DECEMBER 2002

Tuesday December 31, 2002

Main Headline

Troops Use Palestinians as Human Shields

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM - Israeli troops killed four Palestinians yesterday as a leading Israeli rights group said the army beat Palestinians and use them as human shields to fire on stone-throwing crowds.

Israel Allows Known Terrorist to Nominate Himself for Knesset

HEBRON - (PC) An Israeli election committee on Monday allowed a well-known Israeli terrorist to nominate himself for a Knesset seat in the coming Israeli elections slated for 28 January.

The committee ruled that Baruch Marzel, head of the nominally-outlawed Kach terrorist organization, could nominate himself without any objections.

Marzel openly advocates the extermination or expulsion of the Palestinian people from their ancestral homeland, and on many occasions he was convicted of carrying out terror attacks on Palestinian civilians in the Hebron area.

Marzel was the right-hand aide to Baruch Goldstein, the infamous terrorist who in 1994 murdered 29 Arab worshipers at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.

Monday December 30, 2002

Main Headline

PNA Calls on World Community to End Israeli Bloodshed
December 30, 2002
By Palestine Media Center

The Palestinian leadership has called upon the international community to “put an end to the Israeli bloodshed, led by (Israeli Prime Minister) Sharon, (Israeli “defense” minister) Mofaz, and (chief of staff) Ayalon.”

It further accused the Jewish state of interrupting the “Palestinian reform process as well as all [Palestinian] efforts to revive the political (peace) process by holding general elections, through which (the Palestinian) people can freely decide their own president and lawmakers, under direct international supervision.”

Israel Confirms Expulsion of Eight Belgian Peace Activists

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM - The Israeli Interior Ministry confirmed Friday the expulsion of eight Belgian citizens who were planning to attend a conference in the reoccupied West Bank town of Ramallah.

Four other foreigners, among them three Brazilians, were in custody Friday at Ben-Gurion airport awaiting deportation.

The Belgians were among a 12-member group planning to take part in a four-day “World Social Forum” in Ramallah, Palestinian sources said.

They were detained by Israeli immigration officials when they arrived in Israel on Thursday.

Among those expelled was Pierre Galand, chairman of a Belgian-Palestinian association.

The group flew back to Europe aboard a German Lufthansa airliner Friday morning, Belgian foreign ministry spokesman Didier Seeuws said.

Forum organizers said another 10 people who arrived at Ben Gurion Friday had not been allowed out of the airport and could also be turned away.

The Palestinian social forum, based on the model of the World Social Forum held in Porto Alegre, Brazil last February, nonetheless opened as scheduled on Friday.

The Belgian government was not informed of the reasons for the expulsions and has protested the decision to Israel.

"Israel does not tolerate on its soil people who come to demonstrate against the state,” Israel’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Tova Ellinson said.

Israel has in recent weeks barred access to its territory and to the Israeli-reoccupied Palestinian territories of foreign peace activists seeking to express solidarity with the Palestinian people.

-[Palestine Media Center (http://www.palestine-pmc.com/).] Published at the Palestine Chronicle.

Sharon Plans Permanent Reoccupation of All Palestinian Land: Erakat

RAMALLAH - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is moving towards re-establishing a permanent reoccupation of all Palestinian land, top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP Saturday.

"We have seen recently a number of developments which indicate that Sharon wants to destroy the Palestinian Authority, sabotage ceasefire talks in Cairo and rebuild the civil administration in the Palestinian territories,” he told AFP after a meeting of the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah.

"The civil administration is already here. Every Palestinian who wants to move from one village to another to do his work needs an authorization from the Israeli army,” Erakat said.

The interim peace agreements -- signed by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) between 1993 and 1995 -- provided for dissolution of civil administration and an Israeli military withdrawal from cities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

"Sharon's supposed support for a Palestinian state is contradicted by everything on the ground,” Erakat charged.

"The latest obvious examples are the decision to build 230 housing units in the settlement of Immanuel and to extend buffer zones around settlements in the West Bank,” he said.

Immanuel is an illegal Jewish settlement located between northern West Bank cities of Qalqiliya and Nablus.

Erekat added, "Israel also tried to undermine the roadmap before it was even born. It is absolutely clear that Sharon wants to revert to a full and permanent occupation of all Palestinian land.”

The so-called ‘roadmap’ for peace in the Middle East is a document drafted by the four main diplomatic players in the region (UN, US, EU and Russia), which calls for the creation of Palestinian state with definitive borders by 2005 and a freeze on all settlement activity.

The plan was due to be finalized ten days ago at a summit in Washington, but the United States and Israel pushed for any definitive decision to be delayed until after the Israeli elections on January 28.

In a bid to conquer the vote-winning center electorate, Sharon launched his campaign for re-election with a promise to support the creation of a Palestinian state, albeit with many restrictions.

-[Palestine Media Center (http://www.palestine-pmc.com/).] Published at the Palestine Chronicle.

Jenin Victims Narrate Israeli Atrocities in Extraordinary Book

SEATTLE (PalestineChronicle.com) - After several months of Israeli attempts to conceal the conduct of the IDF in the Israeli invasion of the Jenin refugee camp in April 2002, the most compelling, detailed and revealing account of the historic events will finally be available to the public.

The book entitled “Searching Jenin, Eyewitness Accounts of the Israeli Invasion, 2002”, is without a doubt, a must for anyone interested in Middle East history, politics and current events. The work, which includes final statistics of casualties, human and material losses, is by far the most comprehensive and exhaustive volume written on the issue.

“Searching Jenin,” a collective effort of nearly 60 scholars, reporters, and activists, Palestinians, Israelis and Internationals, is edited by Ramzy Baroud, editor-in-chief of PalestineChronicle.com, and includes a Forward by the highly-renowned scholar, Noam Chomsky. The book is being published by Cune Press in Seattle, and is a part of their Bridge Between Cultures project.

“I owe my greatest thanks to our commissioned reporters in Palestine,” said Ramzy Baroud, the editor of ‘Searching Jenin”, Many of them put their safety, and in some cases, their lives on the line to collect account after tragic account for this book. Because of their integrity and professionalism, they were able to interview many high profile figures that refused to take an interview with any other news agency.”

Not only does the book include scores of telling accounts of residents who witnessed and survived the invasion, but it includes interviews with people such as the wife and the mother of Mahmud Tawalbe, the leader of the resistance in Jenin. Tawalbe was shot and killed by Israeli forces. The book also includes a detailed interview with the only eyewitness to the extra-judicial execution of Abu Jandal, the second in command of the Palestinian resistance in Jenin.

The courageous reporters who combed the streets of Jenin, interviewed medical personnel, resistance fighters, and even children, including an 8 year old girl named Rund, who complained that the army broke her only doll. Rund’s father was later shot and killed by the army. They also interviewed an elderly widow who explained how she implored Israeli forces as they demolished her small home, burying her disabled son alive under the rubble. Her son’s body was never recovered.

“We had so many obstacles to overcome, primarily the Israeli army’s refusal to allow me entry into Palestine,” stated Baroud. “For the past several months, the Israeli government has done everything in their power to cover-up their actions, including the barring of a UN investigation team to the area. Until now, the Palestinians are still unable to carry out their own official investigation due to the fact that the camp is still under a strict curfew. But in spite of all these hurdles, and thanks to the hard work and contributions of so many, the truth is going to come out into the light.”

Baroud and Cune Press are ready for the anticipated controversy such a book will stir, which follows the recent release of the film documentary titled, “Jenin, Jenin”, a film that was abruptly banned by the Israeli government. However, they both state that “Searching Jenin” will not simply add fuel to the controversy about the events in Jenin, but that it will prove to be the most revealing document to date regarding the atrocities last April that came to be a symbol of Palestinian resistance world-wide.

Ali Samoudi, the project facilitator in Jenin stressed, “The promotion of this important book is the collective responsibility of all who care about justice and truth. This book is dear to the hearts off all refugees in Jenin, because for the first time, we are narrating our own story.”

For further information or to order your copy of “Searching Jenin” contact editor, Suzanne Russ: Russ@PalestineChronicle.com

Friday December 27, 2002

Main Headline

Blair Hails Palestinian Reform Conference on January 13-14

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM - Talks hosted by Britain on progress in reforming the Palestine National Authority (PNA) will be held on January 13-14, Palestinian international cooperation minister Nabil Shaath said yesterday.

Shaath said last Monday the Palestinians wanted the conference to have a broader political scope and not focus solely on reform efforts, as suggested by British Prime Minister Tony Blair when he issued the invitation in mid-December.

Shaath added Palestinians were working to change the meeting’s agenda in order to suit their demands.

Blair has invited Palestinian leaders as well as EU, Russian, US, and UN representatives to attend the talks.

Other Arab countries, but not Israel, are also expected to be invited.

The January 13-14 conference has the aim of "ensuring that Palestinian reform is effective,” Blair wrote in the Egyptian daily al-Ahram.

"Reform is about nation-building,” he added in explaining the invitation to Palestinian leaders that has been widely maligned in Israel.

Blair said that advancing reforms would promote the “roadmap” for peace drafted by the diplomatic “Quartet” of the European Union, Russia, United Nations and United States, which envisions the creation of a Palestinian state by the end of 2005.

"I believe that the international community should use the intervening period to boost the chances of the roadmap being implemented successfully once a new Israeli government is in place,” Blair said.

The British prime minister was alluding to Israel’s refusal to consider the roadmap finalized at a December 20 Quartet meeting in Washington until following the Jewish state’s January 28 national elections.

Blair explained he had asked Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to appoint the PNA’s delegates to the conference.

Blair said he has also extended invitations to "senior figures from within Palestinian civil society” and members of the Quartet, in addition to Egyptian, Saudi and Jordanian representatives.

"Of course strengthening Palestinian democracy and rebuilding civil and security structures is only one element of a comprehensive Middle East settlement. But it is nonetheless an important element, because it is a prerequisite for success,” said Blair who announced the talks on December 16.

-[Palestine Media Center (http://www.palestine-pmc.com/).] Published at the Palestine Chronicle.

Occupation Soldiers Force Child to Act Like Suicide Bomber for the Camera

By Romal al-Sweiti

NABLUS, West Bank - Occupation soldiers in Nablus City yesterday committed a racist crime against a child, who carries US nationality, forcing him to sit on the floor and to tie a head band that carries the sign of 'Al-Aqsa Brigades' (Fateh militant faction) and then taking pictures of him.

The mother of the child Ahmad Abdel Haq (14 years old) from the Al-Jabal Al-Shamali area in Nablus said that occupation soldiers raided their home after blowing up the front door when her son was alone at home.

She said that the occupiers started destroying the house and all their belongings before discovering the child Ahmad. They then started beating him up brutally, despite his pleas and attempts to explain to them that he has an American passport with the number '701372809' and that he was born in California, USA.

She said that one of the occupation captains forced her son to sit down and placed behind him a Palestinian flag and 2 M-16 machineguns as well as a number of hand grenades and a gun on the table in front of him and then gave him a piece of paper and another M-16 machinegun and forced him to read a suicide bomber's will. After this was finished, he was forced to act as if he was praying on the floor.

The mother said that the soldiers placed their machineguns to her son's head threatening to kill him if he told any media channels what happened to him, and then they threw him on the stairs, which resulted in head injuries. The mother added that all this was photographed with a still camera.

She said that she informed the American consulate of the incident which she described as "racist", and expressed fear that these photographs may be used against her son or against the Palestinian people in general.

The mother confirmed that following the attack, her son suffers from a state of hysteria and fear and that she is going to have to take him to psychiatrist as a result of the horror story which he lived at the hands of the soldiers.

Published by Al-Hayat Al-Jadida daily newspaper) - Dec 27, 2002 (Translated by Hear Palestine News Service)

Joy to the World and Hell in Bethlehem

By Louis Farshee

BETHLEHEM - From the same wonderful people who bring hell to Palestine every day, it’s Christmas 2002. With predictable fanfare accompanied by a chorus of uninvestigated news reports the occupation forces of the State of Israel have allegedly pulled out of Bethlehem in the spirit of Christmas. Not so!

Thursday December 26, 2002

Main Headline

Enveloped with Tanks, Bethlehem Celebrates Melancholy Christmas

BETHLEHEM - Palestinians in the biblical birth city of Jesus Christ are celebrating Christmas under Israeli occupation with no tree or decorations in the Manger Square to commemorate the once-a-joyous occasion.

Israel’s bid to score PR points amidst mounting criticism over its occupation of Bethlehem at the time when this city should be celebrating the birth of the prophet of peace, failed to reach its target.

Journalists reporting from the city say there remains a visible Israeli army presence in the city. The only signs of any celebrations are religious prayers. They also said that once the two-day Christmas celebrations are over, Bethlehem will be re-occupied again and a curfew slammed on its residents.

Redeploying its troops from the Manger Square to posts several meters away did not bring any joy to the Christians and Muslims of Bethlehem, who were broke and hopeless with tourism in the West Bank City almost at a standstill and unemployment rising.

Bethlehem has been under curfew since November, after a suicide attack on a bus in Jerusalem.

26 months of a bloody whirlpool of violence have kept pilgrims and tourists away, causing many local businesses, which rely on this once-busy season for their livelihood, to plummet in bankruptcy.

Bethlehem Mayor Hanna Nasser, a Christian, called it a “sad Christmas”.

“Our message to the world is to restore peace to the town of Bethlehem and all the Palestinian territories and to give the Palestinians a chance to live as real humans,” Nasser said. “We hope next year we'll have a better Christmas -- and a real one.”

In past Christmases, a huge tree would stand in Manger Square shining with bright colored. Marching Boy Scout bands and bagpipes would play as the Latin Patriarch was escorted to the Church of the Nativity.

This year at the Square, there were no Christmas decorations, no singing and very few tourists, who dared to defy Israel’s military might. The municipality refused to put up a Christmas tree to protest Israel’s occupation of the City.

The Roman Catholic Patriarch in the Holy Land, Michel Sabah, led a procession with many gathered at the Manger Square late Tuesday night, before conducting midnight mass at the Church of the Nativity.

Before mass, Palestinian Boy Scouts carrying flags and pictures of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat greeted Sabbah.

The Palestinian President was barred from attending mass in Bethlehem for the second year in row after attending it annually since he returned to the occupied Palestinian territory in 1994.

Arafat slammed Israel’s decision as provocative, and added that his Christmas message was a call for “love, peace and forgiveness.”

“Our message on Christmas Eve is a message of love, peace and forgiveness, of Israeli and Palestinian coexistence and respect for all humanity,” Arafat told a crowd of some 500 Palestinians, including prominent Christian and Muslim leaders at his battered Ramallah compound on Monday.

At the Church of the Nativity, Arafat’s chair was empty par a “Koufieh” or a head cover, which has become the symbol of the Palestinian leader.

Roman Patriarch Urges Israel to End Occupation

At Midnight Mass, Sabah called for freedom for Palestinians and said peace can only be achieved if and when Israel withdraws its occupation troops from the Palestinian territory.

Speaking at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Patriarch called on Israel to “alter its vision”.

“We ask you [Israelis] that you understand the reason for the violence, and this is [the] occupation. You need new leaders with a new vision, or you must help your leaders to adopt a new vision that will give all peoples here peace and security.”

“Blood has been flowing in your cities and streets but the key to solving this conflict is in your hands. By your actions so far, you have crushed the Palestinian people but you still have not achieved peace.” He said, addressing Israel.

Sabah also addressed President Arafat, who was banned from attending, wishing he were there with the crowds and praying that God would grant him “the wisdom and the power under this siege to continue your mission toward peace and justice”.

“We will continue to demand our freedom and dignity... the Palestinian people want to say to the Israeli people that we wish you peace, security and well-being. With such peace, Palestinians want freedom and an end to occupation,” he said.

Only some twenty kilometers away from Bethlehem, Arafat told reporters, “Now they [Israelis] have prevented me for the second time to participate with my brothers in the Nativity Church.”

“In spite of that, I am sending from my heart my greetings, ‘Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas’, and we hope that we will meet together in Jerusalem and also in Bethlehem.”

-[Palestine Media Center (http://www.palestine-pmc.com/).] Published at the Palestine Chronicle.

Israeli Leaders Accuse Sharon of Lying, Creating Hysteria Over Alleged Iraqi Threat

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM - Several Israeli leaders have lambasted Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for “disseminating lies” and “creating hysteria within the public” over possible but unlikely Iraqi attack on Israel in case of an American war on the Arab country.

Labor Party leader and prime ministerial candidate Amram Mitzna dismissed Sharon’s allegations that Iraq had transferred chemical and biological weapons to Syria and Libya as “unbelievable.”

He accused the Israeli premier of disseminating “hysteria within the public in for the purpose of advancing the political agenda of his party.”

The veteran Israeli politician Shimon Peres has also criticized Sharon’s statements regarding the alleged transfer of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to Syria.

The Israeli state-run radio quoted Peres on Wednesday as saying that he didn’t believe that Sharon’s statements were true.

A third voice discrediting Sharon’s allegations was Tsvi Farkash, the head of Israeli military intelligence.

Farkash was quoted on Monday as saying that “there is no evidence of any transfer of chemical or biological weapons from Iraq to Syria.”

Both Syria and Libya vehemently denied the Israeli allegations.

Syria called Sharon’s remarks “silly and ridiculous and completely false,” while Libya called the accusations “baseless.”

-[IAP News (iap.org).] Published at the Palestine Chronicle.

Tuesday December 24, 2002

Main Headline

Bethlehem Embraces for the Saddest Christmas Ever

By Khalid Amayreh

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM - Palestinian Christians are embracing for what may well be the bleakest Christmas of their lives.

Bethlehem’s Occupation Aimed at Building Segregation Wall: City Mayor

BETHLEHEM - The mayor of Bethlehem accused Israel on Tuesday of planning to annex hundreds of acres (hectares) of land from the edge of the West Bank town during its reoccupation, in order to build a segregation wall, separating the city from Jerusalem.

“The Israeli occupation of Bethlehem is not to hunt down militants but to build a wall and confiscate 2,700 dunums (675 acres, 270 hectares) of land from the city near the Jewish settlement of Gilo,” mayor Hanna Nasser told journalists here.

He said the land grab would isolate 56 Palestinian homes, which would not be officially annexed to Israel but which would be under Israeli security control, making access to the city extremely difficult for residents.

He added that work on the wall began 10 days ago and that, when completed, it would stretch 2.8 kilometers (1.7 miles) and be up to eight meters (26 feet) high.

The Israeli security cabinet in September approved a plan to build a ‘security perimeter’ between Jerusalem the northern edge of Bethlehem and close to the illegal Israeli settlement of “Gilo”

IOF troops re-occupied Bethlehem last month, ending a three-month security understanding known as “Bethlehem First” reached between Palestinian security officials and the former Israeli ‘defense’ minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer.

Israel announced it had re-deployed its troops in the city prior to the Christmas season, by mainly withdrawing IOF from the Church of Nativity’s square, but said its troops were keep their presence in other areas in the southern West Ban city.

Nevertheless, Palestinian sources and witnesses said IOF soldiers were deployed in at least two nearby buildings overseeing the Square, which was set to be the center of Christmas celebrations prior to the occupation of the city more than a month ago.

-Palestine Media Center (http://www.palestine-pmc.com/).

Monday December 23, 2002

Main Headline

Jane Fonda Embarks on Solidarity Tour to Palestine

RAMALLAH - Hollywood star Jane Fonda spent Saturday visiting the West Bank City of Ramallah, where she toured a rehabilitation center and met with a bereaved Palestinian family at a refugee camp, before returning to her home in the US.

Her three-day visit to the region, aimed at promoting peace, came to an end in Ramallah, which she visited after having first to cross the infamous Qalandia roadblock set up by soldiers between Jerusalem and the West Bank city.

Making her way through mud and clutching a bouquet of red roses given to her by the Jerusalem Center for Women, the Palestinian women’s group accompanying her.

Escorted by a Palestinian expert on settlements, the two-time Oscar winner toured Jewish colonies nearby and moved from there to a Palestinian refugee camp near Ramallah.

Fonda, who had visited the West Bank in 1980, said she was surprised by the number and proximity of Jewish settlements to the Palestinian population.

The aerobics queen known also for her anti-war campaigns during the US war on Vietnam arrived in the region last Tuesday.

At the Qalandia refugee camp, she met with Fatima al-Kasba whose two young sons, Samer and Yasser aged 12 and 15, were killed by Israeli occupation forces (IOF).

The two women hugged in tears as the mother spoke of her torment and pain at losing two of her children.

Fonda later visited the Abu Raya Rehabilitation Center, where victims who had sustained injuries by IOF during the Intifada were being treated and provided with physiotherapy.

The 65-year-old ended her visit with a social encounter with artists and scholars at Ishtar Theater for Training and Production.

“It is a good time for us to come. We as American women can join with you to help resolve the conflict.” Fonda told a group of some 30 scholars, dancers and artists.

Olga Vives, vice-president of the National Organization for Women (NOW), who was also accompanying Fonda, said, “I am overwhelmed by your pain. I leave with a moral obligation to try to find way for just peace to this conflict.”

Palestine Media Center- (PMC)

Conflict Will Only End with a Two-state Solution: Lieberman

RAMALLAH - US Presidential hopeful Senator Joseph Lieberman said the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will only end with a two-state solution, with a strong peaceful Israel living side-by-side with a peaceful Palestine.

After a meeting with the Palestine National Authority (PNA) Minister of Culture and Information Yasser Abed Rabbo on Monday in Ramallah, Senator Lieberman said he took note of the ‘desperate humanitarian problems” in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory, adding that there was a very strong support within the United States Congress for (national) Palestinian aspirations.

Senator Lieberman was on a visit to occupied Palestinian territory and Israel and met with the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Sunday. He is scheduled to head to the Gulf to "review US troops" training for a potential strike against Iraq and come back to Israel on Friday, a US diplomat in occupied Jerusalem said on Sunday.

"Mr Lieberman is on a partially public and partially private visit,” the diplomat said.

Senator Lieberman is considered a potential challenger to US President George W. Bush in 2004 elections.

He was the Democratic candidate for vice president in 2000, becoming the first Jewish-American to be nominated for that office.

He immediately jumped to the top of the list of contenders for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination when the 2000 nominee, former vice president Al Gore, announced last week he would sit the elections out.

Lieberman is known for his strong ties with the Jewish state.

-Palestine Media Center (http://www.palestine-pmc.com/)

Amnesty Condemns Israel’s Mistreatment of Refuseniks

LONDON - The leading International human rights group Amnesty protested at the treatment of Israeli conscientious objectors, mainly army reserve soldiers and officers who refuse to serve in the occupied Palestinian territory, who it said were being jailed while serving soldiers committed human rights violations with impunity.

In a press release sent to AFP last week, the London-based group said it had written to Israeli ‘Defense’ Minister Shaul Mofaz to express concern at the imprisonment of conscripts and reservists who refuse to do military service or serve in the occupied territories.

It said that some 180 such objectors and “refuseniks” had been jailed in the past six months, singling out such individuals as Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nephew Jonathan Ben-Artzi, who is serving a sixth consecutive prison term.

“Members of the Israeli “Defense” Forces who commit grave human rights violations and war crimes, such as killing children and other unarmed civilians, recklessly shooting and shelling densely populated residential areas or blowing up houses on top of people and leaving them to die under the rubble are not brought to justice and held accountable for their acts,” Amnesty said.

“At the same time conscripts and reservists who refuse to serve, precisely to avoid participating in such acts, are sent to jail for months,” it added, asking, “What kind of message is such a policy sending to Israel society?”

“The impunity enjoyed by “IDF” members responsible for human rights violations and the imprisonment of conscientious objectors are grave concerns, each in their own right; the combination of both constitutes an extremely worrying trend,” it said.

Amnesty noted that while conscripts unwilling to serve on grounds of conscious or because they believe the army is violating human rights are jailed, other conscripts were routinely granted exemption from call-up on religious grounds.

“Amnesty International believes that all conscientious objectors should be given an opportunity to present the grounds of their objection to a decision-making body which is established by law and is impartial and independent,” it pointed out.

“The draft resisters and refuseniks who are and have been imprisoned as a result of their conscientious objection are prisoners of conscience. Those currently detained should be released immediately and unconditionally,” Amnesty concluded.

-Palestine Media Center (http://www.palestine-pmc.com/)

Sunday December 22, 2002

Main Headline

Palestinian Leadership Forced to Postpone Elections

RAMALLAH - Citing the Israeli occupation and curfews, the Palestinian leadership Sunday, December 22, postponed January's presidential and legislative elections until after the Israeli army withdraws from reoccupied self-rule areas.

"The Palestinian leadership decided to hold the elections after the Israelis withdraw from the (reoccupied) Palestinian territories and according to the electoral law," the leadership statement said after a meeting in Ramallah.

"There is no way the elections can be held on January 20," Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat told Agence France-Presse (AFP), adding that under the electoral law, 100 days were needed from the announcement of polls for the preparation of the ballot.

Erakat said the Israeli curfews, occupation and blockades of Palestinian cities, towns and villages in almost the entire West Bank made the holding of elections unfeasible.

The polls had been scheduled for January 20 but the electoral committee recommended delaying them, saying Israel's reoccupation of the West Bank and the closures imposed made them impossible.

"We met with the president and recommended to him that it is highly important to delay the elections because it is impossible to hold them in the current circumstances, owing to the siege, the occupation and other circumstances," Ali Jerbawi said Friday, December 20.

Israeli forces streamed into the West Bank on June 19, imposing strict curfews and cutting off communities from each other as they persistently hunted down suspect resistance activists, hundreds of whom have been detained or questioned.

The lockdowns have made it almost impossible for the population to move around, crippling the economy, sending already chronic unemployment soaring and undermining hopes that voters could make it to the ballot boxes, as the army shows no sign of withdrawing.

Israel is demanding the Palestinian Authority undertake sweeping democratic and security reforms. However, it wanted the presidential elections delayed for fear Arafat, whom it wants dumped and who enjoys the support of most Palestinians, could win a new term as leader.

Washington also wants to see Arafat dropped, claiming that he is an obstacle to the peace process.

Israelis Protest Settlement Expansion, Army Destroys More Houses

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM - Around 200 Israeli activists from the Peace Now movement demonstrated Sunday in the southern West Bank city of Al-Khalil ( Hebron ) against plans to extend Jewish settlements in the overwhelmingly Palestinian city.

The demonstrators, accompanied by two Knesset members, gathered at the site of a settlement outpost which was dismantled by the Israeli army on Thursday, December 19, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

They carried banners calling the settlement of Hebron a "disaster" and slamming Israel for destroying Palestinian houses in the city.

The houses, abandoned by their residents amid ongoing unrest in the flashpoint city, overlooked a road which Jewish settlers want to see turned into a well-guarded promenade linking Jewish enclaves in the city with the large settlement of Kiryat Arba on its eastern edge.

The road would give the 6,500 residents of the settlement easier access to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, a shrine sacred to both Jews and Muslims in the heart of the ancient city.

Members of Kiryat Arba set up an illegal outpost on private Palestinian land on November 20, but the army pulled down the makeshift structures last week.

Around 600 Jews live in the enclave around the Tomb, surrounded by Israeli soldiers separating them from the 120,000 Palestinian population of the city.

The Israeli army had initially banned the Peace Now demonstration but later issued a permit after the anti-settlement group received backing from the Israeli Supreme Court.

The army also destroyed the newly built house of a Palestinian man near Kiryat Arba which had allegedly been built without planning permission from the Israeli authorities, Palestinian witnesses said.

United States Veto UN Resolution Condemning Israel

NEW YORK (PC) - On Friday, the United States pronounced their veto over a United Nations Security Counsel resolution, that condemned Israel for killing three UN workers. The resolution was presented by Syria.

It has been a year since the United States last vetoed a resolution concerning the Middle East. Before the vote, Syria had declined to accept a US alternative draft that expressed regret over the UN workers’ deaths, but stopped short of a condemnation.

On November 22nd , Israeli soldiers killed British UN worker Iain Hook in the Jenin refugee camp on the illegally occupied West Bank, where he was shot in the back. A week later, two UN workers were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza. All victims were working for the UNWRA, the UN organization that provides relief for Palestinian refugees.

Saturday December 21, 2002

Main Headline

Jane Fonda visits refugee camp, hospitals in Ramallah

By Ha'aretz Staff and Agencies

American actress and activist Jane Fonda visited a refugee camp and a hospital in the West Bank on Saturday, capping a three-day visit to the region aimed at promoting peace.

Fonda, who was celebrating her 65th birthday, passed through a West Bank crossing point at Qalqilyah, trudging through mud and clutching a bouquet of red roses given to her by a Palestinian women's group.

She toured West Bank villages and nearby Israeli settlements and was led through a Palestinian refugee camp near Ramallah in a daylong tour by the Jerusalem Center for Women. Fonda also paid a visit to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat at his Muqata headquarters in the city.

It was the final visit of a trip organized by a global movement to stop violence against women. The movement, called V-Day, was inspired by the off-Broadway hit "The Vagina Monologues" and its playwright, Eve Ensler. Ensler accompanied Fonda and led discussions with Palestinian women.

"This is the focal point of so many conflicts," Fonda said. "Both sides aren't hearing each other's narratives, and maybe that's our role as artists."

Fonda and Ensler met with Fatima al-Kasba, 37, who lost two sons in fighting. Kasba said her sons, Yasser, 12, and Samer, 15, were killed a little over a month apart by IDF troops.

Later, Fonda and Ensler toured the Abu Raya Rehabilitation Center, where victims of violence and spinal cord injuries are treated and provided with physiotherapy.

Fonda, a two-time Oscar winner and fitness guru, said she had been to Israel and the West Bank in 1980, but what she saw today was dramatically different. She said she was most surprised by the number and proximity of settlements to the Palestinian population.

On Thursday, the American actress met with MKs Yael Dayan and Naomi Chazan in Jerusalem. She also visited Israelis wounded in suicide bombings who are recovering at Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem.

Friday December 20, 2002

Main Headline

Mideast Mediators Meet, Divided on Peace Plan

WASHINGTON - The Quartet of Middle East mediators — the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations — met yesterday to decide whether the time was ripe to tell Israelis and Palestinians of their peace plans.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell, host of the high-level talks, was alone in favoring a postponement until after Israeli elections scheduled for Jan. 28. But the informal group works by consensus and the United States was expected to have its way because of its unique influence over Israel, which requested the postponement.

The mediators — Powell, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and three European Union leaders — have been working for months on a peace plan known as the “road map,” which lays out the steps Israelis and Palestinians must take to put peace talks back on track.

The plan ends in the creation of an independent Palestinian state, possibly in 2005, but the two sides have never agreed on who must take the first steps to break the current stalemate.

Arab and European governments and the Palestinians have argued that Israelis should have a chance to vote in January on a known peace plan, even at the risk they will reject it.

“It’s very important that the voters of Israel know what the world thinks about the situation. I think that being an enlightened voter means that you also have the information on which you build your vote,” one of the European Union leaders, Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, said this week.

But a US official said yesterday that injecting a peace plan into the Israeli election campaign was a bad idea.

“If you are entering a phase where there are likely to be difficulties by one side or the other, then it would add a degree of difficulty that the process doesn’t need,” said the official, who asked not to be named.

“With the climate in both communities the way it is, we’re facing a collapse of confidence at this time. There’s a chance it might be rejected and where does that get you?” he added.

The United States has also linked progress with an end to Palestinian attacks on Israelis and a change in the Palestinian leadership — diplomatic code for the removal or demotion of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

The Europeans say that the Israelis can also help break the deadlock, for example by stopping Jewish settlement activity in Palestinian areas.

“The way the settlements are now growing means that you will end up with a Palestinian state looking like a Swiss cheese — a lot of holes. So if you are going to have this vision with two viable states, then you also have to make the Palestinian state viable,” Moeller said.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, writing in The New York Times on Friday, said the Jewish settlements were making a two-state solution impossible.

“This map (the Quartet’s road map) will lead nowhere unless it stops Israel’s ongoing land grabs,” he said.

After talks at the State Department, the mediators will go to the White House to see US President George W. Bush.

The other European Union leaders are foreign policy chief Javier Solana and External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten. (R)

-Arab News (arabnews.com). Redistributed via Press International News Agency (PINA).

Quartet Reports Progress on Roadmap for Resolving Middle East Crisis

NEW YORK - United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today said the diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East - comprising the UN, European Union, Russian Federation and United States - was "very close" to finalizing a roadmap for resolving the region's crisis, which it will soon present to the Israelis and Palestinians.

Speaking to reporters before the Quartet's meeting in Washington, D.C., with US President George W. Bush, the Secretary-General said that the group believes the roadmap "can help bring about the vision of two States, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side."

A joint statement issued after the meeting said President Bush expressed his "strong support" for the group's efforts as well as his firm commitment to its roadmap, "which would realize his vision of two States - Israel and Palestine - living side-by-side in peace and security."

In addition to Annan, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller of Denmark, which currently holds the EU's presidency, High Representative for European Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, and European Commissioner for External Affairs Chris Patten attended the meeting with President Bush and US Secretary of State Powell.

According to the statement, the Quartet agreed to further intensive work to develop a credible and effective monitoring mechanism. "In the meantime, the Quartet calls on the parties to carry out as rapidly as possible their responsibilities to restore calm, pursue reforms, and improve the humanitarian situation - steps that will lead to a political process culminating in Palestinian statehood," it said.

Specifically, the Quartet called for an immediate, comprehensive, ceasefire. "All Palestinian individuals and groups must end all acts of terror against Israelis, in any location," the statement said, noting that such a ceasefire should be accompanied by supportive measures undertaken by the Government of Israel. "As calm is established, Israeli forces should withdraw from Palestinian areas and the pre-Intifada status quo on the ground should be restored."

The Quartet also expressed concern at the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank and called for increased effort by the Government of Israel to ease the humanitarian situation in those places. "The Quartet reiterates the importance of immediate Israeli measures, consistent with legitimate security concerns, to improve the lives of Palestinians, including allowing the resumption of normal economic activity, facilitating the movement of goods, people, and essential services and lifting curfew and closures," the statement said. "The Quartet calls on Israel to avoid actions that undermine trust and create further hardship for innocent Palestinian civilians, including demolition of houses and civil infrastructure."

During a press encounter after the White House meeting, Annan said the Quartet is determined to finalize its plan as quickly as possible, and release it to the parties. "We all agree that that is the only solution," he stressed. "Our challenge now is to work with them to get there in the next couple of years. And we are very pleased to also hear the President's strong support for the work of the Quartet and the achievement of his vision."

-United Nations News Center (http://www.un.org/news/)

Thursday December 19, 2002

Main Headline

Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch Appeals for End of Israeli Occupation

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM - Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah in his Christmas message appealed for an end to the Israeli siege and occupation of Palestinian Territory and foe a stop of the bloodshed.

“Our Christmas message... is an appeal to put an end to the siege and then to the occupation and an appeal to stop bloodshed on both sides, in the Palestinian towns and villages and in the Israeli towns and streets,” he said in a sermon delivered ahead of Christmas.

He urged the world "to wake up and to come and help both people of this land to make peace" and appealed to Israel "to take away once and for all, the checkpoints around the Palestinian towns and villages."

"If they (the checkpoints) have to remain, we say to our faithful: transform them into places of worship."

Patriarch Michel Sabbah added that "those being oppressed are the Palestinians. Israelis have to ask themselves why Palestinian are behaving this way instead of just saying it's terrorism."

"If you take away the occupation, you stop all the violence," he said.

He described Israel’s decision to ban President Yasser Arafat from attending the December 24 Christmas midnight mass in Bethlehem, Jesus Christ’s birthplace, as "a useless measure."

"If the Israeli authorities were on the real path towards peace, they would have refrained from issuing such an inappropriate measure," he said.

But he also told journalists "Arafat's presence in Bethlehem is not the central issue, let's not mix political and military decisions with religious matters."

"Of course, he's always welcome," Sabbah said.

Israel is barring Arafat from attending Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem for the second year in a row because it deems the Palestinian President has not done enough to stop so-called ‘terrorism’.

He did not deny in his sermon that Israelis were suffering as well during the Palestinian two-year old Intifada.

Bethlehem, like all West Bank towns but Jericho, is under the control of Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and subject to curfews and military closures.

-Palestine Media Center (http://www.palestine-pmc.com/). Redistributed via Press International News Agency (PINA).

Bush to Mubarak: Peace Plan Is Not Ready

WASHINGTON - US President Bush has told Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that a U.S. Middle East peace plan is not ready to be finalized this week, but that he is committed to moving it forward "at the soonest possible moment."

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Thursday that the two leaders discussed the "roadmap" by telephone.

Fleischer said the United States has many ideas that it wants to share at Friday's Washington meeting of senior officials from Russia, the European Union, United Nations and the United States. The session is to focus on ways to keep the Middle East peace process moving forward.

European and Arab leaders have been urging Washington to release a final draft of the plan, which calls for a permanent Palestinian state by 2005 and a complete halt to construction in the Jewish settlements at Friday's meeting.

But, U.S. officials say the plan will not be released until after Israel's January elections. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat charged that the decision shows Washington is trying to help Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the elections.

Meanwhile, in continuing violence in the occupied territories, Palestinian security sources say an 11-year-old Palestinian girl was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers Thursday. Palestinians say the girl was looking out a window of her home in the town of Rafah, when the soldiers at the nearby border post opened fire.

-voanews (voanews.com). Redistributed via Press International News Agency (PINA).

Wednesday December 18, 2002

Main Headline

IOF Soldiers Kill 16-year-old

GAZA CITY - A 16 year-old Palestinian boy was killed and two other persons were injured, when a shell fired by an Israeli tank, slammed into a house in the Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, Palestinian security and medical sources reported Tuesday.

The victim, Jawad Zidane, was inside his home when IOF tanks started shelling residential neighborhoods, witnesses told reporters. A 65-year-old man was also reportedly injured, while he was inside his house.

Also in Khan Younis, IOF soldiers sealed the Salah Eddine Street with cement blocks, while occupation soldiers searched cars and checked identity cards.

At least ten people were detained, including a mother and her two children, at al-Matahin military roadblock in Al-Qarara town, north Khan Younis.

A 10-year-old Palestinian girl was also wounded Tuesday when the Israeli army demolished three houses in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, Palestinian medical sources and witnesses said.

The girl was shot in the leg while Israeli occupation troops, backed up by bulldozers, demolished three houses near Rafah refugee camp, the sources added.

In the meantime, over 1000 people took part the funeral of Eid Abu Hilal, who was shot dead by IOF soldiers last night near the border strip separating Palestine and Egypt in Rafah.

Israeli occupation soldiers based near Salah Eddine Gate, south of Rafah, opened heavy fire at the unarmed civilian and left him to bleed for over two hours, while it prevented ambulances from rescuing him.

President Arafat: Israel is Violating Freedom of Worship

RAMALLAH - President Yasser Arafat stressed, following a meeting Tuesday with a Christian delegation at his headquarters in Ramallah that the Israeli government continues to violate freedom of worship, calling upon international community to pressure the Jewish state into allowing the Palestinian people to celebrate Christmas.

“They [The Israelis] had declared once again today that they will not pull back from Bethlehem, and that they will only allow a few people to enter the church of Nativity. This is an outrageous violation of the freedom of worship and of holy Islamic and Christian shrines”, the President said following the meeting.

President Arafat briefed the delegation on the dire humanitarian and economic situation plaguing the Palestinian people in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and occupied east Jerusalem.

He also pinpointed to the dangerous implications of the Israeli occupation of Bethlehem and its surroundings, which is preventing thousands of pilgrims from reaching the Church of the Nativity.

The meeting was attended by the Guardian of the Holy Land, Father Giovanni, escorted by Father Ibrahim Felts, pastor of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, as well as Dr. Emile Jerjoui, a Christian member of the PLO executive committee.

President Arafat further expressed his astonishment over the continuation of Bethlehem’s occupation, in spite of promises Israeli President Moshe Katsav made to Pope John Paul II that the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) will withdraw from the Palestinian city before Christmas.

“It’s a pity that in spite of all the promises they made to his eminence the Pope to withdraw from Bethlehem before Christmas, all this is happening, and we can't celebrate with the citizens there side by side as we used to on this great occasion.”

The Vatican had earlier urged Israel to allow “free access” to the holy sites during the holiday season in Bethlehem, the home to some of Christianity’s holiest sites, among them the Nativity Church; the site said to be where Jesus was born, and the adjoining Church of Saint Catherine where midnight mass is traditionally celebrated on December 24.

Israel has decided to ban President Arafat from attending this year’s Christmas mass in Bethlehem, warning that IOF would go back and raid the presidential compound in Ramallah City if the President decided to leave the compound to go to the Church of Nativity.

Tuesday December 17, 2002

Main Headline

Arafat Accepts British PM’s Invitation

RAMALLAH - The Palestine National Authority (PNA) has welcomed an invitation from British Prime Minister Tony Blair to attend talks in London next month aimed at boosting the Middle East peace process and Palestinian reforms.

President Yasser Arafat, who received a letter from Blair delivered by the UK Consul General in occupied Jerusalem, Jeoffry Adams, has been asked to nominate senior figures to attend the talks in London in the new year.

Blair told the House of Commons on Monday that representatives of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, together with countries from the Middle East region, would also be invited to attend the talks.

“I can announce today that I am inviting leading Palestinians to come to Britain in January to a conference along with members of the quartet and other countries from the region closely involved in supporting the reform efforts,'' Blair told parliament.

"It will discuss progress on reform and look at how the international community can help," said Blair, who was reporting back to members of parliament on the outcome of the EU summit in Copenhagen Thursday and Friday.

"It is in the interests of both the Palestinians and Israelis that these reform efforts succeed, so that we can make a reality of President (George W.) Bush's vision of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security," he said.

President Arafat accepted the offer to send a delegation, a senior Palestinian official said.

“The British consular authorities in Jerusalem delivered a letter from Mr Blair to President Arafat indicating he wishes to hold talks with a Palestinian delegation on the means to re-launch the peace process,” said chief negotiator Sa’eb Erekat.

Erekat said that President Arafat had “appreciated [PM Blair’s] letter and accepted the invitation,” adding he “has to draw up the list of members of this delegation,” he said.

The cabinet minister added that the British prime minister, in the letter, also stressed his concerns over the situation in the Middle East “and the necessity for reforms within the PNA.”

The talks, a date for which has yet to be set, will be chaired by Foreign Secretary Jack Staw and will be attended by Blair, a Downing Street spokesman said.

While countries from the Middle East region are to be invited to attend, Israel has not been invited to the talks.

“In the short term, progress on the Israeli side will be limited by the general election campaign,” Blair said.

Last month, British officials said Blair was hoping to convene a conference with both Palestinian and Israeli leaders.

“We are already in direct contact with the Israeli government and keep them briefed of our plans, and we will talk with them afterwards, but for a number of reasons, including the ongoing electoral process, we are not inviting them to this,” said the Downing Street spokesman.

Israelis go to the polls on January 28.

The meeting is to focus on reform of the Palestinian Authority rather than on the peace process.

Blair called the meeting "to talk about Palestinian reform and in particular the reform agenda that the Palestinian Authority has signed up to and which the quartet is keen to get the Palestinian Authority to implement," said a UK Foreign Office spokesman.

However, PNA international cooperation minister Nabil Sha’ath warned that, while Palestinians would be happy to attend the talks, they do not want the agenda to solely deal with the issue of reform.

"We care about Britain playing a positive role...but we will want to discuss the agenda," Sha’ath said.

"We want to see how far this will put us forward in trying to regain the peace process and to end the suffering of our people," adding he was sure discussion would be "fruitful" and ultimately worthwhile for the Palestinians.

Arafat Asks ‘Quartet’ Members to Push for Peace

Blair’s invitation comes three days ahead of a meeting hosted by the United States for a meeting of the so-called ‘Quartet’, who are Middle East peace mediators representing the UN, US, EU and Russia.

The level of representation of the ‘Quartet’ has yet to be decided.

President Arafat has asked the members of the ‘Quartet’ to quickly get the process back on track, Erekat said Monday.

“Arafat wrote letters to members of the quartet, asking them to do everything possible to immediately re-launch the peace process,” Erekat said.

‘Quartet’ members are to meet in Washington Friday to study a ‘roadmap’ for peace that includes the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.

“They should act as soon as possible to end Israeli attacks, destruction of homes, murders and occupation so presidential and general elections may be held,” in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, Erekat added.

Those elections are scheduled for January 20, but an electoral commission is to consider Thursday an eventual postponement owing to the reoccupation of most of the West Bank by Israeli forces.

Last Friday, the United States refused to endorse a EU call for the adoption of a long-awaited ‘roadmap’ for Middle East peace at Washington meeting.

The EU leaders declared at a summit in Copenhagen last week that the plan, which calls for a Palestinian state by 2005, should be finalized at ministerial-level talks of the diplomatic ‘Quartet’ next Friday.

But the United States refused to commit itself to such a step, and Israel has warned that the ‘roadmap’ should not be adopted until after its elections on January 28.

Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, whose nation is wrapping up its turn at the EU presidency, said Friday he was confident that Washington would support the EU line on the ‘roadmap’.

“I’m sure that the United States and the European Union will look upon the roadmap with the same eyes,” he told reporters.

Moeller also opposed Israel’s position that the document should not be finalized before the election.

"I think that the Israeli electorate has the right to know about the two states solution we are proposing and then they can decide whether to support it or not," he said.

Arabs Push for Condemning Israel for Murder of Three UN Workers

NEW YORK - Amid increasing UN concern over the safety of their staff in the occupied Palestinian territory, Arab states are pushing for a condemnation of Israel for the slaying of three UN workers by its soldiers.

As the United Nations called upon the Jewish state to stop using disproportional, excessive military force in civilian population centers, Syria drafted a resolution expressing “grave concern” at the murder of UN staff as well as Palestinian civilians by Israeli occupation forces (IOF).

This comes after the senior United Nations Middle East envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen slammed Israel on Monday, calling for its IOF soldiers to “behave with greater restraint and discipline.”

Speaking at an open Security Council meeting, Roed-Larsen spoke of the murder of three UN workers by IOF late last month and early December.

The British relief official Iain Hook was killed by IOF soldiers in Jenin refugee camp last month and his murder sparked an outcry by the international community and the world body for whom he was working for.

Hook was shot dead by a soldier whom Israel claims mistook a mobile phone the relief worker was carrying for a gun.

The UN was quick to condemn his slaying and called for an official, scrutinized investigation. Another two staffers-- a caretaker and a teacher working for a local UN-funded school-- were also killed. All three victims worked for UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.

The Mideast envoy also criticized Israel for its “troubling indifference to the sanctity of U.N. facilities,” and said the Jewish state should ensure that its soldiers do not place civilians in harm’s way and act in conformity with international humanitarian law.

Recently, the world body came down on Israel after its IOF soldiers destroyed a building housing a World Food Program warehouse containing thousands of tons of foodstuff, which were to be distributed to impoverished Palestinian refugees.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed his dismay at the killings of Hook, Usama Tahrawi and Ahlan Kandil at a early Monday meeting with Israel’s ‘Defense’ Minster, Shaul Mofaz, which was also attended by Larsen.

Israel had previously claimed that gunmen had entered the UN compound, which housed Hook’s trailer. The UN relief agency refuted that claim.

The secretary-general reiterated his call for “a rigorous investigation” and a written report on Hook’s death, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said.

Annan also urged Mofaz to improve access for UN and other humanitarian personnel to aid them in their work, he said.

The United Nations has seen “little improvement” in the pledges Israel gave to help alleviate the dire humanitarian situation in the occupied territory, Larsen said at the council meeting.

These include shorter waiting times for ambulances, assistance to Palestinians seeking urgent medical attention at roadblocks, speeded-up passage for water tankers, and free movement for representatives of international organizations, AP said.

Larsen also told the council issue that Israeli soldiers must “refrain from the excessive and disproportionate use of deadly force in civilian areas.”

Larsen added that humanitarian aid alone could not alleviate the humanitarian crisis now prevailing in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

He stressed that “lasting security for Israel will only be found through a just, lasting and comprehensive settlement in the Middle East; meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis cannot and should not be solved by donor support alone.”

The envoy also said “the steadily growing gap between the deteriorating situation on the ground and the growing consensus about where to go has to be resolved.”

The roadmap for peace outlined by the diplomatic Quartet of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States provides the best tool to achieve this goal, he added.

Arafat Asks for Arab League Help to Draft Constitution

RAMALLAH - President Yasser Arafat officially called Monday for Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa to reactivate a committee tasked with helping to draft a Palestinian constitution.

Palestinian International Cooperation Minister Nabil Shaath told reporters after talks with Mussa at the League’s headquarters in Cairo that Arafat made the request in a telephone call during their meeting.

Mussa accepted immediately, he said, adding that the League chief's predecessor Esmat Abdel Meguid would be in charge of the committee, which will be enlarged to include legal experts from different Arab countries, AFP reported on Monday.

Members of a special League committee already created in 1999 met earlier to discuss the draft constitution. Apart from Abdel Meguid and Shaath, Egyptian and Palestinian legal experts also took part.

Shaath said in Gaza on Saturday that the committee's work was being resumed after a two-year interruption due to the ongoing Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.

A “basic law,” a provisional constitution governing the institutions of the Palestine National Authority (PNA), took effect on July 7.

Shaath said the expanded League drafting committee is to hold its first meeting in three weeks and aim to draw up a constitution, which lays down a democratic republic with a multi-party system and Jerusalem as capital.

After approval by Palestinian MPs, the constitution will be put to a vote in a referendum, the minister said.

Israel Forbids Palestinian President to Attend Christmas Worship Service in Bethlehem

RAMALLAH (PC) - For the second year in a row, Palestinian Authority President, Yasser Arafat is barred from attending Christmas services at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. For more than eight years the Palestinian leader has attended services at the historic birthplace of Jesus.

While emphasizing their commitment to religious freedom, the Israeli government claimed that banning Arafat was solely based on “security measures”.

Meanwhile, signs of the holiday season are rare in the city that is usually filled with tourists and festivities this time of year. Shops are closed and shelves are empty. Residents say that they are concerned about feeding their children, and that there will be few gifts to open on Christmas day.

Palestinian leaders denounced Israel’s decision, saying it was “stupid and a provocation to the Palestinian people, as well as being a challenge to international law.”

Israeli officials said that while Arafat is banned from the city, and while Israeli troops will continue to occupy the city during the holiday season, local Christians will be permitted to attend worship services on Christmas eve as well as Christmas day.

But since the city is surrounded by checkpoints, Christians from neighboring areas will not be allowed to attend those services.

Monday December 16, 2002

Main Headline

Blair Invites Palestinian Leaders to London

LONDON - British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Monday, December 16, he was inviting Palestinian leaders to London for talks, as visiting Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad said he was “optimistic” that a U.S.-led war on Iraq could be avoided.

Blair - who met earlier Monday with Al-Assad - told the House of Commons that he would in the new year invite Palestinian leaders to discuss progress on reform and to look at how the international community could help.

He added that representatives of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, together with countries from the Middle East region, would also be invited to attend the talks.

“It will discuss progress on reform and look at how the international community can help,” said Blair, who was reporting back to members of parliament on the outcome of the E.U. summit in Copenhagen last Thursday and Friday.

“It is in the interests of both the Palestinians and Israelis that these reform efforts succeed, so that we can make a reality of President (George W.) Bush’s vision of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security,” he said, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

It was not immediately clear which Palestinian leaders were being invited to London, or whether President Yasser Arafat would be among them.

Israeli Army Invades Nablus University

NABLUS, West Bank (PC) - On Saturday, December 14th, Israeli forces invaded al-Najah University in Nablus. At 8:30 in the morning, two Israeli tanks stopped in front of the main gate as thousands of students were arriving to the campus.

For the first time in fifteen years, Israeli troops invaded the campus, ordering security, staff and faculty to evacuate the building, giving them thirty minutes to leave, and threatening them with force if they refused to leave.

The University was forced to suspend classes for the day.

In a press release issued by the University, the Administration stated that it “insists on its nonnegotiable right of practicing its academic mission without any interference from the Israeli army.”

The Administration also denounced the action, claiming that its was an act of aggression on the freedom of education, which is secured under international law.

They called on human rights organizations and the international community to hold the army accountable for violating the academic life of the institution and advocated their right to carry out their academic role and mission in Palestinian society.

Jerusalem Chorus to Perform Christmas Concert at Israeli Checkpoint

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PC) - The Jerusalem Chorus, a group of Palestinian and international singers, will perform the annual Christmas concert at the Qalandya checkpoint today, in protest of the Israeli occupation, which forbids many of the Chorus members to travel to Bethlehem, where the concert traditionally takes place.

The group will gather and begin their concert at 11:00 am, and will sing in defiance of the Israeli edict that denies the group, as well as other worshippers to celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem, the historic birthplace of Jesus.

In a press release, the group expressed that they would perform in defiance of the occupation, and in the name of Palestinian children who cannot reach their schools due to curfews and checkpoints.

They also stressed that they would protest on behalf of farmers who cannot reach their fields, patients who are denied access to medical facilities and families who are separated, due to the checkpoints, which are imposed in many Palestinian towns and villages.

The group stated, “We urge people of conscience around to the world to break the silence and act for he sake of humanity in this holy season.”

The Jerusalem Chorus was established in 1955. The group has performed in Palestine as well as internationally.

Thursday December 12, 2002

Main Headline

Carter Offers to Mediate Mideast Talks

By Nazir Majally

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM - Former US President Jimmy Carter yesterday offered to mediate talks between Israel and Palestinians as fresh violence claimed the lives of nine people, five of them unarmed Palestinians, in the occupied territories.

Speaking to students at the University of Uppsala, Sweden, the winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize said he “would go immediately and with great alacrity,” to the Middle East, but only if the parties concerned and the US government asked him to.

Carter gave no indications he had been asked to do so, however. He helped broker the 1978 Camp David accords that led to peace between Israel and Egypt. The agreement resulted in the Peace Prize for Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

Carter said escalating tension between Israelis and Palestinians has not been stemmed and asserted that US President George W. Bush was not impartial about the issue.

“Until President Bush, every president, Democratic or Republican, has in my opinion played a balancing role as a trusted mediator,” he said. “Now though it seems obvious that the present administration in Washington is completely compatible with the Israeli government and they have completely ignored...the Palestinian Authority.”

Seven Palestinians and two Israelis were killed in separate incidents yesterday in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank city of Hebron.

Israeli forces near the Karni border crossing in the Gaza Strip killed five unarmed Palestinians they believed were planning to climb a security fence to get into Israel, an Israeli military source said. Palestinian security sources said the men were laborers trying to sneak into Israel to find work.

Beilin, Dayan Quit Israel’s Labor Party, Join Meretz

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM - (PC) Two leading doves quit Israel’s Labor Party Wednesday and joined Meretz Party, deepening a crisis in the battered Israeli peace camp as it faces next month’s elections, amid an increasingly hawkish mood toward the Palestinian people.

Yossi Beilin, an architect of Israeli-Palestinian interim peace accords, and Ya’el Dayan, an outspoken advocate of peacemaking, decided to join the more left-wing Meretz Party list after being sidelined in this week’s Labor primary.

“Our place ideologically is in the peace camp,” said Dayan, daughter of the late general-turned-politician Moshe Dayan. “In view of the political wilderness we had been consigned to in Labor, our place is ... not there,” Reuters quoted her as saying.

Beilin said, “Our task is to attack the blind policy of (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon.”

The veteran peace campaigners quit Israel’s main opposition party after a primary ballot assigned them and other doves to virtually unelectable places on the list of candidates.

Labor withdrew from Sharon’s unity coalition in November, ending an uneasy 20-month partnership and precipitating a crisis that forced the prime minister to call an early election.

In elections set for January 28, Labor is expected to win only about 21 seats, 4 fewer than it holds currently. Other Labor candidates gained enough votes in this week's elections to claim all those seats.

In Israeli parliamentary elections, citizens vote only for parties, which then apportion their seats among the top finishers in internal ballots like those held this week.

Meretz, which advocates moves toward an immediate peace with Palestinian representatives, agreed to rank Beilin and Dayan higher on their candidates’ list in exchange for their departure from Labor.

Beilin’s decision to leave Labor stands as a measure of the party’s shift to the right since the Palestinian uprising began 26 months ago. He was one of the primary movers behind the interim peace accord that Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) signed in Oslo in 1993.

Labor party hawks muscled their way up the party's list of candidates for the Israeli general election Tuesday.

The final results of Israel's center-left's party's rank-and-file voting to choose candidates for the January 28 polls showed those who favored a tougher line against the Palestinians fared slightly better.

Labor had already reserved the top spots for its party leader Amran Mitzna, his predecessor and rival Binyamin Ben Eliezer and former foreign minister Shimon Peres, while dovish former sports minister Matan Vilnai won the much-contested fourth spot.

However, in a sign of the hawks’ pre-eminence, Labor bumped Beilin, one of the party’s leading doves, far down the list, leaving him slim hopes of being elected to parliament.

“This list shows that the Labor party does not only want peace but also security ... We are not a ‘Meretz number two’,” Ben Eliezer said after the results.

Israel Kills Five Unarmed Palestinians

GAZA CITY - (PC) Israeli occupation soldiers shot and killed five unarmed Palestinians in the Gaza Strip Thursday in what Palestinian sources described as a cold-blooded murder.

An Israeli army spokesman admitted the five were unarmed, but claimed they intended to climb an Israeli fence between the Gaza Strip and Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in 1948.

The Israeli spokesman said occupation soldiers opened fire on "suspicious figures" near the border early in the morning Wednesday.

A few hours later the bodies of five unarmed Palestinians were found. The Israeli media quoted army sources as saying that ladders were found near the bodies.

Palestinian officials have long accused the Israeli army of adopting a policy of producing a daily death quota of three to five Palestinians.

The Palestinian Authority has repeatedly asked the international community to provide protection for the Palestinian people.

Wednesday December 11, 2002

Main Headline

Palestinian Elections 'Impossible' Unless Israeli Army Withdraws: Parliament Speaker

RAMALLAH - (PC) Palestinian parliament speaker Ahmed Qorei said Tuesday it will be practically impossible for the Palestinian people to go ahead with the scheduled January 20 presidential and legislative elections.

"We can't do it in the shadow of Israeli tanks, so I think it will be difficult to organize the polls," he told reporters following talks with French Foreign Minister, Dominique de Villepin.

"Practically speaking, I don't see how it's possible," he said.

The Palestinian leadership announced last June that presidential and legislative elections would be held on January 20, 2003, and local elections in March.

Israel has reoccupied most of the West Bank since June and carries out regular incursions into the Gaza Strip.

Qorei also said he had discussed with De Villepin "how to get out of the trap of the blockade that Israel is imposing on the Palestinian people and the way in which those who defend peace can help a return to (Israeli-Palestinian) political negotiation."

He said, "We have found with our French friends a wish to help and support a return to a political path to peace."

Qorei was to meet Wednesday with President Jacques Chirac and National Assembly speaker Jean-Louis Debre. On Thursday, he is slated to meet Senate speaker Christian Poncelet, the French Foreign Ministry announced on Monday.

Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Secretary General, Mahmud Abbas (Abu Mazen) said on Tuesday that the withdrawal of Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) from Palestine National Authority (PNA) territories they reoccupied in June was a prerequisite to holding Palestinian elections.

Abu Mazen told the Lebanese satellite TV channel LBC that the PNA needs a few months after the withdrawal of IOF to pre-September 28, 2000 lines to prepare for the elections.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on Sunday told the Arab satellite TV channel MBC that a general election set for January will have to be delayed unless Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) withdraw from reoccupied PNA towns.

In an interview with Reuters news agency, Arafat said at least one month and perhaps three months free of Israeli military occupation was necessary to allow for election campaigning, before the vote could go ahead.

On Monday Palestinian chief negotiator Sa’eb Erekat told Al-Jazeera satellite TV channel that one hundred days were necessary to arrange for elections, after the withdrawal of IOF.

The Palestinian central elections committee will decide next week whether presidential and legislative elections slated for January should be scrapped due to Israel’s reoccupation of the West Bank, its secretary general said Monday.

“As long as the situation on the ground is the same and the occupation remains, it is not possible to hold elections,” Ali Jarbawi told AFP.

“We are approaching a critical moment and the central committee will meet next week to decide on the issue,” he said. “We will assess the situation, and it there is no change, there will be no elections” on the scheduled date.

“Technically, we are paralyzed,” Jarbawi explained. “There are half a million new voters who still need to be registered and even the central committee has only been able to meet twice, through video-conference,” he said.

Tuesday December 10, 2002

Main Headline

Will There Be Peace in Bethlehem This Christmas?

O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by

Yet in the dark streets shineth
The everlasting light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight

MASON, Michigan (PC) - These are the first verses of the Christmas song, "O Little Town of Bethlehem." More than 2,000 years ago, a baby was born in the town of Bethlehem. His name was Jesus and He came to earth to bring hope. According to Christian teachings, Jesus believed in spreading goodwill toward all men. But the current residents of Bethlehem know anything but. In fact, the town's residents who consist of Palestinian Muslims and Palestinian Christians -- often referred to as the "living stones" of Christianity -- are mainly familiar with fear.

Christmas has taken on special meaning during these trying times. In fact, Bethlehem's residents are waiting specifically for this holiday season in the hopes that increased world attention to this area would result in a marked improvement of their lives. Bethlehem, a once bustling city of noise, movement and color is a ghost town, with damaged buildings. Silence is broken only by the rumbling of Israeli tanks and the sporadic gunfire of soldiers. It is a city imprisoned behind a wall. Currently, Israelis have enforced a curfew on the residents which allows people to leave their homes for a few hours; travelling outside the city is prohibited; beatings of residents by Israeli soldiers are a regular occurrence; the youth cannot go to school and adults have no jobs to go to.

Recently, my friend, whose parents reside in the war-torn Bethlehem suburb of Beit Jala, described a desperate, young father. He approached my friend's father.

"Sir, can you give me a job for 30 shekels [the equivalent of 10 US dollars]?" asked the young father. "My children have no food to eat, and I have no money."

"I'm sorry. I wish I could, my son, but I need a job myself," was the response.

This sad scenario is a familiar one that plays out whenever the curfew is lifted, but United Nations figures show that most Palestinians are now living on less than $2 per day. So even loosening a curfew means little to the purchasing power of parents in Bethlehem and other Palestinian cities/towns.

Even the famous Bethlehem holy site hasn't escaped the wrath of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Who can forget the siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem earlier this year? The tense drama pitted a well-equipped Israeli army against trapped Palestinian fighters. Caught in the middle, as the bullets flew and psychological warfare raged on were members of the clergy and dozens of innocent Palestinian civilians. Prior to the siege, a Palestinian choirboy was shot dead by IDF soldiers outside Manger Square.

Whether the Christmas season will renew hopes for a better tomorrow is difficult to say. For the second year in a row, the Israeli government has declared Bethlehem as being off-limits to Christian tourists during Christmas. Israelis say that the violence has forced them into cancelling Christmas. They say their presence is needed in Bethlehem and other cities in the Occupied Territories. But the Israeli Occupation is in its 35th year. Twenty-seven of the 35 years were marked with no violent uprisings for freedom, but rather general strikes and leafleting. So why didn't the Israelis leave during the 27 years of "quiet?" Even Ehud Barak's "generous" Camp David plan allowed for illegal settlers to remain in 80% of the current settlements.

A new poll, conducted among Arab-Americans and Jewish-Americans, may provide a glimmer of hope for two-state solution advocates, however. According to a joint Arab American Institute/Americans for Peace Now survey, there is strong backing in both communities for secure and independent states for Israelis and Palestinians alike.

Perhaps someday, there will even be overwhelming support for a democratic bi-national state where Palestinians and Israelis live as equals in one state. Psalm 133 begins, "How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!" The psalm ends, "For there the Lord ordained his blessing, life forevermore."

But peace and freedom are foremost on the minds of Palestinians in Bethlehem and beyond. The words of Christ, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God," particularly resonate with Bethlehem's residents these days.

Peace, Christmas, and Bethlehem. Now that has a nice ring to it.

Sherri Muzher, JD in International Law, is a Writer and Media Analyst based in Mason, Michigan. She is a regular contributor to the Palestine Chronicle

A Salute to Jimmy Carter: The Bridge Over Troubled Waters

By Leila Diab

WASHINGTON (PC) - Nobility comes with pomp and a circumstance befitting a king or a ruler of a great nation in this day and age, as it was mirrored in the past. However, nobility is also a measure of man's worthiness of character, dedication, practicing faith, acknowledgeable deeds and self-sacrifices for the good of humankind.

This year's 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner, the former president of the United States, Jimmy Carter encompasses the mere image of nobility, a man of noble means, actions with a persona that has won the minds, hearts, admiration and respect of people from all four corners of the world.

Jimmy Carter's humanitarian mission in life was to be the symbol of hope in times of despair for the world's population in Africa, the Middle East, Central America and regions that have not, ideally, coveted their basic universal human rights, freedoms. equality and an enduring peace.

Carter and his wife, Rosalie, however, chose to be the light and shield of progress, humanity and reasoning in times of adversity and misfortune in American and throughout the world. Jimmy Carter, "such a worthy, honest, and most deserving Nobel Peace Prize winner" were the most notable words of praise that could be heard throughout the world. Many people in the world have called him a man of peace and a man with a humanitarian mission.

Carter's long list of humanitarian accomplishments should continue to be emulated.

In many past interviews that I have seen on TV or read in various print media, Carter, in his unassuming nature always spoke honestly of his deep seeded faith in humankind and his desire to change situations that eluded him while he was still president. His sense of human rights, justice for all, fairness, and universal freedoms and peace, laid the foundation for many peoples dreams to come true. while fanning the flames of human despair.

Habitat for Humanity, an organization which he established in the late 80's, made it possible for poor people to own their own houses. He rolled up his sleeves and wiped his sweat, along with hundreds of volunteers who joined him to build homes for the needy, and made the American Dream of owning a home come true. And in the United States, Jimmy Carter's work in Habitat for Humanity placed a renewed emphasis on community service work for the young and the old nationwide.

Since leaving the U.S. Presidential Office in defeat in 1980 to the then elected President Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, 78, was determined to view the world as his open window and center stage to exert his influence with previous governmental experiences, for the good of humankind, at home and around the world. And since out of public office, for more than two decades ago, Carter's honesty, self sacrifices and genuine human convictions have helped to promote, nurture and sow the seeds of human understanding, as well as earn him respect and universal appeal.

To make a difference in the world today, there are those of us who are motivated by our choices, the usage of standard language, and how we choose to communicate our words and actions, especially in times of crises, world conflicts and human despair. These essential elements of communication will ultimately impact and help to shape the nature and outcome of our projected goals and reactions. That is the recipe for world peace and an end to human suffering. Jimmy Carter is a valuable mixture of those essential ingredients that have made the world a better place.

As the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Jimmy Carter is the quintessential communicator of humanity and dignity that has shaped the nature and true meaning of human responsibility, trust, hope, promotion of universal human rights and peace worldwide. Jimmy Carter, we salute you, as the bearer of peace, the bright ray of light and hope and the bridge over troubled waters.

Above all, the Palestinian people cry out to you too...to end their insurmountable human suffering.

Netanyahu's Nephew Jailed over Refusal to Join 'Israeli Occupation Army'

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM - The Israeli army sentenced Jonathan Ben Artzi to a 35-day prison term Sunday, December 8, for refusing to serve in the army, his sixth sentence since he was first jailed on August 8. He has since spent 126 days in prison, in what his father says is a record in Israel for a conscientious objector.

Artzi hates war and would rather spend time in jail than serve in the army. But, he is not just any conscientious objector, he's the nephew of Israel's ultra-nationalist foreign minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

For the same reasons, the army handed a 28-day prison term to Uri Yaacobi, who has already spent 106 days behind bars.

Israelis are called to arms when they turn 18. Men serve for three years and women for 21 months, while ultra-Orthodox Jews are exempted on religious grounds.

"Yoni", 20, is the youngest son of the Ben Artzi family, who divide their time between occupied Jerusalem, France and the United States.

Before leaving Israel to work in New York, both his brother and his sister completed their compulsory military service in Israel.

"But they weren't very enthusiastic either," said the father, Matania Ben Artzi, who served 13 years in the army, first in an elite unit and then as a mathematician for military scientific research.

His wife Ofra was also in the army when they met, but she was the one who turned him into a pacifist. Jonathan has always been revolted by violence and everything related to the army, AFP said.

"His first real shock came when he was 12," his father recounted.

"We were visiting the Verdun battle field in France and the sight of those endless crosses and the ossuary with the remains of 150,000 unknown soldiers killed in World War I had a traumatic effect on him."

During his time in high school in occupied Jerusalem, he actively promoted issues linked to pacifism.

He enjoyed sports but refused to learn karate, and one day even gave up on a school outing because the bus had to drive through the Palestinian territories, where the army had imposed a curfew.

"Already back then, it was his way of protesting against the Israeli army's occupation of the Palestinian territories," his mother said.

It came as no surprise when at the age of 17, Jonathan refused to join up after receiving his first conscription call.

"He didn't even try to be exempted for medical reasons or anything else," his father said. "He demanded, in vain, the right to be a civilian conscript and even insisted on his pacifism to publicize his struggle."

Jonathan is slowly making a name for himself in Israel, where conscientious objectors are few and far between. The young man even went as far as dragging the army in front of the supreme court, although nothing came of it.

"In a country where the army is divine and sacred, he's more than a traitor," the father said, charging that "Israeli democracy is nothing more than a facade."

During a recent family diner, Netanyahu, who is married to the sister of Jonathan's father and leads the ultra-nationalist camp in the right-wing Likud party, briefly broached the sensitive issue: "Maybe you'll change your mind".

In his army years, the charismatic nationalist politician served in the elite Sayeret Matkal unit. His brother commanded the same unit when he was killed in a 1976 rescue mission on a hijacked plane in Entebbe, Uganda.

But his notorious uncle's gentle prodding did not shake Jonathan's determination. Quite the opposite.

A mathematics student in occupied Jerusalem, he has taken up law on the side. On Sunday he told his parents he intended to lodge an appeal over his jail sentence with the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Peace Group Slams Israeli Plans to Demolish Hebron Houses

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM - (PC) The Israeli peace group Gush Shalom demanded that their government halt plans to demolish dozens of Palestinian houses in the West Bank city of Hebron, warning that it would constitute a “war crime”.

The Israeli left-wing group sent a letter on Saturday to Israeli attorney general Elyakim Rubinstein saying there were no true “military needs” behind the demolition orders.

“It seems that [Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF)] have turned into a tool which carries out the demands of the most extreme settlers,” wrote Gush Shalom founder Uri Avineri.

Avineri called on Rubenstein to advise Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, his defense minister Shaul Mofaz and the head of the IOF central command Moshe Kaplinsky that the move was “illegal”.

Avineri warned the demolitions would likely be considered a “war crime” and added, “through (this act), the army is taking the risk that those carrying out the decision will be one day brought to justice before an international court.”

The Gush Shalom letter comes after Israel ordered Monday the demolition of 15 Palestinian houses to secure “territorial continuity” between the illegal Israeli settlement of “Kiryat Arba” and the Jewish settler enclave piercing the heart of Hebron’s Old City.

The Palestinian leadership slammed the Israeli decision, warning that Sharon is planning to “Judaize” Hebron.

“These buildings, dating back to the Mameluke and Ottoman eras, are considered an integral part of the cultural heritage of Hebron City, which international conventions and agreements have called for safeguarding,” Palestinian Minister of Culture and Information, Yasser Abed Rabbo, said Monday in a letter of protest to Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, the Director-General of the UNESCO.

Gush Shalom have in the past slammed the Israeli government as well as IOF’s policies in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

The group threatened in August to press war crimes charges against reserve army officers before the newly-founded International Criminal Court (ICC), triggering Sharon’s anger, who ordered an investigation into the activities of Gush Shalom.

However, the 600-member group responded that collecting information on human rights violations was not a crime.

Gretta Duisenberg Receives Human Rights Award in Belgium

BRUSSELS (PC) - On December 10, the day on which the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was issued in 1948, the League for Human Rights, from Belgium, awards a prize every year to someone, who has been actively involved in speaking out against human rights violations.

This year, the award was granted to Gretta Duisenberg, wife of the President of the European Central Bank, for her activities in forming the Dutch action committee “End the Occupation”, which aims to restore the human rights of the Palestinians.

Mrs. Duisenberg drew international attention in April and May this year, when she kept a Palestinian flag hanging from her balcony for six weeks, in spite of numerous threats, lawsuits and other means of pressure from pro-Zionist organizations and individuals.

According to the League, “campaigning against the colonial occupation of Palestine, is standing up for the honoring of UN resolutions concerning self-determination, for a lasting peace settlement in the Middle East and for the principle of an anti-racial, and therefore multicultural society here and elsewhere.”

On Thursday, December 10, Gretta Duisenberg received her prize in an art center in Gent, Belgium.

Gretta Duisenberg is scheduled to travel to Palestine in January with a small delegation of sympathizers, after a UCP (United Civilians for Peace)-led delegation’s visit in November, in which she was to participate, was cancelled due to pressure from right-wing political parties in the Dutch government.

Monday December 9, 2002

Main Headline

6,000 U.S. Dollars for Every Israeli Since 1973

WASHINGTON - According to a report released Monday, December 9, Israel has, since 1973, cost the United States about $1.6 trillion, that is more than $5,700 per person if divided by today's population.

Thomas Stauffer, a consulting economist in Washington, tallied the total cost to the U.S. for its backing of Israel, and discovered that the bill doubled the cost of Vietnam War, reported the Christian Science Monitor.

"And now Israel wants more. In a meeting at the White House late last month, Israeli officials made a pitch for $4 billion in additional military aid to defray the rising costs of dealing with the Intifada [against Israeli occupation] and suicide bombings. They also asked for more than $8 billion in loan guarantees to help the country's recession-bound economy," reported the Monitor.

Considering Israel's deep economic troubles, Stauffer doubts the Israel bonds covered by the loan guarantees will ever be repaid, said the paper, adding that the bonds are likely to be structured so they don't pay interest until they reach maturity.

"If Stauffer is right, the U.S. would end up paying both principal and interest, perhaps 10 years out," said the paper.

The Monitor said that Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid. "It is already due to get $2.04 billion in military assistance and $720 million in economic aid in fiscal 2003. It has been getting $3 billion a year for years," said the paper, adding that the U.S. has given Egypt $117 billion and Jordan $22 billion in foreign aid in return for signing peace treaties with Israel.

According to Stauffer, there is a higher cost of oil and other economic damage to the U.S. after Israel-Arab wars.

Other additional U.S. help to Israel include the fact that the U.S. Jewish charities and organizations have remitted grants or bought Israel bonds worth $50 billion to $60 billion, said the Monitor.

In addition, the U.S. has already guaranteed $10 billion in commercial loans to Israel, and $600 billion in "housing loans," it added. The U.S. has