Occupied Palestine and Israel: News and
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Abbas chooses heads of new Palestinian security services
Ha'aretz 4/23/2005
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has chosen three people to head a consolidated Palestinian security service, Palestinian government officials said Friday. Abbas has also signed off on the removal of two senior security officials, including Moussa Arafat, the cousin of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity....Tarek Abu Rajab will be head of general intelligence in the PA; Suleiman Heles will be chief of national security in Gaza and the West Bank; and Alaa Husni will be head of the Palestinian police in the West Bank and Gaza, the officials said.
The Forgotten Villages of Salfit
International Womens' Peace Service 4/21/2005
After almost three years in Hares, there remained a few small villages in the Salfit region that we�d never gotten around to exploring... that is, until recently. Recently, IWPS has been visiting the families living in the areas, two of which can be described as family estates and one an ancient village without a permanent population now. All are somewhat removed from other populated areas, and none have electricity or running water. All three are likely to be taken to the �Israeli� side of the Separation Wall that is supposedly being built for Israel�s security. The series of walls and fences, however, has stolen and destroyed thousands of dunums of Palestinian land and hundreds of thousands of olive trees...The following is a chronicle of our visits.
'He shot me with a rubber bullet�
YNetNews 4/22/2005
Mahmad Sa�id Wahadan gets into row with soldiers at Beit Ibah checkpoint; resisting arrest, he�s shot with rubber bullet; Wahadan says he�s proud: �I later beat my son, who had begged them to leave me alone� -- How did Mahmad Sa�id Wahadan, 41, become the target of an IDF officer�s rubber bullet? All he did was ask to pass the Beit Ibah checkpoint, near the West Bank city of Nablus, so he could take his five children home....�He fired a rubber bullet at me, which missed. When he saw that I remained unfazed, he went to the jeep and got another rifle and hit me.� Palestinians at the checkpoint prevented the IDF from arresting Wahadan, who left the checkpoint without passing. A Najah University student who had witnessed the confrontation said that it was Wahadan�s cool demeanor that riled up the officer.
Six injured west of Ramallah
International Middle East Media Center 4/22/2005
Friday evening, Israeli soldiers attacked a peaceful procession against the Separation Wall in the village of Bal�in, west of Ramallah. A local source in the village reported that soldiers attacked dozens of residents who marched towards a construction site, while military bulldozers were uprooting the fields. Army fired rubber coated bullets and gas bombs as dozens of residents attempted to stop the bulldozers from uprooting the fields, five residents were injured.
IOF Arrests Number of Citizens in WB
WAFA 4/22/2005
JENIN, April 22, 2005 (WAFA)-Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested Friday a number of citizens in the West Bank (WB), witnesses said. Witnesses told WAFA that large number of Israeli troops stormed, amid heavy shooting, Jenin City at downtime, arresting four citizens, including three brothers. Witnesses added that IOF also arrested Lo'ay Ashqar, from Sayda village of Tulkarem, leading him to an unknown location. Meanwhile, IOF has closed Salah al-Deen main road, linking the south of Gaza Strip to its north, preventing people from reaching their destinations across the strip. [end]
WSJ: Discount Bank transferred money used for suspected terrorists
Globes 4/21/2005
�The Wall Street Journal�: The suspects also used the services of Arab Bank, which is being sued by families of victims of terror in the US. -- �The Wall Street Journal� lists Israel Discount Bank (TASE: DSCT) among a group of banks that transferred substantial sums of money used to serve suspected terrorists. The suspects also used the services of Amman-based Arab Bank, which is currently being sued in the US by the families of terrorist victims. In addition, US regulatory agencies in Washington are investigating Arab Bank....most of the money transferred by Arab Bank came from other banks; Arab Bank was merely an intermediary. According to �The Wall Street Journal�, other institutions, including Citigroup (NYSE: C) and Discount Bank, also transferred substantial sums for terrorist suspects who used Arab Bank.
Sharon and Abbas agree to meet soon after an exchange of holiday greetings
Daily Star 4/23/2005
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas spoke on the telephone Friday, and the two agreed to meet in the near future, a statement from Sharon's office said. Moving ahead on promises to reform his security services, Abbas has chosen three people to head a consolidated force, Palestinian government officials said. Abbas called both Sharon and President Moshe Katsav to wish them a happy holiday ahead of the Jewish Passover holiday, which begins Saturday night and marks the exodus of the biblical Israelites from Egypt. Sharon's office confirmed the call in a statement, saying the two "agreed to meet in the near future."
Israeli, Jordanian, Palestinian representatives sign Red-Dead Sea Canal study agreement
Globes 4/22/2005
The proposed NIS 3 billion canal from the Red Sea and Dead Sea will produce power, and save the Dead Sea. -- Professional representatives of Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority have signed an agreement to study the feasibility of digging a canal between the Red Sea and Dead Sea, at a cost of NIS 3 billion. Experts from across the world will participate in the $20 million study. Under the plan, the World Bank will help finance the project, which it supports. The World Bank has also offered to help finance the study....Under the agreement, a canal will be built on the Jordanian side of its border with Israel in the Arava. The feasibility study will examine building a tourist park with lakes and water sports, while the Israeli interest is in saving the Dead Sea.
Israel, Palestinians agree on security coordination of Gaza pullout
ReliefWeb 4/22/2005
Tel Aviv (dpa) - Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz and Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister Mohammed Dahlan agreed overnight to form ``coordination mechanisms'' ahead of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip this summer, Israel Radio reported Friday. The two ministers also agreed to continue meeting until implementation of the withdrawal. In between, committees on a lower level would coordinate the pullout, the radio said. The radio quoted Mofaz as saying that the security coordination with the Palestinians was aimed at preventing that the pullout would take place ``under fire'' from Palestinian militants.
Hezbollah leader hints his group may kidnap Israeli soldiers
Ha'aretz 4/22/2005
BEIRUT - Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah hinted Friday his group might kidnap Israel Defense Forces soldiers to win the release of three Lebanese citizens held by Israel. "When we fail in negotiations, and that should be determined soon, we will only have one choice left in front of is. It is what brought back some of the brothers who are among us now," Nasrallah said referring to last year's exchange of a Hezbollah-captured IDF reserve colonel and the bodies of three soldiers in return for hundreds Arab prisoners. Germany is currently leading mediation efforts towards a prisoner exchange between Lebanon and Israel.
�We�ll collect weapons�
YNetNews 4/22/2005
Mohammed Dahlan tells defense minister Palestinians will meet commitments for Tulkarm and Jericho security hand-over; Sharon and Abbas to meet next month; Peres and Qureia push economic cooperation -- Palestinian Authority Security Minister Mohammed Dahlan promised Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, early this morning, that the Palestinians will fulfill their responsibilities regarding control of the West Bank cities of Tulkarm and Jericho. Meanwhile, Dahlan said that the weapons of wanted suspects would be confiscated.
Hizb Allah threat to Israeli soldiers
AlJazeera 4/23/2005
Lebanon's Shia Hizb Allah group leader Shaikh Hasan Nasr Allah has said his group might kidnap Israeli soldiers to win the release of three Lebanese citizens held by the Jewish state. Nasr Allah made the comments on Friday during a ceremony commemorating the 26th anniversary of the capture of Samir Kantar, Israel's longest-held Lebanese prisoner. Kantar, a Lebanese fighter, has been in an Israeli prison since 1979 for killing three Israelis. Israel has said it will not release Kantar before getting information about Ron Arad, an Israeli navigator whose plane was shot down over Lebanon in 1986.
Four arrested in Jenin
International Middle East Media Center 4/22/2005
Friday at dawn, Israeli soldiers invaded the northern West Bank city of Jenin and arrested four residents. A local source in Jenin reported that more than twenty military vehicles and jeeps invaded the city, conducted military searches of homes and arrested four residents, including three brothers....Also, soldiers fired concussion grenades at a number of homes in the eastern neighborhood and Abu Thheir Mountain.
West Bank sealed off for Passover
AlJazeera 4/22/2005
Israel has stepped up security measures ahead of the Jewish Passover holiday, sealing off the Palestinian territories, as an opinion poll shows that most settlers will not oppose the Gaza pullout. The West Bank was closed off until Sunday in an effort to avert attacks during Israel's most popular holiday, which begins on Saturday, with additional police deployed at markets and synagogues. An attack during Passover in 2002 at a hotel in Netanya in northern Israel killed 29 people. Passover commemorates the Jewish exodus from Egypt and is celebrated by 95% of Israeli Jews, with the traditional meal of Seder marking the beginning of Passover week on Saturday.
IDF troops arrest Palestinian youth carrying four pipe bombs
Ha'aretz 4/22/2005
Israel Defense Forces troops at a West Bank checkpoint arrested a Palestinian youth carrying four pipe bombs on Friday. The youth, 17, who was passing through the Beit Farik checkpoint refused to let soldiers open his bag. The soldiers insisted on checking its contents, and found the four explosives, which were ready for use. Sappers safely detonated the bombs. The youth was arrested and transferred to the Shin Bet security service for questioning. Earlier Friday, troops detained a Palestinian trying to smuggle twenty 9 millimeter bullets at the Hawara checkpoint, south of the West Bank city of Nablus.
Female detainee released after six months without charges
International Middle East Media Center 4/22/2005
The Bethlehem office of the Palestinian Prisoners Society reported that Israeli authorities released Ahlam Salah, 28, from Al-Khader near Bethlehem. Ahlam was in administrative detention for six months without charges or trial. The society stated that Ahlam is the widow of Mahmoud Salah, one of Al-Aqsa brigades� fighters, who was assassinated two years ago. Salah said that the female detainees are facing harsh conditions in detention, while the soldiers repeatedly break into their rooms and conduct military searches.
'I saved Israel from its madness'
YNetNews 4/22/2005
Nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu blasts Israel on Norwegian Internet chat, defying ban on contacting foreigners -- Nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu lashed out at Israel Friday in an Internet chat with readers in Norway, defying a ban on contact with foreigners. "I saved Israel from its madness to go toward nuclear genocide war," Vanunu said in the chat set up by Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet. "I am very proud of publishing nuclear secret," Vanunu said, adding that he believed Israel would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons.
After 100 days, Palestinian leader's aura begins to fade
The Independent 4/23/2005
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has decided to appoint three new security chiefs from the services' middle ranks and pension off at least two senior figures, in a move which is timely in more than one respect. The sackings - including that of Mousa Arafat, the powerful National Security Chief - have already provoked anger among the security old guard in Gaza. And if the new appointments go ahead as planned, they will be made on Sunday - a significant reform to mark the 100th day since Mr Abbas's inauguration in Ramallah. They will also come not a moment too soon for critics who complain that, after Mr Abbas's promising start, several weeks of apparent drift had begun to dissipate some of the hopes raised when he took office.
Terror suspects escape Palestinian prison
YNetNews 4/22/2005
The PA arrested those behind bombing of �The Stage� nightclub; now two suspects escape their Tulkarm prison -- Two Palestinians suspected of involvement in the February 25 suicide bombing of Tel Aviv�s Stage nightclub escaped from prison today. The two, Shakif Abdel Rani and Ahmed Zaki were members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. They were arrested by Palestinian security forces, which were aided by the Israelis. The jailbreak embarrassed the Palestinians because it made them look like they are operating a �revolving door� prison system.
Two fighters escape Palestinian detention
International Middle East Media Center 4/22/2005
A Palestinian security source reported that two Palestinians detained at a Palestinian prison in Tulkarem managed to escape on Friday. The two residents were held on suspicions of connections with the Tel Aviv Stage night club bombing in Tel Aviv on February 25, 2005. Shafik Abdul-Ghani and Ahmad Zaki, members of the Islamic Jihad movement were both arrested shortly after the bombing. According to an Israeli security source, the two members were arrested by the P.A security which was �aided by the Israeli intelligence�, according to the source.
Hopes dim as Palestinian president struggles to maintain control
Knight-Ridder 4/20/2005
RAMALLAH, West Bank - To many Palestinians, Mahmoud Abbas is an invisible president. Some say they know their media-shy leader's in town only when his motorcade whizzes past en route to the presidential compound. His high-profile foreign trips have tapered off, as have his news conferences. Young Palestinians, who'd hoped that Abbas' victory in the Jan. 9 presidential election would infuse new blood into his Fatah political faction, rarely talk about him these days.... "We have no control to lose," said Ahmed Soboh, a Palestinian deputy information minister...the Israelis are present everywhere on the West Bank. Mr. Sharon is not facilitating the mission of the new Palestinian president."
'No food, no soldiers'
YNetNews 4/22/2005
Dozens of soldiers in basic training flee base after claiming they had not received enough food for three days -- Dozens of soldiers in basic training fled their southern IDF base Thursday, after claiming to not have received enough food for the past three days. The soldiers, who were enlisted into the army two weeks ago, decided to leave the base in protest to the food shortage. �It reached a point where they were given bananas and cucumbers for lunch,� one concerned mother told Ynet. �It�s a disgrace.� The soldiers hopped over the fence surrounding the base, ran two kilometers to the main highway and made their way home.
IDF appeals acquittal of officer in death of UK cameraman
Jerusalem Post 4/21/2005
The Military Prosecutor has appealed a decision to acquit an officer involved in the death of British photographer James Miller, who was shot by IDF gunfire near Rafah in May 2003. Judge Advocate General Brig.-Gen. Avihai Mandelblit decided to overturn an April 14 a disciplinary hearing decision that acquitted an officer involved in the death of British photographer James Miller near Rafah in May 2003. Miller died as a result of IDF gunfire....Reviewing the disciplinary hearing findings on Wednesday, Mandelblit alleged that the officer who was in command of troops at the time of the shooting permitted soldiers to fire deterrence shots, violating the rules of engagement.
Palestinians keen on coordinating Gaza pullout: minister
ReliefWeb 4/22/2005
CAIRO, Apr 22, 2005 (Xinhua via COMTEX) - The Palestinians are keen on coordinating efforts with Israel to implement a planned Israeli pullout from Gaza and part of the West Bank, a Palestinian minister told the Voice of the Arabs radio on Friday. "The Palestinians are keen on seizing every peace opportunity and are ready to coordinate future steps with the Israelis," Palestinian Planning Minister Ghassan Al-Khatib told the Cairo- based radio. His remarks came after US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch and Deputy National Security Adviser Eliot Abrams met Palestinian and Israeli officials on the pullout this week.
5 arrested in Hebron
International Middle East Media Center 4/22/2005
Friday evening, Israeli soldiers arrested five residents in Al-Thaheriyya, near Hebron. The WAFA news agency reported that soldiers broke into dozens of homes, conducted military searches and arrested Anwar Samarah, Raed Al-Hawareen, Shadi Al-Hawareen, and two brothers identified as Nael and Qaed Al-Hawareen. Dozens of residents were forced out of their homes and interrogated for several hours.
Resident arrested in Arraba
International Middle East Media Center 4/22/2005
Friday afternoon, Israeli soldiers arrested a resident in Arraba, south of Jenin. A local source in the village reported that soldiers, supported by dozens of military jeeps, invaded the village, conducted military searches and arrested Ahmad Mazin Ez ed-Deen, 25 years old. The source stated the Ez ed-Deen was previously arrested for 18 consecutive months. [end]
On eve of Jewish holydays, Palestinians are besieged
International Middle East Media Center 4/22/2005
Israeli military officialsdecided Thursday to impose an entire closure on all Palestinian territories during the Jewish holidays. The closure order would be in effect from Thursday night until Monday morning. The entire Palestinian population will be banned from entering Israel or move through certain major West Bank check posts. Nevertheless, Israel decided to keep Erez crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip open. Only in special humanitarian cases, Palestinians who hold special permits issued by the Israeli liaison office will be allowed through military check posts.
Putin says Syria missile sale no threat to Israel
Ha'aretz 4/22/2005
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday dismissed concerns by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon over Moscow's sale of missiles to Syria, saying the weapons would not fall into the hands of anti-Israeli militants. Putin, due to visit Israel state next week, told Channel 1 television Russia would be able to monitor what happened to the short-range, anti-aircraft missiles it had sold to Syria. "[The weapons] cannot be transferred to terror organizations without someone finding out," Channel 1 translated Putin as saying from Russian. "We have the capabilities to monitor them."
Marines storm ashore in Nitzanim
Jerusalem Post 4/22/2005
The IDF refused to release more details in keeping with a policy dictated by the United States to minimize reports of Israeli-US military cooperation. -- Hundreds of US Marines riding hovercrafts stormed ashore the beaches of Nitzanim Wednesday as part of joint maneuvers being quietly held between the US and Israeli militaries. The Marines simulated an armed assault from the sea while IDF forces maneuvered inland until the two forces met. Military sources said the operation was code named "Kaya Green." Troops were delivered by LCVs (hovercrafts) which also unloaded Humvees.
Sharon vows to defy Bush over expansion of Israeli settlements
The Independent 4/22/2005
Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, vowed to continue expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank despite his admitted differences with President George Bush on the issue. In his most uncompromising comments yet on the settler question, Mr Sharon depicted the planned withdrawal from Gaza as the only way of preserving the largest settlement blocks on the Palestinian side of the pre-1967 border with Israel. "I am doing everything I can to preserve as much [of the West Bank settlements] as I can," he said. In an interview with The Jerusalem Post, which will be published in full today, Mr Sharon acknowledged that the US and Israel did not, in the paper's words, "necessarily see eye to eye" on settlement expansion.
Interview: Sharon speaks to the 'Post'
Jerusalem Post 4/22/2005
The Post met with Prime Minister Sharon late on Monday afternoon at his official residence in Jerusalem. We were asked not to publish the interview until shortly before Pessah. He seemed at ease, alternately serious and jovial as the subject matter demanded. His main concern seemed to be to emphasize the importance he attaches to American understandings regarding long-term Israeli control of major West Bank settlement blocs � the quid pro quo for the disengagement from Gaza. He evinced no doubt whatsoever regarding the rightness of his decision to disengage, intimating that only his readiness to relinquish Gaza had given Israel the opportunity to safeguard the core of the settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria.
Interview: Sharon at a crossroads
YNetNews 4/22/2005
Prime Minister Sharon talks about the battle over disengagement and what the plan means for his settlement legacy -- This is the holiday interview that has very little to celebrate. Ariel Sharon, 77, four years as prime minister, has reached a crossroads. Disengagement, whose exact date is still not final, passed a series of political obstacles, but now must pass the critical test on the ground. Terrorism has been extinguished but every sign speaks of its return. Sharon is supported by the American government and is accepted more than ever by Europe and the Arab world. He has a government. He has polls. He doesn�t have a party. A cloud of doubt hangs over his political future.
Haaretz poll: PM's popularity drops for first time in months
Ha'aretz 4/22/2005
The regular and continual rise in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's popularity has suddenly come to a halt, a Haaretz survey published Friday shows. Asked to rate Sharon's job performance on a scale of 1 to 10, Israelis gave an average rating of 5.95 - as compared to 6.6 in March, 6.3 in January and 6.05 last November. Assuming this is, in fact, the beginning of a trend, one can only guess at the reason for it: Perhaps the fiasco of appointing ministers at the end of the Knesset session three weeks ago made its contribution; perhaps the failures that are coming to light daily in the planning of the disengagement make the citizens angry.
Netanyahu's aides say he'll run for PM
Jerusalem Post 4/22/2005
Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu intends to challenge Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the Likud leadership and the premiership, no matter when the next Likud primary and general election will be held, sources close to Netanyahu told The Jerusalem Post this week. When Netanyahu became finance minister more than two years ago, he tried to keep a low profile on diplomatic and political issues. But Netanyahu recently returned to political activity, in part to prepare for the next election, which is set for November 2006 but could be moved up if Sharon initiates early elections or if Labor leaves the government.
Israeli President Set To Hold Parley On 'Crisis Situation' of World Jewry
Forward 4/22/2005
Israeli President Moshe Katsav is taking the first concrete steps toward forming a new forum of Jewish leaders from across the globe to tackle what he calls the "crisis situation" facing the Jewish world. Katsav's earlier proposal for a global Jewish parliament has been shelved, primarily because of the difficulty of holding worldwide elections. Instead, Katsav has called a preparatory meeting this June to begin planning what has been referred to as a "Jewish Davos" � a conference that will bring together some 300 Jewish intellectuals, politicians and communal leaders....Katsav's proposal grows out of a broader campaign to engage world Jewry more fully in Israel's political process.
Russia offers choppers to PA
Jerusalem Post 4/20/2005
Russia has reportedly offered to donate to the Palestinian Authority two Mi-17 transport helicopters for VIP use to replace the choppers Israel destroyed in 2001. According to the London-based Jane's Defence Weekly, the Russians have also offered to supply the Palestinians with 50 former BRDM-2 armored vehicles drawn down from the Russian Army. The offer was made following a visit to Moscow by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in late January. PA Ambassador to Moscow Khairi Naji al-Aweidi was quoted as saying the offer marked a "tangible show of support for Abbas and the PA from Moscow."
Her Royal Highness
YNetNews 4/22/2005
Wife of Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. says she lives according to "American standards," allowing her to insult embassy employees and make unreasonable demands -- Anne Ayalon, wife of Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Danny Ayalon, says she lives according to "American standards," a lifestyle that apparently permits her to require her housekeeper to bow to her and hurl insults at embassy employees...They spoke of Mrs. Ayalon's uncontrollable outbursts, unreasonable demands, and derogatory treatment. Documents obtained by Yedioth Ahronoth reveal the embassy was aware of the goings on, yet refrained from taking any action.
Film review: "Sense of Need"
Electronic Intifada 4/22/2005
Sense of Need (2004) begins simply enough with the main character narrating his life for the viewer. Almost switched at birth with a red-haired Jewish boy, Palestinian Joseph was born while Israel was at war with Egypt. At the age of seven his father bought him his first piano and then "began his life in color." At first one might take this as purely a poetic metaphor, but this is not the case in newcomer Shady Srour's psychologically complicated and loosely autobiographical plot. Srour, a man of many talents, wrote, directed, and produced his first full-length feature film. He also portrays the protagonist Joseph, a twenty-seven year old aspiring musician who lives in San Francisco and is just a week away from finishing his masters degree.
The new slaves
Globes 4/22/2005
This Passover eve, Israel must reconsider its economic model. -- On the eve of Passover, Israel finds itself is an odd situation. On one hand, there is unrestrained optimism about the economic growth rate and the improvement in the standard of living, but there is deep pessimism about expanded social welfare gaps and the amount of poverty on the other....The best model for Israel's economy is not the US. Despite it immense economic power, the US has unimaginably wide social gaps and growing poverty as part of its daily reality. The Western European model is the best model for Israel, meaning capitalist states with social policies that emphasize helping the poor.
Alrosa CEO to discuss rough diamond deliveries to Israeli merchant
Globes 4/21/2005
Alexander Nichiporuk will visit the Ramat Gan Diamond Exchange next week. He may be a part of Russian President Vladimir Putin's entourage. -- Alrosa CEO Alexander Nichiporuk will visit the Ramat Gan Diamond Exchange next week. Alrosa, a Russian government company, is the world's second largest producer of rough diamonds. Israeli sources expect Nichiporuk to announce collaboration with Israel's diamond industry, and the possibility of Alrosa's first sales of rough diamonds to Israel. Nichiporuk may be part of the entourage of Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit next week, since he is considered an associate of Putin.
Association of University Teachers to boycott Israeli institutions
Electronic Intifada 4/22/2005
Press Release, Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) -- The Association of University Teachers (AUT) in the UK voted in its Council meeting today to boycott Haifa and Bar-Ilan Universities[1] and to disseminate to all its chapters our Call for Boycott of Israeli academic institutions. This historic decision, which sets a landmark precedent, stands as a major achievement in the struggle to attain a just peace in our region. Finally, boycotting Israeli institutions, as a morally and politically sound response to Israel�s crimes, is on the mainstream agenda in the west; and no one can ignore it now.
Report: UK Assoc. of Uni. Teachers votes to boycott 2 Israeli universities
Ha'aretz 4/23/2005
Delegates of the United Kingdom Association of University Teachers, meeting in Eastbourne England, voted Friday to boycott Haifa University and Bar Ilan University, according to the Guardian newspaper. The report states that although the executive opposed the move, delegates belonging to the leading union of British lecturers voted for an immediate boycott of Haifa University, which they claim restricts the academic freedom of staff members who criticize the government. Bar Ilan University will also be boycotted, as it has a branch in the West Bank settlement of Ariel.
Academics back Israeli boycotts
BBC 4/22/2005
Academics have voted to boycott two Israeli universities over their alleged involvement in "illegal activity" in the occupied territories. Members of the Association of University Teachers (AUT) decided to suspend all links with Haifa and Bar-Ilan universities. They were complicit in a system of "apartheid" towards Palestinians, delegates at the AUT's council heard. The votes, and lack of debate, have been condemned by pro-Israel groups. At the AUT conference, in Eastbourne, Haifa University was accused of mistreating politics lecturer Ilan Pappe for defending a graduate student's research into controversial areas of Israeli history.
UPDATED: Aipac Officials Being Pushed Out
Forward 4/22/2005
Well-placed sources in Washington say that America�s most influential pro-Israel lobby is firing two of its top officials. Spokesmen for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee refused to say whether the officials, Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, who are reportedly under federal investigation, are still employed by the organization. Rosen�s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, refused to speak for the record about Rosen�s status at Aipac. Lawyers representing Rosen and Weissman issued a joint statement defending their clients without directly addressing their employment status.
Israel lobby in US 'fires staff'
BBC 4/21/2005
A powerful pro-Israel lobby group in Washington has fired two top employees said to be involved in an FBI spying investigation, US newspapers report. The New York Times and Washington Post say the men from the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) are suspected of passing secrets to Israel. Nobody has been charged with wrongdoing and lawyers for the dismissed men say they did not break any rules. Aipac said the action was taken after "recently learned information". Spokesman Patrick Dorton said the "conduct that Aipac expects of its employees" was also a factor in the decision.
Analysis / AIPAC institutes its own `disengagement plan'
Ha'aretz 4/22/2005
WASHINGTON - In exactly a month's time, the annual AIPAC Policy Conference will take place in the American capital. The keynote speakers will be U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. AIPAC officials would like to see the event as an unreserved show of support for the lobby and an indication that the crisis over the organization is now over. To this end, AIPAC had to institute its own kind of "disengagement plan" this week. AIPAC realized that it was too heavy a burden to keep policy director Steve Rosen and Iran expert Keith Weissman on its staff.
Lebanese security chiefs to step aside
AlJazeera 4/22/2005
Two of Lebanon's top security chiefs have offered to step aside, and the prime minister promised parliamentary elections by 29 May. The security chiefs want to temporarily step down during the mission of a UN investigation into the killing of former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri, the state news agency said on Friday. General Security chief General Jamil Sayyid and General Ali Hajj, head of Internal Security Forces, presented their offer in writing to Prime Minister Najib Miqati, the agency said. Sayyid and Hajj were among several security leaders whose removal has been demanded by the opposition for suspected direct or indirect involvement in the killing.
Egypt: Judges into the fray
Al-Ahram Weekly on-line 4/21/2005
Over 1,000 judges vowed to boycott presidential and parliamentary elections unless the government responded to their demands. -- At an emergency general assembly of the Alexandria Judges Club, around 1,200 judges threatened to abstain from supervising this year's presidential and parliamentary elections unless they were given full control over every stage of the elections. The judges also called on the state to endorse their draft amendment of the judiciary authority law, which they see as currently undermining judges' independence. "We want a truly independent judiciary through which we can protect freedoms and rights," the general assembly declared.
Islamists headed for victory in Saudi Arabia's local polls
Daily Star 4/23/2005
Winners say liberal opponents ran unorganized campaign --JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia: Islamist candidates endorsed by religious scholars looked set for victory Friday in local polls in the Saudi commercial capital of Jeddah, mirroring wins in the elections in other cities, candidates said. But one of the likely winners insisted that the clerics' backing was just "the icing on the cake" and that Islamist candidates had conducted a more active campaign than their liberal rivals.
Many killed in Baghdad mosque blast
AlJazeera 4/22/2005
At least nine people have been killed and 26 wounded after a car bomb exploded outside a crowded Shia mosque in Baghdad. "According to the latest toll, there are nine dead and 26 wounded," said an Interior Ministry source. The explosion occurred during Friday prayers. A police official earlier said five were killed and 25 hurt in the attack at al-Subaih mosque, in the southeast of the capital. "Some witnesses said they saw a bomber in the car, a white BMW, but we are checking these reports," he added.
19 Iraqi army corpses found in Baiji
Middle East Online 4/22/2005
Iraqi soldiers� corpses found in deserted place between Asainiya and Baiji, three US soldiers killed in Iraq. -- TIKRIT - Nineteen executed Iraqi soldiers� bodies, kidnapped a few days before at a rebel checkpoint, were found dumped near the oil refinery town of Baiji, north of Baghdad, Iraqi police said. "Police found 19 dead Iraqi soldiers in Baiji. They were taken hostage three or four days ago. They were found in a deserted place between Asainiya and Baiji, with bullet holes to the head and stomach," said Captain Saad Nafos, police commander in Baiji.
Top US officers cleared of Abu Ghraib allegations
Jerusalem Post 4/23/2005
The US Army has cleared four top officers - including the three-star general who commanded all US forces in Iraq - of all allegations of wrongdoing in connection with prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib in Iraq, officials said. Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who became the senior commander in Iraq in June 2003, two months after the fall of Baghdad, had been faulted in earlier investigations for leadership lapses that may have contributed to prisoner abuse. He is the highest-ranking officer to face official allegations of leadership failures in Iraq, but he has not been accused of criminal violations.
Abuses by U.S. and Afghan forces 'undermine' security
Daily Star 4/23/2005
UN expert says he has received numerous reports of torture and arbitary arrests -- KABUL: A United Nations human rights official says he has received reports of torture and other abuses by U.S.-led and Afghan forces which undermine the country's security and stability. Cherif Bassiouni, the UN's independent expert on human rights in Afghanistan, said that he had received reports that U.S.-led forces and Afghan security agencies "act above and beyond the reach of the law by engaging in arbitrary arrests and detentions" and torturing their detainees.
Articles
To Boldly Go
By Ilan Pappe, MIFTAH 4/22/2005
I appeal to you today to be part of a historical movement and moment that may bring an end to more than a century of colonization, occupation and dispossession of Palestinians. I appeal to you as an Israeli Jew, who for years wished, and looked, for other ways to bring an end to the evil perpetrated against the Palestinians in the occupied territories, inside Israel and in the refugee camps. I devoted all my adult life, with others, creating a substantial peace movement inside Israel, in which, so we hoped, academia will play a leading role. But after 37 years of endless brutal and callous oppression of the people of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and after 57 years of colonization and dispossession of the Palestinians as a whole, I think this hope is unrealistic and other means have to be looked at to end a conflict that endangers peace in the world at large.
Violence and armed struggle have also failed, and they can't be easily condoned by people like myself who are basically pacifists at heart. Historical examples, such as in South Africa and Gandhi's movement in India, prove that there are peaceful means for achieving an end to the longest oppression and violation of human rights in the last century. Boycotts and outside pressure have never been attempted in the case of Israel, a state that wishes to be included in the civilized democratic world. Israel has indeed enjoyed such a status since its creation in 1948 and, therefore, succeeded in fending off the many United Nations' resolutions that condemned its policies and, moreover, managed to obtain a preferential status in the European Union. Israeli academia's elevated position in the global scholarly community epitomizes this western support for Israel as the "only democracy" in the Middle East. Shielded by this particular support for academia, and other cultural media, the Israeli army and security services can go on, and will go on, demolishing houses, expelling families, abusing citizens and killing, almost every day, children and women without being accountable regionally and globally for their crimes.
Can't Buy Me Peace
Editorial, MIFTAH 4/20/2005
You ask for it�you got it: this is the United States� policy in providing funds to Israel. In a predawn meeting with U.S. officials in Washington Wednesday, Israeli delegates requested financial aid ahead of the Gaza disengagement in July. The Bush administration guaranteed three billion dollars to aid development in the Negev and Galilee regions � areas in which Gaza settlers are to be relocated � as well as to fund the relocation of Israeli Occupation Forces after the withdrawal. This aid is in addition to the more than 2.5 billion dollars already provided by the U.S. to Israel in the 2005 fiscal year for economic, military and migration resettlement assistance.
While U.S. President George W. Bush praised Israel�s peace efforts by taking steps to withdraw from occupied Gaza, the extra aid indicates that it is really the U.S. making it possible. But before cheering the U.S., take a step back and analyze the bigger picture. Bush said in last week�s summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that the U.S. is �now ready to help the Palestinians seize the moment that this prime minister has provided in Gaza� in order to boost the economy and move forward with the roadmap to create a �viable� Palestinian state. However, huge amounts of U.S. money are going directly to Israel, while the Palestinians will only receive a total of 200 million dollars, a tenth of which will be paid to Israel for past-due utility bills and a fourth of which will go toward transit points between Israeli and Palestinian areas, leaving doubts as to whom the funds really benefit.
Where then is the real assistance? How is this an effective process toward peace? And is the U.S. really an honest broker in mediating peace between the Palestinians and Israelis?
If the settlers want to stay, let them
By Yossi Alpher, Daily Star 4/22/2005
The only recorded instance of Israeli settler leaders and Palestinian leaders discussing the possibility of settlers remaining on Palestinian territory after an Israeli withdrawal took place 10 years ago in talks I organized in Jerusalem. The discussion of the issue is recorded in a Hebrew-language book I published four years ago titled "And the Wolf Shall Dwell with the Wolf: The Settlers and the Palestinians." Some of the statements made then have only now become truly relevant.
Hassan Asfour, the chief Palestinian negotiator at the time, remarked: "We want a democratic country. The presence of Jews will help us ensure democracy, and will also enable us to serve as a bridge between Israel and the Arab world. As for the settlements per se, they are a consequence of occupation.
Where their location doesn't constitute a problem for us, we'll consider the possibility of leaving them in place. But not before a Palestinian state comes into being in Gaza and the West Bank ... [A] settler can remain ... as an individual ..."
Khalil Shikaki, the leading Palestinian political scientist, observed: "I understand [the settlers'] ideological motivation. But why ... insist on national sovereignty? I came ... to see whether I'm correct or not when I assume that ideologically motivated Jews want to live in the Land of Israel for reasons that transcend politics."
The same old tune
By Nehemia Strasler, Ha'aretz 4/22/2005
It was quite clear that one day the trailers would arrive, too. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is simply unable to manage without them. He missed them so much.
In 1990, at the beginning of the large wave of immigration from the former Soviet Union, he was appointed minister of housing. He didn't for a moment consider the possibility of allowing the contractors to decide where to build, according to market demand. Sharon has never believed in the free market. He has a Bolshevist worldview of administration from above. That's why he decided where to build, how to build, and according to what standard. Then he gave the contractors government guarantees of 100 percent, and turned them into millionaires.
....A tour of Gush Katif presents the disengagement in a different light. A group of 7,500 people turned the life of the 1.3 million Arabs into a hell. They appropriated a large percentage of the land and the water and cut off the residents of Khan Yunis from the sea. The roads are for Israelis only; the local residents travel on twisting dirt roads strewn with roadblocks. The occupation has caused an employment rate of 60 percent! One factory in the settlement of Kfar Darom (an enclave inside the Dir al-Balah refugee camp) uses more water to wash bugs out of lettuce than all the drinking water allotted for the residents of the refugee camp. Apartheid at its most shameful.
The Arab Scene
By Mustafa El-Feki, MIFTAH 4/22/2005
The Arab world appears to have entered a new chapter in the trials and tribulations that have beset it over recent decades as it faces a sudden onslaught of regional and international developments -- the election of a Republican administration in the US to a second term of office, the new phase in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the formation of a new government in Iraq raising question marks over the future of that country and the repercussions it will have throughout the region. Add to these the political rhetoric issuing from Cairo, Damascus and Ramallah and we realise that a number of realities are now locked in place.
There is not a shadow of doubt that Iran will be next on the current US administration's hit list -- Washington's threats against it are too similar to the buildup to the war against Iraq. There are some differences, however. US relations with Iran are qualitatively different to its relations with Saddam Hussein's Iraq. And Washington has learned some bitter lessons from its experience in Iraq, among them the realisation that you cannot eat two meals at the same time. The most likely scenario, therefore, is that Israel will act as Washington's proxy and launch a surprise attack against Iran's nuclear reactors and long-range missile factories. Not that there is anything new in this. Israel has a long history of foreign exploits of this kind, among them its strike against Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981. It also has the incentive. Iran, with its long-range missiles and potential nuclear capacity, comes second only to Hizbullah as a thorn in Israel's side.
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News
Abbas chooses heads of new Palestinian security services
Ha'aretz 4/23/2005
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has chosen three people to head a consolidated Palestinian security service, Palestinian government officials said Friday. Abbas has also signed off on the removal of two senior security officials, including Moussa Arafat, the cousin of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity....Tarek Abu Rajab will be head of general intelligence in the PA; Suleiman Heles will be chief of national security in Gaza and the West Bank; and Alaa Husni will be head of the Palestinian police in the West Bank and Gaza, the officials said.
The Forgotten Villages of Salfit
International Womens' Peace Service 4/21/2005
After almost three years in Hares, there remained a few small villages in the Salfit region that we�d never gotten around to exploring... that is, until recently. Recently, IWPS has been visiting the families living in the areas, two of which can be described as family estates and one an ancient village without a permanent population now. All are somewhat removed from other populated areas, and none have electricity or running water. All three are likely to be taken to the �Israeli� side of the Separation Wall that is supposedly being built for Israel�s security. The series of walls and fences, however, has stolen and destroyed thousands of dunums of Palestinian land and hundreds of thousands of olive trees...The following is a chronicle of our visits.
'He shot me with a rubber bullet�
YNetNews 4/22/2005
Mahmad Sa�id Wahadan gets into row with soldiers at Beit Ibah checkpoint; resisting arrest, he�s shot with rubber bullet; Wahadan says he�s proud: �I later beat my son, who had begged them to leave me alone� -- How did Mahmad Sa�id Wahadan, 41, become the target of an IDF officer�s rubber bullet? All he did was ask to pass the Beit Ibah checkpoint, near the West Bank city of Nablus, so he could take his five children home....�He fired a rubber bullet at me, which missed. When he saw that I remained unfazed, he went to the jeep and got another rifle and hit me.� Palestinians at the checkpoint prevented the IDF from arresting Wahadan, who left the checkpoint without passing. A Najah University student who had witnessed the confrontation said that it was Wahadan�s cool demeanor that riled up the officer.
Six injured west of Ramallah
International Middle East Media Center 4/22/2005
Friday evening, Israeli soldiers attacked a peaceful procession against the Separation Wall in the village of Bal�in, west of Ramallah. A local source in the village reported that soldiers attacked dozens of residents who marched towards a construction site, while military bulldozers were uprooting the fields. Army fired rubber coated bullets and gas bombs as dozens of residents attempted to stop the bulldozers from uprooting the fields, five residents were injured.
IOF Arrests Number of Citizens in WB
WAFA 4/22/2005
JENIN, April 22, 2005 (WAFA)-Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested Friday a number of citizens in the West Bank (WB), witnesses said. Witnesses told WAFA that large number of Israeli troops stormed, amid heavy shooting, Jenin City at downtime, arresting four citizens, including three brothers. Witnesses added that IOF also arrested Lo'ay Ashqar, from Sayda village of Tulkarem, leading him to an unknown location. Meanwhile, IOF has closed Salah al-Deen main road, linking the south of Gaza Strip to its north, preventing people from reaching their destinations across the strip. [end]
WSJ: Discount Bank transferred money used for suspected terrorists
Globes 4/21/2005
�The Wall Street Journal�: The suspects also used the services of Arab Bank, which is being sued by families of victims of terror in the US. -- �The Wall Street Journal� lists Israel Discount Bank (TASE: DSCT) among a group of banks that transferred substantial sums of money used to serve suspected terrorists. The suspects also used the services of Amman-based Arab Bank, which is currently being sued in the US by the families of terrorist victims. In addition, US regulatory agencies in Washington are investigating Arab Bank....most of the money transferred by Arab Bank came from other banks; Arab Bank was merely an intermediary. According to �The Wall Street Journal�, other institutions, including Citigroup (NYSE: C) and Discount Bank, also transferred substantial sums for terrorist suspects who used Arab Bank.
Sharon and Abbas agree to meet soon after an exchange of holiday greetings
Daily Star 4/23/2005
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas spoke on the telephone Friday, and the two agreed to meet in the near future, a statement from Sharon's office said. Moving ahead on promises to reform his security services, Abbas has chosen three people to head a consolidated force, Palestinian government officials said. Abbas called both Sharon and President Moshe Katsav to wish them a happy holiday ahead of the Jewish Passover holiday, which begins Saturday night and marks the exodus of the biblical Israelites from Egypt. Sharon's office confirmed the call in a statement, saying the two "agreed to meet in the near future."
Israeli, Jordanian, Palestinian representatives sign Red-Dead Sea Canal study agreement
Globes 4/22/2005
The proposed NIS 3 billion canal from the Red Sea and Dead Sea will produce power, and save the Dead Sea. -- Professional representatives of Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority have signed an agreement to study the feasibility of digging a canal between the Red Sea and Dead Sea, at a cost of NIS 3 billion. Experts from across the world will participate in the $20 million study. Under the plan, the World Bank will help finance the project, which it supports. The World Bank has also offered to help finance the study....Under the agreement, a canal will be built on the Jordanian side of its border with Israel in the Arava. The feasibility study will examine building a tourist park with lakes and water sports, while the Israeli interest is in saving the Dead Sea.
Israel, Palestinians agree on security coordination of Gaza pullout
ReliefWeb 4/22/2005
Tel Aviv (dpa) - Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz and Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister Mohammed Dahlan agreed overnight to form ``coordination mechanisms'' ahead of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip this summer, Israel Radio reported Friday. The two ministers also agreed to continue meeting until implementation of the withdrawal. In between, committees on a lower level would coordinate the pullout, the radio said. The radio quoted Mofaz as saying that the security coordination with the Palestinians was aimed at preventing that the pullout would take place ``under fire'' from Palestinian militants.
Hezbollah leader hints his group may kidnap Israeli soldiers
Ha'aretz 4/22/2005
BEIRUT - Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah hinted Friday his group might kidnap Israel Defense Forces soldiers to win the release of three Lebanese citizens held by Israel. "When we fail in negotiations, and that should be determined soon, we will only have one choice left in front of is. It is what brought back some of the brothers who are among us now," Nasrallah said referring to last year's exchange of a Hezbollah-captured IDF reserve colonel and the bodies of three soldiers in return for hundreds Arab prisoners. Germany is currently leading mediation efforts towards a prisoner exchange between Lebanon and Israel.
�We�ll collect weapons�
YNetNews 4/22/2005
Mohammed Dahlan tells defense minister Palestinians will meet commitments for Tulkarm and Jericho security hand-over; Sharon and Abbas to meet next month; Peres and Qureia push economic cooperation -- Palestinian Authority Security Minister Mohammed Dahlan promised Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, early this morning, that the Palestinians will fulfill their responsibilities regarding control of the West Bank cities of Tulkarm and Jericho. Meanwhile, Dahlan said that the weapons of wanted suspects would be confiscated.
Hizb Allah threat to Israeli soldiers
AlJazeera 4/23/2005
Lebanon's Shia Hizb Allah group leader Shaikh Hasan Nasr Allah has said his group might kidnap Israeli soldiers to win the release of three Lebanese citizens held by the Jewish state. Nasr Allah made the comments on Friday during a ceremony commemorating the 26th anniversary of the capture of Samir Kantar, Israel's longest-held Lebanese prisoner. Kantar, a Lebanese fighter, has been in an Israeli prison since 1979 for killing three Israelis. Israel has said it will not release Kantar before getting information about Ron Arad, an Israeli navigator whose plane was shot down over Lebanon in 1986.
Four arrested in Jenin
International Middle East Media Center 4/22/2005
Friday at dawn, Israeli soldiers invaded the northern West Bank city of Jenin and arrested four residents. A local source in Jenin reported that more than twenty military vehicles and jeeps invaded the city, conducted military searches of homes and arrested four residents, including three brothers....Also, soldiers fired concussion grenades at a number of homes in the eastern neighborhood and Abu Thheir Mountain.
West Bank sealed off for Passover
AlJazeera 4/22/2005
Israel has stepped up security measures ahead of the Jewish Passover holiday, sealing off the Palestinian territories, as an opinion poll shows that most settlers will not oppose the Gaza pullout. The West Bank was closed off until Sunday in an effort to avert attacks during Israel's most popular holiday, which begins on Saturday, with additional police deployed at markets and synagogues. An attack during Passover in 2002 at a hotel in Netanya in northern Israel killed 29 people. Passover commemorates the Jewish exodus from Egypt and is celebrated by 95% of Israeli Jews, with the traditional meal of Seder marking the beginning of Passover week on Saturday.
IDF troops arrest Palestinian youth carrying four pipe bombs
Ha'aretz 4/22/2005
Israel Defense Forces troops at a West Bank checkpoint arrested a Palestinian youth carrying four pipe bombs on Friday. The youth, 17, who was passing through the Beit Farik checkpoint refused to let soldiers open his bag. The soldiers insisted on checking its contents, and found the four explosives, which were ready for use. Sappers safely detonated the bombs. The youth was arrested and transferred to the Shin Bet security service for questioning. Earlier Friday, troops detained a Palestinian trying to smuggle twenty 9 millimeter bullets at the Hawara checkpoint, south of the West Bank city of Nablus.
Female detainee released after six months without charges
International Middle East Media Center 4/22/2005
The Bethlehem office of the Palestinian Prisoners Society reported that Israeli authorities released Ahlam Salah, 28, from Al-Khader near Bethlehem. Ahlam was in administrative detention for six months without charges or trial. The society stated that Ahlam is the widow of Mahmoud Salah, one of Al-Aqsa brigades� fighters, who was assassinated two years ago. Salah said that the female detainees are facing harsh conditions in detention, while the soldiers repeatedly break into their rooms and conduct military searches.
'I saved Israel from its madness'
YNetNews 4/22/2005
Nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu blasts Israel on Norwegian Internet chat, defying ban on contacting foreigners -- Nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu lashed out at Israel Friday in an Internet chat with readers in Norway, defying a ban on contact with foreigners. "I saved Israel from its madness to go toward nuclear genocide war," Vanunu said in the chat set up by Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet. "I am very proud of publishing nuclear secret," Vanunu said, adding that he believed Israel would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons.
After 100 days, Palestinian leader's aura begins to fade
The Independent 4/23/2005
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has decided to appoint three new security chiefs from the services' middle ranks and pension off at least two senior figures, in a move which is timely in more than one respect. The sackings - including that of Mousa Arafat, the powerful National Security Chief - have already provoked anger among the security old guard in Gaza. And if the new appointments go ahead as planned, they will be made on Sunday - a significant reform to mark the 100th day since Mr Abbas's inauguration in Ramallah. They will also come not a moment too soon for critics who complain that, after Mr Abbas's promising start, several weeks of apparent drift had begun to dissipate some of the hopes raised when he took office.
Terror suspects escape Palestinian prison
YNetNews 4/22/2005
The PA arrested those behind bombing of �The Stage� nightclub; now two suspects escape their Tulkarm prison -- Two Palestinians suspected of involvement in the February 25 suicide bombing of Tel Aviv�s Stage nightclub escaped from prison today. The two, Shakif Abdel Rani and Ahmed Zaki were members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. They were arrested by Palestinian security forces, which were aided by the Israelis. The jailbreak embarrassed the Palestinians because it made them look like they are operating a �revolving door� prison system.
Two fighters escape Palestinian detention
International Middle East Media Center 4/22/2005
A Palestinian security source reported that two Palestinians detained at a Palestinian prison in Tulkarem managed to escape on Friday. The two residents were held on suspicions of connections with the Tel Aviv Stage night club bombing in Tel Aviv on February 25, 2005. Shafik Abdul-Ghani and Ahmad Zaki, members of the Islamic Jihad movement were both arrested shortly after the bombing. According to an Israeli security source, the two members were arrested by the P.A security which was �aided by the Israeli intelligence�, according to the source.
Hopes dim as Palestinian president struggles to maintain control
Knight-Ridder 4/20/2005
RAMALLAH, West Bank - To many Palestinians, Mahmoud Abbas is an invisible president. Some say they know their media-shy leader's in town only when his motorcade whizzes past en route to the presidential compound. His high-profile foreign trips have tapered off, as have his news conferences. Young Palestinians, who'd hoped that Abbas' victory in the Jan. 9 presidential election would infuse new blood into his Fatah political faction, rarely talk about him these days.... "We have no control to lose," said Ahmed Soboh, a Palestinian deputy information minister...the Israelis are present everywhere on the West Bank. Mr. Sharon is not facilitating the mission of the new Palestinian president."
'No food, no soldiers'
YNetNews 4/22/2005
Dozens of soldiers in basic training flee base after claiming they had not received enough food for three days -- Dozens of soldiers in basic training fled their southern IDF base Thursday, after claiming to not have received enough food for the past three days. The soldiers, who were enlisted into the army two weeks ago, decided to leave the base in protest to the food shortage. �It reached a point where they were given bananas and cucumbers for lunch,� one concerned mother told Ynet. �It�s a disgrace.� The soldiers hopped over the fence surrounding the base, ran two kilometers to the main highway and made their way home.
IDF appeals acquittal of officer in death of UK cameraman
Jerusalem Post 4/21/2005
The Military Prosecutor has appealed a decision to acquit an officer involved in the death of British photographer James Miller, who was shot by IDF gunfire near Rafah in May 2003. Judge Advocate General Brig.-Gen. Avihai Mandelblit decided to overturn an April 14 a disciplinary hearing decision that acquitted an officer involved in the death of British photographer James Miller near Rafah in May 2003. Miller died as a result of IDF gunfire....Reviewing the disciplinary hearing findings on Wednesday, Mandelblit alleged that the officer who was in command of troops at the time of the shooting permitted soldiers to fire deterrence shots, violating the rules of engagement.
Palestinians keen on coordinating Gaza pullout: minister
ReliefWeb 4/22/2005
CAIRO, Apr 22, 2005 (Xinhua via COMTEX) - The Palestinians are keen on coordinating efforts with Israel to implement a planned Israeli pullout from Gaza and part of the West Bank, a Palestinian minister told the Voice of the Arabs radio on Friday. "The Palestinians are keen on seizing every peace opportunity and are ready to coordinate future steps with the Israelis," Palestinian Planning Minister Ghassan Al-Khatib told the Cairo- based radio. His remarks came after US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch and Deputy National Security Adviser Eliot Abrams met Palestinian and Israeli officials on the pullout this week.
5 arrested in Hebron
International Middle East Media Center 4/22/2005
Friday evening, Israeli soldiers arrested five residents in Al-Thaheriyya, near Hebron. The WAFA news agency reported that soldiers broke into dozens of homes, conducted military searches and arrested Anwar Samarah, Raed Al-Hawareen, Shadi Al-Hawareen, and two brothers identified as Nael and Qaed Al-Hawareen. Dozens of residents were forced out of their homes and interrogated for several hours.
Resident arrested in Arraba
International Middle East Media Center 4/22/2005
Friday afternoon, Israeli soldiers arrested a resident in Arraba, south of Jenin. A local source in the village reported that soldiers, supported by dozens of military jeeps, invaded the village, conducted military searches and arrested Ahmad Mazin Ez ed-Deen, 25 years old. The source stated the Ez ed-Deen was previously arrested for 18 consecutive months. [end]
On eve of Jewish holydays, Palestinians are besieged
International Middle East Media Center 4/22/2005
Israeli military officialsdecided Thursday to impose an entire closure on all Palestinian territories during the Jewish holidays. The closure order would be in effect from Thursday night until Monday morning. The entire Palestinian population will be banned from entering Israel or move through certain major West Bank check posts. Nevertheless, Israel decided to keep Erez crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip open. Only in special humanitarian cases, Palestinians who hold special permits issued by the Israeli liaison office will be allowed through military check posts.
Putin says Syria missile sale no threat to Israel
Ha'aretz 4/22/2005
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday dismissed concerns by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon over Moscow's sale of missiles to Syria, saying the weapons would not fall into the hands of anti-Israeli militants. Putin, due to visit Israel state next week, told Channel 1 television Russia would be able to monitor what happened to the short-range, anti-aircraft missiles it had sold to Syria. "[The weapons] cannot be transferred to terror organizations without someone finding out," Channel 1 translated Putin as saying from Russian. "We have the capabilities to monitor them."
Marines storm ashore in Nitzanim
Jerusalem Post 4/22/2005
The IDF refused to release more details in keeping with a policy dictated by the United States to minimize reports of Israeli-US military cooperation. -- Hundreds of US Marines riding hovercrafts stormed ashore the beaches of Nitzanim Wednesday as part of joint maneuvers being quietly held between the US and Israeli militaries. The Marines simulated an armed assault from the sea while IDF forces maneuvered inland until the two forces met. Military sources said the operation was code named "Kaya Green." Troops were delivered by LCVs (hovercrafts) which also unloaded Humvees.
Sharon vows to defy Bush over expansion of Israeli settlements
The Independent 4/22/2005
Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, vowed to continue expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank despite his admitted differences with President George Bush on the issue. In his most uncompromising comments yet on the settler question, Mr Sharon depicted the planned withdrawal from Gaza as the only way of preserving the largest settlement blocks on the Palestinian side of the pre-1967 border with Israel. "I am doing everything I can to preserve as much [of the West Bank settlements] as I can," he said. In an interview with The Jerusalem Post, which will be published in full today, Mr Sharon acknowledged that the US and Israel did not, in the paper's words, "necessarily see eye to eye" on settlement expansion.
Interview: Sharon speaks to the 'Post'
Jerusalem Post 4/22/2005
The Post met with Prime Minister Sharon late on Monday afternoon at his official residence in Jerusalem. We were asked not to publish the interview until shortly before Pessah. He seemed at ease, alternately serious and jovial as the subject matter demanded. His main concern seemed to be to emphasize the importance he attaches to American understandings regarding long-term Israeli control of major West Bank settlement blocs � the quid pro quo for the disengagement from Gaza. He evinced no doubt whatsoever regarding the rightness of his decision to disengage, intimating that only his readiness to relinquish Gaza had given Israel the opportunity to safeguard the core of the settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria.
Interview: Sharon at a crossroads
YNetNews 4/22/2005
Prime Minister Sharon talks about the battle over disengagement and what the plan means for his settlement legacy -- This is the holiday interview that has very little to celebrate. Ariel Sharon, 77, four years as prime minister, has reached a crossroads. Disengagement, whose exact date is still not final, passed a series of political obstacles, but now must pass the critical test on the ground. Terrorism has been extinguished but every sign speaks of its return. Sharon is supported by the American government and is accepted more than ever by Europe and the Arab world. He has a government. He has polls. He doesn�t have a party. A cloud of doubt hangs over his political future.
Haaretz poll: PM's popularity drops for first time in months
Ha'aretz 4/22/2005
The regular and continual rise in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's popularity has suddenly come to a halt, a Haaretz survey published Friday shows. Asked to rate Sharon's job performance on a scale of 1 to 10, Israelis gave an average rating of 5.95 - as compared to 6.6 in March, 6.3 in January and 6.05 last November. Assuming this is, in fact, the beginning of a trend, one can only guess at the reason for it: Perhaps the fiasco of appointing ministers at the end of the Knesset session three weeks ago made its contribution; perhaps the failures that are coming to light daily in the planning of the disengagement make the citizens angry.
Netanyahu's aides say he'll run for PM
Jerusalem Post 4/22/2005
Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu intends to challenge Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the Likud leadership and the premiership, no matter when the next Likud primary and general election will be held, sources close to Netanyahu told The Jerusalem Post this week. When Netanyahu became finance minister more than two years ago, he tried to keep a low profile on diplomatic and political issues. But Netanyahu recently returned to political activity, in part to prepare for the next election, which is set for November 2006 but could be moved up if Sharon initiates early elections or if Labor leaves the government.
Israeli President Set To Hold Parley On 'Crisis Situation' of World Jewry
Forward 4/22/2005
Israeli President Moshe Katsav is taking the first concrete steps toward forming a new forum of Jewish leaders from across the globe to tackle what he calls the "crisis situation" facing the Jewish world. Katsav's earlier proposal for a global Jewish parliament has been shelved, primarily because of the difficulty of holding worldwide elections. Instead, Katsav has called a preparatory meeting this June to begin planning what has been referred to as a "Jewish Davos" � a conference that will bring together some 300 Jewish intellectuals, politicians and communal leaders....Katsav's proposal grows out of a broader campaign to engage world Jewry more fully in Israel's political process.
Russia offers choppers to PA
Jerusalem Post 4/20/2005
Russia has reportedly offered to donate to the Palestinian Authority two Mi-17 transport helicopters for VIP use to replace the choppers Israel destroyed in 2001. According to the London-based Jane's Defence Weekly, the Russians have also offered to supply the Palestinians with 50 former BRDM-2 armored vehicles drawn down from the Russian Army. The offer was made following a visit to Moscow by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in late January. PA Ambassador to Moscow Khairi Naji al-Aweidi was quoted as saying the offer marked a "tangible show of support for Abbas and the PA from Moscow."
Her Royal Highness
YNetNews 4/22/2005
Wife of Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. says she lives according to "American standards," allowing her to insult embassy employees and make unreasonable demands -- Anne Ayalon, wife of Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Danny Ayalon, says she lives according to "American standards," a lifestyle that apparently permits her to require her housekeeper to bow to her and hurl insults at embassy employees...They spoke of Mrs. Ayalon's uncontrollable outbursts, unreasonable demands, and derogatory treatment. Documents obtained by Yedioth Ahronoth reveal the embassy was aware of the goings on, yet refrained from taking any action.
Film review: "Sense of Need"
Electronic Intifada 4/22/2005
Sense of Need (2004) begins simply enough with the main character narrating his life for the viewer. Almost switched at birth with a red-haired Jewish boy, Palestinian Joseph was born while Israel was at war with Egypt. At the age of seven his father bought him his first piano and then "began his life in color." At first one might take this as purely a poetic metaphor, but this is not the case in newcomer Shady Srour's psychologically complicated and loosely autobiographical plot. Srour, a man of many talents, wrote, directed, and produced his first full-length feature film. He also portrays the protagonist Joseph, a twenty-seven year old aspiring musician who lives in San Francisco and is just a week away from finishing his masters degree.
The new slaves
Globes 4/22/2005
This Passover eve, Israel must reconsider its economic model. -- On the eve of Passover, Israel finds itself is an odd situation. On one hand, there is unrestrained optimism about the economic growth rate and the improvement in the standard of living, but there is deep pessimism about expanded social welfare gaps and the amount of poverty on the other....The best model for Israel's economy is not the US. Despite it immense economic power, the US has unimaginably wide social gaps and growing poverty as part of its daily reality. The Western European model is the best model for Israel, meaning capitalist states with social policies that emphasize helping the poor.
Alrosa CEO to discuss rough diamond deliveries to Israeli merchant
Globes 4/21/2005
Alexander Nichiporuk will visit the Ramat Gan Diamond Exchange next week. He may be a part of Russian President Vladimir Putin's entourage. -- Alrosa CEO Alexander Nichiporuk will visit the Ramat Gan Diamond Exchange next week. Alrosa, a Russian government company, is the world's second largest producer of rough diamonds. Israeli sources expect Nichiporuk to announce collaboration with Israel's diamond industry, and the possibility of Alrosa's first sales of rough diamonds to Israel. Nichiporuk may be part of the entourage of Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit next week, since he is considered an associate of Putin.
Association of University Teachers to boycott Israeli institutions
Electronic Intifada 4/22/2005
Press Release, Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) -- The Association of University Teachers (AUT) in the UK voted in its Council meeting today to boycott Haifa and Bar-Ilan Universities[1] and to disseminate to all its chapters our Call for Boycott of Israeli academic institutions. This historic decision, which sets a landmark precedent, stands as a major achievement in the struggle to attain a just peace in our region. Finally, boycotting Israeli institutions, as a morally and politically sound response to Israel�s crimes, is on the mainstream agenda in the west; and no one can ignore it now.
Report: UK Assoc. of Uni. Teachers votes to boycott 2 Israeli universities
Ha'aretz 4/23/2005
Delegates of the United Kingdom Association of University Teachers, meeting in Eastbourne England, voted Friday to boycott Haifa University and Bar Ilan University, according to the Guardian newspaper. The report states that although the executive opposed the move, delegates belonging to the leading union of British lecturers voted for an immediate boycott of Haifa University, which they claim restricts the academic freedom of staff members who criticize the government. Bar Ilan University will also be boycotted, as it has a branch in the West Bank settlement of Ariel.
Academics back Israeli boycotts
BBC 4/22/2005
Academics have voted to boycott two Israeli universities over their alleged involvement in "illegal activity" in the occupied territories. Members of the Association of University Teachers (AUT) decided to suspend all links with Haifa and Bar-Ilan universities. They were complicit in a system of "apartheid" towards Palestinians, delegates at the AUT's council heard. The votes, and lack of debate, have been condemned by pro-Israel groups. At the AUT conference, in Eastbourne, Haifa University was accused of mistreating politics lecturer Ilan Pappe for defending a graduate student's research into controversial areas of Israeli history.
UPDATED: Aipac Officials Being Pushed Out
Forward 4/22/2005
Well-placed sources in Washington say that America�s most influential pro-Israel lobby is firing two of its top officials. Spokesmen for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee refused to say whether the officials, Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, who are reportedly under federal investigation, are still employed by the organization. Rosen�s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, refused to speak for the record about Rosen�s status at Aipac. Lawyers representing Rosen and Weissman issued a joint statement defending their clients without directly addressing their employment status.
Israel lobby in US 'fires staff'
BBC 4/21/2005
A powerful pro-Israel lobby group in Washington has fired two top employees said to be involved in an FBI spying investigation, US newspapers report. The New York Times and Washington Post say the men from the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) are suspected of passing secrets to Israel. Nobody has been charged with wrongdoing and lawyers for the dismissed men say they did not break any rules. Aipac said the action was taken after "recently learned information". Spokesman Patrick Dorton said the "conduct that Aipac expects of its employees" was also a factor in the decision.
Analysis / AIPAC institutes its own `disengagement plan'
Ha'aretz 4/22/2005
WASHINGTON - In exactly a month's time, the annual AIPAC Policy Conference will take place in the American capital. The keynote speakers will be U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. AIPAC officials would like to see the event as an unreserved show of support for the lobby and an indication that the crisis over the organization is now over. To this end, AIPAC had to institute its own kind of "disengagement plan" this week. AIPAC realized that it was too heavy a burden to keep policy director Steve Rosen and Iran expert Keith Weissman on its staff.
Lebanese security chiefs to step aside
AlJazeera 4/22/2005
Two of Lebanon's top security chiefs have offered to step aside, and the prime minister promised parliamentary elections by 29 May. The security chiefs want to temporarily step down during the mission of a UN investigation into the killing of former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri, the state news agency said on Friday. General Security chief General Jamil Sayyid and General Ali Hajj, head of Internal Security Forces, presented their offer in writing to Prime Minister Najib Miqati, the agency said. Sayyid and Hajj were among several security leaders whose removal has been demanded by the opposition for suspected direct or indirect involvement in the killing.
Egypt: Judges into the fray
Al-Ahram Weekly on-line 4/21/2005
Over 1,000 judges vowed to boycott presidential and parliamentary elections unless the government responded to their demands. -- At an emergency general assembly of the Alexandria Judges Club, around 1,200 judges threatened to abstain from supervising this year's presidential and parliamentary elections unless they were given full control over every stage of the elections. The judges also called on the state to endorse their draft amendment of the judiciary authority law, which they see as currently undermining judges' independence. "We want a truly independent judiciary through which we can protect freedoms and rights," the general assembly declared.
Islamists headed for victory in Saudi Arabia's local polls
Daily Star 4/23/2005
Winners say liberal opponents ran unorganized campaign --JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia: Islamist candidates endorsed by religious scholars looked set for victory Friday in local polls in the Saudi commercial capital of Jeddah, mirroring wins in the elections in other cities, candidates said. But one of the likely winners insisted that the clerics' backing was just "the icing on the cake" and that Islamist candidates had conducted a more active campaign than their liberal rivals.
Many killed in Baghdad mosque blast
AlJazeera 4/22/2005
At least nine people have been killed and 26 wounded after a car bomb exploded outside a crowded Shia mosque in Baghdad. "According to the latest toll, there are nine dead and 26 wounded," said an Interior Ministry source. The explosion occurred during Friday prayers. A police official earlier said five were killed and 25 hurt in the attack at al-Subaih mosque, in the southeast of the capital. "Some witnesses said they saw a bomber in the car, a white BMW, but we are checking these reports," he added.
19 Iraqi army corpses found in Baiji
Middle East Online 4/22/2005
Iraqi soldiers� corpses found in deserted place between Asainiya and Baiji, three US soldiers killed in Iraq. -- TIKRIT - Nineteen executed Iraqi soldiers� bodies, kidnapped a few days before at a rebel checkpoint, were found dumped near the oil refinery town of Baiji, north of Baghdad, Iraqi police said. "Police found 19 dead Iraqi soldiers in Baiji. They were taken hostage three or four days ago. They were found in a deserted place between Asainiya and Baiji, with bullet holes to the head and stomach," said Captain Saad Nafos, police commander in Baiji.
Top US officers cleared of Abu Ghraib allegations
Jerusalem Post 4/23/2005
The US Army has cleared four top officers - including the three-star general who commanded all US forces in Iraq - of all allegations of wrongdoing in connection with prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib in Iraq, officials said. Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who became the senior commander in Iraq in June 2003, two months after the fall of Baghdad, had been faulted in earlier investigations for leadership lapses that may have contributed to prisoner abuse. He is the highest-ranking officer to face official allegations of leadership failures in Iraq, but he has not been accused of criminal violations.
Abuses by U.S. and Afghan forces 'undermine' security
Daily Star 4/23/2005
UN expert says he has received numerous reports of torture and arbitary arrests -- KABUL: A United Nations human rights official says he has received reports of torture and other abuses by U.S.-led and Afghan forces which undermine the country's security and stability. Cherif Bassiouni, the UN's independent expert on human rights in Afghanistan, said that he had received reports that U.S.-led forces and Afghan security agencies "act above and beyond the reach of the law by engaging in arbitrary arrests and detentions" and torturing their detainees.
Articles
To Boldly Go
By Ilan Pappe, MIFTAH 4/22/2005
I appeal to you today to be part of a historical movement and moment that may bring an end to more than a century of colonization, occupation and dispossession of Palestinians. I appeal to you as an Israeli Jew, who for years wished, and looked, for other ways to bring an end to the evil perpetrated against the Palestinians in the occupied territories, inside Israel and in the refugee camps. I devoted all my adult life, with others, creating a substantial peace movement inside Israel, in which, so we hoped, academia will play a leading role. But after 37 years of endless brutal and callous oppression of the people of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and after 57 years of colonization and dispossession of the Palestinians as a whole, I think this hope is unrealistic and other means have to be looked at to end a conflict that endangers peace in the world at large.
Violence and armed struggle have also failed, and they can't be easily condoned by people like myself who are basically pacifists at heart. Historical examples, such as in South Africa and Gandhi's movement in India, prove that there are peaceful means for achieving an end to the longest oppression and violation of human rights in the last century. Boycotts and outside pressure have never been attempted in the case of Israel, a state that wishes to be included in the civilized democratic world. Israel has indeed enjoyed such a status since its creation in 1948 and, therefore, succeeded in fending off the many United Nations' resolutions that condemned its policies and, moreover, managed to obtain a preferential status in the European Union. Israeli academia's elevated position in the global scholarly community epitomizes this western support for Israel as the "only democracy" in the Middle East. Shielded by this particular support for academia, and other cultural media, the Israeli army and security services can go on, and will go on, demolishing houses, expelling families, abusing citizens and killing, almost every day, children and women without being accountable regionally and globally for their crimes.
Can't Buy Me Peace
Editorial, MIFTAH 4/20/2005
You ask for it�you got it: this is the United States� policy in providing funds to Israel. In a predawn meeting with U.S. officials in Washington Wednesday, Israeli delegates requested financial aid ahead of the Gaza disengagement in July. The Bush administration guaranteed three billion dollars to aid development in the Negev and Galilee regions � areas in which Gaza settlers are to be relocated � as well as to fund the relocation of Israeli Occupation Forces after the withdrawal. This aid is in addition to the more than 2.5 billion dollars already provided by the U.S. to Israel in the 2005 fiscal year for economic, military and migration resettlement assistance.
While U.S. President George W. Bush praised Israel�s peace efforts by taking steps to withdraw from occupied Gaza, the extra aid indicates that it is really the U.S. making it possible. But before cheering the U.S., take a step back and analyze the bigger picture. Bush said in last week�s summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that the U.S. is �now ready to help the Palestinians seize the moment that this prime minister has provided in Gaza� in order to boost the economy and move forward with the roadmap to create a �viable� Palestinian state. However, huge amounts of U.S. money are going directly to Israel, while the Palestinians will only receive a total of 200 million dollars, a tenth of which will be paid to Israel for past-due utility bills and a fourth of which will go toward transit points between Israeli and Palestinian areas, leaving doubts as to whom the funds really benefit.
Where then is the real assistance? How is this an effective process toward peace? And is the U.S. really an honest broker in mediating peace between the Palestinians and Israelis?
If the settlers want to stay, let them
By Yossi Alpher, Daily Star 4/22/2005
The only recorded instance of Israeli settler leaders and Palestinian leaders discussing the possibility of settlers remaining on Palestinian territory after an Israeli withdrawal took place 10 years ago in talks I organized in Jerusalem. The discussion of the issue is recorded in a Hebrew-language book I published four years ago titled "And the Wolf Shall Dwell with the Wolf: The Settlers and the Palestinians." Some of the statements made then have only now become truly relevant.
Hassan Asfour, the chief Palestinian negotiator at the time, remarked: "We want a democratic country. The presence of Jews will help us ensure democracy, and will also enable us to serve as a bridge between Israel and the Arab world. As for the settlements per se, they are a consequence of occupation.
Where their location doesn't constitute a problem for us, we'll consider the possibility of leaving them in place. But not before a Palestinian state comes into being in Gaza and the West Bank ... [A] settler can remain ... as an individual ..."
Khalil Shikaki, the leading Palestinian political scientist, observed: "I understand [the settlers'] ideological motivation. But why ... insist on national sovereignty? I came ... to see whether I'm correct or not when I assume that ideologically motivated Jews want to live in the Land of Israel for reasons that transcend politics."
The same old tune
By Nehemia Strasler, Ha'aretz 4/22/2005
It was quite clear that one day the trailers would arrive, too. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is simply unable to manage without them. He missed them so much.
In 1990, at the beginning of the large wave of immigration from the former Soviet Union, he was appointed minister of housing. He didn't for a moment consider the possibility of allowing the contractors to decide where to build, according to market demand. Sharon has never believed in the free market. He has a Bolshevist worldview of administration from above. That's why he decided where to build, how to build, and according to what standard. Then he gave the contractors government guarantees of 100 percent, and turned them into millionaires.
....A tour of Gush Katif presents the disengagement in a different light. A group of 7,500 people turned the life of the 1.3 million Arabs into a hell. They appropriated a large percentage of the land and the water and cut off the residents of Khan Yunis from the sea. The roads are for Israelis only; the local residents travel on twisting dirt roads strewn with roadblocks. The occupation has caused an employment rate of 60 percent! One factory in the settlement of Kfar Darom (an enclave inside the Dir al-Balah refugee camp) uses more water to wash bugs out of lettuce than all the drinking water allotted for the residents of the refugee camp. Apartheid at its most shameful.
The Arab Scene
By Mustafa El-Feki, MIFTAH 4/22/2005
The Arab world appears to have entered a new chapter in the trials and tribulations that have beset it over recent decades as it faces a sudden onslaught of regional and international developments -- the election of a Republican administration in the US to a second term of office, the new phase in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the formation of a new government in Iraq raising question marks over the future of that country and the repercussions it will have throughout the region. Add to these the political rhetoric issuing from Cairo, Damascus and Ramallah and we realise that a number of realities are now locked in place.
There is not a shadow of doubt that Iran will be next on the current US administration's hit list -- Washington's threats against it are too similar to the buildup to the war against Iraq. There are some differences, however. US relations with Iran are qualitatively different to its relations with Saddam Hussein's Iraq. And Washington has learned some bitter lessons from its experience in Iraq, among them the realisation that you cannot eat two meals at the same time. The most likely scenario, therefore, is that Israel will act as Washington's proxy and launch a surprise attack against Iran's nuclear reactors and long-range missile factories. Not that there is anything new in this. Israel has a long history of foreign exploits of this kind, among them its strike against Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981. It also has the incentive. Iran, with its long-range missiles and potential nuclear capacity, comes second only to Hizbullah as a thorn in Israel's side.
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