Free
Gaza Movement: Israeli naval vessels firing on unarmed fishing boats and Human
Rights WorkersIsraeli Naval vessels are currently firing on unamrmed
Palestinian fishing boats and international human rights workers off the coast
of the Gaza Strip. The fishing boats are several miles off the coast of Gaza
City, in Palestinian territorial waters. As of 11am (4am EST) no one had been
injured, but live ammunition is still being fired in the direction of the
civilian boats.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2008/09/01/free-gaza-movement-israeli-naval-vessels-firing-on-unarmed-fishing-boats-and-human-rights-workers/Human Rights Workers to Accompany Gaza Fishermen on
MondayHuman Rights Observers from the Free Gaza Movement and the
International Solidarity Movement launch campaign to monitor Israeli naval
aggression against Gazan fishermen. According to a recent article in The
Guardian, "Under the Oslo accords, which in 1993 were supposed to herald the
coming of an independent Palestinian state, Gazan fishermen were to be allowed
20 nautical miles out to sea, where they could catch sardine as they migrated
from the Nile delta up towards Turkey during the spring.
http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/human_rights_workers_to_accompany_gaza_fishermen_on_monday/0016631Health ministry: Two children die due to the siege and the
politicized strikeThe health ministry in Gaza stated Sunday that the
ongoing Israeli siege and the PA politicized strikes claimed the lives of two
Palestinian children.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7ycAPuUrXQ7KUSUV%2fVhygQVyJwb694TG8A19qpxMV1SBMSEqSwZDF6V7v0Y7jd0q2ZshfBhSZ1n8DDxFFb8DtUs7sJftoyYMVT7QFjcFPmE4%3d
Israel-OPT: Settler violence against Palestinians on the
riseViolence by settlers perpetrated against Palestinians has been
on the rise in recent weeks in Hebron and the surrounding areas, residents and
international observers said. "These areas are hot spots for violence and are
priority areas for us," said Matteo Benatti, head of the International Committee
of the Red Cross's (ICRC's) delegation in the city.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/RMOI-7J2LPT?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-PRafah terminal opens on Sunday for patients, stranded
studentsThe Egyptian authorities on Sunday opened the Rafah border
terminal with Gaza and allowed entry of Palestinian patients and stranded
students into its territory for the first time in several months.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7gW52NxKpjXd9UPXLfuMZ%2b%2fHrkSE5YtzghPx4%2fpOYBe1S%2bNlJAFP6K1Ltb7uaKZBoPwYhD%2b7mKbmy6ev1qdYVepdkPExHoFds%2bU2YV%2bH39IY%3dReport: Palestinian critically injured by
IDFViolent clashes in West Bank village of Naalin continue to claim
victims: According to Palestinians, mentally ill man sustains wounded by four
metal-coated rubber bullets fired at him point blank by Israeli soldiers during
his brother's arrest.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3590347,00.htmlIOF troops kidnap four PalestiniansIsraeli
occupation forces on Sunday kidnapped four Palestinian young men at a roadblock
south of Nablus city after ordering them out of their car and searching them,
eyewitnesses reported.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7U9XsLVZRBOf5fM1K%2b1pCLBNm7EDWciUuLPKzos1RcWzPOYOsbnGKOhsKAfuMxOm1r1CZblODW%2fmLx6BAJczdPVRVuZW0hSjChzmK7Fg9c6Y%3dGazan woman slain by father over family honor; father and
brothers arrestedA 24-year-old Palestinian woman found dead with her
hands and feet bound was taken to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern
Gaza Strip on Sunday. A report from the Palestine Center for Human Rights
said that the father of the woman, 67-year-old Hussein Mustafa Kaware from the
Jourat Al-Lout area in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis, went to the
Gaza police station and confessed to killing his daughter, Hala. Police went to
the man's home and dug up the body of the young woman, which was found with
hands and feet bound, and her mouth muzzled. Hala's father is reported to have
confessed to the crime, saying that he "did it to protect the family honor."
Mustafa and his four sons were arrested by police.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31632Violence, attacks and threats? Not hereDoes the
latest indictment mean that the modesty patrols have finally been caught? The
attack in question came to light due to a complaint by a 31-year-old woman who
lives in Jerusalem's Ma'alot Dafna neighborhood. Until her divorce three years
ago, she led a Haredi lifestyle, and after she abandoned this way of life, she
continued to live in the Haredi neighborhood. According to the indictment, the
modesty patrols suspected that she "was carrying on improper relationships with
married men," and therefore planned to attack her in order to cause her to leave
and to "pay her back" for her deeds.
..Many people interviewed
for the current article, however, believe that the recent attack in Ma'alot
Dafna was a local operation "related to family honor," and had no connection to
the modesty patrols or the Committee for Preserving Our Camp's Purity.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1016870.htmlHaredi
chastity squad methods exposed
Following arrest of chastity
squad members, riots erupt in religious neighborhoods. Former members reveal how
squads operate - The arrests of two alleged chastity squads members, Elhanan
Buzaglo and Binyamin Meirovich, have sparked a new wave of violence in
Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods. Following the arrests, garbage bins in
the neighborhood of Geula were set on fire. Police officers who arrived were
greeted with rocks being thrown at them. A store selling MP4 devices was
attacked last week. Buzaglo, 29, was indicted over an incident which took place
two months ago. The District Prosecutor's Office believes that Buzaglo, along
with six other chastity squad members, broke into a divorced woman's home
located in the Jerusalem neighborhood of, Maalot Dafna, beat her and threatened
her.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3589470,00.html
Haniyeh's nephew released from Israeli prison after 15
yearsGaza – Ma'an – After serving 15 years in Israeli prisons,
the nephew of Palestinian Prime Minister of the de facto government Ismail
Haniyeh was released. Abel Mo'ti Haniyeh was released on Sunday afternoon, and
is not at Erez crossing on his way to the Gaza Strip.
The announcement came
Sunday from the media spokesperson for senior prisoners Mahmoud Abu Hasirah.
According to Abu Hasirah, Haniyeh served his sentence in different prisons
including Ashkelon, Nafha, Hadarim and Megedo. He also spent time in solitary
confinement.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31644
Caretaker gov't decides to flatten Saraya
compoundDr. Yousef Al-Mansi, the minister of public works, stated
that the caretaker government decided to demolish, during the coming three
months, the governmental Saraya compound.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7rZmvBOEQqYUNRaboZ7mowiVPmtAxQ5IjZhr%2b39lhHNclPIrkF7GmUlSgmafm9NZqDyWLZuJdACuZNo%2fFlVpesQlME%2bnscq7FNTEuuzlLBhc%3dDemonstrations in Ni'lin continue after a 4 month old baby is
injured and a 9 year old shot in the headOn Thursday morning
Occupation forces stormed the town in an attempt to suppress protests and
intimidate the people of Ni'lin. The military gathered close to the girls'
secondary school and fired tear gas and sound bombs, terrifying the the
children. They fired on various homes and directly into the home of Said Salim
Khawaje, whose 4 month old baby suffered from the suffocating gas. They later
attacked a Bedouin family who lives close to the path of the Apartheid Wall
outside the village.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/1722.shtmlNew Israeli
Medical Association boycott website
The Medical Committee for Boycott
of the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) has launched a new website. The site
contains information, articles and analysis on the Occupation's use of torture
as well as the acceptance by Israeli doctors of this practice. The boycott
targets the IMA because it has consistently refused to condemn or issue advise
doctors who are involved with torture. As an institution, the role of the IMA is
to insure that international medical standards are met.
http://stopthewall.org/worldwideactivism/1719.shtml
Egypt
closes Gaza border after thousands cross AFP - Egypt on Monday
closed the border crossing between Sinai and the Hamas-run Gaza Strip after a
brief opening allowed thousands in and out of the besieged territory, a security
official said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080901/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictgazacrossingHamas rejects Egypt's suggestion to send troops to
GazaGaza – Ma'an – Hamas slammed Egypt's suggestion that troops
be sent into Gaza to stabilize the situation. The statements of Egyptian Foreign
Minister Ahmad Abu Al-Gheit were published in the Egyptian daily newspaper
Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat on Saturday. He commented that he believed Arab forces would
help end internal clashes, and make Israel paus e before braking the truce in
Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31642
Hamas angered by
Egypt's statement of deploying Arab forces in GazaIn what appeared
as an angry objection letter from Hamas against the statements of Egypt's
Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu Al Gheit who spoke of the possibility of sending Arab
b forces to Gaza in order to end the tension and internal unrest, Hamas said
that it totally rejects this idea and will fight any Arab or foreign forces that
tries to deploy in Gaza.
http://www.imemc.org/article/56785As a Palestinian state recedes, Jordan contacts
HamasJordan's move to thaw relations with the Palestinian Islamic
Resistance Movement (Hamas) following nine years of estrangement has raised
eyebrows as to the timing and the motives behind this tactic. Internal and
external factors dictated the rapprochement amid growing Jordanian dismay at
American and Israeli behavior - the kingdom's main strategic allies since the
turn of the century. Hence, the timing bears significance considering the last
months of President George W. Bush's tenure and Israel's political paralysis. On
the other side, the Palestinian Authority (PA) led by Mahmoud Abbas looks headed
toward failure in light of Hamas' pounding and US-Israeli indifference.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=5&article_id=95587
Hamas and Fatah agree to form committee to end political
arrestsRival Palestinian factions of Hamas and Fatah have finally
reached a deal on forming a committee to end politically-
motivated
arrests.
The committee will be divided into one based in the Hamas-controlled
Gaza and the other one based in the West Bank where the Fatah-dominated
Palestinian National Authority (PNA) rules, said Kayed al-Ghoul, an official
from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-08/31/content_9744799.htm
Arab League vows not to accept continuation of Palestinian
split
The Cairo-based Arab League (AL) vowed here Sunday not to
accept the continuation of Palestinian division and bloodletting. AL
Secretary General Amr Moussa reiterated the Arab stance in press statements at a
ceremony to honor Hussein Abdel-Khaleq, permanent Palestinian delegate to the
AL, on the occasion of the end of his tour of duty, according to Egypt's
official MENA news agency.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/01/content_9745990.htm
Olmert to Abbas: You're not supposed to meet
killers
Prime Minister Olmert reprimands Palestinian leader over his
meeting with released murderer Samir Kuntar; Abbas requests another prisoner
release but Olmert's associates say PM made no such pledge.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3590171,00.html
Diskin: PA heading for tumultuous times
Shin Bet
chief briefs cabinet on current security, political situation in Palestinian
Authority, says end of Abbas' presidency may plunge PA into political
turmoil.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3590168,00.html
Shin Bet chief: Abbas' time as PA President is running
out
Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin on Sunday told the cabinet that
Mahmoud Abbas' time as Palestinian President was nearing its end as elections in
the Palestinian Authority approach.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1016836.html
Free Gaza Boat's members condemn
being denied access through the Rafah terminal
Members of the Free
Gaza Boat, who opted to leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing terminal, in
solidarity with the Palestinian people, condemned on Monday the Egyptian
authorities denial of their access through the terminal.
http://www.imemc.org/article/56795
Ynet: Gaza activists say will run Israel blockade
again
'Free-Gaza' activists plan return to Strip within a month.
'This might be the beginning of a simple delivery service, if we can set up the
mechanisms here in Cyprus,' member says.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2008/08/31/ynet-gaza-activists-say-will-run-israel-blockade-again/
Statistics:
West Bank population above 2 million
An official Palestinian
population census published on Monday by the Palestinian Statistic Center (PSC)
showed that the Palestinian population in the West Bank has grown up to
2,350,000. Lo'ai Shabana, director in chief of PSC said in a statement that the
latest results of the population census held in the West Bank in 2007 showed
that the population grew from 1,873,000 people in 1997 to 2,350,000 people in
2007.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/01/content_9750880.htm
Growth in the land of contradictions
Today's
West Bank is a land of shocking contrasts – of one set of rules and rights for
Palestinians and another for Jewish settlers. Palestinian lives are under
the absolute control of the Israeli army, which can either seal off communities
with roadblocks or invade them at will. The Palestinian economy is being slowly
strangled by the separation barrier. Few Palestinians are allowed any longer to
seek work inside Israel, and their freedom to move around the West Bank is
severely curtailed by hundreds of checkpoints and almost unattainable travel
permits.
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20080831/FOREIGN/772525596/1011/SPORT
Fuel prices to rise 0.50 percent Sunday at
midnight
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Fuel prices will increase 0.50
percent at midnight on Sunday, according to Israeli sources. Benzene with 95
octane will reach 6.69 shekels per liter in self-service, and 96 octane benzene
prices will reach 6.71 shekels per liter in self-service.
Full service prices
will be 0.12 shekels higher per liter.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31643
Israel opens Al Aqsa mosque to some Palestinians for
Ramadan
Israel said Sunday it will allow some, but not all
Palestinians to go to the Al Aqsa mosque in East Jerusalem during the holy month
of Ramadan that begins Monday. In a statement, the Israeli military said
Palestinian men aged 45 to 50 and married could join Friday prayers at the
mosque, the third most sacred venue in Islam.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jsEJDRTA24K1oeYZLcjBq1nfB7pA
IOA
bans entry of Palestinians less than 45 years old into Aqsa Mosque
A
spokesman for the IOF has said that all Palestinians under 45 years living in
the West Bank would be barred from entering the Aqsa Mosque during Friday
congregations in the holy month of Ramadan.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7agLnkEeAcs5%2bC5cpf8Bv1218RgQk4a0wCyx0jMj%2fGJ3%2bcNvBgbIzIx4MCC2cdOstiKTVFr8ktSkGPHvOcHymSxIWW2uSEtC0CFefLJaNQek%3d
Shadow over Mideast Ramadan mood
Palestinians in the
Gaza Strip, West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem stock up ahead of the holy month
of Ramadan.
Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem stock up ahead of the
holy month of Ramadan. In Gaza, the crippled economy of a territory under siege
overshadows the atmosphere.
http://uk.reuters.com/news/video?rpc=401&videoId=89906&feedType=VideoRSS&feedName=TopNews&rpc=401&videoChannel=1
Ex-Ambassador to U.S.: Arabs in Galilee are secessionist
threat
Will the Arabs of the Galilee declare independence one day
like Kosovo, Abkhazia or South Ossetia? According to Danny Ayalon, Israel's
former ambassador to the United States, the answer is definitely yes. In
Ayalon's first public appearance since he joined the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu
party on Saturday, he warned on Sunday: "If the government of Israel does not
act to have a Jewish majority in the North, then the Arab majority in the
Galilee will declare independence and [demand] international recognition on the
basis of the precedents of Kosovo, Abkhazia and [South Ossetia].
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1016855.html
Med-Enec backed
West Bank geothermal pilot project presented at Ramallah
conference
The pilot project is one unit in a complex of 62
'conventional' semi-detached villas built on an area of 24,000 square metres.
The 390 square metres demonstration villa includes three floors, a walk-out
basement and a garage. The main elements of the energy concept for the building
are good insulation of the basement floor, walls and windows, and the use of
geothermal energy. 10 vertical boreholes, each 70 metres deep, deliver enough
energy to the 23 KW heating and cooling system with two heat pumps in order to
reduce annual heating and cooling costs from $3,300 to merely $850 per year.
This produces energy cost savings of over 70%, which means that, with the high
energy prices in Palestine, the pay-back period is less than five years.
http://www.ameinfo.com/167457.html
Hamas Seeking to Come in from Cold
Chances of coming in from the
cold are looking better for Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement ruling the
Gaza Strip, as the world braces itself for crucial changes in political
leaderships and power shifts that might also bring strategic policy turns in the
Middle East.
The U.S. George W. Bush administration, which has led a fierce
campaign against Hamas and is widely seen as the friendliest U.S. government yet
to Israel, has fewer than 150 days left in office, with no sign that the peace
talks it is sponsoring between the Palestinian Authority (PA), led by President
Mahmoud Abbas, and Israel are getting anywhere.
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=17719&CategoryId=5
'Orchestra against ignorance' plays on
Tales are
swapped of checkpoints and roadblocks, of persecution and circumscription, of
inconceivable tragedy and duress. Whichever war-afflicted Middle East country
they happen to be from, these youngsters have probably experienced horrors their
Western counterparts could never dream of. "Suffering is the monopoly of no
one," Said once observed: of course there are political and religious
backgrounds in conflict here, but the moment the musicians are on stage, "the
personal stories drop away, become irrelevant".
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24271414-16947,00.html
To Carry a Camera in Gaza
Anybody carrying a camera in the
Gaza Strip is a potential target. This is the simple conclusion that can be
reached following the Israeli military prosecutor's report that was issued a few
days ago. The report cleared Israeli soldiers who shot dead Palestinian
cameraman Fadel Shana who died on April 16, 2008 along with eight unarmed youths
under 16 years of age. Why did Israeli soldiers venture upon launching two
missiles towards a group of unarmed youths and the Reuters cameraman who was
holding his camera and whose clothes and equipment were clearly marked
'press'?
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=17720&CategoryId=5
Israeli PR Fails the Test
When Ron Prosor arrived in
London last year to take up his post as Israeli ambassador he was eager to step
up public relations. He told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz: "I'm not afraid to
appear anywhere, and there is no platform… that I will not utilize for PR
work."
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=14121
Boy meets girl - it's a Middle Eastern EastEnders with
checkpoints
There's a small but telltale moment in the first episode
of Matabb, the new - indeed, first - Palestinian soap opera, when the camera
shows a flashy, cherry-red BMW with the yellow licence plate starting to fall
off. It is meant to tell you everything you need to know about its slick-haired
driver, Abdallah - glossy on the outside, but really a thieving braggart not to
be trusted with young ladies.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article4636846.ece
Seth
Freedman: Giving, across the divide
Seth Freedman: The Jerusalem
interest-free microfinance fund has been set up to benefit both poor Muslims and
Jews in the holy city.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/01/israelandthepalestinians.charitablegiving?gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews
Israel ready to mull leaving part of northern border town
of Ghajar
Israel told the United States on Sunday it was prepared to
withdraw from the northern part of Ghajar on the Lebanese border, a change in
its policy for the past year and a half of not wanting to discuss the issue. A
government source in Jerusalem said the decision was made after the Lebanese
government delivered written assurances that UNIFIL would be given security and
civilian control over the northern part of the village, which is in Lebanese
territory.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1016874.html
Sheikh Kassem: Hezbollah Will Avenge Imad
Moghniyeh
Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Kassem told
Al-Manar TV Friday that revenge for the assassination of top resistance
commander martyr Imad Moghniyeh (Hajj Redwan) was a legitimate right of the
resistance and "will come as a surprise to the Israelis when it happens."
"Revenge is the legitimate right. For everything there is a time, God willing,"
Sheikh Kassem continued. "We won't get into details, but the Israelis will be
surprised."
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=55149&language=en
Strategies of Resistance in Palestine
In a
recent article on Palestinian political economy we are given a lucid and
comprehensive account of neo liberal economic policy and the US-Israeli and
European involvement in the process of integrating the Palestinian economy into
a source of profiteering for the former colonial powers (and Pax Americana).
(1). This should not surprise anyone familiar with the historical
trajectory of colonialism and neo-colonialism. However, it is incumbent on all
who support the liberation of Palestine to understand the economic realities
that are propelling the strategies of resistance to continued colonial and
neo-colonial exploitation of the people of Palestine. It would also assist in
identifying and forwarding these strategies if the big picture of the
Palestinian Authority's fraudulent claims of settling final status issues with
Israel are seen for what they are, a surrender of Palestinian national rights.
In this article I shall draw out the implications of the above-mentioned article
for political struggle in Palestine.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=14120
Hottentot Morality
"If he steals my cow, that is
bad. If I steal his cow, that is good" - this moral rule was attributed by
European racists to the Hottentots, an ancient tribe in Southern Africa. It's
hard not to be reminded of this when the United States and the European
countries cry out against Russia's recognition of the independence of South
Ossetia and Abkhazia, the two provinces which seceded from the Republic of
Sakartvelo, known in the West as Georgia.
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1220183141
U.N. troops offer lessons in peace in Lebanon
EBEL
AL SAQI, LEBANON -- The yoga instructor chuckles, and the three dozen or so
women follow along, giggling nervously before bursting through some invisible
layer of restraint or sorrow and laughing with abandon. Grins widen into smiles,
tentative squeals bloom into full-bore howls. The yoga instructor is teaching
inner peace, but he's also trying to keep the peace: He's Warrant Officer Mal
Singh of the Indian army, part of a 30-year-old United Nations force stationed
in southern Lebanon.
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-fg-peacekeepers26-2008aug26,0,4694580,full.story
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-fg-peacekeeper-pg,0,1286542.photogallery?1
http://www.latimes.com/video/?slug=la-fg-peacekeeper-vids
(both videos)
Sunday: 13 Iraqis Killed, 8 Wounded
Excerpt: Updated
at 6:45 p.m. EDT, Aug. 31, 2008 At least 13 Iraqis were killed and 8 more were
wounded in the latest attacks. Meanwhile, the tense situation between central
government forces and Peshmerga forces continues in Khanaqin. Also, Ramadan
begins tomorrow for Sunni Muslims and the day after for Shi'ites.
http://www.antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=13392
Iraq: At least 7 killed as US occupation grinds
on
A member of a U.S.-backed neighbourhood patrol and three of
his relatives were killed.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ANW125710.htm
US to hand over Anbar as Iraqi Sunnis begin Ramadan
AFP - The US military will hand over security control of Anbar, once
the most explosive battlefield in Iraq, to local forces on Monday as Iraqi
Sunnis begin observing the holy month of Ramadan.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080901/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestusanbar
Qaeda defectors claw way back into Iraq mainstream
AFP - Last month Al-Qaeda fighters Abdul Rahman Mohammed and Ahmed
Ali laid down their arms after nearly four years of fighting US soldiers in
Iraq.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080831/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestqaeda
Relations sour between Kurds and central
government
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has asked Kurdish militias
known locally as peshmerqa to evacuate areas south of the "green line"
demarcating the autonomous Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq. Maliki has
went as far as sending Iraqi troops to flush out the Kurdish militias from
villages, towns and cities officially not part of the Kurdish region.
Iraqi troops have reportedly spread their control in the string of towns and
villages in the restive Province of Diyala which the Kurds claimed as
their.
http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2008-08-30\kurd.htm
Immunity
a sticking point in US-Iraq security pact: report
AFP - Iraq and the
United States are still far apart on the issue of immunity for American troops,
according to a draft security agreement between the two countries published by
an Iraqi paper on Monday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080901/pl_afp/iraqusmilitary
Maliki's growing
defiance of U.S. worries allies and critics
BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime
Minister Nouri al Maliki has been on a roll, and American officials are getting
worried.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/51167.html
Iraq
largely free of foreign fighters: police
AFP - Counter-offensives by
the security forces over the past year have largely rid Iraq of foreign fighters
recruited by insurgent groups such as Al-Qaeda, a top police commander said on
Monday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080901/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestqaeda
Iraqi
unable to shake the feeling of homelessness
Reporter is able to get
back his Baghdad home from squatters, but the plundered house and the state of
the country leave him feeling bereft. My family's home was taken over by
insurgents 19 months ago. On Sunday, we got it back.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/380281292/la-fg-iraqhome1-2008sep01,0,2669844.story
ME Arabs
'reject' idea of Iran strike
By and large, Arabs in the Middle
East "absolutely reject" an Israeli or American strike on Iran or its nuclear
facilities and believe the Islamic Republic is being "targeted" for reasons
other than its nuclear program, an Egyptian expert on Iran has told The
Jerusalem Post. Slideshow:Unlike the US-led Iraq War of 2003, an attack on Iran
would likely fail to garner any Arab support and any country that chooses to
participate in such a strike would be branded a traitor, said Mohammed Said
Idris, head of the Gulf Studies department at the Cairo-based Al-Ahram Center
for Political and Strategic Studies and editor of Iran Digest.
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Evangelicals
in Israel back McCain
Evangelical Christians living in Jerusalem on Sunday voiced
unflinching support for presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, and heaped
praise on his surprise selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running
mate. "McCain has a depth of understanding of foreign policy - including in the
Middle East - which makes him the best choice for Israel," said Michael Mott, a
native of Colorado who has lived in Israel for the past 12 years. McCain's
choice of Palin was a "strategic move" that "blew away" last week's Democratic
National Convention, he said, adding that it was certain to win him more votes
in the November election. The selection of Palin, who is anti-abortion and
pro-gun rights, electrified social conservatives, including Evangelicals, who
had previously been tepid about McCain's candidacy.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1220186491584&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
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