Erster Advent: Bethlehem Pleite

Die Stadt des Brotes muß schon recht lange kleine Brötchen backen. Nachdem zuletzt die Stadt medienwirksam duch die amerikanische Aussenministerin und vor allem Mr. "Jobwunder" Tony Blair heimgesucht worden hoffte man auf Besserung. Weit gefehlt. Der bei seinem Amtsantritt 2005 mit einem Schuldenberg von 3 Millionen NIS gesegnete christliche Bürgermeister Vitctor Batarseh hat zwar seinerzeit nicht nur ein Darlehen der PA beantragt und auch bewilligt bekommen, es jedoch nie erhalten. Zudem stehen mittlerweile für die städtischen Bediensteten zwei Monatsgehälter aus. Während dessen verbreitet reuters: Palestinian Authority to request $5.5 billion in aid at Paris donors conference.

Imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti on Sunday called Israel's plan to release of just over 400 Palestinian prisoners "a joke," after members of the Knesset's Internal Affairs and Environment Committee visited him at the Hadarim prison. In an answer to committee chairman MK Ophir Pines-Paz's question, Barghouti said that Israel could have easily freed 8,000 Palestinian prisoners and added that the prisoners that are due for release were supposed to be released anyway in a few months. +++++ Bait Echad, die Nächste: Right-wing members of Knesset members leveled harsh criticism at Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday, after he announced that his Labor Party intends to present a bill that to compensate West Bank settlers east of the separation fence who volunteer to leave their homes. The bill was authored by MK Colette Avital and Minister Ami Ayalon of Labor, in cooperation with Meretz MK Avshalom Vilan. [Man darf sich vorstellen, wie das bei "unfreiwilligem Verlassen" werden wird.] +++++ Während die Palestinian General Petroleum Corporation am heutigen Sonntag in einer Protestaktion israelische Benzin- und Gaslieferungen nicht annimt, um auf die auf ein Drittel gesunkenen Lieferungen hinzuweisen berichtet der Palestinian Center for Human Rights das 70% der Tankstellen im Gazastreifen trocken sind. +++++ Maan-Interview mit Khalid al-Batsh [Islamic Jihad] +++++ Jordan's King Abdullah II inaugurated a new parliament Sunday with a call on Israel to relinquish war-won Arab lands, saying that would help peace and security to prevail in the volatile Mideast. The king also urged unity among feuding Palestinian factions, saying the time has come for statehood. "We emphatically tell Israel that ending the occupation of Arab and Palestinian lands, withdrawing from there and implementing legitimate international resolutions are the only way to realize just, permanent and comprehensive peace," said the staunch US ally who maintains cordial relations with Israel under a 1994 peace treaty. +++++ Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday played down expectations for a peace deal with the Palestinians before the end of 2008 as laid out at a U.S.-sponsored peace conference last week. "We will make an effort to hold speedy negotiations in the hope we may conclude by the end of 2008, but certainly there is no commitment for a firm timetable for their completion," Olmert said at the start of Sunday's cabinet meeting. + Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday he was not informed by American officials that they planned to withdraw a proposed United Nations (UN) resolution endorsing the joint declaration made by Palestinian and Israeli negotiators at the Annapolis conference. [Ich glaube das war die erste UN-Resulotion der Bush-USA die von Allen sofort begrüßt wurde. Wahrscheinlich zogen Sie sie wegen des Vetos der Marshall-Inseln zurück, oder wegen eines ähnlich bedeutungsvollen Landes. Ach! Israel! Klar... sag ich doch.] +++++ Defense Minister Ehud Barak said during Sunday's cabinet meeting that he has authorized the IDF to expand its anti-terror operations in the Gaza Strip in light of continued rocket and mortar attacks on southern Israel. ... Earlier, former National Security Advisor Maj.-Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland and former defense minister Amir Peretz said that Israel should begin talking with Hamas in order to end the continued Kassam rocket fire from Gaza. +++++ Am Sonntag hält sich die IDF jedoch zurück. Palästinensische Milizen feuern hingegen 15 Granaten, zwei Qassam-Raketen auf israeilisches Territorium. Am Qalandhyia-checkpoint kommt es zu einem Zwischenfall mit einem palästinensischen Gunman der versucht israelische Soldaten anzugreifen. Ein palästinensischer Zivilist wird durch einen Querschläger leicht verwundet. In Nablus kommt es zu Schießereien zwischen marodierenden IDF-Milizen und der al-Aqsa. Zwei israelische Soldaten sollen verletzt worden sein [IDF: keine Verletzten]. In Jenin wird Hamas-Führer Sheikh Ibrahim Jabir zum dreizehnten Mal in seiner Karriere durch die IDF verhaftet. Die Fatah verhaftet dagegen acht Hamasniks, die IDF einen Hamas-Studenten und eine Person ungeklärter Parteigängerschaft. +++++ Die Hamas beendet im Gaza-Streifen ihre Zusammenarbeit mit der PA in Sachen "Volkszählung" +++++ al-Sheikh hatte doch Recht, selten genug: Israel let 199 Palestinians who reside abroad out of the blockaded Gaza Strip on Sunday, and an Israeli official said more would be allowed to leave for their countries of residence later this week. Five busloads of Palestinians entered Israeli territory and then crossed into Egypt through the Kerem Shalom border crossing, said Shadi Yassin, a spokesman for the Israeli civil administration. About 50 others who were expected to pass today are now scheduled to be released tomorrow, Yassin said. Israeli security forces prevented two others from leaving Gaza. +++++ Die Israel Electric Company plant eine Entlassung von 1000 Mitarbeitern. [Dabei haben die Strom-cuts noch gar nicht begonnen.] +++++ It is now difficult for those intoxicated by Zelekha to be weaned off him. It is much easier for them to believe the outgoing accountant general than the chief of the police's intelligence and investigations division, Yohanan Danino. [Als ob wir nicht alle wüßten das die israelsiche Polizei allemal korrupter als Olmert ist. So frei und intoxicated sind wir.] +++++ The first class of Palestinian policewomen to complete a new EU-sponsored training program graduated Sunday, part of a broader European Union makeover of the demoralized and ill-equipped Palestinian law enforcement agencies. [Historisch falsch. Die Hamas war da wohl etwas schneller.]

A senior official of the militant group Hezbollah said the group held the army commander Michel Suleiman in high regard, further improving his chances of becoming Lebanon's next president and averting a political crisis.