Khater slams Arabs for not showing zeal for Aqsa as they do with football

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– Secretary-general of the Islamic-Christian commission Hasan Khater stated Saturday that Israel would not have dared to Judaize the occupied city of Jerusalem, desecrate its holy shrines and displace its people if the Arabs were as enthusiastic about the Aqsa Mosque as they were about football. These remarks came during his meeting with Palestinian and foreign journalists at the new headquarters of the commission in Jerusalem. “I thought that the Arab and Muslim nations were dead and unable to interact with anything, but the match between Egypt and Algeria proved that there was incredible potential, events and images, yet they were unfortunately used in the opposite direction and away from the nation’s issues and real concerns,” Khater underlined. He added that the football fans during the match were hysterically excited, but such excitement is absent when Israeli troops hunt and arrest Palestinian worshipers in the Aqsa Mosque’s courtyards. “Has the Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem in the awareness of the nation become less important than football,” the head of the Islamic-Christian commission questioned.

 

Arab League demands international inspection of Israeli jails

CAIRO, (PIC)– The general secretariat of the Arab League has called for opening the Israeli jails for international inspection and monitoring to put an end to the Israeli violations of Arab and Palestinian prisoners’ rights. The League, in a press release on Sunday for its assistance secretary general for Palestine and occupied Arab lands affairs Mohammed Subaih, asked the human rights groups to pressure Israel into opening its jails for inspection since it’s the only country in the world legalizing torture and administrative detention. It called on the world community to force Israel into halting crimes against detainees and to end its violations of international doctrines in this regard. Israel should be held fully responsible for the lives of Palestinian and Arab detainees in its jails, the League said, pointing out that around 200 detainees had died in Israeli jails as a result of torture while 1,000 others are held while suffering different chronic and serious diseases.

 

CMWU: The water situation in Gaza reached a critical stage

GAZA, (PIC)– Director of coastal municipality water utility (CMWU) Mundher Shiblak warned Saturday that the current water situation in the Gaza Strip reached a critical stage, adding that Gaza water is no longer suitable for human consumption. Shiblak added that the water deficit in Gaza aquifers amounted to more than 80 million cubic meters last year, expecting that during the next few years the current water sources would be depleted in Gaza. As a result of the tight Israeli blockade, the Gaza Strip suffers from a severe shortage of the necessary resources for the maintenance of its infrastructure especially in the field of water. In another context, the Movement of Hamas visited during the last three days 130,111 Palestinian homes in the context of its social campaign intended for distributing boxes of candies to all Gaza homes as an expression of love for the citizens and in appreciation of their steadfastness in the face of the Israeli siege and aggression. Iyad Al-Bazm, one of the campaign organizers, stated Saturday that this campaign will reach out to everyone in Gaza regardless of his political affiliation and is aimed to bring joy to their hearts and alleviate some of their suffering under the Israeli siege. He said that the campaign was widely welcomed by Gaza people and would continue until visiting all homes in the Strip. A delegation of Hamas also visited on Saturday ex-detainee in Israeli jails Younis Hussein in Al-Zawaida area, central Gaza, to congratulate him on his release after 22 years behind bars. The Fatah-affiliated ex-detainee and his family welcomed the delegation and expressed their happiness for this visit.

 

New Israeli air raids on Gaza wound seven, damage homes

GAZA, (PIC)– Seven Palestinian citizens were wounded and a number of homes sustained damages during Israeli air strikes on several areas in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) claimed that the raids targeted a weapons factory and were carried out in retaliation to a rocket attack on an Israeli area. Palestinian eyewitnesses said that the Israeli air raids targeted a mobile home in northern Gaza and Al-Qassas area in Yibna refugee camp in Rafah, while news reports said that Israeli warplanes bombed two metal workshops in Jabaliya and the central area of Gaza. Other news reports quoted eyewitnesses as saying that the raids destroyed a factory of washing machines in Jabaliya belonging to Al-Najjar family and a workshop in Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. Local sources added that six people from the same family were injured in Jabaliya and a number of houses sustained different degrees of damage as a result of the air strikes. Other Palestinian sources reported that Israeli warplanes bombed Gaza borders with Egypt which led to the injury of three citizens, adding that the Israeli gunboats also bombarded houses in the same targeted area. In a separate incident, one Palestinian worker was killed and two others were moderately wounded after the collapse of their tunnel at the Palestinian-Egyptian borders. Medical sources told the Palestinian information center (PIC) that the medical crews recovered the body of Hani Rezq and rescued two other men who fell in the tunnel. The Israeli blockade on Gaza prompted its people to dig tunnels to smuggle food and fuel to Gaza despite the presence of serious risks to the lives of those working inside them.

 

ITUC Condemns Israel’s settlement expansion

BRUSSELS, (PIC)– The international trade union confederation has condemned the Israeli expansion of the Gilo settlement in the West Bank, describing the act as “illegal and immoral”. The ITUC secretary general Guy Ryder issued a statement in Brussels a couple of days ago warning that the expansion step would only increase Palestinian anger and exasperate the conflict. The union represents 175 million workers in 155 countries with 311 branches in various countries including one in Palestine. The full statement is found on the following link: http://www.ituc-csi.org/spip.php?article4644

 

Friends of humanity asks Egypt to allow passage for Gazan students

VIENNA, (PIC)– The international organization “Friends of Humanity” has asked Cairo to put a final end to the problem of Palestinian students and other citizens stranded in the Gaza Strip. The organization in a statement on Saturday said that hundreds of Palestinian university students could not travel outside the Strip via the Rafah crossing with Egypt to complete their university education in Turkey, Britain and the USA in addition to Egypt and other Arab countries. It said that the students could thus lose the opportunity to join the current academic year 2009-2010 if they remained cut off in the besieged Strip. Friends of Humanity noted that tens of those students had won scholarships in various universities abroad and are liable to lose them. The human rights group condemned the Egyptian authorities for participation in the siege on Gaza, calling on Cairo to facilitate the entry of medicine, supplies and construction material into the Strip and allow traffic of passengers in both directions by opening the Rafah terminal.

 

Zionist propaganda body seeks volunteers to distort Wikipedia input on ME

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– A Zionist hasbara (propaganda) body based in North America is trying to recruit “volunteers” whose main job is to distort the input of the internet’s most visited websites in Israel’s favor. Propaganda efforts are reportedly focused on popular sites such as Wikipedia, the huge on-line encyclopedia which can be edited by anyone CAMERA, which calls itself a “committee for accuracy in Middle East reporting in America,” already has a team of dozens of paid Jewish propagandists who regularly and often scandalously distort basic data pertaining to such themes as Israeli apartheid, Zionism and its ideological similarity to Nazism, Israeli state terror and ill-treatment of Palestinians as well as other issues related to the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Recently CAMERA sent a circular to potential Zionist propagandists, asking them to help ensure a pro-Israeli bias in the internet. “The idea behind Wikipedia is that if thousands of well-meaning and informed volunteers collaborate on an online encyclopedia, the result would be more accurate, up-to-date and inclusive than any print encyclopedia could possibly be.” The circular went on: “CAMERA seeks 10 volunteers to help us keep Israel-related entries on Wikipedia from becoming tainted by anti-Israel editors. All it takes to be an effective volunteer is a basic comfort level with computers. Call or email me, and I will train you on how to become a volunteer Wikipedia editor.” Reputed for its notoriously mendacious and inaccurate input, CAMERA has consistently sought to exonerate the Israeli occupation forces of war crimes committed against innocent civilians especially in the Gaza Strip. Acting as a propaganda mouthpiece for the Israeli occupation army, the group, relying on questionable and often concocted statements by Israeli army spokespersons, argued on many occasions that the widespread killing of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli army occurred by mistake and that measures were often taken to minimize civilian casualties. Earlier this year, the Israeli army carried out a virtually genocidal onslaught against the nearly totally unprotected Gaza Strip, killing and maiming thousands of innocent civilians, including hundreds of children. Moreover, a sustained aerial bombing by the Israeli air force destroyed more than six thousand Palestinian homes and hundreds of public buildings including more than a hundred mosques. CAMERA, whose staff includes former Israeli Shin Beth officials, attacked the recently-published Goldstone report, accusing the former South African Judge, who is Jewish, of reporting “inaccurate information.” The Goldstone report, based on meticulously authenticated data obtained first-hand testimonies from victims, accused the Israeli forces of knowingly and deliberately committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 21-day onslaught. The data contained in the Goldstone report were corroborated by testimonies made by Israeli soldiers who took part in the winter onslaught. Israel, apparently fearing international condemnation, had refused to cooperate with the Goldstone commission.

 

Radwan: Marini’s statement best proof of the mistaken policy of isolating Hamas

GAZA, (PIC)– Dr. Ismail Radwan, one of Hamas’s political leaders, has said that the statement by French Senator Philip Marini that called for ending the political boycott of Hamas was an indication that Hamas could not be sidestepped. He told the PIC on Saturday that Marini’s statement underlined that the policy of isolating, besieging and marginalizing Hamas was not of any use. Radwan asked the European Union (EU) to get rid of its “oppressive conditions (for dealing with Hamas) and to deal with the de facto situation that was chosen and elected by the Palestinian people”. All international parties are called upon to deal with Hamas if they want to deal with the Palestine cause, the Hamas leader said, describing his Movement as the “real gate” of the Palestinian question. Marini had told the Jazeera.net website that Hamas was representing a de facto authority in the Gaza Strip and dealing with the Movement was essential for those who wish to contribute to inter-Palestinian reconciliation, which in turn is a pre-condition for resumption of any serious settlement process between Israel and the Palestinians. He criticized the EU boycott of Hamas, which he described as a major Palestinian faction, adding that Hamas could not be isolated forever. The Senator noted that Paris always condemned the Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and was still refusing to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

 

Prisoner’s center for studies: Israel uses excessive force against detainees ul

RAMALLAH, (PIC)– The prisoners’ center for studies said Saturday that the Israeli prisons authority (IPA) commits serious violations of human rights and international law regarding the use of excessive force against Palestinian prisoners, which may sometimes cause deaths, during detention and interrogation. The center explained that there have been a large number of Palestinian prisoners killed by Israeli jailers as a result of the use of excessive force. It added that according to sworn testimonies of prisoners in Israeli jails, the IPA deliberately uses force to suppress them, citing as an example the events that happened in Negev prison in 22/10/2007 when Masada military unit attacked the detainees using tear gas canisters and rubber bullets at close range which led to the death of prisoner Mohamed Al-Ashqar. One of the prisoners told the center that Israeli troops of the Nahshon military unit used by Israel to suppress prisoners in its jails physically attacked detainee Yakoub Al-Rimawi as he was being transferred to an Israeli court in chains, resulting in the loss of one of his eyes. For his part, director of the center Ra’fat Hamdona said that dozens of incidents which led to deaths among prisoners happened to them while they were handcuffed and shackled without posing any danger or threat to Israeli troops or jailers. Hamdona called on all institutions concerned with the issue of prisoners to support the center to file lawsuits locally and internationally against the Israeli occupation authority and to support the families of prisoners through pressuring Israel to release them.

 

Barghouthi calls on Abbas to stop depending on the option of negotiation alone

GAZA, (PIC)– Marwan Al-Barghouthi, a member of Fatah’s central committee, called on Mahmoud Abbas to stop depending on the option of negotiation alone to achieve an independent Palestinian state, stressing that this option reached an impasse. “Whoever thinks that the occupation will leave through unequal negotiations in seven star hotels is completely wrong; it is always required to combine between negotiation and resistance on the ground,” Barghouthi underlined in an interview conducted in his Israeli prison cell through his lawyer and published Saturday by different newspapers. The Fatah official called for hastening to achieve national reconciliation and holding a meeting soon between the political bureau of Hamas and the central committee of Fatah followed by a meeting between leaders of Palestinian factions. The official also urged the captors of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit to stick to the list of prisoners they demanded Israel to release and called on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to support the demands of the resistance, especially since its negotiations failed to release prisoners. In a new development, Abbas’s militias kidnapped seven Palestinian citizens affiliated with Hamas during the last two days in the districts of Jerusalem, Nablus, Tulkarem and Al-Khalil. For its part, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) kidnapped in Jenin a student at the university of Al-Najah called Jihad Rabai’ah, who was an ex-detainee in Abbas’s jails. In a separate incident, an official source in the Islamic Jihad Movement reported Saturday that one of its cadres called Abdelfattah Khozaima underwent several surgeries as a result of his exposure to severe torture at the hands of Abbas’s militias, adding that he is heavily guarded by these militias in the governmental hospital. The source noted htat Khozaima has been in jail for two months, holding the PA in Ramallah fully responsible for his life.