www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/546752.html
World leaders say expect ‘action by Israel’
Ha’aretz 3/2/2005
LONDON – Leaders attending Tuesday’s international conference in
support of the Palestinian Authority said they expect “action by Israel” regarding
its commitments to the road map. Senior British sources said on Tuesday they
do not accept Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s position that Palestinians
must fulfill a series of obligations before implementation of the road map
can begin. The sources said that Britain wants Israel to freeze settlement
construction and dismantle illegal outposts – both measures stipulated
in the road map’s first phase.
english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2180
Citizen Wantonly Assaulted, 4 Others Arrested, Vast Areas of Arable Land
Razed
WAFA 3/1/2005
HEBRON, March 1, 2005, (WAFA) – Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) wounded
early Tuesday a citizen in the West Bank of Hebron city, Palestinian medics
said. Iyad Abu Qabita 30, was wounded due to burses allover the body as being
severely beaten by the IOF. Witnesses confirmed that the Israeli troops stopped
Abu Qabita at an Israeli military checkpoint eastern the town, shortly before
arresting and assaulting him…In Qalqiliya, Israeli troops arrested four
citizens in the city town of Azoun…IOF furthered installing a military
checkpoint on the route that links the city and its southern villages, denying
the citizens’ access from-into the city…In the holy city of Jerusalem,
villagers of Beit Soreek village organized early Tuesday a sit-in over their
about-to-be-razed land by IOF for the sake of the Apartheid Wall, locals said.
www.womenspeacepalestine.org/en/articles/article.php?id=651
The Fight for Justice – Demonstrating against the Apartheid Wall
International Womens’ Peace Service 2/28/2005
On the 10th of February, the Israeli Supreme Court issued a temporary
injunction against the State of Israel and the Commander of the IOF forces
in Judea and Samaria against the building of the Apartheid Wall on the land
of the village of Iskaka in the West Bank of Palestine. On the 25th and 28th
of January the residents of Salfit organized and conducted demonstrations against
the building of the Wall on their land. The demonstrations were well attended
by the people of the area, Israeli peace movements, international solidarity
movements, officials from the PNA, and other officials, including Mustafa Barghouti.
english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2186
IOF Arrests Chief Islamic Justice in Jerusalem
WAFA 3/1/2005
JERUSALEM, March 1, 2005 (WAFA)- Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested
Tuesday Sheikh Tayssir al Tamimi, the Chief Palestinian Islamic Justice in
Jerusalem. Al- Tamimi’s attorney Mohammed Abu Ghush told WAFA that IOF
arrested the Sheikh, together with other religious judges, after a meeting
of the Islamic Board in Jerusalem, leading them all to al-Maskobiya prison
in the city. Abu Ghush added that Israeli soldiers prevented him from meeting
Sheikh Tamimi, informing him that he would be let into after the Sheikh is
interrogated…In the meantime, IOF bulldozers uprooted tens of olive trees
in Masha town of the West Bank city of Salfeet, witnesses said.
www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/546189.html
Bombing claims fifth victim
Ha’aretz 3/1/2005
Odelia Hubara, 26, died yesterday at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, making
her the fifth victim of Friday night’s suicide attack at the Stage club.
Hubara was mortally wounded in her lungs in the attack and did not regain consciousness.
Odelia and her brother Alon were the ones who introduced the couple Yaron and
Revital Grayevsky. Most of the people wounded at the entrance to the club were
friends of the couple, who came to celebrate his birthday.
news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=615982
Palestinians told this is best chance of peace in years
The Independent 3/2/2005
The Palestinians were told yesterday that the rest of the world wants
them to have a “viable” independent state and will help overhaul
their security apparatus and institutions to seize the “best chance for
peace” in the Middle East in years. But the delegates at an international
conference convened by Tony Blair in support of the Palestinian Authority also
made it clear that concrete steps should be taken by the Palestinians in dismantling
the terrorist infrastructure before Israel would be pressed to take reciprocal
steps.
www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/546543.html
Rice: Evidence shows TA bombing planned in Syria
Ha’aretz 3/2/2005
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cited what she called “firm
evidence” on Tuesday that the Islamic Jihad militant group helped plan
last week’s Tel Aviv suicide bombing from Syria. “There is firm
evidence that Palestinian Islamic Jihad, sitting in Damascus, not only knew
about the attacks, but was involved in the planning,” Rice told ABC News
in an interview, according to an excerpt provided by the U.S. television network…”…And
so the Syrians have a lot to answer for,” Rice told ABC.
www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/546756.html
Islamic Jihad beset by internal strife
Ha’aretz 3/1/2005
The suicide bombing at the Stage club in Tel Aviv last Friday, which
killed five Israelis, has intensified the internal strife within the Islamic
Jihad organization. Islamic Jihad in Damascus took responsibility for the attack
some 24 hours after it occurred, but at the same time, leaders of the organization
in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and the Gulf states denied any connection to the attack.
In the West Bank, two broadsides were published saying that the attack was
the “initiative of a local cell,” which, it has come to light since
Friday, has been responsible for other terror attacks.
www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/MHII-6A35K9?
OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=ACOS-635PFR
Over 4,000 Palestinians killed since uprising: PNA report
ReliefWeb 2/28/2005
GAZA, Feb 28, 2005 (Xinhua via COMTEX) — An official Palestinian report
said Monday that Israel had killed more than 4,000 Palestinians in the West
Bank and Gaza since the beginning of the Palestinian Intifada (uprising) in
September 2000. The report, prepared by the Palestinian National Authority
(PNA) State Information Service, said 4,007 Palestinians had been registered
in the files of the PNA Ministry of Health that had been killed by the Israeli
army and the Jewish settlers in Gaza and the West Bank during the Intifada.
Meanwhile, 52,000 Palestinians were shot and wounded, many of whom suffer a
certain physical disability, said the report.
www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/MHII-6A255K?
OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=ACOS-635PFR
Israel steps up military operations, says Sharon
ReliefWeb 2/28/2005
JERUSALEM, Feb 27 (Reuters) – Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on Sunday
Israel was escalating military measures and would freeze peace efforts after
a Tel Aviv suicide bombing unless Palestinians smashed militant groups. “There
will not be any diplomatic progress, I repeat, no diplomatic progress, until
the Palestinians take vigorous action to wipe out the terror groups and their
infrastructure in the Palestinian Authority’s territory,” Sharon
said. Addressing his cabinet in forceful tones Sharon said that Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas’s “immediate test” was to act against
Islamic Jihad, which claimed responsibility for the first deadly Palestinian
attack in Israel since November.
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3052427,00.html
U.S. rebukes Israel’s human rights
YNetNews 3/1/2005
State Department publishes human rights report; says Israel using force
on foreign workers; not enough beds and torture and abuse of Palestinian prisoners — WASHINGTON – The
State Department rebuked Israel’s treatment of Palestinian prisoners
in its annual report on human rights progress for 2004. The report is primarily
based on the state comptroller‚s reports and reports from the human rights
association in Israel. According to the report, in May of 2004, an official
source in the immigration police was quoted as saying police used exaggerated
force when arresting foreign workers.
www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41723.htm
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices- 2004, Israel and the occupied
territories
US Department of State 2/28/2005
(The Report on the occupied territories is appended at the end of this
Report.) — Israel is a multiparty parliamentary democracy. “Basic
laws” enumerate fundamental rights. The 120-member Knesset has the power
to dissolve the Government and mandate elections. The current Knesset and Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon were elected democratically in 2003…During the
year, a total of 76 Israeli civilians and four foreigners were killed as a
result of Palestinian terrorist attacks in Israel and the occupied territories,
and 41 members of the Israeli Defense Forces were killed in clashes with Palestinian
militants. During the same period, more than 800 Palestinians were killed during
Israeli military operations in the occupied territories.
www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/MHII-6A27AH
?OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=ACOS-635PFR
Impoverished Palestinian refugees skeptical over London conference
ReliefWeb 2/27/2005
DHEISHEH REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank, Feb 27 (AFP) – Impoverished Palestinian
refugees are looking to a conference in London this week to yield a desperately
needed injection of cash but worry that any windfalls could be frittered away
by corrupt officials. “We expect that more money will accompany renewed
hopes for peace but I doubt that it will reach us,” said Hanieh al-Hurrub,
speaking from her sparsely furnished flat at the Dheisheh refugee camp on the
outskirts of the southern West Bank town of Bethlehem. “In our experience,
officials at the ministry of social affairs have no clue about our needs and
fail to distribute money to the poorest. Go wonder where the money goes,” she
added.
electronicintifada.net/v2/article3649.shtml
Palestinian population exceeds Jewish population says U.S. government
Electronic Intifada 3/1/2005
The population of Palestinians living in Israel, the Occupied Gaza Strip,
Occupied East Jerusalem and rest of the Occupied West Bank combined now exceeds
the number of Israeli Jews, a U.S. government report has revealed. The Palestinian
population stands at over 5.3 million while the Jewish population stands at
5.2 million. The figures come from the U.S. State Department’s annual
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2004. The report provided population
figures for each of these territorial units separately but failed to connect
all the dots…
english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=2179
Joint Palestinian-Israeli Condemnation of Treatment of Palestinian Boy
in Israeli Prisons
WAFA 3/1/2005
TELAVIV, March 1,2005 (WAFA)- Defense for Children International-Palestine
Section and Israel Physicians for Human Rights said that Israeli Prison Service
(IPS) banned a 14- year- old Palestinian boy in Israeli custody, who recently
underwent an operation on the stomach under full anesthesia, to contact his
parents…The boy (”R.”) has not been allowed to contact his
parents since his arrest on 18 October 2004.
www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/mar/week1/030105/solitary.htm
Detainee in solitary since 12 years
International Middle East Media Center 3/1/2005
Mohammad Kallab, from Gaza, was arrested 15 years ago, and placed in
solitary detention in spite of his psychological problems; Kallab was sentenced
to one life term in 1989, and was placed in Ohali Qidar prison in Bir Shiva.
In 1993, Israeli prison authorities placed Kallab in solitary imprisonment;
Kallab is not aware of the happenings and the surroundings since his a very
bad mental state. The Israeli court claimed that Kallab is receiving the needed
psychological support, while in fact he is placed in solitary imprisonment;
the court decided in 2004 that Kallab should remain in solitary.
www.imemc.org/newsbriefs.htm#Tkarem
News Briefs, Feb 28 – Mar 1 , 2005
International Middle East Media Center 3/1/2005
Four arrested in Qalqilia / Settlers bulldoze fields in Hebron / Resident
injured in Hebron / Family farmlands bulldozed in Qalqilia / Israeli army invaded
Tubas / Soldiers invade Tammoun / Resident of Bethlehem sentenced to 37 consecutive
months / Israeli border guards arrest 13 Palestinian workers / Two soldiers
injured east of Modi‚in / Soldiers surround Tulkarem / Army closes that
entrance of Arraba near Jenin / Soldiers attack a peaceful protest in Beit
Sorik, arrest head of village council / Three arrested in Al-Biereh / Detainee
from Bethlehem deported to the Gaza Strip / Resident arrested north of Tulkarem
/ Two villages invaded near Salfit
www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=546518&
contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
Jihad planned to fire rockets at Afula, attack J’lem school
Ha’aretz 3/2/2005
Islamic Jihad terrorists in Jenin planned a series of attacks on Israeli
targets including the firing of rockets at the city of Afula and a shooting
attack inside a Jerusalem school. The attacks were foiled by Israeli security
forces before they could advance beyond the planning stage. The details of
the planned attacks came to light during the interrogation of Jibril Zubeidi,
an Islamic Jihad operative in Jenin and the brother of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs
Brigades commander in the northern West Bank city, Zakariya Zubeidi.
www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/2005/24-02-2005.htm
Weekly Report: On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian
Territories, 17 – 23 Feb. 2005
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 2/24/2005
A Palestinian civilian died from a previous injury he had sustained by
IOF. / Continued shelling of residential areas in the Gaza Strip; 3 Palestinian
civilians, including a child, were seriously injured. / Construction of the “annexation
wall‰ in the West Bank has continued and more areas of Palestinian land
were confiscated for this purpose. / IOF conducted a series of incursions into
Palestinian areas. / Houses were raided and a number of Palestinian civilians
were arrested. / Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians
and property in the West Bank. / IOF have continued to impose a total siege
on the OPT; IOF have continued to close a number of roads since the beginning
of the current Intifada, IOF have continued to impose severe restrictions at
Rafah International Crossing Point, and IOF positioned at checkpoints arrested
a number of Palestinian civilians.
www.palestinercs.org/pressreleases/Year%202005/PR270205WBRR.htm
PRCS Weekly Press Release for the period 19-25 February 2005
Palestine Red Crescent Society 2/27/2005
During this reporting period, the Israeli Army has continued to violate
International Humanitarian Law and Fundamental Human Rights, by restricting
freedom of movement to Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulances and
its medical teams. Delay and denial of access and arbitrary searches had a
negative impact on the sick and wounded in Jericho, Gaza and Ramallah. Ramallah,
22/02/2005 (12:00pm): A Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulance was
subjected to direct Israeli Army tear gas and stun grenade fire while attempting
to evacuate injures caused by the Israeli Army during a protest march against
the separation wall, which is being built in Saffa village, Ramallah…
www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=13075
Al-Aqsa leader fires on Palestinian minister’s empty car
Daily Star 3/2/2005
Incident leads to drastic changes in Jenin’s security services — The
leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades opened fire on Tuesday on the empty
car of Palestinian Interior Minister Nasr Youssef in the West Bank town of
Jenin, witnesses said. Zakaria Zubeidi, accompanied by gunmen from the militant
group loosely affiliated to the mainstream Fatah, scarred Youssef’s parked
car with bullets at the Palestinian security services headquarters in Jenin.
Security sources said that the incident led the minister into a sweeping change
in the leadership of security services in Jenin.
www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/546713.html
Druze fear rabbis will allow shooting at non-Jewish soldiers
Ha’aretz 3/1/2005
A Druze combat soldier serving in the Givati Brigade in the Gaza Strip
asked Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz yesterday to respond to reports that rabbis
issued a halakhic ruling permitting live fire on Druze and Bedouin soldiers
and police officers who take part in evacuating settlements. “Will it
be permissible to shoot at us if the disengagement takes place?” the
soldier asked.
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3052790,00.html
‘Government sanctions our murder’
YNetNews 3/1/2005
Settler leaders slam what they say are government efforts to de-legitimize
their anti-pullout campaign. “You have created a situation where the
shooting of every settler is permitted,” Yesha Council leader tells internal
security minister during charged meeting in Tel Aviv. — TEL AVIV – Government
efforts to de-legitimize Gaza pullout opponents have created a widespread public
animosity that could lead to violence against settlers, a Yesha Council leader
told Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra Tuesday.
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3052713,00.html
‘Incitement to violence on the rise’
YNetNews 3/1/2005
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz calls for change in law to ease prosecution
of those who encourage violence; says number of investigations against public
figures relatively high — TEL AVIV – Attorney General Menachem
Mazuz said Tuesday the current law against incitementmakes it difficult to
convict individuals who foment hatred and encourage violance. According to
Mazuz, the main difficulty in bringing inciters to trial is the need to prove
there is a high probability their words would lead to violence.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/546717.html
Bassi: Half of Katif families already willing to negotiate evacuation
Ha’aretz 3/2/2005
Some 800 of the 1,700 families living in Gush Katif and northern Samaria
have already expressed willingness in principle to leave their homes under
the disengagement plan and negotiate over financial compensation, according
to Yonatan Bassi, who heads the disengagement administration. Of the remaining
900 families, he believed 600 would begin negotiating in the months until the
disengagement is set to begin, Bassi told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs
and Defense Committee yesterday.
www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/546753.html
PM Sharon agrees to Likud compromise on referendum
Ha’aretz 3/2/2005
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon informed the chairman of the Likud Central
Committee, Tzachi Hanegbi, that he accepts the compromise that Hanegbi proposed
on the matter of the referendum, which the party’s central committee
will vote on Thursday at the Tel Aviv Exhibition Grounds. According to the
compromise, the central committee will call on members of the Likud faction
in the Knesset to takes steps for the immediate promulgation of a referendum
law, something Sharon objects to vigorously…Sharon’s associates
said Tuesday that he preferred not to place obstacles in the way of the compromise,
since there is no majority anyway for a plebiscite in the Knesset, and he saw
no point to any unnecessary conflict.
www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/546187.html
Commission to request expanded power for IDF censor
Ha’aretz 3/1/2005
The defense establishment commission examining the military censor’s
powers plans to recommend expanding the powers of the censor, according to
a document from the commission that was sent to the Press Council’s presidium
yesterday. The commission, headed by retired Justice Eliahu Winograd and including
professors Gavriella Shalev and Assa Kasher, is apparently planning legislation
that would cancel the longstanding relationship between the press and the censor.
www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/HMYT-6A3S
S6?OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=ACOS-635PFR
Disengagement and after: Where next for Sharon and the Likud?
ReliefWeb/International Crisis Group 3/1/2005
International Crisis Group, Middle East Report N°36 – OVERVIEW: On 20
February 2005, the Israeli cabinet voted overwhelmingly to approve the unilateral
evacuation of settlements in Gaza and parts of the northern West Bank. Obstacles
still remain — the government may not survive the pending budget vote;
violence in the occupied territories may scuttle the disengagement plan; Likud
rebels may engineer delaying tactics and impose a referendum; and Prime Minister
Sharon could be the victim of an assassination attempt. But the significance
of the vote ought not be underestimated.
www.comeandsee.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=617
Police probe threats of renewed anti-Christian violence
Come And See/Haaretz 2/28/2005
Tiberias police launched an investigation Sunday to find out who was
behind a pamphlet threatening renewed violence against Christians in the mixed
Druze-Christian-Muslim village of Maghar, in the Galilee, that saw violent
clashes earlier this month. The pamphlet, which was distributed Sunday and
signed by a group calling itself “The Heroes of Hamza Ben Ali” after
a Druze saint, expressed support for the riots and included detailed threats
to open fire on any Christians venturing onto the village’s main road
starting Wednesday.
news.ft.com/cms/s/ca9b2dc0-892e-11d9-b7ed-00000e2511c8.html
Israeli appointment may up Tehran stakes
Financial Times 2/28/2005
In the diplomatic war of nerves over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, last week’s
appointment of the first air force chief to head the Israeli armed forces will
have added to concerns within the Tehran regime that its enemies might eventually
decide to resolve the issue by force. A number of commentators noted that,
if Israel were to decide to mount a pre-emptive strike to knock out Iran’s
nuclear facilities before it achieved the capability to make a bomb, Major
General Dan Halutz, a former fighter ace, would be the ideal man to oversee
the task.
www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/546694.html
Blair says conference will place security obligations on PA
Ha’aretz 3/2/2005
Prime Minister Tony Blair told Channel 2 that despite the lack of a clear
statement addressing an Israeli demand to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure,
the London conference will demand the Palestinian Authority meet security obligations
to enable it to combat militant groups…”There is very strong emphasis
on the right security structures in order to make sure that anybody engaged
in terrorism is taken on internally by the Palestinian authorities,” Blair
said. “There is a clear consensus in the international community now
that a viable Palestinian state means a state viable in its territory but it
also means a state viable as a partner for Israel,” Blair said.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4306773.stm
Palestinians agree steps forward
BBC 3/1/2005
The Palestinians and the international community say they have agreed “practical
steps” to create a viable Palestinian state.An agreement reached at a
London summit covers governance, security, and economic and social development.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, attending the summit, said prospects
for peace between Israel and Palestinians were the best in years. The conference
aimed to show world support for the Palestinian Authority.
news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=615717
Straw backs Abbas with call for full peace conference
The Independent 3/1/2005
The Palestinian meeting in London today, hosted by Tony Blair, could
pave the way for a peace conference on the Middle East, the Foreign Secretary
Jack Straw said. Mr Blair had talks with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President,
in Downing Street to discuss the strategy for reviving the peace process, after
a suicide bombing by militants in Tel Aviv on Friday was condemned as the work
of “rejectionist terrorists” by the Foreign Secretary.
www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=6751&CategoryId=5
Blair Presses Reluctant Abbas Into London Conference
By Chris McGreal, MIFTAH/The Guardian 3/1/2005
Downing Street had to put pressure on a reluctant Palestinian president,
Mahmoud Abbas, to attend Tony Blair’s Middle East conference in London
tomorrow after the Palestinian leadership expressed fears that the meeting
will serve Israel’s interests by raising new hurdles to the revival of
political negotiations. Mr Abbas had planned to send his prime minister, Ahmed
Qureia, as a demonstration of scepticism about the conference, which will agree
specific political and security reforms and mechanisms to revive the Palestinian
economy.
www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EGUA-6A3NC
U?OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=ACOS-635PFR
Middle East Quartet Statement
ReliefWeb/Middle East Quartet 3/1/2005
London, England, March 1, 2005 — The Quartet met in London today and
condemned in the strongest possible terms the terrorist attack that occurred
in Tel Aviv on February 25, which killed and wounded dozens of innocent victims
and undermines the recent positive steps taken by Israel and the Palestinians.
The Quartet called for immediate action by the Palestinian Authority to apprehend
and bring to justice the perpetrators and noted the need for further and sustained
action by the Palestinian Authority to prevent acts of terrorism.
www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/HMYT-6A3L
BJ?OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=ACOS-635PFR
World Bank reaffirms support for Palestinian Authority
ReliefWeb 3/1/2005
Wolfensohn emphasizes link between economic development, governance and
security — LONDON, March 1, 2005 – The World Bank today reaffirmed
its commitment to support the reform efforts of the Palestinian Authority and
will continue to help raise short-term emergency budgetary support as well
as medium-term development assistance. At a meeting of the international community
held in London, the Bank said it will also work with investors to help stimulate
private sector re-engagement in the Palestinian economy.
www.imemc.org/headlines/2005/mar/week1/030105/progress-analysis.htm
Progress with no hurdles; impossible
International Middle East Media Center 3/1/2005
Following the suicide attack in Tel Aviv, which took the lives of 5 Israelis,
Israel‚s government froze relations with the Palestinian Authority, halted
both the process of transferring West Bank cities and the release of the 400
more prisoners. In practice brought to halt the full process initiated by the
Sharm‚s summit…For the first time ever, not only the PA condemned
the attack as an act of “terror‰ but also did all Palestinian resistance
groups. For the first time ever, an overwhelming majority among Palestinians
is clearly standing against such attacks, and is welling to accept for the
PA to act against the ones who perpetuated the attack, including arrests and
trials.
www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=889243&fid=942
Moody’s: Israel recession completely over
Globes 3/1/2005
However, Moody’s retained its A2 credit rating for Israel, and kept its
rating outlook at “Stable”. — Israel’s economy has
completely recovered from recession, states Moody’s in its annual report
on the Israeli economy, published today. Minister of Finance Benjamin Netanyahu
expressed satisfaction at the upbeat report. Standard & Poor’s and
Fitch Ratings have also published positive reports on Israel.
www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/VBOL-6A3JAV?
OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=ACOS-635PFR
USAID wraps up emergency water operations
ReliefWeb 3/1/2005
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The American government Tuesday wound up an $18
million emergency operation that kept water flowing to 1.1 million Palestinians
during the intense military activity of the second Intifada. Emergency personnel
were repeatedly deployed to avert potential humanitarian disasters by providing
critical water and sanitation services to areas caught in the midst of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Some 81 projects, most in combat zones, were
completed during the operation’s 35-month duration. The entire operation
was funded by the American people through the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID).
www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/VBOL-6A2HGD?
OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=ACOS-635PFR
USAID pledges additional $8 million for emergency food
ReliefWeb 2/28/2005
RAMALLAH, West Bank – The American people contributed an additional $8
million to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) Monday to ensure food
security for 480,000 people in the West Bank and Gaza. The funds are part of
an accelerated assistance program designed to underline the United States’ commitment
to assisting Palestinians following their historic presidential election. [sic]
www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/HMYT-6A2
MG6?OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=ACOS-635PFR
Saudi Fund for Development donates $20 million for rehousing homeless
refugees in Gaza
ReliefWeb/UNRWA 2/28/2005
Geneva – The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia‚s Fund for Development has
announced a donation of US$ 20 million to the United Nations Relief and Works
Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in response to the Agency‚s Emergency
Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory.
electronicintifada.net/v2/article3647.shtml
UNRWA presents $1.1 billion plan to donors
Electronic Intifada/UNRWA 2/28/2005
Report, UNRWA — GENEVA — The United Nations Relief and Works Agency
for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) today presented a blueprint to a better future
for four million Palestine refugees to the international donor community in
Geneva. The Agency is requesting an additional US$1.1 billion over the next
five years to allow it to improve the life chances of the refugees and enhance
the ir ability to support themselves.
www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/HMYT-6A2
MNE?OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=ACOS-635PFR
UNRWA Medium Term Plan (MTP) 2005-2009
ReliefWeb/UNRWA 2/28/2005
Executive Summary: Strategic framework — In pursuing its mandate,UNRWA
has become a principal agent for the human development of Palestine refugees.
In the face of declining performance and service delivery indicators, the Agency
devised this Medium Term Plan (MTP) to restore the living conditions of Palestine
refugees to acceptable international standards and set them on the road to
self reliance and sustainable human development. The MTP should also help prepare
Palestine refugees to contribute to any positive changes that may be realized
in the region over the coming years.
www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=889209&fid=942
“Defense News‰: Israel, India agree to develop 3 new UAVs
Globes 3/1/2005
“Defense News‰: Israel is supplying all of India‚s needs for
unmanned aerial vehicles. — Israel and India have signed an agreement to
develop three models of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), to be produced in India, “Defense
News‰ reports in its latest issue. Senior officials from the Israel and
Indian Ministries of Defense signed the agreement during the Aero India 2005
exhibition on February 9-13.
www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=889121&fid=942
Foreign direct investment plummeted 60% in 2004
Globes 3/1/2005
The Bank of Israel predicts recovery in 2005. Total foreign investment
in Israel rose by 10% in 2004. — The Bank of Israel optimistically predicts
that foreign direct investment in Israel will probably grow substantially in
2005, as the country becomes an attractive investment target. The optimism
belies the plunge in foreign direct investment in Israel from $4 billion in
2003 to $1.6 billion in 2004.
www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=13083
U.S. attorney defends Palestinian right of return at Beirut conference
Daily Star 3/2/2005
BEIRUT: Possible means to grant Palestinian refugees the right to return
to their homeland lie within the hands of Arab states – namely the oil-rich
Gulf states, according to American attorney Stanley Cohen. Cohen’s suggestions
came during a conference organized by the International Union of Parliamentarians
for the Defense of the Palestinian Cause last week at Beirut’s Safir
Heliopolitan hotel, which gathered international and Arab parliamentarians
as well as scholars, priests and for the first time in Lebanon, four rabbis.
electronicintifada.net/v2/article3648.shtml
Ayoub family’s appeal against deportation from Canada accepted
Electronic Intifada/CADPR 3/1/2005
Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees — Montreal,
Monday, February 27th, 2005 — After taking sanctuary at the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce
church in Montreal more than one-year ago, the Ayoub family – Khalil
Ayoub, 67, Nabih Ayoub, 69 and Thérèse Boulos Haddad, 62 – have won their
battle to remain in Canada. This past Sunday, after the church service at the
congregation of the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce church, the Palestinian Refugee Support
Committee of the Notre-Dame de Grace Church publicly declared the news of the
Ayoub families’ acceptance, to a cheering congregation and supporters
from the Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees who had
gathered at the church.
english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7B00FC8B-6EC7-4214-BE34-72B7B526916C.htm
Asad: Syrian pullout soon
AlJazeera 3/2/2005
Syrian President Bashar al-Asad says his troops are most likely to pull
out of Lebanon in a few months. — Syria has 14,000 troops in Lebanon,
but its dominant role in the country has come under increasing scrutiny as
a result of mass demonstrations sparked by the assassination last month of
former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri. “The withdrawal should
be very soon and maybe in the next few months. Not after that,” Assad
told Time magazine in an interview published on Tuesday.
www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=13066
People power brings down Karami’s Cabinet
Daily Star 3/2/2005
Lebanon’s government was swept from power Monday night in the face of
a mass protest and increased political pressure sparked by the assassination
of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri two weeks ago. In the middle of a dramatic
parliamentary session, Prime Minister Omar Karami shocked the House by suddenly
announcing his government’s resignation as it was defending itself against
a vote of no confidence. Karami said: “Out of concern that the government
does not become an obstacle to the good of the country, I announce the resignation
of the government I had the honor to lead. May God preserve Lebanon.”
www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=12852
Lebanon seeks new leader
Middle East Online 3/1/2005
Jumblatt calls for formation of neutral transitional government to oversee
partial withdrawal of Syrian troops. — Lebanon began the search for a
new prime minister Tuesday after the dramatic collapse of the pro-Syrian government
in the face of mass public protests left the country facing an uncertain future.
Prime Minister Omar Karameh’s surprise resignation after just four months
in office was hailed as a rare display of people power in the Middle East and
greeted with jubilation by thousands of opposition demonstrators in Beirut…Pro-Syrian
President Emile Lahoud has granted MPs 48 hours to decide on a candidate for
the post of prime minister which is customarily given to a member of the Sunni
Muslim community.
www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=12848
Iran tells Lebanon not to fall into US ‘trap’
Middle East Online 3/1/2005
Iranian FM says US policy is to destroy people‚s unity, their pride at
having expelled Israeli occupiers. — TEHRAN – Iran’s foreign
minister called on Lebanon Tuesday not to fall into what he said was an American
trap aimed at destroying Lebanese unity and helping Israel, the student news
agency ISNA reported. US policy is to “guarantee the interests and security
of Israel and secure the occupation of Arab lands” by the Jewish state,
Kamal Kharazi was quoted as saying.
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3052545,00.html
Assad may fire spy chief
YNetNews 3/1/2005
In the aftermath of the Lebanese government’s fall, Assad may sack his
intelligence chief. The move comes in the wake of demonstrations over the assassination
of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. In the meantime, western leaders
are planning a strategy for a new Lebanon — “There’s electricity
in the air. Beirut is a sea of emotion now. ‘Revolution’ is on
everyone’s lips,” according to an editorial in the Lebanese daily “Al
Mustakabal,” a newspaper owned by former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri,
whose slaying last week brought on a wave of popular demonstrations.
www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=12842
Iran determined to press on with nuclear fuel drive
Middle East Online 3/1/2005
Iranian FM thinks American leaders are intelligent enough not to strike
Islamic Republic. — TEHRAN – Iran is determined to resume uranium
enrichment activities in order to produce nuclear fuel for 20 planned reactors,
Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi said Tuesday. Kharazi was also quoted by the
student news agency ISNA as saying he believed the Americans were “intelligent
enough” not to attack Iran, which Washington accuses of using an atomic
energy drive as a cover for weapons development.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4309777.stm
Iran rejects repeat visit to base
BBC 3/1/2005
Iran has rejected a request by nuclear inspectors to pay a second visit
to a military base, the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
has said. The US suspects nuclear experiments aimed at building an atomic bomb
might be under way at facilities in Parchin. While UN inspectors were allowed
to visit the site in January, they were kept away from a number of buildings.
But the agency acknowledged Tehran had allowed access to nuclear material and
facilities “in a timely manner”.
www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=12844
Competitive politics in Egypt exposes political vacuum
Middle East Online 3/1/2005
Egypt‚s opposition caught unprepared for Mubarak‚s reform after
more than 20 years of autocratic rule. — Hosni Mubarak’s move to
allow for a competitive election to succeed him as Egypt’s president
has thrust open a long-closed door for an opposition caught unprepared after
years of autocratic rule. “We are suffering from a political vacuum that
has lasted more than 20 years and has suppressed a whole aspect of political
life on the grounds that the state had to confront extremist Islamic organisations,” analyst
Nabil Abdul Fattah said.
english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/FB86D149-74DE-4F6D-ADC2-5E4201D72F2D.htm
Rumsfeld sued for prisoner abuse
AlJazeera 3/2/2005
Two US human rights groups have sued Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld,
saying he first authorised and then failed to stop torture of prisoners in
Iraq and Afghanistan. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Human Rights
First on Tuesday filed suit in federal district court in Rumsfeld’s home
state of Illinois on behalf of eight former detainees who said they were severely
tortured. All eight were subsequently released without being charged.
Articles
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/546728.html
With the High Court and B’Tselem
By Uzi Benziman, Ha’aretz 3/1/2005
The
late Yitzhak Rabin explained his decision to sign the Oslo Accords,
among other reasons, because Yasser Arafat and the Palestine
Liberation Organization would deal with terrorists “without
the High Court and B’Tselem.” Now the current prime
minister, Ariel Sharon, has made the Supreme Court into a scapegoat
for Israel’s security difficulties. At a Likud faction
session on Sunday, he said the construction of the separation
fence is being delayed by the High Court. “The problem
is the legal system,” the prime minister diagnosed…
…It
is disappointing to hear the country’s leaders turning
their backs on their duty to respect the High Court and protect
its prestige, and it is very revealing that they do not hesitate
to impugn it and undermine its authority when the matters the
court is considering touch directly on them.
If
they were to examine the positions of the High Court without
all the attendant raving, they would discover the court’s
real attitude toward security matters as presented by the state
during petitions that deal with its behavior in the territories…
…Here
are some examples: The High Court rejected a petition against
the expulsion of residents from the territories; except in a
few cases, it rejects petitions against house demolitions and
chooses not to intervene in the defense establishment’s
position that house demolitions are a deterence against future
terrorism; the court rejected a petition against the use of flechette
shells; the court allowed the destruction of entire buildings
even if parts of the building were occupied by people who had
nothing to do with terrorist activity; the court rejected a petition
by the family of a terrorist killed in Jerusalem to return his
body to them…
electronicintifada.net/v2/article3645.shtml
The Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (and War)
By Bob Feldman, Electronic Intifada 3/1/2005
Most
U.S. anti-war activists opposed the Bush Administration’s
2003 military invasion and occupation of Iraq because it was
an immoral violation of the Nuremberg Accords and international
law.
Justifications
from the pro-war side emphasised the supposed threat posed by
Saddam Hussein. In an interview with Paula Kaufman that appeared
on Insight magazine’s website on May 13, 2002, former CIA
Director James Woolsey, a member of the Jewish Institute for
National Security Affairs Board of Advisors, said the following: “I
would hope that by this autumn we would have rid the region of
Saddam…So sometime in early fall would be reasonable. First,
we need to build our stockpile of smart weapons and prepare logistically
to put 100,000 to 200,000 troops on the ground…
“Saddam’s
top nuclear scientist, Khidhir Abdul Abas Hamza, who in 1994
defected to the U.S., has claimed that nuclear weapons equipment
and facilities exist all over Iraq, many buried under schools,
mosques and the like…
…Coincidentally,
in January 2004, Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs
Board of Advisors Member Woolsey’s wife, Institute for
Defense Analyses (IDA) Trustee Suzanne Woolsey, became a director
of Fluor Corporation, which has $1.6 billion in Iraq-related
reconstruction contracts.
www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=22&ItemID=7339
Israel‚s Third Wall
By James Brooks, ZNet 3/1/2005
”Ending
the violence‰ and the Palestinian experience — We‚ve
all heard that when they met at Sharm el-Sheikh on the eighth
of February, Mahmoud Abbas and Ariel Sharon agreed to Œstop
the violence in a historic agreement that signals the end of
the Intifada.‚
But
most of us did not hear about Ibrahim Abu Jazar from Rafah, who
was fatally wounded by Israeli troops on the ninth of February.
During the following two-and-a-half weeks, the Israeli army observed
the “cease fire‰ by killing seven more Palestinians,
three of them children. People were still waiting to see this “cease
fire‰ in Nablus, Salfit, Hebron, and other occupied places,
when it was “suddenly shattered‰ by the bombing deaths
of four Israelis in Tel Aviv on February 25.
Even
if the Israeli army had not mocked the Palestinians by repeatedly
violating the “cease fire‰, even if every militant
in Palestine had accepted its terms, the agreement at Sharm el-Sheikh
would not have stopped the violence. At best, it would have rendered
it temporarily invisible to the television cameras. Gunpowder
and TNT are merely symptoms of the ongoing violence in this war.
They will continue to appear until the underlying disease is
cured.
www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=6749&CategoryId=5
Palestine: The Region’s Second Democracy?
By Ziad Abu-Amer, MIFTAH 3/1/2005
By
adopting free and democratic elections at the presidential, legislative,
and local levels, Palestinians may be laying down the foundation
of another working democracy in the Middle East. In the January
9 presidential election, none of the seven candidates, including
Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), took victory for granted. This was
evident in the hard campaigning by Fatah and Abu Mazen in these
elections, and also in the anxiety inside Fatah regarding the
outcome. Palestinian state television gave candidates equal airtime
to present their programs. Abu Mazen won the elections with only
62 percent of the vote. The new president’s swearing-in
ceremony was delayed for a few days by a court ruling pending
charges regarding election violations. Such signs of democracy
carry great symbolic and practical significance in the Palestinian
setting.
In
addition to the presidential election, the first two rounds of
the municipal elections (December 23 in 26 West Bank municipalities
and January 27 in 10 Gaza municipalities) reflected the pluralistic
nature of Palestinian politics. There was fierce competition
between Fatah and Hamas (the Islamic Resistance Movement, the
main opposition party), a pattern likely to be repeated in future
rounds of municipal elections as well as in legislative elections
now scheduled for July 17. The Palestinian Legislative Council
(PLC) is currently working on a new election law based on a mixture
of proportional representation (taking the whole country as one
electoral district) and a district system. This law is likely
to allow for broader participation and representation in the
new Council.
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