http://www.imemc.org/content/view/23107/1/
Army attacks two local radio stations in Hebron, abducts one journalist
Ghassan Bannoura-IMEMC - Friday, 08 December 2006, 10:41

The Israeli army invaded two radio stations in Hebron and took one of their staff prisoner in the West Bank city of Hebron on Thursday night, Palestinian sources reproted.

At lest 10 army vehicles surrounded the building where the two stations offices are then stormed the offices, soldiers forced the employees of the two stations in one room, then searched and ransacked the studios.

Eyewitness reports say that troops invaded Siraj and Radio Al Huriya local radio stations and abducted Siraj station director Abd Al Jabar Abu Sneinah.

Sa'ed Al Shyukhi, a journalist at Radio Al Huria (Freedom Radio) told IMEMC that soldiers forcefully strip-searched all the employees, then locked them up them in one small room.

He added that all 15 journalists were forced to crouch for 2 hours, " The treated us as like animals" Al Shyukhi said.

Soldiers also confiscated the transmitter of Siraj radio claming it intrrupts Israeli army gunships flying over Hebron area. They also took some other equipments of the station.

According to Shyukhi, troops took Abu Sneinah to unknown location saying that they will release him soon, however, so far, he has not been released.

Israeli army often assult journalist in an attempt to force to leave the area in order not to document the Israeli violations of Human Rights in Palesine, which will make them look bad, Al-Shyukhi added.

http://www.imemc.org/content/view/23106/1/
Right of Return art
Palestine News Network - Friday, 08 December 2006, 01:47

The Palestinian Right of Return Coalition, through the Bethlehem Center for Citizenship Rights, is holdings its annual competition in the arts. The award is granted to “the most creative in releasing their energies in the domain of the national cause, in particular refugee rights,” a Friday statement reads.

“The most important characteristic of the annual prize is that it extends to include all of historic Palestine and the Palestinians in their different manifestations."

The call for submissions continued, "The field is open, participation is broad, and is not limited to only one class or another. While the Center offers the opportunity for specialization and expertise, it also opens the door to the potential for finding a second point of entry.”

Awards will be given in five fields including oral history, short story, television, research paper and poster. Fifty thousand dollars will be divided among the winners; those who “find creative ways to express their roots.” Competition is open from December 2006 through February 2007.

http://www.imemc.org/content/view/23105/1/
New U.S. Secretary of Defense: Israel does have nukes
IMEMC & Agencies - Friday, 08 December 2006, 01:46

While Israeli officials have maintained 'ambiguity' on the question of whether Israel has developed a nuclear weapons program, the incoming U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates definitively told a Senate Committee Thursday that Israel does indeed have a nuclear arsenal, and that it is the presence of that arsenal that has pushed Iran to try to develop its own nuclear program.

The Israeli daily, The Jerusalem Post, reported Thursday that they were told by a retired Israeli General that, "Israel is no longer trying to convince anyone that it has no nuclear arsenal", although the official Israeli government line is "no comment" on the issue.

Twenty years ago, Israeli nuclear plant worker Mordechai Vanunu exposed detailed photos to the international press showing the Israeli nuclear program at work. For that act, he was tracked down by Israeli special forces in Europe, and imprisoned in Israel for treason. But despite the overwhelming evidence showing Israel's development and possession of several hundred nuclear warheads, the Israeli government has never openly admitted to having nuclear weapons.

With the possibility of an Iranian nuclear program being developed, the incoming U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates explained the Iranian motivation Thursday by saying, "They are surrounded by powers with nuclear weapons - Pakistan to their east, the Russians to the north, the Israelis to the west and us [US warships] in the Persian Gulf."

Gates is not the first foreign official to have 'outed' Israel's nuclear program in this way. So much evidence exists that Israel has a store of nuclear warheads that the country is widely considered to be a nuclear power. In the mid-1960s, Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol pledged that "Israel will not be the first nation to introduce nuclear weapons to the Middle East," all his successors have adhered to this vague policy statement, neither admitting nor denying Israel's nuclear capacity.

By refusing to acknowledge its nuclear arsenal, Israel has been able to avoid signing the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which the declared nuclear powers developed to move toward disarmament and maintain a strategic international balance.

http://www.imemc.org/content/view/23104/1/

Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies - Friday, 08 December 2006, 01:36

Israeli sources reported on Wednesday that the first stage of ceasefire between Israel and fighters in Gaza, under Egyptian mediation, could take place within the coming weeks, Israeli online daily Haaretz reported.

Initial reports revealed that the dead will be implemented on three stages starting with the release of 400 detainees, including women, children, and sick detainees, and shortly after that the fighters will release the captured Israeli soldier, Gild Shalit, most likely through Egyptian mediators.

The second stage of the deal includes the release of another group of detainees, and the third stage will see the release of additional detainees, including leaders of Palestinian groups, and Palestinians who carried operations that led to the death of Israelis.

Recently, Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, hinted that he will agree to the release of detainees who carried operations that led to the death of Israelis.

So far, the identity and the number of leaders who will be release under the deal is unclear, and is considered one of the most arduous issues. Hamas demands the release of 400 detainees in the first stage, 500 in the second stage and the same number in the third.

Israeli sources reported that Israel will probably agree to release a total of 1000 detainees in the three stages.

The list of detainees the Hamas demands to be freed includes the names of Fateh leader Marwan Barghouthi, and secretary general of the Popular front for the Liberation of Palestine, Ahmad Sa'adat.

Also, the list includes Sheikh Hasan Yousef, one of Hamas leaders, Jamal Abu Al Haija also a leader of Hamas, and Abbas Al Sayyid, who is believed to be the mastermind of Netanya Park Hotel suicide bombing that led to the death of 29 Israelis, the Arabs48 news website reported.

Moreover, Israeli sources said that the list of detainees does not include the abducted legislators and ministers of the Palestinian government.

http://www.imemc.org/content/view/23102/1/
Israeli police level 17 Arab homes in the Negev
George Rishmawi-IMEMC - Thursday, 07 December 2006, 15:59

Officials from the Interior Ministry and Israel Land Authority demolished 17 homes in the unrecognized Negev village of Twayyil, local sources in the village reported.

This is the fourth demolition in this village since the beginning of the year.

According to the source, on Monday, the Interior Minister warned that 42,000 homes in the unrecognized villages will be demolished. The Israeli Land Authority says these houses were built without proper licenses.

Forty years ago the State of Israel moved the families of this village from their original land (8000 dunums) to the current location (400 meters squared per family) after the 1965 Planning and Construction law, yet the State of Israel never recognized the village, and to this day has not supplied it with the proper services even though the residents are Israeli citizens and pay taxes to the Israeli government.

Moreover, the families found out that the land they were forced to move to is not government land- it is private property.

“The minister forgot to mention that most of these villages predated the State and that all of them predated the 1965 Planning and Construction Law they use as a pretext for demolishing Arabs homes in the unrecognized villages, evacuating them and taking over their ancestral lands,” said Faisal Sawalha of the Regional Council for the Arab Unrecognized Villages in the Negev (RCUV).

The RCUV described this new wave of demolition as a “grave violation of citizen and human rights” and “an attempt to demolish and evacuate whole villages.” This is the first time that the authorities demolish such a large number of homes in one village at the same time, Sawalha said.

To protest the demolition, the RCUV erected a tent at the village, where supporters from other villages and international volunteers gather in solidarity with the villagers.