[WCUSP] Middle East News from Various Sources

KATHARLOW at aol.com KATHARLOW at aol.com
Sun May 14 16:23:29 CDT 2006


 Middle East News from Various Sources
 

_13 Shops  Destroyed in Northern Jordan Valley_ 
(http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/1156.shtml) 
The continual harassment of  the Palestinian population in the Jordan Valley 
has escalated with the  destruction of 13 sheds used as shops by Palestinian 
farmers to sell their  products. Israeli Occupation Forces attacked the people, 
took away their goods  and demolished the shops. On May 14th at 9 a.m., 
military bulldozers arrived to  demolish the sheds between Bardala and 'Ein 
al-Beida along Road 90. (  Quartet kept silent! )
_http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/1156.shtml_ 
(http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/1156.shtml) 

_Palestinian families split up_ 
(http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,19133948%5E663,00.html) 
Israel's  high court has narrowly upheld a controversial law that bars 
Palestinians in the  occupied West Bank from living with spouses and children who 
are Arab citizens  of Israel. Critics of the law have slammed it as racist and 
discriminatory.  Amnesty International called on Israel to repeal it.
_http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,19133948%255E663,00
.html_ 
(http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,19133948%5E663,00.html) 

_Justice Minister: Israel must set its entrance rules in  Basic Law_ 
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715715.html) 
Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon said on Sunday in  response to the High 
Court decision upholding the ban on Palestinians living in  Israel with their 
Arab Israeli spouses that before the legal lifespan of the  current statute 
ends he would work to anchor the rules of entering Israel in the  Basic Law, 
which would set a uniform law for the entire population.
_http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715715.html_ 
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715715.html) 

_MK  Barakeh: High Court ruling supplies an 'alibi for racism'_ 
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715720.html) 
"The  fact that the ruling was opposed by several of the judges is a ray of 
light that  does not illuminate the darkness of the court's decision and the 
Knesset's  legislation," said Barakeh, who is also chairman of the Hadash party. 
"Israel's  book of laws is becoming, with the High Court's approval, a guide 
for all  post-World War II racist legislation."
_http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715720.html_ 
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715720.html) 

_Israel's Policy of Displacement: PA Interviews Jeff  Halper_ 
(http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/3428/1/32/) 
Israel's policy of demolishing Palestinian homes is part  of this plan of 
displacement. Between 1948 (after the fighting subsided) and the  mid-1960s, 
Israel systematically demolished more than 400 entire Palestinian  villages – 
two-thirds of the villages in Palestine. This was done both to  "transfer" the 
Palestinians out of the country and to prevent the return of the  refugees. Even 
today some 150,000 Palestinian citizens of Israel remain trapped  in more than 
100 "unrecognized villages," living since 1948 in sub-human  conditions
_http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/3428/1/32/_ 
(http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/3428/1/32/) 

_Palestinian political prisoners in Israel to donate  monthly allowances to 
cash-strapped P.A._ (http://www.imemc.org/content/view/18634/1/) 
Hundreds of Palestinian  captives in Israeli jails announced Saturday that 
they are about to declare an  initiative to donate their monthly allowance to 
support their elected  government, the Palestinian Authority (P.A.) and their 
people.
_http://www.imemc.org/content/view/18634/1/_ 
(http://www.imemc.org/content/view/18634/1/) 

_Israeli troops kill five Palestinians in West  Bank_ 
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060514/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_060514164601) 
Four of the victims died in the village of Qabitiya, south  of the flashpoint 
town of Jenin where a member of the intelligence service was  also killed in 
exchanges outside his office Sunday.
_http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060514/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_060514164601_ 
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060514/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_060514164601) 

_Jihad commander escapes  assassination_ 
(http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-05/14/content_4545102.htm) 
Islamic Jihad vowed to retaliate for the Israeli  murder. Unlike all other 
factions, the Islamic Jihad refused to take part in  January's Palestinian 
legislative elections, and declared an end to a one-year  ceasefire with Israel 
reached in early 2005.
_http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-05/14/content_4545102.htm_ 
(http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-05/14/content_4545102.htm) 

_Palestinian bodyguard shot in new Gaza  violence_ 
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060514/ts_nm/mideast_palestinians_violence_dc_1) 
Masked gunmen on Sunday shot and wounded a Palestinian  bodyguard for an 
intelligence chief reporting to President Mahmoud Abbas,  security officials said.
_http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060514/ts_nm/mideast_palestinians_violence_dc_1_
 
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060514/ts_nm/mideast_palestinians_violence_dc_1) 

_IDF  urges outpost removed after another torching_ 
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715420.html) 
Settlers tried to  burn down a trailer at a Palestinian quarry near Nablus 
Thursday night, while  the guard was inside it. Senior army officers told 
Haaretz that in the wake of  this attack, Defense Minister Amir Peretz ought to 
implement the decision of his  predecessor, Shaul Mofaz, to remove the nearby 
illegal outpost, Bracha B (Ronen  Arussi's farm).
_http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715420.html_ 
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715420.html) 

_Out  of uniform and into the conflict_ 
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715456.html) 
"The perilous combination of  humanitarian crisis, domestic chaos, massacres 
and Qassams will force Israel to  go back into the West Bank and maybe also 
into Gaza. This means warfare,  including the call-up of reservists, loss of 
life and an enormous economic  cost." According to the Oslo accords, Israel bears 
overall responsibility for  the territories, he says. "If the Palestinian 
Authority collapses, we will not  be able simply to stand there and look on.
_http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715456.html_ 
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715456.html) 

_IDF  has fired more than 5,100 shells at Gaza in six weeks_ 
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715432.html) 
Five  Palestinian civilians have been killed as a result of IDF artillery in 
the past  ten weeks, including a young girl and a teenager. The artillery 
shelling was  initiated by former prime minister Ariel Sharon shortly after the 
completion of  the IDF's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in September
_http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715432.html_ 
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715432.html) 

_Israel, Washington to start talks on convergence  plan_ 
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715426.html) 
Israel and the United States are beginning discussions of  Prime Minister 
Ehud Olmert's convergence plan this week. The working assumption  among senior 
Israeli officials is that the administration supports the plan and  views it as 
"the only game in town." Two major issues are on the agenda: the  timeline for 
the plan and the nature of the support to be extended by the U.S.  government.
_http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715426.html_ 
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715426.html) 

_Hamas welcomes Fatah's readiness to join  govt_ 
(http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-05/14/content_4545138.htm) 
Abu Shamala, a Fatah lawmaker in the Palestinian  Legislative Council, told 
reporters that Fatah was ready to participate the  Hamas-led cabinet, but 
stressed at the same time the necessity of drawing "a  national accordance program" 
that all Palestinian factions agreed upon before  any coalition move. 
_http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-05/14/content_4545138.htm_ 
(http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-05/14/content_4545138.htm) 

_Haniyeh: National accord document deserves  study_ 
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715435.html) 
"The document was drafted in Hadarim Prison, and the other  prisons are not a 
party to it and therefore it must be studied further, but it  contains worthy 
principles to which agreement is possible," Haniyeh said  yesterday in a 
speech at a two-day conference in Gaza on Palestinian refugees  and the right of 
return. The conference marked the 58th anniversary of the  Nakba, or 
"catastrophe," the Palestinian term for what happened to them in  1948.
_http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715435.html_ 
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715435.html) 

_Fatah boycotting Hamas mosques_ 
(http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/article_1163895.php) 
The  Jerusalem Post reports Fatah claims the preachers are using the prayers 
to turn  people against them. Fatah spokesman Maher Miqdad said, 'They are 
preparing the  state for bloodshed.' Miqdad said Fatah is being included in the 
sermons` usual  calls for attacks on Israel and the United States.
_http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/article_1163895.php_ 
(http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/article_1163895.php/Fatah_boycotting_Hama
s_mosques) 

_Abbas pledges to pay outstanding gasoline bills, ending  crisis_ 
(http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/715751.html) 
Palestinian gasoline stations were back in business on  Sunday after 
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas pledged to pay  outstanding bills to the 
sole Israeli supplier, ending a brief fuel crisis in  the West Bank and Gaza
_http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/715751.html_ 
(http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/715751.html) 

_Hamas will not cave in to economic pressure:  PM_ 
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060514/wl_mideast_afp/mideastpalestinian_060514132208) 
"The aim of the siege that has been imposed on us is to force  the government 
to back down on our demands, to abandon the rights of our people  and to 
impel us to take reckless decisions," Haniya told a group of  Hamas-supporting 
health workers outside his offices in Gaza City Sunday. "The  siege and pressure 
on us will not succeed and will not force the government into  political 
concessions."
_http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060514/wl_mideast_afp/mideastpalestinian_060514
132208_ 
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060514/wl_mideast_afp/mideastpalestinian_060514132208) 

_Palestinian Aide Appeals to Arab  League_ 
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060514/ap_on_re_mi_ea/palestinians_arab_league) 
The Palestinian health minister on Saturday appealed to  the Arab League and 
international community for $4.3 million to prevent "a  humanitarian and 
health disaster."
_http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060514/ap_on_re_mi_ea/palestinians_arab_league_ 
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060514/ap_on_re_mi_ea/palestinians_arab_league) 

_Game theory  - By Gideon Levy_ 
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715444.html) 
The problem is that some of the masks  have remained, and the foolishness 
continues: Israel and the world will not  transfer monies "directly" to the Hamas 
government, but rather by means of a  special "Hamas bypass" mechanism. This 
unnecessary mask will also be removed  quickly.
_http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715444.html_ 
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715444.html) 

_LEGAL ANALYSIS: Ruling favors Jewish state over  democratic_ 
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715735.html) 
True, the court ruling rests on the security argument  that is a part of the 
essence of the law as passed by the Knesset. It appears  clear, however, that 
the ruling also rests on a preference for the Jewishness of  the state (the 
majority opinion), over the more democratic (the minority  opinion).
_http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715735.html_ 
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715735.html) 

_14 May 2006: High Court approves racist amendment to  Nationality Law_ 
(http://www.btselem.org/english/special/20060514_HCJ_Approves_Racism_Law.asp) 
The High Court of Justice today rejected the  petitions filed by _Adalah _ 
(http://www.adalah.org/eng/index.php) and the _Association for  Civil Rights in 
Israel _ (http://www.acri.org.il/english-acri/engine/index.asp) opposing the 
amendment to the Nationality Law that  the Knesset enacted in July 2005. The 
amendment restricts the family unification  of Israeli citizens and residents 
(including residents of East Jerusalem) and  Palestinians living in the Occupied 
Territories.
_http://www.btselem.org/english/special/20060514_HCJ_Approves_Racism_Law.asp_ 
(http://www.btselem.org/english/special/20060514_HCJ_Approves_Racism_Law.asp) 

_Mideast spotlight on EU for Iran, Palestinian  moves_ 
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/14/AR2006051400160.html) 
The United States has -- for now -- taken a back seat on  both issues, 
entrusting the Europeans with trying to entice Tehran back to talks  over its 
disputed nuclear program, and to work out a plan to avert a looming  Palestinian 
economic crisis. Failure on either count would be a blow to the  credibility of 
the 25-state bloc, whose image in the Middle East was hit by its  move last 
month to suspend direct aid to the Hamas-led Palestinian  government
_http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/14/AR20060514001
60.html_ 
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/14/AR2006051400160.html) 

_IDF  jeeps, soldiers escort 15 Palestinian children home from school past 
illegal  Maon Farm outpost_ (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715421.html) 
The convoy sometimes takes a  four-kilometer-long compromise route, and on 
rare occasions it uses the short  route, which passes between the Maon 
settlement and the Maon Farm outpost.  Settlers have placed a gate here hampering 
passage. Another reason the army  gives for not using this route regularly is that 
"the children gather  operational intelligence."
_http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715421.html_ 
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/715421.html) 

_Jordan's FM says Hamas gov't must 'face up to  responsibilities'_ 
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/714992.html) 
"They are responsible for the welfare of the  Palestinian people," Foreign 
Minister Abdul-Ilah al-Khatib told CNN's Late  Edition. "So let's hope that they 
move in the right direction."
_http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/714992.html_ 
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/714992.html) 

_Iran denies supplying weapons to Hamas_ 
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060514/wl_mideast_afp/mideastunrestiranpalestinianjordan_060514093653) 
"We  do not help the Palestinian government with weapons," foreign ministry 
spokesman  Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters Sunday. "Our cooperation with 
Palestine is  humanitarian and spiritual support." The Jordanian allegations, he 
added, were  "baseless and unfounded".
_http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060514/wl_mideast_afp/mideastunrestiranpalestin
ianjordan_060514093653_ 
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060514/wl_mideast_afp/mideastunrestiranpalestinianjordan_060514093653) 

_Shiites, Sunnis Threaten Gov't  Formation_ 
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060514/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_politics) 
Efforts to create a national unity government in Iraq  stumbled Sunday as a 
member of an influential Shiite alliance bloc threatened to  form a new 
government unilaterally if rival groups did not scale back their  demands. Sunnis 
said they may withdraw from the process entirely.
_http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060514/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_politics_ 
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060514/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_politics) 

_Iraq's 'ragtag' army units start fighting among  themselves_ 
(http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article447806.ece) 
A gun battle between two units of the Iraqi army has  left one soldier and a 
civilian dead, underlining how ethnic and sectarian  divisions are crippling 
the US-trained force.
_http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article447806.ece_ 
(http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article447806.ece) 

_2 British soldiers killed, 1 injured in roadside bomb  north of Basra_ 
(http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article484007.ece) 
Two British soldiers were killed by a roadside  bomb as they patrolled in 
their armored vehicle near the southern Iraqi city of  Basra on Saturday night, 
the Ministry of Defense said. A third soldier was  injured.
_http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article484007.ece_ 
(http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article484007.ece) 




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