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150 Palestinians escaped to Israel after fleeing Gaza violence
Over 150 members of the Fatah-linked Hilles clan fled the Gaza Strip on Saturday and entered Israel, after a day of clashes with the ruling Hamas faction had left at least nine people dead and more than 80 wounded.
Hamas security forces and members of the Hilles clan exchanged mortar shell and machine gun fire all day Saturday in the most violent round yet of Hamas' weeklong crackdown on political rival Fatah.
Twelve of the wounded were children, hospital officials said, and eight people were in critical condition.
With Saturday's violence, the current round of Hamas-Fatah tensions threatened to spiral out of control ... Over 150 members of the Fatah-linked Hilles clan fled the Gaza Strip on Saturday and entered Israel, after a day of clashes with the r... more -
Bombs in Gaza, Parties in Ramallah
The car bomb that exploded last weekend in the Gaza Strip killed not only six Palestinians, but seems to have completely wiped out any hope of ending the ongoing strife between Hamas Islamists and Fatah secular loyalists.
Tensions have greatly increased since the incident. According to sources in Gaza, Hamas officials have set up roadblocks across the Strip to check for guns, explosives, and suspects. The atmosphere of fear and suspicion in the early days of the Hamas takeover has returned to the streets and at least six people were wounded last Sunday as clashes broke out in Gaza City after Hamas-run security forces battled members of the Army of Islam group.
In the West Bank, the story is more complicated..........
"Rinat Malkes " The car bomb that exploded last weekend in the Gaza Strip killed not only six Palestinians, but seems to have completely wiped out any... more -
The Under Ground Smugglers
Durring the Israeli seige on Gaza Strip since Hamas Took Control over Gaza , The palestinians had no other way to survive ,they start Digging tunnels between Gaza and Egypt to smuggle their needs of food , fuel and other stuff . Durring the Israeli seige on Gaza Strip since Hamas Took Control over Gaza , The palestinians had no other way to survive ,they start... more
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German TV closes offices in Gaza after arrest of photojournalist
Bethlehem - Ma'an - German TV (ARD) closed their office in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. The action is in protest of the detention of their photojournalist Sawwah Abu Seif who was arrested on 25 July while covering the explosion of a Hamas car near the beach in the Gaza Strip.
Abu Seif was detained by de facto government security, no charged have been laid.
The ARD office, now closed, was located in central Gaza city in the Ash-Shawwa building, where Ma'an, Al-Jazeera and Ramatan have their Gaza offices. "We are sorry to have to make this decision," the station said in a statement, adding that they had decided to "stop operating in the Gaza Strip until Sawwah Abu Seif is released." Bethlehem - Ma'an - German TV (ARD) closed their office in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. The action is in protest of the detention... more -
Mysterious blasts: is Gaza Iraq no. two?
Hamas security arrested over 120 supporters of the rival Fatah group early Saturday, Fatah said, following a mysterious beachside blast that killed five Hamas members and a 6-year-old girl. The cause of the blast remained unclear, though the circumstances suggested it was not set off inadvertently by militants mishandling explosives.
The explosion went off late Friday in a car parked near a crowded Gaza City beach. Hamas said that at the time, a group of Hamas activists was picnicking on the beach.
Three Hamas members, including a field commander, and the girl were killed immediately. Hospital officials said two more Hamas activists died of injuries Saturday. Fifteen people were wounded, three of them in serious condition. Hamas security arrested over 120 supporters of the rival Fatah group early Saturday, Fatah said, following a mysterious beachside blas... more -
Blair to visit Gaza Tuesday
Mideast envoy Tony Blair will visit the Gaza Strip Tuesday, the former British prime minister's first trip to the coastal territory since the Islamic group violently seized control a year ago.
Blair is expected to meet with traders and inspect a northern Gaza waste water project being built with international funds, said Palestinian businessmen and officials familiar with his trip. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the visit has not been officially announced.
They said it was unlikely that Blair would meet with officials from Hamas, which is committed to Israel's destruction and is considered a terrorist group by the U.S., EU and Israel.
The international community does not recognize Hamas' Gaza government, and officials fear any visit could be construed as approval.
Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan said his group would make security arrangements for Blair's visit. Radwan said in a statement text-messaged to reporters that the envoy's visit would be brief. Mideast envoy Tony Blair will visit the Gaza Strip Tuesday, the former British prime minister's first trip to the coastal territo... more -
"Nothing can prepare you for the evil we have seen here."
Gideon Levy, journalist with the IsraeliEnglish-language daily paper Ha'aretz writes things that virtually no paper in the US would dare print for the outcry among Zionists (Jews and Christians) it would elicit.
In this link he reports on the visit of 21 South African human rights activists to the Palestinian Occupied Territories:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1000976.html
Excert:
She was deputy defense minister from 1999 to 2004; in 1987 she served time in prison. Later, I asked her in what ways the situation here is worse than apartheid. "The absolute control of people's lives, the lack of freedom of movement, the army presence everywhere, the total separation and the extensive destruction we saw."
Madlala-Routledge thinks that the struggle against the occupation is not succeeding here because of U.S. support for Israel - not the case with apartheid, which international sanctions helped destroy. Here, the racist ideology is also reinforced by religion, which was not the case in South Africa. "Talk about the 'promised land' and the 'chosen people' adds a religious dimension to racism which we did not have."
Equally harsh are the remarks of the editor-in-chief of the Sunday Times of South Africa, Mondli Makhanya, 38. "When you observe from afar you know that things are bad, but you do not know how bad. Nothing can prepare you for the evil we have seen here. In a certain sense, it is worse, worse, worse than everything we endured. The level of the apartheid, the racism and the brutality are worse than the worst period of apartheid. Gideon Levy, journalist with the IsraeliEnglish-language daily paper Ha'aretz writes things that virtually no paper in the US wou... more -
Can Palestinians understand the Holocaust? Yes.
Ever since I went to Yad Vashim in Jerusalem I have understood the Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian territory as a direct product of fear on a pathological level that was created by not only the Jewish experience in the Holocaust but by the world's indifference. I toured the Holocaust museum with my then 8 year daughter and was moved to tears - not because of the crimes shown, but because many of the photographs I saw are available today - the Warsaw Ghetto, the children with Jewish stars facing Gestapo soldiers with guns pointed at them. All you have to do is replace Palestinians for the Jews.
Now don't go and get all Anti-Semitic on me. Of course it's not the same. The magnitud and extent quite simply arent there - and never will be I dare to say. However, the Occupation is a violation of international law, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (written in part by a French Jew working to prevent the Halocaus from repetlition) are violated by Israel over and over.
What the Israeli government does in the name of security should be renamed as what they do in the name of fear. I think this lawyer is on to something. I would like to see something similar taht would include pictures of the Occupation - not just the Nakbah. Ever since I went to Yad Vashim in Jerusalem I have understood the Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian territory as a direct product... more -
From Triumph to Torture
John Pilger, of the UK's Guardian newspaper wrote about Muhammed Omer, a young Palestinian (Gaza) journalist who writes for many different media organizations about the Israeli occupation. He was given an award in Britain, by Pilger and upon returning home by way of the Allenbe Bridge (across the Jordan) was detained and roughed up/tortured by Israeli border guards.
I've been across this bridge a few times with my family when we lived in Jordan and my husband's work took him to Hebron (he builds water wells. we used to live in Gaza). The guards there were universal pricks. Mean and abusive just cause they can get away with it. We (my husband mostly) were harassed and our crossing slowed. They peppered my husband (a Canadian citizen) with questions and he got pissed off and argued back. Over the years we've been slowed down with "additional quetions - just for security I hope you understand" going through border control at Ben Gurion and at Eilat, but NOTHING compared to Allenbe. It's like a free for all there.
Another friend of mine, born in the Wst Bank, made a refugee in 1948 at the age of 6 was trying to go to Bil'in for the nonviolent work being conducted by the villagers there fighting the wall - he was roughed up and held (slowed) but eventually released. They said his name was the same as a wanted suspected terrorist.
So I completely believe what happend to Omer.
Please read the story and the petition - sign it and pass it on. John Pilger, of the UK's Guardian newspaper wrote about Muhammed Omer, a young Palestinian (Gaza) journalist who writes for many ... more -
Police fear wave of violence against Arabs in wake of Jerusalem terror attack
Immediately after Wednesday's terror attack, Jerusalem police sent reinforcements to the Zur Baher neighborhood in East Jerusalem due to concerns violence could erupt in the area.
Hussam Duwiyat, 30, was shot dead by security forces on Wednesday after stealing a bulldozer from the construction site where he was working and plowing into a bus and a number of cars on Jaffa Street in downtown Jerusalem, killing three people and wounding dozens. Immediately after Wednesday's terror attack, Jerusalem police sent reinforcements to the Zur Baher neighborhood in East Jerusalem... more -
Bush-Olmert to meet on Mideast peace and Iran
Israel's fears that Iran could obtain nuclear weapons and the Israeli government's attempts to negotiate peace with the Palestinians and Syria are top agenda items when Israel's beleaguered prime minister, Ehud Olmert, meets President Bush.
"Beleaguered" is an understatement. Both these leaders have some major issues to contend with besides world politics and peace. But Peace, the way the real Mideast and Israel wants are two different things. When the Palestinians meet demands, Israel comes back with something else for the Palestinians to meet. The Israeli government continuously puts another roadblock up so real peace is unattainable. (Read "Center of the Storm" by former CIA director George Tennent)
Israel government needs to give back land it illegally took from the Palestinian people, throwing them out into the street without medical and food supplies and continually making it impossible for these people to live. It is a genocide in the making and something needs to take place to afford these people a way of life. Only then will we see peace and no more bloodshed from either side.
As far as the nukes are concerned, Israeli governments illegal possession of these weapons makes them a axis of evil in this writers eyes. The only reason they are afraid of Iran possessing them is that Iran may step up to the plate and put an end to the crimes Israeli government has committed.
Credit: Yahoo News Israel's fears that Iran could obtain nuclear weapons and the Israeli government's attempts to negotiate peace with the Pale... more -
Palestinian Bishop: right of return is "non-negotiable"
"Today we emphasise that the right of return is as holy as Jerusalem. It is inalienable, non- negotiable, and sacred," Bishop Atallah said In a 3 day convention in California which began May 16 and added "The occupation failed at killing the resistance and the evidence is you," he added.
He went on further and said:
"Whoever has a key or documents, hold onto them because you're coming back. You are returning"
ZIONISM
"We have one enemy, the Israeli occupation that displaced our people in 1948 and occupied Jerusalem in 1967,"
The Bishop said Christian Zionism justifications are "satanic" and "racist". Many Orthodox Jews also reject Zionism as against Judaism and God.
UNITY
"My presence with Sheikh Taiseer is a focus on our unity," said Bishop Atallah. "Our religions can never divide us. We are proud of both Christians and Muslims." something which was also echoed by Sheikh Taiseer.
The land of Palestine/ Israel is Holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians due to its connections to the Prophets. Over 1,000 Palestinians attended this convention alongside people like Richard Becker supporting the right of return. "Today we emphasise that the right of return is as holy as Jerusalem. It is inalienable, non- negotiable, and sacred," Bisho... more -
France Admits Contacts With Hamas
France confirmed Monday that it had been engaged in contacts with the leaders of Hamas, the radical Islamic group that is running Gaza, for several months to try to better understand its positions.
The Bush administration, which recently likened talks with Hamas and other groups to appeasement of the Nazis, criticized the French for the contacts, calling them unhelpful. There was no immediate comment from the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, who has said he will not talk to Hamas, which he accuses of carrying out a bloody coup in Gaza last June.
The French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, said there had been no negotiations with Hamas, labeled a terrorist group by the United States, Israel and the European Union. France confirmed Monday that it had been engaged in contacts with the leaders of Hamas, the radical Islamic group that is running Gaza... more -
Israeli Op Ed: Fooling Ourselves
Or, as another friend of mine said when talking about the proper role for the United States in resolving (with justice) the conflict: "Friends don't let friends drive drunk".
Excerpt: For years the same old dance has been going on in which the Americans scold and the Israelis promise, as though the Israelis have decided to make every effort to thwart the solution that everyone knows is the only solution. Time is running out and the self-deception is continuing. Not the Americans, but rather the Israelis will bear the results of this continued disorder. Or, as another friend of mine said when talking about the proper role for the United States in resolving (with justice) the conflict: ... more -
What Christians don't know about Israel but should
When I was a teenager, I became a born-again Christian and an avid reader of the "Late Great Planet Earth" the endtimes book that preceded the "Left Behind" series popular today among those who think the end is near. One of the signs of the second coming of Christ, according to interpreters of the Revelations (like the authors of books above) is the creation of the State of Israel.
When the Yom Kippur War hit, I was on the phone with my born again girlfriends, all of us excited that this was it.... the Rapture was surely going to happen soon.
When it didn't, I wasn't worried, no problem, I'll just go live in Israel and volunteer on a kibbutz and help my Jewish brothers and sisters make the desert bloom.
As I grew up, reality kicked in and the fervor of adolescence faded. What remained was a fondness for Israel - and the belief that it was besieged on all sides. The Palestinians? Nothing but irrational terrorists who raised their children to hate and kill Jews.
Then, my husband was offered a short term assignment through his groundwater engineering job in Gaza, and we, my four-year old daughter and I went along too.
And thus began my permanent detour off my own Road Map.
The detour involved for awhile a profound internal struggle as I tried to reconcile my previous bias with the reality of occupation and oppression I was witnessing. Everyday I saw the result of the fear when the once fearful become the powerful. Someday, if Israel doesn't change its policies in time (and many Israelis I know are concerned that it is too late now) the backlash will be devastating.
Now we are back in the US and I work hard at my second job - to raise awareness among Americans in general, my Presbyterians co-congregants in particular that the key to Israel's survival is the United States, but not in the way most commonly thought. Rather, we must hold Israel accountable (as we do the Palestinians) to the international code of conduct accepted by all nation-states. That attacks on civilians is illegal, that an occupying state may not establish civilian settlements on occupied land, that separation barrier ("security fence") must be on the Green Line, not within the Palestinian Territories..... all these violations (and more), must stop.
But when the US restricts its admonitions to a mere slap on the wrist, the Israelis know they can keep on keeping on.
My church, the Presbyterians will be considering a resolution this summer calling the US government to enforce our nation's own Arms Export and Foreign Assistance laws that prohibit US aid be used in violations of international human rights law. It's a beginning. And our church is not the only one. Across the country, individuals and groups small and large are joining voices in opposition to continued, uninterrupted flow of our tax dollars to Israel. Even a temporary suspension can have an impact.
At the very least, we should consider that nothing our country has done to date has ended the conflict. Time for something new. When I was a teenager, I became a born-again Christian and an avid reader of the "Late Great Planet Earth" the endtimes book... more -
Despite his grief, a Palestinian calls for peace
Even as Bassam Aramin, a Palestinian, mourns his 10- year-old daughter, killed last week during a clash between stone-throwing Palestinian youths and the Israeli police, he says he wants to talk to Israelis about making peace. Even as Bassam Aramin, a Palestinian, mourns his 10- year-old daughter, killed last week during a clash between stone-throwing Palesti... more
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Imagine LIfe
Imagine life where your entire country is prevented from importing the food, fuel, medicine it needed. That all that you and your neighbors needed was in the town on the other side of the border, but that the border had a 7 mile long fence/wall/barrier built not by you, not by that country on the other side of the border, but by a third nation. That the third nation told your nation’s leaders and the leaders of the neighboring nation that the border must remain shut.
Now, watch the slide show. Imagine life where your entire country is prevented from importing the food, fuel, medicine it needed. That all that you and your neig... more -
Palestinian Non-violent Resistance
Inspiring film.... saw it two weeks ago. Look for the full film and share it..... more Americans need to see this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WynTOY04Ac8 Inspiring film.... saw it two weeks ago. Look for the full film and share it..... more Americans need to see this. ... more -
Palestinians to Return
Time to call the bluff? Time for Palestinians around the world to return to their homeland. the Palestinian National Authority is calling for Palestinians to assert their universal human rights - not wait for a diluted version generated at the negotiation table. May 14th, the day Israel wants the world to see its 60th anniversery of "independence" it's time the world (USA) sees it as the Nakba. When one googles the headline for news, only the Jerusalem Post reported it. Time to call the bluff? Time for Palestinians around the world to return to their homeland. the Palestinian National Authority is ca... more
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Baby dies waiting for passage to Isareli doctors; "security threat" clai...
A one year old baby, born in Gaza with a heart defect was being treated in Israel (even doctors in Gaza know better care is available there). But the Shin Bet (Israeli security) refused to allow the baby`s parents to return with her - "SECURITY". They missed that appointment and made another and arranged other family family (not the parents) to take her. She died three days prior to the appointment. A one year old baby, born in Gaza with a heart defect was being treated in Israel (even doctors in Gaza know better care is available ... more
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