Today in Palestine!

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Land theft

Israeli interior minister okays enlarging West Bank settlement
Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai has decided to approve recommendations by a special committee within the Israeli Interior Ministry to expand the illegal West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Adumim by 12,000 dunums (12 million square meters). Expansion will include 6,000 housing units to be built between the Ma’ale Adumim and Qedar settlements, it was announced on Sunday morning. The expansion of Ma’ale Adumim will further separate the northern West Bank from the south, and isolate Jerusalem from the West Bank as a whole.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37534

Israel stripping West Bank quarries
(IPS) - Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din is taking the Israeli military, the Israeli civil administration and a number of Israeli mining companies to court. The rights group alleges they are illegally stripping Palestinian West Bank quarries of raw construction material for the benefit of the Israeli construction industry and the building of illegal Israeli settlements. Yesh Din has lodged a petition against the commander of the Israeli army, the Israeli civil administration and the mining companies with the Israeli high court ... "Israel is transferring natural resources from the West Bank for Israeli benefit, and this is absolutely prohibited not only under international law but according to Israeli Supreme Court rulings," says Michael Sfard, lawyer for Yesh Din, which brought the case to Israel’s high court. "This is illegal transfer of land in the most literal of senses."
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10499.shtml

In Badash’s battle to displace the Tarabin, all means are fair
The police have been hassling the residents of Amra Tarabin village for the last week and a half, in order to “convince” them to leave their village to a new location. the measures they have been using are astounding. Pini Badash, the head of the municipal council of the affluent Jewish town of Omer, a suburb of Beer Sheva, wants to enlarge the town, and build a new neighborhood. The government approved the new municipal boundaries, the plans are completed, there is only one problem: there is a Bedouin village in that spot, the unrecognized village of Amra Tarabin, one of the 45 unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Israeli Negev.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/1894-in-badashs-battle-to-displace-the-tarabinall-means-are-fair.html

Al Jazeera video: West Bank Bedouins fight road construction
"A Bedouin community in the Palestinian West Bank is going to court to try to stop Israel building what it calls a "security road" through their grazing land. Work has already started on the road which runs outside the existing Israeli settlement of Karmel, near Hebron. As Al Jazeera’s Zeina Awad reports, the villagers are determined to halt its progress and protect their livelihoods. "
http://palestinianpundit.blogspot.com/2009/05/al-jazeera-video-west-bank-bedouins.html

West Bank bedouins to ’stay put’
By Zeina Awad. The bedouins of Umm Al Khayr, a small town south-east of Hebron, may be among the most vulnerable Palestinian refugee communities in the West Bank, but they are fighting to keep the land they have lived on for generations. They have been battling the Israeli army in the courts to prove that the land they live on is theirs, and to block a so-called security patrol road from being built.
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/05/200951171621415942.html

Israeli attacks / incursions

Gaza airstrike victims laid to rest
Two Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes were laid to rest after a solemn funeral procession in the city of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. Hamdan Al-Astal and Khalil Abu Jarad were killed when Israeli warplanes bombed smuggling tunnels along the Egyptian border in the city of Rafah on Saturday. The air attacks followed three months of relative calm in Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37546

IDF: Tunnel strike shows we won’t be apathetic
IDF airstrikes in Gaza over the weekend "send a clear message to terror organizations in the Gaza Strip that Israel will respond to everything and will not remain apathetic," a military source told Ynet on Saturday night. The airstrikes, targeting smuggling tunnels into Gaza from Egypt, were intended both to reduce Palestinian arms smuggling capabilities into the region and serve as a direct response to recent Qassam and mortar attacks on the Negev.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3709618,00.html

Boars released by settlers attack barns, beehives near Nablus
Boars set free by Israeli settlers on Sunday damaged sheep barns and beehives in the northern West Bank village of Salem, east of Nablus. According to Ja’far Ishtayya, deputy mayor of Salem, “Boars attacked three homes and sheep barns, owned by Theib and Ziad Hasan, as well as 32 beehives owned by Taha Hamdan. The boars also attacked a car owned by Baha’ Hussein on his way out of the village.”Ishtayya appealed to the Palestinian Authority to work out a solution for the boar attacks, highlighting swine flu fears, as well as physical damage caused by the animals. [End]
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37539

Israel arrests two soldiers for instigating settler rampage
Four settlers, including two who are also Israeli soldiers, were arrested on Saturday for their involvement in clashes with Palestinians in the West Bank. Two Palestinians were shot with rubber-coated bullets amid the clashes with settlers that erupted in the Kharbat Safa village near the West Bank city of Hebron on Saturday. A number of settlers from the illegal Israeli settlement of Bet Ayn attacked residents of the village, leading to the two injuries, both reportedly shots fired by the Israeli army.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37528

IDF: Settlers created provocation
Military officials respond angrily to Bat Ayin residents’ conduct, which led to violent clashes in nearby Palestinian village of Umm Safa. ’This is a serious incident. They are harming our routine defense missions,’ one source says. Community’s rabbi: Settlers shot in the air after sensing danger
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3709604,00.html

Forces deployed in Bat Ayin area
Following Saturday’s clashes near Gush Etzion settlement, which left two Palestinians injured, defense establishment deploys police, army and Border Guard forces in sensitive spots in area for fear of additional riots
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3710060,00.html

Pogrom at Umm Safa
This, from David Shulman, his account of yesterday’s action at Um Safa: Pogroms: it’s something the Jews know about. I grew up on those stories—Cossack raids on the shtetl, the torture and killings and wanton destruction. My grandmother had a brother. They lived in Mikhalayev, in the Ukraine. One day the Cossacks came, and everyone panicked, and the seventeen-year-old brother tried to hide in a pond, and he drowned. She mourned that young death all her life; the dead don’t age, and some wounds never heal. And now it turns out—who would believe it?—that there are Jews who also know how to carry out pogroms.
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/05/03/pogrom_at_um_safa/

Palestinian youth shot by Israeli settlers while working his land
Posted on May 2 — On Monday, the 27th of April, 17-year-old Mohammad Farraj was shot by Israeli settlers while working his lands in Madama, southeast of the city of Nablus. At around 12:00pm, Mohammad was alone picking almonds on his land near the illegal Israeli settlement of Yizha. At least one settler drove up along the nearby settler-only road and shot him in the chest from about 200 meters away. Mohammad heard three or four shots, and at least one bullet hit him, entering his upper shoulder and exciting through his back. Mohammad was found wounded by other villagers in the area, who took him in a taxi to the local clinic. From the clinic, he was transferred by ambulance to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus.
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/05/6456

Discover Bil`in
Photos, videos, articles on resistance, etc. on the village’s own website
http://www.bilin-village.org/

Detentions

Israeli forces apprehend two Palestinians near Bethlehem
Israeli forces on Sunday morning apprehended two young Palestinians from the Bethlehem district. Local sources said an Israeli force raided the city of Beit Sahour, east of Bethlehem, and detained 29-year-old Nidal Bannoura after ransacking his home. Separately, another Israeli force stormed the village of Battir, west of Bethlehem, and seized 20-year-old As’ad Ash-Sheikh. Both detainees were taken to an unknown location. [End]
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37537

Indictment: Police officers assaulted Arab detainee
Three Yarkon Subdistrict Police officers were indicted on assault charges against an Arab detainee Sunday. According to the charges, filed with the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court, the three – Oz Cohen, Moshe Cohen and Nisso Tahar – brutally assaulted Tariq abu-Laban, an Israeli Arab resident of east Jerusalem, for no reason.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3710070,00.html

Al Asra Society calls for ensuring medical treatment for an ailing detainee from Khan Younis
The Society reported that detainee Iz Deen Al Farra, from Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, had a stroke and was moved to Al Ramla Prison hospital, which lacks the basic medical equipment. Husam Hameed, head of the Public Relations Office at the Al Asra Society, stated that Al Farra is serving a 20-year sentence, and is currently in a gradually declining health condition. Hameed added that before his stroke, Al Farra suffered several chronic diseases but did not receive the needed medical treatment. The Society held the Israeli Authorities responsible for the life of Al Farra and hundreds of sick detainees, and called on human rights groups to intervene and practice pressure on the Israeli Prison Administration to stop its violations against the detainees, and grant them their internationally guaranteed rights, including the right to medical treatment.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60215

Five Palestinian and two internationals detained while trying to work lands near Israeli military camp
Posted on May 3 — On the 30th of April, five farmers from the village of Asira ash-Shamaliya and two international solidarity activists were detained while trying to farm their lands close to an Israeli military camp. Asira ash-Shamaliya is a Palestinian village north of the city of Nablus. An Israeli military camp was built more than ten years ago on the mountain between the village and Nablus. Lands close to the military camp belong to several Palestinian farmers, who until recently have been too afraid to access their lands due to constant army harassment. At around 9pm, the five farmers and solidarity activists arrived at the fields with a tractor, a donkey, and a horse. As soon as the farmers appeared, an army jeep drove up along the military road which connects the camp to nearby Checkpoint 17. Three soldiers got out and ordered the farmers and internationals to give them their IDs. The farmers were told to tie up their animals, as they were going to be held for a long time.
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/05/6460

Nine Bedouin Palestinians arrested for planning attacks
Police in Israel, in coordination with the country’s Shin Bet intelligence agency, arrested nine Bedouin Palestinian men suspected of planning attacks on Israel, according to a gag order lifted Sunday. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the men are residents of Shraram, all in their 20s, and were detained within the last few days. They are accused of plotting attacks on Israeli civilians on national highways, the newspaper reported. They allegedly planned to topple electrical poles, block traffic and throw stones and tires on central Israeli highways, police said. The group was reportedly formed in late December 2008, in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37544

Gaza siege / Aftermath of Israeli offensive

Gaza citizens at risk from rubbish, rubble, unexploded ordnance
(IRIN) - Unexploded ordnance (UXO) and the uncontrolled dumping of rubbish pose the greatest environmental and public health risks to residents of the Gaza Strip, according to the UN Development Programme (UNDP). A further study is planned by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Increased discharges of raw sewage, the contamination of ground and drinking water, polluted agricultural fields and other environmental effects stemming largely from the recent 23-day Israeli offensive in Gaza will be the focus of an upcoming UNEP assessment to be conducted by a team of eight experts in May. Assessment results are expected by early July. "Contamination of water and land, and the handling of hazardous waste and rubble are the most pressing issues [in Gaza]," said UNDP environmental officer Husam Tubail. Hazardous waste includes waste from healthcare facilities, asbestos and other material mixed up with the rubble. It also includes UXO, said Tubail.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10501.shtml

Al-Jazeera video - Focus on Gaza: Gaza’s economic crisis
"The Israeli siege is strangling Gaza’s economy, and many of the businesses that were managing to scrape by were destroyed by the recent war. A look into the economic consequeces of Israel’s blockade and the war on Gaza. "
http://palestinianpundit.blogspot.com/2009/05/al-jazeera-video-focus-on-gaza-gazas.html

Plight of Palestine: MSP Pauline McNeill’s personal view of the despair in the Gaza Strip
Pauline McNeill has just returned from escorting vital life-saving aid from Scotland to Gaza. Here, in a searing personal account of her visit, the Glasgow Kelvin MSP reveals the on-going despair and devastation in the embattled Gaza Strip 100 days after the end of the Israeli strikes that left more than 1400 people dead..
http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/news/editors-choice/2009/05/03/plight-of-palestine-msp-pauline-mcneill-s-personal-view-of-the-despair-in-the-gaza-strip-78057-21328735/

Hamas gaining international legitmacy
By Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler. JERUSALEM (IPS) - Delegations from the rival Fatah and Hamas organizations have again failed in Cairo to bridge their differences meant to usher in a Palestinian unity government, but this has in no way slowed inroads which the Islamist movement has been making to increase its international legitimacy — much to Israel’s concern. Since the conclusion of Israel’s 22-day military offensive in January which coincided with US President Barack Obama taking power in Washington, Gaza-controlled Hamas has had many more international visitors ... Until recently, most of the international community backed Israel’s view that Hamas is a terrorist group, and refused to deal directly with it ... There is simply a growing international perception, especially since the war, that the old "isolate Hamas" approach is not working. This has raised Israel’s anxiety that an end to the sanctions on Hamas could be nigh.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10500.shtml

Rafi Eitan: Israel will face another war in Gaza within a year
Former minister Rafi Eitan on Sunday warned that within a year, Israel will face another bloody war in Gaza, and said the Jewish state will then realize it was wrong not to allow the IDF to complete the mission during Operation Cast Lead. In an interview with Israel Radio, Eitan reportedly said that the relative quiet in the Gaza Strip was a direct outcome of the recent military operation, but noted that Israel should have toppled the Hamas government and enabled Fatah to regain control over the territory.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1239710847676&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Palestinian resistance

PFLP wing fires at Israeli army unit in northern Gaza
The militant wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, claimed responsibility on Sunday for targeting an Israeli army engineering unit east of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37543

PRC: Israeli unit expelled from attempted cross-border raid
The militant wing of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) on Sunday morning claimed to have launched a mortar shell toward an Israeli Special Forces unit. According to the statement from An-Nasser Salah Ad-Din Brigades, the Israeli unit was attempting to cross the border near Khan Younis in southern Gaza, but was repelled by a mortar shell. The statement went on to say that the shelling occurred specifically in the Al-Qarara village, where the Israeli unit attempted to cross over into Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37536

Collaboration / Collusion

UK colluding in Gaza blockade
Have a see at this unfolding story at the Guardian. It starts with an article Afua Hirsch, legal affairs correspondent. "British lawyers attempting to build a war crimes case against Israel have been blocked from entering the Gaza Strip because the Foreign Office has refused to support their work, the Guardian has learned. A number of the lawyers, who have travelled to the region on fact-finding trips, could not get into the Palestinian territory because they cannot cross the border without letters from the British government authorising their visits. One lawyer, whose MP, Diane Abbott, wrote to the Foreign Office on her behalf, was told her effort would be better spent contributing to humanitarian work."
http://jewssansfrontieres.blogspot.com/2009/05/uk-colluding-in-gaza-blockade.html

Report: Egypt steps up war on Gaza smuggling
Cairo security source says forces on Rafah border reinforced with hundreds of police officers, armored vehicles and roadblocks. Forces using advanced American equipment to uncover tunnels, he adds — A security source told the London-based Arabic-language al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper that "the extensive deployment has caused a lot of tension among the smugglers. Some have even began approaching the security barriers, coming from side roads and firing in the air." ... The commander of the Egyptian border guard said last week that his forces have curbed the smuggling of weapons and goods into Gaza. In an interview with Egyptian daily al-Masri al-Youm, General Abed al-Wahab Mabruk said his forces have been deployed deep within Egyptian territory and along the country’s land border and coastline in order to control the roads and crossings - including Rafah - along the Egypt-Gaza border.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3709688,00.html

A police state without a state: PA in Ramallah plans to build 52 new prisons in West Bank
"RAMALLAH, (PIC)— The PA in Ramallah under Mahmoud Abbas, whose term in office expired last January, is planning to build 52 new prisons in various West Bank areas, senior security sources revealed on Saturday. The sources stressed that the jails, which would be under the control of PA police in the West Bank, would be built in accordance with the US prison system similar to the prisons built in Iraq and would be in line with the American security coordinator Keith Dayton’s security plan."
http://palestinianpundit.blogspot.com/2009/05/pa-in-ramallah-plans-to-build-52-new.html

PA forces announce 150 arrests in crackdown on armed militants
The Palestinian Authority said Sunday that its security forces have arrested 150 militants accused of illegally possessing weapons or inciting violence, according to Israel Radio. General Adnan Damiri, spokesman for the PA security forces, said the detainees include eight militants from Qalqilyah who may be connected to Hamas. Those detainees were caught with explosive devices they were planning to detonate against PA authorities. Damiri said that despite the PA’s recent crackdown, it is still finding it difficult to coordinate security efforts with Israel, the radio reported.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1082639.html

Media

Gaza costs Israel its reputation for press freedom
By James Reinl. NEW YORK // Israeli restrictions on journalists during its Gaza offensive have seen the state downgraded in a survey of press freedom, removing the Middle East’s lone example of a “free” media environment. A study made public by Freedom House on Friday saw Israel move from the “free” category to “partly free” after officials curtailed reporters and sought to influence coverage of the three-week invasion of the Gaza Strip, which ended on Jan 18. The global report describes the region as having “the world’s lowest level of press freedom” with only Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon and Egypt ranking as “partly free” and all other countries as “not free”. Karin Karlekar, the report’s managing editor, described her “frustration” at witnessing several years of improvements in press freedom across the Middle East come to an end.
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090503/FOREIGN/705029814/1002/rss

Mideast media world’s most restricted
Press freedom declined around the world last year, deteriorating for the first time in every region, according to a study released on Thursday by Freedom House. Freedom House, which is funded by the U.S. government and private groups and has been conducting an annual study of press freedom since 1980, said that 72 countries were rated free the previous year. It said that while press freedom had declined in 2008 for the seventh year in a row, last year marked the first time it had deteriorated in every region. "The journalism profession today is up against the ropes and fighting to stay alive, as pressures from governments, other powerful actors and the global economic crisis take an enormous toll," executive director Jennifer Windsor said.The Middle East and North Africa continued to have the lowest level of press freedom.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=681:mideast-media-worlds-most-restricted&catid=77:middle-east&Itemid=176

Palestinian disunity

Haniyya: "Unity talks achieved some progress, but did not achieve the needed breakthrough"
After Friday prayers at the Al Qassam Mosque in Al Nusseirat refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip, Haniyya stated that external pressures and meddling in internal Palestinian affairs are limiting the possibilities of achieving a unity deal ... He confirmed that some progress of the file of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was reached, so that all factions can be part of the PLO.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60210

Fatah official: Abbas’ new government will also rule Gaza
The lawmaker, Fatah-affiliated Palestinian Legislative Council member Faisal Abu Shahla, said that "Hamas’ intention to form a similar government is tantamount to a coup, and the deepening of division." Abu Shahla told Ma’an that "this government will not be [just] for the West Bank, as some people are saying, but will rather take responsibility for the Palestinians in Gaza, including for delivering salaries, social affairs and medical treatment abroad."
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37531

PA minister: Ending Hamas rule is a national, moral and religious duty
The Palestinian Authority minister of Agriculture and Social Welfare on Sunday told an Israeli radio station that "ending Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip is a national, moral and religious duty." The minister, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, added that removing Hamas from power in the Gaza Strip "should be accomplished as soon as possible." The comments came during an interview with Israeli journalist Gal Burger. Ma’an telephoned Burger and asked for further details, and he said Al-Habbash did not preach toppling Hamas by military force. However, Burger said other Palestinian officials had already demanded that, but he refused to name those officials.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37538

Hamas slams PNA minister over appeals to end Gaza rule
GAZA, May 3 (Xinhua) — Hamas on Sunday lashed out at a Palestinian National Authority (PNA) minister for calling on Hamas to end its rule in the Gaza Strip. Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, said the" declarations of Al-Habbash indicate that he is not concerned about the success of the national dialogue," which has been held in Cairo since March. "Al-Habbash wants to obstruct the national dialogue," Barhoum said, adding that "any attempt to damage Hamas is definitely going to fail."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-05/03/content_11304470.htm

PFLP objects to forming government without agreement
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) objects to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ intention to form a government without a national Palestinian agreement, a member of the group’s politburo said on Saturday. In a statement to Ma’an, PFLP politburo member Rabah Muhana said such an act "will complicate Palestinian division, hindering the dialogue."
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37530

PPP to consider participating in new Palestinian government
Qalqiliya – Ma’an – The leftist Palestinian People’s Party (PPP) will consider joining a hypothetical Palestinian government to be announced soon, its secretary-general, Bassam As-Salhi, said on Saturday. "Participating in any new government is not one of the party’s most pressing priorities, instead it is placing priority on agreeing to a Palestinian strategy that would empower the Palestinian stance in confronting the Israeli government," he added.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37527

Former Hamas rep favored to head PA
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is considering the possibility of asking a former Hamas representative to head a new PA government in the West Bank, a PA official in Ramallah revealed over the weekend. The official said that Mahmoud Habbash, who broke away from Hamas several years ago and is currently the minister of Social Welfare in the government of Salaam Fayad, was Abbas’s favorite candidate for the premiership. "President Abbas will first ask Fayad to head the new government," the official said. "But if Fayad turns down the offer, the president will ask Habbash to form the government." Unlike Fayad, Habbash is a leading religious figure and a devout Muslim ... During Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip earlier this year, Habbash held a series of press conferences in Ramallah in which he accused Hamas of killing and torturing Fatah members and stealing humanitarian and medical aid sent to the Gaza Strip by international organizations. Hamas officials have accused Habbash of financial corruption, saying he had been expelled from the Islamic movement following suspicions that he had been involved in embezzlement.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1239710841593&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Sources: Hamas to form new Gaza government
GAZA, May 3 (Xinhua) — The Islamic Hamas movement plans to form a new government in the Gaza Strip if the next round of inter-Palestinian dialogue mediated by Egypt fails, sources said on Sunday. The sources said Hamas officials in the Palestinian territories were in close contact with the exiled leaders to prepare for the formation of the new government if the upcoming round of dialogue between rival Fatah and Hamas, scheduled for mid-May, fails. The sources who insisted on anonymity said Hamas made the decision following an announcement that President Mahmoud Abbas of rival Fatah movement intends to form an expanded government based in the West Bank.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-05/03/content_11304113.htm

Hamas denies new Egyptian bid to broker ceasefire
Gaza City - The Islamic Palestinian Hamas movement on Saturday denied the resumption of Egypt’s efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and militant groups in the Gaza Strip. "There is nothing new regarding the lull," said Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for Hamas, which controls Gaza. His comments followed reports that Egypt had asked the Palestinian factions to study the possibility of reaching a new ceasefire with Israel.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/267033,hamas-denies-new-egyptian-bid-to-broker-ceasefire.html

Other news

Israeli-run zones shield West Bank criminals
(AP) HEBRON, West Bank – When Nasser Qaout went to investigate strange sounds in his sheep pen late at night, a gang of armed thieves shot him in the leg and made off with half his flock. He and Palestinian police know who the thieves are — and even where they are — but a year and half later, they’re still in their homes about three miles down the road. Police say they can’t arrest the crooks because they live in an Israeli-controlled area, which Palestinian forces can’t enter freely. It’s a unique dilemma for Palestinian law enforcement: How to maintain security when criminals have more freedom of movement than police do.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090503/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_palestinians_crime_zones

American-born academic appointed Israeli ambassador to US
JERUSALEM (AP) — Michael Oren, an American-born academic who frequently appears as a commentator on Middle Eastern affairs, has been picked as Israel’s next ambassador to Washington, a government official said Saturday. Mr. Oren’s commentaries have appeared in leading United States newspapers and on CBS television. He is a senior fellow at the Shalem Center, a Jerusalem research institute with a reputation for relatively hawkish views on the Mideast conflict ... During Israel’s January offensive against Palestinian militants in Gaza, Mr. Oren volunteered as a military liaison officer, briefing reporters outside Gaza.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/world/middleeast/03ambassador.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

West Bank refugees build a stage the pope might not be allowed to use
By Omar Karmi. AIDA REFUGEE CAMP, WEST BANK // Munther Amira, 39, surveyed the view from the rooftop with a shake of the head. “This is how we live. This is what we want the world to see.” He stood on the roof of a house in the Aida refugee camp, home to about 5,000 people, and looked over an open space where workers toiled on a stage residents hope Pope Benedict XVI will speak from when he is scheduled to visit on May 13. The view from the rooftop is compelling. To all sides except one, narrow alleys jostle for space around houses built in several stages, added floors crowding on to added floors. The refugee camp houses people who hail from 25 villages west of Jerusalem, some now destroyed, who were displaced in 1948 ... The stage, however, may never be used. Israel is fiercely opposed to the erection of the stage, and the Israeli civil administration, which is in charge of civil affairs in the occupied territory, has issued orders for construction to end.
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090503/FOREIGN/705029857/-1/NEWS

Study: Christians in Jerusalem down to just 2% from 20%
(Israel National News) By David Lev. On the eve of Pope Benedict 16’s upcoming visit to Israel, an Israeli research group says that the number of Christians living in Jerusalem has shrunk to 14,000, down from 31,000 at the end of the British Mandate – only 2 percent of the city’s population, and far fewer than the 20 percent it constituted in 1946. As such, Jerusalem is following a pattern which has been taking place in other cities as well: once-large Christian communities see their numbers dwindle, as Christian Arabs emigrate or move and are replaced by Muslims.The report, prepared by Dr. Amnon Ramon of the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, says that most of the younger generation of Christians who were born in Jerusalem have left the city – many emigrating abroad, to the United States, Canada, and South America. "Actually, the vast majority of the non-Arab Christian population has already left the city," Dr. Ramon said, adding that many members of the Arab Christian communities have left as well, with many moving to Jordan. Out of the 14,000 Christians living in the city today, 2,600 are nuns, monks, and clergy studying in the city.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/131150

Clashes erupt over Egypt pig cull
Egyptian pig farmers have clashed with police in Cairo, as they tried to stop their animals being slaughtered. Hundreds of people at the Manshiyat Nasr slum threw stones and bottles at police who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. The government wants to cull all the nation’s pigs, a move UN experts say is not necessary to prevent swine flu. Egypt’s pigs mostly belong to the Coptic Christian minority who say the cull has reignited religious tensions. The authorities initially said the pig cull was a precaution against swine flu but now describe as a general public health measure.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8031490.stm

Bethlehem religious leaders suggest holding mass weddings in Manger Square
Media spokesperson of the Roman Orthodox Patriarch Father Issa Musleh and Bethelem Mufti Sheikh Abed Al-Majid A’ta made a joint call to hold mass weddings in Bethlehem’s Manger Square in an effort to relieve families of the burden of large dowries. The call was made when the religious leaders participated in a Mawwal Radio broadcast addressing the issue of high wedding and dowry costs, which have increasingly prevented young couples from marrying in both the Christian and Muslim communities.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37524

Artas, the Land of Lettuce, hosts annual festival
The Fifteenth annual Artas Lettuce Festival held yesterday Friday May 1st was a great success, attracting hundreds of locals as well as many internationals for the celebrations. The village of Artas is located just a few kilometers south of Bethlehem and is part of the Bethlehem Governorate and this event is a much anticipated showcase of the beauty and cultural wealth of the region every year. Artas’ nickname, Bilad il khaas, or lettuce country, is symbolic for the fertility and abundance of this agricultural jewel.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5193

Beitar Jerusalem fumes over docked point
Beitar Jerusalem is furious over its one-point deduction this week by the Israel Football Association. The association’s disciplinary tribunal meted out the punishment against the club after fans last week yelled "Mohammed is dead" at a match against Maccabi Petah Tikva. The club plans to appeal the ruling. Itzik Kornfein, the club’s chairman, called the decision severely harsh and unprecedented. "There is not only no reason for deducting a point or even half a point, there was no reason for the tribunal," he said last week. "A negligible number of fans [were involved]."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1082562.html

E. Jerusalem resident runs from police with 18 Palestinians in tow
A resident of east Jerusalem was detained by police near Rosh Ha’ayin and 18 illegal Palestinian residents were found in his vehicle. He was detained following a tip received by Jerusalem Police, who followed him to central Israel. Police conducted a chase as the man attempted to escape, but he was eventually detained at a police checkpoint.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3709553,00.html

Hamas open to Israel-Syria negotiations
GAZA, May 3 (UPI) — A Gaza Strip parliamentary member says Hamas would not oppose potential peace negotiations between Israel and Syria.Parliamentary member Yehye Moussa said any talks between Israel and Syria would have no impact on Hamas’ relations with the Syrian government, Haaretz reported Sunday.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/05/03/Hamas-open-to-Israel-Syria-negotiations/UPI