Today in Palestine

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| Today in Palestine! 10 - Apr - 2005 |
| http://www.TheHeadlines.Org |
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April 13 - International Day of Action to Stop Caterpillar
April 13th, Caterpillar Corporation shareholders will vote on a groundbreaking resolution calling on CAT to investigate whether its sale of bulldozers to Israel violates its own Worldwide Code of Business Conduct. For the second year in a row, the human rights project Jewish Voice for Peace has joined the Sisters of Loretto and the Mercy Investment Group in introducing the shareholder resolution.
http://nyc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/147600/index.php


Edward Said National Conservatory of Music performed in Dubai
“The institute is bringing hope and giving young Palestinians the opportunity to discover their talents, in order to help change the future of music and culture in Palestine,” she added. The 15 students, aged between 13 and 25, came from both the oriental and western music departments at the ESNCM.
http://www.moroccotimes.com/paper/article.asp?idr=49&id=5494


Struggling to be self-reliant in Jenin
In 2003, LCORD proposed setting up a clinic for children with artificial limbs. They sent two specialists to Jordan to be trained in how to fit the artificial limbs. Upon completion of their training last year, they have since returned to Jenin, but LCORD can't afford the equipment for the new clinic. One of the main goals is to integrate the child back into school or nursery.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3751.shtml


Thousands mount vigil at Jerusalem mosque
Thousands of Muslims, backed by senior members of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, formed a mass human shield in a vigil at Jerusalem's disputed mosque compound against any possible threat from Jewish extremists. With thousands of police also deployed to bar the extremists, no more than a few dozen right-wing Jews turned up
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200504/s1342129.htm


Remembering Deir Yassin
Mr. Fahimi Zeidan, 12,:"The Jews ordered all our family to line up against the wall and they started shooting us. I was hit in the side, but most of us children were saved because we hid behind our parents. The bullets hit my sister Kadri [four] in the head, my sister Sameh [eight] in the cheek, my brother Mohammed [seven] in the chest. But all the others with us against the wall were killed: my father, my mother, my grandfather and grandmother, my uncles and aunts and some of their children."
http://imemc2.thinkhost.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10159&Itemid=85


Police detain Hamas leader who entered Mount
Witnesses said the Hamas leader, Hassan Yousef, was driving back to the West Bank from Jerusalem when he was stopped at an Israeli checkpoint and taken from his vehicle by police. Yousef is a resident of the West Bank, and did not have a permit to enter Jerusalem. ( He had no permition to enter the land Occupied in 1967! "The Occupied Territories" )
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/563123.html


Thousands bury Palestinian teens in Gaza
A member of Hamas' military wing, al-Qassam Brigades, holding a machine gun during the funeral procession, told United Press International, "This crime will not pass without punishment and we will not hesitate to kill any Zionist soldier in response to the killing of our martyrs."
http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050410-093318-6732r.htm


Army breaks into a school near Ramallah
A local source in the village stated that soldiers broke into the classrooms, attacked dozens of children while searching the classrooms, and occupied the rooftop of the school. Also, soldiers threatened the children that they will be arrested if they do not stop crying and screaming.
http://imemc2.thinkhost.net/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=10183


Israeli guards wound 13 demonstrators on Temple Mount
Thirteen Palestinian demonstrators were lightly wounded during clashes with Israeli guards on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on Sunday, Palestinian witnesses said. Thousands of Palestinians spent the night in Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-04/10/content_2811835.htm


Three students injured in Hebron
At least three students were injured in Beit Einoon, north east of Hebron while protesting against a new settlement road in the area. the students were protesting against settlement road Nr. 60 which is erected over lands annexed from the residents.
http://imemc2.thinkhost.net/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=10184


UNICEF Condemns Israeli Killing of Palestinian Children
"I condemn the killing of these three youngsters while they were playing football with their friends. These kids were just being kids when their lives were cut short," Toshiyuki Niwa, said in a statement issued Saturday, "this sad event hits me particularly hard because I have been in the area just a few hours earlier, interacting with Palestinian children".
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=Enews&id=2418


Gaza militants resume shelling over youths' deaths
This is the heaviest mortar fire in the Gaza settlement block since February 1, when Palestinians retaliated for the killing of a girl in Rafiah by firing 40 shells. Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinians, including dozens of armed men, marched Sunday in a funeral procession for the three teenagers killed the day before.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/563119.html


Palestinian militants fire rockets at southern Israeli town
The Salah el Dein Brigades, armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees of the Intifada, said in a leaflet that its militants fired two "Nasser3" rockets at the town of Sderot, which reached its targets.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-04/10/content_2810321.htm


PNA contacts militants to end tension
Samir Hleila, the PNA cabinet Secretary General, blamed Israel for the current tension after Israeli soldiers shot dead three Palestinian teens in Rafah near the border between Gaza and Egypt on Saturday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-04/10/content_2810491.htm


Al Aqsa leader says Abbas will likely dismantle militant groups
A leader of a violent group in the West Bank said Sunday he believes an effort by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to dismantle it will succeed, meeting a major Israeli condition for resuming peace talks. However, other militant groups have said they will not let themselves be dismantled, unless Israel agrees to release the Palestinian prisoners it holds.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/563214.html


Pullout clashes in West Bank may be more violent than Gaza
A senior Israel Defense Forces source said Sunday that while the primary clashes with settlers and anti-pullout protesters are expected in the Gaza Strip, there are far more extreme groups in the northern West Bank that may also target the Palestinian population. (But won't be dissarmed, they are no danger to Zionists!)
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/563125.html


Sharon leaves for U.S. under pall of disputed construction
Bush will host Sharon for a six-hour visit, including a tour of the ranch, expected to attract wide media attention and serve as a public show of support for disengagement. But despite both sides' good intentions, the visit is under a pall cast by the public dispute between the U.S. and Israel surrounding construction in the settlement blocs.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/562846.html


Israel wants to escape from final status talks: Erekat
The second phase talks about establishing a Palestinian state with temporary borders. "The PNA seeks to cancel this phase for fear that (Israeli PrimeMinister) Ariel Sharon might work on transforming this phase into a permanent solution," Erekat explained.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-04/10/content_2810313.htm


Dozens arrested in Jerusalem protests
At least 10 people have been arrested in Jerusalem itself. Around 25 have been detained in Tel Aviv as they blocked the main highway to the holy city with burning tyres. Among those arrested in Jerusalem is Israel Cohen, head of the ultra-nationalist Revava group.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200504/s1342067.htm


Right-wing Jewish march may put ceasefire at risk
Palestinian militants threatened to abandon a de facto ceasefire with Israel if right-wing Jews went ahead with a planned march to a flashpoint holy site in Jerusalem on Sunday. "If the Zionists defile al-Aqsa mosque, they will be planting the seeds of the third uprising," said Nizar Rayyan of the Islamic militant group Hamas.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L09695331.htm


Gaza relocation plan costs US$60 mln
The relocation of entire Gaza settlers will cost the taxpayers 250 million shekels (60 million US dollars), Israeli Housing and Construction Minister Isaac Herzog said on Sunday. According to Israel Radio, Israeli Finance Ministry has approved an initial budget of 30 million shekels (7.2 million dollars) to carry out the Gaza withdrawal plan.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-04/10/content_2811260.htm


Jordan's king warns Jewish extremists against entering mosque
"Any attempt to harm this holy shrine, which is deemed as a holy site by Arabs and Muslims will eventually lead to deteriorate security and stability in the region," the king said.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-04/11/content_2811901.htm


U.S. drops blanket warning on travel to Israel
The United States on Sunday cancelled its blanket warning against travel to Israel for the first time since the start of a Palestinian uprising more than 4-1/2 years ago. The revision, long sought by Israel, came on the eve of a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and George W. Bush at the U.S. president's Texas ranch.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L1076427.htm


Rightists block Israeli highway, protest Gaza plan
The sit-down protest on Tel Aviv's Ayalon highway, in which tyres were set alight on the tarmac, was the latest attempt by rightists to disrupt plans for the evacuation of Gaza's 21 Jewish settlements and another four in the West Bank.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L10315612.htm


Peace times more dangerous than crisis periods
"we should not reward Palestinians for violence, and should proceed with construction"... As Palestinians laid their objections at the negotiations' table, and there were no protests, no burning of tires and no stone throwing, Ulmert addressed Israeli left saying "there are no protests, Palestinians are not worried and you shouldn't be. We should go ahead with the construction"
http://imemc2.thinkhost.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10179&Itemid=1


Ex-Mossad head says Israel risks religious coup
Danny Yatom, a retired army general who headed Mossad from 1996 to 1998, said he saw the seeds of full-blown rebellion. "There are too many rabbis calling for orders to be disobeyed en masse -- effectively, a mutiny. If there are enough soldiers willing to put such edicts ahead of the army, it will cause a crisis that could lead to a coup,"
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L10377962.htm


Israeli settlements cast shadow over Bush-Sharon meeting
And the killing of three Palestinian youths in Gaza has ignited tensions on the eve of the Bush-Sharon meeting at the US leader's Texas ranch here. This will be Sharon's tenth visit to the United States since Bush came to office in January 2001, but his first invitation to the ranch.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=9&u=/afp/20050410/wl_mideast_afp/mideastusisraelbush_050410172636


Poll: Americans back unilateral Gaza pullout plan
An even greater majority of those polled - 74 percent - said they believed Israel was very serious in its desire for peace with the Palestinians, while 64 percent said they believed the Palestinians were serious about peace.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=562893&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0


Iran vows never to abandon its uranium enrichment program
Britain, France and Germany, representing the European Union, have been trying to persuade Tehran to scrap all parts of its atomic fuel cycle, particularly uranium enrichment which can be used to make atomic bombs as well as fuel for power plants.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/563174.html


Iraq's new prime minister spent years trying to topple Saddam - with support of militant groups, Iranian clerics
Ibrahim al-Jaafari spent more than two decades as an exile trying to topple Saddam Hussein's government - with the close support of Iran and an Islamic militant group linked to terrorism. Now, as Iraq's new interim prime minister, he has asserted he is a moderate, even as some have questioned his ties to Iran and his work for Iraq's first Shiite Islamic political party...
http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10994&s2=10