http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=18703
Leftovers from Israeli war in Lebanon kill one Palestinian
Date: 17 / 01 / 2007 Time: 18:49

Bethlehem - Ma'an - Lebanese police have on Wednesday announced that a Palestinian citizen was killed when remnants from a cluster bomb detonated. The bomb was part of the one-million leftover pieces of unexploded cluster bomb ordinance from the latest Israeli war against Lebanon.

The sources reported that Kamal Ad-Din Muhammad, aged 43, was collecting wood near the Rashidiya refugee camp, when he stepped on an explosive "bomblet", which ended his life after causing serious wounds.

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=18698
US consulate general denies that the USA considers internal Palestinian violence as good for Israel
Date: 17 / 01 / 2007 Time: 16:18


Jerusalem - Ma'an - In an interview with 'The Jerusalem Post', an Israeli daily, the US ambassador to Israel, Richard Jones, inferred that the current internal Palestinian violence "is good for Israel". He suggested that the internal violence and killing, rather than Israeli-Palestinian violence, is leading to a decline in Hamas' support amongst Palestinians, and also improving the long-term security Israel.

However, the US consulate general in Jerusalem has been quick to play down this report, saying that it "does not accurately reflect the views of the Ambassador or the U.S. government."

In 'The Jerusalem Post' interview, Ambassador Jones appears to suggest that Israel's "policy of restraint in Gaza", as the Israeli paper describes it, is causing Hamas take the blame for internal strife and casualties.

The US consulate general is keen to point out, however, that "The U.S. government does not support intra-Palestinian violence." In a statement sent to Ma'an, the US consulate general adds that, "As Secretary Rice said in Ramallah on January 14, “Our desire is for the Palestinian people to be able to live in unity and democracy and in peace.” "

In the interview, which will be published in full on Friday, Ambassador Jones says that Hamas is "killing Palestinians, and they are killing Fatah activists... of course Fatah hits back, but I think this is good to show Hamas for what it is - it is a terror organization, and they exercise terror against Israelis normally, but they also exercise terror against their own society."

The US consulate general responds that, "At the same time, Palestinians should recognize that the path of violence will not bring them the peace and prosperity they seek. The current violence between Palestinian factions only highlights the high costs of using violence to achieve political goals."

In terms of US involvement in the region, the US ambassador told 'The Jerusalem Post' that the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, showed the Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, that policies need to be within a long-term political framework.

Jones also revealed that Rice will be back in the region within a month to take part in a three-way summit with Palestinian President Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Olmert. He added that these "discussions" will go ahead despite that fact that – in the words of 'The Jerusalem Post' – "they have not implemented the first stage of the road map – uprooting the terrorist infrastructure". From this interview, it appears that the US' long-term aim is that the Palestinians will vote Hamas out of government or force it to change its policies.

In terms of a long-term political framework for the Palestinians and Israelis, the US consulate ends its statement in regards to Ambassador Jones' interview by saying that, "It is in the interest of Israelis and Palestinians to exercise restraint and work through peaceful negotiation to implement President Bush’s vision of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security."

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=18696
536 Palestinians went missing or were murdered in Iraq in 2006
Date: 17 / 01 / 2007 Time: 15:57

Gaza - Ma'an -The Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee member, Dr Zakariyya Al-Agha, who is also in charge of refugees' affairs, confirmed on Wednesday that the numbers of dead or missing Palestinians in Iraq had mounted to around 536 over the past year. The total number for the past three years has now reached 22,100.

Al-Agha added that a group of the Palestinians who have fled Iraq have established a camp within the Jordanian borders at Ruweishid. The residents of the camp previously numbered around 1000, but this number has dropped after the Jordanian government gave permission to families with Jordanian wives to pass into Jordan and those who have Egyptian passports passed into Egypt.

These measures came after the Palestinian department for refugees' affairs, reached a series of agreements with the Jordanian government. There are 391 Palestinian refugees still within Iraqi borders and within Syria, about 300kms from the Syrian capital. They are living in tents. The Syrian government has allowed 280 Palestinians to enter its territories and live in a refugee camp near Al-Hasaka.

Al-Agha affirmed that violent acts against Palestinians, based on sectarian and ethnic discrimination, had escalated to such a degree in Iraq that any one who speaks the Palestinian dialect is abducted and murdered.

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=18705
Israel to transfer $100 million of withheld tax revenue
Date: 17 / 01 / 2007 Time: 23:20

Bethlehem - Ma'an - A high-ranking Palestinian source has on Wednesday evening told Ma'an that Israel will transfer $100 million of withheld Palestinian Authority taxation revenue imminently.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added that the money will be delivered to the office of the Palestinian President, before it passes to the government treasury.

The news that Israel intended to transfer $100 million of the withheld tax revenue had previously been reported on Friday. Israel had previously promised to transfer the same amount of money during the meeting between Palestinian President Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Dr Sa'eb Erekat, head of the PLO negotiations department, denied that the Palestinian Authority has received any formal information on the issue.

http://www.imemc.org/article/46566
After losing his hands and his wife, Palestinian political prisoner sentenced in military Palestine
Tuesday January 16, 2007 01:30 by Palestine News Network

Although his wife died leaving his children without a parent, Israeli forces refused to release Sadiq Abdul Rahman Basharat from prison where he has been for three years as a member of Islamic Jihad. The northern West Bank man's health is seriously deteriorating as well as he lives handicapped under the difficult conditions of the prison.

Basharat's lawyer demanded that he be released for three years served after several postponements of a trial in an Israeli military court.

His mother said, “These are the darkest days of my life. After several meetings and the postponement of a trial for my son several times, the last meeting was held where the lawyer demanded his release because he has already been in prison so long. He was injured which led to the amputation of his hands and is in urgent need of treatment that the prison administration refused to provide. He is the only breadwinner for his family and he has two children in dire need of a father.”

She told PNN that his sentence was unduly harsh. “The court did not heed the request and instead responded to the pressure of the prosecution and issued an arbitrary judgment, sentencing my son to eight years on charges of belonging to the Islamic Jihad movement and participating in what they referred to as 'activities hostile to the security of Israel.'”

Through information leaked from the prison, Basharat said that his sentence was in “utter disregard of all international norms and laws and comes within the framework of the slow death of prisoners.”

Basharat's mother asked, “Where are the human rights organizations, where is the justice? There is no law that allows Israel to exercise its policy of slowly killing our children! He is in prison and denied medication or treatment. He suffered a major blow losing his hands and also losing his wife and being deprived the right of raising his children. They broke into our home and took the weakest one without considering his medical condition, and put him in interrogation and then solitary confinement in Jalameh Prison where he cannot care for himself.”

Basharat said, “Their methods cause illness and disability and then they ensure that we will die in agony in order to stop our struggle to end the occupation. Without medical treatment I now have complications, but still there is no medicine or treatment.”

His mother is raising her grandchildren now and cries as she says that the worst part is watching her son's children wait for their father.