Today in the MidEast 12th of april
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briefing
Ahmad Nimer – Beit Liqya
It was a bomb and it exploded, and he was killed. The Occupation forces tend to leave bombs in the lands they want to confiscate, to terrorize the people. My son died but still we did not stop going to our lands. I made a symbolic tomb for my son in one of my fields.
http://stopthewall.org/communityvoices/467.shtml
Palestinians demonstrate over lack of PA action against fence
"Mere condemnation is insufficient. The ministers don't care about the barrier, it doesn't affect them. They get VIP treatment at checkpoints and send their children to study abroad," Salameh Abu Eid, 25, from Biddu village told Reuters.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/414576.html
Villagers Punished for Peaceful Protests
Villagers Northwest of Jerusalem, who peacefully protested against the construction of the separation wall, reported that they are being repeatedly harassed and punished by the army. In addition to grabbing their land, dozens were arrested and army regularly set the villages under strict curfews.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/April/week2/041204/villagers%20punis...
Forces kill three Palestinians
Military sources had earlier said that around four gunmen had opened fire and thrown grenades at troops around greenhouses on the outskirts of the settlement at around 05:00. Troops returned fire and recovered the bodies later in the morning.
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1511211,00.html
2 Civilians Wounded in Bethlehem, Israeli Thrust into Jenin
The security sources reported that around twenty Israeli tanks and armoured personnel carriers rolled into Jenin and its Refugee Camp, amid intensive heavy fire. Witnesses said Israeli troops hurled stun bombs and opened intensive fire at civilians’ houses, causing a state of panic among children and women
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=441
IOF Wounds Civilian in Gaza
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) early Monday wounded a citizen and opened heavy fire on civilians in the Gaza Strip Cities of Khanyounis and Rafah, medical sources and witnesses said.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=437
Israeli Under-Cover Units Kidnap Civilian in Bethlehem
a “Toyota” Israeli car stopped in front of the “Arab Bank” in the Refugee Camp, two Israelis disguised in a civilian uniform headed to Firas Abu 'Alia 31, the Bank guard, whom they attacked, threw in the car and kidnapped, taking him into an unknown place.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=442
Little Hands Relieve Travellers' Suffering at IOF Checkpoints
Checkpoints children or the "little porters" as some others call them, ease some of the traveller's sufferings and feel ten feet tall for the few NISs they receive for the service they offer. Those children had to do so, because of the poor financial situation they experience.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=439
GUPW Secretary Calls for Further Political Involvement of Women
In an interview with the IPC, Abu Khadra, who is also a member of the Revolutionary Council, demanded what she called "an internal revolution inside the factions" in order to further involve women in the decision-making process.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_04/085.html
During His Memorial: Journalists Demand Capture of Al Zaben's Assailants
During a memorial marking 40 days of his killing, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) in Gaza organized a gathering attended by the Al Zaben's family, Palestinian journalists and a number of political and social figures.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_04/083.html
Health Ministry: 14 Killed by IOF over the Past Two Weeks
Seven of them are under 18 which constitutes 50% of the Palestinians killed by IOF over the past two weeks. The report added that 85.7 % of the Palestinians killed were shot dead with live bullets and 64.3% were shot allover the body. The number of the wounded estimated at 161; 153 in the WB and 8 in Gaza.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=444
PA security men arrest Palestinian resistance fighters
Palestinian Authority security men yesterday arrested a number of resistance fighters affiliated with the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, military wing of the Fatah Movement, in the West Bank city of Kalkilya.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/am/publish/article_5526.shtml
Sharon lists settlement blocs he intends to keep
Sharon for the first time named the six areas he intends to keep: Maaleh Adumim and Givat Zeev near Jerusalem, Ariel in the heart of the West Bank, the Etzion bloc south of Jerusalem, the Kiryat Arba settlement near the West Bank city of Hebron and settler enclaves in Hebron itself.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull...
PA to nix any U.S. pledges that endanger final status issues
"Any guarantees to Israel that affect the final status issues... are unacceptable and will be rejected," said Qureia following a meeting of the Palestinian cabinet in Ramallah on Monday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/414293.html
Bush and Mubarak welcome Israeli plan to quit Gaza Strip
"We also believe the future of the Middle East and the future of Iraq are closely linked," Bush told reporters. "The people of the greater Middle East have a right to be safe, secure, prosperous and free."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/414561.html
Erekat denies receiving US guarantees
Palestinian Minister of Negotiations Affairs Saeb Erekat denied on Monday reports that the Palestinian Authority received guarantees from the United States that it would not take steps that would be harmful to the final status issues.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/English/Story.asp?DSNO=620918
US to emphasise commitment to Middle East
Despite the dead-ends on the Middle East "road map" and the concerns about the Iraq insurgency, the Bush administration has scheduled a series of meetings to demonstrate the president's commitment to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullSto...
Palestinian Activist Ordered Released After Two Years in Prison Without Charge
In Pennsylvania, a federal judge last week ordered the release of prominent Palestinian New York activist Farouk Abdel-Muhti. Abdel-Muhti has been jailed for almost two years even though he has never been charged with a crime.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/04/12/1424204
Jordan refuses to boycott the government of Sharon, to halt normalization
Al-Fayez was quoted as saying that the government honors constructive criticism and the opposition's view and is proud of the vocational role of the trade unions.. Other trade unionists said that the prime minister refused the trade unions to organize campaigns to boycott the American goods.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/040412/2004041207.html
Orthodox Jews To Demonstrate Against 'State' Of Israel
Upon the meeting of President George W. Bush and "Israeli" Prime Minister Sharon on April 14, at the White House, Washington DC, Orthodox Jews will be demonstrating in front of the White House, to proclaim and clearly state that: Sharon and the State of "Israel" are illegitimate and they do not represent the Jewish people.
http://rense.com/general51/agz.htm
The March of Folly - By: Uri Avnery
The Bushes are oilmen. Among the big-money people who helped to put the two Bushes, Sr. and Jr., into the White House, oilmen played a leading role. The neo-con fanatics, most of whom are right-wing Zionists, added to this another objective: to eliminate the Iraqi threat to Israel, before freeing Israel of the Syrian and Iranian threats.
http://www.amin.org/eng/uri_avnery/2004/apr10.html
Israel unsettled by US Iraq quagmire
On Thursday, top Israeli military and intelligence chiefs met in Tel Aviv to discuss the "deterioration of the security situation in Iraq" and its possible ramifications on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E8BE8742-2311-44C7-AC67-C08BF2381...
Thais prosecutors charge Israeli with grisly murder of wife
An Israeli tourist accused of killing his wife, chopping up her body and dumping it into a Bangkok canal was formally charged with murder by Thai prosecutors Monday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/414569.html
CNI: Americans Believe Israel should be Accountable for Violations in oPt
The poll, conducted by Zogby International for the CNI, and released on April 7, showed that 56 percent of Americans agree and 29 percent disagree that the US Congress should pass Israel accountability act on weapons of mass destruction and human rights violations.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_04/080.html
U.S. Forces Seek to 'Kill or Capture' Iraq Cleric
"The mission of the U.S. forces is to kill or capture Moqtada al-Sadr," Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of ground forces in Iraq, said in a video conference from Baghdad with reporters at the Pentagon. Gen. John Abizaid, head of Central Command that covers Iraq, on the same video conference said Sadr was being isolated by fellow Shi'ites.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4804876
Report from Fallujah -- Destroying a Town in Order to "Save" it
An ambulance with two neat, precise bullet-holes in the windshield on the driver's side, pointing down at an angle that indicated they would have hit the driver's chest (the snipers were on rooftops, and are trained to aim for the chest). Another ambulance again with a single, neat bullet-hole in the windshield. There's no way this was due to panicked spraying of fire.
http://www.empirenotes.org/fallujah.html
Abizaid seeks more combat troops for Iraq
General John Abizaid, commander of US forces in the Middle East, has asked the Pentagon for two additional combat brigades to be deployed in response to the widespread rebellion in Iraq, reversing a year-long trend of reducing the American military presence in the war-torn country.
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullSto...
Nine Americans, including two soldiers, missing in Iraq
Two US soldiers and seven US contractors working for a Halliburton subsidiary are unaccounted for in Iraq, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, the head of US forces in the country, said.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/79843/1/.html
Arab TV networks accused of fueling violence in Iraq
Qatar-based Al-Jazeera and its Dubai-based rival Al-Arabiya, have been providing graphic images of the devastation and casualties in the Sunni stronghold of Fallujah during fierce fighting between US forces and insurgents last week.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=9&u=/af...