[VTJP] VTJP News & Articles 10-06-04

[Jamie Brooks]

Occupied Palestine 
and Israel: News and Articles
News 


IDF kills 
girl, 13, on her way to school Ha'aretz 10/6/2004Israeli 
soldiers shot dead a 13-year-old Palestinian girl in the southern Gaza Strip 
yesterday. Five other Palestinians were killed in the Strip in three separate 
incidents, bringing the Palestinian death toll to at least 77 since the start of 
Operation Days of Penitence a week ago. Military sources admitted yesterday that 
the killing of Iman Alhamas was a mistake...She was wearing her school uniform 
and carrying her book bag, which military sources said was suspected of 
containing explosives. Medical sources in Gaza said the girl was hit by 20 
bullets.Gaza: 
Israeli troops kill civilians, destroy roads, obstruct medical and Red Cross 
relief Rafah Today 10/6/2004Amnah Al Najjar 60 years old is brought in 
private car to the hospital after sustaining a head injury by an Israeli sniper. 
She was in her house....Thirteen year old schoolgirl Eman Al Hums is from Rafah 
Refugee Camp. She was shot on her way to school with other two friends. They, 
however, were luckier than she was when they ran away as soon as they heard the 
shelling. Dr. Ali Mussa at Abu Youif Al Najjar hospital said that the Israeli 
soldiers in Rafah shot the child and prevented the medical team from reaching 
her body nor bringing her into the hospital. [with photos]UN warns 
of impending humanitarian crisis in Gaza Strip Ha'aretz 10/6/2004The United 
Nations warned in a special report released Wednesday of an impending 
humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, saying nearly 70 percent of Palestinians 
are living in poverty as a result of Israeli policies and military operations. 
Twelve UN organizations - under the auspices of the Office for the Coordination 
of Humanitarian Affairs - put together the report after realizing the situation 
was more severe than they had initially thought, said David Shearer, the head of 
OCHA's Jerusalem office.U.S.: 
U.N. Gaza Resolution Not Balanced The Guardian 10/5/2004UNITED 
NATIONS (AP) - The United States said Tuesday a draft Security Council 
resolution by Arab states demanding an end to a large-scale Israeli offensive in 
Gaza was not balanced and vowed that the measure will not go forward....U.S. 
Ambassador John Danforth said, ``The problem with the resolution is there is 
nothing balanced about it.'' ``It is totally one-sided. It tends to put the 
blame on Israel and absolves terrorists in the Middle East - people who shoot 
rockets into civilian areas, people who are responsible for killing children, 
Hamas,'' he said. ``Nothing was said in this resolution about that problem.'' 
French 
NGO Slams Israel Over Access to Gaza Wounded Palestine Chronicle 
10/6/2004"Tiffou said water and power had been cut off in the hardest hit 
neighbourhoods and that access to water in general was becoming increasingly 
difficult.."-- JERUSALEM (AFP) - A French humanitarian group said Monday the 
Israeli army's huge ongoing offensive in northern Gaza was hampering access to 
wounded Palestinians and that basic supplies were running out. "There is a huge 
problem of access to the wounded. Rescue workers have not been able to 
coordinate with the army and are risking their lives to go to the field," Hugo 
Tiffou from Medecins du Monde (MDM) told AFP from Gaza City. "Families are stuck 
at home because of the violence and they need milk, water and other supplies, 
especially for children," he added. National 
religious camp eyes new settlement in Lod Ha'aretz 10/6/2004Why has the 
city of Lod become a magnet for the national religious camp? Yesterday the 
cornerstone was laid for a new national religious neighborhood in the center of 
town. The Ramat Elyashiv neighborhood is projected to house 500 families within 
a few years, with 80 units to be completed in the next 18 months. However, the 
continued development of the neighborhood will mean evicting and demolishing the 
homes of Arab residents, some of which have been extended without building 
permits.Recent 
PNIC Statistic Records Week-Long Israeli Onslaught in Northern 
Gaza International Press Center 10/6/2004GAZA, Palestine, October 6, 2004 
(IPC) - - A recent statistic released by the Palestinian National Information 
Center (PNIC) of the State Information Service (SIS) revealed that Israeli 
occupation forces killed 85 Palestinians and wounded 360 others, including many 
children, in addition to destroying 64 homes totally and partially not to 
mention five industrial facilities since their invasion of northern Gaza last 
Tuesday.Hothouse 
worker from Thailand killed in south Gaza infiltration 
Ha'aretz 10/6/2004A 
greenhouse worker from Thailand was killed Wednesday when three armed 
Palestinians infiltrated the hothouses of the southern Gaza Strip settlement of 
Kfar Darom in an apparent attempted terror attack. Israel Defense Forces troops 
killed all three militants. Also, IDF troops shot to death one Palestinian in 
the West Bank after he threw firebombs at them. In addition, three Golani 
Brigade soldiers were lightly wounded when a wall from a house collapsed on them 
in the Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza. PNA 
Denounces Recent US Veto International Press Center 
10/6/2004RAMALLAH, Palestine, October 6, 2004 (IPC + Agencies) - - The 
Palestinian National Authority (PNA) condemned the US veto against a draft 
resolution in the Security Council condemning the Israeli onslaught against 
northern Gaza Strip and calling to halt it, expressing concern that Israel might 
expand its offensive after this veto.UN team 
arrives to probe charges that UN vehicle was used to carry 
rocket ReliefWeb 10/6/2004A United Nations team has arrived in Jerusalem to 
look into allegations by Israel that a UN ambulance driver was filmed loading a 
Kassam rocket into his vehicle, a UN spokesman said today. The team will meet 
with officials over the next few days and will be asking the Israeli Government 
and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) to cooperate 
with them, Fred Eckhard said.ISM, 
along with International and Israeli Activists, Join Palestinians in Olive 
Harvest International Solidarity Movement 10/5/2004International Solidarity 
Movement, along with International and Israeli Activists, Join Palestinians for 
the Olive Harvest! Palestinian agricultural organizations and farmers, in 
coordination with the International Solidarity Movement, the International 
Women's Peace Service and Israeli activist groups, announce the 2004 Olive 
Harvest Campaign. The ISM Olive Harvest Campaign will take place between October 
5 and November 15. The farming communities of the West Bank regions face 
enormous obstacles to completing their harvest. Settlers from illegal Israeli 
colonies in the West Bank, as part of their concerted campaign to drive the 
Palestinians off their land, constantly threaten, harass and even attack 
Palestinians working in their groves.'Sniper 
who killed 10 Israelis' arrested Ha'aretz 10/6/2004The IDF and 
Shin Bet security service yesterday said they had arrested a Palestinian man who 
was believed to have shot dead seven soldiers and three Israeli civilians in a 
March 2002 sniper attack at an IDF roadblock north of Ramallah. The suspect, 
Fatah activist Ka'ad Hamad, was arrested in the village of Silwad, north of 
Ramallah, where he lives. Another Palestinian man was also arrested. The sniper 
killed an IDF officer, six reservists and three civilians.DEATH AND 
DESTRUCTION IN GAZA CONTINUES International Solidarity Movement 
10/3/2004WORLD LEADERS REMAIN SILENT IN FACE OF DEVASTATING ISRAELI ARMY 
ATTACKS -- Dozens of Palestinian men, women and children are being killed and 
hundreds wounded in the massive Israeli army attack in the northern area of the 
Gaza Strip. More than 50 Palestinians, have died since Israel began the 
operation three days ago. What is the response of world leaders who claim to 
condemn violence and uphold international law? The Middle East peace quartet of 
the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia remain 
SILENT in face of brutal Israeli attacks on densely populated areas of 
Gaza!Arabs 
take centre stage at book fair Al-Jazeera 10/5/2004The Frankfurt 
Book Fair, the world's biggest publishing event, is putting the spotlight on 
Arab literature in an attempt to reverse years of neglect in the West. The fair 
has invited the "The Arab World" as its guest of honour to promote an 
understanding of Arab culture and literature and help heal the wounds of 
September 11. "The necessity for dialogue has never been so urgent as it is 
today," book fair director Volker Neumann said. "This will be the beginning of a 
dialogue - a late beginning, but a beginning." Palestinian rights committee repeats call for negotiated solution to end 
Israeli occupation of territory ReliefWeb/UN 10/6/2004Draft 
Report to Assembly Says Road Map Remains Best Approach -- The continuing Israeli 
occupation of Palestinian territory remained the core of the conflict and a 
negotiated solution was urgently needed to end the occupation, the Committee on 
the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People states in a 
draft report to the General Assembly approved by the Committee this 
morning.UN SC 
fails to adopt text demanding end to Israeli military offensive in 
Gaza ReliefWeb/UNSC 10/5/2004Draft Resolution Supported by 11 Members; 
United States, Exercising Veto, Calls It 'Lopsided' and against Cause of Peace 
-- Rejecting a draft resolution in the Security Council today that would have 
demanded an end to the Israeli military offensive in Gaza, the representative of 
the United States said the text was "dangerously disingenuous" because of what 
it failed to say. He added that when the rest of the world "ganged up" on Israel 
with silence about terrorism, it did not advance the cause of 
peace.The 
International Solidarity Movement Condemns the Attack on CPT 
Activists International Solidarity Movement 10/3/2004The International 
Solidarity Movement sends a message of solidarity to Chris and Kim and condemns 
the brutal attack by settlersthat left them both hospitalized.We applaud them 
for their committment to justice and human decency and wish them a speedy 
recovery. On the morning of Wednesday, September 29, 2004, settlers attacked 
Christian Peacemaker Team members Chris Brown from San Francisco and Kim 
Lamberty from Washington, as they accompanied children to school. The children, 
from the village of Tuba, have experienced harassment from settlers in the past 
as they to school in the village of al-Tuwani.Palestinians admit: No substitute for jobs in Israel 
Globes 10/5/2004The 
Palestinian labor market is incapable of absorbing 310,000 unemployed, 34.2% of 
the labor force in the territories. -- The Palestinians are claiming that there 
is no local substitute for jobs in Israel. The Palestinian labor market is 
incapable of absorbing an estimated 310,000 unemployed, constituting 34.3% of 
the Palestinian labor force. Large-scale Palestinian employment in Israel has 
ceased in the four years of the intifada. Palestinian sources claim that 35 
years of Israeli control have made the Palestinian labor market dependent on 
Israel �as a result of deliberate policy�, and this reality cannot be changed in 
a few years.Iran says 
it can launch missile with range of 2,000-kilometers 
Ha'aretz 
10/6/2004TEHRAN - Iran is able to launch a missile with a range of 2,000 
kilometers, the official IRNA news agency yesterday quoted influential former 
president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani as saying. The missile could reach Israel and 
parts of southeastern Europe. "Experts know that a country that possesses this 
can obtain all subsequent stages" in missile production, Rafsanjani told staff 
at the Aerospace Research Institute in Tehran.IBM to 
install new NIS 18m computer system for Defense Ministry 
Globes 10/5/2004The 
project, slated for completion in early 2007, will include designing the system, 
installing it, integrating it with the ministry�s current systems, and training 
users. -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) concluded in the past few days a deal to install a new 
NIS 18 million computer system for the Israel Ministry of Defense. The new 
system, which will serve 1,300 work stations, includes procurement, inventory, 
transportation, human resources, asset management, and sales 
applications.Motorola 
Israel wins U.S. postal scanning deal Ha'aretz 10/6/2004Motorola Israel 
will provide the U.S. Postal Service with $300 million in scanning and tracking 
systems in the next three years. USPS reported the deal and stated it is 
expected to get final approval at a November board of directors meeting. The 
devices developed by Motorola allow electronic scanning of mail items and 
ongoing reports of their location in the delivery route. "Information on mail is 
becoming as valuable as the mail itself," said USPS senior vice president 
Charlie Bravo.Experts 
putting final touches on Israel's proposed constitution 
Ha'aretz 10/6/2004No 
one expressed the traditional religious approach to the idea of a constitution 
in Israel better than former Shas leader Aryeh Deri. "Even if the constitution 
includes the Ten Commandments, we will oppose it," he said, expressing the fear 
that the constitution's normative superiority could provide the Supreme Court 
with the possibility of changing the religious status quo. The next few weeks 
will reveal whether the ultra-Orthodox camp has indeed made a great leap forward 
from this position, to the point of being potential partners to the attempt to 
institute a constitution in Israel.PAC 
Condemns Israeli Onslaught, Denounces US Veto International Press Center 
10/6/2004GAZA, October 6, 2004 (IPC) - - The Palestinian American Congress 
(PAC) condemned the ongoing Israeli onslaught and denounced the US veto against 
a Security Council draft resolution denouncing such invasion. In a press release 
received by the International Press Center (IPC), the PAC asserted that the US 
administration has given the Israeli government its approval of the invasion, 
which has so far claimed the lives of more than 80 Palestinians, including 22 
children and resulted in the demolition of over 110 homes.EU sets 
date for Turkey entry talks Al-Jazeera 10/6/2004Talks on 
Turkey's accession to the EU have been scheduled to begin in the first half of 
2005. On Wednesday Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped 
this would lead to membership in a "reasonable period of time". Speaking to the 
parliamentary assembly of the 46-member Council of Europe, Erdogan urged 
European Union leaders to respond positively to the day's report from the 
commission in Brussels recommending the opening of accession 
negotiations.Land of 
the elite and home of the rich? Al-Jazeera 10/6/2004George Bush 
and John Kerry are members of an exclusive club - those with considerable 
personal fortunes who have the backing of the super-rich. As the pair square off 
in a series of presidential debates, the race for the White House is still too 
close to call. But one thing is certain: the next US president will be a member 
of America's wealthy elite and will be endorsed by around only 30% of the 
country's voting population.Cheney: 
Less terror in Israel with Saddam out of the way Ha'aretz 10/6/2004CLEVELAND - 
Vice President Dick Cheney said during the only vice-presidential campaign 
debate Tuesday night that there have been fewer suicide attacks in Israel 
because Saddam Hussein is no longer around to support suicide bombers. Cheney 
touted President George W. Bush's policy moves to support the establishment of 
two Mideast states, and said Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat is not 
"an interlocutor you can trust and deal with."
Articles 

Anatomy 
of Palestinian Outrage By Ramzy Baroud , Palestine 
Chronicle 10/6/2004    One can only imagine the utter outrage that 
would engage world leaders and media if a series of Palestinian bombings rocked 
an Israeli town, spontaneously, and in less than four days killed 60 people and 
wounded hundreds, mostly innocent civilians.      Not 
even the most open-minded of media pundits could dare justify the crime; not 
even the most lucid of government officials could rationalise the orgy of flesh 
and blood made of mingled bodies, some so beyond repair, that you wish them 
death for their own sake.      How repulsive, albeit 
insensitive if Fox News decided to inundate its helpless viewers with 
self-congratulating �terrorism experts� describing the �surgical procedure� 
followed by the Palestinian bombers whose intent was merely to target a few 
unidentified Israeli army officers accused of threatening the life of 
Palestinian civilians.      Picture the horror on the 
dusty faces as firefighters amassing in a small Tel Aviv street to quell an 
inferno of homes, shops and roofless buses while medics, too busy to tend to the 
blown up bodies, are frantically hoping to revive the surviving 
few.The 
Eyes That Cannot See Beyond Jabaliya and Samarra By Simon Tisdall, Palestine 
Chronicle 10/6/2004    "On both sides of the divide this dread downward 
spiral creates a kind of unseeing rage to which all are held hostage: blind in 
Iraq, eyeless in Gaza.." -- At first glance the violence in Jabaliya in 
Palestine and in the Iraqi town of Samarra appear to be unconnected. The Israeli 
army's incursion into northern Gaza looks like just another deadeningly familiar 
episode in the unending conflict between Palestinians and Jews. 
     The US-led weekend assault on insurgents in mainly 
Sunni Samarra seems to be broadly typical of the continuing turmoil in Iraq. 
     But peer beneath the headlines and it is clear that 
these ostensibly separate events are far from routine, and are closely linked in 
many ways, directly and indirectly.      In both 
Jabaliya and Samarra modern armies with state-of-the-art weaponry and 
unanswerable air power attacked residential areas, causing numerous civilian 
casualties.      In both cases the degree of lethal 
force used was grossly disproportionate to the assessed threat. Three US and two 
Iraqi battalions - about 5,000 men - were sent against 200-300 insurgents in 
Samarra.      In Gaza, in order to deter the sort of 
vicious home-made Hamas rocket attacks that killed two children in Sderot last 
week, the Israelis have deployed an estimated 2,000 soldiers and 200 tanks, and 
are threatening an escalation.More of the 
Same: Israel Wins the Debates By Tarif Abboushi, CounterPunch 
10/6/2004    John Kerry and John Edwards used their debates 
with George W. Bush and Dick Cheney to tell America that if the incumbents are 
re-elected, as far as Iraq goes we can expect 'More of the same.' Those four 
words exemplify the essence of the Democrats' argument for regime change in the 
U.S., a Kerry-Edwards mantra, if you will, that defines the Bush 
administration's plan for dealing with the debacle they got us into in Iraq. But 
there's another mantra that bodes equally ill for our efforts to win the peace 
in Iraq, one that is used by Democrats and Republicans alike to encapsulate 
their approach to dealing with the mother of all issues in the region: 'Israel 
has a right to defend itself.'     When John Edwards was 
pointedly asked to explain his party's plan for dealing with the 
Israel-Palestine conflict, he ignored the question to wax indelible about 
Israel's right to self-defense. Offered his opportunity to articulate the 
incumbency's position, Cheney could only agree with his opponent. It would be 
closer to the truth for both parties to acknowledge that their plans for 
Israel-Palestine are one and the same: whatever Israeli prime minister Ariel 
Sharon's foot-soldiers inside the beltway tell them it's going to be. At its 
heart, more of the same twisted logic that ascribes the right to self-defense to 
the occupier, but not the occupied.Palestinians 
in Budrus: We Will Never Give up Our Lands By Kim Bullimore, Palestine 
Chronicle 10/6/2004    "The local IDF office told the village leaders 
they would do everything in their power to stop the movement, even if that meant 
that people died.." -- On the fourth anniversary of the second Palestinian 
intifada, the residents of the small village of Budrus once again faced off 
teargas, sound grenades and rubber bullets to protest the wall that is dividing 
their land. The September 28 protest was the 45th consecutive demonstration to 
stop the construction of the Apartheid Wall that is resulting in olive groves 
being destroyed and farmland being stolen.      The 
violence and the injustice of the Israeli occupation is not new to Budrus or 
nearby villages. In 1948, the Israeli forces confiscated 80% of the village's 
land. In 1953, Israel's current prime minister, Ariel Sharon, led a massacre of 
60 people in the neighbouring village of Qibya. Today, Sharon and his government 
are trying to steal 45% of Budrus�s remaining land through the wall. 
     But the residents of Budrus, which is located west 
of Ramallah, have refused to concede. Since November 2003, the village has 
mounted a popular campaign of resistance, based on unity and non-violent 
action....More material available from Vermonters for a Just Peace in 
Palestine/Israel - www.vtjp.orgTo 
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