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Closure forces two women to give birth in cars

6 January 2008


The village of ‘Azzun ‘Atmah is cut off from the rest of the West Bank by the separation barrier. State officials say the village was made into an enclave primarily to place the Sha’are Tikva settlement on the “Israeli” side of the barrier. The only way the residents can get to the rest of the West Bank is through a gate in the barrier that is open only part of the day. When it is closed, soldiers remain in the guard tower by the gate. When residents need to leave the village for any purpose, including medical treatment, they have to call to the soldiers and beg them to open the gate. 

Evidence of Israel's "cowardly blending" comes to light

Jonathan Cook 6 January 2008


It apparently never occurred to anyone in our leading human rights organizations or the Western media that the same moral and legal standards ought be applied to the behavior of Israel and Hizballah during the war on Lebanon 18 months ago. Belatedly, an important effort has been made to set that right. Jonathan Cook comments on a new report that unearths evidence that Israel committed war crimes not only against Lebanese civilians but also against its own Arab citizens. 

Christian Zionists gain Israel's inner sanctum

Bill Berkowitz 6 January 2008


OAKLAND, California, 3 Jan (IPS) - After raising more than two hundred million dollars for various projects in Israel, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), the organization he founded and is president of, has hit pay-dirt. In late December, the Jewish Agency for Israel, which helped found the state of Israel, announced that the IFCJ “will be declared a funding partner of the Jewish Agency … [and] Eckstein will … receive new voting powers that will include spots on the committees that oversee the agency’s budget and that meet with the prime minister and his Cabinet,” the Jewish daily Forward reported. 

Eight Gazans killed, 17 injured in ongoing Israeli attacks

3 January 2008


Israeli occupation forces (IOF) escalated their offensive against the Gaza Strip, killing eight Palestinians and injuring 17 others in various attacks throughout the Strip. The IOF carried out air strikes in different areas. It carried out an artillery attack on a house belonging to the Fayad family in Khan Younis, killing three brothers, their mother, and a fifth family member. Two civilian cars in northern and middle Gaza Strip were also bombarded, but no injuries were reported. 

Fatah-Hamas violence claims seven in Gaza

3 January 2008


Violence erupted after the government in Gaza banned celebrations to mark the 1 January anniversary of the establishment of the Fatah movement, in what appears to have been a response to the ban imposed by the government in Ramallah on Hamas marking the 14 December anniversary of the establishment of Hamas in the West Bank. In the lead up to the Fatah anniversary, police and Hamas gunmen in Gaza launched a campaign of arrests of Fatah activists and searched Fatah offices and the homes of people affiliated with Fatah. 

Two Palestinian villages ask Susan Sarandon to repudiate Leviev

Mohammed Khatib and Sharif Omar 6 January 2008


Dear Ms. Sarandon, We felt sorrow when we learned that you accepted Lev Leviev’s invitation to attend the opening night event for his new jewelry store in New York City on 13 November while our friends protested outside, because we respect you for your support for human rights, your courage in speaking since 2002 against the US war on Iraq, and for your many other honorable public positions. Lev Leviev is building Israeli settlements on Bil’in and Jayyous’ land. Mohammed Khatib and Sharif Omar write to the famed actress. 

Border politics leaves Palestinians stranded

Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani 1 January 2008


CAIRO, 2 January (IPS) - Hundreds of Palestinians still remain stranded on the Egyptian side of the border following last summer’s closure of the Rafah crossing between Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip. Their uncertain circumstances have come to reflect the complex politics between Cairo, Tel Aviv, the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank and Palestinian resistance faction Hamas in the Gaza Strip. 

Rights org: Israeli soldiers escape indictment

2 January 2008


A report released by Yesh Din reveals Israeli Defense Forces’ (IDF) failure to investigate and indict its soldiers involved in criminal offenses against Palestinian civilians in the occupied territories. IDF statistics, provided to Yesh Din at the organization’s demand, on results of Military Police investigations of criminal offenses in which IDF soldiers harmed Palestinians and their property since the beginning of the second intifada in September 2000 until June 2007, show that some 90 percent of these investigation files were closed with no indictment. 

Aida camp residents say wall harming their livelihoods

1 January 2008


AIDA REFUGEE CAMP, BETHLEHEM, 31 December (IRIN) - Behind a luxurious five-star hotel and close to Bethlehem, yet unknown to most visitors who converged on nearby Manger Square for the recent Christmas mass, residents of Aida refugee camp — home to nearly 5,000 people — say their lives have been adversely affected by the Israeli restrictions on movement, in particular the barrier built around the city.