Pummeling the victim
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- Written by Rima Merriman, The Electronic Intifada Rima Merriman, The Electronic Intifada
- Published: 03 November 2006 03 November 2006
- Hits: 5346 5346
The savagery, though, belongs to Israel and to anyone who has the power to stop a bully in his bloody pummeling of a much weaker opponent but instead stands aside, watching under the cover of the manufactured excuse that the bully is defending himself against his hapless victim.
Poverty-stricken Palestinians desperate to profit from West Bank olive harvest
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- Written by Eric Silver in Deir al-Ghusoun, West Bank Eric Silver in Deir al-Ghusoun, West Bank
- Published: 03 November 2006 03 November 2006
- Hits: 5749 5749
As the harvesting of the West Bank's most profitable cash crop gets under way, the resilience of both is paying off. Thousands of trees in the rocky hills around Tulkarm are cascading with the ripe green fruit.
Despite a campaign of intimidation by militant Jewish settlers, confiscations of land for Israel's security barrier, and travel restrictions that make it difficult for farmers to tend their trees and move their crops, 2006 promises a bumper harvest - if only the Palestinians can market it.
They certainly need to. Abdullah Abdel-Khader, a 70-year-old farmer from the border village of Deir al-Ghusoun, said his 950 olive trees were now his family's only source of income. His six sons lost their jobs in Israel after the army withdrew their permits. "We've hit rock bottom," he lamented. "We eat chicken once or twice a month, mutton three times a year on Muslim festivals."
A razor-wire stretch of the Israeli barrier cuts him off from 300 of his trees. Sometimes soldiers let workers through a gate, sometimes they don't. Only Palestinians with security clearance are allowed to cross. At the moment, Mr Abdel-Khader said he was managing.
Read more: Poverty-stricken Palestinians desperate to profit from West Bank olive harvest
Israeli troops open fire on women outside mosque
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- Written by Guardian Staff and agencies Guardian Staff and agencies
- Published: 03 November 2006 03 November 2006
- Hits: 5428 5428
Two Palestinian women were killed and another 10 were reported wounded when Israeli forces today opened fire on a group preparing to act as a human shield for militants in a Gaza mosque.
Dozens of women were gathering outside the mosque in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip this morning after an appeal on a local radio station. More than 30 gunmen had taken refuge in the building after the Israeli army began its largest Gaza offensive in months in an attempt to stop militants launching rocket attacks on nearby Jewish settlements over the border.
98 Percent of Cluster Bombs Victims are Civilians
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- Written by Ann De Ron, Electronic Lebanon Ann De Ron, Electronic Lebanon
- Published: 02 November 2006 02 November 2006
- Hits: 5673 5673
The report Fatal Footprint was launched in several countries ahead of an international conference on conventional weapons starting in Geneva November 7.
Among others the report cites the case of Adnan's family. He was not quite seven years old when it happened. On August 11, 1999, shortly after some of the worst of the fighting in Kosovo in the Balkans, he went swimming with his family in a lake a few kilometres from their village.
Read more: 98 Percent of Cluster Bombs Victims are Civilians
Iraq a 'work of art in progress' says US general after 49 die
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- Written by Julian Borger in Washington Julian Borger in Washington
- Published: 02 November 2006 02 November 2006
- Hits: 5335 5335
"Every great work of art goes through messy phases while it is in transition. A lump of clay can become a sculpture. Blobs of paint become paintings which inspire," Maj Gen Caldwell told journalists in Baghdad's fortified green zone.
Read more: Iraq a 'work of art in progress' says US general after 49 die