Palestinian Legislator, head of the Popular Committee Against the Siege (PCAS), Jamal EL Khodary, stated on Wednesday that the decision of Arab leaders in Israel to send a ship filled with aid to the besieged Gaza Strip carries two messages; all Palestinians are one nation, and a call to the Arab world to act and end this unjust Israeli siege.

El Khodary thanked a welcomed all efforts conducted by the National Democratic Assembly in Israel, and its leaders Dr. Azmi Bishara and Jamal Zahalaka.

He added that this planned ship, which will carry food and medical supplies, is a positive step against the unjust Israeli siege.

In an interview with the Arabs48 news website, El Khodary said that “sending the ship from the Jaffa port carries more than one message; the first message states that we should not forget our people, and the second is a call to the Arab nations to move and act against the siege which is devastating the lives of more than 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

“We welcome this idea, we appreciate what our brothers behind the Green Line are doing”, El Khodary said, “This ship is an initiative by the leaders of the Arab community”.

He added that all ships that sail to Gaza carry one goal; to show solidarity with the Palestinian people and keep the issue of the unjust Israeli siege in the spotlight.

El Khodary further said that the Gaza Strip needs 600 trucks carrying foods and goods on daily basis. “But Israel continues to seal the crossings under vague claims, Israel is opening the crossing once a month to allow the entry of 40 trucks, this is way below the daily needs”.

He also said that all ships sailing to Gaza, either Arab or international, are positive measures in the positive direction, but added that everybody must act to fully end the siege.

“The world must understand that there is a clear Israel decision to keep Gaza under siege, they used and will use vague claims to keep the crossing sealed”, El Khodary stated.

A group of extremist Israeli settlers attacked and stabbed a Palestinian resident of Jerusalem on Tuesday at night in an area close to Me’ah Sh’arim neighborhood in the city. The resident was moved to Hadassah Ein Karem Israeli hospital suffering from serious wounds.

The Israeli police conducted initial investigations in the attack, and stated that four fundamental Jews asked the Palestinian youth about the time, and when they found that he was an Arab they stabbed him several times in his back.

The police did not conduct any arrests and is awaiting, according to Israeli sources, the outcome of the claimed probe.

Last April, several settlers violently attacked two Arab youths in Pisgat Zeev neighborhood.

Extremist settler youths who fortified themselves in Al Rajabi Palestinian home, in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, escalated on Wednesday their attacks against the Palestinian residents and vowed further violence if the Israeli army forcibly evacuates them.

Israeli sources reported that Israel’s Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, intends to hold a meeting with settler leaders in Hebron on Thursday in an attempt to reach an agreement before the scheduled evacuation date.

The Israeli High Court of Justice issued the evacuated order last months and gave the army three days to implement it. The settlers occupied the property in 2007 and claimed that they purchased it from its Palestinian owner, Fayez Al Rajabi. Resident Al Rajabi denied the claim.  

Nearly 300 riot policemen were deployed in the city while dozen of settlers hurled stones at them and at Palestinian residents and homes near Al Rajabi home.

The police apprehended more than 15 settler youths following the Wednesday clashes, Israeli online daily, Haaretz, reported.

Also, the settlers desecrated the Muslim graveyard in the city and drew in black the star of David on gravestones. The settlers also wrote “revenge” on a wall of a Palestinian home.

The violent settlers were boosted by hundreds of extreme right-wingers who came to the city in recent days as the police and army started preparing to evacuate 13 settler families from the Palestinian building.

 Haaretz also said that Barak will attempt, during his Thursday meeting with the settler leaders, to forge an agreement with the settlers before the evacuation.

 The army is expected to use force in evacuating the property unless an agreement is reached between Israeli officials and settler leaders, Haaretz added.

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Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center
www.imemc.org, for Wednesday December 03 2008

The ruling Hamas party in Gaza held a meeting yesterday night with the Islamic Jihad group in order to discuss the fate of a six-month ceasefire deal with Israel. Meanwhile, Israeli military detained a dozen of residents from the West Bank. These stories and more are coming up, stay tuned.

A meeting between Hamas and Islamic Jihad group in Gaza yesterday discussed the fate of a ceasefire deal with Israel.

Hamas said Israel didn’t commit to the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire agreement of June, but confirmed that extension or termination of the truce should be pre-determined by a consensus of the other Gaza-based factions.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Israeli military detained 14 Palestinian residents from the West Bank cities of Bethlehem and Jenin.

Witnesses said that the Israeli soldiers ransacked Palestinian homes and forced all inhabitants out before detaining the residents.

On Tuesday, a Palestinian journalist was stoned by Israeli extremist settlers in Hebron Palestinian sources reported that Amer Abdeen, a 28-year-old photojournalist for Palmedia, was attacked by rioting settlers in the city.

A Palestinian man was stabbed by an ultra-orthodox Jewish settler in the right-wing Meashearim neighborhood in Jerusalem.

Local sources identified the victim as Hamid Abid Hamid, aged 31, from the Wadi Al-Joz neighborhood of East Jerusalem.

A ship sailing from Qatar is scheduled to arrive in Gaza on Friday, loaded with humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza population. The Israeli naval vessels prevented a similar boat coming from Libya to reach the Gaza Shores to unload the supplies.

According to Jamal Al-Khudari, head of the committee against the siege of Gaza, and member of Palestinian Parliament, another ship sailing from Haifa on Saturday is expected to reach Gaza carrying five tons of humanitarian aid, including medicine.

At the political level, the negotiations department of the Palestine Liberation Organization reaffirmed its acceptance of a two-state solution between Palestine and Israel.

The reaffirmation came in response to a Washington Post's report, highlighting the Palestinian-Israeli conflict including solutions such as a one-state solution.

Thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem. You have been listening to Palestine Today from the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org. This report has been brought to you by Justin Theriault and Husam Qassis

On Wednesday, Israeli military detained 14 Palestinian residents from various West Bank cities, including Jenin and Bethlehem.

Witnesses said that Israeli soldiers broke into the Arraba and Barqin towns in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, detaining three residents. Witnesses added that the soldiers forced all inhabitants out of their residences into the open air, before ransacking their homes and detaining them.

In the West Bank city of Bethlehem, the Israeli military detained four youth from the Azza refugee camp and from the town of Al-Obaidiya. Palestinian security forces in the city said that a large Israeli contingent swept into these areas early on Wednesday and broke into several homes, detaining several residents. Witnesses said that the homes of the detainees were ransacked and that all inhabitants inside were forced out of their homes before the detention took place.

Israeli detention campaigns in the West Bank happen on a daily basis, while Israel holds more than 11,500 Palestinian prisoners in various jails and detention facilities in both the occupied West Bank and Israel.