Today in Palestine!

Today in Palestine!
Saturday, 23 August 2008

Activist boats allowed into Gaza despite Israeli blockade
(23 Aug) GAZA CITY (AFP) — Two boats carrying 44 pro-Palestinian activists from Cyprus arrived in the Gaza Strip on Saturday after Israel allowed them through despite its tight blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory. The boats sailed through choppy grey waters and into Gaza City's main port, where they were greeted by around 2,000 people waving Palestinian flags, many of them motoring around the harbour in boats.
http://afp.google. com/article/ ALeqM5jrP6i7Rt38 -sZ2Ky9CQgvNKuED Pg

Boats arrive in Gaza early Saturday evening
(23 Aug) Upon their arrival, after a day and a half at sea, thousands of Palestinians who had been gathered on shore waiting ran to welcome the passengers who for the first time in history have broken through by sea. As evening sets the 40 people aboard the SS Free Gaza and SS Liberty are being treated as kings and queens in Gaza by the Palestinians who awaited them. The mission was symbolic, but was more important than 10 tons of rice, as one Gazan said, reiterating, "We don't want food, we want freedom."
http://english. pnn.ps/index. php?option= com_content&task=view&id=3404&Itemid=30

Haniyeh: Free Gaza ships a siege-breaking success; vessels arrive safely in Gaza
(23 Aug) The group will stay in Gaza for at least ten days, first attending a conference on the situation, then touring the entire Gaza Strip to see first hand what the siege has done to the area. Officials said it was possible that the crew will meet local political leaders, though no decision has been made. As the crew pulled into the port, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the ships to congratulate them on the voyage, and thank them for their perseverance. Palestinian de facto Prime Minister of the Gaza Strip Ismail Haniyeh gave an interview, and said that the voyage succeeded because of the enduring Palestinian spirit of steadfastness. He called the Free Gaza project a "siege-smashing" success, and thanked the crew for their efforts.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=31473

Palestinians: Leftist boats didn't bring enough food
(23 Aug) Palestinian disappointment: A Gaza activist told Ynet Saturday that local residents were disappointed by the small quantities of food brought in by two boats carrying international leftist activists. "Many people thought these boats will make a significant contribution to break the siege, not only politically but also in terms of bringing in goods, equipment, food, and medicine," he said. "However, once it turned out these boats contain too little food and mostly activists…some people left the beach disappointed."http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3586532,00. html

Abdo to PNN: Israeli forces open fire on Palestinian boats
(23 Aug) Rami Abdo, Spokesperson of the People's Committee to Address the Siege on the Gaza Strip told PNN this afternoon that Israeli gunboats opened fire on the Palestinians who had sailed boats into the sea to receive the two "Break the Siege" boats, which had almost reached Palestinian territorial waters. They were forced to change course due to the presence of Israeli warships.
http://english. pnn.ps/index. php?option= com_content&task=view&id=3399&Itemid=30

Gaza boats face rough seas, poor communications
(23 Aug, 12:35 GMT, Reuters) NICOSIA, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Activists seeking to challenge Israel's sea blockade of Gaza were struggling with rough seas and disruptions to their communications, the group said on Saturday. A spokeswoman for the group in Jerusalem said she had managed to make brief contact by satellite phone with one of the boats and the coordinates she had received placed them about 70 km (45 miles) off the coastline of Gaza City. Officials of the militant Islamic movement Hamas in Gaza said 13 boats that had put to sea aiming to greet the activists were forced to turn back by Israeli naval craft which fired shots in the air. An Israeli military spokeswoman said no naval vessel had fired in the area.
http://www.alertnet .org/thenews/ newsdesk/ LN213772. htm

Free Gaza boats under electronic pirates attack
(23 Aug) The SS Free Gaza and SS Liberty boats sailing from Cyprus reported that their electronic safety systems came under electronic attack causing them to jam. "The electronic systems which guarantee our safety aboard the SS Free Gaza and SS Liberty have been jammed and scrambled. Both ships are flying Greek flags, and are in international waters. We are the victims of electronic piracy. We are currently in GMS P area A2 and we are relying on our satellite communications equipment to make a distress call, if needed."
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 56690

Activist boats near Gaza in challenge to Israeli embargo
(23 Aug, AFP) "They made very good progress for the night and everyone is fine," Angela Godfrey-Goldstein, a spokeswoman for the so-called Free Gaza Movement told AFP, adding that the boats were awaiting the arrival of a third boat filled with reporters sailing from Israel before proceeding further. But in a message sent from the boats at 10:00 am (0700 GMT) the crew said their communications systems had come under attack by "electronic piracy" and they were relying entirely on satellite phones.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/afp/20080823/ wl_mideast_ afp/mideastconfl ictgazademo_ 080823120913

Israel declares protest boats will not reach their destination
(23 Aug) Israel last night warned an attempt by peace activists to sail two wooden boats to the Gaza Strip was a "provocation" and said it would prevent them reaching their destination. A group of 46 activists set sail yesterday morning from Cyprus and were hoping to reach Gaza later today to challenge the economic blockade Israel has imposed on the strip and to deliver a cargo of 200 hearing aids for a deaf school and 5,000 balloons. Among those on board is a Catholic nun, aged 81, the British journalist Yvonne Ridley and Lauren Booth, sister-in-law of Tony Blair.
http://www.guardian .co.uk/world/ 2008/aug/ 23/israelandthep alestinians. middleeast? gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews

Osama Qashoo: Intimidation will not stop our boats sailing for Gaza
(23 Aug) This morning I am sorry to find myself back on dry land in Cyprus, separated from my fellow sailors who are now completing the final leg of their trip to Gaza. But I am not with them, despite the fact that I am the only Palestinian- born organiser involved. Last week, my immediate family, who still live in the West Bank, were attacked and terrorised, and I also received numerous anonymous death threats.
http://www.guardian .co.uk/commentis free/2008/ aug/23/israeland thepalestinians. middleeast? gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews

'Peace pirates' sail for Gaza despite Israeli ire
(23 Aug) GAZA: JUST BEFORE 10am yesterday two frail wooden boats backed away from the quay at Larnaca port, rounded the breakwater and put to sea with the aim of breaking the mighty Israeli navy's siege and blockade of Gaza. From the rigging of the Free Gaza, a Greek island ferry, and The Liberty, a fishing boat, fluttered the flags of the 14 home countries of the 46 activists on board, including the banner of Ireland. The boats were cleared to sail by the port authorities after being examined by a police diver to make certain no limpet mines had been planted on their hulls following bomb threats.
http://www.irishtim es.com/newspaper /world/2008/ 0823/12194170019 70.html

On a mission to free Gaza
(23 Aug) Yet Israel is likely to find itself in a bind today when the boats, the Free Gaza and the Liberty, are due to approach an Israeli- imposed special security zone in Gazan waters. Any heavy-handed measures to board, turn back or impound the boats, which are equipped with live video-streaming facilities, could be a public relations disaster. The activists insist they pose no threat. "The Israelis have cannon, machine-guns, warships, helicopters and jets. All we have are hearing aids and biodegradable balloons for Palestinian children," said Greta Berlin, one of the American organisers. The boats were thoroughly vetted by Cypriot authorities to confirm they were carrying nothing illicit. In turn, with the activists nervous of a possible sabotage attempt by Israeli agents, Cypriot police frogmen checked underneath the boats.
http://thescotsman. scotsman. com/world/ On-a-mission- to-free.4420726. jp

Israel warns activists against sailing to Gaza
(22 Aug) JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel on Friday issued a tough threat against activists sailing toward the Gaza Strip with a delivery of humanitarian supplies, calling the mission an unacceptable provocation and saying all options were under consideration. The two boats carrying members of a U.S.-based activist group set sail from Cyprus early Friday in a bid to break Israel's 14-month blockade of Gaza. The activists hope to reach Gaza's shores on Saturday.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/ap/20080822/ ap_on_re_ mi_ea/israel_ gaza_blockade

Tony Blair's sister-in-law Lauren Booth sails against Gaza blockade
(22 Aug) Lauren Booth, the sister-in-law of Tony Blair, was one of seven Britons among 44 civilian activists that set sail from Cyprus today, on a mission to break Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip. Wearing a "Free Gaza" neck charm and standing barefoot in the humid heat before boarding one of two wooden boats in Larnaca port, Ms Booth, a half-sister of Cherie Blair, said: "These boats should be loaded with diplomats from around the world wanting to pursue the rights they supposedly represent." She challenged Mr Blair in his role as the international special envoy to the Middle East to "show some guts" and visit Gaza Strip.
http://www.timesonl ine.co.uk/ tol/news/ world/middle_ east/article4592 169.ece

Israel says it will prevent peace boats reaching Gaza Strip
(22 Aug) Israel warned tonight that an attempt by peace activists to sail two boats to the Gaza Strip was a "provocation" and said it would consider "all options" to prevent them reaching their destination. Although Israel withdrew its soldiers and settlers in 2005, it still controls Gaza's air space and sea space, as well as nearly all the border crossings. In a statement issued as they departed today, the activists said they would lodge a legal protest against any attempt by the Israelis to arrest them.
http://www.guardian .co.uk/world/ 2008/aug/ 22/israelandthep alestinians

Ghada Karmi: Breaking the Gaza siege
(22 Aug) During a conference in California in May of this year I was surprised to receive an invitation from two American activists to join their group, the Free Gaza Movement, on a boat trip to Gaza in August. They spoke of their determination to break the inhuman Israeli siege of Gaza by facing it head on. They would sail directly to Gaza's shores in boats laden with humanitarian supplies. At the time I thought them well meaning but unrealistic, even naïve, and I was sceptical about the success of their enterprise. I thought it unlikely it would ever take off . . . I could not have been more mistaken. . . The point that struck me most forcibly about this mission was that its organisers were non-Arabs.
http://palestinechr onicle.com/ view_article_ details.php? id=14099

Khalid Amayreh: We salute you
(22 Aug) As I write these words, two boats with some 46 peace activists from many nationalities on board are sailing from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip in a symbolic effort to break Israel's cruel blockade of the coastal Palestinian territory. . . I salute you for your courage, humanness and self-abnegation. You undoubtedly represent a point of light in a world overwhelmed by darkness. Your selfless efforts on behalf of the oppressed men, women and children of Gaza show that there are still brave men and women in this world who wouldn't give in to brute power.
http://www.palestin e-info.co. uk/En/default. aspx?xyz= U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MD I46m9rUxJEpMO% 2bi1s7vrK0XOyA3z WGitFlv%2ff2KrRf %2fCKBnfQ4Hg0oTO tcasYLkgEOc7Z% 2b7xVle02sot4O9l 5DJvKUKXTl208spU lGSjPM0R3O3tR39j Y00vesgVg% 3d

Patient death toll in Gaza reaches 240
(22 Aug) The number of patients who have died in the Gaza Strip due to the year-long Israeli siege has reached 240, as one more patient dies today. Medical sources reported the death of a 2-year-old infant as his parents were banned to leave the Gaza strip to seek the needed medical treatment for their child.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 56679

Six Palestinians successfully receive treatment in Egypt and return home
(22 Aug) After receiving treatment in Egypt, six Palestinian patients returned home to the Gaza Strip through Rafah crossing. Hundreds of patients, university students and businessmen are stranded on either side of the border between Egypt and Gaza, waiting for permits to pass through to be treated in hospitals, go to study, conduct business or return to their families.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=31466

Blocked Gaza aid driver set to head home
(22 Aug) A DELIVERY driver from Edinburgh who waited at the Gaza border for almost a month in a bid to get much-needed medical supplies into the region is preparing to head home. Khalil Al Niss hopes a Middle Eastern charity will help him finally deliver his life-saving cargo next week. The supplies were destined for use in the hospitals of Gaza, where there is a severe shortage of basic medical necessities, but Egyptian officials would not allow them into the country. He travelled to Amman, the capital of Jordan, to check the possibility of the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation (JHCO) taking the supplies into Gaza.
http://edinburghnew s.scotsman. com/edinburgh/ Blocked-Gaza- aid-driver- set.4418237. jp

Gaza's shocking devastation
(14 Aug) I had expected conditions in Gaza to be bad, but I was still shocked at the devastation when I went there in July. As a Jew, I, too, am ashamed and disgusted at what is happening. Yes, Israel needs security. But what is happening goes far beyond security needs. Israel's actions amount to collective punishment, forbidden under international law. I am ashamed that the Harper government has tilted toward unconditional support for Israel against the Palestinians. The current policy is unconscionable, as anyone who visits Gaza can see only too well.http://www.thespec. com/Opinions/ article/418302

PFLP officials slam Hamas way of ruling Gaza
(23 Aug) In a statement sent to the press, Rabah Muhana accused Hamas for taking exclusive possession and failing to achieve the political partnership with other political factions, aiming at imposing its Islamic ideology on the Gaza Strip. In the meanwhile, Muhana accused President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority caretaker government in Ramallah for continuing the arrests and "playing with the democratic issues of the Palestinian society." The PFLP is the second faction among eight factions represented in the executive committee of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The left-wing group is also represented in the Hamas-dominant Legislative Council (PLC).
http://english. people.com. cn/90001/ 90777/90854/ 6484410.html

Hamas allows newspaper into Gaza, keeps ban on two others
(23 Aug) Hassan Abu Hashish, director of the Hamas' governmental press office, said the ban on the Jerusalem-based al-Quds daily was lifted "after the newspaper's directors pledged to remain professional and objective in their coverage of the events in Gaza Strip." Abu Hashish said deposed Hamas premier Ismail Haneya and interior minister Said Siam made the decision to allow the newspaper back into the Hamas-controlled territory. The two other Ramallah-based newspapers, al-Ayyam and al-Hayat, are still banned from entering Gaza. The two newspapers are loyal to Hamas' bitter rival -- Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement.
http://news. xinhuanet. com/english/ 2008-08/23/ content_9650411. htm

Israel reopens Gaza, sees peace far off
Jerusalem, Aug 22 (Prensa Latina) Israel reported today the reopening of its border with Gaza, the day after its foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, considered improbable a peace agreement with Palestine before the end of 2008, as the United States pretends. A spokesperson of the Ministry of Defense reported that trucks with merchandise once again [were moving]between Israel and the Gaza Strip, sieged by Tel Aviv ever since the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) took power there in June, 2007. On Wednesday the Minister of Defense, Ehud Barak, ordered the closing of border stations with that coastal enclave populated by 1.4 million Palestinians with the pretext that a rocket was launched on Israeli territory although it caused no victims.http://www.plenglis h.com/article. asp?ID=%7B7591DA F1-AB09-4783- 9FC6-83AD7BA0843 E%7D)&language=EN

Gaza crossings partially open after two days of closure
(22 Aug) A slow improvement in goods flowing through Gaza crossings has been reported by both Israeli and Palestinian sources. Forty-one truckloads of food supplies, stationery and wood will be allowed into the Gaza Strip, said the head of the office the de facto minister of economy, Hatem Iwiedah on Friday. Fruits and medical aids, he added, have not been included in the supplies allowed in. The goods are coming into the Gaza Strip through the Sufa and Karem Shalom crossings in the south of the Gaza Strip, said Iweidah. He added that they are "partially open," and not allowing all goods through, thought the flow has after the crossings were closed for two days.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=31457

Police report of Qassam fire was erroneous
(22 Aug) Police gaffe: An apparent malfunction in the system used to monitor rocket attacks resulted in an erroneous report that two Qassam rockets had landed in southern Israel on Friday evening. Police had originally said two rockets fired from northern Gaza had landed in open areas in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3586345,00. html

UN report: Gaza ceasefire 'fragile'
(22 Aug) A top U.N. official suggested Palestinian violations had imperiled the Israel-Hamas truce. "Ten rockets and one mortar had been fired from Gaza into Israel, without causing casualties. During this period, no Israeli Defense Forces air strikes or incursions had been reported, though one Palestinian child had been injured by Israeli Defense Forces shooting near the border." Pascoe also noted Hamas' intransigence in the case of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier nabbed by Hamas in a 2006 cross-border raid. Pascoe was more critical of Israel over its West Bank activities.
http://www.jta. org/cgi-bin/ iowa/breaking/ 110046.html

The Al Quds Brigades: "Abducting soldiers an open option"
(23 Aug) The Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, stated on Friday that abducting Israeli soldiers is an open option for all resistance groups in order to trade them with Palestinian detainees imprisoned by Israel. One of the fighters stated that Hezbollah in Lebanon has a very good experience in abducting Israeli soldiers and forcing the Israeli government to conduct prisoner-swap deals.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 56686

MENA: Refused Gaza Fulbright students speak
A few weeks a group of students from the Gaza Strip who were due to go to the United States on Fulbright scholarships had their visas revoked at the last moment. Two of the students who were denied the chance to pursue their studies have since written heartfelt letters pleading their case.. . Jerry Haber, an Israeli-American blogger writing at the The Magnes Zionist, has more information about one of the other students who was not allowed to travel – a high school student on a special programme:
http://globalvoices online.org/ 2008/08/22/ mena-refused- gaza-fulbright- students- speak/

Gaza policewomen say they're making strides under Hamas rule
(23 Aug, AP) In her year on the vice squad, Lt. Mariam al-Bursh has been on narcotics busts, interrogated male drug dealers and fought off a female assailant with her fists. The 27-year-old is one of 53 women serving in the 11,000-strong Hamas police force, established after the Islamic militants seized Gaza by force more than a year ago. Since taking power, Hamas has put some educated, motivated women in government jobs, promoted athletics for women, and boosted their presence on male-dominated TV. Hamas says it wants to recruit the best and brightest, regardless of gender, and improve women's status in Gaza's conservative society.
http://www.orlandos entinel.com/ news/nationworld /sns-ap-hamas- women-cops, 0,2267811. story

Hamas denies receiving Israeli assassination threat via Egypt
GAZA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Saturday denied reports that Egypt conveyed an Israeli message to Hamas threatening to assassinate it leaders. "The matter doesn't need messages or clarifications because Israel did not stop assassinating Hamas leaders until not long ago," Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha said. According to the reports, Israel threatened to kill Hamas leaders if Hamas insisted on its demands to exchange an Israeli soldier for a number of Palestinian prisoners.
http://news. xinhuanet. com/english/ 2008-08/23/ content_9647087. htm

Fateh leader accuses the US of obstructing Hamas-Fateh talks
(23 Aug) Azzam Al Ahmad, head of the Fateh parliamentary bloc, stated on Friday that the current Palestinian- Israeli talks are on a standstill and will not achieve any positive results as the United States and Israel are objecting to any internal talks between Hamas and Fateh.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 56685

Palestinian Embassy in Yemen closes
(23 Aug, AFP) Fatah-Hamas conflict reaches Yemen as Palestinian Authority decides to protest freedom given to Hamas' office in country by withdrawing diplomatic presence
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3586562,00. html

Israeli demand draining Sea of Galilee
(22 Aug) This summer both the water level and the mood of the people living by the Sea of Galilee are plunging to record lows. The country has suffered four successive seasons of drought, with rainfall no more than half the annual average.At the same time, Israel's thirst for fresh water means the country continues to pump vast amounts of water from the lake to meet the needs of farmers, gardeners and ordinary citizens as far away as the Negev desert in the south.The result is visible everywhere on the lake, which is falling by between one and two centimetres a day.
http://www.ft. com/cms/s/ 0/4efd6090- 705f-11dd- b514-0000779fd18 c,s01=1.html

Ma'aleh Adumim mayor to appeal new West Bank fence route
(23 Aug) The mayor of the biggest settlement in the West Bank, Ma'aleh Adumim, said Friday that he intends to appeal the state's decision to relocate part of the West Bank separation fence. The state attorney's office has said that in response to court petitions by Palestinian landowners it would reroute a section of the barrier running east of Maaleh Adumim, restoring Palestinian access to about 1,000 acres of farming and grazing land which the original plan would have placed on the Israeli side. "We shall fight this by all means at our disposal," Maaleh Adumim mayor Benny Kashriel told Army Radio Friday.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1014078. html

Israeli army invades Ramallah
(23 Aug) The Israeli army troops invaded the central West Bank city of Ramallah Saturday at dawn, local sources reported. Israeli military vehicles were deployed in the streets of Ramallah's main city entrances. Soldiers spread in several streets and neighborhoods, while troops also invaded nearby villages and searched several neighborhoods. The reason behind this invasion is unknown, and no kidnappings were reported.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 56687

Al-Ma'sara village stages its weekly protest against the Israeli illegal Wall
(22 Aug) Local sources reported that the Israeli army stopped the protest by shooting CS gas canisters, rubber-coated steel bullets, and concussion grenades. Among the protesters were children who were injured by the Israeli troops. A number of civilians reportedly suffered from gas inhalation. Mazen Al-Azza, one of the local coordinators, told IMEMC that another goal for the protest was to commemorate the 39th anniversary of the attack on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on August 21, 1969 by an Australian national named Michael Dennis Rohan. At the time, the Israeli authorities said he was insane in order to clear him from standing trial and the case was closed.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 56681

Tens of cases of suffocation amongst anti-Wall demonstrators in Bil'in
(22 Aug) (PIC)-- Residents of the village of Bili'n to the west of Ramallah demonstrated after the Friday prayers to protest the confiscation of their land to build the apartheid wall. Participants in the regular peaceful demonstration marched the streets of the village then headed towards the wall trying to reach their lands when IOF troops met them with water cannons, tear-gas, stun-grenades and rubber-coated bullets. Water-cannons sprayed demonstrators with sewage water mixed with unknown chemicals causing many cases of vomiting amongst the victims. The use of this spray is one of the new methods being tried to suppress the regular demonstrations by the villagers and international supporters against the apartheid wall.
http://www.palestin e-info.co. uk/En/default. aspx?xyz= U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MD I46m9rUxJEpMO% 2bi1s7k5imqq4uMB 72DxdpW4UZUPPeMG zYSCllCiiFqxKSZj ULXd5mQgmZjKyW41 eeIuemkoxO4IcdPN Vf7OK7C2FBSjhJHc Hihm%2boAKcKz51i ygo%3d

17 children suffer from gas inhalation at Ni'lin weekly protest
(22 Aug) Salah Khawaja, coordinator of the Ni'lin popular committee, told IMEMC that nearly 400 Palestinians, internationals and Israelis took to the streets of the village to nonviolently protest the construction of the wall and settlements on the village's land.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 56677

Army invades six West Bank cities, kidnaps 12
(22 Aug) The Israeli army invaded on Friday at dawn six West Bank cities and kidnapped twelve civilians taking them to unknown destinations. Troops invaded the West Bank cities of Ramallah, Jenin, Tubas, Hebron, Bethlehem and Nablus, and launching a wide scale search campaign.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 56672

Israeli forces seize two Islamic Resistance Movement members near Bethlehem
(23 Aug) Activists affiliated with the Islamic Resistance Movement in Hamas were seized by Israeli forces in the early hours of the morning from the town of Ash- Shawawra town east of Bethlehem on Saturday. Security sources told Ma'an that the Israeli army raided the town and detained both Mohammed Suleiman Dar'awi and Ibrahim Mahmoud Mohammed Abu Al-Hur, who were taken to an unknown location.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=31476

Palestinian boy returned to parents after throwing fake explosives at checkpoint
(22 Aug) Special Report - Nablus – Ma'an – White flower, not explosives was packed in a plastic bottle and thrown towards Israeli soldiers by a 15-year-old Palestinian boy who turned up at the Huwwara checkpoint south of Nablus two weeks ago. The boy, Ra'fat Obeid from the Askar refugee camp, was arrested by Israeli forces and taken into Israeli custody, and was released to Palestinian Authority (PA) police this week. Details of the events are murky, and officials have bounced blame between poverty, Israel and internally divisive forces.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=31455

Jewish 'Klansmen' tie Palestinian to power pole, beat him savagely
(23 Aug) by Khalid Amayreh in el-Sammou, Hebron -- Even in his wildest dreams, Midhat Radwan Abu Karsh never imagined that one day he would be tied up to a power pole and savagely beaten by bigoted Jewish settlers who believe that non-Jews are animals in a human shape. Yet, this is exactly what happened to him earlier this week when four Jewish terrorists ganged up on the 31-year-old Palestinian teacher as he was hiking in his land, awaiting Israeli peace activists whom he wanted to brief on the daily acts of vandalism, harassment and land theft at the hands of fanatical Jewish settlers, protected by the army and backed by powerful political parties. Abu Karsh accuses the settlers of being hell-bent on driving Palestinians away in order to take over their land.
http://www.thepeopl esvoice.org/ cgi-bin/blogs/ voices.php/ 2008/08/23/ p28035

Twilight Zone / Tossed out like a dog - by Gideon Levy
(21 Aug) In the lawless South Hebron Hills, things are wild as usual: The settlers continue to attack shepherd children with clubs and stones, to steal their sheep and to make their lives miserable, while the Israel Police continue to abuse anyone who tries to file a complaint against the settlers. . . Last Shabbat the children and their sheep were attacked once again by the Asael people. A wonderful way to welcome the "Sabbath bride," as is customary every week.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1014098. html

Forty years after burning it, the al Aqsa Mosque still faces the same threats
On August 21, 1969, an Australian Jewish [actually Christian] extremist identified as Michael Dennis Rohan set the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on fire. The mosque is one of three most holy and most important places in the hearts of Muslims worldwide. . .In July 2008, the Israeli police and security services revealed that they believe that extremist groups might be planning to attack the mosque using an unmanned drone.And today, 40 years after the first attack, the mosque is still threatened by dozens of people who want be a "Rohan", dozens who want to level destroy the mosque and burn it down to the ground.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 56670

Israel reports Druze soldier, not Hebronite settler, killed last bulldozer attacke; man receiving death threats
(22 Aug) Israel sources report that a Druze soldier serving in the Israeli border guards was the man who shot the 22 July bulldozer attacker in Jerusalem. The Druze officer, said reports, has received several death threats since it was revealed that he was the unnamed Israeli soldier that shot Ghassan Abu Teir the driver of the second bulldozer which drove directly into oncoming traffic on Yaffa road in Jerusalem. . . Druze are the only Palestinians who are permitted to serve in the Israeli army, thus giving them the right to buy property, among other advantages.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=31467

Jerusalem Police against chastity squad
(22 Aug) The ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Meah Shearim in Jerusalem was shaken up last week following the arrest of three residents suspected of being active in the haredi community's chastity squad. In one of demonstrations held every evening, youngsters flipped over a police car in the capital. The first person arrested three weeks ago was Elhanan Buzaglo, who was indicted of attacking a woman suspected of improper ties with married men in the capital's Maalot Dafna neighborhood. According to the indictment, Buzaglo received $2,000 in return for his involvement in the attack. Following his arrest, two additional suspects were detained last week. One of them is Shmuel Weisfish, who was allegedly involved in the torching of a store selling MP4 players against a ruling of the Ultra-Orthodox community's court of justice.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3586142,00. html

'Israel defiled Al-Aqsa Mosque'
(22 Aug) Tens of thousands of people gathered in Umm al-Fahm on Friday evening for the annual organized by the Islamic Movement under the banner 'Al-Aqsa is in danger.' The event is intended to help raise funds for the famous mosque in Jerusalem. The audience greeted the leader of the Islamic Movement in northern Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah, with chants calling for "the redemption of al-Aqsa with blood and fire." Salah vowed the movement would continue sponsoring the event annually, until it is able to hold it in Jerusalem. http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3586354,00. html

New school year for government schools to begin Sunday in West Bank and Gaza
(23 Aug) 250,000 schoolchildren are expected are expected to begin classes in the governmental schools in Gaza. Mohammad Ishquier, secretary of the de facto ministry of education told Ma'an that the ministry finished its preparations for the new school year, and will open eight new schools. Ishqeir further announced that the ministry had solved the crisis of school supplies, stationery, uniforms and books. The cabinet announced that students are no longer obligated to wear uniforms since there are not enough available in the area. Charitable societies, he added, have ensured that all children will go to school with the appropriate supplies.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=31482

1,500 shekels of back wages and 'waiting bonus' to be paid to civil servants
(21 Aug) Ramallah – Ma'an – 1,000 shekels of unpaid wages and 500 shekels of promised "waiting bonus" are expected to be paid to Palestinian civil servants on Sunday. Bassam Zakarneh head of the public workers union said that the union hopes that the government will stick to their promise of paying all back-salaries owed to civil service and military employees in six payments over the next six months.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=31440

Ramallah-based committee coordinating transport of goods to Gaza accused of dishonesty
(23 Aug) After several accusations of dishonesty, representatives of the committee responsible for coordinating the delivery of supplies to Gaza with Israeli authorities, have called on international and humanitarian institutions to monitor their activities. Assistant undersecretary for the Ministry of the National Economy, of which the committee regulating goods delivered to Gaza is a part, Nasser As-Sarag said Saturday that accusations against the committee and its leader Raed Fattouh were unfounded.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=31479

Background: Drought and Israeli policy threaten West Bank water security
(16 July) Fresh water is precious everywhere but especially in one of the driest, hottest places on earth: the Middle East. Water is a strategic resource and the reason countries like Israel do everything possible to secure a reliable supply. In the words of former prime minister Moshe Sharett: "Water to us is life itself." It shapes Israeli policy going back to the early Mandate period.
http://www.dissiden tvoice.org/ 2008/07/drought- and-israeli- policy-threaten- west-bank- water-security/

Mercy Corps: A fresco in Gaza
(22 Aug) The use of art as a therapeutic tool is at the core of his mission: to teach Palestinian youth to use art as a tool for change. "I was offered an opportunity to help other human beings that are in dire need for hope and compassion in their life," explains Father Bruno. "I said yes to it." Bruno came as a guest of Mercy Corps' Middle East youth exchange program, "Why Not?", or "Laysh la" in Arabic. The project connects 500 Palestinian youth in Gaza and the West Bank with their U.S. peers at high schools in the American Northwest. It's a way to build bridges between two often-misunderstood cultures and to give the Palestinian youth an outlet to creatively express the hardships of living amid daily violence and oppression.
http://www.mercycor ps.org/countries /westbankgaza/ 2321

Israeli, Palestinian, US teens learn together
(23 Aug) ALLENSPARK, Colo. -- Two dozen teens -- Palestinians, Israelis, Americans -- flopped on an expanse of oatmeal-colored carpet in a mountain chapel devoid of pews. They closed their eyes. Ibrahim Miari told the wound-up youths to be still. "Think of a safe place," Miari said. "It can be somewhere imaginary." For some of them, safe is an imaginary state that doesn't quite exist.
http://www.thedenve rchannel. com/news/ 17275111/ detail.html

Mideast AFL team in Australia
(21 Aug) An unlikely AFL 'Peace Team' comprising Palestinians and Israelis is in Australia for an international amateur tournament. Members of the Shimon Peres Centre for Peace approached the AFL late last year and the code recently dispatched two of its best known ambassadors, Ron Barassi and Robert DiPierdomenico, to Israel to help prepare the Peace team for the upcoming tournament."Their journey has been amazing, some of these guys have got to travel four hours through three check points just to get to one hour's training," said DiPierdomenico, who will be the Peace team's match day coach.
http://news. theage.com. au/sport/ mideast-afl- team-in-australi a-20080821- 3zi3.html

Insight into life as a refugee
(23 Aug) Enclosed by an eight metre high wall, surrounded by security checkpoints and blighted by poverty, Palestine is not most teenagers' first holiday choice. But one group of 17- and 18-year-olds from Oxford [England] made the trip to Ramallah, Palestine, to stay in a refugee camp and meet some of the people affected by the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
http://www.heraldse ries.net/ mostpopular. var.2431790. mostviewed. insight_into_ life_as_a_ refugee.php

Theatre review: Eating ice cream on Gaza Beach
(23 Aug) Silas starts with a meeting on Gaza beach. Rami, a Christian-Palestini an ice-cream seller who scorns direct action, befriends a visiting British-Jewish student, Adrian, who has simply come to see things for himself. But non-combatant neutrality, Silas implies, is not an option in a world of increasing Israeli encroachment. In an attempt at balance, Silas shows a young Israeli soldier, Danny, refusing to serve at a Gaza checkpoint but eventually surrendering to family and military pressure.
http://www.guardian .co.uk/culture/ 2008/aug/ 23/13

Study: Babies born just after Six-Day War more likely to have schizophrenia
(22 Aug; Reuters) Babies born to women who were in their second month of pregnancy during the height of the 1967 Arab-Israeli Six-Day War were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia as adults, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday, in a study linking prenatal stress with the mental illness. [as if we needed proof: War Is Not Healthy for Children and Other Living Things.]
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1014169. html

Meron Benvenisti: Moot argument
(21 Aug) Israel's greatest fear is a one-state solution -- It's hard to tell whether the reports that more and more Palestinians are now leaning toward a one-state solution are genuinely due to an increase in supporters of the idea, or to Israeli sensitivity. The binational bogeyman is so off-putting to Israelis that any Palestinian expression on the issue gives rise to speculation and conspiracy theories. Indeed, the Palestinians use the slogan "One State" to threaten Israel, and they know full well how effective that threat is. So great is the fear that the Palestinians are planning to exchange their struggle for national independence for a demand for citizenship rights in a binational state, that the very mention of this option is seen as proof of their unwillingness to reach peace.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1013974. html

Daniel Levy: There are better options
(?23 Aug) Don't expect preventive diplomacy to be swift or simple - but Israel would be making a terrible, even fatal, mistake if it attacked Iran.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1014320. html

Karim Sadjadpour: Attack isn't the answer
(22 Aug) As Israel contemplates military action to halt Iran's nuclear ambitions, it is essential to take a closer look at Iran's most powerful man - Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - and his views toward the Jewish state. A clearer understanding of the precise challenge Iran poses should disabuse Israeli leaders of the idea that force is the best way to neutralize it. Speaking to a group of Muslim clerics two years ago, Khamenei explained that, "We believe that neither throwing the Jews into the sea nor putting the Palestinian land on fire is logical and reasonable. We have suggested that all native Palestinians, whether they are Muslims, Christians or Jews, be allowed to take part in a general referendum before the eyes of the world and decide on a Palestinian government. Any government that is the result of this referendum will be a legitimate government."
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1014321. html

Biden in 2007 interview: I am a Zionist
(23 Aug) WASHINGTON – Senator Joe Biden, who was chosen by Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama to be his running mate in the upcoming US elections, has previously declared himself to be a Zionist. Calling Israel "the single greatest strength America has in the Middle East," he also revealed a Jewish connection in an interview last year.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3586542,00. html

York County native gets 3 1/2 years for helping Hamas
(23 Aug) A 33-year-old York County [Pennsylvania] native was sentenced Thursday morning to prison for aiding a group the United States designated as a terrorist organization. Richard David Hupper, originally from York Township, was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in federal prison for aiding Hamas, a Palestinian military and political organization. Hupper faced up to 15 years in prison. He admitted to giving about $20,000 to Hamas while working in Israel with the International Solidarity Movement, a non-governmental organization. The prison sentence will begin after Hupper finishes a prison term for a related passport fraud charge, said Neal Lewis, Hupper's Florida-based defense attorney. That sentence is to end in November. http://www.evenings un.com/localnews /ci_10284242

Friday: 1 Marine, 6 Iraqis killed; 8 Iraqis wounded
(22 Aug) At least six Iraqis were killed and eight more were wounded in the latest attacks. An unknown number were wounded during a shooting incident in Samarra as well. Also, a final autopsy on a Marine who died last year has ruled that he died from wounds he received in 2005 during a combat incident in Anbar province. Meanwhile, Sadrists are coming out against a proposed U.S.-Iraqi security agreement.
http://www.antiwar. com/updates/ ?articleid= 13341

Latino platform calls to end Iraq, Afghanistan wars
(21 Aug) WASHINGTON -- A coalition of Hispanic groups offered its recommendations for both party's platforms Thursday, including calls to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to John Trasvina, the chairman of the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, 26 of the group's recommendations are already in the Democratic National Committee's draft platform.
http://www.kentucky .com/676/ story/497888. html

Two recent Chomsky videos
(posted 22 Aug) Chomsky on Iraq: "Responsibilities". Channel4.com. March 19, 2008.Noam Chomsky Lectures on Modern-Day American Imperialism: Middle East and Beyond. Hosted by the Boston University School of Law and the Boston University Anti-War Coalition. April 25, 2008.
http://www.chomsky. info/2008_ 08_01_archive. htm#196422955247 559705


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