Occupied Palestine and Israel: News and Articles
News
Six Israeli soldiers killed in landmine attack
The Guardian 5/12/2004
Six Israeli soldiers were killed when the armoured vehicle they were travelling in was blown up by Palestinian militants today, according to initial reports. It was the second such attack in 48 hours. A blast in Gaza City yesterday ripped apart an Israeli armoured personnel carrier, killing six soldiers. Today's incident happened on a road under Israeli control near the Palestinian Rafah refugee camp, close to the border between Gaza and Egypt.
Wednesday's Death Toll Climbs to Five and 40 Wounded in Gaza City
International Press Center 5/12/2004
GAZA, Palestine, May 12, 2004 (IPC + WAFA) - - As the large scale invasion of the Al Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City continues for the third day, the Israeli occupying forces (IOF) killed five citizens since the early hours of Wednesday, as 40 others were wounded. Medical sources in Gaza City said today that Rami Abou Own, 23, was killed by the Israeli occupying forces in the Al Zaytoun neighborhood.
Deal Said Reached Over Israeli Remains
The Guardian 5/12/2004
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - A Palestinian militant group said Wednesday it had reached agreement with Israel on returning the remains of six Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza City the day before. There was no immediate Israeli army comment.
Israel storms Gaza for troops' remains
Al-Jazeera 5/12/2004
Several Israeli soldiers and Palestinians have been killed in clashes in the Gaza Strip as occupation troops hunt for the remains of colleagues killed in a resistance attack. At least five Israeli soldiers were killed and another five wounded when their armoured vehicle was hit by a blast in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah on Wednesday, Aljazeera's correspondent reported.
Arafat, PNA Urge Return of Remains of 6 Israeli Soldiers
Palestine Media Center 5/12/2004
Israel Rejects Negotiations, Asks ICRC Help-- May 12, 2004 - While thousands of mourners marched in funeral processions to bury nine Palestinians killed during the ongoing Israeli invasion of a southern neighborhood of Gaza city on Tuesday, President Yaser Arafat and the PNA urged anti-occupation groups to hand over the remains of six Israeli soldiers who were killed when their Armor Personnel Carrier (APC) was destroyed by a roadside bomb.
Bush's Letter to Qurea: the Aim of Peace Process is to End Occupation and Establish a Palestinian State
International Press Center 5/12/2004
GAZA, May 12, 2004 (IPC+ Agencies)--- American President, George Bush, renewed yesterday[, in] a letter passed on to Premier Ahmed Qurea, well- known" Abu Alaa", his commitment to establish a Palestinian state and end the Israeli occupation embarked in 1967. Also he confirmed that the US has never repudiated the final status settlement assuring that solution about this needs to be an outcome of bilateral negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israeli.
Qureia to discuss Rice meeting with Mubarak and Powell
Ha'aretz 5/12/2004
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia is due to meet a succession of world leaders before his anticipated meeting with U.S. National Security Adviser Condaleezza Rice on Monday. Qureia will travel to Cairo on Friday for a meeting with the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, where they will discuss the framework for negotiations between the prime minister and Rice, the highest ranking member of the U.S. Administration to meet with a Palestinian official in recent months.
Israel's housing apartheid
Al-Jazeera 5/12/2004
The small affluent community of Katzir has become a byword for the apartheid policies of the Israeli state. For nine years, an Arab family, the Kadans, who live a short distance away in the Israeli Arab town of Baqa al-Gharbiya, have been fighting through the courts to be allowed to join the Jewish community.
IOF Offensive Continues in West Bank
International Press Center 5/12/2004
JENIN, Palestine, May 12, 2004 (IPC + WAFA) - - The Israeli occupying forces (IOF) broke yesterday night into the West Bank town of Jenin and launched a wide scale search of houses and arrested Omar Essa'de, 18, a member in the Palestinian Preventive Security. IOF left the town today morning. On the other hand, the occupying forces broke today morning into Ya'bad Village, southwest of Jenin.
IOF Onslaught Continues in Al Zytoun; Eight Killed, 170 Wounded, Gross Damages Inflicted
International Press Center 5/12/2004
GAZA, May 12, 2004 (IPC + Agencies) - - The death toll of the Israeli massacre in Al Zytoun neighborhood of Gaza climbed to eight while more than 170 were wounded, most were children, medical sources said. The chief of emergency and ambulance department, Dr. Baker Abu Safeia and the director of Al Quds hospital, Dr. Khaled Jouda, said in a phone call with the IPC correspondent that Al Shifa hospital has received more than 170 wounded, including 14 in the intensive care unit, four critically.
Israel accused of attacking UN post
Al-Jazeera 5/12/2004
UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon have accused Israeli troops of firing smoke bombs at an observation post in an attempt to obscure its border monitoring operations. The United National Force in Lebanon (UNFIL) issued a statement on Wednesday protesting at the Israeli army's "intentional firing of three smoke rounds" in the occupied Shibaa Farms region last Friday.
Erekat ; Occupation of Alzytoun is a Prelude for Full Invasion into Gaza �.Sharon Will not Stop Killing the Palestinian
International Press Center 5/12/2004
GAZA, May 12, 2004 (IPC+ Agencies)--Dr. Sa'ab Erekat, the Palestinian minister of negotiation affair said that the wide havoc and killing perpetrated by the Israeli troops in Al Zytoun neighborhood of Gaza city, a clear image of a dry run- up for reoccupation of Gaza Strip.
Shalom: Israel must bring about new Palestinian leadership
Ha'aretz 5/12/2004
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Wednesday that if Israel wants to change life in the region, it must continue building the West Bank separation fence, struggle to get Palestinian terror groups placed on international lists of terrorists, and try to bring about a different Palestinian leadership - in part by removing Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat from power.
Palestinians Urge Swapping Israeli Remains For Prisoners
Islam Online 5/12/2004
GAZA CITY , May 12 (IslamOnline.net) � Families and relatives of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have appealed to resistance factions to swap the remains of the six Israeli soldiers killed Tuesday, May 11, in a roadside ambush for their loved ones. "We want the resistance fighters to exchange the body parts of those Israeli soldiers with our prisoners and pray that the fighters would capture more spoils from the enemy," the mother of prisoner Mazen Al-Nahal told IslamOnline.net.
Sarid: Popular uprising in Israel will spur Gaza pullout
Ha'aretz 5/12/2004
Meretz MK Yossi Sarid said following Wednesday evening's attack on an Israel Defense Forces armored personnel carrier on the Philadelphi Route in the southern Gaza Strip, that the coming days would bring about a popular uprising that would cause an immediate withdrawal from the Strip.
Israeli on trial for Briton's death
The Guardian 5/11/2004
The trial of an Israeli soldier charged with killing a British student in the Gaza Strip opened yesterday with claims that the accused confessed only under duress. Lawyers for Sergeant Idier Wahid Taysir told the military court that his statements on the killing of Tom Hurndall, 21, should not be admitted in court because he was under severe pressure by interrogators and could not read or write.
Israel 'risking Gaza patients' lives'
Al-Jazeera 5/9/2004
Israel has been accused of condemning critically-ill Palestinian patients in Gaza to "a slow death" by blocking their transfer to hospitals outside the fenced-in strip. Muawiyah Hassanien, head of the Emergency and Ambulance Department in the Palestinian Ministry of Health, on Friday said Israel last month began imposing restrictions on the transfer of patients with heart diseases and cancer to hospitals abroad.
General Who Made Anti-Islam Remark Tied to POW Case
IBN News 5/12/2004
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army general under investigation for anti-Islamic remarks has been linked by U.S. officials to the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal, which experts warned could touch off new outrage overseas. A Senate hearing into the abuse of Iraqi prisoners was told on Tuesday that Lt. Gen. William Boykin, an evangelical Christian under review for saying his God was superior to that of the Muslims, briefed a top Pentagon (news - web sites) civilian official last summer on recommendations on ways military interrogators could gain more intelligence from Iraqi prisoners.
Syria Criticizes Sanctions, Seeks Talks
The Guardian 5/12/2004
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Syria denounced U.S. economic sanctions on Wednesday and other Arab countries - including close U.S. allies - joined in the criticism. Europe ignored the penalties by dispatching a trade delegation to Damascus. Some Arabs questioned the validity of the measures and the motives behind them, saying they serve Israeli - not American - interests and could further antagonize Arab feelings toward the United States, already soured by the war in Iraq, the prisoner-abuse scandal and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Christian groups say ties with Israel 'worst' ever
Ha'aretz 5/12/2004
Christian organizations in the Holy Land say ties with the Israeli government are the worst ever and have accused the Jewish state of denying visas to some clergy - making them unwelcome in the place of Jesus' birth. A group of 50 Christian leaders sent a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush asking him to help solve a "crisis" that left some institutions without sufficient staff.
Christian Arab becomes judge in the Supreme Court
Come And See 5/6/2004
For the first time in the history of Israel, an Arab was elected to be a judge in the supreme court. Judge Salim Joubran, a Christian from Haifa, was elected today by a special committee, together with three other judges. Salim Joubran was born in 1947 and served at Haifa District Court judge. He Studied law at The Hebrew University and was licensed in 1970.
State: Less families on income supplement benefits since cuts
Ha'aretz 5/12/2004
The state informed the High Court of Justice on Wednesday that since the cut made to income supplement allowances some nine months ago, the number of recipients of the stipend has dropped by around 9,000 families, with some 149,000 now benefiting from the allowance.
Report: Hezbollah found grave of MIA Ron Arad in Lebanon
Ha'aretz 5/12/2004
The grave of Israeli airman Ron Arad has been found by Hezbollah in Lebanon, the London-based Arab newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat reported Wednesday. According to the report, quoting Lebanese sources, Hezbollah men found Arad's location of burial after a two-months search in the outskirts of the town of Nabi Sheet.
IDF reports casualties in attack on APC near Rafah
Ha'aretz 5/12/2004
At least five Israel Defense Forces soldiers were wounded on Wednesday evening when an armored personnel carrier (APC) was hit while travelling through the Philadelphi Route, near Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. The APC was apparently hit by an anti-tank rocket or by a bomb, that caused explosives it was carrying to explode.
Articles
Another plan, another insult, another failure
By Sharif Hikmat Nashashibi, Media Monitors Network 5/11/2004
For the last few years, Middle East peace initiatives have become somewhat fashionable. Unfortunately, so have their shortcomings. Almost all have failed to realise, or even recognise, the human, legal and political rights of the Palestinian people, who are victims of the longest military occupation in modern history, and who constitute the largest, most enduring refugee population in the world.
Coming hot on the heels of the disastrous "disengagement" plan, the latest proposal - drawn up by Israel's National Security Council chief Major General Giora Eiland, and reported by the country's top-selling newspaper Yediot Aharonot as having the approval of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon - is further evidence that the mistakes of the past are still trendy.
Interestingly, however, this plan not only short-changes the Palestinians, but also the Egyptians.
Terrorists, seven times
Ha'aretz 5/12/2004
On May 2, policemen from the Nachshon unit of the Prison Services severely beat six Palestinian detainees who were brought from the Russian Compound to the military courtroom at Ofer for the commencement of their trial.
The policemen beat the men in front of their families, lawyers and a few officers of the court (including the military prosecutor and the translator). The Prison Services told Haaretz that "fighters of the Nachshon Unit [of the Prison Services, who are in charge of the terrorists, the security detainees in the military prisons] overcame six terrorists who started to riot - and who tried to make (physical) contact with members of their families, and this is contrary to the Prison Services' standing orders and regulations." Eyewitnesses confirmed that the detainees tried to speak with their families. But they denied the prisoners "became unruly" and that they tried, or could, make any physical contact with their families who were sitting on the back benches, separated from their sons by soldiers....
The Logic of Occupation
By Jaffer Ali, Media Monitors Network 5/11/2004
"Occupation has its own logic. Strike...counter-strike. The rubbish of winning the "hearts and minds" never changes. Initially occupiers like to think of themselves as morally superior. Why not? Having superior weaponry confers arrogance. Whoever has the bigger gun is more powerful." -- The deluge of coverage of the prisoner abuse scandal is rather puzzling. Everyone seems to be acting like Claude Rains in Casablanca. You might recall he was disingenuously "shocked" that gambling was taking place at Rick's casino. Soon after declaring this shock and shutting down the casino, a croupier slipped him his winnings.
The shock over torturing Iraqi prisoners is all a show. How many people reading this BELIEVE that torturing Iraqis is new? How many people believe that this was just an isolated incident of six wayward soldiers who had not been trained properly?
There are twenty open cases of systematic torture under investigation that we know of right now. But this is only the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Americans are coming face-to-face with what occupation means. Succinctly put; occupation destroys the moral fiber of both the occupied and occupier.
Analysis / A victory for Hamas
By Danny Rubinstein, Ha'aretz 5/12/2004
Displays of body parts are not unusual in the Palestinian street. Every time Israel killed a wanted man in Gaza with a missile, and sometimes in the West Bank as well, hundreds of young men would crowd around the ruined car, remove parts of the dead man's body and display them to the crowd. That is what happened when Israel killed Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, whose body was completely dismembered with the parts having to be buried in plastic bags. The Palestinian media, and the Arab media in general, often show pictures of this nature, and newspapers in the territories often publish pictures of dead bodies, Palestinian and Israeli alike.
A senior source in Gaza said last night that negotiations over the return of the soldiers' body parts to Israel are expected to be very difficult, as they are held by several different organizations. "Every clan in Gaza has something," he said.
Look to Gaza to escape from the embarrassment in Iraq
By Rami G. Khouri, Daily Star 5/12/2004
If the United States wants to pull itself out of the mess in Iraq and the particularly uncomfortable stain of some of its troops' degrading treatment of Iraqi prisoners, it would do well to look to Gaza, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in general. Palestine and Iraq may be two very different issues for Washington, but Arabs - and most of the rest of the world, I think - see these as two sides of the single problem of American policy in the Middle East.
With Washington's credibility throughout most of the Middle East at rock bottom, American officials speak less often these days about promoting Arab democracy or mediating to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict. Their words simply carry much less force today than they did months or years ago.
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