www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/567677.html
PM: I can withstand pressure for another disengagement plan
Ha’aretz 4/21/2005
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon believes he will be able to resist international pressure for a further withdrawal from the West Bank “the day after” the upcoming pullout. In a pre-Passover interview with Haaretz on Wednesday, Sharon said the disengagement will definitely proceed but that no decision had been made on postponing the pullout until after the Tisha B’Av fast on August 14. He added that he would be discussing the matter with Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz. In an effort to curry favor with the settlers, the prime minister said they were “a leading group” that still faced important national tasks in settling the Negev, Galilee and Judea.
imemc2.thinkhost.net/index.php?option=
com_content&task=view&id=10543&Itemid=1
Army to expel 27 residents from a village near Tubas
International Middle East Media Center 4/20/2005
The Israeli army intends to evacuate 27 residents of three families from the village of Al-Aqaba, near Tubas, after notices of eviction were issued against them. The families have to evacuate with 72 hours, or they will be forced out and lose these livestock and properties. The residents are from the families of Wahhdan and Dabak. The residents fear that the eviction of the three families will mark the start of further evictions against the residents of the village, in order to separate the Palestinian areas from the Jordanian borders. Sami Sadeq, 50, head of the village council told the Aranbs48 news website, that the village of Al-Aqaba was announced as a closed military zone in 1967 depriving the residents from the basis services and needs.
imemc2.thinkhost.net/index.php?option=
com_content&task=view&id=10533&Itemid=1
Soldiers to level 3 homes, wells near Hebron
International Middle East Media Center 4/20/2005
A local source in Hebron reported that soldiers handed three residents of Yatta, east of Hebron, military orders of intentions to level their homes. The source stated that the homes are close to the Israeli settlement of Carmi‚el, and inhibited by 20 residents. Also, soldiers intend to destroy 10 wells used for agriculture and as drinking water for live stock the residents own. [end]
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/567456.html
Deputy defense minister: PA Chairman Abbas’ time is running out
Ha’aretz 4/20/2005
Deputy Defense Minister, MK Ze’ev Boim, launched a verbal attack on Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) on Wednesday, saying time is running out for him to meet the Palestinians’ commitments to the internationally-brokered road map to Middle East peace. “We continue to demand with resolve that Abu Mazen effectively deal with terror and dismantle its weapons infrastructure, not only because he committed to doing so in front of the world in the framework of the road map, but because he is endangering the existence of the Palestinian Authority and Fatah’s control of the PA,” said Boim.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/567678.html
Israel to free 7 Jordanian prisoners as good-will gesture
Ha’aretz 4/21/2005
Israel plans to free seven of 18 Jordanians from its jails on Thursday in keeping with a recent pledge to improve ties between the two countries, Israeli officials said on Wednesday. Jordan had demanded the prisoners’ release after returning its ambassador to Tel Aviv in February following a four-year absence during a Palestinian uprising that has calmed in the past three months. Israel’s cabinet had decided on Sunday to free nine prisoners not involved in deadly attacks against Israelis soon. Officials in the Justice Ministry and Prison Services could not explain why they had only seven on their list to be freed early Thursday from a prison in central Israel.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/567679.html
PA says is better prepared for disengagement than Sharon
Ha’aretz 4/21/2005
The Palestinian Authority has been busy preparing to coordinate the Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank, a senior Palestinian source said Wednesday, adding, “We’re better prepared than [Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon for the evacuation.” A PA minister said that the Palestinians, assisted by mayors from the area as well as private businesses, will conduct a comprehensive survey of the buildings in the settlements and decide which it wants to keep for the “development and growth of the Palestinian economy.” The minister said that, based on international law, it will demand that Israel demolish the rest and remove the rubble.
imemc2.thinkhost.net/index.php?option=
com_content&task=view&id=10532&Itemid=1
Four arrested east of Bethlehem
International Middle East Media Center 4/20/2005
Wednesday at dawn, Israeli soldiers invaded the village Al-Asakrah, east of Bethlehem and arrested four residents. A local source in the village reported that soldiers broke into dozens of homes and conducted military searches, damage reported. Also, soldiers forced the residents, including children, out of their homes and interrogated the youth. On Tuesday at night, soldiers erected several checkpoints around villages east of Bethlehem, and conducted military searches; no arrests. [end]
www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition
_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=14455
Palestinian MPs approve new electoral law
Daily Star 4/21/2005
The Palestinian legislature on Wednesday took a key step toward calling parliamentary polls on July 17, giving preliminary approval to a new electoral law. Meanwhile, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas accused the Israeli government of incitement against him, while Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said that peace negotiations with the Palestinians can begin if they carry out their obligations. The new law calls for a mixed electoral system – two-thirds of the legislators to be chosen from districts and the other third by all the people. Abbas favors a system with no districts. Abbas can now propose amendments before final parliamentary approval.
www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1464649,00.html
Guns of Gaza stay loaded but silent as talks go on
The Guardian 4/21/2005
Palestinian militants keep ceasefire as they await peace deal – Pressure for jobs and end to corruption grows in run up to polls — Abu Thair likes to appear with a masked group of gunmen to illustrate that while the guns of Gaza are silent, the magazines are loaded. In the back room of a residential building in the north of Gaza City, seven men pose with Kalashnikovs, a sniper’s rifle and a grenade launcher. In the corner is a pile of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades flags for funerals and demonstrations. Abu Thair, a leader of the Fatah-affiliated brigades in the city, says his men are enjoying a rest, but insists that “whatever happens we are ready”.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/567575.html
Peres, Qureia to meet Thursday on Gaza pullout
Ha’aretz 4/20/2005
Vice Premier Shimon Peres is set to meet Thursday with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia to discuss possible Israeli-Palestinian coordination during the evacuation of settlements in the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank, according to a senior political source. Qureia is considered to be one of the chief opponents of coordinating with Israel on the withdrawal, arguing it will legitimize a partial Israeli withdrawal and perpetuate Israeli control of the West Bank. Also Thursday, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz will meet with PA Civil Affairs Minister Mohammed Dahlan, and senior aide to the prime minister Dov Weisglass will meet with Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/567394.html
U.S. and Israeli officials meet over disengagement funds
Ha’aretz 4/20/2005
Israel has asked for indirect financial aid ahead of the disengagement, and the Bush administration has agreed to front Jerusalem a 3 billion-dollar financial guarantee until 2008, Israel Radio said Wednesday. Israeli delegates met with the U.S. officials in Washington predawn on Wednesday to begin talks on financial aid for development in the Negev and the Galilee. Jerusalem is also asking for assistance in funding the relocation of Israel Defense Forces bases after this summer’s planned disengagement from Gaza and some settlements in the northern West Bank.
www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=1&id=859
Abbas Says Israel Undermining His Authority, PNA Legitimacy
Palestine Media Center 4/20/2005
Palestinian President Ready to Meet Sharon Anywhere, Anytime — In the first meeting of its kind with Israeli journalists in Ramallah on Tuesday Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas criticized the mounting Israeli incitement against him as well as the Israeli “systematic escalation,‰ Israel’s failure to abide by the “understandings‰ he reached with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at Sharm el-Sheikh on February 8, and the ongoing Israeli undermining of the Palestinian authority…Urging Israeli reciprocity, he said: “We’re happy to see the Israelis celebrating their holiday, but the principle must be reciprocity.‰
www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=905488&fid=942
US aid to Negev and Galil far from certain
Globes 4/17/2005
Negotiations will be confined to aid for moving IDF installations under the disengagement plan. — US aid to Israel for moving Israel Defense Forces (IDF) installations and other activity under the disengagement plan, and for developing the Negev and the Galilee, is far from certain, despite President George W. Bush‚s declared support for disengagement and his public commitment to providing financial aid to the Negev and the Galilee. Future aid to the Palestinians is also questionable, Israeli and US sources in Washington believe.
www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=906718&fid=942
US loan guarantees extended to 2008
Globes 4/20/2005
Within a few weeks, practical discussions will begin in Washington on Israel‚s request for aid for disengagement. The schedule was agreed yesterday in the first meeting between the Israeli economic delegation visiting the US and a US interdepartmental team. The meeting took place in the White House. Ministry of Finance director general Dr. Joseph Bachar heads the delegation, which also includes Israel Ambassador to the US Daniel Ayalon, Economic Minister to North America Ron Dermer, Bank of Israel director of research Dr. Karnit Flug, and other Ministry of Finance officials.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/567608.html
Putin: Syrian missile deal will block Israeli flyovers
Ha’aretz 4/20/2005
The SA-18 missiles Russia is selling Syria “will of course make it difficult to fly over the residence of the Syrian president,” Russian President Vladimir Putin bluntly stated Wednesday. “It will make flying low difficult,” implying what has long been believed to be the reason for the sale of the anti-aircraft missiles: Syrian embarrassment over Israeli air force planes “buzzing” presidential palaces in Syria to issue warnings to Syrian President Bashar Assad.
www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=14433
Shalom calls on Russia to combat ‘extremism’
Daily Star 4/21/2005
MOSCOW: Russia should fight “extremists” in Syria and Iran if it is to play an important role in the Middle East, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Wednesday. In an interview with the Russian Vremya Novostei daily, Shalom said: “Russia must meet two conditions in order to play a key role.” Speaking a week ahead of a visit by President Vladimir Putin to Israel, the first by a Russian leader, he said: “Encourage the moderate political figures and fight against extremists who continue to consider Israel as the Zionist enemy.”…”The extremists are well known: these are Syria and Iran,” he said.
www.palestine-pmc.com/pdf/20-4-05.pdf
Palestinian Monitoring Group Daily Situation Report , 18-19 April 2005 (PDF)
Palestine Media Center 4/21/2005
…NABLUS: Raids/Destruction of Property/Curfew: (i) At 08:45, the Israeli army raided the city of Nablus. At 23:50, the Israeli army raided the city again and removed the license plates of a number of vehicles parked along the city streets while patrolling the area. At 03:00, the Israeli army withdrew from the area. (ii) At 12:30, the Israeli army raided the village of Burqa, opened indiscriminate fire, imposed curfew, and withdrew at 17:30. (iii) At 15:50, an Israeli army tank raided the town of Beit Iba, set up a checkpoint at the entrance to the village of Zawata, and searched civilians and vehicles. (iv) At 01:20, the Israeli army raided the town of Beit Furik and arrested 2 civilians, including 1 child…
www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/english/details.asp?name=4120
Israeli Strict Measure Aborts a Woman at a Military Checkpoint
International Press Center 4/20/2005
GAZA, Palestine, April 20,2005 (IPC+WAFA)---The Israeli restrictive measures at “Al Tufah” barrier, the only artillery leading Al Mawassi area, west of khan Younis city, south the Strip caused the abortion of a pregnant woman today morning. Medics said that the Israeli soldiers at the barrier intercepted the ambulances and hindered it access which it was carrying the pregnant woman to Mubark hospital , west of the city just far away hundreds of meters from the area.
www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/KHII-6
BN36B?OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=ACOS-635PFR
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel visits Ofer detention camp
ReliefWeb 4/20/2005
A new interim report has been released by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel following a visit by a physician and lawyer from the organization to Ofer Detention Camp where Palestinian detainees are held — On 17 April 2005, a physician and lawyer from Physicians for Human Rights-Israel visited Ofer Detention Camp, after having received permission to do so from the Israeli Army, which runs the prison. PHR-Israel conducted the visit due to the numerous complaints it received from detainees in the center…The medical services available to the prisoners are not satisfactory. The army must grant better conditions and treatment to the prisoners, especially since they do not have the option of getting their care from another source.
www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/english/details.asp?name=4116
Ofra Prisoners Infected With Measles
International Press Center 4/20/2005
GAZA, Palestine, April 20,2005 (IPC)---Scabies, an infectious disease in particular the measles are present amongst the prisoners of Ofra, nearby Rammallah as the Israeli occupation authorities refused to proffer an appropriate and adequate medication for the Palestinian prisoners. The Palestinian sources said that the Ofra prison services isolated the prisoners of “7"and “9" awards from the rest of the prisoners following the increase of the number of prisoner infected with measles.
imemc2.thinkhost.net/index.php?option=
com_content&task=view&id=10534&Itemid=1
Administrative detention for the eighth time
International Middle East Media Center 4/20/2005
Israeli Prison Authorities (IPS) renewed military detention orders against a resident of Nablus for the eighth time. Talal, the Father of Raslan Thouqan, 32, from Balata refugee camp east of Nablus, said that the IPS renewed military detention orders against his son additional 5 months. Raslan was arrested 3 years ago, and was placed under administrative detention without trial or charges. It is worth mentioning that the four sons of Talal were arrested, three were recently released while the older son, Talal, remained in detention.
www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/english/details.asp?name=4111
UNICEF Says Israeli Actions Hampered Palestinian Education
International Press Center 4/20/2005
GENEVA, April20, 2005 (IPC+WAFA)— The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday that the Israeli occupation actions across the occupied Palestinian territories, including the siege, curfew and closure of schools, have hampered the Palestinian educational process widely, Palestine News Agency (WAFA) reported. The UNICEF asserted in a report titled ‘Progress for Children’, that it is attempting to ensure equality in education for both genders in terms of the elementary and secondary educations, working on compensating the Palestinian children of the times their schools have been closed down due to the Israeli occupation actions.
www.palestinercs.org/pressreleases/Year%202005/PR180405WBRR.htm
PRCS Weekly Press Release for the period 09-15 April 2005
Palestine Red Crescent Society 4/18/2005
…Qalqilia, 12/04/2005 (11:15 pm): A PRCS ambulance was stopped at Beit Iba checkpoint while on route to transport a sick 75-year-old person in critical condition to Al-Watani Hospital in Nablus City. Immediately, ambulance driver started calling out to the soldiers at the checkpoint using the loudspeaker, explaining to them that the case was urgent. However, the soldiers refused to answer him. The driver continued to call out to the soldiers through the loudspeaker and also sounded the horn on several occasions. The ambulance was allowed to pass the checkpoint after a 20-minute delay. However, soon after the hospital received the patient, the person was pronounced dead by hospital officials.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/567529.html
Prisons Service relaxes solitary for pro-Palestinian activist Fahima
Ha’aretz 4/20/2005
The Prisons Service said Wednesday that it has relaxed the terms of solitary confinement for pro-Palestinian activist Tali Fahima, allowing her to meet other prisoners for two hours a day. Prisons Service officials told the Ramle Magistrate’s Court that they had also decided to allow Fahima, who has been in complete isolation in the Neve Tirze women’s prison in the city, to see her mother and her lawyer, Dina Smadar Ben-Natan, without a glass divider between them. Fahima was arrested on August 10 on suspicion of involvement with the military arm of Fatah in Jenin, after having spent time in the company of Zakharia Zubeidi, commander of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the northern West Bank city.
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3075434,00.html
Leave our kids alone
YNetNews 4/20/2005
Settlers vent fury at Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi, say cops recruit Gaza teenagers for informers — Gush Katif settlement leaders accused police of trying to enlist Gaza Strip teenagers as informers during a stormy meeting in the Gaza Strip. The charge was made by Gaza Beach Regional Council leader Avner Shimoni during a Wednesday afternoon meeting with Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi that settlement leaders described as “tense.”
www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1463906,00.html
Travel ban on Vanunu extended
The Guardian 4/20/2005
Israel’s interior minister has extended a travel ban on the nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu for another year, officials said yesterday. Mr Vanunu, who has been barred from leaving the country since he was released from prison last year, must remain in the country until at least April 19 2006, said Gilad Heiman, a spokesman for the interior minister, Ophir Pines-Paz. Mr Vanunu, a former technician at Israel’s nuclear plant in the southern town of Dimona, was released in April 2004 after serving 18 years for divulging information about Israel’s atomic programme to a British newspaper.
www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=2&id=883
B‚Tselem: No Legal Settlements
Palestine Media Center 4/20/2005
The Israeli Center for Human Rights “B‚Tselem‰, Press Release – Land Exproriation and Settlements – www.btselem.org/English — Since 1967, Israel has established in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip 152 settlements that have been recognized by the Interior Ministry. In addition, dozens of outposts of varying size have been established. Some of these outposts are settlements for all intents and purposes, but the Interior Ministry has not recognized them as such. Israel has established in the Occupied Territories a separation cum discrimination regime, in which it maintains two systems of laws, and a person‚s rights are based on his or her national origin. This regime is the only of its kind in the world, and brings to mind dark regimes of the past, such as the Apartheid regime in South Africa.
imemc2.thinkhost.net/index.php?option=com_
content&task=view&id=10530&Itemid=1
Dozens detained in Al-Khader
International Press Center 4/20/2005
Wednesday morning, Israeli soldiers detained dozens of residents on a military checkpoint in Al-Khader, south of Bethlehem. A local source in Al-Khader reported that soldiers erected a checkpoint near the Big Mosque areas, stopped dozens of vehicles and detained the residents, especially the youth. [end]
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/
ShowFull&cid=1113790879843&p=1101615860782
IAF beefing up surveillance over Lebanon
Jerusalem Post 4/19/2005
The air force has increased its reconnaissance over Lebanon as the military has reinforced its forces along the northern border to address any attempt by Hizbullah to escalate tension. Certain reserve units have also been instructed to prepare for training and be available for immediate call-up should action be required against Hizbullah attacks. According to military sources, reserve units have been training in the North to prepare for possible confrontation with Hizbullah. They will work in conjunction with the air force and other special forces to thwart attempts to fire rockets into northern Israel. Meanwhile, Lebanese security sources have reportedly said Israeli aircraft have been flying over south Lebanon and over the coast nearly daily since Hizbullah dispatched a drone over the North last week.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4457699.stm
Hamas under pressure over vigilantes
BBC 4/19/2005
Nineteen-year-old Yousra al-Azam and her fiancé had spent the afternoon shopping for her wedding dress in Gaza City. Later they went down to the beach. They took something to eat and drink, and they sat and watched the waves. Yousra’s marriage was supposed to be in just a few days time. But as it turned out, that evening on Gaza beach was to be her last – and it was about to end in terrible violence. On her way home to Beit Lahiya after dark, her car was pulled over by a vehicle full of masked men.Also in the car with Yousra and her partner were another couple – her sister, Magdoleen and her fiancé. “The men were holding weapons and clubs,” said Magdoleen. “The moment I saw them they started shooting into the car.”
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3075467,00.html
‘Legal adviser for every commander‚
YNetNews 4/20/2005
Military Advocate General preparing for disengagement; IDF legal advisers to accompany field unit commanders 24 hours a day if necessary during evacuation — The Military Advocate General is preparing for the possibility of mass insubordination by IDF soldiers in addition to acts of violence and plundering during the disengagement. During the disengagement the Military Advocate General will have to sentence disobedient soldiers, as well as soldiers who will be caught using drugs or using their weapons illegally, a senior Military Advocate General source told Ynet…The source said a legal adviser would accompany every division and brigade commander on the field.
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3075227,00.html
Rabin memorial vandalized again
YNetNews 4/20/2005
Hate slogans spray-painted on Rabin’s memorial for second time in a month; McDonald’s and rabbi’s front door also vandalized — TEL AVIV – The word “Nazi‰ was spray-painted on the monument marking the spot where Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was murdered in 1995, police said Wednesday, marking the second time in a month the memorial was desecrated. The monument is located at the bottom of the stairs of the Tel Aviv city hall. In addition, the word “killers‰ was scribbled across the window of a Tel Aviv McDonald‚s branch and the word “death sentence‰ was sprayed on the front door of a rabbi‚s home.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/567063.html
Army favors detention for Samaria rabbi
Ha’aretz 4/20/2005
Senior army officers have lately recommended that one of the leading rabbis in the settlements of Samaria be put under administrative detention. The recommendation is meanwhile opposed by the Shin Bet, which says such a move would be an “earthquake” for the extremists, but the secret service has not ruled out administrative detention as the disengagement approaches. Several high-ranking officers have been calling for administrative detention orders to be issued against leading activists on the extreme right, particularly in Samaria and in the Hebron Jewish enclave.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/567609.html
EU to aid reform of Palestinian security services
Ha’aretz 4/20/2005
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and European Union Mideast envoy Marc Otte on Wednesday exchanged letters launching a program of EU support for reform of the Palestinian security services, the EU said in a statement. Located in Ramallah and headed by a senior British police officer, the union’s Coordinating Office for Palestinian Police Support (COPPS) will channel essential training and equipment to the Palestinian police and monitor progress toward more effective policing, the statement said.
www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=1&id=857
Israel to Expand Elkana Colony, Encouraged by US Inaction
Palestine Media Center 4/19/2005
Encouraged by US inaction and lip opposition to Israeli colonies, Israel put itself on a collision course Monday with Washington by inviting bids to build 50 new settler homes in the West Bank settlement of Elkana, just a week after President George W. Bush warned against any expansion of Jewish settlements. Warning that Israel‚s new expansion of Elkana would undermine efforts to work out a peace accord based on Israelis and Palestinians having their own states, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) urged the US Administration not to keep their “eyes closed.‰
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4464273.stm
Israel army prepares to quit Gaza
BBC 4/20/2005
The Israeli army has begun moving equipment out of its bases in the Gaza Strip in preparation for the pull-out from the Palestinian territory. A spokesman said about 30 containers of non-military equipment were leaving a base in southern Gaza. The move comes as Israel’s government considers delaying the start of the withdrawal by three weeks. About 8,000 Jewish settlers and the soldiers who guard them are to leave this summer. Israel will continue to control Gaza’s external borders, coastline and airspace after the pull-out.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/567519.html
Police chief: We will act with sensitivity during Gaza pullout
Ha’aretz 4/20/2005
Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi visited Gush Katif on Wednesday and told settlers that officers will implement the disengagement plan with sensitivity. He said police will display understanding of the personal distress faced by the departing settlers and added that the force allow Gush Katif residents to protest within the bounds of the law. During his visit to Neveh Dekalim, Karadi said he believes the Gush Katif population in the southern Gaza Strip is law-abiding.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/567552.html
Settlers tell High Court: Every government promised we would stay
Ha’aretz 4/20/2005
Gaza Strip settlers on Wednesday told the High Court of Justice that every Israeli government promised them that their settlement would never be uprooted. In response to the state?s position to the settlers’ petition against the disengagement plan that they should have foreseen the possibility of evacuation, the Legal Forum for the State of Israel, an organization of some 100 jurists, told the court, “[the state’s argument] is an unreasonable argument, since all Israeli governments, both left and right, declared throughout the years that the settlements in the Gaza Strip would remain under Israeli sovereignty.”
www.fmep.org/documents/sassonreport.html
Talia Sasson‚s Report on Israel‚s ŒUnauthorized Outposts‚
Palestine Media Center 3/10/2005
Summary of the Opinion Concerning Unauthorized Outposts — At the request of the Prime Minister bureau, I have prepared a summary of the opinion. The summary does not include the entire opinion, which naturally deals with many more subjects, with further details. The second chapter of the opinion is a brief of the findings, conclusions and recommendations. This summary is based upon this brief. However, considering that this summary is presented a part from the opinion, a few remarks must be added…The Settlement Division established unauthorized outposts, disregarding the need for a valid detailed plan, and this not by accident, but rather as a system . This is a violation of the Jordanian Planning and Construction Law in force in the territories. The Division never even attempted to authorize a plan before starting building.
english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E7AFBA9B-9A4D-4502-B77B-D1E36ECFD79E.htm
Palestinian elections get Fatah nod
AlJazeera 4/20/2005
Deputies from dominant Palestinian party Fatah have voted to go ahead with legislative elections scheduled for 17 July. Late on Tuesday, they also voted to change the electoral system, Aljazeera reported. Two-thirds of the 132 members of parliament (MPs) voted in favour of a constituency-based voting system, while a third backed proportional representation, ahead of a full Palestinian Legislative Council debate on the issue on Wednesday. Qadura Faris, a Fatah leader and a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, told Aljazeera: “If the president has no remarks about the law, it may be effective starting from Wednesday.
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3075585,00.html
‘Distinguished’ rabbi backs pulllout
YNetNews 4/21/2005
Rabbi Yitzhak Kadouri surprisingly expresses support for PM‚s pullout plan; his son says rabbi‚s position is that ŒGaza is not part of Israel‚ — Distinguished kabbalist Rabbi Yitzhak Kadouri surprisingly expressed his support Wednesday for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon‚s disengagement plan. “If they (the Palestinians) would be given something small and there will be peace with them, it is permissible to leave Gush Katif ,‰ he told Jewish orthodox newspaper “For the Family.” “Sharon can be trusted. It is allowed to give up areas in the Gaza region. There is no faith in the Arabs, but we must have some tranquility.‰
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/567680.html
Report: French police probe transfer of $7m from PA to Suha Arafat
Ha’aretz 4/21/2005
The Wall Street Journal reported predawn on Thursday that French police were probing a transfer of 4 million dollars from the Palestinian Authority’s Tunisian bank account to the private account of Suha Arafat, the widow of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The funds were reportedly transferred by a senior Palestinian official who was charged with the PA’s financial affairs and who died last week. Palestinian officials are examining whether the money was transferred through two companies who held reserves of funds for the PA, for crisis situations.
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3075381,00.html
Chief of Staff slams media
YNetNews 4/20/2005
Yaalon accuses Israeli media of inventing facts, ignoring journalistic ethics; says wide gap between media, public perception of army — Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon lashed out at Israel’s media Wednesday, saying Israeli reporters are superficial, ignorant and manipulative. Speaking at the annual convention of the Israel Communications Association at Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva, Yaalon related a story of a recent encounter with a group of journalists. “Not long ago I had a discussion with eight reporters. The next day, the headlines in the paper were completely false, written by a commentator who wasn’t even there, who attributed a comment to me that we had “won” the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/567580.html
Rivlin seeks to delay Egyptian troop deployment along Philadelphi Route
Ha’aretz 4/20/2005
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin asked Attorney General Menachem Mazuz on Wednesday evening to recommend that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon hold off on signing any documents relating to the deployment of Egyptian troops along southern Gaza’s Philadelphi Route. Rivlin said such a move must be delayed until it has been clarified whether or not the matter requires Knesset approval. The Knesset speaker also asked Likud MK Yuval Steinitz, chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, to convene the panel to discuss the matter.
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3075143,00.html
Boogie’s night in Jordan
YNetNews 4/20/2005
Israel’s army chief briefs Jordan’s King Abdullah on Israel’s planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and its upcoming release of nine Jordanian prisoners — Army Chief Moshe Yaalon visited Jordan‚s King Abdullah II and updated him about Israel‚s plans to release nine Jordanian prisoners and about a planned pullout from the Gaza Strip this summer, a senior security source said on Wednesday. Jordan has expressed interest in helping Palestinian security forces retain control of the Palestinian territories after Israel‚s withdrawal from all 21 settlements in Gaza and four of 120 from the West Bank, although the source refused to comment on whether the two had arranged such coordination.
www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=906771&fid=942
Israel Consul in the Netherlands arrested
Globes 4/20/2005
Uriel Yitzhaki is suspected of issuing 150 duplicate Israeli passports over the past two years. — Israel Police National Serious and International Crimes Unit investigators arrested Israel Consul General to the Netherlands Uriel Yitzhaki on suspicion of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust charges. Yitzhaki was arrested at Ben Gurion Airport upon arriving in Israel for the Passover holiday. He was brought before the Petah Tikva Magistrates Court this morning for remand.
www.globes.co.il/serveEN/globes/docView.asp?did=906961&fid=1724
A word for fear
Globes 4/20/2005
It isn‚t science fiction, claims SDS; it’s possible to spot terrorists by reading their thoughts. — Shabtai Shoval got his idea while watching Vanilla Sky, a movie set in a futuristic world, where it is possible to identify criminals before they commit crimes, on the basis of their intentions. Shoval left the cinema with one question on his mind, Was it possible to create such a system in today’s reality and using today’s tools?…”a terrorist is trained to persuade himself that he is not lying, and his concept of a lie isn‚t always the same as that of the person conducting the test. It’s a cultural thing..”…SDS recently marked a major achievement, winning a Department of Homeland Security tender for testing a system for identifying suspects at an airport.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/567064.html
NII: Israel has one of widest social gaps in West
Ha’aretz 4/20/2005
Recent budget cuts have reduced social expenditures in Israel to among the lowest among western countries, while the parallel income tax reforms primarily have benefited the wealthy, leading to one of the largest social gap in the West, according to the National Insurance Institute’s annual research report released yesterday. The NII warned that if this trend continues, Israel will soon find itself with the widest social gaps in the West. The sharpest decline in social expenditure was in NII allotments, which have dropped 11.5 percent in real terms since 2001 with the per capita average cut by 16 percent.
english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/CEA8B997-8674-47F8-B950-514FAF66EDAC.htm
Palestine US exhibit stirs controversy
AlJazeera 4/20/2005
A unique art exhibition showcasing the works of 23 Palestinian artists is facing uncertain times in the United States, with major museums refusing to play host. Chronicling the modern history of Palestinians since 1948, Made in Palestine had its first showing in the United States at the Station Museum in Houston, in May 2003. The exhibit displays the works of selected Palestinian artists from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as well as those living in exile in countries such as Jordan, Syria and Germany. Currently on display in San Francisco, the opening attracted up to a thousand people. But alongside the accolades, it has also drawn the ire of some politicians. As a result, most museums are fearful that hosting an exhibit that is pro-Palestinian could cost them their funding.
rafah.virtualactivism.net/news/todaymain.htm
Demonstrations all over the Gaza Strip at “Al Aqsa in Danger day”
Rafah Today 4/16/2005
[with photos] Demonstrations all over the Gaza Strip at “Al Aqsa in Danger day”, all the Gaza Strip and West Bank demonstrated — In a move designed to re-ignite the intifada and destroy the Gaza withdrawal plans, the extremist settlers declared their intention to attack the Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem on Sunday, April 10. The Haram al Sharif, the Noble Sanctuary, is actually a 35 acre compound including the Dome of the Rock, the Al Aqsa Mosque, courtyards, gardens, a museum, and many other artistic and religious treasures. All Palestinians feel an obligation to safeguard these Islamic holy places not just for the world’s Moslems but for all people of good will.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4455549.stm
Gaza activist’s life becomes play
BBC 4/18/2005
What would induce a young woman to leave her small American town to fight for the rights of a group of people she hardly knew? In My Name is Rachel Corrie – the story of the life, and death, of a 23-year-old peace activist in Gaza – we find out. On 16 March 2003, Corrie’s life came to an abrupt end when she was crushed by an Israeli Army bulldozer while trying to stop the demolition of a Palestinian building in the Rafah refugee camp. She left behind a series of diaries, written from when she was 12 right up to her life as a student activist, as well as emails from her time in Gaza. It is these that form the basis of the play, which is directed by Alan Rickman and currently being staged at London’s Royal Court theatre.
www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=4&article_id=14424
New London play fetes U.S. activist killed trying to stop an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza
Daily Star 4/21/2005
Political theater is enjoying a resurgence in popularity — LONDON: A new play tracing the journey of Rachel Corrie from comfortable American home to death in a Gaza refugee camp paints the young peace activist as neither a traitor nor a saint. The 23-year-old campaigner was killed in 2003 trying to stop an Israeli Army bulldozer from demolishing a Palestinian home in the Rafah camp in the Gaza strip. A personal testimony, the show makes no pretence of impartiality. Corrie’s death made her a hero of the four-year-old Palestinian uprising, while critics attacked her as naive, an idiot and a traitor. But far from being a political rant, “My Name is Rachel Corrie,” directed by British actor Alan Rickman, paints a personal portrait, using Corrie’s emails and diaries to reveal a poetic writer brimming with ideas, energy and quirky humor.
www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=14434
Jerusalem’s Armenians want Israeli recognition of ‘genocide’
Daily Star 4/21/2005
JERUSALEM: Jerusalem’s tiny Armenian community has seen Islamic conquests, the Crusades, the rise and fall of the Ottoman empire, the British mandate and most recently the Israeli occupation, but has kept its identity throughout. The community, present in the Holy Land since the 5th century, is today made up largely of descendants of those who survived Turkish massacres of Armenians between 1915 and 1917, as the Ottoman Empire fell apart. But they are indignant at the refusal by Israel to recognize their own “genocide.”…”With regard to Israel and its bureaucracy, we are like the Palestinians. We consider ourselves to be Jerusalemites born in Palestine,” he explains, walking along the road of the Armenian Orthodox Partriarchate.
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3075502,00.html
Navy saves Syrian, Egyptian sailors
YNetNews 4/20/2005
Sinking ship summons Israeli, American, French forces; three rescued, four still missing — Drama at the open sea: Israeli, American and French naval forces assisted Wednesday in the rescue of Egyptian and Syrian sailors whose ship sank in international waters off the coast of Nahariya. Shortly before 2:00 p.m. (7:00 a.m. EST), the cargo ship Adora, traveling from Ashdod to Turkey, received a dispatch that another ship, which was apparently transporting cement, was in trouble.
www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/ACIO-6B
LSEF?OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=ACOS-635PFR
OPT: Monitoring Project – Impact of the Current Crisis in the West Bank and Gaza Strip Survey Report #24
ReliefWeb 4/20/2005
Source: The Water and Sanitation and Hygiene Monitoring Project (WaSH MP) — Date: 30 Mar 2005 – Introduction: The first section of this report presents a summary of urgent problems and needs in some of the Palestinian communities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The second section includes summary of results of the information and update for communities surveyed during March 2005. The section includes four major tables with brief comments on the data presented in these tables. Section one: Urgent problems and needs in Palestinian communities…
www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=906744&fid=942
Private consumption soars, industrial output slows
Globes 4/20/2005
Trade and services proceeds rose by an annualized 6.2% in December 2004-February 2005. — Private consumption grew rapidly in December 2004-February 2005, but industrial output growth slowed. High-tech output, which accounts for half of Israel’s industrial output, continued to expand, but at a third of the rate in 2004, indicate Central Bureau of Statistics figures published today. Trend figures indicate that trade and services proceeds rose by an annualized 6.2% in December-February, after rising by an annualized 7.5% in September-November 2004. However, immovables and business services proceeds rose by an annualized 1.4% in December-February.
www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1462902,00.html
Israeli college boycott debated
The Guardian 4/19/2005
Leading figures working in higher education have set out their opposition to a proposed boycott of Israeli universities in protest at the treatment of Palestinians in the occupied territories. In today’s Guardian, academics put their name to letters expressing concern at plans to boycott three of Israel’s eight universities because of their alleged complicity with government policies towards the territories. The Association of University Lecturers (AUT) is to vote on Friday on the proposal when it will also discuss plans to ostracise Israeli academics who refuse to condemn their government’s actions.
english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C2FE7AED-7559-41CA-A8FF-C7200DE4E523.htm
New Lebanese cabinet meets
AlJazeera 4/20/2005
Lebanon’s new cabinet is preparing to seek parliament approval, saying its priority is to arrange quick elections. The 14-member cabinet held its first meeting on Wednesday after it was formed by Prime Minister Najib Miqati, ending a nearly two-month government crisis and opening the way for crucial parliament elections. The cabinet emphasised its commitment to cooperate with a UN investigation into the killing of former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri. The elections are supposed to take place before parliament’s term ends on 31 May. The anti-Syrian opposition expects to win the vote and end the domination of pro-Damascus lawmakers.
english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/8365B578-F99A-47E9-8776-90AE7B41716F.htm
Grenade wounds three in Beirut
AlJazeera 4/20/2005
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4459707.stm
Change comes to Syria’s Lebanon ‘home’
BBC 4/20/2005
Lebanese town’s mixed feelings as troops withdraw— The road leading to the Syrian border in Lebanon’s Bekaa valley is usually full of dilapidated trucks wheezing pollution as they struggle towards Damascus. But in the past few weeks, it has seen another, swifter kind of traffic as Syrian army vehicles rush backwards and forwards across the border, carrying the accumulated baggage – military and otherwise – of their 30-year presence in Lebanon. If you trace the vehicles back to their point of departure, you are likely to arrive in the lovingly tended, palm tree-lined main avenue of the small town of Anjar, just a few kilometres from the Syrian border.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4461955.stm
Syrian coup leader returns home
BBC 4/19/2005
A former Syrian army commander has returned to Damascus more than 40 years after he led a failed coup. Jassem Alwan, who had been living in exile in the United Arab Emirates, held meetings with intellectuals and human rights activists on his return. He also met representative of President Bashar al-Assad who recently granted an amnesty to dissidents living abroad.
www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=14430
UN worried by Saudi Arabia’s efforts to sign atomic loophole agreement
Daily Star 4/21/2005
PUSH COMES AMID INCREASED NUCLEAR CONCERN IN TENSE REGION — VIENNA: Saudi Arabia has quietly begun talks on a UN-sanctioned agreement that could curtail any outside probe of its atomic intentions – a move that heightens concerns in a region already edgy about rival Iran’s nuclear program. The Saudis deny any plans to develop nuclear weapons, and diplomats close to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that the UN nuclear monitor has no firm evidence that would cast doubt on the Saudi assertions.
sg.news.yahoo.com/050420/1/3s0u6.html
Iran warns Europe to heed its proposal or face collapse of nuclear talks
Yahoo! News 4/20/2005
Europe must heed an Iranian proposal on uranium enrichment or risk a collapse of talks about Iran’s nuclear programme, the country’s top nuclear official said in an interview. The warning by Hassan Rowhani, head of the supreme national security council, came as diplomats from Britain, France and Germany — the EU Three — began talks with their Iranian counterparts in Geneva, ahead of a more senior-level meeting in London on April 29. “The Europeans should tell us whether these ideas can work as the basis for continued negotiations or not,” Rowhani told the Financial Times, referring to the Iranian proposal made last month that would allow some uranium enrichment. “If yes fine. If not, then the negotiations cannot continue,” he said.
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/04/19/national/w124029D52.DTL
White House Rips Iran on Arab Treatment
San Francisco Chronicle 4/19/2005
The Bush administration accused Iran on Tuesday of violating the rights of Arabs and other minority groups and urged restraint in dealing with them. “It is not the first time that Iran has practiced this kind of human rights violations,” spokesman Adam Ereli said of a recent crackdown against Arab protesters. He called on Iran to respect the rights of peaceful demonstrators. Last weekend, at least one demonstrator died and eight others were injured in protests in the largely Arab city of Ahvaz, the capital of Khuzestan province in southwestern Iran.
english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6F0B9567-4D6C-41F3-81BC-9A2E89A26BDC.htm
Iraq leader: Hostages’ bodies found
AlJazeera 4/20/2005
The bodies of 50 people, thought to be hostages held in a town near Baghdad recently, have reportedly been found in the Tigris river, while another 19 bodies have turned up in a football stadium in Haditha. Aljazeera reports quoting Iraq President Jalal Talabani as saying on Wednesday that the 50 bodies found near al-Suwaira were those of people recently abducted from al-Madain town, south of Baghdad. Agencies quoted him as telling reporters: “More than 50 bodies have been brought out from the Tigris and we have the full names of those who were killed and those criminals who committed these crimes.
english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/1C0FFAF1-86EF-4F0B-AF28-2EDFB27D4AF2.htm
Allawi escapes assassination attempt
AlJazeera 4/21/2005
Iraq’s outgoing Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has escaped an assassination attempt when a car bomb exploded near his convoy in Baghdad. At least two policemen were killed in the attack that occurred late on Wednesday night while Allawi was being driven home from a meeting. “Thank God, the prime minister is well, but some policemen and members of his security team were killed,” his spokesman Thair al-Naqib said. Reports said that a bomber attempted to ram his explosive-laden vehicle into Allawi’s convoy. After security guards opened fire at him, the attacker blew himself up.
Articles
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/566531.html
The guard would not release Abu Hadwan’s restraints, even when he was dying of cancer
By Amira Hass, Ha’aretz 4/19/2005
As far back as the 1990s, Mohammed Abu Hadwan’s fellow prisoners knew he had increasing trouble breathing. The Shikma prison in Ashkelon allowed him – as it did other older, sick prisoners – to remain for long hours in the yard, beyond the two daily walks usually allowed. If anyone should get out, his prison mates thought, it’s him.
“Abu Hadwan used to sit in a chair next to the library in the yard, and the prisoner-librarian, more than 20 years his junior, would make him tea or coffee, and they would discuss books,” recalls a prisoner from those days.
That yard has since been given over for the use of criminal prisoners. Abu Hadwan was later moved to the prison medical center, where he was hospitalized for seven years until he was transferred to Assaf Harofeh Hospital, where he died on November 4 at the age of 59.
Abu Hadwan, a Jerusalemite, was jailed for life in 1985 after an explosive charge he set resulted in an injury to a Jewish person, whose leg had to be amputated. At the end of the 1980s, Abu Hadwan, who was a member of Fatah, joined a group of Fatah prisoners at the Nafkha prison who had become devout Muslims.
www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=7229&CategoryId=5
Before the Law
By Neve Gordon, MIFTAH/ZNet 4/20/2005
A review of the book “Courting Conflict: The Israeli Military Court System in the West Bank and Gaza”, by Lisa Hajjar. University of California Press.
An Israeli Jew and a Palestinian meet in transit right after having been sentenced in court. The Palestinian asks the Jew how much time he got. “Three years,” says the Jew. “The judge was relatively lenient, though, and took into account that the guard who tried to stop me from robbing the bank didn’t die from his wounds. How much time did you get?”
“Seven years for driving without my headlights on,” says the Palestinian.
“Wow! That is a hefty punishment,” the Jew exclaims.
“On the contrary, my judge was also lenient. He noted that if I had been caught driving without headlights during the night he would have sentenced me to fifteen years.”
Black humor like this circulated in Israel during the first intifada, functioning as a coping mechanism for liberal sabras bewildered by the egregious violations their country was perpetrating against Palestinians. This particular joke alludes to the discriminatory and often absurd logic of the military court system in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, a system that is explored in depth for the first time in Lisa Hajjar’s Courting Conflict.
english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/390CA
5C4-31CE-4DE4-BDEF-B7F6CCC20637.htm
Israel guns for Iran
By Jude Wanniski, AlJazeera 4/20/2005
When Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited President Bush at the White House on 11-12 April, the news coming out of the meetings should have been dominated by the president’s displeasure with Sharon permitting the expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
Instead, the New York Times headline on 13 April was “Sharon Asks US to Pressure Iran on Nuclear Arms”.
In other words, the best defence is a good offence. Sharon, of course, knew his decision to permit expansion of a West Bank settlement, near Jerusalem, by 3500 units would be seen in Washington as a contravention of the road map in the peace process.
Washington diplomats were stunned, seeing it as a move practically calculated to undermine the authority of Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, who is trying as hard as he can to believe that Sharon is acting in good faith.
That issue will remain alive as Washington waits to see if Sharon goes ahead with the expansion despite expressions of disapproval from Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Meanwhile, the artful Sharon succeeded in changing the subject by spreading out aerial photographs purported to show secret Iranian installations, where he alleges nuclear weapons are being developed.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/567091.html
We are all Uzi Landau
By Uzi Benziman, Ha’aretz 4/20/2005
Early this week, the foreign minister and finance minister rushed to express opposition to any further withdrawals from the West Bank. The foreign minister announced to hundreds of cheering Likud activists that his party would not “under any circumstances” lend a hand to any further disengagement from parts of the Land of Israel, and the finance minister made clear that any further disengagement would be interpreted by the Palestinians as surrendering to terrorism. The voices belonged to Silvan Shalom and Benjamin Netanyahu; the hands belonged to Uzi Landau.
Now, with the disengagement plan appearing to be a fait accompli (unless the postponement until after Tisha B’Av turns out to be the first blink in the showdown with the settler opposition) ministers Netanyahu and Shalom are presenting identical positions to that of Landau and his clique. They are also shamelessly using the same reasoning – withdrawal from the territories signals weakness, the Likud must protect its heritage of remaining in all the lands of the homeland – but they are imposing it on the territories in the West Bank that will remain in Israeli hands after the evacuation, while Landau and his associates say that it should apply to all the territory Israel currently holds.
Upon hearing the statements made by Netanyahu and Shalom, it is impossible not to wonder if they learned anything from the last year. After all, the very factors that forced Sharon to initiate the withdrawal from Gaza and northern Samaria are still in force, and they will come into play regarding Israel’s attitude toward most of the territory of the West Bank.
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