December '07 Archive

12/31/2007 - Five killed in Fatah-Hamas clashes in Gaza A 12-year-old boy, two other civilians and a member of the Hamas police were killed in exchanges of gunfire during a rally east of the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis, the sources said.  

12/31/2007 - Israeli soldiers kill two near border Israeli troops Sunday killed two Palestinians suspected of planting a bomb near the fence dividing Israel from Gaza.  

12/31/2007 - Israeli army admits killing woman entering Gaza after hajj    

12/31/2007 - Israeli troops invade a village near Jenin and open fire at civilians A Palestinian family, from the village of Kufer Dan near Jenin city in the northern part of the West Bank, escaped an almost certain death on Monday morning when Israeli troops invading the village opened fire at them  

12/31/2007 - Prisoner swap may happen within two weeks According to the Palestinian paper Al-Ayam, a prisoner swap deal exchanging 350 of the 10,000 Palestinians held by Israel for the one Israeli held by Palestinian resistance groups could happen within two weeks.  

12/31/2007 - Palestinian security forces capture suicide bomber Palestinian security forces in the West Bank recently arrested a Hamas cell that planned a suicide attack in Israel, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said on Monday  

12/31/2007 - Gazans undergo chemotherapy in Holon    

12/31/2007 - Peace talks cannot go on unless settlements stop: Abbas    

12/31/2007 - Bush will not visit Arafat's tomb Palestinian Authority officials on Monday expressed deep disappointment after learning that US President George W. Bush, who is expected to visit Ramallah soon, does not intend to lay a wreath at Yasser Arafat's tomb.  

12/31/2007 - Aida refugee camp residents say Barrier harming their livelihoods    

12/31/2007 - Abbas ready for a 'new page' with Hamas Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said on Monday that he was ready to "open a new page" with Hamas if the Islamist movement gave up its control of the Gaza Strip.  

12/31/2007 - Palestine pilgrims forced to travel via Israeli-run crossing The protesters, among 1,100 who had been transferred by bus to the Sinai capital of El Arish from their Red Sea ferries, smashed windows and burned mattresses and blankets. Khadra Massoud, a 67-year-old woman, collapsed and died during a scuffle between pilgrims and Egyptian policemen. Palestinian sources in Gaza said that another woman had died from sickness and seven others were taken to hospital.  

12/31/2007 - Death toll in Arab-Israeli conflict fell in 2007 "Israeli authorities often exploit security threats in order to advance prohibited political interests under the guise of security." It said hardships were imposed on Palestinians to perpetuate Jewish settlements and "effectively annex them to Israel".  

12/31/2007 - Abbas reveals: Israel negotiated with Hamas Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas claimed on Monday that despite Israel's stated policy that it would not speak to Hamas, representatives from both parties met for clandestine talks in Switzerland.  

12/31/2007 - Cop gets community service for shooting Kafr Qasem resident A Tel Aviv Court on Sunday sentenced a Border Policeman who shot and paralyzed a Kafr Qasem resident to six months of community service and a one-year suspended prison term.  

12/31/2007 - PCHR Calls for Stopping attacks against Offices of Fatah Movement and Affiliated Institutions in Gaza    

12/31/2007 - Israeli army denies chief pushing for Hamas contact    

12/31/2007 - ILA publishes two tenders to build in Jerusalem over Green Line The Israel Lands Administration (ILA) recently published two construction tenders for Jerusalem in areas over the Green Line.....The land was expropriated in 1973 from Palestinian residents of the nearby villages of Sur Baher and Jabal Mukaber, which are within the Jerusalem city limits  

12/31/2007 - Barak to IDF: Put illegal outposts residents on trial Shvut Ami has in recent months become a new symbol of the fight over the outposts and, in the eyes of the security forces, an extreme example of the settlers' ability to harass them. The outpost is located on private Palestinian land, a few hundred meters south of Kedumim, on the other side of the Kedumim-Alfei Menashe road.  

12/31/2007 - Abbas urges Hamas to agree to early elections Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged Hamas Islamists on Monday to agree to early elections and to open a "new page" by ceding control of the Gaza Strip and holding reconciliation talks with his Fatah faction.  

12/31/2007 - What's the hurry? there is no Jewish leader in the Republican Party who, like Max Fisher in the past, has sufficient enough influence to just phone up the president and quietly take care of things. Most Jewish Republicans who have a degree of access to the White House are not fans of the political process, and some are busy promoting the campaign against a division of Jerusalem, an effort that Olmert perceives as a personal campaign against him and in favor of Benjamin Netanyahu.....At the Prime Minister's Office, the focus is now on Bush's January 9th visit. Expected to top the agenda is the Iranian threat and the ramifications of the American intelligence report that said Iran is not planning to develop a military nuclear capability.  

12/31/2007 - Imams leave her name unsaid The Palestinian columnist Ibrahim D'abes wrote a glowing tribute for Ms. Bhutto in the daily Al Quds newspaper, saying she "was and remains the best example of a courageous and fighting woman."  

12/31/2007 - Reflection: Tae see wirselves as ithers see us*    

12/31/2007 - Landmark terrorism funding case reversed Judge Ilana Rovner said in her decision last Friday that "problematic" sources, including a news release from the Israeli government, a newspaper article and a statement under oath from Stanley Boim, David's father, that "it was public knowledge that Hamas was behind the attack," were behind the original decision.  

12/31/2007 - Holocaust auction stirs ire An Israeli auction house drew censure for selling off Holocaust memorabilia......"I think it's despicable,"  

12/31/2007 - Jerusalem square to be named after Pollard A Jerusalem square will be symbolically dedicated to Jonathan Pollard ahead of President Bush's visit to Israel....The move is meant to help lobby Bush to pardon Pollard, a former U.S. Navy analyst who is serving a life prison sentence for spying for Israel. Bush leaves office in 2009.  

12/31/2007 - Cheering 40 new Iranian olim, did Israel offer hype or help? Iran?s Jews constitute the Diaspora?s oldest Jewish community, represent the largest Jewish population in a Muslim country and, according to their own accounts, have been treated fairly well by their government......Melman asked why the Jewish Agency and the International Fellowship would turn the arrival of the 40 immigrants into a media circus "when they know that hanging in the balance is the fate of entire Jewish community in a Muslim country hostile to Israel."  

12/31/2007 - YOUR LETTERS   Second one down.

12/31/2007 - Israel's 2008 plans: Engage Syria, Palestinian peace, upgrade U.S. ties In an internal memo, Ben Zeev argued forcefully for a formal pact with the United States, primarily on the grounds that it would help deter Iran from attacking Israel. Under the terms of such a pact, the United States would consider any military attack on Israel an attack on America, appreciably strengthening Israel's deterrent posture.  

12/31/2007 - Palestinians remember Saddam year after hanging Saddam remains popular among Palestinians due in part to his payments of millions of dollars to the families of suicide bombers and anti-Israel fighters, as well as his missile attacks on Israel during the 1991 Gulf War.  

12/31/2007 - S.African president calls for end to crises in Mideast, Africa South African President Thabo Mbeki on Monday called for an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the resolution of crises roiling several African countries  

12/31/2007 - Syria unwilling to pressure Lebanon allies: minister    

12/31/2007 - Action Alert! Mass demonstration against the apartheid highway 443 and the apartheid road system in the occupied territories This Friday, January 4th, Human Rights activists will meet at a mass demonstration against the system of Israeli Apartheid being imposed upon the Palestinian people. They will protest the network of apartheid roads which dissect the West Bank and which Palestinians themselves are blocked from using.  

12/31/2007 - 'Even Israel's good friends see future with J'lem divided' Bush was not pressuring Israel in any way, Olmert said. "He's not doing a single thing that I don't agree to," he said. "He doesn't support anything that I oppose." Rather, Olmert said, both he and the president hoped that the Annapolis timetable, for an accord in the course of 2008, could be met. ......"It's a coincidence that is almost 'the hand of God,'" Olmert said, "that Bush is president of the United States, that Nicolas Sarkozy is the president of France, that Angela Merkel is the chancellor of Germany, that Gordon Brown is the prime minister of England and that the special envoy to the Middle East is Tony Blair." ......"The bottom line is that President Bush hasn't changed his opinion regarding the danger posed by Iran. And I haven't changed my impression regarding President Bush's commitment to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons."  

12/31/2007 - Youngest Palestinian prisoner released from Israeli detention centre.    

12/31/2007 - Wilson was elected time and again by his constituents and served 24 years in Congress until his retirement in 1996. He was considered a liberal congressman who supported social justice, civil rights and the right to abortion, but he was a wild hawk when i Wilson was elected time and again by his constituents and served 24 years in Congress until his retirement in 1996. He was considered a liberal congressman who supported social justice, civil rights and the right to abortion, but he was a wild hawk when it came to foreign policy. He became a staunch supporter of Israel in its struggle against the Arabs - at least until he visited the Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps near Beirut during the first Lebanon war. After that he transferred his love for Israel to the mujahideen fighters of Afghanistan.  

12/31/2007 - 2008: The year of Palestine?    

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12/30/2007 - Gunfire kills one Palestinian pilgrim, wounds four Medical workers said the pilgrims were hit by Israeli gunfire at the Erez border crossing in southern Gaza.  

12/30/2007 - Middle East conflict toll 'falls' Israeli security forces killed 373 Palestinians, and 131 of these were not involved in hostilities.....Palestinians killed 13 Israelis in 2007 - seven of them civilians........"In addition, Israeli authorities often exploit security threats in order to advance prohibited political interests, such as perpetuating settlements and effectively annexing them to Israel ."  

12/30/2007 - Palestinian political detainee dies due to medical negligence Palestinian sources reported on Saturday that a Palestinian political detainee held in an Israeli detention facility died on Friday night after the Israeli authorities refused to provide him with the needed medical help.  

12/30/2007 - Pollution without borders In some cases, downstream Palestinian towns receive Israeli waste. There are at least 10 transboundary streams in the region, with flows that go both ways. Untreated waste water from the West Bank can even end up flowing via Israel into the Gaza Strip and then the sea.  

12/30/2007 - Israel rejects easing of West Bank curbs    

12/30/2007 - Ashkenazi supports change of criteria for prisoners 'with blood on hands'    

12/30/2007 - Palestinian pilgrims stuck in Egypt refuse to be moved to camps    

12/30/2007 - Abbas approves new Palestinian central bank chief    

12/30/2007 - Palestinian: Israel's prisoner committee has no real power for swap deal The Israeli ministerial committee to look into exchanging Palestinian prisoners for a captive Israeli soldier had a low authoritative ceiling that can't secure a swap deal, a Palestinian official said Sunday.  

12/30/2007 - Hebron: Israeli army, in search of injured gunmen, lays siege to Hebron hospital The CPTers then made their way to the hospital. Hospital personnel told them that during the blockade the Israeli military refused entry to the hospital to a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance transporting a patient. Israeli soldiers also threatened human rights workers who tried to facilitate entry to the hospital for the patient.  

12/30/2007 - EU disavows suspect chemicals seized by Israel The European Union on Sunday denied any connection to bags that Israel said were marked as containing EU aid "sugar" but actually filled with bomb-making chemicals bound for the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.  

12/30/2007 - Olmert warns Palestinians on security after attack Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday ruled out relaxing Israel's grip on the occupied West Bank until the Palestinians rein in militants after a shooting attack killed two off-duty Israeli soldiers.  

12/30/2007 - PLO official to visit Washington ahead of Bush's Middle East tour The ongoing expansions of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank will be on the top of the agenda when Bush visits Israel and the Palestinian territories, according to Abed Rabbo.  

12/30/2007 - Barak: Anti-terror operations in the Gaza Strip are achieving their goals IDF operations in the Gaza Strip are achieving their goals, Defense Minister Ehud Barak told ministers on Sunday during the weekly cabinet meeting.  

12/30/2007 - PM: Israel won't take security risks until PA fights terror There were conflicting claims of responsibility for the attack from Hamas, which claimed it teamed up with Islamic Jihad, and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent offshoot of Abbas' Fatah. Palestinian officials also said the gunmen may have been criminals caught off guard by the Israeli hikers.  

12/30/2007 - Hamas raids rival Fatah offices in Gaza Armed men from the Islamist Hamas movement raided the Gaza offices of the rival Fatah movement overnight ahead of a key anniversary of president Mahmud Abbas's party, officials said on Sunday.  

12/30/2007 - Barghouti: Israel doesn't want peace "Israel has not made a strategic decision to make peace with the Palestinians," Tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti said in an interview with the Saudi paper Al Wattan on Sunday.  

12/30/2007 - Hamas claims deadly West Bank shootout "This operation came in response to the assasinations and air strikes against the fighters and resisters in the Gaza Strip, and the assassinations and arrests in the West Bank,"  

12/30/2007 - Israel's population rises in 2007 Some 5.46 million, or 75 percent, of Israel's citizens are Jewish, and 1.45 million, or 20 percent, are Arab, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics report released Sunday. Another 4.4 percent, or 320,000, are classified as other, including non-Arab Christians and residents who are not registered by their religion.  

12/30/2007 - Assad ready for peace? After meeting Syrian President Bashar Assad on Sunday, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) told The Associated Press he believes Assad is ready to discuss peace with Israel. U.S. Rep Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) also attended the meeting.  

12/30/2007 - US Congressmen secure Syria pledge to free dissidents Specter also sounded an upbeat note about the prospects for movement on the peace process between Syria and Israel which has been frozen since 2000, saying it was now generally accepted that Israel would have to return the Golan Heights which it seized in 1967 and unilaterally annexed in 1981.  

12/30/2007 - Mubarak, Sarkozy urge Syria to help solve Lebanon's crisis Both leaders agree to mobilize the necessary political and economic support for the Palestinian National Authority to ease the suffering of the Palestinian people and to provide the proper atmosphere for serious negotiations to achieve their aspirations to set up an independent state, Mubarak said  

12/30/2007 - OPEN LETTER TO THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS BY THE SURVIVORS OF THE USS LIBERTY it. The power the Israeli Lobby has over you is only slightly less sickening than what is your willingness to bow to their every damned demand. You are as guilty of murdering my shipmates as the Israelis are.  

12/30/2007 - A disturbing note in Bethlehem story the real question for all of us on the delegation and many others is why the Globe felt the need to consult Kaufman. If "balance" is the issue, then I trust that the next time anyone expresses views that are uncritical of Israeli policy toward the Palestinians, the Globe will consult a member of our delegation or of one of the several Boston-area groups concerned with Palestinian rights.  

12/30/2007 - France to halt links with Syria Links will be restored only when France has proof that Syria is not blocking progress towards installing a consensus president in Lebanon, Mr Sarkozy said.  

12/30/2007 - Israel may get 'super-cannon' ISRAEL is trying to buy a super rapid-fire cannon from America to protect strategic installations from primitive Palestinian rockets.  

12/30/2007 - Israel wants US and EU to snub Durban II Israeli diplomats are quietly working to convince the United States and the European Union to boycott - and defund - a possible follow-up to the 2001 World Conference Against Racism conference in Durban, South Africa.  

12/30/2007 - Special Palestinian Envoy Visits Cuba    

12/30/2007 - Olmert oversees east Jerusalem projects Israeli residential construction in eastern Jerusalem will now be subject to Ehud Olmert's approval  

12/30/2007 - Democracy: An existential threat? Inspired in part by the South African Freedom Charter [1] and the Belfast Agreement [2], the much humbler One State Declaration, authored by a group of Palestinian, Israeli and international academics and activists, affirms that "The historic land of Palestine belongs to all who live in it and to those who were expelled or exiled from it since 1948, regardless of religion, ethnicity, national origin or current citizenship status."  

12/30/2007 - Can't silence foes of intolerance I wondered exactly how long it would take other Bee readers to assail this position, as always happens when anyone openly embraces the Palestinians. The answer: nine days ("Admit you want Israel's destruction," Dec. 14).  

12/30/2007 - Palestine Is Being Destroyed I am the grandson of a fifth- generation Palestinian Jew. My grandfather, born in the Old City of Jerusalem, emigrated to the United States early in the last century. I am a proud Jew, loyal to my tradition and to my people. Zionism was as much a part of my religious upbringing as praying in the synagogue and observing the Jewish holidays. But I am strongly opposed to the policies of the state of Israel toward the Palestinian people, policies supported by the U.S. and by many of my fellow Jews here in the United States Mr. Braverman is a brave soul. God bless him and those like him.

12/30/2007 - IDF soldier gets prison sentence for entering Bethlehem An Israel Defense Forces soldier arrested by the Palestinian police on Saturday upon entering Bethlehem was sentenced Sunday to 28 days in military prison  

12/30/2007 - Rice Compares Israeli Occupation to Infamous US Segregation Abe Foxman of America's Anti-Defamation League and other apologists for Israel scream at ex-President Jimmy Carter for attacking West Bank Israeli apartheid. And Haaretz says that American Zionist ultras are dumping on Rice for using the s-word, which, if it sticks to Israel, will ultimately be fatal for Zionism in the US.  

12/30/2007 - Make peace not division, say Jerusalem church heads    

12/30/2007 - Letter: Pro-Israel stance is harmful to U.S. Americans are paying attention and becoming increasingly critical of our Middle East foreign policy, especially our problematical relationship with Israel.  

12/30/2007 - Releasing Palestinians hopeful sign I read the article about Israel releasing 441 Palestinian prisoners as part of a goodwill gesture (Erie Times-News, Nov. 20). I do agree that is a goodwill gesture, but not when there are about 11,000 Palestinians still being held in Israeli prisons.  

12/30/2007 - Candidates Keep Their Distance From Bush, aka 'Mr. Palestine' In 2000, right-of-center pro-Israel voters were attracted by his vow to quickly move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, and his determination not to following the footsteps of his father and Bill Clinton into the Mideast peace process swamp  

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12/29/2007 - Palestinians say West Bank security better despite attack    

12/29/2007 - Arab League ministers to meet on Israel settlements    

12/29/2007 - Erekat: Exceptions to Israeli settlement freeze not to be accepted    

12/29/2007 - Egypt rerouting Palestinian pilgrims "We are aware of the Israeli and American pressures on Egypt, and we urge Egypt to reject these pressures and to allow the pilgrims a safe return through Rafah," Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said.  

12/29/2007 - Fatah armed wing rejects PNA declaration on its dissolution    

12/29/2007 - Bin Laden says U.S. seeks to exploit Iraqi oil The militant leader also vowed in a recording posted on an Islamist Web site on Saturday to expand jihad to liberate all Palestinian land "from the (Mediterranean) sea to the (Jordan) river" and said his group will never recognize Israel.  

12/29/2007 - Armed Israeli among three arrested in Bethlehem Palestinian security forces on Saturday arrested three Israelis, one of them armed, outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Palestinian and Israeli officials said.  

12/29/2007 - At-Tuwani: The Birth of Jesus and the occupation of Palestine We were there to protect the people from possible attacks from the occupiers, from the people with guns, from those who wield worldly power. We were standing with the shepherds, with the dispossessed, people like those to whom the angels announced good news 2,000 years ago.  

12/29/2007 - Report: Hamas to ban Fatah from marking 43rd anniversary in Gaza Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), which rules Gaza Strip, is going to prevent rival Fatah faction of President Mahmoud Abbas from celebrating its 43rd anniversary, a pro-Hamas newspaper reported on Saturday.  

12/29/2007 - Islamic Jihad vows not to disarm A senior leader of Islamic Jihad (Holy War) movement in Gaza said on Saturday that his movement would not disarm since resistance against Israel was a way to achieve the Palestinian people's goals.  

12/29/2007 - Palestinians arrested in Israeli deaths The Palestinian prime minister said Saturday his security forces had arrested a number of suspects in the killings of two off-duty Israeli soldiers in the West Bank and had given Israeli authorities weapons taken from the dead men by their attackers.  

12/29/2007 - Abbas's govt condemns shooting attack on Israelis    

12/29/2007 - Israeli military raids Hebron hospital in search of two wounded fighters    

12/29/2007 - Israel says finds explosive chemicals in EU aid bags "We are looking into this report," said an EU official in Israel. "If it is found to be accurate, this is an illegal act that should be condemned."  

12/29/2007 - 14 Hamas members arrested in West Bank: officials    

12/29/2007 - Fatah militias dismantled: Palestinian minister    

12/29/2007 - Hamas accuses Fatah over stabbing in Lebanese camp A Hamas member was fighting for his life after he was stabbed in the head on Saturday at the Rashidieh refugee camp in Lebanon in an attack which the Palestinian Islamist group blamed on rivals Fatah.  

12/29/2007 - Bhutto killing sets off alarms in Israel over Pakistan's nukes "If the government fell into extremist hands, the bomb also falls into the hands of extremists," Rosen told JTA "You don?t need to worry about a nuclear Iran; you have a nuclear Pakistan in the hands of extremists."  

12/29/2007 - U.S. court overturns $156 million award in terror case The decision is the latest setback for U.S. government efforts to implicate U.S. Muslim charities in funding Islamic terrorism.  

12/29/2007 - Brownsville Muslims pray for Bhutto, victims of attack ?(Terrorists) are opportunists and hypocrites. They are criminals, they are not clerics. When the terrorists attacked America they were not fighting for Islam, they are fighting for themselves,?  

12/29/2007 - ANALYSIS / Nipping new W. Bank Jewish terror group in the bud    

12/29/2007 - Palestinians also have claim to land    

12/29/2007 - A program for Civil International Solidarity with Palestinians    

12/29/2007 - Balance of Power Is Continuing to Shift From the US the US military "surge" in Iraq, coupled with the growing expectations that America is not going to attack Iran in 2008 and that the Israeli-Palestinian peace will continue to "process," will allow the Bush Administration will sit out most of next year without igniting a major explosion in the region that could put even more downward pressure on the US geo-strategic position and bring about a massive increase in energy prices, unless that is, Israel decides to attack Iran.  

12/29/2007 - Mustafa Barghouthi Talked at Dar An-Nadwa Hall    

12/29/2007 - Italian delegation denied entry to Gaza - Another soon to follow    

12/29/2007 - Faith in a World of Conflict The three photographs of Christmas in Bethlehem that appeared on Page A12 on Dec. 24 under the headline "In Bethlehem, Tourists Return Amid the Checkpoints" looked as if they could have been acquired from the Israeli Ministry of Tourism rather than Reuters and the Associated Press.  

12/29/2007 - Syria sees no peace before Israel quits Golan Heights    

12/29/2007 - U.S. funds to Israel on human trafficking The State Department this year removed Israel from its Tier Two watchlist in human trafficking but kept it designated as a Tier Two nation -- one with identifiable problems in human trafficking but making strides toward addressing them.  

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12/28/2007 - Two Israelis and two Palestinians killed in West Bank An Israeli army spokeswoman said Palestinian gunmen opened fire at the soldiers who live in a nearby Jewish settlement and were on leave at the time of the incident.  

12/28/2007 - Jordan mediates return of Palestinian pilgrims (Roundup) About 2,200 Palestinian pilgrims left Jordan's Red Sea port of Aqaba to the Egyptian port of Nuwaibe Friday after the Jordanian government obtained Egypt's approval to allow them to return to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing point, an official spokesman said  

12/28/2007 - Two International peace activists injured in Bil'in    

12/28/2007 - Israel to freeze some settlement projects   In a word - BS. Per yesterday's news batch, Olmert maintained that Israel will not halt the settlement-building.

12/28/2007 - Palestinian Authority: Al-Hurria radio resumes broadcasting after six months    

12/28/2007 - Israel offers settlement concessions ahead of Bush visit: report    

12/28/2007 - Seven Palestinians kidnapped from Nablus by Israeli army    

12/28/2007 - Olmert seeks to tighten grip on West Bank building Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has ordered the Housing Ministry not to unilaterally issue any additional building permits on occupied land in the West Bank, Israeli officials said on Friday.  

12/28/2007 - Conference in Bethlehem in support of Nonviolent Resistance    

12/28/2007 - A West Bank struggle rooted in land For nearly a generation, Nassar and his family have stood their ground, unarmed, against pistol-toting settlers who have barricaded the farm's dirt lanes, uprooted its olive groves, tried to bulldoze their own roads and disabled a tractor and a rooftop water tank  

12/28/2007 - Abbas to get armoured vehicles but not with guns    

12/28/2007 - Arab, Jewish women protest occupation Hundreds of Jewish and Arab women staged a protest in Jerusalem on Friday against Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, witnesses said.  

12/28/2007 - Monday's Talk Shows Charlie Rose Authors Akiva Eldar and Ramachandra Guha; Palestinian delegate Maha Abu-Dayyeh Shamas and Israeli delegate Naomi Chazan, International Women's Commission. 11:30 p.m  

12/28/2007 - Orphanage Founder Returns to Home Destroyed by Fire Palestinian-born Norma Nashed is the founder and director of Reaching Hearts for Kids. She was in Ethiopia finalizing plans for a new orphanage  

12/28/2007 - Ha?aretz: From Bil?in to Madison Avenue: Demonstrations Outside the Leviev Jewelry Shop in New York over Danya Cebus? Construction in the Territories    

12/28/2007 - Palestinian filmmakers defy circumstance    

12/28/2007 - Hundreds of Palestinian pilgrims stranded at Aqaba Over 2,200 Palestinian pilgrims, mostly affiliated with the radical Hamas group, were Friday stranded at Jordan's Red Sea port of Aqaba after Egyptian authorities insisted they should pass through an Israeli-controlled crossing point in order to reach the Gaza Strip, Palestinian and Jordanian sources said.  

12/28/2007 - Tech Startup Bridges Mideast Divide Taking on Microsoft is tough enough. But Schreiber is embracing another challenge: He's helping create a high-tech economy in the Palestinian territories, one of the most poverty-stricken, crisis-riddled spots in the world. He has located the development center for G.ho.st in the West Bank.  

12/28/2007 - Jewish groups respond to cleric's anti-Israel remarks Sabbah called on Israel to abandon its Jewish character in favor of a "political normal state for Christians, Muslims, and Jews," according to the Jerusalem Post. ....."We are deeply disturbed that Father Sabbah would politicize the holy season of Christmas by denying the Jewish people?s right to a Jewish state," said the ADL in a statement. That's not what Sabbah said at all, geniuses.

12/28/2007 - Pro-Palestinian to make Israel anniversary film A British film-maker known to be a critic of Israeli policy has been appointed by the British Council to play a key role in a presentation to mark Israel?s 60th anniversary.  

12/28/2007 - Campus Leaders Gain Firsthand Experience on Mission to Israel The students are traveling on two annual missions, taking place concurrently this year, that serve as a cornerstone of the Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) efforts to raise awareness of the issues involving Israel and the Middle East on U.S. college campuses......"These smart, informed young college leaders will have an opportunity to visit key sites in Israel's history and to hear firsthand from a wide variety of experts on the current situation and the peace process launched in Annapolis," said Abraham H. Foxman The Israeli lobby in action - propagandization.

12/28/2007 - France could provide Egypt with nuclear help: Sarkozy    

12/28/2007 - Kucinich: Candidates Must Answer for Their Foreign Policy Stands on Pakistan and the Middle East They have failed to offer substantive approaches to address continuing tensions and hostilities among Israelis, Palestinians, and the Lebanese people."  

12/28/2007 - 9,000 refugee children from Nahr El Bared camp return to school because of 'Dubai Cares' Most of the children from the heavily damaged Nahr El Bared camp in Lebanon have already been able to return to school thanks to a donation of US$ 1.277 million made by Dubai Cares  

12/28/2007 - Foreign Ministry plans to drop Syria from 'radical axis' list    

12/28/2007 - Tubas governor slams Israeli settlement expansion policy in the plains area    

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12/27/2007 - Seven militants killed in Israeli raids in Gaza: medics Seven Palestinian militants, one of them a senior commander, were killed and 16 other people wounded in the Gaza Strip on Thursday in four Israeli raids on the Hamas-run territory, medics and witnesses said.  

12/27/2007 - After the meeting: IDF kills Qureia's bodyguard The incident was the first in months in which a Fatah member was killed by IDF fire in the Ramallah area.  

12/27/2007 - 'IDF delaying replies to sick Gazans' Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) on Thursday accused the IDF of deliberately delaying its responses to requests by the Palestinian Civilian Committee (PCC) and PHR to the Civil Administration to allow seriously ill Palestinians from Gaza to enter Israel for life-saving or urgent hospital treatment.  

12/27/2007 - Palestinians: Deal reached with Israel on armored vehicles Palestinians have received Israeli permission to import 50 Russian-made armored personnel carriers into the West Bank next month, after resolving a dispute with Israel over arming the vehicles, the top Palestinian security official said Thursday.  

12/27/2007 - The Israeli army attack school boys near Hebron    

12/27/2007 - Palestinian resistance fighter dies as tunnel collapses on him in Gaza    

12/27/2007 - Olmert courts Abbas over construction dispute    

12/27/2007 - Israel captures Islamic Jihad members in West Bank Israeli troops captured two top members of the Islamic Jihad militant group in raids in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, Palestinian security sources and witnesses said.  

12/27/2007 - Hamas: fighters escape Israeli retaliation attacks in Gaza In a press statement, Ezz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades said its fighters fired 14 mortars at Israeli army vehicles before Israeli could launch missiles against them.  

12/27/2007 - Olmert, Abbas meeting leaves major issue unresolved Following the talks, an Israeli official told wire services that Israel continued to claim a right to build new residences in East Jerusalem.  

12/27/2007 - Egypt asks for national troop deployment in Sinai, Israeli refuse    

12/27/2007 - Israeli army fire wounds a Palestinian youth in a West Bank village An Israeli soldier shot and wounded on Tuesday a Palestinian youth in the West Bank village of Nahalin, Palestinian media sources reported.  

12/27/2007 - Olmert balks at committing to full settlement halt "The prime minister has not promised to freeze tenders that have already been published and are already under way," a senior Israeli official told reporters.  

12/27/2007 - Two missiles fired at a civilian area in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, no injuries reported    

12/27/2007 - Gaza terrorists nearly down Israeli helicopter Israel's Channel 2 News showed footage on Thursday of Gaza-based Palestinian terrorists nearly downing an Israeli military helicopter providing cover for ground forces  

12/27/2007 - Report: Mubarak says Israeli foreign minister "crossed my red lines"    

12/27/2007 - Israeli tanks roll into southeast Gaza As Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Thursday, Israeli tanks thrust into southeastern Gaza Strip, sparking clashes with Palestinian militants and residents said  

12/27/2007 - Report: Progress made on Shalit deal    

12/27/2007 - A female prisoner is about to give birth in Israeli detention center    

12/27/2007 - UN needs $500 mn for Palestine's emergency relief The UN will need $500 million next year for implementing emergency relief programmes in Palestinian territories, Prensa Latina news agency reported Thursday.  

12/27/2007 - Pregnant Palestinian women forced to give birth at home because of fence    

12/27/2007 - Unholy dust-up at Nativity church Palestinian police formed a human cordon to separate the battling dark-robed and bearded priests and deacons, said to number about 80, so that cleaning could continue  

12/27/2007 - At-Tuwani Update: 1-15 December 2007 At first the soldiers showed no interest in talking but then asked about CPT. They responded by saying that all the problems here are caused by the Arabs. ?There can never be peace with Arabs. They cause all the problems. The Arabs are animals. The only answer is to arrest all the Hamas people,? they said. Gish challenged these remarks and asked why they needed to escort school children past the Ma?on settlement every day.  

12/27/2007 - Christmas tree isn?t Jewish The Law of Return is currently a mirror image of the Nuremberg Laws legislated by the Nazis against the Jews. Anyone considered a Jew based on Arian race laws is also considered as a ?Jew? entitled to return to Israel. In defiance of the cursed Nazis and out of a genuine will to openly prove that the Jewish people is alive and well despite the terrible Holocaust it suffered, we created our main naturalization law based on the law implemented in the Diaspora by our most cursed enemies.  

12/27/2007 - Jewish Agency gives evangelical Christians powerful seat at table The Jewish Agency announced last week it has forged a "strategic partnership" with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, an organization that depends primarily on conservative Christian donors to raise tens of millions of dollars per year to help Israel and impoverished Jews in the Diaspora.  

12/27/2007 - Kosovo Push for Independence Raises Some Concern Israel is concerned that if it recognizes Kosovo's independence from Serbia, it will be more difficult for the Jewish state to oppose unilateral Palestinian independence in the West Bank, should that moment ever arrive.  

12/27/2007 - Ron Paul insists: 'Israel encourages Americans to go into Iran' ** Russert showed him a quote of something he said on CNN: "Israel is dependent on us, you know, for economic means. We send them these billions of dollars and then they depend on us. They say, well, you know, we don't like Iran. You go fight our battles. You bomb Iran for us. And they become dependent on us."  

12/27/2007 - Journalist: U.S. Should 'Rape' Israel The editor in chief of Israel's Ha'aretz newspaper, David Landau, confirmed yesterday that he has pleaded with Secretary of State Rice to "rape" Israel and its neighbors into resolving their problems.  

12/27/2007 - AMIA prosecutor in Israel to discuss terrorism Iran was connected to two terrorist attacks in Argentina, their prosecutor asserted during a visit to Israel.  

12/27/2007 - Mubarak gives Israel message from Assad Egypt passed Israel a peacemaking message from Bashar Assad.  

12/27/2007 - Syria says Israel's aura of invincibility is long gone    

12/27/2007 - Saudi arms sale may spark Bush-Congress battle A plan to sell Saudi Arabia highly accurate Boeing Co bomb-guidance kits is roiling Israel's backers in the Congress, setting up a potential clash with President George W. Bush.  

12/27/2007 - U.S. Congress Conditions Aid on Border Containment "It is well-known that Israel's lobby (in the U.S.) played a role in the matter in order to achieve its own objectives."  

12/27/2007 - Egypt: Israeli lobby harms US relations "The latest months have seen the Israeli lobby's efforts to harm Egypt's interests with the Congress," Ahmed Aboul Gheit told reporters. "The Israeli lobby inside the (U.S.) Congress was behind some positions adopted by Congress and the Israeli media campaign in the last few months falls within this trend."  

12/27/2007 - South Africa found peace, why not Middle East? by Desmond Tutu We condemn all acts of terrorism by whoever they are committed. The suicide bomber has to be condemned for targeting innocent civilians. But equally, the Israelis are to be condemned for their acts of indiscriminate reprisal that, too, target innocent civilians. We say: please, please, learn at least one positive lesson from apartheid South Africa.  

12/27/2007 - Report: Turkey using drones in N. Iraq with help of Israeli crews    

12/27/2007 - Spending bill has earmarks Spending bill has earmarks President George W. Bush signed a $555 billion omnibus spending bill that includes funding for Israel, the Palestinians and domestic programs championed by Jewish groups -- but he also expressed strong qualifications about some of its provisions, including those of concern to Jews.  

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12/26/2007 - Rice calls Abbas on eve of talks with Israel: Palestinians    

12/26/2007 - Israelis target rocket launching site in Gaza: military Israeli forces fired a missile at a suspected rocket launch site in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Palestinian witnesses and the Israeli military said  

12/26/2007 - Islamic Jihad shells S Israel with 10 missiles    

12/26/2007 - Hamas says ready to hand over Gaza crossings to neutral side    

12/26/2007 - Hamas won't budge in demands for Israeli soldier Hamas will not release a captured Israeli soldier unless Israel meets its demand to free nearly 1,400 Palestinian prisoners, including 350 with life sentences, a leader of the Islamist group in Gaza said on Wednesday.  

12/26/2007 - 13 Palestinians kidnapped across the West Bank by Israeli army    

12/26/2007 - Hamas hardliner slams revived Israeli-Palestinian peace talks    

12/26/2007 - Tense talks as Israel, Egypt spar over smuggling into Gaza Barak denied there was an Israeli government initiative to target Cairo's coffers, but the exchange with Gheit coincided with a visit to Israel this week by U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), who voiced support for withholding U.S. aid to Cairo as leverage to get the Egyptians to take concrete actions against the smuggling. "We do not push anything in the Congress, but of course our relationship is very close and we answer when we are asked questions," Barak told Egyptian reporters Wednesday. LOL.

12/26/2007 - Israeli airport profiling reviewed Israel is reviewing the security practice of profiling Arab passengers at its international airport.  

12/26/2007 - Olmert, Abbas try to revive stalled peace talks Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met on Thursday to try to end an impasse over Jewish settlement building that has paralyzed month-old peace talks.  

12/26/2007 - U.S. lawmakers: Egypt aid may hinge on Gaza border    

12/26/2007 - Away from Palestine, at home in Delhi When Basil Yousef, a Palestinian came to Delhi in 1996, he was just out of school. But even at that young age he had made his plans. He had come to Delhi to complete his higher studies, after which he wanted to go back home to Hebron, a city located south of Jerusalem.  

12/26/2007 - Palestinians blamed    

12/26/2007 - Police: Hebron purchase papers forged    

12/26/2007 - Iranian Jewish leader calls immigration of 40 Jews to Israel a 'misinformation campaign'    

12/26/2007 - Israel, Saudis, Egypt buy most U.S. arms Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are consistently among the top five purchasers of U.S. arms.  

12/26/2007 - U.S. senators talk Israeli-Syria peace    

12/26/2007 - Poll: More Saudis like U.S. Forty percent expressed a favorable opinion of the United States, up from 11 percent in May 2006. At the same time, 50 percent have an unfavorable opinion, down from 89 percent.  

12/26/2007 - Russia offers Iran missile defense The S-300 is similar to the United States' Patriot missile defense system which can stop incoming missiles and warplanes. We arm Israel and Russia arms Iran. So is it basically a US-Russian proxy war?

12/26/2007 - Report: NIEs have value, with limits   Pro-Israelis still trying to debunk the NIE.

12/26/2007 - About 2000 Palestinian Refugees to Settle in S. Early Next Year UNHCR is exerting efforts to arrange necessary funds for resettlement of 2000 Palestinian refugees in Sudan by the beginning of the next year. These refugees are currently staying on common borders between Iraq and Syria  

12/26/2007 - The Benefits of Palestinian Economic Collapse By Daniel Pipes    

12/26/2007 - Olmert said awaiting Syrian signal about talks    

12/26/2007 - Egypt accuses Israel over aid cut Egypt has accused Israel of interfering in its relations with the US by causing Congress to suspend $100m (£50m) of its annual military aid.  

12/26/2007 - PM: Israel "very careful" about settlement expansion    

12/26/2007 - Court criticizes state for misinformation on Gaza The High Court of Justice has sharply criticized the state for providing incorrect information regarding its plans to reduce the amount of electricity it supplies to the Gaza Strip.  

12/26/2007 - Harvests of hope in the Middle East    

12/26/2007 - Immigration center's closure leaves detainees in limbo Aburajab, 40, who is Palestinian but was raised in Kuwait, is fighting to stay in the United States based on the hardship to his wife and two children, all U.S. citizens. Since he has been in Texas, the San Pedro judge has issued a decision in his favor, but the government has not released him from custody.  

12/26/2007 - Alasra centre for research warns of the continuous medical negligence in the Israeli detentions The centre appealed for the Red Cross and Human Rights organizations to intervene to bring and end to this misconduct.  

12/26/2007 - OSU's Abdallah faces bittersweet homecoming Abdallah cannot wait to get to New Orleans, the city where he was raised after his parents emigrated from the Palestinian territories and built a life around their small store  

12/26/2007 - After six years trapped in Gaza, child returns to parents in the West Bank    

12/26/2007 - Shooting Back: The Israeli Human Rights Group B?Tselem Gives Palestinians Video Cameras to Document Life Under Occupation.    

12/26/2007 - Anti-Semitism Vs. Criticizing Israel    

12/26/2007 - GOP Leader Calls For Revisions to Fatah Movement?s Outdated Charter Klein raised the issue in July with Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who, according to the ZOA president, promised to act upon it but has yet speak out publicly on the issue. In Washington, however, Klein?s efforts paid off last month with a resolution in the House, co-sponsored by Republican whip Roy Blunt,  

12/26/2007 - Bethlehem is full with foreign tourists, but without local families Hani Mussa, a Muslim from Ramallah, said he and his family made the trip to Bethlehem to share in the Christian holiday as they have been doing every year. "There is no difference between us and the Christians. We want to share in their celebration," he said.  

12/26/2007 - Palestinian kids avoiding school Arab residents of east Jerusalem say the situation in the schools reflects wider discrimination they face in every aspect of life. They point to piles of uncollected garbage and an absence of state medical clinics in their neighborhoods  

12/26/2007 - She combines spiritual and spirited sides She acknowledges that both sides of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict have been imperfect. And she has pushed for more interfaith dialogue with Muslims and Christians.  

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12/25/2007 - Hamas concerned over Israeli army actions against resistance    

12/25/2007 - Hamas: Past negotiations bring nothing for Palestinians A spokesman for Hamas said Tuesday that years of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians gave everything to the occupation but nothing to the Palestinians.  

12/25/2007 - Palestinian interior minister: security arrangements in the West Bank efficient    

12/25/2007 - In pictures: Christians around the world gather to mark the birth of Jesus    

12/25/2007 - With Shalit on table, Israel weighs ceasefire with Hamas Although they are not talking to each other directly, Israel and Hamas may be about to strike a deal that would include a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the abducted Israeli soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit.  

12/25/2007 - 6 Qassams fired at western Negev; no injuries reported    

12/25/2007 - UAE reaffirms solidarity with Palestinians    

12/25/2007 - Hamas releases senior Fatah sympathizer, six months after arrest    

12/25/2007 - Two Palestinians injured in beating by Jewish settlers in West Bank Masked Jewish settlers beat and injured Palestinian farmers in a field near the West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday, Palestinian witnesses and doctors said. The farmers need escorts over there for protection from the increasingly violent inhabitants of the illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. Whaddya suppose Americans would do if squatters showed up to take their land, and then beat them when they tried to farm what little they were left with? Palestinians have a lot more patience than I would, particularly given that international_law is on their side and yet still no one stops Israel from breaking it.

12/25/2007 - In photos: 'Bethlehem Christmas Eve'    

12/25/2007 - Palestinians throw explosives at IDF soldiers operating in West Bank    

12/25/2007 - Fatah official: Hamas takeover of Gaza "a political gift to Israel"    

12/25/2007 - Two Palestinians injured in Israel air attacks    

12/25/2007 - Palestinian cooking ‹ LOW PROFILE, HIGH FLAVOR With so many families destroyed by poverty and fighting -- more than 80 percent of Gazans and almost 50 percent of West Bankers live on less than $2 a day -- the attention paid to food elsewhere in the world can seem frivolous.  

12/25/2007 - A Ramallah cabinet member: the government ready to control Gaza's crossings.    

12/25/2007 - Fatah loyalists break out of Egyptian police camps    

12/25/2007 - Egypt rejects Israeli criticism on arms smuggling Egypt on Tuesday rejected Israeli criticism of its efforts to clamp down on arms smuggling into Gaza, also announcing the discovery of two tunnels a day before a visit by Israel's defence minister.  

12/25/2007 - Jews and Muslims see the US as a place to make peace    

12/25/2007 - US institute: Israel could survive nuclear war ** Even if Iran gained the means and knowledge to create nuclear weapons, according to the report it would still be limited to 100 kiloton weapons, which can cause a far smaller radius of destruction than the 1 megaton bombs Israel allegedly possesses. .......The report cites Israel's Arrow missile defense system as an obstacle facing a possible Iranian strike and says that it could shoot down most of the missiles. Israel, on the other hand, would be capable of hitting most of the Iranian cities with pinpoint accuracy due to the high resolution satellite imagery systems at its disposal.  

12/25/2007 - Iranian Jews immigrate to Israel The new immigrants were offered $10,000 each by Zionist charities to make the move, officials said. More than 200 Iranians have immigrated to Israel in 2007, up from 65 the year before.  

12/25/2007 - Debunking Israel Lobby, Study Shows Growing Alienation of American Jews From Israel In an interview with Tikkun, Rep. James Moran (D-VA) described AIPAC as "very well organized...If you cross AIPAC, AIPAC is unforgiving and will destroy you politically...Every member knows it's the best-organized national lobbying force...Most people that are involved in foreign policy especially look at a broad range of issues and consider a person's entire voting record. AIPAC considers the voting record only as it applies to Israel."  

12/25/2007 - Idea of McCain-Lieberman ticket is the buzz at Orthodox parley "Do you believe we're facing an existential threat to the state of Israel and the United States from Islamo-Nazi terror?" he asked with rhetorical flourish at one point during the session at the O.U. event. "Or do you believe, as the Democrats do, that President Bush is more of a threat to world peace than the Iranian mullahs?" Across the board, Medved insisted, the Republican candidates are more solidly pro-Israel and ready to take on Iran than any of the Democrats. "  

12/25/2007 - Israelis, Palestinians believe Annapolis failed A majority on both sides believe that the peace conference last month in Annapolis, Md., was a failure.  

12/25/2007 - Religious group aids Palestinian seniors "Caring for Palestinian elders is one way we contribute to bringing peace and goodwill to the world," said Mary Baich, president and CEO of Vesper Society. That's one of the sweetest things I've heard in a long time. God bless 'em.

12/25/2007 - GOP field's focus on immigration has some Jewish groups worried Even Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor seen as moderate on immigration, recently introduced a get-tough policy plan, which includes a call for a crackdown on dual citizens -- a move that might make it a crime for Americans who hold Israeli citizenship to use Israeli passports to enter the Jewish state or vote in its elections.  

12/25/2007 - IAF interested in new US-made jet Fearing the possibility that airfields will be bombed and destroyed during a war, the Israel Air Force has expressed interest in purchasing a squadron of Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) with vertical take-off and landing capabilities.  

12/25/2007 - UN Observer: Group demands end to israeli infiltration of British Parliament Israel?s deep penetration of our political system, says the group, is preventing Britain from taking a principled stand on Middle East matters, including the long catalogue of grotesque violations of Palestinian human rights, of which the Gaza siege is only the latest example. Conservative Friends of Israel, for example, claim the support of 80 percent of Tory MPs.  

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12/24/2007 - 'Worsening crisis' in Gaza Strip "So whether it's medical supplies, whether it's access to clean water - 15% of Gazans no longer have sufficient clean water - or whether it's access to food, there are real humanitarian difficulties in Gaza and they are getting worse by the day."  

12/24/2007 - Israel allows the exit of 19 patients for referral outside Gaza    

12/24/2007 - Settlements stall new round of Mideast peace talks    

12/24/2007 - Palestinians hope Israel changes criteria of prisoners' release    

12/24/2007 - Hamas says can't accept ceasefire under Israeli military escalation    

12/24/2007 - Little Christmas joy in Gaza for Palestinian Christians Under an Israeli blockade imposed after Hamas fighters seized control of Gaza in June, the economy has collapsed, prices have gone through the roof and Gaza is even more isolated than in the past. That's why so many Christians want out, even if just for the holidays.  

12/24/2007 - In Christmas Homily, Holy Land Latin Patriarch appeals for Palestinian independence «To all of you Christians in this land, you who are tempted to emigrate, you who are the object of everyone's preoccupation, I say to you what Jesus told us: Do not be afraid,» he said. «To those who are tempted or pressed by difficulties to leave the country, we say: 'You have a place here, and more than a place, you have a vocation: to be Christians here, in the land of Jesus, and not elsewhere in the world. St. Katherine's , adjacent to the Church of the Nativity  

12/24/2007 - Hamas says no progress over seized Israeli soldier    

12/24/2007 - Israel prepares to broaden definition of Palestinian prisoners who can be freed    

12/24/2007 - YEARENDER: Gaza conflict was painful during 2007    

12/24/2007 - Chairman of PFLP's armed wing dies of wounds sustained months ago    

12/24/2007 - Israel weighs change to free Palestinian prisoners    

12/24/2007 - Pilgrims flock to most peaceful Bethlehem in years "The new year, God willing, will be a year of security and economic stability," Abbas, who later attended the mass, said in Bethlehem. "We pray next year will be the year of independence for the Palestinian people."  

12/24/2007 - Bethlehem sermon calls for peace in the Middle East "This land of God cannot be for some a land of life and for others a land of death, exclusion, occupation, or political imprisonment," Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah said in a sermon for the Christmas midnight mass......."It is not up to the weakest to submit themselves and continue to live a life of deprivation; it is up to the strongest, to those who have everything in hand, to detach themselves and to give to the weakest what is due to them."  

12/24/2007 - Music soars in the land of sadness Palestinian violist unites musicians of all faiths for Christmas concert in tiny Christian outpost  

12/24/2007 - In Gaza, Santa Is Insolvent Christmas comes this year amidst stories that continue to surface in Western media accusing the Hamas government or Muslims in general of persecuting Christians in Gaza or Palestine. Not many Christians in Gaza say that. "Hamas has never done that," Jilda says emphatically. "They send representatives from Hamas to our celebrations. Last year, as the year before, they came and offered Christmas greetings at our Church to the entire congregation."  

12/24/2007 - Abbas highlights China's just, constructive role in Middle East Abbas appraised the positive development of ties between the Palestinian territories and China, expressing gratitude for China's help to the Palestinian people.  

12/24/2007 - Thousands gather at Manger Square, Bethlehem waiting for the Midnight Mass    

12/24/2007 - Second soldier arrested on suspicion of abusing Palestinian He is accused of being involved in the abuse of a Palestinian who was hit in the head repeatedly with a blunt object while he was held at a military facility in the West Bank. During the court proceeding on Monday, it came to light that the Palestinian detainee in question also had his wooden prayer beads stolen form him during the incident  

12/24/2007 - Report: Iran Would Suffer Up to 20 Million Casualties in Nuclear War With Israel ** The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) also estimates that between 200,000 and 800,000 Israelis would be killed, the Jerusalem Post reported.......It estimates that a nuclear war would last approximately three weeks and ultimately end with the annihilation of Iran, based on Israel's alleged possession of sophisticated and powerful nuclear weapons. So you see, it is difficult to imagine that Iran would ever even think of using its nuclear weapons that it is purportedly developing (according to Israel) against that nation.

12/24/2007 - Rising to the challenge And when he was 15, Qupty said he became the first Palestinian to win a gold medal in the junior division 200 breast at the Maccabiah Games, which is the Jewish Olympics.  

12/24/2007 - Jeb Bush to arrive in Israel for private visit    

12/24/2007 - Christians flock from Gaza for Christmas Most were hoping to pray on Christmas Eve in Bethlehem, the small town in the West Bank where the Bible says Jesus was born.  

12/24/2007 - Livni slams Egypt over Gaza smuggling    

12/24/2007 - Russia ready to host Mideast conference Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday his nation is ready to hold a Mideast peace conference if all concerned sides are interested in the matter.  

12/24/2007 - Italian delegation turned down at Eretz crossing into Gaza Strip    

12/24/2007 - Thinking of Edward Said    

12/24/2007 - Richmonder among those visiting Bethlehem for Christmas The Christmas Eve pilgrimage included American tourists, clergymen in brown flowing robes and Palestinian scouts wearing kilts and playing bagpipes.  

12/24/2007 - Refusing to accept apartheid in Beit Jala The olive tree orchard continues on Abu Salim's land on the other side of the bypass road. All the roads to Abu Salim's lands have been closed off to Palestinians. We refused to accept that Palestinians are not allowed to walk here and together we walked all the way back on the road which Palestinians are not allowed to travel. Back in the car we continued our way along the projected route of the wall.  

12/24/2007 - Scottish carols connect biblical story with modern challenges suddenly in Scotland, writing carols is seen as a "cool" thing to do. Mike Gonzalez, an academic from the University of Glasgow, has been applauded by mentioning Bethlehem as it is today in a carol written by Scott Twynholm of the Sounds of Progress Orchestra. It tells how a huge barrier constructed by Israel in Palestinian territory divides races and religions, stopping ordinary people getting to the place where the founder of Christianity was born around 2000 years ago.  

12/24/2007 - A Wise Man Looks at the World The thing is, is the government willing to at least listen to some of these grievances? When Mrs. Rice says publicly, Israel must continue to bombard Lebanon--it never happened since the UN has been created...that the Security Council says, Go on. Israel planted these fragmentation bombs after the ceasefire. These fragmentation bombs are from America. It's allowed by the Americans. So, people don't believe anything the Americans say, and it's not bias.  

12/24/2007 - Obama: Israel Must Remain a Jewish State "I think everyone knows what the basic outlines of an agreement would look like. It would mean that the Palestinians would have to reinterpret the notion of right of return in a way that would preserve Israel as a Jewish state. It might involve compensation and other concessions from the Israelis but ultimately Israel is not going to give up its state."  

12/24/2007 - Alexander hopeful on Gaza Mr Alexander pledged UK aid to the Palestinian Authority as part of a conference of donors in Paris last week.  

12/24/2007 - Doctors unite for Bethlehem hospital It will be the 12th medical facility established by CURE, which has treated more than 50,000 children around the world from Afghanistan to Zambia. It also will be the first dedicated children's hospital in the Palestinian territories. CURE will train local doctors in complex surgery and treat up to 10,000 children every year.  

12/24/2007 - Olmert courts Israel's non-Jews Around 20 percent of Israel's population is not Jewish, and inter-faith ties have been strained by the last six years of Palestinian violence. Among Israeli Arabs there is increasingly open opposition to Zionism, provoking animosity among the Jewish majority. Even the traditionally loyal Druze minority has voiced complaints about discrimination.  

12/24/2007 - Graffiti Artists Decorate Bethlehem Barrier    

12/24/2007 - Israel Upholds Use of Cluster Bombs Israeli military prosecutors have decided not to take any legal action over Israel's use of cluster bombs during last year's war in Lebanon, the army said Monday, closing an investigation into a practice that has drawn heavy criticism from the U.N. and international human rights groups. Israel exonerates itself again.

12/24/2007 - They Do Not Exist, And That Is Official With the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, many Palestinians fled their homeland to Lebanon. Today, there are approximately 400,000 refugees living in the 'Land of the Cedars', some with no documentation, and not registered with either the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) or the Lebanese authorities.  

12/24/2007 - Hatred, discrimination have no place in Islam: Al-Mahri Saying he hopes peace and prosperity will reign in the Muslim and Christian worlds Shiite leader Sayed Mohammed Baqer Al-Mahri was recently quoted as saying Islam not only respects all heavenly religions but also the Prophets including Prophet Jesus Christ.....He added the Palestinian Muslims and Christians in the Holy Land share a common culture and beliefs.  

12/24/2007 - ADL Lists Top Issues Affecting Jews in 2007 ? Restarting the Peace Process ? The Iranian Nuclear Threat  

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12/23/2007 - Israel kills two militants in Gaza - Hamas    

12/23/2007 - Housing budget confirms disputed plans The proposal comes two days after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told jounalists that Israel has taken steps showing that it understands the seriousness of the settlement issue and its responsibilities under the 'road map.' Total shysters.

12/23/2007 - Palestinians Still Reject Hamas Rule in Gaza The vast majority of Palestinian adults are against Hamas? military takeover in Gaza, according to a poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.  

12/23/2007 - Peace compliance reports will be secret Israel wants to keep the judging process secret, while the Palestinians are in favor of disclosure. Israel just announced plans for MORE new settlements. Hello...

12/23/2007 - Christmas under Hamas rule "Of course, I am a Christian believer, but politically I am a Palestinian Muslim. I resist Israel's military occupation, obviously not with weapons. ......"We have lived alongside Muslims here since Islam was born," said Fr Musallam, waving his arm at the stage.  

12/23/2007 - All beds booked in Bethlehem for first time in seven years    

12/23/2007 - Olmert rules out ceasefire as strikes on Hamas continue    

12/23/2007 - Christians in Gaza want cheer back in the Holy Land Mr Talhami was leading a group Palestinians, and western peace activists, dressed as Santa to demonstrate against the barrier Israel is building to separate the Jewish state from the West Bank.  

12/23/2007 - Israel defends new apartment plans for Jerusalem The housing ministry's budget includes funds for 500 homes in the Har Homa neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, and 240 in the nearby settlement of Maale Adumim.  

12/23/2007 - In Bethlehem, a bond is born The 15-member delegation, called the Cambridge-Bethlehem People-to-People project, set out to gather stories of the city's residents, and investigate how the separation barrier that Israel has built around and through the city has affected life in the region. Among their conclusions: The barrier has devastated the local economy and, as described in the familiar carol, Bethlehem does indeed lie still......As a Jewish member of the delegation and as someone who had escaped from the Nazis in Vienna, Eva Moseley, 76, said the trip left her with "complicated feelings about the Holocaust," because "on top of the usual outrage and horror at what it was, I feel another layer of outrage at the way it is used to punish the Palestinians, who had nothing to do with it."  

12/23/2007 - Israeli, Palestinian talks to resume amid disputes The Palestinians said substantive negotiations over borders, and the fate of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees would not begin until Israel committed to halting all settlement activity, as called for under the long-stalled "road map" peace plan.....Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he could not understand why Israel was "carrying out frenzied settlement activity during final status negotiations".  

12/23/2007 - Rice: Israel 'understands' settlement issue Rice may have been referring to a freeze Israel put recently on apartment building in Har Homa, an east Jerusalem neighborhood abutting Bethlehem. Two days later, however, the proposed 2008 budget presented by Israel's housing ministry included requests for funding to construct 500 apartments in Har Homa and 240 apartments in the settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim.  

12/23/2007 - Israel confirms settlement plans "Every day we hear a new settlement expansion plan - this cannot be tolerated."  

12/23/2007 - Palestinian Christians say they are invisible to visiting U.S. evangelicals "They think of us as terrorists. They think everyone living in the Palestinian territories and Arab countries is Muslim," Fida Mousa said. "They only come to visit Nativity Church and leave. They give us no chance to show that we're normal human beings."  

12/23/2007 - Erekat: Abbas-Olmert summit necessary Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Sunday that holding a summit between President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "is necessary."  

12/23/2007 - Hamas says uncovered network of collaborators    

12/23/2007 - Palestinian prisoner battered, soldiers shield culprit Dozens of Givati Brigade soldiers present as one of their own batters Palestinian prisoner with blunt object. None of the soldiers willing to confess. One soldier, still in custody, refuses to name guilty party, claims 'I am innocent'. IDF Prosecutor?s Office: ?This is aggravated assault?  

12/23/2007 - High Court defers evacuation of disputed Hebron house Court suspends Civil Administration's decision to remove Jewish residents from house allegedly owned by local Palestinian  

12/23/2007 - Qassam lands near factory in Ashkelon; no injuries reported    

12/23/2007 - Fatah strongman prefers political settlement with Hamas    

12/23/2007 - Israel preparing public for war    

12/23/2007 - Palestinian security men take charge in Bethlehem Hundreds of Palestinian security officers deployed in Bethlehem on Sunday as Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's forces continue their Western-backed drive to take charge of West Bank cities.  

12/23/2007 - National title game brings Abdallah family back to New Orleans to finish their story The most telling tale, Nader said, belongs to his dad, who grew up in a refugee camp outside Nablus in the West Bank: "Thirteen people lived in one tent. It was a war-torn area, and they had nothing."  

12/23/2007 - Room, but few children at Bethlehem 'inn' Sister Sophie, who runs the home, said: "The wall makes Bethlehem feel like a zoo. It makes it difficult for mothers to travel and so these children are being delivered in poor conditions and then abandoned on the street.  

12/23/2007 - N.J. to disinvest from Iran Gov. Jon Corzine is expected to sign the bill, initiated in New Jersey by NORPAC, a pro-Israel political action committee  

12/23/2007 - Syria says US 'torpedoing' Lebanon deal: report "At the moment when Syria and France were searching for a way forward on Lebanon, the US scurried to send two envoys to Lebanon --- Elliott Abrams and David Welch -- known for their partiality to Israel, with the aim of torpedoing an accord between the different factions in Lebanon,"  

12/23/2007 - Graffiti Artists Decorate Bethlehem Barrier    

12/23/2007 - Senators write Bush on Christians Two U.S. senators cited the Holy Land's dwindling Palestinian Christian community in a letter to President Bush.  

12/23/2007 - Struggle over identity of Zionism organization symbolizes dispute over Israel's character The challenge to the JNF's longstanding resistance to selling its land to Arabs highlights the frictions inherent in Israel's description of itself as both a Jewish and democratic state, at once wanting to be part of the Western democratic tradition, but still fearing it might be swallowed up by the region's Arab majority.......Anticipating the court action, Israel's parliament overwhelming passed in an initial reading a bill that would bar the agency from selling land to Arabs. Any further readings will depend on the agreement the court reaches with the JNF and the state, its sponsors say.  

12/23/2007 - Two more Palestinians arrested for breaking in to judge's Jerusalem home    

12/23/2007 - Israel to spend $230m on defence shield    

12/23/2007 - In Nablus, improved security promises a safer Christmas "What people have been interested in seeking, both Christians and Muslims, is a sense of the rule of law and to stop those who violate it," says Mr. Awad. "I know many Muslims who felt scared, too, who were also having difficulty with criminals targeting them. Now, the government making a very tough stand with militant groups who carry guns in the streets. This was a very prominent scene, and Christians and Muslims suffered from it. Now this is illegal and the government has taken some real steps to stop it."  

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12/22/2007 - Negotiations useless if settlements continue, Palestinians say    

12/22/2007 - Reality in Bethlehem mars Christmas tradition "You look at the political situation, there's a lot of stress, a lot of depression. There are headaches and unemployment," said Naim Khoury, pastor of Bethlehem's First Baptist Church. "Building of the wall has prevented people from finding work. People see there are better opportunities outside the country." Who's driving the Christians from the Holy Land?

12/22/2007 - 'Ceasefire not an option' Islamic Jihad says Hamas did not ask group to join reported ceasefire efforts. 'Truce is not on the table in light of Israeli aggression' says Jihad spokesman  

12/22/2007 - Two Palestinians wounded near Gaza crossing Two Palestinians were wounded in a missile attack near the Karni crossing on the border with Israel on Saturday, according to Palestinian medics.  

12/22/2007 - Israel fears clash with U.S. over impasse in negotiations "Israel has created a series of far-reaching expectations in the international arena," this official said, referring to the implementation of the first part of the road map, "but this is not going to happen." "There is no political capability either to evacuate settlements or freeze construction in the settlements," the second official added. Even if Palestinians stopped the rocket fire thereby depriving Israel of its pretext to do so under the guise of 'security', Israel would still continue building the settlements (on Palestinian land). Israel never stops building settlements, judging by its record and the recent announcements of late. They decided against the building of the new apts in E. Jerusalem, but the construction in Har Homa is not going to cease. It's a slap in the face to the US, and to the Palestinians. If our leadership had any balls, they would cut off aid to Israel immediately.

12/22/2007 - Better times return to Bethlehem "I feel safer here than I do walking down some streets in the UK," says Mike Quincy, 61, a retired police officer from Britain, visiting the city with a group of friends. "The Palestinians feel hopeless and abandoned and the fact that people are coming here shows them that they are not completely forgotten by the outside world," he adds.  

12/22/2007 - Barak-Mubarak to meet in Cairo: Israel "Security and strategic" issues will be on the agenda, but not the possibility of a ceasefire with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip, he said.  

12/22/2007 - Exodus from the Holy Land The explanation often cited by the Israeli media and officials for the flight of Palestinian Christians has been that they lived in fear of their Muslim cousins. As so often is the case in the Middle East, many Palestinians had a different view. "Our relations with the Muslims is not really the problem," said George Abdo, a social worker with the Shepherd Society. "It is the occupation and all that it produces -- the economic, social, medical and educational hardships." Who's driving the Christians from the Holy Land?

12/22/2007 - Studying The Appeal Of The Underdog in one study using the Israeli and Palestinian conflict, the participants were given the same essay about the history of the area, but with different maps to reference - one showing Palestine as smaller than Israel (and thus, the underdog) and the other showing Israel as smaller. No matter what scenario the participants were presented with, they consistently favored the underdog to win With the IDF being the fourth best military in the world, and the borders of Israel growing steadily since its foundation (at the expense of the Palestinians), it is safe to say that Palestine is definitely the underdog here.

12/22/2007 - Surgery paves way for future AN altruistic alliance with the blessing of Yasser Arafat changed the lives of two children in Geelong yesterday. Plastic surgeon Ian Holten removed disfiguring birthmarks from the faces of two Palestinian children.  

12/22/2007 - Time To Enage Hamas & Alterman On The Lobby had the Palestinians handled Ehud Barak?s tentative offer at Camp David in the summer of 2000 (imperfect as it was) in a more positive manner?rather than letting the summit collapse?a Palestinian state would perhaps already exist. Sorry, M.J., I diasgree. The Palestinians were being asked by Israel to nullify the right of return - which is guaranteed to them under UN resolution 194 - which was a dealbreaker. Any Palestinian leader that would agree to such a deal, would likely be assassinated (and they know it).

12/22/2007 - Sabbah slammed for challenging 'Jewish state' "God made this land for all three of us [Muslims, Jews and Christians]," Sabbah, who was born in Nazareth, was quoted as saying. "If it's Jewish, it's not Muslim or Christian...If there's a state of one religion, other religions are naturally discriminated against. This land cannot be exclusive for anyone," he said. What's the problem with his statements? He doesn't insist that one religion is held supreme over the others? Get over it.

12/22/2007 - Christmas in Bethlehem (Bethlehem, Carmarthenshire, that is) The pilgrims are coming, but the Christians are leaving. Before Israel's creation in 1948, 92 per cent of the city's population was Christian. The mayor puts the current figure at 35 per cent.  

12/22/2007 - Let us hope for peace next year in David's city Visiting the security barrier next to Shu'fat refugee camp in east Jerusalem, I saw how sometimes it can almost completely exclude Palestinian communities from Jerusalem and from vital services - such as schools and doctor's surgeries. At a school in the Qalandiya refugee camp, a Palestinian mother told me of her fears for her teenage son.  

12/22/2007 - Girl hit in missile strike fights to stay in Israel Last week she was given the good news that she will be allowed to remain where she is for at least another year - providing a flicker of hope for reconciliation in a part of the world that sorely needs it.  

12/22/2007 - Palestinians Not Hopeful on Full-Fledged State   Given Israel's recent behavior with respect to the continued construction of settlements, who can blame them?

12/22/2007 - Egyptian Guard Killed in Clash With Smugglers at Israeli Border An Egyptian border guard was shot dead on Friday night in a clash in the Sinai Desert with Egyptian smugglers escorting African migrants to the Israeli border, according to news agency reports.  

12/22/2007 - Ayalon: IDF lacks intel' to launch Shalit rescue mission    

12/22/2007 - Surveyed Americans Believe in Biblical Truth How about David killing the massive Palestinian warrior Goliath? Approximately 63 percent of surveyed adults believe that he hurled a stone at the giant with a sling shot - a fatal blow described in the Old Testament. Present day realities dictate that it's the Palestinian David using his slingshot to throw rocks at the IDF giant (which gets David shot at with live rounds, in most situations, and he's usually a kid).

12/22/2007 - Religious outpost takes over secular settlement in West Bank "The trouble started in 1992 after Likud lost the elections," said Haim, who did not give his real name out of concern for his livelihood and is a veteran settler at Heinanit. "The head of the regional council pressured and even threatened us to allow caravans to be placed in the upper part of the settlement near industrial structures. The settlement department of the [World] Zionist Organization also pressured us to allow them to settle next to us. Everybody said it was temporary. They started with six or seven caravans and soon there were 40." Israeli settlements are a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention (Article 49), war crimes.

12/22/2007 - Russia seeks role in Israel-Syria talks Turkey has also played this role in recent months. But while the Turks are believed to have better personal contacts with the Syrians, the Russians - because of their arms sales to Syria and their overall status as a world power - are believed to have much more leverage with Damascus.  

12/22/2007 - 'Children of Jihad' Author Hits at Misconceptions about Middle-East I remember one of them put his hand on my shoulder and said, "We don't care that you're Jewish, we don't care you're American. We hate the American government and we hate the Israeli government, but Jewish people and American people have done nothing to us." ......What I hope and one of the main reasons I wrote "Children of Jihad" was because on paper as a young American Jew, I'm probably the last person that should be able to get along with people from different backgrounds in the Middle East. And the reality is, I found that youth culture there was more similar to me than it was different. Everyone should read this in its entirety. He speaketh the truth. Most of the folks int the Middle East,particularly the youth, are NOT masked jihadis hell bent on killing us. Fact.

12/22/2007 - Iran Polls Better Than US in Saudi Arabia 57 percent of respondents said they opposed the development by Iran of nuclear weapons. Thirty-eight percent said they would favor the US and other countries taking military action to prevent the Iranians from obtaining such a weapon, compared to 27 percent who said the US should accept a nuclear-armed Iran.  

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12/21/2007 - Palestinian shot dead near Gaza border The 17-year-old was shot in the chest near the fence separating Israel from Gaza, east of the central town of Khan Yunis.  

12/21/2007 - No More Slam Dunks by Philip Giraldi ** An alarmed Israel, where the report?s conclusions have been rejected by both politicians and media, is considering taking unilateral action against the principle Iranian nuclear facility at Natanz. If Israel were to attack Iran, it would need Washington?s help, and U.S. forces would almost certainly be involved in any Iranian retaliation......Both the Iraq NIE and the 2005 NIE on Iran suffered from White House staffers, mostly neoconservatives from Vice President Cheney?s office, participating in the review process. To deal with the problem of such political pressure, Director of Central Intelligence Michael Hayden and DNI Mike McConnell isolated analysts from policymakers and also took steps to deal with the groupthink problem. The efforts of these guys who refused to be cowed by the neoconservatives can not be overstated. God bless 'em.

12/21/2007 - Soldiers indicted on charges of abusing Palestinian prisoners During the journey, the soldiers grabbed the prisoners by their hair, struck their chests and necks and demanded they repeat the number soldiers had previously assigned them with. When a prisoner would say the correct number, the soldiers would fall upon him in a beating frenzy.  

12/21/2007 - EU: International force for Gaza will be set up as soon as agreement is made    

12/21/2007 - Peres apologizes for 1956 massacre On October 29, 1956, a Border Police platoon shot and killed 48 unarmed Arab civilians in the village of Kafr Kassem east of Petah Tikva because the residents were unknowingly in violation of a curfew imposed on the village due to the onset of the Sinai Campaign.  

12/21/2007 - Candle procession in Beit Sahour calling for a Just Peace On Friday Palestinian residents of Beit Sahour marched through the town, east of Bethlehem marking the beginning of the three-day, Joy to the City festival. The marchers carried signs, calling for a Just Peace, and signs against the annexation wall that is being built on Palestinian land.  

12/21/2007 - O little (divided) town of Bethlehem "It's disgusting," he says. "We are in a chicken cage." For Mr Salsaa, who last managed to get a permit, as part of a church delegation, to visit Jerusalem a year ago, it is one of several factors behind Bethlehem's marked economic decline. This in turn helped to trigger the much-discussed flight of (often, but not always, relatively prosperous middle-class) Christian Palestinians from the city, and indeed from the West Bank altogether. This in turn helped to trigger the much-discussed flight of (often, but not always, relatively prosperous middle-class) Christian Palestinians from the city, and indeed from the West Bank altogether. He calculates that since the Six Day War, but mainly since the beginning of the intifada in September 2000, which made Bethlehem a frequent theatre of conflict between militants and Israeli forces, about two-thirds of his extended family or clan ? between 250 and 300 people ? have gone abroad, chiefly to the US. "The reason was economy and no security; people didn't feel safe." He insists that this had nothing to do with reported friction between Muslims and Christians. "We have warm relations," he says. Who's driving the Christians from the Holy Land?

12/21/2007 - Outgoing senior FM official calls for military pact with Washington ** Signing a defense pact with the U.S. would mean that Washington would treat any attack on Israel as an attack on the U.S. and would act to protect Israel or retaliate against the assailant. However, such a pact could also limit Israel because it would require the Americans' approval for any military act Israel would consider. Oh bullsh#t. The sovereignty of this nation, the national security of this nation has been utterly compromised by foreign elements. Israel seeks to make ITS problems OUR problems to the detriment of THIS nation.

12/21/2007 - UN Council urges donors to meet Palestinian pledges    

12/21/2007 - Israel ministers urge Hamas talks "What is essential is that it stop rocket fire and all other attacks against Israel from Gaza and that it agrees to stop arms smuggling on the Egypt border,"  

12/21/2007 - Security Council hails donors' aid pledge to Palestinians    

12/21/2007 - Israel may buy rapid-fire cannon The Jerusalem Post has learned that the Defense Ministry is holding high-level talks with the Pentagon on purchasing a rapid-fire cannon to protect strategic installations from the primitive Palestinian rockets.  

12/21/2007 - 'Father Christmas' beaten in West Bank demo: organisers Israeli guards beat five demonstrators, including one dressed as Father Christmas, during a protest on Friday against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank, organisers said.  

12/21/2007 - Gaza residents discuss the closure Two months ago my wife had our first baby. I look at him and I want to give him a better life, but I don't know how to.  

12/21/2007 - Tourists see writing on Bethlehem's walls    

12/21/2007 - Holy Land exhibition shows rare religious harmony    

12/21/2007 - Notes from underground: the secret life of Gaza's most wanted   With respect to the last sentence: Israeli soldiers refer to themselves as Yahood, which in Arabic means Jews. So when the IDF come knocking on the doors in Palestine, they identify themselves as the such.

12/21/2007 - The writing on Bethlehem's wall: British artist seeks to lure tourists    

12/21/2007 - Rice: Sharon's settler ties were an issue Condoleezza Rice said Ariel Sharon's ties to the settlement movement discouraged her from promoting Israeli-Palestinian peace  

12/21/2007 - Palestinian gas project 'is wrecked by Israel' Industry sources blamed Israel for the failure of negotiations with the British multinational BG Group after the Jewish state repeatedly reduced its offer price for the gas.  

12/21/2007 - Israel must call W.Bank building freeze now -Qurei    

12/21/2007 - Comedic Trio Takes Tour to Middle East Mr. KADER: Because that's where you see bad headlines, in the paper, where the Israeli - Israeli tank was scratched by a rock. (Soundbite of laughter) Mr. KADER: Damn Arabs. (Soundbite of laughter) Mr. KADER: Palestinian attacks bullets with body.  

12/21/2007 - In photos: 'Bethlehem - Christmas preparations'    

12/21/2007 - Inside Gaza: The challenge of clans and families    

12/21/2007 - Congress gives qualified OK to Bush request on P.A. aid "To ensure maximum accountability and full transparency, Congress has required mandatory audits of P.A. finances and withholds part of the funds until the P.A. enacts a series of specific civil service and budgetary reforms," AIPAC, the pro-Israel powerhouse, said in a statement. "In order to provide the funds, the president must report on specific steps that the P.A. has taken to arrest terrorists, confiscate weapons and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure."  

12/21/2007 - Conference of Presidents backs united Jerusalem    

12/21/2007 - Wiesenthal Center: Vatican must repudiate Sabbah's call to end Jewish state In the wake of the Catholic Church's chief cleric in Jerusalem declaring that Israel's identity as a Jewish homeland discriminates against non-Jews, the Simon Wiesenthal Center called on the Vatican to reject Patriarch Michel Sabbah's demand for Israel to "discard its identity as a Jewish State".  

12/21/2007 - Bush proposal threatens Lebanon stability: Hezbollah Hezbollah said on Friday a proposal by U.S. President George W. Bush for Lebanon's Western-backed governing coalition to elect a new president unilaterally was a threat to the country's stability.  

12/21/2007 - Project to lure Jews out of Iran proves unsuccessful "If there is an attack by either the United States or Israel on Iran, it seems clear to me that even the Iranian Jews know it would be too late at that point for them to get out or not be persecuted," Eckstein said. "In my opinion, they are playing a very dangerous game of not committing to come out to Israel.".......For the past 25 years, the IFCJ has given millions of dollars solicited from evangelical Christians in the United States to help Jews immigrate to Israel from the former Soviet Union, India, Argentina and the United States. Some evangelicals believe that the return of Jews to Israel will hasten Christ's second coming.  

12/21/2007 - A journey to the Holy Land The Palestinian Christian community has been in decline in recent years due to strong anti-Christian sentiment. Says Woods, "The Israeli Government appears to have been actively trying to encourage Palestinian Christians to leave because they have seen them as able to get jobs and so forth elsewhere?they want to occupy more territory and the Palestinian Christian community is more mobile than the Muslim community." Who's driving the Christians from the Holy Land?

12/21/2007 - Hariri court to be based in former Dutch intelligence HQ: official    

12/21/2007 - Jo's Holy Land return A THRELKELD grandmother will visit the Holy Land to join Palestinian farmers and Israeli volunteers in the olive harvest.  

12/21/2007 - Bolton back on JINSA board JINSA, which promotes security ties between Israel and the United States and other U.S. allies, shares Bolton's outspoken criticism of Bush administration overtures to North Korea and what he says is the slow pace of U.S. efforts to confront Iran.  

12/21/2007 - Rabbis join clerical call for Iran talks A number of rabbis have joined Christian and Muslim clerics in signing a plea for direct U.S.-Iran talks.  

12/21/2007 - Congress must stand up to Israel If we get a new president next year we can hope that person has the courage to assert our sovereignty and require the State of Israel to honor the U.N. Security Council resolutions and return the West Bank and Gaza to the Palestinian people. It is in the interest of all of us. Amen.

12/21/2007 - What Will Israel Do? ** "I came back from a trip to Israel in November convinced that Israel would attack Iran," Bruce Riedel, a former career CIA official and senior adviser to three U.S. presidents--including Bush--on Middle East and South Asian issues, told me Thursday, citing conversations he had with Mossad and defense officials. "And that was before the NIE. This makes it even more likely. Israel is not going to allow its nuclear monopoly to be threatened." .........One reason for Bush's abruptly announced nine-day visit to the region in mid-January is to deal with the fallout from the NIE, which includes not only the possibility that Israel will act unilaterally but also that Bush's prized Annapolis peace process will stall.  

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12/20/2007 - Seven gunmen killed in Gaza raid Seven Palestinian militants have been killed and three Israeli soldiers wounded in fierce clashes near a refugee camp inside Gaza.  

12/20/2007 - Caritas visits Palestinian cancer and dialysis patients in hospital over Christmas The cancer patients are all from Gaza and come to the hospital to undergo chemotherapy treatment. Most of these lucky few (that can obtain permission to enter Jerusalem for treatment) come to the hospital under a special permit and they are not allowed to leave the premises.  

12/20/2007 - Palestinian child dies due to the Israeli siege on Gaza Rawan Nassar, a 15 year old girl, died from kidney failure, she needed to undergo a dialysis session, but because of the army siege in the Gaza strip she was not able to leave the costal region to get the treatment she needed.  

12/20/2007 - Muslim feast day marred by Israeli military restrictions On Wednesday 19 December, the Israeli military obstructed the way to the Ibrahimi Mosque, in Hebron?s Old City, for over one hundred Muslim worshippers. Wednesday was the first day of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, when Muslims around the world attend morning prayers at their local mosques.  

12/20/2007 - No room at the inn: Christmas bonanza in Bethlehem Israel's separation barrier has confiscated farm land, uprooted olive trees, isolated the town from Jerusalem and helped to quicken emigration and keep unemployment at more than 50 percent. Israeli raids are still frequent.  

12/20/2007 - Rice welcomes 'good step' from Israel on settlements Israel's housing ministry abandoned the plans for the Atarot area in east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as the capital of their future state.  

12/20/2007 - Postcard: Bethlehem I was 8 when my family moved to Bethlehem in 1949. We were Muslim refugees from the newly created Israel. Back then, nearly all the townspeople were Christian. I went to a Christian school and sang in a church choir. I loved to go to Sunday service and shut my eyes, listening to the cadences of Latin Mass--which I didn't understand--and breathing in the fragrance of incense.  

12/20/2007 - Toy guns and real fears - it's playtime in Gaza    

12/20/2007 - Why the US hasn't seen smuggling tapes The decision to send the tapes to the Israeli Embassy in Washington was made by Israel's top defense echelon to influence the appropriations process in Congress ahead of a decision to withhold part of the foreign aid granted to Egypt.  

12/20/2007 - 'IDF ability to fight Qassams limited' Chief of army intelligence speaks at TAU meet, says military has limited resources when fighting camouflaged Qassam launchers in Gaza. 'It's like looking for a needle in a haystack,' he says  

12/20/2007 - Campaigner protest over Palestinian deaths PEACE campaigners gathered outside Sheffield Town Hall with a small coffin and placards listing the names of 34 Palestinians, including children, who they say have died as the result of an Isreali siege of the Gaza strip.  

12/20/2007 - Hebron mezuzah incident investigated The Hebron casbah, from where many Palestinian residents have fled during the past six years of violence, is off-limits to Israeli civilians out of concern that settlers might try to squat in its buildings.  

12/20/2007 - Aliyah up from U.S., Britain Immigration to Israel from the United States, Canada, and Britain is up, though total aliyah is down.  

12/20/2007 - Bethlehem residents vandalise Banksy graffiti "We're humans here, not donkeys," said Nasri Canavati, a restaurater. "This is insulting. I'm glad it was painted over."  

12/20/2007 - Israel says it opposes Russian plans for Moscow peace summit    

12/20/2007 - American Zionist group slams U.S. gov't on campus anti-Semitism The Office of Civil Rights, which operates under the auspices of the Department of Education, said in a report released last week that some Muslim student activities were offensive to Jewish students. Advertisement But the report concludes the speeches, marches and other activities were based on opposition to Israeli policies, not the national origin of Jewish students. And to the extremist ZOA, that's anti-Semitism (criticism of Israel).

12/20/2007 - Aid and art cheer up Christians in the Holy Land Despite the sombre mood, Mr Ishaq said that the Christian presence in the Holy Land would endure. ?Those here by choice are determined to bear witness. I will take my choir to sing wherever I can. As for the future, we have to keep the faith; there is nothing else we can do but hope.?  

12/20/2007 - Judge: U.S. rightly excluded scholar he was excluded on the grounds that he aided a terrorist group by making charitable contributions from 1998 to 2002.....The United States did not outlaw contributions to the group until 2003.  

12/20/2007 - Syria says working for end to Lebanon crisis Syria is working to help resolve Lebanon's presidential crisis, the foreign minister said on Thursday, responding to reports that France's patience was wearing thin with Damascus over a stalled presidential election.  

12/20/2007 - 'Bad for the Jews' Take a look at the agendas of some of the most influential Jewish organizations, like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Anti-Defamation League, the Zionist Organization of America and the American Jewish Committee itself; each has historically associated itself with the hawkish side of the debate--and some have done so even when Israel took the more dovish side (the Jewish equivalent of being holier than the Pope).  

12/20/2007 - Israel's supporters should push for talks with Iran The release of the NIE report should prompt more than silence from Jerusalem, however. It should prompt a re-thinking of Israel?s -- and the pro-Israel community in America?s -- approach toward Iran  

12/20/2007 - Bush 'loses patience' with Syria "The reason why is because he houses Hamas, he facilitates Hezbollah, suiciders go from his country into Iraq, and he destabilises Lebanon."  

12/20/2007 - Report: Cluster bomb left over from war kills man in S. Lebanon The bomb went off as Mohammad Hamzeh was collecting firewood in the town of Zibqine near the southern port city of Tyre. According to the National News Agency, Hamzeh was instantly killed.  

12/20/2007 - Five Palestinians arrested for breaking into judge's home    

12/20/2007 - Spinka rabbi arrested for tax fraud Six other men were charged in the scheme; four were arrested Wednesday. Two others are believed to be in Israel.  

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12/19/2007 - Ex-CIA man predicts U.S. war with Iran ** Those who hope to prevent a military conflict in Iran should make their voices heard, he said......He cited the close American relationship with Israel, which he said considers Iran a threat, as a driving force behind a potential strike.  

12/19/2007 - At-Tuwani: Clearing the Land The Israeli government has simply taken Palestinian land for Israeli settlements and roads. As in the Highlands, the ?victors? have used pseudo legal means to steal land.  

12/19/2007 - Palestinian Patient dies due to the Israeli siege on Gaza    

12/19/2007 - Hamas seeks truce talks with Israel Gaza's embattled Hamas leaders are seeking a cease-fire after months of Israeli attacks and sanctions, going so far as to make an unprecedented appeal through the Israeli media, a Hamas official confirmed Wednesday.  

12/19/2007 - Mideast Catholic leader says peace depends on Israel "The strong party, the one with everything in hand, the one who is imposing occupation on the other, has the obligation to see what is just for everyone and to carry it out courageously."  

12/19/2007 - Donors' Palestinian budget aid short of target Fayyad had asked for $3.9 billion in budget aid to cover running costs, such as civil servants' salaries, and the foreign ministry said only $1.54 billion of the funds pledged were in the form of budget aid.  

12/19/2007 - State to reconsider cutting electricity and fuel to Gaza    

12/19/2007 - Palestinian shepherds forced to move on Several weeks earlier he and all his fellow villagers, 37 families numbering 272 people, were evacuated by the Israeli military from Qassa and told to find a new home somewhere else........Some villagers noted that Qassa sits between Israel's Separation Barrier and the pre-1967 Green Line border, and felt this was a factor in the eviction.  

12/19/2007 - "Hamas reached 'secret deal' with Israel" Senior Fatah officials claimed Tuesday that a "secret deal" was keeping Israel from killing top Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip.  

12/19/2007 - Is charity Peace Oil really the best way to help the Middle East?    

12/19/2007 - Hebron Update: 10-16 December 2007    

12/19/2007 - Hamas offer for peace rejected by Israel The Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who just hours earlier declared ?war on Gaza?, refused to acknowledge an offer for peace made by the deposed Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyya.  

12/19/2007 - Bush to make first presidential visit to Israel Bush will find a receptive audience in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states over his concerns about Iran's increasing dominance in the region. Bush insists that Iran remains a potential threat to world peace in spite of a US intelligence analysis that it had stopped a nuclear weapons programme in 2003.  

12/19/2007 - Catholic leader rejects Israel's Jewish identity ''If there's a state of one religion, other religions are naturally discriminated against,'' Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah told reporters at the annual press conference he holds in Jerusalem before Christmas  

12/19/2007 - Ayalon, Mofaz favor truce talks Two Israeli Cabinet ministers said the government should consider holding truce talks with Hamas.  

12/19/2007 - Israel considers new settlement The Haaretz newspaper said the Atarot plan - south of Qalandia checkpoint which controls access to East Jerusalem from Ramallah - envisaged construction of 10,000 flats, making it the largest housing project for Jews  

12/19/2007 - Israel's Olmert: 'There is a war in Gaza'    

12/19/2007 - Jerusalem: What's in your fridge? Khalil Abu Arqub is a 50-year-old Palestinian headmaster who lives in Jerusalem.  

12/19/2007 - Report: Bush snubs Knesset U.S. President George W. Bush reportedly turned down a request to address Israel's Knesset during his visit next month.  

12/19/2007 - Israeli Consulate in L.A. evacuated    

12/19/2007 - Israel sets up wartime liaison unit The authority is an outcome of an interim report issued by Israel's commission of inquiry into the 2006 Lebanon war, which found that the offensive against Hezbollah and efforts to control damage caused by its rockets were stymied by poor government oversight.  

12/19/2007 - Mizrahi staying at The Israel Project The Israel Project also announced that five U.S. senators and one member of Congress have joined its board of directors. They are Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) and Susan Collins (R-Me.), and Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.). Americans beware. The Israel Project is a pro-Israeli outfit which was behind some of the campus witchhunts of recent years.

12/19/2007 - Well hello, dolly! At a landfill in the West Bank town of Yata, a young Palestinian dump scavenger holds up his latest find, which he will try to sell.  

12/19/2007 - Corrie play not helpful to dialogue, QIC director says The politically charged play My Name is Rachel Corrie, which is now playing in Montreal, is not a basis for discussion on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, says the director of the Quebec-Israel Committee (QIC).  

12/19/2007 - Foreigners head to Syria to learn Arabic Syrians point to the young foreigners in the capital as proof that their country ? which is under U.S. sanctions and on its list of state supporters of terrorism ? is not the closed, anti-American rogue nation often depicted in Western media.  

12/19/2007 - Sarkozy demands Syrian action on Lebanon: report    

12/19/2007 - Assassination Jars Nascent US Détente With Syria it seems that Washington's move toward détente with Damascus is being strained again, and as usual, the latest flashpoint is Lebanon, or rather, the assassination of a political figure in Lebanon. Awful strange, that.

12/19/2007 - Ministers discuss Palestinian refugee situation with Commissioner General of UNRWA    

12/19/2007 - A dove departs A politician who paid the price for telling Israelis unpalatable truths  

12/19/2007 - West Bank villagers celebrate St. Nicholas as protector, miracle man Because of Israeli checkpoints and closed roads, the cousins get to see each other only a few times a year, although they live less than an hour apart.  

12/19/2007 - A prayer from Bethlehem In Bethlehem this December, there will be Santas handing candy out in the streets, markets selling toys and decorations, and a Christmas Eve procession to the Church of the Nativity, honored as Jesus' birthplace. Palestinian Christians will go to midnight Mass, eat a festive meal with their families and sing Christmas carols.  

12/19/2007 - Mazuz: Int'l law not broken in Kfar Kana   Israel exonerates itself from blame for another war crime.

12/19/2007 - Mideast peace in 2008 unlikely due to U.S. vote: Assad Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said achieving Middle East peace in 2008 looked unrealistic because the United States would be preoccupied with the presidential election.  

12/19/2007 - Palestinian refugees from Iraq stranded in desert camp Many have known no home outside Baghdad ? they're the offspring of parents who settled in Iraq in 1948 after being driven from Haifa as when Israel became an independent nation  

12/19/2007 - Israel tests advanced Patriot Israel tested an advanced version of the U.S.-supplied Patriot missile.  

12/19/2007 - Israel worried about Hamas hajjis Israel believes that hundreds of Palestinians who left on the pretext of a pilgrimage will receive military training in Iran.  

12/19/2007 - Congress approves extra anti-terror funds Jewish groups have received a lion?s share of the funds since the program was instituted by the Department of Homeland Security in 2005. Last year they received 251 of the 308 grants awarded.  

12/19/2007 - Assad: We rejected nukes in '01 The Syrian president said in an interview published Wednesday that in 2001, his regime was approached by Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan's atomic architect, who offered in a letter to sell Damascus nuclear missiles. "We do not know if the letter was authentic or if it was an Israeli trap,"  

12/19/2007 - The Wages of Intervention Turkish-Syrian-Iranian rapprochement has provoked the wrath of the Israel lobby in Washington, and this was a key factor in getting the Armenian genocide resolution through Congress, which further alienated Ankara.  

12/19/2007 - Israel Recognised by Govt, Not By People    

12/19/2007 - Russia, Israel agree to be visa-free Jewish Agency for Israel chairman Zeev Bielsky welcomed the agreement between Moscow and Jerusalem, saying it would encourage more young Russian Jews to visit their ancestral homeland.  

12/19/2007 - For Israel's Arab Citizens, Isolation and Exclusion "Inside the Green Line, people have not awakened to their role of the last 100 years," Stern said, referring to the 1949 armistice line that marked Israel's boundary until it seized the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war. "If we fall asleep here, we will wake up to an Arab majority.".......The rejection letter followed a conversation the Zubeidats had with an official from the Misgav Regional Council, which oversees Rakefet and dozens of other nearby towns. He told them, Fatina recalled, that although they were "very nice people," he would have to begin marketing Rakefet as a "mixed community" to possible buyers in Tel Aviv if they moved in. The designation would hurt sales.  

12/19/2007 - Report: Palestinian NGOs pull plug on Madrid forum    

12/19/2007 - Cost stalls West Bank wall Work on Israel's separation barrier has virtually halted as the country's attention ? and budget funding ? have shifted away from the threat of Palestinian suicide bombers from the West Bank  

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12/18/2007 - Hamas-run Gaza will likely see little of the $7.4 billion in aid to the Palestinians    

12/18/2007 - Iceland to Support Palestine    

12/18/2007 - Senior Chinese legislator meets Palestinian guest Oyunqemag said China would continue as it has always done to support the just cause of Palestine, maintain friendly ties with the DFLP and make joint efforts to promote China-Palestine friendship and the development of the Middle East peace process.  

12/18/2007 - Israeli army crimes 'unpunished' Yesh Din's report said offences included "illegal shooting causing the death and injury of civilians, violence and abuse, intentional damage to property, looting, taking bribes".  

12/18/2007 - Abbas backs French call for international force    

12/18/2007 - Turkey: Another Ally Lost by Philip Giraldi   Giraldi reveals the Israel factor with respect to US-Turkey relations.

12/18/2007 - Palestinian President Abbas welcomes idea of international force in territories    

12/18/2007 - Deputy PM Ramon: Swap Pre-1967 Land With PA Speaking with IDF Army Radio on Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Chaim Ramon acknowledged that Israel would continue construction within some of the larger Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria. However, he added, parts of pre-1967 Israel will be relinquished to the Palestinian Authority in return for those settlement blocs retained.  

12/18/2007 - Bush set for tour of Middle East George W Bush will make his first visit as US president to Israel and the West Bank in January, in an attempt to revive the Middle East peace process.  

12/18/2007 - Palestinian refugees still adamant they must return home UN General Assembly Resolution 194, passed in December 1948, asserts the refugees' right of return to live at peace in their old homes or to receive compensation for their losses. Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country."  

12/18/2007 - Qassams, mortars hit western Negev The Islamic Jihad announced retaliatory action is underway, as its spokesman vowed the "organization will respond to this grave Israeli crime over the course of the following days."  

12/18/2007 - Cyprus to give $2 mln aid to Palestinians    

12/18/2007 - UAE gives $300 million for Palestinian rebuilding    

12/18/2007 - Secure and stable environment for Palestinian development - a high priority    

12/18/2007 - Sweden Increases Aid To The Palestinian People    

12/18/2007 - Bush: Iran still a threat "We need to take their threats seriously about what they have said about one of our allies, Israel," Bush said during a speech Monday in Fredericksburg, Va. "And therefore my attitude hasn't changed toward Iran."  

12/18/2007 - Palestinian premier says Paris results beyond expectations Acting Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Tuesday in Ramallah that the results of the Paris donors' conference held Monday 'have exceeded our expectations.'  

12/18/2007 - A daily exercise in humiliation A report released last week by the International Committee for the Red Cross singled out the checkpoints and the isolation of Nablus as key parts of a system that denies Palestinians "normal and dignified lives." The broad rebuke of Israel for its 40-year-old occupation of the West Bank was surprising from an organization that makes an effort to remain neutral.  

12/18/2007 - Palestinian spray-paints recipe on Israel's West Bank barrier as protest «I think it's important for Palestinians to see that people from around the world are supporting their cause,» said Nabil Kukali, an expert on Palestinian opinion on Israel. «They are happy to see this type of organization standing with them and understanding their suffering.  

12/18/2007 - Qassam lands near IDF base in Negev; 6 soldiers suffer from shock Rocket fired by Palestinians in Gaza lands in Kibbutz Zikim area; female soldiers stationed nearby suffer from shock, state of alert declared at all nearby army bases; few minutes prior to attack Qassam lands in open field north of Sderot  

12/18/2007 - The Netherlands releases ten million euros extra for Palestinian Territories    

12/18/2007 - Belgium pledges 86 million euro at the International Donors' Conference for the Palestinian State    

12/18/2007 - Christian voices from Bethlehem How can we celebrate Christmas when people are in captivity -when Bethlehem is in prison?  

12/18/2007 - New committee to consider Palestinian family reunification requests Interior Ministry establishes committee comprising security, public officials to consider granting Palestinians temporary residence status in special humanitarian cases  

12/18/2007 - Ministry pushes new neighborhood for Jews in E. J'lem The neighborhood, near Atarot, is slated to contain more than 10,000 apartments, making it the largest Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem.  

12/18/2007 - India's support to Palestine cause unwavered: Pranab    

12/18/2007 - Islamic Jihad vows renewal of suicide attacks against Israel Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad vowed Tuesday to retaliate for its recent losses from Israeli air strikes with suicide attacks inside Israel, threatening "a wave of martyrdom operations" in an e-mail to reporters.  

12/18/2007 - Russia stands for Palestinian statehood Russia is to allot $10 million and 50 armored fighting vehicles for supporting Palestinian statehood.  

12/18/2007 - Let him write your text on this Wall    

12/18/2007 - UNICEF creates a safe haven to help refugee children in north Lebanon    

12/18/2007 - Recruiting begins for anti-Iran coalition Jewish umbrella groups have asked constituents to recruit non-Jewish supporters to an anti-Iran coalition.  

12/18/2007 - Mideast investment conference due in Bethlehem: British PM Britain and the United States together will organize a Middle East investment conference in Bethlehem in March or April, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Tuesday  

12/18/2007 - Dodd letter supports peace talks ?As the only democracy in the Middle East, the United States must remain a steadfast supporter of Israel and its right to defend itself from terrorist threats,? Dodd wrote, adding that Israel must maintain a commitment to a freeze on new settlements, the dismantling of illegal West Bank settlements and a reduction in the number of roadblocks and checkpoints.  

12/18/2007 - Meeting the Other: U.S. Jews visit Palestinians in Bethlehem The popularity of Encounter?s trips to Palestinian-populated cities has prompted the program to expand its offerings. Encounter recently led a tour for Jewish federation executives, and the group is planning trips for other American Jewish delegations.  

12/18/2007 - UNRWA university scholarship programme for 2007-2008 The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for the Palestine Refugees in the Near East has received more than US $2 million donation for the university scholarships program in Lebanon for the school year 2007-2008.  

12/18/2007 - Energy bill with Israel grant passes President George Bush is set to sign a bill that includes a provision for Israeli-U.S. energy cooperation.  

12/18/2007 - ANALYSIS: Hurdles face Palestinian economic revival despite donations    

12/18/2007 - New $16.5 M Bethlehem Hospital Unites Abrahamic Faiths Christians broke ground Tuesday on Bethlehem?s first specialty hospital which organizers envision will be a center bringing together Christians, Jews, and Palestinians to heal the sick in a land rife with sectarian violence.  

12/18/2007 - Gov't official: No 'smoking gun' on Iran Israel does not have "smoking gun" intelligence that will force an American reassessment of its National Intelligence Estimate that Iran halted its nuclear weapons plan in 2003, a government official told The Jerusalem Post Monday. ......The official said it was clear that the Americans pretty much know what Israel knows about the Iranian nuclear program and that the difference is not over the facts but rather over their interpretation.  

12/18/2007 - EI Reader Appeal: You count on us, can we count on you?    

12/18/2007 - Israel hands out sweets, smooths travel to Bethlehem for growing number of tourists Israel will allow 500 Christians from the Gaza Strip to enter Israel and the West Bank for up to one month during the Christmas season  

12/18/2007 - LEBANON: Palestinians Brave a Hazardous Profession An unprecedented hundreds of thousands of cluster bombs were scattered throughout south Lebanon's rural towns, agricultural fields and valleys by Israel in the final days of last year's summer conflict. There have been 26 fatalities since the conflict's end, and 196 wounded.  

12/18/2007 - Lebanon's turmoil worries Israel as Iran, Syria make power plays    

12/18/2007 - Pledge for Palestine We read with interest about donor pledges in aid for Palestinians (Donors pledge billions in aid for Palestinians, December 18). Médecins du Monde (Doctors of the World) has a number of projects in the Palestinian territories and we have seen first-hand the suffering of the civilian population.  

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12/17/2007 - Israeli raids kill Gaza militants At least five Palestinian militants, including a senior Islamic Jihad commander, have been killed in two Israeli air strikes in Gaza  

12/17/2007 - Gaza Strip at risk from sewage lake Funding is not the problem, says Mr Ali. But the project has been held back for three years because of Israel's decision to impose tight curbs on shipments of raw materials and other goods into Gaza.  

12/17/2007 - Quartet voices concern over Israeli settlements    

12/17/2007 - Israel to allow building in settlements A senior Israeli official said: "America doesn't have to approve or not to approve if we are doing something that we think, as a sovereign state, we should do." Cut the aid to these rogues. See how they like them apples.

12/17/2007 - U.S., Israel meet to discuss Iran U.S. officials told JTA that John Rood, the assistant secretary of state for nonproliferation, flew to Israel for the negotiations Sunday night. Rood is meeting with Foreign Ministry Director Aharon Abramowitz, as well as officials from the Israeli defense ministry, the Mossad and the Foreign Ministry?s Strategic Affairs Department, according to Ha'aretz......Israeli officials told Ha'aretz that they plan to give Rood their most up-to-date information about Iran?s nuclear program  

12/17/2007 - US Must Reevaluate Its Relationship With Israel by Scott Ritter ** In threatening the world with war because America opted for once to embrace fact instead of fiction, Israel, sadly, has become like a cornered beast, lashing out at any and all it perceives to threaten its security interests......The United States must redefine its national security priorities in the Middle East and position Israel accordingly. At the very least, American aid must be linked to Israeli behavior modification. The standards America applies to other nations around the world when it comes to receiving aid must likewise apply to Israel. Mr. Ritter speaketh my language. My kinda guy :)

12/17/2007 - Iran to Azerbaijan: Show proof for claims of spying on Israel Tehran on Sunday demanded that Azerbaijan provide evidence to back up the convictions of more than a dozen people found guilty of passing information about Western interests to Iranian intelligence.  

12/17/2007 - Rice: Hamas to blame for Gaza conditions US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday militant Palestinians, not Israel, are to blame for deteriorating conditions in the sealed-off Gaza Strip Wow.

12/17/2007 - Donor nations offer billions to boost Palestinian economy The French President Nicolas Sarkozy stressed that a main priority of the event would be to provide immediate support "to the entire population of the Palestinian territories", including Gaza, whose "prolonged isolation carries huge political, economic and security risks". He also urged Israel to lift the travel restrictions against the Palestinians, imposed for security reasons, saying that such a move was in Israel's own "best interests".  

12/17/2007 - Palestine remembered at ANC conference "We are here to create awareness - people are forgetting that apartheid still exists [in Israel],"  

12/17/2007 - Donor nations pledge billions for Palestinians    

12/17/2007 - Australia pledges $45m to aid Palestinian state    

12/17/2007 - How is the European Commission responding to the needs of the Palestinians    

12/17/2007 - Arab postage stamp launched to support Palestinians    

12/17/2007 - Fatah armed wing in Nablus freeze attacks against Israel    

12/17/2007 - Income drops in Gaza since Hamas takeover-WFP    

12/17/2007 - More than a quarter of Palestinians seek immigration, poll finds More than a quarter of West Bank and Gaza Palestinians or some 27 per cent say they cannot take current conditions any more and seek immigration, a public opinion poll published Monday has found.  

12/17/2007 - Palestinian faction leader expects China's bigger role in resolving Middle East conflicts    

12/17/2007 - Abbas urges Israel to stop settlement expansion    

12/17/2007 - Palestinian child goes free with prisoner-mother    

12/17/2007 - Israel to approve new cellphone network for Palestinians Israel controls all frequencies for cellular phones in the West Bank and Gaza  

12/17/2007 - Hamas: Paris donors conference declaration of war The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Gaza on Monday slammed the conference held in Paris to bolster the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) led by modest President Mahmoud Abbas.  

12/17/2007 - Army survey criticizes behavior Israel's Channel 2 television news, meanwhile, made public a picture of an Israeli soldier forcing a blindfolded Palestinian detainee to pose with a knife in his hand. Channel 2 blurred the face of the soldier, but said he was smiling in the picture, which evoked recollections of the photographs showing prisoner abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.  

12/17/2007 - Fatah says Hamas responsible for escalation of violence in Gaza    

12/17/2007 - Annapolis Failed To Address Human Rights Issues The Annapolis summit failed to address human rights issues in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute just as previous initiatives including Oslo failed before it, Donatella Rovera, chief researcher for Amnesty International on Israel and the Palestinians, told The Jerusalem Post Sunday.  

12/17/2007 - Experts warn major Israel quakes fast approaching    

12/17/2007 - Israeli military kidnaps two from al Far'aa refugee camp    

12/17/2007 - Palestinians raise $7.4B in recovery aid   Time and again, the world has stood up for the Palestinians. That is, the world except for two countries - the US and Israel. The latter stand in the way of justice.

12/17/2007 - UN's Ban calls for steps to to revive Gaza economy UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday asked international donors gathered for a one-day conference on Palestinian aid for urgent action to revive the deadlocked economy of the Gaza Strip.  

12/17/2007 - Darwish: Palestinian state will bring Muslim recognition of Israel Sheikh Abdullah Nimr Darwish, the founder of Israel's Islamic Movement, says the Muslim world, including Hamas, will be willing to negotiate recognition of the State of Israel only after a Palestinian state is created.  

12/17/2007 - Israeli Restrictions Leave Palestinians With Less Animals For Sacrifice    

12/17/2007 - No papal visit to Israel in '08 Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi in a briefing to reporters cited the "general situation of pacification" as the reason for the delay, as well as unresolved bilateral issues with Israel. Lombardi appeared to be referring to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian fighting, as well as the Vatican's request for more lenient Israeli entry regulations for Catholic clergy from Arab countries.  

12/17/2007 - U.S. security envoy to hold talks in Israel    

12/17/2007 - Jerusalem Diary: Monday 17 December Suleiman Jacir may have been from a prominent Bethlehem family, but he also could easily pass for a Sephardic Chief Rabbi. My Palestinian friend did not blink: "We are all cousins, after all," he pointed out.  

12/17/2007 - Canada joins world in rallying to aid of Palestinians at donor conference "It is hard to see how the Palestinians can make reasonable progress without improved access in their territories," said Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, a conference co-chairman.  

12/17/2007 - Church leaders urge Middle East peace    

12/17/2007 - Bethlehem profits from peaceful Christmas    

12/17/2007 - Dr Balaji attends Paris conference on Palestine Singapore will design a US$700,000 technical assistance package administered by the Singapore Cooperation Programme as part of its support for the Palestinian people.  

12/17/2007 - Muslim leader addresses Reform biennial She also said American Jews need to understand Muslim concern for the Palestinians and not assume it stems from anti-Jewish sentiment.  

12/17/2007 - As Ethiopian aliyah nears end, advocates push for 8,500 more Israeli officials? insistence on a cap underscored fears that Ethiopians with dubious claims to Jewish ancestry would exploit the system to escape Africa?s desperate poverty for a better life in Israel.  

12/17/2007 - Barenboim slams Israel over border spat Conductor Daniel Barenboim criticized Israel on Monday for preventing a Palestinian musician from entering the Gaza Strip for a concert.  

12/17/2007 - Linkage of two conflicts key to peace in Mideast The long-running struggle between Israel and the Palestinian people "is the mother-of-all grievances" for many in the Muslim world ? and the United States' backing of Israel is the root cause of the antagonism that many in the Muslin world harbor for this country, Levy argues......Last month, Levy helped draft an open letter from a bipartisan group of U.S. foreign policy experts to President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. It urged them to back a peace agreement that returns Israel to its 1967 borders and creates an independent Palestinian nation. It also called for Jerusalem, which both the Palestinians and Israelis claim, to serve as the capital of both states.  

12/17/2007 - Israeli Arab gets life for killing soldier An Israeli Arab was sentenced to life in prison for the politically motivated murder of a soldier.  

12/17/2007 - Dichter: Mourning Nakba harmful for Arab sector Kadima, he added, rejects any kind of radicalism: "Any talk of transferring Israeli-Arab citizens to the Palestinian Authority is nothing but pure nonsense."  

12/17/2007 - Kuwait to reiterate support for the people of Palestine    

12/17/2007 - Living In Bethlehem Today    

12/17/2007 - Israel, Palestinians say joint solar power projects possible    

12/17/2007 - 'Iranian threat not understood' Defense officials said recently that Gantz's new position would be of extreme importance for Israel in the coming years, ahead of possible military action against Iran and an American withdrawal from Iraq that could have potentially detrimental consequences for Israel.  

12/17/2007 - A Christmas Message from the Bishop of Lichfield The Christmas card from the Archbishop of Canterbury this year is a photo of a little boy and a little girl, dressed as Mary and Joseph for a nativity play and holding hands. That normally makes for a cheerful card, but these two are Palestinian children from a primary school in Bethlehem and their solemn expression is difficult to read  

12/17/2007 - 'O little town of Bethlehem how troubled we see thee lie'    

12/17/2007 - West Bankers Israel and the Palestinians must make the most of donors' new funding pledges.  

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12/16/2007 - Aid can only go so far for isolated Palestinians Time and again, the trucks carrying the harvest were stopped at the crossing into Israel and refused permission to leave Gaza. "There the produce stayed, sometimes for seven days. We brought it back and had to throw it away," recalls Fawzy Edwan, a farm labourer......In the West Bank, too, the economy is suffering from Israeli security measures. Roadblocks, checkpoints and the need for Palestinians to obtain permits to travel within the territory "have fragmented the Palestinian economy into disconnected cantons", the World Bank says.  

12/16/2007 - Palestinians want help more than handouts in Paris Jiftlik, home to 5,500 Palestinians, is surrounded by settlements, Israeli military bases, nature reserves and roads set aside mostly for Israeli-owned cars only. The past 40 years of occupation have swallowed most of their grazing and farmland, and the farmers describe constant harassment from Israeli soldiers. Many farmers live in tents because it is almost impossible to get an Israeli permit to build a house; in 2005 and 2006 the Israelis demolished 24 homes and structures there. This is Israeli democracy, folks. More like apartheid.

12/16/2007 - Seoul pledges $13 mln to Palestine: official    

12/16/2007 - Egypt finds two Gaza smuggling tunnels Egyptian authorities have discovered two underground tunnels used for smuggling weapons into the Gaza Strip from the Sinai peninsula, a security source told AFP on Sunday.  

12/16/2007 - Israeli airstrike in Gaza wounds four Hamas militants: Hamas Ezzadine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, said gunmen unleashed a barrage of gunfire and missiles at Israeli forces after they entered the city to try to arrest a leader of the group. Israeli forces then launched a missile at a car carrying the leader, wounding four fighters.  

12/16/2007 - Quarter of Israeli troops in West Bank witness to abuse: report The abuse includes humilitations, gratuitous delays and bribe-taking. One soldier reported forcing a Palestinian truck driver to remain on his knees for four hours for lying that he had a permit to cross the roadblock.  

12/16/2007 - Politicians held as Israel cracks down on Hamas raids Israeli troops have arrested 24 Hamas activists in Nablus and other West Bank towns, with many of those grabbed from their beds politicians and intellectuals rather than the gunmen usually snared in the nightly raids by Israel since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June. Among those rounded up was Ahmed al-Hajj Ali, a member of the Palestinian legislative council, bringing to 46 the number of MPs now in Israeli custody.  

12/16/2007 - Israeli report finds widespread checkpoint abuse Yediot Achronot on Sunday published a study commissioned by Maj.-Gen. Gadi Shamni, the chief of Israeli forces in the West Bank, which indicated that 25 percent of his soldiers have either harassed Palestinians at checkpoints or heard of comrades who committed such abuses.  

12/16/2007 - Israel lets Gazans leave for Hajj The Palestinians left Gaza on Sunday by the Erez checkpoint, controlled by Israel and usually closed to civilians.  

12/16/2007 - PFLP asserts concern over Palestinian national consensus The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) rebuffed Sunday statements by Hamas's spokesperson, Sami Abu Zuhri, in which he believed that the PFLP and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), can not take the role of mediators between Hamas and Fatah.  

12/16/2007 - World powers gather in Paris to bankroll Palestinian state    

12/16/2007 - Cabinet okays renewing controversial Temple Mount Mugrabi excavation Excavations at the site, a walkway leading to the Mugrabi Gate at the Temple Mount, were halted in June after they raised an international protest.  

12/16/2007 - Blair nears $5.6bn for Palestinianeconomy    

12/16/2007 - Palestinians Recount Rigors of Haj Journey The Palestinian Haj delegation, comprising 2,186 people, thanked the Saudi government for its continuous support since their arrival in the Kingdom following a gruesome seven-day trip from occupied Palestine.  

12/16/2007 - The Israeli army does not do enough to combat abuse of Palestinians B'Tselem recently received figures on such investigations which illustrate the enormity of the problem. Over the past seven years, only 36 indictments were filed against soldiers on charges of abusing Palestinians. These figures relate to all abuse, not only to abuse at checkpoints, and do not include death and injury due to gunfire, or damage to property.  

12/16/2007 - Palestinian rocket injures 2-year-old boy    

12/16/2007 - Spokesman: Hamas not to end Gaza takeover before resuming dialogue Sami Abu Zuhri, Islamic Hamas movement spokesman said Sunday his movement would not hand over Gaza Strip before resuming dialogue with rival Fatah movement.  

12/16/2007 - Gaza embargo puts hope on life support    

12/16/2007 - Peace of Christmas in Bethlehem Palestinians lit a four-story Christmas tree in this biblical town Saturday, kicking off a holiday season free of fighting with Israel that officials say will bring the most pilgrims since hostilities broke out seven years ago.  

12/16/2007 - Banksy work in Bethlehem Christmas sale The money will be donated to children's charities in the occupied territories.  

12/16/2007 - Palestinians warn settlement plan will cloud talks Israel's plan to build houses on occupied land near Jerusalem will cloud renewed peace talks, the Palestinian Authority said on Sunday, the day before an international aid conference opens in Paris.  

12/16/2007 - Report: Gov't won't grant rights to Palestinians west of fence The State of Israel will not grant permanent or temporary residency to West Bank Palestinians whose homes were annexed to the Jerusalem municipal area by the separation fence, the Palestinian newspaper Al Quds reported on Sunday.  

12/16/2007 - Israel plays down split with US on Iran The Israelis are also hoping to receive additional information from the U.S. report, which for the most part was classified, the officials said. .....The U.S. and Israel will hold additional formal meetings on the matter in coming weeks, the Israeli officials said. Israel will use these forums to try to persuade the Americans that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, and to present top secret Israeli intelligence material, the officials said.  

12/16/2007 - Dutch Web site puts message on fence Van Oel says the project is aimed to send a single, simple message: "Palestinians are human beings, just like anyone, with a sense of humor and a lust for life."  

12/16/2007 - Olmert muzzles Cabinet on Iran Ehud Olmert ordered his Cabinet ministers to keep quiet on Iran's nuclear program.  

12/16/2007 - Israeli team in US to counter new Iran assessment: press    

12/16/2007 - Israel unveils new strategy on Iran There have been calls within the government to reveal at least part of the Israeli assessments of the Iranian programme, but these have been rebuffed by the intelligence community.  

12/16/2007 - Israel?s bold new UK strategy Israeli diplomats are to mount an aggressive new strategy in Britain, making Israel?s case more actively in the media and taking their message out of London.  

12/16/2007 - Annapolis unsettled Har Homa was widely denounced as contravening international law and publicly criticised by President Bill Clinton. The point of Har Homa (which means "mountain wall") was to close the last corridor linking Arab east Jerusalem to Bethlehem and the West Bank. It is the last rampart in the wall of settlements encircling east Jerusalem, closing off any chance of it becoming the capital of a future Palestinian state. Just as talks restart on the borders of the two states, the possibility of sharing Jerusalem - essential to that outcome - is being foreclosed......Unless it wants another failure, Washington must tell Israel it can either have peace or keep all its settlements on occupied land. It cannot have both.  

12/16/2007 - It's time to stop the hypocrisy of U.S.- Saudi relationship Odds are the legislation proffered by Specter, Widen and Weiner will die on the vine, never making it out of committee; I'm afraid the Saudi lobby will win this battle easily. Indeed, similar legislation in recent years has gone nowhere, even when there was the hardest of evidence proving that the Saudi government was paying the families of suicide murderers and directly supporting Hamas. One reason for the past failure was the lack of a concerted, unified push by the legendary pro-Israel lobby. Note the source.

12/16/2007 - Azerbaijan: 15 convicted of treason gave Iran information on Israel n a statement released Saturday, the National Security Ministry revealed new details about the group, which allegedly passed to Iranian agents details on Western embassies, companies, pipeline operations and employees operating in Azerbaijan in 2005-2006. This just seems like it's bull and may be a precursor for other things to come.

12/16/2007 - Ayalon: Gaza op must be carefully planned    

12/16/2007 - Dialogue effort is largest of its kind Yoffie told conference participants, who had gathered for a massive Shabbat service in a converted ballroom, that the Union for Reform Judaism chose the Islamic Society as its partner because the Muslim group has repeatedly condemned terrorism and supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  

12/16/2007 - Israel's cabinet recognizes Greek Orthodox patriarch More than two years after Theofilos III was sworn in as the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in the Holy Land, Israel's cabinet on Sunday recognized his appointment, apparently ending a religious and political saga.  

12/16/2007 - Blair sees Mideast solution beyond territory    

12/16/2007 - Israel rules out attacks by Hezbollah, Syria in 2008: report Israel's Aman military intelligence does not think that Syria or Lebanon's Hezbollah militia will carry out a largescale offensive against Israel in 2008, an Israeli daily said on Sunday.  

12/16/2007 - Deck the mall in Arab Jordan there is a grim edge to the Christmas cheer, caused by continued restrictions on movement for West Bank residents. At least five parish priests from the area are stuck, either at home or outside the Palestinian territory, after the Israeli interior ministry rescinded automatic re-entry visas for Christian Arab religious leaders earlier this year.  

12/16/2007 - Report: Poverty among Arab population growing Socioeconomic gap between Jewish, Arab sectors in Israel increasing, study shows. 'Without the government's massive intervention, this trend may worsen in the coming years,' researcher says  

12/16/2007 - Israel, Quebec sign cooperation pact The agreement is expected to create new joint venture opportunities, as well as further cooperation in the fields of technology, science, medicine and education.  

12/16/2007 - 'Arabs will never do national service' Israeli Arabs will never agree to do national service for the State of Israel because it would call into question their loyalty to the Palestinian cause, the founder of Israel's Islamic Movement, Sheikh Abdullah Nimr Darwish, said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.  

12/16/2007 - Letters for December 16 In recent weeks, Republican Mike Huckabee has appeared in television interviews and Internet videos suggesting a different sort of solution, a relocation of Palestinians to another part of the Middle East. Never mind that Palestinians have lived in historical Palestine for centuries.  

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12/15/2007 - Israel: US report on Iran may spark war ** Israel will work to change the American intelligence agencies' view of Iran, said Dichter, a former chief of Israel's Shin Bet secret service agency  

12/15/2007 - Israel fails to convince US of Iran's 'serious' nuclear threat    

12/15/2007 - European Union provides 433,000 Euros to help facilitate Palestinian trade The European Union (EU) signed an agreement Saturday with the Palestine Trade Center and the Palestinian Shippers? Council, to help promote Palestinian trade with neighboring Arab countries and improve market access for Palestinian products.  

12/15/2007 - Gaza crowds mark Hamas's founding At least 300,000 people have turned out in Gaza City for a rally to mark 20 years since Hamas was founded.  

12/15/2007 - Sealed off by Israel, Gaza reduced to beggary "Essentially, it's the ordinary people, caught up in the conflict, paying the price for this political failure," said John Ging, director of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency in Gaza, which serves the majority refugee population. "The humanitarian situation is atrocious, and it is easy to understand why -- 1.2 million Gazans now relying on U.N. food aid, 80,000 people who have lost jobs and the dignity of work. And the list goes on." Thus do the deaf children, among others, suffer under the policy of collective punishment doled out by the Israeli government - in another parallel to the policies of the Nazis.

12/15/2007 - Abbas leaves for Paris ahead of donor conference    

12/15/2007 - OCHA special focus: The closure of the Gaza Strip - The economic and humanitarian consequences, Dec 2007 Low stock levels, rising prices, increased joblessness and loss of incomes are having devastating consequences for the population and local economy and the livelihoods of the people of Gaza.  

12/15/2007 - Hamas warns of Intifada Hamas threatened to launch a new uprising against Israel on Saturday when hundreds of thousands of Islamist supporters rallied in Gaza City to mark the group's 20th anniversary.  

12/15/2007 - Donors have little choice put to pay up to aid Palestinians, but the risks of failure are high «We don't need the billions of the world. We need Israel to remove the checkpoints,»  

12/15/2007 - Palestinian gov't denounces Hamas' "abduction" of official in Gaza    

12/15/2007 - Three injured in Bil'in weekly anti-Wall protest    

12/15/2007 - Palestinian leftist party presents initiative to end infighting    

12/15/2007 - Key Olmert ally vows to nullify Annapolis This afforded Mr Lieberman, who has come under fire from the right-wing for sitting in a government engaged in a controversial diplomatic process with the Palestinians, a chance to burnish his hard-line credentials.  

12/15/2007 - Livni to tell donors Israel backs PA aid Livni is expected to tell delegates that Israel will cooperate with the Palestinian Authority as long as Israeli security is not impaired.  

12/15/2007 - PNI rejects political arrests, abductions in Gaza, calls for dialogue The Palestinian National Initiative PNI in the Gaza Strip issued a press release slamming political arrests and abductions in the Gaza Strip, and called for a comprehensive dialogue to end the current situation, political arrests and abductions.  

12/15/2007 - 26 Hamas members arrested in W Bank The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) Saturday announced that Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas have arrested 26 members of the movement in the West Bank.  

12/15/2007 - A what-if on the Mideast According to Tom Segev, whose book "One Palestine Complete," chronicles the British Mandate, the early Zionists feared Wilson's obsession with democracy. "Democracy in America," a Zionist publication, explained, "too commonly means majority rule without regard to diversities of types or stages of civilization . . . ." Since Zionists were a majority in neither Palestine nor the rest of Greater Syria, American style democracy would be bad for the Jews.  

12/15/2007 - In pictures: Hamas anniversary    

12/15/2007 - Israeli FM rules out peace talks with Syria due to Damascus' "current conduct"    

12/15/2007 - New Poll: Americans Don't Believe Iran Suspended Nuclear Program A new bipartisan poll (Word Document) commissioned by The Israel Project (TIP) LOL.

12/15/2007 - Bethlehem: Safe for Tony Blair and Israelis, too On Wednesday evening, a group of 20 Israeli high-level businessmen from across the economic sectors of Israel dined with their Palestinian counterparts and Palestinian Tourism Minister Khouloud Daibes at Jacir Palace Intercontinental Hotel before a tour in the city.  

12/15/2007 - Letters | Jews vs. Israel No, crazed Israelis don't kill and torture innocent Palestinians on their way to the mosque. No, you're right, Eva Gold. They wait til they are already IN the mosque. And then like-minded wingnuts honor this madness. Research before you open your yap next time, genius.

12/15/2007 - Hamas requests political asylum from Qatar He also suggested that Hamas will hand over the major security headquarters and institutions to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas through Qatari and Egyptian mediation in exchange for negotiating with Fatah. Mash'al stipulated that a number of Hamas leaders be guaranteed political asylum in Qatar.  

12/15/2007 - Religious Zionism is Racism    

12/15/2007 - Study: West Bank pollution threatening Israeli groundwater    

12/15/2007 - Turkey detains seven over immigrant boat tragedy: Anatolia Only six people, who have identified themselves as Palestinians, are known to have survived.  

12/15/2007 - Overcoming Isolation in the West Bank In the village of Jayyous, for example, 70 percent of the land is divided by the Israeli security barrier. Mary Clarke has just returned from three months in Jayyous, where she worked on the World Council of Churches' Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme, helping people overcome problems such as getting to work, school and their land.  

12/15/2007 - Bush must stop Israel on new settlement plan    

12/15/2007 - Israel-Palestine: Settlements As The Death of Peace To her credit, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice quickly expressed U.S. opposition to the settlement?s expansion -- but that is unlikely to make a difference. The United States has a long record of expressing formal opposition to the settlement enterprise while doing nothing that indicates any seriousness about it.  

12/15/2007 - Jerusalem troubled by political deadlock gripping Lebanon Israel is becoming increasingly concerned with the deadlock in Lebanon over the election of a new president and the possibility that Hizbullah will gain a third of the seats in the cabinet, granting it the power to veto major government decisions That would explain this.

12/15/2007 - Pro-Israel Group Puts Emissaries on Campuses Jewish student leaders from Columbia University, New York University, and Queens College will receive up to $1,000 a year from the advocacy group StandWithUs to bring speakers and films to campus that portray Israel in a positive light. Interesting.

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12/14/2007 - Grenade kills 3, wounds 35 at Palestinian funeral: medics Three Palestinians were killed and 35 others, including children, wounded on Friday when a grenade exploded during a Gaza funeral for a man killed in an Israeli air raid, a medical official said.  

12/14/2007 - New alarm raised over effects of Israeli closure on Gaza Another UN agency joined the chorus of alarm on Friday about the devastating consequences of Israeli restrictions on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, in the run-up to a Palestinian donors' conference.  

12/14/2007 - Jordanian Islamists stage rare rally to back Hamas Thousands of Jordanian Islamists demonstrated in the capital after Friday prayers, chanting in support of the Islamist movement Hamas and praising its attacks on Israel.  

12/14/2007 - Israel, U.S. to meet to discuss differing assessments on Iran ** Until the release of the American report, the defense establishment believed Israel might find itself involved in a military conflict with Iran in the coming year if Bush decided to act against Tehran and Iran responded against Israeli targets as well The American intelligence community stepped up to the plate and hit a grand slam. They stopped this nation from going into WWIII (at the behest of a foreign nation).

12/14/2007 - Palestinian aid conference aims to bolster Abbas France hosts an international aid conference on Monday to raise funds for the Western-backed Palestinian Authority and strengthen President Mahmoud Abbas against Hamas Islamists as he negotiates peace with Israel.  

12/14/2007 - Donkey power in demand in Gaza as fuel runs low "Donkeys are better than cars these days," said salesman Odeh Odwan, because merchants and ordinary Palestinians are unable to afford, let alone find, working vehicles or petrol.  

12/14/2007 - Al-Qaida No2 attacks Annapolis peace conference Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has attacked last month's US-sponsored Middle East peace conference as a "betrayal" of Palestine.  

12/14/2007 - Palestinians say Israel releases Hamas-linked mayor    

12/14/2007 - US to offer Palestinians half bln dlrs: official    

12/14/2007 - Hamas denounces PA ban of the movement's festivals in the West Bank    

12/14/2007 - Radical Palestinian group urges Fatah to talk with Hamas    

12/14/2007 - Moscow Mideast peace conference on hold for now: Lavrov Russia will not organise a planned Middle East peace conference until agreements reached in the recent talks in Annapolis in the United States are met, its foreign minister said Friday.  

12/14/2007 - Israeli Army attacks peaceful Anti-Wall protest near Bethlehem The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Popular Committee against the Wall organized a protest on Friday in the village of al Maa'sarah celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the PFLP and challenging the construction of the Israeli Annexation Wall on the village lands.  

12/14/2007 - Deputy-speaker of Palestinian parliament calls for a new cabinet    

12/14/2007 - Blockade of Gaza even makes dying difficult    

12/14/2007 - Education suffers amidst political tension and conflict in Gaza    

12/14/2007 - Fatah official held by Hamas while visiting Gaza for funeral He had arrived in Gaza on Thursday, from the West Bank, to attend the funeral of his mother-in-law. A Hamas spokesman said only that he was being investigated over "violations to the law".....In the West Bank, Hamas said several of its members had been detained by Fatah officials on Thursday night  

12/14/2007 - Saudis' $1.4bn support for Palestinians now in doubt One key reason is thought to be Saudi Arabia's reluctance to be seen to be throwing all its weight behind one of the two parties to the coalition deal which it brokered and which then collapsed in bloody internal conflict and Hamas's seizure of control in Gaza in June.  

12/14/2007 - Israel and the occupied territories: The rules of engagement Andre Marty sits in on a class in Gaza where Palestinian militants are versed in the legal framework for combat  

12/14/2007 - Japan?s Emergency Assistance to improve the medical situation of the Palestinians    

12/14/2007 - Five wounded in peaceful march on Road 443 near Ramallah    

12/14/2007 - An Interloper in My Own Land During Israel's establishment, three-quarters of a million Palestinians were driven from their homes or fled in fear. They remain refugees to this day, scattered throughout the West Bank and Gaza, the Arab world and beyond. We Palestinian citizens of Israel are among the minority who managed to remain on our land.  

12/14/2007 - ICAHD?S SUMMER REBUILDING CAMP 2008 In the summer of 2008, ICAHD will once again rebuild a Palestinian home and invites you to participate in the incredible opportunity to learn first-hand about life under Occupation.  

12/14/2007 - Bill includes U.S.-Israel missile coordination Under the proposal, the secretary of defense must within six months present a plan to Congress a plan "to improve the coordination, interoperability, and integration of the U.S. National Ballistic Missile Defense System with Israel?s missile defense architecture," a statement from Kirk's office said Kirk up for the AIPAC asskisser of the year award. My condolences to his constituents.

12/14/2007 - Sylvan Lake group deepens faith on pilgrimage to Holy Land "You begin to see the poverty of the Palestinian people. Bethlehem is a walled city and you have to go through security checkpoints to get in and out. Some people haven't left Bethlehem for seven years. Because it's a walled city they can barely start an economy.  

12/14/2007 - Bush delays embassy move President Bush extended a delay on moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem for another six months.  

12/14/2007 - The right wing's Jerusalem gambit The Annapolis conference may have been a start, but it has also unleashed a zealotry on U.S. shores that may once again help demonstrate how nearly impossible achieving Middle East peace could really be  

12/14/2007 - Lebanon mourns slain army chief    

12/14/2007 - Residents make plan for holidays Bu Ahmed, a Palestinian senior citizen would like to go back to Nablus in West Bank, but the situation on that area would always stop him from visiting his brothers and some of his relatives in Palestine.  

12/14/2007 - Walled Nativity Scene Borders On Anti-Semitism, Jewish Leaders Say The sale of Nativity scenes with a wall running through the middle to symbolize Israel's security barrier borders on anti-Semitism, Jewish groups are saying.  

12/14/2007 - House passes language on Israel insurance The U.S. House of Representatives approved a provision that would keep travel insurers from discriminating based on travel to Israel.  

12/14/2007 - Ackerman hears request for P.A funding hike    

12/14/2007 - UN extends Golan force mandate for six months The Security Council on Friday extended for another six months the mandate of the UN force that has for more than 33 years monitored the ceasefire between Israel and Syria on the strategic Golan Heights.  

12/14/2007 - The man with the silver tongue At the RJC forum in October, declaring that he would act to stop a nuclear Iran, Romney even spelled out some of the measures a military confrontation with Iran might entail, going further than several other candidates in raising the possibility of taking that course of action.  

12/14/2007 - Bill pushes Iran to pay victims The legislation is based on an earlier stand-alone bill authored by two Jewish U.S. senators, Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.). It is aimed particularly at Iran, which until now has successfully resisted dipping into U.S. assets to pay close to $2.7 billion in damages won in courts by families of the 241 servicemen killed in the 1983 Hezbollah attack on a U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut.  

12/14/2007 - Israeli cabbie rescued from West Bank IDF soldiers rescued an Or Yehuda taxi driver from the village of Jam'in in the northern West Bank on Friday morning after he was beaten and robbed by some passengers he picked up in Bnei Brak.  

12/14/2007 - Susan Sarandon exploring request that she cut ties with Leviev over Israeli settlement construction Oscar-winning actress and UNICEF goodwill ambassador Susan Sarandon has told a New York City activist group, Adalah-NY, that she is exploring Israeli diamond magnate Lev Leviev?s construction of Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and exploitation of marginalized communities in other parts of the world.  

12/14/2007 - Hebron Reflection: "It used to be normal"    

12/14/2007 - Bush reaffirms Lebanon tribunal President Bush slammed Syria and reaffirmed his support for a tribunal investigating assassinations in Lebanon Looks like Assad got too cozy with Washington for somebody's tastes in recent weeks. Hmm? Cui bono ? Who benefits? ? is a question that must ever be asked about Middle Eastern terror - Patrick J. Buchanan.

12/14/2007 - Soft Drink Fizz Goes Flat in Gaza Israel's strategy is to squeeze Gaza's economy, cutting off all but a drip-feed of humanitarian aid in the hope that civilians will turn against the Islamists of Hamas  

12/14/2007 - Thorn to illuminate Palestinian West Bank sites The UK-based lighting company Thorn, a brand of the Zumtobel Group of Austria, is to illuminate heritage sites in the City of Jericho on the Palestinian West Bank.  

12/14/2007 - Jo off to Holy Land A CUMBRIAN grandmother is to visit the Holy Land later this month to join Palestinian farmers and Israeli volunteers in the olive harvest.  

12/14/2007 - Journalists probed for travel to 'enemy' states A top national security commentator, a popular blogger and a travel writer are under police investigation over reporting trips to Syria and Lebanon on behalf of their Israeli news outlets.  

12/14/2007 - U.S. delays Saudi arms sale Pro-Israel sources said they expected the sale to be approved as early as January, albeit after close congressional review.  

12/14/2007 - McCain names Broxmeyer top Jewish adviser Broxmeyer, a New York property developer, is national chairman for JINSA, a group that promotes close Israel-U.S. security ties and that has been one of the most consistent supporters of the Bush administration's Iraq policy. Broxmeyer has taken the lead in promoting JINSA's exchange program for Israeli and U.S. law enforcement officials.  

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12/13/2007 - Israeli raid kills three in Gaza At least one militant from the Islamic Jihad was reportedly among the three people killed in the attack  

12/13/2007 - A Palestinian resistance fighter killed by Israeli army in central Gaza Local media sources in central Gaza Strip said that a Palestinian resistance fighter of the Saraya aL-Quds Brigades, of the Islamic Jihad group, has been killed after an Israeli tank fired a shell on a group of the Saraya fighters in eastern Gaza Strip.  

12/13/2007 - Red Cross demands Mid-East action The ICRC said the measures imposed by Israel had denied the Palestinian population the right to live a normal and dignified life.  

12/13/2007 - ICRC calls for immediate political action to contain deep crisis The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is particularly concerned about the impact of the severe restrictions on the movement of people and goods that exacerbate economic hardship and affect every aspect of life.  

12/13/2007 - ICRC: Dignity Denied The dignity of the Palestinians is being trampled underfoot day after day, both in the West Bank and in Gaza. Israel's harsh security measures come at an enormous humanitarian cost, leaving those living under occupation with just enough to survive, but not enough to live normal and dignified lives.  

12/13/2007 - Palestinian leader calls for end to Gaza sanctions In a departure Thursday from previous policy, the moderate government of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank publicly called on Israel to lift economic restrictions on the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by the Islamic group Hamas.  

12/13/2007 - Israel expected to wait on Gaza sweep Israel will likely hold off on an invasion of the Gaza Strip at least until after President Bush visits next month.  

12/13/2007 - World Bank urges Israel to ease Palestinian blockade Oxfam said millions of dollars of aid were already being lost due to Israeli policies. "It is not enough simply to plough more money into Palestine. Foreign governments and the PA must increase the pressure on the Israeli government to lift the blockade of Gaza and make it possible for people in the West Bank to go about their business,"  

12/13/2007 - With schools in east Jerusalem overcrowded, Palestinian children are staying away Arab residents of east Jerusalem say the situation in the schools reflects wider discrimination they face in every aspect of life. They point to piles of uncollected garbage and an absence of state medical clinics in their neighborhoods.  

12/13/2007 - The occupied Palestinian territory: Overview map (as of Oct 2007)    

12/13/2007 - PCHR Calls for Investigating the Abduction, Torture, and Shooting of 3 Gazans PCHR calls for an immediate investigation into the crime of abducting 3 residents of Gaza City, torturing them, and shooting them by unknown gunmen. The Centre stresses that this crime is a continuation of the security chaos plaguing the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).  

12/13/2007 - PLO: Hamas must give up power in Gaza to begin dialogue with Fateh    

12/13/2007 - Israeli woman seriously wounded in Palestinian rocket attack A violent offshoot of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah claimed responsibility for the attack. That's the irony right there; it's not Hamas.

12/13/2007 - Palestinians drive to Jordan for the fist time since 1976 On Wednesday a team of Palestinian car racers will leave Ramallah and drive to Jordan in their own cars, something which hasn?t happened since 1976. The team will participate in the final round of the 2007 Jordanian racing championship of al Aqapa  

12/13/2007 - Palestinian PM says he failed to win Israeli assurances on easing roadblocks    

12/13/2007 - Blair sees Gazans backing Abbas over peace push    

12/13/2007 - Israeli-Palestinian talks to resume December 23: Abbas Israeli and Palestinian negotiators will meet on December 23 for their second round of talks since reviving the Middle East peace process last month, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said Thursday.  

12/13/2007 - Aiming to Translate Politics Into Hope for Palestinians Mr. Blair had just come from the Persian Gulf, where he lobbied Arab leaders to spend more of their nearly $100-a-barrel oil income on the Palestinians.......Mr. Blair, like Mr. Fayyad, emphasizes that reform can work only if Israel loosens its grip, removing key internal checkpoints that prevent Palestinians from traveling easily within the West Bank......he believes that "the overwhelming majority of Palestinians are peaceful, decent people who want two states, and there is no doubt at all that the effect of the restrictions and the occupation is significantly to diminish their lives and their economic prosperity."  

12/13/2007 - Prerequisites for peace by Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi Far too many innocent Palestinian and Israeli civilians have suffered and died because of the persistence of Israeli military occupation of our lands. Our daily experience worsens as we are continually squeezed into ever-smaller land reserves and Israel continues to encircle Jerusalem with illegal settlements that segregate it from the West Bank.  

12/13/2007 - Eight Palestinians abducted by Israeli forces in Tulkarem    

12/13/2007 - Hamas: "Palestinian security forces abduct 7 members in the West Bank"    

12/13/2007 - Preparations underway for Paris economic conference A three-way meeting between Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, coordinator of international Quartet, Tony Blair and Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak, was reportedly held Thursday in west Jerusalem.  

12/13/2007 - UNRWA: Emergency Appeal 2008    

12/13/2007 - US must be strong arbitrator in Mideast peacemaking, Abbas says    

12/13/2007 - IDF arrests top Islamic Jihad commander in Jenin    

12/13/2007 - Attempted kidnap of Palestinian People's Party employee in Gaza On Wednesday morning, masked gunmen attempted to kidnap a member of the Palestinian Peoples Party politboro in the Gaza strip  

12/13/2007 - Iran tests long-range missile Iran has secretly tested a new long-range missile, Israel's intelligence services said.  

12/13/2007 - Japan concerned over planned Israeli settlement activities in east Jerusalem    

12/13/2007 - US wants nuclear-free Middle East US ambassador Gregory Schulte told the Gulf Studies Centre on Wednesday that "Israel never signed the (nuclear) Non-Proliferation Treaty, so never violated the NPT."  

12/13/2007 - Jordan's king, Abbas view settlement expansion "big violation"    

12/13/2007 - Palestinian security forces arrest 13, at least 4 of whom are Hamas members, near Nablus.    

12/13/2007 - Danish T-shirt group acquitted of funding terrorism The seven were connected to the Danish clothing company Fighters and Lovers, which sold T-shirts with logos of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PLFP).  

12/13/2007 - Jordan: Refugees' shacks to be replaced with concrete housing units The Jordanian government will next year build concrete housing units for 500 Palestinian refugee families living in tin shacks, at an estimated cost of US$5 million, according to the director of the Department of Palestinian Affairs, Wajih Azaizeh.  

12/13/2007 - Anti-Leviev protest at Tel Aviv Critical Mass On December 8, Israeli activists held a critical mass protest against Israel?s occupation of Palestinian territory, and against capitalism. About 50 bicycle-riding activists rode to the David Intercontinental hotel where the Israel business conference was taking place.  

12/13/2007 - Another way in the Mideast The time may now have passed when a viable two-state solution is possible; if this is the case the international community should advocate creation of a single state, democratic and universally recognized, with equal rights for all of its citizens, Jew, Christian or Muslim, following the pattern of all true democracies. It has worked well for the good ole USA.

12/13/2007 - A racist, wicked policy But in fact, who cares? She is a gentile, and we are a ?Jewish state.? It is very difficult to keep saying that it is also ?democratic.? Sadly and shamefully, this phenomenon repeats often. The Interior Ministry?s policy regarding the partners of new immigrants is racist and wicked.  

12/13/2007 - Israeli media reveals classified 'Camp David document' After 7 years of open conflict, and more than 5,000 Palestinians killed, in addition to nearly 1,000 Israelis, the fact that a document existed in which the two sides secretly agreed on core issues raises the ire of peace activists on both sides, who feel the deaths could have been avoided.  

12/13/2007 - Connecting the Money to the Mission: The Past, Present, and Future of U.S. Assistance to the Palestinians    

12/13/2007 - Palestinian doctor sues Libyan leader for torture over AIDS cas    

12/13/2007 - North Korea may have aided Hezbollah: U.S. report The CRS document also cited a report by a prominent South Korean academic, Moon Chung-in, that the Mossad Israeli intelligence agency believed that "vital missile components" used by Hezbollah against Israel came from North Korea.  

12/13/2007 - Popular TV show seeks to humanize Arab-Israelis For a half-hour every week, "Arab Work" uses irreverent and self-deprecating humor to challenge the Israeli media's predominant image of Arabs as dangerous adversaries.  

12/13/2007 - Egyptian ambassador: US has only months to show progress on Mideast peace That is a polite way of saying any renewed peace talks will falter if the United States is perceived as biased in favor of Israel.  

12/13/2007 - Launch of an Israeli NGO campaign to end the siege on Gaza We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, support and uphold the call of a coalition of organizations and individuals in Gaza for an international campaign to end the siege on Gaza. We call on members of Israeli society to join the campaign.  

12/13/2007 - At-Tuwani Reflection: No winners    

12/13/2007 - Israeli banks face terror charges Bank Hapoalim and Israel Discount Bank are accused of violating American anti-terrorism finance laws by conducting transactions that benefited the terrorist organization, the Forward reported.  

12/13/2007 - Men questioned over Lebanon blast Lebanese police are questioning several men after Wednesday's car bombing in Beirut which killed a general expected to become army chief, officials say.  

12/13/2007 - No time to ease up on Iran Locals dubious about newly released arms data Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, founder and president of The Israel Project, a District-based advocacy organization, questioned the believability of NIE conclusion, and termed it "one of the most damaging things that could have been done to Israel's security in recent memory." And strangely, it was one of the most beneficial things that could have been done to AMERICA's security in recent memory. Imagine.

12/13/2007 - Assassination pulls Lebanese army into power game Damascus has discerned the hand of Israel in the death of a man whose car was blown up back in 1976 after he refused to join a pro-Israeli militia in his southern home village of Rmeish.  

12/13/2007 - Bush warns against Syrian interference in Lebanon    

12/13/2007 - Judge Drops Contempt Citation Against Al-Arian A federal judge has lifted a civil contempt citation against a Palestinian Arab activist and former professor, Sami Al-Arian, after prosecutors essentially relented in their effort to keep him behind bars for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating Islamic charities in Northern Virginia...... However, the former professor will not be released immediately  

12/13/2007 - Israel's German envoy: Stand up to Iran A tough stand against Iran is necessary, he told reporters, despite U.S. intelligence reports showing that Iran stopped its nuclear weapons program in 2003.  

12/13/2007 - Syria hints at 'Israel's connection' in Lebanese general's killing Syria condemned the killing of a senior Lebanese army officer in a blast in eastern Beirut on Wednesday and hinted that Israel may have been behind the attack,  

12/13/2007 - Bush balks at call for Syria info President Bush is threatening to veto an intelligence bill in part because it would require revelations about an Israeli strike on Syria......Ros-Lehtinen is close to the pro-Israel community and hopes to use the revelation to justify further sanctions on Syria. Ros-Lehtinen's pro-Israel activities on Capitol Hill are borderline if not all out treasonous. She is one of Israel's top two agents therein.

12/13/2007 - Jewish Chauvinism in Feith's, and Friedman's, Back Pages It would be hard to think of two men who played a more significant role in pushing the Iraq war than Feith and Friedman. Both at heart romantics about Israel, they both invoked Israel's security in justifying the disastrous invasion  

12/13/2007 - Audio: Gingrich: ?US Intelligence Report on Iran is Dishonest?    

12/13/2007 - Iran condemns general's assassination IRAN has strongly condemned the killing of a top Lebanese army officer, and said Israel is the only one to benefit from unrest in Lebanon, state television has reported.  

12/13/2007 - Lawmaker: N. Korea halts work with Syria    

12/13/2007 - Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program Announces More Than 460 New Fellows The latest round of fellows were chosen from among applications received last year in Brazil, Chile, China, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, the Palestinian Territories  

12/13/2007 - US Jews Tilt Rightwards on Israel The very well-endowed Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), a group of mainly pro-Likud and neoconservative donors, is also likely to play a strong role in next year's election. Several RJC leaders helped found Freedom's Watch, a group that is expected to spend as much as 200 million dollars over the next year to promote Bush's "war on terror" and more hawkish policies directed against Iran and other perceived threats to Israel's security.  

12/13/2007 - Detainees families hold a protest in front of the Red Cross office in Tulkarem    

12/13/2007 - U.N. envoy: NIE report hurts Zhalmay Khalilzad, in remarks Thursday to the Union for Reform Judaism biennial in San Diego, said the National Intelligence Estimate has made it more difficult for the United States to push for new and tougher sanctions against Iran.  

12/13/2007 - Captain Ali has 17 past crimes It is being speculated that Hüseyin Güzelcan may have been steering the ship, which killed 46 immigrants. Güzelcan, now known as a 'crime machine' has 17 past crimes.  

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12/12/2007 - Four kidnapped in Hebron including one female    

12/12/2007 - Israeli military attacks close several media centers in Nabulus    

12/12/2007 - Islamic Jihad claims firing rockets into southern Israel He vowed that his fighters would not stop firing rockets as long as Israel continues its operation into the coastal enclave.  

12/12/2007 - Indian support to Palestine has not wavered: minister 'India's support to the Palestinian cause has not wavered,' he said, reminding the committee that India had recognized Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) as a representative of the Palestinian people in 1975 and was one of the first countries to recognize the State of Palestine in 1988.  

12/12/2007 - Security cabinet says no to Gaza operation some 970 Qassam rockets and 1,200 mortar shells were fired from Gaza towards Israel since the beginning of 2007. Israel suffered five related casualties ? three IDF soldiers and two civilians.  

12/12/2007 - Israel eyes hitting Iran **    

12/12/2007 - Palestinian firm plans new multi-million-dollar town    

12/12/2007 - Hamas-Fatah unofficial talks continue despite wide differences    

12/12/2007 - A female Palestinian police officer directs traffic in the West Bank city of Ramallah    

12/12/2007 - Israel's top general says big Gaza push more likely Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi, appointed after last year's costly Lebanon war with a mandate to overhaul the military, said Israel would also prepare to attack distant targets -- a possible allusion to arch-foes Iran and Syria.  

12/12/2007 - Germany supplies the PA with logistic support Germany has supplied the Palestinian Authority (PA) with wireless telecommunication devices, worth $87.000, as a gesture of support to underway peace-making efforts between the Palestinians and Israelis.  

12/12/2007 - Restrictions block Palestinian revival-World Bank Increased foreign aid and Palestinian plans to rein in government spending will not be enough to revive their economy if Israeli-imposed trade and travel limits stay in place, the World Bank said on Thursday.  

12/12/2007 - Israeli official: U.S. is not doing enough on Iran nukes A senior Israeli official has fiercely criticized U.S. President George Bush's administration for the way it has dealt with the Iranian nuclear issue.  

12/12/2007 - Sarkozy: Israel could attack Iran ** Israel is more likely to launch a pre-emptive strike against Iran's nuclear facilities than the United States, Nicolas Sarkozy said.  

12/12/2007 - Palestinians demand halt to settlements as peace talks begin The first formal Middle East peace negotiations in seven years got off to a tense start today with the Palestinian Authority demanding a halt to Israeli plans to build settlements on disputed territory.  

12/12/2007 - Teenage dreams of wrecking peace process from Jewish outpost Naming their wildcat outpost Shvut Ami -- "the return of my people" -- their aim is to torpedo the peace process as Israelis and Palestinians began formal negotiations on Wednesday for the first time in seven years.......A resident of Kedumim she is closely watching developments. Her neighbour, Shoshana Shilo, who works for the council, has just been stopped by police for helping teenagers to uproot olive seedlings planted by a Palestinian farmer.  

12/12/2007 - Three wise men hit a barrier in Bethlehem "I wanted to give the world an idea of how we live in the Holy Land," the 65-year-old Palestinian carpenter said in his workshop, his sweater speckled with sawdust.  

12/12/2007 - The Countdown to a Two State Agreement Begins! In a symbolic show of support for ongoing negotiations, today the OneVoice Movement announced the launch of a public awareness campaign through 6 digital screens announcing that the People -- as well as the leaders -- accept 2008 as the year for the two state agreement.  

12/12/2007 - Israel called Clinton refugee plan vague "Israel could not accept any reference to the right of return that would ... threaten the Jewish character of the state," Clinton wrote, noting that "the state of Palestine would be the focal point of Palestinians who choose to return to the area."  

12/12/2007 - Extension of detention law for security suspects approved The legislation grants the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) authority to deny security suspects access to judges and lawyers, far exceeding the powers granted to police in the case of "regular" criminals.  

12/12/2007 - Lebanon blames Syria, Iran for deadly blast    

12/12/2007 - Leaders condemn Lebanon car bomb Politicians in Lebanon have condemned a bomb attack which killed a general slated to become army chief.  

12/12/2007 - Halevy: Israel must be in on US-Iran talks Highlighting new indications that the US government will directly engage with Iran in the near future on all issues including its nuclear program, former Mossad head Efraim Halevy said Tuesday that Israel must ensure that it is a direct participant in such contacts. Otherwise, he warned, the future of the region will be determined in a forum from which Israel is excluded.....Asked why Iran would agree to any such direct contact with Israel, Halevy said that Israel should ensure that the US makes it a precondition.  

12/12/2007 - New Poll Reveals How Unrepresentative Neocon Jewish Groups Are One of the defining traits of war-loving neoconservatives is that their unrelenting and exclusive fixation on the Middle East places them loudly at the center of any foreign policy debates. That tenacity - combined with their reckless exploitation of "anti-Israel" and anti-Semitism accusations as instruments in their political rhetoric and their corresponding, deceitful equation of their own views with being "pro-Israel" - often casts the appearance that they are some sort of spokespeople for the "pro-Israel" agenda or the Jewish viewpoint.  

12/12/2007 - The Israel Lobby and the War Party Israel is sitting pretty, right now, openly threatening its patron and financier, the United States government, with taking the Iranian nuke matter into its own hands and launching an attack on suspected nuclear facilities ? leaving U.S. troops in Iraq to face the Iranians and their Iraqi allies.  

12/12/2007 - Bush will be 'hands-on' during Mideast trip: Rice US President George W. Bush will use his Middle East trip next month to intervene with the Israelis and Palestinians to spur on peace talks, his top diplomat said in an interview published Wednesday.  

12/12/2007 - My Roommate Is My Enemy, Though We Do Like to Sing A musical comedy about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict sounds more like a punch line than like a pleasant night at the theater. (What yuks!) But the creators of ?West Bank, UK,? Oren Safdie (book) and Ronnie Cohen (music and lyrics), do an excellent job of avoiding the most obvious pitfalls ? partisanship, preachiness and political naïveté ? even if they get bogged down in allegory.  

12/12/2007 - Israeli intel warns of waning support in the West The Cabinet was briefed on the Israeli intelligence assessment during a meeting on Nov. 21. ISA director Yuval Diskin said the proposal of "one state for two people" was sweeping Europe.  

12/12/2007 - Keohane of Princeton on Walt and Mearsheimer    

12/12/2007 - U.S. reps want audit of refugee aid U.S. Congress members will push Condoleezza Rice for accountability on relief funds for Palestinian refugee camps.  

12/12/2007 - Thanks, but no thanks Olmert demands of Palestinians that they must give up their history. President Bush decides for them what their borders and rights must be. And Tony Blair wags a finger and tells Palestinians that they won't get a state at all unless, it meets his high standards (sic) of governance  

12/12/2007 - Israeli Charity Saving Iraqi Children One Heart at a Time    

12/12/2007 - Postal workers pass anti-Israel resolution A regional conference of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has passed a resolution supporting the boycott of Israel and pledging an educational campaign about "the apartheid nature of the Israel [sic] state.".....Levinson brought his concerns to Canadian Jewish Congress, which has been meeting with a number of Canadian unions and churches in a bid to moderate their statements on the Middle East.  

12/12/2007 - Migrants were left to die, boat victims confirm Palestinian survivor Mustafa Kamil said: "We gathered in small groups. The groups did not know each other until then. We were sitting very close to each other on the boat. All of a sudden, there were screams and panic. I did not see how and why the boat went down."  

12/12/2007 - Rachel Corrie play set to run in Vancouver Adam Carroll, the western regional director of the Canada-Israel Committee. concedes that Corrie's death is tragic. "But I want people to realize that the play serves a very specific political agenda and tries to pull audiences against Israel without providing context or balance  

12/12/2007 - Politics before peace Reports produced by Israelis themselves have made clear the continuing policies of land expropriation, destruction of Palestinian farms, construction of a separate road system that bars Palestinians from traveling in their own territory, nearly 600 checkpoints that make daily life nearly impossible for local inhabitants, and military protection even of illegal Jewish outposts.  

12/12/2007 - Bringing Iran in from the cold ** One of the reasons the NIE is so politically sensitive is that it is really not about whether a nuclear Iran threatens America but about whether it threatens Israel. The Israel connection makes it extremely difficult for any U.S. politician to advocate anything other than a confrontational stance with Iran......it's the existential threat to Israel that has allowed Bush to play let's-make-war-on-Iraq all over again, with just as little resistance. It's no accident that Bush used the inflammatory expression "nuclear holocaust" when discussing Iran in August. At an October press conference, Bush was even more explicit. "We got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel," Bush said. "So I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from hav[ing] the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."  

12/12/2007 - U. of California at Irvine Cleared in Investigation of Anti-Semitism The civil-rights office had conducted an extensive investigation of the university's handling of alleged incidents of anti-Semitism in response to a letter of complaint filed in October 2004 by the Zionist Organization of America......After looking into and attending annual weeklong events protesting Israel's policies toward the Palestinian people, for example, the federal office?s investigators acknowledged that much of the speech at the events was offensive to Jewish students, but such speech was aimed at Israel's policies, and not Jewish students' national origin. The cry of wolf is starting to lose its oomph due to abuse and overuse.

12/12/2007 - DJ Khaled: Reaching Elite Status Born Khaled Khaled, this Palestinian New Orleans native comes off as a real person with big, yet attainable aspirations in this game.  

12/12/2007 - Clinton to be player on Hillary's team Discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Mr. Clinton noted he has many Palestinian friends and "I literally don"t know a single Palestinian in America who is not a college professor or a millionaire."  

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12/11/2007 - Israel tanks enter Gaza on eve of peace talks Israeli troops in tanks and armoured vehicles mounted an incursion into Gaza yesterday, killing at least six Palestinian militants on the eve of a new round of peace talks.......Around 60 Palestinians were detained in what was the largest Israeli operation in Gaza for several months. Palestinian fighters fired back and hit one Israeli tank.  

12/11/2007 - PLO: Israeli settlement expansion blocks talks on final-status issues    

12/11/2007 - Russia alarmed by Israel's plans to build homes in East Jerusalem    

12/11/2007 - Abbas awaiting Israel response on settlement bid The Palestinians want Israel to state a clear intention to halt settlement activity in the West Bank at their first round of peace negotiations on Wednesday, president Mahmud Abbas said.  

12/11/2007 - Turkey calls Israeli settlement plan 'shocking' Gul said Israel's plan was "clearly in violation" of decisions made at the Middle East peace conference in Annapolis last month, at which Israel and the Palestinians agreed to try to negotiate a peace deal before the end of 2008.  

12/11/2007 - Hebron Update: 3-9 December 2007 Hicks met with a group of US Presbyterians to tell them about CPT's work. While waiting for the group outside the Ibrahimi Mosque, the border police detained their guide, a Palestinian Christian from Bethlehem. He got his ID back when the group came out of the mosque. He said the border police officer commented, "Oh, a Christian from Bethlehem. You think you are so special." He commented to Hicks, "This is normal for you, I guess."  

12/11/2007 - White House Fought NIE Over an Old Charge ** By November 2006, the Central Intelligence Agency had already circulated an assessment within the intelligence community that rejected the covert weapons program thesis, as Hersh reported in late November. However, Vice President Dick Cheney and his aides were trying to exclude the CIA's assessment from the NIE, a senior intelligence official told Hersh. .......Another tactic used by Cheney was to cite a new claim by Israeli intelligence that its spies inside Iran had learned that Iran had developed and tested a trigger device for a nuclear bomb......The CIA did not regard the report as reliable, especially in the absence of details that would allow verification. But Cheney asked for the original raw Israeli intelligence report, according to Hersh ? the same thing Cheney and top Pentagon officials had done in constructing their case for the invasion of Iraq in 2002.  

12/11/2007 - Saudi says Israel settlement move against Annapolis "The kingdom strongly condemns Israel's decision to expand settlement building in East Jerusalem, which contradicts the bases and principles of the Annapolis peace conference," Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told reporters.  

12/11/2007 - Palestinian official hopes Bush visit to push Israel to implement roadmap plan A senior Palestinian official expressed hope on Sunday that an upcoming visit of U.S. President George W. Bush to the Middle East would push Israel to implement the roadmap plan.  

12/11/2007 - Olmert says Iran still dangerous Israeli PM Ehud Olmert has insisted Iran's nuclear programme remains dangerous, and called on world powers to prevent it acquiring atomic weapons 'wolf! WOLF!!'

12/11/2007 - Israel keeps up pressure on Iran ** Israel and the US seem to be working off the same intelligence sources. The Israeli view, therefore, represents a different assessment of the same data. "Only time will tell who is right," Mr Barak said. Well we know who was WRONG about Iraq. That's why the NIE took a different view this time (rightly so), geniuses.

12/11/2007 - Palestinians to urge settlement freeze at talks Palestinian leaders said on Tuesday they decided to attend the meeting but insist Israel freeze settlement activity.  

12/11/2007 - Troops demolish a Palestinian home in Jerusalem Israeli bulldozes belonging to Jerusalem Municipality demolished on Tuesday a Palestinian home in the Old City of Jerusalem and attacked two brothers while attempting to evacuate their furniture from the house before the bulldozers leveled it.  

12/11/2007 - Bethlehem tourism looking up for Christmas The barrier has devastated Palestinian farmers, the mayor said, confiscating 7,000 dunums (about 700 acres or 280 hectares) of arable land, making the lives of Palestinians "almost impossible" and putting them in "ghettos".  

12/11/2007 - Blair sleeps in Bethlehem to show Holy Land safe Bethlehem residents say Israel's towering barrier blocking the main road from Jerusalem deters tourists and stifles the economy as well as taking land they seek for a state  

12/11/2007 - Daimler and UNESCO Honor Young Engineers for Innovative Development Aid Projects Engineering students from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah partnered with a team from the Birzeit University, Deir Quaddis, Palestinian Territories, and invented a simple filtration system to treat hazardous wastewater produced by olive oil mills in the Palestinian Territories.  

12/11/2007 - Abbas' aide confirms PNA won't boycott post-Annapolis negotiations    

12/11/2007 - Undercover Israeli forces kidnap Palestinian from Ramallah    

12/11/2007 - At-Tuwani Update: 1 November - 30 November 2007 An Italian film director came to film the children from Tuba walking to school in At-Tuwani with the army escort. She told CPT that she had contacted the Israeli army asking if she could drive over to Tuba (on the road between the settlement and the outpost) to film the children as they left their village  

12/11/2007 - UN appeals for 462 million dollars in Palestinian aid    

12/11/2007 - U.S. report on Iran forces Israel to alter strategy ** The Israeli dilemma is how to prove Iran is cheating without being accused of trying to push the United States into war. That is why the official strategy is to work quietly behind the scenes......The new Israeli strategy is based on four main elements: · actively pushing for stiffer international sanctions on Iran, despite the U.S. report; · working quietly behind the scenes to convince others through Israel?s own intelligence material that Iran is intent on producing nuclear weapons; · refraining from arguing with the U.S. assessment in public, lest Israel be seen to be trying to push the United States into military action against Iran; · and Israel keeping open its own military options.......the scenario that would have had the United States "take care" of Iran in return for Israeli concessions to the Palestinians has been blown out of the water.  

12/11/2007 - Israeli and Palestinian businessmen urge trade talks    

12/11/2007 - 53 die in Turkey shipwreck Seven of the 85 people on board have been rescued and 25 were reported missing, officials said. Most passengers were of Palestinian, Somalian and Iraqi origin.  

12/11/2007 - Deposed Hamas gov't calls for boycotting talks with Israel Deposed Hamas-led government in Gaza Tuesday called on Palestinian negotiators to boycott final status talks with Israel due to kick off Wednesday  

12/11/2007 - Arab group: Israel committed war crimes during Lebanon war Arab Association for Human Rights says Israel violated international humanitarian law during Second Lebanon War by 'positioning temporary and permanent military outposts in close proximity to Arab communities'. IDF: decision on where to position these installations was based solely on operational considerations  

12/11/2007 - Israel PM warns Iran can develop nuclear bomb by 2010 The NIE report last week said US allegations about Iran's atomic goals had been overblown for at least two years, but that Tehran could have the capability to make a nuclear weapon by 2015.  

12/11/2007 - Second Committee approves text calling on Member States, United Nations system to step up promotion of agricultural technology for development Noting that Israel had recently announced the building of 307 settlement housing units on Palestinian agricultural land in East Jerusalem, he said those units would add to the settlements already established on agricultural lands in the occupied Syrian Golan and Lebanon's Shab'aa Farms, which remained under continuing Israeli occupation. The Arab Group was convinced that Israel was neither interested in agriculture nor the peace process. It pretended to be concerned about agricultural technology and development everywhere but the occupied Arab lands where it continued to adopt policies that undermined all forms of agriculture.  

12/11/2007 - Critics of Israel lobby draw fire    

12/11/2007 - Splinter group bids to keep the outpost movement alive "If we want the land to be ours, then we have to come and settle it. This is the first step toward what I hope will one day be a community here," Ayana said, looking out at the sloping, sand-colored hills across from Ma?ale Adumim, one of the largest Jewish settlements in the West Bank located just a few miles outside of Jerusalem.......This one, its supporters say, is meant to ensure neighboring Ma?ale Adumim is expanded into an area called E-1 -- a controversial swath of land many say cuts off the northern and southern parts of the West Bank......"Everything was done with the government's permission, even if it was with a wink, therefore everything is legal,? Avigdor Lieberman, Israel?s minister for strategic affairs, was quoted as saying. Land-grabbing psychos.

12/11/2007 - US Public Diplomacy Chief Departs Amid Praise, Criticism Hughes quickly embarked on a tour of the Middle East. "I came home from my very first trip and asked to see the president," she said. She says she told Mr. Bush that making progress on the creation of a Palestinian state would be the single most important thing he could do for public diplomacy among Muslims worldwide.  

12/11/2007 - Palestinian refugees demonstrate in northern Lebanon Palestinians went on strike in northern Lebanon Tuesday to protest the delay in efforts to reconstruct the devasated Nahr al-Bared camp,  

12/11/2007 - Frank talk about the Israel lobby    

12/11/2007 - Syria sees long way to go before reclaiming Golan    

12/11/2007 - Subterranean kitchen A Palestinian woman bakes traditional bread in her home in a hillside cave in the West Bank village of Ghwien  

12/11/2007 - Israel-Vatican relations hit rocky ground    

12/11/2007 - Israeli Arab women demand end to custom that left them homeless Arab custom stipulates the family of the alleged murderer must leave its dwelling until a truce is reached, in order to prevent bloodshed and retaliation  

12/11/2007 - DFLP, PFLP, Islamic Jihad delegates visit a number of Human Rights Organizations in Gaza    

12/11/2007 - Sarkozy and Netanyahu Met on Monday French President Nicholas Sarkozy assured opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday that he would continue to do everything possible to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.  

12/11/2007 - Poll shows drop in Jewish support for Palestinian state    

12/11/2007 - Popular Tunisian singer Saber el-Rubai makes rare visit to West Bank One of the most popular singers in the Arab world, Tunisian Saber el-Rubai, made a rare visit to the West Bank on Tuesday and urged other Arab artists to follow in his footsteps.  

12/11/2007 - The Murdochs and the Middle East Rupert Murdoch is such a hard-right supporter of Israel -- Ariel Sharon was his great hero (he even visited him on his farm) -- that many regard him as a Zionist. So the staunchly pro-Israel Wall Street Journal has nothing to fear on that front as the Murdoch tentacles get to grips with it.....But that might be about to change for these newspapers are all now under the control of Murdoch's son, James, who has pronounced pro-Palestinian views which he holds strongly......It would be quite a shift if the Murdoch papers became pro-Palestinian -- and a matter for grave concern among the pro-Israeli lobby  

12/11/2007 - The true aim of Annapolis, and why it failed    

12/11/2007 - As rivals gain, Clinton and Giuliani get a lift from Jewish survey Giuliani's popularity among Jews derives partly from his unstinting support for Israel, but also because he is the most moderate Republican, corresponding with the positioning of some Jewish organizational leaders and pro-Israel activists who are hawkish on foreign policy but liberal on domestic issues like church-state separation, gay marriage and abortion.  

12/11/2007 - No. 6 Day in pictures Israeli police arrest a Palestinian man after he tried to prevent the demolition of his family house in Jerusalem, which officials say was built without permission.  

12/11/2007 - 'Green' Israel touted in San Francisco "From the start, our PR goal has been to use issues that people already care about, like women, the LGBT community and the environment, and relate that to Israel,"  

12/11/2007 - Israel's resolution adopted at U.N The resolution calls on developed countries to make their knowledge and know-how in the field of agricultural technology more accessible to the developing world.  

12/11/2007 - Anglican leader condemns Israeli occupation The leader of Australia's Anglican church has spoken out against Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories. Anglican Primate Phillip Aspinall has been touring the West Bank with a delegation of Australian church leaders.  

12/11/2007 - Bad form on campus Being an advocate for Israel on any American university campus poses a myriad of challenges Getting more difficult to shill for Israel these days, is it? ...

12/11/2007 - Running a gauntlet in Jerusalem To most of the world, Efrat ? population about 8,000 ? is an illegal Israeli settlement constructed on stolen land, territory that properly belongs to Palestinians.....The truth is, nobody is forcing Israelis to live in Efrat or in any of the other nearby Jewish settlements that hug these ruddy hills like huge slabs of limestone honeycomb. Israelis who live here, on what most people consider to be Palestinian land, do so because they choose to  

12/11/2007 - America's silly demand I'm saying all of this because it's difficult to understand the huge outcry. Har Homa was built on land that is part of Greater Jerusalem. It is not located on land that the State of Israel "forgot" to handle the way David Ben Gurion handled the territories captured in 1948 Territory taken by force is inadmissible according to international law. Most of Israel today was never purchased, but taken by force. The same goes for the land taken in the West Bank and E. Jerusalem for more settlements.

12/11/2007 - Lebanese Hezbollah supporters protest electricity outage The protestors were chanting slogans denouncing the western-backed government of Premier Fouad Seniora and some figures from the anti- Syrian majority and called for electricity to their areas to be restored.  

12/11/2007 - Germany frees Iranian 'bargaining chips' Germany released two jailed Iranian agents whom Israel had wanted swapped for missing airman Ron Arad.  

12/11/2007 - Bush uses menorah lighting to meet Jews who knew persecution Edelstein said Bush told him, " 'I'm not imposing a terrorist state on you.' " "The idea of a Palestinian state is for creating a coalition of moderate groups in the Middle East," Edelstein said. "He believes the creation of a Palestinian state puts an end to the right of return for Palestinians" to Israel.  

12/11/2007 - 'Kite Runner' defies film stereotypes of Muslims    

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12/10/2007 - Israeli strike kills Gaza militant A Palestinian gunman was killed and at least two others were wounded by an Israeli missile strike in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, militant sources and medics said.  

12/10/2007 - Iran, Nukes, and the 'Laptop of Death' ** The pushback against the recent finding [.pdf] by America's 16 intelligence agencies that puts "high confidence" in their evaluation that Iran stopped its covert nuclear weapons project in 2003 has the Lobby going into overdrive ? with (who else?) John Bolton leading the charge, crying "Putsch!" and decrying the NIE as pure "politics." Bolton and his neoconservative co-thinkers are really just echoing the Israelis, however, who have sullenly asserted their own dissent, albeit discreetly enough to maintain the fiction of their own complete lack of influence Now you get to see just how many friends Israel has in the US mainstream media and Congress judging by the amount of airtime they are given and noise they are making in response to the NIE. Per yesterday's news batch, the Israelis rolled out the Holocaust card in response to this NIE. So, it's to be expected that their shills in America are screaming bloody murder. How dare our intelligence community not go along with Cheney and the neocons (and their Israel-centric agenda)? The horror.

12/10/2007 - Calling on Congress to Stop a War By Scott Ritter ** The ongoing Israeli paranoia about a nexus of nuclear proliferation among North Korea, Iran and Syria, void of any hard intelligence to back it up and yet hyped to the point that an abandoned military warehouse in the middle of the Syrian desert could be pre-emptively bombed, serves as a warning to any who believe that the newly published NIE will, by itself, inject a measure of sanity and objective thinking into a process that has created an ideologically driven self-fulfilling prophesy that no amount of fact and reasoning can make go away......If the newly released NIE on Iran is to have any meaning, then let it be that it triggered a reawakening of the Congress of the United States to assert its authority and responsibility in a time of great need. Another excellent article by Scott Ritter.

12/10/2007 - UN: Gazans need hospital access A number of Palestinians have died in Gaza after not receiving the proper treatment, according to the World Health Organization......The UN also appealed to Israel to resume full energy supplies to Gaza saying shortages are directly affecting the territory's health system.  

12/10/2007 - Hamas: Palestinian security forces arrest six Hamas members in the West Bank    

12/10/2007 - EU criticises Israel settler plan A senior EU official has criticised an Israeli decision to build more houses in occupied East Jerusalem, joining the US in condemning Israel.  

12/10/2007 - Hamas to Rice: We want dialogue with US In an open letter to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Yousef, who serves as senior political adviser to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, said that his movement did not have any "ideological arguments" with the West. It was an interesting letter, based on the JP's report here. Quite interestingly, it got little if any mention in the mainstream US press. Wonder why? Because they don't come across as the bloodthirsty monsters that Israel (and their US cohorts) have made them out to be?

12/10/2007 - ISA prevents Gazan heart patient who refused to collaborate from entering Israel for treatment, Nov. 2007    

12/10/2007 - Israeli forces kidnap one from Al Thahriya    

12/10/2007 - EU to assist 40,000 needy Palestinian families    

12/10/2007 - UK pledges aid to Palestinians if peace progress The government on Monday said it will give the Palestinian Authority $500 million in aid if peace moves prove successful.  

12/10/2007 - A booby-trapped police car blows up in Gaza city    

12/10/2007 - UN agencies call for Gaza fuel supplies to be restored "The World Health Organisation and UNRWA (the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees) express their deep concern on the combined impact of the lack of electricity supply and fuel shortage on the delivery of health services,"  

12/10/2007 - Egyptian-Saudi efforts to restore dialogue between Fatah and Hamas    

12/10/2007 - Hamas denies Egyptian invitation to hold talks with Fatah in Cairo    

12/10/2007 - Turkey is committed to Palestinian industrial project    

12/10/2007 - Palestinians warn Israel on settlers before talks Palestinians warned on Monday they might boycott peace negotiations starting this week after Israel defied Washington and other international sponsors of the process by planning new homes on occupied land. When the world said they'd like to see Middle East PEACE, Israel thought they meant PIECE as in, another PIECE of Palestine. 'Don't mind if we do.' (Look at the maps, just who is pushing whom 'into the sea'?)

12/10/2007 - Egypt finds explosives likely destined for Gaza Egyptian police confiscated 500 kg (1,100 lb) of explosives in northern Sinai on Monday which were probably destined for Gaza, a security official said.  

12/10/2007 - WHO concerned over 'intolerable' Gaza isolation    

12/10/2007 - ICRC calls for immediate resumption of family visits for Gaza residents to Israeli prisons The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) urges the Israeli authorities to authorise the prompt resumption of visits for families from Gaza with their relatives detained in Israeli prisons.  

12/10/2007 - Joint Chiefs chairman visits Israel Mullen, who has visited Israel before, voiced understanding for the country's security concerns in a speech last month. "I think how Israel thinks and views the world is a very important consideration for us in the United States, and certainly from my perspective as a military leader," he said. I fail to see it that way, Admiral. Frankly, I don't think I'm the only one.

12/10/2007 - Rice expects final draft of UN sanctions resolution against Iran by Tuesday Meanwhile on Monday Rice said she hoped Israel's plans to build homes in a contested Jerusalem neighborhood would not "cloud" peace talks with the Palestinians and cautioned that time was running out to end the conflict.  

12/10/2007 - Bush tells Jewish leaders he will visit Israel in Jan Israeli news media said Bush would reassure the Jewish state that Washington stood firm against Iran's nuclear program despite a new U.S. intelligence report, disputed by Israel, that Tehran had halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003.  

12/10/2007 - CCR Argues Appeal of Case Charging Former Israeli General With War Crimes in Attack On United Nations Compound In December 2006, Judge Paul L. Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the case, stating that Ya'alon could not be sued for the shelling of the UN compound.......Lebanese civilians who were unable to leave the south fled to UN compounds; more than 800 civilians ? mostly women, children, and the elderly ? had sought refuge in the UN compound in Qana. The IDF then targeted the compound, killing more than 100 civilians and injuring even more.  

12/10/2007 - Israelis, Palestinians mates in 'football' The team, formed by the Israel-based Peres Center for Peace, will compete in the Third International Cup, which celebrates the 150th anniversary of the distinctive Australian sport that is a cross between Gaelic football, American football and rugby.  

12/10/2007 - Israel Police to establish local 'FBI' unit Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter said during the weekly cabinet meeting that Israel has seen a major increase in the use of weapons by members of the major crime syndicates, including explosive devices and grenades.  

12/10/2007 - Bush Team Snubbed 'Grand Bargain' on Iran's Atomic Work in 2003 Parsi's book is the more scholarly and ambitious of the two, tackling the complex question of Israel's role in what has become a triangular relationship. As the only non-Arab nations in the region, Israel and Iran may be doomed to a rivalry that has more to do with power politics than ideology, he argues.  

12/10/2007 - Drummond: End ignorance of Mideast geography    

12/10/2007 - Leaders winding up Palestine-Israel interfaith visit The main aim of the visit is to highlight the plight of Palestinian Christians and Churches in the Holy Land.  

12/10/2007 - Russia wants its Jews back Russia reportedly is trying to lure back Russian Jews who immigrated to Israel.  

12/10/2007 - Defense Min.: Israel now world's fourth largest weapons exporter Defense Ministry legal adviser Ahaz Ben-Ari said an important issue covered in the new law is Israel's ability to supervise international mediation of defense equipment acquisitions and sales between Israelis and foreign sources abroad.  

12/10/2007 - Damascus Diary: Monday 10 December Arab culture does not flourish easily in the occupied territories. In Damascus, it is in full spate.  

12/10/2007 - "TREASON ON THE HIGH SEAS" The captain had given the order to abandon ship, as it appeared we were about to roll over. There were 3 life rafts left that were floatable. We put them over the side so we could put our most severely wounded in them to try to save their lives. The torpedo gunmen would have none of that and blew 2 of them out of the water. .....In many ways, America today is the USS Liberty after that 2 hour attack taking place 40 years ago. We are badly hit and stand the chance of sinking into the abyss with everyone being lost forever unless something is done immediately.  

12/10/2007 - Our view: Andover's speakers policy makes sense There is nothing wrong with exposing students to controversial views - as long as opposing viewpoints are also presented. But a pro-Israel counterbalance to Wheels of Justice was not part of the teachers' original plans. That smacks of indoctrination, not education. The Eagle Tribune of MA is a pro-Israeli news outfit. They need 'balance'. Strange that there is never this talk on their part for the opposite POV when it's pro-Israeli speakers that are doing the talking.

12/10/2007 - israel summons US Chairman of Joint Chiefs to Tel-Aviv to explain himself israel doesn't mind if the US disagrees - as long as we do what they want, which is why Mullen was summoned to israel and why George W. Bush will follow.  

12/10/2007 - Pray for Holy Land Christians at Christmas, Urges Cardinal Foley Cardinal John Foley is urging believers to live spiritually close to Christians in the Holy Land this Christmas.  

12/10/2007 - Artists add protest work to Bethlehem's wall Led by the enigmatic British artist known as Banksy, painters from around the world are adding works daily to the walls around Bethlehem in an attempt to draw attention to the impact the separation barrier has had on life in the Biblical birthplace of Jesus Christ .  

12/10/2007 - 850 Rabbis Emergency Chanukah Message to President and Mrs. Bush: Don't Visit Israel Now, Jews will Suffer! "While the Olmert Government is authorizing the Palestinians to receive 50 armored vehicles, 1,000 rifles and two million rounds of ammunition; concomitantly the Israel Defense Forces are disarming hundreds of thousands of settlers, thus making them, G-d forbid, sitting ducks or dead ducks. The horror. Hey, I've an idea: why not get these illegal squatters back across the Green Line into Israel proper? Nahh, nahh. Too easy.

12/10/2007 - Demonstrator on roof interrupts conference As a handful of pro-Palestinian demonstrators with large banners and Palestinian flags chanted slogans outside calling Ya'alon a war criminal, the man climbed to the roof of the five-story Lawyers Guild building and threatened to jump if two Palestinians were not released from a Paris jail.  

12/10/2007 - Palestinian Leader Requests Vatican Presence in Peace Talks Shawqi Jabriel Armali, director of the office of representation to the Holy See of the Palestine Liberation Organization, asked Benedict XVI for an "active" Vatican presence in Middle East peace talks.  

12/10/2007 - Stuck in Limbo: Palestinian Refugees of Lebanon    

12/10/2007 - San Mateo shop owner wins hearts of clientele The Palestinian native's Spanish isn't great, but he gets a lot of mileage out of the words he knows and his warm, friendly demeanor.  

12/10/2007 - Rachel Corrie's parents say play 'humanizes' activist daughter My Name is Rachel Corrie, a play about the American activist killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in the Gaza Strip, has just opened in Montreal with Corrie's parents in attendance.  

12/10/2007 - Israel clears settlers from West Bank outpost The youths were taken off the hill near the southern city of Hebron without incident, it said.  

12/10/2007 - Economic Path to Peace: Loan fund could boost Palestinian prosperity    

12/10/2007 - Annapolis Outcome 'Proves Arab Failure' Critics also note that the event was marked by repeated U.S. acknowledgement of Israel's status as a "Jewish state". According to some observers, the application of this term threatens the right of Palestinian refugees to return to what is now Israel, and leaves the door open for the potential expulsion of Israel's Arab inhabitants  

12/10/2007 - Visit by Japanese industrialists expected to yield enhanced ties Ties between Israel and Japan are likely to be enhanced as an outcome of an intensive three-day visit by the high-powered Kioi-Kai group.  

12/10/2007 - Rights group asks Mazuz to halt probe into Druze MK who visited Syria    

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12/9/2007 - Israel says must trade Jerusalem areas with Arabs Ramon told Army Radio: "I am convinced that all Jewish neighborhoods, including Har Homa, should be under Israeli sovereignty and the Arab neighborhoods should not be under Israeli sovereignty because they pose a threat to Jerusalem being the capital of Jewish Israel." Supremacism.

12/9/2007 - Islamic body urges Israel to stop mosque dig Malaysia, which chairs the Islamic world's largest grouping, urged Israel on Friday to stop excavations near Jerusalem's most important holy Islamic site.  

12/9/2007 - Official: Elections should follow ending Hamas Gaza takeover    

12/9/2007 - Fatah's spokesperson: Hamas needs to retract 'coup' before early elections Spokesperson of the secular Fatah party, Ahmad Abdelrahman, demanded Hamas to retract what he calls a ' coup against legitimacy in Gaza', before going to early elections.  

12/9/2007 - Detainees in Al Jalama threaten to hold a hunger strike    

12/9/2007 - Hamas accuses P.A security forces of arresting 26 members    

12/9/2007 - Al-Quds brigades shell an Israeli army jeep, an Israeli minister warns of rockets In a statement, faxed to press, the Al-Quds brigades claimed responsibility for firing a rocket-propelled grenade at an Israeli military jeep to the east of Kheza'a town in southern Gaza Strip.  

12/9/2007 - Shas minister: Americans' attitude to report reminiscent of Auschwitz "The manner in which the Americans relate to the intelligence report on Iran is similar to the way in which they viewed those reports they received during the Holocaust on railways transporting hundreds of thousands of Jews to their death at Auschwitz," The shrill whines have just been taken to the highest level. F'ing ridiculous.

12/9/2007 - Hamas, Fatah deny agreeing on dialogue resumption    

12/9/2007 - Hamas burns 'confiscated' drugs Correspondents say it was Hamas' latest attempt to show it was imposing order after taking control in Gaza this year They should stop the Qassam rocket fire too. Clean house.

12/9/2007 - Iran could have nukes by 2010: Olmert Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert believes Iran will have the resources to create a nuclear weapon by 2010, despite a US intelligence report that it was not building an atomic bomb.  

12/9/2007 - Human rights group attacks gov't for policy in West Bank, Gaza One of Israel's leading human rights groups on Sunday harshly criticized the government for widespread violations in the West Bank and Gaza which it said harmed Palestinians economically and socially.  

12/9/2007 - Israelis set up illegal outposts in evacuation protest The move is a protest against the possible evacuation of Jewish settlements.  

12/9/2007 - Israeli extremists march to set up new outposts in West Bank Israeli right-wing activists have marched up a hill outside the occupied West Bank's largest settlement, aiming to set up a symbolic new wildcat settlement outpost.  

12/9/2007 - Delegates of Australian Churches meet with Jenin Governor The governor thanked the delegates for the aid they provided for the area, especially the aid to physically challenged residents and development projects, which included digging water wells in villages east of the city.  

12/9/2007 - Demography is the key Ignoring demographic considerations will ultimately lead to Jewish State?s demise  

12/9/2007 - Palestinians make three feature films despite occupation, no audience and no funding In a flip-flop of reality, a surly Palestinian soldier guards a West Bank checkpoint, as a line of haggard Israelis wait to have their ID cards examined.  

12/9/2007 - Blair holds talks with Saudi king Peace envoy Tony Blair held talks with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on Sunday during a visit to Riyadh ahead of formal Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations this week, state news agency SPA said.  

12/9/2007 - PM: Israel will work to expose Iran nuclear program    

12/9/2007 - Final Disgrace for Bush & Co. When the White House didn?t get the answers it wanted on Iran, it turned to Israel, whose renowned intelligence agency, Mossad, became a primary source. Mossad still insists Iran will have a nuclear bomb by 2008. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak declared the NIE report a ?blow to the groin.? Israel has been straining every sinew to get the U.S. to destroy Iran?s growing nuclear infrastructure. Whether Israel, which has a large nuclear arsenal, will attack Iran on its own is uncertain.  

12/9/2007 - Syria sees isolation fading after Annapolis Damascus would not make gestures to please its U.S. and Israeli foes, who want Syria to ditch Iran and its other allies before any peace talks have achieved results, Altaqi said.  

12/9/2007 - Israeli-Palestinian handshake in Monaco    

12/9/2007 - Funds dry up for hospital in impoverished camp A desperately needed hospital in Lebanon?s largest and most violent Palestinian refugee camp has been unable to open on time because funds to buy beds and other basic medical equipment have dried up.  

12/9/2007 - Friedman: Making peace with pieces    

12/9/2007 - What the ruins can say about tomorrow Archaeology has always been central in a search for national narratives, and this is particularly so for Zionism in an ideological perspective. To establish the provenance of Zionist narratives, it is essential to prove not just the presence, but the dominance of an ancient Jewish kingdom in the holy land, thus verifying Jewish claims over the land and the raison d?etre of the state of Israel. Biblical archaeology has expanded rapidly, what with not just Jewish, but Christian Zionists enthusiastically supporting the enterprise in their own interpretation of the Bible  

12/9/2007 - Early primary voters favor two states In an Arab American Institute poll, strong majorities of voters in both parties in Iowa and New Hampshire identified a two-state Israeli-Palestinian outcome as a U.S. interest.  

12/9/2007 - Israeli ministers to 'Condi' - Go fly a kite US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice can think again if she believes that Israel is going to stop building homes in Jerusalem, the Arab-coveted capital of the Jewish people.  

12/9/2007 - Knesset rattled by racism report The Association for Civil Rights in Israel's latest report, which stated that racism and hatred towards Israeli-Arabs have doubled over the past year, caused a lively polemic in the Knesset on Sunday.  

12/9/2007 - Video: Bethlehem - National Geographic Magazine    

12/9/2007 - Plan presented to repatriate Israelis Immigrant Absorption Minister Yaakov Edri on Sunday presented a plan of tax breaks and incentives designed to encourage some of the 700,000 Israelis living abroad to return. Some 60 percent live in North America, according to Israel Radio.  

12/9/2007 - Olmert decries anti-Ethiopian racism    

12/9/2007 - In the serene land The Butterfly's Burden shows how Mahmoud Darwish has remade a nation's consciousness, says Fiona Sampson  

12/9/2007 - Speaker policy criticized Earlier this year, the committee implemented a controversial speaker policy, which required teachers to secure the principal's permission before inviting controversial speakers into their classrooms, after a public furor erupted over a Jan. 5 presentation at the high school by Wheels of Justice, a group with pro-Palestinian ties.  

12/9/2007 - Today in History - Dec. 9 In 1987, the first Palestinian intefadeh, or uprising, began as riots broke out in Gaza and spread to the West Bank, triggering a strong Israeli counter-response  

12/9/2007 - On the Twentieth Anniversary of the First Intifada    

12/9/2007 - FFJ: Injuries and arrests at demonstrations across the West Bank on Friday    

12/9/2007 - Foreign workers out Government plan aims to end employment of foreign laborers by 2014  

12/9/2007 - Palestinian cabinet values King Abdullah?s initiative to provide treatment to Palestinians    

12/9/2007 - Adalah-NY: Despite NYC Palestinian rights protest, Dershowitz buys jewelry from settlement mogul Leviev Saturday?s event was the third and largest protest outside LEVIEV New York since the store?s November 13 gala opening  

12/9/2007 - CAIA: Protesting the JNF: Community Groups Oppose Fundraising for Illegal ?Canada Park? Protesters denounced fund raising for the park, which is built on the destroyed Palestinian villages of Beit Nuba, Yallu and Imwas seized and destroyed by the Israeli military in 1967.  

12/9/2007 - Spreading his wings Spector was the most senior officer who signed the "letter of the pilots," which was made public on September 24, 2003, and stated: "We, for whom the IDF and the air force are an integral part of our being; who were brought up to love Israel and to contribute to the Zionist ideal, cannot take part in the operations in the center of populated civilian areas; and [we] refuse to endanger innocent Palestinian civilians ... The continued occupation is critically harming the country's security."  

12/9/2007 - Israeli ambassador attacks Swiss foreign policy As guardian of the Geneva Conventions, she said it was Switzerland's duty to remind countries of the need to respect international humanitarian law. "We raise our voice when this law is violated, even when that means criticising our friends."  

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12/8/2007 - In pictures: West Bank Bedouin cling to traditions amid settlement pressure    

12/8/2007 - Gulf countries challenge U.S. on Iran and Israel at security conference "Not considering Israel a threat to security in the region is considered a biased policy that is based on a double standard," said Abdul-Rahman al-Attiyah, the secretary general of the six-member Gulf Co-operation Council. It sure is. And it's the same double standard that George Washington warned about in his Farewell Address.

12/8/2007 - Israel no nuclear threat to neighbours, says Gates   Was it Iran that annihilated Lebanon last summer? Was it Iran that wiped Palestine off the map and in its place established by force the state of Israel? Was it Iran that committed war crimes during an attack on the USS Liberty that took the lives of 34 Americans? Is it Iran that has ignored tens of UN resolutions for nearly sixty years?

12/8/2007 - Unilateral military strike still an option, senior ministers insist ** Binyamin Netanyahu, the popular rightwing opposition leader, was asked whether Israel should launch its own military operation. "We always prefer international action, led by the United States, but we have to ensure that we can protect our country with all means," he told the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz yesterday.  

12/8/2007 - Palestinian UN Envoy: Israeli attacks have destroyed hope for peace    

12/8/2007 - Three injured in peaceful protest near Ramallah    

12/8/2007 - 'US report ended attack option on Iran' ** "It looks like this ends the military option against Iran for now. Israel won't attack alone. Iran's facilities are too many and spread too far apart." ......Time reported that Israel's leaders were surprised and disappointed by the American report, understanding that it considerably lessened the likelihood of an American strike on Iran, an action Israel hoped the US would take if sanctions failed to stop the Iranian nuclear program. I wouldn't discount Cheney and the neocons. They might cook something up to get their attack on Iran, as they've done in the past with Iraq (via the Office of Special Plans).

12/8/2007 - Testimony: Israel delays treatment of two Gaza toddlers    

12/8/2007 - Gulf Challenges US on Iran, Israel "We can't really compare Iran with Israel. Iran is our neighbor, and we shouldn't really look at it as an enemy," said Sheik Hamad. "I think Israel through 50 years has taken land, kicking out the Palestinians, and interferes under the excuse of security, blaming the other party." U.S. support for Israel is very unpopular in the Middle East, even among closely allied Gulf states, and Washington's unconditional support for Israeli nuclear development has complicated its push against Iran.  

12/8/2007 - US Defence Secretary sees Iran as threat to US and Mideast Gates rejected suggestions the US applied a double-standards policy towards Iran and Israel, which has never confirmed it has a nuclear arsenal but is widely believed to be the only state in the Middle East with such weapons, estimated to number 200.  

12/8/2007 - A local PFLP leader calls on Hamas to renounce hegemony over Gaza    

12/8/2007 - U.S. report on Iran's nuclear program 'flawed,' says Israel's ex-deputy defense minister   Isarel and consequently its lobby (including the neocons) in the States are on the offense - their cries getting more shrill by the minute. It's rather reminiscent of the boy who cried wolf.

12/8/2007 - Israeli police interrogate three Israeli journalists who visited Arab states    

12/8/2007 - Hamas denies intentions to give up Gaza facilities for dialogue    

12/8/2007 - "No fuel, no gasoline, no benzene" With the majority of gas stations closed in Gaza due to the escalating fuel crisis, a group of local Gaza taxi drivers shared the fuel in their cars' tanks, for the sake of going back home, rather than earning a living under already dire economic conditions.  

12/8/2007 - A Gaza patient dies because of the Israeli siege The medics identified the dead as Zuhair Hussain, a cancer patient of his sixties, saying that the ministry has asked for his referral to a hospital outside Gaza, yet the Israeli authorities refused to grant him access  

12/8/2007 - Palestinian militant groups resume rockets attacks on Israel Al-Aqsa Brigades, Fatah's military offshoot and Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility for launching three makeshift rockets at southern Israel.  

12/8/2007 - PA asks U.S. to force Israel stick to Road Map "We loudly ask the US administration to act as the judge and compel Israel to implement its commitments which the Road Map plan specified," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Voice of Palestine radio.  

12/8/2007 - ACTION UPDATE! 11 Human Rights activists arrested in E-1 Area! Early this morning Palestinians built a house in the controversial E-1 area. Palestinians are routinely denied permits to build on their own land, and homes that have been built are demolished. The Human Rights activists stayed inside for a few hours before a large police and army presence evicted them through use of force.  

12/8/2007 - Hamas says Israeli settlement expansion plan "slap" on Annapolis attendants    

12/8/2007 - Official: Dialogue between Fatah, Hamas to be postponed A senior Hamas official revealed on Saturday that a dialogue between his movement and rival Fatah movement is to be postponed until after the visit of U.S. President George W. Bush to the region in January.  

12/8/2007 - Hamas chief visits Saudi for talks: aide Hamas political supremo Khaled Meshaal is holding talks with officials in Saudi Arabia, amid moves by the oil-rich kingdom to boost its role in securing peace across the Middle East, a source close to Meshaal said on Saturday.  

12/8/2007 - Palestinians to call for 7.1 billion dollars at donor conference    

12/8/2007 - Hamas: Shalit didn't convey a letter to Israel The statement was a reaction to earlier reports saying that Shalit's captors accepted to send a video tape for Shalit to his family in Israel "for reopening Rafah borders crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt."  

12/8/2007 - Rogue Israeli settlements in West Bank continue    

12/8/2007 - Wider West Bank settlements proposed Israeli ministers are mulling a proposal that would allow a "massive" expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and retroactively legalize dozens of settler outposts, said a former Israeli state attorney who oversaw a government study on Jewish building in the disputed territory.  

12/8/2007 - Boim rebuffs Rice on Har Homa Israel's construction and housing minister rebuffed U.S. criticism of a plan to build new homes in an eastern Jerusalem neighborhood.  

12/8/2007 - Palestinian 'settlement' protests Israeli expansion Activists built a mock Palestinian "settlement" in the West Bank on Saturday to protest a potential Israeli expansion there as Israel's housing minister vowed to proceed with a similar project in occupied east Jerusalem.  

12/8/2007 - Fake edition of Sun sets off lawsuit The owner of The Vancouver Sun has launched a lawsuit against a pro-Palestinian activist and a local printing company over the publication of a fake edition of the daily newspaper.  

12/8/2007 - Middle East huge for Sundance Palestinian hip-hop, tall tales in Jordan, the gritty realities of war in Lebanon and a pair of star-crossed lovers straddling the Arab-Israeli divide. The Sundance Film Festival has lined up a record number of films from the Middle East for its Park City outing in 2008.  

12/8/2007 - EU: New settlements, Gaza Siege, targeted assassinations acts of war, not peace    

12/8/2007 - An untraditional tradition for the holiday season Another offering from Duke Chapel is the sale of Bethlehem Imports products -- hand-carved olive wood ornaments, nativity sets, figurines and crucifixes. These carvings are used in the chapel's Christmas decorations. All proceeds go to support economically struggling Christian Palestinian artisans and local mission organizations.  

12/8/2007 - Church briefs Hannah Mermelstein, Jewish American human rights volunteer with the International Women's Peace Service, will present a talk entitled "Life in Occupied Palestine" at 10:15 a.m. Dec. 16 at Salina Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 901 Beatrice. The talk is free and open to the public. Mermelstein, who also is co-founder of Birthright Unplugged, will present photos, videos and stories from her work with Palestinian refugees, Israeli activists, and others working nonviolently for peace and justice in Israel/Palestine.  

12/8/2007 - The New Republic and National Review fabricate Middle East news ? Say it Ain?t so?    

12/8/2007 - Report: Israel to reopen Rafah crossing in exchange for new Shalit tape According to the report, which quoted Fatah officials as its source, the recent crossing of Palestinian pilgrims en route to Mecca through the Rafah crossing was not made without Israel's consent, but in return for a new tape featuring Shalit.  

12/8/2007 - India should suspend military ties with Israel: Karat "We demand the stopping of at least security and military collaboration with Israel till it comes to the negotiating table and arrive at a reasonable settlement with Palestine,"  

12/8/2007 - Go home or go to jail, Lebanon tells Iraqi refugees    

12/8/2007 - Author/Journalist Phil Weiss on The Jewish Community's Turn Toward Peace    

12/8/2007 - Siege that spells slow death for the innocents    

12/8/2007 - Largest Dutch trade union will increase pressure on Israel    

12/8/2007 - Nuclear fallout / Who's right here? ** Over the last year, a certain hope has developed in Israel that the U.S. would do our dirty work for us; because what is possibly going on, quietly and secretly, between President Bush and his spiritual advisers will lead Bush to the conclusion that his supreme moral obligation is to remove the Iranian nuclear danger threatening Israel before he passes his job on to his successor. ....Is Israel capable of presenting the Americans with any information that can prove to the Americans their new evaluation is wrong? And what new policy will Jerusalem need to formulate on the Iranian issue, based on the reasonable assumption the U.S. will not change its mind?.....The report will most likely also have an indirect effect on the Israeli-Palestinian process. If Israel no longer enjoys the full support of the Americans on nuclear matters, then Israel is likely to feel less committed to make concessions and move forward in talks with the Palestinians. Hmm, so that last sentence suggests, as I and some others have too, that Israel is only putting on a dog and pony show for this peace agreement in order to get the US to attack Iran?...

12/8/2007 - Letters | The crimes of the Zionists    

12/8/2007 - Israeli Dep'y Defense Minister to American Jews: Help U.S. Make Peace Now or We Face 100-Years War There was throughout the evening the strong feeling, and what a testament to the IPF this is, that Yes there is an Israel lobby, and it is many of the people in this room, and the time has come to take your foot off the breathing tube of the Palestinians.  

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12/7/2007 - Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian farmer in Gaza Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian farmer and wounded another in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics said Friday.  

12/7/2007 - As Israel prepares to abandon territories, some Jews plan State of Judea   A Settleristan, if you will.

12/7/2007 - Gaza's donkeys in demand as fuel crisis mounts    

12/7/2007 - Four injured and two arrested in Bil'in anti-Wall protest    

12/7/2007 - Israeli army detains two cameramen in West Bank    

12/7/2007 - Female settlers' assault elderly Palestinians in Deir al Hatab    

12/7/2007 - IDF to show US nuclear data on Iran Disappointed after failing to make their case on Iran and influence the outcome of the United States's National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) released this week, Military Intelligence will present its hard core evidence on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program on Sunday to the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff during a rare visit he will be making to Israel.  

12/7/2007 - Bethlehem inaugurates Christmas Market    

12/7/2007 - Indonesia to attend donor conference for Palestine in Paris    

12/7/2007 - Arab League chief urges world community to exceed Palestinians' target for $5.8B in aid The head of the Arab League on Friday urged the world community to exceed a US$5.8 billion (¤4 billion) aid target sought by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for his people.  

12/7/2007 - Bomb goes off outside major Gaza security installation A roadside bomb went off outside a major security headquarters in Gaza City on Friday, in an escalation of attacks on symbols of the Islamic Hamas group's rule.  

12/7/2007 - Building of Jerusalem settlement to continue: Israel minister "Construction will continue at full flow, and our friends must be told this," Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman, a deputy premier, told public television.  

12/7/2007 - Thousands come to J'lem to protest plans to divide capital It was with a sense of religious fervor that the thousands of people who came Thursday to the Jerusalem International Convention Center sang Shuli Natan's "Jerusalem of Gold." They came to protest against plans to divide Israel's capital.  

12/7/2007 - Palestinian student trades rifle for amnesty and quest for peace    

12/7/2007 - Poll: Few Israeli settlers will leave homes for cash A minority of Israeli settlers would leave their West Bank homes voluntarily if the government paid them compensation, a poll revealed Friday.  

12/7/2007 - Iran: Why Won't We Take Yes For An Answer? Israel's amen corner tries to spin the NIE report  

12/7/2007 - Justice for Palestine; Justice for All    

12/7/2007 - Only 1 suicide bombing hit Israel so far this year Hamas , the main Palestinian group behind the suicide bombing campaign, has largely held to its vow to maintain a temporary truce as it has tried to exert its influence through the democratic political process.  

12/7/2007 - Jordan king to address European parliament on Mideast    

12/7/2007 - What if the NIE is a Bush gambit? pressure on Israel could be one reason for the NIE. Pressure on the Arabs is another, as mentioned above  

12/7/2007 - Syria 'not pessimistic' on Middle East peace talks Moustapha stressed however that comprehensive peace could only be attained if Israel "changed the reality on the ground" and ended its "policies of occupation."  

12/7/2007 - Families live rough as Lebanon rebuilds from war    

12/7/2007 - The more they want Giuliani, the less they want American mediation in Mideast    

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12/6/2007 - Palestinian killed near Gaza fence-medics    

12/6/2007 - Israeli fire kills Palestinian in Gaza A Palestinian civilian was killed on Thursday by Israeli fire in the north of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, medics said  

12/6/2007 - Cop's killing shows strain of W.Bank security plan "He was doing his job, confronting outlaws," Bethlehem's chief of security, General Ahmed al-Hadar, said on Thursday. But the car's occupants were Israeli commandos disguised as Arabs. They fired back, killing Salman and wounding his partner. Really now. Who are the rogues here?

12/6/2007 - Herbs replace drugs in Gaza amid suffocating siege    

12/6/2007 - Palestinians urge Egypt to supply Gaza with fuel    

12/6/2007 - Israeli minister cancels UK trip in fear of arrest Dichter's concerns relate to an Israeli military attack in July 2002 on a house in Gaza that killed Hamas military commander Salah Shehadeh, his bodyguard and 13 civilians, including children. The strike drew strong international criticism, including from then UN secretary general Kofi Annan, who warned Israel to comply with international law. Dichter was head of Shin Bet at the time. Interestingly, the Israelis committed war crimes against Americans and yet never have any fears of being arrested when they visit America. That would be because America is (another) Israel-occupied territory.

12/6/2007 - Palestinian resistance blames Israel for impasse on captured Israeli soldier    

12/6/2007 - Gaza militants fire missiles into Israeli targets    

12/6/2007 - Palestinian police disperse demonstrations in the West Bank , killing one person and injuring others    

12/6/2007 - Egypt exerts more efforts on regional peace, pushes forward domestic reforms    

12/6/2007 - Abbas calls on Israel to stop expanding Har Homa settlement    

12/6/2007 - Palestinian interim gov't says reopening Rafah crossing needs Israeli approval    

12/6/2007 - Fewer resources for a worsening situation - UNRWA He asked that Israelis be mindful of the rights of the people and of the welfare of those who have no intention of committing any violence against the Israelis, because if these people are blocked from moving, from accessing employment, from earning a livelihood then their intentions may become really more aggressive than they would otherwise be, he said. "So we think that sometimes these measures are counter-productive rather than conducive to increased security."  

12/6/2007 - Concerns raised over freedom of expression in the West Bank Palestinian academics and scholars as well as some senior members of the Hamas movement have become increasingly concerned about the restriction on freedom of expression in the West Bank. This comes following the incidents which took place during anti-Annapolis rallies in cities across the region last November.  

12/6/2007 - Only 41 percent of Gaza's food import needs being met A spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister's Office said there "cannot be business as usual" with the Gaza Strip as long as rocket attacks against southern Israel continue.  

12/6/2007 - Palestinian officials value King?s directives to treat Gazan patients in Jordanian hospitals    

12/6/2007 - Palestinian statehood deal possible in 2008-Blair    

12/6/2007 - Official: disputes on Gaza takeover mount within Hamas    

12/6/2007 - Egyptian FM slams Israel for tender to expand Jewish settlement    

12/6/2007 - Gaza petrol station owners strike ends    

12/6/2007 - Palestinian President Abbas rejects concept of state with provisional borders    

12/6/2007 - WHO warns against humanitarian crisis in Gaza    

12/6/2007 - Gaza groups slam Hamas over law court takeover    

12/6/2007 - Abbas open to Hamas talks if it cedes Gaza control    

12/6/2007 - Israeli army attacks several areas in the Hebron district, one civilian kidnapped    

12/6/2007 - U.S. seeks clarification over Israeli housing plan   But what action will be taken? None.

12/6/2007 - Israel warns Iran to co-operate or pay price ISRAEL has warned Iran to either co-operate with the West over its uranium enrichment program or face military action.  

12/6/2007 - Hamas leader calls for increased dialogue with Fatah.    

12/6/2007 - Realist Revenge** The neo-cons have predictably launched a campaign against the NIE, arguing that the rejection of the 2005 predecessor begs the question why the 2007 conclusions should be taken seriously and (a la Podhoretz and Ledeen) that the the intelligence community is deliberately trying to undermine the president?s policies with which they disagree (Podhoretz? ?darker suspicion? ? a phrase that should elicit some kind of comment by Guiliani, hopefully)......the fact that the main conclusions of the report were known in top policy circles since at least last summer, if not well before then, helps explain why the administration?s hawks (and their neo-con allies) ? culminating in Cheney?s late October speech to the Washington Institute on Near East Policy (WINEP) ? started hyping Iran?s alleged direction of attacks on U.S. soldiers and marines in Iraq in August  

12/6/2007 - Israel risks peace process by planning new illegal homes    

12/6/2007 - U.S. Joint Chiefs head to visit Israel Mullen will be briefed about Israel's intelligence estimates regarding the Iranian nuclear program, a response to a U.S. report that this week said Iran shelved its quest for an atomic bomb in 2003. The Israelis insist on foisting upon us their faulty intel on Iran in order to get us to attack that nation. They insist on making their problems OUR problems.

12/6/2007 - Ban Ki-moon to discuss planned Israeli settlements with Quartet partners    

12/6/2007 - Iran Assessment Creates an Israeli Headache That's because not only do some of the key conclusions of the latest National Intelligence Estimate undercut some of Israel's own assessments, they also seem to dim the likelihood that the U.S. will take military action against Iran's nuclear facilities ? a step the Israelis had been quietly urging the White House to take should sanctions fail to stop Iran's uranium enrichment program. .....Israeli intelligence officials plan to ask Washington for clarifications about the NIE report.  

12/6/2007 - Israel's settlement expansion plan 'not helpful' : UN chief    

12/6/2007 - CNN: Seymour Hersh 'vindicated' by new Iran intel estimate** As early as July 2006, Hersh had reported that the US military was resisting administration pressure for a bombing campaign in Iran, because "American and European intelligence agencies have not found specific evidence of clandestine activities or hidden facilities." ... ... As Hersh explained to Wolf Blitzer at the time, the White House was attempting to counter the CIA assessment with an Israeli claim, based on a "reliable agent," that Iran was working on a trigger for a nuclear device.  

12/6/2007 - Jordan sees Israeli settlement plans as threat to talks    

12/6/2007 - Rice criticises Israel's settlement expansion plan   Grow some cojones, Condi. Tell them no more aid unless they stop building/expanding the settlements. Bush's old man did it. The lobby won in the end, but at least he tried..

12/6/2007 - Olson and Othman: Summit's goal: Perpetuate repression of Palestinians The United States is not an honest broker here. Congress just gave Israel another $30 billion for military aid over the next 10 years. That's on top of the $3 billion to $5 billion annually it already gets.  

12/6/2007 - Ethiopian community hit hard by discrimination "racism is a word that I have feared using until now, because I did not believe that it could exist in Israel in 2007, but the time has come to call a spade a spade. Israeli society is profoundly infected by racism and unfortunately there is no suitable punishment for racism in Israel." There's been racism against Arabs therein for decades. So why should it be a surprise to see this racism now directed at other groups too?

12/6/2007 - Israel 60 years later: partition or apartheid    

12/6/2007 - Pro-Israel groups: NIE rattles our anti-Iran efforts Many pro-Israel groups are acknowledging privately, and in some cases publicly, that the new US intelligence assessment on Iran is a significant blow to their efforts to isolate Iran and ease its threat to Israel.  

12/6/2007 - Syrian MP: If we're attacked ? we'll hit Dimona "The possibility that Israel were to infringe upon Syria's sovereignty is a possibility that exists and that we're not ruling out, although at the same time, we are not looking to reach this stage and we do not want to escalate the situation,"  

12/6/2007 - AIPAC judge sets April 29 date An April 29 trial date was set in the classified information case against two former AIPAC staffers.  

12/6/2007 - Two-Thirds of Israelis Oppose Attack on Iran: Poll When asked ?should Israel alone attack the Iranian nuclear installations,? 67.2 percent said no, while 20.9 percent said yes and 11.9 percent had no opinion, said the survey aired on public radio.  

12/6/2007 - An End To ?Apocalyptic Unity? Rabin told AIPAC leaders, "OK, Iran is our biggest threat. We have to keep it from getting the bomb," this Jewish leader related. "They picked up the Iran issue and were far more energetic with it than he intended or imagined."..... said Shoshana Bryen of JINSA, "Those who have been wedded to the idea that in the next year the United States and/or Israel had to decide whether to drop a bomb on Iran have a big problem. They will now find themselves without legitimacy in the U.S. government." Whose war?

12/6/2007 - Is Iran NIE a Blessing in Disguise for Israel?    

12/6/2007 - Girls in West Bank village advocate for their rights    

12/6/2007 - Publicizing "No Way to the Inn" Displays An important aspect of the "No Way to the Inn: Bethlehem behind the Wall" campaign is spreading the word, by mouth and through the media, about the separation barrier being constructed throughout Palestine (for campaign details, visit: http://www.cpt.org/campaigns/no_way_to_the_inn/description.php ).  

12/6/2007 - Livni to push for international force in Gaza Livni, in talks she is expected to hold with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and a number of key EU foreign ministers in Brussels, is expected to discuss the Iranian situation, and press Israel's case that the pressure on Iran needed to continue despite the US intelligence estimate that Teheran has ceased its nuclear weapons program.  

12/6/2007 - Palestinian entrepreneurs plan two built-from-scratch cities in the West Bank A network of Israeli barriers and roadblocks continues to hamper travel and trade, and Palestinian business people hope at best for a calmer atmosphere and new opportunities, including joint ventures with Israeli partners. Such projects are to be announced at a post-Annapolis business conference in the spring  

12/6/2007 - When the roadmap is a one way street The answer for the past 40 years of occupation is the status quo, delay, while quietly expanding the settlements and strengthening its grip on Judea and Samaria (again, we do not use the terms "occupation" or "occupied territories" in Israel, not to mention "Palestinian").  

12/6/2007 - Jerusalem: The Jewish Mainstream Starts To Accept Reality    

12/6/2007 - Fair trade at YMCA fair There are hand-beaded bikinis made by a Venezuelan cooperative, olive oil and olive oil soap made by Palestinian farmers, and greeting cards by a local photographer  

12/6/2007 - Pro-palestinian group at Case hosts 1st event    

12/6/2007 - CEPAL marks UN Day of Solidarity with Palestine A people's right to pursue the most basic of human rights and the simplicity with which applying international law could award them these rights was the main focus of this year's commemoration of the UN Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people at an event held at the University of Toronto on Thursday, November 29.  

12/6/2007 - Jews central to Labor scandal, but no anti-Semitic fallout in U.K. the accused's links with an Israeli advocacy organization has fueled the cadre of anti-Israeli conspiracy theorists...."Mendelsohn is a passionate Zionist and infamous lobbyist, described by the Jewish Chronicle as 'one of the best-connected power brokers,' " she wrote. "So we can assume LFI plays a part in shaping our foreign policies in the Middle East."  

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12/5/2007 - One killed in Bethlehem shooting A Palestinian security force member has been shot dead in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, reportedly by Israeli soldiers on an arrest mission.  

12/5/2007 - Israeli army kills Gaza militants At least two Palestinian militants from the Hamas movement have been killed by Israeli gunfire in the Gaza Strip, local medical sources say.  

12/5/2007 - Abbas says Jerusalem settlement growth undermines peace In a letter sent to US President George W. Bush Abbas, he demanded that Israel reverse the proposed expansion of the Har Homa settlement, according to Saleh Raafat, a senior member of Abbas's Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).  

12/5/2007 - Sneh: NIE should spur Israel readiness The lesson Sneh drew from the NIE is that Israel could no longer rely on the United States to lead the battle to force Iran to back down from enriching uranium. Whose war is this?

12/5/2007 - Sick Gazans stuck in queue of death Born last week with a heart defect, Salem al-Masri needs life-saving surgery. But like hundreds in the Gaza Strip, he and his parents have no permit from Israel to exit the enclave to a suitably equipped hospital....."The Israelis either refuse to give people permits or delay them until the disease spreads and causes death,"  

12/5/2007 - New scepticism drives Iran report The Israelis have already rejected the NIE finding, claiming that Iran has re-started its nuclear weapons effort. And critics in the United States are attacking the authors of the report, Mr Fingar among them. The Wall Street Journal said he was one of three "hyper-partisan anti-Bush officials" behind the NIE. On behalf of all the true patriots in the American intel community that stood up for justice on this one, here's to Israel and the neocons.

12/5/2007 - Israel ready for Gaza operation if needed: army chief    

12/5/2007 - Israel launches diplomatic offensive to counter US report Bush said the report's finding would not prompt him to take a US military option against Tehran off the table.  

12/5/2007 - Hebron Update: 26 November - 2 December 2007    

12/5/2007 - Hamas urges talks with Abbas amid Israeli attacks    

12/5/2007 - Hamas asks Arab states to condemn Israeli attacks in Gaza After three Palestinians were killed Wednesday morning in Gaza by an Israeli airstrike, adding to a death toll of fifteen killed in less than a week, the Hamas party called on allies of the Palestinian people to condemn the Israeli aggression.  

12/5/2007 - Abbas aide: Israel can't continue settlement construction and do peace at the same time    

12/5/2007 - 'More effective sanctions' needed to stop Iran: Israeli minister both Russia and China, who sit on the UN Security Council, suggest that the report downgrades Tehran's nuclear weapons risk and therefore lessens the need for additional UN sanctions. Israel disagrees.  

12/5/2007 - Hamas: Palestinian security forces arrest 18 of the movements' members in the West Bank    

12/5/2007 - Palestinian speaker denies offering Egypt to run Gaza security compounds    

12/5/2007 - Israeli army kidnaps 20 Palestinians from a village near Ramallah.    

12/5/2007 - Several medical clinics close in Gaza due to fuel shortage    

12/5/2007 - U.S. report on Iran's nukes puts Israel in difficult position The surprise assessment stunned many in Israel, which has relied on the United States for support of the view that Iran constitutes a grave strategic threat........ "Nowadays the thinking is to favor inaction in the absence of hard information." 'Holy crap! They won't be duped again! Looks like we may have to fight our own battles...'

12/5/2007 - Israel feels alone after report on Iran ** "This forces the Israelis to make a decision instead of being able to take some comfort that the U.S. would take action at some point," said Wayne White, former deputy director of the State Department's Middle East Intelligence Office. Well, but, whose war is it? Not ours. Chicken Little has already gotten us into one fine mess. They're on their own now, rightly so.

12/5/2007 - Palestinian militants clash in Lebanon camp A 10-year-old Palestinian girl was wounded in an armed clash on Wednesday between rival factions in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Helweh in south Lebanon, Palestinian officials said.  

12/5/2007 - Ex-head of Arabic school denied old job The founding principal of the city's first Arabic-themed school, forced out over comments she made to a newspaper about the word "intifada," is not entitled to get her job back, a judge said in a preliminary ruling Wednesday.  

12/5/2007 - Lebanon Crisis: Health Cluster Bulletin No. 36, 05 Dec 2007 Landmines/UXOs/cluster bombs continue to cause casualties.  

12/5/2007 - Archaeologists find 2,000-year-old palace in east Jerusalem The suburb is part of Arab east Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed soon thereafter, a move not recognised by the international community.  

12/5/2007 - Sarkozy urges civilian nuclear cooperation with Muslim nations "Depriving the Palestinians of a nation state is an injustice that France will not accept," he said  

12/5/2007 - Representative Tom Lantos: "True Blue and White"    

12/5/2007 - Groups defend sanctions in wake of report Normally such an assessment would vindicate the decades-long drive by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to enact sanctions against Iran. AIPAC was the lead group -- at times the only group -- making the case in Congress and through the U.S. media that Tehran was pursuing a bomb, and that it should be stopped through economic and political sanctions......AIPAC and the Bush administration have pushed harder than ever in recent months to escalate Iran's isolation The Israeli lobby behind the curtains again? Never would've guessed that....

12/5/2007 - Israeli legal group aims to keep country Jewish Nachi Eyal, director of the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel, an Israel-based organization of volunteer lawyers dedicated to ?keeping Israel Jewish,? was in town to canvass Toronto?s Jewish legal community for support last week.  

12/5/2007 - Correcting Mideast view    

12/5/2007 - LWF Calls Israeli, Palestinian Leaders to Urgently Pursue Annapolis Objective    

12/5/2007 - Chandler family readjusts after ordeal in Gaza "We honestly didn't think we'd see each other again," Somaya said of her father leaving Gaza. "We had almost no hope."  

12/5/2007 - Iraqis 'left to rot' in Lebanon    

12/5/2007 - Israel protests Egypt's opening of Gaza border for pilgrims Egypt allowed some 700 Palestinians to cross into Egypt Monday so that they can travel to Saudi Arabia and attend the Muslim Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, which starts December 18 this year.  

12/5/2007 - Settlers ask High Court to stop eviction from Hebron building    

12/5/2007 - IAF chief draws Iran-Hitler link The commander of the Israeli Air Force urged his top brass to consider Iran's president a possible modern Hitler.  

12/5/2007 - State Holds Off on Saudi Arms Deal While blocking foreign arms sales is rare by Congress, the Bush administration's plans to sell Saudi Arabia such sophisticated weaponry has raised eyebrows on both sides of the aisle. The Joint Direct Attack Munitions technology would lend the country's armed forces highly accurate targeting abilities that could threaten Israel, lawmakers say.  

12/5/2007 - Proposed boycott of Israeli universities prompts speaker series on 'intellectual exchange'    

12/5/2007 - With Bush on our side The ramifications for the longer term, the years following the Bush presidency, are more worrisome for Jerusalem. No matter who is president in Washington, Israel now confronts a united American military and intelligence front declaring that the Iranian nuclear issue is not urgent and probably not dangerous and rejecting an American military response.......if the new NIE prompts the US to expand its diplomatic exchange of views with Iran, Israel should urge Washington to represent its security concerns forcefully. Why is it up to us to defend Israel? Why the US and always only the US? Did the Israel-firsters in Congress slip it into the Constitution yet? JFC.

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12/4/2007 - Israel strikes Hamas base in central Gaza, kills three - Update    

12/4/2007 - Bush to visit Israel in January    

12/4/2007 - Report: 17 Palestinians killed in internal clashes in November    

12/4/2007 - France outlines plan for Palestinian donors summit "(The conference's) aim is to mobilize donors and to provide financial and political support for the Palestinian Authority,"  

12/4/2007 - Israeli army kidnaps Palestinian following large-scale military operation in Nablus.    

12/4/2007 - B'Tselem slams Israeli Supreme Courts delay in decision to allow reduction of fuel supplies to Gaza    

12/4/2007 - Israeli forces kidnap one Palestinian in Tubas and attack local shepherds    

12/4/2007 - Hamas: Israeli threats against Gaza aims to bring Abbas back    

12/4/2007 - Israeli army tortures teenager over false allegations    

12/4/2007 - Taxis disappearing form Gaza streets due to Israeli fuel reduction    

12/4/2007 - Palestinian Political detainee hospitalized following attack    

12/4/2007 - Increasing number of Fatah members wish to have talks with Hamas    

12/4/2007 - Gaza patients transferred to Egyptian hospitals through Rafah Crossing    

12/4/2007 - Budget for United Nations agency for Palestine refugees promised contributions by 22 countries, as other governments express intent to pledge later Twenty-two donors pledged contributions to the 2008 budget of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) this morning, with several Governments expressing their intention to announce additional pledges at a later date.  

12/4/2007 - IDF soldier lightly wounded from mortar shell shrapnel in w. Negev An IDF soldier was lightly wounded late Tuesday night after a mortar shell fired by Palestinians in Gaza exploded near his position in the western Negev.  

12/4/2007 - Olmert: Nuke report on Iran shows need for tighter Iran sanctions ** "We discussed this report with leaders of the [U.S.] administration," Olmert told reporters. "It is vital to pursue efforts to prevent Iran from developing a capability like this and we will continue doing so along with our friends the United States.".....The report contradicts earlier U.S. intelligence reports, Israeli assessments, and the conclusions of senior officials in the Bush administration. .......The difference in the American and Israeli assessments is derived not from different information but rather different approaches  

12/4/2007 - Palestinian security forces deploy in West Bank town The plan is not being carried out with the coordination of the Israeli army and the military has refused to provide guarantees that it will not enter the city  

12/4/2007 - Palestinians slam Israel over housing plan "This a flagrant violation of all that happened at Annapolis," Qurei, a former prime minister, said. "We demand from Israel to reverse this decision ... There will be no peace process if they continue with settlement activities."  

12/4/2007 - U.S. envoy says State Dept. knew of pulled U.N. text Khalilzad said while the draft was welcomed by members of the Security Council, who include Arab Qatar, when it was submitted last Thursday, "the Israeli government at the highest level decided this was not going to be useful."  

12/4/2007 - Israeli officials reject U.S. findings on Iran ** Israeli officials, who've been warning that Iran would soon pose a nuclear threat to the world, reacted angrily Tuesday to a new U.S. intelligence finding that Iran stopped its nuclear weapons development program in 2003 and to date hasn't resumed trying to produce nuclear weapons.......An analysis in the competing Haaretz newspaper suggested that Israel might come to be viewed as a "panic-stricken rabbit" and said that the U.S. intelligence estimate established "a new, dramatic reality: The military option, American or Israeli, is off the table, indefinitely." Ooops. Looks like Israel's 'intel' didn't fly this time around (paragraph 27 in particular).

12/4/2007 - Israel vows to resist Iran nuclear drive despite US report Israel on Tuesday charged that Iran was still seeking nuclear weapons despite a US report claiming the contrary, and vowed to continue its diplomatic campaign against its arch-foe. ......"It is necessary to continue our efforts with our American friends to prevent Iran from obtaining non-conventional weapons," Olmert said on army radio......"This report is a painful blow to Israeli policy, which has been to try to persuade the world that the Iranian problem needs to be solved urgently before Iran reaches the point of no return," warned the mass-selling Yediot Aharonot.  

12/4/2007 - Support Iranian dissidents, says US analyst The West should seek regime change in Iran by lending support to the growing dissident movement within the country, said Dr Michael Ledeen......"They have been waiting ... to hear from an American president that the US wants an end to this regime... No president has done anything," he said, adding that sanctions, which have been in place since the 1979 Iranian revolution, have been ineffective." Ledeen=neocon.

12/4/2007 - Israel invites bids for new east Jerusalem settlements   E. Jerusalem is Israeli-OCCUPIED (not owned) territory, according to international law. All of the settlements built therein are violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 49.

12/4/2007 - Report: Israel ignores its own building laws in West Bank settlements    

12/4/2007 - Santa wears cool shades to give presents in Bethlehem's Christian community The sunglasses are a Palestinian addition to Santa's garb of red suit and black boots, meant to ensure that children in the tiny, tight-knit Christian community in Jesus' traditional birthplace don't recognize the bearded man bringing presents  

12/4/2007 - Archbishop urges cultural acceptance A Palestinian Catholic archbishop nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to promote healing between Israelis and Arabs brought a message of peace to VU on Monday.  

12/4/2007 - The Anti-Iran Annapolis Conference by Philip Giraldi ** The conference is only comprehensible in terms of the other agendas that drove it. Behind the scenes, the United States and Israel were less interested in making peace with the Palestinians than they were in building up a de facto coalition of Arab states against Iran, which is why there was intense diplomatic pressure to obtain the participation of every Arab country.  

12/4/2007 - Peace Now: Israel not combatting illegal West Bank construction    

12/4/2007 - Ramon: West Bank barrier to be border ?It?s clear that Israel will annex the blocs of settlement, and it?s clear that Israel only wants the blocs of settlement,? Ramon said, referring to the major Israeli settlement blocs on Israel?s side of the West Bank fence, which he said constitute some 8 percent of the West Bank.  

12/4/2007 - Student trapped in Gaza returns to UK Khaled al-Mudallal, of Great Horton, Bradford, had returned to his native Gaza to marry but found himself caught up in an ongoing siege by the Israeli army. Passage in and out of the region was severely restricted and supplies of food and aid were cut off.  

12/4/2007 - Outcomes of Minister?s Visit to Palestine During his courtesy call on Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Minister Song explained that the Korean government has been providing assistance for the economic and social development of Palestine, and promised that Korea will actively participate at the upcoming Conference of Donor Nations to Palestine to be held on December 17 in Paris.  

12/4/2007 - Mistrial In Case of Air Base Ex-Guard At Andrews, Chamble said, Jackson asked supervisors to give him time off on Fridays for prayer services. According to Chamble, after Jackson said that Palestinians have a right to defend themselves, an Andrews supervisor gave him this advice: "On this base, you need to chill on that kind of stuff."  

12/4/2007 - Israel denies attacking own kibbutz Before sunrise Tuesday, kibbutz members complained to the military shells came through the roof of a house and 20 mm shell casings were found, a type commonly used by Israeli helicopter gunships, the Jerusalem Post reported.  

12/4/2007 - Dichter: East Jerusalem Arabs loyal to Palestinian world Avi Dichter said Monday that "the Arabs of east Jerusalem live in two different worlds but are loyal only to the Palestinian world, and this is very problematic for us from the criminal and terrorist standpoint.".....Amidror added that Israel must make every effort to connect Jerusalem to Ma'ale Adumim in order to "protect the capital from the east".  

12/4/2007 - Israeli guitarist seeks U.S. success Broza, an Israeli Jew, records in a Palestinian-run studio in east Jerusalem. He performs regularly at peace rallies, and was a common sight strumming in bomb shelters during Israel's war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon last year  

12/4/2007 - Lebanon: Refugees Coerced to Return to Iraq    

12/4/2007 - Palestinians brave desolation at bombed-out Lebanon camp Aisha Abdul Rahim's home has no doors or windows but she would still rather suffer the cold at her own home in a bombed-out Palestinian camp in north Lebanon than stay in a shelter......The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, Karen Abu Zayd, said she had "witnessed nothing like this" in decades of services, after a November 13 tour of the camp.  

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12/3/2007 - Two Hamas militants killed in Gaza air strike, medics say    

12/3/2007 - Olmert: My father was wrong, Ben-Gurion was right "From the moment of the partition, Israel only took the issue of establishing a Jewish state. The partition plan did not speak of expelling 800,000 people nor of the occupation and appropriation of land. The partition plan spoke of preserving the rights of the Palestinians in Israel and so I ask today: Have our rights been preserved?" Balad Chairman MK Jamal Zahalka said.  

12/3/2007 - Jordan's king meets Abbas, urges 'tangible' progress post-Annapolis    

12/3/2007 - As fuel cutoff takes effect in Gaza, traffic stops, clinics cut back treatment    

12/3/2007 - Hamas accuses P.A security forces of arresting 19 supporters near Nablus    

12/3/2007 - Palestinian militants say new rockets have same range as Katyushas    

12/3/2007 - Israeli settlers steal donkey from Palestinian child    

12/3/2007 - Abbas' aide: Fatah backs Hamas-Israel talks An aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday that Fatah movement supports a dialogue between Islamic Hamas movement and Israel to reduce Gaza population's suffering.  

12/3/2007 - Gaza pilgrims allowed to head for hajj via Egypt    

12/3/2007 - Abbas shuts Hamas charities in West Bank    

12/3/2007 - Palestinian kidnapped as Israeli military invades Jenin and surrounding areas    

12/3/2007 - Israeli military kidnap eight Palestinians near Nablus    

12/3/2007 - Palestinians' armored cars delayed Israel has delayed the transfer of 25 armored cars to the Palestinian Authority.  

12/3/2007 - Joy as 429 Palestinians released    

12/3/2007 - Israeli minister's killer jailed Quran expressed no regret during the trial. "I am being tried for using my right to defend myself against the Israeli occupation, the same right you use to kill us Palestinians," he said. "I accuse you of crimes against all of humanity."  

12/3/2007 - Israeli prisoner release derided by Palestinians Mr Barghouti complained to a group of Israeli Knesset members at the weekend that the sentences of most of the freed detainees would have been served in a matter of months anyway.  

12/3/2007 - At-Tuwani: Demonstrators Walk in Solidarity to Tuba Village The walk highlighted the violent harassment and other severe difficulties faced by villagers in the Southern Hebron Hills of the West Bank. These difficulties continue to worsen with the growth of unauthorized* Israeli settlement outposts.  

12/3/2007 - Troops invade Nablus, two refugee camps and abduct one resident Israeli forces invaded on Sunday at dawn the northern West Bank city of Nablus, Balata and Al Ein refugee camps near the city, and abducted one youth.  

12/3/2007 - Egypt to monitor results of Annapolis: Mubarak Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Monday said there was a need to monitor the results of last week's Middle East conference in the United States which formally restarted Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.  

12/3/2007 - US aims to up Palestinian economic aid to 400 mln dollars: Rice    

12/3/2007 - Israel, SKorea FMs discuss nuclear proliferation in Mideast Livni urged South Korea to sever all economic and trade ties with Iran, which Israel and the West accuse of seeking to develop an atomic bomb under the guise of a civilian programme, a claim denied by Tehran.  

12/3/2007 - Some Palestinians Willing to Share East Jerusalem    

12/3/2007 - Saudi eyes relaunch of Israel talks with Syria, Lebanon    

12/3/2007 - Remarks at the U.S.-Palestinian Public-Private Partnership Promoting Economic and Educational Opportunities for the Palestinian People Well, let me just say on Gaza we've been very concerned that the humanitarian circumstances in Gaza be addressed. And I consider humanitarian to be a broad concept of humanitarian, and I think we need to look at that and keep pressing because we don't want innocent people in Gaza to suffer You won't do sh#t, Condi, but add a few more neocons to your posse. Not good for America, not good for Israel, not good for Palestinians.

12/3/2007 - The Lobby Strikes Back Israel is the only American aid recipient not required to account for how the money is spent. Washington uses its Security Council veto to shield Israel from critical UN resolutions and periodically issues bland statements lamenting the continued expansion of Israeli settlements on the Palestinian land the Jewish state has occupied since 1967. When Israel violates U.S. law, as it did in Lebanon by using American-made cluster bombs against civilian targets, a low-level official may issue a mild complaint. These fundamentals of the relationship go unchallenged by 95 percent of American politicians holding or running for national office.....in clearing the first path since the pivotal date of 9/11, these two authors have done their country a great service. Indeed.

12/3/2007 - In pictures: Banksy returns to Bethlehem    

12/3/2007 - It's time to talk about Israel's nukes, and ours, too Clearly, the Bush administration is not going to talk publicly about our understanding, if any, with Israel about its nuclear weapons. And no member of Congress is rushing to get into a subject as politically delicate as this one. That leaves it to those of us in private life to begin the debate, for the sake of the United States and Israel.  

12/3/2007 - Israel-Palestine conflict dates to WWI    

12/3/2007 - Federal workers can give to JTA JTA is one of 28 Jewish nonprofit groups chosen to participate in a charities program run by the U.S. government.....Some other nonprofits included by the JCA are Jewish Funds for Justice, the Foundation for Jewish Camping, the Jewish National Fund, the Jewish National Fund?

12/3/2007 - Iraqis in Syria face food shortages About a third of Iraqi respondents in a recent United Nations study said they skipped one meal a day to feed their children. Nearly 60 percent said that they're buying cheaper, less nutritious food to cope with a dramatic increase in prices  

12/3/2007 - Livni calls on Asian nations to reject Iranian overtures    

12/3/2007 - The 2007 books we liked best: memoirs ONCE UPON A COUNTRY,by Sari Nusseibeh with Anthony David  

12/3/2007 - Case against local doctor goes to the jury Coleman was treated that night for a cut to his forehead. Coleman, who regularly protests on behalf of the Palestinian cause, was charged with resisting a police officer.  

12/3/2007 - Convention called to move 'beyond barriers' to become 'beloved community' Delegates renewed a three-year companion relationship with the Diocese of Jerusalem and welcomed as guest speakers the Rev. Canon Naim Ateek and Rabbi Steven Jacobs for a conversation about Middle East peacemaking.  

12/3/2007 - Making Israel?s case While the world believes that Israel is an expansionist country, in truth our leaders have instead chosen diplomatic isolationism and silence. Israel IS an expansionist country. Look at the maps from 100 years ago, and the maps from NOW. NO Israel. Palestine was there though. Look at the maps from 40 years ago, and the maps from NOW. Israel expands and expands and expands - at the expense of another people (the Palestinians).

12/3/2007 - President Bush Sets Economic Development Effort for Palestinians    

12/3/2007 - U.S. Volunteers Join With Israeli, Palestinian Musicians for Holy Land Christmas Concert Tour; Christmas Eve Performance in Bethlehem to be Largest Ev The more than 150-voice chorus traveling at their own expense from the United States will join with 20 singers based in Jerusalem and members of The Palestine Youth Orchestra (PYO) of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music.  

12/3/2007 - Remarks by the President after Meeting with U.S.-Palestinian Public-Private Partnership    

12/3/2007 - International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, OIC Secretary General affirms support for the Palestinian people and their national rights The Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, addressed a message to the meeting organized by the United Nations ion New York and Geneva on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people.  

12/3/2007 - Israel to aid Palestinian refugees in peace deal: OImert    

12/3/2007 - Preparations ongoing for the Palestinian Cultural Week in Algeria    

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12/2/2007 - Palestinian militant killed by Israeli artillery in Gaza: Hamas    

12/2/2007 - Olmert plays down peace deal chances by end of 2008    

12/2/2007 - Another quake shakes Israel, West Bank, Jordan The earthquake measured 4.0 on the Richter scale and was felt mostly in Jerusalem, Jericho and near the Dead Sea, said Israel's geophysics institute  

12/2/2007 - IDF arrests cell that murdered Israeli in West Bank According to army officials, the arrested men are Palestinian policemen from the nearby village of Qadum.  

12/2/2007 - Gaza petrol stations shut for lack of fuel    

12/2/2007 - Palestinian Authority to request $5.5 bln in aid President Mahmoud Abbas's government will ask donors in Paris this month to provide $5.5 billion in aid to strengthen the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority, Palestinian officials said on Sunday.  

12/2/2007 - EU-trained women join Palestinian police The first class of Palestinian policewomen to complete a new European Union-sponsored training program graduated Sunday, part of a broader EU makeover of the demoralized and ill-equipped Palestinian law enforcement agencies.  

12/2/2007 - Israel allows Palestinians from Gaza Strip into Egypt Most of the Palestinians either study or work abroad, they said, adding that it was the first time in several months that Israel had allowed people to cross into Egypt.  

12/2/2007 - Four Israeli soldiers lightly wounded from mortar Four Israeli army soldiers were lightly injured Sunday evening when a mortar shell fired from the Gaza Strip hit a building of an army base in southern Israel, local media reported.  

12/2/2007 - Palestinian official claims agreement made with Israel to allow pilgrims to pass    

12/2/2007 - Watching their flocks - Palestinian shepherds' livelihoods in jeopardy    

12/2/2007 - Meridor warns Conservatives on Iran Israel's ambassador to the United States said the Iranian threat is among the worst Israel has ever faced.  

12/2/2007 - Study: U.S., Israel should begin planning strike on Iran nuclear sites ** From Israel's perspective, Iran presents a potential existential threat, so its nuclear plans must be stopped at almost any price. In contrast, the U.S. is disturbed by the implications of nuclear weapons in Iran but does not see it as an existential threat. .....Freilich says Israel would prefer that the U.S. attack Iran  

12/2/2007 - Palestinian opens fire at soldiers near Jerusalem; 1 lightly hurt A young Palestinian man opened fire at soldiers at the Qalandiya checkpoint north of Jerusalem Sunday afternoon, injuring one person.  

12/2/2007 - Israeli cabinet supports Annapolis agreement despite internal criticism Despite harsh criticism from right-wing ministers about the Annapolis peace summit, Israeli cabinet on Sunday decided to support the agreements reached regarding final-status negotiations with the Palestinians, local Yedioth Ahronoth said.  

12/2/2007 - Palestinian refuse to receive fuel from Israel The union said the local petrol companies have refused to receive what Israel is sending "in order not to be partners in punishing the Palestinian people because these quantities are insufficient."  

12/2/2007 - Ex-security chief: Talk to Hamas Giora Eiland, a retired general who stepped down as national security adviser last year, in an op-ed Sunday described Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's policy of shunning the Palestinian Islamist group as counterproductive.  

12/2/2007 - Olmert holds little hope for peace deal Mr Olmert wants the Jewish definition in order to strengthen Israel's case against re-admitting Palestinian refugees to homes they fled in 1948. Israel wants them absorbed in a Palestinian state. Mr Abbas is not prepared to concede the "right of return" before negotiations even begin.  

12/2/2007 - Israel delays Palestinian prisoner release "The release of the prisoners has been put off until Monday morning," Yaron Zamir said on Saturday, adding that they will be freed from Kesiot prison in the Neguev Desert.  

12/2/2007 - Let us spray: Banksy hits Bethlehem By taking the idea to the West Bank, the artist hoped to shine a light on the plight of Bethlehem. Less than three weeks before Christmas, its shops remain boarded up. Since construction of the security barrier began in 2002 tourism has plummeted. Officials estimate that more than half of the city?s population does not have a job....."You wouldn't worry about Christmas becoming too commercial in Bethlehem ? they couldn't afford it. There's more festive lights in the window of your local Woolworths than you?ll find in this entire town," Banksy, who hides his real identity, told The Times via a text message.  

12/2/2007 - Santa's Ghetto Every year we assemble a loose collection of the great unwashed to hawk their artistic wares on the high street amongst the mindless sham and drudgery of the christmas season. This year we've moved out of Oxford Street into a former chicken shop on Manger Square in Bethlehem opposite the Church of the Nativity (where Santa Claus was actually born).  

12/2/2007 - Barak to promote compensation for West Bank evacuees This bill, which would allow West Bank residents to receive compensation for relocating within Green Line boundaries, was first conceived by left-wing activists as well as Labor party members prior to the parliamentary elections.  

12/2/2007 - Israeli Arab, Jewish children learn coexistence through basketball    

12/2/2007 - Mideast peace conference is just a PR campaign: Experts    

12/2/2007 - IDF may install sensors around Gaza    

12/2/2007 - Syria reassures Iran on Mideast: official    

12/2/2007 - Rice gets history lessons from former Mideast players The senior Bush "had the clearest sense of strategy, which the administration pursued in a highly disciplined, committed and effective manner," Kurtzer and Lasensky write......they accuse the first Bush administration of failing to build a strong coalition at home to support its strategy abroad. They argue that its strength in standing firm against Jewish settlement expansion -- which bolstered Arab trust in the peace process -- was undermined by its failure to head off a debilitating clash with the pro-Israel lobby.  

12/2/2007 - Iranian president: enemies can't damage ties with Syria Western Analysts said Syria's attendance and Iran's criticism over the meeting indicated there was slight tension between the two friendly countries on the issue.  

12/2/2007 - Guerrilla artist Banksy in Holy Land Banksy said: "Because of the troubles Bethlehem is no longer a top tourist destination, but it would be good if more people came to see the situation for themselves. "If it is safe enough for a bunch of sissy artists, then it is safe enough for anyone."  

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12/1/2007 - Six Palestinians, including militants, killed in Gaza    

12/1/2007 - Hamas says it has secret, public contacts with Europeans    

12/1/2007 - Peace Summit: 'If these talks fail, we will all be in deep trouble'    

12/1/2007 - Abbas says Annapolis conference achieved its goal    

12/1/2007 - Claims of chemical weapon use in Gaza Claims that the IDF used white phosphorus in the Lebanon war last year were initially denied. They were finally admitted by the Israeli minister Jacob Edery in October 2006. White phosphorus causes intense burns and generates choking fumes. I suspect the Israeli government is basing its denials on a technical quibble about whether the chemicals concerned are explicitly banned in international law - to which, anyhow, it is not a signatory.  

12/1/2007 - Palestinian reporter hospitalized after being tortured by PA intelligence officers    

12/1/2007 - Palestinians: Settlers throw stones at boy, steal his donkey    

12/1/2007 - Palestinian woman Nissrin, 25, right, is congratulated by her father Yussuf, 72, after graduating from the Palestinian police academy    

12/1/2007 - Palestinians commemorate 1947 UN resolution creating state of Israel on their land This date is known as the beginning of the Naqba (Arabic for ?catastrophe?), in which nearly 800,000 people were displaced from their land inside what is now Israel for the creation of that state.  

12/1/2007 - Hamas: UN draft resolution withdrawal indicates U.S. unseriousness in bolstering peace talks "The U.S. is unserious... it absolutely supports the Israeli occupation in a way that makes the counting on the biased and unfair U.S. stance strange,"  

12/1/2007 - Israeli army forcibly evacuate at least 200 Palestinians from Kherbet Qessa At least 200 Palestinian residents of Kherbet Qessa in the Hebron district were left homeless after being forcibly evacuated by the Israeli army in order to establish the annexation wall in their place.  

12/1/2007 - Israeli military invade Nablus and attack two mosques    

12/1/2007 - Rice: I know what it's like to be Palestinian "I know what its like to hear that you can't use a certain road or pass through a checkpoint because you are a Palestinian. I know what it is like to feel discriminated against and powerless," Rice told a closed meeting of Arab and Israeli representatives, according to the Dutch representative at the summit, Franz Timmermans.  

12/1/2007 - US unclear on settlement construction Despite differing Palestinian and Israeli assessments of what type of settlement activity is allowed, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's recent comments that construction in the major blocs would continue, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said on Thursday that, "I'm not going to get into interpretations at this point."......"We will not freeze anything in the built-up developed [West Bank] areas we believe will be in Israel in the future. There is already enough we will have to do that will be painful and heartbreaking," Olmert said. .....Israel is relying on Bush's letter to then-prime minister Ariel Sharon in 2004, which hinted that Israel might keep major settlement blocs. In this case, Israel feels it has the prerogative to continue building in those areas.  

12/1/2007 - Egypt calls for more talks between Palestinians, Israelis    

12/1/2007 - CHECKPOINT JERUSALEM BLOG: Going to the movies - in Ramallah    

12/1/2007 - Rice reassures Jewish leaders on talks A joint declaration issued at the outset of the talks made the United States sole arbiter of progress in the talks. For some Jewish leaders, this raised the specter of U.S. pressure on Israel.....Participants at the meeting included leaders of religious streams, the pro-Israel lobby and Jewish umbrella groups.  

12/1/2007 - Bush's last hurrah    

12/1/2007 - Did All Things Considered Self-Censor on Annapolis? If ATC had provided the appropriate factual background it would have become clear that the Palestinians have legal rights that are being denied in violation of international law; it would have become clear that Israel has already stolen most West Bank water; it would have become clear that Israel regularly imposes collective punishment on the Palestinian People. In short, it would have become clear that Israel has its boot on the neck of the Palestinians in repeated and longstanding violation of UN resolutions and that these peace negotiations are not taking place on a level playing field.  

12/1/2007 - Report: Gaza closure threatens education of 3,000 students The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) in Gaza has released a report condemning the Israeli ban on the travel of Gaza Strip students to pursue studies in universities and schools abroad.  

12/1/2007 - Livni berates Arab delegates for shunning her    

12/1/2007 - Hamas boycotts Palestinian census "We have not been able to begin census-taking in the Gaza Strip because Hamas has prevented us from doing so,"  

12/1/2007 - Don't Expect Peace by Charley Reese the Israeli government is not about to dismantle the Jewish settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. The Israelis will not allow the Palestinians to have a viable state even on 18 percent of Palestine. Nor will the Israelis agree to allow the Palestinian refugees to return or even be compensated for their lost property......Israel's real strategic asset is its powerful lobby in the United States, and this lobby is already facing what it dreads most ? becoming a public political issue. Sooner or later, the American public will rebel......I expect our own empire is on the wane, and when we wane, Israel will wane. Agreed.

12/1/2007 - Focus Grouping War with Iran ** After joining a half dozen other women in a conference room, she discovered that she had been called in for what seemed an unusual assignment: to help test-market language that could be used to sell military action against Iran to the American public. "The whole basis of the whole thing was, 'we're going to go into Iran and what do we have to do to get you guys to along with it?" Read on to see who's behind the curtain on this one. Surprise!

12/1/2007 - Abbas aide: Israel unable to start serious talks with Palestinians    

12/1/2007 - Confidant of Israel's Barak calls for immediate resumption of peace talks with Syria    

12/1/2007 - Syria describes Annapolis conference as defeat for Palestinians The newspaper, which reflects government thinking, criticized U.S. President George W. Bush's statement at the opening session of the Annapolis meeting in which he referred to Israel as a "Jewish state," calling it a "consecration of Israeli racism."  

12/1/2007 - Protesters decry long school route An estimated 150 protesters Saturday urged the Israeli government to lift roadblocks that lengthen the route of school children in the West Bank.  

12/1/2007 - Turks See U.S. as Global Threat, Israelis Cite Iran   The results may be tricky to read. The row for the US has the highest percentages. That means that the very first row at the top believe majorically that the US is the greatest threat.

12/1/2007 - Will peace cost me my home?    

12/1/2007 - Mideast conflict can't be resolved by force: India Expressing solidarity with the Palestinians, Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed criticised Israel for continued expansion of settlements in the occupied territories and 'relentless' construction of separation wall, stressing that it is creating new facts on the ground and fresh grievances in an old conflict.  

12/1/2007 - Palestinian HIV doctor weds in Bulgaria    

12/1/2007 - WITNESS - Stuck in Gaza, the question is 'Why?'    

12/1/2007 - Canadian woman is trapped behind Gaza borders Most foreigners were evacuated long ago, but Israel has so far refused to let the last of the stranded Canadians out  

12/1/2007 - Ambassador Allaf: Palestinian issues tops the King?s priorities Jordan?s permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) Mohammad Allaf said the Palestinian issue tops priorities of His Majesty King Abdullah II, adding the King is exerting efforts with all parties to work towards the establishment an independent Palestinian state.  

12/1/2007 - Fired Arabic school founder blames Mayor Bloomberg for resignation    

12/1/2007 - CIA used Jordan to interrogate suspects The detainees included Marwan al-Jabour, a Palestinian who was transferred to Jordan last year from a CIA secret prison and was released several weeks later in the Gaza Strip, the report said.  

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