To day in Palestine

Subject: [PACUSA] Today in Palestine! Headlines Saturday, January 26, 2008 

Israeli forces turn away peace groups’ aid convoy at Erez Crossing
An estimated 2,000 people, in an action sponsored by a coalition of Israeli peace groups, are outside the Erez Crossing into Gaza. With their truckload of supplies for the besieged Gaza residents turned away, the action has become a statement of solidarity with the Gazan people. The aborted delivery contained essential foodstuffs, including rice, flour, lentils, cooking oil and bottled water. Despite the humanitarian nature of the delivery, the collection of border police and soldiers guarding the crossing terminal have kept it sealed. The Israeli army has since said that the supplies will be kept overnight at nearby kibbutz Kerem Shalom and allowed into Gaza on Sunday through the Erez Crossing.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=27439

Left-wing activists protest Israeli blockade at Erez Crossing

Dozens of buses carrying a thousand leftists arrive at Erez crossing to bring food, humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza Strip and to protest blockade on enclave. MKs from Balad and Hadash, youth from Sderot take part – Shir Shodzik, 17, a resident of the battered town of Sderot also took part in the demonstration in order to express her opposition to the Israeli-imposed sanctions. Despite the fact that Shodzik’s aunt and cousin were injured in a Qassam rocket attack in Zikim, the teen wanted to express her dissatisfaction with Israeli government policy vis-à-vis the Gaza Strip.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3498945,00.html

Egypt tries to control chaotic border

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) - Egyptian riot police and armored vehicles restricted Gaza motorists to a small border area of Egypt on Saturday, in the second attempt in two days to restore control over the chaotic frontier breached by Hamas militants. On the Gaza-Egypt border, traffic of cars and pedestrians remained heavy Saturday. Earlier Saturday, dozens of riot police formed human chains to block the two passages cut through the breached border, before once again giving up and allowing the cars to cross into the Egyptian side of the divided town. Authorities were making renewed efforts, however, to keep them out of the rest of the country.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080126/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians;_ylt=AtPXGAiCF2SkG8s_T47iTsMLewgF

Hamas accepts Mubarek’s offer to host Hamas-Fatah talks in Cairo

Mubarak’s offer was made in an apparent effort to raise his country’s role as Mideast peace broker and ease the pressure following an influx of Palestinians into Egypt from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. In an interview for Saturday’s edition of the Egyptian weekly al-Osboa, Mubarak said he wants peace between the Palestinians. “I want this language of violence to stop,” Mubarak was quoted as saying
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=948240&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1

PA leadership turns down Haneyya’s crossings offer

The PA leadership in Ramallah has declared its rejection of the premier of the caretaker government in Gaza Ismail Haneyya’s offer to negotiate means of opening the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. The London-based Ashark Al-Awsat newspaper quoted Nimir Hammad, the political advisor to PA chief Mahmoud Abbas, as saying that the offer was rejected. He said that the PA presidency would not negotiate Hamas over anything until it revokes results of its “coup” and would not negotiate with it over the crossings in particular because it had nothing to do with the issue!
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/en/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7SxJz%2fweTOKR1unSJ30cDpCxstnexwnX74Foj9Ve144E%2b6jIUbNlr4wmsn%2byrIz4WrXLrG1MY60YuLi1e8Zv3dfEXXHX1m4VFWKSkk9Ohr%2bc%3d

Hamas and PA delegations summoned to Egypt separately to discuss Rafah border situation

The Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abu Al-Gheit announced on Saturday that Egypt will invite a delegation from Hamas to visit Egypt to discuss the situation at the border between Egypt and Gaza Strip. He confirmed that more than 10 members of the central security and border guards were injured in addition to two officers, saying that some are seriously injured and are being treated in hospital. The BBC reported that the UN estimates that as much as half of the population of Gaza has crossed the border into Egypt during the past four days.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=27447

PA negotiator: Abbas will ask Israel to life Gaza blockade, remove West Bank checkpoints

Meanwhile, Abbas repeated his condemnation of the blockade, calling it a “collective punishment of Gaza residents.” In a speech Saturday, the PA president also called for an end to rocket fire, so as not to give Israel a “reason to be presented as the victim in the eyes of world.”
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1201070796976&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Egyptian delegations meet Haniyeh to show solidarity

Deposed Palestinian Prime Minister Isma’il Haniyeh met with several Egyptian delegations on Friday afternoon in Gaza City. The delegations had come to the coastal area to show solidarity with the besieged Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=27432

Friday - an update with photos: Egypt reopens Gaza border

"Just minutes after a deadline passed for the border between Egypt to Gaza to be officially shut down, Palestinians have again broken through. Fighters broke another hole in the border fence with a bulldozer on Friday, and scores of trucks and pedestrians were seen entering into Egypt. After the 3 pm (1300 GMT) deadline set for the closure, thousands of Gazans were still believed to be on the Egyptian side of the border in the town of Rafah.
http://palestinianpundit.blogspot.com/2008/01/update-egypt-re-opens-rafah-crossing.html

Use this link to view thousands of news photos from Gaza
http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/search?p=Gaza&c=news_photos

Gazans breach Egyptian border again Friday

(AP) Militants in black clothing, some of them masked, stood atop a bulldozer as it knocked down concrete slabs under the watchful eyes of Hamas security officials, who turned a blind eye and were later seen patrolling on the Egyptian side of the border. Palestinians positioned cranes next to the border and lifted crates of supplies into Gaza, including camels and cows. Hamas, after blasting open the border wall earlier in the week, offered further proof Friday that it simply cannot be ignored
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080125/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians

Gaza-Egypt border chaos forces world to reconsider strategy toward Hamas

Israel, meanwhile, has been watching from the sidelines, not entirely opposed to the turn of events. A strong Gaza-Egypt link would play into Israel’s long-term goal — affirmed by Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai — to cut all ties with Gaza, a territory it occupied for 38 years, before withdrawing in 2005. Israel is still considered by the U.N. to be largely responsible for Gaza since it controls most access, as well as Gaza’s airspace and coastline. If supplies for Gaza were to come through Egypt, Israel could try to unload such responsibilities. Yet, Israel is worried about traffic of militants and weapons between Gaza and Egypt
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/01/25/africa/ME-GEN-Gaza-Whats-Next.php

Egyptian troops unable to push back Palestinians Friday

Egyptian soldiers in riot gear using water cannon and rolls of barbed wire were unable to stop hundreds of Palestinians from rushing into Egypt today after a bulldozer tore down another section of the border fence. Although Egyptian forces closed some gaps in the wall, several thousand people were able to cross in both directions. At least one crane was set up on the seven-mile border at Rafah to bring in goods more quickly, particularly bags of cement and barrels of fuel, which are still scarce in Gaza.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,2246819,00.html

Friday: Egypt seals borders – Gazans defiant

RAFAH — Egypt tried Friday to seal its porous borders with the Gaza Strip to stem a three-day uncontrolled flood of Palestinians from the fenced-off territory, but Palestinians defied the move and ploughed new border breaches to stock up on desperately needed supplies. Egyptian security forces tried in vain to block new breaches created by Palestinians by using tanks, witnesses told IslamOnline.net’s correspondent in Rafah.
http://palestinechronicle.com/story-012508151305.htm

Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades deny bulldozing through Egypt-Gaza border fence Friday afternoon

The spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Ubayda, told Ma’an what happened was an expression of the anger of the Palestinian people and he was not surprised by their anger. He stressed that if the Israeli lockdown on the Gaza Strip continued the Palestinian people would continue to destroy the wall. He dismissed the idea that the Al-Qassam Brigades were planning to break down the border wall between the Gaza Strip and Israeli territory, saying “I do not believe there is any point in destroying the wall between Gaza and Israel. It would not put pressure on the occupation.”
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=27426

Egypt watches Gaza traffic go on

[Includes good MAP of Egypt’s border with both Gaza and Israel] For the first time many Palestinians used cars to cross, rather than going on foot. The BBC’s Heba Saleh, in Cairo, says it is clear that Egypt is now making a virtue of necessity; Cairo knows that any use of force against the Palestinians would come at a very high cost. . . Israel, alarmed at the ongoing breakdown in security on the Egypt-Gaza border, has closed the main road running along the border. Tourism sites and hiking trails have been closed. Security measures have been increased, according to the Israeli military, on fears that Israeli citizens could be vulnerable to attacks by Palestinians now free to travel in the area.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7210311.stm

Gaza siege claims the lives of 83 patients, including 16 children

The Palestinian News Agency, WAFA, reported that resident Mislih Mohammad Qalja, and Fatin Majdi Al Hafnawi, 10, died on Saturday after being barred from leaving the Gaza Strip for medical treatment. Dozens of seriously ill patients are facing imminent death as Gaza Hospital ran out of medical supplies while the Israeli authorities are barring them from leaving the Gaza Strip for medical treatment elsewhere. The ages the residents who died due to the siege and lack of medical attention vary between several months old and 80 years old.
http://www.imemc.org/article/52464

Oxfam: Israel’s blockade poses immediate threat to the lives of Gaza’s sick and elderly

The seven-month ongoing Israeli blockade is taking an ever-more severe toll on the health system in the Gaza Strip, says aid agency Oxfam International. The one-off relaxation of the blockade this week to allow the delivery of fuel and some other humanitarian supplies, cannot meet the needs of 1.5 million Gazan population, especially the sick, injured and vulnerable. In Shifa hospital in Gaza city, 135 cancer patients are currently unable to receive treatment due to the lack of basic medications. According to WHO, 105 of a list of 460 essential medications are no longer in stock in Gazan pharmacies (12 January 2008).
http://www.imemc.org/article/52462

Snow next week to add to misery of people without heating

The Israeli meteorological department expects temperatures to continue falling during the next few days. Expected low temperatures for the next 24 hours are 3C (37F) in Ramallah, 8C (46F) in Rafah. Snow showers are expected later on in the week on higher ground in the Jerusalem area. It will be cold and wet until Tuesday when snow is expected to fall in areas above 700 metres. Snow will spread to more low lying areas on Wednesday and Thursday.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=27427

As the lights go out in Gaza

As the cold winter nights wear on, Palestinians in the Gaza must also now survive without heating and with limited fuel reserves to cook and prepare food. Stores whose shelves are increasing empty, now cannot even open due to the fact they have no electricity, bakeries have had to close unable to bake bread due to shortage of flour and electricity. Businesses, across all industries, have been forced to close due to the shortage of goods, products and now electricity. As a result, unemployment is spiraling out of control. With the ongoing siege and closure of the plant, the entire infrastructure of the Gaza Strip has come crashing down.
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/story-012508175756.htm

Darkness, starvation and imminent death – by Saleh Al-Naami

Maher Al-Nazil has asked everyone he knows help in finding an apartment to rent in the centre of Al-Maghazi Refugee Camp in Gaza. Maher lives with his wife and three daughters near a police station on the western border of the camp. He fears for his family should Israel bomb the neighbouring police station. “The image of the family whose joy over their son’s wedding turned into horror and grief when the headquarters of the Ministry of Interior in Gaza was bombed last Friday remains with me, and I don’t want that to happen to my wife and daughters,” he told Al-Ahram Weekly.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2008/881/re4.htm

Damascus conference ends

The Damascus conference began on Wednesday under the banner “adherence to inalienable Palestinian rights and unity is the way to liberation and repatriation.” Among the participants at the conference in the Syrian capital were Hamas, Islamic Jihad, The Popular Resistance Committees, The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (General Command), As-Sa’iqa, Fatah of the Intifada, the Popular Struggle Front, the Arab Liberation Front, the Palestinian Communist Revolutionary Party, the Palestinian Liberation Army and representatives of other Palestinian popular organizations. Fatah, the Popular Front and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine boycotted the conference.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=27433

Still no deal on Security Council statement on Gaza

(AFP) The Security Council on Friday again failed to agree a compromise deal that would call for an end to Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip and to rocket strikes on the Jewish state as the Libyan envoy sought instructions from his capital. After day-long bargaining that produced several amendments to a non-binding statement, Libya’s UN Ambassador Giadalla Ettalhi said he had to refer the latest text to Tripoli. The United States, which had since Libya first submitted the statement, had been the lone member to raise major objections, on Friday put forward amendments and called the latest text “balanced.”. Meanwhile, the Israeli lockdown of Gaza was in its ninth day on Friday
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i1it73GQwXHISnhL43BylslDwzXQ

US Arabs, Jews protest Israeli blockade of Gaza

Friday’s protest outside the offices of Israel’s consulate and U.N. mission was organized by groups including the Arab Muslim American Federation, the National Council of Arab-Americans, the Palestinian American Congress and Jews Against the Occupation.
http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/106610.html

UN council slams Israel over Gaza

European nations abstained on a U.N. Human Rights Council vote blasting Israel over the Gaza blockade. The resolution, adopted by a vote of 30-1 in Geneva, called for “urgent international action to put an immediate end to the grave violations committed by the occupying power, Israel, in the occupied Palestinian territory.” Canada cast the sole opposing vote on the resolution, while 15 other countries abstained. China and Russia both backed the resolution. U.S. Ambassador Warren Tichenor said the council had “squandered its credibility” by failing to address continued rocket attacks against Israel.
http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/106607.html

Hamas has gained from border breach, analysts say

Palestinian columnist Samih Shabib wrote in the pro-Fatah al-Ayyam daily that the reopening of the Rafah terminal “will be impossible to accomplish without the participation of all concerned parties, including Hamas.” Analysts believe the fall of the Rafah border wall also punched a hole in the U.S.-backed campaign to reduce Hamas’s influence and strengthen Abbas. Hamas had accused Abbas’s government of colluding with Israel’s Gaza blockade so that residents would rise up against Hamas’s rule. Abbas’s government denies the accusation. . . The Fatah official echoed Abbas’s concerns that because Gaza is isolated from the West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem, Israel will exploit the border breach to split the territories so that it will be impossible to make political progress.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L25347625.htm

Analysis: Hamas outmaneuvers Israel with three quick moves

These are moments of glory for Hamas, after a long period during which the organization was battered by Israel. It conducted its campaign brilliantly last week, and it seems, so far, with complete success. At no stage did Israel have a sufficient response to the initiatives of Hamas: It did not when the group plunged the Strip into darkness on Sunday, or when it caused the clashes along the border on Tuesday, and certainly not when it brought down the Philadelphi wall on Wednesday. While all this was happening, Hamas managed to pay salaries this week to 20,000 civil servants in Gaza, even before the border was turned into an open passage in which people, arms and goods moved freely. But Hamas did not only beat Israel in this round -­Egypt and the Palestinian Authority also lost.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/948098.html

Candle procession in Kafr Kanna Arab town Friday in solidarity with Gaza

The Arabs48 news website reported that the procession was organized by national and Islamic factions in Israel. It took off after Friday evening prayers in Omar Bin Al Khattab Mosque, in the center of the town.
http://www.imemc.org/article/52463

An end to occupations

There is no point in shedding blood to seize control of territory from which Israel will in any event quickly withdraw. And if it does not withdraw, the result will be terrorist and guerrilla attacks, movements organized by mothers and conscientious objectors, and heightened ferment over inequality in the draft and in call-ups for reserve duty.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/948030.html

Al-Aqsa Brigades target Sderot

Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigades on Saturday afternoon claimed responsibility for firing two homemade projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot. They said in a statement that the shelling came in retaliation for the ongoing Israeli atrocities against the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. They said they will continue to launch more projectiles, as well as conduct “qualitative military operations.”
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=27443

Haaretz editorial: The siege of Gaza has failed

The situation that arose once the Egypt-Gaza border was flung wide open has apparently not yet penetrated Israeli consciousness. The border with Egypt was breached in a single moment, with no warning. It is impossible to refrain from asking whether any of our decision makers, or any of those who whisper in their ears, foresaw this scenario and prepared for it.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/948081.html

Breaking Out

As ordinary Palestinians force their way into Egypt from besieged Gaza, the Israeli-instigated humanitarian and political crisis is carried with them.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2008/881/fr1.htm

Furlough day for Gazans – Daniel Levy

The three conditions that Israel had the international community impose on Hamas after their election victory were a brilliant diplomatic victory and simultaneously a debilitating strategic own-goal. The focal issue should have been security and that can still be addressed via pursuit of a ceasefire. Some or all of this logic has guided several Israeli ministers and former senior officials to recently advocate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The alternative is not only more human suffering and the continued pursuit of an ethically very un-Jewish collective punishment of the Gazan population but also the risk that an escalatory cycle keeps escalating, dragging everyone into a wider clash. As today’s Egyptian border crossing events prove, what happens in Gaza will not stay in Gaza.
http://www.prospectsforpeace.com/2008/01/what_happens_in_gaza_doesnt_st.html

Ramzy Baroud: The true miracle of Israel

The killing and ethnic cleansing that became known as the Palestinian Catastrophe — or Nakba — was not the work of invisible and miraculous seraphs, but rather well trained and well-armed Zionist gangs and their supporters. Nor did Palestinians lose the battle due to their laxity or backwardness. Their bravery, for those who care to consult serious historical works (such as those of Israeli historian Ilan Pappe or late Palestinian Professor Edward Said), is a badge of honour that will be carried by Palestinians for years to come. They lost because, as parallel historic experiences demonstrate, neither bravery nor fortitude are enough to withstand so many powerful forces at play, all plotting for their downfall.
http://palestinechronicle.com/story-012508145535.htm

Wall comes tumbling down

The inspiring breakout of Palestinians from their imprisonment in Gaza is a timely reminder that this is a people who cannot be caged or wished away. The Palestinian national genie cannot be put back in the bottle, despite current divisions. And Israel remains the fully responsible occupying power in Gaza, controlling its land access, sea and air space and conducting regular military operations in the territory at will.
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/seumas_milne/2008/01/wall_comes_tumbling_down.html

Rami Khoury: Hebrew and Palestinian history, in reverse

It was not exactly the Red Sea parting to allow a persecuted, enslaved people to flee to safety, but it was pretty close as far as political symbolism goes. It is ironic but not unexpected that 3,500 years after the Hebrews fled their dismal life in Egypt and escaped eastward to freedom across the miraculously stilled Red Sea, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians should be fleeing from the modern-day descendants of the Hebrews, who now play the role of oppressive Pharaoh to the subjugated and dehumanized Palestinians in Gaza. The reversed political geography is politically stunning, and tragic for both sides.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=5&article_id=88412

Financial Times: Gaza’s misery has to be stopped

Like the lid coming off a pressure cooker, the blown-up border fence has avoided a bigger explosion – for now. But Gaza’s humanitarian disaster and conflict shows every sign it could escalate into war if it is not brought under control. This siege is not only wrong; it is almost wholly counterproductive.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/559caf6e-cab5-11dc-a960-000077b07658.html

Demonstrations around the world in support of Gaza

"OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)— This week witnessed numerous demonstrations and protests held in support of the Gaza people against the tight siege imposed by Israel for the past eight months.
http://palestinianpundit.blogspot.com/2008/01/demonstrations-around-world-in-support.html

Gazans wary as US election looms

With foreign policy remaining high on the agenda for all prospective US presidential candidates, particularly the Middle East peace process, Al Jazeera asked political analysts and thinkers from Gaza for their thoughts on the election, their preferred candidates and whether a new president will make any difference to the Palestinians.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/EBF448E3-CBCD-46BF-9C5D-1BE59A7AE68C.htm

Photo - The concentration camp wall becomes a playground for Palestinian children
Now That is Triumph.

http://palestinianpundit.blogspot.com/2008/01/concentration-camp-wall-becomes-playing.html

Meanwhile in the West Bank

Four injured and eight kidnapped in weekly Bil’in protest against the other wall
Israeli troops installed a military barrier along the way and as soon as the protesters reached it, the Israeli troops showered the demonstration with tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets. Eight civilians were injured; among them two international supporters. In addition, the Israeli troops kidnapped four protesters, three Palestinians and one American after attacking them with rifle butts and batons.
http://www.imemc.org/article/52458

Violence by Israeli soldiers at checkpoints increasing – by Ibrahim Sarsour

“Many reports have indicated a sharp rise in violence in its various forms, whether physical or verbal by Israeli soldiers in the Occupied Territories, especially at checkpoints,” Sarsour said. “These reports are a clear indication that the military authorities are not taking the accusations seriously about the violence and abuse by soldiers.”
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=27419

Student murdered by Israeli army; Palestinian activist Mousa Abu Maria wounded

On January 25th, an 18 year old youth was shot and killed in the village of Beit Ummar in retaliation for the recent attack on settlers in Kfar Etzion. The army entered the village around 11:30am, a day after two men from the village were killed after stabbing three settlers in Kfar Etzion. The army served demolition orders to the homes of the dead men but the houses were not destroyed. . . .
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2008/01/25/student-murdered-by-israeli-army-palestinian-activist-mousa-abu-maria-wounded/

Army invades Deir Istiya, occupies house

Israeli soldiers invaded the village of Deir Istiya, in the Salfit region, at 3pm on Thursday 24th January, occupying a house and arresting one youth the following day. Approximately 5 jeeps entered the picturesque village, shooting sound bombs and tear gas outside homes for at least four hours, preventing passage of vehicles and pedestrians through the main streets. Upon entering the village, soldiers immediately invaded a family home, occupying it, and refusing to allow the family access to the upper story and roof.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2008/01/25/army-invades-deir-istiya-occupies-house/

The lucky ones - Beit Sira checkpoint on Road 443

Everyone on the spot already arrived at 3 a.m., or half past, to save a place in the waiting line that will open around 5, quarter past. He will be standing there for at least an hour, hopefully. Usually longer. And then, hoping he will be permitted to proceed into Israel, to work. Most of them hold work permits valid from 5 a.m. to seven pm. Few hold a twenty-four hour permit. They are all over thirty years old. Most are older. All have permits and a Jewish employer who has requested to have them work for him. Who waits for them to come to work.
http://www.mahsanmilim.com/443E.htm

Israeli forces seize two Palestinians in Azzoun near Qalqilia Saturday

Palestinian security sources told Ma’an that a large Israeli force stormed the town and conducted house-to-house inspections before arresting twenty-year-old Wael Aweidan and nineteen-year-old Shadi Sulaiman.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=27444

Palestinian stabs border policeman in north Jerusalem attack

Policemen nearby opened fire at the Palestinian, who was seriously wounded. The stabbed policeman, who suffered light to moderate wounds, and the Palestinian are currently receiving treatment at Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Karem. The attack is the third to take place in the Jerusalem area within the last 48 hours.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/948047.html

Palestinian Red Crescent dismisses employees over strike action

The Red Crescent told Ma’an the employees were dismissed after strike action put Palestinian citizens’ lives at risk. They added, “At the same time that we care for our employees, we care more about the lives of the Palestinian people, and endeavor not to endanger their lives.”
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=27442

Christian Peacemaker Teams, Hebron: Two forms of resistance

A middle-aged Palestinian woman started walking to the other side of the area, beyond the trouble spot. A soldier told her she could not cross the area and ordered her to turn back. Not only did the conservatively dressed Muslim woman not go back, she continued walking toward the other side of the intersection. The soldier tried to stop her, got in front of her, but the woman just walked around the soldier. The poor soldier gave up, and the woman walked away. The actions of the woman left the soldier with his M-16 gun powerless. With internationals watching, he was not going to shoot the woman. The simple act of resistance by the woman was more powerful than the actions of either the soldiers or the stone-throwing youth.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=24784

French consul held up at Israeli checkpoint

Israel’s border police on Friday held up French consul-general Alain Remy and his convoy at a checkpoint between the West Bank town of Bethlehem and Jerusalem, a consular official said. Remy and his entourage were held for more than three hours at the crossing by security personnel wanting to search their diplomatic vehicles, the consular official told AFP.
http://www.africasia.com/services/news/newsitem.php?area=mideast&item=080125191650.ac6ffo3s.php

Twilight Zone / Born in the shadow of a checkpoint – by Gideon Levy

The 92nd Auxiliary offered no support that night. Its soldiers only delayed the pregnant woman until her screams finally persuaded them to let her through. On foot, of course. That was 20 minutes too late. It was no longer possible to rush the woman to Aliyah Hospital, a five-minute drive away. Kifah lay on the road, the neighbors brought a mattress, the husband took off his jacket, and in the subzero cold another checkpoint birth took place, delivered by the Israeli occupation. It wasn’t the first, it won’t be the last. Ahmed was born under a bad sign, blue with cold.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=947917&contrassID=2&subContrassID=14

Israel bars Palestinians from Al-Aqsa

RAMALLAH, West Bank, 26 January 2008 — Israeli police yesterday declared a high alert level in Jerusalem and limited the entry of male Palestinian worshippers into the Al-Aqsa Masque Compound after two Palestinians and one Israeli were killed late Thursday in two simultaneous attacks in the city area, and for fear that worshippers will take advantage of the deteriorating security situation in the Gaza Strip and start riots at the end of the Friday prayer. The entry into the holy place is limited to men over the age of 40, in possession of blue Israeli identity cards.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=106101&d=26&m=1&y=2008

The Algerian model

The future of ’Judea and Samaria’ has been the focus of Israeli discourse for decades, with both sides employing a mixture of ideological, ethical and practical arguments. The real question, however, does not stem from any particular ideological viewpoint about Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria. The important question is whether Israeli society must accept the attempt of a minority [the settlers] to subdue the majority by force, assuming that the majority decides in favor of evacuation.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/947907.html

The paradox of two states for two peoples: it serves the Right and paralyzes the rest
Olmert does not conc
eal the fact that the two-state vision is, from his perspective, a desperate measure of no choice in the face of what he sees as the demographic demon. But the history of 40 years of Israeli refusal of an Israeli-Palestinian-Syrian political solution, during which time a vast unending settlement process has galloped along, exposes a known truth: the vision of two states, à la Olmert, Livni, Peres and Barak, is no more than a diplomatic ruse, the refuge of scoundrels, who in the final analysis want to buy time in order to realize another vision: settlement, annexation and control of all the occupied territories.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=24797

Israeli universities cease researching Palestinian musicology}
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“Notation is a Western system of writing that refers to Western musical materials,” Cohen explains. “Most non-Western cultures do not have a notation system, and we don’t know exactly what the raw materials of the music are.” Cohen and Katz studied the scales and rhythms, as well as the connection between text and music, of traditional Palestinian music.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/947815.html

Israel’s Jewish fundamentalism

The Israeli state criminal law makes no distinction between a Jew and a gentile, but the distinction is made by the Orthodox Rabbis officers who follow the Halakhah teaching and give religious advice to the soldiers before, during and after military operations.
http://palestinechronicle.com/story-012508175519.htm

Israel’s highschoolers believe another Holocaust possible

Most Israeli high school students—a staggering 82% in fact—believe that the Holocaust could happen again, finds a new survey conducted prior to International Holocaust Day, to be held Monday January 27th. The aforementioned, in-depth survey was conducted among high school students, students in schools of education and IDF officers and soldiers by the Massuah Institute for the Study of the Holocaust
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3498760,00.html

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