http://www.imemc.org/article/48398
A number of nonviolent protestors stop Israeli bulldozers in Artas village near Bethlehem
Wednesday May 16, 2007 11:23 by George Rishmawi - IMEMC News news at imemc dot org

At least 30 Palestinian, International and Israeli peace activists and farmers are preventing the Israeli army from bulldozing land near the village of Artas south of Bethlehem on Wednesday morning.

At least 30 Palestinian, International and Israeli peace activists and farmers are preventing the Israeli army from bulldozing land near the village of Artas south of Bethlehem on Wednesday morning.

The Protestors arrived to the site after they received news about the bulldozers near the village.
Israeli army is bulldozing the land near the Monastery in order to build the wall in that area.

Troops prevented the peace activists from reaching the bulldozers, and claimed the area as a closed military zone.

Hussam Jubran, one of the coordinators of the "Stop the Bleeding of Bethlehem" campaign told IMEMC that the soldiers did failed to provide any document proving that the construction area is a closed military zone.

The "Stop the Bleeding of Bethlehem" campaign aims at mobilizing more Palestinians to nonviolently resist the wall, settlements, land confiscation and other forms of the Israeli military occupation in Bethlehem.

On Tuesday, the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Bethlehem organized a peaceful protest on a settler road to commemorate the 59 anniversary of the Nakba of 1948.
http://www.imemc.org/article/48398

http://www.imemc.org/article/48395
Israeli army shells areas in Gaza; five Palestinians killed but by Palestinian fire
Wednesday May 16, 2007 11:12 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies ghassanb at imemc dot org

Five Palestinians were killed on Wednesday morning as the internal clashes renewed between rival Palestinian factions. In the meantime the Israeli army shelled several areas in the Gaza strip.

The internal clashes renewed in several parts of Gaza city, the deadliest being in Tal Al Hawa neighborhood where gunmen surrounded the house of Rashid Abu Shubak, the director of the internal security forces in the Palestinian Authority. Witnesses told Palestinian media that the gunmen showered the house of Shubak with mortar shells and live rounds, killing four of his bodyguards and injuring another 12. Al Shubak’s gaurds managed to help his family escape before the gunmen stormed the house, local sources reported.

Medical sources reported that among those killed were Al Abd Rabuh and Ahmad Hamida. These sources added that gunmen and Palestinian security forces were clashing with each other throughout Gaza city and that these clashes made it extremely difficult for emergency medical teams to evacuate the injured people.

A further Palestinian security officer from was shot and killed when he was standing at his post near the UNRWA building in Gaza city. Several others were injured in this attack.

On the same morning, gunmen surrounded the house of Samier Al Mishharawi, a top Fatah leader. However, after talks and negotiations, the gunmen left, Fatah officials reported.

The executive force and Fatah spokesman Abd Al Hakeem Awad blamed fighters from the Hamas Al Qassam brigades for these attacks, claims that were refuted by Hamas officials who stated that they were fired on first.

The death toll in the Gaza strip since the beginning of this week has now risen to at least 22 people.

On Wednesday while the Palestinian resistance groups and factions were busy killing each other, Israeli army tanks stationed at the northern Gaza borders shelled Palestinian houses in Beit Lahia and Beit Hannon. The shelling damaged homes and cars but no injuries were reported.

On the same day, Israeli war boats attacked and opened fire on Palestinian fishing boats near the costal line of Gaza city just a few hundred meters away from where the internal clashes were taking place.

http://www.imemc.org/article/48393
Israeli forces attack Atteel village
Wednesday May 16, 2007 10:57 by Nisreen Qumsieh - IMEMC News nisreen at imemc dot org

During a military operation to kidnap activists from the Islamic Jihad group, Israeli forces destroyed a civilian car and kidnapped the parents of the activist Saleh Karkor to force him to surrender himself. The operation took place in Atteel village near Jenin in the West Bank.

During the attack, a civilian house received extensive fire damage. In the same operation, the Israeli military stormed the headquarters of the Joint Service Committee, using it as a military post.

Israeli army frequently detain relatives of claimed wanted Palestinians to force them to surrender themselves. The army kidnapped Abu Ala' Dalal and his son's wife from Nablus to force his son, who is claimed to be wanted by the Israeli army to surrender.

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=22014

On the eve of the 59th anniversary of the Nakba, PCBS issues a report on the situation for Palestinians today
Date: 14 / 05 / 2007 Time: 13:01


Palestinians at Al-Nussirat
refugee camp (MaanImages)
Bethlehem - Ma'an - On the eve of the 59th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) of 1948, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) has issued a report on the current conditions for Palestinians.

The report was presented by the president of the PCBS, Dr Shabaneh, under the title, 'Palestinian people are still suffering from severity of the Israeli policies and the absence of a Palestinian development vision'.

The report states that "59 years have passed since Israel was established by the destruction and dispossession that shattered the Palestinians, especially those who were expelled from their homeland and who lost their property: this was the Palestinian Nakba, the catastrophe."

The Nakba is considered to be the biggest catastrophe for Palestinians in modern history; the immediate consequences of the nakba was the occupation, by Israel, of more than three quarters of Palestinian land and the expulsion of more than 85% of the population.

PCBS reported that 750,000 Palestinians were displaced as a result of the Nakba and 350,000 in 1967, after the six-day war. The Palestinians in diaspora are estimated to be 5 million.

The report also revealed that 25% of Palestinians in Israel have been subject to confiscation of their property.

The report stated that, "According to the Palestinian Family Health Survey, 2006, the number of people suffering chronic diseases has surged 31.1% in the last two years. Also the number of households with safe drinking water dropped by more than 8% between 2000 and 2006 to 87.8%. "

Equally, chronic malnutrition among children under five rose by 3% between 2004 and 2006. The report also noted that 10% of children under the age of five suffer from stunted growth.

PCBS states that 66.8% of households have reduced expenditure on basic needs over the past year.

The survey showed that 65% of Palestinian households have been separated from health services due to the construction of the separation wall. 30.5% of Palestinians have been cut off from their relatives as a result of the Wall. 39.4% live inside the Wall and 30.3% outside.

For the full report please go to: http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/PressRelease/Nakba07_E.pdf

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=22018
$39 million from Saudi Arabia to re-house Palestinian refugees in Rafah
Date: 14 / 05 / 2007 Time: 14:16

Bethlehem - Ma'an - The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) has increased its contribution to the United Nations agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, by $9 million for a project to re-house over 3,500 refugees in Rafah.

According to a press release from UNRWA, the donation of $39 million will fund 752 dwelling units for Palestine refugees whose homes in Rafah were demolished during the second intifada. The contribution will also fund the construction of public buildings: four schools, a health clinic, a community centre with a market area and a mosque.

Construction of the public buildings is 80% complete, the press release adds, and, on Monday, contracts with five local construction companies, valued at $23 million, were signed for the construction of the housing units.

UNRWA’s Director of Operations in Gaza, John Ging, said at the signing: “This very generous donation from the Saudi Fund for Development is of immeasurable importance to Rafah as it creates 340,000 man-days over the next eight months.” He added: “Work will commence within a week”.

On Sunday, UNRWA’s Commissioner-General Karen Koning AbuZayd visited the construction site. “I am delighted to see first hand, how these construction projects are giving hope and the dignity of work to so many refugees," the press release quotes her as saying. "I am very grateful to the Saudi Fund for Development for a donation that will help to replace despair with hope for thousands of families in this impoverished area.”

The UNRWA press release adds that SFD is also funding the construction of an UNRWA school in Deir el-Balah and the reconstruction of 'Special Hardship Case' shelters throughout the Gaza Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=22018