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One month after Israeli commandos killed nine Turks in a raid on a flotilla trying to break the Gaza blockade, the ships’ cargo of aid has begun to arrive here by land, starting Wednesday with 82 second-hand battery-powered scooters for the handicapped.
In the same pipeline are hundreds more scooters, hospital beds, drugs, crutches and surgical tools, building materials, food and clothing, said Mahmoud Daher, a health officer for the World Health Organization here.
The Turkish foreign minister and an Israeli cabinet member met secretly in Europe on Wednesday to try to defuse the crisis that erupted after Israel’s deadly raid on a Turkish aid boat bound for Gaza.
According to Israeli news reports, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey and Industry Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer of Israel met in Zurich.
The Israeli occupation of the West Bank is widely acknowledged to be unsustainable and costly to the country’s image. But one more blunt truth must be acknowledged: the occupation is morally repugnant.
Israel's first steps toward easing its blockade of the Gaza Strip were welcomed Wednesday by the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East as he visited this crossing where goods are transferred to the Palestinian territory.
In a warren of cramped alleys in the crowded Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan, a slogan scrawled on a wall warns: "Silwan is in danger."
The danger, as residents see it, is a city development plan that calls for the demolition of 22 homes to make room for a park that would flank a promenade of restaurants, art studios and shops.
Mayor Nir Barkat says the plan -- aimed at attracting visitors to the historic valley near Jerusalem's Old City where Silwan is located -- will improve services to residents, provide jobs and boost commerce.
Israeli aircraft shelled two locations in the southern Gaza Strip and one in the north Thursday morning, damaging the already destroyed Yasser Arafat International Airport, a residential area, and an empty field.
Eyewitnesses said at least two F16 warplanes were involved in the operation, and one Gaza City resident said a strike targeted the Abu Jerad area, damaging several homes.
A delivery of 250,000 liters of industrial fuel on Wednesday will allow the Gaza Power Plant to redistribute its electricity supply, providing central Gaza with 16 hours of power each day.
With the infusion of fuel, the Gaza Energy Authority said in a statement, power production will once again reach 30 megawatts, bringing capacity back up to 50-60%.
For the past week, blackout schedules had 12-16 hours of darkness for each area served by the power station, a schedule that will be reduced to eight hours per day as of Thursday morning.
The Palestinian president has given a rare interview to Israeli media in an apparent effort to counter the claims in some circles that Israel has no partner for peace talks.
Mahmoud Abbas spent three hours with Israeli reporters, discussing subjects from peacemaking efforts to the World Cup and his smoking habit.
Abbas' top negotiator, Saeb Erekat, says the president is trying to "reach out" to the Israeli public and seek a partner for peace.
The interview took place in his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday and was reported in Israeli newspapers on Thursday.
The organization which sent the Gaza aid flotilla which was intercepted by the IDF earlier this month, released a report Thursday outlining the events of the raid.
Describing the goal of the aid flotilla as "completely civilian in nature" and "carrying the conscience of the world," the report categorized the IDF interception as a terrorist attack carried out by the Israeli government in "international waters against civilians who had come together for peaceful purposes."
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, in an apparent charm offensive aimed at the Israeli public, has told reporters from the Hebrew media he is willing to enter direct negotiations with the Netanyahu government, as soon as he hears from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu regarding Israel’s position on borders and security issues.
Abbas, in the briefing with Israeli journalists Tuesday in Ramallah, said that originally he wanted to hear from Netanyahu whether he was willing to accept the understandings agreed upon by his predecessor, Ehud Olmert.
Soon after I came to this country 25 years ago, I learned that among my relatives, “Tali” was the real Arab-hater, the most extreme right-winger in the family. “For Tali, the only good Arab is a dead Arab, right?” one of my cousins ribbed her one Friday night. “Wrong,” she said. “For me, dead isn’t good enough – he’s got to be buried 40 meters underground, too.”
Ten years ago this month, Israelis and Palestinians gathered at Camp David, under the guidance of President Bill Clinton, for negotiations aimed at reaching a final agreement. The talks ended in failure, and by the end of September, the second intifada had begun.
A 29-year-old lawyer from Gaza has launched a legal challenge against Israel's refusal to allow her to travel to the West Bank to study human rights and democracy.
Fatima Sharif must register for her masters degree at Birzeit University near Ramallah in two weeks' time or she will lose her place.
The Israeli authorities have denied her permission to leave Gaza on the grounds that she does not meet Israel's criteria of "humanitarian and exceptional" need.
Too often Israeli-Palestinian relations are seen as a zero-sum conflict in which whatever is good for one party is bad for the other. In reality, both parties, for different reasons, need the same thing: a negotiated agreement that ends the occupation and the conflict once and for all.
Palestinians cannot achieve their basic goal of independence and statehood without a negotiated agreement. Similarly, Israel cannot achieve peace, defined borders, regional acceptance and long-term security without a negotiated agreement with the Palestinians.
Links:
[1] http://www.americantaskforce.org/print/13864
[2] http://www.americantaskforce.org/printmail/13864
[3] http://www.americantaskforce.org/printpdf/13864
[4] http://www.americantaskforce.org/rss/wpr
[5] https://www.americantaskforce.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=1
[6] http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/01/world/middleeast/01gaza.html?_r=1&ref=middleeast
[7] http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/01/world/middleeast/01mideast.html?ref=middleeast
[8] http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/01/opinion/01kristof.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
[9] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/30/AR2010063004397.html
[10] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/30/AR2010063004147.html
[11] http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=296021
[12] http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=296053
[13] http://www.statesman.com/news/nation/palestinian-leader-gives-interview-to-israel-media-777945.html
[14] http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=180104
[15] http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=180062
[16] http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=180071
[17] http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/01/israel-palestinian-peace-camp-david
[18] http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/01/gaza-lawyer-challenges-study-ban
[19] http://www.forward.com/articles/129099/