Obama's message about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
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- Written by Barack Obama Barack Obama
- Published: 11 July 2008 11 July 2008
- Hits: 2622 2622
Thank you for contacting me about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.
I traveled to the Middle East in January 2006, where I met with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders, as well as ordinary citizens in both communities. This visit increased my understanding of the challenges that confront the people who live in the region and our diplomatic efforts there, but also my resolve to make a difference.
The best solution to this difficult conflict is two states living side-by-side in peace and security. I believe the vast majority of Israelis and Palestinians support this outcome. What is needed is a far more vigorous U.S. diplomatic effort to help them achieve it. But the current administration has sat on the sidelines for far too long. As president, I would make a personal commitment to this effort.
Israel is our closest ally in the Middle East, and we are obligated to help ensure its security. A negotiated peace with the Palestinians would make Israel more secure and allow the Palestinians to achieve their goal of an independent state. We should be doing more to strengthen Palestinian leaders who support a two-state solution, isolate those who seek Israel's destruction, and help the two sides reach negotiated solutions to all outstanding issues.
An agreement that fulfills the legitimate aspirations of both the Israeli and the Palestinian peoples is the only path to peace, and I will continue to work toward this end. Thank you again for contacting me on this issue.
Sincerely,
Barack Obama
Join the Team: http://my.barackobama.com/acmybarackobama
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US 'killed 47 Afghan civilians' [Will this be told in the U.S. Media?]
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- Written by BBC News BBC News
- Published: 11 July 2008 11 July 2008
- Hits: 3610 3610
A US air strike in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday killed 47 civilians, 39 of them women and children, an Afghan government investigating team says.
Reports at the time said that 20 people were killed in the airstrike in Nangarhar province. The US military said they were militants.
But local people said the dead were wedding party guests.
Correspondents say the issue of civilian casualties is hugely sensitive in Afghanistan.
President Hamid Karzai has said that no civilian casualty is acceptable.
Demand for trial
Mr Karzai set up a nine-man commission to look into Sunday's incident.
The commission is headed by Senate deputy speaker, Burhanullah Shinwari whose constituency is in Nangarhar province. He told the BBC: ''Our investigation found out that 47 civilians (were killed) by the American bombing and nine others injured.
"There are 39 women and children" among those killed, he said. The eight other people who died were "between the ages of 14 and 18".
A spokeswoman for the US coalition, Lt Rumi Nielson-Green told the AFP news agency that the force was also investigating the incident and regretted any loss of civilian life. "We never target non-combatants. We do go to great length to avoid civilian casualties," she said.
At the time the US said that those killed were militants involved in previous mortar attacks on a Nato base.
The incident happened in the remote district of Deh Bala, close to the Afghan border.
Mirwais Yasini, deputy speaker for the lower house of parliament, also has his constituency in Nangarhar. ''We are very sad about the killings in Deh Bala. People should be compensated," he told the BBC.
"These operations widen the gap between the people and the government."
He said that those who passed on intelligence to the US military ahead of the air strike should be tried, "as well as those who carried out the bombing".
Mr Yasini demanded that "all operations should be conducted in full co-operation with our security forces in the future".
On Wednesday the Red Cross said that at least 250 Afghan civilians had been killed or wounded in insurgent attacks or military action in the previous six days. It called on all parties to the conflict to avoid civilian casualties.
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People injured in Sunday's strike were taken to hospital
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7501538.stm
Published: 2008/07/11 11:04:22 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Israel has not dismantled any section of the Separation Barrier that was nullified by the High Court
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- Written by B'Tselem B'Tselem
- Published: 10 July 2008 10 July 2008
- Hits: 3742 3742
[Israel's wall is not only in gross violation and defiance of international law and standards of human justice, but it is in violation of Israeli law as well - AUPHR]
The Separation Barrier has not been moved in any of the sections that were built and later nullified by the High Court of Justice. The human rights organization B'Tselem published this finding today, 9 July 2008, marking the fourth anniversary of the advisory opinion given by the International Court of Justice, in The Hague, which held that building the barrier in the West Bank breached international law.
The High Court nullified three sections, on grounds that the harm to Palestinians was disproportionate, and ordered the state to move the fence. The state has not yet moved the barrier in any of these sections. The sections that were nullified are as follows: the barrier around the settlement Alfe Menashe, which the High Court nullified almost three years ago, on 15 September 2005; the section running on the land of the villages of ‘Azzun and Nebi Alias, nullified over two years ago, on 15 June 2006; and the section by Bil’in, nullified ten months ago, on 6 September 2007 (the residents of Bil’in only recently received the army’s proposed changed route).
As of May
2008, 409 kilometers of the fence, 57 percent of the planned route,
have been built, 66 kilometers (9 percent) are under construction, and
construction on 248 kilometers (34 percent) has not yet begun. Upon
completion of the barrier, 11.9 percent of the West Bank (including
East Jerusalem), will lie west of the barrier or be surrounded
completely or partially by it. These areas are home to 498,000
Palestinians (222,500 in East Jerusalem) living in 92 towns and
villages.
The barrier de facto annexes 60 settlements (including 12 in East Jerusalem), in which 381,000 Israelis live.
As Israeli settlements grew, the Palestinians lost ancestral lands and freedom of movement.
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- Written by Dr. James Zogby Dr. James Zogby
- Published: 10 July 2008 10 July 2008
- Hits: 3859 3859
The very words "The Holy Land" evoke powerful images. But the pictures that come to mind are rapidly disappearing from the landscape.
The occupation of the West Bank, once a military and political reality that dominated the lives of Palestinians, has become concretized: with massive housing projects connected by ribbons of highways; a wall and barbed wire barrier wending its way from North to South, cutting through villages, encapsulating others; and hundreds of checkpoints - all overtaking and transforming the once open terrain.
Raja Shehadeh has described all this in vivid detail in his most recent book, "Palestinian Walks: Forays Into a Vanishing Landscape." A hiker from a young age, Shehadeh tells his story in a novel way.
Detailing six walks he has taken in and around his home in Ramallah during the last 30 years, he invites his readers to witness the transformations that have occurred, that increasingly circumscribed his movements, and marred his beloved land.
UN criticises West Bank barrier
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- Written by BBC News BBC News
- Published: 10 July 2008 10 July 2008
- Hits: 3711 3711
The West Bank barrier Israel is building will be devastating for Palestinians if completed along its proposed route, the UN says.
In a report, the UN said thousands of Palestinians had already been cut off from their jobs, land or key services.
The report blamed Israel's decision to build the barrier inside the West Bank rather than along the agreed border.
The report was compiled to mark four years since an International Court of Justice ruling on the barrier.
In an advisory judgement rejected by Israel, the court ruled in 2004 that the barrier is illegal where it cuts into the West Bank.
Israel says the barrier is needed to keep out Palestinian attackers, but Palestinian officials describe the barrier's route as a land-grab.
Major impact
Detailing what it called the humanitarian impact of the barrier, the UN report said some Palestinian communities which did export food before had now been reduced to receiving food aid.
It focused on agricultural areas close to the city of Qalqilya, which is enclosed by the barrier on three sides, and where other farmers and families are forced to live between two sections of the barrier.
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Almost 60% of the barrier had now been built, the report said, asserting that thousands more Palestinians would suffer if construction continued.
"The majority of the route, approximately 87%, runs inside the West Bank and East Jerusalem, rather than along the 1949 Armistice Line (Green Line)," the report said.
"This has a major impact on Palestinian villages, towns and cities, isolating communities and separating tens of thousands of people from services, lands and livelihoods."
It described the "restrictive" permits policy in place along the completed northern section of the route, and said some areas now faced increased unemployment, "displaced" young men, and worsening economic conditions.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/7500496.stm
Published: 2008/07/10 17:12:36 GMT
© BBC MMVIII