:icon_sadangel2: Palestine Peace a dream?

[Shades]

The Palestinian Media Coalition has expressed grave concern over Israel's arrest of Palestinian journalists.

The PMC condemned the Zionist action after Israeli soldiers kidnapped journalist Seri Sammour on August 31 in a raid on his house in Jenin in the north of the occupied West Bank.

Two days earlier, journalists Ghofraan Zamel from the Al Ain refugee camp and Muhammad Mona from Nablus had been detained.

The PMC said that, in addition to the latest detentions, six other journalists, all from the West Bank, are also languishing in Israeli jails, the al-Qassam website reported on September 1.

The Palestinian Media Coalition appealed to all press and human rights organizations, including Reporters without Borders and the International Federation of Journalists, to speak out against the illegal practices of the Israeli regime.

The PMC said that the journalists' detention was contrary to international norms and conventions, which ensure journalists' rights to freedom of movement and the dissemination of news and information.

The PMC also demanded the immediate release of all journalists without conditions and said that the rising number of journalists detained in Israeli jails points to a conspiracy "to silence" the Palestinian press as was done with 'Bethlehem 2000' radio.

FTP/ZAP/HGL

[Shades]

The Islamic Hamas Movement says Israeli forces artillery bombardment kills two of its members in the city of Jabaliya, in the northern Gaza Strip.

The two men - Faraj an-Najjar and Ismat Muhra - were killed on the evening of September 1 by Israeli fire, Maan News Agency said, citing sources in the coastal territory.

An Israeli military spokesperson, however, denied there was any attack by its soldiers on the Gaza Strip.

This was the second reported lethal Israeli attack against the beleaguered Gazans in the past 24 hours.

Late on the night of August 31, Israeli soldiers shot dead a 15-year-old Palestinian and wounded two others near the road that separates the Palestinian al-Jalazoun refugee camp and the illegal Israeli Beit El settlement, east of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli army claims the boy was hurling fire-bombs outside the settlement, but, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, the teen was unarmed and did not provoke the shooting.

FTP/ZAP/SC/AKM

[Shades]

Former Israeli ministers Abraham Hirchson and Shlomo Benizri arrived at the Hermon and Maasiyahu prisons Tuesday, to begin servicing their prison sentences.

Ex-Finance Minister Hirchson was convicted of multiple counts of fraud and was sentenced to five years in jail, which he will serve at Hermon Prison.

Former Shas minister Benizri, also convicted of fraud, was sentenced to four years incarceration, which he will serve at Maasiyahu Prison.

Dozens of Shas activists and party members gathered outside Maasiyahu Prison ahead of Benizri's arrival in a show of support, including Shas Chairman Eli Yishai, Housing and Construction Minister Ariel Atias and Knesset members Avraham Michaeli, Meshulam Nahari, Yitzhak Vaknin, Amnon Cohen, David Azoulay.

Mass police presence was noted outside Maasiyahu, as demonstrators slammed the court's decision and the media.

Hirchson's arrival at the Hermon Prison was far less dramatic: The former minister arrived at the facility accompanied by two family members, and did not address the press. Once inside the prison, he underwent the routine admission process.
¬
Source: AJP

[Shades]

Palestine Drama: Turkey's First Animation Cinema Date : 2/9/2009 Time : 07:11
ISTANBUL, September 2, 2009 (WAFA)- Turkey's first animation film which is about the Palestine drama will begin to play on September 4 with 100 copies.

'Olive Dream' tells a Quds (Jerusalem) story goes back to more than sixty years ago that was picked up many different scenarios.

It is an adaptation of a real life story of a little girl who was born in Ayn Karim village of Quds in 1940s.

'Olive Dream' focus on the bad effects of Israel problem in Palestine on the children, patriotism and devotion of the nation. It also try to mirror social effects of the issue.

Ella Animation started to work for 'Olive Dream', on Palestinian cause that has never been off the world's agenda, in 2005 and completed its production for two years. It was made in Ella Istanbul Animation Studios.

The main characters are grandma Mryam and her grandson Faris. Mryam has a secret goes back to her childhood, the time Israeli soldiers raided their village, forcing them to flee and killed her father.

Now, Mryam and her family, including Faris live in Jenin and suffer from another Israeli invasion that forces her to flee second time. But this displacement would be a return for Grandma Mryam thanks to her secret.

However, she faces her nightmare, Commender 'Cayman' who is the killer of Mryam's father. The film ends on the way of return to Ayn Karim where Mryam's life begun.

The animation film breaks new ground in Turkey, being the first animation film in cinema format. Also, it has the top quality as a two dimensional animation.

Source: AJP

[Shades]

The family of a Palestinian at the center of the organ-theft story in the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet has called for a probe into the death of their son.

The family of Bilal Ahmed Ghanem--the 19-year-old Palestinian killed by Israeli soldiers in1992- called on legal and human rights groups to form an independent inquiry panel to investigate the killing of their son and his missing internal organs, Xinhua reported on Wednesday.

The Ghanem family, from the village of Immatin in the district area of Nablus in northern West Bank, said Israeli soldiers abducted the body of their son after shooting him in the heart and handed it over without internal organs.

The call was made after Aftonbladet published the article They plunder the organs of our sons, accusing Israeli soldiers of harvesting organs from wounded or killed Palestinians.

The author of the article Donald Bostrom said he had witnessed the Israeli raid into Ghanem's village during which the soldiers shot him at the gate of his home.

Bostrom said the Israelis abducted Ghanem's body and returned it a week later with an incision from his neck to his stomach suggesting his organs had been taken.

The article sparked outrage among Israeli officials who termed it as "groundless," "outrageous" and "anti-Semitic."

Palestinian lawmaker Najat Abu Baker, who visited Ghanem's house on Wednesday, said the family will do whatever that is needed for the investigation, including "reopening the grave and taking samples in order to prove the truth."

"The Israeli army is stealing the bodies of Palestinians killed by its soldiers, and then after one day or two, they bring the bodies back to their families without organs," said Abu Baker.

"What Israel is doing is against humanity," she said.

SB/SME/RE

[Shades]

US special envoy George Mitchell has met Tel Aviv officials over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a week after his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The US special envoy said he had a 'good meeting' with two Israeli officials on Wednesday and would continue discussions next week.

The Wednesday meeting followed talks between Mitchell and Netanyahu in London last week on bringing about a freeze on Israeli settlement activities on the Palestinian territories.

"Senator Mitchell had a good meeting with the prime minister's envoy and the Defense Ministry chief of staff (Michael Herzog)," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said in a brief statement.

"Senator Mitchell and the Israeli delegation reaffirmed their commitment to comprehensive peace, and concrete steps by all parties toward that goal. We look forward to continuing the discussion when Senator Mitchell returns to the region late next week", Kelly said.

President Barack Obama's administration, backed by European nations, has pushed the Israeli premier for a complete halt in settlements, to pave the way for a resumption of peace talks suspended late last year.

The Obama administration hopes to announce a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks this month during the UN General Assembly.

Palestinians say a halt in all construction activities, which Israel describes as 'natural growth of settlements', is a major obstacle in the peace process and that Israel has failed to fulfill its obligations for international agreements.

Last month, in a bid to gain US support for its large-scale takeover of Palestinian land, the Israeli government agreed to freeze settlement activities temporarily, until the beginning of 2010.

Israel had previously defied international and US calls for freezing the construction of settlements in the occupied territories and it has stalled the peace process with the Palestinians.

Tel Aviv has recently announced plans for the construction of hundreds of new Jewish homes in the territory, including in East al-Quds, where the Palestinians consider their future capital city.

MSH/AKM

[Shades]

Palestinian Hamas movement says that it will retaliate against Israel for the killing of two resistance fighters in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif Qanu vowed retaliation and said that the Palestinian people will never abandon their legitimate resistance against the Israeli occupation.

Qanu described the killing as a new Israeli crime against the Palestinians, which follows the setting fire on Palestinian fishing boats and opening fire on the Palestinian farmers.

The al-Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas movement, reported Tuesday night that two of its fighters were killed when the Israeli army fired a tank shell at them, east of the city of Jabaliya, in northern Gaza Strip.

The Brigades identified the two fighters as Farah Ismail Al Najjar and Ismat Ahmad Mohra -- both 30 and from Jabaliya.

It said that the two men were on a mission east of Jabaliya when the army fired a shell at them, adding that they were senior operative who had a long history of resisting the occupation.

The Israeli army denied any involvement in the incident, and claimed that the soldiers only heard an explosion which is natural in the area.

MSH/AKM

[Shades]

Israel has released nine lawmakers of the Palestinian Hamas movement after they served their 40-month sentence term, Palestinian sources say.

The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) says that Israel on Wednesday freed nine members of the group who have completed their 40-month detention sentence.

Nasser Abdel Jawwad, one of the freed lawmakers, told Xinhua that he and his colleagues were released because they have served their sentence term and stressed that their release was 'not linked to any other issue, especially the prisoner exchange talks' between Hamas and Israel.

Hamas legislator, Mahmoud Ramahi, said the nine lawmakers' release means 23 of Hamas' 74 elected lawmakers still remain in Israeli prisons.

The movement said there have been no changes in its conditions for the release of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

In exchange for the Israeli soldier, Hamas has demanded the release of 1,400 Palestinian prisoners, including 450 who are serving long-term sentences, a request rejected by Tel Aviv, which views Shalit's freedom as a precondition for reopening all border-crossings into the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Hamas has said that the release of Shalit should be negotiated as part of a prisoner exchange deal and should not be linked to opening border-crossings or a permanent truce.

MSH/AKM

[Shades]

President Ahmadinejad reiterates support for embattled Palestinians and condemns Israeli actions in a phone discussion with the Palestinian Prime Minister Haniyeh.

"In this discussion, Haniyeh and Ahmadinejad reviewed political developments and recent conspiracies against the al-Aqsa Mosque and exchanged ideas about the dangers for Jewishification of Jerusalem (al-Quds) and the occupation of Palestinians' lands," according to the press office of Palestine's democratically elected government.

The press office also said that the Iranian president emphasized the continued support of the people and officials for the Palestinian nation in the Gaza Strip, which remains under a crippling blockade by Israel.

Ahmadinejad also condemned Israel's policies in Jerusalem (al-Quds) and stressed that Iran would be marking a designated 'Quds Week' in solidarity with the Palestinian nation and the issue of Jerusalem (al-Quds).

The al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem is Islam's third holiest place, but it has been under Israeli occupation since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

The late leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini designated the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan as the 'International Quds Day' for all Muslims to publicly express their solidarity with the beleaguered Palestinians.

This year, Quds Day will fall on September 18, and rallies are expected across the world in support of Palestinians' rights and against the illegal Israeli occupation.

ZAP/MB

[Shades]

Israeli tanks and bulldozers have invaded the eastern border areas of the Gaza Strip, destroying cultivated agricultural Palestinian land.

Palestinian fighters retaliated by firing home-made shells at the invading forces. No injuries were reported from either side in the Thursday attack, the International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC) reported.

Also on Thursday, Israeli naval forces opened fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of the strip, local sources reported.

Palestinian sources said that some boats sustained some damage but no injuries were reported. Last week, a similar attack by the Israeli naval forces left one Palestinian fisherman dead and another one injured.

The Gaza Strip has been under a crippling Israeli-imposed blockade for over two years. The strip was under siege even when it was under an all-out military onslaught by Tel Aviv at the turn of the year.

FTP/SME/MMN