this period. Once was relating to the ICJ judgement that was due when an Israeli lawyer strayed from the subject of the ruling to the reason for the barrier and was not admonished. The other occasion was an item on the positive effects of the barrier from an Israeli perspective.
http://www.arabmediawatch.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2496

Protesters throw stones at police as thousands rally against pullout
Ten police officers were lightly hurt Monday evening in clashes with right-wing activists Monday as thousands of people demonstrated against the disengagement plan across the country, Israel Radio reported. ( ZERO injured, opposite to Anti-Apartheid demonstations! )
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/540195.html

Israel is failing the moral test
According to Israeli authorities, one reason for my arrest two weeks ago in Biddu and my denial of entry into Israel in 2003 is that I "organized and participated in illegal demonstrations." Israeli authorities frequently use the term "illegal demonstrations" to describe peaceful protests against Israeli government violations of international law.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/539812.html

Come to Palestine, come stay with friends
The brochure promises prospective participants a trip "designed to develop relationships, break down stereotypes, foster philanthropic efforts and forge strategic partnerships to strengthen communities in the region," through living and studying in the Bethlehem area.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/539778.html

Abbas Declares War With Israel Effectively Over
Mr. Sharon's commitment to withdraw from Gaza and dismantle all Israeli settlements there and four in the West Bank, despite "how much pressure is on him from the Israeli Likud rightists," Mr. Abbas said, "is a good sign to start with" on the road to real peace. "And now he has a partner," Mr. Abbas said. ( Abbas blamming Arafat? )
http://nytimes.com/2005/02/14/international/middleeast/14abbas.html?hp&ex=1108443600&en=3314c5810db3294e&ei=5094&partner=homepage

PM Qorei to lead Palestinian delegation at London conference
Blair announced the conference on a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories in December. Ironically Qorei had criticised the idea of a conference at the time, taking umbrage at any suggestion that Palestinians needed "grooming" for independence.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=12&u=/afp/20050214/wl_mideast_afp/mideastpalestinianbritain_050214171252

PM: Evacuation from Gaza, northern W. Bank to take 12 weeks
Sharon also told a meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in Jerusalem that he would seek cabinet approval on Monday for the evacuation of Gaza and four settlements in the northern West Bank.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/539775.html

Why do suicide bombers do it? new feature film asks
"For me it's very clear the occupation is the cause to force these people to do it," he said, speaking in English. "This is a mythical story: to kill yourself (along) with the enemy ... I am re-writing the myth from the human point of view, the Palestinian point of view, from the real point of view."
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L14393506.htm

PLO Reiterates Significance of Heading toward Final Solution
Executive Committee (EC) of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) reiterated Sunday the significance of heading toward a peaceful and comprehensive solution for all the final status issues.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2124

Sharon cracks down on extremist settlers
Dalia Rabin, whose father, Yitzhak, was assassinated by a far-right fanatic in 1995, warned: "If we don't do enough now to stop the deterioration, we will again see the terrible spectacle of a prime minister assassinated." The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted a police source as saying 84 senior officials were under protection because of concern for their lives.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=610874

Palestinians want help, advice at London meet
Palestinians will call for international help in reforming their institutions and vocal backing for their policies at a meeting in London next month, their envoy to Britain told Reuters on Monday.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L14493129.htm

Palestinians set to take control in Jericho on Tuesday
Israeli soldiers rarely operate in the sleepy Jordan valley town so the transfer is mainly of symbolic value although it will also serve as a trial run for similar transfers in four other areas, including Ramallah which serves as the political capital of the Palestinian Authority.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1512&ncid=1312&e=9&u=/afp/20050214/wl_afp/mideastisraelpalestiniansecurity_050214084117

PCBS: Consumer Price Index Increased by 1.21% during January 2005
In a press release issued today, PCBS said that" the consumer price index numbers in the Palestinian Territories for the base year (1996=100), reached 147.02 for January 2005, recording a 1.21% increases compared with December 2004".
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2123

Militant settlers issue fresh threats to Sharon
The twin developments on Sunday showed that just as Israeli-Palestinian fighting winds down in the wake of a truce declared at a summit meeting last Tuesday, internal Israeli tensions are escalating into warnings of political assassinations. Israeli security services on Sunday announced increased protection of public officials, reports Reuters.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0214/dailyUpdate.html

Intelligence or diplomacy?
The return to Israel of the Egyptian and Jordanian ambassadors - a first appointment has already been announced, under American pressure, but Cairo does not appear to be in any hurry - will be more symbolic than substantive when it occurs.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/539815.html

Palestinian militants hold fire
Hamas's position is seen as ensuring in the short term that there is no Palestinian infighting, and as a boost to Abbas's ability to make good on a commitment he made - reciprocated by Israel - at last week's summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to halt violence, Palestinian analysts say.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0214/p01s02-wome.htm

Message to a rebel
Even though you are a minority, you are trying to prevent the disengagement and to that end, are holding the state budget for 2005 hostage. Last week you were not even embarrassed to send the prime minister an ultimatum: Agree to a referendum and get a budget; don't agree, and you won't get a budget. A referendum is nothing less than a transparent excuse meant to hide your true goals: to remain in Gaza.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/539814.html

Chirac rejects FM's request to add Hezbollah to EU terror list
During a meeting with Shalom on Monday afternoon, Chirac said France's efforts in the coming weeks will be focused primarily on the democratic process in Lebanon and the upcoming elections to be held in two months.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/540152.html

Head of Christian party abducted in Iraq: Arabiya TV
Kidnappers have abducted the head ofa Christian party in Iraq, demanding the withdrawal of US troops, Al Arabiya television reported Monday. The television gave no further details.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/14/content_2576528.htm

Polls will stiffen Kurdish resolve to achieve maximum autonomy under new constitution
Kurdish aspirations for a semi-autonomous Kurdistan within Iraq were given a strong fillip by yesterday's official election results, which gave the main Kurdish parties more than a quarter of the overall vote.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/59b25990-7e2e-11d9-ac22-00000e2511c8.html

Bush congratulates Iraqi candidates in final election results
The Bush administration said Monday it looks forward to working with Iraq's new leaders and said the United States is confident that Baghdad is committed to an ''inclusive and representative'' government.
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/045/wash/Bush_congratulates_Iraqi_candi:.shtml

Oil pipeline attacked in northern Iraq
Unidentified attackers blew up an oil pipeline near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk and set it on fire, police said on Monday. The attack took place at the al-Dibbis oil field north of Kirkuk on Sunday evening, they said.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/14/content_2577643.htm

Shia victory is blow to US line on Iran's N-arms
Sciri and Daawa members insist they are not beholden to Iran, but nonetheless feel kinship with the former exile home. One key Alliance politician warned that the US could not count on their support against Iran if Washington or its allies struck Iran's nuclear facilities, something the US has not ruled out.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/bb316aaa-7e2c-11d9-ac22-00000e2511c8.html

EU executive hails 'step forward' in Iraq
"I congratulate those who will now have the task of building a governing coalition," Ferrero-Waldner said. But she added: "I trust they will ensure full representation of Iraq's diverse society in the political process, and in particular in the drafting of the constitution."
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=10&u=/afp/20050214/wl_mideast_afp/iraqvotereaxeu_050214112243

Shiites reach out to Sunnis after Iraq vote triumph
Iraq's long-oppressed Shiites were basking in their electoral triumph but pledged to reach out to rival Sunnis whose political isolation could further threaten the country's stability. The Sunnis, out of power for the first time in modern Iraq, will be left with scraps in the next executive.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=2&u=/afp/20050214/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_050214185743

February 13, 2005

2005-02-13T22:29:00.000Z

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| Today in Palestine! 13 - Feb - 2005 |
| www.TheHeadlines.Org |
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Outpost Survey in the Occupied Territories – 2004
Two outpost dismantled; One outpost dismantled and rebuilt; Three new outposts erected; 12 outposts were expanded significantly; Permanent construction is being carried out in 15 outposts; Up to today there are 99 outposts in the West Bank...
http://www.peacenow.org.il/site/en/peace.asp?pi=61&docid=1167

PA: Prisoners' release' list, disappointing
According to the ministry media department, the list includes the names of 193 administrative detainees- Palestinians detained over secret evidences, without proper court procedures- 77 of the prisoners listed would end their prison term in less than a month, and excludes prisoners who spent long prison terms, female and child prisoners.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week2/021305/prisoers%20release%20disappointing.htm

MPA: 321 Child Prisoners in Israeli Prisons
Ministry of Prisoners Affairs (MPA) said that since the outbreak of "Al-Aqsa" Intifada in September 2000, about 3,000 Palestinian children have been arrested, 321 of them are still in jail including 11 girls. Also, the Palestinian child prisoners are denied the right to education.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2121

PCHR Organizes a Workshop on the Draft Amended Law of Judicial Authority
On Sunday morning, 13 February 2005, PCHR organized a workshop in its offices in Gaza City on the draft amended law of judicial authority, in the context of its efforts to ensure the independence and fairness of the Palestinian judiciary.
http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/PressR/English/2005/36-2005.htm

Palestinian fighters' bodies to be returned
Medics from Magen David Adom emergency medical service said that in coordination with the Israeli army and the health ministries of both sides, Israel would hand over the bodies of the 15 Palestinians at the Erez border crossing in Gaza on Monday.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/DAA38452-549B-47FC-908F-B7B9777C2CFB.htm

Settlers clash with police at WB outpost
Following a clash with Israeli soldiers on Friday over the placed caravan, settlers promised to remove it by the beginning of the current week. A violent confrontation broke out as Border Police tried to prevent the settlers from hooking up the caravan. ( IOF deals much faster with Anti-Apartheid Israelis !! )
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week2/021305/settlers%20clash%20with%20soldiers.htm

Seven settlers indicted after violent Gaza protest
According to Israel Defense Forces sources, the settlers threw stones at Palestinians and tried to pull Palestinian drivers out of their vehicles in attempts to commandeer them. The settlers resisted police efforts to remove the Gaza residents' blockade. Seven people in their 20s were detained and have been under arrest since Friday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/539689.html

Compensation bill faces vote Sunday
The decisive vote lies in the hands of MK Azmi Bishara (Balad). At least eight of the 17 committee members are expected to vote against the disengagement plan Sunday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=539406&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Knesset panel okays evacuation compensation bill
The larger than expected majority was reached only after MKs Azmi Bishara (Balad) and Avraham Ravitz (Degel Hatorah) voted in favor of the bill.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/539756.html

HAMAS and Islamic Jihad Comply de Facto Ceasefire
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has pursuaded the Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS) and the Islamic Jihad to comply with the ceasefire with Israel. Leaders of the two organizations met with Abbas in Gaza and declared that they will "comply with the de facto ceasefire with Israel"...
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&trh=20050213&hn=16510

Israeli, PA officials due to finalize Jericho handover
IDF Brigadier General Gadi Eisenkut and his Palestinian regional counterpart, General Haj Ismail, were slated to meet Sunday night to finalize details for handing over the West Bank city of Jericho to Palestinian security control, Israel Radio reported.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=539403&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Hamas opposes US envoy Ward
Hamas said on Sunday that it is strongly opposed to the US decision to appoint Lt.-Gen. William Ward as Middle East security envoy, and expressed fear that the move was aimed at putting pressure on the Palestinian Authority security forces to crack down on armed Palestinian groups.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1108264748453

Israel approves release of 500 Palestinian prisoners
Both men have declared an end to hostilities after four years of bloodshed but the success of Abbas's efforts to persuade the likes of Hamas to also hold their fire is in part dependent on the whole prisoners issue.
http://www.turkishpress.com/world/news.asp?id=050213163330.5w97str4.xml

PM: Practical steps must be taken against right-wing extremists
Ben-Eliezer, who was born in Iraq, presented to the cabinet a threatening letter that read: "Arab blood is flowing through your veins, and for this you must leave Israel and return to Iraq to defend Saddam Hussein. You are contemptible. You are a miserable Iraqi with Arab-Nazi blood flowing through your veins."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/539633.html

Israel considers buying natural gas from Gaza
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer agreed in a meeting last Wednesday to investigate the possibility of purchasing Palestinian natural gas from offshore drilling performed by British Gas off the coast of the Gaza Strip.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=539634&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Four Israelis arrested for trying to sell Palestinian land
At the start of last week, police arrested Issa Safouri, a 34-year-old Nazareth resident and a member of the Likud Central Committee who is thought to have made of use of forged documents and located the American buyer.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=539667&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Israel lets 200 Gaza workers cross
Israel has let more than 200 labourers enter from the Gaza Strip for the first time in months in a gesture to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as he tries to strengthen a ceasefire agreed last week.
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5534766

Tali Fahima asks court to ease terms of her imprisonment
The conditions, the petitions states, are having an adverse effect on her mental health. Fahima is accused of translating and reading to Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades members sensitive material the Israel Defense Forces had lost during an operation in the West Bank city of Jenin in May 2004.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/539726.html

From Aqaba To Sharm - Fake Peace Festivals
This, in the media world, is coupled with the faith that Israel is finally led by a man of peace. Sharon, who might have had some problems in the past, so the story goes, has changed his skin, and now he is leading Israel to painful concessions. There is once again talk of cooperation, public embraces and peace conferences.
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=107&ItemID=7239

Good morning to the Israeli left
After an eternally long hibernation, we are starting to hear the sounds of its awakening. Only when the wind is once again blowing in its direction - and not because of anything it did - does the extra-parliamentary left dare to come out of the closet where it locked itself up more than four years ago.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/539390.html

Men of the moment / Low-key Palestinian leader could earn elusive Israeli trust
Those who know Abbas say yes. Abbas, they say, has a demonstrated integrity and a selflessness that become evident to anyone who meets him, and these traits are well-known to Israeli leaders, including Sharon. The result: Israelis are willing to trust Abbas in ways they would not trust Arafat.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/02/13/ING2AB8FQ21.DTL

Peres to meet Shas' spiritual leader on coalition
The move, so far reported as a private initiative, not coordinated with the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, came as the so far minority cabinet is facing huge difficulties in passing vital bills within the sate institutions in order to approve its decisions.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week2/021305/peres%20to%20meet%20yousif.htm

Iran starts production of torpedoes
"Iran's marine units have now achieved an effective weapon witha complicated and modern technology in confronting surface andunder-sea threats," Shamkhani said, adding the torpedoes could bemounted on helicopters, surface vessels and submarines.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/13/content_2574137.htm

The Problem with Western Democracy
A recent online poll carried out by the Arabic website of Al Jazeera satellite television found that more than 80 percent of respondents distrust "Western democracy." The results simply restated the obvious. The query, of course, hardly meant to question "Western democracy" in its own right, but rather its imposition on the Arab world.
http://www.ramallahonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2097

On This Day 1991: US bombers strike civilians in Baghdad
Iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz said: "This was a criminal, pre-meditated, planned attack against civilians."The final death toll was 314 including 130 children, after one of the 900kg bombs exploded in the middle of the largest upstairs room and the other blew up and blocked a ventilation shaft.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/13/newsid_2541000/2541107.stm

Shia parties triumph in Iraq poll
The two main Kurdish parties were in second place with about a quarter of the votes, followed by the alliance led by interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. Many Sunni Muslims, who dominated Iraq under Saddam Hussein, boycotted the elections on 30 January. Shia leaders say they will try to draw them into the political process.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4261035.stm

Iraqi General Dead; 3 U.S. Soldiers Killed
Insurgents also fired a rocket at the governor's building in Mosul, killing one woman and one man, as well as injuring four others, officials at the hospital said. Two Iraqi National Guard troops were killed on Mosul's airport road while trying to diffuse a roadside bomb, police said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=5&u=/ap/20050213/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

US troops to withdraw from Ramadi: Iraqi official
US forces will withdraw from the city of Ramadi in the restive Anbar province to pave the way for Iraqi security forces to take up responsibility in the country,an official said Sunday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/14/content_2576300.htm

Allawi Likely to Be Key in New Government
The Shiites, with their 48 percent share, will be forced to reach out to other groups to form a government, and Allawi is expected to play a key role in the negotiations and end up with an influential role. Allawi, 60, has been negotiating with other Iraqi forces, including Kurds and Sunnis, since shortly after the vote two weeks ago to ensure he won't be sidelined.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=2&u=/ap/20050213/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_allawi

February 12, 2005

2005-02-12T19:18:00.000Z

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| Today in Palestine! 12 - Feb - 2005 |
| www.TheHeadlines.Org |
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Other Voices: Presbyterians advocate peace
The actions of the Presbyterian Church had nothing to do with uniting or dividing the American-Jewish community, but rather were about a willingness to listen to and engage a people whose voices had been silenced. If anyone should understand what that is like, the Jewish people should.
http://www.dailypress.com/news/opinion/dp-63344sy0feb11,0,2399424.story?coll=dp-opinion-editorials

MK Elon reaches out to evangelicals
"The state hasn't done enough to reach out to our strategic partners, the Christian lovers of Israel," Elon said. "Whoever knows the Bible is aware that our role is to be a light unto the nations, so it is our responsibility to reach out to the Christians as part of our redemption process."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1108005883795&p=1078027574097

Erakat: West Bank deportees to return
Over the past two years, Israel has deported 56 West Bank residents to the Gaza Strip on security grounds. Another 13 Palestinians, who were involved in the siege of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity in April 2002, were deported to Europe. A senior Israeli source confirmed that an agreement had been reached but could not say exactly when the deportees would return.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/82343867-343E-44CA-AF6C-F51EB54BDD19.htm

Film portrays 'human face' of suicide bombers
Hany Abu-Assad, its Palestinian director, hoped there would not be protests. "The film is meant to open discussion, not tell you what you know," he told the Guardian. "I am giving a human face to the suicide bombers, but I am also critical... I was making an honest film. They are human beings. That is the reality."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1411346,00.html

IOF Turns 2 Houses into Military Barracks, Besieges Security Post in WB
Massive Israeli troops broke into the houses of Munzer Da'na and his brother Nasry, demanding the 26 family members to leave out shortly before they seized the two houses, located in the neighbourhood, turning them into military barracks, witnesses added.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2119

Gush Shalom: Sharon Seizes Lands and Talks about Peace
The statement demonstrated also that the so-called Israeli military commander of the central region, has ordered confiscation of vast areas of Palestinain lands owned by hundreds of families in the Touana village, south of the Hebron mountain area in the West Bank.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/english/details.asp?name=2545

PCHR Condemns an Attack by Armed Persons at Gaza Central Prison
PCHR strongly condemns an attack by a number of armed persons early Thursday morning against Gaza Central Prison, which left 2 prisoners dead and a number of members of the police injured. The attackers also kidnapped a third prisoner to the central Gaza Strip and tortured and killed him.
http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/PressR/English/2005/34-2005.htm

Palestinian exiles allowed back home as Abbas looks to confirm truce
They "will be allowed back in on condition they undertake to abandon violence and live under close Palestinian Authority (PA) supervision," an Israeli official said. According to Palestinian officials the deal is to be implemented within two weeks.
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=7010

Israeli, PA officials meet in TA to coordinate security plans
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz was meeting Saturday evening with Palestinian cabinet secretary Hassan Abu Libdeh, Palestinian Negotiations Minister Saeb Erekat, and senior PA security official Mohammed Dahlan, over transferring control of several West Bank cities to Palestinian Authority control, and other security metters.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/539330.html

Abbas Threatens to 'Use Force' Against Palestinian Armed Groups
In response to attacks organized against Jewish settlements on the Gaza Strip after the cease-fire reached last Tuesday (February 8), the Palestinian President has warned that force would be used against those not obeying the cease-fire.
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&trh=20050212&hn=16482

Abbas demands militant leaders in Gaza abide by cease-fire
Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian Negotiations Minister Saeb Erekat also met to discuss ways to jumpstart the peace process, in a bid to keep the momentum going after Tuesday's landmark summit.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=12635

Barghouti calls for talks between factions
The imprisoned former Fatah leaderin the West Bank Marwan Barghouti has called for intensified dialogue between the Palestinian Authority and various factions toreach a comprehensive national agreement on all issues including cease-fire with Israel.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/12/content_2573935.htm

Palestinian source: “ Israel agreed to cease assassinations outside P.A areas”
Letters detailing the agreement were delivered by the Palestinian delegation to Hamas and the Islamic Jihad leaders in exile, after the summit, the Palestinian Authority considered the pledge as a positive development.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week2/021205/agreed.htm

Security Coordinator Plans Regional Talks
Army Lt. Gen. William E. Ward, the new U.S. security coordinator for the Middle East, will make his first trip to the region later this month and confer with Arab leaders as well as Palestinian and Israeli security officials.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2005/02/11/national/w153154S44.DTL#

France demands list of Israeli firms selling arms to Ivory Coast
The companies involved told the Defense Ministry the equipment was supplied long before the events in question, and they did not view themselves responsible for the deaths of the French soldiers.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=539082&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Israeli FM to petition Britain, France to blacklist Hezbollah
Silvan Shalom will lobby British and French officials to support an Israeli proposal, submitted to the European Union earlier this week, which would see the Lebanese-based movement added to the EU "terrorist" blacklist at a debate on the issue by the end of the month.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=8&u=/afp/20050212/wl_mideast_afp/israelbritainfranceeuhezbollah_050212142220

Hizbollah Denies Helping Palestinian Uprising
Hizbollah denied on Saturday it was attempting to wreck an Israeli-Palestinian truce and said the Jewish state had accused the Islamic guerrillas in order to mask its own plans to destroy peace efforts.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=7610315

NATO chief urges alliance to prepare Mideast role
NATO should prepare for a role in supporting any future agreement to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said on Saturday. Any NATO presence would be conditional on there being a peace accord and on the agreement of both sides for the alliance to be involved. It may also require a U.N. mandate, he said.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L12231449.htm

The role of the Palestinian women in Local Government
In the 1970s, and for the first time within the Occupied Palestinian Territories, there emerged a distinct commitment to articulating women's concerns both separately and in connection with the national movement, and to working towards the establishment of an organized women's movement.
http://www.amin.org/eng/uncat/2005/feb/feb11.html

Palestinian refugees uncertain about Sharm el-Sheikh deal
"What could a poor Palestinian refugee like me say about the Sharm el-Sheikh Summit? Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak gave Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a way out of his dilemma. He was stuck and not able to control the intifada, so he wants the PA to do the dirty work," Mashaal said.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=12611

Abbas in Gaza to promote truce deal
He also said an official announcement from the groups is, however, not expected as they sought to understand the scope and depth of the truce deal. In late January Abbas deployed some 4000 security personnel across Gaza with "firm instructions" to prevent all operations.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/BFA6A4E5-90DA-42E4-9399-2128AAA7B098.htm

More on US Aid for Checkpoint Crossings
The modernization of checkpoints between Israel and the Palestinian Territories is now being ironically cast as a "humanitarian" project to be undertaken by the either the Israelis or the Palestinians as a way of improving the Palestinian quality of life and ease of communication. Needless to say, the American taxpayer is being asked to underwrite the cost.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3611.shtml

Canadian FM urges Hizbullah to abandon violence
Israel has said Hizbullah is the biggest threat to the current Middle East peace negotiations after it was accused of supporting militant groups in Palestine. But the group's deputy secretary general, Sheikh Naim Qassem, denied Hizbullah was involved in any activity outside Lebanese territories.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=12638

Lebanese president criticizes top U.S. official
The deputy assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, David Satterfield, has "no right whatsoever to assess the Lebanese presidency's ability to protect Lebanon's interests and maintain stability," Lahoud said in a statement issued by his office.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=539328&contrassID=1&subContrassID=8&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Calm restored in Maghar following Druze-Christian clashes
A brawl between Christian and Druze youths broke out Thursday after rumors spread that some Christian youths created photo images of Druze girls as nude models and posted them on the internet. On Friday and Saturday, the violence spread, gunshots were fired, shops and vehicles were vandalized and stone-throwing mobs clashed with each other.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/539323.html

Shiites and Kurds set to grab Iraqi presidency and premiership
"Looking at the partial results, it appears that the Sistani list will have more than 50 percent and that Kurdish parties will come second," said Sunni politician Saad Abdel Razzak. "They should therefore share the posts of president and prime minister between themselves."
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=7&u=/afp/20050212/wl_mideast_afp/iraqpolitics_050212133908

Iraq Election Results Available Tomorrow
Farid Ayar said on Al-Arabiya television Saturday that the commission would meet Sunday morning to finalize some unspecified issues and then announce the final figures in the afternoon. The results will be considered official after three days.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=2&u=/ap/20050212/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_elections

February 11, 2005

2005-02-11T02:10:00.000Z

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| Today in Palestine! xx - Feb - 2005 |
| www.TheHeadlines.Org |
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'I hope that I can see my son before I die'
Widad al-Attaba has been glued to the television news since the landmark Israeli-Palestinian summit, hoping that the revival of the peace process will lead to a reunion with her son Saeed who has spent the past 28 years in prison. ( Imprisoned by an Occupying Power )
http://dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=12587

Palestinian AG temporarily closes the “Egyptian Cement” file
Thursday evening, Palestinian Attorney General, Hussein Abu ‘Assy, announced in a press conference that he temporarily froze the “Egyptian Cement” file, which is a case against some Palestinian companies which imported cement from Egypt and sold it to Israel to be used in erecting the annexation wall.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week2/021105/Pal-Ag.htm

New Settlement in Beit Safafa: Further Isolation of Jerusalemites, further Settlement Expansion
Occupation Forces revealed a plan for a new settlement in Beit Safafa, southwest of Jerusalem city. The core of the existing settlement of Giv'at Hamatos will now be made up of a new settlement comprising 1,850 housing units, and the adding of about 7,500 settlers to East Jerusalem. In 1991 the Occupation excluded this area of Beit Safafa land from the Plan Scheme...
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/851.shtml

Israel to Annex more lands South of Hebron
Israeli soldiers handed residents form the village of Tarama, in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, military orders to annex their family farmlands in order to erect the annexation wall in that area. Annexing the land “for security claims” is one of the ways the Israeli army uses to annex more Palestinian lands and expand Israeli settlements and military camps.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week2/021105/south-Hebron.htm

Israel's obligations under IHL in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
The purpose of this brief is to review and explain the various obligations of Israel in the OPT. It assumes the full applicability of the laws of occupation to the situation and population in the OPT. For a discussion of Israeli objections to the applicability of the Geneva Conventions to the OPT, the reader should consult the policy brief on the Application of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) to the OPT.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EVIU-69HJU7?OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=ACOS-635PFR

Legal aspects of Israel's disengagement plan under International Humanitarian Law
The proposed disengagement raises a number of legal issues that will be reviewed in this note. These issues can be summarized as follows: - What is the current legal status of the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT)3 and what are the current responsibilities of Israel toward the Palestinian population in the OPT? - Who determines the end of occupation?...
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EVIU-69HK35?OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=ACOS-635PFR

Bir Shiva detainees suffering of harsh conditions
Also, soldiers are barring dozens of detainees from their visitation rights, detainees Shadi Fathi Matar, 24, from Tulkarem was sentenced to 24 consecutive years, suffering from health problems and is not receiving the needed medication or treatment.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week2/021105/Bir%20Shiva.htm

Sharm deal is no long-term solution
"I am not even talking about Jerusalem and the refugees, but lesser but real problems such as daily Israeli repression, land confiscation and the building of the apartheid wall," he said, referring to the illegal separation wall Israel is building in the West Bank.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D37DB4CA-9BE8-42B4-9F4B-320D05B1B6A7.htm

Jewish Groups Criticize Presbyterian Vote To Divest From Israel
the church does not plan a “blanket divestment” of its $7 billion in investment funds from companies operating in Israel. Rather, he said, it will target businesses that it believes bear particular responsibility for the suffering of Palestinians and will give them a chance to change their behavior before selling their shares. He cited as one possible example Caterpillar Inc.
http://www.wrmea.com/archives/Jan_Feb_2005/0501054.html

Abbas never won a popular mandate
However, drowned by the rhetoric from Egypt came a reminder of how inconsequential were both Abbas's election and the latest would-be milestone in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. On the same day, the Israeli High Court approved further construction of Israel's separation wall in occupied East Jerusalem.
http://dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=12595

Abbas to confront militant leaders
Mr Abbas is to confront militant leaders in the Gaza Strip in a bid to curb the violence. He will tell militant leaders that "there is only one Palestinian Authority and one leadership, and [he] will not accept any measures that can subject our national project to danger," cabinet secretary Hassan Abu Libdeh said.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1411002,00.html

Sharon gives Abbas more time to curb mortar attacks
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon adopted recommendations Thursday evening to give Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas more time to stop mortar fire before taking military action, the Jerusalem Post reported Friday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/11/content_2570558.htm

Dahlan demands Israel to release detainees imprisoned since 1993
Also, Dahlan said that Palestinian-Israeli committees will meet in the coming days to implement the Sharm Al-Sheikh understandings. The committee will also discuss changing the Israeli criterions concerning the release of the detainees, after Israeli agreed to changing the criterions for the first time since 1993.

Jordan awaits Israeli response to nomination of ambassador
"Jordan's Foreign Ministry sent Israel a letter of inquiry on nominating the new ambassador and we are waiting for a reply," Jordanian Foreign Minister Hani Mulqi was quoted as saying.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/11/content_2570576.htm

Palestinian leader poised for key ceasefire talks with militants
Hamas leaders insist they remained committed to an informal "cooling down" period agreed with Abbas. Nevertheless, they said they reserved the right to respond to Israeli actions as in Thursday's attacks on Jewish settlements in southern Gaza.
http://www.turkishpress.com/world/news.asp?id=050211165814.57zql4ak.xml

Israel to reopen Gaza border
Israel says it will soon reopen its border with Gaza to Palestinian workers and merchants after the landmark meeting between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. In addition, Israel says it will let Gaza Palestinians visit relatives held in Israeli jails as a goodwill gesture.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/11/content_2569995.htm

'Referendum may erode US support'
Israel might lose ground in Washington if it carried out a disengagement referendum that would delay implementation of the plan, Israel's Ambassador to the US Danny Ayalon indicated Thursday, just two days after his boss, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, came out strongly in favor of the referendum.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1108005883222

Sharon ready to free Palestinians
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in an interview with Israeli newspaper Haaretz that he promised Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas the release of Palestinian militants at the Mideast summit in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt if Palestinian militants stop attacks during Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/11/content_2569984.htm

Israeli-Palestinian scurity talks postponed
The talks were aimed at consolidating a ceasefire agreed by the Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Tuesday. It said it was avenging the death of a Palestinian man who came under fire from a settlement in Gaza on Wednesday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/11/content_2569993.htm

Right-wingers assault Netanyahu
Mr Netanyahu voted in parliament in favour of the withdrawal. He was surrounded at a wedding party, had objects thrown at him and the tires of his car were slashed. His bodyguards ushered him away and he was not hurt.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4256953.stm

Needed for success in the Mideast - By: Daoud Kuttab
While a comprehensive solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict should be the goal for all parties, a more practical approach would be to try and accomplish smaller, more manageable success stories. Success will not happen until the daily lives of Palestinians and Israelis is given top priority.
http://www.amin.org/eng/daoud_kuttab/2005/feb11.html

Why was this summit different?
Two days later, on a Saturday night, several journalists were invited to meet a "senior political source" in the Ministry of Defense office in Tel Aviv. The official pulled out a piece of paper and read his notes from the summit in a bass voice. He expressed satisfaction with Mubarak and Hussein's understanding of the risks inherent in terror and their willingness to convey these feelings to Arafat.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/539064.html

Back to the era of brawn
The Yom Kippur War, the maturation of the Israeli nuclear option, and the rise of an American hegemony combined by the spring of 1974 to make the sides change their views. On the Israeli side, Dayan, together with most of the public, moved to the side of those who preferred peace to Sharm el-Sheikh, while Arab leaders realized that only through agreements would they repossess the territories.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/538394.html

Getting to no you
The actual practice: The sides come together with no real desire, only so as not to rile the Americans. Everyone knows that Israel is not really capable of giving up the settlements and is unwilling to return to the 1967 lines, while the Palestinians are totally unwilling to forgo the right of return and half of Jerusalem.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/538910.html

France demands list of Israeli firms selling arms to Ivory Coast
The demand, which indirectly places responsibility on Israeli companies for the death of French soldiers on a peace-keeping mission, was apparently raised by the French Embassy's military attache or a representative of its intelligence agencies in talks with Defense Ministry officials.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=539082&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Hezbollah curses UN call for it to lay down arms
Hezbollah called on the Lebanese to help "bury" a United Nations resolution demanding the Islamic group disarm and it's Syrian backers quit Lebanon, and predicted it would not succeed without their support.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/539308.html

AG orders crackdown after Netanyahu harassed
Police in Rishon Lezion have detained a 17-year-old Netanya resident who is suspected of being one of the activists who shouted in Netanyahu's direction. It remains unclear whether the youth was one of those involved in vandalism.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/539211.html

Rights group says US killed detainees
Morton Sklar, the organisation's executive director, said there were legal memorandums issued at the highest level in the US Department of Justice and the US Department of Defence "justifying and encouraging the use of torture as a military necessity in time of war". The human rights group said that at least 37 detainees had been executed by torture during interrogations.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A8A92EC0-B0E3-4958-9D3F-10AF0D5A46C6.htm

Despite falling out with U.S., Chalabi still a player in the new Iraq
He gained fame as the leader of the Iraqi National Congress, an exile group, and lobbied hard for the Bush administration to invade Iraq. The INC supplied defectors to U.S. intelligence who provided what turned out to be phony or exaggerated evidence of Iraqi weapons programs, which President Bush used to justify the war.
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/10858017.htm

February 10, 2005

2005-02-10T01:07:00.000Z

//------------------------------------------------\\
| Today in Palestine! 10 - Feb - 2005 |
| www.TheHeadlines.Org |
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Buying the State of Israel
The JNF purchased the land from the state starting in 1949 and early 1950. Then prime minister David Ben-Gurion initiated the sale of land to the JNF to prevent any possibility of international pressure forcing Israel to restore it to the Palestinian refugees.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/538420.html

Palestinians continue nonviolent resistance to Israeli Apartheid Wall
The Israeli High Court froze construction of the Apartheid Wall for four months in the regions of Sulfit and Askaka, but occupation authorities went back to construction a week ago, applying plans for the Apartheid Wall despite the decision to halt. The Israeli occupation government is trying to building the Apartheid Wall around its settlement blocs such as Ariel and Kdumim between Nablus and Qalqiliya.
http://www.palestinenet.org/english/archive2005/feb/week2/090205/9febwall.htm

Palestinian shot dead by gunfire near Gaza settlement
Gunfire from the Atzmona settlement in the Gaza Strip killed a Palestinian man Wednesday, in the first conflict-related fatality since Israel and the Palestinians declared a truce a day ago, Palestinian security officials said.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/538293.html

Second Palestinian killed after summit
Aljazeera's correspondent in Ram Allah reported that a Palestinian was killed on Thursday when occupation forces opened fire on the car he was driving in Wadi al-Haramiya neighbourhood near the West Bank city of Ram Allah .
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/72A72EC3-EEE7-47B8-ACF2-6CDCB64F672D.htm

More mortars fired in Gaza as Abbas orders forces to stop attacks
Three more mortar shells were fired by Palestinian militants at a settlement in the Gaza Strip in another act of defiance against a new ceasefire pledge, Israeli military sources said. The fresh salvo came after around 30 mortars and rockets were fired at the main Gush Katif settlement bloc in the early hours
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1503&ncid=1503&e=9&u=/afp/20050210/ts_afp/mideastunrest_050210122651

Abbas fires three top commanders after attacks
PA officials said on condition of anonymity that Abbas dismissed Brigadier General Abdel Razek al-Majaydeh, public security chief for the West Bank and Gaza, national police chief Saeb al-Ajez and Omar Ashour, commander of the security forces in the southern Gaza Strip. Also, several lower-ranking officers lost their jobs. ( Israel is fine with their kiillings! )
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/538438.html

Prisoners slated for release gathered in Ketziot
According to the Israeli-Palestinian agreement, the prisoners to be released are from all Palestinian organizations, although most of them belong to the Fatah movement, the political faction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week2/021005/prisoners.htm

The PA condemns Israeli measures to "silence the voices of truth"
Anna Nillson from Sweden and Anna Lenna Di Govani from Italy are the latest in a growing number of human rights volunteers that Israel has denied entrance to as a way of preventing them from entering the West Bank and Gaza. The Palestinian Government issued a statement early this week "condemning Israeli occupation measures which aim to silence the voices of truth".
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/palsolidarity/message/1133

Israel freezes plan to build Gaza trench
Military planners last month asked Israel's attorney general for permission to destroy as many as 3,000 Palestinian homes to build the trench on a volatile patrol road near the Rafah refugee camp. The request drew immediate condemnations from the Palestinians.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1108005880291

State must pay damages to Palestinian said hurt by IDF in 1991
Dahar sued the state and an IDF captain identified only as Capt. Yoav... the captain commanded troops at the scene when Dahar was shot in the head by a rubber bullet while he was traveling in a car in Jenin during the first intifada. Dahar was hospitalized with serious injuries and lost his ability to speak... (& rremaining 99,999 of injured then? )
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=538934&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Gaza children receive school kits under UNICEF education plan
“There are many children in schools affected by the conflict or in marginalized areas where basic educational supplies are really needed,” said Dan Rohrmann, UNICEF's Special Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory. “The children are very committed to pursuing education and we would like to ensure that the commitment is supported through the provision of these basic materials.”
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=13286&Cr=Palestine&Cr1=

Weekly Report: On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
This week, 4 Palestinian civilians, including a child, were killed by IOF. Human rights violations perpetrated by IOF included incursions into Palestinian areas, indiscriminate shelling and total closure imposed on Palestinian communities. IOF have also continued to construct the annexation wall inside the West Bank territory.
http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/2005/10-02-2005.htm

Sharon promised Abbas to free more prisoners with `blood on their hands'
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Wednesday that he promised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during the Sharm el-Sheikh summit that he would increase the number of Palestinian prisoners with "blood on their hands" who will be released if the disengagement passes smoothly.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week2/021005/blood-on-hand.htm

Palestinian gunmen break into prison, kill two prisoners
The three inmates killed Thursday had been awaiting trial for their involvement in two separate shooting deaths in the Bureij refugee camp. Thursday's attackers were members of the families of the two victims, police said.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2005/February/middleeast_February297.xml&section=middleeast

Abbas Meets Canadian FM
Qurie highly appreciated the sustained Canadian economic support to the Palestinian people and its efforts to revive the peace process as well as its sponsorship of the international working group on Palestinian refugees.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2117

Palestine Children's Relief Fund
Plastic surgery is a specialty in great need in the Middle East. There are too few, or in some areas no, plastic surgeons working in the areas most in need. As a result, the PCRF has been responding to this crisis by organizing, sponsoring and sending plastic surgery missions to the region.
http://www.pcrf.net/medical/plastic.html

Sharon: no referendum on pullout; will put an end to threats
Speaking to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Sharon accused that calls for the referendum are meant to prevent the pullout from taking place, confirming that he intends to put an end to the wave of incitement and threats, especially inside the Likud party.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week2/021005/no-referundum.htm

A shameful kind of Zionist
Take for example the "proper Zionist decision" regarding the theft of the property of West Bankers who are defined as "absent" from their lands inside East Jerusalem. The Israeli government drew the rusty weapon used by the two-year-old state to take over millions of dunam of abandoned property and decided to resume use of the law to continue "redeeming the land."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/538398.html

Don't help Israel by undermining Mahmoud Abbas' peace moves
The policies advanced by Abbas are based on an assumption that, faced with overwhelming Israeli force and the unconditional support of the United States for the Sharon government, the Palestinians had no other choice but to fully align themselves with the demands of the Bush administration and the international community, and hope for the best.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=12550

Prisoners hold the key
"We told our Egyptian brothers that we will observe a de facto ceasefire for a period of time pending the unmasking of the Israeli position on the paramount issue of the prisoners," said Mahmoud Zahar, Hamas's political leader in Gaza, following his meeting with the Egyptian delegation in Gaza on Monday night.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/729/fo5.htm

Congressman: Oil-rich Arab states should match U.S. aid to PA
The senior Democrat on the House International Relations Committee said Thursday he would condition U.S. aid to the Palestinians on oil-rich Arab "deadbeats" making good on their own promised contributions.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=538940&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

U.S. calls in Syrian envoy, hints at sanctions
The U.S. State Department called in Syria's ambassador this week and warned him Damascus must stop insurgents from crossing into Iraq and end support for Palestinian militants or risk fresh U.S. sanctions, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=538425&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

HAMAS INCREASES MISSILE PRODUCTION
Israeli military sources said Hamas has used Israel's ceasefire pledge to rebuild its military capabilities. The sources said this includes production of the Kassam-class short-range missiles, anti-tank rockets and mines.
http://www.menewsline.com/stories/2005/february/02_11_1.html

PM asked not to name Yuval Diskin as Shin Bet chief
The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel is asking Prime Minister Ariel Sharon not to appoint Yuval Diskin as head of the Shin Bet internal security service because the previous security service deputy chief is an "advocate of targeted killings."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/538358.html

Refusenik officers appeal dismissals from command posts
Five Israel Defense Forces reserve officers who announced their intention to refuse to take part in the evacuation of settlements appealed Thursday to the High Court of Justice against the subsequent army decision to dismiss them from their command positions.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/538791.html

US helicopters end rebel occupation of Iraq police station
At least six police were killed in the rebel assault on the police station, while the rotting bodies of more than 20 drivers from a government food convoy were found in the same region south of the capital, dubbed the triangle of death, and a dozen people were killed in other violence.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=2&u=/afp/20050210/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_050210183733

Eason Jordan and the names of 12 journalists "deliberately targeted" by US troops
There's been a small storm of protest over CNN chief news executive Eason Jordan accusing the US military not only of killing 12 journalists, but doing it deliberately. That's the kind of statement that really requires a bit of preparation, so it's quite annoying that he seems to have bungled the job of defending something I suspect is true.
http://uruknet.info/?s1=2&p=9578&s2=10

Iraqi Army rids Baghdad hotspot of Americans
The U.S. 82nd Airborne will pass responsibility for Haifa Street over to Iraqi forces next Tuesday, so for a few days American and Iraqi troops are fighting insurgents side by side. "We're going to explain the territory, where our patrols go, and where the troublespots are," said Captain Eric Massey.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=12544

February 09, 2005

2005-02-09T01:03:00.000Z

//------------------------------------------------\\
| Today in Palestine! 09 - Feb - 2005 |
| www.TheHeadlines.Org |
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Army to annex lands south of Hebron
Abdul-Hadi Hantash, from the Palestine Land Defense Committee, expert of lands and settlements, said that the new military orders aim to confiscate the Palestinian lands in order to expand the Israeli illegal settlements, and erect new illegal outposts.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week2/020905/confiscate.htm

French, Israeli and Palestinian Campaign on Health Impact of Apartheid Wall
Three health organizations, Médecins du Monde-France , Physicians for Human Rights (PHR)-Israel and the Palestine Red Crescent Society, who have worked together as partners for many years, will launch of a joint campaign on the health impact of the Apartheid Wall at two press conferences.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2113

Analysis / Enough with the talk
Palestinian commentators wrote that construction of the separation fence, always dubbed "racist" in Palestinian reports, constitutes violence against them, like the checkpoints, roadblocks and all the other limits on their freedom of movement. In general, the occupation in its entirety is one big form of violence against them, the reports said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/537848.html

Whose fence is it anyway?
the High Court of Justice did not decide on the question of jurisdiction; rather it only ruled on the matter of relativity, in essence ruling that the argument heard in that context was partial. Therefore all the justices did was to refrain from disqualifying the state's argument that it is authorized to build a fence for security purposes.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/537881.html

Israelis shoot Palestinian after truce - witnesses
Witnesses said the 20-year-old from Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza was shot from nearby Atzmona settlement, which has an Israeli army garrison and many of whose residents are armed. ( Illegaly Settled, Armed fully Supported by Jewish State!! )
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L09666342.htm

There will be no Middle East peace without justice - By Robert Fisk
Never before have we been in such need of the caustic voice of the late Edward Said. So, the Palestinians will end their occupation of Israel. No more will Palestinian tanks smash their way into Haifa and Tel Aviv. No more will Palestinian F-18s bomb Israeli population centres. No more will Palestinian Apache helicopters carry out "targeted killings" - ie: murders - of Israeli military leaders. The Palestinians have promised to end all "acts of violence"...
http://www.robert-fisk.com/articles458.htm

Israel to release 350 Palestinians from Desert Prison
Sources from inside the prison, stated that the list included names from most of the resistance movements except Hamas. The prisoners rejected this list describing it as "discriminatory". They added that any release of the prisoners should be on fair basis.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week2/020905/release-350.htm

Child Prisoners Call for Ending their Suffering
Child prisoners of "Hasharon Talmond" Israeli prison called Tuesday on human rights organizations and the International Red Cross Society to immediately intervene to stop the Israeli cruel practices against them.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2114

IOF Arrests 2 Civilians, Continues Closure
In the neighborhood of Al-Mawasi, south of Khanyounis, Israeli soldiers stormed the house of Adel al-Doji and led him to an undisclosed area, witnesses told WAFA. In the meantime, security sources said that IOF blocked main roads connecting the cities in the Gaza Strip together.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2116

The blood of Iman al-Hamas
And the blood of Iman al-Hamas - on whose hands is her blood? With or without the confirmed killing, the soldiers in R.'s unit, with him or without him at the Girit outpost in Rafah, killed the 13-year-old schoolgirl who was walking on October 5 with her schoolbag in broad daylight.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/537863.html

Israel set to reopen Gaza border after truce summit
Israel's Defence Ministry said an initial 1,000 workers and hundreds of traders from Gaza would be issued permits in coming days to enter Israel, restoring an economic lifeline to the tiny, slum-ridden territory that has been largely severed because of violence since 2000. ( Surely not because of Demolitions, Massacres, and Destructions! )
http://www.reuters.co.za/locales/c_newsArticle.jsp;:420a0b4b:b978a4eab0cb463?type=topNews&localeKey=en_ZA&storyID=7579725

PLC gives Abbas 10 days to reshuffle cabinet
The Palestinian Legislative Council(PLC) gave on Wednesday a 10-day ultimatum to newly-elected leaderMahmoud Abbas to reshuffle the cabinet. "Arguments and disputes into the council's yard would continueif Qurei does not reshuffle the current cabinet and at least bringin new ministers," said Fattouh.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/10/content_2566583.htm

Israel wants Quartet meet on Palestinian economy
The Quartet promoting Middle East peace should meet with Israel and the Palestinians to draft a single strategy to set the Palestinian Authority's economy on its feet, Israel's Deputy Prime Minister said on Wednesday. ( Zionists are good in destruction only! )
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L09403522.htm

Hamas, Jihad to meet with Abbas before deciding on attacks
Hamas and Islamic Jihad are waiting until Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas updates them Wednesday about the previous day's Sharm el-Sheikh summit before they decide whether to halt attacks on Israeli targets.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=537779&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Mideast quartet to meet in London over aid to Palestine: Russian FM
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced Wednesday that the so-called Mideast quartet willhold a meeting in London on March 1 to discuss financial aid to Palestine, the Interfax news agency reported.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/09/content_2566507.htm

U.S. Leans to send PA reforms' envoy, not an overall peace one
The U.S. already announced the appointment of Army Lt. Gen. William Ward to help the Palestinians reorganize their competing security services and to promote security cooperation with Israel. ( Who'd cooperate with whom to offer security to Palestinians??? )
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week2/020905/us%20leans%20to%20send%20envoy.htm

Egyptian ambassador to return within 10 days
Egypt's ambassador will return to Israel in a week or 10 days, the Egyptian cabinet spokesman said Wednesday. Asked when Egypt would send back its ambassador to Israel, cabinet spokesman Magdi Radi told Reuters: "In a week or 10 days." He said the ambassador had yet to be selected.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/537820.html

US Congress recognizes PLO as terrorist entity
The US House of Representatives last month passed a bill in which the Palestine Liberation Organization was recognized as a terrorist entity and its members as being “engaged in terrorist activity.” The PLO was for decades acknowledged to be the world’s most dangerous terrorist organization, before being legitimized by Israel and the West at the White House Rose Garden in 1993.
http://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_6803.shtml

Abbas prepares to sell ceasefire declaration to Palestinian militants
Arriving back in Ramallah after the first top level Israeli-Palestinian meeting in more than four years, Abbas expressed satifaction with its results but admitted that the real challenge of implementing dual pledges to end the bloodshed still lay ahead.
http://www.turkishpress.com/world/news.asp?id=050209154552.fq7aqnp4.xml

EU to continue development aid to Palestine
The European Commission announced Wednesday it would offer 250 million euros ($320 million) in aid to the Palestinian state to rebuild its war torn infrastructure. The amount is unchanged from what was provided in 2004.
http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20050209-113031-5005r

PA officials say Hezbollah is trying to disrupt cease-fire
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is trying to recruit Palestinian militants for attacks on Israelis in order to sabotage Middle East peace efforts, senior Palestinian officials said Wednesday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/538269.html

Sharon Prepares to Meet with Abbas in Ramallah
An official from Ariel Sharon's entourage, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: "The Prime Minister told Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) during the summit in Sharm El-Sheikh that he is ready to meet with him in Ramallah."
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=hotnews&alt=&trh=20050209&hn=16402

Jewish Voice for Peace welcomes cease fire, calls for more action to end all forms of violence
Plitnick said, "Today is a day to celebrate the lives that will not be lost in the coming days. But if we want this cease-fire to last the American government needs to stay the course. It needs to stand by both the Palestinian and the Israeli people and push hard for the dismantling of the wall, and for the Gaza withdrawal to be replicated on the West Bank."
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3606.shtml

Full text of Sharon's Sharm address
We must all make a commitment not to agree to a temporary solution, not to allow violence to raise its head, but to act together, determinedly, to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure, to disarm and subdue it once and for all. Only by crushing terror and violence will we build peace. ( I wonder who'd disarm and subdue Israel considering US use of VETO )
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1107919263383

Requiem for a referendum
Yasser Arafat died on November 11, but he was finally buried yesterday at the Sharm summit. At an elegant, focused and businesslike ceremony, the bloody Al-Aqsa intifada, which he sparked, was also interred. A closing celebration would have been preferable to an opening one yesterday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/537851.html

2004 immigration figures are lowerst since 1989
According to the figures, the number of immigrants who arrived in Israel the previous year was 10 percent higher. The 2004 figures are similar to numbers from the 80s, when the annual figures fluctuated between 9,000 and 20,000 new immigrants a year.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/538302.html

Background/ Sharon, Bush gamble on Abbas - this time, to win
Bush may also have much to gain this time around from a successful Abbas administration. If calm in the territories and PA reforms - matched by Israeli peace moves - translate into a peace process, the American way out of Iraq may be lit by the suddenly renewed prospect of Palestinian statehood.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=537248&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Palestinians want Abbas-Sharon summit to end suffering
"It could be the bad weather that withheld people here in Gaza from celebrating, but I can say that expectations and hopes are riding high here, and people are waiting to see good actions on theground," said Salem Helles, a Palestinian student in Gaza.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/09/content_2563635.htm

“We dealt with Rabin, now we will deal Sharon”
Graffiti, ostensibly written by right wing Jewish groups in Ra'nana, in Tel Aviv, threats Sharon with the same “treatment given to Rabin', “i.e. assassination”. The graffiti describes Sharon as a “traitor to the Jewish state“.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week2/020905/deal-Sharon.htm

Stories from Fallujah
"One story is of a young girl who is 16 years old," he says of one of the testimonies he video taped recently, "She stayed for three days with the bodies of her family who were killed in their home. When the soldiers entered she was in her home with her father, mother, 12 year-old brother and two sisters. She watched the soldiers enter and shoot her mother and father directly, without saying anything."
http://electroniciraq.net/news/1861.shtml

February 08, 2005

2005-02-08T02:16:00.000Z

//------------------------------------------------\\
| Today in Palestine! 08 - Feb - 2005 |
| www.TheHeadlines.Org |
\\------------------------------------------------//

Apartheid Wall prevents rain water from draining, Qalqiliya homes flood
Bilal Al Bas, living in the western neighborhood of the city, swam with his family out the second floor windows of their house. The waters flooded the first floor due to the newly constructed Apartheid Wall. Now the natural drainage route for the rainy season waters is blocked by the Wall that not only towers into the sky, but digs deep into the earth as well.
http://www.palestinenet.org/english/archive2005/feb/week1/070205/7febflood.htm

High Court: Gov't can resume constructing fence segment
The court had earlier issued an interim injunction freezing the construction until it reached a decision on a petition submitted by residents of Biddu and Beit Surik, villages near the planned route. But on Tuesday the court canceled much of the injunction, allowing construction to continue in parts of the segment in question.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/537751.html

Mara'ba: Qalqilia Lands Threatened by Israeli Settlement
Mr. Mara'ba pointed out that the Jayous town, to the east of Qalqiliam has been witnessing demarcation and bulldozing behind the wall, just to build a new settlement called Tsufim, to the north of the town.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/english/details.asp?name=2492

Amandla Ngawethu! South Africa and Palestine compared
Years later South Africans that were involved in the anti-apartheid struggle paid visits to the occupied Palestinian territories. They have remarked that the situation in Palestine is in many respects far worse than what they faced during the anti-apartheid struggle.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3604.shtml

IOF Arrests Two Citizens, Storms School in WB
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested Tuesday two Palestinian citizens and stormed a secondary school in two separate attacks in the West Bank (WB), witnesses and Palestinian local sources said.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2108

INSTANT VIEW-Israel, Palestinians declare end to violence
"I thought that the Palestinians had learned their lesson and wouldn't accept the continuation of the building of (Israel's West Bank) wall and the settlement policy just to accept a ceasefire and go back to 'normal' negotiations while realities on the ground are being changed."
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L08695785.htm

What is the International Solidarity Movement?
Israelis have targeted ISMers for assassination. An Israeli sniper shot Tom Hurndall. "Accident," the murderer said. An American-made bulldozer from Caterpillar in Peoria slaughtered Rachel Corrie. Both of them died just days before I returned to the Middle East in 2003 to enter Baghdad and see the latest handiwork of the American imperium.
http://politicalgateway.com/main/columns/read.html?col=242

Amnesty International opposes the practice of administrative detention, and is calling for an end to the practice
Twenty eight-year-old Riyad Sadi ‘Abd al-Hamid ‘Ayyad has been in detention without charge or trial for more than three years. He was arrested by Israeli soldiers on 1 January 2002 while on his way to work in Gaza City. He was taken to a prison in Ashkelon, Israel, where he was interrogated for more than 70 days, during which he was reportedly subjected to torture and ill-treatment.
http://web.amnesty.org/pages/isr-action-detention

500 detainees to conduct hunger strike on Tuesday
At least 500 detainees in Ohali Qidar detention Bir Shiva announced on Monday evening that they will conduct hunger strike on Tuesday, in protest to the Sharm Al-Sheikh summit which will be held before arriving an agreement concerning the detainees.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week2/020805/500d.htm

Commander “in confirm kill” scandal released
The father of R charged the military police on Monday of “marking his son as the target and framework of the investigation”. The lawyer of R said that he believes that the case will be dropped, and that he expects that the indictment will be cancel.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week2/020805/confirm-kill.htm

Sharon Invites Abbas to Ranch in Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Tuesday invited Mahmoud Abbas to his ranch in southern Israel, and the Palestinian leader accepted, a senior Israeli official said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=10&u=/ap/20050208/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_sharon_abbas

Quotes from landmark Mideast summit
"In my meeting with Mr. Abbas today, I have reached an agreement where the Palestinians will cease all of their actions of violence against the Israelis everywhere and in parallel, Israel will cease its military operations against Palestinians in all locations." ( Not to stop: Land Grab, Checkpoints, Apartheid Wall...? )
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?ID=37086

Israel to free 500 Palestinians next week-ministry
Israel will release 500 Palestinian prisoners next week, Israel's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday, hours after Israeli and Palestinian leaders declared a ceasefire aimed at ending four years of violence.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L0832322.htm

PA official: IDF to quit five West Bank cities within three weeks
Israel Defense Forces troops will complete their handover of five West Bank cities to Palestinian control within three weeks, Palestinian negotiator Hassan Abu Libdeh said Tuesday, releasing a timetable for the first time.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/537369.html

Envoys gather in London to prepare for Palestinian summit
High-level diplomats gathered in London on Tuesday to prepare for an international conference next month, which aims to help the Palestinian government build democratic institutions. Officials from the European Union, the United States, the United Nations and Britain were scheduled to take part in closed-door talks with Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayad.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/537734.html

Rice: “leveling the settlements in not a good idea”
Also, Maariv said that “Israeli seeks to leave this dirty work to the P.A because the expense of leveling of the homes is very high, might endanger the lives of Israeli soldiers, and in order to avoid displaying Israel as the country which levels the homes instead of having these homes inhibited by Palestinian residents.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week2/020805/leveling.htm

Uraiqat: US should follow road map
The Palestinian negotiation minister said the US must push Israel to negotiate on the main issues and help give peace a chance to succeed. Rice is on a three-day tour of the region, having met Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon over the weekend and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas in the West Bank later on Monday.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E89167AA-C6D7-4074-AA22-FD2DCB256ED2.htm

Unauthorized Outposts to be removed only after Pullout
Israel has committed to the U.S. to remove the unauthorized outposts two years ago, however, Israel did not fulfill this commitment. Settlers have strongly protested the removal of some outposts and rebuilt some of them.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week2/020805/outposts-pullout.htm

Knesset committee passes disengagement bill
The Knesset Finance Committee passed the Evacuation-Compensation Bill by one vote on Tuesday. The tie was broken by MK Mohammed Barakeh (Hadash), who decided at the last minute to vote in favor of the pullout bill instead of abstaining, as he had said he planned to do.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/537372.html

Israel disappointed as Egypt, Jordan delay return of envoys
Counter to earlier hopes in Israel, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Abdullah, the King of Jordan did not announce at Tuesday's summit in Sharm al-Sheikh that they would return their ambassadors to Tel Aviv after more than four years of absence. ( Interesting, period same as that of Israels' latest crimes against humanity)
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/537765.html

Sharon visit stirs protests in Egypt
University students staged demonstrations on campuses across the country and the journalists' syndicate organised a two-hour sit-in at its headquarters in downtown Cairo to register disapproval at the visit.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E8A7A116-A965-48DF-B2A5-E9FF3FCF1F10.htm

Fatah begins hunt for Arafat's missing millions
The search, aimed at giving Fatah the financial muscle to mount campaigns against the radical Islamist group Hamas in this year's elections, is part of a broader pursuit by Palestinian organisations of the suspected fortune Arafat stashed away.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/9db96484-7880-11d9-9961-00000e2511c8.html

Arafat's $200m gamble pays off
The investment was recommended by Mohammad Rachid, an Iraqi Kurd who became one of Mr Arafat's main financial advisers in the 1990s. Some of the money was transferred to Orascom from Lombard Odier, the Swiss bank where Mr Arafat and Mr Rachid were signatories of a secret bank account into which was transferred more than $200m from the Palestinian Authority over four years.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/acf536b6-7953-11d9-89c5-00000e2511c8.html

World leaders hopeful, optimistic following Sharm summit
Here in Sharm el-Sheikh it was certainly an important day and a stepping stone for both peoples," Baker concluded. Meanwhile, the Palestinian militant group Hamas will wait to see Israel's next move but will not be bound by Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire declarations made at summit, the group's representative in Lebanon said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/537779.html

We have an opportunity
I think it would be a big mistake if the Palestinians have not already started the discussion with the Israelis on Israeli implementation of their part of the roadmap. The Palestinians have already started implementing their own commitments, and it would be unthinkable for the Palestinians to be doing so without the Israelis doing so as well.
http://www.bitterlemons.org/issue/pal2.php

Wrestling with rules of disengagement
But Palestinian militants say they have no intention of giving up their weapons until Israel has demonstrated its good faith by releasing Palestinian prisoners and easing the occupation. Sources close to the Palestinian Authority say that an Israeli insistence on disarming militants would lead to a quick return to hostilities.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1408056,00.html

Sharm al-Shaikh: Another false dawn?
Many Palestinians saw the talks as being lopsided in Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's favour. They said that while Palestinians agreed to a ceasefire with Israel, Sharon's government did not give Palestinians any concessions on the construction of settlements and a separation wall in the West Bank, or on the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3037BD12-8D05-4A5E-B943-4595695F43D0.htm

Analysis / The intifada's graduation party
The promise of a Palestinian state will be held out as collateral for a quiet, coordinated withdrawal. This is Sharon's order of events: after the summit, a period of calm, to enable the Palestinian Authority to begin dismantling the "terrorist" infrastructure and Israel to prepare for the disengagement. ( American's were Terrorists while fighting British Occupation! )
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/537324.html

Far-right faction fails to win seats in Likud secretariat
In a joint statement published Sunday, Livnat and Livni voiced "concern about another step to accumulate power within the Likud on the part of Jewish Leadership - a group that just a week ago called for refusal [to obey orders to evacuate settlements] and one of whose candidates was convicted in the past of terror activities.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=537364&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Palestinian sentenced to 20 years for “attempting to avenge the assassination of Yassin”
The Israeli central court in Ten Aviv sentenced of Monday a Palestinian to twenty years after convicting him of attacking three Israelis with an axe last year in Ramat Gan , after receiving news about the assassination of Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, the spiritual leader of Hamas.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week2/020805/20-years.htm

Kurds gain on Shiites, as new violence kills at least 27 in Iraq
With 4.4 million votes now counted, the Shiite coalition has won slightly more than half and the Kurdish Alliance slightly less than a quarter, leaving the group headed by interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi trailing with 13 percent. Iraq's Independent Electoral Commission said it expects a final result to be available later this week...
http://uruknet.info/?s1=2&p=9523&s2=08

February 07, 2005

2005-02-07T01:15:00.000Z

//------------------------------------------------\\
| Today in Palestine! 07 - Feb - 2005 |
| www.TheHeadlines.Org |
\\------------------------------------------------//

Israel: Hague ruling on Wall is irrelevant
This opinion would be included in the replay to the Israeli High Court of Justice, which requested an official state stand on the Hague ruling, to be submitted next week. "The international court examined a very different wall route than the one currently planned, and even more changes are being submitted for cabinet approval next week" the statement says.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week1/020705/Israel%20Huge%20ruling%20irreleveant.htm

Teen sues Canada over citing 'Jerusalem, Israel' as birthplace
In the place on the form for his place of birth, he filled in "Jerusalem, Israel," but the clerk returned it to him, with "Israel" scratched out. Like other Canadian citizens born in Jerusalem, Veffer's passport does not state his country of birth. This is Canadian government policy. Veffer is now trying to change the situation.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=536798&contrassID=1&subContrassID=9&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Outposts to go only after pullout, official says
Israel will evacuate illegal settlement outposts in the West Bank only after implementation of the disengagement from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank, a senior security official said Monday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/537292.html

Supporting Acadmic Freedom in Israel
We have strong reservations about the attempt being made by the University Prosecutor and the Dean of Humanities Professor Yossi Ben Artzi to revoke Dr Pappe's tenure and fire him because he made harsh statements sent by e-mail about individual professors and has allegedly defamed the institution as well as asked for intervention of some professional associations.
http://www.petitiononline.com/pappe/petition.html

Israel reopens Karni passage to Gaza
The Karni passage is the main commercial passage for goods moving between Israel and the Gaza Strip and Israel on Monday opened the passage in one way allowing goods to go from Israel into Gaza while the opposite way still remains closed.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/07/content_2559993.htm

A New Palestinian Cabinet within 24 hours
Palestinian media source reported some names of ministers such as, Naser Yousef for Interior Ministry, Nasser Al-Kidweh for the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Nabil Amr for the Ministry of Information and Mohammad Dahlan for the Cabinet Affairs.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week1/020705/new-cabinet.htm

Revlin to Gush Katif settlers: “It's Over”
Members of the Israeli Foreign and Security committee met with dozens of settlers in the Gush Katif settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip, head of the Knesset, Reovin Revlin, who is known of his opposition to the disengagement plan, said that “disengagement is now a reality”.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week1/020705/Revlin.htm

Abbas: “We arrived to an agreement with the Palestinian factions”
Abu Mazin stated that the Palestinians carried with them to Sharm Al-Sheikh clear demands, such as halting the construction of the annexation wall, and to stop construction settlements in the Palestinian areas. Condoleezza Rice said that the States is willing to aide the P.A in restoring security and law in the Palestinian areas.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week1/020705/Abbas1.htm

Palestinian international contacts to keep Hansen UNRWA commissioner
According to sources, which requested anonymity, Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Nabil Shaath has recently succeeded in convincing his European counterparts not to nominate a European successor for Hansen. The Europeans have agreed not to nominate a successor for Hansen in response to the Palestinian demand...
http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=702756

Mid-East peace talks at White House
Condoleezza Rice today announced a top-level Middle East peace summit at the White House. The US secretary of state said that Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon and new Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas would attend the talks in the spring. Ms Rice added: "This is a moment for hope."
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/16434030?source=Evening%20Standard

Rice commits US to Middle East peace
She also said that Palestinians should wage "an effective fight against terrorism". Criticised for too little involvement in Middle East peace efforts in his first term, US President George Bush sent Rice to the region to back up his pledge to press harder for an end to the conflict.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/831F223F-1A6E-4D29-9940-A5653C27C9B6.htm

Rice: 'Palestinian Authority Taking Right Steps'
Ms. Rice was speaking in the West Bank city of Ramallah after talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Monday. She said the United States is pleased to note that the Palestinian Authority is taking steps in the right direction.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-02-07-voa5.cfm

Palestinians look forward to dialogue with US
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, senior advisor to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, asserted on Monday that the Palestinians are looking forward to a new start of dialogue on a high level with the United States.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/07/content_2559995.htm

Security officials fear attempt on Abbas' life ahead of summit
Israeli and Palestinian security officials have expressed concern that radical militant groups would attempt to assassinate Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to undermine Tuesday's Sharm al-Sheikh summit, Israel Army Radio reported Monday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/07/content_2559730.htm

Palestinian ceasefire not enough: Israel FM
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said a ceasefire by militant groups was not enough and demanded that the Palestinian leadership move decisively to disarm them once and for all. ( When are Illegal Settlers to be dissarmed ? )
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1514&ncid=1312&e=8&u=/afp/20050207/wl_mideast_afp/mideastisraelfrance_050207142430

Palestinian official cautious over outcome of Sharm summit
"The summit will be a suitable place for announcing decisions and agreements including a mutual ceasefire with Israel," said Dahlan. "This time there will be witnesses to observe this announcement."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/08/content_2560158.htm

Army general chosen as Mideast security point man
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice chose an army infantry officer who briefly served at the US embassy in Cairo as her point man for helping to monitor compliance with security commitments made by Palestinians and Israelis.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1514&ncid=1312&e=6&u=/afp/20050207/wl_mideast_afp/mideastusward_050207163041

Hamas rejects US proposal to appoint security coordinator
"Turning the Palestinian issue to a security case is supporting the Israeli logic and the Israeli agenda," said Youssef, adding "the Palestinians want not only security but also their rights, an independent country as well as the refugees' right of return."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/07/content_2559988.htm

Katsav unlikely to visit New Zealand amid strained ties
Prime Minister Helen Clark on Monday ruled out a visit by President Moshe Katsav to New Zealand next month, saying diplomatic relations were still strained following a passport fraud case involving suspected Mossad spies.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/536846.html

Russia pins hopes on Mideast summit
Russia said the planned summit between Israeli and Palestinian leaders stood a greater chance of success because it was being hosted by regional power Egypt and attended by Jordan's King Abdullah II.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1514&ncid=1312&e=4&u=/afp/20050207/wl_mideast_afp/mideastsummitrussia_050207163611

Annan: Poverty alleviation for Palestinians a key to peace
Alleviating poverty among Palestinians is a "humanitarian imperative" that would contribute significantly to bringing about peace in the Middle East, the UN secretary-general said Monday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=537291&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Hamas enters the political arena
Indeed, the Palestinian public sees the Hamas activists and leaders as much more modest and honest people than the Fatah activists. However, the residents of the West Bank and Gaza are well aware of the differences between the political positions of Hamas and Fatah, and those who vote for the Hamas candidates understand that indirectly they are also lending their support to a tougher stand toward Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/536434.html

A ruse called referendum
The demand for a referendum on the disengagement plan has been raised again and again - not because of a true democratic need, but because the settlers, as always, have managed to put their cause at the top of the public agenda.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/536839.html

Can we be optimistic about Sharm?
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is, as usual, adamant that the Palestinians first address the security issue: ending the terror, dismantling its infrastructure and implementing reforms in the Palestinian regime - demands that the prime minister's adviser, Dov Weissglas, once thought to be unattainable and saw as an attempt to turn the Palestinians into Finns.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/536824.html

A revolution, in theory
The decision to hold Fahima until the completion of her trial is unreasonable and disproportional, and suggests that in the matter of stripping an individual's freedom before he is convicted, the constitutional revolution still exists only on paper.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/536435.html

Background/ Sharon, Bush gamble on Abbas - this time, to win
Sharon could depend on then-PA chairman Yasser Arafat to undermine any reforms Abbas might undertake. He could also trust the powerful Hamas leaders Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz Rantisi to literally blow to pieces any chance for PA security control over the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=537248&displayTypeCd=1&sideCd=1&contrassID=2

Unrest again in the Likud
On the eve of critical votes in the Knesset and cabinet on evacuation-compensation, on the actual evacuation and on the 2005 State Budget, there is once more rumbling in the Likud. Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says in private conversations that he will vote against the disengagement. Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom says that he is still undecided.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/536838.html

In Mideast, Rice tests diplomatic waters
But beneath the fanfare lie daunting differences both over short-term steps and longer-term goals that highlight the challenges facing US involvement, and at least in the Palestinian view, underscore the importance of heightening it.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0207/p07s01-wome.htm

Mideast crisis in Manhattan
"There are islands of anti-Semitism, and these islands are student campuses," said Sharansky, who has visited 26 American college campuses as part of his "Back to the Campus" initiative. "And all this is done in the name of academic freedom."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/537191.html

Shells hit north as test by weapons manufacturer goes awry
The test by the civilian weapons manufacturer was taking place in an Israel Defense Forces firing range north of Nahariya when it went wrong for reasons as yet unknown. The IDF itself had no involvement in the incident.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/537273.html

Insurgents Kill at Least 30 in Iraq
The deadliest attack came in Baqouba, where a car bomb exploded outside the gates of a provincial police headquarters, killing 15 people and wounding 17, police Col. Mudhahar al-Jubouri said. Many victims were there to seek jobs as policemen, al-Jubouri said.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=477948

Widow won't sling mud at Bucca G.I.s
The incident allegedly was organized by sergeants, and involved men and women assigned to guard Iraqi detainees transferred there from notorious Abu Ghraib prison, according to an Army report obtained by The News.
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/278577p-238671c.html

February 06, 2005

2005-02-06T01:13:00.000Z

//------------------------------------------------\\
| Today in Palestine! 06 - Feb - 2005 |
| www.TheHeadlines.Org |
\\------------------------------------------------//

Two Civilians Wounded in Gaza and a Boy Ran Over By Israeli Jeep
Eyewitnesses told IPC correspondent in the town of Doura, south of Hebron province, that an Israeli military jeep ran over 16-year-old boy Ayed Al Rajoub in the center of town. The witnesses asserted that the jeep deliberately ran over Al Rajoub...
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/english/details.asp?name=2441

Military court releases officer charged with killing Gaza girl
The IDF Southern Command's Military Court on Sunday decided to release Captain R., who is suspected of killing a 13-year-old girl in Rafah, southern Gaza, at point blank range. R. has been confined to an IDF base for the last two months, pending completion of the trial. (Good step for Just-Peace)
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/536760.html

MPA Calls for Releasing Palestinian Child Prisoners
Ministry of Prisoners Affairs (MPA) affirmed the necessity of releasing the Palestinian child prisoners in the Israeli prisons. In a press release issued Saturday the MPA called on the "concerned parties" to put the issue of the child prisoners on top of their schedules...
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2097

Parents fight to learn why Israeli sniper shot their son
Hurndall was hit in the forehead by a high-velocity bullet fired by an Israeli soldier as he worked as a peace activist in the Gaza Strip 20 months ago. The bullet entered cleanly enough, but then splintered into hundreds of tiny pieces. Hurndall never regained consciousness, dying nine months later and 2,200 miles away in a London hospital.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1401737,00.html

The two Palestinians Killed on Friday were unarmed
After a thorough combing, An Israeli army source said Saturday that the two Palestinians who were killed on Friday by Israeli soldiers near Neir Amm settlement were unarmed. Soldiers fired at two Palestinians who approached the security fence of the settlement, apparently seeking work.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week1/020605/unarmed%20the%20ones%20killed.htm

Immigration to Israel drops in 2004
Immigration to Israel fell by more than nine percent in 2004, led by a sharp drop in arrivals from the former Soviet Union, officials said Sunday. The Jewish Agency, the agency that deals with immigration, said 22,134 Jews moved to Israel in 2004 - down from 24,434 the previous year.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=536749&contrassID=1&subContrassID=9&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

IFH Calls for Improving Palestinian Prisoners' Conditions
The Vienna-based legal organization, International Friends of Humanity (IFH), called on Saturday the Israeli Defense Minister and the Israeli prisons service to improve detention conditions experienced by thousands of Palestinian prisoners inside various jails, prisons and concentration camps.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/english/details.asp?name=2438

Sharon, Abbas turn blind eye to wreckage of other Mideast peace bids
US President George W. Bush may have predicted last week that the goal of an independent Palestinian state is within reach, but neither Sharon nor Abbas have shown any desire to address the thorniest issues such as the plight of Palestinian refugees and the status of Jerusalem.
http://www.turkishpress.com/world/news.asp?id=050206034857.zt48jf1u.xml

Rice Says 'Hard Decisions' Await Israel
"We will ask of our partners and our friends here in Israel that Israel continue to make the hard decisions that must be taken in order to promote peace and help the emergence of a democratic Palestinian state," Rice said Sunday. Rice did not go into specifics.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article/article?f=/n/a/2005/02/06/national/w095510S21.DTL

U.S. draft law designates PLO officials as “terrorists”
The bill states that: "An alien who is an officer, official, representative or spokesman of the Palestine Liberation Organization is considered, for purposes of this Act, to be engaged in a terrorist activity." If adopted, the law would kill the hopes for the peace process in the Middle East.
http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=6969

Palestinian prisoners on talks agenda
The minister for prisoners' affairs, Hisham Abd al-Razaq, told Aljazeera on Sunday that the Palestinian Authority had not agreed to "Israel's criteria for selecting Palestinian prisoners". "The issue is still one of the controversial points between us and the Israeli side ... Israel's position with regard to these criteria needs to be more constructive.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D1152F67-1613-4C2F-A850-4AB68FD6F18E.htm

Rice urges Israel to avoid unilateral steps on J'lem
Israeli sources said Rice was referring to the government's decision from last summer to apply the absentee property law to tens of thousands of dunams (acres) of Palestinian property in East Jerusalem. Attorney General Menachem Mazuz last week instructed Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to order an immediate halt to the application of the law.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/536736.html

Calls to dissolve 'corrupt' PA cabinet
Fatah officials and Palestinian columnists and editors urged Abbas over the weekend to dismiss the cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, as a first step toward stemming widespread corruption.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1107575181588

Abbas meets PLO council
Top Palestinian official Nabil Abu Rudeineh said that the Palestinian Authority is expecting the visit of US secretary Rice to bring progress on issues under discussion between Israel and the Palestinians.
http://www.ndtv.com/template/template.asp?template=Palestine&slug=Abbas+meets+PLO+council&id=68052&callid=1

Fatah movement reissues call for truce with Israel
In a statement, the 124-member Fatah Revolutionary Council said its member militias would refrain from attacking Israeli civilians inside Israel, and would be ready for "a mutual ceasefire" in lands Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/536394.html

Mobarak might visit Israel after Sharm Al-Sheikh summit
Israeli military radio reported that the Egyptian president Hosney Mobarak might conduct his first official visit to Israel after Sharm Al-Sheikh summit next Tuesday. The Radio stated that Mobarak told some of his aides that he might accept an invitation which Sharon is expected to offer during the summit.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week1/020605/mobarak.htm

Report: Egyptian army to secure Gaza's Philadelphi route
A senior Egyptian official told the official state news agency on Saturday that Israel and Egypt will sign an agreement on Thursday enabling the Egyptian army to secure the Gaza border area adjacent to the Philadephi route.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=536376&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Knesset unlikely to vote on disengagement bill this week
Army Radio reported Sunday that the committee was considering adding an article to the bill compelling the prime minister to hold a national referendum on the disengagement plan before it could be implemented. A preliminary vote at the finance committee found that 10 members opposed the bill, while just eight support it.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/536745.html

Rice: U.S. Wants Help With Mideast Peace
The United States wants help from Turkey and other countries to "sustain the momentum" toward Middle East peace, and incitement to anti-Jewish violence and sentiment must end, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=1&u=/ap/20050206/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/rice_11

Israel to 'pray for failure'
Jerusalem - Israeli rabbis were planning on Sunday to hold special sessions in 100 synagogues to pray for the failure of this week's summit between prime minister Ariel Sharon and new Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas.
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1658266,00.html

Israeli DM declares suspension of manhunts, assassinations
The Israeli military operations against wanted Palestinian men have been temporarily frozen, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told the cabinet Sunday. Mofaz said he had approved the release of the jailed son of Fatah West Bank leader Marwan Barghouti... (Who was jailed for??? being son of the jailed leader! )
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/06/content_2556309.htm

Gaza and Jericho first - again
It used to be said that a meeting like this was important because of the very fact that it was being held, as if this were some type of cosmic event. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict can no longer allow itself to suffice with this type of meeting. The working assumption of the Sharm summit can no longer be that the sides convene only to write each other's test assignments again.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/536427.html

In Mideast, Rice tests diplomatic waters
The road map calls for the establishment of a viable Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel. "In Israel, there is concern that an American mediator will press Israel to help [Abbas] beyond what Sharon is willing, and will weaken the Israeli stance," wrote Aluf Benn in Haaretz in an analysis headlined "Condi go home."
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0207/p07s01-wome.html

Defense chiefs disagree with Dichter on approach to PA
The stance associated with Dichter - who is due to end his tenure at the Shin Bet in a few months - is much harder and calls for minimum gestures toward the Palestinians and retains the readiness for the assassination of potential Palestinian attackers.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=536647&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Dolan: `Less satisfied' with Mazuz's clearing of Sharon
"As to Mazuz's opinion (Attorney General Menachem Mazuz's decision to absolve the prime minister in the public sphere), in this matter I am less satisfied. There was room to phrase it differently, and I tried to make my contribution to the matter."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=536582&contrassID=1&subContrassID=4&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Israel returns five Egyptian infiltrators to Egypt
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the five, all aged in their 20s, crossed into Israel looking for jobs and were interrogated by Israeli authorities before being handed back to Egyptian authorities.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=536783&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

French FM urges Syria to stay out of Lebanese elections
Syria has been under increasing international pressure, led by the United States and France, to lessen its influence in Lebanon. Syria maintains an estimated 15,000 troops in Lebanon and remains the main political power broker in the country.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=536362&contrassID=1&subContrassID=8&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

The Abu Ghraib Scandal You Don't Know
Now, it emerges, there may be another dimension to Gus' story and certainly to the horrors of Abu Ghraib. In what amounted to a perversion of the traditional doctor's creed of "first, do no harm," the medical system at the prison became an instrument of abuse, by design and by neglect.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1025139,00.html

22 Iraqi Officers Killed Near Baghdad
Insurgents attacked a police station south of Baghdad under cover of darkness Sunday, killing 22 Iraqi police and soldiers, police said. Gunmen seized four Egyptians technicians in Baghdad in the second kidnapping of foreigners in the Iraqi capital within a week.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=2&u=/ap/20050206/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

Fresh threats to kill kidnapped Italian in Iraq
A second Iraqi Islamic group claimed on Sunday responsibility for the kidnapping of Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena and said she would be killed by Monday unless Italy withdrew its troops.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/07/content_2556496.htm

February 05, 2005

2005-02-05T17:24:00.000Z

//------------------------------------------------\\
| Today in Palestine! 05 - Feb - 2005 |
| www.TheHeadlines.Org |
\\------------------------------------------------//

Israeli authorities release Mervat Taha and her child
Thursday afternoon, Israeli authorities released Mervat Mahmoud Taha, from Jerusalem, after she spent nearly three years in Israeli jails, with her baby boy Wael, who she gave birth to while in detention, on February 2nd , 2002.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week1/020505/Mervat-Taha.htm

1000 Dunams to erect a wall around Ariel settlement
The Israeli authorities decided to erect a wall around Ariel settlement, the biggest settlement in the West Bank , inhibited by 18.000 settlers. Residents of Amateen, Dir Estia, Jensafout, and Al-Fondoq will lose thousands of Dunams of family farmlands if the wall is erected as planned by the Israeli government.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week1/020505/Ariel%20Settlement.htm

Hague Conference Considers Ways to Implement ICJ Ruling on Israel's Wall
Dr. Hajo G. Meyer, who fled from Germany to the Netherlands in 1939, at the age of 14, then survived 10 months in Auschwitz, discussed the use of anti-Semitism to frustrate open debate on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Citing Henry Kissinger's definition of terror—”any violence against civilians with the intent of breaking down society”—he described Israel's wall as a form of terror, saying it was not comparable to, but worse than, apartheid.
http://wrmea.com/archives/Jan_Feb_2005/0501012.html

Palestinians injured, Israeli and international activists detainedafter nonviolent demonstration in Hebron
One Canadian activist with the ISM was hit by Israeli soldiers in the head with the butt of a rifle and then punched in the face. Israeli soldiers launched tear gas and sound bombs. A number of Palestinians were treated for respiratory problems as a result. The Israeli military detained two ISM volunteers from Britain and Canada and five Israelis from the Anarchists against the Wall.
https://israel.indymedia.org/feature/display/1958/index.php

London Conference a Prelude to Academic Boycott of Israel
Support for the boycott is motivated by the terrible conditions created by the Israeli occupation and continued dispossession of the Palestinians. Furthermore, the failure of governments to effectively pressure Israel so that it will comply with international law means that it is up to civil society to act.
http://wrmea.com/archives/Jan_Feb_2005/0501015.html

The Schoolgirl Who “Needed to Be Killed”
“Captain R,” the company commander, who approached Iman—wounded, according to Palestinian witnesses, but alive and lying on the ground helpless—and first fired two shots into her at close range to “confirm the kill.” Then, according to IDF witnesses, he walked a short distance away, turned back, approached the child again and emptied the magazine of his automatic weapon into her body.
http://wrmea.com/archives/Jan_Feb_2005/0501009.html

Two arrested in Nablus
A local source in Nablus stated that at least twenty armored vehicles invaded Al0Shuhada junction area and Al-Qaryoun neighborhood in Nablus and conducted military searches o homes. Also, soldiers fired at dozens of homes in Bad Al-Shaha neighborhood and arrested Mohammad Hani Al-Qaddoumi, 19. (Reuters, AP, AFP... skipped it!)
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week1/020505/2-arrested.htm

2 Citizens Shot Dead, another Run Over, 4 Arrested
The IOF informed the Palestinian side that two citizens, Emad Abu Shallouf 18, and Mohammed al-Bahry 19 were shot dead, allover their bodies. Meanwhile, IOF furthered, for the second day running, blocking Salah el-Din route that links GS southern parts with its northern ones, denying hundred of citizens' access from-into Gaza city.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2095

Case against Israel's blacklist to continue despite planned deportation of activist
O'Connor, a 41-year-old American with an Irish background and citizenship, will be deported from Israel in the coming days for his participation in nonviolent resistance in the West Bank, despite his pending appeal of the deportation order.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week1/020505/activist-to-be-deported.htm

PCBS: Unemployment Rate in OPT Decreased by 2.0% in 2004
In a press release issued Saturday PCBS revealed that the percentage of participants in labour force increased by 1.5% between the 3 rd quarter 2004 and the 4 th quarter 2004, where it increased from 40.5% in the 3 rd quarter 2004 to 41.1% in the 4 th quarter 2004, compared with 43.5% in the 3 rd quarter 2000.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2096

Middle East hopes for a new era
What he found on the edge of the orchard will live with him all his days. There were six dead. The oldest was 17 and the youngest 11. Faris said, "I found my brothers and cousins in pieces everywhere." Just the night before, the new Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, had condemned the attacks by the militants. ( No one condemned crimes by Occupier! )
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4235903.stm

In Watershed, Israel Deems Land-use Rules of Zionist Icon 'Discriminatory'
Aside from debates over land rights, citizenship rights are the other main arena in which Israel's treatment of its Arab citizens faces challenges. The Supreme Court is currently reviewing a challenge to a recent Israeli law that bars non-Jewish spouses of Israeli citizens from coming to live in Israel under family reunification policy.
http://www.forward.com/main/article.php?id=2643

PNA detains three DFLP leaders in Gaza
Tallal Abu Zareefah, DFLP spokesman in southern Gaza, was among the three. The other two were the group's local leaders in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis. It was the first time that the Palestinian security forces detained leaders of one Palestinian faction since newly-elected PNAChairman Mahmoud Abbas came to office last month.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/05/content_2552586.htm

Palestinian Refugees in Jordan Fear for Their Rights
The Baqaa camp is one of ten such sites the United Nations administers in Jordan. Mohammad Khalak, 53, says his parents were forced off their land west of Jerusalem in the 1940s. He was born in exile and raised his own family in Baqaa since it was first set up in 1968.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-02-04-voa28.cfm

Abbas talks with Fatah before summit
Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazin, on Saturday met with more than 100 members of his Fatah party's revolutionary council, and a top aide said the aim of the summit on Tuesday was to declare a mutual ceasefire between Palestinians and Israelis.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/38E0D477-7C98-433F-BAF2-7CBF68E40EDE.htm

Israel urged to expand prisoner release
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has urged Israel to expand a prisoner release to ensure the success of his upcoming summit meeting with Ariel Sharon. Abbas made the call on Friday, a day after Israel refused to release prisoners jailed before the interim peace deals in 1993.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/05/content_2550834.htm

Palestinians await Israeli pullback in West Bank
Palestinian officials in Tulkarm, where Israeli troops raid at will to root out militants, say they are eager to take security control of the West Bank city to bolster peace efforts.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L03301855.htm

Abrams arrives to finalize preparations for Rice visit
United States Deputy National Security Advisor Elliot Abrams is set to meet with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's top advisor Dov Weisglass Saturday evening in order to finalize last-minute preparations before the arrival Sunday of Condoleezza Rice two days before a major summit of regional leaders.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/536000.html

HAMAS: Summit will Reveal Israel's Real Intention
The Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS) in Palestine announced that the Israeli-Palestinian summit to be held in the Egyptian resort of Sharm Al-Sheikh will reveal Israel's real intentions about Palestinians.
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=hotnews&alt=&trh=20050205&hn=16275

New Year's in a Garden on the Moon
I'd just about put my passport back in my purse when the driver made the general call for IDs again. Another checkpoint. It hadn't been 50 yards. We went through the same stress, the same waiting in line, the same nonsense again. And 50 yards on there was another one! Triple shot. I said, "How can three checkpoints within ten feet of each other be for security?"
http://www.counterpunch.org/olson02052005.html

Report: Egyptian army to secure Gaza's Philadelpi route
A senior Egyptian official told the official state news agency on Saturday that Israel and Egypt will sign an agreement on Thursday enabling the Egyptian army to secure the Gaza border area adjacent to the Philadephi route.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/536376.html

Egypt offers to mediate in Israeli-Syrian peace talks
Egypt seeks to convey to Syria the benefits of resuming negotiations with Israel, chief among them reducing American pressure on Damascus over its reported role in allowing militants to destabilize neighboring Iraq.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/536361.html

Mideast commentator brings protest at CMU
The Palestinian elections were a farce, he said, because Palestinians living outside of the Gaza and West Bank were not able to participate, and the deck had been stacked in favor of Palestine Liberation Organization leader Mahmoud Abbas. The apartheid system is so far advanced that a two-state solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is no longer possible...
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3597.shtml

Free for all - By Azmi Bishara
Bush is desperate to convince American public opinion that he is defending their freedom at home by defending freedom abroad, and that this is why US forces are in Iraq. But the claim begs many questions. Why appoint Alberto Gonzales, champion of torture in the "fight against terrorism" as attorney-general? And how can increasing restrictions on civil liberties in the US be explained?
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/728/op13.htm

Israeli envoy secretly expelled
The report said the expulsion had been covered up for several weeks and could be linked to a scandal last year in which two alleged agents of the Israeli spy service, Mossad, were arrested in New Zealand.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12158121-29277,00.html

Boy among prisoners held by British, court martial told
A 12-year-old boy was among a group of looters in Iraq who were rounded up and allegedly abused by British soldiers, a court martial in Germany was told yesterday. The child was with men who had been captured, forced to strip naked and simulate sex in front of a crowd of jeering squaddies.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,11816,1404473,00.html

Sunni clerics want US exit timetable before Iraq constitution accord
If a timetable was set, the clerics would send out a message to end the country's bloodshed which is widely blamed on Sunni insurgents, a spokesman said. The demand was made in a meeting between the chairman of the Committee of Muslim Scholars, Hareth al-Dari, and UN special envoy in Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, Omar Ragheb said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=1&u=/afp/20050205/wl_mideast_afp/iraqvotesunni_050205194648

Former UN Head Boutros-Ghali Defends Iraq Oil Deal
Boutros-Ghali headed the United Nations from January 1992 until Annan took over in 1997. An inquiry into the oil-for-food program, which ran from 1996 until 2003, found on Thursday it had been beset by political favoritism and had suffered from lax U.N. controls.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=7546589

Rumsfeld Debating Whether to Avoid Germany
He conceded in response to questions at a press conference that one problem was the jurisdiction of a German court over a 160-page criminal complaint filed Nov. 30 with the federal prosecutor's office in Germany accusing him of war crimes in connection with detainee abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
http://uruknet.info/?s1=2&p=9453&s2=05

February 04, 2005

2005-02-04T03:42:00.000Z

//------------------------------------------------\\
| Today in Palestine! 04 - Feb - 2005 |
| www.TheHeadlines.Org |
\\------------------------------------------------//

Palestinian Families will lose 6000 Dunams for "Ariel" Wall
Palestinian sources reported that at least 6000 Dunams (1500 Acre) will be lost from Palestinians villages in the northern West Bank for Israel to build the wall around the Jewish Settlement of Ariel. At least 1000 Dunams will be consumed by the wall itself, whereas, 5000 Dunams will be on the Israeli side of the wall, and therefore annexed to Israel.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week1/020405/wall-ariel.htm

Israeli forces bulldoze Palestinian lands in Negev desert
Sources said that 1,000 Israeli border police officers, backed by 16 bulldozers that belong to the so-called "Israel's lands department”, raided the Al-Araqib area and bulldozed 4,000 dunums of agricultural lands that cultivate cereals. They added that the lands belonged to the clans of Al-Touri, Al-Aqabi, Abu Siyam, and Abu Zayed.
http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=6940

Israel's latest land grab is part of an old strategy
The renewed application of the law came to light only after an Israeli lawyer pressed the army for a promised entry permit into Israel for his client, Johnny Atik, a Bethlehem farmer who needed to reach his fields. His land lies on the Jerusalem side of the "security barrier." The permit never arrived; instead Atik received a letter advising him that his land had been passed to the office of the Custodian of Absentee Property. His fields now declared state property, he is ineligible for compensation.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=12359

Killing of Palestinian girl shatters family
Nearby, an Israeli tank shell rattled the windows of the room, which together with young Nuran's death served as a reminder that if there is any "calm" it has not yet reached Rafah. "When Nuran died, a part of me died also," her mother said. "She was a bright light that was extinguished. For me, there can be no more peace."
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2211A473-A8A6-462C-A913-577DC5DD9F55.htm

2000 Palestinian children arrested since September 2000
The detainees were exposed to different sorts of sexual harassments, and forced to sign pre-arranged confession sheets. 95 child detainees were sentenced by Israeli military courts to high fines; the fines are estimated between NIS 1000 to 5000, which is a direct violation of the international law.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week1/020205/2000-children.htm

Throwing the ball to the Americans
Israeli media was reporting that the US was asking Israel to "re-examine" the East Jerusalem land seizure. There were also worried statements by Foreign Ministry officials that the decision had been "frozen". The final nail was Mazuz's clarification that, contrary to reports from the prime minister's office, not only had he not been present when the cabinet decision was taken...
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/728/re71.htm

Weekly report on human rights violations
This week, 8 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children and 2 mentally handicapped persons, were killed by IOF. Human rights violations perpetrated by IOF included incursions into Palestinian areas, willful killing, indiscriminate shelling, land leveling and total closure imposed on Palestinian communities. IOF have also continued to construct the annexation wall...
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3598.shtml

IOF Kills Citizen, Arrests 6 at Checkpoint in GS
Medics said that the Israeli side handed over the body of Nabil al-Ayedy 40, who was killed by soldiers, stationed at Abu Houly checkpoint, north of Khanyounis. Witnesses said that IOF opened fire at al-Ayedy, and left him bleeding to death, preventing ambulances from saving his life.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2093

Two Palestinians killed by IDF fire in northern Gaza Strip
Soldiers began searching the area immediately following the incident, during the course of which the Palestinians' bodies were found, Army Radio reported. It is not yet clear whether they were armed. Meanwhile, security forces arrested two Hamas activists in the West Bank early Friday morning.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/536004.html

Case against Israel's blacklist to continue despite planned deportation of activist
There are over one hundred documented cases of foreign humanitarian aid workers and dedicated human rights activists who have been subject to political discrimination by the Israeli Ministry of Interior and denied entry for `security reasons'. (So IOF can feel safe while killing Palestinians!)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/palsolidarity/message/1131

Medical treatment abroad for Gaza residents: closures and access
Since 13th of December 2004, restriction of passage through Rafah and Erez crossing in Gaza strip has prevented most patients to reach health care facilities abroad, in order to receive specialized care not locally available.
http://www.amin.org/eng/uncat/2005/feb/feb4.html

Analysis / A `gesture' of humiliation
Minister Haim Ramon said yesterday that the decision to release 900 Palestinian prisoners was necessary to strengthen Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). But in the same Israel Radio interview, he stressed that only prisoners who had received short sentences, or who had only a few months left to serve, would be freed.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/536028.html

PLC implements proportional representation, removes quotas for women
By implementing this new system, 50% of the legislative members will be elected nationally on a majority basis and 50% will be elected by region. This system of proportional representation will allow parties or coalitions to establish lists that voters can choose from, instead of voting for individual candidates.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week1/020405/plc-changes.htm

Palestinians disappointed at Israeli prisoners release offer
Israel Radio reported that the Palestinians want the list of prisoners to include 237 Palestinian who have been jailed since before the 1993 Israeli-Palestinian interim Oslo agreements, but Israel refused. The radio said that 233 of them were “murderers” ( Total number of Israelis killed in 1st intifada was 11 )
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2005/February/middleeast_February95.xml&section=middleeast

Top EU official to urge Israeli flexibility ahead of summit
Ferrero-Waldner "will urge Israel to match improvements in security with new measures to improve freedom of movement for Palestinian people and goods, without which economic revival in the territories will not be possible," said a European Commission statement.
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?ID=36890

Jordanian FM: Deploy Palestinian soldiers to West Bank
Amman is proposing that a brigade of Palestinian soldiers trained in Jordan should deploy to the West Bank pending Israeli and Palestinian approval, Jordanian Foreign Minister Hani Fawzi Mulki said in an interview published Friday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/536258.html

Rice: U.S. prepared to train Palestinian security forces
"And there will need to be some international effort, and the United States is prepared to play a major role in that, to help in the training of the Palestinian security forces and in making sure that they are security forces that are part of the solution, not part of the problem," she said. ( To secure Israeli &, not Palestinians ? )
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=536292&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

No majority for evacuation bill in Knesset panel
The Knesset Finance Committee plans to start voting on Sunday on the bill to implement the disengagement, dubbed the Evacuation Compensation Law, to ready it for its second and third readings in the Knesset. However, the coalition does not have a majority to pass the bill in the committee. Ten committee memebers oppose the bill and eight support it.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=536288&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Jordanian FM says "premature" to return ambassador to Israel
Jordan and Egypt recalled ambassadors to Tel Aviv shortly after the eruption of the Palestinian intifada (uprising) in September 2000 in protest of Israel's excessive use of force against Palestinians.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/04/content_2547231.htm

Islamists, leftists protest Sharm el-Sheikh summit
"Down with Sharm al-Sheikh summit," the protesters shouted, denouncing the participating Arab leaders as "American agents." There was also anti-Iraq occupation chanting. The protesters also complained about inequalities at home, shouting that the leaders lived in palaces
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1107487146137

Dunam After Dunam - By Uri Avnery
In this situation, 20% of the citizens of Israel are denied the right to buy a home in large parts of the country, while this right is enjoyed by Jews living in Brooklyn and Odessa. How did this state of affairs come about? Like many other bad things here, it started quite innocently.
http://www.amin.org/eng/uri_avnery/2005/feb5.html

Why Zionism today is the real enemy of the Jews
Israel's illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories since 1967 is the underlying problem. Occupation transformed the Zionist movement from a legitimate national liberation movement for the Jews into a colonial power and an oppressor of the Palestinians.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3599.shtml

Land seizure bid heightens tension over Sharon plans
Zeidan, the mayor, says the land that was to be seized is the only reserve for the Christian Palestinians. "It means there would be no possibility to expand the town," he says. "People will immigrate, and our relatives from overseas won't be able to come back and establish their businesses."
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0202/p05s01-wome.html

New Settlers' Tactic to Oppose Pullout
A number of Gush Katif settlers are looking into forfeiting their Israeli citizenship in order to stay in their settlements even if the disengagement is implemented. "If it comes to a situation in which the government of Israel gives up on me, I will give up on it," Avi Farhan, a settler in Alei Sinai in the northern Gaza, told a group of Israeli law makers who were visiting the area.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week1/020405/new%20settlers%27%20tactic%20to%20defy%20pullout.htm

Walker's World: Reality check on Mideast optimism
The problem is that there is not much of a Palestinian economy left to reform. Unemployment in both West Bank and Gaza Strip is well over 50 percent, according to Israeli figures. The Palestinian figures are even more dispiriting. The intifada and the ruthless Israeli response has destroyed much of the infrastructure of the Palestinian economy, much of its social system and civil society...
http://www.wpherald.com/Middle_East/storyview.php?StoryID=20050203-051043-9438r

Middle East's Future Under Debate
Massad argued against blindly endorsing “pragmatic” solutions in the Middle East, highlighting the pro-Israel agenda he views as underlying the term. “It is not pragmatic to give the [Palestinian] refugees the right of return ... it has always been explicit that transforming Israel into a non-Jewish state is not pragmatic,” Massad said. “It is pragmatic for Israel to remain a racist Jewish state.”
http://www.columbiaspectator.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/02/01/41ff349f8b179

Washington's test in Palestine-Israel is not now, but in the summer
important test will come some six months from now, after the Israelis pull out of the Gaza Strip and then most likely drag their feet on any other significant compromise or concession. What will the U.S. do then, when Israel is likely to place fresh obstacles in the way of new avenues to progress, beyond the easy steps being implemented these days?
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&article_id=12396&categ_id=17

What did the Palestinians and Iraqis Vote for?
the elections took place under foreign occupation. This inevitably meant that they were neither totally fair nor wholly legitimate. In Iraq, in particular, there were few polling stations or foreign observers. Many Iraqis were afraid that they would not get their monthly food rations if they did not vote. Some said that, in order to collect their rations, they had to sign the voter registration forms.
http://english.daralhayat.com/opinion/commentators/02-2005/Article-20050204-ddbdeabb-c0a8-10ed-0014-02c4337115a9/story.html

A bankrupt export of democracy
And while Iran may be at the top of Bush's "regime-change" wish list, Tehran is well aware that the U.S. military is badly overstretched in Iraq - as is the record-breaking U.S. budget deficit, which grows by $4 billion each week that the troops stay in Iraq. The U.S. quite simply cannot afford another major war of choice right now...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/536057.html

February 03, 2005

2005-02-03T02:22:00.000Z

//------------------------------------------------\\
| Today in Palestine! 03 - Feb - 2005 |
| www.TheHeadlines.Org |
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High Court okays bypass road to Rachel's Tomb
The court rejected a petition submitted by the municipalities of Bethlehem and Beit Jala and 18 Palestinians living in the area, which called for a halt to a plan to pave a new access road and construct a safety wall to protect it. The wall is slated to form a part of the West Bank separation fence.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/535801.html

Israel arrests US peace activist
A week after his arrest and detention with no formal charges, American peace activist Patrick O'Connor remains in Israeli custody and faces deportation. O'Connor, 41, was arrested by the Israeli secret police, Shin Bet, after planting olive tree seedlings in front of the illegal separation wall in the West Bank town of Biddu on 25 January.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/96DAAEBB-9CA3-488C-8D84-2B1A29943F7B.htm

Israelis use barrier and 55-year-old law to quietly seize Palestinians' land
Most of the hundreds of Palestinian families whose land has been confiscated without compensation have not been formally notified that their property has been transferred to the Israeli state. But plans have already been drawn up to expand Jewish settlements on to some of the expropriated territory.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1402261,00.html

Peace Now: 3500 Settlement Units Being Built in West Bank During 2004
"Today, more than 3500 settlement units are being built across the West Bank, despite that the tenders released in 2004 were for building 962 units only," Peace Now revealed. Furthermore, Peace Now recorded construction and expansion work being made in 21 settlement in areas outside the settlement development zone.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/english/details.asp?name=2390

After such respect, such humiliation
On December 20, 2-year-old Hadil, an Israeli citizen, was forced to accompany her Palestinian mother, who was deported to Gaza because of the Citizenship Law and the Law of Entry, which prevent the family's reunification. It is difficult to imagine a 53-year-old man crying. It is even difficult for him to tell his story - he hesitates to speak.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/533868.html

Resident dies of wounds sustained in Beit Lahia
Mohammad Kamel Al-Ghabin, 18, lost his arms and legs after the Israeli army fired a tank shell at a group of residents in Fadous area, in Beit Lahia last month. The shell fired by the army resulted in killing three brothers of Al-Ghabin, two of his cousins and a neighbor.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/feb/week1/020305/B-Lahia.htm

Ministry of Health: IOF Kills 73 Citizens in January
In a report issued last night, MOH said that 24 children were among the victims who were killed even by a direct gunshot or shrapnel of Israeli missiles. It also added that 100 children were wounded.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2090

Six Israelis hurt in shooting attacks in Gaza, W. Bank
Four Israel Defense Forces soldiers were wounded late on Thursday when Palestinian militants opened fire on their jeep, near the West Bank settlement of Eshkolot, southwest of Hebron. The militants fired on the IDF vehicle from a passing car, and fled the scene.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/535850.html

Letter from Prison: My Interview with Israel's Shin Bet Intelligence Agency
Recently the Israeli authorities have begun searching for and arresting experienced International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and international activists. My arrest and attempted deportation is another example of this. Evidently the Israeli authorities find nonviolent resistance and active support of Palestinian rights to be threatening.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3589.shtml

Jerusalem land seizures 'illegal'
Israel's attorney general has told the government to call an immediate halt to confiscating Palestinian property in East Jerusalem under a 1950 land law. Meni Mazuz said he was never consulted about the policy, which was secretly approved by the cabinet last summer.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4226497.stm

Ministers defend right to confiscate E. J'lem property
The decision, which Mazuz overruled on Tuesday, would have enabled the government to confiscate East Jerusalem properties owned by West Bank residents, without paying compensation. The law was applied to all of Israel shortly after the War of Independence, but since East Jerusalem was annexed only in 1967, it was not covered by the original decision.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=535735&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Israel to Release Some Prisoners, Withdraw from Parts of West Bank
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his top ministers approved the release of 900 Palestinian prisoners as part of a package of goodwill gestures. Some 500 of those prisoners are expected to be released next week. ( The remaining 7100? )
http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-02-03-voa48.cfm

Palestinians reject Israeli offer on prisoner release
The Palestinian officials demanded at the meeting the release of veteran, ill, and young prisoners in addition to the Israeli offer. Israel, however, replied that the criterions for the release of prisoners will only be set by Israeli security authorities.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/535480.html

‘Mideast summit will not focus on roadmap'
The landmark Middle East summit in Egypt next week will not involve political negotiations on the troubled roadmap peace plan, a source close to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told AFP Thursday.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2005/February/middleeast_February73.xml&section=middleeast

Abbas: Free 'senior' prisoners
"We don't know the real figures and what kind of prisoners they are going to release, but what we are interested in is that the first round be a big one and include a lot of prisoners, particularly those who have served long prison terms," Abbas told reporters.
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1657097,00.html

Israel, Palestinians agree to set up joint panel on wanted men
Israel will agree not to harm the wanted men who hand in their weapons to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), sign acommitment not to get involved in any more attacks, remain in their home towns and agree to be monitored by the PNA security apparatus,according to the emerging arrangements.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/02/content_2540124.htm

EU aide: Suicide bombing is crime against humanity
"Terrorism is a crime against ... fundamental and universal rights. We believe that this crime must be fought by the law and within the law," the former Italian foreign minister said. "My opinion is that suicide bombing can be considered as a crime against humanity," he said in prepared remarks. ( Driving CATerpillar over people, with approval from state, is not? )
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/535952.html

Bush: Palestinian statehood 'within reach'
"The goal of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace is within reach - and America will help them achieve that goal," he added. Bush said he was asking Congress for the $350 million "to support Palestinian political, economic and security reforms." ( All of which were destroyed with USA Green Light to Sharon )
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=535419&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Hamas leader says Israel must do more for cease-fire
"It seems there is some change in the Israeli position but we need real precision. The matter requires to be pursued further and to be examined more closely," Khaled Meshal said after talks with Egyptian officials.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/535479.html

Palestinans trained in Jordan to deploy in West Bank
Palestinians trained in Jordan will be deployed in the West Bank, Jordanian Foreign Minister Hani Mulki told AFP as he denied Israeli media reports that Jordanian forces would be sent to the area.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1514&ncid=1312&e=13&u=/afp/20050203/wl_mideast_afp/mideastjordanpalestiniansisraeltroops_050203113609

Israeli parliament to postpone vote on pullout bill
The Israeli Knesset (parliament)Finance Committee is expected to postpone a vote on the Evacuation Compensation Bill from Thursday to next week due to lack of majority in favor, the Ha'aretz daily reported.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/03/content_2544425.htm

Gaza policemen head for training in Egypt
The group is the first to participate in the training program, which highlights Egypt's growing role as a peace and security broker in the Middle East. Cairo is to host an Israeli-Palestinian summit next Tuesday.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/535793.html

Palestinians eye new chapter in ties with US with Rice visit
Palestinians are looking to the visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as a chance to open a new era in relations with Washington after being largely cold-shouldered during the first Bush administration.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3589.shtml

Israel FM hopes for return of Egypt, Jordan ambassadors
"Those Arab countries were looking for a long time for an appropriate time to send their ambassadors." Both Egypt and Jordan withdrew their ambassadors from Tel Aviv shortly after the start of the Palestinian intifada in September 2000 in protest at Israel's attempts to quell the uprising.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=10&u=/afp/20050203/wl_mideast_afp/mideastsummitisraelegyptjordandiplomacy_050203114729

Kicked around by the Israeli military
On Sunday, the Israeli Occupation Forces uprooted 300 trees on the road's path. Palestinians here say this kind of land confiscation is shattering their peace – a peace that many are hoping for, the Western media is obsessing over, but Palestine isn't seeing.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0502/S00088.htm

Speaking out about Israel to save the Jewish soul
Remaining silent is no longer an option. We can no longer let our trauma, our deep fear of anti-Jewish hatred implanted in us through generations of persecution, make us remain quiet at the expense of truth.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3593.shtml

Canada University Forum Denounced As Anti-Semitic
Organizers of the event, aimed at examining Israel's policies toward Palestinians, say the event is "an academic forum that's guided by the principle of freedom of speech," but opponents fear it could unleash a wave of anti-Semitism. ( Democracy is Anti-Semite? )
http://www.metronews.ca/reuters_national.asp?id=53748

Charges dropped against British soldiers in Iraq abuse trial
Lance Corporal Darren Larkin, one of three Royal Fusiliers on trial at a court martial in a barracks in Osnabrueck, western Germany, had faced the charge for allegedly "forcing two unknown males to undress in front of others". "One charge has been dropped against that particular individual," a British army spokesman said Thursday.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=4&u=/afp/20050203/wl_mideast_afp/iraqbritainprisonersjustice_050203121008

January 29, 2005

2005-01-29T23:58:00.000Z

//------------------------------------------------\\
| Today in Palestine! 29 - Jan - 2005 |
| www.TheHeadlines.Org |
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Dear Readers,
My daily media compilation will not to be available for the next four days, that is till 3rd of February 2005. I advise accessing http://www.imemc.org for those interested in daily updates.
Yours,
Shadi

3 Citizens Wounded in Peaceful Rally against Apartheid Wall in Salfeet
Israeli soldiers opened heavy machineguns against the rally and hurled several canisters, wounding three citizens. Hundred of citizens and foreigners activists participated in the rally, protesting the construction of the Wall built by Israel over the citizens' land in the city.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2073

Protest against the Wall south of Hebron
The residents arrived to the fields where the military bulldozers were uprooting the trees and plants, and conducted Friday prayers in the lands; army withdrew for a distance of 400 meters and monitored the area for a distance.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/Jan/Week4/012905/s-Hebron.htm

In the West Bank, many Israelis balk at uprooting
Thousands of Jews slogged through the late-winter mud of the occupied territories this week to plant seedlings in observance of Tu Bishvat, an arbor day observed in Judaism for more than 2,000 years.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/01/28/in_the_west_bank_many_israelis_balk_at_uprooting/

20 hurt as Fatah, Hamas activists clash in Gaza
A political rally by the militant Palestinian group Hamas turned violent Saturday, as supporters of the rival Fatah faction opened fire, sparking a melee that left more than 20 people wounded, a Palestinian official said. The incident in the M'ghazi refugee camp in central Gaza was the first instance of violence between rival Palestinian factions
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/533106.html

Mentally handicapped man killed in Gaza; third handicapped victim this week
Witnesses said al-Shawas was near the Israeli border fence constructed between the town and the illegal Israeli settlement of Gush Katif when shots rang out from the Israeli settlement, and al-Shawas fell to the ground with a bullet in his head.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/Jan/Week4/012905/handicapped.htm

Palestinian farmer killed by Israeli gunfire in southern Gaza
The sources said Ibrahim al-Shawaf was killed in his farm in the Khozaa area east of Khan Yunis when Israeli troops stationed at the border between eastern Khan Yunis and Israel opened intensive fire at houses of local residents.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/29/content_2524374.htm

Citizen Dies of Wounds, 6 Arrested
Palestinian medics reported early Saturday that a citizen died of wounds he sustained earlier by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in Khanyounis city neighbourhood of al-Amal.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2074

UN: Israel will remain "the occupying power"
In his annual report to the UN Commission on Human Rights, Durard also condemned Israel's merciless incursions into the Palestinian territories and the demolitions of civilians' house, saying that Israel this amounted to war crimes.
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=6778

Gaza pullout could worsen health crisis
Israel's current position is that it is not responsible for the fate of patients in Gaza, and is willing, at best, "to take into account humanitarian considerations" and "exceptional cases", without explaining what these may constitute, says the medical rights group.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3575.shtml

One land two systems announces winners architecture competition
On 6th February, 2005, One Land Two Systems is presenting the results of its international architecture competition for an alternative to the Israeli government masterplan devised for the ‘unrecognised' Palestinian village of Ein Hud in Israel.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3571.shtml

'Palestinian corpse used for IDF anatomy lesson'
The Breaking the Silence organization has collected new testimony from Israel Defense Forces soldiers on harsh actions carried out during the course of the fighting in the territories. Two of the testimonies pertain to a military doctor who gave medics lessons in anatomy using the bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=533018&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Israeli, Palestinians meet to discuss region's future
After several years of avoiding public discussions, members of Israel's government and the Palestinian Authority agreed to hold a joint public debate on the future of the relations between the two people.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/533456.html

Abbas-Sharon summit to be held on Feb. 8
The sources said after the summit, Abbas will head to the Gaza Strip for talks with militant groups on finalizing a formal ceasefire if Israel agrees on demands by the Palestinian side that Israel stop targeted killings and incursions and release Palestinian prisoners.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/29/content_2524359.htm

Shaath: Israel must formally accept cease-fire
"I think we are very close to a national agreement," he said. However, Israel must formally accept the cease-fire, withdrawal its troops from West Bank cities and release Palestinian prisoners for the Palestinian groups to move forward with the accord, he added.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1106969220708

‘Israel is ready to make significant concessions to Palestinians'
Israeli security officials are ready to make significant concessions to the new Palestinian leadership to promote efforts to end more than four years of fighting, a top Defense Ministry official said Saturday.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2005/January/middleeast_January812.xml&section=middleeast

PA's Abed Rabbo: We can't be Israel's sub-contractors
"We cannot be sub-contractors for unilateral Israeli moves," said senior Palestinian official Yasser Abed Rabbo, addressing a special session of the World Economic Forum in Davos... "We need a comprehensive solution that will close all the gaps," said Abed Rabbo.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=533268&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

New Palestinian cabinet to be presented before parliament in two weeks
Palestinian Cabinet Secretary Hassan Abu Lebda told reporters that discussions on the new cabinet between Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei are likely to end soon.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/29/content_2524344.htm

Egyptian Training for Palestinian Police to Start
Some 40 Palestinian police officers will come to Egypt for training next week as part of Egypt's contribution to the new security arrangements in Gaza, Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said on Saturday.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&ncid=1312&e=5&u=/nm/20050129/wl_nm/mideast_egypt_dc_1

Hamas wins Gaza Strip council vote
The Islamist party Hamas has won control of seven out of 10 councils in the Gaza Strip, dealing a crushing blow to the Fatah party of the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas. Voters rejected Fatah's corrupt image and endorsed Hamas for its opposition to Israel and for providing welfare, schools and nurseries to the impoverished residents of the territory.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1401295,00.html

Peres urges EU to build Palestinian economy
“It will be very wise if the EU ... helps build industrial centres in the West Bank and Gaza,” Peres told reporters at the World Economic Forum. If each of the 25 EU states sponsored one of its companies to build a factory or set up a business in the Palestinian territories, it would change the face of the region and give hope to Palestinians he said were on the verge of starvation.
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Gulf%2C+Middle+East+%26+Africa&month=January2005&file=World_News2005013024543.xml

Egypt Court Dismisses Warcrimes Case Against Sharon
An Egyptian court on Saturday dismissed a case demanding compensation from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon over accusations Israeli forces tortured and killed Egyptian prisoners of war during the Middle East war of 1967.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&ncid=1312&e=2&u=/nm/20050129/wl_nm/mideast_egypt_sharon_dc_1

Israel works to get Hezbollah on EU's list of terror groups
the election of Mahmoud Abbas as chairman of the Palestinian Authority, has led Israel to alter its line of argument. Instead of complaining about Hezbollah activities along the northern border, and about the rockets threatening the Galilee, Israeli representatives are highlighting the threat Hezbollah poses to the fledgling Palestinian leader.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=533249&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Hezbollah threatens to kidnap IDF troops
Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said Saturday that his group will do all it takes to win the release of Lebanese prisoners held in Israeli jails, including kidnapping Israel Defense Forces soldiers.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/533446.html

UN rebukes Lebanon over Har Dov
The United Nations Security Council on Friday rebuked Beirut by declaring that the disputed Har Div or Shaba Farms area was not part of Lebanon in a resolution that also extended the mandate of UN peacekeepers for six months. The document, drafted by France and co-sponsored by the United States, Britain, Denmark and Greece
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=533433&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Baghdad Feels Like a City Preparing for War
In the hours before tomorrow's election, Baghdad feels like a city preparing for war. American helicopters roar noisily overhead just above the roof- tops, setting off car alarms. Iraqi police nervously finger their assault rifles. Most people are taking no risks and stay at home, so streets are eerily empty.
http://www.counterpunch.org/patrick01292005.html

US embassy hit by deadly strike on eve of Iraq election
A rocket attack hit the US embassy, hours before the start of Iraq's historic election, killing two Americans with a dramatic breach of the draconian security intended to persuade the population to vote. A US embassy statement identified the dead as a member of the US military and a civilian. Five Americans were wounded.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=1&u=/afp/20050129/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_050129202022

Helicopter crash in western Baghdad kills 2 US soldiers
Two US soldiers were killed as their helicopter went down in western Baghdad on Friday night, theUS military said in a statement on Saturday. The pilot and the copilot of the OH-58 Kiowa helicopter were confirmed dead
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/29/content_2523089.htm

January 28, 2005

2005-01-28T23:57:00.000Z

//------------------------------------------------\\
| Today in Palestine! 28 - Jan - 2005 |
| www.TheHeadlines.Org |
\\------------------------------------------------//

Peres, Fayad agree on need to upgrade fence crossings
Between three and five large and modernized terminals will be built along the fence, equipped with new technologies for inspecting persons and goods, allowing a larger volume of goods to pass through and a speedier processing time than at present. ( Palestinian Authority OK with presence of Apartheid Wall? )
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/533401.html

JNF, treasury seek formula for continued Jews-only land sales
The Jewish National Fund and the Finance Ministry are currently trying to draft a new agreement that would separate the JNF from the state, thereby allowing it to continue selling land to Jews only.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/533250.html

Israeli Sources: Settlers bought land in Gaza Strip
Apparently a Palestinian mediator bought the land from its original owners and in turn sold it to the settler, who paid the money from a fund used earlier to buy around 20 thousand Dunams of land, (5000 Acres) land in the West Bank. The families, the original owners of the land, did not know that they are eventually selling their land to the settlers.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/Jan/week4/012805/buying-land.htm

Israel's Continued Land Confiscation in Jerusalem: The Application of Israel's Absentee Property Law
The enforcement of the Absentee Property Law is also in clear breach of the Road Map which states that the Government of Israel will not confiscate the property and houses of Palestinians.
http://www.amin.org/eng/uncat/2005/jan/jan28.html

A property theft that must not be allowed
The government's decision from July 2004 to confiscate lands and infrastructures in East Jerusalem that belong to Palestinians who live in the West Bank is odd, to say the least. The owners of the assets that have been confiscated are living, for various reasons, not far from East Jerusalem, in the West Bank, and not in Arab countries.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/533055.html

'Palestinian corpse used for IDF anatomy lesson'
The soldier said that the Palestinian's body had been riddled with bullets and that some of his internal organs had spilled out. The doctor pronounced the man dead and then "took out a knife and began to cut off parts of the body," the soldier said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/533018.html

Weekly Report: On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
During the period covered by this report, 20 Palestinians, 14 of whom were civilians, including 5 children and one woman, were killed by IOF. Two of the children were killed on the first day of the Eid . Human rights violations perpetrated by IOF included incursions into Palestinian areas, willful and extra-judicial killing, indiscriminate shelling, land leveling...
http://pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/2005/27-01-2005.htm

Sharon to meet Abbas in days: Peres
Israeli Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres said Thursday he expected Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would renew talks with Palestinian National Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in "days, not weeks," Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/28/content_2517388.htm

Abbas stresses need for swift ceasefire
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has appealed to Israel to agree swiftly to a joint ceasefire that would halt more than four years of bloodshed, warning that delay could undermine its chances of success.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1400376,00.html

Palestinians deploy police in southern Gaza with orders to end attacks
The troops took up their position at bases and checkpoints from the town of Deir el-Balah in the centre of the territory down to the flashpoint Rafah border crossing into Egypt, officials said. "We have finished our deployment which took place without incident,"
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1503&ncid=1503&e=16&u=/afp/20050128/ts_afp/mideastpalestiniansgazasecurity_050128082818

PA leaders call for resumption of negotiations
"We cannot be sub-contractors for unilateral Israeli moves," senior Palestinian official Yasser Abed Rabbo, addressing a special session of the World Economic Forum on the political process between Israel and the Palestinians.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/533268.html

Daniel Barenboim at Columbia University New York
Having come full circle on Wagner, he returned to Said and his legacy. "You cannot have equality without freedom and you cannot have freedom without brotherhood. And this is what Edward and I tried to do, in a completely non-violent way," he said. "There is a great deal left to be done."
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/9ff9233a-7009-11d9-850d-00000e2511c8.html

Hamas Wins Local Palestinian Elections in Gaza
Hamas has won an overwhelming victory in Palestinian local elections held Thursday in the Gaza Strip, winning nearly two-thirds of the local council seats in 10 districts. The results reflect the widespread support Hamas has in Gaza, and are also seen as a potential turning point for the Islamic group.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-01-28-voa18.cfm

Special Rapporteur: Israel will remain occupier after disengagement
In his report (E/CN.4/2005/29) to the Commission, Dugard said that Israel does not plan to relinquish its grasp on the Gaza Strip. "It plans to retain ultimate control over Gaza by controlling its borders, territorial sea and airspace. Consequently, it will in law remain an Occupying Power still subject to obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3569.shtml

Abbas to visit Egypt on Mideast peace process
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is due to arrive here Friday as part of a foreign tour to seek international help to restart the long-stalled Mideast peace process, a Palestinian official said Thursday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/28/content_2517390.htm

Sharon says Israel to implement roadmap if attacks stop
"If the Palestinians act forcefully to disband terror groups andput an end to violence and incitement, we could move forward in our contacts to implement the roadmap." Sharon told a convention of the Contractors' Association in Tel Aviv.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/28/content_2517389.htm

SANCTIONS AGAINST THE ISRAELI OCCUPATION: IT'S TIME
You can't condemn the victims of Occupation for employing terrorism while, by opposing divestment, thereby sheltering the Occupying Power that employs State Terror. You can't end the isolation and suffering of people living under Occupation while permitting the Occupying Power to carry on its life among the nations unencumbered and normally, by withholding a boycott of its economic and cultural products.
http://www.icahd.org/eng/news.asp?menu=5&submenu=1&item=218

An assembly for the world's Jews
The content of the Zionist Congresses and the Zionists Organization of America directorate is of no interest to the Jewish community around the world and, for the most part, the work remains in the hands of "professional Zionists," for whom such forums are a kind of old people's club, which has provided an income or employment for them for decades.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/533054.html

Israel frees Al-Aqsa member at request of Palestinians: report
Jihad Massimi, a senior Nablus-based member of the armed offshoot of the mainstream Fatah organisation, was arrested by Israeli troops at the start of the week, the report added.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2005/January/middleeast_January794.xml&section=middleeast&col=

Palestinian official: Israel agrees to release 900 prisoners
The security official said that Israel agreed to stop its targeted killing and pursuing militants, but said militants should be careful, "because we should wait for an official Israeli announcement."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/28/content_2517172.htm

Egyptians, police clash over Taba bomb detentions
Egyptian police clashed with some 750 protesters who demonstrated on Friday against the detention of their relatives over bombings in the Sinai Peninsula late last year, witnesses said. Witnesses said at least three demonstrators and one police officer were wounded in the clashes on Friday.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L28570229.htm

Arab world, Iran show little interest in Mossad Web site
Internet-users in Arab countries and Iran have shown little interest in the official Web site of the Mossad, according to statistics made public by the Government Press Office, which administers the site.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/533395.html

Five American Soldiers Killed in Baghdad
Five American soldiers were killed Friday by roadside bombs and a shooting attack in Baghdad, the U.S. military said. Three soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb hit their patrol at about 4:30 p.m. in western Baghdad. Another soldier was slightly wounded in the attack, the military said.

U.S. Army Helicopter Crashes in Baghdad
An Army helicopter crashed in southwest Baghdad on Friday night, and the fate of the crew was not immediately known, a U.S. military official said. U.S. military officials do not believe the helicopter was hit by hostile fire, Lt. Col. James Hutton said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=6&u=/ap/20050128/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_helicopter_crash

Turkey warns Kurds over Kirkuk
Erdogan was speaking before departing for Davos, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum. Ankara strongly opposes Kurdish control of Kirkuk, the oil city which many Kurds want to incorporate into their enclave in northern Iraq.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/28/content_2518318.htm

Examiner pulls offensive ad, apologizes
"It has been brought to our attention that a recent advertisement published in Media Week promoting The Examiner has caused concern and offence to readers. On behalf of Clarity Media Group and The Examiner in Washington and San Francisco, we sincerely apologise.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3572.shtml

Watchdog blasts al-Jazeera bans
The Reporters Without Borders group has criticised the US, Canada and five other countries for their "harassment" of Arabic station al-Jazeera. "We regret some governments have no hesitation in censoring al-Jazeera... to protect their political and diplomatic interests," the group said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4215199.stm

January 27, 2005

2005-01-27T01:37:00.000Z

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| Today in Palestine! 27 - Jan - 2005 |
| www.TheHeadlines.Org |
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Rightist MK: Fire AG for letting non-Jews buy JNF land
National Union MK Aryeh Eldad called Thursday for the dismissal of Menachem Mazuz after the attorney general decided that all land managed by the Israel Lands Administration, including land owned by the Jewish National Fund, must be marketed without discrimination or limits
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/532493.html

Palestinian official says Israel agrees to release 900 prisoners
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that during a meeting held in Jerusalem on Wednesday, Israel accepted most of Palestinian demands, including operating Gaza Airport and constructing a sea port in Gaza.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/28/content_2517172.htm

Villagers of Huwwara Complain of Continuous Settlers Attacks
Palestine News Network (PNN) reported on Thursday that dozens of villagers from Huwwara, south of Nablus , complain of the continuous settlers attacks against them and their family farmlands.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/Jan/Week4/012705/HuwwaraV.htm

The landgrab continues
When I toured Green Line villages to observe the Palestinian presidential election on Jan. 9, I saw Israeli cranes and bulldozers poised to carry on with construction on other sections of the wall in the Ariel neighbourhood. It was clear that Israel is determined to go ahead with this project.
http://jordantimes.com/thu/opinion/opinion2.htm

Prisoner Burns to Death in Israeli Prison
They added that they got up in panic as they smell of the burning tent. Prisoners had to extinguish the fire with hands, using cooking pots and gallons, for Israeli prison guard did not respond to the burning of the tent.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2067

Municipal elections kicks off in Gaza
Sources at the Palestinian Central Elections Committee (CEC) said that 90,000 Palestinians aged above 18 in Gaza have the right to vote. A total of 414 candidates, among them 68 women, are vying for 118 municipal council seats.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/27/content_2516127.htm

Child dies of wounds sustained earlier in Ramallah
The source stated that Marwan Ghaleb Abu Alawi, 13, died of his wounds, while Saleh Daoud Abu Alawi, 11, who was also injured in the blast, remained in critical condition suffering of deep burns and serious injuries.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/Jan/Week4/012705/child-Ramallah.htm

Israel can't leave anyone to die in the sick bed
In the meantime, what will happen to the cancer patient from Gaza who needs his daily radiation treatment at Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem? He will stand all day in line at the Philadelphi crossing point on his way to the nearest hospital. In Cairo.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/532488.html

UN envoy: Israel will still be occupier after pullout
Israel's planned pullout from the Gaza Strip will not change its status as an occupying power in the territory, according to the Geneva convention, the UN special human rights envoy for the occupied territories said in a report publicized Thursday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/532868.html

IDF troops kill Palestinian in Gaza
They said that a 14-year-old boy who stood nearby was also wounded by the gunfire. An Israel Defense Forces source confirmed the raid and said troops shot a militant who fled in a vehicle to avoid arrest. (This will have no influence in future failure of cease-fire!)
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/532311.html

Israeli army continue attacks on Palestinians
Israeli army troops continued to attack and arrest Palestinians despite a de facto ceasefire by the Palestinian militant group to allow the negotiation of a truce dealwith Israel.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/27/content_2515869.htm

Hamas vows anti-corruption drive as Gaza tastes local democracy
The radical Islamist movement Hamas will make its first major foray into the Palestinian political process today when it takes part in local elections in its Gaza stronghold on an anti-corruption ticket.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=16&u=/afp/20050127/wl_mideast_afp/mideastpalestinianvotemunicipalgaza_050127081937

Sharon, Abbas Summit in Two Weeks
Sharon's aides said that the prime minister has reservations about declarations over a mutual cease-fire, preferring practical agreements instead. Israeli sources said that Palestinian delegates made no demands such as freeing Marwan Barghouti or halting construction of the separation fence (Apartheid Wall)
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/Jan/week4/012705/sharon-abbas.htm

Palestinians ban citizens from carrying weapons in new step to rein in violence
In the next step to impose order, the Palestinian security forces were preparing to move into the volatile southern Gaza Strip to prevent rocket and other attacks into Israel, extending their control from the northern part of Gaza, where they deployed earlier.
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/050127/w012726.html

PA begins southern Gaza deployment
According to the report, hundreds of armed security personnel began deploying between the central Gaza refugee camps and the southern Gaza districts of Khan Yunis, Rafah and the Philadelphi route.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1106796049396

Sharon 'pleased' with moves by Palestinian leader to end violence
"There's no doubt that Abu Mazen (Abbas) has begun to work," he told the Yediot Aharonot daily. "I am very pleased with what I hear about what is going on the Palestinian side, and I very much want to work with him to make progress."
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/129425/1/.html

US encouraged by steps taken by Abbas: envoy
US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs William Burns said here on Thursday the United States is encouraged by the steps taken by newly-elected Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. ( Both "Occupier & VETOer" sattisfied?!? )
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/27/content_2516540.htm

Rice expected to visit Mideast in early February
"The new secretary of state, Dr. Rice, whom the president has just announced will be traveling to the region (at) the beginning of February, is committed to doing what she can" to promote Middle East peace, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield told a conference.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N27665948.htm

Security officials: PA police deploying in south Gaza
The Palestinian Authority began deploying its forces on Thursday afternoon in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip. The deployment was set for Thursday morning but was delayed for technical reasons. An additional deployment is planned to take place across from Rafah.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/532982.html

Israel Agrees 'In Principle' to W.Bank Pullback -Dahlan
Dahlan said there was no final deal made on the Israeli pullback from Palestinian cities in the territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war, but that the details would likely be decided in a meeting next week.
http://olympics.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7455206

Abbas: 'The ball is in Israel's court'
"On our side we have decided to calm down things, and we informed the Israelis of our decision in order to have a reciprocal move, but if Israel continues its practices against Palestinians the lull will not last long," Abbas told Beirut's daily newspaper An-Nahar in an interview published Thursday.
http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050127-053541-1105r.htm

"Zionism today is the real enemy of the Jews"
On the eve of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the former Nazi concentration and extermination camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, 355 people cast a majority vote in favour of a motion that "Zionism today is the real enemy of the Jews" at a debate that took place on Tuesday 25 January at the Royal Geographical Society in London
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3563.shtml

It is time to make the most of 'a promising moment' for peace
It is "a very promising moment" in the history of the Middle East peace process. These are the words of the U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, William Burns, who met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday and with top Israeli and Palestinian officials on Wednesday.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&article_id=12109&categ_id=17

Israel refuses to rule out attack on Iran
At a meeting with journalists in London, Shaul Mofaz did little to dispel the sense of unease caused by comments last week by the US Vice-President, Dick Cheney, who suggested Israel might "decide to act first" to end Iran's nuclear threat.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=604945

UN report survives US objections
The nature of the dispute centred on differences between the US view that the Arab world's problems are mainly internal and the Arab consensus that external factors such as US foreign policy and Israel's treatment of the Palestinians have contributed significantly to oppression and poor governance in the region.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3900FCF8-AD2C-4123-89B9-DAC884A932D6.htm

Iraq war planner Feith to leave Pentagon job
Douglas Feith, the U.S. Defense Department's top policy officer and an architect of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, announced on Wednesday he would leave his job this summer for personal and family reasons. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld praised the outgoing undersecretary of defense for policy as having contributed to U.S. security and said he would be missed.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=532495&contrassID=1&subContrassID=8&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Insurgents destroy two voting centers near Fallujah
"US troops opened two voting centers in Ameriyat al-Fallujah, some 7 km southwest of Fallujah. The two centers were nothing but two shops which were detonated 12 hours after being opened," the witnesses told Xinhua.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/27/content_2515768.htm

Soldier: Britons Made Fun of Detainees
British troops laughed and joked as they made two Iraqi men simulate sex acts after detaining them for looting, a soldier testified Thursday at the court-martial of three comrades accused of mistreating civilians.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=5&u=/ap/20050127/ap_on_re_mi_ea/britain_iraq_abuse

January 26, 2005

2005-01-26T02:24:00.000Z

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| Today in Palestine! 26 - Jan - 2005 |
| www.TheHeadlines.Org |
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Rachel Corrie Rebuilding Campaign in Gaza nominated in GlobalGiving.com competition
The Rachel Corrie Rebuilding Campaign in Gaza has been nominated for a GlobalGiving.com competition. Through January 27th, at www.globalgiving.com/cb/gpf/pr/1000/proj929a.html , people throughout the world can vote online and rate the entries they deem best.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3558.shtml

IDF asks AG to okay wider Philadelphi route
The Israel Defense Forces have asked Attorney General Menachem Mazuz for permission to clear completely a 300-meter-wide strip along the Gazan-Egyptian border. This would require the demolition of hundreds of Palestinian houses in Rafah.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=531978&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Israel plans to raze more Gaza homes
The demolitions could leave between 3000 and 10,000 Palestinians homeless and exacerbate the environmental disaster already wrought by more than four years of Israeli bulldozing and demolition. The Israeli army says the demolitions are necessary to protect soldiers patrolling the Gaza-Egypt border.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/0B8E1585-9035-4BEC-A38F-4B58568EF966.htm

Israeli troops kill Palestinian girl
Israeli occupation soldiers have shot and killed a three-year-old girl inside her home in central Gaza, eyewitnesses and medical sources said. Rahma Ibrahim Abu Shamas was reportedly inside her home in Dair al-Balah in central Gaza on Wednesday when a bullet struck her in the head, killing her instantly.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A5EBA628-E4D7-4EE4-9198-F235227A7C7E.htm

Hamas man killed in W. Bank; Al-Aqsa threatens to end truce
Following the raid, the Al-Aqsa Brigades threatened to scrap the de facto cease-fire if the Israeli military did not halt raids against their members within 24 hours. The incident came hours after Israeli officials hinted at a change in assassination policy
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/532311.html

Settlers attack Palestinian officials
Jewish settlers attacked a car carrying a Palestinian security delegation which had just met with their Israeli counterparts at the Tufah crossing on Wednesday. Palestinian officials were forced to return from the talks in military vehicles and others returned on foot as their vehicle had been damaged during the meeting.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/DFBF31E1-B3C8-469F-9B51-D3AC1266E3A0.htm

Israel to curb movement of Jerusalem Palestinians
Israel plans to restrict the movement of Palestinians living in Jerusalem, a move it says is for their own safety but that Palestinians say could strengthen Israel's hold on the holy city and hinder peacemaking.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L25270421.htm

Israeli psychological warfare unit set up
The Israeli army is set to activate a special psychological warfare unit (PWU) whose main role is to "disseminate disinformation" and "carefully manipulated information" about Iran and other countries in the Middle East deemed to be "hostile".
http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=6900

Israel to hand security control to PA in four major WB cities in two weeks
The Palestinian cabinet Minister Sa'eb Ereikat met with the chief of the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's bureau Dov Weisglass met on Wednesday in Jerusalem to discuss the transfer of control to the PA.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/Jan/week4/012605/control-handover.htm

Researchers find rare exchange of letters from 5th century Gaza Strip
Swiss researchers have uncovered a rare exchange of letters written in ancient Greek during the fifth century in what is now the Gaza Strip, the University of Fribourg said on Monday."They have helped us to learn about people that we knew nothing about until now,"
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=4&Article_id=12069

Examiner ad demonizes Palestinian children
The Electronic Intifada calls on its readers to protest an advertisement for the San Francisco Examiner and Washington Examiner newspapers demonizing Palestinian children. The advertisment appeared in the 24 January 2005 of Media Week , a trade publication.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3559.shtml

PA, Hamas Agree to Reform PLO
All Palestinian factions including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, who are not represented in the PLO, will be represented in the newly proposed leadership council. PA sources also reported that Hamas has agreed to run candidates in the PA's parliamentary elections in July
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/Jan/week4/012605/pa-hamas.htm

Israel and Palestinians Near Peace Summit Deal
Israel agreed to suspend targeted killings of Palestinian militants yet, in the West Bank, Israeli troops shot and killed a militant and seriously wounded two others in an arrest raid in the town of Qalqiliya.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4051514

Israel to restart contact with Abbas "quickly"
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has decided to resume political contact "very quickly" with the Palestinian leadership, Israel's Public Radio reported Wednesday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/26/content_2511065.htm

PNA slams UN decision not to renew relief chief's term
In a communique, the PNA demanded UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to retreat his decision that came under pressures of the United States and Israel.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/26/content_2511982.htm

Albright: Palestinians can't expect more than in 2000
Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, a key figure in talks that came close to an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement, on Wednesday said Palestinians could not expect more from a deal than was offered in 2000.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L26359618.htm

Sharon boosts Abbas ceasefire bid by moving on militants' key demands
But the factions have said they will not announce a halt to their campaign of attacks until Israel reciprocates by ending its military operations in the occupied territories, halting targeted killings of militants and starting to release the 8,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?ID=36449

The rise of Israel's pious
Inside a stone citadel atop a panoramic hilltop, prospective Israeli soldiers at the Beit Yatir religious military prep school consult the Talmud on whether they should follow orders to evacuate settlements in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0126/p06s01-wome.html?s=hns

PA: Sharon-Abbas summit to be held within two weeks
Breaking a freeze in diplomatic contacts, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's senior advisor Dov Weisglass met Wednesday with Palestinian Authority Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat to discuss the transfer of four West Bank cities to Palestinian security control.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/531967.html

U.S. wants Syria to back Palestinian-Israeli moves
Burns said he and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage had encouraged Syria during a visit there this month to support what Burns said was the most promising opportunity for progress in the Palestinian and Israeli peace process for years.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L26194910.htm

US will do all to exploit 'most promising' Mideast peace chance: envoy
"The US is determined to do everthing we can to contribute to the opportunity of progress between the Palestinians and Israel," William Burns said following talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. "We agreed that we have the most promising opportunity for progress for several years," he added.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050126/wl_mideast_afp/mideastusegypt_050126155848

Promoting an alternative image of the Arab world
Last December, the renowned poet Darwish was given the Principal Prince Claus Award worth 100,000 euros in the Netherlands for his powerful and world-famous poetry that depicts his life as an exile and his desire for his native country.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=4&article_id=12068

An Iron Wall of Colonization
Israel has made it clear that the first thing it expects of the new Palestinian leader is for him to bring the Palestinian population under control: a mission that, in order to demonstrate his good behavior, he has already zealously taken up by deploying his security forces in order to protect Israel from attack by Palestinians (rather than the other way around).
http://www.counterpunch.org/makdisi01262005.html

Israel ready to expel BBC reporter
The government says no new visa will be issued until Wilson agrees to sign a letter acknowledging that he deliberately defied Israeli law, apologising and promising that it will not happen again. BBC sources say that the corporation is unwilling to agree to such a move, in which case Wilson will be barred from Israel indefinitely.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1398641,00.html

EU looks to boost its image in Israel
The European Union's new ambassador to Israel, Ramiro Cibrian-Uzal, said he plans to make a concerted effort to improve the EU's image here. An Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement is a "strategic priority" for the EU right now, he continued, but the union believes that its desire for peace complements its friendship with Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=531968&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Ticking intelligence bomb
Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu: I, for example, brought three children into the world, out of a strategic decision reached together with my wife, according to which the struggle with people like you has to be based on quality, not quantity.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/531935.html

Russia writes off $9.8 billion of Syrian debt
In a sign Moscow was ready to take its relations with Syria to a new level, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Russia had agreed to write off 73 percent - $9.8 billion - of Syria's net debts to Moscow. It was unclear what Moscow, whose influence waned in the Middle East after the collapse of the Soviet Union, would get in return
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=12098

Settlers Compensation payments to add One Billion to State Deficit
Demands by Israel Knesset members to add NIS 500 million NIS in compensation for Gush Kativ settlers and settlers of the four small northern West Bank outposts and businesses to be evacuated in the unilateral disengagement plan will add around NIS 1 billion to the 2005 budget deficit.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/Jan/week4/012605/state-deficit.htm

U.S. Helicopter Crash in Iraq Kills 31 in Deadliest Day of War
A helicopter crash in Iraq killed 31 Marines, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East said in Washington, in the single deadliest incident suffered by the U.S. military since the March 2003 invasion. Five other members of the American military were killed in separate attacks today north and west of the capital Baghdad.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aNpYKyb6s5Kk&refer=top_world_news

January 25, 2005

2005-01-25T22:30:00.000Z

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| Today in Palestine! 25 - Jan - 2005 |
| www.TheHeadlines.Org |
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Israel resumes work on illegal wall
Israeli bulldozers have resumed work on one of the most controversial sections of the illegal separation wall deep in the northern West Bank. The work began on Monday after an eight-month pause when the construction was halted by a court order. Palestinian security sources in Salfit town, which lies just to the south of the Jewish settlement of Ariel, said three bulldozers began work in the late morning, clearing land belonging to Salfit and to the neighbouring village of Iskaka.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/58D7B8C1-9760-48D4-8C45-F0BE08114190.htm

The Writing on the Wall: Maha Abu Dayyeh
My office is close to my house—I just walk across the street. Now, the Wall ends just before the intersection of where I cross. When its construction is completed, I will have to drive all the way through Qalandia checkpoint, turn right around, and cross the check point again and go to Dahiet Al-Barid, before I can get to my office.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3554.shtml

East Jerusalemites will need permits to visit Ramallah
By then, the separation wall in the area, a series of tall cement plates that he calls a "barrier," will be completed. The Qalandiya checkpoint will be moved off the Jerusalem-Ramallah road and upgraded into a terminal.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=531714&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Resumption of barrier sparks first row with Israel since Abbas election
As hundreds of demonstrators protested against building work on the section near the settlement of Ariel, Qorei said Israel had sent a clear message with such a provocative move at a time when Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas is trying to put an end to four years of violence.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050125/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_050125142020

Israel considers Gaza-W.Bank train for Palestinians
They said Vice Premier Shimon Peres plans to ask the World Bank to help raise funding for the project if it is approved, seeing a train link as a way to counter charges that Israel will effectively maroon Gaza Palestinians when it quits the occupied strip later this year.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L25555041.htm

Israel kills Palestinian as Abbas acts
The body of a Palestinian teenager, shot dead by Israeli troops, has been recovered, while Mahmud Abbas sends bulldozers into Gaza to demolish illegal buildings in a crackdown on the resistance. The victim, whose identity was not immediately known, had been shot on Monday evening in a closed military zone around the settlement of Netzarim
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7C0ABD39-2818-438A-85E5-3202FBD8E9B5.htm

Citizen killed in GS, another in WB
In the West Bank city of Hebron, Yasser al-Jabareen 30, died Tuesday of wounds he sustained a month ago. Al-Jabareen was shot with live bullet in the head and was clinically dead until he passed away today morning, according to medics.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2063

Brigadier Jaber: “P.A security is ready to carry out its responsibilities in the West Bank”
Brigadier Ismail Jaber, head of the Palestinian National Security said during a visit to Jenin and its refugee camp, north of the West Bank , that the P.A security is ready and receive it full responsibilities if the Israeli army withdraws.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/Jan/Week4/012505/Jaber.htm

Hamas says dialogue with Abbas achieves substantial progress
"The negotiations with Abu Mazen (Abbas) have produced real results that will soon be released," he said, stressing that whether a truce could be reached depends on Israel's reactions.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/25/content_2506915.htm

IDF, Palestinian officials meet over south Gaza deployment
Israeli and Palestinian military officials met Tuesday evening to discuss deployment of Palestinian police in southern Gaza, Army Radio reported. The possible broader deployment comes just days after PA police took up positions in northern Gaza to prevent militants from firing rockets at Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/531871.html

US envoy to meet Abbas for truce talks on ceasefire
The US envoy to the Middle East, William Burns, is expected to arrive in Jerusalem tomorrow to discuss an appeal by the new Palestinian leadership for American support in securing Israeli respect for a ceasefire. Mr Burns is due to meet the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, on Thursday.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1397841,00.html

PNA hopes US envoy's visit can reactivate quartet's role
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Tuesday that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) hopes US Assistant Secretary of State for the Middle East William Burns' visit could reactivate the role of the quartet committee.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/25/content_2506917.htm

Palestinian forces demolish Gaza homes
A policeman in command of the operation said he was acting in accord with an order from new Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, to remove structures built illegally on government land.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200501/s1289132.htm

Abbas looks to build up diplomatic pressure on Israel on first foreign trip
Mahmud Abbas is to embark this week on the first foreign trip by a Palestinian leader for over three years, heading to Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and Russia, in a bid to build up international pressure on Israel. While his predecessor Yasser Arafat was effectively confined to his West Bank headquarters for the last three years of his life
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?ID=36403

Hamas leader says his group is ready for conditional truce with Israel
Hamas is prepared to accept a temporary truce with Israel, but on condition that the Israelis halt their targeted killings and release all Palestinian prisoners, the leader of the Palestinian resistance group said on Tuesday.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2005/January/middleeast_January701.xml&section=middleeast

Assad: Russian missiles would not pose threat to Israel
"This is a defensive, air defense, weapon," Assad told students during a visit to the Moscow State Institute for International Relations, the Interfax news agency reported. "If Israel is against us buying it, it means it wants to invade our airspace. The Israeli stance is illogical."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/531811.html

IDF reviving psychological warfare unit
The psychological warfare unit was dramatically reduced five years ago, but during the war with the Palestinians, the army grew frustrated with the difficulty of influencing Palestinian opinion in the territories - indeed, of even finding a way of communicating with the population.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=531712&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

PM vows Knesset rulings will be fully implemented
He went on to say that "unfortunately, the last year has seen an increase in calls threatening Israel's democracy, [calls] that publicly reveal various bodies' refusal to accept democratic decisions made by the Knesset."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/531866.html

Ya'alon awaits two reports on Rafah house demolitions
A committee headed by Major General Udi Shani examined the effectiveness of destroying houses as a deterrent, but its work expanded to include an examination of military conduct in this area during major operations such as May's Operation Rainbow in Rafah.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/530898.html

UK Muslims to boycott Holocaust day
Britain's main Islamic group said it should be called Genocide Memorial Day and commemorate all mass killings, including in Bosnia, Rwanda and Palestine. "Israel has also committed mass killings," said Inayat Bunglawala, spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/80294A1D-4B69-41A0-8975-A0FCE1000672.htm

Arab leaders to meet in Algiers March 22-23
Moussa, the Arab League's secretary general, met with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to discuss the agenda of the summit, then announced the exact date. It has been known the summit would be held in March but the date of the gathering was not official.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=531411&contrassID=1&subContrassID=8&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Israeli trench bid: security vs. homes
Digging the 2.5 mile-long trench ( see map ) promises to hit the Palestinian population hard. Israeli officials have given various estimates of the number of Palestinian homes that would be demolished for the project, ranging from a few dozen to as many as 3,000.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0124/p07s01-wome.html

Don't call him a collaborator
Abu Mazen is known for his clear and decisive position not only against the Qassams but against any use of violence in the struggle against Israel. His position on the matter has been known since the start of the intifada, and he did not hesitate to express it in public.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/531445.html

Calder awarded for Mid-East service
IT'S a far cry from Mackay in central Queensland to the edge of a refugee camp in the war-torn Gaza Strip. Dr Calder today received Australia's highest civil award with her appointment as a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for her humanitarian services in the Middle East.
http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,12057157%255E1702,00.html

Iraqi forces torturing detainees: Human Rights Watch
"Unlawful arrest, long-term incommunicado detention, torture and other ill-treatment of detainees (including children) by Iraqi authorities have become routine and commonplace," the group said in a 94-page report entitled, "The New Iraq? Torture and Ill-treatment of Detainees in Iraqi Custody," released Monday ( http://hrw.org/reports/2005/iraq0105/ ).
http://uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=9153&s2=25

U.S. Hostage Pleads for His Life in Iraq
In the video, hostage Roy Hallums spoke slowly, rubbing his hands as he sat with the barrel of the rifle inches from his head. He said he had been arrested by a "resistance group" because "I have worked with American forces." He appealed to Arab leaders, including Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, to save his life.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=441131

More GIs to Accompany Iraqis Under Plan
U.S. commanders are devising a plan for as many as 10,000 soldiers and Marines to accompany Iraqi units as advisers and trainers, a substantial increase from the few thousand doing such work now, defense officials say.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050125/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/iraq_us_troops&cid=542&ncid=1480

Bush Wants $80B More for Iraq, Afghan Wars
Three senior administration officials said the White House would request $80 billion for the wars, or a bit more, soon after Bush submits his budget for fiscal 2006 to lawmakers on Feb. 7. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the program has not yet been announced, said $75 billion of it would be for U.S. military costs
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=2&u=/ap/20050125/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_spending

January 24, 2005

2005-01-24T22:29:00.000Z

//------------------------------------------------\\
| Today in Palestine! 24 - Jan - 2005 |
| www.TheHeadlines.Org |
\\------------------------------------------------//

'Land grab' fears for Jerusalem
Israeli lawyers acting for owners described the policy as a "land grab". Thousands of Palestinians who possess land in East Jerusalem could lose ownership of their property. Some in Bethlehem and Beit Jalla lost rights to their land in August after it was cut off by the West Bank barrier.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4201351.stm

"Palestinians Under the New Israeli 'Disengagement Plan'"
It highlights the ways in which four main construction projects—the building of new settlements and the expansion of existing settlements; the construction of more settlers-only "by-pass" road; the building of a system of bridges (for settlers) and tunnels (for Palestinians); and the setting up of industrial zones that will be sites for exploiting impoverished Palestinian labor—combine today with the Apartheid Wall into a plan for the full Bantustanization of the Palestinian people.
http://stopthewall.org/factsheets/848.shtml

You Pick the Houses, I'll Send the Bulldozers'
Israeli media sources quoted two army officers, who took part in Khan Younis operation, as expressing serious worries over the unrestrained use of force, with authority to demolish homes residing in the hands of low-ranking officers. Human rights organization B'Tselem counts 2,400 demolished homes in the Gaza Strip, saying it was clear that the destruction is part of planned policy.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/Jan/week4/012405/pick-house.htm

Barghouthi: “Seize fire should include a complete halt of Israeli military aggression”
Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative, said that any seize fire agreement reached with Israeli should include halting the construction of the annexation wall, removing the erected sections of the Wall, and removing the military checkpoint and closures over the Palestinian areas.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/Jan/Week4/012405/barghouthi.htm

Israel may seize "absentee" Arab land in Jerusalem
Under the 1950 law, West Bank Palestinians with property in East Jerusalem could be labelled absentee landowners, allowing the state to confiscate their property without compensation. "There is an intention to do that. It hasn't been approved yet. That's all. There are discussions about this law," a senior Israeli official told Reuters, declining further comment. ( if US shows no Red Light, then it's green )
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L23369520.htm

Settlement slated for evacuation said to have doubled size
Settlers told the radio that they have received donations to refurbish caravans at the site, because government budgets to Sa Nur have been frozen, and the Defense Ministry has barred entry to new caravans.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/529814.html

Ya'alon awaits two reports on house demolitions
Two major generals are soon to submit conclusions to Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon on an issue called "explosive" by military sources: the demolition of Palestinian homes in the territories, primarily the massive razing of dwellings in the Gaza Strip.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/530947.html

Israeli Arab birthrate drops, first time in years
According to the Finance Ministry, the drop in birthrate is a clear result of the cutbacks in child support allocations over the past two years, although the cutbacks were driven by economic, not demographic reasons. A senior Finance Ministry official said Israel is subject to an internal demographic threat, and that now "we are reversing the graph, to defend the Jewish majority in the country."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=531251&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Three handicapped residents targeted by military fire in Qalqilia
In less than a month, Israeli soldiers shot three handicapped residents in the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia and the surrounding villages killing one and injuring two others. On Saturday, Israeli soldiers killed Taqi Ad-Deen Al-Khouli, 17, in the village of Azzoun, near Qalqilia, after claiming that he was in an area near the annexation Wall;
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/Jan/Week4/012405/handicapped.htm

IOF Arrests 3 Citizens Including Policeman in WB
In Ramallah, Israeli troops rolled into Aaboud village, located northern the city and arrested two citizens after storming their houses, locals said. Nine Israeli military vehicles broke into the village, besieged the house of Waleed Awad 17, and Abdullah al-Barghouty 20...
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2061

General Assembly marks 60th anniversary of liberation of Nazi death camps
Before the day-long session, Mr. Annan and his wife, Nane, hosted a coffee reception for death camp survivors and other distinguished guests, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. ( Elie Wiesel, calling Palestinian acts "Crimes Against Humanity"! Supporting Sharon & his policies )
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=13102&Cr=general&Cr1=assembly

Annan drops UNRWA head after US, Israeli campaign
Secretary-General Kofi Annan has decided not to reappoint the head of the UN relief agency for Palestinians because of a long campaign against him by Israel and the United States, UN officials said on Wednesday.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/529513.html

Israel and the UN: Promising beginnings
Israel's relations with the UN, since it recognized the state's existence in 1948, have gone up and down. Israel still draws fire in every forum of the UN, where its adversaries enjoy a majority.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/531367.html

Palestinians agree on cool-off period
"Firstly, to give the Palestinian Authority an opportunity to negotiate for Palestinian safety and security. "Secondly, to ease the confrontation with Israel as an introduction to reach a long-term truce if Israel offers a positive commitment to cease its aggression by withdrawing from Palestinian land, releasing all political detainees and removing checkpoints."
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B1637A40-10D0-48FC-ADDE-A0845F994EF2.htm

No need for Israel to respond to any Palestinian truce: Netanyahu
"I don't see why Israel must give something," Netanyahu told army radio. "They must give something." "They are the side that transgressed. They are the side that tried to use terror to press for the terrible results that they sought." ( They are the creators of Zionism/Occupation/Settlements/WMD/Aparthied...? )
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1514&ncid=1312&e=4&u=/afp/20050124/wl_mideast_afp/mideastpalestiniantruceisrael_050124074433

Israeli military open to truce with Palestinians
The announcement, by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his defence minister, Shaul Mofaz, came as Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said he was closing in on a truce deal with Islamic militants and called on Israel to respond positively to a truce.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2005/01/24/908260-sun.html

Weisglass to Washington next week
The Israeli radio reported that Sharon’s advisor, Dove Weisglass is heading to Washington next week to prepare for Sharons’ visit scheduled to late March or early April. Weisglass will meet Condoleezza Rice, which will be officially assigned to her position next week.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/Jan/Week4/012405/Weisglass.htm

Knesset panel to urge boosting settler compensation
A subcommittee of the Knesset Finance committee will recommend that the government increase by millions of shekels funds allocated toward compensating settlers evacuated from their homes under the disengagement plan, Israel Radio said. ( compensating Illegal Settlers! )
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=530882&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

PA police ordered to prevent Qassams at any cost
Our orders are to prevent fire at any cost, even if we have to shoot, but we have to receive approval for that from the battalion commander or one of the senior officers. If a cell of militants who are ready to fire is observed, police have orders to move in quickly, seize weapons and prevent the firing. Only if met with resistance may they ask permission to shoot.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=530946&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Likud MK demands to force extremist group out of the party
The petition is follows a manifesto, written by the movements' members and distributed in thousands of copies, saying that nonviolent civil disobedience and refusal is the only way to respond to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=531384&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

From enemy to partner
We've already been down this road before. The prime minister, with or without a cautionary note from Washington, decides to demonstrate restraint in the event of a terrorist bombing/Qassam, the Israel Defense Forces withdraws its troops from an urban settlement (Bethlehem - remember?) and hands responsibility for the act of terror back to the Palestinian Authority.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/530926.html

US media silent over massive East Jerusalem land grab
The reader is not reminded about how Ariel Sharon used to insist on seven days of quiet before he returned to the so-called "negotiating table", and that when he got two whole months of quiet in the summer of 2003, thanks to Mahmoud Abbas's efforts, Mr. Sharon went out of his way to sabotage the unilateral cease-fire with spectacular assassinations.
http://www.pmwatch.org/pmw/mediocrity/displayCall.asp?essayID=273

Israeli Arab cleared of failing to prevent bus bombing
"It has been a very difficult two and a half years," she said following her acquittal on Monday. "But I trusted that this is how it would end. I will not celebrate today, because of the bereaved families. I have a friend who was killed...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/531335.html

The `demographic scarecrow'
The Arab population in Israel numbers 1.36 million, about 20 percent of the general population. Last week the Central Bureau of Statistics published data on Israel's Muslim community, which constitutes 82 percent of the Arab population. The data expressly prove that demographics is not a scarecrow.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/530924.html

A fragile and flimsy chance
Hamas is demanding a change in the electoral system (from the regional system used currently in the PA, to elections according to the system used in Israel, which allows small political parties to succeed). Al-Zahar's remarks confirm what has been known for some time - that Hamas is setting out to become a political party that wants to gain control.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/530925.html

Tali Fahima released to house arrest
Fahima was arrested nearly six months ago. Her defense attorney, Samadar Ben-Natan argues that the state has reversed itself. When Fahima was arrested, Ben-Natan states, investigative bodies said there was not enough evidence for a standard indictment. Fahima was thus placed under administrative detention.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/531260.html

Dagan: Egypt, Syria have nuclear programs, as well as Iran
The head of the Mossad intelligence service, Meir Dagan, warned Monday that there are signs that several Middle East states other than Iran - including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria - are at varying stages of development of nuclear programs.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/531273.html

Iraqi insurgents saving up for major attack-US general
"We think it's a calm before the storm, that they're unable to sustain the level of attacks that they've had, but they're saving up for something more spectacular in the days proceeding elections and on election day," Lessel said.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N24595720.htm

US plans 'robot troops' for Iraq
The US military is planning to deploy robots armed with machine-guns to wage war against insurgents in Iraq. Eighteen of the 1m-high robots, equipped with cameras and operated by remote control, are going to Iraq this spring, the Associated Press reports.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4199935.stm

January 23, 2005

2005-01-23T01:42:00.000Z

//------------------------------------------------\\
| Today in Palestine! 23 - Jan - 2005 |
| www.TheHeadlines.Org |
\\------------------------------------------------//

Israel seizes thousands of acres of Palestinian-owned land in Jerusalem
Israel has quietly seized large tracts of Jerusalem land owned by Palestinian residents of the West Bank after they were cut off from their property by Israel's separation barrier, lawyers of the landowners said. The land was taken after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government decided several months ago to enforce a long-dormant law that allows Israel to seize lands of Palestinians...
http://cbsnewyork.com/international/Jerusalem-Confiscatio-ai/resources_news_html

Racism at Its Highest Level
You live in a home in a city, your home is inherited through generations within your family, you never sold your home, you never left your home or your city, yet your home isn't yours anymore. This is the exact meaning of implementing the Absentee property law in East Jerusalem. On July 2004, decided in secrecy to implement the Absentee property law in East Jerusalem.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/Jan/Week4/012305/racism%20at%20its%20highst%20point.htm

Beilin: Gov't decision on East J'lem property is undemocratic
MK Mohamed Barakeh (Hadash) said in response to the report that the decision is a new "war crime" committed by the Sharon government. The decision, Barakeh said, proves that, "Sharon's real disengagement is a disengagement from all accepted agreement for a final settlement."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=530467&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Family of dead Gaza girl demands probe of IDF shooting
The petitioners are demanding a change of venue out of concern that the military prosecution may have approved the command to open fire, which they say was illegal. The High Court gave the military prosecution 10 days to respond to the petition.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/530835.html

Army kills a child near Qalqilia
Saturday evening, Israeli soldiers killed a child, near the village of Azzoun, near the northern West Bank of Qalqilia. A local source in Qalqilia reported that Taqi Al-Deen Khawla, 17, was killed near the annexation wall. The source stated that Khawala was suffering from mental disability. (Were the killed an Illegal Settler, then it'd be end to cease-fire! )
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/Jan/Week4/012205/child%20Qalqilia.htm

IDF uncovers largest weapons factory in Nablus in 3 years
Israel Defense Forces troops operating in Nablus before dawn on Sunday uncovered a weapons lab described as the largest discovered in the West Bank city in the past three years. Soldiers from the Haruv Battalion found 30 kilograms of explosives and three explosive belts in the lab.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/530473.html

Denmark's envoy meets Danish security suspect
The Danish Foreign Ministry issued a statement Sunday saying that the suspect "seemed to be okay," has been "under a lot of pressure because of the situation, and was happy to finally see a Danish government official and send greetings to his family in Denmark."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1106450584660

Sharon aide sees no final peace accord with Abbas
"On the major issues, Abu Mazen (Abbas) will not be able to compromise any more than (Yasser) Arafat. That being the case, it is clear that negotiating on a final accord now would be a recipe for disaster," Zalman Shoval told Reuters.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L23307660.htm

Palestine TV - Abbas says nearing ceasefire
"President Mahmoud Abbas has confirmed that the Palestinian national dialogue has made very great progress and he added that very soon an agreement in this regard will be reached," the television said in a statement.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L23442790.htm

Islamic Jihad: Israel to Decide on Ceasefire
One of the Islamic Jihad leaders Halid Al-Bac released an announcement stating that "A ceasefire depends on Israel's acceptance of the conditions of the Palestinian people. It is up to Israel now to decide."
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=hotnews&alt=&trh=20050123&hn=15873

Palestinians deny truce deal but say ready for calm
"What Mofaz said was incorrect. We reiterated that the movement has expressed its readiness to study the issue of calm seriously but there will be no calm without a price and a calm will not be accepted unless there is a clear commitment from the occupation to stop all sorts of aggression," Sami Abu Zuhri of Hamas...
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L23197553.htm

Palestinians Hint New Calm to Last at Least a Month
Palestinian militants signaled on Sunday they would help maintain calm in Gaza for at least a month but denied Israeli reports they had agreed to a cease-fire at the behest of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
http://olympics.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7401582

Two more Palestinian groups join truce offer
The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) on Saturday expressed their readiness for cooperation with new Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbasin reaching a truce with Israel.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/23/content_2496017.htm

Palestinian militants say ball in Israel's court on truce
"Mofaz's statement that we have reached a ceasefire is incorrect," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP. "Our position is that the Israeli occupation should first commit itself to a ceasefire. After that we have no objections about dealing with this subject positively."
http://www.turkishpress.com/world/news.asp?id=050123112006.15k3du7a.xml

Sharon's Warning to Militants If They Disrupt Gaza Calm
“After a long period of Palestinian terror and vigorous activity of the security forces against the terror, it is quiet,” Sharon said at the start of the meeting. “I hope that maybe the quiet will continue and if not, the army and the security forces will continue to do all that is necessary to lift the threat from the residents here.”
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4036692

Bank Leumi won't pay Holocaust victims' heirs
Bank Leumi, which holds most of the accounts of Jews who perished in the Holocaust, does not intend to pay the money it owes the survivors and victims' heirs at this stage. The bank made this clear despite the publication of the parliamentary inquiry commission on this matter last week. (Zionist = Anti-Semite ? )
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=530528&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Beilin: Gov't Decision on EJ property is Robbery
Beilin, who served as Justice Minister under former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, also said that the government of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon did what no government has done before. "Neither from the left nor from the right, no one dared to do this, to take the property rights of Palestinians in East Jerusalem," Beilin said.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/Jan/Week4/012305/Belein%20EJ%20law%20robbery.htm

PA town gets female mayor
It was her husband Majdi al-Rahimi, a Popular Front member, who suggested she run for the council. She says he has been praying and fasting for a decade at the PA jail in Jericho. He was sentenced to eight years in prison for his role in planning the assassination of then-tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/530522.html

Israel charts anti-Semitism rise in Russia, Britain
"A central cause: years of hostile reporting and commentary about Israel in the British press now is spilling over into the street," the report said in apparent reference to coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ( According to BBC report, majority of Britons belive that Israel is under Palestinian Occupation )
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/530846.html

Ben-Eliezer to declare run for head of Labor Party
Ben-Eliezer served for two years as Labor chairman and led the campaign to bring the party into Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's first government. During the past several months, however, polls were not particular in his favor and it appeared as if his support within the party was dropping.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/530777.html

Analysis: Israel pleasantly surprised by Abbas
Arafat enjoyed greater political power and legitimacy than Abbas, and the PA security forces were better organized early in the conflict than they are now. Yet Arafat never took even the minimal steps that Abbas has now taken.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=530526&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Abbas's Surprising Success
Also, Abbas, and for various reasons, arrived to power enjoying the backing of the most powerful international powers. Standing on such a solid international base, Abbas became immune against much of the Israeli pressure his processor, Yasser Arafat, was subjected to.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/Jan/Week4/012305/abbas%27s%20surprising%20success.htm

Protesters call for PM's resignation over policy of restraint
Police and the Shin Bet security service allowed the demonstration to go ahead on a nearby street but barred protestors from approaching the actual location of the cabinet meeting. There were also clashes between Shin Bet security service personnel and journalists attempting to cover the cabinet meeting.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=530860&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

New immigrants' problems don't end when they die
Giorgio was Christian Orthodox, like thousands of immigrants from former Soviet Union. Apparently, dying in Israel is no easier for new immigrants and their families than many other absorption issues. This is because most local authorities have not established a civil or non-Jewish cemetery, despite the law requiring them to do so.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/530487.html

Israeli joker in the Iranian poker game
Cheney is not worried about the Israeli context, nor is he warning Israel not to act without coordination with Washington. He is using the possibility of an Israeli operation against Iran to threaten Tehran, while shaking off American responsibility for that kind of escalation.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/530512.html

A week ahead of Iraq election, Zarqawi calls for all-out war
The voice attributed to Zarqawi in an audiotape message posted on an Islamic website said the January 30 election was a "wicked trap aimed at putting the Rafidha (a derogatory term for Shiites) in the seat of power in Iraq," "We have declared all-out war on this wicked course," said the voice on the 45-minute tape
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=13&u=/afp/20050123/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_050123152142

In the Penal Colony
Alberto Gonzales's nomination to succeed John Ashcroft as Attorney General put the Abu Ghraib torture scandal back on the front pages, since he was directly implicated, as White House counsel, in the formulation of policies authorizing and justifying the mistreatment of prisoners that paved the road to Abu Ghraib.
http://uruknet.info/?s1=2&p=9081&s2=23

Allawi party official killed: Zarqawi
"Your brothers in the al-Qaeda organisation in the Land of Two Rivers (Iraq) managed to assassinate Salem Jaafar al-Kanani, secretary of the traitor Allawi," the statement said. The authenticity of the statement could not be confirmed.
http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,12031961%255E1702,00.html

U.S. Soldier Killed on Patrol in Iraq
There have been daily clashes between U.S. forces and insurgents in the city in recent weeks. The military has increased troop strength in the area and has launched frequent overnight arrest raids to try to rein in guerillas before next weekend's elections in Iraq.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=3&u=/ap/20050123/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_soldier_killed

January 22, 2005

2005-01-22T18:09:00.000Z

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| Today in Palestine! 22 - Jan - 2005 |
| www.TheHeadlines.Org |
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Beilin: Gov't decision on Eest J'lem property is undemocratic
Responding to a report that the cabinet met in July 2004 and adopted a decision to expand the powers of the Custodian of Absentee Property to East Jerusalem, Yahad Chairman Yossi Beilin said Saturday that the decision equated to stealing property, and that it was undemocratic.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/530467.html

Village of Biddu to Plant Olive Seedlings in Wall's Path on Monday
the community of Biddu in northwest Jerusalem will plant olive trees in the path of Israel's Apartheid Wall. The peaceful protest, organized by Biddu's popular committee, will also be joined by international and Israeli activists. Participants will gather at Biddu's Village Council at 11:00 AM on Monday and march to Biddu's farmland that is being bulldozed for Wall construction.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/DesktopModules/Articles/ArticlesView.aspx?tabID=0&alias=Rainbow&lang=en-US&ItemID=746&mid=10400

IDF troops kill Palestinian near West Bank separation fence
The soldiers who witnessed the Palestinian approaching the fence fired warning shots, initially towards the air and subsequently firing in the direction of his feet. Apparently, one of the shots wounded the Palestinian, who would die of his injuries. The Palestinian was unarmed. (Separation Fence = Apartheid Wall)
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/530473.html

US must act to stop ethnic cleansing in Palestine
In a single day in early December, 117 ancient olive trees were ripped from the ground. The bulldozers reappeared on subsequent days to continue their assault. Steven Erlanger reported in the New York Times on 29 December that 650 trees, many of them 600 years old, had been uprooted. For the farmers whose livelihood depends upon olives, this is a catastrophe.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3547.shtml

The Rachel Corrie Rebuilding Campaign in Gaza
Please access the Page, and vote for it. For sake of success of the project, and it's reminding the world of the unjust Murder of Rachel Corrie,a nd the continuing silence?
http://www.globalgiving.com/dy/projrater/gpf.html?project=929

National Resistance Committees demand referendum on issues of Jerusalem and refugees
The Palestinian National Resistance Committees (NRC) demanded of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Abu Mazin, during a meeting on Friday, to hold a referendum on the issues of Jerusalem and the Palestinian refugees.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/Jan/Week4/012205/nrc.htm

Keep security and education separate
the job of the Shin Bet officer at the ministry has not been canceled. A representative of the secret service serves as a deputy supervisor of the Arab education department, involved in all the appointments of principals and teachers in the Arab sector schools with the authority to veto an appointment.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/529013.html

Action Alert: Help ISM Activist Brian Avery Attend his Hearing
US citizen Brian Avery has petitioned the Israeli Supreme court demanding a criminal investigation into his shooting that occurred on April 5, 2003 in Jenin. His petition will be heard by the court on the 28th of February, 2005.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/palsolidarity/message/1124

Gaza Militants Dismiss Israel Truce Feeler
Israel signaled on Saturday it could ease back military operations against Palestinian militants if they halted attacks, but the guerrillas said only a full Israeli cease-fire could stop fighting.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7399684

IDF troops detain Al Aqsa man suspected of murdering Israeli
Israel Defense Forces troops operating in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday arrested Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades militant Muhanad Salah Hussein, who the security establishment believes...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/530473.html

Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades ready for ceasefire with Israel
The group said in a statement that its conditions included that Israel announces a cessation of military operations, a halt to its policy of targetted assassination of militants and releases Palestinian prisoners.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1514&ncid=1312&e=4&u=/afp/20050122/wl_mideast_afp/mideastpalestinian_050122100835

Islamic Jihad: Calm Gaza Withdrawal Has a Price Tag
" Sharon wants to withdraw from Gaza in calm. If he wants calm, he has to pay the price" he added. Islamic Jihad Gaza leader Mohammed al-Hindi said Friday Israel should halt attacks and release Palestinian prisoners before his group consider halting attacks against Israelis.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/Jan/Week4/012205/IJ%20calm%20withdrawal%20has%20price%20tag.htm

Danish ambassador to visit tourist held on security charges
Denmark's Foreign Ministry announced Friday that Israel will allow its ambassador to Tel Aviv to visit the Danish national who was arrested for unspecified security violations, Israel Radio reported.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/530162.html

U.S. Welcomes Palestinian Security Moves; Sending Envoy to Region
In the meantime, the Bush administration is sending the State Department's top Middle East envoy, William Burns, to the region to try to encourage what officials here say are positive moves by the new Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200501/200501220003.html

Israel Lauds New Palestinian Leader for Moves to Stop Attacks
But he emphasized that the situation remained fragile, and that in the longer run, Mr. Abbas would have to dismantle the military structures of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah's Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, confiscate their weapons and destroy rocket factories.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/23/international/middleeast/23mideast.html

Abbas 'within reach' of new Hamas ceasefire deal
But if the factions agree, Mr Abbas will then seek to entrench the ceasefire by asking the US, EU and Egypt to seek equally firm promises from Israel that it will play its part in ensuring that it will not collapse amid mutual recrimination, as did the short-lived truce he negotiated as Prime Minister in the summer of 2003.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=603454

Three Palestinian children transferred to Israeli hospitals
A special Magen David Adom vehicle equipped with an incubator transferred a week-old baby and a 9-day-old baby from the Erez Crossing to the hospital. Both babies suffer from heart malfunctions and are awaiting heart surgery. Later, a 13-year-old Palestinian boy, whose legs were dismembered, was also transferred to the hospital.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=530477&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

Sharon coalition on borrowed time
"Sharon's coalition is hanging together by less than a thread. Even if he succeeds in getting Shas to join the government, he still won't have a majority for peace, because Shas is not very flexible about peace," he said.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3550.shtml

Background/ Hamas vs. Abbas: The lethal wild card, a profile
It won sweeping popular support with smoothly functioning social welfare agencies, a marked lack of corruption, a disciplined organization, and a military-industrial underground named for Iz al-Din al-Qassam, a Syrian-born militant who attacked Jewish villages in pre-State Palestine, killed by the British in 1935.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=529909&displayTypeCd=1&sideCd=1&contrassID=2

Suad Amiry's Book on Life in Palestine under Occupation Exposes Israeli Crazy-Makers
Though not yet released in America, “Sharon and My Mother-in-Law” has been translated into 11 languages and has won the prestigious Viareggio prize in Italy. Unable to purchase the book in America, I was able to easily access it from Amazon.com's UK website. It is also available through their Canadian website.
http://www.amin.org/eng/uncat/2005/jan/jan22.html

North and south
The declared intention: to learn "methodological lessons" from this process, which mainly took place from February to May 2000. But no document distributed by the IDF in January 2005 can be divorced, at least by implication, from the headache the army is suffering this year in anticipation of the evacuation of Gaza.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/530089.html

Lording it over `liberated' territories
According to that order, a "military court and the administration of said military court shall act in accordance with the articles of the (Fourth) Geneva Convention of August 12, 1949, concerning the protection of civilians in wartime and shall observe the principles of legal procedures.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/530083.html

No-man's land once again
From the convention emerged an Israeli success story of 50 years. Hundreds of immigrant families that arrived here with no possessions "made it," and in a big way: They established themselves economically and socially, acquired trades and professions, established homes and families, and gave their children and grandchildren a good education.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/530091.html

Water crisis makes life even worse for Baghdad residents
For the past five days, most of the city — particularly the western districts — has been without water. Added to a lack of electricity — the national grid is off more than it’s on — a crumbling mobile phone network, endless lines to get fuel and a daily dose of bombs and mortars, it has made it next to impossible to even think about coming elections.
http://uruknet.info/?s1=2&p=9038&s2=21

Chinese embassy in Iraq confirms hostages release
A videotape aired by Al-Arabiya said the Islamic Resistance Movement, Al-Numan Battalion, had decided to release the eight Chinese citizens as a goodwill gesture for the friendship between the two countries of Iraq and China.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/22/content_2494951.htm

15 Iraqi national guardsmen killed by militants in Iraq: website
Ansar al-Sunna, an Islamic group believed to have links with al-Qaida network, said its militants executed the 15 Iraqi soldiers who were kidnapped last week in Hit, a town 140 km northwest of Baghdad.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/22/content_2495886.htm

Official: Millions Transferred to Lebanon
The Iraqi Defense Ministry transferred hundreds of millions of dollars from the Iraqi Central Bank to a financial institution in Beirut to buy weapons but did so legally and with the knowledge of multinational authorities, a ministry official said Saturday.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=11&u=/ap/20050122/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_money_transfer

Champion-turned-critic of US invasion in new row with Iraq officials
To the anger of anti-Iran hardliners within the government, the leading Iraqi cheerleader for the 2003 US-led invasion is now standing for January 30 elections on a common ticket with Iran-backed Shiite religious parties, despite his secular views, and is widely expected to win election.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=4&u=/afp/20050122/wl_mideast_afp/iraquschalabiprofile_050122182916