Israeli gunfire kills Gaza militant: Palestinians
by Mai Yaghi - DEC 28,10
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Israeli gunfire and tank shelling killed a Palestinian militant and wounded five other people east of Khan Yunis in Gaza on Tuesday, a Palestinian medical source and witnesses told AFP.Adham Abu Selmiya, a spokesman for the Hamas-run medical services in Gaza, and hospital officials named the dead man as 22-year-old Hassan Abu Rok Qadeeh.Witnesses told AFP Qadeeh was a member of the Popular Resistance Committees, a coalition of Palestinian factions that has claimed responsibility for a barrage of mortar fire into Israel in recent weeks.The group released a statement hailing his martyrdom in Zionist shelling east of Khan Yunis.A Israeli army spokeswoman said our soldiers, with air support, opened fire on members of a terrorist cell that was trying to place an explosive device near the security barrier separating Gaza from Israel.Tensions have been rising on Gaza's border with Israel over continued rocket fire into the Jewish state and retaliatory and often deadly Israeli air raids.Since the beginning of the month, at least 14 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops, according to an AFP count. Two Palestinians were also killed on December 10 when an unexploded tank shell detonated.
The Israeli military said on Tuesday that approximately 37 rockets and other projectiles have been fired from Gaza since December 1.In recent weeks, both sides have ramped up their rhetoric, warning that an escalation could result in full-blown war.The renewed tensions come just two years after Israel launched the devastating Operation Cast Lead in response to rocket fire from Gaza.The war, which ended in a ceasefire on January 18, 2009, killed 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers.On Sunday, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad, one of the militant groups operating in Gaza, said it was prepared for a new war with Israel.
The occupation will pay the price if they even think of carrying out an escalation in the Gaza Strip, Abu Ahmed told mourners at the funerals of two comrades killed in a exchange of fire with Israeli troops.And a day earlier, a spokesman for Hamas's military also touted the group's preparedness for conflict with Israel, hinting they possessed a secret weapon, about which he provided no details.There is a truce in effect in the field ... But if there is any Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip we will respond strongly, said a masked spokesman who identified himself as Abu Obeideh.
On Monday, Israeli army chief of staff Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi said his troops were ready for a new confrontation if it became necessary.Two years after Operation Cast Lead the situation in the Gaza Strip is different and calmer, he said.
Yet, sadly, from time to time, rockets and mortar shells are fired at the Israeli home front. We will not accept this ... We hope that the security situation in the south does not deteriorate. However, the IDF is preparing for any scenario.
Israeli companies to help build Palestinian city By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH, Associated Press - DEC 28,10
RAMALLAH, West Bank – About 20 Israeli suppliers will help build the first modern Palestinian city in the West Bank but only after promising they will not use products or services from Israeli settlements, the project's developer said Tuesday.
The announcement angered the Jewish settlers, who accused the suppliers of caving in to an international boycott of settlement goods and businesses.The West Bank city of Rawabi, going up 20 miles (30 kilometers) north of Jerusalem, is a key part of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's plans to lay the groundwork for a future Palestinian state, regardless of progress in peace talks.The participation of Israeli companies in its construction is both an ironic twist on the heavy use of Palestinian laborers in building Jewish settlements in the West Bank, and a powerful reminder of how much the 43 years of Israeli occupation have made the Palestinian economy reliant on Israel.Project developer Bashar Masri told The Associated Press that he tries to use Palestinian suppliers whenever possible. But when necessary, he turns to Israeli firms on condition that products and services from any territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war — the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights — are not used.Settlements are diabolical. They steal Palestinian land and are an obstacle to an independent Palestinian state, and it's time for us to put an end to that harm, Masri said.He refused to identify any of the Israeli companies, but said they were suppliers of building and construction materials. Their contracts with the Rawabi project were first reported Tuesday by Israel's Army Radio.Settler leader Dani Dayan fumed that Israeli companies agreed to the Palestinian conditions. It's a capitulation to the boycott, Dayan said.
Palestinian activists and their supporters have launched a campaign to persuade investors to divest Israeli holdings and boycott Israeli companies over the occupation. The economic impact has been negligible, but for Israel, the negative publicity has been unwelcome.Israel accuses boycott advocates of trying to delegitimize the Jewish state and argues that many foreign companies with ties to authoritarian regimes are not similarly targeted.Fayyad has publicly advocated a boycott of settlement goods in the West Bank, and earlier this year, his government passed a law imposing heavy penalties and jail time on Palestinians who work in settlements.But they haven't been able to find alternative sources of employment for the estimated 21,000 Palestinians who work in settlements in construction, agriculture or industry, and the law isn't being enforced.Some 300,000 Israelis live in more than 120 settlements across the West Bank — almost a threefold increase since the two sides launched their first round of peace talks 17 years ago. An additional 180,000 live in east Jerusalem, the section of the holy city claimed by the Palestinians as a future capital.
Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Mideast war.
Late Tuesday, the Israeli army killed a Palestinian militant in the Gaza Strip near the border with Israel.The Israeli army said it targeted militants planting explosives near the border and hit one.Palestinian medical official Adham Abu Salmia said one man was killed and three wounded.A small Palestinian group, the Popular Resistance Committees, affiliated with Gaza's Hamas rulers, said the militant was carrying out a mission.Clashes common along Gaza's border, where militants fire rockets and try to infiltrate Israel.Associated Press writer Ibrahim Barzak contributed reporting from Gaza City, Gaza Strip.
Israel says London home to Hamas hub
– DEC 28,10
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's defence ministry accused a London-based Palestinian centre on Tuesday of terror-affiliated activities and being the organisational arm of the militant Islamic Hamas movement in Europe.Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and advocates violent opposition to the Jewish state, is designated by the European Union as a terrorist organisation.An Israeli defence ministry statement said that the Palestinian Return Centre organises conferences in Europe at which it plays taped speeches by Hamas leaders who are banned from entering the EU.The centre is involved in initiating and organising radical and violent activity against Israel in Europe, while delegitimising Israel's status as a nation among the European community, the statement said.Among other terror-affiliated activities, the centre organises many conferences in various European countries for Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood activists from all around the world, it added.On its website, the centre describes itself as an independent consultancy focusing on the historical, political and legal aspects of the Palestinian Refugees.Israel however, says it is part of the broader Hamas activism and support network within Europe, which is especially strong in England.
Tuesday's statement said that earlier this month Defence Minister Ehud Barak signed a decree declaring the London centre an association illegal in Israel.A ministry spokeswoman was unable to explain to AFP what the practical implications of that decree were, and whether Israel would seek a similar designation of the group from the British government.Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum called the allegations against the centre false and fabricated.This is an Israeli misrepresentations intended to isolate the Palestinian people from any attempts to show solidarity with them or help them realise their rights, he told AFP.
Abbas Fatah faction bans former leader from meetings
DEC 28,10
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – The Western-backed Palestinian Fatah faction has banned from meetings a former leader, once considered a possible successor to President Mahmoud Abbas, an official news agency reported Tuesday.Mohammed Dahlan, for years Fatah's strong-man in the Gaza Strip, was banned from attending faction meetings, the WAFA news agency reported, saying only that he was being investigated by the group's highest decision-making body.Dahlan first fell from grace in 2007 when Hamas Islamists routed Fatah forces to take control of the Gaza Strip. As security chief, Dahlan had been charged with keeping Fatah dominant in the coastal territory.A senior Fatah official said the investigation revolves around Dahlan's financial assets and accusations of incitement against Abbas.Palestinian officials, speaking anonymously, have said Dahlan had publicly spoken poorly of Abbas's sons and had criticized the Palestinian president, going as far as to call for his replacement.Dahlan, who could not be reached for comment, was also ousted from his position of commissioner of Fatah media and is being replaced by a long-standing Abbas spokesman.Prior to the ban, Abbas had ordered security guards to be removed from Dahlan's office and house in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Since then, Dahlan has spent more time abroad.(Writing by Mohammed Assadi; Editing by Louise Ireland)
Israel rules out apology to Turks over flotilla raid
– Mon Dec 27, 9:11 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel ruled out apologising to Turkey over the raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship that killed nine Turkish activists, as another vessel prepared to bypass its blockade of the territory.We will not apologise, but express our regrets to Turkey, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told private television network Channel 10.We don't want our soldiers to be possibly hauled before international tribunals... our soldiers acted in accordance with standards, he said, as an apology could be interpreted as an admission of liability.Netanyahu's comments came just a day after Israel's right-wing Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman dismissed as a cheek Ankara's demand for an apology before it would normalise relations.The ones who have to apologise are the government of Turkey for supporting terror, said Lieberman.There will be no apology from Israel for the May 31 commando raid, he added.Lieberman was only expressing a personal opinion, like other ministers do, said a statement from Netanyahu's office office soon after the comments Sunday.
And on Monday, explaining his foreign minister's comments, Netanyahu told Channel 10: In my coalition government, there are different points of view but the prime minister expresses the voice of the government.Israel's ties with Turkey plunged into crisis following the raid on the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ferry carrying aid to the Gaza Strip in defiance of an Israeli blockade on the Palestinian territory.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Saturday that Ankara wanted to turn the page on a year of difficult relations with Israel, but the Jewish state had to apologise for the deadly assault.Thousands of Turks gave the Mavi Marmara a rapturous welcome when it docked Sunday at Istanbul following a lengthy refit in a port along the Mediterranean.According to the ferry's owner, a Turkish campaign group called IHH, the boat will be part of a new flotilla which will leave for Gaza on May 31, 2011, exactly one year on from the deadly raid.In the Syrian capital Damascus meanwhile, an aid ship backed by Asian activists was already making preparations to set sail with aid for the Gaza Strip, a spokesman for Palestinian groups based in Syria said Monday.
But it will bypass the Israeli blockade.
The Sierra Leone-flagged Asia 1 is awaiting the green light from Egypt to sail to the Egyptian port of El-Arish from where its cargo is to be carried overland to Gaza, Khaled Abdel-Majid told AFP.Several Asian charity organisations, mainly from India, were behind the initiative, and the boat would also carry a dozen activists from Asian countries, Abdel-Majid added.More than 100 other activists, from countries including Iran, Japan, Pakistan and Afghanistan, would fly to Egypt in order to link up with the aid convoy, the Palestinian official said.The boat would carry one million dollars (760,000 euros) worth of medicine, foodstuffs and toys as well as four buses and 10 power generators for hospitals, he added. Israel imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza after Palestinian militants captured one of its soldiers in June 2006.It reinforced it a year later after the Islamists Hamas seized control of the coastal enclave following deadly fighting with the Fatah faction of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.But it eased the blockade after its deadly raid on the Mavi Marmara provoked international condemnation.
Netanyahu says interim deal possible if talks fail
By Ori Lewis – Mon Dec 27, 4:36 pm ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – An interim Israeli-Palestinian peace deal could result from failure to reach agreement on major core issues, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday, the first time he has mentioned such an option.When asked about Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's comment that the best option could be a long-term interim pact because a permanent deal was not possible, Netanyahu said:If ... we perhaps reach a (dead end) on Jerusalem and perhaps (a dead end) on refugees, then possibly the outcome could be an interim agreement. It is possible, I cannot rule it out, Netanyahu said in an interview in Hebrew on Israel's Channel 10 television.It was the first time Netanyahu said there could be an alternative path in peace talks to the U.S.-brokered negotiations that stalled after Israel refused to extend a partial West Bank building freeze on September 26, although he declined to discuss details of such a move.A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejected outright the possibility of an interim peace deal saying the matter of Jerusalem and refugees had to be resolved and could not be deferred to a later date.This is unacceptable to us, because it would exclude two vital issues, Jerusalem and the refugees. Jerusalem is a red line as it is to be the capital of a future Palestinian state ... going back to talk about a state without determining its borders is unacceptable, and it will not lead us to a true peace, Abbas aide Nabil Abu Rdaineh said.
U.S. EFFORTS CONTINUING
In Washington, a U.S. State Department spokesman said the United States was working hard to reach a peace deal.Our position is clear: we remain hard at work with the parties to achieve a framework agreement on all the core issues, spokesman Mark Toner said when asked about Netanyahu's comments.Netanyahu said he recognized that the Palestinians would not agree to enter talks over an interim agreement but that it might be where the talks would end up.If ahead of time we will tell (the Palestinians) let's (work on an interim deal) it is not certain that they will agree so easily, but it could be the outcome of a diplomatic initiative, Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu said in the event the Palestinians agreed to recognize Israel as a Jewish state he would be willing to jeopardize coalition agreements to pursue a peace deal.
If the Palestinians will recognize a Jewish state ... I tell you here and now I will go all the way with this, no coalitional consideration will stop me ... Not in reaching the agreement and not in presenting it to the people and the majority of the people will support me,he said.
Thousands greet Turkish protest ship By Erol Israfil, Associated Press – Sun Dec 26, 6:43 pm ET
ISTANBUL – Thousands of pro-Palestinian activists on Sunday welcomed back to Istanbul the ship that was the scene of bloodshed during an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May. Activists meanwhile, promised to send more ships in an effort to break the Gaza blockade.Hundreds of balloons were released as the ship, Mavi Marmara, sailed into Istanbul's Sarayburnu port, following repairs at a port on Turkey's Mediterranean coast.The activists, mostly members of pro-Islamic groups, waved Palestinian and Turkish flags and chanted down with Israel and Allah is great as they greeted the vessel. Protesters also boarded boats to welcome the approaching ship, which was adorned with a poster of the nine activists from Turkey who were killed during the raid.We promise that we will go again and again to Gaza, until Gaza and Palestine are free, Israeli-Swedish activist Dror Elimelech Feiler told the crowd.The ship was part of an international flotilla carrying supplies to Gaza in a campaign to breach the blockade on Gaza when Israeli troops intercepted the convoy. Eight Turks and an American-Turkish teenager were killed in the violence that erupted on board the Mavi Marmara.
The incident aggravated relations between former allies Turkey and Israel that were already tense over Turkish criticism of Israel's conflict with Palestinians. Turkey recalled its ambassador and pushed for international condemnation of Israel.Turkey has since said it wants improved ties with Israel, but is not backtracking from its demands that Israel apologize for the raid and compensate victims before relations can return to normal.High-level Turkish and Israeli officials met in Geneva earlier this month to try to mend fences, after Turkey sent aircraft and firefighters to help Israel battle a wildfire. But they failed to agree on terms.Israel insists commandos opened fire in self-defense after meeting what they called unexpected resistance when they boarded the Mavi Marmara. Israel wants Turkey to return its ambassador to Tel Aviv and to drop the flotilla incident from the international agenda.Speaking at the welcoming ceremony, Ahmet Dogan, the father of the American-Turkish teenager who died, Furkan Dogan, said the victims' families wanted more than an apology and compensation from Israel.If they want to ease the pain of the families of the martyrs, the embargo and blockade (of Gaza) must be lifted, Dogan said. All those in the Israeli (military) command chain involved in the incident must be punished.After the raid, Israel significantly eased import restrictions over land, and announced it would permit increased exports from Gaza.
Palestinian government illegitimate: Israel FM
– Sun Dec 26, 11:46 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's fiery Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday that Israel should not sign a peace deal with the Western-backed Palestinian government because it is illegitimate.It is forbidden for us to reach a comprehensive deal today with the Palestinians. To put it clearly, you have to understand that their government is not legitimate, he told a meeting in Jerusalem of Israeli ambassadors.Lieberman pointed to the fact that the government of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas had lost control of the Gaza Strip to rival Hamas and postponed elections after its term had expired.It is a government that has postponed elections three times, that lost elections, that does not hold elections, does not plan to hold elections and there are no guarantees that next time they do hold elections, that Hamas won't win again,Lieberman said.He also said the Palestinians would reject any deal from Israel, no matter how generous, and that there were unbridgeable gaps on Israeli security issues.Even if we offer the Palestinians Tel Aviv and go back to the 1947 borders, they would find reasons not to sign a peace deal with us, he said.
The Palestinian Authority, dominated by Abbas's secular Fatah movement, has repeatedly postponed national and local elections, while Hamas has refused to let them be held in Gaza.Hamas, which won a landslide victory in the last parliamentary elections in 2006, has said there can be no new elections without reconciliation with Fatah.The Islamist movement seized power in Gaza in June 2007 when it ousted forces loyal to Abbas in a week of bloody street battles, the culmination of years of struggle between the two main Palestinian movements.The two groups struggled for months to reach a unity deal under Egyptian mediation but the efforts collapsed late last year when Hamas refused to agree to a proposal that was signed by Fatah.
Lieberman, the hardline leader of the Yisrael Beitenu party, has been largely sidelined by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in peace talks with the Palestinians.
Direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the first for nearly two years, began in Washington on September 2 but quickly stalled when a 10-month Israeli settlements freeze expired on September 26.
World may recognise Palestine soon: Israel minister
– Sun Dec 26, 8:54 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – In spite of stalled peace talks, the entire world could recognise a Palestinian state within a year, a dovish Israeli cabinet minister warned Sunday, urging the resumption of negotiations.The comments from Industry and Trade Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer come after Ecuador formally recognised Palestine as an independent state on Friday, following the lead of other South American countries.
Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia gave formal recognition earlier this month while Uruguay said it will do so early in the new year.I would not be surprised if within a year the entire world, even the US, recognizes a Palestinian state, then we will have to explain how this happened, Ben Eliezer told reporters ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting.Israel opposes any recognition of a Palestinian state, saying its establishment must be reached through negotiations and not through unilateral moves.
But with the breakdown of peace talks, the Palestinians have said they are considering new diplomatic options, and welcomed the recognition from the Latin American nations.Direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the first for nearly two years, began in Washington on September 2. But they quickly stalled, when a 10-month Israeli settlement freeze expired on September 26.The Palestinians refused to resume negotiations without a new moratorium and on December 7 Washington admitted that it had failed to convince Israel to renew the building ban, despite offering a generous package of incentives.Ben Eliezer, from the dovish Labour Party, said Israel must do all it can to get talks back on track.We must do all everything possible to renew talks with the Palestinians, even if it means a settlement freeze for a few months, he said.Palestinian negotiators have emphasised a set of alternatives to new talks, including seeking recognition of a Palestinian state along the borders that existed in 1967, before the Six Day War.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
CHRISTMAS 2010 IN ISRAEL
Record pilgrims in Bethlehem for Christmas
by Musa al-Shaer – Sat Dec 25, 8:53 am ET
BETHLEHEM, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Bethlehem hosted a record number of pilgrims this Christmas, Palestinian officials said Saturday as tens of thousands flocked to celebrate in the birthplace of Jesus.With thousands still heading to the West Bank city on Christmas Day, officials said the numbers may have even surpassed the 90,000 predicted by the Palestinian Authority ahead of the Holy Day.This is the first year that Bethlehem has hosted so many people, Bethlehem city official George Saade told AFP. However, he said they did not yet have exact figures.The Israeli military, which controls the main checkpoint leading into the city, also said it did not yet have the numbers.In the wake of the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising in 2000, the spectre of unrest and violence kept tourists away, leaving the little town deserted on Christmas for several years.However, 2010 was the third straight year Bethlehem has seen record numbers of pilgrims and tourists returning. Officials said all of Bethlehem's 24 hotels were fully booked.The Christmas season caps a year of unprecedented tourism for Bethlehem and the Palestinian territories, where visitor revenues are sorely needed.Herve, a French tourist in town with his wife and three children, said the experience was a magical and mysterious moment.
It's been a dream for a long time to be here for Christmas,he told AFP.It's a night of communion with the whole world and it's a very nice Christmas gift for my family.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank and Arab Israelis were also expected in Bethlehem, along with several hundred from the tiny Christian community in Gaza who were able to secure rare Israeli entry permits for the holiday.The visitors who packed Manger Square on Friday enjoyed the festive atmosphere, taking pictures and fighting off the crisp night air with steaming boiled corn-on-the-cob and cups of sweet Arabic coffee from dozens of vendors.Others managed to attend midnight mass in St. Catherine's Church, next to the Church of the Nativity, where the Middle East's senior Catholic cleric called for peace and reconciliation in the region.During this Christmas season, may the sound of the bells of our churches drown the noise of weapons in our wounded Middle East, Latin Patriarch Fuad Twal told an audience that included Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.As peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians remain stalled, Twal also offered a vision of a better, more peaceful future.Our hope for Christmas is that Jerusalem not only becomes the capital of two nations, but also a model for the world, of harmony and coexistence of the three monotheistic religions.
Ecuador recognizes independent Palestinian state
– Sat Dec 25, 8:39 am ET
QUITO, Ecuador – The Ecuadorean government is the latest in Latin American to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state.The Foreign Ministry says in a statement that President Rafael Correa officially recognized Palestine on Friday as free and independent, with its borders since 1967.It says he sent a message to that effect to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.Ecuador joins Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba and Venezuela in supporting an independent Palestine with borders recognized prior to the 1967 Mideast war.
Pope appeals for Israeli-Palestinian co-existence
– Sat Dec 25, 6:33 am ET
VATICAN CITY (AFP) – Pope Benedict XVI issued an appeal for peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians in his traditional Christmas Day address at the Vatican on Saturday.May the light of Christmas shine forth anew in the Land where Jesus was born, and inspire Israelis and Palestinians to strive for a just and peaceful coexistence,he told the crowds gathered in Saint Peter's Square.
Crowds pack Bethlehem to hear message of peace
by Sara Hussein – Fri Dec 24, 6:41 pm ET
BETHLEHEM, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – The Middle East's senior Catholic cleric called for peace and reconciliation in a traditional Christmas Eve midnight mass before thousands in the birthplace of Jesus Christ.During this Christmas season, may the sound of the bells of our churches drown the noise of weapons in our wounded Middle East, Latin Patriarch Fuad Twal told an audience that included Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.Pilgrims from around the world gathered in St. Catherine's Church on Bethlehem's Manger Square to hear the traditional address in the city where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born.As peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians remain stalled, Twal offered a vision of a better, more peaceful future.
Our hope for Christmas is that Jerusalem not only becomes the capital of two nations, but also a model for the world, of harmony and coexistence of the three monotheistic religions.He also drew attention to the plight of Iraqi Christians, after a bloody October attack on a Baghdad church.We recall the tragedy that struck the Christian community in Iraq. Such fanatic actions are universally condemned by Christians and Muslims, he said.The incident, which killed 44 worshippers and two priests, cast a shadow over Iraq's dwindling Christian population, a frequent target of bloody attacks.Twal called for dialogue in the Middle East to overcome fundamentalism, and urged the faithful to reach out to their enemies in reconciliation.In a world torn apart by violence and fundamentalism, which legitimises the worst actions, including killings in churches, the Child of Bethlehem reminds us that the first commandment is Love.He teaches us forgiveness and reconciliation, even with our enemies.After Twal's homily, a choir dressed in traditional Palestinian outfits, including black dresses with red embroidery for the women, sang hymns and the faithful took communion.In the hours leading up to the mass, excited pilgrims inside St Catherine's, some of the lucky few to secure a coveted entrance pass, listened to the chanting of Franciscan monks.
Abbas and Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad sat near the front of the church, along with diplomats from several European countries.Church bells rang and the choir sang Christmas carols as a delegation of Korean nuns dressed in traditional Korean outfits listened.Herve, a French tourist in town with his wife and three children, said the experience was a magical and mysterious moment.It's been a dream for a long time to be here for Christmas, he told AFP.It's a night of communion with the whole world and it's a very nice Christmas gift for my family.In Manger Square, those who couldn't secure a ticket for the mass enjoyed the festive atmosphere, taking pictures and fighting off the crisp night air with steaming boiled corn-on-the-cob and cups of sweet Arabic coffee from dozens of vendors. A record number of tourists and pilgrims have flocked into the occupied West Bank town in the past two years after nearly a decade dominated by fears of violence that left Bethlehem virtually deserted at Christmas.Before nightfall, a long line of pilgrims waited to enter the grotto inside the Church of the Nativity where Mary is said to have given birth to Jesus Christ after she and Joseph could not find any room at the inn.Earlier, crowds lined Bethlehem's Star Street and Manger Square to watch the traditional Christmas Eve procession that brought Twal into the town centre.
It's amazing. To be in the birthplace of Christ on Christmas, you can't get better than that, said Brady MacCarl, 22. During the Christmas period, the Palestinian Authority expects at least 90,000 people to flood into Bethlehem, which sits behind a major Israeli checkpoint and the controversial security wall.But unlike in years past, when the spectre of unrest and violence kept tourists away and those who visited spent the night in Israel instead, Bethlehem's 24 hotels were all fully booked.The Christmas season will cap a year of unprecedented tourism for Bethlehem and the Palestinian territories, where visitor revenues are sorely needed.Tens of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank and Arab Israelis were also expected in Bethlehem, along with several hundred from the tiny Christian community in Gaza who were able to secure rare Israeli entry permits for the holiday.Meanwhile, Israeli police and medics said three Italian pilgrims were killed and two others were seriously injured when their car crashed in northern Israel. Local media reported that all five were nuns.
Xmas joy mixed with threats for Mideast Christians
by W.G. Dunlop – Fri Dec 24, 2:21 pm ET
BAGHDAD (AFP) – Christians in the Middle East prepared on Friday to celebrate Christmas, some in fear of attacks against their community, as in Iraq, and others in the most discreet way possible, as in Saudi Arabia.For Iraq's battered Christian community, threats of attacks from Al-Qaeda and mourning for the victims of an October massacre at a Baghdad church have turned a normally festive season into one of fear and sadness.Many mass gatherings in Iraq were cancelled on Friday, and Saturday services will be held during the morning for safety reasons.Security measures have been stepped up after Al-Qaeda threats against Christians, with protective walls erected around some churches and the number of soldiers and police guarding churches strengthened.On October 31, militants laid siege to Baghdad's Our Lady of Salvation church, leaving 44 worshippers, two priests and seven security forces personnel dead in an attack claimed by Al-Qaeda affiliate the Islamic State of Iraq.
Ten days later a string of attacks targeted the homes of Christians in Baghdad, killing six people and wounding 33 others.On Friday, Chaldean Catholic archbishop Monsignor Louis Sarko said in a message from Kirkuk that Iraqi Christians must remain steadfast, despite their fears.Today we are living a painful experience in Iraq, which reached its peak with the massacre at Our Lady of Salvation, which touched both Christians and Muslims. But we must persevere in the face of disaster, Sarko said.We will not surrender to division and frustration, he said.Father Saad Sirop Hanna, the priest of the Saint Joseph Chaldean Catholic church in central Baghdad, told his congregation at a Christmas Eve service: Do not fear -- that is the message today.In Saudi Arabia, Christians will be as discreet as possible in their Christmas celebrations, as the Gulf kingdom forbids the overt practice of any religion but Islam.In the capital Riyadh, there are no signs of the Christmas season.
We don't do much for Christmas; we have to be careful, said Raul, one of the more than one million mostly Christian Filipino migrant workers in the country, who along with two other fellow welders from Pangasinan were doing their weekly shopping at the popular Pinoy supermarket in Riyadh.I put up some Christmas lights in my apartment, and made a tree in the shop, said Valentin, a metal shop worker from Cavite. You can't buy a Christmas tree in Saudi Arabia.Religious services take place, but are exceedingly hush-hush. The state oil giant Aramco, with thousands of non-Muslim employees, has long allowed services in its tightly guarded compounds in Eastern Province.Foreign communities also organise their own services, though most of the Christians in the country do not have access.Although private worship in homes is protected under government orders, many Saudis including the religious police are not aware of that and so Christians are particularly cautious of attracting attention.In other Gulf oil monarchies, major shopping centres have been particularly lively, with shoppers drawn to decorations and Christmas presents.
Various hotels in the United Arab Emirates have decorated trees, with one in Abu Dhabi housing a 13-metre-high (42 foot) version decorated with jewellery said to be worth more than 11 million dollars (8.4 million euros), making it the most expensive Christmas tree ever.In shopping areas of the Syrian capital Damascus, Christmas ornaments, toys, Santa Claus suits and sweets can be found. And Christmas trees have been put up in some Syrian cities, including one in Safita near Tartus in the country's east that is 18 metres (60 feet) tall and has 3,200 lights, with a large nativity scene nearby.Lebanon, a tiny multi-confessional Mediterranean state that is the only Arab country with a Christian head of state, is one of the few countries in the region where Christians have full religious freedom.Christmas celebrations there transcend the multitude of religious communities, members of which formed often sectarian-based militias in Lebanon's devastating 1975-1990 civil war.Many Muslim families have Christmas trees and decorations, and gifts and Santa Claus are social phenomena in the country which is caught up in a frenzy of buying that would match many Western states.Mass is held in Christian communities across Lebanon, including those in religiously mixed areas.South of the border, crowds of tourists and Palestinians flocked into the West Bank town of Bethlehem, where Christians believe Jesus was born, to celebrate Christmas.
Gaza's fallen women: doing time for moral crime
by Sara Hussein – Fri Dec 24, 8:23 am ET
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Najwa Abu Amra cries inside a Gaza jail as she explains how she got here. Struggling to care for two sons and a drug-addicted husband, she agreed to sleep with a man for about 50 dollars.She had resisted prostitution in the past, but she was getting desperate.My husband isn't normal, he was telling me to sleep with men because they would give him money, she told AFP.He did what he liked and he didn't give me anything. I didn't know what to do.Her husband showed no interest in caring for their two boys, one aged nine, the other just three. When she walked out, trying to prod him into better behaviour, he married a second wife.I had two sons, one of them is deaf, I didn't have a choice, she explains as the other women prisoners look on, some of them clutching their own children.Out of desperation, she dialled the number of a man she had met months earlier, and agreed to sleep with him for 200 shekels (54 dollars, 41 euros).
Not long afterwards, Abu Amra was arrested on suspicion of immoral behaviour.She was hauled before a judge and ordered to attend 30 days of pre-trial detention at the Training and Reform Centre for Women, Gaza's only prison for women.The facility is run by Hamas, which has been in control of the Gaza Strip since 2007. The group won legislative elections in 2006, and a year later seized control of the coastal enclave after deadly confrontations with rival Fatah.Since coming to power, the Islamist group has sought to bolster Gaza's conservative religious mores, although it has rescinded some controversial measures, including one banning women from publicly smoking the waterpipe.The prison, such as it is, consists of two rooms that house 19 women and a handful of children. The rest of the building, which is still under construction, houses a men's prison and administration offices.Inside one of the rooms, 11 women sit on foam cushions and thick rugs, their thin blankets piled in a corner. One nurses a child in the dimly-lit room, which has only one tiny window letting in very little light.In the other, eight women sit chatting with their female prison guard, Umm Ahmed, who treats them with a mixture of sympathy and revulsion.
Abu Amra's two boys are still with her husband, but another woman, a tired and scared-looking prisoner who refuses to give her name, is rocking her newborn son in her arms.He was born just three days earlier and doesn't yet have a name. His mother was transferred to a hospital for the birth then returned to jail shortly after.His father is a man she slept with for money, Umm Ahmed says. But the new mother claims otherwise, describing the man as her husband.She says her family arranged the marriage while she was in jail, hoping it would be enough to get her out and minimise some of the public disgrace they face. Umm Ahmed says the family has done no such thing.It is a common solution, said Nasser Deeb Suliman, director of prison security, especially when the man in the question is someone the family knows. If it was with a neighbour or a friend, usually the family will decide to marry them, and then the woman can be released, he told AFP.The woman's sister, who also refused to give her name, is in a similar situation.She is heavily pregnant and due to give birth this month, after spending almost half of her pregnancy in prison.Suliman said the women are divided between the two rooms according to the severity of their crimes, but 21-year-old Tahrir, who was convicted of murder, is in the same room as women accused of prostitution and pickpocketing.In the next room sits Rihab, a quiet and pale 34-year-old whose arms are covered in scars from cutting herself. She talks openly but without pride about how she ended up in prison.She didn't need money, she had a job at a local hospital. Her crime was to chose to sleep with two men, both of whom ended up in prison as well.I did it, I'm not going to lie, I did it twice,she said. Her family was furious at first, but her father has forgiven her.He told the neighbours I'm in Egypt, he's going to get a lawyer for me,she said.The two men have already been released, after hiring attorneys to argue their cases. Those accused of moral crimes are rarely sentenced, Suliman says. Instead, a judge extends their 30-day detention period several times, releasing them between four and eight months later -- less if a woman gets married, and more if she is a repeat offender.
Some women are more reluctant than Rihab to admit why they are in jail. Kholud, 18, and her mother, who declines to give her name, have been in prison for two months, and say they were jailed over a family dispute.Umm Ahmed openly contradicts them, but they refuse to change their story.Outside the cell, the guard takes a visitor aside, her face sad but her voice filled with disgust as she describes the women as part of a brothel.The whole family was rotten. They were all involved. The father was in charge. The guy who was with the daughter was also with the mother, she says.
Don't believe everything they say.
Funding government proving tough: Hamas
– Thu Dec 23, 2:08 pm ET
GAZA CITY (AFP) – Gaza's Hamas-run government admitted on Thursday it is finding it hard to come up with the 25 million dollars a month it needs to fund its budget.In a speech before hundreds of teachers at a ceremony in Gaza City, Hamas leader Ismail Haniya admitted his government was struggling with its finances.It costs 25 million dollars a month to fund the government and the ministries, Haniya said. And it's really difficult to provide that.He said Hamas receives no money from either the United States or the European Union, whose money was offered in the context of political blackmail.Haniya, who holds the post of prime minister in the Gaza Strip, but is not recognised internationally as such, revealed that Hamas employs a massive state infrastructure in the coastal enclave.Employees of government institutions and ministries now number some 34,000 people, he said, a number that includes security services and police.Hamas, a militant group dubbed a terrorist organisation by the United States and Europe, has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007.It won legislative elections in 2006, prompting long-standing tensions with chief rival party Fatah to boil over into violence a year later.Hamas fighters in Gaza routed their Fatah counterparts in bloody confrontations and have been firmly in charge of the territory ever since.
by Musa al-Shaer – Sat Dec 25, 8:53 am ET
BETHLEHEM, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Bethlehem hosted a record number of pilgrims this Christmas, Palestinian officials said Saturday as tens of thousands flocked to celebrate in the birthplace of Jesus.With thousands still heading to the West Bank city on Christmas Day, officials said the numbers may have even surpassed the 90,000 predicted by the Palestinian Authority ahead of the Holy Day.This is the first year that Bethlehem has hosted so many people, Bethlehem city official George Saade told AFP. However, he said they did not yet have exact figures.The Israeli military, which controls the main checkpoint leading into the city, also said it did not yet have the numbers.In the wake of the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising in 2000, the spectre of unrest and violence kept tourists away, leaving the little town deserted on Christmas for several years.However, 2010 was the third straight year Bethlehem has seen record numbers of pilgrims and tourists returning. Officials said all of Bethlehem's 24 hotels were fully booked.The Christmas season caps a year of unprecedented tourism for Bethlehem and the Palestinian territories, where visitor revenues are sorely needed.Herve, a French tourist in town with his wife and three children, said the experience was a magical and mysterious moment.
It's been a dream for a long time to be here for Christmas,he told AFP.It's a night of communion with the whole world and it's a very nice Christmas gift for my family.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank and Arab Israelis were also expected in Bethlehem, along with several hundred from the tiny Christian community in Gaza who were able to secure rare Israeli entry permits for the holiday.The visitors who packed Manger Square on Friday enjoyed the festive atmosphere, taking pictures and fighting off the crisp night air with steaming boiled corn-on-the-cob and cups of sweet Arabic coffee from dozens of vendors.Others managed to attend midnight mass in St. Catherine's Church, next to the Church of the Nativity, where the Middle East's senior Catholic cleric called for peace and reconciliation in the region.During this Christmas season, may the sound of the bells of our churches drown the noise of weapons in our wounded Middle East, Latin Patriarch Fuad Twal told an audience that included Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.As peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians remain stalled, Twal also offered a vision of a better, more peaceful future.Our hope for Christmas is that Jerusalem not only becomes the capital of two nations, but also a model for the world, of harmony and coexistence of the three monotheistic religions.
Ecuador recognizes independent Palestinian state
– Sat Dec 25, 8:39 am ET
QUITO, Ecuador – The Ecuadorean government is the latest in Latin American to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state.The Foreign Ministry says in a statement that President Rafael Correa officially recognized Palestine on Friday as free and independent, with its borders since 1967.It says he sent a message to that effect to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.Ecuador joins Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba and Venezuela in supporting an independent Palestine with borders recognized prior to the 1967 Mideast war.
Pope appeals for Israeli-Palestinian co-existence
– Sat Dec 25, 6:33 am ET
VATICAN CITY (AFP) – Pope Benedict XVI issued an appeal for peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians in his traditional Christmas Day address at the Vatican on Saturday.May the light of Christmas shine forth anew in the Land where Jesus was born, and inspire Israelis and Palestinians to strive for a just and peaceful coexistence,he told the crowds gathered in Saint Peter's Square.
Crowds pack Bethlehem to hear message of peace
by Sara Hussein – Fri Dec 24, 6:41 pm ET
BETHLEHEM, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – The Middle East's senior Catholic cleric called for peace and reconciliation in a traditional Christmas Eve midnight mass before thousands in the birthplace of Jesus Christ.During this Christmas season, may the sound of the bells of our churches drown the noise of weapons in our wounded Middle East, Latin Patriarch Fuad Twal told an audience that included Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.Pilgrims from around the world gathered in St. Catherine's Church on Bethlehem's Manger Square to hear the traditional address in the city where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born.As peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians remain stalled, Twal offered a vision of a better, more peaceful future.
Our hope for Christmas is that Jerusalem not only becomes the capital of two nations, but also a model for the world, of harmony and coexistence of the three monotheistic religions.He also drew attention to the plight of Iraqi Christians, after a bloody October attack on a Baghdad church.We recall the tragedy that struck the Christian community in Iraq. Such fanatic actions are universally condemned by Christians and Muslims, he said.The incident, which killed 44 worshippers and two priests, cast a shadow over Iraq's dwindling Christian population, a frequent target of bloody attacks.Twal called for dialogue in the Middle East to overcome fundamentalism, and urged the faithful to reach out to their enemies in reconciliation.In a world torn apart by violence and fundamentalism, which legitimises the worst actions, including killings in churches, the Child of Bethlehem reminds us that the first commandment is Love.He teaches us forgiveness and reconciliation, even with our enemies.After Twal's homily, a choir dressed in traditional Palestinian outfits, including black dresses with red embroidery for the women, sang hymns and the faithful took communion.In the hours leading up to the mass, excited pilgrims inside St Catherine's, some of the lucky few to secure a coveted entrance pass, listened to the chanting of Franciscan monks.
Abbas and Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad sat near the front of the church, along with diplomats from several European countries.Church bells rang and the choir sang Christmas carols as a delegation of Korean nuns dressed in traditional Korean outfits listened.Herve, a French tourist in town with his wife and three children, said the experience was a magical and mysterious moment.It's been a dream for a long time to be here for Christmas, he told AFP.It's a night of communion with the whole world and it's a very nice Christmas gift for my family.In Manger Square, those who couldn't secure a ticket for the mass enjoyed the festive atmosphere, taking pictures and fighting off the crisp night air with steaming boiled corn-on-the-cob and cups of sweet Arabic coffee from dozens of vendors. A record number of tourists and pilgrims have flocked into the occupied West Bank town in the past two years after nearly a decade dominated by fears of violence that left Bethlehem virtually deserted at Christmas.Before nightfall, a long line of pilgrims waited to enter the grotto inside the Church of the Nativity where Mary is said to have given birth to Jesus Christ after she and Joseph could not find any room at the inn.Earlier, crowds lined Bethlehem's Star Street and Manger Square to watch the traditional Christmas Eve procession that brought Twal into the town centre.
It's amazing. To be in the birthplace of Christ on Christmas, you can't get better than that, said Brady MacCarl, 22. During the Christmas period, the Palestinian Authority expects at least 90,000 people to flood into Bethlehem, which sits behind a major Israeli checkpoint and the controversial security wall.But unlike in years past, when the spectre of unrest and violence kept tourists away and those who visited spent the night in Israel instead, Bethlehem's 24 hotels were all fully booked.The Christmas season will cap a year of unprecedented tourism for Bethlehem and the Palestinian territories, where visitor revenues are sorely needed.Tens of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank and Arab Israelis were also expected in Bethlehem, along with several hundred from the tiny Christian community in Gaza who were able to secure rare Israeli entry permits for the holiday.Meanwhile, Israeli police and medics said three Italian pilgrims were killed and two others were seriously injured when their car crashed in northern Israel. Local media reported that all five were nuns.
Xmas joy mixed with threats for Mideast Christians
by W.G. Dunlop – Fri Dec 24, 2:21 pm ET
BAGHDAD (AFP) – Christians in the Middle East prepared on Friday to celebrate Christmas, some in fear of attacks against their community, as in Iraq, and others in the most discreet way possible, as in Saudi Arabia.For Iraq's battered Christian community, threats of attacks from Al-Qaeda and mourning for the victims of an October massacre at a Baghdad church have turned a normally festive season into one of fear and sadness.Many mass gatherings in Iraq were cancelled on Friday, and Saturday services will be held during the morning for safety reasons.Security measures have been stepped up after Al-Qaeda threats against Christians, with protective walls erected around some churches and the number of soldiers and police guarding churches strengthened.On October 31, militants laid siege to Baghdad's Our Lady of Salvation church, leaving 44 worshippers, two priests and seven security forces personnel dead in an attack claimed by Al-Qaeda affiliate the Islamic State of Iraq.
Ten days later a string of attacks targeted the homes of Christians in Baghdad, killing six people and wounding 33 others.On Friday, Chaldean Catholic archbishop Monsignor Louis Sarko said in a message from Kirkuk that Iraqi Christians must remain steadfast, despite their fears.Today we are living a painful experience in Iraq, which reached its peak with the massacre at Our Lady of Salvation, which touched both Christians and Muslims. But we must persevere in the face of disaster, Sarko said.We will not surrender to division and frustration, he said.Father Saad Sirop Hanna, the priest of the Saint Joseph Chaldean Catholic church in central Baghdad, told his congregation at a Christmas Eve service: Do not fear -- that is the message today.In Saudi Arabia, Christians will be as discreet as possible in their Christmas celebrations, as the Gulf kingdom forbids the overt practice of any religion but Islam.In the capital Riyadh, there are no signs of the Christmas season.
We don't do much for Christmas; we have to be careful, said Raul, one of the more than one million mostly Christian Filipino migrant workers in the country, who along with two other fellow welders from Pangasinan were doing their weekly shopping at the popular Pinoy supermarket in Riyadh.I put up some Christmas lights in my apartment, and made a tree in the shop, said Valentin, a metal shop worker from Cavite. You can't buy a Christmas tree in Saudi Arabia.Religious services take place, but are exceedingly hush-hush. The state oil giant Aramco, with thousands of non-Muslim employees, has long allowed services in its tightly guarded compounds in Eastern Province.Foreign communities also organise their own services, though most of the Christians in the country do not have access.Although private worship in homes is protected under government orders, many Saudis including the religious police are not aware of that and so Christians are particularly cautious of attracting attention.In other Gulf oil monarchies, major shopping centres have been particularly lively, with shoppers drawn to decorations and Christmas presents.
Various hotels in the United Arab Emirates have decorated trees, with one in Abu Dhabi housing a 13-metre-high (42 foot) version decorated with jewellery said to be worth more than 11 million dollars (8.4 million euros), making it the most expensive Christmas tree ever.In shopping areas of the Syrian capital Damascus, Christmas ornaments, toys, Santa Claus suits and sweets can be found. And Christmas trees have been put up in some Syrian cities, including one in Safita near Tartus in the country's east that is 18 metres (60 feet) tall and has 3,200 lights, with a large nativity scene nearby.Lebanon, a tiny multi-confessional Mediterranean state that is the only Arab country with a Christian head of state, is one of the few countries in the region where Christians have full religious freedom.Christmas celebrations there transcend the multitude of religious communities, members of which formed often sectarian-based militias in Lebanon's devastating 1975-1990 civil war.Many Muslim families have Christmas trees and decorations, and gifts and Santa Claus are social phenomena in the country which is caught up in a frenzy of buying that would match many Western states.Mass is held in Christian communities across Lebanon, including those in religiously mixed areas.South of the border, crowds of tourists and Palestinians flocked into the West Bank town of Bethlehem, where Christians believe Jesus was born, to celebrate Christmas.
Gaza's fallen women: doing time for moral crime
by Sara Hussein – Fri Dec 24, 8:23 am ET
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Najwa Abu Amra cries inside a Gaza jail as she explains how she got here. Struggling to care for two sons and a drug-addicted husband, she agreed to sleep with a man for about 50 dollars.She had resisted prostitution in the past, but she was getting desperate.My husband isn't normal, he was telling me to sleep with men because they would give him money, she told AFP.He did what he liked and he didn't give me anything. I didn't know what to do.Her husband showed no interest in caring for their two boys, one aged nine, the other just three. When she walked out, trying to prod him into better behaviour, he married a second wife.I had two sons, one of them is deaf, I didn't have a choice, she explains as the other women prisoners look on, some of them clutching their own children.Out of desperation, she dialled the number of a man she had met months earlier, and agreed to sleep with him for 200 shekels (54 dollars, 41 euros).
Not long afterwards, Abu Amra was arrested on suspicion of immoral behaviour.She was hauled before a judge and ordered to attend 30 days of pre-trial detention at the Training and Reform Centre for Women, Gaza's only prison for women.The facility is run by Hamas, which has been in control of the Gaza Strip since 2007. The group won legislative elections in 2006, and a year later seized control of the coastal enclave after deadly confrontations with rival Fatah.Since coming to power, the Islamist group has sought to bolster Gaza's conservative religious mores, although it has rescinded some controversial measures, including one banning women from publicly smoking the waterpipe.The prison, such as it is, consists of two rooms that house 19 women and a handful of children. The rest of the building, which is still under construction, houses a men's prison and administration offices.Inside one of the rooms, 11 women sit on foam cushions and thick rugs, their thin blankets piled in a corner. One nurses a child in the dimly-lit room, which has only one tiny window letting in very little light.In the other, eight women sit chatting with their female prison guard, Umm Ahmed, who treats them with a mixture of sympathy and revulsion.
Abu Amra's two boys are still with her husband, but another woman, a tired and scared-looking prisoner who refuses to give her name, is rocking her newborn son in her arms.He was born just three days earlier and doesn't yet have a name. His mother was transferred to a hospital for the birth then returned to jail shortly after.His father is a man she slept with for money, Umm Ahmed says. But the new mother claims otherwise, describing the man as her husband.She says her family arranged the marriage while she was in jail, hoping it would be enough to get her out and minimise some of the public disgrace they face. Umm Ahmed says the family has done no such thing.It is a common solution, said Nasser Deeb Suliman, director of prison security, especially when the man in the question is someone the family knows. If it was with a neighbour or a friend, usually the family will decide to marry them, and then the woman can be released, he told AFP.The woman's sister, who also refused to give her name, is in a similar situation.She is heavily pregnant and due to give birth this month, after spending almost half of her pregnancy in prison.Suliman said the women are divided between the two rooms according to the severity of their crimes, but 21-year-old Tahrir, who was convicted of murder, is in the same room as women accused of prostitution and pickpocketing.In the next room sits Rihab, a quiet and pale 34-year-old whose arms are covered in scars from cutting herself. She talks openly but without pride about how she ended up in prison.She didn't need money, she had a job at a local hospital. Her crime was to chose to sleep with two men, both of whom ended up in prison as well.I did it, I'm not going to lie, I did it twice,she said. Her family was furious at first, but her father has forgiven her.He told the neighbours I'm in Egypt, he's going to get a lawyer for me,she said.The two men have already been released, after hiring attorneys to argue their cases. Those accused of moral crimes are rarely sentenced, Suliman says. Instead, a judge extends their 30-day detention period several times, releasing them between four and eight months later -- less if a woman gets married, and more if she is a repeat offender.
Some women are more reluctant than Rihab to admit why they are in jail. Kholud, 18, and her mother, who declines to give her name, have been in prison for two months, and say they were jailed over a family dispute.Umm Ahmed openly contradicts them, but they refuse to change their story.Outside the cell, the guard takes a visitor aside, her face sad but her voice filled with disgust as she describes the women as part of a brothel.The whole family was rotten. They were all involved. The father was in charge. The guy who was with the daughter was also with the mother, she says.
Don't believe everything they say.
Funding government proving tough: Hamas
– Thu Dec 23, 2:08 pm ET
GAZA CITY (AFP) – Gaza's Hamas-run government admitted on Thursday it is finding it hard to come up with the 25 million dollars a month it needs to fund its budget.In a speech before hundreds of teachers at a ceremony in Gaza City, Hamas leader Ismail Haniya admitted his government was struggling with its finances.It costs 25 million dollars a month to fund the government and the ministries, Haniya said. And it's really difficult to provide that.He said Hamas receives no money from either the United States or the European Union, whose money was offered in the context of political blackmail.Haniya, who holds the post of prime minister in the Gaza Strip, but is not recognised internationally as such, revealed that Hamas employs a massive state infrastructure in the coastal enclave.Employees of government institutions and ministries now number some 34,000 people, he said, a number that includes security services and police.Hamas, a militant group dubbed a terrorist organisation by the United States and Europe, has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007.It won legislative elections in 2006, prompting long-standing tensions with chief rival party Fatah to boil over into violence a year later.Hamas fighters in Gaza routed their Fatah counterparts in bloody confrontations and have been firmly in charge of the territory ever since.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
ISRAEL DEFENDS ITSELF FROM INTRUDERS
Israeli gunfire wounds four in Gaza
DEC 23,10 10:30AM
GAZA CITY (AFP) – Four Palestinians were wounded by Israeli gunfire in northern Gaza on Thursday, including a 14-year-old boy who was shot in the head, Palestinian medical sources said.The Israeli military confirmed that soldiers opened fire on several people who entered a security zone along Gaza's northern border with Israel.
A military spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said soldiers began shooting after firing warning shots, but that he was aware only that two Palestinians were wounded, both being hit in their lower bodies.Adham Abu Selmiya, spokesman for the Hamas-run medical services in the Gaza Strip, told AFP that two people were seriously wounded by gunfire, and another two were lightly wounded.
Four workers were injured as they searched for aggregate (gravel) in the northern Gaza Strip, two of them seriously, including a 14-year-old child who was hit in the head, Abu Selmiya said.The other wounded were a 17-year-old shot in the back, who was in serious condition, an 18-year-old shot in the hand, classed as lightly wounded, and a 22-year-old also shot in the back whose injuries were light, he said.
Soldiers regularly open fire on Palestinians collecting building material from the rubble of destroyed buildings close to the border between the coastal enclave and Israel.The border area has been deemed a no-go zone by Israeli soldiers who fear infiltration and kidnapping attempts.Between March 26 and December 10 this year, Israeli troops have shot at least 19 Palestinian children as they collected gravel in northern Gaza, charity group Defence for Children International said this month.
I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW BUILDING ON YOUR OWN LAND LIKE ISRAEL IS IS ILLEGEL.THIS BUILDING FREEZE TO SAVE THE PEACE PROCESS IS JUST ONE BIG HOAX.THIS IS ISRAELS PROPERTY,THEY CAN BUILD ON IT IF AND WHENEVER THEY WANT TO.WHAT AN ARAB,MUSLIM SCAM TO STEAL ISRAELS LAND.
Israeli settlers building 100 illegal homes: NGO
– Thu Dec 23, 7:08 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli settlers have illegally begun work on at least 100 homes in the occupied West Bank since the end of a freeze on settlement construction, Israel's Peace Now movement said on Thursday.Since the end of the settlement freeze at the end of September, at least 100 buildings are now under construction in the West Bank, Peace Now's secretary general Yariv Oppenheimer told AFP.In November 2009, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu implemented a freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank, but he refused to renew the ban after it expired on September 26, despite intense international pressure.The illegal building being carried out without the necessary permits from the authorities is taking place both in existing settlements and outposts, Oppenheimer said.If an Israeli built under the same circumstances in Tel Aviv for example, it would all be destroyed on the spot and he would brought to justice.A military spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, refused to comment on Peace's Now's figures.We have applied the law against illegal building in Judea and Samaria all year, and we will continue to do so, he told AFP, using the biblical name for the West Bank.Danny Dayan, head of the Yesha Council, a leading settler organisation, told military radio he could neither confirm nor deny Peace Now's figures.But we have to keep the big picture in mind, because the real scandal is the failure of the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, since he took office in March 2009, to issue a single call for tenders for legal construction of houses in Judea and Samaria, he said.The government is strangling the settlements, he added, pointing out that Netanyahu approved at least 4,600 tenders for West Bank settlements during his last term between 1996 and 1999.
And in the two-year government headed by Labour politician Ehud Barak, from 1999 to 2001, some 4,900 homes were approved for construction in West Bank settlements, Dayan said.But Oppenheimer said the lack of new tender offers was not holding back the expansion of settlements because there were at least 1,700 outstanding building permits for areas where construction has not yet started.The settlers who are boosting outpost construction want to benefit from the end of the settlement freeze to expand the facts on the ground, said Hagit Ofran, the director of Peace Now's Settlement Watch project.They think that the government won't actually do anything to stop them, she told AFP, adding Peace Now had submitted documents on the illegal building to the attorney general's office, seeking a legal investigation.Settlement construction on occupied land in the West Bank and Jerusalem remains one of the thorniest issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and sunk the last round of direct talks between the two sides.The negotiations, the first direct talks in nearly two years, began September 2 in Washington but ground to a halt after Netanyahu's partial settlement freeze expired on September 26.Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has said he will not return to talks unless Israel reimposes a building ban, and extends it to east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want for the capital of their future state.Netanyahu resisted strong international pressure to renew the freeze, including a generous US package of incentives, forcing the United States to admit it had failed to secure a new ban.More than 300,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, and another 200,000 live across east Jerusalem along with some 270,000 Palestinians.
Bolivia sends formal letter recognizing Palestine
– Wed Dec 22, 6:54 pm ET
LA PAZ, Bolivia – Bolivia has formally declared its recognition of an independent and sovereign state of Palestine.President Evo Morales says his government could not continue waiting with its arms crossed given the problems of human rights, territory and sovereignty.A Foreign Ministry official later confirmed that Bolivia sent a letter to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday declaring its support.
She spoke on condition of anonymity because she is not authorized to talk to the news media.Bolivia joins the governments of Argentina, Cuba, Brazil and Venezuela in supporting a sovereign state of Palestine with borders recognized prior to the 1967 Mideast war.
Israel complains to UN over Gaza rockets
by Jean-Luc Renaudie – Wed Dec 22, 2:58 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel and Hamas looked to the United Nations on Wednesday as tensions rose along the volatile Gaza border after a series of Israeli air strikes in response to rocket fire from the strip.Israel urged the UN Security Council on Tuesday to issue a clear and resolute message to Palestinian militants against firing rockets into its territory from Gaza, in a letter made public on Wednesday.
And Hamas said it would appeal to the international body to act against the threat of further aggression against the Palestinians.The tit-for-tat appeals to the UN come after exchanges of fire along the Gaza border.The Israeli army said militants in Gaza have fired 25 rockets or mortar rounds into Israel since Sunday, and Israel has responded with air strikes against what it said were tunnels, militant training sites and weapons facilities in Gaza.One rocket struck just metres (yards) from a kindergarten in a southern Israeli kibbutz, wounding a teenage girl.Just Wednesday evening, the Israeli military said a projectile was fired from Gaza and hit southern Israel. There there were no immediate reports of casualties.The incidents of the past several days are part of an escalation of terrorist attacks emanating from Gaza that target Israeli civilians, towns and military personnel, Israel's UN ambassador, Meron Reuben, said in the letter.Israel holds the de facto authority in the Gaza Strip completely responsible for all of these incidents, which are carried out in clear violation of international law.In response to such attacks, Israel has exercised and will continue to exercise its right to self-defence.The letter is addressed to the US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, who currently chairs the Security Council, and to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.Predating the latest army figures, it said three rockets and 18 mortars had been fired into parts of southern Israel from Gaza since Sunday.The Security Council, the secretary general and the international community must send a clear and resolute message that these attacks are unacceptable, Israel said in the letter signed by Reuben.
Hamas said Israel was to blame.
We will be in contact with several countries to explain the aggressive behaviour of the occupation forces and have been in touch with Egyptian officials to discuss these threats,Hamas government spokesman Taher al-Nunu told reporters.Also on Wednesday, the UN Middle East envoy issued a statement to condemn the firing of indiscriminate mortars and rockets by militant groups in Gaza at Israel, which has escalated in recent days.These attacks are in clear violation of international humanitarian law and endanger civilians in Israel, said Robert Serry, while also calling on Israel to measure its military response.Israel has a right to self-defence, consistent with international humanitarian law. I urge Israel to exercise maximum restraint and take every precaution to ensure that its forces do not endanger civilians in Gaza, who all too often bear the brunt of escalations in violence.Hamas lashed out at Serry, saying his statement was one sided and that they would seek clarification from the UN to see if Serry's comments represent them or not.We deplore this statement, which justifies the aggressive behaviour of the Israeli occupation and mixes the facts on the ground, said Nunu. On Tuesday, Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi warned that the relative calm since Israel's devastating Gaza offensive at the end of 2008 could quickly come to an end.
And military radio reported on Wednesday that the army is to deploy a tank battalion equipped with a new anti-rocket system along the Gaza border after a tank was hit by an advanced missile allegedly supplied by Iran.The radar-guided system has sensors attached to the sides of vehicles that detect and track incoming rockets and fire off countermeasures to destroy them before they can hit the tank, manufacturer Rafael says.Between December 2008 and January 2009, Israel waged war on Gaza in response to hundreds of rockets fired into the Jewish state. Operation Cast Lead killed 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians. Thirteen Israelis, 10 of them soldiers, also died.The number of rocket attacks has since plunged but the army says more than 200 rockets or shells have been fired this year.
US lawmaker urges France not sell Lebanon arms
– Wed Dec 22, 2:02 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – France should scrap its planned sale to Lebanon of 100 anti-tank missiles because they could end up being used by the powerful militant group Hezbollah against Israel, a US lawmaker said Wednesday.Democratic Representative Steve Rothman urged French President Nicolas Sarkozy in a letter to find other ways to help Lebanon's armed forces.The stakes are too high, and the danger this would pose to Israel is far too real. I therefore respectfully request that you reconsider this arms deal of anti-tank missiles and seek to aid the LAF in other ways, wrote Rothman.Rothman noted that France was expected to deliver the weapons before March 2011 but warned Lebanon is in a precarious situation whereby Hezbollah is in a powerful position to usurp the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF).If this were to occur, Israel would be in grave danger of having your anti-tank missiles used against her, he added.I agree in principle that strengthening the LAF against Hezbollah is an important goal, but I believe that providing the LAF with anti-tank missiles is neither helpful nor necessary in that regard,said Rothman.Israel which fought a devastating war with Hezbollah in 2006, has also reportedly expressed concerns.
Israel moves to counter Gaza militants' new weapon
By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press – Wed Dec 22, 10:46 am ET
JERUSALEM – Israel will deploy tanks equipped with a new defense system along the Gaza border after Palestinian militants for the first time used a sophisticated, tank-piercing missile believed to be the most advanced weapon in their arsenal.
Israeli defense officials said the laser-guided Kornet came from Iran, the top backer of Gaza's Hamas rulers. Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah guerrillas, also backed by Iran, used the Russian-made Kornets in their 2006 war against Israel, destroying or damaging several dozen Israeli tanks.The Palestinian use of Kornet missiles, confirmed by Israel's military chief on Tuesday, marks a new milestone for Gaza militants, who have steadily built up their arsenal from a collection of crude, homemade rockets to include more menacing imported weapons.Israel's answer is called Trophy, a first-of-its-kind Israeli-made system carried by tanks that is designed to shoot down missiles like the Kornet. The system, mounted on the side of a tank, detects an incoming missile and fires a projectile at it, destroying it, according to video of a test provided by the developer.Violence has been escalating along the Gaza border in recent weeks. In his parliamentary testimony Tuesday, Israel's military chief, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, confirmed militants fired a Kornet missile for the first time earlier this month, and it penetrated an Israeli tank.He called the missile "one of the most dangerous in the battlefield. Ashkenazi said. He said the missile did not explode inside the tank, and no one was hurt.The Israeli defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss such matters publicly, provided no proof to support their claim that the laser-guided missile came from Iran. Also, it was not clear how it was delivered. Hamas controls a network of smuggling tunnels along Gaza's southern border with Egypt, though Egypt has pledged to crack down on smuggling.
Hamas has not confirmed or denied possessing the missiles.
In the wake of the recent attack, the military decided to move to the Gaza border dozens of tanks equipped with the Israel-developed Trophy system, which detects incoming projectiles and shoots them down before they reach armored vehicles. Production of the Trophy was stepped after the 2006 war against Hezbollah.The Trophy has not yet been tried on the battlefield, though the Defense Ministry says it has been tested successfully against a variety of weapons, including Kornets.Israel's volatile front with Gaza has been relatively quiet since an overwhelming military offensive against Palestinian militants two years ago. But there has been a surge in violence in recent weeks, with militants firing rockets and mortars into Israel and Israel responding with airstrikes.Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Meron Reuben, filed a complaint to the Security Council and to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday, calling the rocket attacks a violation of international law and warning that Israel will continue to exercise its right to self-defense.He urged the international community to send a clear and resolute message against the militant attacks and to give appropriate attention to the smuggling of arms into Gaza.Ban's U.N. representative, Robert Serry, condemned indiscriminate rocket and mortar attacks and acknowledged Israel's right to self defense. He also urged Israel to exercise maximum restraint to prevent civilian casualties.The Kornet — made in Russia and sold widely overseas — is the most advanced weapon believed to be in the hands of Gaza militants.In use since the mid-1990s, the Kornet is capable of penetrating armor up to four feet (1,200 mm) thick and has a range of about almost four miles (5.5 kilometers). It carries a warhead of 22 pounds (10 kilograms).
Armed groups also possess rockets capable of traveling up to 70 kilometers (40 miles), putting the Tel Aviv metropolitan area in their range.The U.S. and Russia are developing similar systems, but the Israeli one is believed to be the first to be deployed on the battlefield.
EU signs off 100 mln euros of Palestinian aid
– Wed Dec 22, 8:48 am ET
BRUSSELS (AFP) – European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton announced Wednesday a first, 100-million-euro (131.5 million dollars) tranche of aid to the Palestinian people for 2011.This decision is a sign of the strong political and financial commitment of the European Union to the Palestinian Authority and to Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's leadership in building a democratic and viable Palestinian state, Ashton said in a statement following approval by the European Union's executive commission.Palestinian statehood is critical for any peaceful, workable and lasting solution to the conflict, she reiterated after Brussels and the United States last week issued a new plea to speed up progress towards a two-state solution encompassing a viable Palestine alongside a secure Israel.The first 60 million euros will enable the Palestinian Authority to cover wages and pensions for essential civilian workers, particularly medical and teaching staff, with the remainder channeled through United Nations relief programmes.That comes on top of 696 million in EU support already paid to the authority, and a further 265 million from EU member states nationally.
Hamas says arrests sabotaging reconciliation moves
– Tue Dec 21, 1:33 pm ET
DAMASCUS (AFP) – The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Tuesday accused its rivals in the Fatah party of president Mahmud Abbas of undermining reconciliation efforts with a wave of arrests in the West Bank.The continuing campaign of arrests and torture against members of Hamas in the West Bank proves that the leaders of the Palestinian Authority and Fatah ignore reconciliation, said Izzat al-Rishq, a Hamas politburo member.Speaking at a news conference in Damascus, where Hamas has its leadership in exile, Rishq held Abbas responsible for hindering reconciliation efforts, and accused Fatah and the Palestinian Authority of putting Israeli conditions above any national interest.The security services of Abbas and (Palestinian prime minister Salam) Fayyad hunt down the resistance at Israel's request, Rishq said, charging that they were morally and politically bankrupt.US diplomatic cables leaked by whistleblower website WikiLeaks show that Israel said it had received a request from Fatah leaders to attack Hamas in 2007.We will never accept in any way that the reconciliation meetings are used as a cover for the campaigns of arrests and repression, Rishq said.Hamas and Fatah held two rounds of fruitless reconciliation talks in Damascus in September and November.The two factions have been fiercely divided since Hamas seized power in Gaza in a bloody rout of Abbas's forces in 2007.Rishq claimed that arrests had expanded in recent months to include hundreds of Hamas members, including women.
He called on Abbas and his security services to immediately release all political prisoners,including six Hamas members detained in Jericho for nearly two years.He said those detainees had been tortured by Fayyad's security services and had been on hunger strike for nearly a month.Hamas and Fatah have repeatedly accused each other of undermining trust by persecuting political rivals in the territory under its control.
US hits Iran with new sanctions over terror, nukes
By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press – Tue Dec 21, 12:24 pm ET
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration on Tuesday expanded punitive sanctions against Iran over its nuclear and missile programs and support for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.The Treasury Department added five Iranian companies to its financial blacklist, including two banks, an insurance company, a freight forwarder and the state-owned shipper, the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines. The sanctions bar the firms, all linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, from the U.S. financial system and freeze any assets they may have in U.S. jurisdictions.Both the IRGC and IRISL are major institutional participants in Iran's illicit conduct and in its attempts to evade sanctions, said Under Secretary of Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey. We will therefore continue to target and expose their networks.The sanctions target the Moallem Insurance Company for providing marine insurance to IRISL vessels, and the Ansar Bank and Mehr Bank for providing financial services to the IRGC.Also affected is Bonyad Taavon Sepah, a quasi-governmental financial services firm that handles investments for the Revolutionary Guard. Bonyad Taavon Sepah's executive director, Parviz Fattah, was also blacklisted.The forwarder, Liner Transport Kish, was added to the blacklist for providing material support, including weapons to Hezbollah on behalf of the Revolutionary Guard.In addition, Treasury identified an Iranian energy concern, Pars Oil and Gas Company, as being owned or controlled by the government, hitting it with sanctions under new U.S. legislation aimed at choking off financing for illicit activity.
The Revolutionary Guard and the state-run shipping line are subject to existing U.S. sanctions designed to compel the country to come clear about its nuclear intentions, stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles and end support for terrorist groups.American officials say the sanctions are having an effect and have forced the Guard Corp and shipping line to set up front companies and take other steps to evade the penalties.
Israel army chief warns of tensions on Gaza border
by Gavin Rabinowitz – Tue Dec 21, 11:51 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's border with the Gaza Strip is tense and the situation there could easily deteriorate, Israel's army chief warned on Tuesday, after a rocket struck near a kindergarten and wounded a young woman.Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi's comments before a parliamentary committee came as Israel launched a string of air strikes on the coastal enclave in response to a salvo of mortar shells and rocket fire over the past 24 hours.Ashkenazi warned that the relative calm that has prevailed since Israel's devastating Gaza offensive at the end of 2008 could quickly end.The situation is tense and fragile and could easily deteriorate, particularly if a rocket lands in a populated area.On Tuesday afternoon, Israeli warplanes launched two raids against a training site west of Rafah used by the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing.Adham Abu Selmiya, a spokesman for the Hamas-run medical services in the Gaza Strip, said two people were wounded and taken to a nearby hospital. Palestinian sources said the men were Brigades members.
The Israeli army declined comment on the reported strike.The strikes came after a rocket fired from inside Gaza on Tuesday morning hit a nearby Israeli kibbutz, exploding near a kindergarten as the children were arriving, police and witnesses said.It fell within 50 metres (yards) of the kindergarten, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP. A young woman was admitted to hospital lightly injured by shrapnel.Ronit Gil, who works at the kindergarten on the Kibbutz Zikkim collective village, said she was just getting out her car when she heard the sirens of the missile attack alarm, followed by an explosion.I saw that it was next to the kindergarten. I quickly went in, she told army radio.We're under stress here ... the children are forbidden to leave the kindergarten.Gil said the kindergarten had suffered a near miss in the past and had been partially blast-proofed since.In separate statements, both the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant group affiliated with Fatah, and Jaish al-Islam, a jihadist group operating in Gaza, claimed responsibility for the rocket.The attack was the latest over the past several days and followed a night of Israeli air strikes into Hamas-run Gaza, in which two Palestinian fighters were reported wounded.
Ashkenazi said even though other groups were behind most of the recent attacks, Israel would continue to retaliate against Hamas.The army sees Hamas as responsible for what is happening in the strip and so attacks were aimed at Hamas targets, he said.Earlier the military said warplanes hit several Hamas-operated tunnels and a weapons manufacturing facility and a terror activity centre.The statement said the Hamas-operated tunnels are intended for infiltrating into Israel and executing terror attacks against ... soldiers and Israeli civilians.Thirteen projectiles fired from Gaza have hit Israel since Sunday, according to the military. On Saturday night, Israeli warplanes night hit central Gaza, killing five militants as they were about to launch a rocket attack, according to the army and witnesses.The raid was one of the deadliest since Israel's December 2008-January 2009 war on Gaza's Hamas rulers, codenamed Operation Cast Lead, which cost the lives of 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers.Since Operation Cast Lead, the number of rocket attacks has dropped considerably, but the army says more than 200 rockets or shells have been fired this year.
Israeli warplanes raid Gaza
– Mon Dec 20, 10:07 pm ET
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Israeli warplanes staged eight attacks in Gaza overnight, wounding two Palestinian fighters, a Palestinian medical source and witnesses said Tuesday.The raids came after Palestinian militants on Monday fired nine mortar shells into southern Israel that fell on open ground and caused no casualties, the Israeli army said.Three raids targeted the town of Khan Younes in the south of the territory controlled by Hamas, wounding two fighters of the Ezzedin al Kassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, one of them seriously, the sources said.
The Israeli planes also attacked a tunnel between the Gaza Strip and Egypt near the southern town of Rafah, without causing any injuries.Four other attacks were carried out in the north of the Palestinian territory targeting the Jabailya refugee camp and the towns of Beit Lahya, Beit Hanoun and Zeitoun, with no casualties reported.
An Israeli military spokeswoman, questioned by AFP, spoke of seven air raids against tunnels used for smuggling weapons and arms dumps used for terrorist attacks.She described the raids as reprisals for attacks on Israeli territory.Nine mortar rounds were fired at southern Israel from Gaza on Monday, without hurting anyone, an Israeli military spokeswoman said.Israeli warplanes on Saturday night hit central Gaza, killing five militants as they were about to launch a rocket attack, according to the army and witnesses.The raid was one of the deadliest since Israel's December 2008-January 2009 war on Gaza's Hamas rulers, codenamed Operation Cast Lead, which cost the lives of 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers.Since Operation Cast Lead, the number of rocket attacks has dropped considerably but the Israeli army says more than 200 rockets or shells have been fired this year.
Israel and PA worked closely against Hamas: cable
– Mon Dec 20, 1:12 pm ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – A U.S. cable leaked on Monday said Israel and President Mahmoud Abbas's forces worked closely together against Hamas as it took over Gaza in 2007, a potentially embarrassing revelation for the Palestinian leader.Israel has acknowledged working with Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces loyal to the Western-backed Abbas, but the diplomatic memo leaked by WikiLeaks describes a level of cooperation that could fuel criticism of Abbas by his Islamist rivals.The 2007 cable quoted Yuval Diskin, the head of Israel's Shin Bet internal security service, as saying the PA security apparatus shares with Israel almost all the intelligence that it collects.They understand that Israel's security is central to their survival in the struggle with Hamas in the West Bank, the cable said.The cable, dated June 13, 2007, was sent from the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv as Hamas forces were routing Abbas's security forces to take over the Gaza Strip. Abbas has since ruled only in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.Diskin is quoted as calling Abbas' forces in Gaza as desperate, disorganized, and demoralized.
They are approaching a zero-sum situation, and yet they ask us to attack Hamas. This is a new development. We have never seen this before. They are desperate, Diskin said.A Palestinian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the comments were based on an assessment and evaluation rather than solid information.Hamas has accused Abbas, who has held numerous rounds of peace negotiations with Israel, of plotting with Israel against it. Hamas is sworn to Israel's destruction.(Additional reporting by Mohammed Assadi, Writing by Ari Rabinovitch, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
DEC 23,10 10:30AM
GAZA CITY (AFP) – Four Palestinians were wounded by Israeli gunfire in northern Gaza on Thursday, including a 14-year-old boy who was shot in the head, Palestinian medical sources said.The Israeli military confirmed that soldiers opened fire on several people who entered a security zone along Gaza's northern border with Israel.
A military spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said soldiers began shooting after firing warning shots, but that he was aware only that two Palestinians were wounded, both being hit in their lower bodies.Adham Abu Selmiya, spokesman for the Hamas-run medical services in the Gaza Strip, told AFP that two people were seriously wounded by gunfire, and another two were lightly wounded.
Four workers were injured as they searched for aggregate (gravel) in the northern Gaza Strip, two of them seriously, including a 14-year-old child who was hit in the head, Abu Selmiya said.The other wounded were a 17-year-old shot in the back, who was in serious condition, an 18-year-old shot in the hand, classed as lightly wounded, and a 22-year-old also shot in the back whose injuries were light, he said.
Soldiers regularly open fire on Palestinians collecting building material from the rubble of destroyed buildings close to the border between the coastal enclave and Israel.The border area has been deemed a no-go zone by Israeli soldiers who fear infiltration and kidnapping attempts.Between March 26 and December 10 this year, Israeli troops have shot at least 19 Palestinian children as they collected gravel in northern Gaza, charity group Defence for Children International said this month.
I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW BUILDING ON YOUR OWN LAND LIKE ISRAEL IS IS ILLEGEL.THIS BUILDING FREEZE TO SAVE THE PEACE PROCESS IS JUST ONE BIG HOAX.THIS IS ISRAELS PROPERTY,THEY CAN BUILD ON IT IF AND WHENEVER THEY WANT TO.WHAT AN ARAB,MUSLIM SCAM TO STEAL ISRAELS LAND.
Israeli settlers building 100 illegal homes: NGO
– Thu Dec 23, 7:08 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli settlers have illegally begun work on at least 100 homes in the occupied West Bank since the end of a freeze on settlement construction, Israel's Peace Now movement said on Thursday.Since the end of the settlement freeze at the end of September, at least 100 buildings are now under construction in the West Bank, Peace Now's secretary general Yariv Oppenheimer told AFP.In November 2009, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu implemented a freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank, but he refused to renew the ban after it expired on September 26, despite intense international pressure.The illegal building being carried out without the necessary permits from the authorities is taking place both in existing settlements and outposts, Oppenheimer said.If an Israeli built under the same circumstances in Tel Aviv for example, it would all be destroyed on the spot and he would brought to justice.A military spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, refused to comment on Peace's Now's figures.We have applied the law against illegal building in Judea and Samaria all year, and we will continue to do so, he told AFP, using the biblical name for the West Bank.Danny Dayan, head of the Yesha Council, a leading settler organisation, told military radio he could neither confirm nor deny Peace Now's figures.But we have to keep the big picture in mind, because the real scandal is the failure of the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, since he took office in March 2009, to issue a single call for tenders for legal construction of houses in Judea and Samaria, he said.The government is strangling the settlements, he added, pointing out that Netanyahu approved at least 4,600 tenders for West Bank settlements during his last term between 1996 and 1999.
And in the two-year government headed by Labour politician Ehud Barak, from 1999 to 2001, some 4,900 homes were approved for construction in West Bank settlements, Dayan said.But Oppenheimer said the lack of new tender offers was not holding back the expansion of settlements because there were at least 1,700 outstanding building permits for areas where construction has not yet started.The settlers who are boosting outpost construction want to benefit from the end of the settlement freeze to expand the facts on the ground, said Hagit Ofran, the director of Peace Now's Settlement Watch project.They think that the government won't actually do anything to stop them, she told AFP, adding Peace Now had submitted documents on the illegal building to the attorney general's office, seeking a legal investigation.Settlement construction on occupied land in the West Bank and Jerusalem remains one of the thorniest issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and sunk the last round of direct talks between the two sides.The negotiations, the first direct talks in nearly two years, began September 2 in Washington but ground to a halt after Netanyahu's partial settlement freeze expired on September 26.Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has said he will not return to talks unless Israel reimposes a building ban, and extends it to east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want for the capital of their future state.Netanyahu resisted strong international pressure to renew the freeze, including a generous US package of incentives, forcing the United States to admit it had failed to secure a new ban.More than 300,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, and another 200,000 live across east Jerusalem along with some 270,000 Palestinians.
Bolivia sends formal letter recognizing Palestine
– Wed Dec 22, 6:54 pm ET
LA PAZ, Bolivia – Bolivia has formally declared its recognition of an independent and sovereign state of Palestine.President Evo Morales says his government could not continue waiting with its arms crossed given the problems of human rights, territory and sovereignty.A Foreign Ministry official later confirmed that Bolivia sent a letter to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday declaring its support.
She spoke on condition of anonymity because she is not authorized to talk to the news media.Bolivia joins the governments of Argentina, Cuba, Brazil and Venezuela in supporting a sovereign state of Palestine with borders recognized prior to the 1967 Mideast war.
Israel complains to UN over Gaza rockets
by Jean-Luc Renaudie – Wed Dec 22, 2:58 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel and Hamas looked to the United Nations on Wednesday as tensions rose along the volatile Gaza border after a series of Israeli air strikes in response to rocket fire from the strip.Israel urged the UN Security Council on Tuesday to issue a clear and resolute message to Palestinian militants against firing rockets into its territory from Gaza, in a letter made public on Wednesday.
And Hamas said it would appeal to the international body to act against the threat of further aggression against the Palestinians.The tit-for-tat appeals to the UN come after exchanges of fire along the Gaza border.The Israeli army said militants in Gaza have fired 25 rockets or mortar rounds into Israel since Sunday, and Israel has responded with air strikes against what it said were tunnels, militant training sites and weapons facilities in Gaza.One rocket struck just metres (yards) from a kindergarten in a southern Israeli kibbutz, wounding a teenage girl.Just Wednesday evening, the Israeli military said a projectile was fired from Gaza and hit southern Israel. There there were no immediate reports of casualties.The incidents of the past several days are part of an escalation of terrorist attacks emanating from Gaza that target Israeli civilians, towns and military personnel, Israel's UN ambassador, Meron Reuben, said in the letter.Israel holds the de facto authority in the Gaza Strip completely responsible for all of these incidents, which are carried out in clear violation of international law.In response to such attacks, Israel has exercised and will continue to exercise its right to self-defence.The letter is addressed to the US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, who currently chairs the Security Council, and to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.Predating the latest army figures, it said three rockets and 18 mortars had been fired into parts of southern Israel from Gaza since Sunday.The Security Council, the secretary general and the international community must send a clear and resolute message that these attacks are unacceptable, Israel said in the letter signed by Reuben.
Hamas said Israel was to blame.
We will be in contact with several countries to explain the aggressive behaviour of the occupation forces and have been in touch with Egyptian officials to discuss these threats,Hamas government spokesman Taher al-Nunu told reporters.Also on Wednesday, the UN Middle East envoy issued a statement to condemn the firing of indiscriminate mortars and rockets by militant groups in Gaza at Israel, which has escalated in recent days.These attacks are in clear violation of international humanitarian law and endanger civilians in Israel, said Robert Serry, while also calling on Israel to measure its military response.Israel has a right to self-defence, consistent with international humanitarian law. I urge Israel to exercise maximum restraint and take every precaution to ensure that its forces do not endanger civilians in Gaza, who all too often bear the brunt of escalations in violence.Hamas lashed out at Serry, saying his statement was one sided and that they would seek clarification from the UN to see if Serry's comments represent them or not.We deplore this statement, which justifies the aggressive behaviour of the Israeli occupation and mixes the facts on the ground, said Nunu. On Tuesday, Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi warned that the relative calm since Israel's devastating Gaza offensive at the end of 2008 could quickly come to an end.
And military radio reported on Wednesday that the army is to deploy a tank battalion equipped with a new anti-rocket system along the Gaza border after a tank was hit by an advanced missile allegedly supplied by Iran.The radar-guided system has sensors attached to the sides of vehicles that detect and track incoming rockets and fire off countermeasures to destroy them before they can hit the tank, manufacturer Rafael says.Between December 2008 and January 2009, Israel waged war on Gaza in response to hundreds of rockets fired into the Jewish state. Operation Cast Lead killed 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians. Thirteen Israelis, 10 of them soldiers, also died.The number of rocket attacks has since plunged but the army says more than 200 rockets or shells have been fired this year.
US lawmaker urges France not sell Lebanon arms
– Wed Dec 22, 2:02 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – France should scrap its planned sale to Lebanon of 100 anti-tank missiles because they could end up being used by the powerful militant group Hezbollah against Israel, a US lawmaker said Wednesday.Democratic Representative Steve Rothman urged French President Nicolas Sarkozy in a letter to find other ways to help Lebanon's armed forces.The stakes are too high, and the danger this would pose to Israel is far too real. I therefore respectfully request that you reconsider this arms deal of anti-tank missiles and seek to aid the LAF in other ways, wrote Rothman.Rothman noted that France was expected to deliver the weapons before March 2011 but warned Lebanon is in a precarious situation whereby Hezbollah is in a powerful position to usurp the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF).If this were to occur, Israel would be in grave danger of having your anti-tank missiles used against her, he added.I agree in principle that strengthening the LAF against Hezbollah is an important goal, but I believe that providing the LAF with anti-tank missiles is neither helpful nor necessary in that regard,said Rothman.Israel which fought a devastating war with Hezbollah in 2006, has also reportedly expressed concerns.
Israel moves to counter Gaza militants' new weapon
By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press – Wed Dec 22, 10:46 am ET
JERUSALEM – Israel will deploy tanks equipped with a new defense system along the Gaza border after Palestinian militants for the first time used a sophisticated, tank-piercing missile believed to be the most advanced weapon in their arsenal.
Israeli defense officials said the laser-guided Kornet came from Iran, the top backer of Gaza's Hamas rulers. Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah guerrillas, also backed by Iran, used the Russian-made Kornets in their 2006 war against Israel, destroying or damaging several dozen Israeli tanks.The Palestinian use of Kornet missiles, confirmed by Israel's military chief on Tuesday, marks a new milestone for Gaza militants, who have steadily built up their arsenal from a collection of crude, homemade rockets to include more menacing imported weapons.Israel's answer is called Trophy, a first-of-its-kind Israeli-made system carried by tanks that is designed to shoot down missiles like the Kornet. The system, mounted on the side of a tank, detects an incoming missile and fires a projectile at it, destroying it, according to video of a test provided by the developer.Violence has been escalating along the Gaza border in recent weeks. In his parliamentary testimony Tuesday, Israel's military chief, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, confirmed militants fired a Kornet missile for the first time earlier this month, and it penetrated an Israeli tank.He called the missile "one of the most dangerous in the battlefield. Ashkenazi said. He said the missile did not explode inside the tank, and no one was hurt.The Israeli defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss such matters publicly, provided no proof to support their claim that the laser-guided missile came from Iran. Also, it was not clear how it was delivered. Hamas controls a network of smuggling tunnels along Gaza's southern border with Egypt, though Egypt has pledged to crack down on smuggling.
Hamas has not confirmed or denied possessing the missiles.
In the wake of the recent attack, the military decided to move to the Gaza border dozens of tanks equipped with the Israel-developed Trophy system, which detects incoming projectiles and shoots them down before they reach armored vehicles. Production of the Trophy was stepped after the 2006 war against Hezbollah.The Trophy has not yet been tried on the battlefield, though the Defense Ministry says it has been tested successfully against a variety of weapons, including Kornets.Israel's volatile front with Gaza has been relatively quiet since an overwhelming military offensive against Palestinian militants two years ago. But there has been a surge in violence in recent weeks, with militants firing rockets and mortars into Israel and Israel responding with airstrikes.Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Meron Reuben, filed a complaint to the Security Council and to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday, calling the rocket attacks a violation of international law and warning that Israel will continue to exercise its right to self-defense.He urged the international community to send a clear and resolute message against the militant attacks and to give appropriate attention to the smuggling of arms into Gaza.Ban's U.N. representative, Robert Serry, condemned indiscriminate rocket and mortar attacks and acknowledged Israel's right to self defense. He also urged Israel to exercise maximum restraint to prevent civilian casualties.The Kornet — made in Russia and sold widely overseas — is the most advanced weapon believed to be in the hands of Gaza militants.In use since the mid-1990s, the Kornet is capable of penetrating armor up to four feet (1,200 mm) thick and has a range of about almost four miles (5.5 kilometers). It carries a warhead of 22 pounds (10 kilograms).
Armed groups also possess rockets capable of traveling up to 70 kilometers (40 miles), putting the Tel Aviv metropolitan area in their range.The U.S. and Russia are developing similar systems, but the Israeli one is believed to be the first to be deployed on the battlefield.
EU signs off 100 mln euros of Palestinian aid
– Wed Dec 22, 8:48 am ET
BRUSSELS (AFP) – European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton announced Wednesday a first, 100-million-euro (131.5 million dollars) tranche of aid to the Palestinian people for 2011.This decision is a sign of the strong political and financial commitment of the European Union to the Palestinian Authority and to Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's leadership in building a democratic and viable Palestinian state, Ashton said in a statement following approval by the European Union's executive commission.Palestinian statehood is critical for any peaceful, workable and lasting solution to the conflict, she reiterated after Brussels and the United States last week issued a new plea to speed up progress towards a two-state solution encompassing a viable Palestine alongside a secure Israel.The first 60 million euros will enable the Palestinian Authority to cover wages and pensions for essential civilian workers, particularly medical and teaching staff, with the remainder channeled through United Nations relief programmes.That comes on top of 696 million in EU support already paid to the authority, and a further 265 million from EU member states nationally.
Hamas says arrests sabotaging reconciliation moves
– Tue Dec 21, 1:33 pm ET
DAMASCUS (AFP) – The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Tuesday accused its rivals in the Fatah party of president Mahmud Abbas of undermining reconciliation efforts with a wave of arrests in the West Bank.The continuing campaign of arrests and torture against members of Hamas in the West Bank proves that the leaders of the Palestinian Authority and Fatah ignore reconciliation, said Izzat al-Rishq, a Hamas politburo member.Speaking at a news conference in Damascus, where Hamas has its leadership in exile, Rishq held Abbas responsible for hindering reconciliation efforts, and accused Fatah and the Palestinian Authority of putting Israeli conditions above any national interest.The security services of Abbas and (Palestinian prime minister Salam) Fayyad hunt down the resistance at Israel's request, Rishq said, charging that they were morally and politically bankrupt.US diplomatic cables leaked by whistleblower website WikiLeaks show that Israel said it had received a request from Fatah leaders to attack Hamas in 2007.We will never accept in any way that the reconciliation meetings are used as a cover for the campaigns of arrests and repression, Rishq said.Hamas and Fatah held two rounds of fruitless reconciliation talks in Damascus in September and November.The two factions have been fiercely divided since Hamas seized power in Gaza in a bloody rout of Abbas's forces in 2007.Rishq claimed that arrests had expanded in recent months to include hundreds of Hamas members, including women.
He called on Abbas and his security services to immediately release all political prisoners,including six Hamas members detained in Jericho for nearly two years.He said those detainees had been tortured by Fayyad's security services and had been on hunger strike for nearly a month.Hamas and Fatah have repeatedly accused each other of undermining trust by persecuting political rivals in the territory under its control.
US hits Iran with new sanctions over terror, nukes
By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press – Tue Dec 21, 12:24 pm ET
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration on Tuesday expanded punitive sanctions against Iran over its nuclear and missile programs and support for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.The Treasury Department added five Iranian companies to its financial blacklist, including two banks, an insurance company, a freight forwarder and the state-owned shipper, the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines. The sanctions bar the firms, all linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, from the U.S. financial system and freeze any assets they may have in U.S. jurisdictions.Both the IRGC and IRISL are major institutional participants in Iran's illicit conduct and in its attempts to evade sanctions, said Under Secretary of Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey. We will therefore continue to target and expose their networks.The sanctions target the Moallem Insurance Company for providing marine insurance to IRISL vessels, and the Ansar Bank and Mehr Bank for providing financial services to the IRGC.Also affected is Bonyad Taavon Sepah, a quasi-governmental financial services firm that handles investments for the Revolutionary Guard. Bonyad Taavon Sepah's executive director, Parviz Fattah, was also blacklisted.The forwarder, Liner Transport Kish, was added to the blacklist for providing material support, including weapons to Hezbollah on behalf of the Revolutionary Guard.In addition, Treasury identified an Iranian energy concern, Pars Oil and Gas Company, as being owned or controlled by the government, hitting it with sanctions under new U.S. legislation aimed at choking off financing for illicit activity.
The Revolutionary Guard and the state-run shipping line are subject to existing U.S. sanctions designed to compel the country to come clear about its nuclear intentions, stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles and end support for terrorist groups.American officials say the sanctions are having an effect and have forced the Guard Corp and shipping line to set up front companies and take other steps to evade the penalties.
Israel army chief warns of tensions on Gaza border
by Gavin Rabinowitz – Tue Dec 21, 11:51 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's border with the Gaza Strip is tense and the situation there could easily deteriorate, Israel's army chief warned on Tuesday, after a rocket struck near a kindergarten and wounded a young woman.Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi's comments before a parliamentary committee came as Israel launched a string of air strikes on the coastal enclave in response to a salvo of mortar shells and rocket fire over the past 24 hours.Ashkenazi warned that the relative calm that has prevailed since Israel's devastating Gaza offensive at the end of 2008 could quickly end.The situation is tense and fragile and could easily deteriorate, particularly if a rocket lands in a populated area.On Tuesday afternoon, Israeli warplanes launched two raids against a training site west of Rafah used by the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing.Adham Abu Selmiya, a spokesman for the Hamas-run medical services in the Gaza Strip, said two people were wounded and taken to a nearby hospital. Palestinian sources said the men were Brigades members.
The Israeli army declined comment on the reported strike.The strikes came after a rocket fired from inside Gaza on Tuesday morning hit a nearby Israeli kibbutz, exploding near a kindergarten as the children were arriving, police and witnesses said.It fell within 50 metres (yards) of the kindergarten, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP. A young woman was admitted to hospital lightly injured by shrapnel.Ronit Gil, who works at the kindergarten on the Kibbutz Zikkim collective village, said she was just getting out her car when she heard the sirens of the missile attack alarm, followed by an explosion.I saw that it was next to the kindergarten. I quickly went in, she told army radio.We're under stress here ... the children are forbidden to leave the kindergarten.Gil said the kindergarten had suffered a near miss in the past and had been partially blast-proofed since.In separate statements, both the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant group affiliated with Fatah, and Jaish al-Islam, a jihadist group operating in Gaza, claimed responsibility for the rocket.The attack was the latest over the past several days and followed a night of Israeli air strikes into Hamas-run Gaza, in which two Palestinian fighters were reported wounded.
Ashkenazi said even though other groups were behind most of the recent attacks, Israel would continue to retaliate against Hamas.The army sees Hamas as responsible for what is happening in the strip and so attacks were aimed at Hamas targets, he said.Earlier the military said warplanes hit several Hamas-operated tunnels and a weapons manufacturing facility and a terror activity centre.The statement said the Hamas-operated tunnels are intended for infiltrating into Israel and executing terror attacks against ... soldiers and Israeli civilians.Thirteen projectiles fired from Gaza have hit Israel since Sunday, according to the military. On Saturday night, Israeli warplanes night hit central Gaza, killing five militants as they were about to launch a rocket attack, according to the army and witnesses.The raid was one of the deadliest since Israel's December 2008-January 2009 war on Gaza's Hamas rulers, codenamed Operation Cast Lead, which cost the lives of 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers.Since Operation Cast Lead, the number of rocket attacks has dropped considerably, but the army says more than 200 rockets or shells have been fired this year.
Israeli warplanes raid Gaza
– Mon Dec 20, 10:07 pm ET
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Israeli warplanes staged eight attacks in Gaza overnight, wounding two Palestinian fighters, a Palestinian medical source and witnesses said Tuesday.The raids came after Palestinian militants on Monday fired nine mortar shells into southern Israel that fell on open ground and caused no casualties, the Israeli army said.Three raids targeted the town of Khan Younes in the south of the territory controlled by Hamas, wounding two fighters of the Ezzedin al Kassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, one of them seriously, the sources said.
The Israeli planes also attacked a tunnel between the Gaza Strip and Egypt near the southern town of Rafah, without causing any injuries.Four other attacks were carried out in the north of the Palestinian territory targeting the Jabailya refugee camp and the towns of Beit Lahya, Beit Hanoun and Zeitoun, with no casualties reported.
An Israeli military spokeswoman, questioned by AFP, spoke of seven air raids against tunnels used for smuggling weapons and arms dumps used for terrorist attacks.She described the raids as reprisals for attacks on Israeli territory.Nine mortar rounds were fired at southern Israel from Gaza on Monday, without hurting anyone, an Israeli military spokeswoman said.Israeli warplanes on Saturday night hit central Gaza, killing five militants as they were about to launch a rocket attack, according to the army and witnesses.The raid was one of the deadliest since Israel's December 2008-January 2009 war on Gaza's Hamas rulers, codenamed Operation Cast Lead, which cost the lives of 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers.Since Operation Cast Lead, the number of rocket attacks has dropped considerably but the Israeli army says more than 200 rockets or shells have been fired this year.
Israel and PA worked closely against Hamas: cable
– Mon Dec 20, 1:12 pm ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – A U.S. cable leaked on Monday said Israel and President Mahmoud Abbas's forces worked closely together against Hamas as it took over Gaza in 2007, a potentially embarrassing revelation for the Palestinian leader.Israel has acknowledged working with Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces loyal to the Western-backed Abbas, but the diplomatic memo leaked by WikiLeaks describes a level of cooperation that could fuel criticism of Abbas by his Islamist rivals.The 2007 cable quoted Yuval Diskin, the head of Israel's Shin Bet internal security service, as saying the PA security apparatus shares with Israel almost all the intelligence that it collects.They understand that Israel's security is central to their survival in the struggle with Hamas in the West Bank, the cable said.The cable, dated June 13, 2007, was sent from the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv as Hamas forces were routing Abbas's security forces to take over the Gaza Strip. Abbas has since ruled only in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.Diskin is quoted as calling Abbas' forces in Gaza as desperate, disorganized, and demoralized.
They are approaching a zero-sum situation, and yet they ask us to attack Hamas. This is a new development. We have never seen this before. They are desperate, Diskin said.A Palestinian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the comments were based on an assessment and evaluation rather than solid information.Hamas has accused Abbas, who has held numerous rounds of peace negotiations with Israel, of plotting with Israel against it. Hamas is sworn to Israel's destruction.(Additional reporting by Mohammed Assadi, Writing by Ari Rabinovitch, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Monday, December 20, 2010
PALESTINIANS SHOOT MORTARS INTO ISRAEL
Palestinians fire mortar salvo into Israel
DEC 20,10 - 8AM
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired seven mortar shells into southern Israel on Monday but they fell on open ground, causing no casualties, the army said.Two mortar rounds were fired at Israel on Sunday, hours after Israeli warplanes Saturday night hit central Gaza, killing five militants as they were about to launch a rocket attack, according to the army and witnesses.The airstrike was one of the deadliest since Israel's 22-day war against Gaza's Hamas rulers, codenamed Operation Cast Lead, which began at the end of December 2008 and cost the lives of 1,400 Palestinians, most of them civilians, and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers.
Since Operation Cast Lead, the number of rocket attacks has dropped considerably, but the Israeli army says more than 200 rockets or shells, have been fired this year.
Israeli settlements displace Palestinians: HRW
– Sun Dec 19, 4:06 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Palestinians in the occupied West Bank lack basic amenities and are effectively being forcibly displaced by discriminatory Israeli policies, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released on Sunday.The New York-based rights group called on Washington to penalise Israel by withholding from its massive annual aid a sum equal to the amount the Jewish state gives in subsidies to West Bank settlements.The 166-page report accuses Israel of depriving the Palestinians of services that are offered to Jewish settlers, who live in communities considered illegal under international law because they are built on occupied land.Palestinians face systematic discrimination merely because of their race, ethnicity, and national origin, depriving them of electricity, water, schools, and access to roads, HRW representative Carroll Bogert said.While Israeli settlements flourish, Palestinians under Israeli control live in a time warp -- not just separate, not just unequal, but sometimes even pushed off their lands and out of their homes.
Israel denied the report and accused HRW of bias.We must expose the hypocrisy of human rights organisations that turn a blind eye to the most repressive regimes in the world -- regimes that stone women and hang gays -- and instead target the only liberal, democracy in the Middle East,Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Government spokesman Mark Regev charged that Human Rights Watch has allowed an anti-Israel agenda to pollute its objectivity.He also denied the report's accusations, saying there had been unprecedented levels of growth and development on the part of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank over the past two years.Anyone who looks at objective data can see this. The government of Israel is committed to working with the Palestinian Authority upon this path that is beneficial to all,he told AFP.
But Bill Van Esveld, author of the report and a researcher at HRW's Middle East division, said the study exposed a two-tier system enforced by a network of discriminatory laws and military orders.We're talking about different treatment of two people living in the same area for no real reason, he told AFP.He said settlers had easy access to planning committees whereas Palestinians were not allowed to serve on the same committees, and that it had become virtually impossible for Palestinians to obtain permits to build homes.The policies make life increasingly difficult for Palestinians in the West Bank, and in many cases encourages them simply to leave.Israeli policies are so harsh in their discrimination against Palestinians that in a number of cases Palestinians have been forced to leave, because they have no access to water, they have no access to electricity.The group called on the international community to avoid complicity in Israeli breaches of international law, including by cutting assistance to the country.The United States, which provides 2.75 billion dollars in aid to Israel annually, should suspend financing to Israel in an amount equivalent to the costs of Israel's spending in support of settlements, which a 2003 study estimated at 1.4 billion dollars," the report said.Similarly, based on numerous reports that US tax-exempt organisations provide substantial contributions to support settlements, the report urges the US to verify that such tax-exemptions are consistent with US obligations to ensure respect for international law,it added. Jewish settlement building on occupied Palestinian land is one of the most divisive issues in efforts to forge a peace agreement between the two sides.Around 500,000 Israelis live in more than 130 locations across the West Bank and mostly Arab east Jerusalem -- territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war but claimed by Palestinians for a future independent state.
Mubarak blames Israel for Mideast peace crisis By MAAMOUN YOUSSEF, Associated Press – Sun Dec 19, 10:24 am ET
CAIRO – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Sunday blamed Israel for the stalemate in peace negotiations with the Palestinians in a speech before a joint session of the Egyptian parliament's two chambers.Mubarak also warned Israel that the security of its people hinged on peace rather than occupation or arms.The Egyptian president, whose country has a 1979 pace treaty with Israel, also called on the United States and other Mideast peace brokers to assume their responsibility to break the stalemate in the peace process, lamenting that international efforts had fallen well short of what was needed.Israel must take responsibility for the stalemate in the negotiations and realize that the security of its people depends on peace not occupation or arms, Mubarak told lawmakers, warning of the impact from Israel's intransigence, positions and policies on world and Middle East stability.The talks are at an impasse over the Israeli refusal to cease building settlements in areas wanted by the Palestinians for a future state.Egypt, a key U.S. ally, would continue to work for a just peace that brings security to all parties in the region, Mubarak said.
Israel has built dozens of settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem over the past four decades to buttress its control there. The international community considers the settlements to be illegal.Mubarak's criticism of Israel is not unusual. Relations between Egypt and Israel have been cool for most of the 31 years since they signed their peace treaty. Their differences are mostly over lack of progress toward a regional peace accord.Separately, an aide to Arab League chief Amr Moussa on Sunday informed heads of foreign diplomatic missions in Cairo of last week's decision by Arab foreign ministers that there would be no immediate return to direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. A resumption of these talks, said Hesham Youssef, the aide, would be conditional on a serious offer that guarantees the end of the decades-old conflict.
Israeli air strike kills five Gaza militants
– Sat Dec 18, 6:11 pm ET
GAZA (Reuters) – An Israeli air strike killed five Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip Saturday, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.The Israeli military said in a statement that its aircraft targeted and identified hitting a squad of terror operatives who were preparing to launch rockets toward Israeli territory.Palestinian hospital officials said the five were militants.The Hamas Islamist group, which rules the Gaza Strip, says it has tried to curb rocket fire at Israel, but smaller groups continue to carry the out such attacks.Palestinian sources later identified the gunmen as members of a small militant group, Ansar al-Sunna, who have an agenda of global jihad similar to that of al Qaeda.Israel's military said more than 200 cross-border missiles, rockets and mortars have been fired from Gaza this year.
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Editing by Noah Barkin)
Palestinian PM says not seeking UDI
– Sat Dec 18, 3:18 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad has said a unilateral declaration of independence by his people would only lead to a Mickey Mouse state as long as Israel remains the occupying power.In an interview with Israel's Channel Two television, recorded in Washington and broadcast on Saturday, he was asked to pledge that Palestinians would not unilaterally declare independence in 2011, the year he has set as a target, even if they do not reach a peace deal with Israel.What we're looking for... is a state of Palestine, we're not looking for yet another declaration of statehood, he said.Fayyad, a US-educated former World Bank economist well regarded by the international community, said his plan to build the institutions of statehood by August 2011 is well on track, but sovereignty depends on Israeli assent.The reality of the state may be there in terms of the functional institutions of the state, but if the Israeli army is still in our territory that's not a sovereign state, that's a Mickey Mouse state, he said.We're not looking for a Mickey Mouse state, we're not looking for some form of self-rule, we're looking for a sovereign state of Palestine where we Palestinians can live as free people, Fayyad added.Palestinians have repeatedly said they will unilaterally declare a state or ask for UN recognition of their independence, out of frustration with so far ineffective US efforts to relaunch peace negotiations with Israel.Bolivia on Friday joined Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay in recognising Palestine as an independent and sovereign state within the borders preceding Israel's 1967 occupation.
Israel opposes the steps by the South American governments, saying they go against an Israeli-Palestinian agreement that a Palestinian state be recognised only with Israeli approval.On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives approved a measure condemning unilateral measures to declare or recognise a Palestinian state, and backing a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Bolivia recognizes Palestine as independent state
– Fri Dec 17, 8:35 pm ET
ITAIPU, Paraguay (AFP) – Bolivia has recognized Palestine as an independent state, following the lead of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.Bolivian President Evo Morales on Friday said his government would send a letter to Mahmud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, recognizing Palestine as an independent and sovereign state.
Speaking at a news conference in Paraguay, Morales said Bolivia would officially notify international institutions of its decision next week.He charged that genocide was being committed in the region and called on the international community to assume responsibility for preventing it.Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay recognized Palestine as an independent state earlier this month, drawing a rebuke from Israel.
France gives Lebanon anti-tank missiles
– Fri Dec 17, 9:08 am ET
BEIRUT (AFP) – France will give Lebanon 100 anti-tank missiles, a government official said on Friday, confirming a deal that raised concerns in Israel and the United States earlier this year.Prime Minister Saad Hariri was informed on Wednesday of the French decision to supply the army with 100 ... HOT missiles that will be used by the military's Gazelle helicopters, the official told AFP.The missiles will be delivered before the end of February and are being given with no conditions attached, the official added.In Paris, the office of French Prime Minister Francois Fillon confirmed that a letter to that effect had been sent to Hariri.In August, a US lawmaker objected to the transfer saying the missiles could end up being used against Israel given the influence of the powerful militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.The influence of Hezbollah militants and their Iranian and Syrian backers in the Lebanese government is rising, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, had said.Therefore, to sell weapons to Lebanon at this time would be very irresponsible and could jeopardise security and stability in the region, she said.
Local press reports had said Israel, which fought a devastating war with Hezbollah in 2006, also expressed concerns.In November, Washington lifted a hold it had placed on 100 million dollars in military aid to Lebanon after receiving assurances that the army would closely monitor the border with Israel and that the assistance would not be diverted to Hezbollah.The Shiite movement is considered the most powerful military and political force in Lebanon.Intelligence officials estimate Hezbollah has amassed an arsenal of more than 40,000 short and long-range rockets as well as other sophisticated weapons, including anti-aircraft guns, that the party claims can reach deep inside Israel.
Hamas leader says time is on our side
by Sara Hussein – Fri Dec 17, 7:09 am ET
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – The Palestinians have time in their fight for a state, and Hamas is committed to observing a truce with Israel as it builds a nation, senior Hamas leader Mahmud Zahar told AFP.We are not in a hurry to buy or to sell our national interest because this is not the proper market, he told AFP during a wide-ranging interview conducted in the expansive living room of his Gaza City home.Zahar derided peace talks as a waste of time, heaping scorn on Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas for engaging in negotiations, and ruled out recognition of Israel.But he also stressed Hamas has no plans to launch new attacks on the Jewish state and was instead focusing its efforts on state-building and providing an example of honest Palestinian governance.We are not saying wait, because we are not just sitting here, he said. We are reconstructing everything... For the first time, we are really administrating real progress in different ways, on all kinds of things.
We are giving a good example of purified administration.Zahar is a Hamas veteran and often considered a co-founder of the group. He was appointed its foreign minister after the group won 2006 parliamentary elections, but is now a top ideologue and frequent spokesman for Hamas.The 2006 vote stoked long-standing tensions between Hamas and Abbas's party Fatah. Violent clashes erupted a year later which saw the Islamist group routing Fatah and taking control of the Gaza Strip.Hamas has been isolated ever since, with Israel placing restrictions on the passage of goods into and out of the Gaza Strip, and most of the Western world refusing to talk to the group.It is a designated terror organisation in the United States and Europe, and reviled in many capitals for carrying out bloody suicide bombings in Israel.Since 2006 it has focused on governing, but it has refused to amend its charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel.They told me... you cannot stay isolated and you are not going to survive more than two months, now we finished five years and we survived, and we stayed, and we faced two wars, Zahar said.So we can stay, and we can withstand, and we can win.Zahar said Hamas drew strength from the examples of Algeria and Egypt, which were occupied for decades but eventually gained independence.Time is not important if you are not wasting this time, he said, adding Israel was losing international support as the Palestinians gained legitimacy.
He spoke in front of a picture of his son, who was killed in a 2008 Israeli attack, one of the few adornments in a room that doubles as a garage, complete with a parked car ready to whisk him away in case of an attack.Many top Hamas leaders, including the group's spiritual guide Ahmed Yassin, were killed by Israel in a string of assassinations that decimated the group's senior ranks.Zahar laid out a platform with similarities to that of Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad, who is implementing a two-year plan to build infrastructure in the West Bank. Both men describe the need for schools and roads, but Zahar rejected the comparison and accused Fayyad of begging for a nation.He says we are going to make the infrastructure for a state and then the international community will give us a state as a gift, he said.We are not beggars here... that's my right, he added. We are the owners of this land.Hamas rejects peace talks because negotiations have failed, he said.We are believing in the failure of the peace process to achieve our basic demands and without self defense by all means, our case will be lost, we our going to lose our case, our home actually, our Palestine.He derided Abbas, who began direct talks with Israel in September after a hiatus of nearly two years, then pulled out shortly afterwards, when an Israeli moratorium on settlement construction expired.Abbas refused to return to the talks unless the freeze was extended, but the United States acknowledged last week that direct negotiations were no longer possible and proposed indirect talks instead.They left no city without negotiations -- they started in Madrid, Sharm el-Sheikh many times, Wye River -- many talks, Zahar joked.Hamas's opposition to talks is pragmatic, with the group only willing to talk where there was a clear agenda, such as in the case of the ceasefire it agreed with Israel through Egypt, Zahar explained.But speaking just for speaking, that's not our style.
Hamas says it has adhered to the ceasefire it negotiated after Israel's 22-day war on Gaza which ended in January 2009, and Zahar said the group had no intention of violating it.We are here, and really we have to reconstruct what was destroyed by Israel -- houses, hospitals, schools.He pledged Hamas would continue to resist the occupation but insisted resistance was more than military confrontation.One of the methods of resistance is to reject the occupation as an idea, one is to educate yourself and your people in their culture, one is to prepare yourself for the war if it happens.This,he said,is resistance.
Malta pledges aid to Gaza refugees
– Fri Dec 17, 6:24 am ET
GAZA CITY (AFP) – Maltese Foreign Minister Tonio Borg on Friday promised during a visit to the Gaza Strip to donate funds to the United Nations agency caring for Palestinian refugees.Speaking at the end of a three-day tour of Israel and the Palestinian territories, Borg said he had met businessmen who complained they still faced shortages despite a recent easing of Israel's blockade of the Hamas-run strip.
Israel launched a fierce 22-day offensive against the militant Islamic Hamas in Gaza in December 2008, which killed 1,400 Palestinians according to figures from Palestinian medics and human rights groups.During the fighting 13 Israelis died, several from rockets and mortars fired by Palestinians into Israel.Homes and essential infrastructure in Gaza were extensively damaged in the conflict and rebuilding has been hampered by Israeli restrictions on import of construction materials on the grounds they could be used by Hamas to build bunkers and tunnels.
Malta is interested in launching projects for the benefit of Gaza, Borg told a news conference.We will financially assist UNRWA (the UN Relief and Welfare Agency) in this respect.Borg was the fourth European Union foreign minister to visit Gaza this year, after his Irish, German and Italian counterparts, and he said their trips influenced thinking in Brussels.I feel that the visits which have taken place in recent months by different foreign ministers from the European Union have made a difference, he said.The fact that now we are agreeing on certain things about Gaza is a step in the right direction.
DEC 20,10 - 8AM
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired seven mortar shells into southern Israel on Monday but they fell on open ground, causing no casualties, the army said.Two mortar rounds were fired at Israel on Sunday, hours after Israeli warplanes Saturday night hit central Gaza, killing five militants as they were about to launch a rocket attack, according to the army and witnesses.The airstrike was one of the deadliest since Israel's 22-day war against Gaza's Hamas rulers, codenamed Operation Cast Lead, which began at the end of December 2008 and cost the lives of 1,400 Palestinians, most of them civilians, and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers.
Since Operation Cast Lead, the number of rocket attacks has dropped considerably, but the Israeli army says more than 200 rockets or shells, have been fired this year.
Israeli settlements displace Palestinians: HRW
– Sun Dec 19, 4:06 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Palestinians in the occupied West Bank lack basic amenities and are effectively being forcibly displaced by discriminatory Israeli policies, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released on Sunday.The New York-based rights group called on Washington to penalise Israel by withholding from its massive annual aid a sum equal to the amount the Jewish state gives in subsidies to West Bank settlements.The 166-page report accuses Israel of depriving the Palestinians of services that are offered to Jewish settlers, who live in communities considered illegal under international law because they are built on occupied land.Palestinians face systematic discrimination merely because of their race, ethnicity, and national origin, depriving them of electricity, water, schools, and access to roads, HRW representative Carroll Bogert said.While Israeli settlements flourish, Palestinians under Israeli control live in a time warp -- not just separate, not just unequal, but sometimes even pushed off their lands and out of their homes.
Israel denied the report and accused HRW of bias.We must expose the hypocrisy of human rights organisations that turn a blind eye to the most repressive regimes in the world -- regimes that stone women and hang gays -- and instead target the only liberal, democracy in the Middle East,Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Government spokesman Mark Regev charged that Human Rights Watch has allowed an anti-Israel agenda to pollute its objectivity.He also denied the report's accusations, saying there had been unprecedented levels of growth and development on the part of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank over the past two years.Anyone who looks at objective data can see this. The government of Israel is committed to working with the Palestinian Authority upon this path that is beneficial to all,he told AFP.
But Bill Van Esveld, author of the report and a researcher at HRW's Middle East division, said the study exposed a two-tier system enforced by a network of discriminatory laws and military orders.We're talking about different treatment of two people living in the same area for no real reason, he told AFP.He said settlers had easy access to planning committees whereas Palestinians were not allowed to serve on the same committees, and that it had become virtually impossible for Palestinians to obtain permits to build homes.The policies make life increasingly difficult for Palestinians in the West Bank, and in many cases encourages them simply to leave.Israeli policies are so harsh in their discrimination against Palestinians that in a number of cases Palestinians have been forced to leave, because they have no access to water, they have no access to electricity.The group called on the international community to avoid complicity in Israeli breaches of international law, including by cutting assistance to the country.The United States, which provides 2.75 billion dollars in aid to Israel annually, should suspend financing to Israel in an amount equivalent to the costs of Israel's spending in support of settlements, which a 2003 study estimated at 1.4 billion dollars," the report said.Similarly, based on numerous reports that US tax-exempt organisations provide substantial contributions to support settlements, the report urges the US to verify that such tax-exemptions are consistent with US obligations to ensure respect for international law,it added. Jewish settlement building on occupied Palestinian land is one of the most divisive issues in efforts to forge a peace agreement between the two sides.Around 500,000 Israelis live in more than 130 locations across the West Bank and mostly Arab east Jerusalem -- territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war but claimed by Palestinians for a future independent state.
Mubarak blames Israel for Mideast peace crisis By MAAMOUN YOUSSEF, Associated Press – Sun Dec 19, 10:24 am ET
CAIRO – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Sunday blamed Israel for the stalemate in peace negotiations with the Palestinians in a speech before a joint session of the Egyptian parliament's two chambers.Mubarak also warned Israel that the security of its people hinged on peace rather than occupation or arms.The Egyptian president, whose country has a 1979 pace treaty with Israel, also called on the United States and other Mideast peace brokers to assume their responsibility to break the stalemate in the peace process, lamenting that international efforts had fallen well short of what was needed.Israel must take responsibility for the stalemate in the negotiations and realize that the security of its people depends on peace not occupation or arms, Mubarak told lawmakers, warning of the impact from Israel's intransigence, positions and policies on world and Middle East stability.The talks are at an impasse over the Israeli refusal to cease building settlements in areas wanted by the Palestinians for a future state.Egypt, a key U.S. ally, would continue to work for a just peace that brings security to all parties in the region, Mubarak said.
Israel has built dozens of settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem over the past four decades to buttress its control there. The international community considers the settlements to be illegal.Mubarak's criticism of Israel is not unusual. Relations between Egypt and Israel have been cool for most of the 31 years since they signed their peace treaty. Their differences are mostly over lack of progress toward a regional peace accord.Separately, an aide to Arab League chief Amr Moussa on Sunday informed heads of foreign diplomatic missions in Cairo of last week's decision by Arab foreign ministers that there would be no immediate return to direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. A resumption of these talks, said Hesham Youssef, the aide, would be conditional on a serious offer that guarantees the end of the decades-old conflict.
Israeli air strike kills five Gaza militants
– Sat Dec 18, 6:11 pm ET
GAZA (Reuters) – An Israeli air strike killed five Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip Saturday, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.The Israeli military said in a statement that its aircraft targeted and identified hitting a squad of terror operatives who were preparing to launch rockets toward Israeli territory.Palestinian hospital officials said the five were militants.The Hamas Islamist group, which rules the Gaza Strip, says it has tried to curb rocket fire at Israel, but smaller groups continue to carry the out such attacks.Palestinian sources later identified the gunmen as members of a small militant group, Ansar al-Sunna, who have an agenda of global jihad similar to that of al Qaeda.Israel's military said more than 200 cross-border missiles, rockets and mortars have been fired from Gaza this year.
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Editing by Noah Barkin)
Palestinian PM says not seeking UDI
– Sat Dec 18, 3:18 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad has said a unilateral declaration of independence by his people would only lead to a Mickey Mouse state as long as Israel remains the occupying power.In an interview with Israel's Channel Two television, recorded in Washington and broadcast on Saturday, he was asked to pledge that Palestinians would not unilaterally declare independence in 2011, the year he has set as a target, even if they do not reach a peace deal with Israel.What we're looking for... is a state of Palestine, we're not looking for yet another declaration of statehood, he said.Fayyad, a US-educated former World Bank economist well regarded by the international community, said his plan to build the institutions of statehood by August 2011 is well on track, but sovereignty depends on Israeli assent.The reality of the state may be there in terms of the functional institutions of the state, but if the Israeli army is still in our territory that's not a sovereign state, that's a Mickey Mouse state, he said.We're not looking for a Mickey Mouse state, we're not looking for some form of self-rule, we're looking for a sovereign state of Palestine where we Palestinians can live as free people, Fayyad added.Palestinians have repeatedly said they will unilaterally declare a state or ask for UN recognition of their independence, out of frustration with so far ineffective US efforts to relaunch peace negotiations with Israel.Bolivia on Friday joined Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay in recognising Palestine as an independent and sovereign state within the borders preceding Israel's 1967 occupation.
Israel opposes the steps by the South American governments, saying they go against an Israeli-Palestinian agreement that a Palestinian state be recognised only with Israeli approval.On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives approved a measure condemning unilateral measures to declare or recognise a Palestinian state, and backing a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Bolivia recognizes Palestine as independent state
– Fri Dec 17, 8:35 pm ET
ITAIPU, Paraguay (AFP) – Bolivia has recognized Palestine as an independent state, following the lead of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.Bolivian President Evo Morales on Friday said his government would send a letter to Mahmud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, recognizing Palestine as an independent and sovereign state.
Speaking at a news conference in Paraguay, Morales said Bolivia would officially notify international institutions of its decision next week.He charged that genocide was being committed in the region and called on the international community to assume responsibility for preventing it.Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay recognized Palestine as an independent state earlier this month, drawing a rebuke from Israel.
France gives Lebanon anti-tank missiles
– Fri Dec 17, 9:08 am ET
BEIRUT (AFP) – France will give Lebanon 100 anti-tank missiles, a government official said on Friday, confirming a deal that raised concerns in Israel and the United States earlier this year.Prime Minister Saad Hariri was informed on Wednesday of the French decision to supply the army with 100 ... HOT missiles that will be used by the military's Gazelle helicopters, the official told AFP.The missiles will be delivered before the end of February and are being given with no conditions attached, the official added.In Paris, the office of French Prime Minister Francois Fillon confirmed that a letter to that effect had been sent to Hariri.In August, a US lawmaker objected to the transfer saying the missiles could end up being used against Israel given the influence of the powerful militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.The influence of Hezbollah militants and their Iranian and Syrian backers in the Lebanese government is rising, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, had said.Therefore, to sell weapons to Lebanon at this time would be very irresponsible and could jeopardise security and stability in the region, she said.
Local press reports had said Israel, which fought a devastating war with Hezbollah in 2006, also expressed concerns.In November, Washington lifted a hold it had placed on 100 million dollars in military aid to Lebanon after receiving assurances that the army would closely monitor the border with Israel and that the assistance would not be diverted to Hezbollah.The Shiite movement is considered the most powerful military and political force in Lebanon.Intelligence officials estimate Hezbollah has amassed an arsenal of more than 40,000 short and long-range rockets as well as other sophisticated weapons, including anti-aircraft guns, that the party claims can reach deep inside Israel.
Hamas leader says time is on our side
by Sara Hussein – Fri Dec 17, 7:09 am ET
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – The Palestinians have time in their fight for a state, and Hamas is committed to observing a truce with Israel as it builds a nation, senior Hamas leader Mahmud Zahar told AFP.We are not in a hurry to buy or to sell our national interest because this is not the proper market, he told AFP during a wide-ranging interview conducted in the expansive living room of his Gaza City home.Zahar derided peace talks as a waste of time, heaping scorn on Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas for engaging in negotiations, and ruled out recognition of Israel.But he also stressed Hamas has no plans to launch new attacks on the Jewish state and was instead focusing its efforts on state-building and providing an example of honest Palestinian governance.We are not saying wait, because we are not just sitting here, he said. We are reconstructing everything... For the first time, we are really administrating real progress in different ways, on all kinds of things.
We are giving a good example of purified administration.Zahar is a Hamas veteran and often considered a co-founder of the group. He was appointed its foreign minister after the group won 2006 parliamentary elections, but is now a top ideologue and frequent spokesman for Hamas.The 2006 vote stoked long-standing tensions between Hamas and Abbas's party Fatah. Violent clashes erupted a year later which saw the Islamist group routing Fatah and taking control of the Gaza Strip.Hamas has been isolated ever since, with Israel placing restrictions on the passage of goods into and out of the Gaza Strip, and most of the Western world refusing to talk to the group.It is a designated terror organisation in the United States and Europe, and reviled in many capitals for carrying out bloody suicide bombings in Israel.Since 2006 it has focused on governing, but it has refused to amend its charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel.They told me... you cannot stay isolated and you are not going to survive more than two months, now we finished five years and we survived, and we stayed, and we faced two wars, Zahar said.So we can stay, and we can withstand, and we can win.Zahar said Hamas drew strength from the examples of Algeria and Egypt, which were occupied for decades but eventually gained independence.Time is not important if you are not wasting this time, he said, adding Israel was losing international support as the Palestinians gained legitimacy.
He spoke in front of a picture of his son, who was killed in a 2008 Israeli attack, one of the few adornments in a room that doubles as a garage, complete with a parked car ready to whisk him away in case of an attack.Many top Hamas leaders, including the group's spiritual guide Ahmed Yassin, were killed by Israel in a string of assassinations that decimated the group's senior ranks.Zahar laid out a platform with similarities to that of Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad, who is implementing a two-year plan to build infrastructure in the West Bank. Both men describe the need for schools and roads, but Zahar rejected the comparison and accused Fayyad of begging for a nation.He says we are going to make the infrastructure for a state and then the international community will give us a state as a gift, he said.We are not beggars here... that's my right, he added. We are the owners of this land.Hamas rejects peace talks because negotiations have failed, he said.We are believing in the failure of the peace process to achieve our basic demands and without self defense by all means, our case will be lost, we our going to lose our case, our home actually, our Palestine.He derided Abbas, who began direct talks with Israel in September after a hiatus of nearly two years, then pulled out shortly afterwards, when an Israeli moratorium on settlement construction expired.Abbas refused to return to the talks unless the freeze was extended, but the United States acknowledged last week that direct negotiations were no longer possible and proposed indirect talks instead.They left no city without negotiations -- they started in Madrid, Sharm el-Sheikh many times, Wye River -- many talks, Zahar joked.Hamas's opposition to talks is pragmatic, with the group only willing to talk where there was a clear agenda, such as in the case of the ceasefire it agreed with Israel through Egypt, Zahar explained.But speaking just for speaking, that's not our style.
Hamas says it has adhered to the ceasefire it negotiated after Israel's 22-day war on Gaza which ended in January 2009, and Zahar said the group had no intention of violating it.We are here, and really we have to reconstruct what was destroyed by Israel -- houses, hospitals, schools.He pledged Hamas would continue to resist the occupation but insisted resistance was more than military confrontation.One of the methods of resistance is to reject the occupation as an idea, one is to educate yourself and your people in their culture, one is to prepare yourself for the war if it happens.This,he said,is resistance.
Malta pledges aid to Gaza refugees
– Fri Dec 17, 6:24 am ET
GAZA CITY (AFP) – Maltese Foreign Minister Tonio Borg on Friday promised during a visit to the Gaza Strip to donate funds to the United Nations agency caring for Palestinian refugees.Speaking at the end of a three-day tour of Israel and the Palestinian territories, Borg said he had met businessmen who complained they still faced shortages despite a recent easing of Israel's blockade of the Hamas-run strip.
Israel launched a fierce 22-day offensive against the militant Islamic Hamas in Gaza in December 2008, which killed 1,400 Palestinians according to figures from Palestinian medics and human rights groups.During the fighting 13 Israelis died, several from rockets and mortars fired by Palestinians into Israel.Homes and essential infrastructure in Gaza were extensively damaged in the conflict and rebuilding has been hampered by Israeli restrictions on import of construction materials on the grounds they could be used by Hamas to build bunkers and tunnels.
Malta is interested in launching projects for the benefit of Gaza, Borg told a news conference.We will financially assist UNRWA (the UN Relief and Welfare Agency) in this respect.Borg was the fourth European Union foreign minister to visit Gaza this year, after his Irish, German and Italian counterparts, and he said their trips influenced thinking in Brussels.I feel that the visits which have taken place in recent months by different foreign ministers from the European Union have made a difference, he said.The fact that now we are agreeing on certain things about Gaza is a step in the right direction.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
SA TRADEBLOC TALKS WITH SYRIA-PALESTINIANS
Trade bloc eyes agreement with Syria, Palestinians
DEC 16,2010 1PM
FOZ DE IGUACU, Brazil (AFP) – The South American trade bloc Mercosur on Thursday opened talks with Syria and the Palestinian Authority on free trade agreements, an Argentine official, Luis Kreckler, told reporters.The bloc -- comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay -- signed formal agreements on the negotiations with Syrian and Palestinian officials on the sidelines of a Mercosur meeting underway in the southern Brazilian town of Foz de Iguacu.The accords follow the controversial recognition by Brazil and Argentina of a Palestinian state, in the teeth of opposition by Israel and the United States. Uruguay has said it will follow its neighbors' lead next year.
UN Hariri court to disappear with wind: Nasrallah by Natacha Yazbeck – DEC 16,10
BEIRUT (AFP) – Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday predicted a UN court on the murder of Rafiq Hariri would disappear with the wind as vast crowds gathered to mark the Shiite holy day of Ashura in Lebanon.This new conspiracy against the resistance and Lebanon, dubbed the international tribunal, will disappear with the wind, Nasrallah said in his latest attack on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), a UN-backed investigation into the 2005 assassination of Sunni ex-premier Hariri.We will defend the resistance, our dignity, our country against unrest and against aggressors and conspirators no matter what their guise, the Shiite leader said in a televised address to a procession of tens of thousands in the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburb of Beirut.His comments came as tensions rise over the STL, which is reportedly ready to indict high-ranking Hezbollah operatives in the 2005 Beirut bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others.Nasrallah, who commands the most powerful military force in the country, has urged Lebanon's deeply divided unity government to step aside and allow him to deal with the STL, which he claims is a US-Israeli plot.He has also warned any accusation in the Hariri murder would have grave repercussions in troubled Lebanon.But Saudi-backed Prime Minister Saad Hariri, son of the slain ex-premier, has vowed to see the investigation through.
In a speech marked by a more pacific tone than that adopted in recent months, Nasrallah on Thursday emphasised that his Iranian-backed militant group was keen to preserve peace among Lebanon's feuding communities, particularly Sunni and Shiite Muslims.We announce our commitment to Lebanon, to unity within our country, and to peaceful relations among the many confessions and communities of our country, he said.Thursday's procession marked the end of 10 days of rituals to mourn the death of Imam Hussein, the faith's third imam.Responding in force to a call by Nasrallah the previous night, the Shiite faithful flooded the streets of the southern suburb, uniformly clad in black and chanting their traditional saying Hayhat minnal zilla, Arabic for Never will we be humiliated.The gender-segregated processions were marked by strict organisation and security measures by Hezbollah.Crowds also gathered in mainly Shiite Muslim areas in southern and eastern Lebanon, raising pictures of Nasrallah and Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.And while Lebanon's Shiite clerics forbid anything more violent than the traditional chest- and head-beating on Ashura, a number of worshippers outside the processions organised by Hezbollah took to slashing their heads with razors or beating them with chains.
A grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, Imam Hussein was killed by armies of the caliph Yazid in 680 AD. Tradition holds that he was decapitated and his body mutilated in the battle at Karbala, now in Iraq.Shiites make up around 15 percent of Muslims worldwide. They represent the majority populations in Iran, Iraq and Bahrain and form significant communities in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
Palestinians ask Europe to recognize a state By Ben Hubbard, Associated Press – Thu Dec 16, 10:56 am ET
RAMALLAH, West Bank – The Palestinians have asked European countries to recognize an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip — a new step in the campaign to pursue statehood outside the framework of a peace deal with Israel.Peace talks with Israel have been deadlocked since September, prompting Palestinians to start exploring alternative ways forward. The campaign by President Mahmoud Abbas and his West Bank government aims to pressure Israel, though it will likely change nothing on the ground as long as Israel remains opposed.Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath said Thursday he asked representatives of several EU countries to recognize the truce lines before the 1967 Mideast war as the borders between Israel and a Palestinian state.Officials from two of the countries, however, said he made no formal request. One said he merely praised other countries who had taken the step. All officials spoke on condition on anonymity under diplomatic protocol.Israel captured the Gaza Strip, West Bank and east Jerusalem — areas where the Palestinians want to establish an independent state — though it withdrew from Gaza in 2005.Brazil and Argentina, minor players in the Middle East, recently recognized Palestine as other countries in the Arab world and Africa have done. Several European countries have upgraded diplomatic relations with the Palestinians, but it is unclear how far the international community will go.
The United States and the European Union have not recognized an independent Palestinian state, saying peace can only be reached through negotiations.Last week, European Union foreign ministers said they would recognize a Palestinian state when appropriate, emphasizing the need for a negotiated settlement.The latest round of peace talks, launched in early September, broke down just three weeks later after a limited Israeli freeze on settlement construction expired.The Palestinians say they will not resume direct negotiations as long as Israel continues to build homes in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, saying the construction is a sign of bad faith. Unable to coax a renewed settlement freeze out of Israel, the U.S. is now shuttling between the sides in indirect talks.Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor rejected the Palestinian attempts to seek unilateral recognition, saying peace can only be reached through negotiations. Turning your back on dialogue is turning your back on peace, he said.Abbas says he prefers a negotiated settlement, but he has been pursuing alternatives with increasing vigor. The Palestinians say they doubt they can reach a peace deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads a coalition of hardline nationalist and religious parties.On Thursday, Abbas aide Nabil Abu Rdeneh suggested yet another strategy: Asking the United Nations Security Council to condemn Israeli settlement activity.He said the decision to approach the Security Council was made after deep study following the failure of all efforts to get the Israeli government to stop settlement activities.Palestinian officials had previously talked of seeking U.N. recognition of a state inside the 1967 lines. While they could presumably win a majority in the General Assembly, the bigger prize of recognition by the Security Council, whose decisions are legally binding, would likely face a U.S. veto.The U.S. routinely vetoes measures Israel considers hostile, and the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a resolution condemning unilateral measures to declare or recognize a Palestinian state.Some Palestinian officials acknowledge the limits of seeking international recognition. Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Wednesday that such moves will not bring a state closer.Also on Thursday, the European Union told Israel to go beyond its recent easing of its blockade on the Gaza Strip to guarantee the unconditional opening of the border.Israel and Egypt imposed a strict blockade on the seaside territory of 2.5 million Palestinians after the Islamic militant group Hamas seized control from troops loyal to Abbas in 2007. The blockade has devastated Gaza's economy, although Israel recently eased restrictions on consumer goods.EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said Israel needs to achieve a fundamental change of policy that allows for the reconstruction and economic recovery of Gaza.
Israel PM convenes inner forum as talks hit impasse
– Thu Dec 16, 7:54 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday convened his inner council to discuss US ideas on the peace process, but the Palestinians insisted there would be no talks while settlements continued.There was no immediate word on the content of Netanyahu's talks with his Forum of Seven, although a government official confirmed that they had met.US Middle East envoy George Mitchell earlier this week held two days of talks with prime minister Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to try to find a way to keep the sides engaged in the search for peace.
As Israel mulled US plans for advancing the negotiations, a senior Palestinian official insisted they would not hold any form of negotiations, in any format, with Israel without a complete halt to settlement activity.There will not be any negotiations with Israel, in any form -- direct, indirect or parallel -- without an end to settlement, said Azzam al-Ahmad, a senior member of the central committee of Fatah, the secular party of Abbas.His remarks came a day after Arab diplomats ruled out renewed Israeli-Palestinian negotiations without a serious offer which would ensure their success.They also decided to approach the UN Security Council to seek a resolution against Israel's ongoing settlement building.Attempts to revive direct peace talks collapsed last week after Washington admitted it had failed to secure Israel's agreement to a new freeze on settlement building -- the Palestinian condition for continuing to negotiate.The US focus is now on new ideas, with Mitchell proposing six weeks of parallel talks in which negotiators would hold separate talks with the Americans in a format which would not be classed as negotiations, a Palestinian official told AFP on Wednesday.The Israeli official said that the government was open to the concept.We obviously prefer direct talks with the Palestinians, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.But because they are steadfast in their refusal to engage directly, then the idea of having two parallel tracks to deal with some of the issues and hopefully in the future have those two tracks converge into direct talks, we're open to that idea.
Israeli daily Maariv said that Thursday's ministerial meeting would include discussion of the possibility of widespread international recognition of an independent Palestinian state.Over the past few weeks, Palestinian officials have been talking up their options if peace talks with Israel totally collapse -- one of which is seeking recognition for a unilateral declaration of statehood.Earlier this month, Brazil and Argentina recognised a Palestinian state, with Uruguay soon to follow suit. And this week, European Union foreign ministers also expressed their readiness to recognise such a state at an appropriate time.Israel opposes such a move, saying a Palestinian state should be established only through negotiations.In Washington, the US House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a measure condemning any unilateral declaration or recognition of a Palestinian state, and backing a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.The resolution, introduced by Democrat Howard Berman, reaffirms the strong support in the lower chamber of the US Congress for a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resulting in two states, a democratic, Jewish state of Israel and a viable, democratic Palestinian state.
House opposes declaration of Palestinian state
– Thu Dec 16, 6:28 am ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US House of Representatives late Wednesday approved a measure condemning unilateral measures to declare or recognize a Palestinian state, and backing a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.The House measure comes after Brazil, and later Argentina and Uruguay, in early December recognized a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, the boundaries that existed before Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza Strip.The resolution, introduced by Democrat Howard Berman, reaffirms the strong support in the lower chamber of the US Congress for a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resulting in two states, a democratic, Jewish state of Israel and a viable, democratic Palestinian state.The text also reaffirms its strong opposition to any attempt to establish or seek recognition of a Palestinian state outside of an agreement negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians.It urges Palestinian leaders to cease all efforts at circumventing the negotiation process and calls on foreign governments not to extend such recognition.One of the co-sponsors of the House measure was Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the incoming House Foreign Affairs Committee chair, who earlier condemned moves by the South American countries to recognize an independent Palestinian state.
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said that such recognition by the South Americans was counter-productive to achieving Middle East peace.The European Union on Monday stopped short of outright recognition of a Palestinian state despite mounting pressure to break the Middle East impasse, but did reaffirm its readiness to recognize such a state at an appropriate time.Direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed after Washington admitted it had failed to secure Israel's agreement to a new freeze on settlement building, the Palestinian condition for continuing to negotiate.US Middle East envoy George Mitchell earlier this week held two days of talks with Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to try to find a way to keep the sides engaged in the search for peace.
The US focus is now on new ideas, with Mitchell proposing six weeks of parallel talks, where negotiators would hold separate talks with the Americans in a format which would not be viewed as negotiations, a Palestinian official told AFP on Wednesday.
US envoy Mitchell to meet top EU, French diplomats
– Wed Dec 15, 4:28 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US Middle East envoy George Mitchell will meet with the top EU and French diplomats this week as part of efforts to reset the Israeli-Palestinian peace process after months of setbacks.Mitchell will meet EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in Brussels on Thursday before heading to Paris to meet French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, the State Department said Wednesday.The United States is looking to chart a new course after abandoning its quest to get Israel to freeze settlement construction, a key Palestinian demand for face-to-face negotiations.A Palestinian official in Ramallah said Mitchell had proposed six weeks of parallel talks during a meeting with president Mahmud Abbas on Tuesday.But State Department spokesman Philip Crowley declined to confirm the report, saying: I've resisted putting a label on that.We're waiting in terms of the next step for a reaffirmation of the support of the Arab Follow-up Committee... We're focused on the substance. That's the best vehicle to move towards a framework agreement, he said.
The group of Arab foreign ministers -- which had backed Abbas in launching negotiations earlier this year -- said it would not endorse further talks unless they were based on a serious offer to end the decades-old conflict.Israel and the Palestinians relaunched direct negotiations in September but the talks collapsed within weeks after the expiration of a 10-month moratorium on Israeli settlement construction.The Palestinians view the presence of some 500,000 Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank including annexed east Jerusalem as a major threat to the establishment of their promised state and saw US demands for a building freeze as a crucial test of Israel's intentions.
Arabs wants UN resolution against Israel settlements
– Wed Dec 15, 2:57 pm ET
CAIRO (AFP) – The Arab League decided on Wednesday to seek a UN Security Council resolution against Israeli settlement construction on Palestinian land.Arab foreign ministers decided to bring up the entire situation with the Security Council and to activate the follow-up committee's decision to bring up the issue of Israeli settlements again to the Security Council.The Arab League wants to obtain a decision that confirms, among other things, the illegal nature of this activity and that would oblige Israel to stop it, a ministerial committee meeting at League headquarters in Cairo said.The ministers, in their final statement, also urged the United States, which has traditionally vetoed Security Council resolutions against Israel, not to obstruct its decision.
Palestinian donors conference to be held in April 2011: Oslo
– Wed Dec 15, 1:05 pm ET
OSLO (AFP) – International donors will meet to discuss the financial needs of the Palestinian Authority in April 2011, Norway's foreign minister announced Wednesday, adding he hoped a Palestinian state could be established next year.Speaking after talks with Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad, Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, who heads the committee in charge of coordinating international aid to the Palestinians, did not give an exact date or venue for the meeting.We should all cling to the vision of 2011 being the year when we can see a new state on the world stage: the Palestinian state, he told reporters in Oslo.For that to happen, institutions need to be solid, governance needs to be transparent, security, schools, all these elements need to come in place, he added.Fayyad meanwhile stressed the work done by the Palestinian Authority to lessen its dependence on international aid.He pointed out that the aid portion of the budget had shrunk from 1.8 billion dollars in 2008 to less than 1.2 billion this year and that the Authority aimed to do without budget aid altogether by 2013.It's no secret that the Palestinian authority has been reliant on aid for a number of years, effectively since the start, he said, stressing that due to Israeli restrictions on our national sovereignty, the economy has not been able to operate up to its potential.
Nevertheless, the Palestinian Authority has been making good and steady progress towards reducing progressively its reliance on international aid, he said.Following Wednesday's talks, Stoere and Fayyad signed an accord regarding cooperation in the area of education, which the two men presented as a new step in the process towards establishing the institutions needed in the creation of a viable Palestinian state.
Israel wants more stealth fighters
– Wed Dec 15, 11:02 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel is still looking to acquire another 20 US-built F-35 strike fighters, even though Washington withdrew such an offer after the Jewish state refused a new settlement ban, a senior government official said on Wednesday.Israel agreed to buy a first tranche of 20 F-35s in August, but had hoped to acquire another 20 free of charge as part of a lucrative deal with the United States aimed at salvaging the peace process.Under terms of the offer, Washington would have asked Congress to approve 20 additional F-35 fighter planes for Israel, worth some three billion dollars, in exchange for a 90-day moratorium on settlement building -- the Palestinian condition for remaining at the table.But last week, Washington admitted its efforts to secure a new freeze had failed in a move that effectively took the package of incentives off the table and put an end to the prospect of direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.However, the Jewish state is still exploring ways of acquiring an extra 20 stealth fighters, the official acknowledged on Wednesday.We ordered 20 F-35s, then, during the talks about freeze, the Americans put 20 additional plane on the table, he told AFP.
But even before the freeze, Israel had been discussing ways of getting an extra 20 stealth fighters, he said.It was discussed during the summer when the United States was talking about the 60 billion dollar weapons deal with Saudi, in the context of the American policy of maintaining Israel's qualitative military edge, he said.But nothing was settled. We will continue to discuss it.Asked if Israel were expecting to pay for the additional 20 planes, he suggested not. We were trying to find another arrangement.Last week, Ron Dermer, a top adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Israel's public radio the government had not ruled out the possibility that Israel would still receive the F-35 planes even though the freeze did not materialise.Acquisition of the F-35, which is made by US aerospace and defence giant Lockheed Martin, will give Israel access to stealth technology that will provide it with air superiority over enemy anti-aircraft defences.
DEC 16,2010 1PM
FOZ DE IGUACU, Brazil (AFP) – The South American trade bloc Mercosur on Thursday opened talks with Syria and the Palestinian Authority on free trade agreements, an Argentine official, Luis Kreckler, told reporters.The bloc -- comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay -- signed formal agreements on the negotiations with Syrian and Palestinian officials on the sidelines of a Mercosur meeting underway in the southern Brazilian town of Foz de Iguacu.The accords follow the controversial recognition by Brazil and Argentina of a Palestinian state, in the teeth of opposition by Israel and the United States. Uruguay has said it will follow its neighbors' lead next year.
UN Hariri court to disappear with wind: Nasrallah by Natacha Yazbeck – DEC 16,10
BEIRUT (AFP) – Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday predicted a UN court on the murder of Rafiq Hariri would disappear with the wind as vast crowds gathered to mark the Shiite holy day of Ashura in Lebanon.This new conspiracy against the resistance and Lebanon, dubbed the international tribunal, will disappear with the wind, Nasrallah said in his latest attack on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), a UN-backed investigation into the 2005 assassination of Sunni ex-premier Hariri.We will defend the resistance, our dignity, our country against unrest and against aggressors and conspirators no matter what their guise, the Shiite leader said in a televised address to a procession of tens of thousands in the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburb of Beirut.His comments came as tensions rise over the STL, which is reportedly ready to indict high-ranking Hezbollah operatives in the 2005 Beirut bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others.Nasrallah, who commands the most powerful military force in the country, has urged Lebanon's deeply divided unity government to step aside and allow him to deal with the STL, which he claims is a US-Israeli plot.He has also warned any accusation in the Hariri murder would have grave repercussions in troubled Lebanon.But Saudi-backed Prime Minister Saad Hariri, son of the slain ex-premier, has vowed to see the investigation through.
In a speech marked by a more pacific tone than that adopted in recent months, Nasrallah on Thursday emphasised that his Iranian-backed militant group was keen to preserve peace among Lebanon's feuding communities, particularly Sunni and Shiite Muslims.We announce our commitment to Lebanon, to unity within our country, and to peaceful relations among the many confessions and communities of our country, he said.Thursday's procession marked the end of 10 days of rituals to mourn the death of Imam Hussein, the faith's third imam.Responding in force to a call by Nasrallah the previous night, the Shiite faithful flooded the streets of the southern suburb, uniformly clad in black and chanting their traditional saying Hayhat minnal zilla, Arabic for Never will we be humiliated.The gender-segregated processions were marked by strict organisation and security measures by Hezbollah.Crowds also gathered in mainly Shiite Muslim areas in southern and eastern Lebanon, raising pictures of Nasrallah and Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.And while Lebanon's Shiite clerics forbid anything more violent than the traditional chest- and head-beating on Ashura, a number of worshippers outside the processions organised by Hezbollah took to slashing their heads with razors or beating them with chains.
A grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, Imam Hussein was killed by armies of the caliph Yazid in 680 AD. Tradition holds that he was decapitated and his body mutilated in the battle at Karbala, now in Iraq.Shiites make up around 15 percent of Muslims worldwide. They represent the majority populations in Iran, Iraq and Bahrain and form significant communities in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
Palestinians ask Europe to recognize a state By Ben Hubbard, Associated Press – Thu Dec 16, 10:56 am ET
RAMALLAH, West Bank – The Palestinians have asked European countries to recognize an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip — a new step in the campaign to pursue statehood outside the framework of a peace deal with Israel.Peace talks with Israel have been deadlocked since September, prompting Palestinians to start exploring alternative ways forward. The campaign by President Mahmoud Abbas and his West Bank government aims to pressure Israel, though it will likely change nothing on the ground as long as Israel remains opposed.Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath said Thursday he asked representatives of several EU countries to recognize the truce lines before the 1967 Mideast war as the borders between Israel and a Palestinian state.Officials from two of the countries, however, said he made no formal request. One said he merely praised other countries who had taken the step. All officials spoke on condition on anonymity under diplomatic protocol.Israel captured the Gaza Strip, West Bank and east Jerusalem — areas where the Palestinians want to establish an independent state — though it withdrew from Gaza in 2005.Brazil and Argentina, minor players in the Middle East, recently recognized Palestine as other countries in the Arab world and Africa have done. Several European countries have upgraded diplomatic relations with the Palestinians, but it is unclear how far the international community will go.
The United States and the European Union have not recognized an independent Palestinian state, saying peace can only be reached through negotiations.Last week, European Union foreign ministers said they would recognize a Palestinian state when appropriate, emphasizing the need for a negotiated settlement.The latest round of peace talks, launched in early September, broke down just three weeks later after a limited Israeli freeze on settlement construction expired.The Palestinians say they will not resume direct negotiations as long as Israel continues to build homes in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, saying the construction is a sign of bad faith. Unable to coax a renewed settlement freeze out of Israel, the U.S. is now shuttling between the sides in indirect talks.Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor rejected the Palestinian attempts to seek unilateral recognition, saying peace can only be reached through negotiations. Turning your back on dialogue is turning your back on peace, he said.Abbas says he prefers a negotiated settlement, but he has been pursuing alternatives with increasing vigor. The Palestinians say they doubt they can reach a peace deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads a coalition of hardline nationalist and religious parties.On Thursday, Abbas aide Nabil Abu Rdeneh suggested yet another strategy: Asking the United Nations Security Council to condemn Israeli settlement activity.He said the decision to approach the Security Council was made after deep study following the failure of all efforts to get the Israeli government to stop settlement activities.Palestinian officials had previously talked of seeking U.N. recognition of a state inside the 1967 lines. While they could presumably win a majority in the General Assembly, the bigger prize of recognition by the Security Council, whose decisions are legally binding, would likely face a U.S. veto.The U.S. routinely vetoes measures Israel considers hostile, and the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a resolution condemning unilateral measures to declare or recognize a Palestinian state.Some Palestinian officials acknowledge the limits of seeking international recognition. Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Wednesday that such moves will not bring a state closer.Also on Thursday, the European Union told Israel to go beyond its recent easing of its blockade on the Gaza Strip to guarantee the unconditional opening of the border.Israel and Egypt imposed a strict blockade on the seaside territory of 2.5 million Palestinians after the Islamic militant group Hamas seized control from troops loyal to Abbas in 2007. The blockade has devastated Gaza's economy, although Israel recently eased restrictions on consumer goods.EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said Israel needs to achieve a fundamental change of policy that allows for the reconstruction and economic recovery of Gaza.
Israel PM convenes inner forum as talks hit impasse
– Thu Dec 16, 7:54 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday convened his inner council to discuss US ideas on the peace process, but the Palestinians insisted there would be no talks while settlements continued.There was no immediate word on the content of Netanyahu's talks with his Forum of Seven, although a government official confirmed that they had met.US Middle East envoy George Mitchell earlier this week held two days of talks with prime minister Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to try to find a way to keep the sides engaged in the search for peace.
As Israel mulled US plans for advancing the negotiations, a senior Palestinian official insisted they would not hold any form of negotiations, in any format, with Israel without a complete halt to settlement activity.There will not be any negotiations with Israel, in any form -- direct, indirect or parallel -- without an end to settlement, said Azzam al-Ahmad, a senior member of the central committee of Fatah, the secular party of Abbas.His remarks came a day after Arab diplomats ruled out renewed Israeli-Palestinian negotiations without a serious offer which would ensure their success.They also decided to approach the UN Security Council to seek a resolution against Israel's ongoing settlement building.Attempts to revive direct peace talks collapsed last week after Washington admitted it had failed to secure Israel's agreement to a new freeze on settlement building -- the Palestinian condition for continuing to negotiate.The US focus is now on new ideas, with Mitchell proposing six weeks of parallel talks in which negotiators would hold separate talks with the Americans in a format which would not be classed as negotiations, a Palestinian official told AFP on Wednesday.The Israeli official said that the government was open to the concept.We obviously prefer direct talks with the Palestinians, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.But because they are steadfast in their refusal to engage directly, then the idea of having two parallel tracks to deal with some of the issues and hopefully in the future have those two tracks converge into direct talks, we're open to that idea.
Israeli daily Maariv said that Thursday's ministerial meeting would include discussion of the possibility of widespread international recognition of an independent Palestinian state.Over the past few weeks, Palestinian officials have been talking up their options if peace talks with Israel totally collapse -- one of which is seeking recognition for a unilateral declaration of statehood.Earlier this month, Brazil and Argentina recognised a Palestinian state, with Uruguay soon to follow suit. And this week, European Union foreign ministers also expressed their readiness to recognise such a state at an appropriate time.Israel opposes such a move, saying a Palestinian state should be established only through negotiations.In Washington, the US House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a measure condemning any unilateral declaration or recognition of a Palestinian state, and backing a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.The resolution, introduced by Democrat Howard Berman, reaffirms the strong support in the lower chamber of the US Congress for a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resulting in two states, a democratic, Jewish state of Israel and a viable, democratic Palestinian state.
House opposes declaration of Palestinian state
– Thu Dec 16, 6:28 am ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US House of Representatives late Wednesday approved a measure condemning unilateral measures to declare or recognize a Palestinian state, and backing a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.The House measure comes after Brazil, and later Argentina and Uruguay, in early December recognized a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, the boundaries that existed before Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza Strip.The resolution, introduced by Democrat Howard Berman, reaffirms the strong support in the lower chamber of the US Congress for a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resulting in two states, a democratic, Jewish state of Israel and a viable, democratic Palestinian state.The text also reaffirms its strong opposition to any attempt to establish or seek recognition of a Palestinian state outside of an agreement negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians.It urges Palestinian leaders to cease all efforts at circumventing the negotiation process and calls on foreign governments not to extend such recognition.One of the co-sponsors of the House measure was Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the incoming House Foreign Affairs Committee chair, who earlier condemned moves by the South American countries to recognize an independent Palestinian state.
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said that such recognition by the South Americans was counter-productive to achieving Middle East peace.The European Union on Monday stopped short of outright recognition of a Palestinian state despite mounting pressure to break the Middle East impasse, but did reaffirm its readiness to recognize such a state at an appropriate time.Direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed after Washington admitted it had failed to secure Israel's agreement to a new freeze on settlement building, the Palestinian condition for continuing to negotiate.US Middle East envoy George Mitchell earlier this week held two days of talks with Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to try to find a way to keep the sides engaged in the search for peace.
The US focus is now on new ideas, with Mitchell proposing six weeks of parallel talks, where negotiators would hold separate talks with the Americans in a format which would not be viewed as negotiations, a Palestinian official told AFP on Wednesday.
US envoy Mitchell to meet top EU, French diplomats
– Wed Dec 15, 4:28 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US Middle East envoy George Mitchell will meet with the top EU and French diplomats this week as part of efforts to reset the Israeli-Palestinian peace process after months of setbacks.Mitchell will meet EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in Brussels on Thursday before heading to Paris to meet French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, the State Department said Wednesday.The United States is looking to chart a new course after abandoning its quest to get Israel to freeze settlement construction, a key Palestinian demand for face-to-face negotiations.A Palestinian official in Ramallah said Mitchell had proposed six weeks of parallel talks during a meeting with president Mahmud Abbas on Tuesday.But State Department spokesman Philip Crowley declined to confirm the report, saying: I've resisted putting a label on that.We're waiting in terms of the next step for a reaffirmation of the support of the Arab Follow-up Committee... We're focused on the substance. That's the best vehicle to move towards a framework agreement, he said.
The group of Arab foreign ministers -- which had backed Abbas in launching negotiations earlier this year -- said it would not endorse further talks unless they were based on a serious offer to end the decades-old conflict.Israel and the Palestinians relaunched direct negotiations in September but the talks collapsed within weeks after the expiration of a 10-month moratorium on Israeli settlement construction.The Palestinians view the presence of some 500,000 Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank including annexed east Jerusalem as a major threat to the establishment of their promised state and saw US demands for a building freeze as a crucial test of Israel's intentions.
Arabs wants UN resolution against Israel settlements
– Wed Dec 15, 2:57 pm ET
CAIRO (AFP) – The Arab League decided on Wednesday to seek a UN Security Council resolution against Israeli settlement construction on Palestinian land.Arab foreign ministers decided to bring up the entire situation with the Security Council and to activate the follow-up committee's decision to bring up the issue of Israeli settlements again to the Security Council.The Arab League wants to obtain a decision that confirms, among other things, the illegal nature of this activity and that would oblige Israel to stop it, a ministerial committee meeting at League headquarters in Cairo said.The ministers, in their final statement, also urged the United States, which has traditionally vetoed Security Council resolutions against Israel, not to obstruct its decision.
Palestinian donors conference to be held in April 2011: Oslo
– Wed Dec 15, 1:05 pm ET
OSLO (AFP) – International donors will meet to discuss the financial needs of the Palestinian Authority in April 2011, Norway's foreign minister announced Wednesday, adding he hoped a Palestinian state could be established next year.Speaking after talks with Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad, Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, who heads the committee in charge of coordinating international aid to the Palestinians, did not give an exact date or venue for the meeting.We should all cling to the vision of 2011 being the year when we can see a new state on the world stage: the Palestinian state, he told reporters in Oslo.For that to happen, institutions need to be solid, governance needs to be transparent, security, schools, all these elements need to come in place, he added.Fayyad meanwhile stressed the work done by the Palestinian Authority to lessen its dependence on international aid.He pointed out that the aid portion of the budget had shrunk from 1.8 billion dollars in 2008 to less than 1.2 billion this year and that the Authority aimed to do without budget aid altogether by 2013.It's no secret that the Palestinian authority has been reliant on aid for a number of years, effectively since the start, he said, stressing that due to Israeli restrictions on our national sovereignty, the economy has not been able to operate up to its potential.
Nevertheless, the Palestinian Authority has been making good and steady progress towards reducing progressively its reliance on international aid, he said.Following Wednesday's talks, Stoere and Fayyad signed an accord regarding cooperation in the area of education, which the two men presented as a new step in the process towards establishing the institutions needed in the creation of a viable Palestinian state.
Israel wants more stealth fighters
– Wed Dec 15, 11:02 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel is still looking to acquire another 20 US-built F-35 strike fighters, even though Washington withdrew such an offer after the Jewish state refused a new settlement ban, a senior government official said on Wednesday.Israel agreed to buy a first tranche of 20 F-35s in August, but had hoped to acquire another 20 free of charge as part of a lucrative deal with the United States aimed at salvaging the peace process.Under terms of the offer, Washington would have asked Congress to approve 20 additional F-35 fighter planes for Israel, worth some three billion dollars, in exchange for a 90-day moratorium on settlement building -- the Palestinian condition for remaining at the table.But last week, Washington admitted its efforts to secure a new freeze had failed in a move that effectively took the package of incentives off the table and put an end to the prospect of direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.However, the Jewish state is still exploring ways of acquiring an extra 20 stealth fighters, the official acknowledged on Wednesday.We ordered 20 F-35s, then, during the talks about freeze, the Americans put 20 additional plane on the table, he told AFP.
But even before the freeze, Israel had been discussing ways of getting an extra 20 stealth fighters, he said.It was discussed during the summer when the United States was talking about the 60 billion dollar weapons deal with Saudi, in the context of the American policy of maintaining Israel's qualitative military edge, he said.But nothing was settled. We will continue to discuss it.Asked if Israel were expecting to pay for the additional 20 planes, he suggested not. We were trying to find another arrangement.Last week, Ron Dermer, a top adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Israel's public radio the government had not ruled out the possibility that Israel would still receive the F-35 planes even though the freeze did not materialise.Acquisition of the F-35, which is made by US aerospace and defence giant Lockheed Martin, will give Israel access to stealth technology that will provide it with air superiority over enemy anti-aircraft defences.
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