Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines Sunday, October 26, 2008 ~

Settlers vandalize Muslim graves after IDF razes outpost
(26 Oct) Settlers smashed headstones and poured paint over graves at a Muslim cemetery near the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba on Sunday, after Israeli security forces evacuated a nearby illegal outpost earlier in the day. IDF tractors demolished the outpost after its residents had been evacuated. Rightists came to the site and threw stones at the security forces in response to the evacuation. A number of them were arrested for attacking a police officer, and two young women were arrested after they tried to set a police car alight. During the rioting, settlers hurled abuse at the members of the security forces, called for a "revenge attack" against them. "We hope they will be defeated by their enemies, that they will all be [kidnapped IDF soldier] Gilad Shalit, that they will all be killed and all slaughtered because this is what they deserve," they said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1031495.html

Rightists say all IDF soldiers 'should become Gilad Shalit'
(26 Oct) Hebron's Jewish residents call for revenge against army following evacuation of Federman outpost Saturday night. 'We hope they are all defeated by their enemies, killed and slaughtered because that's what they deserve,' one of them tells Army Radio. Olmert: Inciters belong in jail --  The Hebron residents said that a terrorist attack must be launched against the defense establishment in revenge."Damn the defense army's forces," one of them said. Vice Premier Haim Ramon called on Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter to instruct the police commissioner to arrest all inciters immediately. Speaking at a Kadima ministers' meeting, Ramon said that "had an Arab called for a terror attack on the radio, he would have been arrested a long time ago. The settlers must be treated the same way."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3613051,00.html

Settlers rebuild evacuated outpost
(26 Oct) Extreme right activists on Sunday afternoon began to rebuild a small unauthorized outpost which was evacuated by security forces earlier in the day. The IDF, according to reports, stood by idly as the settlers sorted through the debris on the outskirts of Hebron and Kiryat Arba. Earlier, settlers responded with violence to the evacuation, damaging Palestinian cars and buildings in the area, attacking soldiers who were sent to quell the disturbance, and threatening further violence should evacuation operations in the area continue. Following the evacuation, some right-wing activists called for revenge attacks against security forces. In response, MK Ophir Paz-Pines (Labor), chairman of the Knesset's Interior Committee, said: "The extreme right's horrifying statements against the IDF testify to [their] loss of any connection with reality and the State." "The outposts on the hills of Judea and Samaria are creating a poisonous hotbed for groups of dangerous and uninhibited [people] who are trying to obliterate all human quality from the Jewish people in the State of Israel," MK Rabbi Michael Melchior (Labor) added.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017625807&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Mazuz calls for incitement probe against settler activists in response to West Bank rioting
(26 Oct) Attorney General Meni Mazuz on Sunday called for an incitement investigation against right wing activists, hours after rioting by settlers in the West Bank that included the desecration of headstones at a Muslim cemetery near Kiryat Arba. The settlers' calls for violence against the security forces drew fire from outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting. "I've ordered Ministers Dichter and Friedman to manage the procedures against these people, whoever expresses himself in such a manner belongs in jail. We've had enough of all this violence: Verbal violence that brings physical violence - and we will not abide this," he said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1031495.html

Sternhell on settlers: Enough talk, do something
(26 Oct) Jerusalem professor who was injured by a bomb placed at his home last month speaks out against government's failure to deal with extremists following Sunday's threats against IDF -- According to Sternhell, "the prime minister and the ministers must realize that talking is not their profession. They, those responsible for the military and the police, should order all the elements of the bodies to do something. "Instead, they are leaving the impression that nothing can be done - they who issue orders preventing access to Hebron so that people can't see with their eyes what goes on over there, they who view Peace Now's attempts to visit Hebron as provocative."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3613263,00.html

Yes, hate - by Gideon Levy
(26 Oct) Settlers have earned many Israelis' hatred of them -- Yes, there are Israelis who do not want to see their countrymen despoiling the vineyards and burning the fields of poor farmers. Yes, there are Israelis who do not want to see troops of masked settlers beating elderly shepherds with clubs. Yes, there are Israelis who do not want to see other Israelis sicking their dogs on and puncturing the tires of the soldiers who protect them. Yes, there are Israelis who are embarrassed by the fact that tens of thousands of their fellow Israelis live on privately owned lands that were robbed, stolen and extorted, both in broad daylight and under cover of darkness. And yes, there are Israelis who think that you have brought disaster upon us, a tragedy that will last for generations.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1031286.html

Israeli settlers burn Palestinian olive lands in Nablus
(25 Oct) RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Israeli settlers carried out Friday an arson attack on Palestinian olive groves in the Burqa village, north of Nablus, and hurled stones at civilian cars traveling along the main road in the village. Settlers from the Yitzhar settlement in southern Nablus seized Palestinian lands in the Asira village and erected a razor-wire fence on the lands. Other settlers also stormed the Badhan
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s76%2b8Ks8DbrAHQvYbvN2Ca%2bzfSEW%2feR%2bxrAyEDVM1Ckxf73iBZ86CvTB0J0rrwRR2Ku9xUjuQOp1RUFzzQAJNc8WrY%2bkzhl00kS0gqAmpLN5U%3d

ISM: Israeli forces attack residents of Ni'lin as they pray on their land
(24 Oct) The weekly prayer demonstration in Ni'lin began at 11.15am, when Israeli soldiers began to shoot tear gas at a group of residents attempting to pray on their land. Those praying moved to another spot, where the soldiers continued to shoot tear gas canisters and rubber-coated steel bullets directly at the crowd, which contained many children. They shot from two sides of the people, forcing them to stay amongst the tear gas. The crowd then moved to yet another location, where they held the prayer....
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2008/10/25/israeli-forces-attack-residents-of-nilin-as-they-pray-on-their-land/

Ni'lin demonstration manages to reach bulldozers
(25 Oct) Around 10am [on Thursday], fifty Palestinians, along with several international activists, marched towards the olive groves of Ni'lin to protest the construction of the Apartheid Wall. The demonstrators arrived at the bulldozers and began to shout and throw rocks at the vehicle. After 5 minutes, the Israeli army showed up at the scene and began to fire tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets at the demonstrators. The Palestinians and internationals retreated into the trees but continued to shout against the army. Until 5am, the soldiers continued to shoot at the demonstrators in the fields....
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2008/10/25/nilin-demonstration-manages-to-reach-bulldozers/

Solidarity activists denied entry to Kafr Qaddum olive groves Sunday
(26 Oct) Village leader Muhammad Shteiwi said Israeli authorities gave farmers permission to harvest their olives, but denied entry to the foreign solidarity activists who came to help the farmers. When they arrived to their fields, farmers were surprised to discover that Israeli settlers had cut down more than 40 of the trees, Shteiwi said.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32790

Preserving cultural heritage at olive harvest festival
(26 Oct) The eighth annual olive harvest festival is underway in Bethlehem's Manger Square. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad arrived Saturday morning saying that it was of the utmost importance that "Palestinians remain on the ancestral land and festivals such as this help preserve our heritage." The Bethlehem festival drew farmers from throughout the governorate selling olives, oil and traditional handcrafts. Crowds came to buy low priced, high quality olive oil and watch theatre and music. While young people danced the traditional Dabkeh a farmer selling local olive oil said that the high quality is a draw for tourists. "No matter what happens, the Wall, whatever, we continue to honor the history of this ancient country of Palestine."
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3834&Itemid=55

Swedish company closes factory in Israeli settlement
(26 Oct) After being confronted by a coalition of Swedish non-profit groups and the Church of Sweden for operating a branch on illegally confiscated Palestinian land in the West Bank, the Assa Abloy Company, based in Sweden, decided to close its locksmithing factory in Barkan settlement, in the West Bank. A spokesperson for the company said that Assa Ablov will relocate its factory inside the Green Line, and that the move was for political reasons.
http://www.imemc.org/article/57431

IOF aggressions accentuate in West Bank
WEST BANK, October 25, 2008 (WAFA)- Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) attacked, Saturday, Kufor Qaleel village near Nablus and Hussan village near Bethlehem, injured two Palestinians in Tubas and continued aggressions against Palestinian olive harvesters...IOF aggressions against Palestinian olive harvesters continue on, to forbid them from reaching their olive groves.  Chairman of Um-Al-Rihan Village Council said that Israeli troops prevented over 100 citizens from Al-Toora Al-Sharqeya, Um-Dar, Nazlet-Zeid and Um-Al-Rihan villages, south of Jenin from reaching their lands behind the Israeli Apartheid Wall.
http://english.wafa.ps/?action=detail&id=12191

The final straw for Palestinian journalists
(25 Oct) Fadi Abu Sada – As an audience of journalists in the West Bank we waited for the final act: to become the specific target of Jewish settlers. It seems this year that the extremists have added us to their well-organized plan and are not just preventing farmers from harvesting olives but are also bent on ensuring we do not broadcast our reality to the world. There is no one left who is not abusing us except the people we write for and report to. Reporters without Borders issued its yearly report and the worst thing to see was Israel ranked at 45. That means it has more press freedoms than any Arab country. Israel has freedom of expression and this is a great thing, but I say the Israeli ranking is the worst aspect of the report because soldiers and settlers attacking us, arresting us, and restricting our access and movement does not affect their standing. It is great that they have freedom of expression, but they prevent ours. Why do these things not affect the Israeli ranking? And regrettably Palestine was ranked 163, very low in the world and the worst in the Middle East.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3832&Itemid=33

Israeli settlers attack Palestinians in Hebron, PA security targets Hamas
(26 Oct) Eyewitnesses and media sources confirm that Israeli settlers assaulted Palestinians in the southern West Bank's Hebron again on Sunday. City residents were attacked today while farmers and foreign supporters were hit by both settlers and soldiers during the harvest before being arrested...Yesterday 500 Palestinian Authority police were deployed in the city, but not to protect Palestinians from the frequent attacks by Israeli settlers and soldiers. Rather the Fateh-linked security of President Abbas is in Hebron to take down Hamas. The PA denies that it is focusing on the political party but says members of its armed resistance group, Al Qassam Brigades, will be arrested if they break the law. Most see the PA move as part and parcel to the Fateh - Hamas schism and the longstanding call to provide for the protection of the occupier.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3838&Itemid=33

Abbas, Fayyad and PWA chief promise solutions to Hebron water crisis
(25 Oct) The worsening water crisis in Hebron has lead Fatah to demand Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to open an investigation into the issue. Some of the main issues are the blocked access to residential streets by Israeli soldiers guarding the settlements in Hebron city, as well as illegal water usage on the Bethlehem-Hebron line, and the disrepair of five of the seven Palestinian Water Authority pipes serving the area. A local water expert, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that the five aquifers that are out of service have remained so on account of legal issues.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32778

Palestine plays Jordan in first-ever home game
(26 Oct) The Palestinian national football team's first home match is underway in the city of Ar-Ram, east of Jerusalem, at the newly inaugurated Faisal Al-Husein Stadium. President of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Joseph S. Blatter was present to kick off the first ever international FIFA football game between Palestine and Jordan. Home games were previously played in Jordan, Qatar and other Arab countries; the team is looking forward to having not only a properly equipped stadium for home-games, but also improved facilities for regular practice.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32789

Nationhood the main goal for Palestinian players
(25 Oct) After 10 years of playing their international fixtures abroad, the clash will mark the first time a Palestinian side plays on home soil. It will be the first time that Mr Rabi will sing the national anthem together with thousands of fans, and the first time the team will get a taste of home support.Players and officials say the match matters for all kinds of reasons - and the result is not one of them. For a people who have long craved statehood and international recognition, the fixture offers a rare opportunity to come together as a nation. It will allow Palestinians to indulge in some of the trappings of the independent state they hope to create one day - anthems, flags and the chance to see eye-to-eye with a neighbouring country.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9c11e64c-a22f-11dd-a32f-000077b07658.html

At-Tamimi: Jerusalemites forbidden to vote in Israeli municipal election
(25 Oct) At-Tamimi [said] during a press conference for the Islamic Christian Front in of Ramallah that the prohibition was based on a "religious and national stance." The Sheikh spoke alongside Archbishop Attallah Hana and Secretary General of the front Hasan Khater. The three also reviewed the nineteenth report on the state of Jerusalem and its holy sites. Of particular concern to the Front was one of the candidates for the Israeli municipal election in Jerusalem, who pledged to build a new Jewish neighborhood between the French hill and the nearby Palestinian village of A'nata. The area would connect the illegal Israeli settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim with East Jerusalem and become a massive settlement block preventing movement between Palestinian areas. Atallah Hana also noted the declining economic situation in the Old City, where sales in the Muslim, Christian and Armenian quarters were down about 70% from the year before....
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32782

PA fatwa condemns Arab voters in Jerusalem
(26 Oct) The Palestinian Authority's chief Islamic judge, Sheikh Tayseer Tamimi, published a fatwa on Saturday banning Arab residents of Jerusalem from participating in the upcoming municipal election. The overwhelming majority of Arabs in the capital have refrained from participating in the local elections since 1967. The last-minute appeal to boycott the elections came as three of the four mayoral candidates - Meir Porush, Nir Barkat and Arkadi Gaydamak - were recruiting supporters in the city's Arab neighborhoods. Alarmed by these activities, the PA leadership in Ramallah decided to warn Arab voters against casting ballots. The warning came in the form of a series of statements from top PA officials and Fatah representatives in Ramallah and Jerusalem, who argued that participation in the election would legitimize Israel's 1967 annexation of east Jerusalem.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017624601&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

East Jerusalem newspaper Al Quds backs Gaydamak for mayor
(26 Oct) Will the Palestinians in East Jerusalem come out to vote, and, if so, will they cast their ballots in the thousands for Arcadi Gaydamak? A yes on both counts could completely change the voting results in the capital. The East Jerusalem press now gives the unmistakable impression that Palestinian officials are trading in their overt, official boycott of the elections for a show of understanding or even open support for voting, for the good of the Palestinian cause. Missing from the most recent issues are references to those who voted in the municipal elections as collaborators or even traitors.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1031267.html

A unique voice from Sur Bahir
(25 Oct) There are no campaign posters or billboards of mayoral candidates Nir Barkat, Meir Porush or Arkadi Gaydamak in Sur Bahir. The east Jerusalem neighborhood's dusty walls are adorned with the usual variety of Fatah and Hamas symbols, verses from the Koran and old, yellowing photos of Palestinian politicians likely left over from the January 2006 stormy campaign. Despite the lack of publicity, everybody knows where Zohair Hamdan lives. Today he is aiming for the position of Arab affairs adviser to the next Jerusalem mayor, may or may not run for city council, but insists that he will be ready to run as mayor in the next elections in 2013.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017621122&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Israel refuses to allow 120 health professionals into Gaza(26 Oct) A group of 120 doctors, nurses, medics and medical researchers will hold a protest at Erez border crossing after Israel denied them entry into Gaza for a medical conference with Gazan doctors. In a statement to the press, the medical professionals, who hail from the U.S., Canada, Holland, Italy and the UK, stated that Israel was engaging in "a deliberate attempt to stop professional communication and exchange between the international medical community and Gaza medical professionals." Many of the medical professionals who made the trip to Israel (the only way to enter the besieged Gaza) are mental health practitioners, and were coming to Gaza to offer expertise on the growing epidemic of mental health problems that have arisen in Gaza in the wake of the Israeli siege.
http://www.imemc.org/article/57434

Mental health doctors protest Israeli blockade of Gaza
(26 Oct, AFP) EREZ CROSSING, Israel - Dozens of mental health specialists on Sunday protested Israel's closure of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip after they were prevented from entering to attend a conference there. Around 70 demonstrators waved signs denouncing the Israeli closure of the Palestinian territory, with slogans such as "Let Gaza live" and "Israel: a medical conference is a security threat?" The Israeli military rejected the doctors' accusations in a statement, saying it would allow medics to enter Gaza to provide care but not to attend a conference in a "territory controlled by terrorists."
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?col=&section=middleeast&xfile=data/middleeast/2008/October/middleeast_October455.xml

400 Saudi residents stranded in Gaza, at risk of losing status
(26 Oct) About 400 individuals holding citizenship or permanent residency in Saudi Arabia have been stranded in the Gaza strip for close to two years according to their representative Faysal As-Safadi in Gaza. As-Safadi explained that most of the Saudi residents have no source of income in the Gaza strip, and many are at risk of losing their jobs altogether, if not their residency, if they do not return to the country soon.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32794

Yes, we are coming
(26 Oct) The Free Gaza Movement For Immediate Release Date : 10-26-2008 -
On Saturday, October 25, 2008, the Free Gaza Movement sent our formal notice to Israel, the Occupying Power in the Gaza Strip, that we intend to enter the port of Gaza City on October 29. We expect no interference from the Israeli authorities. Although our message acknowledges Israel's control over Gaza, we do not accept Israel's right to prevent us from sailing into the Gaza Strip. As part of the message, we invited Aharon Abramovitz, Minister of Foreign Affairs and/or Ehud Barak, Minister of Defense, to join the voyage to witness first hand the devastating effects of Israel's illegal policies on the occupied civilian population of the Gaza Strip (Please leave your weapons at home, we are nonviolent).
http://palestinianpundit.blogspot.com/2008/10/yes-we-are-coming.html

New Free Gaza boat to arrive next week
(26 Oct) After a month of delays the Free Gaza Movement and the Popular Committee against the Siege on Gaza report that a  new boat will leave Cyprus en route to Gaza on Tuesday: Free Gaza - On October 28, 2008, the Free Gaza Movement will set sail again for Gaza. On board will be a Nobel Peace Prize winner, five physicians, a member of the Israeli Knesset, and a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. The boat will again carry 26 passengers and crew to the port of Gaza.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3826&Itemid=33

Peace prize winner on voyage for justice
Imtiaz Muqbil - The 1976 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Mairead Corrigan-Maguire, is to be on the next Free Gaza Movement boat that will sail from Cyprus to the besieged Gaza Strip on Tuesday. The trip is designed to further heighten the plight of the people in a land area known as the world's biggest open-air prison. A statement issued by the Free Gaza Movement quoted Ms Corrigan-Maguire as saying, ''We sail to Gaza to show the people we love and care for them. What less can we do whilst our governments remain silent and inactive in face of such preventable suffering of the women and children of Gaza and Palestine.'' This second boat will deliver mostly medicines as a gift from the European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza. See
http://www.bangkokpost.com/261008_News/26Oct2008_news16.php
Three tunnels destroyed by Egyptian authorities, fourth by rain
(26 Oct) Egyptian authorities destroyed three tunnels leading into Gaza on Saturday evening as part of a campaign to secure the Gaza-Egypt border. Special sources said Egypt warned residents near the border via loudspeaker of the impending explosions and asked that they leave the area. Another tunnel collapsed Saturday evening after heavy rains, but no injuries were reported. Earlier this week three young men were killed in a tunnel collapse bringing the toll of tunnel deaths to 43.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32797

Smoke rising in Gaza as five tunnels destroyed
(26 Oct) Rafah / PNN - Palestinian sources report that for two days Egyptian authorities have destroyed a number of tunnels on its border with the Gaza Strip. Sources in Rafah said today that plumes of smoke are visible to the southwest as the Egyptian authorities attempt to reduce smuggling. Cooking gas, sold for 50 shekels in the West Bank, is going for 350 in Gaza after it enters from Egypt. With no other recourse, medicines and food are also commonly smuggled. The tunnels are big business and are registered by the Hamas government to adhere to safety standards and pay operational taxes. On the Egyptian side the tunnels operate clandestinely. Egyptian troops were backed by large military vehicles and armored personnel carriers while detonating explosives wired to destroy the tunnels.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3839&Itemid=33

Memorial for medical victims of Gaza siege to be unveiled Monday
(26 Oct) The Popular Committee against the Siege is accelerating work to finalize a memorial for victims of the two-year Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip. Tomorrow is the unveiling in conjunction with the year anniversary of the committee. As part of a week's worth of events to commemorate the founding of the Popular Committee, the memorial will be unveiled in western Gaza City's Square of the Unknown Soldier. At least 255 Palestinians, including approximately 100 children, died in Gaza awaiting Israeli-issued permits to leave for outside treatment. Medical facilities in the Strip are subpar with a lack of supplies, medicines and working equipment. Without imports repairs cannot be made and simple treatments are difficult to administer.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3836&Itemid=1

Hamas hands Egypt response to conciliation document
(26 Oct) Hamas handed their comments on Egypt's draft of the conciliation document to mediators on Saturday. The most significant comment was strong disapproval over the suggestion that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) be considered the sole representative of the Palestinian people. Hamas said there was no way they would recognize the PLO as the "sole representative of the Palestinian people" until they and Islamic Jihad join the organization.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32785

300 teachers in Gaza fired by caretaker government on 'security recommendations'
(25 Oct) The Workers Union in the Gaza Strip accused the Palestinian Authority (PA) caretaker government headed by Salam Fayyad of firing 300 teachers working in the governmental schools over the past few days. The union said it rejects the use of "political affiliation as a standard for employment," and demanded that the teachers, some of who are owed up to 25,000 shekels (over 4,000 US dollars) be paid immediately.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32783

UK minister pats Gaza students
(26 Oct) The UK Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Bill Rammell, hosted a reception for students from Gaza who have managed to get admission into various universities around Britain. The Foreign Office has helped many students from Gaza come to the UK to move into its world class universities. The Minister confirmed that the British government would be keeping the Middle East peace process at the forefront of its foreign policy. "I can assure you that the situation in Gaza, the situation in the Middle East more generally, is one of real concern not just to the Government but to ordinary people in this country."
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=October2008&file=Local_News2008102622438.xml

Revealed: IDF foiled kidnap bid, arrested infiltrator from Gaza
(26 Oct) Israeli authorities arrested five weeks ago a Hamas operative who infiltrated Israel from Gaza in a bid to kidnap Israel Defense Forces soldiers, it emerged Sunday. The IDF and Shin Bet security service arrested Jemal abu Duabah, a resident of the southern Gaza town of Rafah, after he illegally entered Israel from Sinai. A Shin Bet security service investigation revealed that the would-be kidnapper crossed into Sinai from Gaza via a tunnel. During his stay in Sinai, he made his final arrangements for the abduction of the troops, whom he planned to smuggle back into the Gaza Strip.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1031527.html

Israeli Ofer military court sentences four Palestinians to continued administrative detentions
(26 Oct) A lawyer from the Palestinian Prisoners Society reported the sentences on Sunday and identified the prisoners from the Bethlehem area as: Omar Muhammad Moussa Ubayyat, sentenced to six months administrative detention [no charges, no trial, just imprisonment]; Mohammad Hussein Taqatqah, four months; Yousef Mohammad Suleiman, six months; and Nidal Hmeid Suman, six months. The lawyer also noted that there are seventy-five prisoners at Ofer from the Bethlehem area, most of whom receive three back-to-back detention sentences.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32796

Al-Damir calls for release of female prisoners inside Israeli jails
(26 Oct) The al-Damir institution for human rights in Gaza called on Sunday on the international community to pressure Israel for the release of some hundred Palestinian female prisoners held inside Israeli detention centers. Aldamir also called, in a press statement, on the signatories of the Fourth Geneva Convention for the protection of civilian persons in time of war, for pressuring the Israeli occupation authorities to guarantee implementation of the international humanitarian law with respect to those prisoners. Israel holds more than 11.500 Palestinians including 350 female and scores of other juveniles, as many of those detained have been spending high sentences.
http://www.imemc.org/article/57436

Special interview with freed female prisoner I'taf E'leiyan
(26 Oct) Q: First of all, tell us about yourself and about your imprisonment? A: My name is I'taf Hussein E'leiyan and I was born in Bethlehem in 1962. I married Palestinian writer Walid Al-Hodali, who is right now imprisoned in Israel. I was detained for the first time in 1987, and sentenced to 15 years. I was released ten years into the sentence in 1997. The same year I was given administrative detention and went on a hunger strike for 40 days to protest. I was released along with a number of female prisoners a few months later. I pursued my undergraduate studies and got a BA in sociology. In 2003, I was detained for a third time and served 9 months. After that, I was detained again in 2005 and was released on Thursday....
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32798

Ma'an network to broadcast sessions of Palestinian High Court
(26 Oct) The sessions of the Palestinian High Court of Justice will soon broadcast its proceedings on television stations affiliated with Ma'an network in a step aimed at increasing public confidence in the judiciary. Chief Justice Issa Abu Sharar expressed his approval for the unprecedented broadcasts in a letter to Ma'an on Sunday. The hearings will be broadcast on local stations through the Palestinian territories.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32799

Livni: I won't sell Israel's future for the PM seat
(26 Oct) Livni told Peres on Sunday that she had done everything she could to try to put together a parliamentary coalition. But she said other parties said they prefer elections. She urged Peres to take action to set a date for early elections. "There are others who are willing to pay any price, but I am not willing to sell the state and its citizens only to become the prime minister," Livni said, referring to reports suggesting that opposition leader and Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed to comply with Shas' demands if he is elected prime minister. Her decision means that elections will probably be held in February or March. The next parliamentary poll had been scheduled for 2010.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1031253.html

Haaretz editorial: Involve the Arabs
(26 Oct) Of the 120 Knesset members, 10 belong to Arab factions - Balad, Hadash, and United Arab List-Ta'al. When coalitions are formed, these groups are usually left outside the camp, and outside the political discourse. Prime ministerial candidates from the right loathe these factions, while those from the left fear being overly associated with them. The result is identical: The Arab factions, whose representatives were democratically elected by wide swaths of the population, are shunned and turn into nearly illegitimate entities. Kadima chair Tzipi Livni is continuing this distasteful tradition. She, too, has not found time in her schedule to talk with representatives of the Arab factions, whose support could help her government build a tolerable majority in the Knesset.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1031288.html

Hamas: Dialogue is next step after failure of siege; opportunity for success
(26 Oct) Subduing the Gaza Strip through the crippling siege failed, thanks to citizens' steadfastness, and the only option left is moving forward with dialogue especially as the term of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas nears its end, said de facto Minister of the Interior in the Gaza Strip and senior Hamas leader Sa'id Siyam on Saturday evening. "The Cairo dialogue has a great opportunity for success if foreign intervention is avoided and those known for arousing dispute amongst Palestinians are silenced," Siyam commented. He noted that Hamas had made it clear to the Egyptians that any agreement must be a "complete package" for both the West Bank and Gaza, and that implementation of any plan must be clear and simultaneous.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32793
Hamas slams Dayton plan, considers it an act to pursue Hamas activists
(26 Oct) Fawzi Barhoum, spokesperson of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, stated on Saturday that the deployment of Palestinian Security Forces, under cooperation with Israel and Lieutenant General Keith Dayton, the United States Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority (P.A), comes part of the continuous attempts to chase Hamas and its members in the area.
http://www.imemc.org/article/57429

Haneyya government: 26 detainees tortured in PA jails
(26 Oct) GAZA, (PIC)-- The Palestinian government headed by premier Ismail Haneyya on Saturday held the PA-affiliated preventive security and intelligence apparatuses in the West Bank fully responsible for the lives of 26 political detainees who have been exposed to brutal torture for 40 days in their jails. Nunu reviewed forms of torture practiced against political prisoners in PA jails such as tying prisoners' hands behind their back, then suspending them from the ceiling, filling the cells with water so detainees cannot sit for long hours, or torturing them with electricity on sensitive areas of their bodies.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7lpDQlfvWldVguN%2f0aEZJ%2bm%2bENrmT0H%2fLKvouzjYwe0g8YcGDZthfHWgcRI%2ftmwAvcY3Ta3miLS89o%2bCu5W3y2kb5FOyU0FE4AXZxAIYAIlE%3d

PA security forces release head of Hamas-affiliated TV in West Bank
(25 Oct) Palestinian preventive security released Head of the Al-Aqsa TV office Muhammad Ishtewi after he was detained for two days in the West Bank. The man's brother Abd Ar-Rahman said he was treated decently by officers, and noted that he was summoned to the security headquarters and went willingly for questioning. He also thanked the security forces for their good treatment of Muhammad. Al-Aqsa TV is sponsored by Hamas and is broadcast out of the Gaza Strip. [End]
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32784

Hesder yeshiva in Akko torched
(26 Oct)  A fire broke out Saturday night in a hesder yeshiva (program which combines advanced Talmudic studies with military service) in the northern city of Akko. There were no injuries, but the building sustained damage. The city's firefighting services reported that an initial investigation into the incident pointed to arson. Police officials noted that the yeshiva students are currently on vacation and that the police plan to find solutions to secure the building. Police course rejected the possibility that the incident was a provocation, confirming that all evidence shows the arsonist was an Arab.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3613030,00.html

The amusing term 'coexistence' - by Hisham Nafa'
(26 Oct) Israel has turned its Jewish victims against its Arabs -- Many people have expressed surprise at the recent violence in Acre [Akko, Akka]. Particularly amusing was the mantra that rolled off the tongues of government officials, their eyes wide open: "How could such a thing happen in a city of coexistence?" In Acre, as in the rest of the Greater Land of Israel, there is no coexistence. In Acre, there is pain and bitterness, built up over decades. It began not on Yom Kippur of this year, but rather since the ships filled with refugees left the city's shores; since the residents were placed in the handcuffs of military rule; since tens of thousands of their countrymen became victims of a violent, colonialist occupation; since a conscious, intentional policy of national suppression and racial hostility was instituted against them; and since they, living in their homes facing the city's beaches and on their land, began to be described as a demographic threat.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1031285.html

UN: Israel violated Geneva Conventions
(updated 26 Oct) The UN's special rapporteur on human rights in the territories has accused Israel of failing to halt settlement expansion in keeping with the Annapolis protocols and of violating the Geneva Conventions in Gaza. Richard Falk, an American Jewish law professor who has been an outspoken critic of Israel's treatment of Palestinians, recommended Thursday that the UN resume economic assistance to Gaza irrespective of whether Hamas satisfies political conditions set by Israel. He added that the world body should "explore its own responsibility with respect to the well-being of the Palestinians living under the unlawful conditions of occupation."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017624172&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Ahtisaari calls Middle East failure a disgrace; criticizes boycott of Hamas
(25 Oct) STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Nobel Peace Prize winner Martti Ahtisaari said Saturday it is a disgrace that the international community has not managed to resolve the conflict in the Middle East, blaming the failure on a lack of political will. In an interview with Swedish radio, Ahtisaari said he was ashamed that neither Europe nor the United States have been capable of reaching a solution yet."How can we, year after year, seriously say that we are trying to reach a solution when we aren't?" he asked. "I'm ashamed, I have to admit that."
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hxYK1KcxPyeApDdwJowtcbHe9BxA

Book review: Healing the land and the nation: Malaria and the Zionist project in Palestine, 1920-1947
(25 Oct) In this meticulously researched book, Sandra M. Sufian, an assistant professor of medical humanities and history at the University of Illinois at Chicago, argues that Zionist medical and engineering methods during the British Mandate era in Palestine were uniquely shaped by the Zionist project of national transformation...As Sufian makes clear, Palestine had been integrated into global markets since the nineteenth century.  Nevertheless, both British and Zionist policies were premised on a conception of Palestine as an isolated, stagnant place awaiting modernization and rejuvenation at the hands of Europeans.
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/gallagher251008.html

King of the planet - by Uri Avnery
(25 Oct) THE PRESIDENT of the United States is the king of this planet. I live on this planet. Therefore, the election of the President concerns me, too. Very much so. The President is not the sole ruler of the world. There are other rulers too, albeit less powerful ones. His decisions are subject to many constraints beyond his control. But there is no other person on earth whose decisions have such an impact on our lives. The eight years of George W. Bush can serve as an example. The primitive character of the man, his low intellectual level, his past as a born-again zealot - all these have influenced the state of the world, from his failure in preventing 9/11, through his bloody adventures in Afghanistan and Iraq, to the collapse of the world economy. But still, every one of us, the citizens of the world who cannot vote in this election, has at least the right to say which of the candidates he or she would prefer in the White House. I prefer Barack Obama.
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1224968257

Israeli navy deploys state-of-the-art missile defense shield
(26 Oct) Israel Aerospace Industries announced Sunday that they successfully completed a series of tests of a new missile defense system for the Israel Navy's fleets. The 'Barak-1' is an advanced system which provides ships with protection against air-to-surface missiles and sea-to-sea missiles in a 360 degree radius around the ship. The system is also effective against cruise missiles, smart bombs and aerial bombs dropped from airplanes and helicopters. Four missile trials were held over the past few months in cooperation with the Israeli Navy and a "foreign fleet" during which navy ships underwent a barrage of incoming missiles.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1031542.html

Report: Ex-US general in Mideast says Israel can't hit Iran nukes
(26 Oct) The former United States army head of operations in the Middle East, retired general John Abizaid, believes that Israel is incapable of causing serious damage to Iran's nuclear program, Newsweek reported earlier this month.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1031508.html

Palestinian foreign minister visits Brazil and meets with its president
(26 Oct) Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki met with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula de Silva in his presidential palace in Brasilia on Friday. Al-Maliki handed his counterpart a letter from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Al-Maliki updated the Brazilian president on recent developments in the Middle East, especially the peace process. For his part de Silva welcomed the Palestinian delegation and commended the good relations between the Palestinians and Brazilians. De Silva also spoke at length about the Palestinian communities in Brazil, and praised them for their constructive role in countries of South America.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32787

Lebanon video: "Between past and present"
One year has passed since the first Palestinians were allowed to return to the outskirts of the destroyed Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, to the so-called "new camp". meanwhile, up to 15,000 people have resettled there, many of them waiting to access their destroyed homes in the "old camp", the core of what used to be Nahr al-Bared camp. The Lebanese army still exclusively controls the old camp as well as parts of the new camp. This 16-minute film was produced in a small workshop in the camp. It deals with the current developments in Nahr al-Bared, focusing on economic aspects and on reconstruction.
http://a-films.blogspot.com/2008/10/videobetween-past-and-present.html

Powerful Iraqi party claims US killed innocent man
(25 Oct) BAGHDAD — The most powerful Sunni Muslim party in Iraq issued an angry statement Saturday accusing Americans of covering up the killing of an innocent member of the party. The statement followed an incident Friday in which U.S. and Iraqi forces raided a home six miles west of Fallujah in predominantly Sunni Anbar province, detained one man and killed another. The Islamic Party accused the American military of detaining five innocent members of the party and killing Sajed Yasseen Hameed , 44, "in his bed in cold blood."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20081025/wl_mcclatchy/3082908

Iraq's main Sunni party suspends contacts with US
(25 Oct) BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's largest Sunni party said Saturday that it has suspended official contacts with American military personnel and civilians after the killing of a man near Fallujah. The Iraqi Islamic Party accused the raid of having a "hidden political motive" in an indication of rising tensions in Anbar province ahead of provincial elections, due to be held by the end of January.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hwK_CSpBxsNuVUEaDuOwmSSCiqGwD941O6MO0

Saturday: 1 US soldier, 21 Iraqis killed; 17 Iraqis wounded
(25 Oct) Excerpt: At least 21 Iraqis were killed and 17 more were killed in a number of small attacks across the country. Also, one American soldier died from a non-combat-related illness. Meanwhile, the top US commander held talks on the PKK in Turkey, and hundred of Shi'ites marched on Basra.
http://www.antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=13674

Sunday: 10 Iraqis killed, 16 wounded
(26 Oct) Excerpt:At least 10 Iraqis were killed and another 16 more were wounded as the Iraqi government canceled a meeting where lawmakers hoped to settle disagreements over a U.S.-Iraqi security deal. No Coalition deaths were reported. A meeting to discuss a contentious U.S.-Iraqi security deal was canceled by the Iraqis.
http://www.antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=13675

Deal on American presence in Iraq close to collapse
(26 Oct) Senior Iraqi politicians have warned that a crucial deal between Baghdad and Washington governing the presence of American troops in the country is doomed to failure after eight months of talks. "The Sofa [Status of Forces Agreement] is dead in the water," said one Iraqi politician close to the talks. He added that Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, believed that signing it would be "political suicide". The collapse of the deal would severely undermine American policy. An agreement is needed to put America's presence on a legal basis after the United Nations mandate for its 154,000 troops in Iraq expires on December 31.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article5014584.ece

Iraqi Shia hold security pact march
(25 Oct) About 300 Iraqis have staged a protest against a planned security deal which would allow US soldiers to stay in the country for at least three more years. Members of the Sayyid al-Shuhuda charity, which is linked to the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, part of the ruling Shia alliance, staged the march in the southern city of Basra on Saturday
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/10/20081025141046571951.html

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