A Warning to Tony

Uri Avnery's Column, gush-shalom, 28/07/07. Everybody knows that there is only one way to strengthen Abu Mazen: immediately to start rapid and practical negotiations for the establishment of the State of Palestine in all the occupied territories, with its capital in East Jerusalem. Not more discussions about abstract ideas, as proposed by Olmert, not another plan (No. 1001), not a "peace process" that will lead to "new political horizons", and certainly not another hollow fantasy of that grand master of sanctimonious hypocrisy, President Shimon Peres.

THE NEXT scene of the play, for which all the actors are now learning their lines, is the "international meeting" this autumn, according to the screenplay by President Bush. Condoleezza will chair, and it is doubtful whether Tony, the new actor, will be allowed to take part. The playwrights are still deliberating.

If all the world is a stage, as Shakespeare wrote, and all the men and women merely players who have their exits and their entrances, that is true even more for Israel and Palestine. Sharon exited and Olmert entered, Wolfensohn exited and Blair entered, and everything is, as Sakespeare wrote in another play, "words, words, words."

Wolfensohn can view the next parts of the play with philosophical detachment. We, who are involved, cannot afford that, because our comedy is really a tragedy.

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"Caro Occidente smetti di salvare l'Africa"

L'accusa di uno scrittore americano-nigeriano che vive tra Lagos e gli Usa Nel mirino star, ong e mobilitazioni studentesche: "Basta umanitarismo sexy - Uzodinma Iweala, la Repubblica.it, 31/07/07. Perché i media parlano spesso dell'indipendenza "concessa agli Stati dell'Africa dai dominatori coloniali", dimenticando le lotte e il sangue sparso dagli africani per conquistarla? Come mai l'impegno per l'Africa di Bono o Angelina Jolie sono oggetto di smisurate attenzioni, mentre l'opera di africani come Nwankwo Kanu o Dikembe Mutombo è praticamente ignorata? E come si spiega che in Sudan le esibizioni da cow boy di un diplomatico Usa di medio livello ricevano più attenzione degli sforzi di numerosi Paesi dell'Unione africana, che hanno inviato aiuti alimentari e truppe, e si sono impegnati in negoziati estenuanti nel tentativo di raggiungere un accordo tra le parti coinvolte in questa crisi? Il mese scorso, il Vertice degli 8 Paesi industrializzati si è incontrato in Germania con un gruppo di celebrità per discutere, tra l'altro, su come salvare l'Africa. Io mi auguro che prima del prossimo incontro di quest'organizzazione ci si renda conto di una cosa: l'Africa non vuol essere salvata. Ciò che l'Africa chiede al mondo è il riconoscimento della sua capacità di avviare una crescita senza precedenti, sulla base di un vero e leale partenariato con gli altri membri della comunità globale.

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Inside Gaza: An Arms Dealer's Tale

As U.S. plans to sell arms to Saudi Arabia make waves in the Middle East, NEWSWEEK’s Kevin Peraino visits a Gaza arms dealer.

WEB-EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY

By Kevin Peraino

Newsweek

Updated: 5:37 p.m. ET July 30, 2007

July 30, 2007 - It is not a fact that he particularly likes to advertise, but, if pressed, Abdel Hamid Bahar will acknowledge that his business is at its best when people are dying. Last Sunday I went to see the black-market arms dealer at his home, a squat, dilapidated structure made of cinderblocks and tin sheeting, in the central Gaza village of Moghraga. We sat on pink plastic chairs in the shade, next to a slightly sickly garden with a couple of banana plants and a slender olive tree. The weapons merchant's business varies widely, of course, depending on how much fighting is going on. Last summer, when Gaza was at war with Israel after the kidnapping of Gilad Schalit, Bahar was pulling in almost $3,000 per month, more than most Gazans earn in a year. How is business now, I asked, with Hamas in power and the streets relatively calm? "Zero," the gun dealer complained, without bothering to hide his frustration.

Bahar nodded to one of his sons, who had been leaning against a cinderblock wall and watching us without saying anything. The lanky young man disappeared for a moment inside the house, and then returned carrying a new-looking semiautomatic rifle, slick with resin and grease. For my notes, I asked for the kid's name and age. The arms dealer frowned. "I don't know how old he is," he said, a little disdainfully. "I have 13 children. I don't even know all their names." He paused for a second, and then added: "All my children, the girls and the boys, know how to use guns." He took the rifle, a Chinese-manufactured Kalashnikov, and slid out the clip. "This is well made," he told me. "Seventeen-hundred dollars each. If you need 50, I'll bring them to you. While you're drinking tea, I can get you 100. I am the No. 1 for weapons in Gaza."

The arms dealer has a rangy, mangy look to him. His head is almost entirely shaved, but he wears a long, scraggly black beard over his gaunt features, which makes him resemble a Palestinian Abraham Lincoln. A net of thick veins bulges from his sinewy forearms. He smiles every now and then, but the desired effect is lost when he reveals a mouthful of yellowed and rotting teeth. He chain-smokes cigarettes from a pack of Royals stashed in his left breast pocket, and keeps a 70-year-old, German-made 9 mm pistol tucked into the waistband of his jeans. (He refers to it as a "Hitler.") The arms dealer is 43 years old, and has been selling guns for the past two, since just before Hamas won the territory's legislative elections.

Bahar grew up in Gaza's Bourej refugee camp, and eventually moved to Moghraga, a poor farming village of about 5,000. He married when he was 16 and got a job as a construction worker with his father in Israel for a while. Later he earned a living as a taxi driver and auto mechanic. During the first intifada he fought against Israel as a militant in the Tanzim, the Fatah-affiliated militia. Still, despite his youthful loyalties, it is bad business for an arms dealer to be taking sides; he says he now sells to both Hamas and Fatah. One of his kids had scrawled the word HAMAS in black spray paint on the side of the house. "I started my business in order to feed my children," he told me. As the rivalry between Hamas and Fatah intensified last spring, "all the factions began to buy weapons."

I had come to see Bahar because arms sales were the talk of the Middle East over the weekend. On Friday the Bush administration said it would like to sell Saudi Arabia and its regional allies billions of dollars worth of sophisticated weaponry. Washington has also promised Israel –which, in a sign of its concern about Iran possibly obtaining nuclear weapons, has dropped its traditional objections to U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia—another $30.4 billion in weaponry. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were set to tour the region this week to help work out the details of the proposal. Israel also promised to allow 1,000 M-16s to pass from Jordan to Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank—an effort to prop up the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas.

Against that backdrop, it seemed like a good idea to visit one of the trade's real-world practitioners. In the news stories about American support for proxies in the region, the recipients of such weaponry are usually described as "moderate," while their antagonists are inevitably "radical." Those are cartoon descriptions, of course, and are often carelessly applied. In the four years since I've been working in the Middle East, I've met plenty of radical American proxies, and just as many moderate "radicals." The labels "Islamist" and "secular" don't reveal all that much about character either, although they're slightly better than "terrorist" and "stooge." If I were forced to divide and classify the Gazans I meet, I'd say they tend to be better described as hawks and doves, and there are both of those in all camps. Bahar, the arms dealer, is one of the former by trade.

The frustrating, inconvenient thing about all this is that, when you meet the people up close, it is often the hawks who seem the most shrewd and competent, at least tactically. They sometimes appear a little paranoid, but in the unforgiving Middle East they are also often the most determined survivors, the ones you would want on your side in a street fight. At one point while we talked the other day, Bahar jumped up out of his chair in one quick movement and darted over to his garden. He tore a branch off his olive tree, and then stuffed the whole thing into his mouth—wood, leaves and all. He chewed it and swallowed hard. "I can eat the grass and the trees, but I will never hold the white flag," he said. "There are many here like me who are ready to eat anything." Sanctions against Hamas won't work, he argued. He told me that he considered Abbas feckless and weak, too unwilling to resist the Israeli occupation. "We will never return to Abu Mazen," he added, using the president's nickname. "Israel and America are so foolish." There was some obvious theater in the tree-eating bit, but it was effective all the same. I tried to imagine Abbas—the quiet former schoolteacher—jumping up and eating a tree, but the image would not come.

About halfway through our conversation, my translator, Hassan, pointed out a faint buzzing sound in the air overhead—an Israeli drone. Bahar shrugged. "Before you hear the noise of the plane, I hear it," he said. "I'm sensitive to it." After drinking cups of thick, sweet coffee, Hassan and I eventually got up to leave and walked back to the car. On my way out I noticed that Bahar's front yard was almost entirely scorched. A few lonely blades of grass shot up through the large black stains covering the turf like oil spots. I asked the arms dealer what had happened to his yard. "I burned it," he told me. "So I can see the snakes." He said it without the slightest hint of irony.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20042003/site/newsweek/?from=rss

After Bush's Speech, Tony Blair Would Be Well Advised To Stay Home

Henry Siegman. Al-Hayat. 30/07/07. To read President Bush's speech of July 16 in which he sought to inject new life into the Middle East peace process is to understand why his policies in Iraq have been such an unmitigated catastrophe. In the Israel-Palestine conflict as in Iraq, he is completely out of touch with the most fundamental realities on the ground.

President Bush: "In Gaza, Hamas radicals betrayed the Palestinian people with a lawless and violent takeover."

The facts: The Palestinian people were betrayed not by Hamas, whom they elected to run their government in the first truly democratic elections in the Arab world, but by Bush and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert who, with a typically colonial mindset, planned to overthrow the Palestinian people's democratic choice by financing and arming Fatah, the party that lost the elections.

President Bush: "Hamas has demonstrated beyond all doubt that it is more devoted to extremism and murder than to serving the Palestinian people."

The facts: The Palestinian people elected Hamas, overwhelmingly, because the organization "demonstrated beyond all doubt" its devotion to the Palestinian people through a network of social institutions - educational, medical and economic - which the dominant Fatah party was unable to match. Indeed, the Palestinian public was convinced that a corrupt Fatah leadership was simply using the peace process to enrich itself.

The savageries committed by Hamas merit unqualified condemnation. What they do not merit are the hypocrisies of Bush and Olmert. Did Bush and Olmert imagine that Mohammed Dahlan and the militias under his control, whom the U.S. and Israel were training and arming, would have treated Hamas militants any more gently than Hamas treated Dahlan's people had they succeeded in mounting their putsch?

President Bush: "We are strengthening our political and diplomatic commitments. Again today, President Abbas and Prime Minister Olmert sat down together to discuss priorities and resolve issues…[Secretary Rice] has worked with both sides to sketch out a 'political horizon' for a Palestinian state."

The facts: Olmert has rejected every effort by Secretary Rice to get him to discuss with Abbas any of the elements that might define a political horizon - i.e. borders, settlements, Jerusalem, refugees. Bush has consistently failed to back up Rice's efforts. In his speech, he suggested to Olmert that he finally define Israel's position regarding borders. The very next day, Olmert's spokesperson publicly told Bush, in effect, don't even think about it.

President Bush: "The Palestinian government must arrest terrorists, dismantle their infrastructure and confiscate illegal weapons - as the road map requires."

The facts: The road map also requires that Israel not only halt the expansion of settlements but dismantle them. Furthermore, it explicitly obliges each side to implement its obligations, within each of the three phases of the process that it established, without regard to the pace of implementation of the other. Thus, Palestinians cannot delay measures to end violence until Israel stops settlement-building, and Israel cannot delay ending the expansion of settlements by demanding that Palestinians first complete their efforts to end all violence. While Bush and Israel have advocated and imposed draconian sanctions for Palestinian violations, they have failed to do the same for Israeli violations. Bush has also prevented Security Council attempts to deal with the parties in a more balanced way.

President Bush: "[By supporting Hamas], the Palestinian people would surrender their future to Hamas' foreign sponsors in Syria and Iran."

The facts: Hamas is not a natural ally of either Iran or Syria; Iran is Shiite and Syria advocates a secular Arab nationalism that is anathema to Islamists. Bashar Assad's father slaughtered thousands of members of the Islamic Brotherhood in the city of Hama for their opposition to his government. Hamas has never expressed support for violence directed against U.S. and Western interests by Iran and Syria, or Al Qaeda for that matter. Hamas has turned to Iran and Syria for financial support in reaction to Israel and Bush's efforts to strangle it.

The one potentially hopeful element in Bush's speech was his statement that negotiations must lead to a "territorial settlement with mutually agreed borders reflecting previous lines and current realities, and mutually agreed adjustments." Optimists read this passage as U.S. endorsement of the principle enshrined in previous resolutions and in the road map that no territorial changes can be made unilaterally by Israel without Palestinian agreement. Unfortunately, while Bush is painfully precise when it comes to spelling out conditions that Palestinians must meet to get their state, he remains painfully imprecise when dealing with Israel's obligation to return to the pre-1967 border.

The distortions and misinformation in the president's speech aside, this latest initiative has no chance of advancing the peace process. For all of his gestures to Abbas, Olmert has not the slightest intention of getting "trapped" in a peace process that might oblige Israel to dismantle a significant part of its settlement enterprise. As in the past, he will not find himself at a loss for pretexts to postpone the beginning of negotiations.
More importantly, there is not the slightest chance that a peace process from which Hamas is excluded will get anywhere.

President Bush's proposal for an international conference in the fall has all the earmarks of a last minute, half-baked idea that no one at the White House or the Department of State thought through. Clearly, none of the "neighbors" Bush plans to invite to this conference were consulted in advance. And if, as Bush said, only those who recognize Israel's right to exist and accept all previous agreements will be invited, then not only most of Israel's neighbors but Israel itself would not qualify. Having exhorted Israel in his speech - however gently - for the umpteenth time to stop expanding settlements and to dismantle "illegal" outposts, Bush should know that Israel is in flagrant violation of virtually all previous agreements and UN resolutions.

If, as Bush apparently expects, his speech will in fact define Tony Blair's mandate as the Quartet's emissary, the former prime minister would be well advised to stay home.

Video vari di "Anarchists against the Wall"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGRD1uhm960

The Five Percent Solution

John V. Whitbeck, Arab News, 31/07/07. To prevent such a manipulation and deformation of the Arab Peace Initiative, the “carrot” must be complemented with a credible and effective “stick”. The Arab League should make it clear that, if Israel does not accept the Arab Peace Initiative, without reservations, by a specific near-term date, it will lapse and be “off the table”. At the same time, the major Arab and Muslim oil producers should state that, if Israel rejects the Arab Peace Initiative, then, until Israel complies fully with international law and UN resolutions by withdrawing from all occupied Arab land to its internationally recognized borders, they will reduce their petroleum exports by increments of five percent each month — month after month after month.

It would, of course, be preferable if the United States, whose unconditional support of Israel has made possible its continuing occupation of Arab lands, were to undergo a moral and ethical transformation and if Americans were suddenly to realize both that Palestinians are human beings entitled to basic human rights and that international law should be complied with by all, not only by the poor, the weak and the Arab. Realistically, after so many years of antithetical attitudes, such a transformation is most unlikely to occur.

However, if Americans cannot be reached through their hearts or minds, they can be reached through their wallets. If oil prices, already near historic highs, were to soar and stock market prices were to plunge, Americans would be certain to start asking why, precisely, Israel should be permitted to continue defying international law and UN resolutions and denying Palestinians their basic human rights and why the United States, alone, should be unconditionally supporting it in doing so — at the cost of both worldwide anti-American rage and sharply higher oil prices for Americans.

Since no American national interests are served by Israel’s continuing occupation of Arab lands, no credible, nonracist answers could be offered, and, with oil prices rising, stock market prices falling and no reversal of these trends in sight, these questions would become more insistent and Israel’s defiant position could rapidly become untenable.

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Israel, E.U. sign academic pact

JTA. 30/07/07. Israel has signed an agreement with the European Union that thwarts efforts to impose a British academic boycott of Israel. The agreement will allow Israeli universities to take part in a new six-year research program called the Seventh Research Framework, or FP7. Israel is the only nation outside the European Union that will participate in the major public/private research partnership to develop green air transport, which will be funded under the FP7 program.

The deal effectively thwarts efforts by Britain’s University and College Union to impose an academic boycott of Israel in Britain, having voted at its recent annual congress to campaign for "a moratorium on research and cultural collaborations with Israel via E.U. and European Science Foundation” as part of its Israeli boycott policy. The union’s continued campaign against academic collaborations with Israel has come under fire by some academics, the Jewish community, Britain’s prime minister and members of the British Parliament.

Le Fatah veut asphyxier le Hamas

Karim Lebhour. radiofranceinternationale. 30/07/07. Mahmoud Abbas, le président de l'Autorité palestinienne n'entend pas baisser les bras face au Hamas. Il a décidé de geler les salaires de tous les fonctionnaires palestiniens qui travaillent pour le Hamas. Après la bataille des armes, le Hamas et le Fatah sont désormais engagés dans une guerre économique. Mahmoud Abbas n'a pas caché son intention d'asphyxier financièrement les islamistes de Gaza et a ordonné que les salaires des fonctionnaires qui travaillent pour le Hamas, ou qui ont simplement été recrutés par un ministre Hamas, ne soient pas versés.

Environ 10 000 personnes sont concernées à Gaza et le Hamas a décidé de les payer lui-même, sans donner de précisions sur l'origine de ses fonds. Parmi ces fonctionnaires, figurent notamment les 7000 hommes de la force exécutive. La police du Hamas assure désormais la sécurité dans la bande de Gaza.

Par le passé le mouvement islamiste a reçu le soutien de l'Iran, allant parfois jusqu'à faire transporter l'argent dans des valises depuis l'Egypte. Mais le Hamas montre, par ce geste, que même coupé du monde et boycotté par la communauté internationale, il pense être capable de gérer tant bien que mal la bande de Gaza.

Inside Gaza: Who Killed the Juha Sisters?

In the six weeks since Hamas took power in Gaza, the territory has become neither a model of efficient justice nor a repressive Islamist state. That doesn’t explain why so few care about the killing of the Juha sisters.

WEB EXCLUSIVE

By Kevin Peraino

Newsweek

Updated: 5:17 p.m. ET July 26, 2007

July 26, 2007 - Yehia Abu Moghaseb knew something wasn't right almost as soon as he saw the headlights. The Gaza Strip gravedigger watched from his house as two cars turned down the sloping dirt driveway of the Martyrs' Cemetery in his village of Wadi Salgah, where he works. It was almost 10 p.m. last Saturday, too late for a funeral. He walked down the hill toward the lights and found several men gathered around the hatchback of a blue and white Mitsubishi Magnum. The men were polite but a little harried. As Moghaseb looked on, they lifted three large bundles wrapped in black plastic from the back of the car, and carelessly dropped them into freshly dug pits lined with cinderblocks. They shoveled a few scoops of sand on top, before driving off into the warm Gaza night.

The gravedigger wasn't exactly sure what to do next. "There's no police," he recalled later; shortly after the Islamist Hamas organization seized power in June, Gaza's police chief, who is loyal to Fatah, suspended all civilian law enforcement. Abu Moghaseb asked a neighbor to call the Hamas-controlled "Executive Force," a network of troops composed mostly of former militants from the group's Izzedine al-Qassam militia. When the Hamas men arrived, wearing their trademark black uniforms and cradling Kalashnikovs, Abu Moghaseb helped them uncover the graves. A doctor tore open the black body bags. Inside, the gravedigger saw three young women, two of them still in their teens. "They were beautiful," he said later. "Except for the blood." Two of the girls had been stabbed repeatedly in the chest; the third had her throat cut.

Three days after the murders, I visited Abu Moghaseb at the cemetery, a small plot of sun-bleached soil and desert scrub, ringed with barbed wire. The gravedigger, who looks older than his 42 years and sports a neatly trimmed salt-and-pepper beard, told me that he has 13 children, including several daughters. The murders had been an honor killing, he explained; he says he was later told that the victims were orphans and had been working as prostitutes. A devout Muslim, Abu Moghaseb said that he has mixed feelings about the practice of honor killing and seemed to be working through his rationale while we talked. "If a woman works as a prostitute, she must be killed," he reasoned. "It will spread diseases." Still, he went on, "Our religion says not to kill," and then after another moment: "But our tradition says to kill." As we baked in the midday Gaza sun, he eventually gave up on the tortured logic. "You don't kill a girl," he told me finally, looking a little disgusted, before walking back up the hill toward his house.

Aristotle's dictum about the law—that it is reason free from passion—has never applied particularly well to the Gaza Strip. Justice here has long been a chaotic mix of logic, emotion, religion and tradition. Now that Hamas has seized control over virtually all the territory's major institutions, the equation has become even more complicated. The conventional wisdom about law and order under Hamas rule is almost entirely wrong, whether you believe the Islamists' narrative or that of their secular Fatah rivals. In the six weeks since Hamas took power, the territory has become neither a model of efficient justice, nor a repressive Taliban state ruled by Sharia (Islamic law). Still, the postrevolutionary transition period has not been an encouraging one for advocates of an independent legal system for Gaza. In a recent report, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) warned that Gaza's judiciary has faced "near paralysis" since Hamas took power. Regular Gazans like 16-year-old Nahed Juha, 19-year-old Suha Juha, and 22-year-old Lubna Juha—the three young women who ended up in body bags—are paying the price. "In the absence of law, people take the law into their own hands," says Issam Younis, the director of Gaza City's Al Mezan Center for Human Rights.

Honor killings are one of the area’s most sensitive legal and moral dilemmas. They are not condoned by Sharia, but they are becoming increasingly common in lawless Gaza. Under the Palestinian criminal code, murder can carry a death sentence, usually by hanging. But according to Palestinian officials, there has never been a case when the perpetrator of an honor killing has been executed. The killers often serve little more than three years, and rarely more than seven. Neither Fatah politicians nor the Islamists in Hamas are particularly sympathetic to the victims, even in peacetime. Amid the chaotic indifference of civil war, they are even less so. In 2007 alone, there have been a dozen honor killings, according to rights groups. "There is a very clear increase in the killing of women," says Younis.

A few days after the murders, I stopped by the Gaza City office of Islam Shehwan, the spokesman for Hamas's Executive Force. He was wearing a shiny, midnight-blue dress shirt, and had his eyes glued to a television broadcasting Al-Jazeera as we spoke. A framed painting of Hamas spiritual leader Ahmad Yassin, assassinated by Israel in 2004, hung on the wall behind him. Eager to demonstrate that the Islamists were serious about law enforcement after their takeover, Shehwan told me that the Executive Force had swiftly arrested a suspect in the Juha case, a cousin of the victims, and that he was currently under interrogation. Shehwan explained that he had met with the alleged killer yesterday and claimed that the man had confessed. "He was very calm," the official told me. "He was proud of it." Still, Shehwan didn't seem particularly sympathetic to the murdered sisters. "They were prostitutes," Shehwan told me matter-of-factly. "We are good investigators. We have big files for them. We have many stories. One was taking drugs. They were caught having sexual relationships many times—more than five times." (Sharia requires four firsthand witnesses to convict a woman of prostitution; family law in Gaza is strongly influenced by Sharia, even before the Hamas takeover.) When the interrogation and investigation are finished, the man will be brought to trial in a normal criminal court, Shehwan insisted.

That could be more difficult than it sounds. At the moment, none of Gaza's roughly 45 judges are coming to work, bringing Gaza's dockets almost entirely to a halt. Hamas leaders are typically optimistic, insisting that they will eventually find a solution. A legal adviser to Gaza-based Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Mohammed Ahmed Abed, told me that he predicted one third to one half of the judges would come back to work if the Islamists paid their salaries. In the meantime, Hamas leaders have established a review body—known as the Legal and Sharia Committee—to review the files of some 150 prisoners in Gaza's jails. It currently reports to a major in the Executive Force. Rights groups are concerned that any new review committees—especially those directly accountable to Islamist officers—could amount to the establishment of "alternate judicial bodies," a serious violation of the system's integrity.

Yet rights groups are equally critical of some Fatah leaders, like the Palestinian attorney general, Ahmed al-Moghani, who left Gaza for the West Bank city of Ramallah shortly after the Hamas takeover. Moghani insists that it's impossible—and illegal—for him to continue working in Gaza as long as there is no civilian police force to investigate crimes. Still, at least some human-rights advocates believe he has a duty to try; even Moghani acknowledges that Gaza's legal system is at a standstill as long as he refuses to work with Hamas. With virtually no courts operating, ordinary Palestinians are left without any kind of formal system of justice. The PCHR report demands that Moghani "fulfill his responsibilities and return to work in the Gaza Strip immediately, regardless of the political situation."

A few days after the murders, I went to see Moghani at his office in Ramallah. The Palestinian attorney general is a beefy, even-tempered man with the humorless charm of a professional bureaucrat. He told me that Executive Force militants had raided his Gaza City office during the fighting, taking all his files, including the memory cards for his computer. He complained that without a police force to protect his investigations, he can't do his job properly. "As long as [Hamas] has its grip on power, things will never go back to normal," he told me. "For me to function, I need a police force. If the police force starts working at 12 o'clock, I'll be there at 12:01."

When I asked him about the case of the Juha sisters, he grimaced and seemed almost as dismissive as his counterparts from Hamas. "Look, we have information from intelligence sources that they have been committing sins," the attorney general explained. He told me that he had taken a personal interest in the case, and ordered "forensic work" to be done on the bodies. "After the work was done, it was determined that they were not virgins," he continued. "We could detect that there were recent sexual relationships." He lifted his hands and cocked his head, as if to say: case closed. "Of course, this is not a pretext to kill them," he added. "Nobody is allowed to take the law into his own hands." The attorney general sounded very much like he was trying to convince himself.

After two days of asking around about the case, I realized that I knew almost nothing solid about the lives of the three young women. I stopped by the apartment complex where they had lived, a split-level gray cinderblock structure in the heart of Gaza City. A neighbor who identified himself as Abu Ahmad said that the three had lived alone; their father had died years before of a heart attack, an older brother had been killed as an Israeli collaborator in the 1990s, and their mother had also been murdered. "They used to talk to boys in the street," the neighbor recalled. "They used to go without a headscarf. Now we're rid of them." Relatives I visited were no more helpful or sympathetic. Not a single family member was willing to talk about the girls. Mahmoud Juha, the family mukhtar—the head of the clan—explained that he would have nothing to say about the young women or their murders. When we stopped by his home, he told my translator firmly: "I advise you not to talk to anyone else."

To Yehia Abu Moghaseb, that attitude is part of the problem. The crime should be publicized and the killers punished, the gravedigger told me, as we stood in the sun at the cemetery near where the bodies had been dumped. "We can't be silent," he went on, his voice rising slightly. "We can't cover it up." Then he was quiet. I thought of what he had told me earlier, with the simple, sound judgment of a man who has seen more than his share of bodies covered with earth: "You don't kill a girl." In the absence of law, at least there is someone in Gaza with a little common sense.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19982075/site/newsweek/?from=rss

Palestinians wary of interim statehood

Harvey Morris. Financial Times. 29/07/07. The strategy behind resurgent diplomatic activity to tackle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is beginning to emerge, pointing to the goal of interim statehood for the Palestinians before President George W. Bush’s term in office runs out. Within a year, according to some analysts, a new political entity could come into being called the State of Palestine. However, they warned of many potential pitfalls and doubted it would fulfil the aspirations of the Palestinian people. “They want to change the name of the Palestinian Authority to the Palestinian state,” said Hani al-Masri, a West Bank political analyst. “But it wouldn’t change anything on the ground. It would be a state under occupation.” Many Palestinians are wary of a short-term solution they perceive as having more to do with Mr Bush’s legacy and the US’s problems elsewhere in the Middle East than with a lasting settlement of the conflict.

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Anarchists under fire

Neve Gordon. Guardian. 30/07/07. A battle is being waged in the Israeli courts against anarchists who help Palestinian villagers. One of the most remarkable qualities of these young Israeli anarchists is their subversive use of their own privilege, employing it not for self-interested social, economic or political gain - as most people do - but rather in order to stand up to power. The anarchists, in other words, exploit the privilege that comes with their Jewish identity and use it as a strategic asset against the brutal policies of the Jewish state.

As Jewish activists they are well aware that the Israeli military behaves very differently when Israeli Jews are present during a protest in the West Bank and that the level of violence, while still severe, is much less intense. Indeed, according to Israeli soldiers the military has more stringent open fire regulations for demonstrations in which non-Palestinians participate. So when a village's public committee decides to carry out non-violent protests against the occupying power, the anarchists mingle with the demonstrating villagers, thus becoming a human shield for all of those Palestinians who have chosen to follow the path of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King.

Even though the anarchists are frequently beaten and arrested, they do not desist. To date, about 10 Palestinians have been killed in demonstrations against the separation barrier and thousands have been wounded, a number that would no doubt have been much greater had it not been for the fearless dedication of the anarchists.

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MK: Monthly grant for Holocaust survivors a 'mockery'

Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent. 30/07/07. Chairwoman of the Knesset lobby for Holocaust survivors, Labor MK Colette Avital, condemned on Monday the monthly allowance the government has decided to grant 120,000 survivors. The decision allocates survivors some NIS 1,000 [€ 169.031; US$ 231.214] in its first year of its implementation, which comes about to about NIS 83 monthly [€ 14.0301; US$ 19.1943]. Avital called the decision a "mockery." The benefit will be extended to 120,000 survivors over the age of 70 who receive old age allowances. Each person can expect to receive NIS 83 per month in the first year, a sum which will increase gradually each year. "We are correcting a 60-year-old blight," Olmert said of the decision. "Holocaust survivors living in Israel are entitled to live respectably without reaching a situation in which it is beyond their means to enjoy a hot meal".

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israel.jpost.com.30/07/07. "Scorn for the poor and salt in the eyes of Holocaust survivors," Colette Avital said of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's decision on giving additional monetary aid to survivors, Israel Radio reported Monday. There are some 260,000 Holocaust survivors in Israel today, one third of whom live below the poverty line. Many suffer from physical and emotional ailments, loneliness and depression, and a lack of family and social support systems. This is an aging population, with 10,000 of its members requiring welfare assistance.

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see also:

Norman G. Finkelstein The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering

Amira Hass, The holocaust asPolitical Asset

The Siege of Gaza

Amassi Ghazi, the owner of a failing export business, with some of the checks from customers that have bounced.





Andrew Lee Butters/Gaza City. TIME. 28/07/07. I spent Thursday talking to other business owners -- pragmatic, apolitical people -- who uniformly blamed Israel, the United States and Fatah for the destruction of the Gazan economy. In fact, after years of living with the gangsterism and warlordism that plagued Gaza while it was run by Fatah officials, most are happy with the Hamas takeover. "I blame Fatah and Abu Mazen because they made us live in garbage," said the owner of the largest factory in Gaza, which makes cookies and ice cream, but which is now almost totally shut. "They never wanted to see anyone else prosper. They just wanted to live on top, through corruption."

The business owners pointed out that not only joblessness and poverty pushing average people towards extremism, but they also said that the Israeli embargo was destroying the only class of Palestinians who still looked favorably towards Israel: them. Most of them speak Hebrew, have -- or used to have -- Israeli clients, partners, and friends, and most had once looked forward to the day when there would be no trade barriers at all for an independent Palestine at peace with Israel. "The majority of Gazans do not like Israel'" said Amassi Ghazi, the chairman of a company that imports building materials. "Until now only the private sector had good relations with Israel. So please open the border before you loose the last sector, and all Gaza will be enemies of Israel."

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Bringing In The Sheaves

Refreshments after the harvesting at Al Jabari home

Esther Kern. Christian Peacemaker Teams. 29/07/07

Gleaning on the hillside,
Gleaning 'ore the plains,
Working for the Master
Among the golden grain

The words of this familiar hymn reverberate through my mind each time I go to harvest by hand, stalks of golden grass on the hillside of a farm nestled between two settlements just outside of Hebron. The 'master' and legal owner of this coveted piece of land is a Palestinian farmer. Yet he cannot till the fertile soil, nor bring his flock of thirty goats to graze on the land, for fear of violence and harassment from nearby settlers. The unattended grape vines lie blackened and gnarled upon the ground. The fields are strewn with plastic bottles, diapers, and paper, carelessly tossed away by passers by. Weeds and thistles grow with abandon.

Not only is the Palestinian farmer prevented from working on his land, but he has been shot at, his children physically assaulted, and he has been arrested on erroneous charges and heavily fined.

The settlers have constructed a tent synagogue on the property. For easy access between the two nearby settlements, the Israeli settlers have built a brick sidewalk and steps through the middle of the property. Street lights line the walkway. So what is wrong with this picture?

The farmer has taken his legal claim to the Israeli high court, which ruled in his favor, and ordered the synagogue, sidewalks and steps to be demolished. The tent was torn down, but rebuilt within several days, and the settler activity continues as before. The farmer can only go onto his land under the protection of groups of international human rights workers and Christian Peacemaker Team members, which happens on a regular basis every Friday evening. Each time, he is challenged by the Israeli Police to provide documents to prove that he is the legal owner of the land. Each time, there is a heavy presence of Israeli police and military with an assortment of weapons and military vehicles which necessarily keep the settlers at bay. In spite of this, one settler attacked and injured two human rights workers on the evening of July 27, an act for which the Israeli police arrested him, and for which plenty of evidence was captured on film.

"Gleaning on the hillside" conjures up images of a peaceful and productive land, hardworking farmers, and one of right relationships. The reality is one of confrontation, violence, and bloodshed. What is wrong with this picture?

For photos of actions on Al Jaberi land see: http://www.cpt.org/gallery/hebron

Christian Peacemaker Teams is an ecumenical initiative to support violence reduction efforts around the world. To learn more about CPT's peacemaking work, visit our website www.cpt.org Photos of our projects are at www.cpt.org/gallery A map of the center of Hebron is at http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/fullMaps_Sa.nsf/0/5618737E38C0B3DE8525708C004BA584/$File/ocha_OTS_hebron_oPt010805.pdf?OpenElement The same map is the last page of this report on closures in Hebron: www.humanitarianinfo.org/opt/docs/UN/OCHA/ochaHU0705_En.pdf

Tent, used as synagogue, erected by settlers on Jaberi property

Wakseh: il tracollo del nazionalismo palestinese

Ronny Shaked. ISRAELE.net. 30/07/07. Abu Mazen continua a ripetere gli stessi mantra: uno stato palestinese indipendente con Gerusalemme capitale, il diritto al ritorno, la rimozione degli insediamenti. In realtà, non è molto più che il governatore della Muqata, il palazzo presidenziale a Ramallah. Il governo designato da Abu Mazen abbonda di ministri del turismo, dei trasporti, dell’agricoltura e altri importanti dicasteri. Ma è tutto virtuale. I palestinesi nei territori chiamano quello di Salem Fayyad “il governo degli stipendi”. In effetti il Tesoro palestinese ha abbastanza soldi per pagare gli stipendi per molti mesi a venire. Il mondo occidentale, che vede il nemico nell’estremismo islamico, segue ciecamente le dichiarazioni di Abu Mazen e continua a passare grosse somme di denaro. E Abu Mazen manda soldi a Gaza, contribuendo a stabilizzare la situazione sotto Hamas.
Muhammad, di Jabaliya, ci dice che non gli importa chi paga il suo stipendio, se Abu Mazen, Hamas, l’Iran o Israele. Per lui, l’unica cosa che conta è che i soldi arrivino e gli permettano di comprare da mangiare ai suoi figli.
Intanto il potere di Hamas a Gaza si stabilizza, in parte grazie ai soldi che Israele ha trasferito ad Abu Mazen che a sua volta versa soldi a più di 100.000 abitanti di Gaza sotto forma di stipendi mensili. Hamas si sta muovendo con accortezza. Legge e ordine tendono a imporsi, non si vedono più tutte quelle armi per le strade a parte quelle in mano alle forze “governative”, e non si vedono faide di clan. Persino le bancarelle del mercato in Piazza Palestina sono state rimosse e il traffico fluisce. L’introduzione dell’islam da parte del regime viene attuata in modo graduale, ma costante e con determinazione. Anche Hamas non manca di mezzi finanziari, e riempie le tasche dei suoi nuovi sostenitori con assistenza e aiuti.
Gli abitanti di Gaza si sono abituati a Hamas e non sentono la mancanza dei corrotti funzionari di Fatah. Più di ogni altra nazione, i palestinesi sono capaci di adattarsi rapidamente a mutate circostanze. Uno dei leader della generazione di transizione di ciò che resta di Fatah, e che preferisce restare anonimo, ci dice con grande tristezza: “La Wakseh ci ha ributtato indietro di cinquant’anni. La speranza nazionale è perduta. Questi sono giorni di lutto”.

testo integrale (Da: YnetNews, 27.07.07)

Hamas rejects plan

Ezzedeen Alqassam Bridages Information Office. 29/07/07. The foreign ministry of Hamas government stated its objection Sunday to the Palestinian Authority-negotiated plan to return Palestinians stranded in Egypt to the Gaza Strip throughZionist-controlled border crossings. Under the agreement, announced yesterday, more than 600 of the 6,000 stranded Palestinians will be taken on busses to Al Awja crossing, known to Zionists as Nitzana, through Zionist entity to Erez Crossing, at the northern end of the Gaza Strip. The name of each person taken into Gaza must be approved in advance by Zionist authorities.The foreign ministry in the Hamas government issued a statement Sunday saying, "We warn of this step as this will harm dozens of the stranded Palestinians; they might be arrested by the Zionists." The statement also criticized the plan for placing Palestinians "in danger" by using Zionist-controlled crossings.

Meanwhile, at a meeting in the city of Rafah, leaders in the left-leaning Palestinian National Initiative party called for Rafah crossing to be opened.

To date at least 29 people have died while stranded on the Egyptian side of Rafah crossing. Approximately 6,000 Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip have been marooned there since fighting between Hamas and Fatah caused Zionist and Egyptian authorities to close the crossing in mid June.

Stato Semita Ebraico e Stato Semita Palestinese

Rosario Amico Roxas. Il Dialogo. 27/07/07. Il peggior Occidente guerrafondaio alimenta le divergenze per continuare ad essere l’arbitro ultimo della contesa in Palestina. I diritti che il pontefice sostiene per il popolo ebraico non possono essere che reciproci, validi anche per i Palestinesi. Israele deve diventare uno STATO SEMITA EBRAICO, confederato con lo STATO SEMITA PALESTINESE; questo il senso della dichiarazione di quanti sostengono che Israele deve scomparire dalla carta geografica; deve scomparire come avanguardia armata del peggior Occidente, per ri-diventare una nazione medioorientale, semita, in pace e in armonia con i fratelli palestinesi-semiti.

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Barghuothi: Israeli claims concerning the peace initiative are simply deceiving

IMEMC Staff. 28/07/07. Dr. Mustafa Al-Barghuothi the general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative faction confirmed today that the Israeli allegations of the peace initiative are simply deceiving, "just another way of by passing the final status of peace negotiations with the Palestinians". His statements came during a conference held in the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem on Saturday. Dr. Al-Barghuothi added that the Israeli talk about pulling out from 90% of the West Bank is false due to status of the current geopolitical map. Israel is planning to pull out from 90% of the 50% of the West Bank left over after constructing the wall, and annexing major illegal Israeli settlements to Israel also excluding Jerusalem and the Jordanian Valley.

The Palestinian official said that no Palestinian will accept the creation of a Palestinian state without sovereignty over Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. He also reiterated the hazards of creating a Palestinian temporary state, without the dismantling of all illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank in addition to the Israeli withdrawal of all the lands it occupied in 1967. The new Israeli peace plan according to Al-Barghuothi is meant to disrupt the idea of an independent Palestinian state turning it to cantons, following example of the South African apartheid regime.

Al-Barghuothi pointed out that Bush was convening an international meeting and not an international peace conference, highlighting the most serious campaign statements made by Bush and Olmert in an attempt to separate the Palestinian state on the final issue. This will mean converting a fully sovereign Palestinian state into a state within temporary boarders.

Dr. Al-Barghuothi explained that the Salvation Initiative which was initiated by his political faction, along with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is an initiative aimed at escaping from the political crisis the Palestinians are facing. He also added that there is a great danger threatening the Palestinian future due to the state of segregation and infighting in the political Palestinian arena.

Finally Dr. Al-Barghuothi warned of the risks the Palestinian nation is facing on a daily basis. He claims this is due to the Israeli army's continuous attacks and the deterioration in the level of livelihood which the Palestinian nation is facing. He also emphasizes the importance of the unifying role that the PFLP and his own political faction, the Palestinian National Initiative is doing to put an end to the internal Palestinian power struggle.

Translated by Ghassan Bannoura – IMEMC News Room

Blair of Arabia

From The Economist print edition. 26/07/07. Nothing about the latest diplomacy is plain. None of those involved—Mr Olmert, Mr Abbas, moderate Arab leaders, George Bush and even Mr Blair—seems likely yet to have the will or the courage to tackle the explosive issues (the division of Jerusalem, the removal of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, redrawing borders or addressing the refugee question) that have prevented a lasting peace before. Welcome, Mr Blair, to the snake pit.

Tony Blair has been in the job for less than a month since retiring as Britain's prime minister, and is already feeling the slashes of the sword. The first swipe came from Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany's foreign minister, who complained that Mr Blair had been appointed behind closed doors by America without consulting the so-called quartet—the club of America, Russia, the European Union and the UN—that Mr Blair is now supposed to represent.

Then came an “open letter” from ten of Europe's Mediterranean countries, which said his mandate, to help build the institutions of a future Palestinian state, was too limited. Mr Blair, they said, should tear up the quartet's old “road map” and seek an all-inclusive peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

The Americans, though, insist that Mr Blair's authority will not extend to high diplomacy. They will lead the way along the “political track”, says Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state. Italy told Mr Blair not to isolate Hamas, the Islamist movement that rules the Gaza Strip, but Israel says that is precisely what he must do. Merely by taking the job, Mr Blair has stepped on the toes of all the other Middle East envoys, not least Michael Williams, the UN envoy, and Javier Solana, the EU's foreign-policy supremo. His first foray to the Middle East as envoy this week—with a staff of two, no permanent office and relying on the help of British diplomats [...]

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Turning Palestine's Most Valuable Natural Resource into a Political Tool. Gaza was a Gas for Blair

Arthur Nelsen. Counterunch. 27/07/07. On April 29, two weeks before fighting flared in Gaza, Yossi Maiman, co-owner of the Israeli gas company EMG, claimed that in 2004, while he was in talks to join the project, it was revealed to him that shares in it were being held in trust for two confidential partners: Mohammed Rashid and Martin Schlaff. BG denied the claims but they were damaging. Schlaff is a millionaire who was investigated on charges of attempting to bribe Ariel Sharon in 2006. Mohammed Rashid is a former director general of the Palestine Investment Fund and erstwhile "mentor" and ally to the now-exiled Gazan warlord Mohammed Dahlan. Conflicts Forum website described Rashid as a sometime advisor to the US and "an essential part of America's programme to undermine Hamas". Yossi Maiman is reportedly a former employee of the Mossad. So is Shabtai Shavit, the CEO of his company who was condemned by Israel's attorney general in 2004 for using his intelligence connections to advance EMG's interests in the Gaza gas fields [...]

The Gaza maritime field is estimated to contain between 35-40bn cubic metres--or one trillion cubic feet--of gas. In the words of the British Foreign Office, it is "by far the most valuable Palestinian natural resource" and revenues from its output are usually estimated at $4bn. For this reason, Ariel Sharon always opposed its development, claiming that monies raised might be used to arm Israel's enemies.

In the summer of 2005, when Sharon was focused on "disengagement" from Gaza, BG signed a memorandum with the Egyptian company EGAS to sell the gas there. But the deal was scuppered a year later, when Tony Blair intervened at the last minute to plead the Israeli government's case to BG, allegedly following a request from Ehud Olmert [...]

Ever sensitive to popular anger at the exploitation of Palestine's national treasure, one of Hamas's first demands after seizing power in Gaza was for a renegotiation of the BG contract. Ziad Thatha, the Hamas economic minister, had previously denounced the deal as "an act of theft" and modern-day Balfour Declaration, that "sells Palestinian gas to the Zionist occupation".

His words might have been a response to the circumvention of the Gaza Strip in the deal, which will pipe gas directly onshore to Ashkelon in Israel.

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Arthur Neslen is a journalist working in Tel Aviv. The first Jewish employee of Aljazeera.net and a four-year veteran of the BBC, Neslen has contributed to numerous periodicals over the years, including The Guardian, The Observer, The Independent and Red Pepper. His first book, Occupied Minds: A journey through the Israeli psyche, was recently published by Pluto Press.

Les Etats-Unis vont augmenter de 25 % leur aide militaire à Israël

LEMONDE.FR avec AFP. 29/07/07. Ehoud Olmert a annoncé dimanche 29 juillet que les Etats-Unis allaient augmenter de 25 % leur aide militaire et de défense à Israël, pour la porter à plus de 3 milliards de dollars par an, durant les dix prochaines années."Cette aide marque une amélioration considérable et extrêmement importante et constitue un élément très important de la sécurité d'Israël", a salué le premier ministre israélien. Cette année, l'Etat hébreu a reçu 2,4 milliards de dollars d'aide militaire américaine, dont les trois quarts servent à l'achat d'armes à des sociétés américaines, le reste finançant des achats d'équipements militaires auprès de firmes israéliennes.

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Security fallout worsens for Fatah

AL Jazeera.net, 27/07/07. Dahlan is believed to be one of the richest people in the Palestinian territories with much of his wealth accrued through Palestinian Authority monopolies such as oil and cement [Palestinian PM's family's cement firm "helping build Israel's wall"]. He is now in Yugoslavia also receiving medical treatment and Hamas have welcomed his resignation and called it the "beginning of the purification of Fatah's ranks".

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Dahlan is believed to be one of the richest people in the Palestinian territories with much of his wealth accrued through Palestinian Authority monopolies such as oil and cement. He is now in Yugoslavia also receiving medical treatment and Hamas have welcomed his resignation and called it the "beginning of the purification of Fatah's ranks". The faction's security forces in the Gaza Strip were riven by nepotism, infiltrated by hostile agents and contained recruits motivated by simply making a living rather than political conviction.

M. O.: ACCORDO ISRAELE-EGITTO, 6. 000 PALESTINESI TORNANO A GAZA

(AGI/AFP) - Al-Arish (Egitto) , 28 lug. - Il valico di Rafah fu chiuso il 9 giugno scorso. Da allora migliaia di palestinesi si trovarono a vivere in una sorta di "terra di nessuno". Ventinove tra loro sono morti per le condizioni disastrose di sopravvivenza. Oltre seimila palestinesi potranno finalmente tornare a Gaza. Israele ed Egitto hanno trovato un accordo per il rientro delle famiglie bloccate dalla chiusura del valico di Rafah decisa dopo la presa militare del potere da parte di Hamas. I primi cento partiranno alla volta della Striscia domani: da Al-Arish, 50 chilometri a ovest di Rafah, saranno trasferiti nei Territori.
"Entreranno a Gaza attraverso aree del confine israelo-egiziano, L'Autorita' nazionale palestinese li mettera' sui bus e li portera' a Gaza", ha detto il ministro per le questioni relative ai detenuti, Ashraf Ajrami. Secondo quanto riportato dal quotidiano israeliano "Haaretz", i palestinesi torneranno attraverso il valico di Eretz. (AGI)

Reflection: Fear or forgiveness?

Jan Benvie, CPT, 29/07/07. "I know what it is like to be powerless to forgive. That is why I would never say to someone, 'You must forgive.' . I can only say: however much we have been wronged, however justified our hatred, if we cherish it, it will poison us. . we must pray for the power to forgive, for it is in forgiving our enemies that we are healed." (Dr Sheila Cassidy who was tortured in Chile, during the Pinochet regime)

A few weeks ago, a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) that provides psychological help to people in Hebron Old City, contacted us. They asked if we could accompany a Palestinian woman and her children on a visit to her parent's home. A house where Israeli settlers live lies between her home and that of her parent's. She is afraid to walk there alone.

We have spoken to some of the Palestinian families in the area and they too believe that the settlers would attack them if they walk alone on the street. Their fear is palpable.

Every Saturday settlers and those we refer to as 'settler visitors' tour the Old City souq. There was a small Jewish community here in Hebron until riots in 1929. Although many Muslim families saved their Jewish neighbors, the Arab rioters killed sixty seven Jews. The British, who ruled Palestine at that time, forcibly evacuated the Jewish survivors. On Saturday the 'tour' comes through the Old City souq, with a heavily armed military escort, visiting the sites related to the pre-1929 community.

We have spoken to some of the visitors and they believe that the 'Arabs' would attack them if it were not for their armed guard. Their fear is palpable.

Here in Hebron we speak with Israeli soldiers, settlers and visitors, and with Palestinian residents and visitors. There is a great deal of fear, anger and distrust, that is deeply and genuinely felt.

A few days ago, I listened to an exchange, in English, between an Israeli soldier and a Palestinian man. Each was recounting the wrongs that had been done to their community by the other. Each was justifying the wrongs that their community had done.

As I listened to the exchange, I was reminded of the words of Edward Said, a Palestinian born writer, who spoke of the Palestinians being "the victims of the victims." For Said it was important that both communities acknowledged the suffering of the other.

Like Sheila Cassidy I would never say to someone "You must forgive", but like her I believe in the healing power of forgiveness. Here in Hebron I meet children, Palestinian and Israeli, who throw stones and swear at strangers, because they perceive them as the 'other'. Here in Hebron I see two communities who live in fear of and hatred for the 'other'.

I hope, pray and work for the spirit of understanding and forgiveness to enter into the hearts of the people of Hebron. Only then can they begin on a journey to peace.

Christian Peacemaker Teams is an ecumenical initiative to support violence reduction efforts around the world. To learn more about CPT's peacemaking work, visit our website www.cpt.org Photos of our projects are at www.cpt.org/

gallery A map of the center of Hebron is at http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/fullMaps_Sa.nsf/0/5618737E38C0B3DE8525708C004BA584/$File/ocha_OTS_hebron_oPt010805.pdf?OpenElement The same map is the last page of this report on closures in Hebron: www.humanitarianinfo.org/opt/docs/UN/OCHA/ochaHU0705_En.pdf

Olmert apre al leader palestinese: pronto a cedere [più tardi... dopo... quando si potrà... se... ] il 90% [del 50%] dei Territori

Gian Micalessin. Il Giornale. 26/07/07. Dell’esatta definizione dei confini, delle zone di Gerusalemme destinate a diventare capitale del nuovo Stato, della questione dei profughi si discuterà soltanto alla fine. Prima di affrontare gli scogli negoziali Olmert vuole negoziare con Abbas le caratteristiche dello Stato palestinese, la sua natura istituzionale, la sua economia e i suoi accordi doganali con Israele. Più avanti, i due discuteranno una definizione di massima delle frontiere, gli scambi di territori per compensare le colonie della Cisgiordania rimaste israeliane, le soluzioni per garantire la contiguità territoriale attraverso la costruzione di un tunnel sotterraneo tra Gaza e la Cisgiordania.............

Bilin: Soldiers show no restraint towards Peaceful Demonstrators

ISM. 28/07/07. Approximately 300 international, Palestinian and Israeli non-violent demonstrators came together for the 129th Bilin demonstration against the illegal Apartheid wall. The demonstrators came from all backgrounds and included children as young as five through to women, men and elderly internationals, Israelis and Palestinians.

The demonstration took a different route than usual and entered the olive groves from the far left hand side through a small road close to the wall. Upon entering the Olive groves, the soldiers almost immediately began firing tear gas canisters and sound grenades at the demonstrators who were peacefully walking towards the Apartheid wall. Despite demonstrators being hundreds of meters away from the Wall and not posing any threat to the soldiers or the Wall itself the soldiers used severe aggression without just cause. Demonstrators made significant attempts to avoid the tear gas however due to the direction of the wind, many of the demonstrators were severely affected by the gas, including one international male who required attention by the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Despite initial attempts by the soldiers to disperse the demonstrators, the non-violent activists persevered in getting their message across that the Apartheid wall must fall and that the people of Bilin and the internationals say No to the Occupation. The peaceful demonstrators faced rubber bullets being fired seemingly without reason and in a completely indiscriminate manner, as well as tear gas canisters directly at demonstrators. It was only through great fortune that there were no reports of serious injury as a consequence.

Due to the heat of the day and the excessive use of tear gas, fires were started within the Olive groves. Unfortunately due to the direction of the wind, a large fire took hold in a section of the groves and approximately ten Olive trees were severely burned and damaged. Demonstrators were keen to preserve the trees however the fire was too strong for them to overcome and they had to retreat.

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Wadi Rahul: Second Settlement Attempt

International Solidarity Movement. July 25th, 2007. Palestinians, International Human Rights Workers and Israelis recently went to the village of Wadi Rahul, which is near Bethlehem, to document a number of Israeli settlers that intended to initiate a new illegal settlement on a hill beyond the Efrata Settlement on Palestinian land.

It is understood that this was their second attempt and on this occasion they have sought to assemble a large number of people through the internet, inviting people throughout Israel and the settlements. We received information of the hour and the place of where they would leave, on foot since the police organized numerous “check-points” to intercept them. However the Settlers had sufficient information to avoid these meaningless preventative measures and were able to access the land.

Towards 16:30 we divided into two groups to be able to observe from two farmers homes which hill the Settlers wished to occupy. It is understood that one of the farmers had been notified by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) not to leave his property after 5pm.

During the previous evening, the army and the police had implemented a gate along the road the Settlers wished to take. During the day this particular road had been filled with police and military vehicles, the number of which increased significantly during the build up to the event.

Towards five in the afternoon, it was possible to see hundreds of Settlers begin marching towards the land they wished to occupy. They obviously hadn’t been dissuaded by the checkpoints or gates and had found suitable alternative routes to enable them to get to their chosen site.

Shortly after, they appeared in a cultivated field, still walking. They formed a row and passed across a field in the direction of the hill they wished to occupy. They appeared to be walking in the middle of the fields to avoid interception by the police or the army.

In the other location where activists were based to help protect Palestinians, it was also reported that Settlers had thrown rocks at the property and there had been an attempt to detain someone, however they were later released without harm.

Originally we maintained our observation of events from the roof of the Palestinian home, however we moved to the outside of the house close to where the Settlers were passing to ensure they didn’t act unnecessarily aggressive.

Whilst the Settlers trespassed onto Palestinian land, a few Settlers attempted to converse with the Palestinians however this was very much limited to stating that the Palestinains should leave as, “it is not their land”. A further Settler claimed that the land had been given to the Jews by God.

The march continued toward the hill, where the police and the army were expecting them. At this point the Settlers scattered in many directions and the security forces were incapable of preventing the Settlers from passing around them to continue their march. It is worth noting that the soldiers made little effort to use the “crowd control” devices they tend to employ at Bil’in, on their own people. ie. sound grenades or tear gas.

Among the participants there were people with backpacks and what appeared to be camping equipment, indicating the Settlers were likely to remain in place. It’s difficult to determine the exact number of Settlers that participated in this event due to the numbers being so dispersed across the hills, however it is estimated there were approximately 600 Settlers.

The police managed to stop the march from passing before it arrived at the second hill which was on slightly higher ground. When an activist approached to see what was happening, it could be seen that many of the Settlers were beginning to return and had begun to leave the area.

A number of buses appeared to remove the demonstrators from the land however many chose to leave on foot.

Later HRWs returned to the house with the Palestinians, and we remained there to be able to cover possible aggressions later that evening by any remaining Settlers.

Until well into the night, until at least 1am, many bus trips were made to remove the remaining Settlers from the area. There was a large military presence maintained and a significant attempt to remove determined Settlers who wished to stay on the Palestinian land.

There were many groups of people patrolling the area through the night, causing great anxiety among the Palestinians (in the house we were in, all the family watched from the balcony, and they only felt comfortable enough to sleep when three more internationals arrived.)

Throughout the night, soldiers, Settlers and Police continued to move throughout the surrounding fields, sometimes using flares to determine positions of each other and settlers.

Even in the morning it was still possible to see Settlers remaining in the fields from the previous day.

Brown to appoint his own Middle East envoy

Ian Black, middle East editor. Guardian. 28/07/07. Gordon Brown is to appoint his own Middle East envoy, opening up the possibility of a clash with the work of Tony Blair, who is now representing the international "Quartet" - the US, EU, UN and Russia. Michael Williams, currently a special coordinator for the regional peace process for the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, is expected to be confirmed in the job next week, the Guardian has learned. Mr Williams, 58, a former BBC journalist, worked for the UN in Cambodia and the Balkans, and as an adviser to Robin Cook and Jack Straw in the Foreign Office. Details of the appointment are still being finalised, but his move to Downing Street suggests that the prime minister is keen to develop his own policy for the Middle East, despite his predecessor's new high-profile role for the Quartet. Mr Brown told Mr Ban in London earlier this month that he wanted Mr Williams to fill the post formerly occupied by Lord Levy. The Palestinians and other Arabs will be pleased with the news and hoping that the prime minister will develop a distinct approach that is less influenced by both Washington and Jerusalem. Lord Levy, a leading figure in the UK Jewish community and a Labour party donor, was widely seen as being too close to Israel's view of the conflict. A key issue is whether to engage with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, currently being shunned on the grounds that it has not formally renounced violence, recognised Israel or accepted previous peace agreements.

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Olmert Competes with the Arabs

Maher Othman. Al-Hayat. 27/07/07. Olmert, as a student of his predecessor Ariel Sharon, understands that there is no need to embarrass any party that pushes for a peaceful settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict - particularly if this party happens to be the United States. He understands that Israel can accept any reasonable peace settlement in principle, and then proceed to render it meaningless by adding conditions and amendments. This was the tactic used by Sharon when he built his wall under the pretext of preventing the entry of suicide bombers to Israel, only to follow it up with a massive program of colonial expansion in the West Bank. Olmert learned to make all the right noises following U.S. overtures for a peace deal and then proceed to dismantle and sabotage these overtures before they could lead to a genuine settlement. This is precisely what Sharon did when he ostensibly embraced the American Road Map for peace and then set about clipping its wings and rendering it meaningless - eventually using it to advance Israeli interests. Meanwhile, instead of lobbying the United States and meeting the pressure of pro-Israeli groups with pressure of their own, the Arab governments continue to chase shadows.

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The siege on the Gaza Strip

B'Tselem. 26/07/07. Since 12 June 2007, Israel has prohibited almost completely movement through this main artery, or through the other crossings under its control. Reports issued by OCHA and the Palestinian Trade Organization (Paltrade) in cooperation with the World Bank show that exports from Gaza stopped completely, and that, except for the supply of necessities to meet humanitarian and basic food needs (such as flour, sugar, oil, rice, and salt), imports into the Strip also ceased. Gazan industry is based on enterprises ninety-five percent of which rely on the importation of raw materials. Eighty percent of these enterprises need machines and replacement parts, which are imported, to operate. During the siege, raw materials have not entered Gaza, so eighty percent of the enterprises have had to close down operations. The remaining enterprises are operating at sixty-percent capacity. More than 1,300 shipping containers of imported products intended for Gaza are stuck in Israel , forcing importers to pay storage costs and late fees, and bear the heavy loss of expensive perishable goods. In the construction sector, building has stopped, or been delayed, primarily because of the lack of raw materials. The total economic losses during the first month of the siege alone are estimated at 20.6 million dollars. In this period, 3,190 businesses closed temporarily and 65,800 workers, who support 450,000 dependants, lost their job. As each day of siege passes, more business shut down and more Gazans find themselves without a means of livelihood. Media reports indicate that the Israeli authorities and the head of the Palestinian Authority oppose opening the crossing to enable residents to enter Gaza from Egypt , apparently out of fear that Hamas would be strengthened by the uncontrolled entry of thousands of activists. B'Tselem calls on all the relevant parties to reach an arrangement that will bring an end to the suffering of the people trapped on both sides of the crossings. All the parties are obligated to respect the human rights of the residents of Gaza and are forbidden to turn them into hostages in the power struggle being waged among them.

In June 2007, Hamas took over power in the Gaza Strip. Since then, the area has been under siege. Following Hamas's takeover, Israel changed the movement arrangements at the five Gaza border-crossing points under its control (Erez, Karni, Nahal Oz, Sufa, and Kerem Shalom), and, except for exceptional cases, again did not permit movement of people or goods between Israel and Gaza . Karni Crossing, "the lifeblood of the Gaza Strip," through which the great majority of goods enters and leaves Gaza , ceased to operate almost completely. As a result, many branches of commerce have been disrupted and the economic crisis in the Gaza Strip has grown.

Rafah Crossing, the only Gaza crossing that is not run by Israel and the only one that is not under its direct control, has not been open since 9 June 2007 [see below]. Some 6,000 Gazans who were in Egypt at the time it was closed have been unable to return to their homes and are in severe distress. The closing of the crossing also denies Gazans any possibility of going abroad, even for urgent humanitarian purposes, such as medical treatment.

The more the siege continues, the greater the harm to the residents and their ability to meet their basic needs. Therefore, B'Tselem calls on all the parties in charge of managing the crossing points to take immediate action to open the crossings and prevent a humanitarian tragedy.

The economic siege on Gaza and its consequences

The foreign trade of Gaza is conducted almost solely with Israel or via Israeli ports. Israel controls the air space and territorial waters of Gaza, and does not allow Palestinians to build an airport or seaport. Rafah Crossing has a terminal for the crossing of goods. However, even when the terminal is open, goods are not allowed to pass through, this in accordance with the Israeli-Palestinian Agreement on Movement and Access of November 2005 ( AMA). The movement of exports through Rafah Crossing is of secondary importance, at best, given that the vast majority of exports are intended for marketing in Israel . Thus, all the goods entering Gaza and almost all the goods leaving it must move via the crossings between Gaza and Israel .

As mentioned above, almost all the movement of goods to and from Gaza passes through Karni Crossing. Under the Crossings Agreement, Israel undertook, among other things, to enable the orderly and continuous movement of goods though the crossing, and clear goals were set regarding the scope of activity at the crossing. Even before Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip, Israel did not meet this undertaking. Movement of goods through the crossing was conducted at a pace far too slow to allow for effective foreign trade.

The situation is much worse now. Since 12 June 2007, Israel has prohibited almost completely movement through this main artery, or through the other crossings under its control. Reports issued by OCHA and the Palestinian Trade Organization (Paltrade) in cooperation with the World Bank show that exports from Gaza stopped completely, and that, except for the supply of necessities to meet humanitarian and basic food needs (such as flour, sugar, oil, rice, and salt), imports into the Strip also ceased.

These measures have had a disastrous effect. As described in another report of Paltrade, Gazan industry is based on enterprises ninety-five percent of which rely on the importation of raw materials. Eighty percent of these enterprises need machines and replacement parts, which are imported, to operate. During the siege, raw materials have not entered Gaza , so eighty percent of the enterprises have had to close down operations. The remaining enterprises are operating at sixty-percent capacity. More than 1,300 shipping containers of imported products intended for Gaza are stuck in Israel , forcing importers to pay storage costs and late fees, and bear the heavy loss of expensive perishable goods. In the construction sector, building has stopped, or been delayed, primarily because of the lack of raw materials. The total economic losses during the first month of the siege alone are estimated at 20.6 million dollars. In this period, 3,190 businesses closed temporarily and 65,800 workers, who support 450,000 dependants, lost their job. As each day of siege passes, more business shut down and more Gazans find themselves without a means of livelihood.

Israel argues that the sweeping restrictions are "needed for security and result from the lack of coordination with the Palestinians." It cannot be denied that within Gaza there are indeed entities which pose a threat to the security of citizens of Israel and that the present leadership in the Gaza Strip is responsible for some of these threats. The Israeli authorities have the right and indeed the duty to protect Israeli citizens from these threats. However, in doing so, they are not permitted to ignore the rights and needs of the civilian population of the Gaza Strip. Because it holds effective control of Gaza 's foreign trade, Israel has a legal obligation to ensure that any harm to residents of the Gaza Strip resulting from the restrictions it has placed on movement at the border crossings it controls do not exceed the minimum necessary to realize the legitimate security purpose for which they were instituted. Imposition of the protracted economic siege that forces on Gazans a life of poverty and want is inconsistent with this duty.

Alternatives to the siege should be found that will enable the crossing of goods also in the present circumstances. The security threats in the Gaza Strip are nothing new, and ways have been found to cope with them in the past without completely stopping the movement of goods to and from Gaza . The same must be done now.

Regarding the claim of lack of coordination with the Palestinians, both the Palestinian leadership and the Israeli leadership must find a way to arrange passage through the border crossings and to prevent an economic crisis in Gaza , with all the human suffering such a crisis entails. However, even if the Palestinian leadership fails to meet its obligations on this point, that failure does not permit Israel to leave the civilian population of Gaza in distress, and it must do everything it can to find a solution, such as working through an intermediary, to bring the economic siege to an end.

Closing of Rafah Crossing and its consequences

Given that Gaza has no airport or seaport, and inasmuch as Israel controls all the other crossing points, Rafah Crossing is the only gateway through which Gazans can go abroad, and for this reason the crossing is of such great importance.

In the Crossings Agreement, the two sides agreed that the crossing would be operated by the Palestinian Authority, in cooperation with Egypt and under Israeli supervision by means of video cameras and monitoring of the lists of travelers. To ensure compliance with the agreement, it was agreed that observers on behalf of the European Union would be posted at the crossing. The two sides gave the observers supervisory powers and agreed that the crossing would not be opened unless the observers were present. Since 9 June, the observers have not been present at the crossing, and nobody is allowed to cross. As a result, many Gazans find themselves in great distress.

As noted above, some 6,000 Gazans who had left the Strip and were in Egypt when Hamas took control of the Strip have been unable to return to their homes and unite with their families. Many of them do not have the means to finance their continued stay in Egypt and lack proper housing accommodations, food, and medicines. Some, who were ill, have died while trapped on the other side of the border. An unknown number of Gazans are stuck elsewhere in the world. Residents wanting to leave Gaza for Egypt or elsewhere, including chronic patients and injured persons badly needing medical treatment unavailable in Gaza , remain imprisoned inside the Strip.

The persons and entities controlling the activity at the crossing – the head of the Palestinian Authority, Hamas , Israel , Egypt , and the European Union to some extent – are responsible for this situation and must find a solution to the problem. Media reports indicate that the Israeli authorities and the head of the Palestinian Authority oppose opening the crossing to enable residents to enter Gaza from Egypt , apparently out of fear that Hamas would be strengthened by the uncontrolled entry of thousands of activists. Egypt refuses to open the crossing without Israel 's consent and in the absence of the European observers. A proposal whereby Israel would open the Kerem Shalom crossing to ease the suffering was rejected by the Hamas leadership in the Strip.