[VTJP] VTJP News & Articles 12-21-04

[Jamie Brooks]

Occupied Palestine 
and Israel: News and Articles
News 


IDF 
troops, tanks pour into Khan Yunis refugee camp Ha'aretz 12/22/2004Israel Defense 
Forces tanks and bulldozers poured into the Khan Yunis refugee camp early 
Wednesday as a response to continued mortar and rocket fire by Palestinian 
militants, the military and residents said. The IDF said that during the 
operation, set to last about two days, some uninhabited structures used as cover 
by Palestinian gunmen would be torn down. Palestinians fired three anti-tank 
missiles at the troops, Israel Radio reported Wednesday morning, but there were 
no reports of casualties. IOF 
Wounds 4 in Gaza Strip, Arrests 3 in West Bank WAFA 12/21/2004KHANYOUNIS, 
December 21, 2004 (WAFA)- Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) wounded Tuesday four 
citizens in the Gaza Strip and arrested three others in the West Bank, 
Palestinian medical sources and witnesses said. Medics at Khanyounis City, south 
of Gaza Strip, reported that three citizens from one family, including an old 
woman, were wounded when Israeli soldiers guarding Neveh Dekalim Israeli colony 
opened fire at houses in al-Sad al-Ali area.Settlers 
stir uproar in new anti-pullout protest Maariv 12/21/2004Right wing 
movement, which includes dozens of Likud members, decided to distribute and wear 
an orange Star of David. Yad Vashem pleads with settlers to leave Holocaust out 
of public discourse. -- In a new anti-disengagement tactic, settlers have begun 
wearing orange Stars of David, similar to the yellow Stars of David Jews were 
forced to wear before and during the Holocaust. The color orange is the color 
that has dominated the anti-pullout campaign so far.Mazuz 
orders probe into calls for civil disobedience Ha'aretz 12/21/2004Attorney 
General Menachem Mazuz ordered the state prosecutor yesterday to "examine" the 
leaflet distributed by settler leader Pinhas Wallerstein, in which he called on 
the public to disobey the disengagement law even at the cost of a prison 
sentence.Wallerstein, who served four months community service in 1988 for 
shooting dead a Palestinian youth who had been throwing rocks at passing cars in 
the West Bank, fiercely opposes the disengagement plan.Palestinians Demand Keeping PLO, PA Separate 
Islam Online 
12/21/2004GAZA CITY, December 21 (IslamOnline.net) – Palestinians 
politicians called on Tuesday, December 21, for keeping the Palestinian 
Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) separate from one 
another to save the latter from virtual extinction. The PLO is the backbone of 
the Palestinians and the basic reference in any concrete steps taken even when 
it comes to a peace deal with Israel,” Abdullah Al-Howrani, the Palestinian 
intellectual and former PLO Executive Committee’s member, told IslamOnline.net. 
“Israel has always insisted that agreements should be sealed and initialed by 
the PLO not the PA,” he argued.Israeli 
Bulldozers Uproot 50 Olive Trees in Jayyous WAFA 12/21/2004QALQILYA, December 
21, 2004 (WAFA) - Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) uprooted Monday vast areas of 
olive trees in the West Bank village of Jayyous, witnesses said. They said that 
more olive trees were uprooted as Israeli bulldozers, accompanied by soldiers 
and private security guards, uprooted 50 olive trees in the village. Thus, the 
number of uprooted olive trees in the village has mounted to 
317.Six 
Arrested in WB, Houses Shelled in Gaza Strip WAFA 12/21/2004WEST BANK, 
December 21, 2004, (WAFA) - Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested early 
Tuesday six citizens in Nablus and Jenin cities of the West Bank (WB). In 
Nablus, massive Israeli troops stormed several houses in the old city, arresting 
three citizens, Fady Abu Sharekh 19, Said al-Baghdady 22 and Ra'id al-Sakhel 22. 
They all were led into an unknown fate. In Jenin, Israeli troops broke into the 
city and its same name refugee camp, stormed several houses and conducted a 
house-to-house search campaign, shortly before arresting three citizens, Alaa' 
Ammar 21, Hassan Ammoury 32, and Adnan Abu Suhaeib 38.Abbas 
hails 'eternal' Arafat at end of mourning period Daily Star 12/22/2004Blair set to 
visit Mideast on peace drive -- PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas marked the end of 40 
days of mourning Tuesday with lavish praise for the "eternal" Yasser Arafat, 
vowing the former Palestinian Authority (PA) president would one day be buried 
in his beloved Jerusalem. The end of the mourning period fell on a day crammed 
with Mideast diplomacy. British Prime Minister Tony Blair was due to arrive late 
Tuesday in the region, the highest-ranking visitor since Arafat's death. Italian 
Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini also held talks with both sides. 
Israeli 
FM 'discouraged' by new PLO chief Middle East Online 
12/21/2004Shalom accuses Abbas of being reluctant to confront armed groups, 
wanting to preserve Arafat's legacy. -- JERUSALEM - Israeli Foreign Minister 
Silvan Shalom said Tuesday he was "discouraged" by new PLO chief Mahmud Abbas, 
accusing him of being reluctant to confront armed groups and wanting to preserve 
Yasser Arafat's legacy. Abbas, favourite to be elected Palestinian Authority 
president. Karadi: 
Public opposition could thwart evacuation of Gush Katif 
Ha'aretz 
12/21/2004Police Inspector General Moshe Karadi warned yesterday that public 
opposition could prevent the evacuation of Gush Katif, on the same day that the 
Yesha Council threw its weight behind a call for a full-scale mass civil 
disobedience against the disengagement plan. The call for civil disobedience was 
proposed by Binyamin Regional Council chief Pinhas Wallerstein, who was asked by 
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to "reconsider" his remarks.Coalition 
agreement won't be signed before next week Ha'aretz 12/21/2004Likud and 
Labor are hoping to solve their coalition agreement today over the dispute on 
how to anchor Shimon Peres' role as the No. 2 vice premier after Ehud Olmert. 
The various delays in signing the coalition deal and presenting the government 
now include Labor's procedures for selecting its ministers, so the expectations 
now are for the new government to be presented next week. Israelis 
to sue Arab Bank AlJazeera 12/21/2004Hundreds of 
Israelis have filed a lawsuit in a US federal court accusing the Arab Bank of 
funding a "terrorist campaign of genocide". The 700 plaintiffs said on Tuesday 
that they were seeking billions of dollars in compensation from the Jordan-based 
bank. Lead counsel Ron Motley said he wanted to see "a verdict big enough to 
change their policies". The lawsuit accuses the bank of promoting terrorism by 
paying money to the families of resistance fighters run by the Palestinian group 
Hamas.IDF to 
hand Megiddo prison to Prison Service Ha'aretz 12/21/2004The IDF is 
planning to hand over Megiddo prison, with its 1,200 Palestinian prisoners, to 
the Prison Service in the coming months as a first step in what the army hopes 
will give the Prison Service responsibility for all the security prisoners. 
There are more than 3,500 Palestinian detainees and convicts in army custody at 
Ketziyot, Megiddo, Mahane Ofer, and various divisional detention centers 
throughout the West Bank. The conditions are much worse than in the Prison 
Service facilities - there is more overcrowding, and internal reports have 
uncovered flaws in the handling of prisoners. Peace 
Activist to Testify in Israeli Military Court International Solidarity Movement 
12/19/2004Joseph Carr is a former member of the International Solidarity 
Movement (ISM) in Rafah, Gaza who now works with the Christian Peacemaker Teams 
(CPT) in Hebron. Carr witnessed an Israeli sniper shoot British ISM activist Tom 
Hurndall in the head on April 11th, 2003. An initial Israeli military 
investigation found no guilt on the part of the solider. However, due to 
pressure from the Hurndall family and the British government, the Israeli 
military conducted a second investigation resulting in formal charges against 
the solider.Israeli 
soldiers urged to refuse orders Middle East Online 
12/21/2004Parents offer their children serving in Israeli army full support 
if they disobey orders in Palestinian territories. - JERUSALEM - A group of 
parents of Israeli soldiers appealed Tuesday for their children to disobey 
orders that abused human rights and offered them full support if they refused to 
take part in the occupation of Palestinian territories. "During your service in 
the occupied territories you will be ordered to carry out orders that contradict 
the values that we have endowed: mutual respect, human dignity, freedom, 
justice, equality and pursuing peace," said a letter signed by 97 
parents.Medical 
neglect in Israeli prisons, execution without Guillotine 
International Middle East 
Media Center 12/21/2004A report published by the Palestinian Prisoners’ 
society revealed that there are at least 950 political prisoners in Israeli 
detention camps and prisons, suffering of serious medical diseases while prison 
authorities are not providing them with the needed medication or treatment. 
“These acts are considered war crimes, they contradict with the international 
law and the fourth Geneva conventions”, the society reported. Jordanian 
terrorist nabbed on West Bank Maariv 12/21/2004ISA detains 
Mohammad Abu-Juyad, who planned to set up terror cells and carry out attacks on 
trains in Nahariya and Israeli facilities in Jordan. -- The defense 
establishment has exposed an international terror ring that planned attacks 
against Israeli targets, details released for publication this (Tuesday) 
afternoon revealed. On August 25 this year, Israel’s Internal Security Service 
(ISA) detained Jordanian national Mohammad Abu-Juyad, who was recruited to the 
Fatah and operated by the Lebanese terror organization 
Hezbollah.Anti-tank 
missile hits Gaza synagogue – ten suffer shock Maariv 12/21/2004About 20 
worshipers were in compound at Netzarim when explosion rocked the structure 
causing debris to scatter all over the site. -- An anti-tank missile hit an 
exterior wall of a synagogue in the Gaza settlement of Netzarim this (Tuesday) 
morning. Several people were treated for shock and damage was caused to the 
structure.Settlers' 
star protest sparks ire BBC 12/21/2004A group of settlers 
opposed to Israel's plan to force Jews out of the Gaza Strip have begun wearing 
orange stars recollecting the Holocaust. "I want to shock Israel, and if I have 
to don a Star of David I will do it," Gaza settler Aharon Tzur said. The move 
has touched a raw nerve in Israel, where many support the Gaza pullout and see 
the settlers' protest as trivialising the Nazi genocide. Critics say the protest 
equates the Israeli army with Nazi forces.Israel's 
Unsettling Settlers Christian Science Monitor 
12/22/2004Israel appears to be preparing for open conflict with itself next 
spring, one that need not happen in a democracy. -- This week, leaders of the 
Jewish settlers on the West Bank and Gaza declared they will use civil 
disobedience, even physically charging police, to block a government plan to 
resettle some 8,000 of them back into Israel proper as part of a broad peace 
effort. Those leaders cite the works of Gandhi and Martin Luther King as their 
guide for this illegal resistance, but some settlers have already resorted to 
violence.PPS 
Appeals the International Bodies to Help a Sick Prisoner 
International Press Center 
12/21/2004PALESTINE, December 21, 2004 (IPC)--The Palestinian Prisoner 
Society (PPS) in Nablus city assured today that an Israeli occupation commando 
stormed Israeli military Hewara jail, south of the city and attacked physically 
and verbally the Palestinian prisoners. In a statement, a copy made available to 
IPC, the PPS reported that the Palestinian prisoners in the aftermath of such 
arbitrary offensive took a protest measures; they returned back food meals and 
went through a hunger strike, in a protest against such practices by the Israeli 
wardens.In the 
40th Day After his Death: The Palestinian Leadership Committed to Arafat's 
Path WAFA 12/21/2004RAMALLAH, December 21, 2004, (WAFA)- The National 
Committee for the Commemoration of President Yasser Arafat organized Tuesday the 
central commemoration on the 40th day after President Yasser Arafat's death. The 
commemoration attended by Minister Omer Sulaiman, representative of the Egyptian 
President, Hosni Mubarak, Minister Salah Iddine al-Bashir, representative of 
King Abdullah II of Jordan and foreign and Arab officials, representatives to 
the Palestinian National authority (PNA) and General Consuls.Shinui's 
Lapid blasts Peres for demanding acting PM position 
Ha'aretz 
12/21/2004Shinui chairman Yosef Lapid blasted Labor chairman Shimon Peres 
yesterday for demanding the post of acting prime minister in Ariel Sharon's new 
government, a demand that requires an amendment to the Basic Law on Government. 
Lapid launched his attack during a debate on a no-confidence motion submitted by 
National Union and the National Religious Party. The motion was voted down 
39-19, with all the votes against coming from Likud and the votes in favor 
coming from the two sponsoring parties plus Shas. Labor, Shinui and the Arab 
parties abstained.Diplomatic reports: UNIFIL reduction on border 
definite Daily Star 12/22/2004Lack of funds cited, but some here blame 1559 
instead -- BEIRUT: Local officials have received two diplomatic reports from New 
York and Washington saying that the reduction of UNIFIL troops at the 
Israeli-Lebanese border has become almost certain due to the failure of some UN 
members to pay their shares. Local sources said that this excuse was not 
convincing for the Lebanese government, which is trying to explain to UN 
Secretary General Kofi Annan and the representatives of member countries that 
such a reduction would certainly affect the quality of 
supervision.World 
Bank: Palestinians need hope Daily Star 12/22/2004Wolfensohn: 
israeli withdrawal alone is not enough - Donors are apparently ready to increase 
funding, but only if the situation on the ground improves -- JERUSALEM: 
Palestinians must be given hope for the future by Israel if their economy is to 
be revived after next year's Gaza pullout, World Bank president James Wolfensohn 
said in an interview that was published on Tuesday.Third 
Party' Conference Discusses Ways to Activate International Community in Mid East 
Peace Process International Press Center 12/21/2004The international community has 
played an important role in mediating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the 
years, and has brokered many deals and agreements to set forth a basis for peace 
in the region. Those countries or international blocks that helped forge this 
peace were termed as the 'third party'. During a conference held in Gaza City 
and hosted a group of dignitaries representing the countries that were effective 
third parties in the Middle East, many arguments were made to how effective and 
honest these parties were, especially the American one. Gulf call 
for Palestinian state BBC 12/21/2004The leaders of the 
Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) have urged President Bush to make the creation 
of an independent Palestinian state an absolute priority. They said that Mr Bush 
should adopt a three-year-old Saudi blueprint. The plan offered Israel normal 
ties with the Arab world, in return for its withdrawal from all territories 
captured since the war of 1967. The statement was issued by the council near the 
end of its annual meeting, which is being held in Bahrain. World 
Bank president: Pullout is not enough Ha'aretz 12/21/2004Disengagement 
is insufficient if it does not also give hope to the Palestinians, World Bank 
President James Wolfensohn said in an interview with Haaretz yesterday. 
Wolfensohn is here to meet with Israeli and Palestinian officials and obtain 
their reactions to the World Bank's plan for rehabilitating the Palestinian 
economy after the pullout. "What we did in the paper that we prepared was to 
simply say, look, if you are trying to withdraw [from Gaza], that's a wonderful 
thing, but if you don't give hope at the same time ... you're not really 
achieving very much," he said.News Briefs, December 21, 
2004 International Middle East Media Center 12/21/2004Three family members 
wounded in Khan Younis, one critically / Resident critically wounded in Rafah / 
Farmlands bulldozed, home leveled in Gaza / Child shot in Rafah / Two residents 
arrested in Hebron/ Dozens withheld in Hebron, several checkpoints erected / 
Israeli army closes the coastal road in Gaza/ Three arrested in Nablus / Three 
arrested in Jenin / Explosive sets off north of Bethlehem / Resident arrested on 
Qalandia checkpoint / Five shells fired at army outposts in Gush Katif / Several 
homes shells in Khan Younis overnight Three 
Palestinians Among Are A Senior Woman Wounded In Khan Younis 
International Press Center 
12/21/2004PALESTINE, December 21, 2004 (IPC+ WAFA)--Three civilians from one 
family in khan Younis, south Gaza Strip were wounded when the Israeli occupation 
started heavily shooting towards the Palestinian houses in the area as well as 
several areas in the West Bank were stormed by the Israeli occupation troops. 
Dr. Mu'wia Abu Hussein, director of emergency award reported that Ahmed, 17, was 
shot critically in the head, an elderly woman Ghafara, 60, shot in the left 
hand, Fouad Abu Mustafa.Officials 
attack IMF critique of Bachar report Globes 12/21/2004The Ministry of 
Finance is readying a public information campaign to reverse the IMF 
recommendations in its final report. -- Ministry of Finance and Bank of Israel 
officials view the preliminary International Monetary Fund (IMF) 2004 report on 
Israel as a "malfunction" that will not stop the Bachar reform of Israel's 
banking system and capital market. Israel is already readying a public 
information campaign to reverse the IMF recommendations during IMF executive 
board eetings in Washington in advance of the final IMF report on Israel, due in 
February or March 2005. Jerusalem 
can kick out tent city dwellers Ha'aretz 12/21/2004The Jerusalem 
Municipality can begin evacuating in 10 days the residents of the "Bread Square" 
tent city who have been camping outside the government offices for the past 
year....The court had ruled earlier that the protesters - who moved to Jerusalem 
after being evicted from the upscale Tel Aviv neighborhood of Kikar Hamedina 
where they originally began their protest - could not remain in the tent city 
opposite the government buildings.Analysis 
/ Embracing civil disobedience Ha'aretz 12/21/2004The Yesha 
Council had to choose between two contrary approaches on Sunday. One option, 
which the council termed "doing the minimum," was to continue to protest the 
disengagement within the framework of the law, which effectively meant accepting 
the evacuation of Gaza. The other was to gradually break the rules of the 
democratic game, leading to guaranteed clashes with the government and the army. 
The council chose the second option; Pinhas Wallerstein was merely its 
spokesman. There was no real agonizing.Navy 
mulls new missile boats Ha'aretz 12/21/2004The Israel 
Navy is examining two new missile boats, Saar 5+, and a new Barak 8 sea-to-sea 
missile system for defending ships over ranges of more than 100 kilometers, 
after incoming Admiral David Ben Besht decided to cancel a plan to acquire 
10,000-ton warships. Also under consideration is joining the U.S. Coast Guard or 
Navy in the planning of new missile boats.World 
freedom survey: Israel is free, but civil liberties are 
middling Globes 12/21/2004Freedom House tells "Globes": "Israel isn’t Sweden, 
but Sweden doesn’t have to deal with terror." -- The Freedom House 2004 Freedom 
in the World survey rates Russia as "not free". Freedom House is a US NGO that 
monitors democracy and civil liberties in countries worldwide. Freedom House 
rated Russia as "partly free" in its 2003 survey. The downgrade is a blow to the 
prestige of President Vladimir Putin's government, particularly in the wake of 
the fiasco of the Kremlin's assault on the Yukos oil company.Hundreds 
flock to first Jewish and Arab conference for busineswomen 
Ha'aretz 
12/21/2004Several years ago, Rajaa Abu Roken started working in her 
husband's photo shop in Ussifiya on Mt. Carmel southeast of Haifa. "Bit by bit," 
Abu Roken recounts, "I started to take over the business." She decided to study 
photography, took courses and decided the time had come to expand the business. 
>From a little shop, it grew and added a lab, a communications department and 
later a closed circuit department for security systems...."Women have it tougher 
in the business world," Abu Roken notes, "and an Arab woman has it tougher 
still. Women are still not seen as capable of managing systems ... People think 
that most of the time, a woman should be at home."Engineer: 
Western Wall embankment could collapse Ha'aretz 12/21/2004The Jerusalem 
Municipality is demanding that an embankment leading from beside the Western 
Wall, via the Mughrabi Gate, to the Temple Mount be demolished immediately, for 
fear of its collapse. The city engineer, Uri Shitrit, has demanded that the 
Western Wall Heritage Foundation and the police deal with the issue before the 
rainy season starts in earnest, in order to prevent casualties.The 
search for the real Bethlehem By Jonathan Cook, AlJazeera 
12/20/2004For centuries Christians around the world have accepted the 
Nativity story at face value - that Jesus was born in a stable in the little 
town of Bethlehem. But a growing number of Bible scholars and archaeologists are 
rocking the foundations of Christian faith by suggesting they have identified a 
different birthplace for Jesus. They claim to have amassed a considerable body 
of evidence for their theory but say Church leaders are in no mood to listen. 
Syrian 
frontier becomes frontline in Iraqi conflict Daily Star 12/22/2004Authorities 
increase border security but lack equipment, training -- HARI, Syria-Iraq 
border: Hassan Qabbor clutches a photograph of his son, Mari, and points to the 
spot on the roof of his single-story home where the 16-year-old boy was killed. 
"He was fetching water from the tank when the Americans shot him. He died 
immediately. We didn't even take him to the hospital," the farmer said. Qabbor, 
who has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government in a Damascus court, said 
the fatal shots were fired from a concrete watch tower on the edge of a 
sprawling American military base inside Iraq a few hundred meters to the 
east.A Tree 
Instead of a Mine' campaign kicks off in the South Daily Star 12/22/2004Project will 
reforest and economically improve the area - Time4Sharing, an international NGO, 
helped plant seedlings across the region while entertaining disadvantaged 
children -- BEIRUT: The United Nations secretary general's representative in 
south Lebanon, Staffan de Mistura, inaugurated on Tuesday the "A Tree Instead of 
a Mine" campaign - the latest in a series of projects aimed at expanding the 
socio-economic development in south Lebanon.UN yields 
to US, Egyptian pressure over Arab world report Middle East Online 12/21/2004UNDP 
decides not to officially publish report on human development in Arab world 
whose contents anger US, Egypt. -- A UN-commissioned report on human development 
in the Arab world will be issued three months late and only under the name of 
its authors, after its contents raised strong objections from Cairo and 
Washington, the report's chief author said Tuesday. Nader Farghani said the 
report, initially due out in October, will be published in January, but not as 
an official report by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), as had 
previously been the case.Guantanamo Bay torture scandal deepens AlJazeera 12/22/2004A civil 
liberties group has released information suggesting the US president George Bush 
approved abusive interrogation methods by military officials at Guantanamo Bay. 
Releasing e-mails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the American 
Civil Liberties Union said on Monday that one detainee was wrapped in an Israeli 
flag and some were shackled hand and foot in foetal positions for 18 to 24 
hours, forcing them to soil themselves. The ACLU said e-mails suggested 
"inhumane interrogation methods" were approved by President George Bush a charge 
the White House vigorously denied.US army 
base hit in Mosul AlJazeera 12/22/2004A US military 
base in northern Iraq has come under heavy attack, leaving at least 22 people 
dead and up to 50 more wounded. The Tuesday assault targeted a canteen used by 
soldiers in Forward Operating Base Marez southwest from the city of Mosul. In an 
unverified website statement, an Iraqi group - Ansar al-Sunna - said it carried 
out the multiple rocket and mortar attacks. Aljazeera learned that 19 troops 
were among the dead which included three military personnel whose nationalities 
were unspecified.Support 
for Iraq war slipping in US AlJazeera 12/21/2004A majority of 
Americans now say the war in Iraq was not worth fighting, a view that has driven 
down the ratings of President George Bush and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. 
This is according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released on Monday. 
Fifty-six per cent of those questioned - a new high - said the cost of the war 
outweighed the benefits and was not worth it. It marked a gain of seven 
percentage points from a poll conducted in July.Coalition 
trash proves lucrative for Iraqis deprived of Western goods 
Daily Star 
12/22/2004Out-of-date foodstuffs, medicines, magazines sell like hotcakes - 
For many people in Baghdad, the product is less important than the origin -- 
Baghdad: From his pavement perch at the Bab al-Sharki peddlers' market in 
Baghdad, Sabir Hassan is among a growing group of Iraqis who spend their days 
selling cast-off items from the U.S.-led coalition military. Well-leafed fashion 
and sports magazines thrown out by coalition soldiers make up most of his 
inventory, which he buys from people working in US army camps. At around 1,500 
dinars ($1) each, they aren't cheap, but business is booming. US to pay 
compensation for WW II gold train robbery Globes 12/21/2004The parties 
notified the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida they had 
reached a settlement in the case. -- The US government has agreed in principle 
to pay compensation in the Hungarian gold train affair from the Holocaust era, 
government officials and the plaintiffs attorneys notified the US District Court 
for the Southern District of Florida in Miami yesterday. The court is hearing 
the class action suit against the US government. 
Articles 

Somerville 
Divestment Failure is Bittersweet By Tom Wallace, Electronic Intifada 
12/21/2004    It is not difficult to find the silver lining in 
the very sad and infuriating conclusion (temporary) to the issue of divestment 
in Somerville, MA. After a long process and sometimes rancorous debate, the 
aldermen caved to pressure from powerful Jewish groups who blindly support 
Israel; as one woman said to me "no matter what, no matter what, "no matter 
what" with her eyes closed and shaking her head poetically. 
     That the Somerville Divestment Project got as far 
as it did towards passing a divestment resolution is nothing less than 
spectacular. They were extremely successful in raising public awareness of 
Israeli oppression and human rights violations as well as the plight of the 
Palestinian people, and most importantly, Somerville's role in that plight. 
     Like many other American cities, towns, states and 
labor unions, Somerville is directly, albeit unwittingly, contributing to the 
oppression, dispossession, humiliation, and overall suffering of the Palestinian 
people. Many did not know this and when they found out, they could not 
understand why. But now that they do know, the issue will not go away. 
Somerville residents are claiming the right to determine how their money is 
spent and invested. And they have vowed to continue to claim that right. As the 
discussion continues so will the free flow of information. This is not a good 
trend for oppression and ethnic cleansing. It's much easier to continue when no 
one knows about it.Israeli 
Peace Overture Follows Gaza Destruction By Ben Lynfield, Miftah 
12/21/2004    The sights, sounds, and emotions in Gaza Sunday 
were those of war, not of the turning point toward peace being hoped for and 
proclaimed in the Middle East and abroad.      "This is 
my house," says Qais Nofal, pointing to twisted metal rods and concrete, the 
remains of one of an estimated 40 houses destroyed by the Israeli army during a 
two-day operation that ended Saturday night. After the operation, the Israeli 
army said in a press release that Palestinians ordered to leave their houses for 
their own safety were now free to return home.      
"What home?" asks Mr. Nofal, a bearded, brown-eyed tailor. "My brother and I 
lived here with our wives and children. I built it gradually, bit by bit, over 
seven years."      Omar Sabah, a refugee from the 
fighting at Israel's creation in 1948, adds: "We came here this morning and 
found there is nothing left. There is no house, and no existence. It is 
finished."Israel’s war 
on the milieu By John Collins, Electronic Intifada 12/21/2004    When the 
Nobel Committee announced its decision to award its 2004 Peace Prize to an 
environmental activist best known for planting trees, more than a few observers 
raised their eyebrows. After all, isn't the world's most prestigious peace prize 
typically reserved for those who have a direct hand in resolving armed conflict? 
More cynically, isn't it often given to those who resolve conflicts only after 
spending years starting and perpetuating them?....     
....Israel's "war on the milieu" - For much of the rest of the world, however, 
the importance of defending trees is self-evident, for it is a matter of life 
and death. Palestinians know this as well as anyone. Since the advent of the 
Israeli occupation in 1967, Palestinians have seen Israeli machines uproot 
hundreds of thousands of olive trees, each one a tangible source of livelihood 
and identity for a family, a village, a nation. According to Nadia Hijab, 
executive director of Washington, DC's Palestine Center, more than 360,000 olive 
trees have been uprooted since 2000 alone.      There 
are other, equally ecological reasons why Palestinians might have cheered the 
selection of a grassroots activist for the Nobel Peace Prize. The past four 
years have seen a continuation of Israel's policy of home demolitions, with 
hundreds of Palestinians rendered homeless in the face of the infamous D-9 
Caterpillar bulldozers that mete out collective punishment and pave the way for 
Israel's apartheid wall. The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem reports that 
over a thousand Palestinian homes have been demolished since the start of the 
first intifada in 1987. Israel's policy of expropriating land and water 
resources from under the feet of Palestinians falls into the same 
category.More material available from Vermonters for a Just Peace in 
Palestine/Israel - www.vtjp.orgTo 
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