Israel destroys 15 Bedouin homes
- Details
- Written by JTA JTA
- Published: 07 November 2007 07 November 2007
- Hits: 5497 5497
Fifteen Bedouin homes were destroyed by Israeli government order in the southern Negev.
The unoccupied homes were located in the unrecognized villages of Wadi Al-Na'am and A-Sera.
West Bank settlements 'expanding'
- Details
- Written by BBC NEWS BBC NEWS
- Published: 07 November 2007 07 November 2007
- Hits: 5606 5606
Construction is continuing in dozens of Jewish settlements in the West
Bank despite Israel's pledge to freeze their expansion, an campaign
group has said.
Peace Now says Jewish population growth is three times higher in the area occupied in 1967 than in Israel itself.
It says settlers are bypassing a ban on using caravans to expand settlements by erecting pre-fabricated homes on site.
Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are deemed illegal under international law.
{josquote}Settler leaders expressed pleasure about Peace Now's report, thanking it for "documenting their endeavour"{/josquote}
Israel had pledged to stop their construction as part of internationally-backed peace efforts.
Peace Now says there is continuing construction in 88 out of about 150
of the authorised settlements, in addition to the building of permanent
structures in 34 unauthorised settlement outposts.
Settler leaders expressed pleasure about Peace Now's report, thanking it for "documenting their endeavour".
Carter, unlike Bush, faces reality on West Bank issue
- Details
- Written by ROBERT NOVAK Sun-Times Columnist ROBERT NOVAK Sun-Times Columnist
- Published: 05 November 2007 05 November 2007
- Hits: 5574 5574
Timing the placement into movie theaters the last two weeks of the new documentary, ''Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains,'' before the proposed Middle East conference in Annapolis this year was not intentional. But the irony of the former president's clarity on the Palestinian question contrasts sharply with the refusal by George W. Bush to face harsh reality that casts a pall over hopes to conclude his presidency with a diplomatic triumph.
{josquote}Carter repeatedly declares Israel must end its occupation
of Palestine for peace to have a chance.{/josquote}
The film is more assertive than the book, which tends to be prolix in
recounting Carter's experiences with Israel. It was the word
''apartheid'' in the title that spawned instant accusations of
anti-Semitism against the former president and led 14 members of the
Carter Center's board of counselors to resign. Not until page 215 near
the end of the slim book did Carter make it clear that the ''policy now
being followed'' on the West Bank is ''a system of apartheid with two
peoples occupying the same land but completely separated from each
other, with Israelis totally dominant and suppressing violence by
depriving Palestinians of their basic rights.''
In the movie, Carter repeatedly declares Israel must end its occupation
of Palestine for peace to have a chance. The hecklers at his
appearances and confused interviewers only provoke a stubborn Carter,
who says chopping up the West Bank is actually worse than apartheid,
just as Palestinian peace-seekers told me this year in Jerusalem.
The 'Innocent Civilians' Not on Israel’s Agenda
- Details
- Written by Joharah Baker for MIFTAH Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
- Published: 05 November 2007 05 November 2007
- Hits: 3908 3908
It is ironic how everyone across the spectrum – politicians, civil society and the average man on the street – all stress on the protection of innocent civilians during times of conflict, and yet it is these very civilians who pay the heaviest price.
This is not exclusive to Palestine. Look at Iraq or Afghanistan. The United States, the great defender of democracy and civil rights, prides itself on waging war right. The “innocent civilians” caught in the midst of its sublime endeavor to grant freedom and independence to the Iraqi people are brushed off as unfortunate collateral damage. They were never the target of America’s wrath, the US claims, but they are certainly the ones who have suffered from it the most.
Here in Palestine, the Gaza Strip is the new Iraq. This cramped 365 km2 piece of land is packed with 1.4 million people, most of whom are living in poverty and unemployment and all of whom have been virtually isolated from the rest of the world, particularly since last June.
West Bank barrier change ordered
- Details
- Written by BBCNews BBCNews
- Published: 04 September 2007 04 September 2007
- Hits: 3867 3867
Israel's supreme court has ordered the government to redraw the route of the West Bank barrier near Bilin village, a key focus of anti-barrier protest.
The court accepted an appeal by Bilin residents, who had argued that the barrier prevented them from reaching 50% of their agricultural land.
Weekly protests against the barrier have been held there for two years.
The Israeli government says the barrier is a security measure but Palestinians view it as an illegal land grab.
The International Court of Justice issued an advisory ruling in 2004 that the barrier breached international law where it is built on occupied territory and should be dismantled.