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News
International Middle East Media Center
No computerized
card for a one-handed reporter
21 Apr 2009 - The
so-called Civil Administration Office, which is part of Israel’s
military control over the Palestinian territories, refused to grant a
Palestinian reporter and cameraman a special magnetic computerized card
because he only has one arm.
Israeli navy
recovers body of Palestinian man off Gaza coast
21 Apr 2009 - The
Israeli navy fished out the body of a Palestinian man on Tuesday from
the sea off the northern Gaza strip whilst on patrol in the area.
Israeli military
orders Palestinian families to leave homes near Nablus
21 Apr 2009 - The
Israeli military ordered eight families from the village of Akraba,
near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, to leave their homes on
Tuesday.
Israeli army
kidnaps 15 civilians in West Bank invasions
21 Apr 2009 - On
Tuesday at least 15 Palestinian civilians were kidnapped during Israeli
military invasions which targeted communities in several parts of the
West Bank.
Israeli settler
runs over and kills Palestinian man in Jerusalem
21 Apr 2009 - An
Israeli settler ran over and killed a Palestinian man in east Jerusalem
on Tuesday morning.
Ashkenazi says
Israel can strike anywhere "enemies exist"
21 Apr 2009 -
Israeli Army Chief of Staff, General Gabi Ashkenazi, said on Monday
that Israel is capable of striking its enemies anywhere they may be.
Lieberman
appoints Bedouin as Middle East Advisor
21 Apr 2009 -
Israeli Foreign Minister, former member of the outlawed Kach terrorist
group, Avigdor Lieberman, appointed a Bedouin man, Ismail Khalidi, as
his Middle East advisor. Khalidi is from a Bedouin village, one of
dozens of villages not recognized by Israel and which do not even
receive basic services from Israel.
Hamas: Fateh
security forces detain 10 Hamas supporters in Tulkarem
20 Apr 2009 - The
Hamas movement in the West Bank said on Monday that Palestinian
security forces loyal to the Fateh movement, have in recent days
detained ten Hamas supporters in the northern West Bank city of
Tulkarem, including eight who were previously held by Israel.
Archbishop Tutu
labelled 'anti-Semitic' by ADL for critique of Israeli policy
20 Apr 2009 -
Michigan State University in the U.S. has come under fire from the
Anti-Defamation League for inviting South African Archbishop Desmond
Tutu to speak at this year's commencement ceremony. Tutu is reknowned
worldwide for his role in creating the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission which helped bring about a peaceful transition from
apartheid South Africa to desegregation.
Netanyahu cancels
visit to US
20 Apr 2009 -
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has decided to cancel a
planned visit to the United States after he was informed that the US
President, Barack Obama, will not be meeting him.
Hamas legislator
wounded by P.A. Security in West Bank
19 Apr 2009 - Hamid
Al-Beitawi, a Palestinian Legislative Council member with the Hamas
party, was injured Sunday in Nablus by shrapnel from a bullet fired by
a Palestinian Authority security officer of the rival Fateh party.
U.S. Envoy
rejects demand that Hamas "recognize Jewish state"
19 Apr 2009 - On
Sunday, the U.S envoy to the Middle East peace, George Mitchell,
rejected Sunday the Israeli Prime Minister's that the Palestinian
leadership recognize Israel as a Jewish state, as a prerequisite for
resuming peace negotiations between the two sides. The recognition of
Israel as a 'Jewish state' implies the acceptable of the
disenfranchisement of the indigenous Palestinians, and nullifies the
Palestinian refugees' right to return to their land -- a condition that
most Palestinians will not accept.
21 Apr 2009 - Move follows pressure from British lawmakers; less than 1% of Israel's arms imports come from U.K.
IDF troops detain two Palestinians infiltrating from Gaza
21 Apr 2009 - The Palestinians were detained for questioning after trying to slip through the central Gaza security fence.
Iran warns Israel not to attack nuclear sites
21 Apr 2009 - Parliament speaker quoted as saying Iran's response will stop Israelis from being 'able to sleep easy.'
Reformed Palestinian terrorist becomes theater director in West Bank
21 Apr 2009 - Ex-militant Zbeidi named Freedom Theater director; mosque blasts founder as depraved and immoral.
Turkish police detain 19 in Al-Qaida raids
21 Apr 2009 - Operations take place in five provinces in central and southern Turkey, according to state-run Anatolian news agency.
Barak purchases U.S. system to intercept Gaza rockets
21 Apr 2009 - 'The Vulcan-Phalanx cannons and radar will be part of a multi-layer defense,' says Defense Minister.
Report: Egypt accuses Lebanon officials of aiding Hezbollah cell
21 Apr 2009 - Arab paper: Sources say officials gave fake passport to ringleader of group that planned attacks in Egypt.
Ex-employee of Biological Institute suspected of revealing state secrets
20 Apr 2009 - Investigation began in June 2008 following articles in
4/21/2009 - Bethlehem - Ma’an - The Freedom Theatre denied a recent report from the Israeli Haaretz newspaper that stated Zakariya Zubeydeh had replaced Theatre Director Juliano Mer Khamis following several threats against the theatre and two arson attempts. The theatre, made famous by a recent production of Animal Farm, was the subject of the 21 April news story “Reformed Palestinian terrorist becomes theater director in West Bank. ” The report appears to be based on an April 20 news conference held at the theatre, where staff responded to recent violent attacks on The Freedom Theatre as well as a death threat directed at Juliano Mer Khamis, the organization’s General Director. According to the Freedom Theatre during the conference they “called upon Zakariya Zubeydeh and all supporters of the organization to take clear action to protect [the theatre] from these forces,” aiming to take down the group.
4/21/2009 - Bethlehem - Ma'an - Reporters Without Borders sent a letter to Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak in April condemning the recent violence against seven journalists in the West Bank. In a Tuesday news conference following up on the letter, which has received no response, the organization stressed that all seven individuals were injured "although they were clearly identified as working for the press. ”“Seven journalists have been injured in this manner since the start of the year by shots fired by Israeli soldiers. We again condemn these acts of violence and we urge the Israeli authorities to guarantee the safety of journalists operating in the region," the organization reiterated. Those injured include: Atta Awad, a photographer employed by the Ramattan news agency, was injured by tear gas grenades fired by Israeli soldiers during the weekly protest against the Security Wall in Bil’in on 10 April.
Palestinian killed by settler’s car in East Jerusalem
4/21/2009 - Jerusalem – Ma’an – A young Palestinian man died after he was struck by an Israeli settler’s car in East Jerusalem late on Monday. Twenty-seven-year-old Mohammad Ibrahim Sheikh Ali was reportedly struck by the car when he was attempting to cross the street in the French Hill neighborhood, between the Shu’fat Refugee Camp and the Pisgat Ze’ev settlement. Sheikh Ali was from Shu’fat. His body was taken to East Jerusalem’s Al-Maqassid Hospital. His family refused an autopsy. Local authorities said the incident was an ordinary traffic accident, noting that vehicles were moving fast on the road at the time of the incident. Sheikh Ali is survived by his wife and a son. His brother Anwar was shot dead ten years ago by Israeli police during clashes in Shu’fat Camp.
Israeli navy finds corpse of Palestinian near Gaza
4/21/2009 - Gaza – Ma’an – An Israeli Navy patrol boat found the corpse of a drowned Palestinian man floating off the coast of the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning. Palestinian police in Gaza said they believe the body is that of Bahjat Al-Masri, in his twenties, who went missing from the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya a week ago. De facto government police Spokesperson Islam Shahwan said Israeli authorities have not yet handed over the corpse to Palestinian medics or to the Red Cross. He said dead man has not been officially identified. The director of Ambulance and Emergency Services in the Palestinian Health Ministry, Muawiya Hassanein, said that two youths from the Gaza Strip disappeared in the sea over the past two days.
Israeli forces to demolish seven family homes, farms near Nablus
4/21/2009 - Nablus – Ma’an – The Israeli military ordered seven Palestinian families to evacuate their homes and farm buildings within 48 hours on Tuesday. All of the structures, all southeast of the West Bank city of Nablus, are slated for demolition. According to Jad’an Qasim, chair of the Al-Falah Society, Israeli authorities decided to demolish the homes and sheds in the Getit area near the Israeli settlement of Mekhora. Families received notices to evacuate their properties within 48 hours, Qasim explained. He identified owners of the properties to be demolished as Zayd Bani Minna, Khalil Bani Jabir, Jamil Bani Jabir, Ghallab Hammad, Wasif Hammad, Muhammad Hammad, and Abdullah Bani Jabir. Qasim appealed to the Palestinian Authority and international organizations to intervene and prevent the demolitions.
Human Rights Watch urges states to stay at Geneva racism conference
4/21/2009 - Bethlehem – Ma’an – Human Rights Watch urged governments to stay at a UN anti-racism conference and ensure a strong anti-racism message in response to a controversial speech by the Iranian president at the conference Monday. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s railing against Zionism and questioning of the Holocaust on the first day of the conference precipitated a walk out of the Geneva summit by several European delegates. The conference was already undermined by a boycott led by the US and Israel which saw Canada and Australia decline attendance. "The best response to Ahmadinejad's inflammatory rhetoric is to stay in Geneva and rebut it," said Juliette de Rivero, Geneva advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. During his speech, Ahmadinejad told attendees that, "Following World War II they [powerful countries] resorted to military aggressions to make an entire nation homeless. . .
Israeli forces detain student from Al-Khadr near Bethlehem
4/21/2009 - Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli forces stormed Al-Khadr raided a home and took a university student after ransacking his property. Eight militarized vehicles entered the south Bethlehem town at 3pm Tuesday and blocked off the Old City. They surrounded and broke into the home of Marzouq Issa looking for his 23-year-old son Ashraf who studies architecture at Palestine Polytechnic University in Hebron. After being threatened Marzouq told soldiers that his son was not at home but out with friends. He was forced to call his son home where soldiers handcuffed him and drove him to an unknown location.
Three young Palestinians detained in Hebron
4/21/2009 - Hebron - Ma'an - Israeli forces detained three citizens from Hebron overnight Monday and took them to an unknown location. Head of the detainees society in Hebron Amjad Al-Najjar identified those detained as:25-year-oldAla Ali Mohamed Atwan, a police officer from Edna village25-year-old Saed Mohamed Musa Awad from Halhoul17-year-old Najem Ad-Din Majed Wajih Ar-Ra’y from the Al- Arroub Refugee CampAn-Najjar said Israeli troops raided the homes of the three men and several others before they snatched the youth and left the area.
Israeli forces seize fourth PA intelligence officer in three weeks
4/21/2009 - Jenin – Ma’an – Israeli forces seized a Palestinian intelligence officer from the northern West Bank city of Jenin early on Thursday. The man was identified as 40-year-old Amir Hamdan, an officer in the Palestinian Authority’s intelligence services. He is the fourth intelligence officer to be detained by Israeli forces in the last three weeks. Israeli forces also stormed the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin, and raided several homes. Local sources said troops ransacked home of Mahmoud Kamil and damaged parts of its interior. No other arrests were reported. The Israeli military said it detained 15 Palestinians during overnight raids in the West Bank.
Israel seeks US missile system to counter Gaza projectiles
4/21/2009 - Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – Israel has decided to purchase a 25 million dollar American-made missile-intercept system in hopes of protecting itself from short-range homemade projectiles and mortar shells fired from the Gaza Strip. The purchase of the Vulcan-Phalanx system was ordered by Defense Minister Ehud Barack. "The Vulcan-Phalanx cannons and radar will be part of a multi-layer defense to intercept rockets," Barak told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Monday. "Such defense, as far as I am concerned, is a strategic goal. The goal is to create a situation where as many rockets as possible launched at Israel are intercepted. " Israel is in the process of developing other defense systems to intercept longer-range rockets. Barak made his decision to buy the Vulcan-Phalanx before the current Israeli government was formed, despite objections from senior military officials, Haaretz reported.
Palestinian man taken from Nablus home, detained by Israeli forces
4/21/2009 - Nablus – Ma’an – Israeli forces took a Palestinian man from his Nablus home after raiding the city on Tuesday before dawn. Local sources identified the man as 31-year-old Wajdi Muhammad Zaghloul from At-Ta’awon Street. His home was broken into following a raid in the Al-Yasminah neighborhood of Nablus’ Old City. He was taken to an unknown location.
Egyptian security forces discover two Gaza tunnels; both now closed
4/21/2009 - Bethlehem – Ma’an – Two tunnel incidents emphasized the instability of the smuggling trade between Egypt and the Gaza Strip Tuesday, after one caught fire and another was shut-down by Egyptian security. Egyptian security forces discovered a tunnel leading into Gaza on the property of an agricultural farm on the border town of Rafah. No goods were found in the tunnel, which was closed. A fire broke out in a second tunnel on Tuesday night; Egyptian authorities said they suspected the fire was due to the dangerous shipment of fuel through the underground passage.
Israel allows PA forces into Kafr Qalil, near Nablus, for first time
4/21/2009 - Nablus – Ma’an – Israel allowed Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces to operate for the first time in the in the northern West Bank village of Kafr Qallil south of Nablus early on Tuesday. Palestinian security used the opportunity to begin a security campaign in the early hours of the morning, aiming at arresting fugitives and seizing unregistered cars. Though the village is in Area A - classified as under Palestinian civil and administrative control - its proximity to the two settlements, Yizhar and Bracha, and the Huwwara military checkpoint meant Israel never allowed police to operate in the area despite the Oslo Accords. According to security sources more than 400 officers from different security services participated in the security blitz.
Mashal to address British MPs over video conference
4/21/2009 - Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – Senior Hamas leader Khalid Mashal will address British MPs on Tuesday in an unprecedented video conference from Damascus. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the event was arranged by MP Clare Short, who recently visited Mashal at his office in Damascus along with other lawmakers. Short extended personal invitations about a week ago to dozens of MPs to attend the video conference, to be broadcast to a meeting room in a parliament office building, Haaretz reported. The Israeli embassy in London tried unsuccessfully to organize a campaign to cancel the event. An increasing number of European lawmakers have meet Mashal in recent months in a possible sign of a change in official attitudes toward Hamas. The movement is still considered “terrorist organization” by the European Union, and is officially shunned by much of the international community.
Hamas denies report of renewed Israel-Egypt Gaza ceasefire talks
4/21/2009 - Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israel resumed talks last week on a possible long-term ceasefire arrangement with Hamas via Egyptian mediators, an Israeli newspaper reported on Tuesday. According to the Hebrew-language paper Ma’ariv, an Egyptian diplomat said that the recent calm along the Israel-Gaza border has been a result of Egyptian political pressure on Hamas, not the recent Israeli military offensive against the Gaza Strip. The diplomat added, according to Ma’ariv, that Israeli security services under Defense Minister Ehud Barak supported the ongoing negotiations with Egypt. More details of a proposed ceasefire deal will be tackled during an upcoming visit to Israel by Egyptian intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman. Egypt had been brokering indirect ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel after the end of the war on Gaza in January.
Boycott campaign urges Iran to cut ties with settlement-linked companies
4/21/2009 - Bethlehem – Ma’an – Palestinian civil society groups called on Tehran to cut ties with two French companies profiting from work in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday. A day after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took center stage as a critic of Israel at a UN conference in Geneva, the Palestinian Campaign for Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) criticized Iran for business ties with Veolia Environment and Alstrom. According to the Tehran Times, the Tehran Municipality is involved in negotiations with Veolia Environment for the development of the city’s urban transport system. Alstom has a headquarters in Tehran and received a number of large contracts, including a 192 million euro contract with Iran's state railways in 1999 and a larger 375 million euro contract to supply 50 turbo compressors to Iran in 2002.
Haniyeh to Tehran legal summit: Prosecute Israeli politicians
4/21/2009 - Gaza – Ma'an – Palestinian de facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh told an international conference of prosecutors in Iran on Tuesday that Israeli politicians should be charged with war crimes over the recent military offensive on Gaza. Speaking to delegates at the Tehran summit via teleconference from Gaza, Haniyeh said, Israeli leaders should be taken to international courts, tried and sentenced for the violations they committed against human rights. ”Haniyeh told the assembled leaders, lawyers and clerics: “Israel committed crimes over the twenty days of aggressions in Gaza and violated all rules and laws. Israeli soldiers killed women, children and elderly and destructed everything. He added that Israel used internationally banned weapons and violated human rights and international laws. Iran's judicial chief, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, brought more than. . .
Fayyad: Our priority is to stop settlement activity
4/21/2009 - Ramallah - Ma'an - De facto Prime Minister Dr Salam Fayyad a 60-member French delegationof Palestinian peace workers and solidarity activists visiting the West Bank to participate in the Fourth International popular resistance conference in Bil'in. Fayyad first condemned the killing of Basem Abu Rahmeh, who was shot in the chest with a tear-gas canister by Israeli troops during the Bil’in demonstration on Friday. He said he considered the peaceful resistance in Bil’in and the other Palestinian villages examples of how Palestinians, with justice on their side, stand up for that they should freely have and demand their right to it. Fayyad then updated the delegation on the other crises facing Palestinians, noting the urgency of the home demolitions in Jerusalem and parts of the West Bank, as well as the increased tension between West Bankers and Israeli settlers.
Birmingham donates four trucks of medical supplies for Al-Amal Gaza convoy
4/21/2009 - Bethlehem - Ma’an - The British city of Birmingham donated four trucks loaded with medical equipment and humanitarian aid to the European convoy Al-Amal scheduled to depart for the Gaza Strip in mid-May. Spokesman for the European convoy Sameh Habib said in a statement from London that the trucks were loaded with wheelchairs and moving beds for people with special needs in an attempt to meet the requests of Hospitals in Gaza. In addition to the four trucks of aid ten fully equipped ambulances donated by several European charities in Denmark and Sweden and France will travel with the convoy, accompanied by doctors and medical specialists who hope to enter the Strip and serve in the exhausted hospitals. A number of European parliamentarians and officials are expected to join the Al-Amal convoy to express solidarity with Palestinians under the siege.
Pope to drive past separation wall and visit refugee camp while in Bethlehem
4/21/2009 - Bethlehem - Ma'an - In addition to his visit to the holy sites of Palestine, Pope Benedict XVI will visit sites in Palestinian East Jerusalem, and drive to Bethlehem along the route of the separation wall. He will also visit families in the nearby A`ydah Refugee Camp. Minister of Local Governance and the Head of the Special Preparatory Committee to the Papal Visit in the Holy Land Ziad Al-Bandak unveiled the draft itinerary as Bethlehem cleans up ahead of the May visit. He said Palestinian officials hope the visit will strengthen ties between the Vatican and the Christian community in Palestine, and did not ignore the potential political ramifications of such a high-profile visit. Al-Bandak said an agenda of the establishment of an independent Palestinian state would be pursued with the Pope throughout his visit, noting emphasis on the right of Palestinians to live in dignity.
Fatah: Hamas began mass arrest campaign targeting rival members in Gaza Strip
4/21/2009 - Bethlehem – Ma’an – De facto police forces in the Gaza Strip launched a widespreadarrest campaign targeting those “trying to thwart Cairo dialogue in before it starts,” namely Fatah personnel in the Strip, a Fatah official said. . Fatah spokesperson Fahmi Za’arir revealed the campaign Tuesday and noted police action would be focused on the northern Strip and that youth would come under increased scrutiny for any “anti-unity” actions. “Already Hamas police have stormed the homes of several Fatah affiliates and summoned dozens of others for interrogation,” Az-Za’arir said. Hamas security detained Mahmoud Qannan, secretary of the Fatah youth party in the Gaza Strip, after pursuing him for three days, said Az-Za’arir. He added that dozens of other Fatah loyalists and leaders are being chased from their homes and forced to live undercover.
Hamas leader Ismail Radwan leaves Gaza for Damascus
4/21/2009 - Gaza – Ma’an – Hamas leader Ismail Radwan left the Gaza Strip on Tuesday via the Rafah border crossing on his way to Damascus, Syria, where he will meet with other leaders in the movement ahead of talks with the rival movement Fatah. Radwan said in a statement that Hamas has “clear explanations” regarding an Egyptian proposal to reunite the two parties. He also said that a recent incident in which a Palestinian Authority (PA) security officer attempted to shoot a Hamas leader in the West Bank city of Nablus threatened to “abort” efforts at Palestinian unity. The head of Hamas’ political bureau, Khalid Mashal, lives in exile in Damascus along with other leaders. Hamas and Fatah are planning to hold another round of reconciliation talks in Cairo next week. A separate delegation of Hamas leaders led by lawmaker Salah Bardawil reportedly left Gaza for Cairo on Sunday.
A new Palestinian patient die due to siege
21 Apr 2009 - Gaza Strip, April 22, 2009, (Pal Telegraph) - Siege on the Gaza Strip is still chasing Palestinian to death. A Palestinian man mid of his fifties died an hour ago due to inability of getting the needed medication and treatment. Nai'm El...
Four Palestinian fishermen abducted, 2 boats stolen by Israeli Navy
Gaza Strip, April 21 (Pal Telegraph) - At least 4 Palestinian fishermen were abducted and 2 fishing boats stolen today by the Israeli navy in yet another act of piracy.
UN: Gaza's post-war environmental problems growing
Gaza Strip, April 21 (Pal Telegraph) - Environmental hazards in the Gaza Strip, such as sewage contamination, have intensfied since Israel's recent war on Hamas there because even basic infrastructure repairs are stalled by an ongoing border blockade of the territory, the...
The death of Bassem
West Bank, April 21 (Pal Telegraph) - On April the 17th, like any Friday afternoon for the last 4 years, the small village of Bil'in, north of Ramallah, was preparing for the usual demonstration against Israel's annexation wall (some people call it...
Seven journalists injured by Israeli soldiers in West Bank since January
West Bank, April 21 (Pal Telegraph) - Reporters Without Borders deplores the repeated use of violence against journalists covering peaceful demonstrations in the West Bank in protest against the construction of the Security Wall. The Israeli armed forces have been directly responsible...
19 Apr 2009 - Charges dropped against firm accused of illegally covering anti-government protests.
US 'disappointed' by Iran verdict
18 Apr 2009 - Tehran sentences journalist to eight years in prison for being an American "spy".
Palestinian 'attacks' Israel police
18 Apr 2009 - Two officers injured after Palestinian drives his vehicle into them, Israeli spokesman says.
US envoy presses two-state option
17 Apr 2009 - George Mitchell tells Palestinian president that two-state option "is only option".
Israel snubs UN Gaza war inquiry
16 Apr 2009 - Israel will not co-operate with UN Human Rights Council into the 22-day assault
NEW YORK, Apr 21 (IPS) - A Muslim legal advocacy group Tuesday charged that federal agents routinely target Muslim American travelers - or simply those perceived to be Muslim - for "deeply intrusive, personal questions and searches about their politics, faith, finances, charitable giving and associations with lawful organisations, all...
POLITICS-US: Prominent Lawmaker Caught Up In AIPAC Scandal
WASHINGTON, Apr 20 (IPS) - A U.S. government investigation of Israeli spying caught a prominent Democratic congresswoman discussing what is alleged to be a "quid pro quo" deal involving the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Washington’s powerful hawkish pro-Israel lobby.
RIGHTS: U.N. Chief Deplores Iranian Statement on Racism
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 20 (IPS) - The secretary-general of the United Nations rarely, if ever, lashes out at world leaders - at least not in public - because he is a perceived as a political servant who owes his existence to member states.
ISRAEL: 'If You Don't Know, It Didn't Happen'
TEL AVIV, Apr 20 (IPS) - Even though atrocities committed by Israeli soldiers have surfaced and the appointment of a right-wing government diminishes the chances for peace in the Middle East, no left-wing Israeli is taking to the streets.
18 Apr 2009 - Hundreds of residents in the Beqa’ neighborhood in Hebron face the demolition of their homes and agricultural infrastructure in what they describe as an ongoing campaign to expand Occupation control in the area around the Kirya Arba settlement. Additionally, bulldozers are still clearing land for an electricity network that will power a number of settlements and military positions between Hebron and Bethlehem, among them Kirya Arba. [
PCHR
In Spite of Persistent Efforts to the Solve the Problem of Access to Medical Treatment Outside the Gaza Strip
PCHR
21 Apr 2009 - During the reporting period, IOF killed two activists of the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip and one civilian in the West Bank. They also wounded 16 Palestinian civilians, including two children and two journalists, in the West Bank. Three of these civilians were wounded by Israeli settlers in a joint attack with IOF.
International Solidarity Movement
20 Apr 2009 - Egypt's chief negotiator is expected to visit Israel on Wednesday for talks with senior officials, but has thus far made no plans to meet with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. ...
Delegates unanimously adopt Durban II anti-racism declaration
20 Apr 2009 - Over 100 countries at the United Nations-sponsored global summit on racism on Tuesday unanimously approved a declaration calling on the world to combat intolerance, as they sought to shake off the impact of a walk-out triggered by remarks from Iran. ...
Obama invites Mideast leaders for separate White House talks
20 Apr 2009 - President Barack Obama has invited Egyptian, Israeli and Palestinian leaders for separate talks in the next few weeks on the Middle East peace process, the White House said on Tuesday. ...
Netanyahu accepts Shalit negotiator's request to quit
20 Apr 2009 - Israel's special negotiator for prisoner affairs Ofer Dekel has officially stepped down from his position, the Prime Minister's Office announced late Tuesday. ...
UN: Ahmadinejad dropped Holocaust denial from speech
20 Apr 2009 - The United Nations said on Tuesday that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dropped a reference to Holocaust denial from his speech the previous day at the Durban II conference. ...
21 Apr 2009 - • Invitations issued to key regional leaders • Effort comes against backdrop of Gaza war Barack Obama is to invite Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian leaders to the White House within the next two months in a...
Ahmadinejad receives 'warm welcome' home after UN summit speech
21 Apr 2009 - Iranian president greeted by 'sensational scene' on his return after sparking walkout at anti-racism conference Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad returned home to what was officially described as a warm welcome on Tuesday after causing outrage at...
Seth Freedman: Durban II: Ahmadinejad's charade
21 Apr 2009 - Antony Lerman is wrong – the Iranian leader's presence discredited this racism conference and betrayed the Palestinians In the aftermath of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's poisonous, predictable tirade in Geneva, the UN secretary general was equally reluctant to...
Country profile: Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories
21 Apr 2009 - Facts and statistics on Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories including history, population, politics, geography, economy, religion and climate Potted history of the country: Britain ruled Palestine as a mandate from 1920 to 1948 when the...
20 Apr 2009 - ...
Former chief rabbi: Ahmadinejad should visit Yad Vashem
20 Apr 2009 - Israel's former chief rabbi, Yisrael Lau, on Tuesday invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to come and visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem to see for himself proof of the Nazi's deliberate murder of six million Jews. ...
Cops raid Ramat Gan marijuana-growing laboratory
20 Apr 2009 - Police arrested four men aged between 26 and 35 in Ramat Gan Tuesday, on suspicion of operating a marijuana-growing laboratory in a private home in the city's plush Ramat Hen neighborhood. Two of the suspects are municipal employees from Ramat Gan, and the other two are brothers from Hod Hasharon and Yehud. Some 26kg of the drug were confiscated in the raid. ...
Netanyahu announces medical subsidies for Holocaust survivors
20 Apr 2009 - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced at Monday morning's cabinet meeting that he had accepted a proposal by Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog to formulate a program of assistance and subsidies for medicines for Holocaust survivors. ...
Holocaust Remembrance / From Lithuanian ghetto to leading Israeli jurist
20 Apr 2009 - "My dear friends, Leshem, I am alive and I am free. After three years of suffering I am once again like everybody else. The accursed Germans murdered my whole family," Tzvi (Hirsch) Brik wrote to Yehudit Leshem in Palestine on September 1, 1944, after the liberation of the ghetto in Kovno, Lithuania. ...
21 Apr 2009 - Source: Palestine Red Crescent Society
OPT: A brief outline of the sewage infrastructure and public health risks in the Gaza Strip for the World Health Organisation
21 Apr 2009 - Source: Global WASH Cluster, World Health Organization
Egypt-OPT: Some 1,600 Gazans allowed to cross into Egypt
21 Apr 2009 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Networks
OPT: Assessment and rehabilitation of damaged infrastructure key focus of UN environment chief's mission to Gaza Strip
21 Apr 2009 - Source: UN Environment Programme
OPT: Israeli refusal to cooperate with United Nations investigation represents an attempt to shield alleged war criminals from justice
21 Apr 2009 - Source: Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
Disaster Management Annual report 2008 - Appeal No.MAA00030
21 Apr 2009 - Source: IFRC
OPT: Signs of worsening malnutrition among children
21 Apr 2009 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Networks
OPT: EU-funded Seyada project hosts workshop for development of Palestinian Judicial Institute
21 Apr 2009 - Source: European Union
21 Apr 2009 - Special envoy heading Israel's efforts on behalf of missing, captive soldiers asks Prime Minister Netanyahu to be relieved of his duties after more than two and a half years
Norway lawyers to charge Olmert with war crimes
21 Apr 2009 - Attorneys seek to charge top officials, accuse Israel of 'massive terror attacks' in Gaza
Iran warns Israel against striking nuclear sites
21 Apr 2009 - Tehran says if Jerusalem attacks 'Iran will respond in a way that they will not be able to sleep easy anymore.' Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman shrugs off threat says 'Israelis sleep well and in our dreams Iran is a friendly country'
Wiesenthal Center: Demjanjuk most wanted
21 Apr 2009 - Alleged death camp guard no. 1 on most-wanted list to reflect importance of deportation efforts, director of center in Jerusalem says
Rabbi Lau: Ahmadinejad should visit Yad Vashem
21 Apr 2009 - Emotional day at Auschwitz: Rabbi Lau speaks at March of the Living ceremony, urges Iranian leader to visit Holocaust museum in Jerusalem; Israeli teenager says event 'proof that Jewish people are here to stay, there will not be another Shoah'
OPT: Signs of worsening malnutrition among children
GAZA CITY Tuesday, April 21, 2009 (IRIN) - Rising poverty, unemployment and food insecurity in Gaza, compounded by the recent 23-day Israeli offensive, have increased the threat of child malnutrition, say UN agencies, health ministry officials and healthcare NGOs in Gaza.
In Brief: United States approves rapid avian flu test
DAKAR Friday, April 10, 2009 (IRIN) - The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a test that can detect the deadly H5N1 virus in humans through throat or nose swabs in 40 minutes. Current laboratory analyses that detect the avian flu strain can take up to four hours for confirmation.
21 Apr 2009 - US President Barack Obama nudged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday to accept the goal of a Palestinian state as he urged Israel and the Palestinians to "step back from the abyss." In White House talks, Obama reassured Jordan's King Abdullah II of his commitment to a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict.
UN meeting approves anti-racism declaration
21 Apr 2009 - Delegates at a United Nations conference shunned by the US adopted on Tuesday an anti-racism declaration as they sought to shake off the impact of a walk-out triggered by remarks by Iran's president. The text adopted on Tuesday, which "reaffirms" a contentious 2001 document that refers six times to Israel and the Middle East.
US-Iranian journalist appeals jail sentence
21 Apr 2009 - An Iranian-American journalist jailed by Tehran for spying has appealed against her eight-year sentence, the judiciary said on Tuesday as her father warned she would starve herself to death if the verdict was upheld. Judiciary spokesman Alireza Jamshidi said he hoped the verdict against US-born Roxana Saberi would be changed.
Israeli left opts for silence on troops' atrocities in Gaza
21 Apr 2009 - Even though atrocities committed by Israeli soldiers have surfaced and the appointment of a right-wing government diminishes the chances for peace in the Middle East, few left-wing Israelis are taking to the streets. During the war in Gaza, modest peace manifestations brought together a few thousand protesters at a time.
Iran warns Israel of consequences if nuclear sites come under attack
21 Apr 2009 - Iran warned Israel on Tuesday against attacking the Islamic state's nuclear facilities, a day after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad raised tensions between the two foes by calling Israel the "most cruel and repressive racist regime" at a UN conference in Geneva. Israel has identified Iran as its biggest threat.
Israel wants to buy US missile defense system
21 Apr 2009 - Defense Minister Ehud Barak hopes to buy a US missile defense system to protect Israeli towns from short-range rockets and mortar fire, defense officials said Tuesday. Barak plans to ask US Defense Secretary Robert Gates to sell Israel the Vulcan-Phalanx cannon and radar system when he visits Washington in June, the officials said.
Palestinian Information Center
Media institutes launch new initiative for Jerusalem21 Apr 2009 - Around 28 media institutes members in the International Islamic Journalism League have launched "Journalists for Jerusalem" Tuesday in a bid to rally the public opinion behind the issue of Jerusalem.
IOA intensifies repressive measures against Palestinian female captives
21 Apr 2009 - The PA ministry of prisoners and ex-prisoners' affairs in Gaza has asserted Tuesday that the Israeli repressive measures against the Palestinian female captives in Israeli jails had increased.
PA security kidnaps Dr. Qassem professor of political sciences
21 Apr 2009 - The Fatah-affiliated preventive security in Nablus kidnapped Dr. Abdelsattar Qassem, a professor of political sciences at Al-Najah university after summoning him on Tuesday.
Haneyya calls on int'l criminal court to bring Israeli leaders to trial
21 Apr 2009 - Premier Ismail Haneyya called on the international criminal court to bring Israeli leaders to trial, noting that Israeli soldiers confessed to receiving orders to commit war crimes in Gaza.
Birmingham donates four trucks full of medical aid to "Hope for Gaza" convoy
21 Apr 2009 - The British city of Birmingham donated four trucks loaded with medical equipment and humanitarian aid to the European "Hope for Gaza" convoy due to be heading towards the besieged Gaza in early May.
Moussa: The Arab League rejects the racist idea of the Jewish state
21 Apr 2009 - Dr. Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League, stated Monday that the Arab League rejects the idea of the Jewish state, adding that this proposal is racist and unacceptable.
Mashaal: Hamas won't allow foreign interventions to disrupt reconciliation
21 Apr 2009 - Khaled Mashaal, the head of the Hamas political bureau, stated that his Movement would not allow the disruption of the inter-Palestinian reconciliation because of the external interventions.
Israeli Nazism is a clarion reality
21 Apr 2009 - Zionist supremacists are quite nervous these days as they watch many people around the world getting themselves freed from the shackles of Zionist propaganda.
Hamas: Palestinian gov't works hard to enforce law and order in Gaza
21 Apr 2009 - Hamas stated that the Palestinian government in Gaza works hard to enforce law and order and prosecutes all those found involved in criminal offenses, stressing that no one is above the law.
IOF troops arrest Palestinian citizens including child
21 Apr 2009 - Israeli occupation forces at dawn Monday rounded up ten Palestinian citizens in various West Bank areas including a 15-year-old boy from Arub refugee camp north of Al-Khalil, local sources reported.
21 Apr 2009 - Critics such as Egypt say the emirate is playing all sides, with its populist Al Jazeera news channel, its hosting of regional summits, all the while maintaining ties with Hamas, Iran and Syria. Qatar, a glittering peninsula of skyscrapers and sand, reminds one of a well-dressed, ambitious little guy playing all the angles in a rough neighborhood. Its pushy rise to prominence is creating suspicion and hardening the Middle East split between moderate U.S. allies and more militant nations.
Iran president's remarks prompt walkout at U.N. conference
21 Apr 2009 - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calls Israel 'the most cruel and repressive racist regime.' During his opening prayer, two protesters in rainbow wigs throw clown noses. Dozens of Western diplomats walked out of a United Nations conference on racism Monday when Iran's hard-line president called Israel the "most cruel and repressive racist regime."
French police arrest top ETA suspect
20 Apr 2009 - Jurdan Martitegi Lizaso, captured in southern France, is said to be the head of the 'military' wing; eight others are arrested in joint raids launched with Spain. French police have arrested the suspected chief of the Basque militant group ETA, the third capture in six months of a leader of the battered but still dangerous separatist organization, Spanish officials said Sunday.
20 Apr 2009 - The remarks at a U.N. conference on combating racism prompted European delegates to desert the hall.
Iran Official Orders ‘Fair’ Appeal Review for Reporter
20 Apr 2009 - The head of Iran’s judiciary ordered an appeal for Roxana Saberi, the Iranian-American journalist sentenced to eight years on charges of spying for Washington.
Iran Sentences U.S. Journalist to 8 Years
18 Apr 2009 - The sentencing of Roxana Saberi, an Iranian-American reporter, comes after Washington and Tehran appeared to be making progress on starting a dialogue over Iran’s nuclear program.
Articles
His name was Basem
Mohammad Khatib, Bil"™in Popular Committee Against the Wall and, ISM 4/20/2009
His name was Basem, which means smile, and that is how he greeted everyone. But we all called him "˜Pheel’, which means elephant because he had the body the size of an elephant. But Basem had the heart of a child.
He loved everyone, and because of his sweetness and ability to make us laugh, everyone loved him. Basem was everyone’s friend: the children talk about how he would play with them, scare them and then make them laugh. He would tend the garden in the playground and bring toys and books to the kindergarten. The old ladies in the village talk about how he used to visit, to ask after them and see if they needed anything. In the village, he seemed to be everywhere at once. He would pop in to say hello, take one puff of the nargila, and be off to his next spot. The morning he was killed he went to the house of Hamis, whose skull had been broken at a previous demonstration three months ago by a tear gas canister projectile - the same weapon that would kill Basem.
Basem woke Hamis and gave him his medicine, then off he went to visit another friend in the village who is ill with cancer. Then a little girl from the village wanted a pineapple but couldn’t find any in the local stores. So Basem went to Ramallah to get a pineapple and was back before noon for the Friday prayers and the weekly demonstration against the theft of our land by the apartheid wall. Pheel never missed a demonstration; he participated in all the activities and creative actions in Bilin. He would always talk to the soldiers as human beings. Before he was hit he was calling for the soldiers to stop shooting because there were goats near the fence and he was worried for them. Then a woman in front of him was hit. He yelled to the commander to stop shooting because someone was wounded. He expected the soldiers to understand and stop shooting. Instead, they shot him too.
Solving Palestine While Israel Destroys It
Kathleen And Bill Christison, CounterPunch 4/15/2009
Obama’s Bubble of Ignorance
To a greater degree than perhaps ever before, Washington today is engulfed in denial about Israel and its stupefying behavior, about its murderous policies toward the Palestinians, about the efforts of Israel and its U.S. defenders to force us to ignore its atrocities. Blinders have always been part of the attire of U.S. policymakers and politicians with regard to Israel and Israeli actions, but in the wake of the three-week Israeli assault that laid waste to the tiny territory of Gaza -- an assault ended very conveniently just before Barack Obama was inaugurated, so that he has been able to act as though it never occurred -- the perspective from which Washington operates is strikingly more blinkered than ever in the past.
At a symposium on Capitol Hill sponsored by the Middle East Policy Council just days before Obama took office, Ali Abunimah, a sharp Palestinian-American commentator who runs the website ElectronicIntifada.net, declared frankly that Washington exists in a bubble of ignorance and denial. While the rest of the world, particularly at the level of civil society, is talking about war crimes tribunals for Israeli leaders and about sanctions against Israel, Abunimah observed, Washington and those world leaders beholden to it are trying to move ahead as if nothing had changed. “We have to expect,” he said, “that the official apparatus of the peace-process industry -- the Hillary Clintons, the Quartets, the Tony Blairs, the Javier Solanas, the Ban Ki-Moons, the whole panoply of official and semi-official Washington think tanks -- will carry on with business as usual, trying to make believe that, through their ministrations, a Palestinian state will come into being.” But in the real world, this state won’t happen, he said, and the time has come to speak frankly about what is going on.
So far, three months into the Obama administration, there is little evidence that Obama sees clearly or is ready to speak frankly. Another very savvy Palestinian political commentator and activist, Haidar Eid, who lives and endures Israel’s constant punishments in Gaza, recently told an interviewer that the international reaction to Israel’s Gaza assault was like the reaction to some kind of natural disaster -- as if no human hand had had a role in the destruction and nothing but money and aid was required to resolve the problem. As if, he said, the disaster had not been “created by the state of Israel to annihilate the Palestinian resistance and Palestinian society.
Electronic Intifada
The writing on the wall spells "freedom"
20 Apr 2009 - "My dear Palestinian brothers and sisters, I have come to your land and I have recognized shades of my own." These are the first 20 words of an open letter written by Farid Esack, a South African scholar and political activist known for his role in the struggle against apartheid. The total length of his letter is 1,998 carefully chosen words in which he argues that the situation in Palestine is worse than it ever was in South Africa under apartheid rule. The Electronic Intifada co-founder Arjan El Fassed comments.
Palestinian olive oil's Fairtrade journey
20 Apr 2009 - In spring 2008, several years of careful negotiations finally culminated in the first Palestinian olive oil being awarded Fairtrade status. The oil, sourced from the Palestine Fair Trade Producers Company (PFTPC), based in the West Bank city of Jenin, is both the first Palestinian product to receive Fairtrade certification, and the first olive oil to be allowed to use the mark. Sarah Irving reports for The Electronic Intifada.
Film review: Musical resistance in "Telling Strings"
20 Apr 2009 - Swiss filmmaker Anne-Marie Haller's 60-minute documentary Telling Strings provides a rare look into the profound workings of a Palestinian family of musicians. Initially, the film appears unassuming yet its powerful content, stunning cinematography and informing moments make it a welcomed addition to a long list of documentaries on Palestine. Maymanah Farhat reviews for The Electronic Intifada.
Animal Farm finds a Palestinian stage
19 Apr 2009 - RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - "Intifada," scream the animals as they chase Jones from the farm. Strobe lights flash and loud music blares as the packed audience sits captivated, eyes trained on the stage below. "We are exhausted not because we are hungry. We are exhausted because of human oppression, and we can't work out how to resolve our problems," shouts Old Major, one of the senior pig revolutionaries.
Palestine Chronicle
Killing
Bassem: Just Like That
21 Apr 2009 - By
Sayed Dhansay He stands on a small sandy hilltop wearing a bright
yellow t-shirt, cigarette in hand. He is calling out to the soldiers on
the other side of the fence “Do not shoot, do not shoot. There are
children and internationals here, do not shoot.” Thin white wisps of
teargas linger in the gentle breeze, a moment of calm in the
confrontation. Suddenly a teargas canister whizzes past the camera
making an audible “clunk” as it hits something to the right. He tries
to let out a scream, but all he manages is a stifled yelp. One can
almost hear his breath being cut short as the projectile punctures his
chest. Another muted scream of pain. He falls to the ground then jumps
up quickly, running a few steps before collapsing again. His body rolls
a few times as he hits the ground, his limbs flapping loosely
underneath him. Two fellow demonstrators run to him, looking almost
surprised and unsure of what has just happened. They turn him over,
lifting his shirt and calling his name. But he is unresponsive. His
eyes are open but his body lies motionless. His bright yellow shirt now
quickly growing a wet red stain over his heart. And so the occupied
people of Palestine sacrifice yet another one of their young men.
Another one. Again. Just like that. In an instant. Caught live on
camera for the world to see. 29 year old Bassem Ibrahim Abu Rahme was
later pronounced dead at...
BDS:
Thinking Outside the PLO Box
21 Apr 2009 - By
Samah Sabawi Three months ago, the world stood still for one rare
moment of absolute clarity as it grasped the implication of Israel's
imprisonment of a civilian population and its use of aid and medicine
as a political bargaining chip and a means of collective punishment.
That moment of clarity and world sympathy was what the Palestinians
needed to break the siege of Gaza. That moment was squandered by a
Palestinian leadership still chasing its own tail much to the amusement
of its enemies, frustration of its friends and utter disappointment of
the people it claims to represent. Anger cannot begin to describe the
feelings of tens of thousands of families who are crammed into tents
erected on the rubble of what was their home as they watch the endless
bickering and shuffling back and forth of their leaders who don't seem
to get the gravity of their predicament. And while tons of food aid
rots in Egypt prevented by Israel from entering into the Strip, while
Egypt and the PA continue to dance the tango with Israeli officials,
while Hamas continues to tighten its hold over the strip by silencing
its opponents, and while the world loses that moment of great clarity,
a transformation must and is taking place not only in the scarred minds
of the Gaza population but also in the West Bank and in the minds of
Palestinians everywhere. Palestinians, once united and represented by
the PLO are beginning to realize that they are now...
Stupid
Stunt to Silence Meaningful Debate
21 Apr 2009 - By
Stuart Littlewood – London The truth never suits Israel's flag-wavers
and stooges. They have to twist it or strangulate it. When Mr.
Ahmadjinedad got up to speak at the UN racism conference the British
Ambassador, Peter Gooderham, was among those who walked out in the
worst show of diplomatic bad manners this century. Gooderham is
reported to have said that "such inflammatory rhetoric has no place
whatsoever in a United Nations conference addressing the whole issue of
racism and how to address it. "As soon as President Ahmadinejad,
started talking about Israel, that was the cue for us to walk out. We
agreed in advance that if there was any such rhetoric there would be no
tolerance for it." Referring to the Iranian leader's accusation of
Israeli racism he added: "That is a charge we unreservedly condemn and
so we had no hesitation at that point in leaving the conference hall."
TV inquisitor Jeremy Paxman asked Gooderham the difference between
Zionism and racism, to which he replied that Zionism is a political
movement and racism is something else - we recognize it when we see it.
The trouble is, these characters don't recognize it at all. Nor are
they daily on the receiving end, as the Palestinians are, of Israel's
brutal racist policies. Nor were they under Israel's genocidal
blitzkrieg on Gaza that vaporized and incinerated women and children in
their hundreds and blew their body-parts to kingdom-come. Everyone
knows that the Zionist project aims to create a Jewish...
Speech
at the Durban Review Conference on Racism
21 Apr 2009 - The
following is the speech of the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at
the Durban Review Conference on racism in Geneva on April 20, 2009. Mr.
Chairman, honorable secretary general of the United Nations, honorable
United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Ladies and
gentleman: We have gathered in the follow-up to the Durban conference
against racism and racial discrimination to work out practical
mechanisms for our holy and humanitarian campaigns. Over the last
centuries, humanity has gone through great sufferings and pains. In the
Medieval Ages, thinkers and scientists were sentenced to death. It was
then followed by a period of slavery and slave trade. Innocent people
were taken captive in their millions and separated from their families
and loved ones to be taken to Europe and America under the worst
conditions. A dark period that also experienced occupation, lootings
and massacres of innocent people. Many years passed by before nations
rose up and fought for their liberty and freedom and they paid a high
price for it. They lost millions of lives to expel the occupiers and
establish independent and national governments. However, it did not
take long before power grabbers imposed two wars in Europe which also
plagued a part of Asia and Africa. Those horrific wars claimed about a
hundred million lives and left behind massive devastation. Had lessons
been learnt from the occupations, horrors and crimes of those wars,
there would have been a ray of hope for the future. The victorious
powers called themselves the...