News and Editorials

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Palestinian security forces are locked in a standoff with armed Palestinian resistance fighters in Ein Beit El-Ma refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus on Sunday. The military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, announced Sunday that it would react "fiercely" if Palestinian security forces arrest any of its activists ahead of a peace conference in the United States this month.

Ahead of International Children's Day, New Family - an organization that promotes family rights - reported unnerving statistics on Sunday in its annual 2007 report on domestic violence in Palestinian families. According to statistics gathered from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion (PCPO), 93.3 percent of Palestinian children have experienced domestic violence, amounting to 1,950,739 children - 953,950 of whom are girls.

Nach palästinenssichen Angaben kam es Samstag Nacht in Khan Younis zu einem Luftangriff der IAF auf Kämpfer des Islamic Jihad bei dem niemand verletzt wurde. Angeblich sollen 5 Raketen abgefeuert worden sein. Von den Golanhöhen wird der spektakuläre Raub von 15 Anti-Panzer-Raketen gemeldet, die es durch verschiedene Sicherheitszonen in noch unbekannte Hände schafften. Human Rigth Watch fordert in einem Statement: The Hamas-run government in Gaza must establish an independent and nonpartisan commission of inquiry to hold security forces accountable for their use of excessive and indiscriminate force against pro-Fatah demonstrators in Gaza City on Monday, Human Rights Watch said today. More than 90 demonstrators were wounded and seven lost their lives when Hamas security forces opened fire.

Nachdem heute die palästinensische Seite alle Verhandlungsergebnisse über ein "joint document" für nichtig erklärte und derzeit über getrennte statements spekuliert wird treffen sich morgen Olmert und Abbas zum "letzten Treffen" vor Annapolis. Final diplomatic push before Annapolis: Olmert, Abbas to meet in Jerusalem in last-minute attempt to bridge differences as negotiations for joint statement remain deadlocked. Government stands to authorize release of 500 Palestinian prisoners as goodwill gesture to Abbas before conference. +++++ "Talking in Circles: Provocations and misunderstandings abound, but Israel as a state for Jews only remains the heart of the problem", writes Khaled Amayreh. Raghida Dergham: The Israeli attempts to cause the failure of the international peace conference before its presumed convening in 10 days' time in Annapolis poses a fundamental question, namely: if Israel truly doesn't want peace, what then? George S. Hismeh, "Annapolis at the crossroads". Jonathan Steele, "The palestinian path to peace does not go via Annapolis".

Der hier kurz erwähnte saudische Urananreicherungsplan scheint das Gefallen von Ahmanidejad erworben zu haben: Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday told Dow Jones Newswires he will consult with other Arab nations on a plan to enrich uranium outside the region in a neutral country such as Switzerland.