http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=18371
Hamas condemns Israeli decision to establish a new settlement in the Jordan valley
Date: 28 / 12 / 2006 Time: 16:04

Khan Younis - Ma'an – In a statement received on Thursday by Ma'an, the Hamas movement has slammed the official Israeli approval of the establishment of a new settlement in the West Bank, calling it "a dangerous escalation, unprecedented in the last decade".

Hamas described the decision as "suspicious", coming just a few days after the meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. They declared, "Such a decision motivates us to question what goes on behind the scenes of these meetings, which continue in the wake of the Israeli violent escalation, which doesn't differentiate between humans and rocks".

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=18373
"Neruda was right" - Ma'an Editorial
Date: 28 / 12 / 2006 Time: 16:36

Ma'an – Editor-in-Chief - Nasser Laham - The Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda used to wander in the streets and tell people, "I can see blood flowing from your flanks." They accused him of madness. A few years later, however, the civil war broke out and people killed their own brothers and knifed them in the flanks. People acknowledged, "Neruda was right."

While I scan the websites of the Fatah and the Hamas movements, I feel a chill and cannot believe that there is such an amount of evil among us Palestinians. I ask myself, "Has blood flowed from our flanks? Will the Sheikh of the mosque, whom I trusted, voted for and made my Imam in prayer, kill me? Or will I be killed by my Fatah companion in the prison's cell, who is married to my sister and whose kids I raised in my own home?"

More frankly speaking, we love Iran and wish them a quiet life, but why do they provide Hamas with millions of bullets and rifles?

In the same mood of frankness, we love the Arab brethrens and wish them a decent life, but why do they provide Fatah with troops, rifles and security technology?

Iran is supporting the Hamas movement, and the Arab countries are supporting the Fatah movement, until the number of residents in the Gaza Strip plummets to one million, which will further decrease amongst the abundance of millions of bullets.

Those who will stay alive will end up unable to provide even a loaf of bread.

At the end, these weapons will be used to kill and slaughter Palestinians by Palestinians in the name of defending principles, religion and revolution.

Everybody in the East and the West of the universe now know that inter-Palestinian warring has begun. Is there another interpretation for the armament of two disputing parties?

It seems that sanity and sane people have become dumb. Nobody dares to say no in the face of this armament. Wouldn't it be better if we bought computers and nutrition for our children?

Oh citizens of Gaza and the West Bank! Don't go to the butchery! Don't carry the rifles! Don't slaughter the sacred cow and live to regret!

Note: I hope the Palestinian leaders review the migration files of those Palestinians who became convinced that the coldness of diaspora is more tolerant than the heat of the homeland.

http://www.imemc.org/content/view/23369/1/
Palestinians nonviolently block Israeli bulldozers from devastating their lands near Bethlehem
IMEMC & Agencies - Tuesday, 26 December 2006, 16:07


Palestinians from Um Salamunah village, south of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, nonviolently tried to block Israeli army bulldozers from destroying their lands on Tuesday afternoon.

Residents reported that military bulldozers and army jeeps invaded the village in order to continue the construction of the illegal Wall around the city of Bethlehem.

Village residents stood in front of the bulldozers and managed to delay the work starting, local sources reported.

Troops and military bulldozers remain in the village, more backup troops have arrived to reinforce their presence. The residents have appealed to human rights organizations to intervene and help them in the protection of their lands.

http://www.imemc.org/content/view/23403/1/
Mandela Institute: Palestinians taken to Israeli prison hospital are not given medical treatment
Palestine News Network - Thursday, 28 December 2006, 16:33

There are 28 Palestinian political prisoners in the Israeli Ramle Prison Hospital. But they are not receiving medical treatment. Thousands of Palestinians go without the basic necessities of health care in Israeli prisons, but it was largely unknown that those with critical enough cases to be taken to the hospital were not being treated either.

A Mandela Institute lawyer, Buthaina Dukmak, visited with several of the political prisoners. She reports that 13 Palestinian political prisoners are in the Ramle Hospital suffering from paralysis or such severe disability that they cannot move without either human or wheelchair assistance.

She said on Thursday that the public is being seriously misled. “The prison administration is putting these prisoners in the prison hospital to mislead public opinion with an act of deception to make it look as if there is the requisite health care. This is untrue. Despite ill health and poor conditions, the hospital administration procrastinates in meeting even their most basic health needs and nutritional requirements. But Israeli forces do not relent in conducting provocative searches of the ill prisoners.”

Dukmak said that the Israeli prison administration has taken seven people to the hospital in the past 10 days who were shot by Israeli forces and badly in need of treatment. In addition to a lack of basic treatment, proper clothing is not even being provided. The disabled are suffering the most.

The Mandela Institute findings include the case of political prisoner Mansour. He was arrested on 2 July 2002. Israeli soldiers had shot him in the stomach before his arrest and he was taken to the Ramle Prison Hospital and has become a permanent hospital prisoner. However, he has still not received treatment.

Attorney Dukmak reported that Ahmed Al Tamimi has been struggling with his health for six years, in constant pain and illness. But the prison hospital will not treat him because the Israeli administration has been in an ongoing internal battle as to who will pay the cost of his operations.

Political prisoner Khalid Baraheh was in Israeli Nafha Prison complaining of joint pain since 8 July 2004. He was found to have infections that had spread to the point of becoming incurable when he was finally transferred to the Ramle Prison Hospital on 29 January 2005.

Israeli forces shot and arrested Khalid Jayousi during his wedding. He received no treatment in spite of being taken to Hadassah Hospital after his arrest. The Israeli Salem Military Court extended his sentence even though he was taken to the court in a hospital robe while handcuffed to another man. After the court, he was taken to the Ramle Prison Hospital where he is still awaiting treatment.

The Mandela Institute found that the Palestinians in this prison hospital are not often allowed to contact their families. When visits are allowed, they are often canceled. The prisoner patients are not given adequate food, are kept in isolation, and are not given proper, if any, medical treatment.

Dukmak said that the psychological toll on the Palestinians has produced a constant state

http://www.imemc.org/content/view/23402/1/
EU monitors shut down Rafah Crossing after Palestinian PM Haniyeh crosses to Egypt in car
Ghassan Bannoura – IMEMC & Agencies - Thursday, 28 December 2006, 16:32

The Rafah Border Crossing, in southern Gaza Strip connecting Gaza to Egypt, was shut down by European monitors on Thursday midday after Palestinian Prime Minister Isma'el Haniyeh passed through the crossing in his car.

Haniyeh was on his way to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia when he crossed the border in his car instead on foot, accompanied by Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmod Al Zahar and Interior Minister Saeed Seyam.

European monitors in the crossing told Israeli media that the action by the Palestinian PM was in violation of an agreement reached two weeks ago which does not allow the PM to cross the border crossing with his car. Evidently the action angered the European monitors stationed at the place which led the EU monitors to temporarily close the crossing.

Closing the Rafah border left scores of Palestinian residents stranded on both sides of the crossing, waiting to cross following family visits for the Muslim holyday of Eid Al Adha. Local sources reported that talks are underway in an attempt to re-open the crossing.

The Rafah border crossing, the only way in or out of the Strip, had been reopened on Thursday morning from both sides. Palestinian Sources reported that the crossing would be opened from 10:00 AM till 5:00 PM Palestinian time.

The Rafah crossing has only been intermittently opened since the international siege was imposed on the Palestinian people. The result of the inconsistent openings have placed a huge burden on the Palestinians, restricting travel, export and import of items, and creating an extreme hardship on individuals who are suffering from medical conditions, and as a result, at least 8 have died since August while waiting to cross.