Israel/Palestine roundup

British Foreign Office 'unrelentingly pro-Palestinian' says Israel
The Guardian

Israel has reacted angrily to a confidential Foreign Office document accusing it of illegally expanding Jewish settlements and routing the West Bank barrier to prevent east Jerusalem from becoming the Palestinian capital. Officials described the document, drafted for an EU foreign ministers meeting earlier this week, as "anti-Israeli" and said it was further evidence the Foreign Office is "unrelentingly pro-Palestinian". Britain makes more formal protests to Israel over its actions in the occupied territories than any other country.

[font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]The document warns Israeli actions are jeopardising peace and risk radicalising Palestinians. It recommends several measures to resist the Israeli tactic, including politically symbolic actions such as moving meetings with Palestinian officials from Ramallah to east Jerusalem. {snip}
[/font]


Prime minister plans to draw 'the final shape of Israel'
Daily Telegraph


Sixty years after the state of Israel was created, Ariel Sharon is effectively drawing its final borders, say his advisers, diplomats, friends … and the cartographers.

They believe that Mr Sharon, who as a general played a leading role in the expansion of Israel's borders in successive wars since 1948, is now - as a politician - determined to set the country's hitherto elastic frontiers in stone.

What is more, judging by his track record and the way public opinion is shifting, there is a real chance that he may succeed.

In 2002, he ordered the construction of the controversial separation barrier - an 18ft high combination of concrete wall and chain fence that snakes through the West Bank. Over the summer his government successfully oversaw the withdrawal of the thousands of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip. {snip}

Israeli settlers destroy Palestinian olive trees
Reuters

Jewish settlers cut down and uprooted hundreds of olive trees on Palestinian farms near the West Bank city of Nablus on Sunday, residents and Israeli police said.

Settlers from the most radical enclaves in the occupied West Bank have often attacked farms since the start of a Palestinian uprising in 2000, in which settlers have often been targeted by militants. Settlers say that the land, which Palestinians want for a state, is theirs by biblical birthright.

Residents of Salem said dozens of settlers from Elon Moreh chopped down hundreds of the town's olive trees, the main source of income for 5,000 residents. {snip}

Size of Sharon's new Knesset faction nears that of Labor
Haaretz

MK Michael Nudelman (Yisrael Beiteinu) on Sunday became the 17th legislator to announce he is joining Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new party, Kadima, bringing its total faction number to three short of Labor's 20 seats.

The Likud, which had 40 seats before Sharon's departure last week, remains the largest party in the Knesset, but now only has 26 Knesset seats. Labor is second, and Shinui, which was the third largest party, has 14 seats in the Knesset.

Since its creation last week, Kadima has attracted 14 MKs from Likud, as well as MK David Tal of One Nation and MK Haim Ramon from Labor. {snip}

Gaza joy as 'gate of hope' open
The Australian

Amid joyful and raucous scenes, almost 1600 Palestinians crossed from Gaza into Egypt on Saturday after Israel agreed to hand back the keys to the gates it had strictly controlled for 38 years.

Several thousand more Gaza residents queued yesterday to take advantage of the now Palestinian-controlled crossing at the southern border town of Rafah, in the wake of the landmark agreement. Thousands more are expected to follow this week as the crossing builds towards an around-the-clock operation. {snip}

Weekly Summary of Israeli War Crimes (6min audio - Palestinian Centre for Human Rights)

Damn them.

Hey Partrige you from Europe right? I like that poll where Europeans named Israel one of the world's greatest threats. America was up there too for good reason.

Yeah I remember that poll - and the outcries of 'anti-semitism' and 'anti-americanism' that followed it. Of course, Iran and North Korea polled the same (53%) as the USA - no-one was complaining of a European 'anti-Iraian' bias.

But see, if you asked me do I think Israel is a threat to world peace, I'd have toa nswer yes - not because I think its going to nuke somewhere or whatever (though it may bomb Iran at the US's behest if needs be) - its because its continued brutal treatment of the Palestinians (and the US support for it) is one of the root causes of hatred towards the West in the world today (at least among Muslims). And of course, unblinking US support for Israel doesn't help the US cause much either.

And well, I prefer to think of myself as a Citizen of the World, but technically I'm located on the periphery of Europe, and for better or for worse I'm an EU citizen.

Israel is one of the greatest threat to world peace because it's sturring up radical Islamic fundementalism. (like you said) America because of the Iraq war obviously, and sturring up trouble with other nations (thanks to Bush).

And now for some anaylses:

Podcast: Debating the Gaza "Disengagement" at North Park University
Electronic Intifada

Listen to a podcast of EI co-founder Ali Abunimah and Tel Aviv University Professor of Philosophy Ilai Alon discussing the Gaza "disengagement" and what it means for the prospects for Palestinian-Israeli peace.

Peretz or Bust?
Jeff Halper - Counterpunch

[size=-1]The up-coming election in late March is presented as a three way one pitting the left (Peretz) against the center (Sharon) and the right (Netanyahu). But it is actually a two-way race. Peretz, who can truly be called a candidate of the left in both his progressive social views and his commitment to a just peace with Palestinians, is pitted unevenly against an array of three right-wing forces: Netanyahu's Likud which rejects any Palestinian state whatsoever; Sharon's new "center" party which appears to favor a two-state solution but which in fact is heading for unilateral apartheid; and a Labour Party more or less in step with Sharon. {snip}

The Great Gaza Border Deal
Ramzy Baroud - Counterpunch

[/size][size=-1]There is little historic precedent to conclude that Israel will respect the arrangement. Since the Israeli army has the "green light" to strike Gaza at any time of its choosing (as it has repeatedly since the disengagement) and to freely assassinate any Palestinian "terror suspect", it is difficult to convince ordinary Palestinians that they are truly free, even if the man checking their worthless travel documents at the Rafah border looks and sounds Palestinian. {snip}

Vanunu speaks about his November 18th arrest
Edited by Zachary Wales - Electronic Intifada

Mordechai Vanunu, often dubbed the "Israeli nuclear whistle-blower," was arrested on Friday 18th November for traveling to the East Jerusalem suburb al-Ram. Vanunu, 51, was released on the following day and returned to his de facto house arrest at St. George's Cathedral in Jerusalem, where he has sought refuge since being released from his 18-year detention and torture under Israeli authorities. {snip}

Turbulent politics as Sharon divorces Likud
The Socialist (UK)

The Israeli government is collapsing in turmoil, forcing forward the date of the next general election by eight months. The political drama began when trade union federation leader, Amir Peretz, unexpectedly ousted Shimon Peres as leader of the Labour Party, by a vote of the party rank and file.

Peretz then quickly moved to withdraw the Labour Party from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's coalition government, which left Sharon without a majority. Then came a second bombshell; Sharon decided to abandon the right-wing Likud party that he helped create in 1973, to set up a new party as a vehicle for fighting the coming election and then trying to form another government. {snip}

Peretz victory changes political mood
Socialist World

Just over a week ago, according to many, the unthinkable happened: Amir Peretz, head of the Israeli trade union federation, the Histadruth, a rank outsider in the beginning of the election campaign, won the vote for leader of the Labour Party using radical rhetoric calling for example, a big increase in the minimum wage and an end to poverty in Israel. {snip}

Secret British document accuses Israel
The Guardian

A confidential Foreign Office document accuses Israel of rushing to annex the Arab area of Jerusalem, using illegal Jewish settlement construction and the vast West Bank barrier, in a move to prevent it becoming a Palestinian capital. {snip}


The border of the state of Ramallah
Amira Hass - Haaretz
[/size] In contrast to the "big bangs," or the election of MK Amir Peretz as Labor Party chairman and the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon from the Likud, the establishment of the southern border of the state of Ramallah is happening with nary a whimper.

Like the disengagement from the Gaza Strip, it is a unilateral Israeli move. Unlike the disengagement from Gaza, it is totally unilateral: There are no negotiations, and there is no involvement by the World Bank and quartet envoy James Wolfensohn to determine the transit arrangements. {snip}

Barghouti wins Fatah primary poll
BBC

Jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti has emerged as one of the most popular candidates ahead of parliamentary elections in January. Barghouti came top in a primary poll for the ruling Fatah movement in the West Bank district of Ramallah.

He is serving five life terms in an Israeli jail for the killing of four Israelis and a Greek monk.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said there was no chance of Barghouti getting an early release.

Barghouti, 46, won 34,000 out of 40,000 votes - affirming his status as one of Fatah's most popular politicians, say correspondents.

New guard

From his prison cell where he has been since his sentencing in 2004, Barghouti has continued to play an important role as a political figure.

Palestinian analysts say his victory is also a victory of the Fatah young guard, which has been pushing for a stronger say within the movement.

"The old guard has failed politically and administratively, and in running their organization in a democratic way," said Palestinian analyst Hani al-Masri.

But Mr Shalom vowed Barghouti would not be released.

"Marwan Barghouti has blood on his hands," he said. "Marwan Barghouti will sit in jail until the end of his days."

About 463,000 people have registered to vote in the selection process - the first time Fatah candidates have been selected by ballot.

Fatah primaries were held in many of the West Bank's largest districts on Friday and more will follow, including in the Gaza Strip, in the coming days.

There are 463 candidates in the West Bank and 311 in Gaza vying for a place on the final list to be presented to the electorate on 25 January.

Activists sabotage Gaza vote
Al Jazeera

Armed men have stormed into several polling stations in the Gaza Strip where President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party was holding primary elections.

As the members of Fatah burned tyres in the streets on Monday, they complained that names of many eligible voters were missing from election lists.

No injuries were reported.

The primaries in Gaza, from which Israel withdrew in September and which is widely seen as a testing ground for Palestinian statehood, were held days after voters in the occupied West Bank cast aside veteran Fatah politicians in favour of newcomers and fighters.

Despite the violence in the central Gaza Strip, the primaries to pick Fatah candidates for parliamentary elections due in January continued in Gaza City and the southern town of Khan Yunus.

Voting postponed

Voting in Rafah, along the Egyptian border, was postponed until Wednesday. The reason for the delay was not immediately clear.

The Palestinian Authority has been struggling to control the Gaza Strip since Israeli forces withdrew after 38 years of occupation.

A strong primary showing by young Fatah leaders demanding a say in decision-making could help Abbas to meet a challenge by the powerful Hamas fighter group, taking part in national elections for the first time, analysts said.

But some commentators also say weakening the Fatah old guard that thrived under the late Yasser Arafat risked touching off political infighting that might further fracture the ruling party.

Peres quits Labour to back Sharon
BBC

Veteran Israeli politician Shimon Peres has quit the Labour Party and announced his support for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for March's general election. Mr Peres lost the Labour leadership to trade union leader Amir Peretz in a contest earlier this month. The 82-year-old former prime minister stood for his party's leadership on and off for the last three decades. Mr Peres said he would stop party activity and would focus on the "supreme effort of making peace". {snip}

Sharon's New Party: The Other Meaning of Israel's Political Earthquake
By RAMZY BAROUD - Counterpunch

Most of what has been written or said to depict Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's departure from the Likud party is parable to an "earthquake," or the "eruption of a volcano," and has, without a doubt, turned the Israeli political map "topsy-turvy," to borrow Ha'aretz Gideon Samet's phrase.

Like an earthquake it was unforeseeable -- except to the prudent few, mostly in Israeli political circles who predicted a dead end in Sharon's dealings with the Likud, the same political party he helped create 30 years ago.

But acknowledging the significance of the undeniably consequential event is one thing. Succumbing to a flawed analysis that it is a real opportunity to resuscitate the so-called peace process -- is entirely a different matter.

Similar to his unilateral move to "disengage" from the Gaza Strip earlier this year, the rightwing prime minister once again managed to control media discourse surrounding his Nov. 21 decision to jump the Likud ship in favor of a new center-based "liberal movement" -- a political party tentatively known as National Responsibility. {snip}

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Video - Noam Chomsky vs Alan Dershowitz - Havard Univeristy, 29-11-05.

(Real Player - 48mbs)

Sharon: Israel to keep Jordan Valley under any deal
Reuters

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on Thursday Israel intended to keep control of the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank, signalling its insistence on retaining settlements there under any future peace deal. Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv, Sharon called the Jordan Valley, where Israel has built a string of small settlements, part of the Jewish state's "security zone".

Palestinians say a continued Israeli presence there would deny them a viable state. Sharon has made clear following a Gaza withdrawal in September that Israel plans to keep large West Bank settlement blocs, but has said that some isolated enclaves would have to be removed under any future peace agreement.

Exiled militants return to Gaza
BBC

Several Palestinian militants who either fled or were expelled by Israel have returned to Gaza via the recently re-opened Rafah border crossing. The entry of as many as 15 members of Hamas, including one of its founders, has angered Israel.

Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz has warned his government will close two crossings it controls if militants continue to enter via Rafah.

The crossings into Israel are vital for trade between Gaza and the West Bank. {snip}


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Israel missile test 'successful'
BBC

Israel has carried out a successful test of its Arrow missile defence system, military officials have said. An Arrow missile intercepted and destroyed a target similar to Iran's long-range Shahab-3 missile.

The test was launched from an air force base in the centre of Israel and stuck a target over the Mediterranean.

Israel considers Iran its greatest threat and has been working to counter the Shahab missiles, which Tehran says can reach Israeli territory.

The Israeli military began developing the Arrow anti-ballistic missile system after coming under attack by Iraqi Scud missiles during the first Gulf War.

The Shahab-3 is believed to have a range of 2,000 km (1,250m). {snip}


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Support the 450 workers of Tadiran Kesher Factory
Socialist World
The 450 workers of Tadiran Kesher in Israel are on strike since 11 November. They are demanding the continuation of the collective contract, which they won after a militant struggle in the 1990’s, after the transfer of ownership of the factory to the company Elbit, that bought it and is notorious for it’s policy against workers’ orgnisations.

The profits of Tadrian, which produces most of the Israeli army’s communication equipment, have grown by 22% in the last quarter. However, the management still evades its obligations regarding workers’ pension rights, refuses to increase wages, and also threatens to sack 150 workers in order to break the union, that is known for its militancy, and has so far refused all the managment’s attempts to buy it off.

The workers, experienced in strikes, have occupied the factory and are prevnting the transer of goods in and out. They are running an active strike, accompanied by demonstations and daily protests in front of other workplaces owned by the owners of Elbit.

International support is necessary for the continued resistance of the workers despite management’s pressure and for the continuation of the strike.

As the management has cut electricty to the factory, messages of support will be passed throughh Maavak Sozialisti, the Israeli affilate of the CWI, and we will pass them onto the workers.


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EU report says Israel consolidating grip on east Jerusalem
Selves & Others


In the past few days it has been reported widely in the press that the European Union ’delayed publication’ of a critical report on Israel’s actions in East Jerusalem which, according to its authors, the Heads of the EU Missions in Ramallah and Jerusalem, "are reducing the possibility of reaching a final status agreement on Jerusalem, and demonstrate a clear Israeli intention to turn the annexation of East Jerusalem into a concrete fact." This is being done because of an EU decision to upgrade its ties with Israel, including its economic ties, despite continued Israeli violations of the Association Agreements under which goods from the Israeli settlements cannot enjoy special tariffs extending to Israel itself. {snip}


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UN seeks $215 million in aid for humanitarian aid in Palestine
Electronic Intifada


For the fourth consecutive year humanitarian agencies are appealing to donors for funding for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). The unfortunate need for yet another appeal stems from a largely unchanged humanitarian situation. Poverty rates have increased in 2005 compared to 2004, largely because the quality of work is lower and households' coping mechanisms are increasingly fragile.

The West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS) remain strangulated by an inability to freely cross borders to potential markets and move within the West Bank. The Israeli Government has stated that these measures are necessary to prevent militant attacks on Israeli citizens. Unless these restrictions are eased the prospect of indigenous Palestinian economic growth is dim. As the World Bank has noted on many occasions, increased donor spending within a policy environment of restricted access will have limited impact on alleviating Palestinian poverty. {snip}

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Palestinian committees OK’d at U.N.
JTA

On Wednesday, a senior American adviser at the U.N. General Assembly called for the elimination of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and the Division of Palestinian Rights within the Secretariat, which, along with the Special Information Program on the Question of Palestine, had their mandates approved in Thursday’s vote. Israel, its supporters and Jewish leaders have also called for the committees to be abolished. {snip}

Statement about kidnapped CPT members by Palestinian political parties
Electronic Intifada

[Partridge: Makes you wonder who actually kindnapped these people]

Following the abduction of four members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq, Palestinian political factions gathered in Hebron to issue a statement in Arabic about their experiences of seeing the CPT working in Palestine, and their personal knowledge of the three kidnapped members and their important work on behalf of the Palestinian people. Original Arabic version provided by CPT Hebron. English translation by the Electronic Intifada, posted for informational purposes.

In the name of God, the Compassionate and Merciful

"O ye who believe! If a wicked person comes to you with any news, ascertain the truth, lest ye harm people unwittingly, and afterwards become full of repentance for what ye have done."-The Holy Qur'an, 49:6

The Islamic and National forces in the governorate of Hebron/Palestine express their deep regret for the kidnapping of four members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in Iraq.

The Islamic and National forces in the governorate of Hebron/Palestine have had long experience confronting Israeli crimes and violations with the CPT since 1995, and wish to confirm that the members of this group have had and still have a major role in confronting Israeli crimes and violations, and in the protection of the property and the lives of the Palestinian citizens.

More than once they placed themselves in front of the occupation's tanks, and they confronted Israeli occupation bulldozers with their bodies defending Palestinians' homes against destruction. They accompanied our children when they were threatened and attacked by Israeli settlers on their way to and from their schools. Because of what they were doing, the CPT members were subjected to arrest, beating and pursuit by the Israeli soldiers and settlers in more than one location in Palestine. Many of them were denied entry to Palestine, or deported by the occupation authorities because of their activities in confronting the occupation.

We appeal to our brothers in the resistance and all those with alert consciences in Iraq, with whom we consider ourselves to be in the same trench confronting American aggression and occupation, to instantly and quickly release the four kidnapped persons (two Canadians, one Briton and one American) from CPT, in appreciation for their role in standing beside and supporting our Palestinian people and all the Arab and Islamic peoples.

Freedom for the Iraqi and Palestinian people.
Shame and disgrace on the Zionist and American occupation.

The Islamic and National Forces in the Governorate of Hebron:
Islamic Resistance Movement/Hamas
Palestine People's Party
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Democratic Union of Palestine/FIDA
Fatah
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Palestinian Liberation Front
Palestinian Popular Struggle Front

Hebron, 29 November 2005

Click to expand...

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Palestinian Solidarity Activists Amongst Four Peace Activist Hostages in Iraq
Electronic Intifada

Three of the four Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) hostages in Iraq of whom a video was released today have been in Palestine working as Palestinian Solidarity activists.

Tom Fox (54) worked with CPT Hebron and participated in demonstrations against the apartheid Wall in Jayyous.

Harmeet Sooden (32) a Canadian citizen who had been living in New Zealand, came to Palestine to join the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) in December 2004 and stayed until January 2005. He worked in solidarity with local Palestinian people, mostly in Nablus and Jenin. While in Jenin, he worked with a group of ISM activists who planted Olive trees on the 'Swithart' farm outside Jenin, He was committed to come to Palestine for three months to join the ISM again at the beginning of December 2005 as a long term activist for the liberation of Palestine from Israeli occupation, but first decided to join a two week CPT delegation to Iraq. {snip}

Zionist Attack Dogs Bay For Galloway's Blood

This article is from a website called Totally Jewish - which I think is pretty much stating its bias right there. Anyway:


Galloway Under Fire After TV Slur
Totally Jewish

Anti-Israel politician George Galloway came under fire yet again this week after he told an Arab television interviewer that Zionists control the media.

The Bethnal Green and Bow MP’s latest comments came after he was introduced as “a former member of the British Houses of Parliament” during a live interview with Qatari Al-Jazeera television.

He responded: “I am still a member of parliament and was re-elected five times. On the last occasion I was re-elected despite all the efforts made by the British government, the Zionist movement and the newspapers and news media which are controlled by Zionism.”

[Partridge: Note the important distiniction - he says 'news media which are controlled by Zionists' - not 'the Zionists control ALL the media'. A huge difference. That's like Blair saying he was re-elected 'despite the news papers that are controlled by the Tories', he is not saying all news media is controlled by Tories. Of course, the Zionist Movement is always willing to conjure up phantoms of anti-semitism where none exist.]

Mark Gardner, Director of Communications at the Community Security Trust, said: “This is despicable language for a Member of Parliament to use. Suggestions of Jewish media control can only give encouragement to anti-semites of every type.”

[Is this guy seriously arguing that Jewish people don't own some media outlets? If so, then I fear he's serioulsy deluded and not a competent commentator on this issue. And "anti-semites of every type" - I'd think there's only one kind of anti-semite, and thats the kind that hates Jews]

During the interview, which was broadcast on 17 November, Galloway accused Israel, Britain and the United States of targeting Syria because of the “good things” it had done, such as supporting “Palestinian resistance” and refusing to make peace with Israel.

He also described Senator Norm Coleman, the leader of the US Congressional investigation into Galloway’s alleged oil deals with Saddam Hussein’s regime, of being “the strongest supporter of Israel in Washington”.

He added: “Almost all politicians in Washington blindly support Israel. Senator Norman Coleman, the senator who was accusing me is the closest friend of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.”

[Partridge: Almost all politicans do support Israel uncritically. They are PROUD of this fact and mention it whenever the oppurtunity arises. As for Norm Coleman, I don't know about his personal realtions with the AIPAC, I do know that in the 2003-2004 fiscal year he recieved $8000 from AIPAC, and his career total of AIPAC donations - as of 2004 - is $34,980 (source)]

Ben Novick, Director of Media Relations at BICOM (Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre), dismissed Galloway’s allegations about zionist control of the media, adding: “We hope that Al-Jazeera’s premonition of Galloway as a former MP will soon become a reality.”

[Partridge: Oh I just bet they do!]

Galloway has a long history of controversial comments about Israel and zionism. In September he told an American radio station that “Israel and dirty tricks have a long history”.

[Partirdge: Controversial? Really now, theres nothing controversial about that - unless you ignore every serious book ever written by historians.]

At the time, he told TJ: “I believe that Zionism has exploited the Jewish people as much as the Palestinian people and has turned the people of Einstein and Epstein into one apparently represented by Sharon and Netanyahu.”

Galloway himself was unavailable for comment yesterday, but a Respect Party spokesman said the interview with al-Jazeera was in-line with his stated views.

Galloway ousted Labour's Jewish MP Oona King in May's general election.

[Partridge: Half-Jewish - and what are they trying to imply? That one cannot run against a Jewish person in an election? (Isn't that reverse-racism?) I suppose that's anti-semitic too! (Well it was certainly called that during the campaign anyway!)]

Does anyone actually read this thread I wonder?

Israelis arrest Aljazeera journalist
Al-Jazeera

A journalist working for Aljazeera.net has been arrested by Israeli forces from the occupied West Bank. Awad Rajub, 29, was whisked away from his home in Dura, near the West Bank city of Hebron, on Tuesday.

An Israeli army spokesman said Rajub was still in detention. Sources told Aljazeera that Rajub, a Palestinian, was beaten up in the presence of his wife by the Israeli soldiers. His computer and mobile phone were also confiscated.

Rajub was later taken to an undisclosed location. Walid al-Amari, Aljazeera's bureau chief for Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories, said: "The army simply said that he had been arrested for security reasons, and we do not know any more than that."

Israeli public radio said Rajub was arrested after the army received information about him from the domestic Israeli security service, Shin Beth.

Sharon 'sees wall as Israel's new border'
The Independent


A senior ally of Ariel Sharon has given the most explicit indication yet that the Israeli Prime Minister envisages the 425-mile separation barrier as the border between Israel and a future Palestinian state.

Government spokesmen frequently claim that the barrier was built solely for security reasons and could be removed or rerouted.

But the Justice Minister, Tzipi Livni, who is helping prepare the programme of Mr Sharon's new Kadima party, told a legal conference in Caesarea: "One does not have to be a genius to see that the fence will have implications for the future border. This is not the reason it was built, but it could have political implications."

The Palestinian leadership said this was evidence that the barrier, which puts 8 per cent of the West Bank, including the major settlement blocs, on the Israeli side, was an effort to pre-empt free negotiations on any final peace deal.

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said: "This is a very dangerous development and undermines the chances of permanent status negotiations. This proves Israel wants to dictate and not negotiate."

But leaders of Likud, the main hard-right party badly weakened by the desertion of Mr Sharon, are likely to attack the remarks as implying that the Prime Minister is ready to concede up to 90 per cent of the West Bank, including the settlements east of the barrier, unilaterally or in negotiations with the Palestinians.


A member of Israel's Supreme Court, Mishael Cheshin was said by the daily Haaretz to have cited the security arguments used by government lawyers facing challenges to the barrier route and told Ms Livni at the conference: "That is not what you have contended in court."

The high court decided two parts of the barrier should be brought closer to Israel's pre-1967 borders than it had planned. Other sections - especially that which threatens to encircle Jerusalem and cut the occupied Arab east of the city from the West Bank - still present massive stumbling blocks to negotiated settlement with the Palestinians. Haim Ramon, another prominent member of Mr Sharon's new party who deserted from Labour, has already said the section around Jerusalem was built for political rather than merely security reasons.

He said the route "also makes Jerusalem more Jewish", adding: "The safer and more Jewish Jerusalem will be, it can serve as a true capital of the state of Israel."

The Palestinians have made it repeatedly clear that east Jerusalem, seized by Israeli in the 1967 war, must the capital of any future Palestinian state.

Palestinians fire two Qassams into western Negev
Haaretz

[Partridge: Interesting headline. Not 'IDF kills Palestinain fisherman and retarded teenager; Jihad fire Qassam rockets in probable retaliation'.]

Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip fired two Qassam rockets Saturday which landed in an open field in the western Negev. No injuries were reported.

An Israeli Navy vessel sank a Palestinian ship off the coast of the southern Gaza Strip before dawn on Saturday after an exchange of gunfire. One Palestinian was killed in the incident, medics reported.

According to a military source, the boat had entered prohibited waters from the direction of Egypt and ignored an order to stop. When the Israeli forces fired warning shots into the air, Palestinians on the boat fired on the navy ship. The navy said its vessel was then also fired on from the shore.

The navy returned fire, killing 22-year-old Ziad Dardawel, Palestinian medics said. No Israeli soldiers were hurt.

The medics said the Palestinian killed in the incident had been on a fishing trip. Palestinian security sources maintained that the boat had been in an authorized fishing area, and that the navy fired on the boat and on another boat without provocation.

Israel's navy has largely blockaded Gaza's coast during much of a five-year-old Palestinian uprising, forcing Palestinian boats to stay close to shore.

Israel says it is a security measure to prevent weapons smuggling by sea and attacks on Israelis. Palestinians say it is collective punishment that has crippled Gaza's fishing industry.

Most of the restrictions have remained in place since Israel's Gaza pullout in September.

A similar altercation occured three weeks ago. In that incident, a 17-year-old Palestinian was killed.

IDF kills Palestinian near Gaza border
In an unrelated incident, Israel Defense Forces soldiers shot dead a Palestinian near the Gaza border on Friday after he and two others tried to cross illegally into Israel, Palestinian medics said.

An IDF spokeswoman said troops at an army post near the frontier spotted the three men climbing the border fence and opened fire at them. All three were hit and the army called for ambulances to take them back to Gaza, she said.

Palestinian medics said two men were wounded and one was found dead under an olive tree with a bullet hole in his head. Palestinian security officials said Sayid Abu Libdeh, 15, was killed and the two other
people with him were wounded.

They said the three were mentally retarded and were trying to enter Israel in search of work. No weapons were found among them.

Similar violent incidents have occurred in recent months despite a ceasefire Israeli and Palestinian leaders declared in February. The army spokeswoman said troops had detained three Palestinians who infiltrated the Gaza border earlier in the day.

U.S. church leaders criticized for meeting with Hezbollah
AP

The top Presbyterian church official in Chicago has angered Jewish leaders in this city who say a meeting he and other Presbyterians had with Hezbollah last month was "unconscionable."

The Rev. Bob Reynolds, head of the Chicago Presbytery, said the meeting in southern Lebanon took place in early November and was part of a tour of the Middle East.

"The goal of my trip was educational," Reynolds said. "I think one way people can learn from one another is to learn the way people talk about themselves and describe their own reality. In some small measure that did happen on this visit."

The White House has labeled Hezbollah as a terrorist group.

"It is unconscionable that Presbyterian leaders would meet with Hezbollah, which our government designates as a foreign terrorist organization," Lonnie Nasatir, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement Thursday. "Hezbollah (Party of God) has a track record of terror that is unambiguous. It pioneered the use of suicide bombing in the Middle East." {snip}

Israeli Aircraft Fire on Gaza Rocket Lab
AP


Israeli aircraft fired missiles at an abandoned building and a rocket launching ground in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday in the first aerial attack on Gaza in more than a month, the military said.

Palestinian security officials said missiles also struck a charity belong to the Islamic Jihad militant group. A bystander was slightly wounded by flying shrapnel, they said.

The Israeli military said it targeted a building used for terror operations and open fields where homemade rockets had been launched in recent days. No one was injured, it said.

Palestinians said the building was an abandoned metal workshop. Israel targets workshops it suspects are used to produce producing weapons.

After a lull of several weeks, Palestinians began firing homemade rockets at southern Israel from Gaza again last week. Israel responded initially with artillery fire. The air strike Sunday was the first since Oct. 27, the military said.

Some Palestinian officials say the attacks on Israel, which have caused no injuries, have been renewed in an effort to show force ahead of Jan. 25 Palestinian parliamentary elections.

In other developments, the military announced it would let 6,000 more Palestinian laborers into Israel, for a total of 16,000 in the West Bank and 7,000 in Gaza. An additional 1,500 Palestinian merchants will also be let in, for a total of 12,500 in the West Bank and 2,000 in Gaza.

The entry of Palestinian laborers into Israel has been severely restricted over the past five years in response to violence, dealing a crushing blow to the Palestinian economy.