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Israel's Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Continues
(Ha'aretz, January 22, 2003)
The army yesterday demolished 62 shops in the Palestinian village of Nazlat Issa, in the seam area beside the Green Line east of Baka al Sharkia, where the separation fence is due to pass. . . . Seven bulldozers, guarded by some 300 troops, demolished the shops and market stalls in a morning operation that was confronted by dozens of protesters, including foreigners from the International Solidarity Movement. Troops used tear gas and - later - rubber-coated steel pellets, to disperse the crowds, as demonstrators chanted "Down with the occupation." . . . The market is a main source of income for the village's 2,500 residents, said the mayor, Ziad Salem, adding that Israel officials informed the shop owners that the entire market would be demolished. . . . Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said the demolitions "reflect the fait accompli policies of Sharon on the ground, knocking down homes, livelihoods."

posted by LoZo 6:44 PM

 

test

posted by LoZo 12:00 PM

 

JAGGI SINGH NABBED IN JERUSALEM PLEASE HELP!
Jaggi Singh, a major student activist player since the anti-APEC embryonic global resistance protests in Vancouver (long before Seattle), was kidnapped on January 8th in Jerusalem by a group of undercover Israeli police officers. Jaggi travelled to Israel and the Occupied Territories on the invitation of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a Palestinian-led movement which brings together Palestinians and Internationals to fight the Israeli occupation through non-violent direct action. He was also providing reports to various independent news organizations and activist networks about the situation on the ground.

When he first arrived in Israel in mid-December, he was refused entry to the country. He refused to be refused and was immediately detained; he spent two days fighting an illegal deportation from Israel which has, so far, has refused 10,000 internationals over the past 2 years.

After winning a court battle with the assistance of Israeli lawyer Shamai Leibowitz, Jaggi was granted entry into Israel with the condition that he leave the country by December 23rd. The Tel Aviv District Court also barred him from entering the Occupied Territories, an illegal condition according to Canadian and International Law since Israel has absolutely no legal authority over the Palestinian Territories.

Jaggi is currently being held at the Russian Compound in Jerusalem, an Israeli jail notorious for torturing Palestinians. No details are being released as to the nature of the charges -- if any -- or how long he will be held.

Today's nabbing illustrates the lengths to which the state of Israel will go to silence voices critical of the occupation.
Please call the following numbers and urge the Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs to pressure the Israeli government to ensure that Jaggi is released swiftly and safely.

The Canadian Embassy in Tel Aviv: +011-972-3-636-3300 Fax: (011 9723) 636-3380
taviv@dfait-maeci.gc.ca

The 24/7 Operations Center at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa: Phone: 1-800-267-6788 or 613-944-6788.

Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham's Office: 613-995-1851

You can also call the Russian Compound at +011-972-2-539-1340 ask for Shimi Marciano.

More info:
christoff@tao.ca
andrea@tao.ca.

posted by LoZo 11:55 AM

 

TV humiliation as Sharon fails to stem voter exodus
(Chris McGreal, The Guardian, January 10, 2003)
An Israeli judge pulled the plug on his prime minister Ariel Sharon mid-way through an angry and rambling television address last night which was meant to deny corruption allegations and win back voters who are fleeing his party in droves. . . . With opinion polls showing a rapid collapse in public trust and his rightwing bloc perilously close to losing its majority in this month's general election, Mr Sharon was forced to make a public statement about $1.5m given to his family last year by a British businessman. . . . But after about 20 minutes of avoiding specifics in favour of vitriolic denunciations of his opponents whom he accused of "despicable slander... with one purpose, to bring down the government of Israel", he was abruptly taken off the air for violating another law. . . . The broadcast may even have fuelled the decline of Likud which has lost about one-third of its backing over the past month, according to the latest polls. In addition, 31% of voters said they no longer believe Mr Sharon is fit to be prime minister. . . . The fraud squad is investigating whether the loan to one of Mr Sharon's sons from Cyril Kern, a wealthy former textile manufacturer in Cape Town, was indirectly used to repay illegal campaign funds. . . . Last night, the prime minister tried to say that recent revelations of vote buying and organised crime infiltration of his Likud party were groundless and the work of his Labour opponent, Amram Mitzna, who was in London to meet Tony Blair. But that is unlikely to satisfy sceptical voters given that the police have already made several arrests and Mr Sharon was forced to fire one of his deputy ministers implicated in the scandal. . . . Likud is haemorrhaging support not only to its allies on the right but, crucially, to a centrist party, Shinui, that looks likely to triple its seats and emerge as the third largest party in the knesset.

posted by LoZo 7:17 PM

 

Photographs of Israeli Desecration of Palestinian Land

Looking across from the village of Beit Sahour, not far from Bethlehem, is a hill known as Abu Ghnaim. Called the "green hill", in 1997 it looked like this:

But then the government of Israel decided upon some improvements and soon it looked like this:

After yet more improvements, this is how it looked:

It's now "home" to thousands of Jewish settlers. Given the name Har Homa, it is just one of hundreds of illegal settlements throughout the West Bank and Gaza.
Meanwhile, the Palestinians can only watch as their land is stolen, built over and desecrated. Anywhere else, it would be called ethnic cleansing. And the world stands by.

Bob Birch, Friends of Palestine, Newcastle
PO Box 8, Wickham, NSW 2293

posted by LoZo 8:56 AM

 

Peres: You are leading Israel to a place from which there is no escape
(IslamOnlinel.net, October 2002)
Peres Defends Oslo, Says Far-Right's Blindness to Bring Catastrophe
Within three years, the Middle East could turn into an arena of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, which, because of the blindness of Israel's extreme right-wing, could bring catastrophe upon Israel, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres told the Knesset on Wednesday October 16. . . . Peres also attacked the rabbis of the Yesha settler movement, who this week issued calls advising soldiers against "evacuating their brothers" from the so-called illegal settlement outposts in the West Bank. . . . You have no alternative, other than virtual illusions. The rabbis of Yesha are the politicians of Yesha, the terrible politicians of Yesha," Peres said, adding that they were unfaithful to Israel's moral heritage.

posted by LoZo 8:36 AM