http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=16935
B'Tselem calls for criminal investigation into Beit Hanoun civilian bombings
Date: 08 / 11 / 2006 Time: 19:04

Jerusalem - Ma'an - The Israeli humanitarian organization, B'Tselem, has sent a petition to the Israeli military attorney general calling for an immediate investigation against the Israeli officials responsible for the deaths of 18 Palestinian civilians in Beit Hanoun, and bringing those officials to justice.

In their petition, B'Tselem stated that the contradictions over the killing in Beit Hanoun include the fact that "the shelling can't be labeled as self-defense," and that "this fact raises suspicions that such an operation falls in the category of war crimes."
Israeli humanitarian organizations have warned of the dangers facing civilians and they even sent a petition to the High Court demanding a decrease in the bombing of the Gaza Strip.

B'Tselem told the attorney general that the field investigation by the Israeli military, which belongs to the same hierarchy of leadership originally responsible for the launching of the missiles at civilian targets, can not replace a police investigation.

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=16929
British theatre director arrested by the Israeli military for assisting Palestinian farmers collect their olives
Date: 08 / 11 / 2006 Time: 17:22

Ma'an - A British olive harvest volunteer is expected in Kfar Saba court after being arrested while helping Palestinian farmers harvest their olives, a press release from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) reports.

Twenty-six year old theatre director, Sam Grafton, was picking olives with a family near Yurif village outside the West Bank city of Nablus when the Israeli military and border police appeared and ordered the group of international and Israeli volunteers to leave the area. Sam was part of a group from the Israeli non-governmental organisation that has been particularly committed to helping the Palestinian olive harvesters this year 'Rabbis for Human Rights'. The group were accompanying farmers to their olive groves near the illegal Israel settlement of Yizhar.

The press release says that the British theatre director spent the last month in the West Bank accompanying Palestinian families to their olive groves in areas where they face violence from Jewish settlers and harassment from the Israeli military.

The ISM press release says that settlers from Yizhar are notorious for attacking Palestinian farmers who attempt to access their olive groves near the settlement. Despite assurances from the Israeli authorities that Palestinians harvesting their olives would be offered protection this year, the attacks on farmers continued, they report. On October 25th a Palestinian family was attacked with metal clubs by masked settlers at Far'ata village near Nablus. In addition, ISM reports that on 4 November, international volunteers accompanying farmers were attacked by settlers and the farmers were forced to flee whilst Israeli soldiers looked on.

Eyewitness account from a doctor in Al Awda Hospital in Gaza
Date: 08 / 11 / 2006 Time: 17:10

Pools of blood in Gaza (MaanImages)se the story ... just copy and past this link into your search address line....

Ma'an - Dr. Mona El-Farra, a Gazan doctor working at Al Awda Hospital in Jabalia, gave the following eyewitness account to the International Solidarity Movement:

"This morning at 6.30 am army tanks on the east of the village fired missiles against some homes of Beit Hanoun Village, the outcome was disastrous, 11 members of one family were killed, the total death toll is 22, and may increase in the next hours. The injuries are serious and very critical, including many women and children."

"It was very painful to see young children dead on the street, most were badly injured. The Israeli army said they will investigate and open a case of what happened. But only 30 minutes after they declared that, a 16 year old Palestinian boy was shot dead by an Israeli
sniper."

You can read more of Dr El-Farra's excellent blog at http://fromgaza.blogspot.com/

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=16926
Israeli settlers steal olive crop
Date: 08 / 11 / 2006 Time: 17:04

Qalqilia - Ma'an - The Israeli settlers from Ginot Shomron have, on Wednesday, stolen the olive crops belonging to a Palestinian family from the West Bank town of Jinsafut, eastern Qalqilia, in the north of the West Bank.

Eyewitnesses have reported that 60% of the produce of more than 1200 olive trees was taken by armed settlers. One of the owners spoke in bitterness over being unable to access to his land over the last five years, as Israeli settlers prevent anybody from going into those fields. People attempting to enter have been attacked by those settlers and expelled. He added that his land usually produces 7 tons of olives annually.

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=16923
Israeli peace groups: The Israeli government has blood on its hands!
Date: 08 / 11 / 2006 Time: 16:47

Ma'an - Israel's bloody attack on Beit Hanoun this morning brought outcry not just from Palestinian institutions and organizations, but also from Israeli groups.

The large Israeli peace organization, Gush Shalom, issued an international press release which began: "After yesterday's "end of the Beit Hanoun operation" - we now know it was not the end. The army withdrew only its troops from the town itself, to place them around it, immediately starting a nightly artillery bombardment which erased a whole family. As it now stands 19 people among them old and young, men, women and children were killed in their beds. Withdrawing to attack more strongly - it's like a metaphor for the Disengagement of the Gaza Strip."

The press release that was disseminated locally read: "We reject with disgust the lame apologies offered by government speakers. Even if there had been no explicit intention to perpetrate a massacre and kill civilians and children sleeping quietly in their beds, this massacre was the inevitable result of the army’s uncontrolled rampage in the Gaza Strip, fully authorized by the government.

"In supposed “retaliation” for the shooting of missiles which killed nobody in Israel during the entire past year, the army killed nearly a hundred Palestinians in just the past week. We call upon the government to end the carnage and enter immediate talks with the elected Palestinian government in order to achieve a complete cease-fire and prisoner release, on the way to full negotiations for peace and an end to the occupation.

"We further call upon all who care for peace and human decency everywhere – including, and especially, those who consider themselves friends of Israel – to raise their voice in protest at the war madness which seized those who hold power in Israel, and to hold protest vigils outside all Israeli embassies and consulates.

"In Tel-Aviv, Gush Shalom (Israeli Peace Bloc) and the other peace movements in the Coalition Against the Gaza Siege will join the protest demonstration organised by Peace Now, scheduled for 5.00 pm today outside the Defence Ministry gates (Kaplan Street, Tel-Aviv) . (We were there only yesterday at the call of the Anarchists...)

"In Haifa, a protest rally will take place at 6.00 pm at the junction of Allenby St. and el-Jabal (Ha-Tzionut) St. (near Iskander Restaurant)."

In addition, another large Israeli organization, Peace Now, issued a press release announcing the same demonstration. The director of Peace Now, Yariv Oppenheimer, said, "This government has blood on its hands. Instead of searching for political solutions, the government is only interested in pursuing military options"