Dear readers
Here is the digest for October 7th, 2004
1- A Cry to Stop the Killing of Palestinians
2- Five killed in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, death toll rises to 100
on day nine
3- U.S. Satisfied with Israeli Clarifications on PM Aide Comments
1- A Cry to Stop the Killing of Palestinians
We, Peace Activists would like to invite you to join us in the vigil
in solidarity with the victims of the Israeli aggression against the
Palestinians in various locations of our country.
The vigil will be held in Beit Sahour in front of the Arab Orthodox
Club(downtown) on Friday October 8th at 17:00 were we will light
candles and raise our prayers to stop the daily killing of our people.
Your Presence is important to affirm commitment for resistance and
just Peace.
For More information Please call, George at: 02-277-2018 or 054-435-
1339
Or email us at george@palsolidarity.org
2- Five killed in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, death toll rises to 100
on day nine
Saed Bannoura -IMEMC & Agencies, October 7, 2004, 13:39
A local source in Khazza'a, east of Khan Younis, in the south of the
Gaza strip said that soldiers shot dead two residents, and wounded
another, on Thursday at noon.
The source added that sever clashes erupted between the resistance and
a military unit operating in the area.
Moreover, at least three residents were shot wounded as a military
helicopter fired several rounds at a group of residents who gathered
in the area.
Three youths killed in Jabalia, death toll rises to 98 on day 9
Saed Bannoura -IMEMC & Agencies, October 7, 2004, 11:07
A Palestinian medical source in Al-Awda Hospital, in Jabalia said that
two youths were killed in Jabalia refugee camp as army fire a nail-
bomb at them, and a third youth who died of wounds sustained earlier
in the northern Gaza Strip.
A local source in Jabalia refugee camp said that a tank fired one
nail-bomb at two youths walking by "Jabalia youth club" on their way
to school
The youths were identified as Raed Abu Zeid, and Suleiman Abu Fool, 14
years old.
Dr. Manar Al-Farra, head of Al-Awda Hospital , said that the body of
one of the two youths was completely burnt and unattached, which made
it difficult to identify them.
Dr. Mahmoud Al-Asaly, head of Kamal Adwan Hospital , said that the
body of the other youth was transferred to Kamal Adwan Hospital , and
that it was also completely burnt and unattached.
Dr. Al-Asaly added that the Nail-Bombs used by the army are designed
to make maximum casualties since they spreads around to hundreds of
small pieces directly after hitting the ground.
On the other hand, a third youth died on Thursday of wounds sustained
four days ago.
The youth was identified as Mohammad Abu Saif, 17 years old, after
sustaining critical wounds after a tank shell exploded near him.
In Rafah, soldiers shot wounded two residents, including one child,
after army fired at tens of homes near the border line with Egypt ,
overnight.
Three Palestinians shot dead in the northern Gaza Strip, death toll
reached 95 on day 8
Saed Bannoura -IMEMC & Agencies, October 6, 2004, 12:11
A medical source at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, in the north
of the Gaza Strip, said that soldiers shot dead three residents,
including a father and his son, after firing at several homes, on
Wednesday at dawn.
The source added that soldiers fired several rounds at the home of
Yousef Qahtan, east of Beit Lahia, after midnight; Qahtan sustained
several injuries to his body causing instant death.
Moreover, soldiers fired Nail Bombs at a number of homes in Al-Maslakh
Area, at the entrance of Beit Lahia, causing the death of Hamdan Obeid
and his son Mohammad.
The bodies of Obeid and his son were completely burnt and deformed.
With the death of the three residents, the total number of
Palestinians killed in the continuous rises 95 and more than 400
injuries.
Two activists assassinated in the northern Gaza Strip, death toll
reaches 92 on day 7
Saed Bannoura -IMEMC & Agencies, October 6, 2004
Two Palestinians were killed five others wounded, two critically,
after a military helicopter fired a missile at a group of activists
east of Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday at night,
raising the death toll of the continuous raids in the Gaza strip to
92.
A local source in Jabalia said that the military jet fired one missile
at a group of armed Palestinians in an agricultural field killing two.
A Palestinian medical source in Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza said that
the two activists were identified as Hasan Darweesh and Mousa
Darweesh.
Army, on the other hand, claimed that the missile targeted an armed
cell trying to plant explosives in front tanks and military jeeps
operating in the area.
Soldiers, on the other hand, claimed uncovering a tunnel under an
abandoned home in Khan Younis refugee camp, in the south of the Gaza
Strip, and that soldiers apprehended four wanted activists in the
area, and transferred them for interrogation.
Army claimed that the tunnel was intended to be used in infiltrating
into Gosh Katif settlement Bloc, in the Gaza Strip.
Two activists assassinated in the Central Gaza Strip, death toll
reaches 90 on day 7
Saed Bannoura -IMEMC & Agencies, October 5, 2004, 19:55
A military apache fired a missile at a car in Al-Nasser Street, near
Al-Shay' refugee camp in the central Gaza strip, killing two
Palestinians, on Tuesday evening, raising the death toll of the
continuous raids in the Gaza strip to 90.
A medical source in Gaza said that the two residents were identified
as Basheer Al-Dibs and Dheif Al-Areer; both are prominent leaders of
the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, in the Gaza Strip.
A local source in Gaza said that a military apache fired at least one
missile at a car both activists were riding.
Omar Salah, one of the Islamic Jihad leaders confirmed the death of
the two activists, and added that the movement will continue its
activists and resistance against the occupation.
13-year-old killed in Khan Younis, Gaza death toll reaches 88 on day 7
George Rishmawi-IMEMC & Agencies, October 5, 2004
Palestinian medical sources reported that a young Palestinian girl was
killed Tuesday morning in Tel Al-Sultan near Rafah in the southern
Gaza Strip.
The sources said, that Iman Al-Hams 13, was shot by Israeli troops
positions in Tel Zourob area.
Israeli sources claim, the girl approached a checkpoint with a bag on
her back. The soldiers shot her when she ran away, as they suspected
her of carrying an explosive device.
Contradictory to the Israeli story, Dr. Mu'awyeh Hasanein, director of
the emergency rooms in the Palestinian Ministry of Health said, Iman
Al-Hams received two bullets to the left thigh and the belly which
cause her death.
As the Israeli Military operation in the Gaza Strip resumes for its
seventh day, Israeli troops killed a Palestinian man, Monday night who
managed to sneak into the settlement of Nitzar Hazani, north of Khan
Younis.
Israeli sources reported that military officials will meet today to
discuss whether to stop their military offensive in Gaza strip, in
which at least 88 Palestinians were killed, hundreds wounded and many
homes demolished.
3- U.S. Satisfied with Israeli Clarifications on PM Aide Comments
IMEMC Staff & Agencies, October 7, 2004, 08:10
The United States on Wednesday demanded official clarifications on
Israeli Prime Minister Bureau chief Dov Weisglass statements in which
he said that the disengagement plan means a "freezing of the peace
process," Israel Radio reported.
State Department Spokesman Adam Ereli said that the U.S. told Israel
that Weisglass' comments do not match Israel's official government
position as presented to the U.S.
Following the publication of parts of the Weisglass interview in
Haaretz, Sharon's bureau released a statement saying he supports the
road map and sees it as the only plan for allowing a final-status
agreement.
A senior State Department official in Washington expressed
satisfaction with the clarifications presented by the Israeli Prime
Minister's bureau.
As well, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told Wednesday reporters
that the U.S. does not doubt Sharon's commitment to the road map.
Even as a main architect of the disengagement plan revealed publicly
that the intentions behind disengagement were to force a freeze on the
peace process and push aside the idea of creating a Palestinian state,
the American Administration is satisfied with one brief statement from
the office that Weisglass heads, expressing support to the road map as
the only way to reach a final status agreement.
The Real Intention Is To Freeze the Peace Process
A top Israeli Prime Minister's aid said Tuesday that the aim of
advancing unilateral disengagement is to freeze the peace process,
prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, and push aside
debates about refugees, Jerusalem and borders, with all achievements
happening with the approval and blessing of the United States.
"The significance of the disengagement plan is the freezing of the
peace process," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's senior adviser Dov
Weisglass told Haaretz, in an interview for its Friday Magazine.
Weisglass, one of the architects of disengagement, added: "And when
you freeze that process, you prevent the establishment of a
Palestinian state, and you prevent a discussion on the refugees, the
borders and Jerusalem. Effectively, this whole package called the
Palestinian state, with all that it entails, has been removed
indefinitely from our agenda; and all this with authority and
permission; all with a presidential blessing and the ratification of
both houses of Congress."
"The disengagement is actually formaldehyde," he said. "It supplies
the amount of formaldehyde that is necessary so there will not be a
political process with the Palestinians." He added.
Asked why the disengagement plan had been hatched, Weisglass explained
that his government was worried that even when the Americans blamed
Palestinians for the lack of progress, they and the international
community would finally come after Israel, that with the Geneva
initiative, with increasing refusal to serve in the Palestinian
territories, and that with the deterioration in the economy, it was
important for Israel to present a different plan that totally pushes
Palestinians out of the political seen.
Weisglass affirmed that the main achievement of the Gaza pullout plan
is the freezing of the peace process in a "legitimate manner."
"That is exactly what happened," he said. "You know, the term `peace
process' is a bundle of concepts and commitments. The peace process is
the establishment of a Palestinian state with all the security risks
that entails. The peace process is the evacuation of settlements, it's
the return of refugees, it's the partition of Jerusalem. And all that
has now been frozen"
To stress his point, Weisglass noted that the disengagement plan
managed to preserve 190,000 settlers out of a total of 240,000.
[Apparently he excluded East Jerusalem settlers from the count]
It is the first time in which a top Israeli official publicly declares
that disengagement was presented to bring an end to the U.S. brokered
road map peace initiative.
Being the closest politician to Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon,
and a senior architect of the disengagement plan, Weisglass frankness
about the aims of disengagement should ring a red bell about the
future of the Middle East.
Defenders of disengagement were less vocal about the aims and benefits
of disengagement, fearing international angry reactions, yet in the
midst of the heat of the American presidential election campaign, it
is likely that such statements will pass unnoticed in Washington.
Israeli Left Outraged over Weisglass Comments
Left-wing Knesset members attacked Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon
in light of his bureau chief comments, some calling for his removal
from office.
Hadash MK Ahmed Tibi sent a letter to U.S. Ambassador Dan Kurtzer,
inquiring "if the American administration is a partner to Sharon's
political deceit, which Weisglass revealed with incriminating candor."
Tibi said that Weisglass' comments prove beyond doubt that
disengagement is "Sharon's bluff"
Labor Party chairman Shimon Peres said Wednesday that Sharon had never
told him that the disengagement plan was meant to freeze the peace
process, warning that "He who seeks half peace will bring half war,"
Yahad MK Yossi Beilin described Weisglass' comments as "frightening"
and reveal Sharon's dangerous intentions, saying that it seems that
Sharon is not a peace partner, and therefore must be overthrown.
Hadash MK Mohammed Barakeh called for toppling Sharon as soon as
possible, affirming the significance of refusing to serve in the army
and the relevance of the Geneva Initiative.