Ramallah protesters remain unbowed
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 16 Mar — Palestinians demonstrating in the West Bank city of Ramallah late Tuesday vowed to maintain their presence in a central square until the West Bank and Gaza Strip are re-united … Throughout the day, around 7,000 people demonstrated in the West Bank, with around 3,000 in Ramallah, 2,000 in the northern city of Nablus and similar numbers in Hebron, and Bethlehem, reporters said. Protesters and security forces clashed as the Palestinian Authority sought to gain control of demonstrations calling for an end to rivalry. Despite isolated cases of violence, some severe, forces also handed out food, and a security captain said the president wanted to send a message that he supports unity … At least 20 people have been injured by security forces in the main square, and six were taken away in ambulances, our correspondent reported from the scene. Khalida Jarrar, a Palestinian lawmaker and member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said that “security forces shouldn’t be among protesters.”
Gaza security forces violently disperse rally
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 16 Mar — Security forces forcefully dispersed protesters from a square in central Gaza City late Tuesday, witnesses said … They beat people with batons and set fire to tents that were set up by the demonstrators, according to activists in Gaza City
Hamas forces ‘beat students at Gaza university’
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) 16 Mar — Dozens of Hamas police and security forces on Wednesday entered Gaza City’s Al Azhar university and began beating up students heading out for a protest, witnesses told AFP … At least 10 students were taken to hospital after being beaten by the security forces, and around 20 were arrested, university sources said. Witnesses said the clash occurred when the police had forced their way into the university’s administrative offices. But a spokesman for the Hamas-run interior ministry denied that police had entered the university.
Barghouthi says protest ‘a great moment in history’
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 16 Mar — Palestinian lawmaker Mustafa Bargouthi on the unity demonstrations late Tuesday: “This is a great moment in history, the struggle of Palestinians and Palestinian youth in particular.” “We regret that some factions are trying to co-opt the movement,” he told Ma’an. “We’re calling for unity and bringing back democracy to Palestine. We want a right to elections. We want the right to elect our leaders democratically and freely,” he added. “Palestinians have inspired youth in the Arab world for a long time. Now the youth here are inspired by them.”
Abbas ‘ready to travel to Gaza’ for unity
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 16 Mar — President Mahmoud Abbas says he is ready to visit the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in an effort to promote reconciliation between his Fatah party and the ruling Gaza party. Abbas also said he was ready to delay the formation of a new cabinet in order to give Hamas a chance to join a unity government … The president said he would “travel to Gaza tomorrow to end rivalry [but] not to start new negotiations with Hamas.” Abbas has said previously that he was willing to go to Gaza, but has not visited the coastal enclave since 2007 … Abbas’ comments come the day after Haniyeh invited him to Gaza,
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=369253
Prisoners support unity protests
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 15 Mar — Palestinian prisoners in Israel sent a letter of support to protesters in Ramallah and Gaza City, who have joined in a call to end political division through elections … Protesters have called for Palestinian National Council elections, in a vote that would include Palestinians around the world. The PNC is the Palestinian parliament in exile, the supreme authority for the PLO, whose current 669 members were appointed by the PLO’s executive committee.
And more news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
Israel to displace 13 Arab families from their home in 1948 occupied lands
NAZARETH, (PIC) 16 Mar — An Israeli court approved a petition filed by the Israeli land authority demanding the displacement of 13 Palestinian families from their homes in Dahmash village in the 1948 occupied lands. Press sources said that the Israeli court issued a decision to demolish the homes of Abu Kishk family, composed of 60 people. [See more on Dahmash from 2010 and video from January this year]
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
Three arrested in Hebron, troops cut down olive trees, pile waste near Bethlehem
Hebron – PNN 16 Mar – On Wednesday morning, dawn raids conducted by the Israeli army ended with the arrests of three Palestinians, as settler attacks escalated and Israeli soldiers near Nablus cut down and confiscated Palestinian olive trees … Near Nablus in the northern West Bank, Israeli bulldozers cut down and confiscated about 150 olive trees near the village of Beit Dajjan. Eyewitnesses in the village said seven bulldozers were supported by Israeli troops and that the trees belonged to local villager Jamal Abu Kan’an. Near Artas, west of Bethlehem in the southern West Bank, Israeli authorities began piling waste early in a Palestinian valley early on Wednesday morning.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9717&Itemid=64
Olive trees destroyed in West Bank village of At-Tuwani
CPT 16 Mar — Six mature olive trees of the West Bank village of At-Tuwani were destroyed during the night of 16 March. Villagers are certain the perpetrators come from the nearby outpost of Havat Ma’on. As At-Tuwani residents are dependent on dry-land subsistence farming, such attacks are a real threat to the local community.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/hebron/3419-olive-trees-destroyed-in-west-bank-village-of-at-tuwani
Settler fires on Palestinian car from moving vehicle
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) — An Israeli settler gunned down a Palestinian car on the road near Bani Na‘im village on Tuesday afternoon, causing severe damage to the car but no injuries, the victim reported. The incident occurred north of Hebron, driver Muhammad An-Najjar from the town of Yatta told Ma‘an. “The settler car passed me and just opened fire,” he said, describing punctured tires and car doors riddled with bullets. An-Najjar said he was contacted by Israel’s Civil Administration shortly after the incident, and asked for details on the attack.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=369008
Settlers create new West Bank outpost in memory of slain family
Haaretz 16 Mar — Itamar residents respond to Friday’s murder of five members of the Fogel family by creating new ‘neighborhood’ close to the Arab village of Awarta … Tuesday morning we found five or six people at the site, working unhindered. It is not clear how long the army will let them work and settle in on the hill. Meanwhile, they are clearly getting help from the Shomron Local Council, including a bulldozer to make a road to Itamar, an electric generator, perimeter lights and a water tank. The flag of the local council stands fluttering next to the Israeli flag.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/settlers-create-new-west-bank-outpost-in-memory-of-slain-family-1.349441
Israeli police attempt to seize children from their home in Wadi Hilweh
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 15 Mar — Israeli police special forces attempted to seize 3 children yesterday from their homes in Wadi Hilweh district of Silwan. Musa Qaq, 30, the uncle of the targeted children managed to intervene before police arrested the children, with a violent argument erupting between Qaq and police. The police eventually conceded to leave without the children, but issued an order to Qaq to present the children at the police station for investigation immediately. Once interrogated, the children were released from police custody at a bail of 20,000 NIS per child.
http://silwanic.net/?p=13578
IOA bans Sheikh Bakirat from entering his office at Aqsa Mosque
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC) 15 Mar — The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) decided to ban Sheikh Najeh Bakirat, the head of the manuscripts bureau at the Aqsa Mosque, as of Tuesday from entering his office for three months. Sheikh Bakirat said he would not comply with this arbitrary decision and would keep his efforts to defend the Aqsa Mosque. He noted that the general commander of the Israeli army in occupied Jerusalem was the one who issued this decision against him at the pretext he poses a threat to Israel’s security.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd8
Violence / Incursions
Palestinians: Three killed in Israeli air strike on Gaza
Haaretz 16 Mar — Israeli warplanes fired two missiles at a security compound in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Wednesday, killing three Palestinians and wounding four, Palestinian medical officials said. The Israeli military confirmed the airstrike, saying they had hit two terror targets in central Gaza. The airstrike came as a response to rocket fire into Israel earlier in the day, apparently referring to a rocket that had landed in Sderot, causing no casualties or damage.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/palestinians-three-killed-in-israeli-air-strike-on-gaza-1.349555
Israeli forces withdraw from Awarta
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 16 Mar — Israeli forces withdrew Wednesday morning from the West Bank village of Awarata, following four and a half days of military curfew and home-to-home searches. Israeli officials said troops were searching for suspects in the murder five members of a settler family from the nearby settlement of Itamar. By the time the closure was lifted, forty men from the village had been detained, and residents reported mass damages to homes and buildings. In the final hours of the military closure, town residents said soldiers had been searching for cameras, photos and images of destroyed houses. Details of the investigation have remained under gag order in Israel … [The mayor said that] residents were only beginning to catalog the damages sustained to homes and village infrastructure, calling it “huge.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=369139
Report: Palestinian killed by police in Gaza
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 16 Mar — Activists in the Gaza Strip said Wednesday that Hamas police killed a Palestinian student, Baha Yasser Al-Ajla, from Bureij refugee camp, during clashes at Al-Quds Open University.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=369389
Detention
Israeli forces assault elderly couple during arrest in Beit Ummar
AL-KHALIL, (PIC) 16 Mar — Israeli soldiers assaulted the Abu Marya family while they were working on their farm near the Karmi Tsur settlement. They arrested Waseem Abu Marya, 19, after attacking him and his father Mihna, 70, and mother Nazmiya, 65, breaking her jaw. Israeli forces arrested two other Al-Khalil men the same morning at a checkpoint in the city. It has yet to be identified where they were taken. A large force from the Israeli army arrested another man from the village of Dir Estya west of Salfit that morning after raiding his home.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
Information Center director’s house arrest extended again
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 14 Mar — Wadi Hilweh Information Center director Jawad Siyam’s house arrest was extended again today by the Israeli Magistrates Court. The conditions of his house arrest allow Siyam, however, to attend work at the Center for specific hours of the day. Siyam was arrested on trumped up charges of assault in January, with the case drawn out as different Israeli parties attempt to bring falsified evidence against Siyam and strengthen the case for his imprisonment or banishment from Silwan. For further information, see http://silwanic.net/?p=12458
http://silwanic.net/?p=13542
DCI Detention Bulletin February 2011
Full Report – DETENTION FIGURES: 5,550 Total number of Palestinian adults and children in Israeli detention (down 1.6 %) 221 children detained (down 0.4 %) 45 aged 12-15 (up 32 %)….
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/SMDL-8EZE5H/$File/full_report.pdf
Sarahne meets her daughter for first time in 9 years
GAZA, (PIC) 16 Mar — Detainee Irene Sarahne, Ukrainian, met her 12-year-old daughter Yasmin for the first time in nine years in the Israeli prison of Hasharon on Tuesday, Abdunasser Farwana, a researcher in prisoners’ affairs, said in a press release on Wednesday.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
PA puts off military trials of 23 Hamas members in West Bank
WEST BANK, (PIC) 15 Mar — The Palestinian authority security apparatuses postponed the military trials of 23 Palestinians affiliated with Hamas Movement in the cities of Nablus and Al-Khalil. According to local sources on Tuesday, the security apparatuses in Nablus delayed the holding of military trials against 18 detainees until the fourth of April at the pretext of security developments. The trials of other five Hamas members from Al-Khalil were also delayed until next month. All detainees were taken prisoners with no guilt except their affiliation with Hamas.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87
Hamas: 2 West Bank affiliates arrested by PA
HEBRON (Ma‘an) — Hamas officials in the West Bank issued a statement on Wednesday morning accusing the Palestinian Authority of detaining two party affiliates for political reasons. The two, according to the statement, were detained from the Hebron and Nablus districts.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=369156
Egyptian forces release 4 Palestinians
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 15 Mar — Egyptian officials released four Gaza residents on Monday evening who had been detained by security forces in Cairo, a spokesman for the prisoners said in a statement. Spokesman for the Palestinian detainees in Egypt Imad Al-Sayyed was unable to identify the men released, but said two brothers were among those freed. He added that 33 Palestinians remained in Cairo jails, following the release last week of nine Palestinian men, who returned to Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=368724
Siege
2 tunnel workers killed in Rafah
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) — The explosion of a gas canister in a smuggling tunnel beneath the Egypt-Gaza border caused a mass collapse Tuesday night, killing two and injuring four … Since January, the tunnels have been the sole means of import for the Gaza Power Plant, which imports its fuel from Egypt and provides power to two thirds of Gaza residents.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=369097
OPT: Blockade frustrates Gaza students
RAMALLAH, 16 March 2011 (IRIN) – The next generation in the Gaza Strip may be less educated, less professional and perhaps more radical because an Israeli blockade has restricted educational and employment opportunities, say UN and other sources. The four-year blockade has particularly affected youths aged 18-24, limiting access to higher education, academic exchanges and professional development, says Gaza’s education ministry. About 65 percent of Gaza’s 1.6 million people are under 25, according to UN estimates.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/opt-blockade-frustrates-gaza-students
Foreign press not interested in arms vessel
Ynet 16 Mar — Army’s PR efforts fail to impress; foreign reporters leave Ashdod Port furious after being held up for more than an hour at security check post
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4043203,00.html
Iran responds to weapons ship seizure: Israel is regime of lies
Haaretz 16 Mar — The commander of the Iranian army has rejected Israel’s claim that a ship it seized on Tuesday was smuggling weapons from Iran to militants in Gaza, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported on Wednesday.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/iran-responds-to-weapons-ship-seizure-israel-is-regime-of-lies-1.349552
Navy: Anti-ship missiles, Farsi manual found on seized vessel
[with short IDF video of takeover] Ynet 16 Mar — IDF commandos who seized the “Victoria” vessel some 200 nautical miles off Israel’s coast found 50 tons of weapons in containers that were meant to hold cotton and lentils, roughly the same amount that was found on the Karine A, the army said Tuesday evening.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4042891,00.html
Israel unveils seized arms cache from cargo ship
16 Mar (AP) — ASHDOD, Israel …Next to the captured ship, the “Victoria,” Israeli officials showed off what they said were roughly 2,500 mortar shells, nearly 75,000 bullets and six C-704 anti-ship missiles.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110316/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians
Egypt seizes vehicles carrying arms to Gaza
(AP) 16 Mar — Security officials said Egyptian armed forces have seized five vehicles carrying weapons into the country from Sudan, apparently headed for Gaza. The officials said the vehicles were intercepted inside Egypt Sunday near the border with Sudan, following a shootout during which the truck drivers fled. They said the trucks were carrying large quantities of mortars, rocket propelled grenades, rifles and explosives.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4042946,00.html
Activism / Solidarity
March 16th, the 8th anniversary of Rachel Corrie’s stand in Gaza
US Campaign To End the Occupation 15 Mar — Wednesday, March 16th, we mark the eighth anniversary of Rachel Corrie’s stand in Rafah to protect the home of a Gazan family and for the right of all Palestinians to be free of occupation. Here in Rachel’s hometown, we will mark the day with an event emphasizing community-building, education, and action – all key to Rachel’s organizing here and beyond.
http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/march-16th-8th-anniversary-of-rachel.html
To Gaza with love
16 Mar — The U.S. Boat to Gaza, THE AUDACITY OF HOPE, is committed to breaking the siege of Gaza by sailing a U.S. flagged ship in the International Freedom Flotilla this May … We are happy to announce the launch of an exciting new effort — To Gaza with Love — to collect letters from people in the U.S. to the people of Gaza. Your letters will be precious cargo on the ship.
http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/to-gaza-with-love.html
War crimes / International abductions
Gaza govt sends Goldstone updates to UN
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 16 Mar — The Gaza government committee appointed to follow-up on recommendations set out by the Goldstone Commission has handed its response to the questions received from the Human Rights Council’s committee of independent experts.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=368776
Family of engineer believed kidnapped by Israel speak out
EI 16 Mar — “We in the family are baffled as to why my brother Derar was kidnapped and then imprisoned in an Israeli jail,” Suzan Abu Sisi told The Electronic Intifada at her home in Gaza’s Jabaliya refugee camp … In Israel the case is under a court-imposed gag order, but HaMoked, an Israeli human rights organization, has confirmed with Israeli authorities that Abu Sisi has been in Israeli custody since 19 February and was being held at Shikma prison near Ashkelon, just north of Gaza, according to media reports.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11859.shtml
Racism / Discrimination
Arab-owned car set alight after Jewish-Arab dialogue in Safed
Haaretz 16 Mar — Unknown arsonists set the cars of two Arab students on fire in Safed on Wednesday morning, after a college event meant to promote dialogue between Jews and Arabs led to heated arguments between the two groups of students. In addition to the arson, discriminatory slogans were spray-painted on the walls of the event’s sponsor, Safed Academic College. “Arabs get out” and “Death to Arabs” was sprayed across the college’s walls.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/arab-owned-car-set-alight-after-jewish-arab-dialogue-in-safed-1.349559
Teen: 30 haredim attacked us
Ynet 15 Mar — Secular teen says he and his friends were dragged into warehouse, beaten with clubs while passing through ultra-Orthodox neighborhood. ‘I thought I was going to die there,’ he says — “Seculars aren’t allowed here, you’re Russian thieves,” – this is what Haredi youths told A. before beating him and three of his friends while holding them in a warehouse in Haifa on Monday.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4042910,00.html
Politics / Diplomacy
France: EU recognition of Palestinian state ‘a possibility’
16 Mar (AFP) — European Union recognition of a Palestinian state is a “possibility that should be kept in mind,” French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Tuesday amid growing disquiet over stalled peace talks. “There’s no point recognizing the Palestinian state on our own. It must be done together,” Juppe told the parliamentary foreign affairs committee of an eventual recognition by EU countries.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4042929,00.html
Uruguay recognizes Palestinian state
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 16 Mar — Fulfilling a pledge made earlier in the year, Uruguay has recognized an independent and sovereign Palestinian state on the 1967 borders.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=369257
PLO: Israel has exploited Itamar murders
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 16 Mar — The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “waging a vicious campaign” against Palestinians in the wake of the Itamar murders.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=369149
UK ‘extremely concerned’ about increased settlement building
LONDON (Ma‘an) 15 Mar — Commenting on the Government of Israel’s decision to approve 400 new housing units in settlements in the West Bank, a spokesperson for the British Foreign Office said Tuesday, that the nation was “extremely concerned.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=368951
Amos Oz sends book to jailed Barghouti
Ynet 16 Mar – Marwan Barghouti may have been convicted of murdering five Israelis and planning several other terrorist attacks, but as it turns out he still has friends in the Jewish State. Israel Prize recipient and author Amos Oz recently sent the Palestinian prisoner one of his books with a personal inscription wishing him a speedy release from prison. In the past few years, Meretz Chairman MK Haim Oron has been in contact with Barghouti, and visits him in prison regularly … Barghouti … is regarded among leftist figures as a moderate leader who is trusted by the Palestinian public and can lead to a peace agreement with Israel.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4043248,00.html
Other news
Israeli flight attendants turn diplomats
Ynet 16 Mar — A new joint initiative between the Foreign Ministry and El Al will place flight attendants at the forefront of Israeli diplomacy. They flight attendants will undertake PR assignments which will, among other places, include university campuses around the world.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4043373,00.html
Israeli technology companies turn to West Bank for outsourcing
Bloomberg 15 Mar — Military roadblocks, nine-meter- high barriers and six decades of Israeli-Palestinian hostility didn’t deter Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (MLNX) from picking the West Bank for a new software design center. “Israelis and Palestinians are in the same time zone and are pretty similar culturally,” said Eyal Waldman, chief executive officer of the Israeli maker of chips for data-center adapters. He chose the Palestinian city of Ramallah after considering India and China because of lower costs and the proximity to the Mellanox headquarters in Yokneam Elit.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-15/israeli-technology-companies-turn-to-west-bank-for-outsourcing.html
PM says IDF to build fence along Jordan border
Ynet 15 Mar — During Eilat conference, Netanyahu says illegal infiltrators from Africa change make-up of population, take away jobs from Israelis. Yishai: They damage Zionist enterprise — During a tour of the fence that is being constructed along Israel’s border with Egypt on Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had instructed the IDF to begin planning the construction of another fence along the border with Jordan.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4042799,00.html
UNIFIL troops ‘pelted with stones from Israel’
BEIRUT (AFP) 16 Mar — A UN peacekeeping force in south Lebanon said its troops were pelted with stones on Wednesday from the other side of the border with Israel, which in turn denied involvement in any “aggressive” act … “An IDF (Israeli army) position is located in the vicinity and an IDF patrol was also present in the area during the incident,” Singh said, adding that the stones had targeted Lebanese and UNIFIL soldiers.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110316/wl_mideast_afp/lebanonisraelunrestborder
Ad censored due to ‘mischievous eyes’
Ynet 16 Mar – Ultra-Orthodox newspaper Hamodia has refused to run an ad of the Osem food company due to the model’s “mischievous eyes”.The ad was prepared as part of an advertising campaign for the company’s new pretzel snack. It shows a haredi man winking as he hands the snack to the readers. All other haredi newspapers in Israel accepted the original.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4038972,00.html
Analysis / Opinion / Human interest
Israeli columnist: Media dehumanizes Palestinians
Ynet 15 Mar — Senior Haaretz writer Gideon Levy claims Israeli ‘occupation’ is ‘tyranny’ that won’t last forever, says settlements are crimes, slams media for legitimizing attacks against Palestinians
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4042816,00.html
Young Palestinians: why their grass-roots protests fizzled
TIME 16 Mar — …”The Palestinian parties played it quite well. They told their supporters to come early, so when other people came and saw it was politicized, they went home,” says Fadi Quran, one of the young Palestinians trying to organize a nonviolent youth movement along the lines of the rebellions in Egypt and Tunisia. “In Gaza they’re going through the exact same process. Hamas played a card. A lot of people thought today was a scam and didn’t want to come.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20110316/wl_time/08599205921700
In Pictures: Growing up Palestinian in the Age of the Wall
Ramzi Thaer Rafik, 15, has not met many Israelis. He says he spoke to one once, five years ago. “I was 10 years old, but I remember it very well,” he says. The Israeli was a soldier, and he demanded to know why the young Palestinian was going from one end of his village to the other. Ramzi answered that he was on his way to school.
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2036191,00.html
Settlement construction has no connection to punishment / Yitzhak Laor
Haaretz 16 Mar — In the immediate aftermath of such a traumatic incident as the one that took place in Itamar, the right wing exploits its 15 minutes of media exposure to impose its version of ‘history.’ … And then began the competition among ministers over the number of housing units that will be built in the settlements – and the more you read about this logic, the more you realize that the true “price tag” here is not the term used by hilltop youth to refer to revenge attacks on Palestinians, or the cost exacted by the settlers or Kahane followers in and out of the Knesset. It’s the logic of the State of Israel, and has been for many years: We either build settlements because we are strong, and the Palestinians accept the construction so there’s no reason to make concessions, or they kill us and we build settlements as a punitive measure.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/settlement-construction-has-no-connection-to-punishment-1.349474
Iraq
Tuesday: 1 Iraqi killed, 17 wounded
At least one Iraqi man was killed and 17 others were wounded in the latest incidents. Meanwhile, Camp Honor in the Green Zone will be shut down because it has been identified as a secret prison where torture has occurred.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/03/15/tuesday-1-iraqi-killed-17-wounded/
