West Bank: Desperate battle for a permit to work their own land

West Bank: Desperate battle for a permit to work their own land
Rory McCarthy explores the lives of the people on either side of Israel's West Bank barrier. Here, he visits the Palestinian side: Jayyus.
http://www.guardian .co.uk/world/ 2008/jul/ 07/israelandthep alestinians. middleeast2? gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews

IOF troops open fire at Palestinian farmers in northern Gaza
The IOF troops on Sunday morning opened fire at Palestinian farmers working in their lands near the border fence in northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian eyewitnesses reported.

http://www.palestin e-info.co. uk/En/default. aspx?xyz= U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MD I46m9rUxJEpMO% 2bi1s7xXPbQ% 2f6M88konJUNnGTw Rv9TcYs6AHTqD2P% 2bNi%2bxAxtDroNm 7sbASD9HFMQH68% 2bJBKKxPijklmqZL o47ur5%2fgg474% 2bKJYGaOw% 2fQ%2ftTMAf0U% 3d

VIDEO: Settlers tie Palestinian man to phone pole and beat him
A group of West Bank settlers on Saturday beat a 31-year-old Palestinian man in the southern Hebron Hills, after having tied him to a telephone pole. Left-wing activists later videoed a settler kicking Madahat Abu-Kirash, the victim, as he remained tied up and was surrounded by Israeli security forces. The soldiers subsequently removed the settler from the scene.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/999100. html

Palestinian: Soldiers looked on as settlers assaulted me
(Video) Man beaten by settlers in South Mount Hebron on Saturday tells Ynet of moments of fear, IDF troops' failure to intervene. 'I called out to the soldiers for help, but they didn't move,' he says.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3564449,00. html

Hebron: Israeli army kidnaps a civilian and continues to impose closure on the city
The Israeli army kidnapped on Monday a civilian and conducted a series of attacks in different parts of the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 55861

Ramallah: the army kidnaps a civilian and invades several villages
The Israeli army kidnapped one Palestinian civilian during invasions targeting the central West Bank city of Ramallah and a nearby village.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 55862

Israeli forces kidnap six boys from villages near Jenin city
On Sunday night Israeli troops kidnapped six boys from Rumana and Izbuba villages near the city of Jenin in the northern part of the West Bank, and took them to unknown detention camps.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 55863

Army blocks more roads in South Hebron Hills
The Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), stationed in the occupied southern West Bank city of Hebron, reported on Sunday that the Israeli army installed three more roadblocks between Hebron and the nearby villages of At Tuwani and Yatta.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 55850

33 Palestinians wounded in Na'lin confrontations
Israeli occupation forces used live ammunition and gas canisters to disperse Palestinian demonstrators in Na'lin village, west of Ramallah city, wounding 33 citizens.
http://www.palestin e-info.co. uk/En/default. aspx?xyz= U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MD I46m9rUxJEpMO% 2bi1s7ra7apNeiHr 0zGQ07B9lhHh7T7N FX4ghKMziB4H% 2bnQo0deG94Kkk8V hCokBrWB6LSz7yIX Lk8C2TMagLHWVksc punXDn%2bxhqJVoC 3CZKwy0k% 3d

Occupation Forces rampage in Ni'lin village
Today is the third day of curfew in Ni'lin, west Ramallah. All access roads are closed. At around 11 am this morning, the villagers broke the curfew imposed by the occupation forces. Clashes ensued and have been ongoing until the evening.
http://stopthewall. org/latestnews/ 1686.shtml

Live bullets, sound grenades and tear gas to repress al Ma'sra's weekly demonstrations
Live bullets, sound grenades and tear gas were used by occupation forces to disperse a popular march that started from the centre of al Ma'sra, south of Bethlehem, and moved towards the Apartheid Wall.
http://stopthewall. org/latestnews/ 1685.shtml

Ni'lin defies curfew and closure and blocks settler-only road
At 5 am on Friday morning, occupation forces invaded the village of Ni'lin, ordering a complete curfew and closing all access roads to the village in an effort to pre-empt further demonstrations. While Israeli repression grows, it has failed to prevent a further two demonstrations which succeeded in paralyzing settler traffic in the area for hours during Friday.
http://stopthewall. org/latestnews/ 1684.shtml

Israel extends curfew in Palestinian town
Restrictions forcing Ni'lin residents to remain indoors response to several violent demonstrations in protest of construction of West Bank security fence.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3564808,00. html

IDF: Negev farmer's tractor damaged by stones, not Gaza sniper
A farmer operating a tractor near the western Negev Kibbutz Nahal Oz said a Palestinian sniper in the bordering Gaza Strip opened fire at him on Sunday afternoon. Several hours later, however, the military admitted there was no sniper attack, saying damage to the tractor might have been caused by a stone. The farmer sustained no injuries. A police sapper from the nearby city of Sderot arrived at the scene but could not determine whether a shooting had taken place because he could not locate a bullet. Military sources also said that an IDF observation post failed to identify the origin of the gunfire. The incident occurred hours after Israel reopened its border crossings with Gaza, a measure stipulated by a truce agreement between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ pages/ShArt. jhtml?itemNo= 999314

The Army invades charitable institutions in Nablus and confiscates its property
On Monday morning Israeli army forces attacked a number of charitable institutions in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Troops shut them down and confiscated their property.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 55859

Naim asks Mousa to assist in ending tragedy of trapped patients
Dr. Basem Naim, the health minister in the PA caretaker government, has asked Amre Mousa, the Arab League secretary general, to help in ending the tragedy of Palestinian patients.
http://www.palestin e-info.co. uk/En/default. aspx?xyz= U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MD I46m9rUxJEpMO% 2bi1s7xqUVfGAh0A 8WKRhLkDi2s1zWHM ZRAbGRnNsth% 2bot5pVpQJloMdtj 9dYKs3EayEYXXRrc 1R6V4KvAXTlnRP6N fLwjC73Hh3s7qakk miraRIQ%3d

Hamas accuses Israelis of manipulating Gaza crossings issue
The deposed Hamas government emphasised on Sunday that Israel is continuing to "manipulate" the issue of border crossings in order to put pressure on people in the Gaza Strip.
http://english. pnn.ps/index. php?option= com_content&task=view&id=3035&Itemid=1

IDF to crack down on Hamas in West Bank
The Israel Defense Forces will soon be stepping up its campaign against Hamas' civilian infrastructure in the West Bank, shutting down a large number of Hamas-affiliated charities, confiscating their property, and searching computers and documents that detail their activity.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/999578. html

Resheq: We wish Abbas could free himself from US veto on national dialogue
Senior Hamas political leader Ezzat Al-Resheq has condemned on Sunday statements of close associates of PA chief Mahmoud Abbas that the PA chief wouldn't meet with Khaled Mishaal.
http://www.palestin e-info.co. uk/En/default. aspx?xyz= U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MD I46m9rUxJEpMO% 2bi1s7Esd3kKd% 2bCwzaP7kxrSYnzO 3lezM48KVC74aSHJ 0tuBV1DYjgDX9uTD ybgLWpJACZ0% 2fbA510Qq233Yz4% 2fCbJ2f6qP9FtW82 YlcRsJyEwQfec% 3d

Abbas meets Syria-based Palestinian chiefs except Hamas
AFP - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has met Palestinian leaders based in Damascus, excluding the political chief of the rival Hamas movement, a member of his delegation said on Monday.
http://us.rd. yahoo.com/ dailynews/ rss/mideast/ *http://news. yahoo.com/ s/afp/20080707/ wl_mideast_ afp/mideastpolit icspalestiniansy ria

Hamas: Israel is playing with fire when threatening to attack Gaza
Hamas warned that Israel is playing with fire when it threatens to wage military assaults on the Gaza Strip at the pretext of rocket attacks.
http://www.palestin e-info.co. uk/En/default. aspx?xyz= U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MD I46m9rUxJEpMO% 2bi1s78UmPDI9hwT i0N5%2bfgL3kE4Xv OumuThR4jipPrrnK 9nD7OxFSU% 2bULb3EzP3B9bufp furBhBqdX5Y8OdPm %2fUzGSA78zYHkr3 qWdRGKPgiBCfs% 3d

Haniyeh: Israel must lift Gaza siege, open crossings
Ismail Haniyeh, the prime minister of Hamas-ruled Gaza, accused Israel of not living up to its part of the truce.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3564010,00. html

Israel shuts down Hamas-linked facilities
Following unrestful ceasefire with Hamas, IDF forces raid West Bank as part of intensified crackdown meant to avoid repeat of Hamas takeover in Gaza.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3565045,00. html

Hamas asks Palestinians to provide data on jailed relatives
The Ezz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas armed wing, on Monday started to collect information about Palestinians serving long sentences in Israeli jails, but it was unclear if the move is linked to negotiations on a prisoner swap deal with Israel.
http://news. xinhuanet. com/english/ 2008-07/07/ content_8506484. htm

IDF Rabbinate prepares to exhume enemy dead ahead of Hezbollah deal
The Military Rabbinate called up reservists last week in anticipation for the prisoner exchange with Hezbollah that is expected to take place sometime in the middle of next week. Both Israel and Hezbollah expect the deal to take place on July 15. Meanwhile, preparations are ongoing at the cemetery for enemy dead at Amiad in the upper Galilee, where the remains of Hezbollah dead are to be exhumed and transferred to Lebanon as part of the deal.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ pages/ShArt. jhtml?itemNo= 999576

PFLP: prisoners swap to include PFLP members, thanks Lebanese resistance
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Member of the Political Office of the PFLP Maher At-Taher said Sunday that the prisoners' exchange deal between Hizbullah and Israel will include prisoners and corpses of members of the PFLP. In a press statement, At-Taher described the inclusion as a "great accomplishment achieved by the brave Lebanese Resistance. " The achievement of Hizbullah, the statement continued, shows "that by resistance, will, persistence, endurance and adherence to principles and tenets we can achieve our goals and press the Israelis to acknowledge all of our rights. " At-Taher continued saying that he hopes the "Palestinian Resistance will be able to achieve such an accomplishment through its prisoner's exchange negotiations. " At-Taher's statement reiterated that the PFLP will exert all possible effort to help end factional divisions, and to move towards the realization of Abbas' initiative between Fatah, Israel and Hamas.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=30358


Israeli media: PA officers say Nasrallah made Israel kneel, it understands only force
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israeli media say prisoner swap gave the wrong message. The Hebrew daily Maariv reported Sunday that "the exchange deal signed between Israel and Hizbullah in addition to helping resume Israel-Hamas talks over captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, motivated the Palestinian Authority and its men". The newspaper quoted high a ranking officer of the Palestinian Authority (PA) as telling a correspondent, "Hassan Nasrallah made you drop to your knees and you respond by making Abbas kneel as well". The official is reported to have continued, "you [Israel] proved by this that you understand nothing but the language of force. "The official added that if those Israel wishes to negotiate with are forced to beg for the lives and bodies of Israeli prisoners, "after a while you'll find no one to talk to.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=30359


Israel hands Hizbullah list of demands before swap
Israel has informed Hizbullah that it will require ten days to complete the prisoner exchange from the time the agreement is signed, Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Sunday. The newspaper reported that the swap is expected to begin on or around July 20. According to Haaretz, this request was one of several that were passed by Ofer Dekel, Israel's negotiator in charge of prisoner exchanges, to United Nations-appointed German mediator, Gerhard Konrad, during their meeting in Europe last Thursday. Hizbullah seized Israeli Army reservists Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser in a cross-border raid in July 2006. Israel responded to the border incident by launching a devastating 34-day war on Lebanon. Dekel also passed on a list of questions and demands for Hizbullah regarding the group's report about missing Israel Air Force navigator Ron Arad.
http://www.dailysta r.com.lb/ article.asp? edition_id= 1&categ_id=2&article_id=93871

Poll: Majority of Israelis support prisoner release
War and Peace Index finds clear majority of Israelis support prisoner swaps which would ensure return of POWs Eldad Regev, Ehud Goldwasser and Gilad Shalit; 64% believe Hamas will violate ceasefire, 75% oppose ceding Golan Heights - Israel NewsSixty percent of the Israeli Jewish public supports the prisoner exchange deal Israel signed withHizbullah in an effort to free kidnapped IDF soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, even though it means releasing all the Lebanese prisoners it holds, including Samir Kuntar; and only 32% oppose it, the War and Peace Index revealed Sunday. The War and Peace Index is conducted by the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research. Published monthly since 1994, it is run by Prof. Ephraim Yaar and Prof. Tamar Hermann and is compiled of a monthly telephone survey of 600 Israeli citizens representing the various sectors in Israeli society.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3564495,00. html

Life sentence for Qassam 'engineer'
Beersheba District Court hands down two life sentences to Sharif Ziyada after convicting him of attempting to duplicate Gaza manufacturing of Qassam rockets in West Bank -The Beersheba District Court handed down two life-sentences and an additional eight-year sentence on Sunday to Gaza Strip resident Sharif Ziyada, who was convicted of attempting to bring the Qassam rocket manufacturing industry to the West Bank. Ziyada, who was arrested while trying to infiltrate the Egyptian border into Israel in October 2005, was convicted of heading an initiative to begin manufacturing rockets in the West Bank on behalf of the Salah al-Din Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees. Two additional operatives - Kazem Dib and Kamal Aisa - were arrested along with Ziyada, who is considered the second-highest ranking member of the PRC.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3564718,00. html

Hamas: Progress on Shalit deal to be kept away from media
Hamas denied reports on Sunday that the negotiations over the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit have stalled. The deputy head of the Hamas politburo, Dr. Mussa Abu Marzuk, said that the reports are incorrect and talks on the matter of a prisoner exchange will be carried out in secret, away from the media. In an interview to Al-Shams Radio in Nazareth, Abu Marzuk said that both sides, Israel and Hamas, are interested in achieving progress on the prisoner swap. "The Shalit case will be handled away from the eyes of the media and journalists - this was the agreement on this matter. It is not correct to talk about a freeze or a delay in the negotiations because there have been no substantive or practical moves on this issue," the senior Hamas figure said.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ pages/ShArt. jhtml?itemNo= 999410

VIDEO - News/ IDF: Jlem attacker's home should be sealed off, not demolished
Haaretz. com/Channel 10 news roundup for July 6, 2008. Home Front recommends the Jerusalem attacker's home be sealed off, not demolished. Activity in a Galilee cemetery suggests preparations for a prisoners swap with Hezbollah are underway. More than 100 kilograms of cocaine are confiscated at a Haifa port. [end]
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ pages/ShArt. jhtml?itemNo= 999405

Israelis call for attacker's home to be razed
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Around 30 right-wing Israelis staged a demonstration at the East Jerusalem home of a Palestinian man who killed three people in a rampage with a payloader last week to demand its destruction. "Right here, right now, destroy this house," they chanted as they gathered in the Arab village of Sur Baher outside the house of Hossam Dwayyat, 30, who was shot dead Wednesday after ploughing through a busy Jerusalem street. Another 45 people were wounded in the attack in which Dwayyat smashed an earthmover into two buses, overturning one, and crushed several cars. The protest in Occupied East Jerusalem was held without incident as police deployed in force around the home, a police official said. Israeli authorities, including Premier Ehud Olmert, have mulled destroying the house, even though a previous military inquiry found the practice was ineffective in deterring militant attacks.
http://www.dailysta r.com.lb/ article.asp? edition_id= 10&categ_id=2&article_id=93864

Israeli Arabs find barriers insurmountable
Asma Nasar is afraid to leave her home. Like many other Palestinians married to Israeli Arabs, the 21-year-old from the West Bank city of Hebron is living illegally in Israel with her husband and two young daughters.
http://www.thenatio nal.ae/article/ 20080703/ FOREIGN/56489816 2/1002/NEWS


Peace Now organizes settlement tours
Poll ordered by left-wing movement reveals 73% of Israelis have not visited West Bank in recent years. Following data, group decides to hold summer tours to settlements, outpost to explain its stance.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3564543,00. html

Palestinian water shortages rooted in American-Zionist cooperation during British Mandate
When the British arrived in Palestine at the close of World War I, they declared that their arrival would usher in a new period of modernity and prosperity. Nowhere would this be more keenly felt than in the area of water and irrigation. Working together with Zionist settlers and American hydraulic engineers, Britain would introduce new technologies that could raise the living standards of all Palestinians.
http://english. pnn.ps/index. php?option= com_content&task=view&id=3028&Itemid=1

MIDEAST: Gaza Locked In Despite Truce
Despite a torrent of mutual recriminations, the fragile truce between Israel and Palestinian resistance faction Hamas survived into its third week. Israel, however, has been slow to fulfil its pledge -- as laid down in an Egypt-brokered ceasefire agreement -- to allow desperately- needed humanitarian supplies into the outdoor prison that is the Gaza Strip.
http://www.ipsnews. net/news. asp?idnews= 43092

The great divide
Four years ago this week, the International Court of Justice said that where the barrier between Israel and Palestine crossed into the West Bank it was illegal and should be taken down. Israel has refused to accept the court's decision and continues to build. Rory McCarthy travelled to a Palestinian village and an Israeli settlement on either side of the barrier to see what impact it has had on their lives.
http://www.guardian .co.uk/world/ interactive/ 2008/jul/ 07/israelandthep alestinians? gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews

A binational reality
How nice that this time, too, the terrorist was a "lone wolf," a drug addict or just a nut case. Just so long as Jerusalemite murderers are not acting on behalf of terrorist groups. "Wild weeds" can grow in any garden. We also once had a strange doctor who carried out a massacre in a mosque; his family erected a glorious tombstone in honor of the "saint." No one proposed razing the family's home for the purpose of "deterrence" - and justifiably so. If we assume that this was the case of a deviant, demolishing the home of his family will deter the next deviant in the same way that the death penalty deters people who decide to blow themselves up in a bus, in the hope of having fun with 70 virgins in paradise. Deterrence is relevant when it is applied to trends in the mainstream, not in the sidelines of society.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/999589. html

My new birthday
I am a third generation of the Palestinian Nakba, the forced expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland by Zionist forces. I now feel that I am a very lucky person. I never felt lucky before my new birthday: the day I visited my destroyed original village of Deir Rafat, where my grandfather and his family lived before they were forced out in 1948. Areej Ja'fari writes from Deheisheh refugee camp.
http://electronicin tifada.net/ v2/article9662. shtml

Dividing Jerusalem
On June 9, 1967, two days after Israel Defense Forces troops reached the Western Wall, Anwar al-Khatib, the Jordanian official responsible for administering the Jerusalem district, was whisked away to the Ambassador Hotel in the eastern part of the city for a meeting with IDF General (res.) Chaim Herzog, who only minutes earlier had been appointed the military governor of the West Bank. Khatib requested that the Israeli authorities permit some Arab families to relocate across the river to the east bank of the Jordan, where their relatives were waiting. Not only did the Israeli governor agree to the request, he adopted the idea wholesale and undertook a policy of encouraging every East Jerusalemite to take up residency in the Hashemite Kingdom.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ pages/ShArt. jhtml?itemNo= 999128

'Why did they treat me like that?'
He has already seen everything. At 24, he has already been documenting the horrors of his city, Rafah, for six years. He photographs and writes, seeking to be a voice for those who are voiceless, as he puts it. On his Web site Rafah Today (www.rafahtoday. org) - like that of USA Today or Israel Today, only from Rafah - he paints a picture for readers around the world of the horrors of his city, the most afflicted of all cities in the anguished Gaza Strip, in strong and shocking colors. You will see there demolished houses and crushed bodies, tanks shelling people's homes and lost children. He also writes for various publications abroad, including The Washington Report, several papers in Europe and, primarily, in Scandinavia, as well as for the Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ pages/ShArt. jhtml?itemNo= 999330

Syria's Role / Assad pushing for Palestinian unity
"When we come to Syria we are coming to our second country," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Syrian President Bashar Assad flatteringly when the two met in Damascus on Sunday. This "homecoming" was initiated by Assad, who recently stepped up his involvement in the Palestinian arena - at Egypt's expense.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/999572. html

Former top Israeli diplomat says Syria ready to cut Iran ties
A former senior Israeli diplomat has asserted that Syria is willing to cut its close relations with Iran in return for financial and military backing from the United States, the Sunday Telegraph reported. Alon Liel, a former director general of the foreign ministry, told the British newspaper that Syrian President Bashar Assad is increasingly open to a peace deal with Israel which would greatly weaken Iran's influence in the Middle East. The Sunday Telegraph reported that Liel - who has been engaged in low-key "second track" discussions with Syrian representatives for many months - has said the prospect of an agreement with Syria was growing, though a new U. S. president might be necessary before a deal could be finalized. The official's comments came after Syria held a third round of indirect negotiations with Israel in Turkey this week.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ pages/ShArt. jhtml?itemNo= 999320

State seeks to boost Jewish immigration from former USSR
The Jewish community in the former Soviet Union could disappear in a generation unless assimilation is curbed there, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday. The government decided to set up a special body to increase immigration from those countries and strengthen Jewish identity there. In the special cabinet discussion, a representative from Nativ - a once-covert agency founded in the Prime Minister's Office in the 1950s to bring Jews to Israel, and to serve as a liaison for Jewish dissidents in the Soviet Union - told the ministers that there are some 880,000 people in its former territories who are eligible to immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return. More than half, the representative added, are not Jewish according to religious law.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ pages/ShArt. jhtml?itemNo= 999404

Despite global turmoil, Israelis' financial assets reach record
Israelis' financial assets portfolio was NIS 288,900 per capita in May. Despite global market turmoil and the shekel's appreciation against the dollar and euro, Israelis' financial assets grew by an additional NIS 16. 5 billion in May 2008 to NIS 2. 08 trillion, an all-time high, according to Bank of Israel data published today. Israelis' financial assets portfolio was NIS 288,900 per capita in May. The average financial assets portfolio among the top ten percent was NIS 1. 15 million. Israelis' financial assets portfolio grew by 6. 6% in January-May, and by 3% in real terms, excluding inflation. [end]
http://www.globes. co.il/serveen/ globes/docview. asp?did=10003585 86&fid=942

71% of Americans say U.S. gov't shouldn't take sides in Mideast conflict
A public opinion poll released by a research institute at the University of Maryland shows that 71 percent of Americans believe that the United States government should not take sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/999741. html

Comedian dupes Israeli intelligence
'Documentary interviewer' turns out to be Baron Cohen's character 'Bruno.'
http://uk.news. yahoo.com/ itn/20080707/ ten-baron- cohen-dupes- israeli-intellig en-ea4616c. html

Female suicide bomber kills 9 north of Baghdad
Reuters - A female suicide bomber killed nine people and wounded 12 when she blew herself up at a market in the northern Iraqi city of Baquba on Monday, police said.
http://us.rd. yahoo.com/ dailynews/ rss/iraq/ *http://news. yahoo.com/ s/nm/20080707/ wl_nm/iraq_ bomb_dc

Iraqi Shiite Party rises as Sadr falls
The Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq aims to capitalize on the disarray within Moqtada al-Sadr's movement ahead of parliamentary elections planned for October.
http://www.csmonito r.com/2008/ 0707/p06s01- wome.html

Sunni leader hero to U.S., outlaw in Iraq
Fighter who led revolt against Al Qaeda forced to flee murder probe. AMMAN, Jordan — A year ago, Sunni Arab fighter Abul Abed led an improbable revolt against Al Qaeda in Iraq. As he killed its leaders and burned down hideouts, he became a symbol of a new group called the "Sons of Iraq." He was the man who dared to stand up to extremists in Baghdad when it still ranked as a suicidal act.
http://www.chicagot ribune.com/ news/nationworld /chi-iraq- sons_05jul05, 0,4123336. story

Iraqi Shiites denounce security pact with US
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://www.middle- east-online. com/english/ ?id=26754

Sadrists condemn US security pact
BAGHDAD: Large crowds of Shi'ites yesterday denounced the security pact Baghdad is negotiating with Washington for a long-term US military presence in violence-wracked Iraq.In Baghdad's Sadr City, the bastion of radical cleric Moqtada Al Sadr, Shi'ite men, women and children shouted anti-American slogans as they demonstrated against the security deal after the weekly Friday prayers. "No, no to colonisation! Out, out you occupier!" the crowd shouted in the centre of Sadr City where fierce battles raged in March and April between Shi'ite fighters and US forces in which hundreds of people were killed.
http://www.gulf- daily-news. com/Story. asp?Article= 222216&Sn=WORL&IssueID=31107


Shiite clergy want referendum over US troop presence
Iraq's Shiite leadership indicated Friday that it will press the Baghdad government to hold a national referendum on the issue of a further stationing of US forces in the country.
http://www.monsters andcritics. com/news/ middleeast/ news/article_ 1415023.php/ Shiite_clergy_ want_referendum_ over_US_troop_ presence

Journalist says VP's bodyguard threatened to kill him
The Journalistic Freedoms Observatory (JFO) denounced "the assault by Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashimi's bodyguards on journalists" in Kirkuk on Sunday.
http://66.111. 34.180/look/ english/article. tpl?IdLanguage= 1&IdPublication= 4&NrArticle=84793&NrIssue=2&NrSection=1

Iraq's al-Maliki wants short-term US agreement
AP - Iraq has proposed a short-term memorandum of understanding with the United States rather than trying to hammer through a formal agreement on the presence of U.S. forces, the country's prime minister said Monday.
http://www.theglobe andmail.com/ servlet/story/ LAC.20080707. SWIMMERS07/ TPStory/TPIntern ational/Asia/

Battle Over Iraq's Oil
Iraq contains the world's third largest oil reserve, and some of America's biggest oil companies have expressed particular interest in the land of this war zone. Elizabeth Palmer reports.
http://www.cbsnews. com/sections/ i_video/main5002 51.shtml? source=RSS&attr=CBSNewsVideo_ 4235419&channel=i_video&id=4235419n

Journalist Charges Censorship by U.S. Military in Fallujah
U.S. journalist Zoriah Miller says he was censored by the U.S. military in the Iraqi city of Fallujah after photographing Marines who died in a suicide bombing.
http://ipsnews. net/news. asp?idnews= 43066


Iraqi torture victims slam UK 'contempt'
Iraqi civilians who were tortured by British soldiers say the government is treating them with 'contempt' ahead of a potential multi-million- pound payout for the abuse they suffered.
http://www.guardian .co.uk/uk/ 2008/jul/ 06/military. iraq?gusrc= rss&feed=worldnews

UAE cancels Iraq debt, names new envoy
AP - The United Arab Emirates canceled billions of dollars of Iraqi debt Sunday and moved to restore a full diplomatic mission in Baghdad, evidence of Iraq's improved security and growing acceptance of its Shiite-led government.
http://us.rd. yahoo.com/ dailynews/ rss/iraq/ *http://news. yahoo.com/ s/ap/20080706/ ap_on_re_ mi_ea/uae_ iraq_debt

Shebeks, Yazidis and Mandeans worst hit in U.S.-occupied Iraq
Iraqi minorities, namely Yazidis, Shebeks and Mandeans have paid dearly in blood in the violence that engulfed Iraq in the aftermath of U.S. occupation of the country, the Human Rights Ministry said. The ministry's spokesman, Hamza Kamel, said of the three communities the Shebeks have suffered the most. The Shebeks, a secretive Iraqi community, little known outside the country, are reportedly Kurdish in ethnicity. But contrary to the Kurds, who are Sunni Muslims, the Shebeks are predominantly Shiites. Unlike Iraqi Christians, the Shebeks' plight has gone unnoticed, attracting little attention from the outside world.
http://www.azzaman. com/english/ index.asp? fname=news\ 2008-07-03\ kurd.htm

The Iraq War Was About Oil, All Along
Oh, no, they told us, Iraq isn't a war about oil. That's cynical and simplistic, they said. It's about terror and al-Qaeda and toppling a dictator and spreading democracy and protecting ourselves from weapons of mass destruction. But one by one, these concocted rationales went up in smoke, fire and ashes. And now the bottom line turns out to be ... the bottom line. It is about oil.
http://www.alternet .org/waroniraq/ 90509/?ses= d1f61c0036fbe3eb 1b7989b6fb34ea4b

Bringing Ireland to Baghdad: How the Resistance Will Eventually Kick the Americans Out
It's very easy to see what's up in Iraq right now -- if you're willing to face it. The trouble is, most "experts" aren't willing. That has been the pattern right from the beginning. We didn't want to admit there even was an insurgency, and even now, nobody misses a chance to declare that "the surge worked," as if that translates to "we win, it's over, let's go home."
http://www.alternet .org/waroniraq/ 90149/?page= entire&ses=1af96c195f3f709 bb461380ff38cb99 3

The Bullies' New Fight
When Saddam said he would fight the Americans fiercely if attacked he was just fluffing. He didn't have anything to fight them with. Iran's officials are saying the same if attacked by the U.S. and Israel. However, the equation is not similar. Iran is not Saddam's Iraq. It's much stronger.
http://baghdadtreas ure.blogspot. com/2008/ 07/bullies- new-fight. html __._,_.___