| January 21 2004
www.masnet.org/views.asp?id=852
The Future of American Muslims: A Human Rights Perspective
By Siraj Islam Mufti, Ph.D., Muslim American Society 1/21/2004
It is ironic that human rights should become an issue for American Muslims in a country dubbed “The Land of Free.‰ However, Japanese-Americans faced internment during World War II, and African-Americans have a history that clearly illustrates the lack of freedom. Media reports bear witness to Muslim rights being violated after 9/11. As a result, the Council of AmericanˆIslamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim rights advocacy group, has gained a degree of prominence during this period. This article highlights some of the major events of this sad saga and what American Muslims must do to restore their rightful place in American society.
electronicintifada.net/v2/article2366.shtml
A Legacy of Betrayal
By Admiral Thomas Moorer, Electronic Intifada 1/21/2004
While state department officials and historians assemble on Washington DC this week to discuss the 1967 war in the Middle East, I am compelled to speak out about one of U.S. history’s most shocking cover-ups.
On June 8th, 1967, Israel attacked our proud naval ship — the USS Liberty — killing 34 American servicemen and wounding 172. Those men were then betrayed and left to die by our own government.
www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=4181363
US says “a lot of work to do” on Saudi WTO bid
Reuters 1/21/2004
WASHINGTON, Jan 21 (Reuters) – U.S. trade officials downplayed chances on Wednesday of reaching a quick deal with Saudi Arabia on its bid to join the World Trade Organization, despite recent optimistic assessments. “We have a lot of work to do,” said Richard Mills, a spokesman for the U.S. Trade Representative’s office told Reuters. “But we’re making progress.” The world’s largest oil exporter is one of only a handful of major-league countries that are still outside the WTO.
www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/dsnews/211nd1.htm
Grand jury targets Salah
Daily Southtown 1/21/2004
Lawyer: Accused terrorist is subject of federal probe — A Bridgeview man already designated a terrorist by the federal government ˜ a charge he denies ˜ “is the target of a grand jury investigation,” according to his lawyer. Mohammed Salah received a federal grand jury subpoena for documents in November, according to a recently filed affidavit from his longtime attorney, Mary M. Rowland. The affidavit is part of a pending $300 million civil lawsuit filed in May of 2000 by the family of a Jewish teen killed in a terrorist attack on the West Bank in 1996.
www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040121/API/401211291
Canadian Deported to Syria to File Suit
The Ledger 1/21/2004
A Canadian who was deported to Syria by American authorities in 2002 will file a lawsuit against U.S. officials, an attorney said Wednesday. Canadian police, meanwhile, searched the home and office of Ottawa Citizen reporter Juliet O’Neill Wednesday to find the source of a government information leak in the case. Maher Arar, a 33-year-old computer engineer who lives in Ottawa, will seek damages from Attorney General John Ashcroft in a suit to be filed Thursday, said Stephen Watt, a lawyer with the American Center for Constitutional Rights in New York.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/385584.html
State asks for more time to define ‘dignified human existence’
Ha’aretz 1/21/2004
State Prosecutor Edna Arbel asked the High Court of Justice on Wednesday evening for an extension to its demand that the state submit clearly defined standards for what is considers to be a “dignified human existence.” The state was supposed to submit its position paper to the court on Thursday.The High Court of Justice on January 5 ordered the government to explain, within 10 days, why it has not set clearly defined standards for what is considered to be a “dignified human existence,” as specified in the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Freedom (1992).
sf.indymedia.org/news/2004/01/1673405.php
The destruction of Rafah by Israel
SFIndyMedia 1/21/2004
Israel continues its destruction of Rafah, Palestine: in two days conducting 30 demolitions and injuring many. – 20 January 04, by Mohammed, in Rafah, Palestine — During the past few days, it was full of attacks, incursions and crimes, from western Rafah to Eastern Rafah there is no house that has not somehow been affected by the Israeli crimes, from the north of Rafah and the south of it would be hard for you to understand what is happening.. it was like an earthquake, damaged houses here and there. Three days ago the Israeli Army demolished a part of Al Tawhid mosque, and today they demolished the rest of it.
www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=47731
Bethlehem Hasn’t Escaped Misery of the Barrier
Zenit 1/21/2004
Security Wall Dividing Families and Lives, Says Religious at Hospital — BETHLEHEM, West Bank, JAN. 21, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Women religious who run the Caritas Baby Hospital here have called attention to the daily ordeal to which the Israeli security barrier exposes the Palestinians. The Franciscan Elizabethan Sisters of Padua described their plight in a statement by Sister Gabriella Mian, published this week in VID, a religious communities Web page. “From the Baby Hospital, situated in a strategic place of Bethlehem, near Rachel’s Tomb, at the border between Israel and Palestine,” wrote Sister Mian, “from day to day we see the slow changes and the feeling of the strange atmosphere that the city is taking on. Some families are staying trapped on the inside of the wall, being totally isolated, deprived of regular access to normal services without the permission of Israel.”
www.palestinemonitor.org/updates/farmers_appeal_to_supreme_court.htm
Palestinian farmers appeal to Supreme Court as Israel begins construction of wall around Kiryat Arba settlement
Palestine Monitor 1/21/2004
26 Palestinian farmers have appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court against the proposed route of a new section of the Separation Wall, around the settlement of Kiryat Arba, near Hebron. Israeli occupying forces began work this morning preparing the ground for the new section of Apartheid Wall. Bulldozers have carved out a 10-meter wide path around the settlement, currently home to some 6,500 settlers.
Israel kills Palestinian woman in Gaza :
Israeli troops have shot dead a Palestinian civilian woman during a massive invasion into the occupied Gaza Strip’s Rafah refugee camp.During Wednesday’s invasion, Israeli occupation soldiers also shot a teenager in the head, according to witnesses and medical sources.
english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C4500860-5581-4CB3-A1B5-1E8862369D56.htm
Palestinians question US commitment to Middle East peace:
Palestinians are worried that US President George W Bush’s failure to mention their conflict with Israel in his State of the Union address means he intends to scale down US involvement in the matter.
www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1029406.htm
Norwegian Ambassador’s home in Israel bugged:
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was informed of a recent meeting between PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and opposition leader Shimon Peres at the home of the Norwegian ambassador via the use of electronic listening devices, Norwegian media reported Tuesday.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5563.htm
Israel: Likud kingpin indicted for bribing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon:
His son Gilad and Labor Trade and Industry Minister Ehud Olmert in the first charge sheet filed in one of two political scandals involving the Sharon family.
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/Printer&cid=1074657884519
www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FA22Ak01.html
US on alert over Middle East shuffles
Asia Times 1/22/2004
On January 6, Syrian President Bashar Assad began a landmark visit to Ankara. It was only six years ago that these countries were at the brink of a war when Ankara accused Damascus of sheltering Kurdish militants. This crisis was averted when Damascus expelled Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdish guerrilla group known as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, after having offered him sanctuary for nearly two decades. This was one year after Turkey and Israel had signed a military cooperation agreement, and Syria wanted to avoid having two enemies on its borders. Since then, the two countries have been pursuing better diplomatic relations.
www.deepikaglobal.com/latestnews.asp?ncode=11725
Israeli soldiers and settlers injured in clash
DeepikaGlobal.com 1/21/2004
Jerusalem, Jan 21 (UNI) Six settlers and three Israel Defence Forces (IDF) soldiers were injured during clashes that erupted when troops arrived to dismantle a Synagogue at the illegal West Tapuah outpost in the West Bank.Seventeen settlers were arrested yesterday in the scuffle, including a woman who pushed an IDF soldier off the roof of the structure. The troops cleared the structure of religious artifacts, and then demolished it, Army Radio reported.
www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/7755592.htm
Israeli Forces Demolish Gaza Houses
Miami Herald 1/21/2004
JERUSALEM – Israeli forces demolished houses in Gaza’s Rafah refugee camp early Wednesday for the second straight day in an anti-militant clampdown that has left 400 people homeless.A Palestinian woman standing near her home was fatally shot in the head during the operation, hospital officials said. An 11-year-old boy was critically wounded in the head when Israeli troops fired machine guns as cover for bulldozers demolishing houses, witnesses and doctors said.
www.sptimes.com/2004/01/21/Worldandnation/Israeli_removal_of_ou.shtml
Israeli removal of outpost called half-hearted
St Petersburg Times 1/21/2004
JERUSALEM – Israeli troops tore down part of a synagogue at a West Bank settlement outpost Tuesday but made no attempt to move adjacent trailer homes, prompting accusations the government isn’t serious about meeting U.S. demands to dismantle dozens of the outlawed sites. Demolition on a far greater scale took place in the Gaza Strip, where army bulldozers smashed 25 houses and flattened a mosque in a Palestinian refugee camp, leaving 400 people homeless, local officials said.
dailystar.com.lb/21_01_04/art1.asp
Israeli warplanes strike Hizbullah bases in Bekaa
Daily Star 1/21/2004
Army: destroyed bulldozer was 26 meters across border — Israeli warplanes attacked Hizbullah bases in the Bekaa Valley following Monday‚s rocket attack by Hizbullah on an Israeli military bulldozer that crossed into Lebanese territory, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday. President Emile Lahoud said on Tuesday that a UN investigation had found that an Israeli military bulldozer hit by a Hizbullah rocket attack was in Lebanese territory at the time of the strike.
www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/385449.html
Israel mulled striking Syria in response to Hezbollah attack
Ha’aretz 1/21/2004
Israel considered bombing Syrian targets in response to a deadly attack by Hezbollah on an Israel Defense Forces bulldozer the day before, officials said on Tuesday.— Military officials met for four hours on Tuesday to discuss Israel’s response to Monday’s attack, and though Israel holds Syria responsible for Hezbollah’s actions, the officials decided against attacking the targets, believing that Damascus would almost certainly respond to such a strike, thus leading to a further escalation in violence on the northern border.
www.palestine-info.co.uk/am/publish/article_4256.shtml
Israeli occupation forces continue Rafah rampage, destroy more homes
Palestinian Information Center 1/21/2004
Occupied Jerusalem – For the second consecutive day, Israeli occupation forces went on the rampage in Rafah at the southern tip of the Gaza Strip, wreaking terror on Palestinian civilians and destroying five more homes.Palestinian sources said thousands of Israeli troops, backed by tanks and bulldozers, demolished five more homes at the Brzil refugee camp in Rafah, brining the number of homes destroyed in the past 24 hours to 35.
www.palestine-info.co.uk/am/publish/article_4254.shtml
Occupation forces cement house of Qassam captive
Palestinian Information Center 1/21/2004
Occupied Jerusalem – Zionist policemen and special forces today cemented the house of Abdullah Adnan Al-Sharbati in the Wadi Al-Joz suburb in occupied Jerusalem.Family members said that large numbers of police, special units and border guards encircled the house at 8 am today then started to cement all entrances to the house‚s first floor, which is inhabited by six individuals.
www.palestine-info.co.uk/am/publish/article_4255.shtml
Enemy police arrest 60 Palestinians
Palestinian Information Center 1/21/2004
Jenin – Zionist police have arrested about 40 West Bank Palestinian workers at the pretext of working in the 1948 occupied lands without prior permits.The arrests were largely made in the Galilee area in north of occupied Palestine, the police declared. The police statement said that 20 other Palestinians inhabitants of the 1948 areas were arrested on charges of assisting and/or employing those workers.
www.palestine-info.co.uk/am/publish/article_4246.shtml
Occupation authorities bulldoze three Jerusalemite houses
Palestinian Information Center 1/21/2004
Occupied Jerusalem – Zionist municipality of occupied Jerusalem yesterday demolished three Palestinian houses in the Tal Al-Fool and Wadi Qaddoum suburbs in occupied Jerusalem. Eyewitnesses said that occupation troops accompanied a number of municipal bulldozers that besieged and razed the houses of the brothers Na‚eem and Ismail Al-Rashaq in Tal Al-Fool area to the north of occupied Jerusalem.
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/
ShowFull&cid=1074579845935&p=1006688055060
IDF dismantles Tapuah West synagogue
Jerusalem Post 1/21/2004
In what settlers and soldiers called a “pilot” of future outpost evacuations, the IDF caught the settlers of West Tapuah off guard Tuesday, quickly dismantling an illegal synagogue dedicated to the banned radical rightist group, Kahane Chai. It was the first evacuation of an illegal outpost since Prime Minister Ariel Sharon spoke of unilateral withdrawal from parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip a month ago.
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/
ShowFull&cid=1074609072802&p=1006688055060
Arab teen sentenced for bomb plot
Jerusalem Post 1/21/2004
“Only once a minor knows that he can expect a deterring punishment is there a chance to prevent cooperation with planners of terror attacks.”— The Haifa District Court on Tuesday sentenced a 16-year-old Arab citizen to eight years in prison for plotting to carry out a suicide attack. The Haifa boy was convicted, under a plea bargain, on charges of conspiring to aid an enemy. The youth told a Hamas activist he wanted to carry out a suicide attack….
rafah.virtualactivism.net/gazanews/gazamain.htm
Eyewitness in Gaza: New attack in Dier Al Balah
Rafah Today 1/21/2004
Two Palestinians were arrested, and Abu Holi checkpoint was blocked for many hours. They invaded and checked many houses in Deir al Balah, and many Palestinians were injured, and other agriculture plot demolished. New attack in Dier Al Balah by a group of Israeli tanks and bulldozers forcing three families to leave their houses under the treat of weapons force, that three families are: Mahgmoud Saed, Khaled Mhamoud, and Akram Saed, as in the same time they shoot fir against people leaving a 65 years old injured Ali Abu Al Qasem.. That attack was under very massive shelling in addition to using their police dogs in which make fear against children and women.
www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/385448.html
Outpost activists erect makeshift synagogue at demolition site
Ha’aretz 1/21/2004
Only hours after IDF troops demolished the Kahane College synagogue building Tuesday in an illegal outpost adjacent to the West Bank settlement of Tapuah, settlers overnight erected a makeshift synagogue at the hilltop site, settlers said Wednesday. “There hasn’t been one outpost evacuated by the army which has not been rebuilt,” West Tapuah activist David Ivri told Israel Radio Wednesday.
www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=8588
Hezbollah vows to defend Lebanon’s sovereignty
Middle East Online 1/21/2004
A day after Israeli raids on south Lebanon, the Shiite Muslim fundamentalist Hezbollah on Wednesday appeared to rule out a military escalation, but warned it would react to any new Israeli violation of Lebanese sovereignty. On the ground, Hezbollah guerrillas who are deployed along the volatile Lebanese-Israeli border kept a low profile as UN peacekeepers stepped up their patrols, correspondents in the region said.
www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=1&id=1187
IOF Go on Rampage: Demolish 31 Houses, Wound 38 Workers
Palestine Media Center 1/21/2004
Israeli Detention Spree Continues, Activist Detainee Deported to Gaza — Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) on Tuesday went on rampage to demolish a mosque and at least 30 Palestinian houses, wound 38 Palestinian workers and a “deaf‰ woman at a military roadblock, detain more anti-Israeli occupation Palestinians in the ongoing arrests spree and deport an activist detainee from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip.
www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=8589
Palestinian woman killed in Israeli raid
Middle East Online 1/21/2004
GAZA CITY – A Palestinian woman was killed and at least three people wounded during a massive raid by Israeli troops into the sprawling Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, witnesses and medical sources said. Muna Ahmad Ismail, 31, was shot in the head by Israeli fire, the sources said as the army embarked on the second day of an operation which has seen dozens of homes destroyed or damaged and left hundreds of people homeless.
www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/January/week3/012104/attack-lebanon.htm
Israel attacks Southern Lebanon, admits bulldozer entered Lebanese territory
International Middle East Media Center 1/21/2004
Israel Air Force fighter planes struck at targets in southern Lebanon early Tuesday evening. The attack targeted two locations for Hezbollah. No casualties reported of the attack. This attack followed an attack launched Monday by Hezbollah fighters at an Israeli bulldozer in which the driver of the bulldozer was killed. The bulldozer entered the Lebanese territories when it was hit by a deadly missile. A second soldier in the bulldozer was seriously wounded.
www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/January/week3/012104/settlers.htm
Settlers erect illegal outpost less than 24 hours after being demolished by Israeli troops
International Middle East Media Center 1/21/2004
It just took some hours after the army demolished the illegal outpost of “Kahane College synagogue‰ Tuesday near the West Bank settlement of Tapuah, “There hasn’t been one outpost evacuated by the army which has not been rebuilt,” David Ivri, an extremist in the movement, told Israel Radio today. The outpost was demolished yesterday afternoon, but over night, more than 25 settlers gathered and erected the outpost which carries the name of the founder of the extremist division in Israel.
www.imemc.org/newsbriefs.htm
News Briefs: Army continues attacks in Rafah, Shoots woman dead, Uprooting trees in Hebron
International Middle East Media Center 1/21/2004
The army continues its attacks in Rafah: Palestinian sources mentioned today that a Palestinian woman was shot dead after sustaining a gunshot in her head fired by the military south Rafah. Sources in Abu Yousif Al-Najjar hospital in Rafah said that Mona Ismail, 31 years old died today as a result of a gunshot injury in the head. / The Army continues uprooting trees in Hebron: The military Bulldozers today uprooted more than 100 fruitful trees in order to establish the separation wall in that area, it is worth mentioning that the uprooting of the trees today is a continuation for previous uprooting in the same area. / Troops demolish 30 houses in Rafah in three days: In a wide military attack against Rafah in the Gaza Strip, the army demolished more than 30 houses in Rafah in three days. Yesterday the military demolished more than 24 houses claiming that they have been used as shooting posts towards the army.
english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C4500860-5581-4CB3-A1B5-1E8862369D56.htm
Israel kills Palestinian woman in Gaza
Al-Jazeera 1/21/2004
Israeli troops have shot dead a Palestinian civilian woman during a massive invasion into the occupied Gaza Strip’s Rafah refugee camp. During Wednesday’s invasion, another five civilians, including teenagers, were injured, according to witnesses and medical sources. Bilal Shahadah, 14, was shot in the head as he walked along a street in the vast impoverished camp on the border between Gaza and Egypt after an Israeli-imposed curfew, said witnesses.
english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B2C32932-8622-4A5F-96DD-4E69A19251E8.htm
Israel orders land seizures in Gaza
Al-Jazeera 1/21/2004
Israeli occupation forces have issued land confiscation orders to 28 families in the town of Dair al-Balah. Located near the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom in the Central Gaza strip, the total area subject to confiscation and eventual “fencing in‰ is approximately 1000 dunums ˆ the equivalent of one square kilometre – according to the Central Area Governorate.
pax.protest.net/event.cgi?ID=445357&state_values=ADMISSION_INFO*.Immigration%20,SITE!.1
Palestinian Refugee Property: Unlocking the File
Protest.net/DC Indy Media Center 1/21/2004
The issue of Palestinian refugee property lies close to “ground zero‰ in the Arab-Israeli conflict. It has proven to be, and will remain, the most contentious of all the nearly intractable final status issues that divide Israelis and Palestinians. Michael R. Fischbach will explain the property question as it relates to the Road Map, the Geneva Plan, and even the U.S. occupation of Iraq….Fischbach’s new book, Records of Dispossession: Palestinian Refugee Property and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, is the result of four years of research into archival documents in six countries and on three continents, including into the hitherto-unseen records of the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine (UNCCP) locked away in the U.N. archives in New York.
www.palestine-info.co.uk/am/publish/article_4252.shtml
Palestinian detainees crammed in detention centers
Palestinian Information Center 1/21/2004
Bethlehem – Lawyers of the Palestinian prisoner‚s club, Karim Hamoude and Mohammed Al-Shadfan, have quoted detainees in the Zionist jails of Atsion and Benjamin as complaining from increasingly harsh imprisonment conditions.The lawyers, who managed to visit those detainees recently, said that 63 captives were crammed in the Benjamin detention center including 13 minors.
www.palestine-info.co.uk/am/publish/article_4251.shtml
Occupation authorities block travel of more pilgrims
Palestinian Information Center 1/21/2004
Bethlehem – Jordanian authorities yesterday returned to the West Bank Dr. Ali Tayeh who crossed into Jordan en route to offer Haj (pilgrimage) in Saudi Arabia.There was no explanation given for the Jordanian measure, which coincided with the Zionist authorities continued blocking of Palestinians wishing to offer Haj, an Islamic ritual that occur only once a year.
www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20040121-080701-6555r.htm
Palestinian: Bush ignored us in speech
Washington Times 1/21/2004
DOHA, Qatar, Jan. 21 (UPI) — Palestinian representatives are angry U.S. President George Bush made no mention of the Arab-Israeli conflict in his state of the union address.”If he wants democracy in the Middle East, the most ready area for elections in all forms, both regional and local, is Palestine,” Saib Uraiqat, Palestinian minister of negotiations, told al-Jazeera.
www.islam-online.net/English/News/2004-01/21/article02.shtml
Syria Accepts Square-One Talks With Israel : Source
Islam Online 1/21/2004
CAIRO, January 21 (IslamOnline.net) ˆ Syria’s President Bashar Assad was ready to re-start peace talks with Israel from scratch but Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon set several preconditions, a veteran Egyptian journalist close to President Hosni Mubarak told IslamOnline.net on Tuesday, January 20. Makram Mohammad Ahmad, the editor-in-chief of the semi-government Al-Muswar weekly, said Assad had told Mubarak during his latest visit to Cairo in December about his new position, provided that it would lead to a just peace.
www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/
526c010d04d6464fc1256e22004314ff?OpenDocument
Qorei shows West Bank barrier to British parliamentary delegation
ReliefWeb 1/21/2004
ABU DIS, West Bank, Jan 21 (AFP) – Palestinian prime minister Ahmad Qorei met with a British parliamentary delegation on Wednesday and showed them part of the vast separation barrier that Israel is building through the West Bank. Qorei hosted members of the British Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) at his office in Abu Dis, a neighbourhood in occupied and annexed east Jerusalem, where a new concrete section of the separation barrier has just been erected.
www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=1&id=1186
Abed Rabbo Slams Absence of ŒRoadmap‚ in Bush Address
Palestine Media Center 1/21/2004
‘Ignoring the Palestinian Issue Gives a Green Light to Sharon‚ — The Palestine National Authority (PNA) on Tuesday criticized the absence of any reference to the Middle East peace process and the “roadmap‰ plan in the US President George W. Bush‚s “State of the Union‰ address, saying it gives a “green light‰ to the Israeli government to carry on with building its Apartheid Wall on occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank.
www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=8594
Syria could negotiate with Israel from zero
Middle East Online 1/21/2004
CAIRO – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak he was ready to negotiate with Israel without conditions if the Jewish state did the same, a Mubarak confidant said Wednesday. The editor-in-chief of the Egyptian government magazine al-Mussawar, Makram Mohamed Ahmed, published an article reporting that Mubarak had sent such a message to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6F8E3075-8161-4BD1-B683-6B441944FBE3.htm
Bush chided for ignoring peace process
Al-Jazeera 1/21/2004
Palestinian representatives have criticised US President GeorgeBush’s push for democracy in the Middle-East in his state of the union address, while at the same time ignoring the Palestinian, Israeli conflict. “If he wants democracy in the Middle-East, the most ready area for elections in all forms, both regional and local, is Palestine”, Palestinian minister of negotiations, Saib Uraiqat told Aljazeera.net.”Why can’t we begin with democracy in Palestine?”,Uraiqat asked.
www.themarker.com/eng/article.jhtml?ElementId=%2Fibo%2Frepositories%2
Fstories%2Fm1_2000%2Fbk20040121_01e.xml&AdType=1_A
Dudi Appel to be charged with bribing Sharon
The Marker 1/21/2004
Businessman and back-room Likud kingmaker David Appel bribed Ariel Sharon and possibly his deputy Ehud Olmert too, according to charges to be filed today at the Tel Aviv District Court. The charges amend an indictment filed last year for other bribery charges. The amended charge sheet implies that the recipients of the alleged bribes, Sharon, now the prime minister, and Olmert, were active participants in the corruption.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3415799.stm
Sharon may face corruption charge
BBC 1/21/2004
Prosecutors in Israel are considering charging Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his deputy in connection with a bribery scandal.The Justice Ministry said a decision will be made within a few months. It comes after an Israeli businessman was charged with offering millions of dollars in bribes to Mr Sharon, his deputy and one of Mr Sharon’s sons.
www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/385125.html
Appel indictment says he transferred $580,000 to PM’s ranch
Ha’aretz 1/21/2004
Businessman and back-room Likud kingmaker David Appel was indicted at the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday for allegedly bribing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his deputy, Ehud Olmert, some five to six years ago.The amended indictment filed by the State Prosecutor’s Office claims that Appel told Ariel Sharon, then foreign minister, that his son Gilad stood to earn “good money” from Appel’s project to build a resort on a Greek island.
new.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=763549&fid=942
State: Appel told Sharon that his son, Gilad, would earn large sums
Globes 1/21/2004
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon knew that his son, Gilad Sharon, would receive an enormous payment from David Appel, according to the revised indictment against Appel presented yesterday to the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court.The indictment is based on the allegation that Appel used the promise of financial contributions to the reelection campaigns of Sharon and Minister of Industry, Trade, and Labor Ehud Olmert in order to obtain their support in business matters.
www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1128015,00.html
Bribery scandal threatens to engulf Sharon
The Guardian 1/21/2004
Opposition politicians in Israel today called for the country’s prime minister, Ariel Sharon, to step down after a businessman was indicted in a Tel Aviv court for allegedly bribing him. Prosecutors were considering whether to charge Mr Sharon along with his son, Gilad, and his deputy, Ehud Olmert, a close ally, a justice ministry official said.”The assessment is that it will take from a few weeks to a few months to decide whether or not charges will be brought against Sharon, Olmert and Gilad,” the source said.
www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/385453.html
Peres: PM must deliver to the public his version of Appel affair
Ha’aretz 1/21/2004
Labor Party chairman and the leader of the opposition, MK Shimon Peres, on Wednesday evening called on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to present to the public his version of events regarding the indictment of businessman David Appel, Israel Radio reported. Peres said that such a move would clear the fog surrounding the affair.
www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/front_4.html
Sharon orders changes in security fence
World Tribune 1/21/2004
JERUSALEM ˆ Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has ordered changes in the route of the security fence and barrier along and through the West Bank. Israeli officials said Sharon plans to appoint a panel to review the route of the fence and recommend changes that would avoid legal problems in the Israeli High Court and the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
www.palestine-info.co.uk/am/publish/article_4250.shtml
Left wing opposition accuses Sharon of spying on them
Palestinian Information Center 1/21/2004
Occupied Jerusalem – Leftwing parties in the Hebrew state have charged the government of premier Ariel Sharon of spying on politicians.Yossi Sarid, a left wing MP, and Labor leader, Shimon Peres, accused Sharon of exploiting the state‚s secret service to spy on them.Sharon had told members of a parliamentary committee that Palestinian Authority premier Ahmed Qrei had a secret meeting with leader of the opposition leader, Peres, in the Norwegian embassy in Tel Aviv on 13th January.
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/
ShowFull&cid=1074609072905&p=1006688055060
Shalom boosts settlers
Jerusalem Post 1/21/2004
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom provided a boost to settlers when he visited Ofra and Ariel on the same day that security forces dismantled an illegal synagogue in West Tapuah. The trip was organized in advance of the IDF’s decision to move against the synagogue, which caught Shalom’s staff by surprise. Still, the visit was seen by the settlers as a show of support and a reminder to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that a growing number of Likud politicians do not support his political stance toward the territories, according to Adi Mintz, director-general of the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip.
www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=8593
Sharon’s future clouded by corruption scandal
Middle East Online 1/21/2004
Ariel Sharon’s political future looked increasingly precarious Wednesday with the indictment of a businessman on charges of attempting to bribe the Israeli prime minister during the 1990s and talk of possible charges against the right-wing leader himself. The indictment of property developer David Appel was just the latest episode in a series of corruption allegations tied to the financing of Sharon’s 1999 campaign for the leadership of his Likud party that may force him to resign.
www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/DocView.asp?did=763736&fid=980
Appel the kingmaker
Globes 1/21/2004
David Appel’s political connections are alleged to have been good for business. — David Appel very much wanted to set up a huge complex on the island of Patroclus, near Athens, but he needed connections in the Greek government. He also wanted to buy land beside Moshav Ginaton, but here again he needed connections. Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert were the key. David Appel is a successful property developer. Like his parents before him, he has always been closely connected to the Likud party.
www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=763391&fid=942
Haredi employment in Jerusalem industry triples in three years
Globes 1/21/2004
Over half of Jerusalem enterprises employ haredi (ultra-Orthodox) workers. — Jerusalem Manufacturers Association chairman Moti Teperberg said yesterday that haredi (ultra-Orthodox) employment in Jerusalem industry was on the rise. The majority of employees in 42 enterprises in Jerusalem are haredim. Haredi employment in Jerusalem has tripled over the past three years to 1,400.
www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=763620&fid=942
2003 exports to US down 2%
Globes 1/21/2004
High-tech exports to the US fell 8% to $2.8 billion in 2003, while food exports to the US rose 25%. — The Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute reported today that exports to the US fell in 2003 for the third consecutive year. Exports to the US, excluding diamonds, declined 2% to $5.9 billion in 2003.
www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/DocView.asp?did=763713
Tourist exits by Israelis down 0.8% in 2003
Globes 1/21/2004
Tourist exits by Israelis by air fell by 4.9% to 2.689 million. — 3.299 million tourist exits were made by Israelis in 2003, a negligible 0.8% increase compared with 2002, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported today. Tourist exits by Israelis fell by 8% in 2002. The stability in overseas trips by Israelis last year was mainly due to a 43% jump in trips by Israelis to Egypt and Jordan to 538,700.
www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=763246&fid=942
Israel to amend Companies Law to meet OECD requirements
Globes 1/21/2004
The OECD published its draft of the revision of its Principles of Corporate Governance last week. — Sources inform “Globes‰ that a special inter-ministerial committee has begun studying the Companies Law and other laws and regulations relating to the management and control of private and public companies. The committee intends to ultimately adapt Israeli legislation and regulations to Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) standards.
news.bbc.co.uk/go/click/rss/0.91/public/-/2/hi/middle_east/3415757.stm
Unveiled women anger Saudi cleric
BBC 1/21/2004
Saudi Arabia’s highest religious authority has issued a stern rebuke to women who appeared at a conference unveiled in the presence of men.Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Aziz al-Sheikh said the women’s behaviour was shameful and warned of “grave consequences”.
www.islam-online.net/English/News/2004-01/21/article03.shtml
Erdogan Under Fire For Rejecting Common Islamic Market
Islam Online 1/21/2004
ISTANBUL, January 21 (IslamOnline.net) ˆ Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan came under fire for his recent clear opposition to creating a common Islamic market, with press reports accusing him of backtracking on earlier positions. Addressing the Jeddah Economic Forum in Saudi Arabia on January 17-18, Erdogan said “economy does not have a religion, and efforts to base money on ethnicity will lead to negative results”.
www.bharattextile.com/newsitems/1987537
JORDAN: Rise In Garment Exports
BharatTextile News 1/21/2004
AMMAN: According to the latest figures provided by the Ministry of Industry and Trade the export of garment of the country has increased. Garment exports increased by 34.8 percent.Foreign trade rose during the first eleven months of 2003 by 8.6 per cent but the trade deficit widened by 14 per cent compared to that of the same period last year. Imports increased by 9.8 per cent, exports by 4.4 per cent and reexports by 14 per cent, the ministry’s figures indicated.
www.onnnews.com/story.php?record=28599
Mosque Places Imam on Leave
Ohio News Network 1/21/2004
A Cleveland-area Islamic clergyman accused of concealing alleged links to anti-Israel militant groups has been placed on leave by his mosque. The allegations against Fawaz Mohammed Damrah stem from his application for U.S. citizenship. Trustees of the Islamic Center of Cleveland voted ten-to-five this week to put the man on a paid leave of absence while he defends himself against a federal indictment.
www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/story.asp?id=
C58790E5-7E01-45EA-81CE-4CE6A9C1A9A3
Anti-Israel comments ‘mar’ King tribute
Montreal Gazette 1/21/2004
Two Jewish leaders walk out in protest over editor’s speech — Israel’s consul-general in Montreal walked out of an interfaith memorial service marking Martin Luther King Jr. Day to protest against a speech by the editor of an online Muslim news service.Marc Attali said yesterday he “deplored” the speech Monday night by Yahya Abdul Rahman, of the Montreal Muslim News Network.
www.islam-online.net/English/News/2004-01/21/article04.shtml
Iranian Ministers, Vice Presidents Resign In Vote Crisis
Islam Online 1/21/2004
TEHRAN, January 21 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) ˆ A number of Iranian ministers and vice-presidents submitted their resignations in protest at the mass disqualification of candidates from next month’s election, a top Iranian official confirmed on Wednesday, January 21.President Mohammad Khatami himself is ready to walk out unless the Guardian Council reviews the ban, Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3416877.stm
Saudis ‘kidnap reformist prince’
BBC 1/21/2004
A Saudi prince has accused his government of kidnapping him in Switzerland after he spoke out in favour of reform in Saudi Arabia.Prince Sultan bin Turki bin Abdel-Aziz says he was lured to a meeting in Geneva, where he was drugged before being flown back to the desert kingdom. The prince says he is currently under house arrest in the capital, Riyadh.
radiofreeusa.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1975
5 million on terrorism list
RadioFree USA 1/21/2004
U.S. security agents have a master list of five million people worldwide thought to be potential terrorists or criminals, officials say. “The U.S. lookout index contains some five million names of known terrorists and other persons representing a potential problem,” Brian Davis, a senior Canadian immigration official in Paris, said in a confidential document obtained by the Sun. Names on the list are compared against those applying for visas or on flights travelling to the U.S. Anyone whose name is on the list is questioned or banned from entering the U.S. — as passengers were on two British Airways flights to Los Angeles two weeks ago.
www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/385438.html
Bush address makes no mention of Israel, Palestinians
Ha’aretz 1/21/2004
U.S. President George Bush’s State of the Union address Tuesday omitted any direct reference to Israel and the Palestinians, but Bush told the joint session of the House and Senate that movements threatening America would continue to exist as long as the Middle East remained “a place of tyranny, despair and anger.”
www.palestine-info.co.uk/am/publish/article_4248.shtml
Two Zionists arrested on attempting to infiltrate Arab League
Palestinian Information Center 1/21/2004
Cairo – Security apparatuses in the Arab League headquarters in Cairo yesterday foiled an attempt by two Zionists to enter the premises within a Spanish TV team, according to Egyptian press sources. The sources said that the Spanish team was scheduled to interview Amre Mousa, the Arab League secretary general.
news.bbc.co.uk/go/click/rss/0.91/public/-/2/hi/middle_east/3417705.stm
Mid-East regret at Bush address
BBC 1/21/2004
President Bush’s State of the Union address has elicited much comment in the Middle East, from politicians and media outlets.The Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei said it was “regrettable” Mr Bush had not mentioned the Middle East peace process, or road map. Official commentators in the Iranian media highlight what they call the “contradictory” nature of the President’s remarks.
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/
ShowFull&cid=1074609072908&p=1006688055060
Sen. John Kerry’s on his way, Jewish backers say
Jerusalem Post 1/21/2004
Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry’s surprising victory in Iowa Monday has led his Jewish supporters to predict that more members of the Jewish community will now back his campaign….While Solomont is heading up the fund-raising effort in Massachusetts, other Jews across the country are raising money for Kerry. Among them is Kerry’s national finance chairman, Lou Susman, a financial services executive based in Chicago. Mark Gorenberg, a San Francisco venture capitalist, is scouting out donors on the West Coast. And in Colorado, Norm Brownstein, a Denver-based lawyer active in AIPAC, is raising funds.
story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/iraq_saudi_palestinian_hajj
Iraq-based Palestinian pilgrims stranded at Saudi border
Yahoo! News 1/21/2004
DUBAI (AFP) – Some 280 Iraq (news – web sites)-based Palestinians traveling to Saudi Arabia for the annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage have been stranded at the border for three days, a member of the group told AFP. “We are 300 Arabs, including 280 Palestinians carrying Iraqi travel documents, and we have been refused entry into Saudi Arabia for three days,” Daoud Mahmoud Ziada said by telephone Wednesday from the Araar border post between the two countries.
www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=3014&CategoryId=14
Israel orders land seizures in Gaza
By Laila El-Haddad, Miftah/Al-Jazeera 1/21/2004
Israeli occupation forces have issued land confiscation orders to 28 families in the town of Dair al-Balah.
Located near the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom in the Central Gaza strip, the total area subject to confiscation and eventual “fencing in‰ is approximately 1000 dunums ˆ the equivalent of one square kilometre – according to the Central Area Governorate.
www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=3013&CategoryId=5
My Affidavit to The Hague
By Yossi Sarid, Miftah 1/21/2004
Lately, I’ve been wondering what I would do if the International Court in The Hague, on its own initiative, asked for my opinion on the separation fence. I find these thoughts oppressive. On the one hand, every human being with a conscience has to do everything he can to topple this bad fence. On the other hand, even those who, like me, feel the Sharon government is an Israeli tragedy, are usually also infected with the patriotic germ, which dissuades them from collaborating with outside parties in the struggle against the evils committed by the government of Israel.
www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=3016&CategoryId=5
As Scandals Swirl Around Sharon, Pundits Predict He Won‚t Last a Year
By Leslie Susser, Miftah 1/21/2004
As with President Nixon in the Watergate affair, tapes and an attempted coverup could be the undoing of Israel‚s scandal-haunted leader. After audiotapes and videotapes that aired on prime-time television last week suggested Ariel Sharon knew more than he has admitted about illegal fund raising during his 1999 bid for Likud Party leader, pundits and politicians say the prime minister won‚t see out the year in office.
jordantimes.com/Wed/opinion/opinion3.htm
Putting Israel above the law and ruling by exception
By Hasan Abu Nimah, Jordan Times 1/21/2004
TALK OF ridding the Middle East of “weapons of mass destruction‰ (WMD) has been heard for years, but no efforts have been made to bring this closer. Whenever Arab states raised the issue, for example at the United Nations, instantly doubt would be cast on their motives, and their efforts would be perceived as a veiled attempt to point fingers at Israel, which is known to have huge arsenals of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=763720&fid=942
Finance Ministry still opposing grant for Coca Cola Israel move to Ashkelon
Globes 1/21/2004
The Ministry of Finance has appealed to acting Attorney General Edna Arbel to stop the grant — Sources inform “Globes‰ that the Ministry of Finance yesterday appealed to acting Attorney General Edna Arbel to stop the Investment Promotion Center of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor providing a grant to the Central Bottling Company (Coca Cola Israel) for moving its plant to Ashkelon.
January 20 2004
www.palestinemonitor.org/updates/palestinian_struggle_for_freedom_wsf.htm
Palestinian struggle for freedom central at World Social Forum
Palestine Monitor 1/20/2004
The World Social Forum opened in Mumbai, India on Friday with the Palestinian issue at its center. Nearly 100,000 people from around the world descended on the suburb of Ghatkopar for the Forum that is one of the largest gatherings of social activists and nongovernmental organizations at which Palestinian speakers, including Dr Mustafa Barghouthi, Ayman Rabi, Jihad Mushal and Hanna Rishmawi, had the chance to convey the plight of the Palestinians to an audience of thousands.
www.khilafah.com/home/category.php?DocumentID=9014&TagID=2
Israel Helps US In Iraq, Aides Say
Khilafah.com 1/20/2004
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — A key U.S. ally behind-the-scenes in the war in Iraq, Israel has been contributing intelligence, tactics and technology mostly in secret to avert an Arab backlash, congressional aides and analysts said Thursday. The commander of the Israel Defense Forces’ Golani Brigade briefed U.S. Marines in mid-June on the lessons the IDF has learned from its conflict with the Palestinians. The Israelis have supplied the American military with aerial surveillance equipment, decoy drones and D-9 armored bulldozers, sources close to the Israeli government said.
www.khilafah.com/home/category.php?DocumentID=9007&TagID=2
Frech Muslim Air Staff singled out by US
Khilafah.com 1/20/2004
In the latest bout of Franco-American squabbling, hundreds of Air France pilots and cabin crew who have French nationality but were born in Muslim countries are furious at being singled out for stringent security measures when they land in the US. Some of the 324 affected employees complain that they were treated like “terrorist suspects” after being separated from fellow cabin crew and grilled for up to four hours by security agents on arrival at American airports. The treatment, they say, was “discriminatory and insulting”.
Mosque, homes destroyed in Rafah raid :
Israeli bulldozers have demolished a mosque and 13 Palestinian homes in a raid on the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.
english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E80D4165-8CFA-465B-9B38-C1470F2D973C.htm
Sharon slams Jordan moves against West Bank ‘’fence’’ :
Sharon said, “We are not pleased with Jordan joining the debate at the International Court”, and added, “We have made clear to the Jordanians that they have much to lose”.
www.albawaba.com/news/index.php3?sid=268360&lang=e&dir=news
Israeli Soldier Killed at Lebanon Border :
Hezbollah militants attacked an Israeli bulldozer at the Israeli-Lebanese border on Monday. Israel’s military said one soldier was killed and two were wounded, one seriously. The Islamic militant group said the bulldozer had crossed the border into Lebanon, but the Israeli army disputed that.
www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3643572,00.html
Peres: Sharon using secret services to follow me :
Opposition leader Shimon Peres on Monday claimed that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon using Israel’s secret services to track his movements.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=384718&contrassID=
1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
tinyurl.com/ys8wj
Israeli planes bomb south Lebanon
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3414431.stm
Israeli army changes account of Hizbollah attack:
The Israeli army, changing its account of a Lebanese border incident, said on Tuesday that an Israeli soldier killed by Hizbollah guerrillas on Monday was several metres inside Lebanon at the time.
www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L20571938.htm
www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_01/076.html
Israeli Military Plans to Extra-Judicially Execute Hamas Spiritual Leader
International Press Center 1/20/2004
GAZA, Palestine, January 20, 2004 (IPC + Agencies)— The Israeli Chief of Staff, Moshe Ya’loun, said yesterday that Sheikh Ahmad Yasin, founder and spiritual leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), can be physically liquidated at any time.Ya’loun was speaking in an interview with the Israeli channel 2 TV, on Monday, confirming that Israel would not differentiate between the political or military leaders of Hamas.
216.26.163.62/2004/me_palestinians_01_20.html
Palestinians easily scale Israel’s ‘$1.9 billion security fence’
World Tribune 1/20/2004
TEL AVIV ˜ Palestinian infiltrators have succeeded in breaching Israel’s new security fence and barrier system. Israeli security sources said Palestinian infiltrators have scaled the four-meter high concrete fence by using a simple ladder. The Israeli project calls for the establishing of a 730-kilometer fence at a cost of $1.9 billion [Israeli govt estimates put the cost at at least $3.4 billion – Ed.]. Most of the project consists of a concrete wall or chain-link fence with sensors, cameras and military patrols.
rafah.virtualactivism.net/news/todaymain.htm
Eyewitness in Rafah: ‘..it was like an earthquake’
Rafah Today 1/20/2004
During the past few days, it was full of attacks, incursions and crimes, from western Rafah to Eastern Rafah there is no house that has not somehow been affected by the Israeli crimes, from the north of Rafah and the south of it would be hard for you to understand what is happening.. it was like an earthquake, damaged houses here and there. Three days ago the Israeli Army demolished a part of Al Tawhid mosque, and today they demolished the rest of it. Two days ago, the IDF demolished three houses near the Morage settlements, and another few houses were demolished, leaving the children of Al Jaria and Al Malahay families without homes in the cold weather. They also demolished many olive trees and two other gardens of chickens and sheep in the same area..
www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/
0e47400a3bf6f33785256e2100693d6a?OpenDocument
Israeli operation destroys 36 buildings in Gaza refugee camp – UN agency
ReliefWeb 1/20/2004
Israeli armoured vehicles and bulldozers destroyed 36 buildings in a Gaza refugee camp during an operation that began in the early hours of this morning, according to the main United Nations agency helping Palestine refugees.The buildings housed some 81 families, or approximately 400 people, the UN Refugee Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reported.
www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1126633,00.html
Where day to day living has had its heart cut out
The Guardian 1/20/2004
Fatina Zen stayed until the end, peering down her street through the lashing rain as towering concrete slabs were slotted into place one by one across the middle of the road. She wondered if her son might suddenly appear on the other side to wave goodbye but he never came. The 52-year-old grandmother finally left once the latest section of Israel’s “security fence” – recently renamed the “terror prevention fence” to improve its image abroad – had bisected the street as it worms its way through the Jerusalem Arab neighbourhood of Abu Dis.
athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=175240
Palestine: HISTORY and LAND THEFT in DEIR BALLUT
IndyMedia Athens 1/10/2004
Before the Nakba of 1948, the village owned 40 000 dunums of land (or about 100 000 acres). Some families still have papers proving that they own orange groves which are now situated in ‘Israel’. Salfit municipality has documents dating as far back as 1903 proving that the land belongs to Palestinians. In 1967, 20% more of Deir Ballut’s land was confiscated into Israel.
www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_01/079.html
German MPs: Israel’s Apartheid Wall Can Never be Imagined in Today World
International Press Center 1/20/2004
QALQILIA, Palestine, January 20, 2004 (IPC+WAFA)— Several German MPs observing Israel’s Apartheid Wall in the West Bank city of Qaqlilia, expressed Tuesday astonishment at such a separation wall-off fence, being built by Israel around the West Bank including Qalqilia city.Dajmar Smedin, President of the German delegation, was quoted by WAFA News Agency as saying:” what we heard about the Apartheid Wall is different from what we have personally observed. Such a wall can never be imagined in any place in the universe in today world”.
electronicintifada.net/v2/article2364.shtml
Israeli forces demolish 25 homes in Rafah
Electronic Intifada/PCHR 1/20/2004
Early this morning, 400 Palestinian families were forced by the Israeli occupation forces to evacuate their homes in Rafah during an Israeli military incursion into the area. A total of 25 civilian homes located on the border area with Egypt were destroyed. According to preliminary investigations conducted by PCHR, at around 2:30am on Tuesday 20 January 2004, Israeli occupation forces, including tanks and heavy military bulldozers, entered 400 meters inside the Al-sha‚er and Qishta quarters in Salah El-Din Gate area of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. After subjecting the Palestinian residences in the area to heavy machine gun-fire, Israeli military bulldozers began demolishing civilian homes in the area, without allowing the residents an opportunity to remove their belongings.
www.pchrgaza.org/files/PressR/English/2004/07-2004.htm
Israeli Occupying Forces at Erez Crossing Open Fire at Palestinian Workers
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 1/20/2004
25 Palestinians were injured this morning at the Erez crossing in northern Gaza when Israeli troops opened fire with live ammunition, rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters at thousands of Palestinian workers waiting at the crossing.According to preliminary investigations conducted by PCHR, the incident at the Erez crossing began at 2am on Tuesday, 20 January 2004 when thousands of Palestinians were queuing to pass through the crossing to work in Israel.Without warning Israeli soldiers opened fire with live ammunition, rubber-coated bullets and tear gas, over the heads of workers‚ as they were making their way towards the checking area. 25 workers sustained various injuries and were taken to Kamal Adwan and Al Awdah Hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip.
www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/
1389f3218e87cbb585256e21005fdff0?OpenDocument
UNRWA Commissioner General seeks support for Palestine refugees in China, Japan and South Korea
ReliefWeb 1/20/2004
Peter Hansen, Commissioner General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has completed a three-nation visit to the Far East to raise financial and political support for the work of the Agency. All three countries expressed support for the work of UNRWA and acknowledged the difficult conditions in which the Agency operates. Mr. Hansen provided an update on the humanitarian situation of Palestinian refugees in the region which was appreciated by officials in the People’s Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea.
www.dawn.com/2004/01/21/top7.htm
Israeli minister not invited, says FO
Dawn Group 1/20/2004
ISLAMABAD, Jan 20: Pakistan on Tuesday dispelled an impression that it had invited Israeli Agriculture Minister Israel Katz to visit Pakistan as part of the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) delegation. Foreign office spokesman Masood Khan told APP that there was a proposal by the FAO director-general to send a delegation to review Pakistan’s food security programme but Islamabad expressed its inability to host the visit in March due to certain reasons.
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/
ShowFull&cid=1074609072322&p=1006688055060
Israel spying on ambassador ˆ report
Jerusalem Post 1/20/2004
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was informed of a recent meeting between Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and opposition leader Shimon Peres at the home of the Norwegian ambassador via the use of electronic listening devices, Norwegian media reported Tuesday. “The Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon knew all the details of a secret meeting at the home of Mona Juul, the Norwegian ambassador in Israel,” Norway’s TV 2 reported on its Nettavisen web site Tuesday.
www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=1&id=1185
Quartet, Arab Summit Expected to Adopt Geneva Initiative: Abed Rabbo
Palestine Media Center 1/20/2004
The Geneva Initiative is expected to be adopted both by the Quartet of the United States, the United Nations, Russia and the European Union, as well as the Arab League at its upcoming March summit in Tunis, the Palestinian co-author of the blueprint Yasser Abed Rabbo said in Paris following a meeting with French foreign minister on Monday. The UN Secretary-General “Kofi Annan has said that he will raise this question at the next meeting of the Quartet. This is very important. Other European leaders have taken a similar position,‰ said Abed Rabbo, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and former culture and information minister, AFP reported.
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/
ShowFull&cid=1074609072093&p=1006688055060
Poland to support Israel in EU
Jerusalem Post 1/20/2004
Israel will have a new friend and advocate in the European Union on May 1, when Poland becomes a full member of the expanded EU. Polish Ambassador Jan Piekarski, appearing Tuesday as guest lecturer at the final seminar for this semester of The Mayrock Center Department of Russian and Slavic Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, indicated his country’s desire to play a constructive role in the EU’s Middle East policy.
www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/January/week3/012004/israel-jordan.htm
Jordan disregards Sharon’s warning regarding its involvment against the Wall
International Middle East Media Center 1/20/2004
Israeli PM Ariel Sharon reprimanded Jordan for its active involvement in the upcoming hearing of the International Court of Justice in The Hague to discuss the legality of the Separation Wall in the West Bank.He told the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in the Knesset, that Amman is leading the campaign against the Wall in the Arab World.He added, “Jordan’s involvement is a departure from the relationship between the two countries who have strategic cooperation between them”.
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/
ShowFull&cid=1074609072315&p=1006688055060
Peres calls for Labor primaries
Jerusalem Post 1/20/2004
Temporary Labor Party chairman Shimon Peres promised for the first time on Monday to hold primaries to elect the party’s permanent leader. Peres told reporters in the Knesset that even if the next general election is advanced, he will ensure that primaries will be held to elect the party’s candidate for prime minister
www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=763693&fid=942
Remington Arms delegation to visit Israel for advanced security procurement
Globes 1/21/2004
Headed by Remington COO Ronald Bristol II, the delegation will meet with dozens of Israeli security and civil defense companies. — A delegation from US company Remington Arms will visit Israel next week to consider procurement of advanced security equipment.
www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=763140&fid=942
Carly Fiorina cancels Israel trip
Globes 1/20/2004
Meetings with the Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Minister of Industry were cancelled at the last minute. HP’s CEO was to appoint a new CEO for Hewlett-Packard Israel. — Sources inform “Globes‰ that Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) chairperson and CEO Carly Fiorina cancelled her scheduled Thursday visit to Israel at the last moment.
www.dailystar.com.lb/features/20_01_04_b.asp
Mahatma Gandhi‚s grandson preaches the message of non-violence to rapt AUB audience
Daily Star 1/20/2004
It has been well over 50 years since the death of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi – better known as Mahatma Gandhi – but the lessons of his life are as important as they ever were.Perhaps more today in a world frequently characterized by increased polarization, military supremacy and widespread intolerance.That was the message that his grandson, Rajmohan Gandhi, delivered to an attentive audience at the American University of Beirut‚s Issam Fares Hall on Thursday, demonstrating the relevance of his revered ancestor‚s message in the modern Arab world.
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/
ShowFull&cid=1074609072331&p=1006688055060
PA daily raps terrorists for recruiting teens, mothers
Jerusalem Post 1/20/2004
A leading Palestinian columnist has launched a scathing attack on Hamas and Islamic Jihad for recruiting teenagers and mothers for suicide attacks against Israel, saying Palestinians are fed up with this “culture of death.” Writing in the Palestinian Authority daily Al-Ayyam, Hasan al-Batal, a prominent columnist closely associated with the PA, praised families of suicide bombers who have spoken out against the phenomenon as courageous.
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/
ShowFull&cid=1074609072067&p=1006688055060
Arab sector calls for separate education system
Jerusalem Post 1/20/2004
The Follow-Up Committee on Arab Education said on Tuesday it intends to lobby for an separate Arab education system after a survey showed that 85 percent of those involved in education in the Arab sector are dissatisfied with the system. The year-long survey was conducted by Dr. Khaled Abu-Asbeh, director of Massar, an educational planning and policy consulting institute, and polled over 400 people across the country involved in Arab education, including teachers, parents, academics, education administrators, and representatives from local authorities.
www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20040120-102554-5650r.htm
Syria uses sarin on Scud warheads
Washington Times 1/20/2004
WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (UPI) — U.S. officials in Washington said Syria has completed chemical warheads for its arsenal of Scud-based missiles with help from North Korea. Syria has succeeded in designing and installing CW warheads for the Scud B, Scud C and Scud D missiles, which can reach distances up to 420 miles.
www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36687
New song blames U.S. for 9-11
WorldNetDaily 1/20/2004
A new song released by a popular Egyptian singer claims the U.S. deliberately caused the destruction of the World Trade Center towers to make Arabs look bad. — According to the published review, the song, which focuses on the Middle East road map peace plan, puts to music popular notions in Egypt about Israel, the Iraq war and September 11. The song describes how “America is the spitting image of Israel and it carries out its desires, making the world into a ‘jungle.’ But it does not stop at that point. Abd Al-Rahim goes on to boldly sing that the USA is the perpetrator of the September 11th attacks,” reports the Cairo paper.
antiwar.com/article.php?articleid=1740
In the Mideast, TV, Internet Spur Change but Losses Stalk Newsroom
By Peyman Pejman, Antiwar.com 1/20/2004
Satellite television and the Internet have spurred Middle East media operations to become more critical and investigative but financial losses could catch up with some of the pioneers of this change, say regional media experts. “The Arab media have changed a lot in the past 10-15 years,” says Hala Ghanem, a former information ministry official from Kuwait. “You can say there has been a revolution.” While government-run newspapers and television stations remain largely unchanged, they are losing influence to the Internet and to competitors backed by private finance or funded but not directly controlled by governments.
electronicintifada.net/v2/article2363.shtml
Running out of steam: Israel‚s empty objections to the International Criminal Court
By Jeff Handmaker, Electronic Intifada 1/20/2004
The Ambassador of Israel in The Netherlands, Eitan Margalit spoke to an audience of mainly international lawyers on 20 November 2003 in The Hague, followed by an outpouring of criticism. Even a sympathetic observer present at the lecture would not fail to have noticed how thin the Israeli government‚s arguments have become in objecting to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Israeli government‚s insistence upon the “rule of law‰ yet refusal to submit to a supranational court is blatantly hypocritical.
www.counterpunch.org/qumsiyeh01212004.html
Spring in Palestine
By Mazin Qumsiyeh, CounterPunch 1/20/2004
The Death of Tom Hurndall — Tom Hurndall, the British peace activist shot by the Israeli army, died after 9 months in coma. Meanwhile here in New England, temperature hover around zero Fahrenheit and we are told to stay warm and go about our lives. Yet we work and pay taxes that fund the ongoing violence claiming thousands of lives and keeping hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees in cold tents or shacks with no heating.
www.dailystar.com.lb/features/19_01_04_a.asp
Studying Lebanese society and thinking beyond politics
By Daryl Champion, Daily Star 1/20/2004
They say the world changed on Sept. 11, 2001. Suddenly, the Middle East is a hot topic among people in the Western world who had not previously cared enough about the region to take the trouble to become familiar with its affairs and its people. Now, enrolment in Middle East studies courses at institutions of higher learning are booming.
www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=3012&CategoryId=3
Israel Tackles the World Court
Editorial, Miftah 1/20/2004
As the International Court of Justice in The Hague prepares to hear arguments regarding the legality of Israel‚s Separation Wall, it is difficult to discern just how annoyed and concerned Israel is about having to defend its indefensible fence. While Israel has miraculously refrained from boycotting the International Court of Justice, it has already decided to submit arguments both in writing and orally that undermine the legitimacy of the World Court to hold hearings on the Separation Wall.
www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_01/078.html
PM Qurei’ During Weekly Cabinet Meeting: No Peace with Apartheid Wall and Endangered Jerusalem
International Press Center 1/20/2004
RAMALLAH, Palestine, January 20, 2004 (IPC + Agencies)— The Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei’ asserted during the Palestinian cabinet’s weekly session that no peace can be achieved while the Apartheid Wall remains in its present state and while Jerusalem remains threatened by the Israeli colonial plans.
www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_01/074.html
Sharon Lashes Out Against Jordan for Active Role in ICJ Apartheid Wall Campaign
International Press Center 1/20/2004
GAZA, January 20, 2004 (IPC + Agencies)— The Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, slammed Jordan yesterday for leading the Arab states in the campaign against the Israeli Apartheid Wall, being built by Israel around and through the West Bank. During a session with the Knesset foreign affairs and defense committee, Sharon warned that Jordan would damage the relations between both countries by leading or even joining the international campaign.
January 19 2004
www.palestinemonitor.org/Special%20Section/Closure/abu_dis_sliced_in_two.htm
Sliced in two by Israel’s barrier, Abu Dis fears a slow death
Palestine Monitor 1/19/2004
ABU DIS, West Bank, Jan 19— Residents of Abu Dis, once tipped to be the capital of a future Palestinian state, are struggling to cope with the imposing wall carving through their village, separating families and friends and making nearby Jerusalem an unattainable dream. “My house is 30 meters (yards) away but it’s on the other side of the wall. I have to drive 25 kilometers (15 miles) to go back and forth,” said Yakin al-Rajabi, who owns a carpentry workshop in the village on the edge of occupied east Jerusalem.
www.islam-online.net/English/News/2004-01/19/article07.shtml
Palestinian Prisoners Crave More Attention
Islam Online 1/19/2004
GAZA CITY, January 19 (IslamOnline.net) – Families of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails staged Monday, January 19, their “weekly” sit-in before the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) headquarters in Gaza City, crying that the prisoners crave for more care and attention.The weekly march included mothers and children of detainees as well as a number of representatives of national and Islamic powers, shouting slogans in support of releasing their loved ones.
January 18 2004
Israel: Where hatred and despair are fomented :
A state that defines itself as a democracy and law-abiding country does not imprison three-and-a-half million people in their villages and towns, slice up their country into strips, and declare roads for the use of Jews only.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/384034.html
The Case That Wouldn’t Close:
Tom Hurndall is dead. Nine months after being shot in the head by an Israeli soldier which left him in a coma, two months after his 22nd birthday, and one day after his mother knelt at his bedside and whispered the good news that his assailant had finally been arrested, Tom Hurndall’s name was added to a growing, but mostly unmentioned, unheralded and unknown list of innocents slaughtered by Ariel Sharon’s brutal IDF (Israel Defense Forces).
www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_4649.shtml
Israeli Soldier ‘tried to cover up killing of British activist’:
The Israeli soldier accused of killing Tom Hurndall, the British peace activist who died last week, tried to cover up his crime by asking for his commander’s permission to shoot an “armed man” moments after he had already fired the fatal shot.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/01/
18/wisr18.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/01/18/ixnewstop.html
tinyurl.com/2vchq
Sharon and Israeli cabinet lauds ambassador for art attack :
The expatriate Israeli artist who created “Snow White and the Madness of Truth” however called the envoy, Zvi Mazel, “an intellectual dwarf”.
www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp;:400a93d2:6c753ec27736
3a37?type=worldNews&locale=en_IN&storyID=4153658
tinyurl.com/34a43
www.suntimes.com/output/religion/cst-nws-vat18.html
Pope reaches out to Israeli rabbis
Chicago Sun-Times 1/18/2004
VATICAN CITY — Pursuing his goal of reconciliation among religions, Pope John Paul II received Israel’s chief rabbis Friday and assured them of his commitment to Catholic-Jewish cooperation.The 35-minute Vatican audience, a first for Israel’s top rabbis, was arranged in connection with a concert to promote solidarity among Christians, Jews and Muslims and came just a few days before a major Catholic-Jewish meeting in New York.
www.palestinechronicle.com/story.php?sid=20040118171416712
Palestinian Refugees Fight Canadian Deportations
Palestine Chronicle 1/18/2004
This past September more than 1,000 people marched through Montreal chanting Palestinian slogans and singing traditional songs. They demonstrated to demand that the Canadian government stop all deportations of Palestinians. Since then, the demonstrations have grown. Montreal has become the center of a political campaign organized by more than 100 Palestinian refugees who are fighting their deportation from Canada. These refugees have fled to Canada, claiming asylum from both the refugee camps of Lebanon and Palestine.
www.palestinechronicle.com/story.php?sid=20040118172158385
Binational Solution as a Weapon Is Counterproductive
By Ramzy Baroud, Palestine Chronicle 1/18/2004
A Reuters‚ commentator recently presented a bleak analysis, charging that the Palestinian leadership lacks a cohesive strategy “to foil Sharon‚s designs‰. Almost simultaneously, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei warned that Ariel Sharon‚s unilateral policies might oblige Palestinians “to come back to the option of a single, binational democratic state.‰
www.palestinechronicle.com/story.php?sid=20040118165033357
Unbound Spirit
By Adam Shapiro, Palestine Chronicle 1/18/2004
Ayed Morar, or Abu Ahmed as he is known to all, sits in jail tonight and I wonder if he is thinking of Martin Luther King, Jr. Unlike Dr. King, Abu Ahmed will not be leaving jail anytime soon, and is he unable to protest his imprisonment by exemplifying the moral injustice done to him and his people, for the world‚s powers have maintained a deaf ear to the plight of the Palestinian people. Like Dr. King, however, Abu Ahmed is in jail for organizing and participating in nonviolent direct action against unjust, discriminatory and violent policies targeting his people on the basis of their ethnicity. Dr. King ultimately left his Birmingham jail cell, and went on to lead this country towards racial integration and healing. But Abu Ahmed, when he is released from prison ˆ likely after at least ten days of “administrative detention‰, or possibly as much as three months, without charge ˆ will still be locked up.
January 17 2004
www.yourmailinglistprovider.com/pubarchive.php?iapinfo+1999
Palestinian Prisoner – No Formal Charge but Sentenced to between 50 Months and Seven Years- Flexible
By Elana Wesley, Islamic Association for Palestine 1/17/2004
Jayyous, West Bank Palestine – Interview with Saleh Kardoomi and Isha Kardoomi — We conducted this interview in the home of Saleh Kardoomi, the younger brother of the prisoner, Salah Kardoomi.Present were his children and wife and the wife of the prisoner, Isha, and two of her children, Kifah and Maise, ages 10 and 5 respectively.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3404691.stm
Death penalty resumes in Lebanon
BBC 1/17/2004
Lebanon has resumed capital punishment by executing three convicted murderers despite international protests.The three were executed in Beirut’s Roumieh prison early on Saturday – two by firing squad and one by hanging. They were the first prisoners to face the death penalty in Lebanon since President Emile Lahoud came to power in late 1998.
January 16 2004
Wailing wall :
With great speed, the original low, irrelevant wall is being replaced in East Jerusalem with a new structure that resembles some vast mythological dragon. All around are people who thought they’d already seen everything during the occupation, watching the scene in disbelief
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/383663.html
Irish Foreign Minister Condemns Israel Security Barrier :
His remarks during a visit to the country yesterday were seen as serving notice that the new leadership of the European Union was likely to put more pressure on the Israeli government than its predecessor.
news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2415429
Crackdown on soldiers questioning occupation:
Despite public disapproval, the number of soldiers refusing to serve in Palestinian territories is growing
www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/16/1073878027960.html
Hamas leader marked for death:
“Sheik Yassin is marked for death, and he should hide himself deep underground where he won’t know the difference between day and night,” Zeev Boim, Israel’s deputy defence minister
www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/01/16/israel_hamas_yassin040116
Rabbi Arthur Waskow: “A government that claims to be Jewish but is acting like Pharaoh”:
Why is the Israeli government cracking down on its own citizens who oppose its occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza and who are trying to prevent the human rights violations that go with the occupation?
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5536.htm
300+ Rabbis Urge Israeli Govt: Free Rabbi Ascherman, Stop Home Demolitions :
www.shalomctr.org/index.cfm/action/read/section/IsPal/article/article542.html
Israel Considers Image Change for Fence :
Israel is considering a name change for its massive complex of walls, fences and watch towers in the West Bank to improve its international image – the ``Terror Prevention Fence.’’
www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3629422,00.html
January 15 2004
www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/2004/15-01-2004.htm
Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories 08-14 January 2004
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 1/15/2004
3 Palestinian civilians killed by Israeli occupying forces / 1 of the victims was killed in an extra-judicial assassination / British peace activist died from an injury he sustained by Israeli troops in Rafah nine months ago / Israeli forces conducted a series of incursions into Palestinian areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip / Houses were raided and a number of Palestinians were arrested / Continued use of Palestinian civilians as human shields in Israeli military operations / 9 houses in Rafah refugee camp were destroyed / Construction of the “separation wall‰ in the West Bank has continued and more areas of Palestinian land were seized / Indiscriminate shelling of Palestinian residential areas continued; a Palestinian civilian was killed and a number of others were injured / A Palestinian house in Hebron was destroyed by Israeli forces as part of the continuing campaign of retaliation against the families of Palestinians accused of involvement in attacks against Israeli targets / In violation of the right to freedom of religion, Israeli occupying forces prevented 386 pilgrims from the Gaza Strip from traveling to Saudi Arabia to attend the Hajj / Israeli occupying forces have continued to impose a total siege on the OPTs; a number of Palestinian civilians were arrested at military checkpoints and border crossings and a curfew was imposed on a number of Palestinian communities in the West Bank
Report: US considering armed intervention in Syria:
The Defense Department is considering aerial attacks and Special Forces incursions.
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/J
PArticle/ShowFull&cid=1074053868626&p=1008596981749
tinyurl.com/2a3g9
Israel Presses White House To Reword Rights Report :
Israel is pressuring the Bush administration to omit references to the West Bank security fence from the State Department’s annual human rights report.
www.forward.com/issues/2004/04.01.16/news5.fence.html
Rabbi Defends Blocking Israeli Bulldozers :
Arik Ascherman is no stranger to the Israeli police. The American-born rabbi reckons he has been arrested at least 10 times in his battle against what he says are injustices against Palestinians.
www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3626238,00.html
January 14 2004
Israel: Three Soldier’s, One Civilian Killed In Suicide Bombing:
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5523.htm
Shot British peace activist dies:
A British peace volunteer who was shot by Israeli occupation forces has died in a London hospital.
english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/DD065357-0D95-453D-AB20-EE59F62738DE.htm
Israeli soldier faces manslaughter charge over Briton’s death :
An Israeli soldier is expected to be charged with manslaughter following the death of British peace activist Tom Hurndall, who was shot in the head nine months ago in the Gaza strip, Israeli military sources said today.
www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1122921,00.html
Tears Run as Israeli Barrier Rises Near Jerusalem :
Tearful Palestinians watched cranes lower huge concrete slabs into place at the edge of Arab East Jerusalem Tuesday as the latest sections of a disputed Israeli barrier cut them off from the city.
www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4120133
The two-state solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is dead.
Good riddance!
But someone has to issue an official death certificate before the rotting corpse is given a proper burial and we can all move on and explore the more just, moral and therefore enduring alternative for peaceful coexistence between Jews and Arabs in Mandate Palestine: the one-state solution.
www.dissidentvoice.org/Jan04/Barghouti0113.htm
Israeli held in U.S. over nuclear parts sales to Pakistan:
An Israeli citizen was arrested at Denver International Airport on January 2 on suspicions he illegally shipped high-tech equipment to Pakistan that could detonate nuclear weapons.
www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=382663&contrassID=
1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
tinyurl.com/3965h
January 13 2004
Tempers flare over US spy-ship inquiry :
Survivors of one of the most hotly disputed incidents in American military history – the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty spy-ship in 1967 – on Monday accused the US authorities, past and present, of a cover-up in backing Israeli claims that it was a tragic mistake.
news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/Full
Story&c=StoryFT&cid=1073280974558&p=1012571727162
tinyurl.com/24yna
Israel blamed for USS Liberty attack:
“The conclusion we reached is that the attack constituted a flagrant act of gross negligence, for which the Israeli government should be solely responsible,” the official told reporters at the State Department.
washingtontimes.com/world/20040112-093728-6027r.htm
Video: BBC Four Investigative Report: :
Dead in the Water: During the Six-Day War,
Israel attacked and nearly sank the USS Liberty belonging to its closest ally, the USA. Thirty-four American servicemen were killed in the two-hour assault by Israeli warplanes and torpedo boats.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5073.htm
Israel: PM lied to comptroller, was involved in illegal funding:
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was directly and personally involved in illegal foreign contributions to his campaign to head the Likud in 1999, according to a tape recording of Sharon revealed last night on Channel 2 by private investigator David Spector, who served on the Sharon campaign as a “strategic consultant.”
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/382303.html
In case you missed it:
Most Favored Democracy:
In early 2001, a tightly knit group of billionaire philanthropists conceived of a plan to win American sympathy for Israel‚s response to the Palestinian intifada.
www.amconmag.com/11_17_03/article1.html
Kach activist forms new party with goal of transferring out all Arabs:
Former Kach leader Baruch Marzel today established a new political party whose goals are to prevent the removal of Jewish settlements and to transfer 2 million Arabs “over the Jordan River.”
web.israelinsider.com/bin/en.jsp?enPage=ArticlePage&enDisplay=view&enDisp
What=object&enDispWho=Article%5El3180&enZone=Politics&enVersion=0&
tinyurl.com/3y8az
January 12 2004
www.comeandsee.co.il/article.php?sid=514&mode=thread&order=0
Lawmaker Announces New Christian Caucus in Knesset
Come And See 1/12/2004
The unholy alliance between parts of the Evangelical Church in the USA from one side and Israel’s racist groups continues. Uri Stern, Chairman of the party that supports evacuation of Arabs from Israel and the West Bank announces together with few other lawmakers on what they are calling the “Christian Allies Caucus”. “Come and See” brings you the story from CNSNews…
Israeli president offers Syria peace talks:
Assad has said he is ready to resume negotiations with Israel. Israeli President Moshe Katsav has invited his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, to visit Jerusalem for talks on a peace accord for the Middle East.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3388205.stm
Syrian official dismisses Israeli talks offer:
Still technically at war with Israel, Syria demands all of the Golan be returned as part of any deal. Israel annexed the 1,600-square-kilometre plateau in 1981, though its sovereignty is not internationally recognized. Israel long has said it welcomes talks but only without any preconditions.
www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_
Type1&c=Article&cid=1073908423070&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968705899037
tinyurl.com/23sx7
Sharon Expected To Be Forced Out Within Months:
The ruling Likud Party has been involved in a power struggle for succession. So far, former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, currently the finance minister, is the favorite
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5511.htm
Antiwar Group Exposes Undercover Activist:
An outspoken member of Harvard Students for Israel went undercover in what he says was a quest to gauge anti-Semitism in a campus anti-war group.
www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=357014
January 11 2004
Bush advisers debating what to do about Syria:
Civilians in Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld’s office are pushing for military action against Syria short of an invasion and have drawn up plans for punitive airstrikes and cross-border incursions by U.S. forces, according to three officials.
www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/7675067.htm
Amman: Fence increases risk Palestinians will spill into Jordan :
The West Bank separation fence threatens Jordan because by diminishing the prospects for creating a Palestinian state it creates the possibility that Palestinians will be forced into Jordan, Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher said Saturday.
www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/381497.html
Palestinians Want Independent State Right :
Palestinian leaders on Saturday reasserted the right to unilaterally declare an independent state in the absence of a peace deal with Israel, responding to Israel’s own threats of one-sided action.
www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3609866,00.html
Powell defends Sharon’s barrier:
The Bush administration yesterday dismissed a Palestinian threat to pursue a shared state with Israel if Prime Minister Ariel Sharon goes ahead with a security barrier that would cut off parts of the West Bank.
www.washtimes.com/world/20040108-084243-7628r.htm
Israel to Request Billions from the U.S. to Actualize Unilateral Separation Plan :
A “senior Jerusalem source‰ quoted by Israel Radio this morning stated Israel will be seeking billions of dollars in U.S. assistance to actualize Prime Minister Ariel Sharon‚s unilateral separation plan to cut ties with the PA.
www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=55860
www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_01/030.html
IOF Invades Rafah, Wounds Four Palestinians and Uses Civilians as Human Shields in West Bank
International Press Center 1/10/2004
RAFAH, Palestine, January 10, 2004 (IPC + WAFA) – – The Israeli occupying forces (IOF) invaded today evening the city of Rafah, south of Gaza Strip, and demolished a house there, as four Palestinian citizens were wounded in Nablus and others were held as human shields during raids in Beit Reema. Palestinian security sources told IPC correspondent that the Israeli occupying forces invaded today evening the Al Salam neighborhood in Rafah City, and demolished a Palestinian home there….Meanwhile, the Bani Zaid Al Gharbiya town hall issued a press statement today, calling relevant international and local human rights bodies to intervene and stop the occupying forces from using the Palestinian citizens in the town as human shields.
www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_01/028.html
IOF Thrusts into Jenin, Arrests Civilians, Attempts to Assassinate a Fatah Member
International Press Center 1/10/2004
JENIN, Palestine, January 10, 2004 (IPC + Agencies)— Israeli occupying forces (IOF) lunched on Friday morning an onslaught on Jenin City and its camp,arresting 17 Palestinian citizens and attemptingto extra-judicially assasinate a Fatah member. Eyewitnesses said that a contingent of Israeli troops, backed by 20 tanks, swept deep intothe western parts of Jenin City, specifically,Al Hadaf neighborhood, Wadi Barqeen and the vicinity of the graveyard are and indiscriminately opened heavy gunfire towards civiliansâ houses….Elsewhere, west of Nablus, the residents of Raphedia area were confined into their houses under curfew for the third day in row and the soldiers held any vehicle trying to pass through Raphedia street, IPC correspondent reported.
english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/572F7C6F-802B-427E-9B8E-5A14E0D04BB4.htm
Landmines: Palestine’s hidden danger
Al-Jazeera 1/10/2004
All over Gaza, large well-illustrated billboards sporting the UNICEF logo can be seen alongside major streets and busy intersections. They show photos of Israeli-made bombs and mines, and carry a single in-your-face message: ãLandmines and suspicious objects are a danger that threatens us all!Do not try to get near them!ä….UNICEF representatives say the occupied West Bank and Gaza are littered with landmines dating back to the 1967 invasion. Most of the declared minefields lie on the Jordanian-West Bank border, as well as in the Jordan Valley-areas that Israel considers strategic lines of defence….At least 23 children have been killed by landmines or UXO planted by the Israeli military in the occupied Palestinian territories since the start of the Intifada in September 2000.
www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/381395.html
Al-Aqsa Brigades commander injured in clash with IDF in Jenin
Ha’aretz 1/10/2004
The Al-Aqsa Brigades commander in Jenin, Zakariya Zbeidi, sustained light-to-moderate injuries in an exchange of fire with Israel Defense Forces troops, Israel Radio reported Saturday. The radio quoted Palestinian sources as saying that Zbeidi was injured Friday, and was treated at a hospital in the West Bank city. The IDF swept into Jenin early Friday morning, arresting at least 15 Palestinians and trading gunfire with militants, witnesses said.
www.palestinemonitor.org/updates/Jan04_Jenin_Assassinations.htm
Head of Fatehâs Al-Aqsa Brigades walks away from Israeli assassination attempt
Palestine Monitor 1/10/2004
But undercover unit kill 23 year old Khaliliyeh — Zakeriya Azubadee the head of al-Aqsa Brigades in the West Bank yesterday survived an Israeli attempt on his life. Israeli occupation forces invaded the Jenin refugee camp with the intention of assassinating the prominent al ö Aqsa leader but Azubadee escaped when clashes broke out between the invading soldiers and his supporters. A statement issued by the al-Aqsa Brigades said Azubabdee suffered gun shot wounds to his back and right arm. 10 Palestinians were a |