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Israeli forces kill Palestinian near Yitzhar south of Nablus
Maan
Date: 20 / 09 / 2008 Time: 10:06
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32055

Nablus – Ma’an – One Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli border police who reported seeing the man attempt to “infiltrate” the Yitzhar settlement south of Nablus, and light a Molotov cocktail at the southern entrance.

According to the Israeli army, the man exited a car at the southern entrance of the settlement and walked towards the inhabited section of the area. Soldiers reported seeing the man light a Molotov cocktail, and shot him dead before he had a chance to throw it.

Israeli forces claimed they found a knife on the dead man’s person. They claimed that he was planning to stab Israelis in the settlement, mirroring the now popular story of last week’s attack on Yitzhar, when a Palestinian was surprised by a young settler boy as he set fire to the homes of Shalhevet, an illegal Israeli outpost, and inflicted mild stab wounds before fleeing the scene. Settlers from Yitzhar then rioted, and swarmed that nearby Palestinian villages of Asira Al-Qibliya, injuring ten Palestinians, and causing severe damage to homes, cars and agricultural areas.

Sources in the Palestinian Red Crescent services confirmed that they had received a memo from the Israeli army asking them to pick up the body of a dead Palestinian from the military base near Huwwara checkpoint south of Nablus.

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Rafah crossing open, two busses pass into Egypt
Ma`an
Date: 20 / 09 / 2008 Time: 09:26
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32051

Gaza – Ma’an – Two busses full of pilgrims and patients left Gaza for Egypt early Saturday morning, where they will travel to Mecca to perform the Hajj, or seek treatment in Egypt or abroad.

The crossing will remain open all day, and is expected to see hundreds pass through the border point. Egyptian officials said the crossing would also be open on Sunday, to allow students who have permission to study abroad pass through to Egypt.

This is the first time since 2006 that Muslim pilgrims from Gaza have been permitted to leave the area and travel to Saudi Arabia to perform Ramadan prayers at Mecca.

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UN-GA chief calls for adopting resolution 181 which calls for partitioning Palestine
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies
Saturday September 20, 2008 02:01
http://www.imemc.org/article/57057

President of the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, Father Miguel D`Escoto Brockmann, urged on Thursday the United Nations to act in order to implement UN resolution number 181 in which in the year 1947 called for partitioning Palestine into two states; a Jewish and an Arab.

The statements of Brockmann came during a speech at the general Assembly auditorium in honor of his election as the head of the 63rd session of the UN-General Assembly. He said that the UN should act immediately and fulfill its obligations in creating an independent Palestinian state.

He added that a biggest case of failure of the United Nations history is failing to create a Palestinian state, and added that Article number 22 of the covenant of the League of Nations pledged the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the Palestinian territories that were part of the Ottoman Empire.

Father Brockman, 75, is Nicaraguan priest who served as the Foreign Minister of Nicaragua in the 1980’s.

He stated that more people continue to die due to the incapacity of the UN to implement a resolution which was adopted more than 61 years ago, and that the situation in Palestine is now at the most critical point in its tragic history.

Brockman also slammed the five permanent members of the United Nations and said that their veto power have gone on their heads. The five members are China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States. He also called for the democratization of the United Nations itself.

Meanwhile, Israel rejected the statements of Brockman as the Israeli ambassador, Daniel Carmon, said in an interview with Haaretz that these statements express personal history and personal political opinion, and added that this issue is unacceptable by the United Nations.

Haaretz quoted the Jewish daily Forward reporting that Brockman is expected to participate next week in a dinner which is sponsored by five Christian organizations in honor of the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Father Brockmann was ordained as a member of the Maryknoll Missionary Congregation in 1961.

Meanwhile, the Trend News agency reported that Brockman returned to Nicaragua to join the Sandinista National Liberation Front in its struggle against the US-backed government in Managua, and was appointed foreign minister in 1979 when it overthrew the US-backed Samoza government.

The agency also reported that Brockman also attacked the western dominance of the world and said that he believes that this dominance is the source of many of the world’s evil. He said that many problems can be resolved by the “spirit of global sisterhood and brotherhood”.

Father Brockman added that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are basically controlled by the United States and Europe, and are “used as instruments of domination”. He said that those two institutions were created after World War II in order to assist poor countries.

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Israel arrested 200 Palestinian workers during Ramadan
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC Report
author Saturday September 20, 2008 00:56
http://www.imemc.org/article/57056

Haidar Ibrahim, secretary-general of the General Union of Palestinian workers, reported on Friday that Israeli forces kidnapped more than 200 Palestinian workers in Israel since the beginning of the Holy Muslim month of Ramadan. Dozens of workers were abused and were let go later on.

Ibrahim stated that while Israel claims implementing measures to ease the restrictions on movement the army is acting in a totally opposite way which makes the Israeli claims pure propaganda for media consumption and a delusion to the International Community.

He added that the Palestinian workers are not granted work permits in Israel and are being chased and harassed while trying to work and feed their families.

During the ongoing month of Ramadan, the army arrested 200 workers, including several women, and the Israeli courts imposed high fines on them.

Ibrahim also stated that the soldiers punched and clubbed at least 20 workers although they carried the needed work permits and in several cases soldiers tore the permits and threw them away.

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Israel to construct dump in Nablus, just as archaeological discovery made
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News Report
September 19, 2008 06:09
http://www.imemc.org/article/57034

The timing of an Israeli contractor`s approval by the Israeli government to construct a dump for Israeli garbage on Palestinian land in Nablus coincides with a major archaeological discovery in the area.


The Israeli government did not respond to questions about its approval of the 20-year permit on the same day that an announcement was made of an important Roman-era archaeological discovery in the area.



The archaeological discovery consists of a large water cistern, which connects to a tunnel to the Roman city of Neapolis. In the middle of the cistern is a set of spiral stairs. Palestinian archaeologists say that the find dates from the Roman era, at least 2,000 years ago. The cistern and tunnel may be connected to other, unknown ruins from that era under the city of Nablus.



But while Palestinian archaeologists rush to uncover the latest discovery, an Israeli contractor has been approved to begin constructing a massive dump nearby, which will make impossible any more archaeological work in the area.



Attempts by local Nablus officials to retain control of their own municipality have been repeatedly undermined by Israeli military occupying forces, which hold control of the Palestinian territories by military force since 1967, violating their duties as an occupying power on a daily basis.



Israeli occupying authorities issue permits to their own citizens to construct Israeli-only settlements, factories and other enterprises on land seized illegally (under international law) from the indigenous Palestinian population.



Now, in what locals say is a blatant example of the Israeli abuse of their occupying authority, they have issued a permit for an Israeli contractor to dump Israeli garbage on a historically rich and archaeologically valuable area of Palestinian land.


Environmentalists and Palestinian Authority officials voiced their dismay at the approval of the landfill, and plan to file a lawsuit with the Israeli High Court. Palestinians, even Palestinian Authority officials, are not allowed to file cases directly with the court, but must use Israeli lawyers inside Israel to act on their behalf.

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Settlers burn Palestinian olive groves, crops in several West Bank areas
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News Report
Friday September 19, 2008
http://www.imemc.org/article/57032

According to Israeli sources, a number of incidents of violence by Israeli settlers took place in different parts of the West Bank on Wednesday after the removal of some settlers from the outpost of Yad Yair.

Israeli settlers, living illegally on stolen Palestinian land in the West Bank, burned a number of olive groves belonging to Palestinian families in the villages of Madameh, Burin and Asira al-Kabaliya. In addition, settlers burned a field of crops near the Israeli settlement of Yitzhar, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus.



According to Palestinian sources, the Israeli military prevented fire trucks from arriving in a timely manner - but the Israeli military retorted that it was the Civil Administration of the Palestinian Authority that was to blame for the delay



One Israeli settler told the Israeli daily newspaper Ha`aretz, ` If the police haven`t yet gotten it, then they will - there`s a price to be paid for hitting settlements and outposts` - although no Israeli police were targeted by the violence. Palestinian civilians were the main targets of the wave of vandalism, but tires of jeeps belonging to the Israeli military were slashed at the military base of Horesh Yaron.



In another incident, in the village of Dolev, west of Ramallah, Israeli settlers threw rocks at Palestinian homes, causing major damage to the homes.



Also, Israeli settlers closed the main road between Jerusalem and Hebron and began throwing rocks at Palestinian cars.

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Settlers torch hundreds of olive trees around Nablus region
International Solidarity Movement
September 18th, 2008 | Posted in Reports, Nablus Region
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2008/09/18/settlers-torch-hundreds-of-olive-trees-around-nablus-region/

Israeli settlers torched olive groves in two arson attacks in villages to the south of Nablus on Thursday 18th September, 2008. Approximately 300 trees belonging to the village of Sarra, and another 30 trees belonging to farmers from villages of Burin, Madema and Assira al Qibliya were burnt in what villagers are describing as a co-ordinated attack.

At approximately 10:30am settlers from the Israeli settlement Harvat Gilad reportedly set fire to the land of Sarra, according to communications between Israeli military and Palestinian fire-fighting brigades. Based in Burin, the only fire engine to service 25 villages in south Nablus was called to put out the fire by the Palestinian District Coordination Office (DCO). The firefighters were prevented from reaching the blaze by Israeli police, who detained them for over an hour while the land burnt. Finally, the firefighters were allowed through to access the blaze after contacting the Israeli DCO, the body that coordinates the Israeli military and police activities in the West Bank. While more than 300 olive trees were destroyed by the arson attack, firefighters were able to save more than 400 trees from the blaze. Israeli soldiers stood by and watched the trees burn as firefighters fought to quench the flames, although confirmed the identities of the perpetrators as Israeli settlers from nearby Harvat Gilad settlement.

Firefighters returned to Burn in time to attend the fire that was lit in the lands shared by Burin, Madema and Assira al Qibliya, but according to members of the Burin fire brigade, were advised by members of B’tselem human rights organisation who were present at the scene, that Israeli settlers had promised to shoot any Palestinians who approached the area. They also received a phone call from the Isreali DCO who prohibited them from attending. Mayor of Burin municipality, Ali Eid, reported that they called the Israeli DCO also, who advised that they would attend to the fire, but as Ali Eid claims “This was propaganda. They did nothing.” Instead it was members of the Israeli human rights group Rabbis for Human Rights who were fighting the blaze “bare-handedly for three hours” according to the Burin Mayor. Aided by the wind, which kept the fire from spreading throughout the olive groves, the human rights volunteers were finally able to extinguish the blaze, losing just 30 olive trees.

These villages have come under attacks by Israeli settlers increasingly over the past months, with regular attacks on houses, animals, crops and olive groves. As Ali Eid commented

“This {fire} is not the first time; this is the hundredth time.” He and other villagers report that Israeli settlers from the illegal Yitzhar settlement set fire to the trees in the olive groves that border the hilltop settlement with startling regularity. “Every year trees are burnt on this hill’ one villager advised. “These trees are from Roman times; they are ancient. More than 2000 years old.” Indeed, it seems that the fires occur even more regularly than this, with more than 3000 olive trees in Burin burnt just two months ago. Of these, 1000 were ancient. Poring over a satellite-view map of the villages and the illegal settlements, Ali Eid estimates that this year the upcoming olive harvest will take only half the time it should, with more than fifty percent of the trees destroyed already.

Despite the decreased harvest period, people from Burin are still extremely worried about what violence they might face when attempting to pick their olives. Just last week, when settlers from Yitzhar were rioting in Assira al Qibliya, settlers from Bracha settlement to the north-east of Burin, attacked an elderly shepherd, firing live ammunition at him. Whilst the shepherd escaped unharmed, nine of his goats and one donkey were killed in the attack.

Villagers list the most common forms of attack they experience at the hands of the settlers that surround their village: burining trees; poisoning sheep; poisoning entire areas; regular attacks on houses closest to the settlements and burning of electricity and telephone lines (which happened most recently just one month ago). Recently, however, added to this list is a series of rocket attacks from both Yitzhar and Bracha settlements. To date nine rockets have been fired on the village, though all have landed harmlessly in fields. Ali Eid presents the exploded shell of a rocket, launched from Yitzhar towards the village of Odela. Ripped apart by force of the impact, the 3mm thick steel shell bears markings English text - letters “WP” distinguishable amid the rust, suggesting the projectile was not home-made.

“Why they do this we don’t know.” says Ali Eid gravely. “This year women, girls, guys - they all make fire. Why? We don’t know.” He notes, however, that “all the time they {leaders} are talking about peace, the attacks become worse”, referring to the increase in attacks experienced by Palestinian villagers during Israeli/Palestinian peace negotiations.

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ISM Rafah: Israeli navy continues to harass Gazan fishermen
International Solidarity Movement
September 19th, 2008 | Posted in Press Releases, Reports, Gaza Region
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2008/09/19/ism-rafah-israeli-navy-continues-to-harass-gazan-fishermen/

Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Palestine, 18th September 2008 - On Thursday 18th September, at least 7 Palestinian fishing boats left Gaza City port to trawl in Gazan Territorial waters. The Israeli Navy continued it’s daily attacks and harassments on Palestinian fishermen and their boats.

Today the Navy boat with the water cannon was not seen, so no damage to any fishing boats and nobody was injured from high powered water spray. However, the Israeli soldiers on two Israeli Navy gunboats that were patrolling today were exceptionally aggressive and arrogant. One of the gunboats drove by all of the fishing boats and fired at them,going from boat to boat.

On a second gunboat, the Israeli soldiers were harrassing the fishermen, yelling out to them in Hebrew and in Arabic that it was prohibited for them to fish past six miles. The soldiers on the gunboat were informed that according to internationally recognised agreements, the Palestinian fishermen have the right to fish at least 12 miles out. Their response was laughter.

Later on in the afternoon, this same gunboat was sitting in a very threatening way in the water close to one of the Palestinian fishing boats. One of the soldiers was yelling at the captain of the boat in a derogatory tone of voice and using condescending language telling him to stop fishing and to go back to Gaza.

Almost the entire day the Israeli Navy gunboats harrassed the fishermen, either shooting at them or threatening to.

Every day and night Palestinian fishermen try to fish and every day the Israeli Navy does what it can to prevent them. The eyes of the world needs to watch what is happening. The people of the world need to put an end to this constant harassment and attack on Palestinians trying to earn a living and to feed their families. Palestinian fishermen have the right to fish, at least out to 12 miles, in their own waters.

----------------------------------------------------
GUSH SHALOM

Ad published in Haaretz September 19, 2008

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Can, right at the beginning,
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Not by words
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VB
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