[Peoples War] Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines July 4, 2008 ~

PCHR Weekly Report: 2 Palestinians children killed, 8 wounded
In its weekly summary of Israeli attacks for the week of 26 June – 02 July 2008, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) reports that Israeli forces killed two Palestinians. In addition, 8 Palestinians, including 2 children and a woman, 5 of whom were wounded in Ne'lin village near Ramallah.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 55812

'Gaza truce breached 28 times'
Israeli regime has broken Gaza truce more than 28 times since it went into force two week ago, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad says. Israel has violated the ceasefire 15 times in the first week and 13 times in the second week of the agreed truce, the movement said on Thursday.
http://www.presstv. ir/detail. aspx?id=62430§ionid=351020202

Israel orders razing of Jerusalem attackers' homes
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Friday sought the demolition of the houses of two Palestinians behind recent deadly attacks against Israelis after the attorney-general said the move was legally viable.
http://www.alertnet .org/thenews/ newsdesk/ L04346162. htm

Israel ready to toughen collective punishments
ISRAELI MPs are to consider sharply toughening punitive measures against the families of Jerusalem Arabs who carry out terror attacks, reigniting debate over collective punishment.
http://www.palestin e-info.co. uk/En/default. aspx?xyz= U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MD I46m9rUxJEpMO% 2bi1s76pB4Ut49ZM hIARiS%2ftSEb8Dv x4ChP6Sgt% 2fBJXFpBB% 2beewNZl6nNDWAnK B1D7w838AAL8jueS PRoEnwoZWYe2bIcN dpHPTm0i5h5cFFw0 ieE%3d

B'Tselem to Mazuz: Prevent demolition of home belonging to family of Jerusalem attack perpetrator
Following the attack perpetrated by a tractor driver yesterday in Jerusalem, killing three and injuring dozens, the media have published calls by politicians and public figures to demolish the home belonging to the family of the attack perpetrator, in the village of Sur Baher.
http://www.reliefwe b.int/rw/ rwb.nsf/db900SID /ASIN-7G7QJW? OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P

Soldier invade a Palestinian town near Nablus
Palestinian sources in Kuful Hares village, north of the West Bank city of Salfit, reported that Israeli soldiers invaded the village on Thursday evening and installed tents on its entrances in order to enable a group of settlers visit some religious sites.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 55800

Several youth wounded in an Israeli invasion to Hebron refugee camp
Eyewitnesses reported on Thursday evening that at least six youth were wounded by Israeli military fire after the army invaded Al Far'a refugee camp, north of the northern West Bank city of Nablus and clashed with local youth who hurled stones at the invading forces.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 55801

Detained Hamas leader remains in solitary since six years
The Ahrar Center for Detainees Studies reported on Thursday that an Israeli Military Court decided to extend solitary confinement against Sheikh Jamal Abu Al Haija, one of Hamas leaders, who is currently in solitary confinement in the Al Ramla prison.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 55804

Palestinian Workers Union slams Israel's arrest of 50 Palestinian workers
Shaher Sa'ad, secretary-general of the Palestinian Workers Union, slammed the Israeli attacks against Palestinian workers and said that Israel arrested 50 workers inside Israel after claiming that they do not carry the needed work permits.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 55803

Palestinians: Settlers opened fire at shepherds
Palestinians from the West Bank village of Burin claimed that a large group of Jews from the nearby settlement of Bracha attacked opened fire at local shepherds and set nearly an acre of land on fire. According to the Palestinians, IDF soldiers who arrived at the scene extinguished the fire but did not clear the settlers from the area.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3563748,00. html

Palestinians: Settlers fired rockets at us
Residents of West Bank village say Jews from nearby settlement trying to take over disputed grazing land by setting it on fire, launching rockets, mortars at their homes.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3563800,00. html

5 people injured by at demonstration in Ni'lin
On Thursday, about 100 Palestinians, joined by international and Israeli solidarity activists, demonstrated in Ni'lin against the construction of the apartheid wall. As the protesters arrived at the site of the demonstration, the Israeli army was waiting. When the peaceful demonstration started, the protesters were met with tear gas and rubber bullets, most of which aimed directly at them. Five people got injured by the bullets; one boy was hit on the head and one Canadian international was hit on the shoulder, leaving them bruised, but none severely wounded. Around 15 people had severe reactions to the tear gas.
http://www.palsolid arity.org/ main/2008/ 07/04/5-people- injured-by- at-demonstration -in-nilin/

Two international activists and a Palestinian injured in Bil'in Weekly Protest
Three activists were injured by Israeli forces on Friday in the weekly protest against the separation wall in Bil'in; near the West Bank city of Ramallah: two of them are French activists and the third one is Mohamad Ali Abo Sa'di 65 years old, in addition to the dozens of protesters were treated for tear gas inhalation.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 55813

The Khader village protests the Israeli wall
The village of Al Khader, located near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, organized on Friday midday a nonviolent protest against the illegal Israeli wall being built on the village land.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 55814

The Israeli army attack protesters in Um Salamunah
The Israeli army attacked a peaceful protest organized by the villagers of Um Salamunah located near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem on Friday morning; three protesters were kidnapped by the army.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 55815

Wall slices off al-Khader's famous vineyards
Since early January the Palestinian village of al-Khader located near Bethlehem in the West Bank has protested against Israel's construction of the Apartheid Wall and Jewish-only settlements built on village land every week. Al-Khader is known in the region for its vineyards which produce excellent-quality grapes. Adri Nieuwhof writes from al-Khader.
http://electronicin tifada.net/ v2/article9666. shtml

Israeli bus stoned near Hebron
An Israeli bus was stoned Thursday southwest of the West Bank city of Hebron. No injuries were reported; the bus was damaged.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3563737,00. html

Homemade shell fired at a Kibbutz in the Negev
Israeli sources reported on Thursday that one Palestinian homemade shell was fired from the Gaza Strip at a Kibbutz in the Sha'r Ha-Negev Regional Council; no injuries were reported. So far, armed groups in Gaza did not issue any release claiming responsibility for the attack.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 55802

Haneyya calls on Egypt to open the Rafah crossing once and for all
The Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haneyya said on Thursday that what took place on Wednesday at the Rafah crossing was spontaneous and not planed, calling on Egypt to open the crossing.
http://www.palestin e-info.co. uk/En/default. aspx?xyz= U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MD I46m9rUxJEpMO% 2bi1s74avT0hzPLy %2brdziHMsSgXDUk 9Wtjx6oH2ZIpH4VO PAQUuO8xLRjtVb4v yyJMzE8WmqthkGiF deqlbAvI44nqpqGT JWoouVhTfuZNbMSE mPw%3d

Peres: There is no chance of peace with Palestinians
President Shimon Peres believes there is no chance of an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Peres, the one-time proponent of a "new Middle East" made this statement last Saturday at a dinner with the Jordanian and French ambassadors in Defense Minister Ehud Barak's Tel Aviv apartment. At the end of the meal an argument erupted between the Jordanian envoy, Ali Ayed, and a well-known "dovish" attorney, who said Israel had no chance of reaching an agreement with the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas' leadership. Barak supported his guest's hawkish stance. At a certain point, Peres intervened, surprising the participants by joining the attorney's prediction. "It would be very hard to reach an agreement," Peres said, due to the Hamas-Fatah split.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/998836. html

Call for Arab areas of Jerusalem to be severed after bulldozer attack
Israeli vice-premier calls for some neighbourhoods of east Jerusalem to be cut off from the city following attack by Palestinian construction worker.
http://www.guardian .co.uk/world/ 2008/jul/ 03/israelandthep alestinians1? gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews

Hamas: We won't transfer any more signs of life from Shalit
(Video) Leading Islamic group figure says no more letters, videos from kidnapped IDF soldier as long as Israel insists on prerequisites for prisoner exchange deal. 'This policy will backfire, encourage kidnapping of more soldiers,' Osama al-Muzaini says.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3563710,00. html

PA in the West Bank and Hamas government in Gaza conflict causing chaos at Rafah border
The Interior Ministry of the Palestinian government, which is Hamas in the Gaza Strip, announced on Wednesday that it will not allow any Palestinian citizen to enter the Rafah border crossing with Egypt without official registration and disclosure with the Ministry. The Interior Ministry said that Wednesday's crisis could have been prevented.
http://english. pnn.ps/index. php?option= com_content&task=view&id=3011&Itemid=29

Fayyad presents Fatah, Hamas reconciliation plan
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad recently presented a national reconciliation plan for rival groups Fatah and Hamas. At the crux of the plan is an initiative to deploy an Egyptian security delegation to the Gaza Strip; it will act as an arbitrator between the opposing sides and supervise the disarmament of Palestinian groups and unification of security organizations.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/998829. html

Unite to negotiate a real truce
Five days into the long awaited Gaza ceasefire, Israel allowed the entry of tissues and sanitary napkins into Gaza as a form of "good will." Simultaneously, it carried out an early morning raid against a student hostel in Nablus, killing two Palestinians in their beds. Dr. Eyad al-Sarraj comments on what it will take for a permanent lifting of the siege and resisting of Israeli colonial designs.
http://electronicin tifada.net/ v2/article9672. shtml

Israel-OPT: Palestinians to face water shortages this summer - rights group
Palestinians in the West Bank consume far less water than people in Israel, but they are likely to face a shortage this summer, the Israeli human rights group B'tselem has warned.
http://www.reliefwe b.int/rw/ rwb.nsf/db900SID /VDUX-7G7LS9? OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P

'Please don't send us Arab workers'
Manpower agency manager affiliated with National Insurance Institute specifically states in bureau documentation that he refuses to employ Arabs; Jaffa woman sues him for NIS 100,000.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3563911,00. html

MK Barakeh reportedly met with Hamas' Meshal in Abu Dhabi
The chairman of the Hadash faction, MK Mohammed Barakeh, has met secretly with Hamas' political bureau chief, Khaled Meshal, the Nazareth-based Kul al-Arab newspaper reported on Friday.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/999039. html

International Architects' Union to boycott Israel?
World Architecture Congress in Turine may adopt proposal to expel Israeli architects from organization over their involvement in settlement construction.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3563988,00. html

An unapologetically Palestinian perspective on the Middle East, by Pastor Mike Hart, Mineral County United Methodist Churches
http://www.clarkfor kchronicle. com/article. php/200807040911 38409

Does the Israeli-Palestinian conflict still matter?
"When asked to identify the leader they admire most (in an open-ended question), the number one answer overall, (and especially in predominantly Sunni countries such as Egypt, Morocco, and Jordan) was Hasan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader."
http://www.brooking s.edu/%7E/ media/Files/ rc/papers/ 2008/06_middle_ east_telhami/ 06_middle_ east_telhami. pdf

The Truce of the Matter, By Dr. Eyad Sarraj
After nearly one year of a suffocating siege imposed on Gaza by the Israeli military establishment, a truce agreement was reached between Hamas and Israel. This followed months of dedicated Egyptian good offices. Rockets launched from Gaza against Israeli settlements were to stop in return for gradually lifting the blockade. Acease-fire sustained for six months would then roll over to the West Bank. Gilad Shalit, the hostage Israeli soldier, would be released in aseparate deal involving exchange of Palestinian prisoners. Future negotiations would set the terms for opening the borders between Egypt and Gaza.
http://palestinechr onicle.com/ view_article_ details.php? id=13940

Breaking Into a Prison
I want to tell you a secret and I want to ask you a question. Shhh! - Come closer. Listen carefully: I'm part of an international conspiracy to break into the world's largest open-air prison this summer by sea. Will you help me? This August, the Free Gaza Movement will set sail from Cyprus to Gaza on a ship carrying needed medical supplies. We will not be asking Israel for permission.
http://www.counterp unch.org/ kysia07032008. html

What Kind of Palestine?
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have now been talking to each other for more than six months, since the peace process was re-launched at Annapolis in November 2007, with the stated aim of reaching agreement on a Palestinian state before this year is out. The final status issues of borders, Jerusalem and refugees are back on the agenda, and the outlines of a two-state solution are visible. There have recently been some encouraging signals: Egypt has mediated a truce between Hamas and Israel in Gaza; there are signs of inter-Palestinian dialogue; and there appears to be movement on the Israeli-Syrian track. We have to grasp the opportunity for peace.
http://palestinechr onicle.com/ view_article_ details.php? id=13939

Ni'lin: Apartheid by candlelight
On Wednesday evening the villagers of Ni'lin held a candle-lit procession to outside the expanding settlement of Hashmoniim. Villagers and international peace activists marched towards the nearby settlement and stopped at the site where the Israeli state is building the wall that will cut Ni'lin off from it's land. Before leaving the construction site of the wall, demonstrators blocked the road to prevent the bulldozers from working the following day.
http://www.palsolid arity.org/ main/2008/ 07/04/nilin- apartheid- by-candlelight/

West Bank project gets boost
Japanese and Middle Eastern leaders have agreed on a project that would bring thousands of badly needed jobs to the West Bank. The plan to build a Japanese-funded agro-industrial park in the region by early next year will hopefully lay the groundwork for a Palestinian state, leaders from Israel, Japan, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority said on Wednesday.
http://english. aljazeera. net/news/ middleeast/ 2008/07/20087212 5740568799. html


Elite Sadr unit hopes to vanquish US
The leader of the Sadr movement, Muqtada al Sadr, announced more than two weeks ago that a specialised armed group would be set up to carry out guerrilla attacks on American troops. The rest of the movement's Mahdi Army militia – thought to number about 100,000 – were to put down their weapons and concentrate on political and spiritual resistance to the US presence in Iraq, he said.
http://www.thenatio nal.ae/article/ 20080701/ FOREIGN/88370357 5/1011/NEWS


Iraq: 14 Killed In Another Bloody Day Of US Occupation
U.S. occupation forces killed two militants and captured 10 other.
http://uk.reuters. com/article/ middleeastCrisis /idUKL0353793720 080703?pageNumbe r=2&virtualBrandChannel =0


Sheiks' Meetings: Tradition Poses Risks In Iraq
Morning Edition, July 2, 2008 · As part of the effort to restore security in Iraq, the American military has helped to revive an ancient tradition — the sheiks' council meeting. But those meetings have also become flashpoints for power struggles among the leaders. At least seven Americans have been killed recently in attacks at council meetings.
http://www.npr. org/templates/ story/story. php?storyId= 92126502

Rise of Awakening Groups Sets Off A Struggle for Power Among Sunnis
RAMADI, Iraq -- After inspecting a prison, police chief Tariq Yousef al-Asaal returned to his spacious office, where U.S. military officers and Iraq's power brokers have sought his advice.
http://www.washingt onpost.com/ wp-dyn/content/ article/2008/ 07/03/AR20080703 03440.html? nav=rss_world/ mideast

Iraqi Shiites denounce security pact with US
AFP - Large crowds of Shiites on Friday denounced the security pact Baghdad is negotiating with Washington for a long-term US military presence in violence-wracked Iraq.
http://us.rd. yahoo.com/ dailynews/ rss/iraq/ *http://news. yahoo.com/ s/afp/20080704/ wl_mideast_ afp/iraqunrestus securitydemo

Naomi Klein: Big Oil's Iraq deals are the greatest stick-up in history
Naomi Klein: The country's invaders should be paying billions in reparations not using the war as a reason to pillage its richest resource.
http://www.guardian .co.uk/commentis free/2008/ jul/04/oil. oilandgascompani es?gusrc= rss&feed=worldnews

Obama opens door to altering his Iraq policy
AP - Democrat Barack Obama opened the door Thursday to altering his plan to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq in 16 months based on what he hears from military commanders during his upcoming trip there.
http://us.rd. yahoo.com/ dailynews/ rss/iraq/ *http://news. yahoo.com/ s/ap/20080703/ ap_on_el_ pr/obama_ iraq

Critics see vendetta in al-Arian's legal limbo
Palestinian activist and former university professor Sami al-Arian was arraigned Monday in US federal court on two counts of criminal contempt for his refusal to testify in a grand jury investigation of a Northern Virginia Muslim think-tank. The indictment is the latest episode of a long, Kafka-esque process that has violated nearly every tenet of al-Arian's plea agreement following the end of his first trial in 2005, and kept al-Arian in prison for over five years.
http://electronicin tifada.net/ v2/article9670. shtml

Istikla: When is Independence Day?
The city of Amman, Jordan, is awash with numerous colorful signs that proclaim independence, "Istiklal." The word is found on posters and placards in store windows. It names a major thoroughfare, a hospital, and a shopping center. Appreciation for independence is palpable, and this could be said for numerous cities and towns throughout the region, including Iraq, where past struggles for independence are commemorated by naming buildings and streets "Istiklal." It reflects the love of independence and the longing for it. But independence is elusive in a region suffering multiple wars and occupations. Particularly in Iraq, it's hard to imagine an independent society growing up amid the violent wreckage of economic sanctions, U.S. bombardment and staggering corruption.
http://palestinechr onicle.com/ view_article_ details.php? id=13938
__._,_.___