palestineandiraq

Building barriers to peace

2007-12-09T18:01:00.000-08:00

Israel's plans to extend the illegally annexed area of Har Homa in East Jerusalem by another 307 homes to connect it to Gilo, another illegal Jewish suburb of Bethlehem, make the Annapolis meeting seem like a bad joke. Israel sets its own agenda as it has always done, with invariable use of the US veto at the UN and disregard for international law, as exemplified by the comment made by Ehud Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev: "Israel will abide by all its obligations under the road map. Its obligations apply to the West Bank, Jerusalem is different. Jerusalem is our capital. It is Israeli sovereign territory."

In fact, under the original UN general assembly resolution 181, which partitioned Palestine, the Greater Jerusalem area, including Bethlehem, was to come under international control as a corpus seperatum. Since 1967 metropolitan Jerusalem consists of unilaterally annexed areas, which have not been recognised as legal, by any country, including the US. Most foreign embassies are in Tel Aviv, the de facto capital of Israel. The surrounding suburbs of East Jerusalem are not only annexed, but are on mainly Palestinian owned and sequestrated land, which constitutes land theft. But international law, the Geneva conventions and UN resolutions 242, 446, 452 and 465 to name a few, all emphasise the "inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war", for Israel to cease the establishment, construction and planning of settlements in the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, and call on Israel to dismantle these settlements.

cont

Palestine: Moving beyond collective denial

2007-12-04T14:50:00.000-08:00

In the past few days, a lot has been said about the Annapolis gathering of diplomats. Too often I heard the terms "terror" and "terrorism" in the remarks made by the US President W. George Bush when referring to Palestinians and too infrequently I heard the terms "occupation" and "oppression" in reference to Israel. What diplomats have to deal with is how to induce Israelis and Palestinians to peacefully coexist after years of conflict. If there is one thing that has been missing during the past decades of negotiations and "the peace process" is the establishment of truth. Why is this crucial aspect of peacebuilding not included in any remark, speech or joint understanding? While the establishment of truth has been a significant part of the peace proces of virtually every international or communal conflict that has come to an end since the early 1990s, reckoning with the past so Israelis and Palestinians may look to a peaceful shared future has been completely absent.
cont

Headlines for December 04, 2007

2007-12-04T14:41:00.000-08:00

U.S. Intelligence Says Iran Has Ended Nuke Program
A new consensus assessment from all sixteen U.S. intelligence agencies has concluded Iran shut down its nuclear weapons program more than four years ago. The National Intelligence Estimate starkly contradicts the Bush administration’s claims Iran is actively pursuing a nuclear bomb. National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley announced the findings in Washington.

National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley: “The IC (Intelligence community) has high confidence, high confidence, that Iran had a covert nuclear weapons program that it has never acknowledged and continues to deny. The intelligence community has high confidence that Iran halted its covert nuclear weapons program in the fall of 2003 and they have moderate confidence that it had not restarted that program as of mid-2007."

The assessment goes on to conclude spy agencies do not know whether Iran intends to develop nuclear weapons. It effectively rejects a National Intelligence Estimate two years ago that claimed Iran was pursuing a nuclear bomb through a secret program. The estimate also stands in stark contrast to recent language from President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. In October, Bush warned of a “World War III” if Iran continued with alleged nuclear activities. According to the Washington Post, the Bush administration has maintained its threatening rhetoric despite hearing of the intelligence community’s skepticism as early as July. Despite the findings, Hadley and other administration officials say they remain concerned Iran will attempt to develop a bomb.

Ahmadinejad Calls for Gulf Pact
Hours before the new intelligence report was released, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke at a summit of Gulf Arab states where he proposed a regional security pact.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: “We propose the establishment of economic and security pacts and institutions among the seven states here. The pacts should serve the people of our region more than ever before.’’

WFP: Iraqi Refugees in Syria Facing Food ShortageThe World Food Program is warning hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees are at risk of going hungry this winter in Syria. A recent survey found one-third of respondents skip a meal a day to feed their children. Syria is currently host to around 1.5 million Iraqi refugees. A new estimate from the Iraqi Red Crescent says just 25,000 thousand have returned. The Iraqi government recently claimed the number coming back was double that amount. Meanwhile, Iraq’s internally displaced population continues to grow. On Monday, Iraqi Red Crescent workers began resettling more than 100 families displaced following U.S. raids on the southeast town of Adwaniya.

Iraqi Resident: “The Americans have arrested them. They have been arrested as the Americans get information about them from our close neighbours and relatives. They have arrested 32 men from one neighbourhood. What did those children do? My daughter asked me about her friends from our neighbourhood. I’m sick and my children are sick too but we cannot go to the doctor. I do not know what to say!"

There are an estimated 2.4 million internally displaced people inside Iraq.

1 Dead in U.S. Shooting of Iraqi Civilians
Meanwhile, reports continue to emerge of U.S. attacks on Iraqi civilians. Earlier today the Pentagon said U.S. soldiers mistakenly shot five civilians traveling in a car in the town of Tarmiya north of Baghdad. One passenger died while being taken to the hospital. Five Iraqi civilians, including a child, were killed in similar U.S. shootings last week.

Poll: Afghan Support for U.S. Declines
In Afghanistan, a poll shows Afghan approval of U.S. forces has reached a new low. According to ABC News, forty-two percent of Afghans rate U.S. forces positively—down from fifty-seven percent last year and sixty-eight percent in 2005. A record number of civilian casualties from NATO attacks was cited as the primary reason for the declining support.

Israel Releases Nearly 500 Palestinian Prisoners
In Israel and the Occupied Territories, nearly five hundred Palestinians were released Monday from Israeli jails. The imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti called the move “a joke.” Barghouti says most of the prisoners were already nearing the end of their sentences in the coming months. Between eight to ten thousand Palestinians remain imprisoned by Israel.

Gaza's child labour on the rise

2007-12-04T14:40:00.000-08:00

With 70 per cent of people in Gaza living below the poverty line, children are being forced to take on the role of provider for their struggling families.

Statistics show that seven per cent of children in Palestine, where 52 per cent of the population are under the age of 18, are now working. cont

Israel 'lax on demolition orders'

2007-12-04T14:11:00.000-08:00

Israel has carried out only 3% of its own demolition orders in Jewish settlements in the West Bank, Israeli anti-settlement campaigners say.
In the past 10 years, nearly 3,500 demolition orders were issued but just over 100 were observed, the Peace Now group says, citing government figures.

cont

How Much Credit Goes to the Surge?

2007-12-04T14:10:00.000-08:00

In recent months, US casualties and Iraqi deaths have dropped markedly. Americans and Iraqis welcome the news but are perplexed by it as well. This is especially so in the US Congress, where confusion and indecision have deepened, and opposition to the war is even more tepid and incoherent than a year ago. The administration and the military have cautiously claimed progress; sympathetic figures in Congress and the media have incautiously trumpeted it. They advance a readily understood explanation with an intuitive plausibility that a war-weary public is willing to accept. But momentous shifts rarely have simple causes. cont

Prostitution ordeal of Iraqi girls

2007-12-04T14:09:00.000-08:00

With their bright neon signs and glitzy decor, dozens of nightclubs line the streets of the Maraba district in the Syrian capital Damascus.

It's here that men come from far and wide - car number plates are not just from Syria but Iraq and Saudi Arabia - to watch young women dancing.

Most of the dancers are teenagers and many of them are Iraqi refugees.

They dance for the cash which gets tossed onto the stage.

The dancers are surrounded by bodyguards, to stop them being touched by the men. But the guards also arrange for their charges to be paid for sex with members of the audience.
cont

United Nations Office for the Protection of Civilians Weekly Report, 21-27 November 2007

2007-12-04T14:04:00.000-08:00

Of note this week

Gaza Strip:

· The IDF killed eight Palestinians and injured 20 others in the Gaza Strip. Of those injured, 12 were in the North Gaza governorate.
· A mother of seven children from Nuseirat refugee camp died on 24 November due to deterioration in her health condition after she was denied access through Erez to receive medical treatment in an Israeli hospital.
· 31 Qassams and 61 mortars were fired toward Israel. In addition, 11 mortars were fired at IDF soldiers inside the Gaza Strip.
· During the reporting period, the IDF carried out levelling and excavation operations near Erez crossing and the former Erez Inudstrial Zone. As of 27 November, the IDF military operation is ongoing and roads near Erez crossing remain inaccessible.
· Although the GoI announced that Sufa crossing will be re-opened on 25 November, the crossing continues to be closed. This week, however, shipments of lamb were exceptionally allowed entry through Sufa into Gaza on 22 November.
· Nine demonstrations were organised this week: four of which were to protest against the closure of the Gaza crossings; one to protest against the non-issuance of Palestinian ID cards by the Israeli authorities; one to demand that the right of return of Palestinian refugees be respected by negotiators at the Annapolis conference; and three to express opposition for the Annapolis conference.

West Bank:

· The IDF killed one Palestinian (Tulkarm) and injured 25 others in the West Bank. The IDF also physically assaulted and injured two internationals in ‘Azzun village when they tried to intervene to protect some children who were chased by the IDF in a search and arrest operation. The children had thrown stones at the IDF (Qalqiliya).
· Three Palestinians were injured by Israeli settlers who attacked their vehicle on Road 60 in the Nablus governorate. In addition, two Israeli female settlers were injured in Al Funduq village during confrontations with Palestinians after settlers attacked Palestinian houses and vehicles and vandalised Palestinian property.
· The IDF issued demolition orders against four water cisterns, 14 houses, and one mosque (Bethlehem and Hebron).
· 92 flying checkpoints, 104 search and arrest operations, and 90 arrests were reported.

For more information please contact Khulood Badawi 054 44 84 632 badawi@un.org

United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Mac House
P.O.Box 38712
Jerusalem
Tel:++ 972-2-5829962/5853
Fax:++972-2-5825841
email:ochaopt@un.org

Red Cross training Gaza fighters in international humanitarian law

2007-12-04T14:03:00.000-08:00

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza has recently begun training Palestinian resistance fighters to respect international humanitarian law.

For the past several years various Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza have fired crude homemade rockets at nearby Israeli towns, killing about a dozen Israeli civilians and recently injuring 69 soldiers in one such attack. The rockets usually land in open spaces but cause panic amongst Israeli civilians.

cont

Meanwhile in Iraq

2007-11-30T11:35:00.000-08:00

FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Nov 30

At least 25 killed in another bloody day in Iraq : Twelve people were killed and 25 wounded in a Katyusha rocket attack in al-Salam village near the city of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

14 civilians abducted in Diala fake checkpoint: Unknown gunmen abducted 14 civilians on Thursday at a fake checkpoint in Diala province, central Iraq, a security source said. "Unknown gunmen positioned a fake checkpoint on the main road near Albo Shahen village, 45 km northeast of Baaquba, and kidnapped 14 civilians after intercepted their mini-bus," the source, who asked not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). The source added "the kidnapping took place near a village where al-Qaeda linked armed groups are active." Baaquba, capital city of Diala province, is 57 km northeast of Baghdad.

Two children wounded in mortar attack in Kirkuk : Two children on Friday were injured when two mortar shells hit a residential area in southwestern Kirkuk, a police source said.

Mortar attack wounds three civilians in Baghdad:Three civilians were injured on Friday when a number of houses were mortared in southern Baghdad, a police source said.

Unidentified gunmen blow up fuel station in eastern Mosul: Unidentified gunmen blew up a fuel station in eastern Mosul but no casualties were reported, an official source from Ninewa police said on Friday. "The station was closed when the gunmen entered and blew it up with TNT," the source, who declined to have his name mentioned, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). The explosion, however, did not reach fuel tanks or pumping machines, the source added. Mosul, the capital of Ninewa province, lies 405 km north of Baghdad.

Bomber kills, injures 3 anti-Qaeda fighters in Dalouiya: A suicide bomber blew himself up on Friday near a force of the anti-Qaeda's Dalouiya awakening council at the center of the city, killing one and injuring two, a source from the council said.

Gunmen kill 5 Iraqi soldiers near Khalis: Unidentified gunmen on Friday hijacked five taxis on the road between Baghdad and Kirkuk and killed five Iraqi army soldiers onboard, a police source said. "Unknown armed men set up a fake checkpoint in al-Tahwiela region near Khalis, north of Baaquba, where they hijacked five taxis carrying passengers from Baghdad to Kirkuk and took them to unknown place," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) under condition of anonymity.

Six unknown bodies found in Baghdad

Three unidentified bodies found in Baghdad

Palestinian refugee children die in Iraq: Two sick Palestinian refugee children waiting for resettlement from Iraq died in the last two weeks, one of them in Al Waleed refugee camp at the Iraq-Syria border and the other one in Baghdad. Another refugee, a 50-year-old man, also waiting to be resettled, died earlier this month in Al Waleed refugee camp. So far seven people have died there, including three young children, since Palestinian refugees started to arrive at the border in March 2006 fleeing violent attacks against them.

Car bombs found in Iraq Sunni leader's complex: Iraqi security forces found and detonated two car bombs in the Baghdad office complex of the leader of the country's main Sunni Arab bloc on Thursday, a security spokesman said.

Crackdown on Iraq Sunni leader after bombs found: Iraqi security forces arrested dozens of people, including the son of a leading Sunni Arab politician, in a pre-dawn raid on Friday after a car rigged with explosives was found near the lawmaker's office. The incident threatened to increase political tension across Iraq's sectarian divide at a time when violence has been falling dramatically in the country.

Dulaimi prohibited from leaving HQ, son arrested with 36 others – official: Iraqi security forces are protecting Adnan al-Dulaimi, the leader of the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF), after arresting all his bodyguards, the official spokesman for the Fardh al-Qanoon security plan said on Friday.

Turkish army given authority for Iraq operation-PM: Turkey's government has given the country's armed forces the authority to conduct a cross-border operation against Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.

Iraq Asks US to Hand Over 'Chemical Ali': Iraq's prime minister has appealed to President Bush to hand over Saddam Hussein's cousin, known as "Chemical Ali," and two other former regime officials sentenced to hang for a 1980s crackdown against Kurds, two government officials said Thursday.

Iraqi journalist recants claim that 11 family members were killed: BAGHDAD — An Iraqi journalist who'd claimed Monday that gunmen had killed 11 family members in Baghdad recanted Friday, saying there'd been no massacre and that the only person who'd been killed was a brother-in-law who died between Kut in the south and Baghdad.

State Department official Iraq update is really compilation of plagiarized major media articles : Kind of pathetic when the official report from the US State Department on what's "really" happening in Iraq is actually just a bunch of plagiarized paragraphs from the major media in the US.

Iraqi Lawmakers Walk Out to Protest 'Humiliating' Green Zone Treatment: Dozens of Iraqi lawmakers walked out of parliament Wednesday to protest what they view as overly aggressive and humiliating treatment by U.S. soldiers as representatives enter Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, where the legislature is located. "I and many of my colleagues who live outside the Green Zone face a lot of problems," said Feryad Rawandozi, a high-ranking official with the Kurdish parliamentary bloc. U.S. soldiers "are very arrogant and impolite when they talk to us, especially with those who don't speak English."

Persecution of Christians in Iraq worse now than under Saddam Hussein, "vicar of Baghdad" tells "60 Minutes": Christians in Iraq are probably worse off than ever these days, an Anglican priest tells CBS' "60 Minutes." The Rev. Canon Andrew White, who is called the "vicar of Baghdad," estimates that 90 percent of the country's Christians have left or been killed by Muslim extremists.

Six cholera cases reported in Baghdad: Six new cases of cholera have been detected in Baghdad, sources at the Kadhimiya Teaching Hospital said. The sources, refusing to be named, said the government was trying hard not to let news about the contagious disease spread in Baghdad where fears are rising of a massive outbreak unless the disease is contained.

Iraq: UN says recent death of child refugees exposes risks: The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says the recent deaths of two sick Palestinian child refugee children awaiting resettlement from Iraq exposes the grave risks they face. The UNHCR said that one of the children died in Baghdad while another died in the Al Waleed refugee camp at the Iraq-Syria border, where earlier this month a 50-year-old man awaiting resettlement also died.

Rights Groups Condemn Lebanon Over Iraqi Refugees: International rights groups have said that Lebanese authorities are arresting Iraqi refugees who have entered the country without proper visas and are detaining them indefinitely. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that those same authorities are coercing many of the refugees to return to Iraq against their will. "Iraqi refugees in Lebanon live in constant fear of arrest," Bill Frelick, refugee policy director for HRW, said in a press release.

Aid shrinks as Iraq's internal refugee tally grows: As of last Friday, a United Nations fund for emergency relief for Iraqi children and refugees had only $33.8 million in it. The UN says it must have $98.9 million to meet the needs, including those of the internally displaced.

Iraq Lacks Plan on the Return of Refugees, Military Says: As Iraqis refugees begin to stream back to Baghdad, American military officials say the Iraqi government has yet to develop a plan to absorb the influx and prevent it from setting off a new round of sectarian violence.

U.S. to start processing some Iraqi refugees in Iraq: The United States, under fire for the slow pace it has taken in Iraqi refugees, said on Thursday it hoped to soon handle refugee applications in Iraq for local employees of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. Previously, Iraqis who worked at the U.S. embassy had to go abroad to have their applications processed, requiring them to make a journey that can be both expensive and dangerous.

McCarthyism Comes to Iraq: Dententions of Those Accused of "Iran Connection" on the Rise: Detentions have become commonplace in Iraq, but now more than ever before people are being detained after being accused of membership in "militias supported by Iran." "Hundreds of our men were detained and accused of being militiamen supported by Iran," Mahmood Allawi, a 50-year-old lawyer from Diwaniyah, 160-kilomtres south of Baghdad, told IPS.

Hot debate in Iraqi parliament on banning Kurdistan oil contracts: Iraqi parliament's session on Thursday saw hot debates on oil minister's decision to ban production sharing contracts concluded by Iraq's Kurdistan government with some foreign companies.

Kurds plan to produce 1 million barrels of oil daily: Iraqi Kurds say they plan to produce one million barrels of oil daily from their semi-independent enclave in northern Iraq. The region's Oil Minister Ashti Hurami said the region had 15 oil deals with foreign firms and would go ahead striking more contracts despite objections from the central government in Baghdad.

US balancing outreach to former Sunni enemies in Iraq with Shiite fears: An Iraqi military chief delivered a sharp warning to an American commander: Beware of your new alliances with former Sunni insurgents. The U.S. officer, Lt. Col. Wilson A. Shoffner, had his own message to pass on. Iraq's Shiite-dominated leadership, he said, must learn to live with the outreach to Sunni tribes, whose help is considered crucial in recent blows against extremists such as al-Qaida in Iraq.

Iraq's numbers don't add up, U.S. says: As U.S. forces begin to scale back in Iraq, the military is becoming increasingly reliant on Iraqi forces to report a wide array of crucial statistics, from the number of attacks on the local infrastructure to how many Iraqi civilians have been killed or wounded.

US 'declaration' a setback for Maliki: Just when things were going so well, Iraq Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki finds himself in trouble following his reluctant decision to sign a US-authored "declaration of principles", which includes a ban on all militias. Critics call the declaration "flawed and ambiguous" as it has no timetable for a US withdrawal, and the Sadrists are seething.

Semblance of normal life returns to restive Doura in Baghdad: Normal life is slowly returning to Doura, once one of Baghdad's most violent neighborhoods. Anti-U.S. rebels and criminal gangs have apparently left the district following joint Iraqi and U.S. military operations.

Let Iraq weigh in on Blackwater: Blackwater USA, under fire for allegedly firing on Iraqi civilians, exists in a kind of legal limbo that cannot be sustained indefinitely. U.S. investigators granted it partial legal immunity here, even as the Iraqi government threatened to revoke its immunity there. But immunity will not cure the malignant perception that Americans can kill Iraqis with impunity. Iraqis need a voice in the legal process.

Iraq Recovering, Mesopotamian Treasures: Piece by priceless piece, artifact by ancient artifact, Iraq is slowly recovering its Mesopotamian treasures looted by bandits, militiamen and soldiers after Saddam Hussein was toppled. Lured by offers of rewards, Iraqis are increasingly handing in an assortment of cups, vases, statuettes, daggers, plates and coins dating back to the very cradle of civilization, a government official said.

Poll shows 73% of Poles favor quick pullout of Iraq : Seventy three percent of Poles is for as quickest as possible pullout of Poland's soldiers from Iraq, according to results of a poll conducted by the CBOS public opinion polling center, which are available on Thursday

Bush Presses Congress for Iraq Money: President Bush began a new offensive against Congressional Democrats today over money for the Iraq war, calling on the lawmakers to give American troops "what they need to succeed in their missions" and pass a bill without strings attached.

It's Amazing How Little You Get for $10 Billion a Month: Iraq 3.0: One gets the feeling that even the White House realizes the mess it's made of Iraq. The other day the newspapers reported that the Bush administration has scaled back its objectives rather substantially. We might call it Iraq 3.0. First the plan was to create a democratic paradise which, domino-like, would spread freedom throughout the Middle East. When that didn't work, the administration shifted to simply bringing some kind of order to Iraq, reconciling the three largest groups -- Shi'a, Sunni, and Kurd.