October 31 2004

Residents of Budrus March to Resist the Wall
In spite of a court order to build on 56 dunums of land that belongs to the families of Budrus, construction is on-going on 150 dunums of their land. The farmers and their families will voice their opposition to the construction of the Wall as well as the violation of a court order by the military. Monday, November 1 at 1:00PM
http://www.palsolidarity.org/DesktopModules/Articles/ArticlesView.aspx?TabID=0&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en-US&ItemID=578&mid=10400


The International Court and the Wall: An Alternative Road Map
Turning to the obligations of other states, the ICJ recommended that they should neither recognize the wall nor provide aid or assistance to maintain the circumstances created by its construction; prevent any impediment, created by the wall's construction, to the exercise of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination; and, ensure Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3273.shtml


Olive Picking season threatened by settlers and soldiers attacks
Mayadma described the attacks carried out by the settlers as direct violations and provocative assaults. Moreover, Eyad Abu Omar, head of Borqa Village Council, said that settlers burnt several days ago more than 150 Olive trees near the main road which links Homish and Shafeh Shomrom settlements.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/October/week4/103104/olive%20season.htm


Revisited: Interview with Marwan Barghouti
The Oslo agreement was supposed to lead to an end of the Israeli occupation, and implementation of the accords was supposed to begin in 1994. By 1997, the Palestinians were supposed to control more than 80 to 90 percent of the Occupied Territories, and the remaining 10 percent was supposed to be negotiated during the final status talks.  What happened was that the Israelis never implemented their part of the agreements...
http://www.mediamonitors.net/fletcher3.html


Palestinian children in Israeli crosshairs
The Palestinian Authority has accused Israel of making the killing of Palestinian school children by the occupation army a daily occurrence while calling on the world to put an end to the practice. "It is becoming a gruesome daily routine and Israel, as you see, is interested more in concocting and inventing lies to justify the murder than in stopping it."
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/4F5ED1ED-C44D-454C-A51D-07A66AD124F4.htm


Israel kills two resistance fighters
Earlier on Sunday, a Palestinian resistance fighter was killed and another injured in an exchange of fire with Israel occupation troops in the northern West Bank town of Jenin. Up to 15 others, including activists, were detained during the invasion by Israeli troops into the city and refugee camp which began at midnight on Saturday.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9444E72F-5D3F-483A-B690-C77D19CBB864.htm


Palestinian powers call for unity
The factions said in a joint leaflet that all the national institutions and organizations should assume their responsibilities and make all efforts to strengthen the Palestinian unity against any attack from Israel.
http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20041031-124338-3480r.htm


Palestinian factions vow to strengthen national unity
Palestinian factions also urged the international society to push Israel to implement the international resolutions over the Middle East peace process, including the full withdrawal from allthe Palestinian territories.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-10/31/content_2161601.htm


Officials: Arafat Condition Is Improving
Doctors have not said what might be causing the deficiency, although Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said all types of cancer had been ruled out. However, no doctors or other specialists have publicly confirmed that conclusion.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4587002,00.html


Peres says Labor won't back 2005 budget
The Labor Party will, however, back the Pullout and Compensation Bill and Labor members of the Knesset Finance Committee will back plans for early compensation payments for those settlers being evacuation.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/495795.html


66 MKs oppose a referendum on the disengagement
A majority of 66 Knesset members is against a referendum on the disengagement, therefore there is no chance of holding one, Prime Minister's Bureau sources said Saturday
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=495608&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


80,000 attend Rabin memorial rally in Tel Aviv
Tens of thousands of people attended a memorial rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday night to mark nine years since the murder of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. (Remember that the murder had no ifluence in Peace Process "history says")
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=495475&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Palestinian firm says Israel working to damage reputation of UNRWA?
The "Dameer" firm said in a statement that it supports the UNRWA and Hansen against what it called pressures to replace the official with Israel-backing personality.þ It hailed Hansen's standings based on respecting international laws, which þare being violated by the government of Israel, the statement said.þ
http://www.kuna.net.kw/English/Story.asp?DSNO=676542


Military Intelligence chief: Arafat's death may end intifada
Speaking at Sunday's cabinet meeting, Ze'evi stressed that the chairman's death would only lead to the end of the violence that began in September 2000, and not the entire Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/495473.html


Sharon ready for talks with post-Arafat Palestinian leadership
"If a new Palestinian leadership which is both serious and responsible emerges, it is possible that there can be a resumption of negotiations on the roadmap" peace plan, Sharon was quoted as telling the weekly cabinet meeting. "A new leadership must prove by its actions that it is fighting against terrorism," he added, according to public radio.
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=32378


Israeli PM rules out Arafat burial in Jerusalem, amid spectre of violence
"As long as I am in power, and I have no intention of leaving, he (Arafat) will not be buried in Jerusalem," public radio quoted him as telling the weekly meeting, in response to a question by Justice Minister Joseph Lapid.
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=32400


Old Age Counts Against Arafat's Successors
Since Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, whose name is synonymous with the Palestinian struggle, didn't allow any other names to come forward for opposition, the whole world is now wondering who will be the next leader to carry on the Intifada. The most charismatic potential leader of Palestine after Arafat, "young" Marvan Barghuti, is serving jailtime in Israel.
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&hn=13437


The Importance of being “Irrelevant” - By Uri Avnery
The man who years ago was officially declared by the Israeli government to be “irrelevant”, was headline news all over the world this week. There are very few leaders around whose state of health would command similar attention. If one does not want peace and prefers a Greater Israel, one does not need Arafat.
http://www.gush-shalom.org/archives/article328.html


His death will not bequeath life - By Gideon Levy
During the past four years when Israel humiliated him (Arafat) into the dust by imprisoning him, during the years when he was proclaimed politically dead, and now physically, the country has come not even one step closer to peace and security. Is our situation better today than before he was ostracized?
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/495462.html


Anti-war movement: The centrality of the Palestinian question
Why Palestine is so important in the eyes of millions of activists in civil and political society. Why, in every demonstration against neoliberalism or against the war, is the Palestinian flag omnipresent, much more than the Iraqi or any other flag? Is it because the Israeli occupation is the most barbarous or murderous?
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=107&ItemID=6527


Nostalgia for the disengagement
If until three days ago unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip was considered by the left a default option, ever since the possibility of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's departure started threatening it the plan's implementation, disengagement has become the left's greatest desire.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/495471.html


Michael Collins: Lesson for Yasser Arafat and the Palestinians
Palestinian campaigner Edward Said, compared Arafat and Collins and the compromise over partition that led to the latter's assassination and accused Arafat of coming "away from the negotiating table with a lot less than Collins". But Arafat survived anyhow.
http://www.brookesnews.com/040111collins.html


The darling of the left
The evacuation is not a goal in itself, and if the withdrawal from Gaza is not followed immediately by negotiations with the Palestinians, based on the Clinton formula, the evacuation that the Knesset approved last Tuesday will have no real effect on the situation.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/495458.html


Iraq's Allawi says showdown imminent in Fallujah
Seven people, including women and children, were killed and 11 wounded in clashes between U.S. forces and insurgents in Ramadi, according to hospital director Abdul-Muneim Othman. Residents said U.S. artillery had shelled eastern districts and said there had been air strikes on Saturday and Sunday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=495804&contrassID=1&subContrassID=8&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Al-Jazeera airs plea of Polish hostage in Iraq for troop pullout
"My life is in great danger, and the only thing that will save me is a response to the Iraqis' demand for, first, the withdrawal of Polish military forces from Iraqi territory, and secondly, offering any possible help to release Iraqi women prisoners from various US prisons in Iraq,"...
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=10&u=/afp/20041031/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_hostages_poland_041031015142


Japan Confirms Japanese Hostage in Iraq Beheaded
Japan's government on Sunday said it is now certain that a 24-year-old Japanese backpacker taken hostage in Iraq has been killed. Japanese officials say the identity of the body was confirmed through fingerprint matches.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2004-10-31-voa5.cfm


Iftar Banquets Vanishing in Occupied Iraq
Iraqi mosques used to host collective iftar banquets in a show of solidarity among fellow Muslims during the holy fasting month of Ramadan but under the US-led occupation of the oil-rich Arab country this is no more possible.
http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=6735&s2=31


Israeli secret agents liquidate 310 Iraqi scientists
The experts said they had detected an organized campaign aimed at “liquidating Iraqi scientists” in the past 18 months and most of them pointed the finger at the Israeli secret police service, the Mossad. He said more than 310 Iraqi scientists have been killed so far and most of them at the hands of Mossad agents working in Iraq.
http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=6736&s2=31


British Soldier Found Dead at Basra Base
"The body of a dead British soldier was found at a British military base in Basra this morning. Investigations are ongoing. It's not believed that this was the result of any hostile act," a spokesman for the MoD said.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6668183


'Black Watch' Wives Told To Keep Silent
Jeff Duncan, spokesman for the Save the Regiments Campaign, said a number of wives had complained to him about the edict. “I have taken a number of calls from wives of soldiers in the Black Watch who say their husbands have been told to tell them not to speak to the media. Orders have come from the top,” he said.
http://www.world-crisis.com/news/1012_0_1_0_M/

October 30 2004

In Qaffin: The Apartheid Gates and the Policy of “Permits”
Only 650 people from Qaffin have “permits”, while the number of people that have requested to access their lands which the Occupation Forces have now made inaccessible due to the building of the Apartheid Wall, is some 1600 people. At present, it is the olive harvest season, with people unable to access their groves.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/789.shtml


High Court freezes fence construction near Budrus
The court, however, allowed the security forces to continue the infrastructure work on the fence's planned route near five villages in the southern West Bank area. The state has promised to restore the condition of the area where the fence is being built should the petition be accepted, Israel Radio reported.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=494910&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


The Wall, Israeli Apartheid and the Right of Return in Focus at the Norwegian Social Forum
The humanitarian and political consequences of the Apartheid Wall were discussed in a seminar organised by the Norwegian Tear Down the Wall Campaign in which the Norwegian Association of NGOs for Palestine is a driving force.
http://stopthewall.org/worldwideactivism/790.shtml


Israel: 'Disengagement' Will Not End Gaza Occupation
“The removal of settlers and most military forces will not end Israel's control over Gaza,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa Division. “Israel plans to reconfigure its occupation of the territory, but it will remain an occupying power with responsibility for the welfare of the civilian population.”
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/10/29/isrlpa9577.htm


Underage Female detainee deprived of their basic rights
Lawyer of the Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs reported that female detainees under the age of 18, in Al-Ramlah prison are suffering from inhumane conditions and treatment, in violation of international law and the basic rights of children.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/October/week4/103004/underage%20F-detainees.htm


Two Children Killed in Less than 24 Hours in Jenin
IPC correspondent in Jenin said Israeli forces shot dead 12-year-old schoolboy, Ibrahim Kmail, in front of his school in the city. During the third day of the invasion of Jenin City, medical sources told our correspondent that at least seven civilians were wounded by Israeli gunfire, including three children whose injuries were described as moderate.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/english/details.asp?name=779


13 homes razed north of Rafah
WAFA news Agency said on Saturday, that soldiers razed 13 homes and destroyed an agricultural barracks in Al-Arabeyya area, in Rafah, near the Egyptian borders, in the south of the Gaza Strip.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/October/week4/103004/Rafah%20demolish.htm


PCHR: “26 Palestinians killed last week”
Moreover, the report said that soldiers conducted vast military raids in Khan Younis, in the Gaza Strip killing 17 residents including three P.A security men, and shot wounded 76 residents, including 26 children, and eight residents who were killed by missiles fired by military apaches
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/October/week4/103004/PCHR.htm


Young girl demands compensation for being shot inside her classroom
A 13 years old girl from Khan Younis, who was shot wounded while sitting inside the classroom, filed charges against the army, seeking compensations. It is worth mentioning that the girl is now blinded, paralyzed and continuously suffers from pain in her head in addition to physiological problems.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/October/week4/103004/young%20girl.htm


Israeli Troops Rampage Throughout Palestinian Territories
In the meantime, the Israeli bulldozers razed earlier on Saturday vast areas of arable Palestinian-owned lands in the Farta neighborhood in the northern Gaza Strip City of Beit Hanoun. Also, the bulldozers knocked down several green houses in the area, witnesses confirmed.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/english/details.asp?name=789


Rally in Tel Aviv to mark nine years since Rabin assassination
Organizers of the rally decided not to invite politicians to speak this year in order to make the rally more stately and to appeal to an audience that may have stayed away due to the political nature of past memorials.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/495387.html


PLO gathers for crucial meeting as Arafat undergoes urgent medical care
Although a weekly event, analysts have predicted that the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) executive meeting will be an attempt to reassure the world and the Palestinians that there will be a smooth transition of power during Arafat's absence.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/114420/1/.html


Abbas urges Palestinians to unite
Abbas spoke after chairing the first Palestine Liberation Organisation executive meeting without Arafat, amid speculation that the Palestinian leadership could fall into chaos should the veteran leader not return. "We call on all our people and factions to unite and work together in responsible fashion to protect our destiny and homeland,"
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=32306


French Tend to Ill Arafat, Aides Dismiss Leukemia
"The tests already carried out exclude any possibility of leukemia, and I say it again, any possibility of leukemia," she said, speaking in French. "There are other possibilities and the doctors are still examining."
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6666601


Russian foreign ministercalled on both Israel and Palestine authorities
Lavrov also said he believed Israel would follow through with its promise to allow Arafat to return to Palestine after treatment. Arafat agreed to go to France after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said he would let him return to the West Bank
http://www.maldivesinfo.gov.mv/news.php?newsid=4643


Israeli Arabs Send Ramadan Packages to Palestinians
Palestinians living inside what is now Israel (Israeli Arabs) are increasingly contributing to a campaign championed by several charities to help needy Palestinian families in the West Bank and Gaza Strip during the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
http://www.islamonline.org/English/News/2004-10/30/article07.shtml


Palestinians consider life after Arafat
"We have no strategic plan for this," says a senior Palestinian security official. "He didn't want any discussion of creating an alternative in case of emergency." The official says security chiefs were only Thursday forming a plan to define responsibility for the head of each security branch if Arafat dies.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1029/p01s04-wome.htm


Who's afraid of a war of inheritance?
Until Thursday, no formal meetings were held by the cabinet or any Palestine Liberation Organization or Fatah institution. But even before it was decided to send him to Paris, there were spontaneous consultations about the next steps and how to fill the leadership vacuum, temporarily.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=495174&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Arafat's departure would alter PLO's UN mission
According to one version of events discussed by diplomats Thursday, the death of the Palestinian leader would mean a moderation in the position of the PLO's New York mission toward Israel. Sources in New York said Thursday that the PLO mission is already considering a memorial ceremony to be held for Yasser Arafat in the General Assembly.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=494993&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Reactions from the Arab press
Whether Arafat is cured and returns to his prison, or whether he is overpowered by a disease, which has worsened because of imprisonment, the Palestinians will always remember that the Israelis and the Americans are responsible... What is more important however, more than ever, is that the Palestinians thwart attempts by Israel to ignite a civil war in the territories.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1099123897601


On This Day 1991: Bush opens historic Mid East peace conference
"Territorial compromise is essential for peace," said President Bush. "We seek peace, real peace. And by real peace I mean treaties. If we cannot summon the courage to lay down the past for ourselves then let us do it for the children."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/30/newsid_2465000/2465725.stm


China, Iran sign biggest oil & gas deal
Under a memorandum of understanding signed Thursday, Sinopec Group will buy 250 million tons of liquefied natural gas over 30 years from Iran and develop the giant Yadavaran field. Iran is also committed to export 150,000 barrels per day of crude oil to China for 25 years at market prices after commissioning of the field.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-10/30/content_2157826.htm


Eight U.S. Marines killed in Iraq; car bomb in Baghdad kills seven people
The U.S. military said nine Marines were also wounded in the fighting in Anbar province west of the capital, which includes the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah. The statement gave no further details on how or where they were killed.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/495389.html


Black Watch soldier killed on road to secure new base
The Scots Guards are on stand-by to become the second British regiment to be deployed to areas of Iraq formerly occupied by the Americans. The Guards are expected to be ordered at around Christmas or the new year to replace the Black Watch battalion, which arrived at a new base near Baghdad known as Camp Dogwood yesterday.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=577509


Iraqi armed group claims responsibility for Al-Arabiya attack
Al-Arabiya had been temporarily banned by the Iraqi authority from covering news in Iraq. However, the Saudi-funded channel has been more cooperative with the interim government led by Iyad Allawi, especially since he visited Saudi Arabia earlier this year.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-10/30/content_2159437.htm


Group Warned U.S. of Unsecured Weapons
Human Rights Watch said Saturday it alerted the U.S. military to a cache of hundreds of warheads containing high explosives in Iraq in May 2003, but that officials seemed uninterested and still hadn't secured the site 10 days later.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=8&u=/ap/20041030/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_weapons


Iraq Hostage's Father Hopes Son Is Alive
The father of a Japanese traveler held hostage in Iraq expressed hope Saturday that his son was alive and would be freed after a body found in northern Iraq and said to resemble him turned out to be someone else.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=7&u=/ap/20041030/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_hostages


Pope to meet with Iraqi PM at Vatican
The Vatican sources said Allawi would meet with the 84-year-old pope at around 11 am (1000 GMT) on Thursday. John Paul has been a fervent opponent of the war in Iraq, and prior to the US-led invasion last year he made a determined campaign to try and prevent it.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=6&u=/afp/20041030/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_pope_vatican_041030131718


Italians stage demo against Iraq war
"It's not enough to sign unitary motions on the withdrawal. We must also mobilise, as thousands of pacifists have done today. This large turnout shows that peace is an issue in Italian public opinion that can mobilise people."
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=10&u=/afp/20041030/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_us_italy_demo_041030165139

October 29 2004

Lessons from South Africa
Indeed, the South African apartheid system does exhibit a number of similarities to the system installed by the Israeli government to rule Palestinians under occupation. To give but one, perhaps the most obvious example, Palestinians in the occupied territories live under one law, military law, while Israeli settlers in the same occupied territories live under another, civil Israeli law.
http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/10849/


UN human rights expert: 'Israel has killed the road map'
"The road map is dead. Israel has killed it," South African law professor John Dugard told a General Assembly committee. "The world is looking to the United States for leadership in this region, and the world is simply not getting it," said Dugard, who monitors the Palestinian territories for the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Commission.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/494927.html


The Rachel Corrie Rebuilding Campaign in Gaza
You've heard us say for months that The Rebuilding Alliance is working to build the home that Rachel Corrie stood to safeguard. In the spirit of Ramadan and its call to empathy, we want to let you inside our strategy to build the Nasrallah family home and help end home demolitions in Gaza.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3270.shtml


Two detainees severely tortured and abused
Zaghari said that since he was arrested on June 2004, he was interrogated and tortured while soldiers used several illegal methods against him such as shooting near his head, using dogs, in addition to clubbing him and hitting his face against the wall or against metal.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/October/week4/102904/detainees.htm


Refugee Camp, a Vilage Raided, Two youths arrested near Bethlehem
a huge military force broke into and searched few homes, and arrested Raed Mohammad Salah, who suffers from paralysis in his right leg as a result of a gunshot injury. It is worth mentioning that soldiers raided the village of Al-Khader two days ago, and broke into tens of homes before arresting the brothers of Raed, Suleiman, 16, and Mahmoud, 13 years old
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/October/week4/102904/Two%20youths.htm


Three youths shot wounded in Jenin refugee camp
A medical source in Jenin said that soldiers shot wounded three residents in Jenin refugee camp, in Jenin, in the north of the West Bank, on Friday afternoon. Tens of homes were used as military posts and monitoring towers, especially in the southern side of the camp.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/October/week4/102904/Three%20youths.htm


Occupation forces demolish 7 Palestinian homes in Rafah, bulldoze farmlands
Eyewitnesses confirmed that the Zionist forces fired randomly towards Palestinian homes, assaulted the residents and prevented them from taking their belongings out before demolishing their homes. Furthermore, the occupation forces bulldozed large areas of farmland, destroyed two water wells and a number of greenhouses.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/am/publish/article_8703.shtml


Hamas urges for casting differences aside
A Hamas statement was quoted as saying that the movement urged the formation of a unified national leadership to be the highest political echelon for the Palestinian people while wishing a speedy recovery for Arafat.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-10/29/content_2154432.htm


UN eyeing developments as Arafat reported ill - spokesman
Fred Eckhard told a press briefing in New York that the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Terje Roed-Larsen, spent the day in Ramallah meeting with top Palestinian officials.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=12374&Cr=palestin&Cr1=


How could it have been different?
Sixty-eight years ago, however, claimed an Israeli newspaper article two days later, Ghoul's grandfather had saved a neighboring Jewish village from any harm during the Palestinian revolt of 1936. The fates of the two Ghouls is an interesting illustration of the understandings of the two peoples about their histories.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3264.shtml


EU Takes Initiative to Guarantee Arafat's Return Home
In a news articles printed in the Al Hayat newspaper, it is noted that EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana briefed Palestinian delegate in Brussels, Sevki Al-Armali, about the content of his talks with Israeli officials regarding the guarantee of Arafat's return.
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=hotnews&alt=&trh=20041029&hn=13428


Committee to succeed Arafat denied
Farouk Kaddoumi was quoted by Tunisia's daily al-Sabah as saying reports about the formation of a three-man committee to take over rule from Arafat are simply rumors aimed at distressing and confusing the Palestinian people.
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=0c7e80a11154987c


Jerusalem Municipality exempts a Kach affiliated organization from Taxes
The Kach movement thus ran for election in 1984, winning 26,000 votes, and Kahane became a member of Knesset. He announced that Kach would not support any government that did not advocate the expulsion of the Palestinians.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/October/week4/102904/kach-taxes.htm


Current and Former PMs Stand in for Arafat
Ailing Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's powers have been temporarily passed to two men -- both who have served under him as prime minister -- until he recovers or dies, officials said on Friday.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6659516


Palestinians gripped by fear and uncertainty as prospect of power vacuum increases
So who, if the worst happened, would Mr Naswari like to see as the new president? "Anyone clean," came the reply. Was there such a person? "No", shot back Mr Naswari, before correcting himself to mention the name of a popular Fatah leader on many lips. "Marwan Barghouti is the only one I can use the word about, but he is in [an Israeli] prison and I can't help him."
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=577142


Palestinian stocks weighed down by Arafat's health
Only six of the bourse's 26-listed companies traded yesterday, with Palestine Telecommunications leading the market's decline with a 4.9 percent drop in the day's largest turnover of 65,000 dinars. Palestine Development & Investment shed 4.65 percent while Palestine Electric Co. ended down 4.6 percent.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=495186&contrassID=1&subContrassID=4&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Powell calls again for Palestinian leader to cede authority over security
Secretary of State Colin Powell refused to speculate on Yasser Arafat's health Friday but urged the Palestinian leader to yield control of security in Palestinian-run areas to a prime minister as a way of furthering peace.
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2004/10/29/news/latest_news/fd19e36ee8e398ec86256f3c00695413.txt


Real battle of succession to be fought among younger, homegrown generation
Marwan Barghouti: The 45-year-old is the best known of the new generation of homegrown Palestinian leaders. he was brought up and spent most of his life in the West Bank. He demonstrated his leadership qualities during the first Palestinian uprising of 1987-1993 and is one of the main leaders of the second intifada... The Israeli government will determine his fate.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1338741,00.html


Few prepared to write off the resilient Arafat just yet
As a Jordanian helicopter lifted him out of his Ramallah compound on Friday on the first stage of a journey to Paris for medical treatment, Palestinians faced the prospect that this time nature might overcome their president's legendary capacity for survival.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/d0dbd832-29d0-11d9-b3d1-00000e2511c8.html


End of an era? End of an aura?
Yasser Arafat stole the show again. This was supposed to be Ariel Sharon's week, after the disengagement plan was passed in the Knesset on Tuesday. But on Wednesday evening, the prime minister discovered that his veteran adversary, a man whom he occasionally considered assassinating for more than 20 years, was one step ahead of him again.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/494947.html


Analysis: Good and bad scenarios
Sharon has gone through a series of extreme turnarounds in relation to Arafat. First, as defense minister during the Lebanon war, he tried in every possible way to hurt Arafat while the siege of Beirut was on, including a plan to down a plane carrying Arafat. As prime minister, he supported former then chief of staff Shaul Mofaz' plan to expel Arafat from the territories.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/495193.html


Beilin: Gaza pullout should be coordinated with Palestinians
Beilin's Yahad party supported the disengagement plan in the Knesset vote on Tuesday, in spite of the fact that as an initiator of the Geneva Accord, Beilin found it difficult to support a unilateral move.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/495304.html


EDITORIAL: Palestine needs international attention more than Iraq does
It took the Bush administration more than two years to get round to the Israeli-Palestinian problem. Even as the US was preparing to go to war with Iraq, most discerning experts were trying to tell the Bush administration that it would do much better if it invested in a viable peace process.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_29-10-2004_pg3_1


Israel's Settlers Cut Down to Size
Since 1967, Israel, under both Labor (the first settlements in the Gaza strip were established by Labor in 1971) and Likud governments, has gone to great pains to populate the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with illegal settlements, investing roughly $100 billion dollars in this illegal enterprise over the course of 38 years
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/dahan.php?articleid=3870


Abbas, Arafat's Ticket to International Diplomacy
Together with Farouq Qaddomi, the PLO foreign minister, Abbas is a different caliper of a leader than all public figures surrounding Arafat, including current Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei. His integrity together with his pressure to act as a real partner frightened the besieged Palestinian President, who is surrounded with powerful enemies eager to remove him physically and politically.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/October/week4/102704/abbas%20arafts%20ticket.htm


On This Day 1998: Apartheid report accuses SA leaders
Accepting the report, President Nelson Mandela declared: "The wounds of the period of repression and resistance are too deep to have been healed by the TRC alone." "We are extricating ourselves from a system that insulted our common humanity by dividing us from one another by race".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/29/newsid_2468000/2468007.stm


Report puts Falluja civilian toll at 600
"There are clear reports of 600 people killed in total up until April 12th, most of them killed before US forces began to permit women and children to be evacuated from the town," it added. The IBC went on to say that its report, which is based on multiply cited accounts from doctors and eyewitnesses, confirms that no less than 308 of those killed were women and children.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/11CE896E-46C4-4327-A525-41008BED9D7A.htm


War costs 100,000 Iraqi lives
Around 100,000 Iraqis have been killed in violence since the US-led coalition forces invaded the country in March 2003, said a report published Friday in British medicine journal The Lancet. More than half of those who died were women and children killedin air strikes, American public health experts said in the latest issue of the magazine.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-10/29/content_2154439.htm


US troops refused requests to protect explosives store
Al-Qaqa'a, the Iraqi military complex from which 350 tons of explosives disappeared, was looted after US troops left the area refusing requests to protect the site, Iraqi witnesses say. They say unguarded buildings were stripped of their contents after the arrival and departure of American troops in the last few days of the war.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=577148


British troops arrive at new operational base in Iraq
A battalion of around 500 soldiers from the BlackWatch regiment, along with 300 support troops, began the move earlier this week from their previous base around the southern Iraqi city of Basra.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=15&u=/afp/20041029/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_britain_troops_041029144900


Sadr-backed cleric tells Iraqi Shia to vote
"I call on you all to participate in the elections," Sheikh Abdul Zahra al- Suweidi, a Sadr representative, told a crowd of about 50,000 yesterday. The Friday sermon in Sadr City is a political statement carefully vetted by Mr Sadr's group.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/bc11ff42-29c8-11d9-b3d1-00000e2511c8.html


Japan says body resembling hostage found in Iraq
"The American military in Iraq told the Japanese embassy on Friday afternoon there and early Saturday Japan time that a body that looks like a Japanese had been found," spokesman Hatsuhisa Takashima said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=2&u=/afp/20041029/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_hostage_japan_reax_041029193823

October 28 2004

Christian Peace Group Supports Divestment from Israel
The 10th anniversary assembly of Pax Christi Aotearoa-New Zealand, held in Auckland on 1-2 October, endorsed the Anglican Peace and Justice Networks and Presbyterian Church of the United States in their recent call for divestment in Israel modelled on the popular boycott of apartheid South Africa.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0410/S00270.htm


Sound and vision - By Daniel Barenbolm
Edward Said was many things for many people, but in reality, his was a musician's soul, in the deepest sense of the word. He wrote about important universal issues such as exile, politics, integration. However, the most surprising thing for me, as his friend and great admirer, was the realisation that, on many occasions, he formulated ideas and reached conclusions through music; and he saw music as a reflection of the ideas that he had regarding other issues.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,,1335260,00.html


22 Per Cent of Palestinian Children Permanently Malnourished
In an annual report issued Wednesday to the United Nations General Assembly, Ziegler underlined the humanitarian tragedy affecting the 3.8 million Palestinians saying that 85 per cent of water in Palestinian aquifers had been diverted to illegal Israeli colonies in contravention of the Geneva Convention.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1822


A Released Female Prisoner: Israeli Prisons Sign of Humiliation
"In July2004, I fell down to the ground, and my head was hit severely, then the prison's administration evacuated me to a hospital just for one hour", Samar accounted on. She emphasized to the IPC's that the Israeli prisons are merely 'sign of humiliation of human dignity'
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/english/details.asp?name=763


Palestinian girl killed by Israeli troops, witnesses say
An eight-year-old Palestinian girl who was on her way to school in a Gaza Strip refugee camp was shot and killed by Israeli troops on Thursday, Palestinian witnesses say. Rania Iyad Aram was killed by random machine gun fire from an army outpost near the neighbouring Jewish settlement of Ganei Tal
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2004/10/28/palestinian041028.html


Civilian Dies of Wounds as Israeli Forces Invade Jenin
IPC correspondent said yesterday that Esam Abu Tueima, 30, died of wounds he sustained on October 2, during the Israeli onslaught on northern Gaza Strip. Abu Tueima was critically wounded when an Israeli unmanned drone fired a missile at a group of civilians in Jabalia refugee camp.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/english/details.asp?name=751


3 Palestinians injured in Jenin
The sources said that Israeli troops, backed by about 50 tanks and armored vehicles, stormed the city and the refugee camp of Jenin, adding that the army imposed curfew on residents at predawn. Eyewitnesses said that Israeli soldiers seized several houses and searched inside, and turned them into army outposts
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-10/28/content_2150564.htm


Palestinian fire wounds 7 soldiers in Gaza
In a gun battle near the southern Gaza settlenent of Morag, Palestinian gunmen hit an IDF position with mortars and sniper fire, wounding seven soldiers, one of them listed in extremely critical condition. The injuries of three other wounded troops were described as serious.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/494672.html


Jordan sends choppers for Arafat
JORDAN sent two helicopters to the West Bank this evening to transport ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to the kingdom en route for medical treatment in France, government spokeswoman Asma Khader said.
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11222121%255E1702,00.html


France Sending Plane to Airlift Ailing Palestinian Leader
Thursday evening, a spokesman for French President Jacques Chirac called the airlift "imminent." Arafat aides in the West Bank say he will depart the region early Friday morning.
http://www.bakutoday.net/view.php?d=10936


Annan gives full backing to head of UN agency helping Palestinians
Secretary-General Kofi Annan today gave his complete backing to the head of the United Nations agency helping Palestinian refugees after Israel's allegation that a rocket had been loaded into a UN ambulance was disproved. (The text does not dare to criticize Israeli fabrication)
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=12362&Cr=palestin&Cr1=


Charity night to back Palestine
"These families are so poor that they don't even have a morsel of food to eat while we're here enjoying ourselves." Donations and charity will be collected at the event that also includes a bazaar featuring well-known Palestinian embroidery such as clothes and shawls.
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=94954&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=27220


Qorei speaks with Sharon over Arafat health crisis
Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qorei spoke by phone with his Israeli counterpart Ariel Sharon who agreed to his request that Israel ensure that all the needs of ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat be met, an Israeli official said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1514&ncid=1312&e=8&u=/afp/20041028/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_arafat_health_041028102702


Aide denies Arafat named three-man team to run affairs
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's senior aide, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, denied Thursday that Arafat had formed a special three-man committee to run affairs in his absence.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=494353&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Palestinian foreign minister cancels visit to Russia
"Shaath was planning to visit Moscow, but now the visit will not take place," the Interfax news agency cited the unnamed sourceas saying, without specifying the reasons.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-10/28/content_2150838.htm


IDF has 'A New Leaf' plan, for day after Arafat's death
For the past year, the Israel Defense Forces Central Command has been working on a plan entitled "A New Leaf," which explores military options for "the day after" Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's death.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/494629.html


Chirac sends get-well wishes to stricken Arafat
French President Jacques Chirac on Thursday addressed his "warmest wishes" for the recovery of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who has fallen badly ill and who, according to his doctors, requires foreign medical treatment.
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=58&story_id=13389&name=Chirac+sends+get-well+wishes+to+stricken+Arafat


Israeli peace camp hails Sharon the hawk
Governments of all hues have withstood domestic and international pressure to pull out of any part of the West Bank or Gaza Strip since their occupation began after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Sharon, who was regarded as the Israel's most right-wing ever leader, is now poised to carry out an evacuation process which was beyond all imagination when he came to power in 2001.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=11&u=/afp/20041028/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_israel_gaza_041028125446


A clearer picture of the territories
The overall number of residents of the West Bank and Gaza is now about 3.5 million (based on data of the Palestinian population registry from 1997, which include East Jerusalem). And if it is true that about 5 percent have emigrated in recent years, this is most certainly a high number...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/494410.html


Analysis: Without Arafat, it grows harder to justify pullout
The claim that "there is no partner," which has formed the basis of Israeli foreign policy over the past four years and justified the refusal to negotiate with the Palestinian Authority, would depart together with him.
http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/spages/494355.html


Analysis: Few Palestinians show support for Arafat
Despite the fact that during his public appearances on television Arafat is surrounded by cheering supporters in his headquarters, it appears that large segments of the Palestinian public felt remote from their leader, despite the fact they did not blame him directly for the deteriorated state of affairs.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/494765.html


Jordan braces for stormy demonstrations
When reports of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's dwindling health were publicized Wednesday night, Jordan raised the state of alert in its capital and in Palestinian refugee camps in the country.
http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=494418&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Jewishness versus democracy - By Azmi Bishara
These same words were imposed on them under Article 7A of the Knesset Law, which the Arabs would oppose if it were put to a vote again, just as they opposed it when the law was first enacted. According to this provision any party that does not recognise Israel as a Jewish and democratic state cannot participate in parliamentary elections.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/714/op63.htm


Anti-Sharon forces swell within his own Likud party
Benjamin Netanyahu and Limor Livnat, who worked against him openly and at the end of the day gave him an ultimatum: a referendum within 14 days or resignation from the government. That move could weaken Sharon's government even further, increase opposition to Sharon within his party, and make life difficult for him in continuing to promote the disengagement plan.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/493863.html


100,000 civilians have died from Iraq War and aftermath: Lancet
Around 100,000 Iraqi civilians have died as a result of the March 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, more than half of them from violence, according to an estimate to be published on Friday by the British medical weekly The Lancet.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=3&u=/afp/iraq_toll_civilians


Falluja emptied of women and children
"Three-quarters of the people have fled to other towns to avoid the American air strikes, especially the women and children," said Abdel Aziz Ibrahim, a teacher. "I stayed but my family is in Baghdad so the kids can go to school. No schools are open in Falluja now because of the security situation."
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/041027/325/f5dgp.html


160 Arabs Face Death Penalty in Iraq
Noting Iraq is still suffering under the yoke of the US occupation and its daily attacks against Iraqi cities, the reporter added that Arabs who cross into the country to resist the foreign troops must be subjected to a fair trial.
http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=6644&s2=28


Iraq says 'impossible' explosives taken before regime fall
But as the issue of the missing explosives took centre stage in the final days of the US presidential campaign, some US officials have suggested they had gone before the US-led forces moved on Baghdad.
http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=6651&s2=28


Iraqi police placed in the firing line without weapons
These are the men, the Iraqi police and army, that the US and British government insist will take over security in Iraq, combating the ferocious rebellion, allowing their troops to be pulled out. They are already doing the bulk of the dying for the occupation forces, as last weekend's massacre of 49 recruits highlighted.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=576794


US gave date of war to Britain in advance, court papers reveal
Secret plans for the war in Iraq were passed to British Army chiefs by US defence planners five months before the invasion was launched, a court martial heard yesterday. The revelation strengthened suspicions that Tony Blair gave his agreement to President George Bush to go to war...
http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=6634&s2=28

October 27 2004

Settlers delay ambulance after Palestinian shot at outpost
Settlers at an illegal West Bank outpost on Tuesday prevented an ambulance from reaching a Palestinian teenager shot by the outpost's security officer, Israel Defense Forces sources said Wednesday. Salman Yussuf Safadi, an 18-year-old from the nearby village of Orif, died before the ambulance arrived.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/493683.html


Two Jewish families move to create Bethlehem settlement
Right-wing activists and people involved with the yeshiva were preparing to ultimately bring 10 families to live there and transform it into a settlement near the holy site, on the northern outskirts of Bethlehem, to provide a basis for a Jewish hold in that region.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/493329.html


Female detainee tortured, abused and subjected to Physiological pressures
The society said that Ahlam Taiseer Salah, 22 years old, from Bethlehem, was arrested on October, 20, 2004, and that she is being subjected to daily harassments and physiological pressures while soldiers barred her from sleeping for three days.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/October/week4/102704/Female%20Detainee.htm


Iman al-Hams
“Don't shoot. It's a little girl.” The company commander, the soldiers testified, “approached her, shot two bullets into her [head], walked back towards the force, turned back to her, switched his weapon to automatic and emptied his entire magazine into her.”(1) After a bullet hit her leg, Iman, who was wearing her school uniform, fell. Then, they said, the officer went over to her...
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=107&ItemID=6504


MOH: “19 killed, 122 Wounded in Khan Younis”
The Palestinian Ministry of Health accused the Israeli Government increased it military operations against the Palestinian in Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip killing 19 residents and wounding more than 122 others.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/October/week4/102704/MOH.htm


Bad conditions in Galboa detention
Badran appealed that Red Cross and Humanitarian Organizations to pressure the administration in order to cancel the barring imposing on visitations, and to treat the detainees in accordance to the international law.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/October/week4/102704/detainees%20Galboa.htm


Israel reinforces military presence in Gaza
Palestinian security sources said Israeli army shelled at predawn Wednesday a Palestinian security outpost in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. The Israeli troops opened fire haphazardly and the outpost was completely destroyed, added the sources.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-10/28/content_2146867.htm


IPC Exclusive: Israel Kills 193 Palestinians and Wounds 700 Others Within a Month
As the Israeli government has been over the past few weeks marketing its purported unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, it has given its army the upper hand to further carry out military actions against the Palestinian people, killing 193 men, women and children and wounding 700 others.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/english/details.asp?name=740


PROMINENT BRITISH HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST DENIED ENTRY TO ISRAEL
Zelter was detained and interrogated by Israeli authorities for over 12 hours, before being denied entry to the country. She was detained as a ‘security risk,' placed in a holding cell at the airport police station, and told that she could be held 7 days before being put on a flight back to Britain.
http://www.womenspeacepalestine.org/angie_press_release.htm


Israeli Settlers Occupy Two Houses as Civilians Arrested in West Bank
Local sources added that a group of armed settlers raided the house and moved furniture and other household objects into the uninhabited house, which the Bakri family was forced to abandon under the heavy and continuous Israeli attacks.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/english/details.asp?name=712


Palestinian sources: Arafat has lost consciousness
Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo denied earlier reports that Arafat had lost consciousness. Senior Palestinian officials, including current Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, and the heads of various Palestinian security forces, are currently in his headquarters.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/494337.html


Sharon Rejects Calls for National Referendum, Despite Resignation Threat from Cabinet Members
The four cabinet rebels, led by Finance Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, said they would resign if no referendum is called. They gave the prime minister a two-week deadline to agree to their demand.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2004-10-27-voa12.cfm


Annan congratulates Israel's Sharon on vote in favour of Gaza pullout
"The Secretary-General remains supportive of a full and complete Israeli withdrawal, leading to the end of the occupation of the Gaza Strip," a spokesman for Mr. Annan said in a statement. (Ignoring Israeli study proving Gaza's remaining under occupation despite removal of illegal settlements)
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=12353&Cr=middle&Cr1=east


Larsen Deplores Continuing Deaths in Gaza
Terje Roed-Larsen, in a press release, voiced out his concern over the continuing Israeli violence in Gaza which began on Saturday, leaving 17 Palestinians dead, including an 11-year-old child, while more than 65 others have been reported injured, several critically. In addition, 25 homes have been demolished and 30-40 dunums (1000 M2) of land leveled.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=1817


EU: Israeli Withdrawal should be Part of Peace Plan
The European Union (EU) expressed approval that the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza has been passed by the Knesset; but made clear that any kind of withdrawal should be part of a broader peace plan, which will pave the way for the establishment of a Palestine state.
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=hotnews&alt=&trh=20041027&hn=13381


Clinton wows Florida Jews, says Kerry 'loyal friend of Israel'
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton continued his support for the Democratic presidential hopeful Tuesday, telling an election meeting at a synagogue in Boca Raton, Florida that John Kerry is "a loyal friend of Israel."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=494105&contrassID=1&subContrassID=9&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


Jihad slams Israeli parliament's approval of disengagement plan
A senior Jihad leader Khaled al Batesh told the press that "the voting on the disengagement plan doesn't mean any change to the Palestinians," asserting that Israel should pull out from all the "occupied areas"
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-10/28/content_2146861.htm


PM at Rabin memorial: Our disputes were never personal
"The disputes were never personal," said Sharon from Rabin's graveside at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. "If in the heat of the moment things were said that shouldn't have been, I am so sorry."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/494291.html


AL chief calls for unconditional Israeli withdrawal from Gaza
Moussa said Israel's pullout should not be something that provided security for Israel at the expenses of the Palestinians. The planned withdrawal should be based on related United Nations Security Council resolutions and the land-for-peace principle, he added.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-10/27/content_2146362.htm


Jordan says Gaza pullout must lead to end of occupation, Palestinian state
"Our position is clear. Any withdrawal should be part of the Middle East roadmap and herald the start of a withdrawal from all Palestinian territories," foreign ministry spokesman Ali Ayed told AFP. "The withdrawal should put an end to the occupation and lead to a Palestinian state," he said.
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=31996


Arafat's Health Crisis Prompts Questions
Yasser Arafat's latest health crisis - a severe flu, gallstones, a battery of cancer tests - has exposed how unprepared the Palestinians are for their leader's death, making a chaotic transition period all but inevitable.
http://www.gadsdentimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041027/API/410270985&cachetime=5


UN invasion and liberation required
Isn't it strange how we don't see the same urgency of the UN rushing in with their allied military forces into Israel despite their being proof of weapons and Israelis of mass destruction. The same urgency that backed the invasion of Iraq where NO proof of weapons of mass destruction existed!
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=552&letter_id=6156&topic_id=10&anon=n


Implementation next
That vote was the significant step toward an actual disengagement of Israel from the Gaza Strip. It grants Sharon and his plan legislative, democratic and public legitimacy to continue the process. There is no need for a referendum, despite the efforts of ministers to impose one on the prime minister.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/493902.html


Chicago film crew explores Palestine through the lens of soccer
"Because of the reach of the game of soccer, the team has been able to make Palestine part of the community of nations in a positive way," Producer Nelson Soza added, "different from the violence with which Palestine is associated every time the name is brought up, particularly in Western sources."
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3259.shtml


Analysis / Now run, Arik, run
So, for now it can be said that the main change is that Sharon has been transformed from a tactician to a strategist. As a strategist, he understood the limits of power, the damage caused to us in the world, the demographic risks, and most important of all to him, the danger of a rupture in relations with the U.S.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=493858&contrassID=1


Has Sharon moved from villain to visionary?
Shimon Peres, the leader of the Labour opposition, believes that the prime minister's "unilateral disengagement plan" has set in chain a process that it will be difficult to reverse. "Once it starts, it will continue. It's the beginning of a journey to a permanent solution with the Palestinians," he said. "Sharon cannot stop it even if he wanted to."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1336768,00.html


Britain's Prince Charles views reconstruction of Al-Aqsa pulpit in Jordan
Britain's Prince Charles got a first-hand glimpse of the recreation of a pulpit for Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque on the second day of a visit to Jordan. The original minbar (pulpit) was destroyed in a 1969 arson attack on Al-Aqsa, Islam's third holiest site in Jerusalem, and a copy is being made by a team of international craftsmen and experts.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=10&u=/afp/20041027/wl_mideast_afp/jordan_britain_royal_religion_art_041027144240


Tape: Hassan Urges British to Leave Iraq
The tape, broadcast on Al-Jazeera television, showed a distraught and frightened Margaret Hassan, the 59-year-old head of CARE International in Iraq, blinking back tears as she spoke into the camera. No gunmen were visible in the footage. "Please don't bring the soldiers to Baghdad... Please, on top of that, please release the women prisoners from prisons," she said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=6&u=/ap/20041027/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_hostages


British troops start perilous Iraq mission, Japan defiant after kidnapping
Hundreds of British soldiers left southern Iraq on a risky mission closer to Baghdad to free up US forces for a possible assault on rebel-held Fallujah, as Tokyo stood firm after militants threatened to behead a Japanese hostage.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=2&u=/afp/20041027/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_041027182232


Bush campaign downplays Allawi accusation
Iraq weighed heavily on the Bush administration on Tuesday as Iyad Allawi, Iraq's interim prime minister, said the weekend massacre of 50 Iraqi National Guard soldiers “was the outcome of major neglect by some parts of the coalition forces”.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/f398901a-2780-11d9-a0dd-00000e2511c8.html


U.S. Is Said to Urge Its Iraqi Allies to Unite for Election
U.S. authorities in Washington and Iraqi politicians confirmed that top White House officials have told leaders of the six major parties that were on the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council that it would be in the groups' common interest to present a unified electoral slate.
http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=2&p=6616&s2=27


Rumsfeld implicitly admits lack of planning for Iraqi insurgency
The remarks, made on Tuesday in an interview with Cincinnati, Ohio, radio station, came amid a barrage of charges by Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and his aides that the White House had failed to adequately plan for the possibility of a guerrilla war in Iraq.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=7&u=/afp/20041027/wl_mideast_afp/us_iraq_planning_041027142352

October 26 2004

Two Jewish families move to create Bethlehem settlement
Two Jewish families moved into a house near Rachel's Tomb in the West Bank city of Bethlehem this week, in effect creating what appears to be a new settlement.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=493329&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y


International Solidarity Movement's Olive Harvest Campaign - Update
The Apartheid Wall is much more completed this year. These “facts on the ground“ create great hardship for Palestinian farmers who find more of their lands inaccessible than ever before. The Israeli military has created a system of “permissions“ that has further complicated the harvest.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/DesktopModules/Articles/ArticlesView.aspx?TabID=0&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en-US&ItemID=567&mid=10547


Commander implicated in death of Palestinian girl arrested
Military Police have arrested a Givati Brigade company commander on suspicion he shot dead a 13-year-old Palestinian girl at close range, after she had already been shot by troops and was laying on the ground. (Still not sure!)
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/493807.html


Israeli tanks' shell wounds six-year-old child
Amin Shahwan, Hasna's father said that he woke up to the sound of the huge explosion, finding the wall falling on his daughter who was asleep. Doctors at the Nasser hospital's reported that Hasna was in a “very serious” condition since shrapnel penetrated most parts of her body.
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=10/27/2004&Cat=4&Num=005


Settler shoots Palestinian to death in West Bank
Security forces detained the security coordinator for questioning after the incident. Israel Defense Forces troops and police were investigating whether the Palestinian may have entered the outpost with olive pickers who were given permission by the IDF to enter the area to harvest olives.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/493683.html


Two killed in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday
A local source in Khan Younis said that a military scouting plane fired at least one missile at a group of residents in Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, killing one, critically wounding at least three others, on Tuesday after midnight.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/October/week4/102604/Kh_Younis1.htm


4 apprehended in Hebron, one carpentry, one shoemaking workshop burnt in Hebron
A local source in Hebron said that soldiers apprehended four residents, burnt carpentry and a shoemaking store and pinched money and gold from some homes during raids conducted in Wad Abu Kteila, in Hebron in the south of the West Bank.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/October/week4/102604/Hberon4.htm


Reacting to deaths in Gaza, UN envoy calls on Israel to protect civilians
Voicing deep concern over the continuing violence in the Gaza Strip, the senior United Nations envoy for the Middle East today deplored deaths during the renewed military operation in Khan Younis and called on Israel to respect international law. (So Gently; keep on killing, just try not ot shoot a child using sniper...)
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=12340&Cr=palestin&Cr1=


Qurei blames int'l community for silent over Israeli massacre
"At the time we talk about a promised Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Israel carries out massacres in the Palestinian areas every day," he said, adding "we want to say to the whole world that words and statements are not enough anymore, and we want actions indeed."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-10/26/content_2140973.htm


Israeli Supreme Court demands army justify demolitions
The Court was responding to a petition filed by the Arab-Israeli rights group Adalah, which accuses the military of having perpetrated "war crimes" with the demolition of the large number of houses in the town which borders Egypt.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200410/s1228529.htm



US says committed to Roadmap, unsure about independent Palestinian state by 2005
The United States said on Tuesday it remained committed to the Road Map peace initiative but stopped short of making any commitment to the establishment of a viable Palestinian state by 2005.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/English/Story.asp?DSNO=675443


State to underwrite damages awarded to Israelis in suits against PA
The temporary seizures of the last two years contradict the state's commitment to the United States to transfer to the PA, under the road map, all the customs and tax money taken by Israel for merchandise and services intended for the PA. ( But USA is fine with it!)
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/492877.html


Yasser Arafat said to be suffering from large gallstone
Hospital sources said they had brought X-ray and ultrasound machines to Arafat's compound two days ago to perform tests on his chest and stomach. The X-ray turned up clean, but the ultrasound uncovered a 1-centimeter-long gallstone.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/493801.html


Arafat to work to end disagreement among security apparatuses
"These measures aim to stem the worsening security situation that has prevailed in the Palestinian lands, especially in the Gaza Strip," Palestinian Minister of Agriculture Ibrahim Abu Naja was quoted as saying.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-10/26/content_2141434.htm


Graffiti in W. Jerusalem: "We killed Rabin and will kill Sharon as well, Death to the Arabs"
Israeli police in found on Tuesday morning graffiti on the walls in the streets of West Jerusalem as saying: "We killed Rabin, we will kill Sharon too, and death to the Arabs." Israel Radio said, police thinks these are acts of the extreme right wing in Israel. A Police source said they are investigating the issue.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/October/week4/102604/grafitti.htm


Protesters Harry Israel Parliament Before Gaza Vote
Thousands of rightist Israelis accused Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of treason Tuesday as parliament looked set to approve the first pullout of settlers from occupied land Palestinians want as part of a future state.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6616220


Ministers may abstain in pullout vote unless PM calls poll
The threat comes after the ministers managed to secure a deal with the National Religious Party under which the party will not quit the coalition government if a referendum on the pullout plan is held. Likud ministers Limor Livnat, Benjamin Netanyahu, Silvan Shalom, Yisrael Katz and Tzachi Hanegbi...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/493670.html


Israeli parliament approves Gaza pullout plan
Sharon's victory was achieved partly through a decision by the left-wing opposition Labour and Yahad parties to support the premier, who had previously been regarded as the ultimate champion of the settler movement.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=1&u=/afp/20041026/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_israel_gaza_vote_041026192631


Egypt: No sign bomber linked to Palestinian groups
Egypt said on Tuesday there was no indication the Palestinian organiser of bombings at Egyptian Red Sea resorts frequented by Israelis had links with Palestinian groups fighting Israel.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L26494296.htm


Analysis / Much ado about nothing
According to Mallouh, and most Palestinian spokespersons, the noise being made by the Israeli right with regard to the pullout from Gaza is nothing more than a big act designed to demonstrate to the world the terrible pain of the Israeli concession.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/493402.html


Pro-Israeli groups pressure Columbia University
The far-right Pro-Israeli newspaper The New York Sun broke a story on Oct. 20 that there existed an underground film in which university students and alumni complain that they felt their academic careers were threatened because they expressed pro-Israeli positions.
http://dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=9607


The Jews versus the Israelis
Zionism posed a challenge to the "We are Jews" of Rabbi Avraham Shapira and his disciples because it stated that the fate of the Jewish people is a matter for human action, not divine action. It is precisely along this fault line that Orthodox rabbis disengaged from Zionism.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/493417.html


On This Day 1994: Israel and Jordan make peace
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and King Hussein of Jordan formally made peace at a ceremony in desert area of Wadi Araba on the Israeli-Jordanian border. US President Bill Clinton was a witness to the treaty also watched by 5,000 guests and relayed to the world on TV. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was conspicuous by his absence - he had not been invited.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/26/newsid_3764000/3764162.stm



ExpoTech Palestine in Gaza from December 4th-6th
ExpoTech Palestine Exhibition will be held at the Rashad Al Shawa Cultural Center, Gaza from December 4th—6th 2004. Claim your exhibition space at the technology crossroads of Palestine Gaza City. Meet your market, launch, preview and demo products. Sell your proven technology solutions.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3257.shtml



Letter from the people in Fallujah to Kofi Annan
On the night of the 13th October alone American bombardment demolished 50 houses on top of their residents. Is this a genocidal crime or a lesson about the American democracy? It is obvious that the Americans are committing acts of terror against the people of Fallujah for one reason only: their refusal to accept the Occupation.
http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=2&p=6601&s2=25


Syria arrests Kuwaitis trying to fight in Iraq
Syrian security forces have recently arrested several Kuwaitis who had attempted to enter Iraq to fight a holy war against US forces in Fallujah, the Arab Times reported Tuesday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-10/26/content_2140912.htm


Rumsfeld 'ignored Fallujah warnings'
Warnings by the US military commander of last April's operation in Fallujah on the consequences of attacking the city were ignored by the Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, and not passed to President George Bush, an American newspaper has claimed. After weeks of fighting, and with 600 Iraqis dead, not only did the assault fail...
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=576042


FLASHBACK: United States War Crimes Against Iraq (1991)
The members of the International War Crimes Tribunal, meeting in New York, have carefully considered the Initial Complaint of the Commission of Inquiry dated May 6, 1991 against President George H. W. Bush, Vice President J. Danforth Quayle, Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf Commander of the Allied Forces in the Persian Gulf...
http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=2&p=6556&s2=25


ICRC says it must be notified about Iraq prisoner transfers
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that it must be notified of every prisoner transfer under the Geneva Conventions, following reports that United States had transferred detainees out of Iraq