August 31 2004

An Officer In Court - By Uri Avnery
I had listened for hours to proceedings on a number of applications concerning the separation wall. I was especially interested in the part of the wall that is threatening to ruin the lives of the residents of a-Ram. The strip along the middle of the road will be displaced by an 8-meter high concrete wall that will cut off most of the town's inhabitants from their work places, schools, hospitals and even cemetery.
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20040831&fname=uri&sid=1


17 Female Internee's Health Drastically Deteriorated
The statement said that the Ramlah prison administration refused to provide and kind of treatment or medication. The physician of the prison informed striker prisoners that he could only provide medical help if they ended their strike.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/192.html


High Court rejects petition on behalf of striking prisoners
The High Court of Justice rejected a petition Tuesday calling on prison authorities to refrain from confiscating salt from Palestinian inmates conducting a hunger strike. The reasons for the ruling will be given separately.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=471737&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Palestinian Prisoners--Why are they on a Hunger Strike?
The treatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israel violates both international and Israeli laws, as well as rules governing the administration of Israeli prisons. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said the prisoners "suffer from Deplorable conditions".
http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_11371.shtml


BADIL Calls for Implementing the Geneva Convention on Palestinian Prisoners in Israel
In a press release issued, on Tuesday, BADIL said that 7,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails at the moment including 370 children under 18 and 113 women, looking for treating in accordance to the 4th Geneva Convention.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1637


"I Wait With You."
Fadwa Barghouti, wife of imprisoned Marwan Barghouti , spoke to the people of Sawya and the surrounding district in the prisoners hunger strike solidarity tent. ISM activists present had the opportunity to interview Mrs Barghouti. She told them that her husband was sentenced to 5 life terms plus 40 years.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/DesktopModules/Articles/ArticlesView.aspx?TabID=0&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en-US&ItemID=296&mid=10348


Israeli Soldiers Kill Two Palestinian Citizens, Including Child
14-year-old child, Mazin al-Agha, was killed Tuesday by Israeli soldiers while he was at home. The child was killed at home and the ambulances could not reach him. Israeli soldiers prevented ambulances from evacuating his body, PRCS added. Witnesses said that at more than ten tanks and armoured vehicles
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1635


Israeli Troops Target Ambulance, Wounding Two
Medics' sources and eyewitnesses said that the Israeli troops started shooting heavily towards an ambulance close to one the Israeli military checkpoints, south of Gaza Strip wounding two of the medical crew.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/193.html


Israeli army forces storm northern W. Bank
The Israeli soldiers called for a reinforcement of soldiers and vehicles, covered by Apache helicopters hovering over the town, andthey immediately imposed a curfew preventing residents from leaving their homes.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/31/content_1930453.htm


Islamic Jihad attacks Jewish settlement in Gaza: leaflet
The group vowed that it will continue its attacks against the Israeli army and the Jewish settlements "until they pullout from the Palestinian territories and release all prisoners in Israeli jails."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/31/content_1931216.htm


16 dead in twin suicide attacks on Be'er Sheva buses
Sixteen people, including a 3-year-old boy, were killed and about 100 others were wounded Tuesday afternoon in near-simultaneous suicide attacks on two buses in the southern city of Be'er Sheva.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/471713.html


Annan condemns Palestinian attack in Israel, calls for end to 'heinous crimes'
The United Nations today strongly condemned the double deadly terrorist attack in the Israeli city of Beersheba, with Secretary-General Kofi Annan calling on the Palestinian Authority to do everything possible to bring the perpetrators to justice and "put an end to such heinous crimes."
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=11785&Cr=middle&Cr1=east


Shalom: Be'er Sheva attack shows importance of fence
"Palestinian terrorists continue to take every measure possible to strike at Israeli civilians at every opportunity. No one should have the illusion that they've relinquished the terror option. It's just the opposite: Palestinian terror attempts continue unabated."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/471728.html


Palestinian Authority condemns blasts in Israel
“The Palestinian government reiterates that our higher national interests are not served by such actions and they should be stopped immediately,” Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie›s office said in a statement faxed to Reuters.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/213aea10-fb4c-11d8-8ad5-00000e2511c8.html


47 th Month of the Intifada; 50 Killed, 579 Wounded
the assassination attempts concentrated on Gaza Strip during the 47th of the Intifada. 62% of the killed people were gunned down by live bullets, 21.6% killed by a cannonball in addition to 56% killed due to being hit with multiple wounds. 32% of the killed were fatally hit in the upper extremes.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/190.html


Ramle Jews oppose opening of new Arab school
The Jewish residents, mostly immigrants from the former Soviet Union and veterans from the Bukharan community, are demanding that Mayor Yoel Lavi prevent the school's opening Wednesday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/471358.html


Hamas, Jihad urge for release of French hostages in Iraq
Mohammed al Hindi, a senior Jihad leader, said in an interview with the official website of the kidnappers that their demands that France end a ban on Muslim headscarves in schools "can't be treated in such a way."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/31/content_1931317.htm


Israel puts new conditions on Palestinians' travel across Rafah
By preventing Palestinians aged from 15 to 35 from traveling abroad for several months, Israel has blocked hundreds of Palestinian young men, business men and students whose foreign interests were damaged.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/31/content_1931149.htm


Palestinian groups issue death threats against FM Sha'ath
The militants cited Shaath's meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom in the Italian resort of Rimini last week as the main reason for the threat. At the time, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners were on a hunger strike...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=471699&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


PM: Cabinet to vote on disengagement law by October 24
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Tuesday presented the Knesset faction of his Likud party with a timetable for the approval of his plan for disengagement from the Palestinians, and warned party rebels that the plan "will be implemented, period."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/471432.html


Palestinians ready to assume responsibilities in Gaza: Erakat
"The Palestinian Authority is ready to assume its responsibilities in any territories that Israel retreats from in the West Bank or in the Gaza Strip,"... Erakat was speaking after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon unveiled an accelerated timetable for his so-called disengagement plan...
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story &cid=1514&ncid=1312&e=4 &u=/afp/20040831/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_israel_gaza_palestinian_040831115101


Palestinian PM meets French, German FMs
Visiting Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei on Tuesday held separate talks with German and French foreign ministers Joschka Fischer and Michel Barnier, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-09/01/content_1932345.htm


Egypt says more needed from Palestinians, Israel
Presidential spokesman Maged Abdel Fattah was speaking to reporters after Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia had talks in the Egyptian city of Alexandria with President Hosni Mubarak, who has offered to help prepare the Palestinians for an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/471770.html


Joint Palestinian-Israeli project to be initiated amid the turmoil
In spite of the continued acts of violence and the ongoing animosity between Israelis and Palestinians, it appears there is still some hope: In the near future, a joint project of the city of Tulkarem and the Emek Hefer Municipality will be commenced in which Tulkarem would transfer treated waste water in return for electricity.
http://www.maarivintl.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=10847


The Way Out: Only By Starting to talk
"Gush Shalom" (the Israeli Peace Bloc) calls upon the Government of Israel to cease its efforts to impose by force unilateral solutions, and start immediate negotiations for a comprehensive cease-fire with the Palestinians and cessation of all belligerent acts between Israel and the Palestinians.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6828.htm


A non-violent Intifada
They want to return to what Palestinians refer to as the popular uprising, the struggle of the late 1980s and early 90s that was characterised by mass protests without the use of firearms or bombs, and that ultimately produced the - now defunct – Oslo peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
http://www.rnw.nl/hotspots/html/isr040831.html


What Is Hamas?
Where most Westerners see enraged fighters willing to die for the cause rather than compromise, many Palestinians view Hamas as a disciplined group that provides education, housing, medical facilities and most importantly, a sense of pride and defiance in the face of decades of humiliation and defeat.
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/WorldNewsTonight/hamas030606_faq.html


Palestinians take back the night in Ramallah
In recent months new eateries have opened and the city's offerings have expanded despite Israel checkpoints and military raids. For Khalaf, opening Darna was simultaneously the fulfillment of a life's dream and an act of political defiance. "I had an obligation to my hometown," Khalaf says.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0831/p04s01-wome.htm


Even if it leads to bloodshed
That same day, I happened to see the following headline splashed across the front pages of the newspaper: "Police fear political assassinations during disengagement: Temple Mount attack, hits on ministers and top officials, nationwide unrest." In other words, a few Jewish settlers are planning to use force to keep the government from carrying out its decision.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/471382.html


Israel's court defeats film ban
Despite rejecting the ban, the court described Jenin, Jenin as a "propagandistic lie" which falsely accused Israeli soldiers of intentionally killing children, women, the disabled and the mentally ill.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3613658.stm


Protest when Bush is coronated Thursday, September 2 in NYC
At the moment George Bush is receiving his well-scripted coronation on Thursday evening, September 2, the streets around Madison Square Garden will be filled by people who stand together against the Iraq war, the colonial occupations of Haiti and Palestine, and the U.S. strategy of endless war and intervention.
http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=3135


Arabs Largely Criticize Captors' Motive
Al-Jazeera, the Arab television station, broadcast a stream of criticism from voices including Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Lebanon's most senior Shiite Muslim cleric, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=6&u=/ap/20040831/ap_on_re_mi_ea/mideast_france_hostages


New York Plays the Arab Card
Ironic that Siraj, a 21-year-old Pakistani immigrant who works longer hours than President Bush, in addition to attending night school, came to America for freedom and opportunity. His crime, as spelled out clearly in the complaint filed against him last weekend, was his “hatred of America.”
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3053.shtml

August 30 2004

Gandhi's 'march home' cry
Arun Gandhi proposed to the Palestinian parliament a peaceful march of 50,000 refugees across the Jordan river, and said lawmakers should lead the way. "Maybe the Israeli army would shoot and kill several. They may kill 100. They may kill 200 men, women and children. And that would shock the world," he said in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1293528,00.html


Palestinian woman dies after 12 days' hunger strike
Doctors had advised the old woman not to continue fasting, but she refused to listen and insisted on keeping solidarity with her son. The woman's son al-Zeben is sentenced to a 27-life imprisonment on accusations of being a member of Izel Dein Qassam brigades...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/30/content_1927649.htm


Israeli Colonizer Runs Woman Over, Killing Her in Qalqilya
Palestinian woman was wantonly killed early Monday when an Israeli colonizer ran her over in Qalqilya city, witnesses said. The criminal colonizer managed to flee leaving Abu Farda a dead body.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1629


Occupation Forces Close Two Gates in Jenin
Occupation Forces have closed the second of two Wall gates in Jenin district. Occupation Forces closed the Tura gate on August 16 and now they have also closed the Barta'a gate. Occupation Forces opened a new gate near Zibda village which has now become the only entrance or exit for the people living in this area;
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/743.shtml


Attacks against World Court by Bush, Kerry and Congress Reveal Growing Bipartisan Hostility to International Law
The Bush administration quickly challenged the World Court's authority by questioning whether international law should even be applied to Israeli-occupied territories. White House spokesman Scott McClellan stated, “We do not believe that it is the appropriate forum to resolve what is a political issue.” Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry concurred...
http://www.fpif.org/papers/0408worldcourt.html


Palestinians say 800 prisoners resume hunger strike
Around 800 Palestinian prisoners who suspended a hunger strike after winning some concessions from their Israeli jail resumed fasting on Monday saying nothing had changed, their spokesman said.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L30433654.htm


Supreme Court: Attorney General's Office to Respond Immediately to Adalah's Petition re Supplying Salt to Hunger-Striking Prisoners
When the prisoners initially embarked upon their hunger strike, they stated that the strike would involve refusing food, not fluids and salt. However, from the beginning of the strike, prison guards confiscated various materials from the cells of the striking prisoners, including salt.
http://www.adalah.org/newsletter/eng/aug04/2.php


Adalah in Petition to Supreme Court: Allow Children of "Security" Prisoners Physical Contact with their Fathers during Visits
Consequently, visits are the only means by which the children of “security” prisoners can see and hear their incarcerated parents. Furthermore, visits by families from the Occupied Territories are extremely limited, and do not take place on any regular basis due to restrictions on their entry into Israel introduced by the Israeli military.
http://www.adalah.org/newsletter/eng/aug04/1.php


Palestinian killed by Israeli troops in southern Gaza
Palestinian residents and witnesses said the Israeli soldiers stationed around the Jewish settlement of Morag, south of the town of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, suddenly opened intensive gunfire at the residential area, especially the area closed to the settlement.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/31/content_1928356.htm


Palestinian child hurt in Israeli strike
A nine-year old Palestinian girl has been injured after an Israeli helicopter fired missiles at a vehicle carrying four Palestinian activists. A missile missed the vehicle and hit a nearby home instead, wounding the child on Monday.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6833E4DA-AB5D-45BF-BA5D-96048672297E.htm


Israeli lightly hurt by sniper fire in Gaza
In Gaza, an Israeli man was lightly wounded Monday morning by shots fired at an IDF position close to the town of Khan Yunis. Earlier, a mortar shell hit a house on a settlement in Gush Katif. There were no injuries, and the building was lightly damaged.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/471198.html


High Court allows screening of 'Jenin Jenin'
Mazza attempted to bring the sides to agreement on omitting certain scenes from the film, but to no avail. "I pinpointed five segments that I would describe as especially troublesome," Mazza wrote in his decision. "One of them talks about IDF soldiers intentionally killing children, elderly women, the disabled, the mentally ill, and detainees," he wrote.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/471310.html


Settlers verbally fighting evacuation, others negotiating compensation
The “secret” issue here is the secrete negotiations conducted between the settlers and the Israeli government in order to receive compensation while they appear on TV's and in front of the public as the “biggest fighters against disengagement” and “recruit” the public opinion in Israel against it.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week4/083004/settlers-evac.htm


Hamas to send monitors for voter registration in PA elections
Bahaa al-Bakri, public relations director at the Palestinian Central Election Committee said Hamas registered with the committee but did not declare whether it would nominate candidates. "We are not going to participate in any elections linked to 'Oslo'," Abu Zohri. "If that changes, we will study the issue once again."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=471309&contrassID=1&subContrassID=8&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Palestine to set up 3-party reform committee
Palestinian government will set up a three-party committee to effectively implement its reform plan. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei announced the decision on Sunday. the committee would focus on maintaining peace in Palestine-controlled area, restoring local law and order, and stabilizing the political situation.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/30/content_1925518.htm


PLO rebel expresses commitment to Arafat's calls for reforms
"I don't want disputes with Arafat. My political message is clear, that we live in a tragic situation and I'm completely committed to what Arafat expressed," Dahlan said, referring to the Palestinian leader's speech before the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) on August 18.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=471305&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Palestinian PM To Travel To Russia, Turkey
Qorei is scheduled to meet with Turkish officials in Ankara on September 6 and 7 while he will be in Moscow on the following two days. Russia, one of the four backers of the troubled roadmap peace plan for the Middle East, has traditionally had close ties with the Palestinians but has warmed towards Israeli under the presidency of Vladimir Putin.
http://www.turkishpress.com/turkishpress/news.asp?ID=25880


Mofaz proposes evacuating from Gaza all at once
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz proposed to the security cabinet Monday that Israel evacuate all Gaza Strip settlements at one time instead of in four stages, as the government had earlier decided. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon attacked opponents of the plan, charging a minister who spoke out against it with exhibiting "false patriotism."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/470793.html


Israel offers World Bank to leave one Gaza settlement intact
According to political officials, Israel hopes to sell the Erez factories to the World Bank in order to continue its function as a place of employment for Palestinians, thereby preventing the continued economic deterioration in the Gaza Strip. Israel also suggested establishing a railway from Erez to the ports, with help from the World Bank.
http://www.maarivintl.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=10846


Turkish delegation heads to Israel to mend strained ties
Three close confidants of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan flew to Israel on Monday to mend strained ties after the Turkish leader accused Israel of engaging in state terrorism against the Palestinians.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=471212&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Likud group's visit to South Africa signals new era
Ayanda Ntsaluba, who was on a visit to Israel last week, said the invitation to the Likud delegation is aimed at opening up "lines of communication with the current [Israeli] government." Until now, he adds, "Israel has misunderstood our engagement. Any support for the Palestinians they perceive as anti-Israel."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=470887&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


U.S. Administration Plays down Pentagon Mole Affair
an official U.S. source said Sunday that the FBI will likely refrain from charging suspected Pentagon mole Larry Franklin with espionage, but with mishandling a classified document. The official source described Franklin as a likely idiot, not a spy.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week4/083004/us%20plays%20down.htm


Analyst at center of spy flap called naive, ardently pro-Israel
Franklin's resume describes his current position, which he has held since 2001, as: "Office of the Secretary of Defense, Policy, Near East/South Asia, Iran desk analyst, Office of Special Plans Iraq. Focus Projects: Hizbollah, Islam, Saudi Arabia."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/470856.html


Jew held for torching Jewish centre
A man who has been arrested in connection with an arson attack on a Jewish social centre in France is Jewish and worked there, French police say. The 22 August attack, which gutted the centre, was at first believed to be the work of an anti-Semitic group.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/843B1FF4-ED76-45D6-AFAC-74CA089A166C.htm


Nonviolent protest offers little hope for Palestinians
Despite the current lull in attacks on Israelis, Palestinian deaths continue daily. . Palestinians also now understand that violence is the surest way to get their struggle noticed. Bombing buses is immoral, but it makes the front pages, reminding the world that there is a conflict. When Palestinians alone are the victims, the world switches off.
http://www.iht.com/articles/536421.html


The beginning of the start of the end - By Gideon Levy
Those anxious for the future of Israel must hope the world will move from vehement words to no less vehement action. The apartheid regime was finally brought to an end through sanctions and by excommunication from the family of nations. That, regrettably, is apparently the only way to ending the Israeli occupation.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/470422.html


Slim chances of disengagement
One reason for doubt was the timetable proposed for the withdrawal - almost two years from announcement to completion. Why is so much time required? Why so many procedures and so much negotiation - a referendum, voting, committees and an administration?
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/470869.html


Settlement Growth: Bad for America, Worse for Israel
This is where US and Israeli policy rationales diverge.  Sharon may want out of Gaza, in part, so he can keep the West Bank.  The United States wants Israel out of Gaza as a means of  kick-starting some form of negotiations and ultimately the Roadmap.
http://www.israelpolicyforum.org/display.cfm?rid=1329


Judges authorise Israeli Druze visit to Syria
Israel's supreme court authorised members of the country's Druze community for the first time to make a pilgrimage to Syria, which is officially at war with the Jewish state, judicial sources said. The judges ruled that the group would be allowed to remain on Syrian soil for a maximum of 72 hours.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story &cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=6 &u=/afp/20040830/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_israel_syria_040830164242


Family of Turk Killed in Iraq to Open Case against U.S.
"I wish my son had been killed while serving for Turkish soldiers or by the Iraqis. Perhaps, we would be less upset then. But the claim that Americans killed him while he carried cargo for them makes me really upset."
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=national&alt=&trh=20040830&hn=11866


Sadr orders all followers to stop fighting
"Due to the situation in Najaf and the provinces ... we call on all members of the Mehdi Army to cease fire unless in self-defense, and to be patient until the political program which Sadr's followers are planning is revealed," said Sheikh Ali Smeisim, a key Sadr aide.
http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040830-011047-3309r.htm


Arab League chief urges release of French hostages
"I urge everyone to resolve this matter as soon as possible to avoid any consequence of the matter," Moussa told reporters after a meeting with visiting French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/30/content_1927719.htm


France races against clock in hostage crisis
The militant group, which last week said it had killed Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni, on Saturday gave the French government 48 hours to rescind the headscarf ban, without saying what would happen to the two Frenchmen if it failed to comply.
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=573938&section=news

August 29 2004

An Officer in Court - By Uri Avnery
Up to now, the building of this wall has been held up by the Supreme Court's temporary injunction. This has now been lifted, and next week the cranes will start erecting the concrete slabs that have been lying on the ground along the road. They will shut out the world beyond.
http://www.amin.org/eng/uri_avnery/2004/aug28.html


Israeli FM cautions EU not to back new UN vote on barrier
"We were very surprised, we thought they would abstain," Shalom admitted. Afterwards, Shalom said Europe could be frozen out of the Middle East peace process as a result of what he called its failure to understand Israel's security needs.
http://www.eubusiness.com/afp/040829181624.vjzjqahi


Gandhi's grandson urges Palestinians to march home
Arun Gandhi, whose pacifist grandfather helped end British control over the Indian subcontinent, proposed to the Palestinian parliament a peaceful march of 50,000 refugees across the Jordan River and said lawmakers should lead the way. "What would happen? Maybe the Israeli army would shoot and kill several. They may kill 100. They may kill 200 men, women and children.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L2946932.htm


PPS: Ashkelon 's Internees to Return to Hunger Strike on Monday
The sources said that the decision of the internees came after they were informed by the Israeli Prison Service that the scheduled meeting on Tuesday has been pushed off to next Thursday. Contacted by the PPS, the internees said that they felt betrayed by the Israeli prison services.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/178.html


Imprisoned PLC member says hunger strike still goes on
Imprisoned member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) Marwan Barghouti said Sunday that he is still continuing the hunger strike with thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. "I will be the last prisoner to end my hunger strike after allour prisoners achieve their legal demands,"
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/29/content_1918715.htm


Daily Diaries of the Hunger Strike
Prisoners were reported to be doing their prayers while seated because of the serious deterioration in their health. Prisoners experienced an average weight loss of 1 3 kilograms.
http://www.mandela-palestine.org/en_strike2004/daily.htm


Quraya: World 'indifferent' to Palestinians
"The blindness and silence that the world has been showing towards the Palestinian prisoners' hunger strikes which have been taking place for the last 15 days can only put question marks against the whole peace process," Quraya told reporters after a meeting of his cabinet here.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/0C8243CD-D7BE-4728-B9D2-8AE57ABC6C47.htm


Report from Hadarim Prison
For the first time since the start of the hunger strike on August 15, the prison allowed Sunday the Prisoners Club Lawyer Hanan Khatib to visit Hadarim prison and meet with few prisoners. After the visit, Khatib summarized the conditions in the prison as follows:
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week4/082904/report%20from.htm


IDF troops kill "gunman" at Gaza fence near Negev kibbutz
One man, who was carrying an AK-47 assault rifle and wearing a combat vest, was killed, while the other two fled, the sources said. The IDF reported Sunday afternoon than an explosive vest was found on the Palestinian's body.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/470719.html


Israel Troops Arrest Four Wound Six in Hebron, Run Amok In Nablus
The Israeli occupying troops arrested toady four civilians during a house – house searching in several neighborhoods of Hebron as the general strike overwhelmed all the semblance of life in solidarity with the on- strike Palestinian inmates inside the Israeli jails.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/177.html


Child Critically Wounded in Rafah, 4 Arrested in Hebron
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) critically wounded early Sunday a child after they opened their heavy machineguns against houses in Rafah city refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics said.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1626


Lawyer: Palestinian man detained for four years says government tried to secretly deport him
Salim Yassir, 28, was caught in 2000 trying to enter the United States aboard a ship from England. Since then, he has been imprisoned while officials try to deport him to a country willing to accept him.
http://www.staugustine.com/stories/082904/nat_082904028.shtml


Sha'ath slandered at pro-prisoners gathering
When the PA minister tried to hold a pres conference at the scene, some of the mothers started shouting at him, accusing him of exploiting their sons' predicament for political and personal interests. One of the mothers shouted at Sha'ath: "Why did you come here only 14 days after the hunger strike began? We don't want you here."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1093750151106


Qurei urges for firm EU stance against Israeli settlements
Expressing Palestinians' appreciation towards the EU position on the barrier, Qurei added that "Israel defies all laws, which necessitates a mechanism to force Israel to abide by international law like other countries."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/29/content_1918723.htm


Germany says Gaza plan could be breakthrough
"We have come to the conclusion that the unilateral withdrawal and the complete dismantling of settlements in Gaza, if it's done in a proper way and part of the roadmap, it could be a real breakthrough to the peace process," Fischer told reporters in Amman...
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L2916255.htm


Jihad to participate in future PNA govt with conditions
Mohamed al Hindi told reporters that the group had no objection to participation in a new Palestinian government, under conditions that preparations be made for the Palestinian interior affairs according to new laws, which were not related to the Oslo accords.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/29/content_1918650.htm


Security cabinet to meet Monday to discuss disengagement
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will return from his summer holiday on Monday and will immediately convene his security cabinet to discuss reinforcing the southern Israeli city of Sderot against Qassam rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/470793.html


Egypt cools on Gaza pullout role
The next high-level meeting between Israeli and Egyptian defense officials to discuss Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan has been postponed for several weeks and will take place in early October.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=470717&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Jordan to check for possible radiation from Dimona
The Jordanian newspaper Al-Rai reported Sunday that the Foreign Ministry has asked the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to send experts and equipment to "determine whether there is a correlation between radiation from Dimona and the appearance of unusual diseases in the area."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/470802.html


PALESTINE: Pappe: `Israel must be treated as South Africa was'
Dr Ilan Pappe is one of Israel's most prominent “new historians”. In May 2002, Pappe was threatened with expulsion from his university, the University of Haifa, for supporting a Jewish graduate student whose dissertation documented an massacre of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers. The expulsion proceedings were suspended due to a protest by international academics.
http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2004/596/596p16.htm


Israeli in charge of removing settlers faces 'treachery' anger
Despite media reports that the authority had yet to open its doors, Bassi said more than 10 staff members were already beginning to collect data to establish criteria for compensation. Government officials have been quoted as saying families could receive some £166,000 each in compensation.
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1013542004


Intel CTO: Israel is key to our R&D
Gelsinger said Intel's Israeli development center is its most important after the U.S. in the Radio Free vision, which has become Intel corporate strategy. Regarding Intel's future plans in Israel, Gelsinger states, "There is no threat on the horizon to Israel's importance as a central development center for Intel...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/470428.html


FBI probes 'spy suspect deep inside' the Pentagon
Officials are believed to be preparing for an arrest as soon as this week. They fear a Pentagon analyst passed sensitive details of White House policy to the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, an influential pro-Israeli lobby group.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1293107,00.html


Military Intelligence chief denies Pentagon spy charges
The U.S. investigation centers on whether a Pentagon analyst passed classified material about Iran to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the influential main Israeli lobbying organization in Washington, and whether that group in turn passed them on to Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/470773.html


Israel admits it spied on US (12 May, 1998)
Israel has officially acknowledged for the first time that an American Jew, Jonathan Pollard, who was arrested in the United States 13 years ago, was one of its spies.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/91260.stm


Hunger for justice
The hunger strike initiated by thousands of Palestinian prisoners on August 17 is a powerful nonviolent act. No one expects Israel to welcome this act of protest, but the utterances of officials about wishing that the Palestinians prisoners starve to death or saying they will refrain from providing hospitalization to prisoners whose health is deteriorating is sickening.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1093750152936&p=1006953079865


The beginning of the start of the end
The apartheid regime was finally brought to an end through sanctions and by excommunication from the family of nations. That, regrettably, is apparently the only way to ending the Israeli occupation. After long years of ignoring international criticism, apparently the fear of the world taking action...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/470422.html


Focus: The 'dual loyalty' slur returns to haunt U.S. Jews
As depicted Friday evening on the CBS television network, the story managed to touch all the most sensitive aspects of the status of Jews in America and Israel's role in the machinery of American foreign policy considerations.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/470390.html


Oil pipeline sabotaged in southern Iraq
The attack came one day after insurgents blew up another pipeline in west Qurna oil fields, some 150 kilometers north of Basra. Also on Saturday, a domestic oil pipeline in Nahrawan, a desert region some 30 km east of Baghdad, caught fire, though oil officials could not confirm if the fire was the result of sabotage.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/29/content_1918653.htm


Allawi lets US forces stay in Najaf until Iraqis take control
United States forces will remain in Najaf until the interim Iraqi Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, judges that control of the city can safely be handed over in its entirety to the country's own police and security forces, senior American officials said yesterday.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=556264


Demonstrators Protest Bush Policies in NYC
Tens of thousands of Bush administration opponents poured into Manhattan's streets Sunday on the eve of the Republican National Convention, angrily denouncing the war in Iraq and demanding the United States withdraw its forces.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4459383,00.html


Standoff bolstered Sadr's support
"This is the beginning of the end for the Americans," says Khalasi, speaking from his home in Baghdad's upper-class Shiite district of Kadhimiya. "What will happen now is that all the political parties will unite to kick the Americans out of Iraq. You have seen even the Sunni people starting to support Moqtada. All this will encourage people to be united."
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0830/p04s01-woiq.html

August 28 2004

Beit Iqsa is only one example
he proposed that the route of the fence near Beit Iqsa be changed and the village be left outside the fence, bringing the fence some 700 meters closer to the main Jerusalem highway. From the security point of view, this was a revolution. Sharon was more concerned about the demographic aspect - fewer Palestinians inside Israel...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/470034.html


Gandhi tries to spread his belief in region
According to Gandhi, “They say the fence is meant for security, but that is not true. What we are seeing is an attempt to suffocate the people. We must exit the cycle of violence, since violence only stirs more violence”. On Sunday, Gandhi will meet with the initiators of the Geneva Accords...
http://www.maarivintl.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=10834


Shikma jail security prisoners end water-only fast
The representatives denied reports, however, that the strike had come to a complete end. The 350 Palestinian prisoners agreed to drink milk and fruit juice after the jail authorities said that their representatives would be allowed Sunday to make telephone calls to fasting prisoners at other jails.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=470310&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Israel begins talks with hunger striking prisoners
The Israeli Prisons' Authorities on Saturday began talks with representatives of thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, who started an open-end hunger strike since Aug. 15, official following the prisoners' affairs said.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/28/content_1908033.htm


Details of the temporary agreement reached in Asqalan prison
The Palestinian Prisoners Society said that it received the text of the temporary agreement reached between the detainees committee and the administration of Asqalan detention concerning suspending the Hunger strike until Monday. The society published the following agreement which have been reached between the prisoners and the head of prison...
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week4/082804/asqlan-agreement.htm


?Scores of Palestinians participate in sit-down in front of Hidarem prison
Arab member of the Israeli Knesset Dr. Azmi Beshara and representatives of þþPalestinian institutions and human right organizations have participated in þþthe sit-down, carrying signboards that support the prisoners and call for þþfulfilling their just humanitarian demands.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/English/Story.asp?DSNO=659769


Palestinians want an end to their solitary confinement
The 2,269 prisoners who began the strike were asking for humane conditions, such as the cessation of public strip searches, the ability to use the telephone, to be able to see their families, and an end to arbitrary and indiscriminate beatings. These are not privileges or favours. The prisoners want the authorities to respect internationally recognised rules governing imprisonment.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/comment/0,10551,1292754,00.html


Israeli helicopters shell northern Gaza Strip
Meanwhile, Israeli troops invaded Abu Safeya area in eastern Jabalia refugee camp in the north of Gaza, backed by several tanks and bulldozers... the army had invaded the area and razed nearly 40 donoms (3.7572 hectares) of cultivated lands before its withdrawal from the area.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/28/content_1908288.htm


Israeli Military Aggression Continues, Scores Detained at Checkpoint
a civilian was killed and another was critically wounded when a land mine exploded in al-Sha'af area, eastern Gaza city... Fady Abu E'wemer 32, was killed due to the explosion and Ramy Abu Skhela 30, was critically wounded in the leg.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1622


Two Palestinians wounded by Israeli troops in southern Gaza
Two Palestinians waiting at an Israeli army roadblock south of the central Gaza town of Deir el Ballah were shot and wounded by Israeli troops on Saturday... an aged Palestinian resident of the southern Gaza town of Rafah died of his wounds sustained on Thursday...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/28/content_1908301.htm


Gunmen kill 'collaborator'
Such an execution - in front of a mosque and in full public view - is a common sign that someone is suspected of collaborating with Israel in its occupation of the Palestinian territories.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,10605254%255E1702,00.html


Damian Clarke: Update From Palestine
He was told that his family would also be detained if he didn't sign the confession. The interrogator told him that he could see from his eyes and face that he was guilty. Walid replied that this should be written on the confession. He was then hit in the face.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0408/S00293.htm


Soldiers arrested for murder
The Israeli military has arrested two soldiers on suspicion of murdering an unarmed Palestinian and arrested two officers from their platoon for allegedly trying to cover up the killing. The latest case, however, is the first since the September 2000 outbreak of Palestinian-Israeli fighting where the charge is murder, Yediot said.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1292752,00.html


Weekly Report: On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
6 Palestinian civilians, including 1 child and 1 old man were killed by IOF; 60 donums[1] of agricultural land were razed in Wadi al Salka and 45 donums in al Moraq; 17 houses were completely or partially demolished in the Gaza Strip.
http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/2004/26-08-2004.htm


IDF lifts blockade on main Gaza Strip highway
The roadblocks had been introduced Thursday night, and placed close to the central Gaza Strip settlement of Netzarim and close to the Gush Katif bloc of settlements in the south. A statement by the military said that following "security assessments," it was decided to reopen the road.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/470298.html


Israeli army continues closing main roads in Gaza Strip
Meanwhile, witnesses said thousands of Palestinian residents and employees are standing in lines at Al Matahen and Abu Holycheck points south of Deir al Ballah in central Gaza Strip, adding that they wait until the Israeli soldiers allow them to go.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/28/content_1908252.htm


Lawyer: Gov't Tried to Deport Detainee
Salim Yassir, 28, was caught in 2000 trying to enter the United States aboard a ship from England. Since then, he has been imprisoned while officials try to deport him to a country willing to accept him."Instead of releasing him, they try to take him in the middle of the night and put him on a ship,"...
http://www.houmatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040828/APA/408280840


PNA exerts efforts to secure release of prisoners
"those prisoners are held in the Israeli jails because they had been struggling for this nation's freedom." He also asserted that the PNA will seek to liberate the prisoners and struggle to liberate the nation, adding "liberating the land and liberating the human can't be separated."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/28/content_1908348.htm


Spain urges Europe to play role in Mideast peace process
"The European Union, from the Spanish point of view, cannot be left aside," Moratinos said at a news conference with Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat at the Foreign Ministry in Madrid."It's time for the European Union to assume its responsibilities," Moratinos said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=470332&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Press report: British bank cancels account of pro-Palestine campaign in response to Zionist pressures
However, the daily quoted Hilary Wise, editor-in-chief of London-based “Palestinian News” magazine, issued by the same campaign, as saying the bank's stance stressed the importance of casting light on the difficulties facing the activities in support of the Palestinian people in Britain.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/am/publish/article_7549.shtml


Israel spy found at Pentagon
CBS News yesterday quoted US Federal Bureau of Investigation officials as saying they believe they have solid evidence that the suspected mole supplied Israel with classified materials relating to US policy on Iran.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,10600072%255E663,00.html


Saint Mary's yeshiva
Can the state transfer to a Jewish yeshiva an archaeological site where, in the very distant past, there once were a church and a guest house for Christian pilgrims? Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is replying to this question - perhaps surprisingly - in the negative, in a document submitted on his behalf to the High Court of Justice.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/470013.html


From the outside, in
Over the next several weeks, perhaps even months, the Sharon-Shinui government will apparently have the status of a quasi-transitional government - no one will be happy with it, but everyone is stuck with it. The rift between the Likud Central Committee and the Labor Party bureau has made Shinui much more essential to the coalition.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/470015.html


An Israeli Spy in the Pentagon?
Why does Israel need a spy to steal secret information when it has several key people there already who hold top positions and can share instead of steal sensitive data? Paul Wolfowitz? Richard Pearle? Paul Bremer? Didn't we invade Iraq in part to satisfy the Israeli lobby that pressured the weakling administration of President Bush?
http://www.counterpunch.com/hanania08282004.html


A surrender to Sharon
President Bush probably encouraged Sharon's willingness to build more housing on the West Bank with his statement on April 14 that "new realities on the ground" made it "unrealistic" for Israel to give up settlements it had established in or near big cities in the West Bank.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials /articles/2004/08/28/a_surrender_to_sharon/


RKU:Palestine Solidarity Conference in Gothenburg, Sweden
The conference was supposed to take place in Gaza in the summer of 2003 but was cancelled due to the Israeli army's closure of Gaza. The Israelis can never stop the youth to meet and discuss their common interests, so now the conference is being held in Gothenburg, Sweden.
http://www.cmaq.net/fr/node.php?id=17512


Media Declares War on Anti-War Protests
"The antiwar movement has been so thoroughly discredited," says Franklin. "One would never be able to guess from public discourse that for every American veteran of combat in Vietnam, there must be twenty veterans of the antiwar movement."
http://www.counterpunch.com/mickey08282004.html


Khatami: Iran ready to provide nuclear 'guarantees'
"We are ready to do everything necessary to give guarantees that we won't seek nuclear weapons," President Mohammad Khatami said at a wide-ranging press conference in Tehran, the capital. Khatami also warned the United States it needs Iranian help with Iraq and Afghanistan, both of which share borders with Iran.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=470352&contrassID=1&subContrassID=8&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


5 killed, 32 wounded in US airstrikes on Fallujah
Five people were killed and 32 wounded in overnight US air strikes on Iraq's flash point city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, medical sources told Xinhua by telephone on Saturday. The victims, including women and children...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/28/content_1908313.htm


Iraq Shia leaders reject violence
The four senior Shia Muslim clerics in Iraq have said that armed resistance is not the way to protest against the continued presence of US-led forces. However, one of them, Sheikh Ali Najafi, said that if foreign troops stayed too long, then the time for peaceful solutions would be over.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3608398.stm


Iraq militants seize two French journalists, give 48-hour ultimatum: report
The group is demanding that "France rescinds within 48 hours the law banning" Islamic headscarves in schools, describing the law as "an injustice and an attack on the Islamic religion and individual freedoms," Al-Jazeera said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515 &ncid=1515&e=1 &u=/afp/20040828/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_france_hostages_040828201406


Oil Pipeline Burns East of Iraqi Capital
"Repairing operations are still underway, and it will take more than one week to finish because a bridge has fallen on the pipelines," Jassim said. All the fires sparked by that attack in Berjasiya, 20 miles southwest of Basra, have now been put out, he said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=10&u=/ap/20040828/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_oil

August 27 2004

Gandhi's grandson condemns Israel for apartheid
What Israel is doing is similar to or maybe worse than the radical discrimination procedures that were once in South Africa, Gandhi said at a news press held at the Ambassador Hotel in east Jerusalem.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/27/content_1895532.htm


Palestinians push peaceful protest message at West Bank barrier rally
Mordechai Vanunu, the ex-nuclear technician who was jailed for blowing the whistle on the country's nuclear programme, was among the hundreds of Israeli activists who joined Palestinian residents. Many carried banners with slogans such as: "The Wall -- No. Dialogue -- Yes" and "The Wall Must Fall".
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=5&u=/afp/20040827/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_040827190159


U.S. team to supervise settlement boundaries
The American administration said the team, which consists of technical experts, will help Kurtzer in his talks with the defense minister's adviser Baruch Spiegel on demarcating the settlements' boundaries.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=470191&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Palestinian delegate to UN lashes at US standing of Israeli settling
He said in a letter to the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and to the head þþof the UN Security Council; the Russian delegate Andrey Denisov that it was þhypocritical for a Quartet Committee member to neglect the Israeli settling þþactivities and claim support for the roadmap to peace plan.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/English/Story.asp?DSNO=659601


Leading Israeli organizations call for an immediate change in policy towards the Palestinian political prisoners
Human Rights Lawyer Lea Tsemel reported that on a visit to Beer Sheva prison yesterday she learned that the only medical treatment given to fasting prisoners is eating. "The sick prisoners are locked in a room, tempted with food for five hours and, if they refuse to eat, returned to their cells without treatment.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3043.shtml


Prisoners Hunger Strike Enters 13th day
A one day hunger strike has also been organized in Nazareth near St. Mary's church in the town. Additionally, around 17 Syrians in the occupied Golan Heights declared a hunger strike in the town of Majdal Shams on Thursday.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week4/082704/prisoners-day13.htm


ISM Joins Hunger Strike
Monday, August 30, national and international organizations and groups will be declaring a one-day hunger strike as the Palestinian hunger strike enters it's third week. There will be demonstrations in front of Israeli Embassies, Government Buildings and other locations around the world.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/pressreleases/PR_25Aug04_09_49_52RamallahISMMediaOffice.htm


Israel: UN concerned for Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike
More than a dozen United Nations institutions operating in the occupied Palestinian territories today voiced concern at a reported hunger strike by over 2,900 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and reminded the country's authorities to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=11752&Cr=palestin&Cr1=


Leaders call for a peaceful intifada
They hope to push Israel into allowing elections, to lead mass protests against the separation barrier and the maltreatment of prisoners, and to challenge Israel in the international courts. Palestinian militant groups have yet to reach an agreement on stopping violence...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1291810,00.html


Yahoo! Sports makes Palestine's Olympians disappear
Although "Palestine" is listed in the menu of competing countries, selecting it to search for the names of its athletes produces "No Results." Picking any other country returns a list of athletes from that country. Searching for the Palestinian athletes by last name also yields "No Results."
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3040.shtml


Israeli Soldiers Held for Alleged Murder
A soldier is currently on trial for manslaughter over the April 2003 killing of pro-Palestinian British activist Tom Hurndall and, in a separate case, an officer has been convicted of causing Palestinian deaths by negligence.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=1312&e=1&u=/ap/20040827/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_soldiers_arrested_1


Violence in Nablus Detained Activist Tells His Story
We had to empty our bags, the mobile phones and passports were confiscated. Our hands were cuffed behind the back with plastic cuffs. We were not allowed to talk. The soldiers were very aggressive. ("If you don't shut up, we will bash your face until it's flat.")...
http://www.palsolidarity.org/reports/writings/24Aug04_09_32_23NablusFranz.htm


Soldiers rescue Israelis from Palestinian attack in Ramallah
The three were travelling in two trucks from Qalandiyah to Jerusalem when they got lost and found themselves in Ramallah. They were set upon by Palestinian stone-throwers who had pulled them from their vehicles and begun to beat them when the soldiers arrived.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/470298.html


Mortar shell hits Gush Katif house; no injuries
Palestinians fired a mortar shell before dawn Friday at the Gaza Strip settlement bloc of Gush Katif, where it landed on a house. There were no injuries, although the house was damaged.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=470199&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


IFJ Opens New West Bank Safety Centre To Support a “Culture of Safety” in Palestine Media
The International Federation of Journalists today announced the opening of a safety centre in Ramallah, to defend and support Palestinian journalists and media staff against the risks faced by media working in the region.
http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=2658&Language=EN


Likud voters want Sharon to pursue coalition--poll
But his wished-for partner, the dovish centre-left Labour opposition, effectively cancelled the talks by calling for early elections after Sharon's setback, wary of aligning itself with a leader lacking control over his party.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L27571062.htm


Chirac hits out at international community's inaction in Middle East
"For how long will the world accept this tragedy that is crushing lives and peoples, that does damage to the development and stability of a region that is essential for the security of all, that is creating a gulf of resentment and lack of understanding between cultures, civilizations, religions?
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=4&u=/afp/20040827/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_france_chirac_040827173611


Egyptian students devote summer to put some color in Palestinian lives
Although political, economic and social pressures are suffocating the entirety of the Palestinian camps in Lebanon, the children of the camps are, as always, the hardest hit, often deprived of the simplest joys of their age.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=7835


Gandhi heir urges Palestinians to adopt non-violence tactic
"I know your day of freedom is very near," he told thousands of flag-waving Palestinians in the West Bank city of Ramallah... "We can only achieve peace through non-violence," Mr Gandhi told The Independent . "When we respond to the oppressor the way the oppressor has done - with the use of violence - then we lose our moral strength."
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=555503


Justice Minister: "Okay With Me If They All Die"
Israel is in violation of just about all of its provisions ranging from collective punishment to transfer of populations (colonization activities) to land confiscation. With regard to prisoners, the fourth Geneva convention is clear: prisoners should not be held outside of the occupied areas and they should be treated humanely.
http://www.counterpunch.com/qumsiyeh08272004.html


Palestine a loser in U.S. election
It was an act of omission as much as commission. But the effect was the same. By failing to condemn, and indeed discreetly letting it be known that it supported, Ariel Sharon's plans to expand key settlements in the occupied West Bank, the United States effectively killed off a plan that was contingent on Israel stopping all new settlement activity.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/188076_palestine27.html


An Unwavering Commitment To Reforming the Middle East - By John Kerry
We are not secure while Iraq is at risk of becoming a haven for terrorists. And we are not secure while Israel, the one true democracy in the region, remains the victim of an unrelenting campaign of terror. If we continue without a more effective strategy, we are not supporting our ally as best we can.
http://www.forward.com/main/article.php?ref=kerry200408251051


Advocacy and Realism - By Noam Chomsky
If the only alternative open is a “one-state settlement” without preliminary stages, we can have little doubt that Israeli and US hawks would rejoice, and would proceed, with overwhelming public support to impose their own brutal arrangements on the occupied territories.
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=22&ItemID=6110


Respect for basic human rights
The prisoners' hunger strike is their last option, which follows previous failed attempts by the prisoners to improve their difficult prison conditions and to receive their rights as defined in international law and conventions.
http://www.amin.org/eng/daoud_kuttab/2004/aug27.html


No End In Sight to 56-Year War
In what the Bush Administration described as "natural growth" following its original "freeze on all settlements," the expansion of Israeli colonies outside Jerusalem -- another 1,634 largely subsidized new homes now authorized in Palestinian territory -- cuts off Arab East Jerusalem from any contiguous Palestinian territory.
http://www.insightmag.com/news/2004/08/16/Commentary/No.End.In.Sight.To.56Year.War-705658.shtml


Tearing up the road map
A cynical interpretation of the administration's waffling response to expanding the settlements is that it helps both Sharon and Bush politically -- Bush with pro-Israeli voters here and Sharon with a governing coalition fragmented over his plans to pull out of Gaza. It certainly doesn't help the cause of peace.
http://www.cincypost.com/2004/08/27/edita082704.html


Corridors of Power / Rocky start
There is nothing wrong with creating a spin around preparations for disengagement. It may even be desirable, in order to show that the idea of withdrawal is not just wishful thinking, but a real prescription for action, meaning that this initiative really has an organizational foundation and those in charge have the political clout to make it happen.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/470030.html


Israelis defend missile failure
The Arrow-2 anti-ballistic missile failed to intercept a target missile designed to simulate attack by weapons of the type held by Iran and Syria. The tests took place off the coast of Californian on Thursday.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3605214.stm


Shias flock to Najaf shrine after peace deal
Thousands of Iraqi Shias entered a sacred shrine in Najaf on Friday after Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the highest-ranking Shia cleric, on Thursday night brokered an agreement with Moqtada al-Sadr to end the three-week siege of the city after US forces suspended operations against the rebel cleric.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/a3abede6-f787-11d8-afe6-00000e2511c8.html


Many bodies found at Sadr's religious court: al-Arabiya
At least 25 bodies of policemen, national guardsmen and ordinary civilians were carried up to the courtyard by the police from the basement of Sadr's religious court, where they were first found, confirmed the police.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/27/content_1899482.htm


U.S. Warplane Drops Bombs on Fallujah
The plane dropped at least two bombs in the eastern neighborhood of al-Askari, the witnesses said. The U.S. military had no immediate comment. On Wednesday, U.S. warplanes and tanks bombed Fallujah for more than two hours, killing at least four people...
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=7&u=/ap/20040827/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_fallujah_strike


US-backed Iraqi police take over Chalabi's Baghdad office
US-backed Iraqi police forces raided the Baghdad office of the Iraqi National Congress of disgraced Pentagon favorite Ahmed Chalabi and expelled party members, an INC official said."All elements (party members) were driven out. In other words, the place was occupied and seized," he said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=7&u=/afp/20040827/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_chalabi_raid_040827150136

August 26 2004

Settlers Claim New Wall Route Infringes their “Rights”
According to the terms of international law, illegal settlers in occupied territories enjoy no legal rights. All are waiting to hear what the Israeli High Court have to say. Settlers are planning a wave of petitions to the High Court of Justice against the revised route of the separation fence, arguing that it infringes their rights.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week4/082604/settlers%20claim.htm


Cracking under the strain
Severe cracks surfaced inside the Israeli government this week as its senior law officers publicly fell out with the defence establishment and the Foreign Ministry over the country's future strategy in the face of the July verdict of the International Court of Justice that the separation wall being built in the West Bank is illegal.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/705/re2.htm


Join us in Palestine! Olive Harvest Campaign, 2004
Palestinian agricultural organizations and farmers, in coordination with the International Solidarity Movement and the IWPS, announce the 2004 Olive Harvest Campaign. The campaign will take place between October 5 and November 15.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0408/S00252.htm


Twilight Zone / Prisoners of Zion
In Israel of 2004 there is a prisoner, apparently very ill, whose parents know nothing about his condition, and haven't been allowed to visit him for two-and-a-half years. Waal last phoned two years ago. His parents don't even know where he is imprisoned. He is said to be hospitalized in Ramle.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/469782.html


Palestinian hunger strikers urge UN intervention to prevent "disaster"
"We ask you to assume the legal and ethical responsability by taking a quick and effective action to prevent a humanitarian disaster," added the prisoner, who would only give his name as Rami, reading from a statement in English. Around half of the 8,000 Palestinians currently being held in Israeli prisons are observing an open-ended hunger strike which is now in its 12th day.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040826/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_palestinian_prisoners_un_040826170249


Israel: Palestinian prisoners suffering inhuman conditions of detention on hunger strike
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) expresses its grave concern at the hunger strike observed by a large number of political prisoners detained in Israel.The FIDH recalls that all individuals who are deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for their human dignity.
http://www.fidh.org/article.php3?id_article=1853


Illegal Settlers plan mass court petitions over revised fence route
Residents of West Bank settlements are planning a wave of petitions to the High Court of Justice against the revised route of the separation fence, arguing that an earlier court ruling which ordered the fence moved to avoid harming Palestinian rights now infringes their rights instead.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/469527.html


Gandhi urges non-violent protest
"Insist on your rights and demand your freedom peacefully," Mr Gandhi told Palestinians at a rally in Ramallah. He is also set to observe a one day fast in support of Palestinian prisoners currently on hunger strike in Israeli jails.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3602246.stm


Arabs call for UN meeting on Palestinian prisoners
Speaking to reporters after an emergency meeting of the Arab League (AL) Council at the level of chief delegates, AL chief Amr Moussa said that directives would be issued to Arab missions and AL offices in Geneva and New York in this respect.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/26/content_1886606.htm


Applying the Geneva Convention
The veteran guardians of the wall, who are called at all times to rally round the hasbara flag when the enemy once again brings up the anti-Israel canard regarding the application of the Fourth Geneva Convention on the occupied territories, could not believe their eyes.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/469413.html


Israeli army demolishes houses in Rafah
The bulldozers backed by tanks and Apache helicopters which hovered over the area then started demolishing the houses and razing an agricultural area near the border, they added.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/26/content_1888595.htm


Israel begins new Gaza clampdown
Israeli troops have cut Gaza into three parts and shut the border with Egypt after Palestinian militants fired crude rockets at a nearby Israeli town. Israeli armour also swept into southern Gaza's Rafah refugee camp and destroyed 13 homes, making 100 people homeless.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3601932.stm


Witnesses: IAF missile injures Jihad militant in Rafah
An explosion tore through a house in Rafah after nightfall Thursday, wounding Mohammed Sheikh al-Khalil, an Islamic Jihad militant wanted by Israel over his alleged involvement in an attack that killed five soldiers in the refugee camp in May, residents said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/469629.html


Palestinian militants threaten to kidnap Israeli soldiers
Al Aqsa martyrs brigades of Fatah's movement and Saraya Al Quds of the Islamic Jihad (Holy War) movement made the  threat in a joint leaflet. Thousands of Palestinian prisoners are going on an open-ended hunger strike for the 12th day in Israeli jails.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/26/content_1889962.htm


Soldiers tried to cover evidences concerning killing a civilian in Rafah
The event took place in October, 2003... Two soldiers, during the operation, claimed killing an armed Palestinian, but shortly after killing him, it was revealed the he was unarmed, and that he was a normal civilian not affiliated with the resistance.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week4/082604/hiding-evidence.htm


Israel to deport UK journalist
The editor of Red Pepper, Hilary Wainwright, said the suggestion of naivety was absurd. "Anyone who cares about democracy and freedom of the press must urge the British government to intervene," she said.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1290900,00.html


UN ‘strongly protests' Israel's use of Palestine refugee school as detention centre
The main United Nations agency helping Palestine refugees has strongly protested Israel's use of one of its schools as a detention and interrogation centre for hundreds of suspects, calling it “a flagrant violation of UN privileges and immunities.”
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=11740&Cr=palestin&Cr1=


Hamas to participate in monitoring elections
Hamas spokesman in Gaza Sami Abu Zuhri said the group has submitted applications to the Palestinian Central Election Commission and would take charge of monitoring voters' registration process.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/26/content_1890247.htm


Jordan, Palestine reiterate calls for ending Israeli occupation
The two sides share the common objective over ending the Israeli occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state, Muasher told reporters. Shaath spent a few hours in Amman Wednesday on his way from the West Bank to Rome.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/26/content_1886845.htm


Palestinian FM denies planned meeting with Shalom
"I'm going to Italy to make a lecture to a conference,where Silvam Shalom will be attending,"the top diplomat said."I have a schedule to meet with Italian officials,but a meeting with Shalom is not in my schedule. However,maybe I will meet him on the margins of the conference,"he added.
http://english.eastday.com/epublish/gb/paper1/1373/class000100003/hwz209168.htm


Israeli, Palestinian ministers meet in Italy
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and his Palestinian counterpart Nabil Shaath held "extremely useful" talks in the Italian Adriatic resort city of Rimini, Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=6&u=/afp/20040826/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_italy_israel_040826190420


Palestine Stock Exchange is alive and kicking
"The PSE continues to operate, even under the current circumstances," PSE CEO Dr. Hassan Yassin told "Globes", "Despite the deterioration and difficulties, neither the PSE nor its listed companies have collapsed."
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=828105&fid=942


Sharon plans to bring first pullout vote to cabinet in October
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon plans to bring to the cabinet the first decision on evacuating settlements in October, Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz quoted government sources as saying Thursday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/26/content_1889367.htm


Arun Gandhi, Indian leader's grandson, in region to talk peace
"The philosophy of nonviolence applies in every part of the world and I think the time has come when we need to look at other alternatives," Gandhi told Army Radio. "The world has become a very violent place everywhere we use military force to resolve conflicts and that hasn't really helped anybody anywhere at all."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=469246&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Reality Check for "Palestinian Idol"
With Superstar II , however, it's as if life and art must compete. On August 29, when Hassan will learn whether he has been elected top pop idol, thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails will likely be entering their 15th day of a hunger strike protesting their conditions.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3039.shtml


Mazuz: Law of Return applies to all Jewish converts
Mazuz said that if the state is interested in preventing persons undergoing Reform and Conservative conversions in Israel from receiving Israeli citizenship, it must "initiate amendments to legislation that will keep the status according to the Law of Return from anyone converting in Israel."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=469689&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


'No room left'
Then the only remaining alternative will be the one-state solution," said PA official Saeb Erekat. He called on the US to "honestly clarify" its position on the settlements, arguing that the Bush administration cannot publicly support the roadmap while conspiring with Israel in secret to corrode the peace process.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/705/re3.htm


Bush Works At Avoiding Public Spat With Sharon
The Bush administration appeared to inject itself into Israel's hottest internal dispute this week, quietly relaxing its opposition to construction in West Bank settlements just as Israel's own Interior and Justice ministries are battling to freeze construction and prepare for the settlements' dismantling.
http://www.forward.com/main/article.php?ref=nir200408251020


Frontline Iraq, Palestine
For more than half a century Palestine has remained the Arabs' open wound. Until recently, many still believed that the Arab body still possessed sufficient strength and immunity to combat lethal contamination. But when the already weakened body was gouged in Iraq, it was only natural that it would reel and stagger.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/705/op2.htm


Make it count
Now, only 28 per cent favour Bush's re-election, while 65 per cent in the four main swing states want someone new. If we add the Ralph Nader factor, 43 per cent would vote for Kerry while 27 per cent are inclined towards Bush and 20 per cent towards Nader in 2004.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/705/in1.htm


Iraq's Sistani Arrives in Najaf; 74 Dead in Attacks
tensions were inflamed by attacks on Shi'ite marchers that killed at least 74 people and wounded 315. Al Arabiya television said Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani had begun negotiations with representatives of rebel Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose fighters have refused to lay down their weapons and leave Najaf's sacred Imam Ali mosque.
http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=2&p=5071&s2=26


8 oil pipelines sabotaged in southern Iraq: TV
An official from Iraq's South Oil Company was quoted as saying that an explosive device went off at 9:00 p.m. (1700 GMT ) on Wednesday under a bridge which collapsed. Eight parallel pipelines feeding the Zubeir 1 and Zubeir 2 oilfields were damaged, he said.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/26/content_1889897.htm


Sadr loyalty grows, even as Sistani returns
All of these services pay political dividends, earning the admiration of many Shiites who don't necessarily support Sadr or his militia. And while Sadr's militia has suffered major losses in Najaf, by standing up to the US and Iraqi forces for weeks, Sadr has also raised his stature in the eyes of many Iraqis.
http://csmonitor.com/2004/0826/p06s01-woiq.html

August 25 2004

Mahmoud Hamamreh from Husan: "The Wall Leaves Us Without a Source of Life"
They put the Apartheid Wall on my house - everybody can see it, its on my door, the Wall surrounded my house from the west and east also from the south. We don't know what we can do; the soldiers are coming every day to the house and they frighten us and sometimes hit my children. We are suffering here and where are the Arabs and Muslems?
http://stopthewall.org/communityvoices/737.shtml


Activists in Johannesburg Condemn Apartheid Wall, Call for Boycott!
The picket, which was organized by the Palestine Solidarity Committee of South Africa (PSC) and The Jewish Voices, called the attention of passers-by and media to the crimes being committed by Israeli Occupation Forces. Fact sheets were handed out as the demonstrators chanted and rallied against the Wall.
http://stopthewall.org/worldwideactivism/738.shtml


Palestinian legislature approves call for reform
Responding to an unprecedented wave of kidnappings, protests and other violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Palestinian legislature threatened to go on strike last month. Instead, they formed a 14-member committee to negotiate with Arafat on implementing reforms.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=469300&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Invitation to Support Palestinian Political Prisoners on Hunger Strike
International Solidarity Movement, (ISM), activists in the West Bank are joining the National Islamic Forces and the Palestinian Political Prisoners Association in a hunger strike Saturday, August 28, to support the Palestinian Political Prisoners Hunger Strike that began August 15, 2004.
http://www.yourmailinglistprovider.com/pubarchive_show_message.php?iapinfo+3111


Bureau of Palestinian rights committee issues statement concerning hunger strike in Israeli detention facilities
The prisoners are routinely subjected to inhumane conditions of incarceration, including arbitrary and indiscriminate beatings, humiliating strip searches, solitary confinement for excessive periods of time, and severe restrictions on family visits.
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2004/gapal964.doc.htm


OIC concerned at plight of Palestinian prisoners
The Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) has called on the international community to "take stock of the inhuman conditions" in which Palestinian detainees are living in Israeli prisons and detention camps, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported Wednesday.
http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/content.asp?y=2004&dt=0826&pub=Utusan_Express&sec=World&pg=wo_08.htm


Palestinian prisoners facing real crime: Arafat
the Israeli authorities delivered a communique to them, aimed at breaking the resolve of the prisoners and scaring them to end the strike. The Israelis threatened to feed the prisoners by force in case the strike goes on. The prisoners accused Israel of confiscating all their personal furniture, cigarettes and salt...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/25/content_1879752.htm


Building Peace: Demolished Home Rebuilt in Anata Village
Jeff Halper, Coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions (ICAHD) addressing a crowd at the grand opening of the rebuilt home says, "This is an example of Israeli, Palestinian and international civil society coming together. It's moving to be here. This is how you make peace...by telling our governments we refuse to be enemies."
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3035.shtml


Wrong Turn on 'Road Map'
This week, bulldozers broke ground for 533 new dwellings for Jewish settlers in the West Bank, where most settlers live. The construction, quietly sanctioned by Washington, greatly undermines the US role as an honest broker in the Middle East peace process.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0825/p08s02-comv.htm


Israelis kill youth amid Gaza violence
18-year-old Kamil al-Astal was shot dead by Israeli snipers close to the illegal Jewish settlement of Kissufum, just north of the town of Khan Yunis... Earlier in the day, armoured Israeli bulldozers razed swathes of farmland in the same area, known as al-Qarara, belonging to the Abadla and Astal families...
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/44ADFB15-05DF-43F1-9223-19D2656486BA.htm


IOF Arrests 2 in Hebron, Dynamites House in Nablus
They told WAFA that the Israeli troops waged a search campaign among the houses and arrested two civilians. Head of the village rural council Khdeer Mohammed was quoted as saying "the house used to shelter more than 15 family members. A grave damage was inflicted upon the nearby houses".
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1615


8 Palestinians arrested in S. Gaza
Israeli Army forces backed by several tanks and bulldozers invaded the area with intensive gunfire, razing hundreds of donums of the Palestinian residents' cultivated lands, said the sources. Eight Palestinians including a 70-year-old man were arrested in the operation which lasted for a couple of hours.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/25/content_1881549.htm


PA arrests six suspected collaborators
suspected of passing on information to the Israeli security forces on the movements of Palestinian activists in the Gaza Strip. According to the sources, the six men would soon be charged in a PA court with harming Palestinian national interests and establishing contact with the enemy.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1093229944488&p=1006688055060


Gunmen open fire on deputy PA intelligence chief in Gaza
Rajab is second-in-command to Amin al-Hindi, whose intelligence agency has recently taken a stance critical of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. It is not yet clear who is responsible for the attack, or whether it was the result of a personal dispute or was politically-motivated.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/469251.html


Israel makes "skunk bomb" for Palestinian protests
Another weapon which is close to being operational is a fibreglass tank shell that disintegrates in the air, causing an enormous explosion but no casualties. At least eight Palestinians were killed in May when a tank fired a shell too close to a crowd in the Gaza Strip that the army was trying to disperse.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L25272873.htm


Gandhi's non-violence message to Mid-East
Arun Gandhi, the fifth grandson of the spiritual leader, is speaking at public meetings organised by a group of Palestinian social and political activists in Ramallah, Abu Dis and Bethlehem that begin on Thursday. The meetings are being organised by Palestinians for Peace and Democracy...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3593726.stm


PICCR: Israeli Violations in Nablus Over a Year
Mr. Alawna pointed out that during the past year, Israeli forces killed 129 civilians in total, 64 of them during the year 2004 alone. He also added that 31 of the killed civilians were extra-judicially executed, either by bombing the cars they drive, executing them after arrest or by using undercover special forces.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/139.html


Reporting for duty
Last week, Ewa Jasiewicz, who went to Israel to report for the left-wing magazine Red Pepper, briefly won her appeal and was allowed to enter the country, on condition she did not enter the occupied West Bank or Gaza. Within hours, the Israeli government appealed against even that, and Ms Jasiewicz was once more detained.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/comment/0,10551,1290164,00.html


Palestinian municipal elections to be held in 3 months: official
Hussein al Aaraj, secretary general of the Local Election's Highest Committee told Palestinian radio "Voice of Palestine" that the elections would consist of three stages which would be finalized by September 2005.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/25/content_1881845.htm


Consider Geneva pact, Israel told
The court also accepted that the Geneva Convention does apply to the West Bank and Gaza and that the barrier breached the convention. This has been the general position of the international community, as affirmed in repeated United Nations Security Council resolutions.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3593718.stm


Dahlan holds more talks with Arafat over expected comeback
The fence-mending meeting, the third of the week, took place in Arafat's battered West Bank leadership compound, offices sources said Wednesday. Arafat's national security advisor Jibril Rajub, who has distinctly icy relations with Dahlan, was also seen arriving at the Muqataa compound but it was not known if he joined the discussions.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=13&u=/afp/20040825/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_palestinian_040825135952


Poraz threatens to withhold NIS 75 million from settlements
Of the NIS 75 million, NIS 66 million are "security grants" given to communities for the fourth year in a row because of the intifada. Another NIS 8.7 million are known as "Oslo grants." These are given to Jewish residents in the territories in order to compensate them...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=469109&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Labor party bureau blames Likud for failure of coalition talks
Peres said that the Likud central committee meeting did not humiliate him when it decided not to allow continued coalition talks with the Labor party. "Whoever prefers the good of the party over the good of the country only shames himself," he said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/468893.html


Gaza pullout plan draws near
Also yesterday, Israel's attorney general urged the government to consider adopting an international convention governing the treatment of residents in occupied lands. This showed increased Israeli sensitivity to international criticism, particularly in the aftermath of a ruling by the International Court of Justice...
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2004/08/25/gaza_pullout_plan_draws_near/


Jordanian, Palestinian F.M.S Say Ties Are Crisis-free
Shaath agreed and said Jordan and the Palestinians had a "strategic alliance". "That is why it is necessary to overcome any problems that may arise. We meet and we solve them," he said.
http://www.turkishpress.com/turkishpress/news.asp?ID=25520


The battle of the narrative
It's obvious to all that Israel will not be successful at persuading the world of the justice of its claim, and that the debate is only about the extent of the anticipated damage and the steps that must be taken: should Israel hurry to adopt the Fourth Geneva Convention, or is a quiet understanding with friendly governments sufficient?
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/468930.html


Between violence and non-violence
The Mahatma Gandhi's grandson is visiting the country this week at the invitation of Palestinians who want to advance the idea of a popular struggle against the Israeli occupation. Gandhi is slated to speak to Palestinians about non-violent struggle, but it is a discussion that we Israelis should also conduct. As occupiers.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/468932.html


Betting on Mr. Sharon
The new homes are in settlements near Jerusalem and Tel Aviv that Israel expects to annex in any eventual peace agreement with the Palestinians -- an expectation Mr. Bush publicly supported as part of his gift package to Mr. Sharon in April.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30284-2004Aug24.html


Israeli barriers 'motivate bombers'
Israel says it needs the roadblocks and checkpoints to stop attackers from entering Israel. "Unfortunately, we can't give up the roadblocks," Tibon said, "but we can operate them like human beings".
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,10557206%255E401,00.html


Senior Sadr lieutenant arrested in Najaf: police
"It's hard to believe. This government is just like the (former) Saddam (Hussein) regime. They operate just like the Baathists," said a militiamen who gave his name only as Mohammed. "They arrested Smeisim even though he had the green light to go and carry out negotiations," he added.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=16&u=/afp/20040825/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_unrest_shiites_040825152346


Sistani heads for Najaf as troops close in
As he arrived in the southern port city of Basra after being treated in London for a heart condition, Mr Sistani's spokesmen called on Iraq's majority Shia community to march to the embattled holy city of Najaf to end three weeks of fighting.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/5eae0c5a-f5ad-11d8-b814-00000e2511c8.html


Four dead in US airstrikes in Fallujah
"We've got some strikes against anti-Iraqi force positions in the city using tanks and aircraft... We have hit some positions," Lieutenant Colonel T.V. Johnson told AFP. Shortly after midnight on Tuesday, US planes bombed a suspected foreign fighters' hide-out near Fallujah, in a raid sanctioned by Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=15&u=/afp/20040825/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_us_airstrikes_040825133542


U.S.: Prison Abuse Panel Doesn't Go Far Enough
A report by a panel reviewing Pentagon detention operations criticizes top officials, but fails to address government policy that may have led to the mistreatment and torture of detainees, Human Rights Watch said today.
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/08/24/usint9261.htm

August 24 2004

UN agent: Apartheid in territories worse than S. Africa
South African law professor John Dugard, the special rapporteur for the United Nations on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, has written in a report to the UN General Assembly that there is "an apartheid regime" in the territories "worse than the one that existed in South Africa."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=468744&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Israel to reroute part of separation wall near Jerusalem
A considerable section of the highway northwest of Jerusalem would remain outside the separation wall, Danny Terza, head administrator of the Defense Ministry overseeing the construction of the fence, told the Knesset's (Parliament) Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/24/content_1870069.htm


AG: ICJ ruling necessitates adoption of Geneva Convention
The Justice Ministry on Tuesday confirmed a report by Haaretz that the attorney general has recommended to the government that it should "thoroughly examine" the possibility of formally applying the Fourth Geneva Convention - which governs the treatment of civilians in occupied territory...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=468600&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Hunger Strike Day 10, First Prisoner Moved to Hospital
But, Prisoners Solidarity committee activists Sana' Salamah identified the prisoner to be Abdul-Halim Abdullah, spending a life sentence since 12 years, and added that he suffered a sever drop in blood pressure due to lack of minerals.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week4/082404/hunger%20strike.htm


No hospital for Palestinian hunger strikers -Israel
Palestinian inmates at 10 jails are refusing food to force wardens to stop strip searches, allow more frequent family visits, improve sanitation and install public telephones. They have quickly become symbols of resistance to Israeli occupation.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L24457739.htm


Gandhi grandson to hold one-day fast in support of Palestinian prisoners
"In solidarity with the Palestinian political prisoners ... I announce I will be fasting on Friday, August the 27th," Gandhi said. "I ask the Arab world, Muslims and Christians, and I also ask the Muslim world and all peace-loving people to join us in a day of fast," he added in a statement read on his behalf as he wrapped up a visit to Jordan and headed for the West Bank.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=12&u=/afp/20040824/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_prisoners_040824185839


Harsh treatment of Palestinian women prisoners
The rooms are dirty and infected with mice and cockroaches. The heat is unbearable, The windows are closed and covered so that hardly any air or daylight can enter. There are not enough ventilators, and often the electricity is cut off, so that even the existing ventilators do not work.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3026.shtml


U.S.: Washington Denies Policy Shift On Israeli Settlement Activity
The Bush administration has denied a softening in its position toward Israeli building of settlements in the occupied territories, saying it is still pressing for a freeze of all such activity. Ereli said U.S. and Israeli officials are engaged in technical talks to clarify Israel's "intentions with respect to settlements."
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2004/8/5EC9D164-D680-4306-BA54-C8E3B9F7358D.html


Annan calls on Israel to cease West Bank settlement expansion
"The Secretary-General expresses strong concern over reports of Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank, through the Government of Israel's recent publication of tenders for construction of new housing units," a statement issued by his spokesman said.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=11720&Cr=middle&Cr1=east


PNA to ask UN to observe Palestinian prisoners' conditions
The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) decided to ask the United Nations General Assembly to observe the living conditions of thousands of Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails, official sources said Tuesday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/24/content_1873654.htm


Israeli-Arab reporter indicted for entering Jenin
Raslan Mahajna, a researcher for Channel 10 in the West Bank, claims that he entered Jenin on February 13, as is the custom with most Israeli journalists, through an IDF checkpoint. "Soldiers checked my Israeli identification forms, including my press card, and allowed me to enter. On the way back they told me that I am in trouble,"
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1093325271030&p=1006688055060


Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian in Gaza-medics
Palestinian medics said the soldiers killed a Palestinian farmer at the site, whom they identified as Kamel Al-Astal, 20. His body was taken to Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis. Another farmer was wounded, they said.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L24609765.htm


Malnutrition of Palestinian Children Likely To Worsen, UNICEF Says
The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) warned that the escalated violence between the Israelis and the Palestinians and the steadily worsening Palestinian economy, both health and nutrition situations of the Palestinian children are likely to go downhill in the upcoming years.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/145.html


Israeli Soldiers Assault Paramedic, Arrest Civilian
Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) sources, in Hebron, said that one of its employees, Hassan Awad 27, was wounded after having been beaten up by Israeli soldiers, north of Hebron. The soldiers stopped PRCS's ambulance, searched it and beat Hassan.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1613


IOF Arrests 3 Medics, Detains Scores of Civilians, Breaks into Hospital
the Israeli troops imposed a tight curfew on the camp, broke into the clinic and detained a number of the medical staffs, arresting three of them, Fayez Hawamdeh, Mohammed As'ad and Mansour 'Akil.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1612


Israeli Soldiers Confiscated Weapon of Palestinian Prime Minister' s Guards
Israeli soldiers confiscated three guns belonging to bodyguards of Palestinian Prime Minister, announced AFP. “Israeli soldiers threatened my bodyguards, who were travelling with me in the car”, he said.
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=142&newsid=46271&ch=0&datte=2004-08-24


PLC postpones session on reforms
Abbas Zaki told reporters that the session was postponed because of the general strike that dominated the West Bank cities, including Ramallah, in solidarity with hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/24/content_1873253.htm


Global Solidarity With Palestinian Prisoners Steadily Mounting
On the domestic front, the Palestinian cabinet decided yesterday that all government employees take part in the solidarity activities with prisoners, as the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat discussed with leadership members ways to back the prisoners' hunger strike.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/149.html


Church researching 'selective' divestment in Israel-related firms
Bill Somplatsky-Jarman is knee-deep in Presbyterian policies, surrounded by paper-clipped piles of documents. He's beginning to research criteria the Presbyterian Church (USA) may use to select multinational corporations who do business in Israel to urge them to eliminate practices that undermine peacemaking efforts in the Middle East.
http://www.wfn.org/2004/08/msg00010.html


Egyptian newspaper calls on Arab countries to boycott Israel
Al-Akhbar newspaper's Editor-in Cheif Galal Dowidar wrote in Tuesday's editorial that there was an opportunity to boycott Israel following the decision made by foreign ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement last week to ban visits by settlers.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=468847&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Shalom due to meet Palestinian counterpart Sha'ath in Italy
A European source said that Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini invited Shalom and Sha'ath to the conference, with the aim of encouraging a Israeli-Palestinian dialogue. The two will not, however, meet alone, an official Israeli source said, but with officals from Italy and San Marino.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/468857.html


Britain in split with US on West Bank homes
A significant gap opened up between the British and US governments on Middle East policy yesterday when Downing Street expressed its continued opposition to any expansion of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian West Bank.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1289535,00.html


Fatah splinter group calls for killing Arafat
A leaflet distributed over the weekend by a hitherto unknown group called Fatah – The Reformist Path called for replacing the Palestinian leadership and threatened to liquidate Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and many of his top aides.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1093067900259


Occupation can be nothing but a temporary victory
Saladin's answer was quite calm: "Well may the young king know that he is three months away from his kingdom, sooner or later he will have to return. I, on the other hand, am already at home; every victory you have here is by definition temporary, eventually you will go home and I will be waiting, and if not me then my children."
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=4&Article_id=7628


The writing on the wall
Some graffiti writers ask if the builder of this wall can be a "man of peace". Some ask how a people whose history is full of ghettos can now be building one. And someone decided to remind us all, in those blood-red letters, that it was "Paid by USA".
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3019.shtml


"Let them starve to death"
All of these facilities are situated inside the 1948 borders. This in itself constitutes a breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which provides in Article 47 that "protected persons accused of offences shall be detained in the occupied country, and if convicted, they shall serve their sentences therein".
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3028.shtml


Analysis / Arafat gains as Abbas and Dahlan return to political life
Arafat has won a significant gain: He has not given up his main demand to continue controling the security forces, and his two main rivals, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and Mohammed Dahlan, are agreeing to take part in the reconciliation efforts.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/468470.html


Analysis / De facto, but not de jure
Israel's refusal to formally apply the convention to the territories stemmed mainly from fear that it would restrict the establishment of settlements and other aspects of Israeli control over these areas. Thus it confined itself to repeatedly pledging to uphold the convention's humanitarian provisions.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/468451.html


People and Politics / How to win the Jewish vote
A few hours before a senior Bush administration official leaked a story to The New York Times about an agreement with Ariel Sharon over settlement expansion, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice was still talking about the need to end the occupation.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/468508.html


Iraqi cleric slams war coverage
"If media provide one hour of honest coverage to what the Iraqi resistance are doing on a daily basis, I bet you the mothers and sisters of US soldiers in Iraq will pour into the streets of America screaming at Bush to pull the troops from Iraq," he said. He accused the US and its "traitor agents" of planning attacks against Iraqis and their religious sites, saying Iraqi resistance fighters attack only foreign military in the country.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/12F048D0-893A-4DC4-AF97-4A779F160FFF.htm


Rumsfeld criticised over prison abuse
Top Pentagon officials and the military command in Iraq contributed to an environment in which prisoners were abused at Abu Ghraib prison, a high-level panel investigating the military detentions has concluded, a defense official said on Tuesday.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/11cfef98-f5df-11d8-b814-00000e2511c8.html


In Najaf, even the dead are suspected of carrying guns
An artillery shell exploded 600 yards away as Radhi Salman 25, his son Rassaq, 11, and daughter Najwa, two, were lowered into the arid ground. A gravedigger waved a white cloth at an aircraft overhead. "Hurry up," he urged the Salmans. "The other day the Americans fired at a funeral group."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/08/24/wirq24.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/08/24/ixworld.html


Two Iraqi Ministers Survive Separate Bomb Attacks
Sadr aide Ali Smeisim told reporters in Najaf the Mehdi Army was willing to hold talks to end the fighting. But another aide mocked Shalaan's threat -- the latest in a series of government ultimatums. ``Let him throw his warnings in the trash along with his previous statements about last chances in the last three weeks,''
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-iraq.html?ex=1094357858&ei=1&en=ec446ba9530f37a1


Surprise visit to Iran by Iraq vice president
No date has yet been set for a visit to Tehran by interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who has been officially invited by Iran. Baghdad rejected calls by Tehran on Tuesday for an emergency regional summit to discuss the fighting in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, which is a major Iranian preoccupation...
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=7&u=/afp/20040824/wl_mideast_afp/iran_iraq_visit_040824184205

August 23 2004

First the Wall…Now, New Distruction in Izbat Salman
Izbat Salman is a small village which already lost large amounts of land during the Apartheid Wall's first phase. The Wall's footprint runs through the western lands of Izbat Salman, isolating cultivated lands. Now, Occupation Forces have destroyed 350 dunums of land from Izbat Salman and the nearby Izbat Jalud.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/735.shtml


Letter of support from a prisoner of Apartheid to the Palestinian Prisoners hunger strike
As a former prisoner of apartheid, I know the kinds of physical and emotional suffering that is occassioned by repressive regimes. There is no doubt among all of us on the left in South Africa that the Israeli occupation and the Sharon regime in particular are among the most despicable examples of racist oppression.
http://southafrica.indymedia.org/news/2004/08/6491.php


Justice Ministry defends its report on ICJ ruling
In a letter to Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, Foreign Ministry legal adviser Alan Baker Baker said the report - commissioned by Mazuz and from a team of Justice Ministry legal experts - had spilled over into areas of foreign affairs and security.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=467972&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Israel builds more settler homes, with US nod
Israel is building 100 new homes in a settlement outside Jerusalem, political sources said on Monday, after Washington signalled it could accept growth in Jewish enclaves on occupied West Bank territory.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L23268713.htm


Daily Diaries of the Hunger Strike
Upon their return from the 'Ofar military court to Nafha Prison on Thursday 19 August 2004, prisoners refused to succumb to strip search and were subjected to brutal beatings.
http://www.mandela-palestine.org/en_strike2004/daily.htm


West Bank barrier to be re-routed
The re-routing follows a ruling in June by the Israeli High Court that existing plans had to be amended, to reduce the disruption to Palestinian communities. In July, the World Court issued an opinion that the barrier was illegal.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3591812.stm


PHR-Israel Regarding Ministers’ Statements and Medical Ethics during Hunger Strike
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel calls upon Tsahi Hanegbi, Dani Naveh and Yaakov Ganot to retract their statements regarding the prisoners on hunger strike, to observe medical ethics and international conventions while treating the prisoners’ strike and to seriously regard their demands.
http://www.amin.org/eng/uncat/2004/aug/aug22.html


HRA Calls for Solidarity with the Starving Prisoners in Israeli Jails
"The HRA expresses its solidarity with the Palestinian political prisoners - both from inside the Israel and from the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) - and supports the humanitarian demands put forward by the detainees.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1610


Israel expands settlement growth
"I can't believe that America is now saying that settlement expansion is all right. This will destroy the peace process," he told reporters. Settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3591042.stm


U.S. checking possibility of pumping oil from northern Iraq to Haifa, via Jordan
The United States has asked Israel to check the possibility of pumping oil from Iraq to the oil refineries in Haifa . The request came in a telegram last week from a senior Pentagon official to a top Foreign Ministry official in Jerusalem.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=332835&sw=Haifa%20Mosul


Non Alignment Movement to impose sanctions on Israel
"With regard to member states, the ministers called upon them to undertake measures, including by means of legislation, collectively, regionally and individually, to prevent any products of the illegal Israeli settlements from entering their markets," said the declaration.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3025.shtml


Israelis Army to Use Non-Lethal Shells
The Israeli army is to begin using non-lethal shells in its tanks, a defense official said Monday, three months after conventional tank fire killed eight Palestinian demonstrators in the Gaza Strip... "stun shells" would disintegrate in the air, generating a huge noise in an effort to disperse crowds.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=1312&e=1&u=/ap/20040823/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_stun_shells_1


Two Civilians Killed in Gaza, Several Wounded and Arrested in West Bank
Doctors at Abu Yousef Al Najjar Hospital in Rafah pointed out that Hazem Abu Zuhri, 19, was shot and wounded when Israeli forces near the Egyptian borderline opened heavy gunfire at civilian homes there. The doctors asserted that Abu Zuhri bled to death and that ambulances could not reach him in time due to the heavy Israeli shooting.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/140.html


Palestinian Militant Commander Arrested By Israeli Forces In Tulkarem
The Israeli army captured a local leader of the radical Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in the northern West Bank on Monday, Palestinian security sources said.
http://www.turkishpress.com/turkishpress/news.asp?ID=25212


Refuge Is Prison For Hunted Palestinian
The role is a shift for a militant accustomed to fighting Israel. Pinned down by Israeli forces, Zbeida has turned to exercising local power by punishing accused criminals, mediating family disputes and serving as chief broker between residents and the sluggish Palestinian bureaucracy, according to the accounts of numerous residents and officials.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A24820-2004Aug22?language=printer


Build, Demolish, Rebuild
We're again in Jerusalem and the West Bank to help rebuild a Palestinian home demolished recently by Israel. As we did last year, we've joined a two-week work camp sponsored by an Israeli opposition group, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, to rebuild the house. This one is practically next door to the one we rebuilt last summer...
http://globalecho.org/view_article.php?aid=1278


Moussa concerned about US policy toward Jewish settlements
Speaking to reporters, Moussa's spokesman Hossam Zaki said that Moussa has sent letters to UN chief Kofi Annan, US Secretary ofState Colin Powell, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov over the matter.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/23/content_1862490.htm


Arab League To Hold Emergency Meeting On Palestinian Prisoners
The Arab League will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss the issue of Palestinian and Arab prisoners held in Israeli jails, Palestinian delegate Mohammad Sobeih, told AFP Monday.
http://www.turkishpress.com/turkishpress/news.asp?ID=25218


Army claims removing 82 outposts, MK Sarid: "baseless lie"
Mofaz's adviser Baruch Spiegel said, 82 of 104 West Bank outposts have been dismantled since March 2001, when Ariel Sharon became prime minister. Knesset Member from Meretz-Yahad party, Youssi Sarid, on the other hand, questioned Spiegel's claims saying it is "false and baseless numbers."
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week4/082304/outposts-removal-lie.htm


PA holds talks with World Bank over Gaza after pullout
The Palestinian Authority was negotiating Monday with the World Bank and, indirectly, with Israeli representatives, regarding economic and administrative arrangements for the post-disengagement Gaza Strip.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=468067&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Motorola talks to Ampal about buying MIRS stake
Motorola Israel is in an advanced stage in talks to acquire Ampal Group's stake in cell phone operator MIRS for an estimated $200 million. Motorola holds 66 percent of MIRS shares after selling a 34-percent stake to Ampal in 1998.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=467917&contrassID=1&subContrassID=4&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Arafat and Dahlan hold conciliatory meeting in Ramallah
The two have not met since before the outbreak last month of civil unrest in the Gaza Strip, believed to be in protest of corruption within the Palestinian Authority, but which Arafat supporters say was instigated by Dahlan.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/468288.html


Arafat baulks at implementation of promised reforms
"unacceptable mistakes" which he promised to redress, as well as scolding widespread corruption among officials. But when a committee of MPs met him later at his battered West Bank headquarters in an attempt to transform his words into action, they emerged frustrated and empty-handed.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story &cid=1514&ncid=1312&e=3 &u=/afp/20040823/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_palestinian_politics_040823150117


West Bank residents before Jordan's disengagement not citizens, court rules
The court found that Rimawi lost his right to reside in the West Bank because he had been living in Bonn since 1965, when he obtained a Jordanian passport. He lived in Germany until 1970, when the passport expired, and in 1977 became a US citizen.
http://www.jordantimes.com/mon/homenews/homenews3.htm


ICJ Ruling Left Israelis Open to Criminal Suits, Israel to Sanctions
The U.N. Non-Aligned Movement is urging all of its members to act "individually or collectively" to impose sanctions against Israeli settlements and companies that participate in settlement activity, including those helping to construct of the West Bank separation wall.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week4/082304/icj%20ruling%20left.htm


Opinion: Bush Plays Own Fiddle in Mideast
When one person in a quartet starts playing to his own tune, it's up to the other three to either coerce the renegade back into the fray or reform as a trio. And what goes for music does for politics too. In a bid to secure lasting peace in the Middle East, the Americans, Europeans, Russians and the United Nations formed such a quartet, drawing up a simple yet plausible plan..
http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1430_A_1304831_1_A,00.html?mpb=en


Israeli speaker calls for Sharon-Netanyahu rotation
Rivlin called Sharon and Netanyahu to reach an agreement before the next elections to run together in order to preserve the party's integrity. "The two must agree to run together as No. 1 and No.2 with a rotation in the middle of the term - so that each one serves two years as prime minister - or some other way,"...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/23/content_1865124.htm


Israel's Barrier Runs into More Trouble
The barrier and settlement construction are linked to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's “disengagement” plan to separate Israel from the Palestinians. The plan includes a full withdrawal from Gaza next year. At the same time, Sharon wants to strengthen large blocs of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3395874


US rockets damage Najaf shrine wall
US occupation forces have hit a part of the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, causing damage to its outer wall, as fierce fighting continues. Director of the al-Sadr office in Nasiriya Aws al-Khafaji told Aljazeera the damage occurred during clashes between the occupation forces and the al-Mahdi Army on Sunday night.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/DB51A68A-569C-4109-A700-87F398E3FA31.htm


Judge Urges U.S. to Speed Abu Ghraib Case
Judge, Col. James Pohl, warned that further delays could derail the case against at least one of the accused soldiers and expressed displeasure after being told a lone Army criminal investigator was reviewing thousands of pages of records contained in a secret computer server at Abu Ghraib.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4445437,00.html


Child soldiers square up to US tanks
Struggling to lift a Kalashnikov, a 12-year-old with the Mahdi army militia said he could do anything in battle except fly a helicopter. "Last night I fired a rocket-propelled grenade against a tank," he said. "The Americans are weak. They fight for money and status and squeal like pigs when they die. "But we will kill the unbelievers because faith is the most powerful weapon."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/08/23/wirq23.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/08/23/ixportal.html

August 22 2004

The Wall Closing In and Closing Out in Bethlehem District
In the south and West of Beit Jala and the Walaja area, Occupation Forces started destroying lands for the Wall 2 weeks ago, though have currently been stopped after a petition to the Occupation High Court. If the Wall is completed in the Beit Jala area, 345 dunums of land will be destroyed for construction while 3040 dunums of land will be isolated behind it.
http://stopthewall.org/photos/734.shtml


?Strikers health condition worsening -- Prisoners Club
Several Palestinian prisoners who were on hunger þþstrike for eight days now have been taken to prison clinics after their health þþconditions deteriorated, a statement by the Prisoners' Club Sunday said. The þstatement added the prisoners would still not break their fast.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/English/Story.asp?DSNO=658539


Palestinian hunger strike gains strength
The number of hunger-striking Palestinians in Israeli jails has almost doubled to 2,900 in the week since the protest was launched, the Prisons Service said on Sunday. But Israel vowed not to budge on the prisoners' demands that wardens stop strip searches, allow more frequent family visits, improve sanitation and install public telephones.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L22212946.htm


Palestinian factions start hunger strike in solidarity with prisoners
At least 70 Palestinians representing different Islamic and national factions and powers began on Saturday an open-ended hunger strike in solidarity with thousands of hunger striking prisoners in Israeli jails since last Sunday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/22/content_1854084.htm


Israeli Doctors Urge Respect For Rights Of Hunger-striking Palestinians
"The hunger strike of the security prisoners in the various prisons is the last option for this population... to receive proper prison conditions and their basic human rights," Physicians for Human Rights - Israel said in a statement.
http://www.turkishpress.com/turkishpress/news.asp?ID=25118


A nation of prisoners
It is also possible to discern a similarity with respect to the proportion of the population: According to the Addamir Prisoner Support Center, a Palestinian organization, since 1967 approximately 650,000 Palestinians have spent time in Israeli prisons, which amounts to about 40 percent of all Palestinian males (including children and the elderly).
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/467523.html


Released Female Prisoner: Conditions in the Israeli Prison ‘Hellish'
Asma Abdelrazeq, a Palestinian female prisoner who has been recently released along with her two babies by the Israeli occupying authorities, not to her hometown in the West Bank, but to Jordan, confirmed that the conditions inside the jail she was imprisoned in have been “hellish”.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/135.html


Palestinian kids to get toys
High school students in Sendai recently collected 30 kilograms of toys and sent them to Palestinian children in the volatile Gaza Strip. The volunteer project was headed by three female high school students of Sendai Shirayuri Gakuen in Izumi Ward in the city.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20040823wo61.htm


Palestinians: U.S. destroying road map, hopes for talks
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said Sunday he was waiting for confirmation of an apparent shift in U.S. policy after Washington signaled it could accept some growth of West Bank settlements, adding that he would be shocked if it were true.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/467753.html


Non-Aligned boycott stirs sanctions fears in Israel
Measures adopted by the Non-Aligned Movement to boycott Israeli settlers and firms building the West Bank barrier have stirred real worries in the Jewish state of a broader sanctions campaign. "We must remember that these sanctions are only the beginning," said Nitza Nahmias, a political science professor at Israel's Haifa University.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L22551758.htm


Israeli army continues operations in Nablus
Meanwhile, the Israeli army tightened the siege on Nablus which had last for seven consecutive days, the sources added. Palestinian medical sources said 17 Palestinians were shot and wounded by Israeli troops' gunfire during clashes and stone-throwing in the streets of the town.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/22/content_1856101.htm


Militants fire mortars at Jewish settlement in Gaza
Palestinian militants fired  several homemade mortar shells on Sunday at the Jewish settlement of Neveh Dekalim, west of the town of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Israel Radio and military said.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/22/content_1856100.htm


Israeli helicopters drop warning leaflets
Israeli helicopters on Sunday dropped hundreds of leaflets over the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, warning residents against helping Palestinian militants launch homemade rockets against Israel. The leaflets threatened to destroy the residents' houses and raze their cultivated land
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/22/content_1856479.htm


TA court to hold new hearing on detained U.K. reporter
The district court ruled last Thursday that Jasiewicz was allowed to enter Israel but not the West Bank. The state appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, which refused Sunday to hear the case, but instructed the lower court to hold another hearing. The justices offered no explanations for their decision.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=467827&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Arabs say US destroys hope over Jewish settlements
"For the United States to take such positions ... can only damage the peace process, if it exists, and damage the whole situation and make it more difficult," Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa told reporters in Cairo.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L22411397.htm


PNA to witness busy diplomatic activities: Shaath
Shaath told reporters that among the diplomatic activities, Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat will meet in Ramallah with foreign ministers of Russia and Sweden in the middle of September. Foreign ministers from Norway and India will also arrive and meet Arafat during the coming month, Shaath added.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/22/content_1854086.htm


Egypt 'Suspends' Talks With Palestinian Factions
"Egypt has taken this decision after intensive talks with influential Palestinian parties, including the Fatah officials from which it sensed that Arafat is the one holding the clues of solution to the internal Palestinian conflict, but yet he is not ready for taking such decisions,"
http://www.islamonline.org/English/News/2004-08/22/article05.shtml


Hamas denies it would attack targets in U.S.
It also condemned the arrest of two members by American authorities, saying they are politically motivated. "It is not our policy to carry out any attacks against Zionist targets outside the Palestinian occupied land," the movement said in a statement received by AFP in its Gaza stronghold.
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=3176


Arafat looks to bring former premier Abbas back into fold
A leading member of the mainstream Fatah movement said that he had been asked by Arafat to hold talks with Abbas about a return to the political frontline, with other sources tipping him to play a mediating role in attempts to persuade armed factions to accept a new ceasefire.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story &cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=10 &u=/afp/20040822/wl_mideast_afp/ mideast_palestinian_politics_abbas_040822105405


Report: Hezbollah missiles can hit anywhere in Israel
According to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) the paper connected the missile transfer to Hezbollah with Iranian concern over an Israeli attack on its nuclear facilities. According to Al-Siasa, this is the first time Iran has supplied such missiles to an external body.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=467815&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Gov't opens office to arrange settler compensation
The disengagement administration, a new government office established to arrange compensation for residents of the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank who will be evacuated under the pullout plan, began officially operating Sunday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/467871.html


Muslims of Turkey Cry Out: Freedom to the Palestinian Captives!
At the seventh day of the Hunger Strike of Palestinian captives in the hands of Nazionizm, Friends of Palestine in Turkey organized a protest meeting in Istanbul for solidarity. Hundreds of people united in Istanbul, Taksim after the call of Friends of Palestine (FOP) coalition for a protest meeting.
http://www.haksoz.net/cgi-bin/english/mainnews/popup.cgi?action=comment&subaction=view&id=20040821180241


Peres assembling Labor supporters
Labor Party Chairman Shimon Peres told several dozen supporters Sunday that the Likud and Labor coalition negotiation teams have already agreed on all political, social and economic matters, apart from the issue of the local authorities.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/467488.html


A Very One-Sided War - By Uri Avnery
What is the difference between an American pilot who drops a bomb on a Baghdad market and the Iraqi terrorist, who lays a bomb in the same market? The fact that the pilot has a uniform? Or that he drops his bomb from a distance and does not see the children he is killing? I am not saying this, of course, to justify the killing of civilians. Indeed, I strongly condemn it, whoever the perpetrators may be - soldiers, guerrillas, pilots above or terrorists below; One law for all.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week4/082204/a%20very%20one%20sided%20war.htm


Pace of economic growth appears to be slowing
The most worrying figure in the Bank of Israel collection is the 21.3 percent plunge by the exports index for July, after a 4.7 percent slip in June. The index of imports also dropped in June, indicating grave problems in the development of domestic consumption in those months.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/467867.html


Israel PM vows to bring Labour into government despite vote by party
The US-backed roadmap peace plan requires Israel to freeze all construction on Palestinian lands, including natural growth, but a US diplomatic source on Sunday confirmed a report in the New York Times that Washington had now adopted "a covert policy decision toward accepting natural growth".
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/102461/1/.html


No peace at a discount
Sharon is making a mistake if he tries to ignore the decision of the central committee and looks for political combinations with which he can impose his will on his party. The proper way to win political support for his initiative is to enlist popular support for it, and to encourage that support to express itself.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/467524.html


Palestinians say US destroys hope over settlements
The Jewish communities on land occupied in the 1967 Middle East war are seen as illegal by most of the world – though Israel disputes this – and are regarded by Palestinians as one of the biggest obstacles to ending decades of conflict.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3010934a12,00.html


Palestinian song contest finalist stirs nationalist feelings
For Palestinians, this is more than just a TV show. It's a matter of national pride for a people that has yet to establish a state. Hassan, 26, reached the final round by singing songs of the Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation of the lands they claim.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=467904&contrassID=1&subContrassID=8&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


At least 40 killed in clashes near Najaf
At least 40 Iraqis were killed on Saturday in fierce clashes between Shiite militiamen and US-led forces in the town of Kufa near the southern holy city of Najaf, Iraq's Interior Ministry said Sunday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/22/content_1856276.htm


Bombed from the air, surrounded on the ground, this city still belongs to the Mehdi
Recovering from the loss of three fingers from his right hand, Abu Muqtada, as he called himself, was eager to get back to the fighting. Hit by US machine-gun fire in Najaf's large, hallowed and now badly damaged Wadi al-Salam cemetery a week ago, the 38-year-old Mehdi Army insurgent was relaxing, his hand bandaged, in the shade outside Kufa's mosque...
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=553855


Poland wants to leave Iraq as soon as possible: Szmajdzinski
Poland wants to pull out of Iraq as soon as possible, Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski said as he arrived at a Polish military base in southern Iraq, the PAP news agency reported."We want to get out of Iraq as soon as possible, but first we have to build solid security conditions there,"
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=5&u=/afp/20040822/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_poland_040822120817

August 21 2004

Internal pressure grows over route of Israeli barrier
A Supreme Court order and a rare admonition from the attorney general raised the heat on Israel to reassess its West Bank separation wall Friday, as a senior government official said the country would have to explain why it won't heed a World Court ruling to dismantle the barrier.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=7593


Poor nations seek ban on firms building Israel wall
Developing nations said on Thursday they backed a boycott of goods from Israeli settlements and could impose sanctions on companies involved in building Israel's West Bank security wall. The 115-member Non-Aligned Movement said in its final document that it wanted the UN Security Council...
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3585663&thesection=news&thesubsection=world


Jailed Fatah Leader Being Punished By Israel For Hunger Strike: Prisoners
Israel moved its most famous Palestinian detainee, West Bank Fatah leader Marwan Barghuthi, to a prison wing normally reserved for Israeli common criminals Friday, as punishment for a hunger strike he is suspected of leading, a prisoners' group said.
http://www.turkishpress.com/turkishpress/news.asp?ID=25020


Hundreds gather to support prisoners on hunger strike
Both Jews and Arabs took part in the protest, as well as members of European leftist groups who came to express solidarity with the striking prisoners. The Hadash Arab-Israeli movement organized the event.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/467461.html


Physicians for Human Rights offer help for Striking Palestinian Prisoners
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, in a letter to the Israeli Prison Services (IPS), offered to supply independent medical professionals to follow up on the prisoners on hunger strike.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week3/082104/phr-prisoners.htm


Harsh treatment of Palestinian women prisoners reported in August newsletter of Israeli women's solidarity group
The rooms are dirty and infected with mice and cockroaches. The heat is unbearable, The windows are closed and covered so that hardly any air or daylight can enter. There are not enough ventilators, and often the electricity is cut off, so that even the existing ventilators do not work.
http://www.yourmailinglistprovider.com/pubarchive_show_message.php?iapinfo+3057


Boy Escapes Death Bullets on Hospital Bed
"Bullets flew everywhere, and several of them reached the hospital and penetrated its walls. Some of them went through the room my brother was sleeping in, and settled in the pillow he was sleeping on!" Fayyadh narrated. Dr. Haydar Al Qedra, director of Nasser Hospital, said that this was not the first time Israeli forces targeted the hospital with its gunfire
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/125.html


Senior Man Dies of Wounds as Israeli Troops Step up Aggression
Abdullah  Alhamaidi, 60, from the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, died yesterday overnight of wounds he sustained after being shot and wounded the day before by Israeli occupying forces in the Brazil neighborhood
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/130.html


Israeli army levels houses, playing fields in southern Gaza
Israeli army bulldozers levelled ten Palestinian houses and damaged three others during an overnight incursion into the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian security sources said Friday. Tanks and at least two bulldozers took part in the incursion in the town of Khan Yunis.
http://www.yourmailinglistprovider.com/pubarchive_show_message.php?iapinfo+3050


Interview: "Operation Rainbow" Follow-up with Creator of 'Rafah Today' website, direct from Rafah
Mohamed, who's home was recently demolished by the Israeli military, speaks about the importance of an independent media movement in Palestine to document and uncover the often hidden realities of the Israeli occupation.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3022.shtml


US supports some growth in West Bank settlements
The move reflects a decision this week to lend support to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon during a time of political turmoil, an administration official told The Times, describing "a covert policy decision toward accepting natural growth" despite public statements to the contrary.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040821/pl_afp/mideast_israel_040821171020


New Housing Units Sanctioned by Israel Show How Dead the Road Map Is
it came one month after it was reported ( Haaretz July 17, 2004) that a group of orthodox Jews from Florida expressed an desire to build up to 200 housing units in the Ariel settlement. Can it be legal for Americans to build on land that is legally non-Israeli and without the permission of the Palestinian authority?
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3018.shtml


Briton Free Lance Journalist Still Locked Up For Being an Eyewitness of the Occupation Crimes
Ewa Jasiewicz, 26, was prevented from entering Israel at an airport in Tel Aviv last week and was placed in a detention centre when she appealed, for alleged accusation by the Israeli troops  "not being objective" in her previous coverage of the Israeli Palestinian conflict
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/131.html


DAY 12 Beit Arabiya Summer Work Camp 2
In the morning we were working on site, cleaning up the floors and painting the walls inside the house. Outside the house we sprayed the walls with plaster to give the house a sandy stone look.
http://www.icahd.org/eng/news.asp?menu=5&submenu=1&item=194


Israeli Army Invade Old City of Nablus and Occupy and Destroy Homes
Internationals in Nablus witnessed a young boy shot in the neck Saturday, August 21. According to the internationals present in Nablus, homes are being ransacked and occupied by the Israeli soldiers. The city is under curfew while the Israeli Army incursion continues.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/reports/writings/21Aug04_08_17_44NablusISMMediaOffice.htm


IDF soldier lightly wounded in blast in Balata refugee camp
A soldier was lightly wounded when an explosive device detonated while the Israel Defence Forces were operating in the Balata refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus on Saturday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/467330.html


Barenboim to Take His West-Eastern Divan Orchestra to Ramallah
An orchestra of young Middle Eastern musicians, including Israelis, Palestinians and Syrians, will perform next year in the West Bank city of Ramallah, conductor Daniel Barenboim announced Thursday [19 August]. Barenboim created the orchestra with Palestinian author Edward Said, who died last year.
http://www.andante.com/article/article.cfm?id=24271


Palestinians under 45 year old prohibited from prayers in al-Aqsa mosque
News reports in the occupied Palestinian territories said that the Israeli occupation forces prevented persons under the age of 45 from getting into al- Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem to perform Friday's prayers.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/040821/2004082108.html


Israeli troops blow up suspected bomb factory in Nablus
Israeli soldiers blew up a suspected bomb-making operation hidden in a metal workshop in the Old City of Nablus, in the northern West Bank, witnesses and Israeli military sources said.The strong explosion collapsed the empty building, the witnesses said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story &cid=1514&ncid=1312&e=3 &u=/afp/20040821/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_unrest_nablus_040821144051


PNA seeks to earn int'l support for prisoners
The Palestinian National Authority(PNA) is making serious efforts to gain worldwide support for Palestinian prisoners who have staged an opened-ended hunger strike, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Saturday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/21/content_1847288.htm


12 PLC Members Protest Failure on PA Reforms
Twelve members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) yesterday submitted a letter to the Parliament speaker asking him to suspend sessions until President Yasser Arafat introduces reforms they have been demanding for more than two years.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=50149&d=20&m=8&y=2004


New Jersey Buys $20 million in Israel Bonds
Both McGreevey  and Matza stressed the close economic trade and cultural ties between New Jersey and Israel . “With this purchase, New Jersey joins the ranks of 20 other American states who invest in Israel 's economic future through Israel bonds.”
http://www.israelbonds.ca/believe/news_detail.asp?News_ID=29


Israel said dismissing Hezbollah claim of new talks
The Hezbollah-run television station Al-Manar on Friday quoted a speech in Beirut by Nasrallah, in which he reportedly said that the two sides were to embark on negotiations for the second stage of a prisoner exchange deal.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/467419.html


Hamas Says Election-year Pandering To Jewish Lobby Behind U.S. Arrests
US Attorney General John Ashcroft announced earlier Friday that two suspected members of Hamas had been arrested in the United States and charged with supporting a foreign terrorist organization, money laundering and racketeering.
http://www.turkishpress.com/turkishpress/news.asp?ID=25021


Israel said to be preparing strike against Hizbullah
A Western European diplomatic source said Friday that his country had information that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was poised to strike at Hizbullah. The military strike, which is likely to precede the Nov. 8 US presidential elections, could be a serious blow to the Lebanese side, unless the Lebanese government acts wisely to prevent such an attack.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=7589


Palestine and Israel continue their war of attrition
The remote control of Israel and the Jewish lobby pertaining to US foreign policy has been reflected recently... It refers to how Democratic Presidential nominee Senator Kerry has been forced to change track and adopt a stronger pro-Israel stance compared to a few months ago.
http://www.thedailystar.net/2004/08/21/d40821020325.htm


Boycotting the Israeli Academy
The Palestinian voice, the voice of the Palestinian academy and of Palestinian public intellectuals, has not been heard in the raging debates about the boycott. I hope to be able to address some of the frequently raised objections to the boycott, and in so doing, to clarify how we view things from our vantage point in the Palestinian academy.
http://www.amin.org/eng/uncat/2004/aug/aug20.html


Iranian Defense Minister has been misquoted on preemptive strike
"The Iranian defense minister, in his remarks, stressed that the Islamic Republic defends its territorial integrity and its national interests. However, his remarks have not been quoted precisely and have been misrepresented," Asefi said.
http://newsfromrussia.com/world/2004/08/21/55519.html


Civilians killed in Falluja air strike
A journalist from Falluja, Abu Bakr al-Dulaimi, told Aljazeera on Friday that four Iraqi women were among the wounded when US warplanes bombed a milk factory in the town west of Baghdad in an overnight raid.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/DBE9D46C-23DB-44CF-A27D-D3B15772D915.htm


'Staggering Amount' of Cash Missing in Iraq
Three U.S. senators have called on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to account for $8.8 billion entrusted to the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq earlier this year but now gone missing. The loss was uncovered in an audit by the CPA's inspector general.
http://www.antiwar.com/ips/mekay.php?articleid=3426


Cancer Epidemic Caused by U.S. WMD
A growing number of U.S. military personnel who are serving, or have served, in Iraq or Afghanistan has become sick and disabled from a variety of symptoms commonly known as Gulf War Syndrome. Depleted uranium (DU) weapons have been blamed for many of the symptoms.
http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=2165


US dilemma is how to disarm the rebels without damaging shrine
But the Shia firebrand Muqtada Sadr has taken the same risk of inflaming the moderates in the Shia community by setting up his resistance in the mosque which contains the tomb of Imam Ali. Arab leaders and Iraq's most influential Shia leader have appealed to both sides to spare the mosque, believed by historians to date from AD997.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=553714


'Fundamental' shift as oil nears $50 a barrel
Some global hedge funds may also be increasing prices by using oil to hedge against falls in thedollar. Opec said earlier this year that higher oil prices were justified because the fall in the dollar reduced the purchasing power from each dollar-denominated barrel.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/ff57530c-f2cc-11d8-b848-00000e2511c8.html

August 20 2004

Analysis / Court gets its chance to respond to ICJ
There are currently some 20 different petitions before the High Court regarding the route of the separation fence. In yesterday's hearing on a petition by residents of Shukba, various arguments were made that referred to the ICJ ruling.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/467076.html


Israel given double warning over impact of West Bank policies
In a separate report Mazuz's department recommended that the government "deploy large efforts to modify the route of the fence", taking into account the main points of the ICJ ruling "in order to reduce the tension on the international legal front."
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1503&ncid=1312&e=7&u=/afp/20040820/ts_afp/mideast_040820100741


Adalah: "Fluids and salt must return to hunger-striking prisoners"
The number of hunger-striking political prisoners reached 2,200 prisoners on 18 August 2004. The prisoners' strike is a protest against their poor daily living conditions in prison, their continuing maltreatment, and the denial of their most basic human rights. Significantly, the political prisoners now participating in the hunger strike are refusing only food, and not fluids.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3020.shtml


Teenager shot dead in south Gaza
Palestinian medical sources said Ahmed Hams died as he tended a friend who had been shot and injured. An Israeli military spokesman said troops had opened fire because the two were in a restricted area.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3581042.stm


Arab-Jewish circus gives trust top billing
Tobiass, 16, who is Jewish, and Salman, 17, who is Arab, were rehearsing for a show of The Jerusalem Circus, a group of teenagers and younger children from Israeli and Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem who train and perform together for mixed audiences.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=5 &u=/chitribts/20040820/ts_chicagotrib/arabjewishcircusgivestrusttopbilling


Prisoners of Gaza crowd border in vain hope of leaving
Akram Abu Elouf's leg was blown apart by an Israeli bullet fired from a watch tower half a mile away as he led his two children upstairs to their home. Doctors patched together his thigh bone with nine metal pins but he needs further extensive surgery in Egypt if he is to walk again. he could not cross the checkpoint from Rafah to Egypt because of the metal in his body.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1287020,00.html


US medics implicated in prisoner abuse at Iraqi prison: Lancet
"Medical personnel evaluated detainees for interrogation, and monitored coercive interrogation, allowed interrogators to use medical records to develop interrogation approaches, falsified medical records and death certificates, and failed to provide basic health care," it said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story &cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=19 &u=/afp/20040820/wl_mideast_afp/ iraq_prisoners_rights_040820103119


Rice Calls for Halt to All Construction in All Settlements
Rise explained that the U.S. policy on settlements is very clear: “settlement expansion is not in line with the internationally-brokered peace plan.” Rice also said Israel must fulfill the obligations of the road map.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week3/082004/rice.htm


A Palestinian old man succumbs to wounds he sustained yesterday
Medical sources at Abu Yousuf al-Najjar's hospital stated that Muhammad Abdallah al-Hamaydeh (60 years), a resident of the Barazil suburb of Rafah was martyred as a result of wounds he sustained when Zionist occupation soldiers strafed Palestinian houses in the suburb.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/am/publish/article_7406.shtml


IDF halts operation in Gaza
The operation was undertaken following an increase in Kassam launchings. A volley hit Sderot's main shopping center, causing damage and over two dozen injuries. In addition rockets were fired at other northern Negev settlements.
http://www.maarivintl.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=10733


Hamas threat to kidnap Israeli soldiers for release of Palestinian inmates
"All options, which include the kidnap of soldiers, are open," Nizar Rayan told AFP as he joined a march in northern Gaza in solidarity with hundreds of hunger striking prisoners. "If they are not released, we will free them by other means," added Rayan.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story &cid=1514&ncid=1312&e=5 &u=/afp/20040820/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_prisoners_hamas_040820115003


IDF said likely to re-enter Gaza in wake of Qassam attacks
Senior security officials said Friday that the Israel Defense Forces was likely to go back into Gaza and take control of the areas from which Palestinians are firing Qassam rockets, Army Radio reported.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=467318&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


IFJ Reaching Out to Palestinian Media Staff to Reduce Risks in West Bank and Gaza
A new programme to improve security for Palestinian journalists and media staff whose lives are threatened in the conflict in the West Bank and Gaza is being launched next week by the International Federation of Journalists.
http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=2647&Language=EN


Sharon: I will implement Gaza pullout plan despite Likud reverse
Sharon needs Labour's support to implement his disengagement plan which will involve the withdrawal of troops and settlers from Gaza and four small northern West Bank settlements by the end of 2005. The project also envisages the de facto annexation of larger West Bank settlement blocs.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/102053/1/.html


Labor MK Itzik: Let's work with Shinui to bring early elections
The chairman of the Labor Party's negotiation team and Knesset whip, MK Dalia Itzik, on Friday called on party chairman Shimon Peres to join forces with Shinui in bringing about early elections.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/467322.html


Non-Aligned Movement boycotts settlement products
The movement, an international organization of 116 countries, mostly from developing countries, made the call on Thursday at the end of a three-day NAM ministerial conference in Durban, South Africa.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1092884510942&p=1078397702269


Egyptian officials to visit Ramallah, Jerusalem for talks
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and the head of Egypt's intelligence service, Omar Suliman, will visit Israel and the Palestinian Authority later this month, according to a report published Friday
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/467334.html


Palestinians Arrested in U.S.
"Three men who allegedly ran a U.S.-based terrorist recruiting and financing cell associated with foreign terrorist organization Hamas were indicted for their roles in a 15-year racketeering conspiracy in the United States and abroad," said Ashcroft.
http://www.masnet.org/news.asp?id=1558


The golden age of U.S. Jewry
American Jews are once again being wooed by the parties as a key factor in the showdown between the candidates, because of their political-economic status and also because they are the deciding factor in several states.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/467083.html


Same old same - By Azmi Bishara
The US and Israel are working their way up to another war. It might be in a year, it might be in 10, but the Iranian question is the way. Every interview and every statement by Israeli and US officials seem to point in that direction. The details are not always important. What is important to the strategists is building up Iran as the focal concern in the region as they did with Iraq.
http://www.amin.org/eng/azmi_bishara/2004/aug19.html


Boycotting the Israeli Academy
Calls for the boycott of Israeli academic institutions have generated a great deal of controversy in some quarters, notably among Israeli academics and their supporters in Europe and the United States . The Palestinian voice, the voice of the Palestinian academy and of Palestinian public intellectuals, has not been heard in the raging debates about the boycott.
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=22&ItemID=6073


Israel's race to end Palestinian resistance before the US election
Sharon must be encouraged by the fact that the daily routine of killing helpless Palestinians, demolishing their houses and destroying their lives is met by a universal conspiracy of silence, especially from those who otherwise crow loudly in defence of human rights and dignity when lesser crimes occur elsewhere.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3011.shtml


And now for the real thing
The drubbing of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the Likud convention this week is only the appetizer, the warm-up act, for the real political battle: Sharon against the settlers. His former allies, who with his help created the most powerful lobby in Israel and are now calling for his overthrow, are Sharon's true opponents.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/467139.html


Doctor Faces Life Imprisonment for Violating Iraq Sanctions
On Feb. 26, 2003, three weeks before the U.S. invaded Iraq, an Iraqi-American in Syracuse was pulled over. He was arrested. And he has spent the last 18 months in jail after being denied bail six times. He faces nearly 300 years in prison plus millions in fines. He is believed to the only U.S. citizen ever to be held in prison for violating the sanctions.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/08/20/1426220


Iraqi footballers' fury at Bush
Salih Sadir said he was angry at Mr Bush's campaign adverts showing pictures of the Afghan and Iraqi flags with the words: "At this Olympics there will be two more free nations - and two fewer terrorist regimes". "Iraq as a team does not want Mr Bush to use us for the presidential campaign," said the Iraqi player.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3584242.stm


ICRC: Failure to treat prisoners a legal violation
The comments came after a report that US military doctors working at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq helped design abusive interrogation methods and failed to report deaths triggered by beatings.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=7577


Witness to Abuse Trying to Be Heard
He also conceded that his own state of mind became so twisted by the horrors of war that he, too, might have abused prisoners had he had the opportunity. But the point, he said, is that those charged didn't act alone. "It seems they want to sacrifice seven soldiers for the sins of everyone," he said. "Whoever led them down that path is a culprit as well."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A17135-2004Aug19?language=printer


Confusion persists over Imam Ali mosque
AFP reported than an al-Sistani spokesman had clarified that the keys to the mosque were delivered to the leading Shia cleric's office in Najaf. However, in an interview with Aljazeera, al-Sistani aide Hamid al-Khafaf said no keys had yet been delivered.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6D629FC1-D279-46C3-B539-74F98CCFB299.htm


Sadr in Najaf and won't leave it alive: aide
"Sayyed Moqtada Sadr is a son of Najaf and leader of the Mehdi Army (militia) in Najaf. He will not leave Najaf except (through) martyrdom," Sheikh Ahmed al-Shaibani told Al-Jazeera television. Shaibani scoffed at government reports that Iraqi police were in control of the Imam Ali shrine and had arrested some 400 militiamen of the Mehdi Army.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story &cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=13 &u=/afp/20040820/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_unrest_shiites_040820162830


Oil at New High Over $49
``How can we hope for Iraqi production to come back any time soon if they can't even secure a small target like a building?'' said Deborah White, senior economist at S.G. Commodities, of the South Oil Co. headquarters.
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/breaking/breakingnewsarticle.asp?feed=OBR&Date=20040820&ID=3926620


It is because nothing changed
The explanation for the renewal of conflict is not Iranian intervention, nor the secret visit Al-Sadr made to Iran ahead of the breakout of violence, as the US media keeps repeating. It is the continuation of US policies that seek to perpetuate the occupation and weaken any Iraqi government, even if loyal to the Americans.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/704/ed.htm

August 19 2004

More Land Destruction for the Apartheid Wall in Jerusalem
Occupation bulldozers continue razing the lands in villages and suburbs around Jerusalem for the Apartheid Wall's footprint. The destruction of lands is taking place in Sawahre Sharqiya, Eizarya and extends to the Ram area in Dahiyat al Aqbat. The lands that are being destroyed are located between the two settlements of Ma'ale Adumim and Neve Ya'cov.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/729.shtml


From Oslo to Iraq and the Road Map - Essays by Edward W. Said
In From Oslo to Iraq and the Road Map, Said writes about the second intifada and about the so-called peace process, which he terms a kind of "fast-food peace" underscored by "malevolent sloppiness." He discusses the breach of democracy in the last American presidential election and describes the Bush administration as hopeless in its allegiance to the Christian right and to the big oil companies.
http://www.frontlist.com/detail/0375422870


Scores of Civilians, including an Italian Peace Activist Were Wounded in WB
They added that the soldiers opened tear-gas ganisters against the rally where a number of civilians and activists were wounded, including the Italian peace activist Isabella Malino who was shot with a rubber-coated bullet in the head.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1597


Freedom March Pushes Thru Major Israeli Checkpoint
In a bold act of defiance, Palestinian, international and Israeli activists moved thru the barb wire and sniper tower filled area without showing any identification to Israeli soldiers. This successful rejection of Israelis efforts to imprison Palestinians came during the final days of the Freedom Walk along the path of Israel's Apartheid Wall from Jenin to Jerusalem.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/reports/writings/18Aug04_10_06_22RamallahPat.htm


AG: Hague fence ruling may lead to sanctions against Israel
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz presented Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with a report Thursday issued by a team of prosecutors probing the ramifications of an International Court of Justice decision that declared the West Bank security fence a violation of international law...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=466870&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


115 developing nations back sanctions on firms building W. Bank fence
The 115-member Non-Aligned Movement said in its final document that it wanted the UN Security Council to adopt a clear resolution chastising Israel and to take further measures to force Israel to stop building the 600-km. wall.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/467011.html


Hunger Strike Continues - Israel Intransigent
The prisoners have now been on hunger strike for four days. Today thousands more Palestinian and Arab detainees joined the strike, which began in four Israeli prisons on the 15th of August in an attempt to exert pressure on the Israeli authority to improve the conditions of confinement.
http://www.world-crisis.com/news/641_0_1_0_M/


Imprisoned Decency
1967 to date, Israel has arbitrarily detained over 630,000 Palestinians. In 1989 alone, Israel detained 50,000 Palestinians, representing 16% of the entire male population of the West Bank and Gaza Strip between the ages of 14 and 55. By way of comparison, that same year, out of a total African population of 24 million in South Africa, no more than 5,000 or 0.2% were detained...
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3008.shtml


Palestinian youngster killed in Rafah
Israeli soldiers stationed on the borderline between Rafah town and Egypt suddenly opened fire at residents' houses in the al Qassas neighborhood in Rafah. Ahmed Abdel Fatah, 16, was hit in his chest and died on the spot, they said, adding that another gunshot hit an 11-year-old boy and wounded him moderately.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/19/content_1827837.htm


Pan-Islamic body holds Israel responsible for protection of Al-Aqsa mosque
"Israeli occupation authorities are held entirely responsible before the international community, particularly the Muslim world, for guaranteeing the protection of the holy sites under their occupation in Palestine," an OIC statement said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=9&u=/afp/20040819/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_oic_israel_040819193912


High Court orders gov't to assess Hague ruling
The High Court of Justice ordered the government to produce within 30 days a statement on last month's International Court of Justice decision that declared the West Bank security fence a violation of international law. The panel also ordered the government to specify the possible ramifications of the ICJ ruling on Israeli policies governing construction of the fence.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/466870.html


Child hit by Qassam fragment in Sderot
A 10-year-old boy suffered light injuries when he was hit by rocket fragments, 34 people were treated for shock and a pregnant woman went into labor after one of the rockets hit a parking lot in a commercial district in the Negev city of Sderot. Several vehicles were also damaged.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/466877.html


IOF Arrests Civilian at Crossing, Storms Tubas
The sources affirmed that Israeli soldiers arrested Alaa Zeidan 22, at al-Karama crossing, the main crossing with Jordan, as he was on his way out to his university in Egypt.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1601


ADALAH Appeals the Supreme to Prevent Using Civilians as Human Shields
Along with its petition, the rights center attached eight new affidavits gathered by the human rights group B'Tselem from Palestinians used by Israeli troops as human shields. The dates of these affidavits vary between January and July of this year.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/119.html


British journalist to enter Israel after detention
Jasiewicz 's lawyer, Yael Berda, told The Associated Press that Jasiewicz would be released Friday, but would have to post 30,000 shekels to guarantee that she would not enter the West Bank. Berda said she was considering an appeal.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=467027&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Palestinian Law Makers Pressing Arafat to Sign Anti-corruption Legislation
A group of law makers held Wednesday a follow up meeting with Arafat pressing for an immediate signing of the anti-corruption law. Arafat told pro-reform lawmakers "that his speech ... was enough and that there is no need for any signatures," said Palestinian law maker Azmi Shouabi.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week3/081904/lawmaker%20press%20for.htm


Palestinians Urge U.S. To Put Pressure On Israel To Halt Settlement Drive
"We asked the Americans to commit Israel to implement their commitments, especially on the roadmap," Erakat said in a statement after the closed-door meeting in the West Bank town of Jericho. An American diplomatic source said that newly-appointed deputy assistant secretary of state Dibble had raised the issue of the Palestinians' security commitments.
http://www.turkishpress.com/turkishpress/news.asp?ID=24906


Israeli military operations in Gaza and the West Bank
France is concerned in the wake of the Israeli military operations in Gaza and the West Bank last night in which eight Palestinians, including a child, died. In Gaza the operation was reportedly a targeted assassination. As you know, France has consistently condemned "extra-judicial executions."
http://www.france.diplomatie.fr/actu/article.gb.asp?ART=43873


Sharon coalition plan rejected
Sharon's Likud party voted to block him from bringing the Labour Party into his government. However, a defiant Sharon insisted that he would not accept any such boycotts and his aides said it would not be legally binding on the Prime Minister.
http://www.itv.com/news/world_1405380.html


Peres calls for early elections
Peres criticized the Likud convention decision, claiming that the party gave precedence to the its own good rather than to the good of the country. "The state of Israel faces a very difficult situation. This should have been the time for unity and hope, a time for a first move out of the security and social troubles."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/466891.html


High Court upholds Mazuz handling of Sharon graft case
The 6-1 ruling came in response to three petitions challenging the Mazuz decision. Two months ago, Mazuz decided against filing charges in the case, despite the prior recommendation of former state prosecutor Edna Arbel that Sharon and his son Gilad be indicted.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/466510.html


NSA Rice calls for halt to settlement expansion
National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice on Thursday called on Israel to halt all construction in settlements. Saying that U.S. policy on settlements is very clear, Rice said Israel must fulfill the obligations of the road map.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/467028.html


UN development agency starts bid to tackle Palestinian poverty more effectively
The new project aims to improve planning against poverty in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip by increasing consultations with the poor before decisions are made and by streamlining planning systems so that they are effective at the national and local levels.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=11683&Cr=palestin&Cr1=


Palestinian swimmer disappointed by Olympics showing
Aweisat hopes to return in 2008 for the Beijing Games, but he needs to improve his training conditions. That's unlikely to happen in his homeland, which lacks the financial resources to properly support its athletes and the omnipresent threat of living in a war zone. "Sometimes when I go training, I don't know if I'll get back home or not," Aweisat said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=466899&contrassID=1&subContrassID=8&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Nick Pretzlik - Fundraiser for the Palestinian cause
It was characteristic of Nick Pretzlik that his death from heart failure, at the age of 58, should have occurred during a hectic training schedule - sometimes cycling up to 70 miles a day - in preparation for a charity London-Jerusalem peace cycle ride. Pretzlik was a son of the establishment who renounced his business career and won international praise for his work for ordinary Palestinians under Israeli occupation.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1285996,00.html


Arafat admits mistakes and promises to end corruption - but fails to win over critics
The demonstrations started in Gaza with a series of kidnappings and protests against Mr Arafat's appointees, and spread to the West Bank. The protesters ranged from gunmen to the Palestinian political elite. He added: "We must open the doors wide for our young generation to seize the opportunity to serve our people."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1286150,00.html


Analysis: Likud trounces its leader
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's defeat Wednesday night in his party's central committee proved that the prime minister has been terminally separated from his Likud party, even before he has said goodbye to a single caravan or settlement.
http://news.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=466821&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Zionism is not a narrative
Why, then, does a disengagement from Gaza require the consideration of "all these aspects," meaning the ethical and principle ones, while in regards to uprooting the Golan, Ya'alon mentioned no such reservations?
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/466461.html


Two Polish soldiers dead, five injured in Iraq
Two Polish soldiers were killed and five injured in a road accident in Hilla after their patrol was fired on near their Babylon base in southern Iraq, Polish news agency PAP said on Thursday, citing a military spokesman.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=466758&contrassID=1&subContrassID=8&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Iraq's South Oil Co. Headquarters Ignoted
threatened to sabotage Iraq's crucial oil infrastructure to protest the ongoing clashes pitting militants against U.S. and Iraqi forces in the holy city of Najaf. The insurgents broke into the oil company compound late Thursday and burned its warehouses, holding drilling equipment and other gear, to the ground. The fire then spread to the company's offices.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=2&u=/ap/20040819/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_oil_attack


Mortar Rounds Hit U.S. Embassy in Baghdad
The mortar round hit the roof of one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces inside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy said on condition of anonymity.Dozens of U.S. diplomats work in the building alongside officials of the U.S.-led military coalition.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=4&u=/ap/20040819/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_us_embassy


Najaf, Scarred by Urban Warfare, Prepares for More
If U.S. and Iraqi troops launch a major assault on radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's militants, they will have to pass through sniper-infested streets to root them out of a mosque they can't afford to harm. Sadr's Mehdi Shi'ite militia are positioned in old, gutted buildings that give them a clear shot at U.S. troops who have so far stayed on the edge of the old town in two weeks of battles...
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6021035


Probe faults more than two dozen in Iraq prison abuse scandal
An investigation into an abuse scandal at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison faults the actions of more than two dozen people but clears senior military officers of all but leadership failings, US defense officials said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=6&u=/afp/20040819/wl_mideast_afp/us_iraq_prisoners_040819184051

August 18 2004

NAM to meet on Israel's separation wall, declaration expected
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Committee on Palestine is expected to issue a declaration condemning Israel's ongoing construction of its separation barrier in the West Bank, at a meeting scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in Durban, a port cit y in South Africa.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/18/content_1816004.htm


On This Day 1964: South Africa banned from Olympics
South Africa has been barred from taking part in the 18th Olympic Games in Tokyo over its refusal to condemn apartheid. The South African refusal to condemn apartheid drew further condemnation before the games.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/18/newsid_3547000/3547872.stm


Fence route sparks concerns in Vatican over holy sites
Santorum added that he was happy to hear that Israel and the Vatican resumed talks in July, but said that such talks were useless so long as the Israeli team had no mandate to discuss the fence.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/466426.html


Palestinian strike gains strength
Hundreds more Palestinian prisoners have joined a four-day-old hunger strike, Israeli prison officials say. The prisoners are demanding mandatory visiting rights, better sanitary conditions, public telephones and an end to strip searches.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3575946.stm


Israel kills five Palestinians in attempt to assassinate Hamas leader
PCHR strongly condemns the attempted assassination of a Hamas leader by Israeli occupying forces. The target of the assassination attempt was Sheik Ahmed al Ja'abari. The operation resulted in the death of five Palestinian civilians, including his son, brother, nephew, his son-in-law and one of his friends.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3012.shtml


Families of jailed Palestinian join hunger strike
A group of wives and mothers of hunger striking Palestinian prisoners vowed on Tuesday that they too would not eat until Israel met demands for better treatment and more frequent family visits.
http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/content.asp?y=2004&dt=0818&pub=Utusan_Express&sec=World&pg=wo_02.htm


Thousands demonstrate in Gaza supporting Palestinian prisoners
Thousands of Palestinians demonstrated in Gaza city on Wednesday to express solidarity with Palestinian prisoners who are hunger striking in Israeli jails for the fourth consecutive day.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/18/content_1815128.htm


Qurei visits tent of hunger strikers in Ramallah
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei on Tuesday visited an erected tent in the West Bank town of Ramallah where people sat to express support to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/18/content_1811931.htm


Five Civilians Wounded and Israeli Troops Shoot at Peaceful Demonstration
The witnesses added that Israeli troops stationed around the illegal Israeli settlement Neveh Dekalim opened heavy and random fire at the civilians' homes in the area, wounding the five civilians, including 11-year-old Hamada Kawaree.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/118.html


3 Civilians Wounded, Scores Arrested in Nablus amid Israeli Military Escalation
Three civilians were critically wounded Tuesday when massive Israeli troops, backed by military vehicles, broke into al-Dwar area in the West Bank city of Nablus amid intensive shooting against the houses.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1593


One hurt in helicopter strike
One of the missiles slammed into a workshop in the Zeitun neighbourhood belonging to the father of a 22-year-old woman who killed four Israeli soldiers in a suicide attack at the Erez crossing point in northern Gaza in January, the sources said.
http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,10495154%255E1702,00.html


Militants attack Gaza settlement
It came hours after an Israeli attack on a senior Hamas activist in Gaza City, which killed five people. Hamas said a missile hit the home of one of its top commanders, Ahmed al-Jabari, injuring him. Among those killed were Mr Jabari's son and three known militants, Reuters news agency reported.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3574936.stm


West Bank: IOF Arrests Girl, Seizes House, Places Checkpoint
massive Israeli troops, backed by a number of military vehicles, broke into the camp, besieged the house of al-Qassas family amid intensive shooting, shortly before arresting Rasha al- Qassas 18.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1595


Israeli Soldiers Blindfold Palestinian Demonstrators
Israeli soldiers are seen blindfolding three arrested Palestinian demonstrators facing a wall at a Gaza Strip refugee camp. Recently, Palestinian inmates at an Israeli prison situated in the area have started hunger strikes...
http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=060000&biid=2004081984178


Arafat Warns of Israeli Atomic Radiation and Constructing Colonies
Arafat wondered why the Israeli authorities have been distributing iodine tablets (anti- nuclear danger) for Israeli residents in the "Negev" desert, ignoring thousands of Palestinian prisoners in three Israeli jails located in the said area.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1596


Sharon rips up 'road-map' with plan for 1,001 new settler homes
Israel issued tenders yesterday for 1,001 new homes in West Bank settlements, despite its commitment to a building freeze under the international "road-map" for peace. It is expected to publish another 633 within the next few months.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=552562


What's behind Israeli construction permits?
Most of the settlements for which new construction permits were issued are close to the pre-1967 green line border which Israel hopes to keep "even after a final peace agreement ,"... But the locations of some of the new tenders, such as the towns of Ma'aleh Adumim, Ariel and Kiryat Arba, are well inside occupied territory.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0818/dailyUpdate.html?s=ent2


IDF soldier lightly hurt by bomb in Gaza; two hurt by mortar
One of the injured, a 30-year-old migrant worker, was moderately injured, while the second person sustain light injuries. Both were taken to the Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva for treatment. Two other people, suffering from anxiety, were treated at the scene.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/465998.html


Arafat Urges Palestinians to 'Correct Mistakes'
"There were wrong actions ... by some institutions, and some were irresponsible and misused their positions," Arafat said in a speech to lawmakers. "There is nobody immune from mistakes, starting from me on down." The veteran Palestinian leader said "We need to move together to correct and reform all the mistakes."
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6005239


Arafat calls for immediate peace talks with Israel
"We are committed and ready to be committed to all the agreements we had signed with Israel aiming at ending the occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital," said Arafat.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/18/content_1815074.htm


PM slams Likud opponents, says won't rule out potential partners
Sharon said: "Unfortunately, there is a group within the party that has been plotting against the government since its establishment... this is not the behavior expected from members of the ruling party."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/465994.html


'Palestinian terror - morally justified'
A leading radical philosopher...  says Palestinian "terrorism" is a moral response to Israeli ethnic cleansing. Ted Honderich, a professor of philosophy at University College London, plans to take the same message to the Edinburgh International Book Fair on Thursday, where tickets to hear his speech have already sold out.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B2B64712-ADEE-4CD8-88BA-7DD50A476002.htm


Young cast overcomes inexperience to make Palestinian musical a hit
And, as the all-singing, all dancing cast took their bows on Aug. 8 to the standing ovation of a 726 capacity audience for a third night in a row, it was easy to forget that not one of the performers was over 16, and none had any previous experience performing at this level.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=4&Article_id=7418


Let 'em starve to death
Those who want more evidence of the moral depths to which Israel has sunk can find them in the utter silence that met Tzachi Hanegbi's response: let them starve to death. That answer will yet go down in the history books regarding the last colonialist struggle in the world.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/466026.html


An Interview with Mordechai Vanunu
Second point is no one here could predict or know that Israel was involved or started producing the hydrogen bomb -- the most advanced and powerful atomic bomb that can kill millions of people. And that has no justification -- no need for Israel's existence.
http://www.counterpunch.com/goodman08182004.html


Israel and the American Elections - By Uri Avnery
Actually, there are now more Muslims than Jews in the United States, but they are not organized, their motivation is weak, their willingness to donate large amounts of money near zero. Their adherence to the Palestinian cause, for example, cannot match the fierce loyalty of most of the Jews to Israel.
http://www.counterpunch.com/avnery08182004.html


U.S. troops training for Iraq in Israel - paper
The Israeli army said that it did not comment on cooperation with foreign armies, but did not deny the report in the Jerusalem Post, an English-language daily in Israel.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L18438602.htm


Unemployment up 2.1% in July
The number of unemployed people reporting to employment offices in July increase 2.1 percent, reaching approximately 232,900 individuals, up from 228,100 in June. A year ago, in July 2003, the number of unemployed was at 212,800.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/466401.html


Gaza settlers building hothouses to boost compensation
Gaza Strip settlers are building hundreds of hothouses in order to reap higher compensations packages upon implementation of the disengagement plan, several settlers said recently.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=466270&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


U.S. Soldiers Kill 2 Abu Ghraib Detainees
U.S. military police shot and killed two detainees and wounded five others in an effort to put down a massive brawl that broke out Wednesday at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison facility west of the Iraqi capital.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=5&u=/ap/20040818/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_abu_ghraib_deaths


Al-Sadr OKs Plan to End Fighting in Najaf
The proposal demanded the cleric's militia drop its arms, withdraw from the shrine and transform itself into a political party in exchange for amnesty. the cleric had agreed to the plan but wanted the delegation to return to Najaf to negotiate how it would be implemented and to ensure his militants would not be arrested. He said al-Sadr had other minor conditions but did not elaborate.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=2&u=/ap/20040818/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

August 17 2004

Gates Equal Continuous Suffering
On Monday, August 16, Occupation Forces began closing the Tura gate in Jenin District, which is used by five Palestinian villages. The villages, Tura, Um Rehan, Dhahr al Malih, Al Amrah and Ar Ra'adye are dependent on this gate and were annexed to the West by the Apartheid Wall.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/724.shtml


Order to Uproot Olive Trees in Marda...Again
Just last week, settlers burnt some 60 trees in Marda and today it is the Occupation military that will be going to uproot more, all under the same pretense of "security of the road". Already, the village is separated because it no longer has any contact with the other villages beside it.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/723.shtml


Sharon allows new settler homes in West Bank
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has approved the construction of 1,000 settler homes in the occupied West Bank, which were frozen earlier to avoid upsetting the United States. A cabinet official told AFP news agency that the bids would be published after site inspections by the housing minister.
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=3105


U.S. doesn't condemn Israel for new settlement tenders
The United States on Tuesday refrained from condemning Israel for publishing tenders earlier in the day for the construction of some 1,000 new housing units in existing West Bank settlements.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=465840&contrassID=1 &subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Water wall
Control over water resources may provide a clue as to the purpose of this wall. Control over water resources has long been one of the primary objectives of Israeli settlement policy, even dating back to before the existence of Israel. It is no accident that the Gaza settlements lie on top of the Gaza Aquifer in the Strip.
http://www.bitterlemons.org/issue/pal2.php


Boy, 8, said killed in Nablus
The sources said the boy, identified as Khaled Kusta, was killed during clashes between IDF forces and youths in the area. Relatives said he was sitting outside eating a sandwich when he was hit. Nine other Palestinians...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/465865.html


PA, Israeli Arabs plan show of solidarity with hunger strikers
The Palestinian Authority has designated Wednesday as a day of solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails... Acts of solidarity with the prisoners are also being planned by Israeli Arabs, including demonstrations slated for later this week across from prisons throughout the country.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=465531&contrassID=1 &subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Children of Political detainees: ”Let us hug our parents”
“The decision infringes the constitutional right to dignity; violates the child's right to receive love from both parents; contradicts and neglects the principle of acting in the best interests of the child; is discriminatory; and constitutes illegal and collective punishment”, Baker said.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week3/081704/Chilren-of-detainee.htm


Arab League calls on UN to investigate Israeli prison conditions
The Arab League statement calls for "measures to be taken to oblige Israel to respect international conventions and to end crimes and violations of which the prisoners are victim". According to Mussa, Palestinian prisoners are covered by the Geneva Convention on prisoners of war.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story &u=/afp/20040817/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_prisoners_arab_040817172111


PNA to submit issue of prisoners to UN: official
The Palestinian government is "carrying out large-scale contacts with the international community to raise the issue of prisoners in the United Nations," said Hassan Abu Lebda, Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei's chief of staff.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/17/content_1805413.htm


Scores of Civilians Arrested in WB
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested Tuesday tens of civilians in various West Bank cities, witnesses said. Meanwhile, IOF escalated terror against several West Bank cities as it has been carrying out extreme attack operations against Ramallah, Nablus, Qalaqilya and Bethlehem.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1587


Israeli army raids northern Gaza village
Backed by tanks and bulldozers, the army destroyed two Palestinian houses in eastern Beit Hanoun, they said.The Israeli troops stationed in the area opened heavy fire at the Palestinian houses, they added.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/17/content_1804717.htm


Israeli Troops Kill Two Palestinians in Khan Younis, Continues Rampage
Shadi Al-Laqan, 20, and Fadi Douhan, 20, were reportedly killed early on Tuesday by the Israeli occupying forces in the southern Gaza Strip City of Khan Younis, mainly near the illegitimate Israeli settlement of Atsmouna, Palestinian medical sources said.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/108.html


Water and international law
It is also at the core of the settlement issue simply because one of the many considerations behind the location and building of settlements is water: Israel has been concentrating its settlement expansion policy over the water reservoirs in occupied Palestinian territories.
http://www.bitterlemons.org/issue/pal1.php


Israeli Occupation Chokes the International Solidarity
A Tel Aviv District Court ordered a pro-Palestinian American activist Adam Wilson, a 28-year-old union organizer from New Orleans to deport from Israel by next Tuesday, the latest move in a series of the Israeli occupation clamp down measures to warp its immoral and illegal acts from the screen or being exposed.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/111.html


Palestine makes Olympic debut
Like any Palestinian who wants to travel abroad, the team experienced many hardships on its way to Athens, for instance, the three-week-long closure of the Rafah terminal, the only outlet from Gaza to the outside world.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-08/18/content_366313.htm


Palestinian commmader detained
Mr Sadaka, who has been on Israel's wanted list for three years, took command of the PFLP cells around Nablus after his predecessor Yamen Faraj was killed during heavy clashes with the Israeli army in Ain Beit Ilma on July 6.
http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,10483813%255E1702,00.html


Israeli plans for new West Bank homes killing roadmap: Erakat
"This is a very serious development and will lead to the burying of the roadmap," Erakat told AFP. "This shows that Sharon has no respect for any of the commitments that he has given to President Bush to dismantle the outposts and freeze construction in the settlements."
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story &cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=16 &u=/afp/20040817/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_israel_settlements_palestinian_040817130717


Egypt said to have reached deal with Hamas, Jihad on post-pullout Gaza
An agreement has apparently been reached by all the organizations to stop their attacks against Israelis in the Gaza Strip, including the firing of Qassam missiles. They have also agreed that the Palestinian Authority will conduct final status talks with Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/465555.html


MI official: Palestinians plan to kidnap soldiers
Kuperwasser told a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that the Palestinian public is not going out of its way to aide the security prisoners, who announced a hunger strike on Sunday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/465942.html


Court to rule Thursday on petitions in Greek island case
The High Court of Justice will rule Thursday on challenges to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz's decision against bringing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his son Gilad to trial in the Greek island bribery affair, the court announced on Tuesday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=465879 &contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Local authorities ordered to fire 2,200 school workers
The local authorities must fire 13 percent of school administrative workers - 2,200 in total - or cut all school administrative employees' salaries by 13 percent by September 1...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/465943.html


Eighty settler families file compensation demands
The families argued that compensation should cover the cost of an equivalent house inside the Green Line, the pain and suffering caused by loss of their community, the loss of work for people employed either in their own settlement or in nearby settlements, and moving costs.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=465831 &contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


The intellectual, the maestro, and the "piece process"
Daniel Barenboim, it seems, possesses some of the same endless energy and courage that Edward so miraculously conjured up throughout his illness, and especially in the last years of his life. In these dark times it is a powerful reminder that we too must pick up the slack and do our parts to fill in the emptiness left by Edward's departure.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3007.shtml


Death and destruction across the divide
Tamar Trabelski, a teacher and mother of four, said: "We don't sleep here at night. We go to my parents and come back in the morning. They [the rockets] are rarely fired after 7.15 am. Hamas sees them as essential against Israel's military superiority. Israel has sophisticated defence systems against ballistic missiles but can do nothing to stop the unpredictable Qassams.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1284418,00.html


It won't work without Europe
The limits of America's ability to act alone, in war as in peace, are becoming ever clearer, but those who seek an exclusive American involvement need not panic. After all, the differences between the United States and Europe regarding the nature of the final settlement between Israel and the Palestinians are minute, if they exist at all.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/465576.html


An Open Letter in Support of the Presbyterian Church's Decision to Divest from Israel
Our Campaign organizers strongly feel that non-violent resistance to Israel's oppression cannot win without solid, persistent and far-reaching pressures, like yours, applied by the international community against Israel to bring about its compliance with international law, the requirements for a genuine, just peace and for historical reconciliation in the Holy Land.
http://www.counterpunch.com/taraki08172004.html


Iraqis continue to accuse US troops of pillaging civilian homes
Hundreds of claims alleging that US troops have stolen money and property during raids on Iraqi homes have been filed at the Iraqi Assistance Center in Baghdad, one of 60 such claims offices established across Iraq. Stealing from civilians in lands occupied or invaded is strictly addressed as a war crime by both the Geneva and Hague conventions of war.
http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_item&itemid=832


Iraqi intelligence officer seized
The group calling itself the Brigades for Defending the Holy Sites named the intelligence officer as Usama Abd Al-Jabbar. The video tape showed the officer revealing his personal information to his captors. The armed group was also heard saying in the tape the capture was in response to the current fighting in Najaf city.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3B1CD42D-20DC-4D5C-AA24-9A84CB2052E7.htm


Fighting in Najaf exposes an unpopular, isolated Iraqi regime
Falah Hassan from the Shiite Political Council declared: “The Iraqi government bears responsibility for what is going on in Najaf. It has brought US forces to hit our people in Najaf. Our demand is to halt the military operations in Najaf and other parts of Iraq. We will withdraw from the conference within 24 hours if our demands are not met.”
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/aug2004/iraq-a17.shtml


Vatican ready to mediate in Najaf standoff
A spokesman for Sadr, whose foreces are locked in an intense battle inside the Shiite holy city with US and Iraqi troops, has already welcomed the proposal. But Vatican spokesman Ciro Benedettini told journalists on Tuesday the Holy See was only willing to mediate if requested to do so by both sides in the conflict.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515 &ncid=1515&e=4&u=/afp/20040817/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_unrest_pope_040817153042

August 16 2004

Freedom March Builds as it Near Jerusalem
Palestinians, internationals and Israelis are marching along the path of the Apartheid Wall, through cities, towns and villages arriving in Jerusalem, August 19. The purpose of the Freedom March is to highlight the devastation and suffering Palestinians and their communities are enduring as a result of the construction of the Wall.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/reports/writings/16Aug04_06_53_52RamallahISMMediaOffice.htm


Weisglass postpones meeting with Condoleezza Rice
Dov Weisglass, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's consultant on foreign affairs... Weisglass planned to leave this week, but postponed his trip to early September as a result of a High Court of Justice ruling which caused delays in the construction of the West Bank separation fence.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/465506.html


Israel turns up heat on prisoners
Israel has launched a psychological war against hundreds of Palestinian inmates on hunger strike for better conditions. Prison officers are setting up barbecues outside cells and have told guards to eat in front of prisoners.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3569760.stm


Palestinians march for hunger strike prisoners as Israel tempts inmates
The crowds assembled outside the local offices of the Red Cross before marching towards the Gaza headquarters of the United Nations where they delivered a letter addressed to Secretary General Kofi Annan, calling for him to apply pressure on Israel and improve conditions for the prisoners.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1514 &ncid=1312&e=3&u=/afp/20040816/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_prisoners_040816161745


PNA calls for fasting Wednesday in support of prisoners
The Palestinian National Authority(PNA) has decided to call Wednesday a fasting day to express solidarity with hunger striking prisoners inside Israeli jails.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/16/content_1797538.htm


7200 Palestinian Prisoners in Israels Jails
In its monthly report, the ministry revealed that the number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons before signing the Oslo Accord was 418, and before the eruption of al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000, was 746, adding that those prisoners are still imprisoned.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1583


PFLP chairman begins open-ended hunger strike
Ahmed Sa'adat, chairman of the Popular front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) who is imprisoned in a Palestinian jail guarded by British and American guards, started on Sunday an open-ended hunger strike, Palestinian security sources reported.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/16/content_1795361.htm


Israeli Troops Kill Three Civilians
Palestinian medics said that Mossa Abu Mashi and Mohammed Abu Hashesh, from Om Al Nasser Village, south of the Gaza Strip, were killed when Israeli helicopter gun ships fired four missiles at civilian houses in eastern Jabalyia, early on Monday morning.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/104.html


Civilian Dies and 12 Wounded During Nablus Invasion
The civilian death toll today mounted to four and 12 more among the wounded after an Israeli invasion of the city of Nablus, as military measures escalated in several cities and towns around the West Bank. Zaher Al Adham, 29, was shot dead during an Israeli invasion of the city.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/105.html


IOF Escalates Military Aggression against Rafah
the IOF, backed by a number of military vehicles and a bulldozer, moved from Rafah crossing area, stationed opposite to al-Brazil neighbourhood of Rafah and occupied a house owned by Yousef Bahlool. The Israeli bulldozer razed vast areas of arable land...
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1582


Few ways out of U.S. for stateless Palestinians
Since being caught trying to slip into the United States aboard a ship in 2000, the 28-year-old has been imprisoned for four years at a detention center in Elizabeth, N.J., while officials search for a country willing to take him.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--statelesspalestin0816aug16,0,823533.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire


Israel Deports Pro-Palestinian American
An Israeli court ordered a pro-Palestinian American activist deported from the country Monday, the latest move against a foreign group opposing Israeli military activity in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4426032,00.html


PHR-Israel: Health System in Gaza Cannot Survive without Contact with the Outside World
An Israeli human rights organisation said Monday that the health system in Gaza cannot survive without contact with the outside world, revealing the Israeli preventing of Palestinian patients from receiving medical treatment abroad.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1584


Islamic Jihad claims attack on settlement in southern Gaza
The group said in a leaflet that its militants fired two mortar shells at the settlement, adding that the operation came in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners who were holding hunger strikes in Israeli jails.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/16/content_1797737.htm


5 civilians arrested in WB
Local sources revealed that Israeli soldiers backed by tanks and military armoured vehicles rolled into al-Zababda town, south of Jenin city, and launched a house-to-house search, terrifying civilians, mostly children and ageing.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1578


Israeli Violence Continues in Nablus and Surrounding Area
August 13,ISM activists were told that the Israeli Army had gone into the home of the Palestinian who had attacked the illegal settlement of Itmar, and rounded up all the family members (approximately 12 members) and locked them in one room of the house. The Israeli soldiers then spent about three hours rigging the home with explosives.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/reports/writings/15Aug04_07_28_06NablusISMMediaOffice.htm


Israel intends to keep Palestinian territories in chaos: Shaath
Shaath said in an interview published by al-Quds daily that Israel is trying "to create a state of chaos and instability among the Palestinians to give the world an impression that there is no Palestinian peace partner."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/16/content_1795328.htm


Islamic Jihad, Egyptian diplomats meet in Gaza
An oral agreement was reached between the movement and the Egyptian officials on issues such as preparations for the Israeli withdrawal, ending the status of siege and closure imposed on the Palestinians, and restoring law and order in the Palestinian territories.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/16/content_1795331.htm


Senior Palestinian official arrives in Cairo
Fearing that post-pullback vacuum could lead to chaos in the Gaza Strip, Egypt has offered to send 150 to 200 officers and security experts on a six-month mission to help train a 30,000-strong Palestinian security force.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/16/content_1795359.htm


Israeli cabinet backs budget but unions threaten strike
It remains unclear how far Mr Sharon's party rivals, who include Mr Netanyahu, Mr Olmert and Silvan Shalom, foreign minister, might push their positions over the next few months, possibly provoking fresh elections next year.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/3ba41d94-efa4-11d8-b4ef-00000e2511c8.html


Poll: 75 percent of U.S. Jews say will vote for Kerry
According to the study summoned by the National Jewish Democratic Council and published on Monday, 75 percent of Jews polled said they would vote for Kerry while only 22 percent said they would re-elect President George W. Bush. Two thirds of respondents also said that they believed that Kerry would be better for Israel than Bush.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/465514.html


AL-AWDA: Live Concert Performance of Musicians from Palestine in Montreal
On August 21st 2004, it is one of the rare times in recent years that a group of Palestinian musicians from 1948 Palestine and the Golan Heights will be presenting a show of rich traditional Palestinian music. The group will be in Montreal as part of a North American tour with stops in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, New Jersey, New York and DC.
http://www.cmaq.net/fr/node.php?id=17851


Israel's Internal Security Minister is "indifferent" to lives of Palestinian prisoners
The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) condemns the ruthless and irresponsible remark made by Tzachi Hanegbi, Minister of Internal Security, regarding the hunger strike by security prisoners that "as far as I am concerned they can strike for a day, a month and onto death".
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3005.shtml


Analysis / About the ministers of culture, education and victory
When Ehud Olmert launched his verbal broadside against Benjamin Netanyahu, he was certain he had the full support of the prime minister. He knew that Sharon saw Netanyahu as a dangerous opponent and was therefore certain that the more lashed out against him, the more points he would win from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=465326


Najaf fighting claims three US soldiers
Smoke was seen rising from Najaf before an expected major US-led assault on Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army militiamen. "Three US soldiers attached to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit were killed as a result of enemy action in Najaf province 15 August," said a US military statement on Monday.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/45E051A4-A71A-4649-ADBF-F36262A10FFA.htm


Sadr urged to end Najaf fighting
Iraqis meeting in Baghdad to choose a new national assembly today voted to send a delegation to Najaf in an attempt to calm the fighting that has overshadowed proceedings. A team led by Hussein al-Sadr, a distant relative of rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and an ally of the US, was scheduled to leave Baghdad within hours of the announcement.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1284251,00.html


Militia Set Fire to Iraq Oil Well in New Tactic
Shi'ite militia have set fire to an oil well in southern Iraq, Baghdad said Monday, adopting a new tactic in the uprising against U.S. forces and the new Iraqi government. The tanker Utah was loading at 25,000 barrels per hour from the Basra terminal and the Astro Polaris was loading at 17,000 barrels per hour from the Khor al-Amaya terminal, a shipping agent said.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20040816_163.html


11 US soldiers killed in Fallujah
The Arab website Islammemo reports Iraqi militants ambushed a US convoy on a road of south Fallujah, according to Monday's China Radio International. The US troops withdrew, leaving 11 dead and two destroyed vehicles behind them.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/16/content_1797801.htm


'SA generals working in Iraq'
The investigation into these soldiers comes after the defence department warned soldiers earlier this year that it was unlawful to work in Iraq in this manner. Sources say there are more police officers in Iraq than soldiers, but none of them has been arrested yet.
http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_1573554,00.html


Family of Iraq Abuse Whistleblower Threatened
"People were mean, saying he was a walking dead man, he was walking around with a bull's eye on his head. It was scary," said Bernadette Darby from Corriganville, Maryland. Mrs. Darby said it was difficult living in protective custody, and she missed her privacy.
http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking &storyId=908208&tw=wn_wire_story

August 15 2004

New Confiscation Orders for the Apartheid Wall in Beit Jala
The order is for the confiscation of 200 dunums of Palestinian land on the northwest side of Beit Jala. If the Wall is completed in this area, 4000 dunums of the areas most fertile land will be isolated in order to accommodate for the expansion of the settlements of Gilo and Har Gilo.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/722.shtml


PNA starts investigating cement scandal
The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) started on Sunday investigating allegations that some Palestinian companies sold imported cements to Israel for building the separation wall. Some Palestinian cements and construction companies, of which the owners are officials or members of the Palestinian cabinet, have been accused...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/15/content_1792596.htm


Palestinians in Israeli jails start hunger strike
"We declare, in the name of God, our national decision to launch an open hunger strike," the Palestinian Prisoners Society said in a statement, accusing Israel of "robbing us of all our rights, treading on our dignity and treating us like animals."
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L15663724.htm


Prisoners on hunger strike to be force-fed if necessary
"The prisoners can strike for a day, a month, even starve to death, as far as I am concerned," Hanegbi told reporters Friday. However, Gabizon clarified Sunday that the Prisons Service did not really intend to allow the prisoners to starve to death.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/464902.html


Hamas warns Israel about prisoner abuse
The Palestinian Islamic Hamas group Sunday warned Israel against abusing Palestinian prisoners, saying it would "not pass without punishment." A statement issued by the head of Hamas' political bureau, Khaled Mishaal, said freeing the prisoners in Israeli jails was a priority for his movement.
http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040815-064541-3731r.htm


Qureia: Prisoners part of final settlement
"I support the legal demands of the prisoners especially stopping the policy of the collective punishment and the terrorist repression that the prisons authorities are practicing against the prisoners," said Qureia.
http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20040815-014701-9506r.htm


Child Killed, other Wounded in the Gaza Strip
A 14-year- old Palestinian child died Sunday of wounds he sustained last week after having been shot by Israeli soldiers in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah... Earlier, Saturday overnight, Jihad Abu al-Miraj 13, was wounded in an explosion of an unknown object remaining behind the Israeli Occupation Forces...
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1572


Presbyterian economic drive targets Israel
The general assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) at its June meeting in Richmond, Va., authorized the church's staff to divest some of its nearly $8 billion holdings of companies that do business in Israel, a move reminiscent of efforts against South Africa's apartheid policy 25 years ago.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/4927087.html


Three pedestrians killed in East Jerusalem road accident
Three Palestinian pedestrians were killed Sunday when a truck veered, mounted the sidewalk and hit them. The accident occurred in the Ras al-Amud neighborhood and the victims, two women and a man, were in their 30s. The cause of the accident is still unknown.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=465022&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Palestinians in Beit Hanoun to get relief soon: FM
Shaath made the promise while he and a number of foreign ambassadors and consuls visited Beit Hanoun Saturday, who expressed astonishment at the destruction of the town brought by the Israeli Army. The once green town was reduced into a desert, denounced Shaath.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/15/content_1789433.htm


Hamas spells out policy on disengagement
The document reveals for the first time in writing Hamas' willingness to participate in running the Gaza Strip alongside the PA, and its conditions for taking part in such leadership. It takes as its starting point "the unity of the Palestinian matter," with "partners in blood, partners in decision making"
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=464633&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Arafat, Dahlan to meet to bridge gaps
The issue of nominating an interior minister with more power would also top on the meeting agenda, the sources said. The sources said after an agreement was reached, Arafat might name Dahlan a leading position in the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/15/content_1789599.htm


Bereaved parents planning anti-recruitment campaign
A group of bereaved parents has begun organizing an anti-induction campaign, aimed at getting recruits to refuse to join the IDF. The campaign will coincide with the annual August induction, when most high school graduates begin their three-year national service.
http://www.maarivintl.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=10636


Egypt Likely to Limit its Anticipated Security Role in Gaza
According to the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, Cairo was only ready to play an active rule under the following conditions... Apparently Israeli is not ready to meet such demands; therefore Israeli officials are expecting Egypt to limit its involvement.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week3/081504/egypt%20likely.htm


July CPI drops 0.2 percent
In accordance with financial forecasts, the consumer price index dropped 0.2 percent in July, reflecting the continuation of the deep depression effecting the Israeli economy during the past two years. No change is expected in the inflation rate for the month of September
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/464992.html


Immigrants to Israel hit new low
The flood is drying to a trickle. Israel is facing a population crisis with the number of Jewish immigrants moving to the strife-torn country falling to a 20-year low. The four-year Palestinian intifada and a crippling economic recession, which has cut benefits for new settlers, are believed to be behind the steep decline.
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=941662004


Feature: Palestine makes its first way to Athens
"We are waiting for the Palestinian team. It has not appeared yet," said Nedal Srasak, 23. "I think joining such a sports event is an indication that Palestinians dream to live as other nations in the world."An old man almost broke into tears, saying "How nice it is to see Palestine's flag fluttering in the sky with other nations' flags."
http://english.eastday.com/epublish/gb/paper1/1362/class000100006/hwz207265.htm


Mideast peace promoters sharply criticise Bush administration
"Part of the problem that we have with the current presidency is that it speaks the same language as some of our political leadership, and therefore eventually Israel is becoming more and more seen... as a mini-America in Middle East," he added.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515 &ncid=1515&e=11 &u=/afp/20040815/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_peace_geneva_switzerland_040815162356


Olympics Hit by Crisis Over Iran-Israel Contest
The International Judo Federation (IJF) failed to agree how to deal with the politically explosive issue at an emergency meeting and said it would hold further talks Monday. The burning issue was whether any penalty would hit Miresmaeili alone or the entire Iranian team.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=sportsNews&storyID=5978139


Israel's pipe dream: getting oil from Iraq
Assuring Israel of an adequate oil supply has long been a goal not just of Israel itself, but also of pro-Israel factions in the United States. Thus emerged a controversial plan that is still kicking around even though its chief booster, Ahmad Chalabi, could soon be behind bars.
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/08/15/Columns/Israel_s_pipe_dream__.shtml


The snail from hell
Disengagement is still perceived as a possibility only, as a declaration of intent with a question mark floating over it. The not-quite-real-enough form that disengagement has taken has its price: It means that the lion's share of the public is unconnected to the process and uninterested in it.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/464620.html


Future Gaza victims play `Jews and Arabs'
On the night of May 2, 2003, Miller was shot to death in Rafah in an Israeli crossfire, on a night when the two were filming the bulldozing of a neighborhood suspected of harboring weapons tunnels. Miller's death actually serves as the hopeful coda for a film that wanted to show more
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/lifestyle/sfl-gazatvaug14,0,3865860.story?coll=sfla-features-headlines


Iranian judo champion refuses to fight Israeli
Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, the conservative speaker of Iran's parliament, congratulated Miresmaili on his "brave decision."Ali Kafashian, deputy head of Iran's sports organization, suggested awarding Miresmaili a special prize because of his refusal.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=464584&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Iran warns its missiles can hit anywhere in Israel
Iranian officials have made a point of highlighting the Islamic state's military capabilities in recent weeks in response to some media reports that Israeli or U.S. warplanes could try to destroy Iranian nuclear facilities in air strikes.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/464982.html


How to exit as an occupier
while the assault on the city of Najaf was at its height, the American reporter wanted to know whether the honorable ministers thought - he asked each of them to reply in turn - the Iraqi government would be able to gain the support of the public while American and other occupation forces were carrying out military operations in the name of the government.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/464617.html


Iraq conference collapses
More than 100 people leapt out of their seats as soon as UN special envoy to Iraq, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, finished his opening speech, shouting "as long as there are airstrikes and shelling we can't have a conference".
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,,2-10-1460_1573208,00.html


Major assault imminent, fighting in Iraq holy city mars conference
"A major assault by forces will be launched quickly to bring the Najaf fight to an end," said interior ministry spokesman Sabah Kadhim. "This matter has to be brought to conclusion as fast as possible and we want to bring the situation to normalcy soon." Police ordered Iraqi and foreign journalists out of Najaf late Sunday.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=1&u=/afp/20040815/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_040815191015


Explosions Echo Throughout Najaf
The National Conference aims to give a broader spectrum of Iraqis a voice in the political process and increase the legitimacy of Allawi's interim government, which is deeply dependent on American troops and money even after the end of the U.S. occupation.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=1&u=/ap/20040815/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq


Eleven killed, 23 wounded in US air raid on Fallujah
Eleven Iraqis were killed and 23 others wounded in air raids overnight and early Sunday on Fallujah, west of Baghdad, medical sources said. The director of the Fallujah Hospital, Rafeh Hayyad, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the casualties included many women and children...
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2004/August/focusoniraq_August153.xml&section=focusoniraq


Kidnappers of Iranian diplomat demand freedom of 500 Iraqis
Kidnappers of the Iranian diplomat Fereydoun Jahani demanded Sunday that Tehran release 500 Iraqis said to be captured during the 1980-1988 war between the two neighbors, the official IRNA news agency reported.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/15/content_1789640.htm

August 14 2004

Ireland PSC Calls for a Boycott of Israeli Potatoes, Fruit, and Herbs Sold in Ireland
The IPSC writes: "In South Africa, an international boycott was key in ending apartheid. You can help defeat the brutal apartheid system that Israel is imposing on the Palestinians. Our governments have failed to act, so it's critical for individual people to take action in solidarity with Palestinians."
http://stopthewall.org/worldwideactivism/720.shtml


The Writing on the Wall
Some graffiti writers ask if the builder of this wall can be a "man of peace". Some ask how a people whose history is full of ghettos can now be building one. And someone decided to remind us all, in those blood-red letters, that it was "Paid by USA".
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=22&ItemID=6044


Palestinians call for reforms in full-page newspaper ads
More than 140 Palestinians, including cabinet ministers, signed a full page advertisement in local newspapers Saturday calling for "immediate wide-ranging reforms" in the Palestinian Authority and its security services...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/464566.html


A freed child detainee: “It's a nightmare I can never forget”
Rakan Nusseirat, 13 years old child from Jericho , who was detained in Ofer detention camp, near Ramallah... “It's a nightmare…It's a nightmare which I can never forget or free myself from”, Rakan said, while receiving treatment and rehabilitation in the "Childhood Center ” which belongs to the Ministry of Social Affairs.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week2/081404/freed.htm


Some 8,000 Palestinian detainees to launch hunger strike Sunday
An official with a prisoner defense group based in Bethlehem, Abu Mohammed, said Saturday that virtually all 8,000 Palestinians serving prison terms, awaiting trial or in "administrative detention" -- not yet charged -- will join the action.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/100941/1/.html


Troops seriously wound Palestinian child in Rafah
wounded a 13-year-old boy in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, Palestinian medical and security sources said. The Israeli soldiers stationed at the borderline between the town and Egypt shot and hit in the head of Alla Barhoom, 13...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/14/content_1784443.htm


West Bank: Two Palestinian children wounded as house destroyed
Israeli soldiers positioned atop houses and armoured vehicles targeted houses injuring two children. Medics said that 11-year-old girl and 10-year-old boy Motasim Amarneh were injured after having been shot with rubber-coated metal bullets.
http://www.albawaba.com/news/index.php3?sid=282993&lang=e&dir=news


Twilight Zone / Staying alive
She is 28 years old, the doctors have already told her that she will need chemotherapy forever, as long as her forever lasts. The tribulations caused by the occupation only add to her sufferings as a young cancer patient. Hours of waiting at the checkpoints on the way to radiation treatments. Two operations without any family member allowed to be at her side to help her.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/464037.html


Zionist forces demolish martyr's house in Beit Fourik
The Zionist terrorist forces after midnight yesterday demolished the house of the martyr Yousef Hanani, who used to work for the PA preventive security and was also an affiliate with the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, military wing of the Fatah Movement.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/am/publish/article_7281.shtml


Israeli helicopters fire missiles at Rafah
After the shelling, Israeli army bulldozers backed by tanks and armor personnel carriers leveled the rubbles of the houses they had destroyed last week, where more than 30 houses in the area on the borderline with Egypt had been destroyed.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/14/content_1783665.htm


IOF Detains Palestinian Vehicles in Jerusalem, Arrests Civilian in Qalqilya
Witnesses told WAFA that the Israeli soldiers detained several Palestinian vehicles under the pretext of driving near-by an Israeli colony. Meanwhile, IOF troops have been completely blocking entrances of all the villages around the city, denying any access from-into the city.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1570


Israeli Writer Slams Baffling Use Of 'Terror' Term
Some Israeli pundits depend on a "loose definition of terrorism" to slam "every Palestinian attack against the Israeli rule of occupied Palestinian territories," Meron Benvenisti wrote in the Hebrew edition of Israeli daily Ha'aretz Thursday, August 12.
http://www.islamonline.org/English/News/2004-08/14/article05.shtml


Italian Film About Mideast Conflict Wins Locarno Film Festival
An Italian film, "Private", depicting the absurdities of life for a Palestinian family in the Israeli occupied territories, won the top Golden Leopard award at the Locarno film festival in Switzerland on Saturday.
http://www.turkishpress.com/turkishpress/news.asp?ID=24525


Shaath says Egypt, Palestinian factions' contacts achieve progress
Shaath told "Voice of Palestine" radio that the progress was related to a united national understanding reached among all Palestinian factions "to become a national commitment."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/14/content_1784308.htm


Qurei supports prisoners in Israeli jails
Erekat told reporters that the Palestinian leadership and cabinet launched a campaign of contacts with the international community to pressure Israel to respond to the demands of the
Palestinian prisoners.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/14/content_1784300.htm


Palestinian Students Demand Jobs in Gaza
The incident, which ended peacefully after about two hours, was the latest sign of discontent with the beleaguered Palestinian Authority. The graduates — all of them unarmed — said the authority had promised them employment and failed to live up to its obligation.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=2&u=/ap/20040814/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians


Grandchild of India's Gandhi to visit Palestine
Palestinian newspapers reported that Aaron Gandhi will meet with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and other senior officials as well as thousands of common Palestinian people. He said earlier that he will explain to the Palestinians his nonviolence philosophy.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/14/content_1784444.htm


Arab council heads criticize dissolution of local authorities
A statement released by the Arab council leaders said the dissolution of the councils would be a serious blow to democracy and would impinge upon the will of village residents who chose their council members themselves.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/464560.html


Former defense minister slams Ya'alon's remarks
Former defense minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer criticized Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon for statements he made indicating there is no military reason why Israel could not withdraw to the border Israel shared with Syria before the 1967...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=464491&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Israel & the Occupied Territories - Foreign Office Amends Travel Advice
'We advise against all travel to Nablus, Jenin and the Gaza Strip outside Gaza City. We strongly advise against all travel to the West bank and Gaza Strip at night. We advise against all but essential travel to Gaza City, and most of the West Bank.'
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3340086


`Lanterns' light up Ramallah
The lack of musical hope sounds rather trivial relative to the other grave problems from which a million Palestinian children in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are suffering. However, anyone who recognizes the value of a musical education knows what meaning and richness it can grant.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/464092.html


Sharon's Disengagement Not What It Seems - By Uri Avnery
A disengagement divorced from peace negotiations can be very dangerous. Sharon's people say that they don't give a damn what will happen in the Gaza Strip after the Israeli withdrawal. They are pretending. Behind the scenes, the military and political leadership is planning the installation of a local warlord, who would rule the Strip under Israeli protection
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/avnery.php?articleid=3307


He's no De Gaulle
Sharon's maneuvers are gradually exposing what looks like an intention not to carry out the disengagement. Getting out of Gaza and dismantling settlements were the only justifications for forming a unity government. One had to hold one's nose sealed to swallow the effective destruction of an opposition, until further notice, for the sake of this important goal.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/464133.html


Orchestral manoeuvres
Barenboim has recently led the West-Eastern Divan Workshop attendees through Mahler and Tchaikovsky. "There is no equality with Israelis and Palestinians - that is not a political statement, just a statement of fact about the occupier and occupied - but you put Israelis, Palestinians and the rest of the Arabs in front of a big symphony, and they are all equal.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/homeentertainment/story/0,12830,1281599,00.html


Olympics: Flag-flying Iranian pulls out in Israel protest
The 23-year-old, twice a winner of the flyweight (under 66kg) world title, opted not to take on first round opponent Ehud Vaks of Israel as a gesture of support for Palestine. "Although I have trained for months and was in good shape I refused to fight my Israeli opponent to sympathize with the suffering of the people of Palestine and I do not feel upset at all,"
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_sports/view/100805/1/.html


Syrian president reasserts dialogue as basis for US-Syrian ties
It was the first time that a US Congress delegation visited Damascus since the big power imposed economic sanctions on the Arab country on May 11.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/14/content_1784745.htm


Iraq says resuming military operations in Najaf
"The interim government is resuming military operations to maintain law and order in the holy city," Iraq's National Security Adviser Muwafaq al-Rubaie told a news conference in Najaf.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/15/content_1786146.htm


Iraq poised for national conference
Iraq's much anticipated national conference, seen as a first experiment in post-Saddam Hussein democracy, is to go ahead Sunday, despite the government's announcement of a fresh US-led assault on Shiite militia in the holy city of Najaf.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=2 &u=/afp/20040814/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_politics_conference_040814191824


Jordan opposition urges Muslim leaders to oppose US-led forces in Iraq
"Sharia (Islamic law) insists that freeing Muslim land from enemy occupation is a duty for all Muslim leaders and their peoples," the Islamic Action Front said in a statement. "All those who take part in the occupation or offer any support to it commit the greatest of sins and betray God, His Prophet, the land of Islam and its holy places," the statement said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515 &ncid=1515&e=7 &u=/afp/20040814/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_jordan_opposition_040814192834


Can the Pentagon be trusted to investigate itself?
Today, an investigative panel will issue a report on abuse at Abu Ghraib prison. The panel was appointed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and is headed by former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger. Its mission is to review detention operations and to advise Rumsfeld on the "cause of the problems and what should be done to fix them."
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=7323

August 13 2004

Firms sued for Israeli wall
A Palestinian commission of inquiry last month found the Al Tarifi and Barake companies had diverted thousands of tons of cement destined for Palestinian houses to Israel, most of it going to the barrier. Investigators said the firms had planned to make quick money from Israeli contractors.
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1572137,00.html


Israel ploughs on with huge settlement construction
It was confirmed this week that bulldozers had already begun clearing land for a massive new settlement complex which will link Maale Adumim to Jerusalem, cutting off residents of the Arab East of the city from the rest of the occupied territories.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/13/1092340467928.html?oneclick=true


Palestine Freedom Walk
The march began Friday, July 30 from the village of Zububa in the Jenin District and is traveling along the path of the Wall where they plan to reach Jerusalem, August 19. On Friday the marchers travelled from Zubaba to Anin. They covered about ten kilometers.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0408/S00095.htm


Gandhi's grandson to kick off unarmed Palestinian campaign
The campaign is being organized by a group of Palestinian social and political activists in Ramallah, that was formed after a ruling of the International Court of Justice in The Hague against the separation fence and Israel's occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=464085&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Israel Wipes a Palestinian Farming Community off the Face of the Map
For 37 straight days the community was ground to a pulp as Israeli troops stormed other locations throughout the Gaza Strip. But Beit Hanoun was without electricity or telecommunications, so not much was known about its fate until recently.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0408/S00132.htm


Hanegbi: Prisoners on hunger strike 'can stave to death'
Some 4,000 security prisoners announced earlier this month their intention to embark on the hunger strike to lay claim to a number of privileges they say have either been restricted or taken away by the Prisons Service.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/464469.html


Israel: Budget Discriminates Against Children of Arab Citizens
Human Rights Watch is deeply concerned that despite your statement that “Education is the most effective tool to reduce gaps in Israeli society and provide equal opportunity for every child,”, the proposed FY2005 budget fails to address a legacy of decades of systematic discrimination against Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel in the public education system.
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/08/11/isrlpa9225.htm


Child Wounded in Gaza
Israeli bulldozers, backed by tanks, razed vast areas of arable land and infrastructure in the neighbourhood, opening fire at civilians' houses, witnesses added.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1563


2 Children Wounded, Civilian Arrested in Hebron
Witnesses said that Israeli soldiers burst into a neighbourhood in Yatta village, south of Hebron, opened heavy fire at houses, wounding Mohammed Abu Samra 12, together with an unidentified child.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1567


IOF Wounds 2 Palestinian Policemen in Gaza
Security sources revealed that Israeli troops, which stormed today al-Zayetoon neighbourhood, opened fire at a Palestinian security post, wounding the soldiers Khader Joha 21, and Ibrahim ak-Sa'eedi.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1565


Israeli security guard killed in West Bank shooting attack
The guard was driving near the entrance to the settlement of Itamar when he was ambushed, the army said. He died on the way to a hospital. The gunman tried to flee with the guard's rifle but was killed by other guards from the settlement, the army said.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20040813-0311-israel-shooting.html


?Israeli troops bomb house of Palestinian gunman who killed a settler
Hanny's ten-member family evacuated the house soon after hearing the news of þþhis death.þ Eyewitnesses said town's people threw stones on occupation troops which þopened indiscriminate fire wounding a number of people with one person þreportedly hit in the leg.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/English/Story.asp?DSNO=656672


Civilian Arrested in Bethlehem, another in Jenin
Witnesses told WAFA that Israeli troops rolled into al-Khader village of Bethlehem, broke into several houses and arrested the 17-year-old Ahmed Abu al-Zeit after surrounding and breaking into his house.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1564


Israel to deport U.K. writer with ties to ISM
Israel plans to deport a British freelance writer who was barred entry on security grounds due to her activism on behalf of pro-Palestinian organizations, officials said yesterday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/464115.html


Spain complains over warning shots at Gaza checkpoint
Spain demanded an explanation from Israel on Friday after Israel Defense Forces soldiers fired warning shots to force a car carrying a senior Spanish diplomat to stop at a Gaza checkpoint, Spanish news agencies reported.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/464531.html


PM said angry over Olmert's remarks on evacuation
Olmert on Thursday visited the settlements of Nili and Na'aleh in the northern West Bank, telling residents "we are heading into a disengagement plan that includes the evacuation of four Samaria settlements. This process is critical to reducing friction with the international community.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=464023&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Syria rebuffs IDF chief on Golan Height withdrawal
Syria will not take seriously Israeli offers to pull out of the Golan Heights unless they are backed by moves on the ground or an open commitment to withdraw, an advisor to the Syrian information minister said Friday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/464491.html


Iran champion in Olympic protest
World judo champion Arash Miresmaili said he was proud to withdraw in solidarity with the Palestinians. According to the draw at the Ano Liossia stadium, Miresmaili would have had to fight Ehud Vaks of Israel in the first round.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3562808.stm


Arafat and the Palestinian question
Most Palestinians feel themselves caught between a rock and a very hard place. Nearly all of them agree that most Arafat cronies are corrupt and that the PA under Arafat has been incapable of defending them against the onslaughts they've experienced from Israel during the past 10 years.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0812/p09s01-coop.html


A Palestinian paradox and Israeli behavior challenge the rule of law
Its legally elected leader is seen as a mafia thug by the entire world, now including most Arab states. Its latest justice minister, Nahed al-Rayyes, just threatened to resign in protest at the legal situation in the Palestinian areas. Yet this failed regime in a failed proto-state is able to persuade the international community that international law is on its side.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=7295


Nader, Jewish group dispute U.S.-Israel roles
The independent presidential candidate has become embroiled in an ugly exchange with the Jewish organization since he suggested that President Bush and Congress were "puppets" of the Israeli government.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/08/13/MNG7287D9H1.DTL


Iranian TV: Jewish American detained for illegal entry
Security forces have detained an American man for illegally entering Iran from Pakistan, state television reported Friday. Iran has tightened security on its eastern border with Pakistan and Afghanistan to prevent infiltration by supporters of the Al-Qaida...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/464474.html


American Jews and Israel: Amid confusion, free endorsement
the Jews have voted on the order of 80 percent Democratic for some 70 years now. This year, however, the game of prediction is, rather surprisingly, a near constant at almost any Jewish gathering. Why surprising?
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=7322


Syria radio calls for review of WMD-free Mideast draft
"We call upon an international move as to review the passive position adopted by some parties and to consolidate efforts to go back and discuss the Syrian suggestion to free the region from WMD," the radio said in a daily commentary.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/13/content_1771942.htm


Palestine and the Athens Olympics 2004
Palestinian sport delegates participating in Athens are; Akram Thaher, head of the delegates, Ibrahim Al-Taweel, Head of the Palestinian Swimming Union, Khalil Jaber, coordinator, and the athletes, two runners, Sana' Bakhit, Abdul-Salam Al-Dibji, swimmer, Raed Oweisat, who will be also participating in the opening ceremony.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week2/081304/Olympics.htm


Will Yaser Esam Hamdi Go From An Enemy Combatant to A Free Man?
For over two years Hamdi, a U.S. citizen, has been held on a military brig. Charges have never been filed against him. He has never been in a courtroom. And only recently was he allowed to see an attorney. The president declared him an enemy combatant and essentially decided the Constitution did not apply to him.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/08/13/1415224


James Zogby: It's Still the US Mideast Policy, Stupid
The results are disturbing. Overall, favorable ratings for the US have declined in the past two years. In some countries, the change has been dramatic. In 2002 for example, 38% of Moroccans had a favorable view of the US. In 2004 only 11% held such a view.
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/story.php?sid=20040812065756390


Sadr hurt in US attack, spokesman claims
Iraqi rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr was injured in a major assault launched by US troops on the holy city of Najaf, his spokesman told reporters on Friday, but details of his condition remained unclear.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/ce56bd46-ecec-11d8-a587-00000e2511c8.html


Six killed as US bombs Falluja
US warplanes have bombed the Iraqi city of Falluja for the second day, killing six Iraqis, including two children, witnesses and hospital officials say. Another four people, including one child, were wounded, said Falluja Hospital director Rafih Iyad on Friday.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/201368A9-CBFD-4CB5-95D2-52E4EB12BE70.htm


Ukraine to maintain force presence in Iraq
But Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk, speaking after talks with US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, said the issue of how long they will remain there is an important one that remains to be negotiated. "Of course we all understand this will largely depend on developments in Iraq."
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515 &ncid=1515&e=8&u=/afp/20040813/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_us_ukraine_040813153559

August 12 2004

Firms sued for Israeli wall
A Palestinian commission of inquiry last month found the Al Tarifi and Barake companies had diverted thousands of tons of cement destined for Palestinian houses to Israel, most of it going to the barrier. Investigators said the firms had planned to make quick money from Israeli contractors.
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1572137,00.html


A Day in the North
settlers burned 60 olive trees in the north side of Marda village, Salfit district. It's not enough for the settlers that the farmers are not even able to collect there their olives, because of the different intimidation policies that Occupation Forces and settlers use against them to prevent them from reaching their lands, but they also blatantly destroy the people's lands.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/716.shtml


Settlers Burn Land, 60 Trees in Marda + Photos
Marda has already lost large amounts of land to Ariel settlement (the largest settlement in the northern West Bank with nearly 20,000 settlers) as well as from the settler bypass road 60, which divides many of Marda's lands from the people. Marda is also threatened by the Apartheid Wall...
http://stopthewall.org/photos/715.shtml


March Gathers Momentum in Budrus
According to Fatima Khaldi of the Women Against the Wall of the Salfit Region, today was the first day since 1995 that Palestinians have been allowed to pass without being detained, denied passage or having to show their identification. Over the years the lack of access and travel by Palestinians due to the checkpoint has crippled the region.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/reports/writings/12Aug04_12_16_58BudrusISMMedia.htm


IDF detains three BBC journalists in Nablus
The journalists, a television crew from the BBC, were accompanying the doctor, Ghassan Hamdan, as he visited an 80-year-old woman living in an apartment that had been commandeered by the army.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/463965.html


Olmert: Israel will leave more than 4 West Bank settlements
If the process achieves its goals, he added, "the government will evacuate many settlements, not just voluntarily, in order to stem the daily conflict with the rest of the world."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/464023.html


PM to Arab councils: Treasury went 'overboard' in drastic cuts
Arab local authority representatives claim that apathy on the part of the government and the public toward the struggle of local authorities stems from the fact that most of the local authorities in which salaries are not being paid are Arab authorities.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=463827 &contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Israeli Army withdraws from Rafah neighborhood
Israeli troops invaded the town at predawn on Thursday, destroying six houses. At least 20 Israeli tanks and several bulldozers drove into al Shaouth and destroyed Palestinian owned houses and bulldozed their farms.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/12/content_1768957.htm


IDF soldier seriously wounded during push into Gaza camp
An Israel Defense Forces soldier was seriously wounded by a Palestinian sniper Thursday morning, as IDF troops entered the Rafah refugee camp, in the southern Gaza Strip. Troops, tanks and bulldozers rolled into the camp early Thursday, and began demolishing houses...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/463828.html


Israeli forces attack medical staff in Rafah
Thanks to the generous support provided by the German Foreign Office and in cooperation with Medico International, in response to an emergency appeal released by PMRS following the Israeli demolition of 200 homes in Rafah in May 2004, PMRS has begun to distribute first aid kits to the homeless residents of Rafah.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article2999.shtml


Israel's Abu Ghraib
Ganot took his decision after Palestinian prisoners submitted 57 demands for improvements in detention conditions, with the restoration of visiting rights top of the list. A hunger strike is due to begin next week. The plight of the 8,400 Palestinian political prisoners has attracted little attention outside Israel...
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/703/re4.htm


Two Civilians Arrested in WB
Elsewhere in Tulkarem, Israeli soldiers backed by tanks and armoured vehicles rolled into the al-Garbi neigbourhood, and launched an all-out search campaign into civilians' houses, causing a state of panic among citizens, mostly children and women.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1559


IOF Wounded Two Civilians in Nablus
Eyewitnesses revealed that Israeli soldiers launched a house-to-house search campaign into civilians' houses and forced some inhabitants to leave their homes, turning them into military posts.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1560


Palestinians End Government Office Seizure
Dozens of Palestinians, some of them armed, occupied the local government offices in a Gaza refugee camp for several hours Thursday, demanding assistance after a series of home demolitions by the Israeli army.
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040812_836.html


Echoing Palestinian Anger, Qurie Condemns Bombing
"Such operations at this time and under these circumstances are not good for the Palestinian people. On the contrary they will negatively affect the Palestinians," he told reporters.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=5956160


Erekat warns Israel against hurting Arafat
Erekat's concerns came in response to earlier Israeli reports that Israel beefed up forces presence in the outskirts of Ramallah and al Beereh in the West Bank.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/12/content_1766765.htm


France condemns attack in Jerusalem
France "condemned the terrorist attack perpetrated Wednesday in Jerusalem, killing two Palestinians and injuring at least 15 Palestinians and Israelis,"French Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Cecile Pozzo di Borgo said on Thursday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/13/content_1771187.htm


Hamas to participate Palestinian elections
"Hamas' participation is conditioned that the elections should be fair,"... He added that Hamas will not just wait for holding the elections, "on the contrary, it will try its best to take the first step to achieve the elections."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/12/content_1766753.htm


Bush tells U.S. Jewish voters: You've got a friend
The 26-page booklet, entitled "President George W. Bush - A Friend of the American Jewish Community," outlines the history of Bush's relationship with the American Jewish community, the struggle against anti-Semitism, the war against terror, and assistance to Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/463553.html


Pulling together - By Nayef Hawatmeh
The Palestinian system lacks political principles just as it lacks mechanisms of democratic work. The current jockeying for power is but the outcome of totalitarian thinking and despotic propensities that have taken root within PLO ranks for decades, during which time little attention was given to the dynamic forces of society and to the need to promote socio-political plurality.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/703/op11.htm


Arafat does it again
Earlier this week, the two spoke briefly by telephone. According to Palestinian sources, Dahlan re-affirmed his loyalty to Arafat while the Palestinian leader voiced his confidence that Dahlan would not do anything to undermine Palestinian national unity, as well as the unity of the Fatah movement headed by Arafat.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/703/re1.htm


Divisions emerge over Qassams
Defense minister Shaul Mofaz dubbed them a "serious threat to the security of Israel," while the western press has called them variously the "wild card of the Middle East" (CNN) or the "homemade rockets that may change the Middle East" ( Time ). For a weapon that didn't claim a fatality until June 28 of this year, the Qassam rockets have gained widespread notoriety.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3000.shtml


Sharon's bluff
This is why it is crucial to follow up the recent developments that shook the stability of Israel's government coalition and threaten to have a lasting effect on the country's political landscape and the structure of the new government coalition.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/703/op2.htm


Surroundings / Whitewash
Tel Aviv did not spring up out of nowhere, but emerged out of Jaffa. It turned against its creators and absorbed and erased Jaffa and it's trying to do it again today." Last Friday Sh'hada led the first guided tour of its kind in Jaffa, organized in response to the White City celebrations in Tel Aviv by Rabita
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/463608.html


Sakhnin's success brings cheers and jeers
"It's important for me and for all the Arabs in Israel and all the people who believe in peace and co-existence," says Shuwan Abbas, the team captain. "I think it's very important for the whole country to know how to practice co-existence."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3557904.stm


Israeli Colonizers to Resist Evacuating Colonies
The London based "Asharq al-Awsat" daily revealed Thursday that Israeli colonizers set up a training camp to resist the Israeli government's order of evacuating colonies.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1561


165 killed, 600 wounded in 24 hours of clashes across Iraq
Clashes flaring up across Iraq have left at least 165 people dead and about 600 wounded over the past 24 hours, the Iraqi Health Ministry said Thursday. US bombing in the Shiite-dominated al-Sharkiya district of Kut,some 170 km south of Baghdad, has killed 75 and wounded 148 others
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/12/content_1767251.htm


Najaf deputy governor resigns to protest fighting in holy city
"I resign from my post denouncing all the US terrorist operations that they are doing against this holy city," the channel quoted Jawdat Kadhu Najim al-Kuraishi, deputy governor of Najaf, as saying on Thursday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/12/content_1767369.htm


Baghdad says US troops will not enter Shia shrine
The Iraqi government on Thursday asserted it would not allow US troops to enter the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, one of Shia Islam's holiest sites, as military officials said they had the area surrounded in anticipation of a major assault.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/caf665e4-ec3c-11d8-b35c-00000e2511c8.html


Iran condemns US atrocities in Iraq
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi on Thursday condemned the "atrocities" committed by US troops in holy sites in Iraq, and expressed "extreme concern"and "disgust" over the latest US atrocities.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/12/content_1770878.htm


More British Muslims intercepted on way to join Mehdi army in Najaf, MP reveals
More British Muslims have been stopped by the security services from going to Iraq to join the Mehdi Army to fight US forces in Najaf, a Conservative MP said last night.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=550444

August 11 2004

The hidden side of disengagement
During the week in which the government approved the disengagement plan, Ariel Sharon and Shaul Mofaz met to discuss another matter: bolstering West Bank settlement blocs that are slated to be annexed to Israel under a final agreement.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/463079.html


EU aids homeless Palestinians, criticizes IDF demolitions
"These funds do not absolve the occupying power of its responsibilities to uphold international humanitarian law," said Poul Nielson, EU commissioner for humanitarian aid, in a statement.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/463467.html


All Roads Lead to Settlements
Jerusalem stands as an unsolvable issue because of settlements; disengagement is impossible to implement because of settlements; Bush's vision for a viable Palestinian state turns out to be inapplicable because of settlements. No surprise, settlements were built to fulfill this exact role; to make peace based on a territorial compromise impossible.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week2/081104/all%20roads.htm


'Speak Hebrew or shut up'
"You see that guy over there, the tall one with the tie?"... "Do you see how he's laughing at us? Don't worry, I'll wipe that smile off his face." Udi nodded his agreement, and the smiler was in fact detained for more than an hour. When he tried to show them the permit that would justify his smile - he was just a man on his way to his own wedding - it was already too late.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1280532,00.html


'Breakthrough' for shot activist's family
The legal team representing the family of peace activist Tom Hurndall are to be given access to evidence that led to an Israeli soldier being charged with his manslaughter. Relatives hailed the move as significant, as their lawyers will now be able to decide whether anyone else should be indicted, or the manslaughter charge be changed to murder.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1280692,00.html


Israeli troops kill Palestinian teenager
Salim Kusa was shot in the heart and died immediately on Wednesday after struggling with soldiers in the city centre, according to Aljazeera's correspondent. Seven other Palestinians were also injured when they too objected to troops commandeering a number of civilian homes that overlook the Old City.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/25596734-DC45-4E78-8977-F9E5F0BAD6CB.htm


Israeli Soldiers Kill Citizen, Wound Scores in Nablus
One Palestinian civilian was killed Tuesday and at least 27 others, including four children, one critically, wounded in the West Bank city of Nablus and the nearby Refugee Camp of Balata, medics and witnesses said.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1544


Tuesday: 1 Killed, 27 wounded in Nablus, including 4 children
A medical source at Rafidia Hospital in Nablus in the north of the West Bank said that on Tuesday soldiers fatally shot one resident and wounded 27, including two children, one of whom remains in critical condition. Both Nablus and Balata refugee camp experienced a large-scale military invasion beginning in the early morning hours of Tuesday
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week2/081104/Nablus.htm


20 wounded in Israeli raid on southern Gaza
20 people were wounded by rocket shrapnel when the missile was fired at the Palestinian houses in the western partof the refugee camp in Khan Younis. At least four were in serious condition. Palestinian security sources said about 10 tanks and several bulldozers backed by helicopters stormed at predawn the area, demolishing Palestinian-owned houses.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/11/content_1759348.htm


A Girl Critically Wounded In The Eye , Several Arrested Including An Elderly Woman
Palestinian medics at Abu Yousef Al Najar hospital said that the child Aya was shot with a live bullet in the right eye triggered by the Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the illegal Israeli settlement " Morajj"  close to Al Shabor refugee camp of Rafah.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/082.html


U.S. Condemns Israeli Checkpoint Bombing, Says Palestinians Must Act Against Terrorism
"We condemn this act of terror in Jerusalem," deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said. "In our view, this once again underscores the need for the Palestinian leadership to take immediate and credible steps to end terror and violence.
http://www.turkishpress.com/turkishpress/news.asp?ID=24302


Israeli checkpoint hit by two explosions
Two explosions rocked an Israeli checkpoint on the road to Ram Allah from Jerusalem, killing one Palestinian and injuring at least eight Israeli soldiers. eight Israeli soldiers were wounded in two explosions at an Israeli army checkpoint near the Qalandiya refugee camp, on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/4968BE1A-7348-4A87-B00A-88428ACAA890.htm


Israeli Prison Authorities Stepped up measures in Prisons, prior to hunger strike
According to the same source, the prison authorities will transfer around 120 prisoners from Nafha prison to a prison in the Negev desert and replace them with criminal prisoners, apparently an attempt to thwart the planned hunger strike. There are about 3,800 security prisoners held around the country.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week2/081104/prisoners-security.htm


Israeli Scheme to Settle 3000 French Jews into "Ariel"
Nablus-based Palestinian Center for Land Protection (PCLP) revealed Wednesday that Israel works on settling about 3000 immigrant French Jews into Israeli colony of "Ariel".
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1548


Israel shuts down Rafah terminal again
Israel closed Rafah terminal linking Gaza and Egypt on Wednesday afternoon, only five days after agreeing to reopen it under Egyptian and US pressure, Palestinian security sources said. The sources said the Israeli army shut down the terminal without any notice in advance.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/11/content_1761205.htm


No injuries in Palestinian rocket attack: Israeli radio
No injuries were caused during a Palestinian Qassam rocket attack Wednesday morning at western Negev, Israel's Army Radio reported. The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) had been firing homemade Qassam rockets at the Negev area over the past weeks.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/11/content_1759588.htm


PNA making efforts to stop rockets firing: Israeli source
An Israeli defence source said on Wednesday that Palestinian National Authority (PNA) security forces are making "a certain effort" to prevent Qassam rocket fire into Israel, particularly at Sderot, the Ha'aretz daily reported.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/11/content_1759237.htm


230 North American Jews move to Israel
They immigrated under a plan sponsored by the Jewish Agency and Nefesh B'Nefesh, a group that encourages immigration from North America. More than 1,500 North American Jews are scheduled to arrive in Israel this summer under the plan.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=463454&contrassID=1 &subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Erekat calls for EU, US intervention to end Israel actions
The Israel Army escalated its military operations in Hebron in the West Bank and northern Gaza Strip village of Beit Hanoun, in which several historical buildings and ancient sites in Hebron's old town were destroyed.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/11/content_1760790.htm


Egyptian intelligence minister to revisit Arafat
to brief Arafat on the agreements between Israel and Egypt concerning the Philadelphi corridor after the implementation of the disengagement from Gaza. But Palestinian sources said that Suleiman's visit is also tied to Cairo's pressure on Arafat to accelerate reforms in the PA security apparatus...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=463326&contrassID=1 &subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Both Israelis, Palestinians undermining prospects for peace, Security Council told
"There can be no preconditions to the observance of humanitarian law and international agreements," he added, calling on Israel to end "illegal" extrajudicial killings and house demolitions and to freeze settlements, and on the Palestinian Authority to end all attacks, including a recent rash of rocket assaults, and reform its security services.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=11609&Cr=middle&Cr1=east


U.S. commends Israel for removal of IDF roadblocks
The removal of roadblocks was one of four commitments Israel made to the American government. The other three are evacuating illegal outposts, limiting settlement construction to built-up areas, and unfreezing hundreds of millions of shekels in Palestinian Authority tax money.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=463352&contrassID=1 &subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Arrest of Palestinian Human Rights Defender
Gheith, 63 years old and board chairman of Addameer, a prisoner support organization based in Ramallah, was detained on July 29 after security officials questioned him at a military checkpoint about Addameer's activities and staff... detaining Gheith without charge for six months on unspecified grounds of “endangering security.”
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article2995.shtml


Netanyahu orders freeze on public-sector vehicle purchases
Following the media's scrutiny over a recent tender to supply luxurious vehicles to senior government and police officials, Netanyahu feared public outrage over the high expenditures at a time when deep slashes to the 2005 state budget are being proposed.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/463500.html


Israelis believe Bush better for them than Kerry: poll
A total of 49 percent of people questioned said they preferred Bush, with just 18 percent wanting Kerry to win. Seven percent believed the two candidates were equally good for Israel, while two percent said they were equally bad for the Jewish state. The rest offered no opinion.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515 &ncid=1515&e=10&u=/afp/20040811/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_israel_us_vote_040811184356


Palestinians without family reunification, an ongoing nightmare
"Whose hand in the water is not like that whose hand is in fire" he added, "If I get caught, I will not go to prison for some time and then get released, yet, I will be deported and will never be able to come back. This is like executing me, my wife and kids have no job, I am the only source of living for them, how would they live then?"
http://www.imemc.org/features/2004/august/families-nightmare.htm


Labor's acquiescence
In one place it's because of the separation fence, in another it's to expand a settlement that is "in the consensus." In yet another it is to build another detour road or to expand one, or for a road to some fresh new outpost. Everything is for the public benefit; that is, for the benefit of the Jewish public.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/463077.html


Iran tests missile capable of hitting Israel
Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani said last week Iran was working on improvements to the range and accuracy of the Shihab-3 in response to Israel's moves to boost its anti-missile capability.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/463495.html


US marines say readying for final assault in Najaf
The warning came as sporadic clashes between U.S. troops and militia loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr echoed from the heart of Najaf, where hundreds have been killed or wounded in the past week around some of Iraq's holiest Shi'ite Muslim sites.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/16ce4778-eb6d-11d8-82f7-00000e2511c8.html


U.S. Jet Fighters Bomb Fallujah, Killing 4
U.S. jet fighters bombed the turbulent city of Fallujah on Wednesday, killing four people and injuring four others, hospital officials said. Several houses were damaged in the blasts, including one that was completely burnt, said emergency worker Ahmed Maher.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540 &ncid=540&e=8&u=/ap/20040811/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_fallujah


U.S. Military Intelligence Implicated In Abu Ghraib Scandal: Report
So far, charges have been filed against seven military police officers, most of whom appear in photographs with Arab prisoners stripped naked, piled up in sexually explicit poses or cringing in front of snarling army dogs.
http://www.turkishpress.com/turkishpress/news.asp?ID=24216


Chalabi's party defies order to quit Baghdad HQ
"He is back home among his folks," senior Chalabi aide Mithal al-Alusi told AFP. "He will shower, have some tea and then resume his national duties." But judge Zuhair al-Maliky, who issued the warrant for his arrest along with that of nephew Salam Chalabi over murder charges reiterated that nothing had changed.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515 &ncid=1515&e=4&u=/afp/20040811/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_chalabi_party_040811175144

August 10 2004

Freedom March Against the Wall
Palestinians, Internationals and Israelis and people of Deir Balut, Az Awiya, Qiri and Rafat, together with the International Solidarity Movement and The International Women's Peace Service joined the Palestine Freedom March in the Salfit region today.
http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=2577


New York Freedom Marcher Arrested
At around 6:00pm as the Freedom March arrived at a gate in the fence section of the Apartheid Wall, which also serves as a checkpoint, between the village of Azzun Atmah and Beit Amin, they witnessed 15-20 young Palestinian men being detained by the Israeli Army. Karl was taken to Ariel Police Station where he remained at the time of this report
http://www.palsolidarity.org/reports/writings/10Aug04_08_08_50QalqiliaISMMedia.htm


People Behind Walls
It plunges into existing Palestinian lands, meandering here and there in pursuit of its victims. It cuts into existing villages, frequently leaving villagers on the one side, their lands and water resources on the other separating them from larger towns and major public services.
http://www.montrealmuslimnews.net/walls.htm


A Teenage Gunned Down , 14 Wounded In Nablus
Israeli soldiers positioned at Freitekh building apartment and shot down the teenage Saleim Omer Suleiman Al Kousa, 17, by a fatal live bullet in the heart killing him instantly in addition to the wounding of 14 others civilians.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/074.html


Israel Destroys Archeological Houses in Hebron
Hebron Construction Committee sources confirmed that massive Israeli troops, backed by a number of military vehicles and bulldozers, leveled to ground at least 10 historical houses and other historical sites.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1538


Israeli Soldiers Occupy Homes in Nablus; Seven Palestinians Injured
At 8:30am ISM received a call that a family had been kicked out of their home last night and they wanted internationals to enter the house that had a new lock installed by the Israeli soldiers. The lock was removed and it was confirmed that Israeli soldiers had locked themselves in the house when they threw a concussion grenade at the internationals.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/reports/writings/10Aug04_04_58_13NablusISMMedia.htm


Israeli Soldiers Arrest 8 Civilians, Wound Woman in Gaza
Eight Palestinian citizens were arrested and a woman was wounded by Israeli soldiers in the town of al-Qarara, south of Gaza, witnesses and Palestinian medical sources said. Medics said that Maryam al-Attar, 41-year-old was wounded in her back after having been shot with live ammunition.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1536


Olympics: IOC blocks Greek javelin champion's Olympic comeback for Palestine
Sakorafa, who obtained Palestinian citizenship on May 18, presented her credentials to the IOC after the National Palestinian Olympic Committee on July 17 approved her as a participant, Marwan said. "From then, we had no answer from the IOC, positive or negative," Marwan told AFP.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_sports/view/100131/1/.html


2700 South Korean rally in Bethlehem in support to the Palestinian Cause
The protestors carrying, Palestinian and Korean flags, marched from Jerusalem and headed towards Bethlehem, and chanted slogans for peace and in support to the Palestinians in their struggle against the occupation.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week2/081004/Korean.htm


Several detainees clubbed in Qadumim detention
Lawyer of the Palestinian Prisoners Society, Jamal Abteely, visited Qadumim detention camp, and said that several detainees complained of abuse and torture in addition to the lack of medical equipment and medication.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week2/081004/prisoners-clubbed.htm


Jews who leave Israel for good
Every Jewish immigrant that enters Israel is taking part in a continual referendum on its chances for survival. But many of the Jews who enter Israel are also choosing to leave it. For many of them, involvement in actively subjugating Palestinian refugees in the Occupied Territories and the pressure of living the Zionist ideology every day is just too much.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/0DA839DE-0B3E-4B4B-81D7-A975A0A11521.htm


Confiscating Palestinian Vehicles, Ongoing for Years, Lately Legalized
The practice of confiscating Palestinian Vehicles, which army carried out for several years in the Palestinian territories, was legalized Monday in an order issued by the commander of the Army Central Command.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week2/081004/confiscating%20cars.htm


Palestinian inquiry blames Arafat for anarchy
"The main reason for the failure of the Palestinian security forces and their lack of action in restoring law and order," says the report prepared by the five-member PLC committee, "is the total lack of a clear political decision and no definition of their roles, either for the long term or the short."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/462724.html


Arafat accuses Israel of blocking elections
"They are blocking the implementation of the first phase of the general elections," Arafat said. According to a presidential decree issued last month, the Palestinians would choose their president and the 88 members of the Legislative Council (Parliament) in November.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/08/content_1737786.htm


Israel considering adoption of a "lost tribe" in India
A delegation sent by Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar traveled to eastern India last week to investigate the group, called the "Bnei Menashe," or children of Manasseh, who claim descent from the lost tribes of Israel, a spokesman for Amar said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=463001 &contrassID=1&subContrassID=9&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Hamas sceptical of Gaza agreement
Hamas says talks have failed to convince Hamas of the Egyptian initiative regarding the security set-up following the Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/10/content_1754426.htm


EU says no evidence Palestinians misused EU funds
"To date there is no evidence that funds from the non-targeted EU direct budget assistance to the Palestinian Authorities have been used to finance illegal activities, including terrorism," the European Union's anti-fraud office OLAF said in a statement.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/463023.html


EU aims to pinpoint goods from Jewish settlements
European Union customs officers will soon begin checking imports from Israel to identify anything produced in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It is part of an agreement, initialled in Brussels last week, to end a long-running dispute between Israel and the 25-country bloc that threatened to disrupt their free trade agreement.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/173d61b2-eae6-11d8-91ae-00000e2511c8.html


Syria reasserts support for Palestinians' legitimate rights
Yakhluf also applauded the verdict of the International Court ofJustice against the building of the Israeli separation wall, sayingit constituted an integral part of the international law and will be a motive for the Palestinians to continue their struggle againstthe racial wall.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/10/content_1754708.htm


Israel pulls plan to re-arm Palestinian cops
Israel has put the brakes on a plan to allow Palestinian police to carry arms for the first time in more than three years, after drawing harsh criticism from hardline ministers, security sources said on Tuesday.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=123&art_id=qw1092144961463B253


Redeploying police without arms in W. Bank impossible: Qurei
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureisaid Monday that it is impossible to redeploy Palestinian policepatrols without arms in the West Bank. "We say that the police can't do their duty unless they have themechanism,"
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/10/content_1748644.htm


Police suspend officer over theft of laptop holding secret info
Police suspended Superintendent Michal Morag on Tuesday from her position as a psychologist in the police intelligence department after a laptop computer containing classified information on undercover police operatives was stolen from her home around a month ago.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/462994.html


Sharon: Likud committee has no authority on coalition makeup
Sharon's comments came after the Likud party's internal court accepted earlier Monday an appeal filed by the Minister without Portfolios Uzi Landau and 11 other party members of the Knesset, calling for a convention of the Likud committee on Aug. 18 to discuss Labor party's entry into the government.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/10/content_1751624.htm


Israel reopens Rafah crossing to commercial traffic
The opening was only partial, however, as it covered only travel to the territories. Palestinians could not leave the territories via Rafah and the crossing remained closed to commercial traffic. On Monday, Israel began allowing travellers to cross into Egypt from Gaza.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1514&ncid=1312 &e=1&u=/afp/20040810/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_egypt_israel_border_040810152004


In the name of Zionist values
I refused to serve in the territories after more than 10 years as an officer in an elite Israel Defense Forces unit. I refused to serve in the territories after hundreds of days of service in the territories, as a soldier and a commander, and after I had been an active partner in the destructive policy that has crushed any value in which I was educated
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/462531.html


Kerry's Right to Return
If John Kerry becomes the next president of the United States, he will be the first leader of the free world to instantly qualify for Israeli citizenship. Under the Law of Return, any individual with one Jewish grandparent can land in Tel Aviv and inform the immigration authorities that he intends to settle in the Holy Land for the rest of his life.
http://world.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/8793/


A big chill: Israel pays the price for internal Turkish change
In May, when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan characterized Israel's incursions into the Rafah refugee camp in Gaza as the actions of a terrorist state, there was no mistaking that something had gone terribly awry in Turkish-Israeli relations.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10 &categ_id=5&article_id=7114


Peace Index / Support for disengagement slips a little
The prevalent view is that the instability in the Gaza Strip and undermining of the Palestinian Authority's status there should not influence Israel's policy on disengagement at all. The second most common opinion is that this instability should lead Israel to disengage from Gaza as quickly as possible.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/462554.html


UN voices "dismay" at Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace
"There were four violations involving five aircraft and eight helicopters over Naqura, Kafr Killa and el-Adaisseh yesterday (Monday)," de Mistura said in a statement. "Today, a further six violations were recorded, involving eight aircraft and four drones." The UN envoy noted that there had been "no reports" of retaliatory anti-aircraft fire...
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515 &ncid=1515&e=8&u=/afp/20040810/wl_mideast_afp/lebanon_israel_flights_040810174612


Media council calls on France to resist Israeli efforts to ban Al-Manar
"France should be aware of the dangerous racist practices perpetrated by Israel that contradict France's spirit of freedom, democracy, justice and human rights," said a statement from the National Conference of Cultural and Press Committees issued after the closed-door meeting.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=7166


Mahdi army orders afternoon curfew in Baghdad
The threat mirrored US warnings around Najaf, where fighting entered its sixth day, as vehicles broadcast messages telling citizens to stay away from the conflict and told militia fighters to leave or face death. US combat aircraft later attacked rebel positions, Reuters reported.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/d22d6c1e-eadd-11d8-91ae-00000e2511c8.html


Thai troops begin withdrawal from Iraq
Thailand has started to withdraw its military unit from Iraq just short of its one-year commitment, a spokesman said on Tuesday. The last of the 443 Thai soldiers, originally scheduled to return to Thailand by Sept. 20, will be out of Iraq by the end of August, Gen. Pisanu Urailert said.
http://www.manoramaonline.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=manorama/MmArticle/CommonFullStory &c=MmArticle&cid=1092120975628&channel=News&p=1002194839100&count=7

August 09 2004

A People Behind Walls
By the time the Jerusalem Wall is completed, 90% of the East- Jerusalem district will be absorbed by Israel. Some 250,000 Palestinians will be stranded in walled enclosures, and will lose access to schools, universities, and medical centres. Plans for this section will carve in concrete Israel's illegal annexation of the Holy city...
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Aug04/Lane0809.htm


B'Tselem: Israel's road policy in West Bank are apartheid-like
Israel's policies on roads and highways in the West Bank are reminiscent of the apartheid regime in South Africa, a report from a leading Israeli human rights group published Monday said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/462450.html


Video Clip of The Cage
Focusing largely on the Tulkarem and Qaliqilya districts the full video details the daily hardships Palestinians face, from destruction of homes and land; the theft of Palestinian resources; locked gates baring farmers from their lands, and children from their schools; as well as the daily humiliations carried out by Occupation forces.
http://stopthewall.org/video/713.shtml


Crossing the great divide
In 1999, after a chance meeting in a London hotel, the Palestinian writer Edward Said joined with the Israeli pianist-conductor Daniel Barenboim to unite young Arab and Israeli musicians in an orchestra they called the 'West-Eastern Divan'.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/reviews/observer/story/0,14467,1278523,00.html


Ex-deputy Mossad director accuses IDF of losing its morality
During the lecture, Toledano asked the participants: "How can you like the IDF the way it operates today?" He then turned to the Chief of Staff and said: "What do you intend to do in order to return our IDF and not your IDF, which is soulless and merciless. Toledano left the hall following participants' protests and resigned from the council.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/461995.html


Wide Spate of House Demolition in Hebron
The Israeli troops embarked at noon the demolition of several houses and archeological ancient houses in the old town of Hebron on the purpose to construct a colonial bypass road linking Al Ibraheimi Shrine with the illegal Israeli settlement of “Keryat Arbaa”, east of the city.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/066.html


Report: 12-year-old boy shot Saturday in Gaza dies of wounds
Palestinian sources reported Monday that a 12-year-old boy who was shot by Israel Defense Forces soldiers on Saturday in the southern Gaza Strip has died of his wounds. The boy was shot in a refugee camp near Khan Yunis.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=462467&contrassID=1 &subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


61 Palestinians killed by Israel in July
The Palestinian Health Ministry said an estimated 61 Palestinians were killed and 465 wounded by Israeli action in Gaza and West Bank in July. 34 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and the rest in the West Bank, including 18 children and teenagers.
http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20040809-080308-3551r.htm


Tranquil Beit-Hanoun Becomes Ghost Town
"My town is completely changed. The paradise turned into barren and shabby land. This is the terrorism. Israel is a terrorist state", Basyouni said. "It is a mass killing attack took place before the eyes of the whole world".
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1535


Israeli Soldiers Humiliate Palestinian Teens
Anas Zayed, Ahmad Mtair and Aseed Abdulnabi, all 17, were trying to pass Qalanya checkpoint when Israeli soldiers assaulted, beaten and humiliated them in sadist ways.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1532


Israel Escalates Aggression Against Gaza Cities
They confirmed that massive Israeli troops, supported by a number of military jeeps, moved from Israeli colonies of "Rafih Yam", locates to the west of the city, heading toward the said area.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1530


8000 Inmates inside the Israeli Jails Including 385 Minors, 83 Females
Nearly 40 prisons afflicted with chronic diseases and in urgent need of surgical operations, 97 prisoners have been serving more than 20 years, while the 5000-6000 has been on remand, the number of the administrative detainees stand at 1250 inmates with no charge or trail, and 99% of Palestinian prisoners are subjected to all forms of torture
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/064.html


2 Civilians Arrested in Qalqilya
local sources revealed that Israeli soldiers, backed by tanks and military armoured vehicles, rolled into Azon village and launched a house-to-house search campaign, inflicting fear among dwellers.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1531


IOF Arrests Civilian in Bethlehem
Israeli soldiers stormed tens of houses and carried out a search campaign, according to witnesses. Meanwhile, Israeli tanks and military jeeps stormed several key neighborhoods in Nablus City and broke into scores of houses, inflicting fear among dwellers, witnesses affirmed.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1527


ISRAELI, PALESTINIAN YOUTH TO VISIT UNITED NATIONS IN VIENNA
The guided tour is aimed at giving these young delegates of peace an impression of the United Nations, and encourage them to continue their work.  The delegates belong to a peace network called “Middle East Youth for Peace”, composed of seven youth organizations;
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2004/pal2008.doc.htm


Court rejects female refusenik's petition against IDF service
Milo, who filed her petition four months ago, served 14 days in prison for refusing to be inducted into the IDF due to her objection to serve for an occupation army.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=462003&contrassID=1 &subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Urgent: Israeli Apache helicopters fire five missiles at Rafah, no casualties
Israeli Apache helicopters fired five missiles at the Rafah town in southern Gaza Strip Sunday night,causing no casualties, hospital sources said.Palestinian security sources and witnesses said that themissiles landed outside the residential areas
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/09/content_1740820.htm


Arafat, Dahlan settle disputes over telephone: official
Colonel Samir Mashharawi, who leads reforms and end ofcorruption in the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and Fatahmovement, said that it has been agreed to arrange a meeting betweenthe two.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/09/content_1740925.htm


Israeli PM shelves plans for 1,300 new homes in West Bank settlements
Israeli public radio reported Sharon had refused a request by the housing ministry to give the final green light for 1,300 homes in four of the largest settlements after completing preparatory ground work for the construction and obtaining the necessary authorisation from the defense ministry.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1503&ncid=1503 &e=5&u=/afp/20040809/ts_afp/mideast_040809105021


Israeli-Palestinian security meeting postponed
Erekat told reporters that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) was guaranteed by the Quarter Committee that the Israel Army will not disturb the performance of Palestinian police patrols in the West Bank cities and towns.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/09/content_1748109.htm


Hamas, Egypt agree on arrangement after Gaza pullout
Egypt and Islamic resistance movement(Hamas) had reached an agreement on the arrangements once the Israeli army pulls out and settlements are evacuated from the Gaza Strip, an Egyptian newspaper said Monday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/09/content_1748344.htm


Hamas Denies reports on Unity deal with Egypt
Hamas leaders arrived last week to Cairo to discuss Egypt's offer of a security role in Gaza in the event of an Israeli withdrawal. Under the proposed disengagement plan, Israel plans to withdraw troops and settlers from the Gaza strip, as well as four West Bank small and isolated settlements.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/August/week2/080904/egypt%20hamas.htm


Sharon, Peres Fail to Reach Deal on Gaza
Ariel Sharon, the hawk, and Shimon Peres, the dove, agree on Israel's need to pull out of Gaza, but an alliance between their parties was held up Monday by a sharp disagreement over whether Israel should be a welfare state.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4403747,00.html


Court acquits Palestinian murder suspect, criticizes settlers
Lekah also said that among the charges were elements that "had no connection with reality," and he called the Hebron police investigation "problematic and lacking in exposition of the truth."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=462295&contrassID=1 &subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Suburban showdown
For ICAHD's Halper, the prognosis is even bleaker. He surmises that, with an estimated 400,000 Israelis now living beyond the Green Line in what he calls "a matrix of control" over West Bank Palestinians, the possibility of two states side by side is no longer possible.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename= thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1091919306390&call_pageid=1038394944805&col=1038394944443


No way to leave the territories
It is no coincidence that even the intentions at the time of dividing Jerusalem did not arouse a storm of opposition. The government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, on the other hand, is doing everything possible in order to make the process of delegitimization easier.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/462062.html


550,000 forsake food, medicine due to economic hardship
Fourteen percent of Israelis aged 20 and over - an estimated 550,000 people - have forsaken food purchases in the past year due to financial difficulties, while half a million passed up on buying needed medications in 2003, according to a study...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/462410.html


Israel: Diplomacy has slowed down Iran nuclear program
Israel now believes that Iran will reach the "point of no return," meaning the ability to produce enriched uranium for nuclear weapons on its own, only in 2007. Previously, it had believed that Iran would cross the nuclear threshold in 2005.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=462288 &contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Sadr militia kidnaps Iraqi police officer: al Jazeera
The channel said Sadr's Mehdi Army militia kidnapped Brigadier General Raad Mohammed Khadr, former head of the Rasafa policestation in Baghdad, who would be released once the Iraqi Interior Ministry freed captured Sadr's militiamen.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/09/content_1748347.htm


Sadr vows to fight to "last drop" as uprising halts Iraq oil output
Shiite Muslim radical leader Moqtada Sadr vowed to fight to his "last drop of blood" as fighting engulfed Najaf and the threat of attack halted output from Iraq's southern oilfields, sending world prices to record highs.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=1&u=/afp/20040809/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_040809184945


Sadr's militia use Iranian weapons: Iraqi defence minister
Najaf Governor Adnan al-Zorfi said last week that 80 men whofought US forces at the vast cemetery in Najaf were Iranians."There is Iranian support to al-Sadr's group and this is nosecret," he said Friday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/10/content_1748488.htm


Chalabi vows to return to Iraq to face counterfeiting charges
“This court is a copy of the revolutionary court like Saddam had,” Entifadh Qanbar, an INC spokesman, said. The US State Department said it had no immediate comment, and described the arrest warrants, issued on Saturday, as an internal Iraqi affair.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/ba757cd0-e996-11d8-b556-00000e2511c8.html


On This Day 1945: Atom bomb hits Nagasaki
In a statement issued from Guam, General Carl A Spaatz, Commander of the US Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific, said: "The second use of the atomic bomb occurred at noon, August 9, at Nagasaki. "Crew members report good results. No further details will be available until the mission returns." 150,000 people were killed or injured.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/9/newsid_3580000/3580143.stm

August 08 2004

The Edward Said Chair in American Studies
AUB has launched an effort to establish the Edward W. Said Chair in American Studies to pay tribute to a friend of the University who was one of the most celebrated and revered scholars, humanists, and intellectuals of the last century.
http://www.aub.edu.lb/news/archive/preview.php?id=37077


A unilateral danger
It turns out, as was to be expected, that the fence that encloses the Gaza Strip is no longer capable of ensuring Israel's security. The Qassam rockets have made the fence less relevant, otherwise the IDF would not have had to enter Khan Yunis, Rafah and Jabalya, or close the border crossing station with Egypt.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/461645.html


West Bank settlement still under construction
Although Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had said on Aug. 5, 2004 that Israel had no plan to expand Ma'aleh Adumim, construction is still under way in the Jewish settlement. Under the roadmap peace plan, Israel is obliged to freeze all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories...
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200408/07/eng20040807_152146.html


Um Ramzi from Beit Hanina: "We Refuse this Division"
The entrance to the village was closed with road blocs and the Apartheid Wall is projected to encircle Beit Hanina Tahta with Qalandiya, Jib Judeira and Bir Nabala, putting them in an enclave separated from Jerusalem and completely separating the two parts of the Beit Hanina.
http://stopthewall.org/communityvoices/712.shtml


Elderly Man Pronounce Dead, Seven Houses Torn Down In Rafah
An elderly man died today at noon while he was returning back his homeland from Egypt across Rafah border terminal.The Israeli occupying troops knocked down at the morning seven houses in block (J) of Rafah refugee camp, south Gaza Strip, rendering the prospect of their dwellers homeless...
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/056.html


Israeli Soldiers Wound 3 Palestinian Women
Three Palestinian women were shot and wounded Sunday while agricultural land were razed by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khanyounis, Palestinian medical sources and witnesses said.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1526


Back in Dheisheh: Miyasar's fear
Israel has been using the house demolition as a means of collective punishment to families whose member was involved in armed resistance. The policy, illegal by international human rights and humanitarian laws, has made countless families homeless across the occupied territories.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article2989.shtml


Israel approves new homes for West Bank settlement
Israel has approved the construction of 200 new homes in a major Jewish settlement in the West Bank, Israeli officials said on Sunday, despite U.S. opposition to expanding enclaves on occupied land.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L08399330.htm


Israel risks US ire by approving hundreds of new homes in West Bank
Just days after the government was reprimanded over plans for 600 new homes in the largest of the Jewish settlements, Maale Adumin, news emerged that Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz had signed permits for the construction of the housing units on the western fringes of Ariel.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515 &ncid=1515&e=3&u=/afp/20040808/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_040808183142


U.S. checking possibility of pumping oil from northern Iraq to Haifa, via Jordan
The United States has asked Israel to check the possibility of pumping oil from Iraq to the oil refineries in Haifa. The request came in a telegram last week from a senior Pentagon official to a top Foreign Ministry official in Jerusalem.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=332835


Israel expels mother, 2 kids from W. Bank to Gaza
The Israeli army expelled a Palestinian woman and her two kids from the West Bank town of Jericho to Gaza City, Palestinian security sources said Sunday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/08/content_1737997.htm


Israeli army raids refugee camp near Bethlehem
According to the sources, Israeli soldiers blew up two houses belonging to Mohammed and Shadi Essa, causing heavy damages to nearby buildings. In the biggest West Bank city of Nablus, Israeli soldiers stormed a vocational school and turned it into a military post.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/08/content_1737998.htm


4 Palestinians wounded in Israeli raid on Rafah
The four wounded were all Palestinian civilians, including two children in serious conditions, the medical sources said. At least 20 Israeli tanks and armored vehicles backed by Apache helicopters stormed Rafah, a southern Gaza town bordering Egypt in the early hours of the day, residents said.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/08/content_1737761.htm


Militants attack Israeli soldiers, settlers in Gaza
The heavy exchange of fire between the soldiers and the militants lasted for more than 10 minutes, where the militants managed to retreat and no injuries were reported. The Brigades of Abu Ali Mustafa, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility for the attack.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/08/content_1738595.htm


Filmmaker's deadly encounter in Gaza subject of new cable TV documentary
Getting a first-hand look at the culture of hate in the Middle East cost filmmaker James Miller his life when he was killed by an Israeli tank in May 2003. The story of his ill-fated quest to tell both sides of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is found in Death in Gaza, an HBO documentary airing Monday in Canada on the Movie Network.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/cpress/20040808/ ca_pr_on_en/tv_lookout&cid=2151&ncid=2151


Egypt contacts Palestinian factions on reopening dialogue
Ramzi Rabah, member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), told reporters that "there are talks about agreeing on a common national program and a joint vision to confront the possibilities of an Israeli pullout from Gaza."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/08/content_1738571.htm


Peres, Sharon to meet Sunday to spur on stalled unity talks
Peres confirmed media reports on Sunday that negotiators from Labor and Likud have reached agreement on the terms of the Gaza pullback and on general policy toward the Palestinians.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/461848.html


Qurei rejects justice minister's resignation
El Rayes told reporters that he is waiting for the prime minister to positively respond to his letter and accept his resignation refusing to give any more details.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/08/content_1735296.htm


New Arabic paper hits the stands
A new Arabic-language daily newspaper, Al-Fajar al-Jadid, is being launched in Israel on Sunday in an effort to succeed where others have failed: as an independent, commercially viable, daily newspaper for the Arabic-reading public.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=461610&contrassID=1 &subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Switzerland to tax suspected Israeli settler exports
Switzerland is to slap provisional taxes on Israeli exports suspected of coming from Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, a Swiss newspaper said. "In over 30 cases frontier guarantee payments have been demanded from importers of 'made in Israel' goods, according to senior customs officials,"
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515 &ncid=1515&e=7&u=/afp/20040808/wl_mideast_afp/switzerland_israel_eu_040808192741


Israeli, Palestinian officials to discuss arming PA police
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon meanwhile told his cabinet on Sunday that the Palestinian Authority's request to allow police officers to carry weapons in Palestinian areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip has not received any government approval.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/461901.html


Former Labor head recommends not to demand portfolios
He said Labor's aim to join the coalition should only be to push forward the disengagement process, adding "we have no interest in the government's catastrophic economic-social policy."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/08/content_1737332.htm


PM will seek to evacuate outposts prior to U.S. vote
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is expecting the report of Justice Ministry attorney Talia Sasson, who was charged with finding a legal solution for a speedy evacuation of the outposts.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/461635.html


Cabinet approves Police Chief's security strategy
Palestinian cabinet had approved his security plan aimed at restoring law and order in the West Bank and Gaza. The document comes in the wake of violence that has already led to some reform within the PNA security services.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/051.html


Rafah terminal said to be reopened completely Monday
Abu Salim Abu Safeya, chief of Palestinian terminals authorities, told reporters that Israel agreed to reopen the terminal Friday only for those entering the Gaza Strip from Egypt. After three days, the reopening would be double-way, he said.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/08/content_1737795.htm


Palestinian factions to reopen dialogue
Various Palestinian factions were engaged in internal power struggle in the run-up to the planned Israeli pullout from the area, deepening chaos in the Gaza Strip, which was already unsettled by infighting within the Palestinian authorities.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/08/content_1737928.htm


Israel begins distribution of radiation protection pills in towns near nuclear reactor
Israeli soldiers began distributing radiation sickness pills Sunday in towns near one of Israel's two nuclear reactors, as a precautionary measure in case of radioactive leaks. Security officials said the tablets have long been held in storage for distribution in case of emergency...
http://news.bostonherald.com/international/view.bg?articleid=38986


Arafat accuses Israel of blocking elections
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Sunday accused Israel of blocking Palestinian general elections slated for November. "They are blocking the implementation of the first phase of the general elections," Arafat said.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/08/content_1737786.htm


Analysis / Unraveling 37 years of entanglement
Talks by White House envoy Elliot Abrams in Israel over the weekend revealed that the Americans are now interested in two things - Sharon's political survival to carry out the disengagement plan, and the keeping of Sharon's old promise to evacuate the outposts in the West Bank.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/461626.html


Louder than bombs
WHEN someone ventures into Palestine to investigate the effects of Israel's incursions, the last thing you expect them to come home talking about is the architecture. But ask Philip Howard, artistic director of the Traverse Theatre, what most surprised him about his trip to the West Bank earlier this year and that's exactly what he says.
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/thereview.cfm?id=907112004


Palestinians target the chaos at home
But while the Israeli raids continue almost nightly, the Palestinian residents in the West Bank, like those in the Gaza Strip, are lately more likely to point an accusing finger at their leadership -- and at its role in the turmoil.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/ 2004/08/08/palestinians_target_the_chaos_at_home/


US forces arrest leading Iraqi editor
"US forces arrested Muthana Harith al-Dhari this morning as he turned up at the Um al-Quraa mosque, the headquarters of the committee," Ahmad Abd Al-Ghafur al-Sammarai of the AMS, Iraq's leading Sunni authority, said. "This is the work of the occupation forces. They're here to intimidate and terrorise people not to rebuild our country," he added.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/ 25B2BED2-620D-4C37-ADD1-BF36D5654C6A.htm


Iraq Seeks Arrest of Ahmad Chalabi
Iraq has issued an arrest warrant for Ahmad Chalabi, a former governing council member, on counterfeiting charges and another for Salem Chalabi, the head of Iraq's special tribunal, on murder charges, Iraq's chief investigating judge said Sunday.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=2 &u=/ap/20040808/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_arrest_warrants


Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse hearing halts
The pretrial hearing for a female soldier photographed with naked Iraqi prisoners recessed without a ruling on whether US Vice President Dick Cheney and other high-ranking Bush administration officials must testify - and without the photos being accepted into evidence.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/08/1091903453648.html?oneclick=true

August 07 2004

“Summer Freedom” Anti Wall Campaign in Beit Jala
More than 100 internationals from the European Union countries arrived in Jayous prior to the start of the peaceful march. Fayez Saleem, chief of Jayous town municipality said that the wall ahs snaked and isolated more than 9,000 dunums , the most rich fertility lands and aquifer.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_08/048.html


Palestinian teen shot dead by Israeli troops in southern Gaza
Troops shot dead an unarmed Palestinian teenager close to the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, claiming he had managed to cut through the border fence with the intention of carrying out an attack.