Meanwhile in Palestine

Bethlehem School Issues Worldwide Appeal Ahead of Christmas: A religious school in Bethlehem has issued a worldwide appeal after receiving news that part of their building is going to be demolished by the huge 'security wall' being constructed around the town. In a Christmas email message to supporters Mr Issa said: "The school needs your support, like never before. The school is a beacon of light within a harsh reality. Today the 'Little town of Bethlehem' is imprisoned behind a giant concrete wall and a winding electronic fence.

Under an iron fist: The elections that all Palestinians are demanding today (the millions under occupation and the millions in the refugee camps outside) are for the Palestine National Council, the parliament in exile, which is the national body that represents all Palestinians. The PNC is the institutional body that forms the sovereign base of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, which is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

Palestinians seek security abroad: "It is not just the [Israeli] occupation but because we have lost our sense of personal security. It's not safe for my wife to go shopping in Ramallah." Hassan is not the only Palestinian to consider leaving the territory. Ahmed Soboh, deputy foreign minister, said in October that 10,000 Palestinians had left since June, while 45,000 others had applied to leave.

Testimony from Detained Human Rights Defender: There have been four occasions in the last two and a half months when the Israeli army and police have helped and encouraged Israeli settlers to trespass on Palestinian land. This is against Israeli law. The aim is probably to help Israeli settlers establish a bridgehead on Palestinian land so that in the future they can insist that they have been using the land.

Peretz wants more time to negotiate with settlers over Migron exit: Evacuation of the illegal West Bank settlement outpost of Migron, which was built on private Palestinian land, is likely to be delayed for another half year, according to a government brief submitted to the High Court of Justice yesterday. It also asked the court to postpone the next hearing on the case for four or five months.

Army abducts eight Palestinian men including three brothers from Hebron: Israeli troops invaded Hebron, the old city, and also surrounding villages Bani Nu'em, Dora, and Beit Kahil near Hebron. During the invasion, the Israeli soldiers searched and ransacked scores of resident's houses and took the seven men to unknown detention camps, local sources reported.

Checkpoint Humiliation: I became suspicious and approached a soldier and border policeman; it was then that I saw a boy of around 15 years, sat hunched behind a concrete bollard, hidden from view, his face wet with tears. He looked petrified. He has good reason to be. Every single person in Palestine will know someone who has been arrested or detained. Ill treatment is commonplace, and torture is far from being eradicated.

Court: State must submit criteria for Palestinians to enter Israel: The petition was submitted on the behalf of Sawsan Salameh, who received an excellence scholarship to attend Hebrew University's doctoral program. Salameh lives in the West Bank, and there is no doctoral program available to her within the Palestinian Authority. As a result of the petition, Salameh has recently been granted entry into Israel, but only for a period of time no longer than six months, not nearly enough time to complete her doctoral studies.

Blair backs Abbas call for elections, says coming weeks critical: "Your people are suffering," he told Abbas. "We don't want anything to stand in the way of helping the Palestinian people." Blair added that he would do what he can in coming weeks to deliver support to Abbas and the Palestinians. "I will not rest for a single moment," he said. He hailed Abbas as "a leader of moderation and tolerance."

A Glimpse at Daily Misery in the Gaza Strip: The statistics that the Irishman reels off speak for themselves: 89 percent of the population is poverty-stricken, living on less than $2 a day. Over 60 percent are unemployed, and since the election of the Hamas government in January, international aid has dried up. It had been used to pay the salaries of public officials. Now, even those who have jobs have been thrown into poverty, meaning that over 860,000 people in the Gaza Strip are now living on food parcels distributed by the UNRWA.

Gaza violence shuts schools: “A large number of schools had to be closed today because we would not place children at risk of being caught up in the crossfire or anything else. And that again is a tragedy for these kids who should be in the classroom rather than at home,” he said.

Fatah boycotts joint press conference with Hamas: "There was indeed a ceasefire accord with Hamas, but we refuse to participate in the press conference with them convened to announce it, because in so doing we want to protest against violations to the accord," said Tawfik Abu Hussa, spokesman for Fatah and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas.

Fatah official released after kidnapping: A top Fatah official who had been kidnapped in northern Gaza was released unharmed Monday, Hamas and Fatah officials said. The kidnapping came hours after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas defiantly insisted he would push ahead with new elections despite increasingly chaotic factional violence.

35 million dollars for Palestinians deposited in Arab bank account: Hamad said that talks are currently under way to coordinate the transfer of the funds and other forms of financial assistance to the Palestinian people. He called on the international community and human rights organisations to intervene to lift the blockade on the Palestinians.

From the mouth of Abbas: "Gaza is free of occupation, but there are no investors and no prosperity," Abbas said. "We dreamed that (Gaza) would prosper and dozens of investors from all over the world came to Gaza. Nothing has come to fruition. We decided it was better to fire rockets. Israel left, said goodbye, and instead of (Gaza) remaining calm and flourishing, there are those that still prefer to fire rockets."

Abbas to Olmert: Let's resume talks: Following his meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the Muqata complex in Ramallah on Monday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he was “willing to meet Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in the near future and begin serious and mutual negotiations to bring the conflict to an end.” "We have to meet. We need each other, and we have to deal with our problems," he said.

Who cares about Arabs? The fact that Israel's major media outlets ignored the story of the lengthy captivity and joyful release is an extreme example of the common attitude of Israeli media to Arab citizens. In the media's eyes, this community almost doesn't exist. The almost only chance of Arabs in Israel to receive media attention, and particularly in "prime time," is when the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is on the agenda.

Olmert, Peretz to hear annual intel report: Olmert will hear the assessments of representatives of the Shin Bet security service, Military Intelligence and the Mossad concerning the Palestinian Authority, the Iranian threat and the situation along the northern border.

Barenboim returns with 'orchestra against ignorance': When I tell people that I had the privilege to travel on tour with the West-Eastern Divan this summer, they respond as if I had been a part of some sort of Levantine caravan making its way across Europe to the Orient. That is really not that far from the truth. The West-Eastern Divan is the highly symbolic name that former Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director Daniel Barenboim and the late professor-activist Edward Said gave to the Arab-Israeli youth orchestra they founded in 1999.

Early elections a gamble for Abbas and Fatah: "It is very risky. Fatah is divided and could give us the same results as the previous election," Shikaki told Reuters. "Without resolving internal problems such as allegations of corruption and if the peace process is not advanced, Fatah will lose the presidency and parliament to Hamas."

Preparing for a civil war: Palestinian politics saw this type of violence and style in the past, in 1982-1983, for example, at the end of the Lebanon War, when a group of Fatah veterans rebelled against Yasser Arafat. But since then, there hasn't been any evidence of such phenomena. Appellations such as "traitors," "foreign agents" and "thieves" are now heard from all sides and aimed at leading figures.

NRP MK: Gov't decided in '67 that Green Line died: According to Orlev, "The '67 government decision proves that the Green Line died and that a cabinet minister should respect the government's decisions. The minister's decision has no educational foundation. "This is a clear political decision and an attempt to emblazon the state borders of Peace Now in the minds of students and to turn schools into Peace Now branches," Orlev asserted.

Israeli, Palestinian, Jordanian out to save planet: "We're talking about regional cooperation on issues that cross borders, primarily treatment of water - saving the Dead Sea and rehabilitating the Jordan River, the Gulf of Aqaba and the mountain aquifer," said Bromberg.

Israel launches Web site in Indonesian: Israel's Foreign Ministry on Monday launched a Web site in the Indonesian language in an effort to promote dialogue with citizens of the world's most populous Muslim country.

Israeli "intelligence" warns Hamas gunmen being trained in Iran: The training is similar to that received by thousands of Hezbollah guerrillas from Lebanon over the past few years, and Israel fears it will greatly improve Hamas' military capability in any future battle with Israel Defense Forces troops in Gaza, the officials said.