Palestinian granted posthumous entry to Israel
(19 Oct) Death of 58-year-old cancer patient who was denied access to treatment in Israeli hospital blamed on Shin Bet, IDF bureaucracy. Family outraged as security clearance arrives days after man's death
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3610504,00.html

A dying son: how Gaza's medical crisis is affecting one family
(17 Oct) Twelve-year-old Jihad was diagnosed with Leukemia on 14 April 2008 in the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. While the hospital was equipped to diagnose Jihad, it could not treat him. Jihad was allowed into Israel to travel to the West Bank where he had a bone marrow transplant, later needed to go to Israeli hospitals for chemotherapy. Jihad receives chemotherapy treatment four times every two months. He is not permitted to stay in the Israeli hospital following his chemotherapy, even though he is weak both physically and in terms of his immune system. Umm Jihad is terrified that her son will die on one of the trips to or from the hospital....
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32604

Israel expands illegal settlement
(19 Oct) The Israeli authorities began on Sunday construction works at an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, in an attempt to expand the settlement, the Palestinian public committee for defending lands in the city revealed. The committee said that the Israeli authorities and armed settlers have recently started installing three housing units in the Charsina illegal settlement to the east of Hebron, coincidently with establishing a 4,000-square meter-width infrastructure network for the settlement. Construction of the said housing units comes at the expense of vast areas of Palestinian-owned lands belonging to the family of Almohtaseb in the Baq'a neighborhood, the sources made clear. Earlier, Israeli sources said that three Jewish institutions, dedicated to the promotion of settlement on occupied Palestinian lands, announced a new bid to construct three new random settlement enclaves around the Palestinian-populated cities of Ramallah and Nablus.
http://imemc.org/article/57366

Violent settlers attack family, two internationals in separate incidents Sunday
(19 Oct) Palestinian security sources confirmed on Sunday two violent attacks by the settlers from Mevo Dotan, an illegal settlement near the Palestinian villages of Ya'bad and Arraba. One group of setters attacked a Naji Lutfi Zuheir from Arraba, who was harvesting olives with his family at 10am on Sunday. Zuheir was badly beaten by the setters, who also stole the olives he and his family had harvested. This is the first recorded attack by settlers from the Mevo Dotan settlement, who have traditionally lived a world apart in the settlement, using Israeli bypass roads and not interacting with the Palestinian population. In Qalqiliya governorate, several sources reported a troop of Israeli police officers and settlers from the illegal Qedumim settlement attacking a second group of Palestinians and internationals harvesting lands in the village of Kafr Qaddam. In this incident four French volunteers were arrested, who had been helping the family pick olives.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32646

Uthman to PNN: There are farmers from Kafr Kaddum who haven't harvested their olives in 10 years
(16 Oct) Palestinian Legislative Council member, Jamal Al Khudari, is also the Director of the Popular Committee against the Siege in Gaza. He told PNN today that even if farmers in the Strip can harvest their olives, they cannot export them. "Under the siege exports are not allowed. Nothing can reach market, not just olives but also fruit." Meanwhile the West Bank is contending with settlers as Mohammad Uthman of Stop the Wall describes. He is part of a campaign that includes Birzeit University students, local communities and international volunteers. Uthman continued to say of his campaign, "The work for the plan begins today. Farmers and students from Birzeit University are working. Just now I put 65 international volunteers in three Nablus District villages, especially those villages affected by Yitzhar and Itimar settlements. Those villages are Madama, Asira Al Qabliya and Burin. There is another group in Kafr Kaddum."
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3764&Itemid=1

Settlers leader: Palestinians destroy their own groves
(19 Oct) Many settlers say the accusations that they harassed Palestinian olive pickers are libelous. Benzi Lieberman, the former head of the Yesha Council of Settlements and Samaria Regional Council, recalls going with tree-clearing expert Yitzhak Scali of the Scali farms outpost to examine olive trees that Palestinians claimed were cut down by settlers. "This expert, who didn't have any stake in either side of the dispute, saw the trees and determined they were most likely cut down by Arabs in order to maintain the grove, as is traditionally done," said Lieberman. Lieberman is convinced Palestinian farmers often stage scenes of destruction.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1029670.html

Shufa village plunged into darkness for sixth day
(18 Oct) The village of Shufa in Tulkarem has been without electricity for the sixth day in a row, after the municipality generators, which are the only power source for the village, burnt out. Shufa has inexplicably been denied connection to the main electricity grid by Israeli authorities since 2001, despite the fact that all of the necessary towers and lines are in place. "Many times we have tried to take electricity from Tulkarem municipality or from Israel, but Israel will not allow" says a local resident. This denial thus begs the question as to why the Israeli authorities would do such a thing. The answer may lie in the strategic utility of the village, whose name "Shufa" refers to the fact that the village occupies a prime position for visibility of the surrounding areas. Many believe this is a strategy to drive the Palestinians from the village.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2008/10/18/shufa-village-plunged-into-darkness-for-sixth-day/

Jews beat Arabs in Jerusalem
(19 Oct) Six Arab youngsters lightly injured in clashes with Jews in capital's recreation centers. Three young Jews were arrested and taken in for questioning by the police. In another incident, Arab truck driver injured from stones hurled by ultra-Orthodox men
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3610415,00.html

Seven Palestinians wounded by Jews in E. Jerusalem
(19 Oct) The Israeli police announced that a Palestinian truck driver was wounded yesterday night and six others hurt after a group of Jews hurled stones at the Palestinian truck and passersby Palestinians in the occupied east Jerusalem. The police said three Jews were detained and that extremist Jews were prevented from reaching the compound of the Al-Aqsa mosque of Jerusalem, the third holiest place for Muslims worldwide and a flashpoint between Palestinians and Israelis for the past six decades. In the meantime, the Israeli police found earlier on Sunday the corpse of a Palestinian young man at an abandoned building in the Anbiya' street in west Jerusalem, the sources added.
http://imemc.org/article/57361

Jewish gangs brag about storming Aqsa mosque, praying noisily inside it
(18 Oct) Occupied Jerusalem, (PIC)-- The Israeli desecration attempts of the Aqsa Mosque have noticeably increased recently as fanatic Jewish groups declared they have stormed the Aqsa Mosque and noisily performed a number of Jewish rites inside it. On Saturday, extremist Jewish leaders announced that more than six hundred fanatic Jews, including Yehoda Etizion, leader of one of the most fanatic groups that attempted to bomb the Aqsa Mosque in the eighties of the past century, have entered the Mosque in two batches under the protection of tens of Israeli occupation soldiers, and celebrated the Jewish Sukkat festival.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7XWTRwqf6fx%2frBE2s1C%2bKnl%2f7R%2bHAIi2tVAQLHS4zrtao%2fbeADt22vzK%2bD0n%2feFuwEqHrplKs1Csq0%2b5pFvZsAk83VKx%2fkySt8W%2bdFoQpZC4%3d

Jewish settlers attack Palestinian photog
(18 Oct, AP) Jewish settlers attacked a Palestinian photographer who was taking pictures of Palestinian farmers picking olives in the West Bank on Saturday. The incident, filmed by AP Television News, shows four Jewish men passing through an orchard in the West Bank town of Hebron. They are then seen punching and kicking the photographer, Abed Hashlamoun of the EPA news agency. Hashlamoun said he was taking pictures of the men when he was attacked. One of the settlers snatched his camera but dropped it after a foreign human rights activist tried to retrieve it, he said. The footage shows a settler punching a 53-year-old British woman in the face as she tries to snatch a camera from him.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/18/world/main4530912.shtml

Resident of Ni'lin shot twice by rubber-coated steel bullets during demonstration in Ni'lin
(17 Oct) On Friday 17th October, the village of Ni'lin held a peaceful prayer on their land followed by a demonstration over property that has been annexed by the Israeli government to build the Apartheid Wall. At 11.30, Ni'lin residents held a prayer for the return of their land. Immediately after, around 150 Palestinians along with Israeli and international activists, were shot at with tear gas, sound grenades and rubber bullets...Mohammad Hussain Srour, 22 years old, was shot on his knee by two rubber bullets and taken to the Ramallah hospital.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2008/10/18/resident-of-nilin-shot-twice-by-rubber-coated-steel-bullets-during-demonstration-in-nilin/


Stuck without services: a Bedouin community in the West Bank but on the west side of the separation wall
(17 Oct) Qalqiliya - Ma'an Report – The children of the Ar-Ramadeen Bedouin camp, located on the west side of Israel's separation wall south of the West Bank city of Qalqiliya, do not have a school to go to. On 16 October Ma'an sent a reporter and cameraman to the village, accompanying the governor of Qalqiliya and heads of security departments in the district. The delegation was there to investigate the harsh circumstances they face as Palestinians in a Bedouin camp annexed to the west side of the separation wall.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32608

Researcher urges youth awareness in Israeli war against Palestinian names
(16 Oct) Jerusalem / Maisa Abu Ghazaleh - In an East Jerusalem neighborhood children were telling each other how they spent last Friday. One of them, 13 year old Ahmed, said that he went on a picnic with his family to "Tielt." He also said that he witnessed an auto accident at a "Ramzor." The boy caught my attention by the way he pronounced his words. "Tielt" is the Israeli take on "Be'er   Al-Safafi," and "Ramzor" is the Hebrew word for traffic light. When I asked him whether he knew what "Tielt" meant he said that he did not. I was not surprised by his ignorance, but what really astonished me is Ahmed's belief that this area had always been Israeli, and never Palestinian, and that "Tielt" was its original name.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3765&Itemid=1

PCHR Weekly Report, Oct 9-15: 2 Palestinians killed, 13 wounded by Israeli forces
http://imemc.org/article/57357

Hamas: PA security arrests 8 affiliates
(19 Oct) A Hamas statement released Sunday said eight of its affiliates were arrested across the West Bank by Palestinian Authority (PA) security services. Those arrested were:
Abd Ar-Rahman Shtayya, a former prisoner in Israeli jail who was arrested from his home in the village of Salem near Nablus in the northern West Bank. Dr Fathallah Khreim and Majdi Fatayir from Salem were also summoned and detained. In Ramallah district: Nidal Rabah, member of municipal council at Al-Mazra'a Ash-Sharqiya. In Hebron in the southern West Bank Zahi and Muhammad Shruf, two university students, were arrested. South of Bethlehem, the mayor of Tuqu. Khalid Al-Badan, and another member of the municipal council, Samih Sabah were also arrested. [End]
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32640

Egypt hands over draft agreement for Palestinian unity; summit meeting set for 9 November
(19 Oct) Gaza – Ma'an – Egypt delivered to Palestinian officials on Sunday morning the invitations to a summit meeting of all the Palestinian factions, along with a draft plan for ending the political crisis which began with fighting between Hamas and Fatah, high-ranking sources said. The high-ranking officials, who spoke anonymously, said that the Egyptian draft calls for the creation of a new Palestinian unity government. Specifically, plan includes four main points: 1. The new government's tasks are to end the blockade (of the Gaza Strip), ease daily life, prepare for presidential and legislative elections, and reform the security Palestinian in order to "defend land and civilians." 2. Simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections....
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32651

Barak: Israel giving serious thought to Saudi peace plan
(19 Oct) Defense Minister and Labor Party Chairman Ehud Barak said Sunday that Israeli leaders have been discussing pursuing a comprehensive Saudi peace plan, an initiative touted by the moderate Arab elements across the Middle East. Barak told Army Radio on Sunday that with individual negotiations with Syria and the Palestinians making little headway, it may be time to pursue an overall peace deal for the region.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1029855.html

One month of ceasefire left: Gaza factions rally over idea of extension
(19 Oct) Gaza – Ma'an – The countdown to the end of the six-month Egyptian brokered ceasefire between factions in the Gaza Strip and Israel has begun. The agreement, meant to end the siege on the Gaza Strip, reopen crossing points and halt the firing of homemade projectiles into Israel will end in 19 November. With one month to go rumors have begun circulating that Israel has asked the Egyptians to work on obtaining an extension to the ceasefire. For their part, the Palestinian factions have been discussing whether or not it is in their interest to extend the agreement, given Israel's non-compliance with all of the terms.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32647

'Gaza cease-fire will likely continue'
(19 Oct) The Gaza cease-fire will likely continue, according to a report released by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC) Sunday morning. The report stated that all sides involved in the agreement, Hamas, Israel and Egypt, had an interest in maintaining the current calm. The report also evaluated that in light of the success of internal dialogue between Palestinian factions, the truce could be broadened to include the West Bank. The possibility also exists however, according to the report, that the truce could collapse and violence could be renewed. The agreement is set to expire in a month.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017571668&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

International legal panel visits eastern parts of Gaza
(19 Oct) A group of international legal personalities from Ireland and Scotland visited on Sunday the eastern parts of the Gaza Strip, mainly in southern Khan Younis city, observing the damage caused by continuous Israeli army actions in such a border area.
http://imemc.org/article/57364

Israeli protesters block Kerem Shalom crossing
(19 Oct) Dozens of people calling for release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit stop trucks carrying goods from entering Gaza, set tires on fire, in protest of decision to allow supplies into Strip while negotiations stagnated. Defense Minister Barak: Rally may raise price demanded for captive
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3610348,00.html

Israel protestors force Gaza crossing to close
(19 Oct) JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel was forced to shut down one of the main goods crossings into the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Sunday when Israeli demonstrators gathered there to call for the release of a captured soldier. "The crossing was supposed to be open today and approximately 80 trucks were supposed to pass, carrying food and medical supplies," a military spokesman said. "Because of the demonstration, it is closed right now." Demonstrators planned to hold a mass protest later in the day near the site where Shalit was kidnapped. Israeli air force veterans were expected to stage an overflight in some 60 ultra-light aircraft.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081019/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictgazaisraeldemoshalit_081019113324

Hamas says pressure will only complicate things
(19 Oct) Addressing rally for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit at Kerem Shalom crossing, Palestinian organization's spokesman says, 'If the enemy fails to meet the price we are demanding, Shalit will not be freed.' Senior member says group still demanding release of more than 1,000 prisoners
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3610641,00.html

Ayalon: Rally on Shalit's behalf could weaken Hamas' stance
(19 Oct) The demonstrations and rallies on behalf of Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit may raise the price his captors demand, but by the same token they could weaken Hamas' stance, Labor Minister Ami Ayalon said Sunday. Ayalon's comments came in response to remarks made earlier by Defense Minister and Labor Chairman Ehud Barak who said that protests calling for Shalit's release could spur Hamas to raise the price Israel would have to pay in a deal for his release.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1029646.html

Al Azhar University closed for third time in week fearing more riots
(19 Oct) Gaza – Ma'an – For the third time in a week Al-Azhar University in the Gaza Strip has suspended classes after riots injured several students on 14 and 16 October. In the initial incident students from the Hamas-linked Islamic Student Bloc at the University stormed the campus holding bombs and pistols, ransacking offices and injuring some students. De facto police deployed across the campus on Sunday, and are preventing cars from accessing roads leading into the university campus. In a statement the Fatah youth movement at the university said that they had suspended all activities at the school to help ensure that as many students as possible are off campus. They noted that the action was taken on the request of university administrators.[End]
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32643

Electric shock kills latest victim of Gaza tunnels; death toll at 49
(19 Oct) An 18-year-old Gazan youth was killed by electric shock Saturday night as he worked in one of the underground tunnels connecting Gaza to Egypt. The deceased, identified by medical sources as Muhammad Al-Hasanat, was pronounced dead when he arrived at the Abu Yousif An-Najjar Hospital in Khan Younis. Al-Hasanat's death marks the forty-ninth this year from accidents in the tunnel systems. [End]
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32637

Sources within PA reveal top-level contact with Hamas to ensure return of Hillis to Gaza
(19 Oct) Top-level contact has been made between the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip to secure the safe return of exiled Fatah leader Ahmad Hillis, who fled the area after the 2 August street battle in Gaza City. Hillis will return to Gaza along with several of his family members, who have been living in the West Bank city of Jericho since the clashes between the Hillis family and de facto government forces in the Ash-Shuja'iyya neighborhood of Gaza City. Police and security forces had accused the family of harboring those responsible for the 25 July car bombing on the Gaza beach, which killed five, including a young girl.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32636

Jenin mayor to PNN: We have maintained innovation under 8 years of blockade
(18 Oct) PNN / Fadi Yacoub – Palestinian commerce is marketing itself on an international level despite severe restrictions on exports. The Palestine Investment Conference is coming to Nablus and Jenin is preparing for its first exhibit of national industries. Jenin's Mayor Qaddura Mousa told PNN Saturday, "We are expecting large crowds and have begun preparing shops and parking lots to accommodate them all including '48 Arabs and foreign visitors." The northern West Bank exhibit begins next month, 23 November, and rental spaces are now being fitted for technical needs to showcase national and industrial products. Dozens of factories and institutions are participating in an effort to revive the national economy and advance development.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3780&Itemid=1

Mixed emotions on Hebron tour
(18 Oct) "It's another world," says Israeli student Gilad Shalom, 29, as he follows a tour guide around the Israeli-controlled part of the divided West Bank town of Hebron. Craning his neck to see over tall, sniper-proof concrete slabs, he is partly talking about the jumble of Palestinian houses on the other side. But he is also referring to the town's Jewish settlers, known by reputation as some of the most hardline of the 270,000 Israelis who live in the West Bank. Raised in a suburb of secular, trendy Tel Aviv, Mr Shalom is exactly the type of person a new campaign promoting tours to the West Bank is targeting. Adverts proclaiming "Judea and Samaria [the Jewish name for the West Bank] - the story of every Jew" have recently appeared on billboards, buses and the websites of Israel's left-leaning newspapers. Those behind the PR campaign - the settler council and its partners - say secular Jews have been put off visiting the West Bank by security fears and a media tendency to focus on a vocal, religious and sometimes violent minority among the settlers. The tour explains little of the misery caused by the Israeli restrictions, or the brutal treatment that human rights groups say Palestinians suffer at the hands of some settlers and Israeli troops.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7674705.stm

Judea and Samaria -- and the kitsch
(19 Oct) The new expensive campaign by the Yesha Council of settlements - "Judea and Samaria, the story of every Jew" - is a source of satisfaction to settlers. Only a secular mind, they say there, could turn the land over the Green Line into Disneyland: no Palestinians, no fences, no soldiers, no violence, no bloodshed and no fear. Not to mention no heat and no dust (but also no young men with long beards and sidelocks, hitting police and shouting, "Jews do not expel Jews").
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1029661.html

Abu Sharif: Israeli soldiers planning to use army weapons in assassination plot
(18 Oct) There is a new campaign aimed at assassinating Palestinian leaders inside Israel and the West Bank, according to former advisor to the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat Bassam Abu Sharif. He warned Palestinian leaders on Saturday that he had received information on an "extremist Israeli organization," most of whose members are in the Israeli army, who are preparing to use military-issue weapons to carry out a program of assassinations. "The available information on the assassination plot did not list the names of those targeted," said Abu Sharif, but added that it appears to include Fatah members living in Israel, as well as leaders within the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Hamas.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32631

Hamas grip on Gaza hardens: peace outlook bleak
(19 Oct) GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Hamas' control of the Gaza Strip is now virtually complete. Since the summer, the Islamic militants have silenced and disarmed their remaining opponents, filled the bureaucracy with their supporters, and kept Gaza's economy afloat, even if just barely, despite a 16-month-old international embargo and border blockades by Israel and Egypt. With nothing in sight to weaken Hamas' grip, the political split between Gaza and the West Bank — the two territories meant to make up a future Palestinian state — looks increasingly irreversible. That conclusion was also reached by the International Crisis Group, an independent think tank, in a September report describing Hamas' ascendancy, and the split is one of the main obstacles to U.S. efforts to forge an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081019/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_hamas_rules_3

Concerned Palestinian family lands daughter in Israeli custody for one month
(19 Oct) An 18-year-old Palestinian jailed in Israel after police accused her of intending to carry out a suicide bombing will be released after paying a 10,000 shekel fine to Israeli authorities. Suzan Wasfi Ibrahim Al-Haj Saleh, a resident of Jenin refugee camp, was detained on 19 September and arrested on 29 September 2008 in the northern Israeli city of Netanya after her family reported suspicions to Israeli police. Saleh had reportedly told her family before leaving the house on 28 September that she would soon be the "headline of a big story," and left carrying an "oversized bag." When she did not return home the family notified Palestinian authorities, who passed the information on to Israeli police. After she was arrested in the Israeli city, Saleh was taken to an investigation center where police questioned her and analyzed the contents of her bag. At the time, however, sources said it was "unlikely" that the girl ever planned to carry out an attack, but rather speculated alternative motives for her disappearance....
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32644

Foundation laid for expansion of Rafidia hospital in Nablus
(19 Oct) The Palestinian Health Minister in the West Bank, Fathi Abu Mughli, laid the cornerstone on Sunday for a four-storey expansion of the Rafidia hospital, the major medical center in the West Bank city of Nablus. The Rafidia hospital expansion project was funded by the Arab Monetary Bank through the Islamic Development Bank.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32650

Unholy row threatens Holy Sepulchre
(19 Oct) The centuries-old site, where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified, is visited by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and tourists every year. A recent survey says that part of the complex, a rooftop monastery, is in urgent need of repair, but work is being held up by a long-running dispute between two Christian sects who claim ownership of the site.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7676332.stm

Unknown group claims attack on Israeli soldier at military base in Israel
(18 Oct) An unknown Palestinian group inside Israel calling itself Ahrar Al-Lud has claimed responsibility for the Saturday morning attack on the Israeli military camp near the city of Rishon Letzion, south east of Tel Aviv. The attack saw an Israeli soldier guarding the base lightly injured; his rifle was also stolen. The group e-mailed a statement to Ma'an explaining that "after monitoring the site for fifty days a group of resistance fighters invaded the post aiming to abduct a soldier from a military school inside the camp. When the operation began the fighters tried to avoid the soldier who was in guard. He noticed the fighters to the soldier was attacked, disarmed and the mission abandoned."
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32633

Akko mayor: Riots' instigator fled to territories
(19 Oct) Akko Mayor Shimon Lankry said Sunday that "the man who announced at the city's mosques that there were peopled injured in the city's eastern neighborhoods, thereby igniting the riots on Yom Kippur Eve, has fled to the territories."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3610536,00.html

Is Akko burning? - by Uri Avnery
(19 Oct) THROUGHOUT ITS thousands of years of history, Akko has never been an Israelite town. Even according to the mythological story of the Bible, the Israelites did not conquer the city, which was already an ancient port. The first chapter of the Book of Judges, which contradicts much of the description given in the Book of Joshua, states unequivocally: "Neither did [the tribe of] Asher drive out the inhabitants of Akko. (Judges 1:31) ... I AM a very secular person. But it has never entered my mind to drive on Yom Kippur. There is no law forbidding it, no law is necessary. For a traditional Jew, Yom Kippur is a day like no other. Even if one does not really believe that on this day God makes the final decision about the life or death of every human being for the next year and writes it all down in a large book, one senses that one has to respect the feelings of those who do believe. I would not drive on Yom Kippur in a Jewish neighborhood, just as I would not eat in public during Ramadan in an Arab neighborhood.It is difficult to know what the Arab driver Tawfiq Jamal was thinking of when he entered a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in his car on Yom Kippur. It is reasonable to assume that he did not do it out of malice, as a provocation, but rather out of stupidity or carelessness. The reaction was predictable.
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1224366421/

Iran strikes in the battle for Gaza - but it's only a game
(18 Oct) Later this month the Israeli computer game designer Yaron Dotan will launch what he believes could be the war to end all wars in the Middle East. "Online, of course," explains Mr Dotan over a lemonade at west Jerusalem's Cafe Rimon. Set in the Gaza Strip in the year 2040, the game is called Rising Eagle - Gaza and simulates an infantry battle between Israel's elite Golani Brigade and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard - or, as Mr Dotan prefers to describe them, "the Waffen SS of today".
http://www.watoday.com.au/world/iran-strikes-in-the-battle-for-gaza--but-its-only-a-game-20081018-53gt.html

The majority feels like a sacrificial lamb - by Tzvia Greenfield
(19 Oct) Eight years have gone by since 12 Israeli citizens, all Arabs (along with one Arab resident of the territories), were shot to death by Israeli police. In light of the recent violence in Acre, it seems we have not learned too much. The fundamental failure that enabled the killing stems from a mindset that must never be legitimized in a democracy: that government forces may shoot at citizens. The state belongs to its citizens, not to the government. The government is there only to manage the common asset. Only mortal danger can justify a concomitantly severe response.The public's indifference to the shooting of citizens eight years ago, and the harassment of Acre's Arab residents today, therefore, reveals another, deeper, failure: the harsh attitude toward the Arab minority, denied and repressed by most of the Jewish public, which believes self-righteously that it is the threatened party.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1029660.html

Israel not among nations getting visa waiver from US
(19 Oct) President George W. Bush announced a decision over the weekend to exempt the citizens of seven more countries from the need to apply for U.S. visas; Israel was not among the seven. Despite the special relationship between Israel and the U.S., the latter has refused Israel's requests in recent years to expedite visa exemptions. Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit was told that the U.S. wants to move the matter ahead but that Israel has to meet certain conditions, including a biometric passport containing fingerprint or iris identification.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1029679.html

For Sukkot, Christian pilgrims keep Kinneret's tourism industry alive
(19 Oct) While domestic tourism continues to decline in Israel, Christian pilgrims are keeping tourism afloat in the vicinity of Lake Kinneret during the Sukkot holiday. The number of Israeli tourists visiting the area dropped by 30 percent during the holiday's intermediate days, but some 70,000 pilgrims are expected to arrive during that week, 20 percent more than visited during last year's holiday season. Some 70,000 evangelical pilgrims arrived this year to Kibbutz Ein Gev according to Tourism Ministry statistics, a 41 percent rise from two years ago.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1029678.html

Movement uses growing numbers to pull strings in Israeli leadership
(18 Oct) The week-long gathering, which ends today, demonstrates the growing strength of a Protestant movement called Christian Zionism. It has parlayed its rising numbers, including millions in the United States, into political influence as the notion of ceding territory in exchange for peace is becoming accepted calculus among Israeli leaders and public — a position at odds with a fundamentalist reading of the Bible. Christian Zionism, a stream of evangelism with roots in the 19th century, views the creation of the modern state of Israel as God being faithful to his covenant promises to Abraham, and sometimes as biblical prophecy.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/6065352.html

Few results seen from Mideast teen peace camps
(10-19) 04:00 PDT Ramallah, West Bank -- Each year, hundreds of Israeli and Palestinian teenagers defy the violence and hatred that divides them by forging personal ties that they hope will lay the groundwork for future peace. A virtual peace industry has flourished around these workshops, creating a raft of Palestinian and Israeli nongovernmental organizations. Between 1993 and 2000, Western governments and foundations spent between $20 million and $25 million on the dialogue groups, according to a 2002 report by the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information. But the programs have failed to produce a single prominent peace activist on either side, most observers agree. And now the first wide-scale survey of Palestinians involved in these peace programs suggests that the enterprise has been a waste of time and money.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/18/MNTK133IHH.DTL

Powell endorses Obama as 'transformational'
(19 Oct) Retired General Colin L. Powell, one of the country's most respected Republicans, stunned both parties on Sunday by strongly endorsing Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for president on NBC's "Meet the Press" and laying out a blistering, detailed critique of the modern GOP. Powell said the election of Obama would "electrify the world." "I think he is a transformational figure," Powell said. "He is a new generation coming ... onto the world stage and on the American stage. And for that reason, I'll be voting for Senator Barack Obama."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20081019/pl_politico/14714;_ylt=AvotEYrQekXLblgCFUE4qecUewgF#full

Video: Colin Powell endorses Obama
Powell criticizes the Republican Party's use of divisive tactics such as implying that Obama is Muslim - so what if he were? He emphasizes that Muslim Americans are as patriotic as any other Americans and gives an example of a young Muslim man who died for his country.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/27265490#27265490

Israel expects US-Iran talks under Obama
(19 Oct) Israel expects the U.S. to initiate direct talks with Tehran if Senator Barack Obama is elected president, in which case a critical Israeli interest would be to condition any talks between the West and Iran on halting uranium enrichment, according to a senior government source.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1029680.html

US policies may have contributed to Iran revolution, study says
(17 Oct) BEIRUT -- A new report based on previously classified documents suggests that the Nixon and Ford administrations created conditions that helped destabilize Iran in the late 1970s and contributed to the country's Islamic Revolution.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/mideastemail/la-fg-shah17-2008oct17,0,52955.story

Al-Qaida denies Web attack, but its sites struggle
(19 Oct, AP) CAIRO, Egypt – The main Web sites that normally carry messages from the al-Qaida terror group remain inoperable more than a month after they went down just ahead of the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081019/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_al_qaida_web_crash;_ylt=AsH1wN1nQDQqG0RGcstAV5nCw5R4#full

Shi'ite hackers cripple Al-Qa'ida's online network
(19 Oct) Shi'ite and Sunni hackers have waged an online campaign against one another's websites over the last three years, including a Saudi-owned television network and a site run by one of Iraq's most revered Shi'ite cleric, according to an article published by the Washington Post on Saturday. In September alone, hackers targeted more than 300 Shi'ite sites, including several that were operated Iranian religious leaders. According to the Washington Post, hackers have also shut down pro Al Qaida web sites, including four of the five main web forums the group uses to publish statements by Osama Bin Laden.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1029651.html

Saturday: 25 Iraqis killed, 14 wounded
Updated at 5:25 p.m. EDT, Oct. 18, 2008 - At least 25 Iraqis were killed and another 14 were wounded in light violence today. No Coalition deaths were reported. Also, Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr condemned a contentious U.S.-Iraqi security deal as tens of thousands of his followers rallied in Baghdad....
http://www.antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=13609

Opposition grows to proposed Iraq security deal
(18 Oct) Al-Sadr said anyone who claims the agreement will end "the occupation of our land" or "tells you that it gives Iraqi sovereignty is a liar."
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/10/18/iraq-rally.html

Iraq wins right to prosecute crimes by US troops
(19 Oct) BAGHDAD (AFP) – Iraq has secured the right to prosecute US soldiers and civilians for crimes committed outside their bases and when off duty, in the latest draft of a security pact that will set the terms of their deployment beyond this year.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Iraq_wins_right_to_prosecute_crimes_1019.html


Viewpoint: Mosul Christians
(17 Oct) Nearly half of the Christian population of Mosul, in northern Iraq, have fled their homes following a rise in attacks against them, according to the UN. The US military and the Iraqi government say Mosul is a bastion for al-Qaeda. Mosul resident Saad, a Sunni Muslim, visited a Christian friend who had recently left the city, and gave the BBC News website his view from the ground.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7676619.stm

In Iraq, the doctors are out
(18 Oct - issue dated 27 Oct) Doctor Wasim bickers with his wife over where to raise their three kids. A pharmacist by profession, she longs for her friends and relatives back home in Baghdad. He suggests she settle in where they live now, amid the gleaming skyscrapers and seaside confines of Abu Dhabi. "It's like building on sand," she answers, refusing to think of their new home as anything but temporary. Nevertheless, the 45-year-old internist isn't ready to risk returning to Iraq—or even to let his full name be used. Four years ago on a Baghdad street a gang of kidnappers dragged him from his car.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/164496

Iraq mattress maker has a soft spot for tradition
(16 Oct; includes video) BAGHDAD -- Mohammed Fawzi Radhi makes his living putting people to sleep. His is a trade on the edge of extinction, but as Iraqis come to appreciate the comfort of his hand-fluffed cotton mattresses, Radhi says, business is picking up. Radhi nearly closed his doors in 2004, in part because of security concerns but mainly because of competition from foreign products. "But people gradually noticed that what they were getting is not necessarily what they wanted," he says, squeezing a wad of cotton.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/mideastemail/la-fg-iraqfluff16-2008oct16,0,1836203.story

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