Palestinian and Israeli goings on.

FranchiseBlade · Jun 4, 2005

First some good news

FBI joins Kassir murder investigation

Friday 03 June 2005, 22:10 Makka Time, 19:10 GMT

Five foreign experts were seen at the explosion site on Friday

FBI agents are helping Lebanon's investigation into the assassination of prominent anti-Syrian journalist Samir Kassir, judicial officials say.

The Justice Ministry had requested US and French assistance for the inquiry into the death of Kassir, the An-Nahar columnist killed by a bomb that exploded under his car on Thursday morning.

Five foreigners, two in white overalls, were seen collecting evidence at the scene of the bombing in Beirut on Friday.

A Lebanese official at the site said the foreigners were from FBI.

Kassir, 45, was a university professor and founding member of the Democratic Left Movement, a small group that joined the anti-Syrian opposition and played an active role in the protest campaign against Damascus's control.

He wrote a column in An-Nahar, a leading newspaper that frequently criticises Syria, and was a regular on TV talk shows.

Death threats

In a recent television appearance, Kassir said he had long received threats from security agents trying to silence him.

An official at the US Embassy declined to comment on the report that FBI agents were assisting the investigation.

But in a statement on Friday, the embassy reiterated its condemnation of Kassir's killing and added: "The United States stands ready to respond rapidly to any requests for assistance."

The embassy hinted at the likely perpetrators, saying: "Kassir's enemies were those who participated in Syria's occupation of Lebanon, and his friends were those who dreamed of a free, democratic, peaceful and prosperous Lebanon."

UN investigation

The United States on Friday also urged the UN Security Council to expand its investigation into the slaying of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri to include the killing of Kassir, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

"We strongly condemn the brutal assassination of Mr Kassir," McClellan said.

"He was a prominent journalist who long advocated Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon. This heinous act was clearly an attempt to intimidate the Lebanese people and undermine their efforts to build a free and democratic future. I think it reflects an environment of political repression created by Syria's long military and intelligence presence inside Lebanon."

The February assassination of al-Hariri, a vocal opponent of Syrian influence in Lebanon, sparked anti-Syrian protests and international pressure that forced Syria to withdraw its army after 29 years of political and military dominance.

The opposition has blamed Syria and its Lebanese allies in the security services for al-Hariri's assassination, an accusation Damascus has denied.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/44C55EC2-C4F7-411D-AF96-7210A922C6A6.htm
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Apparently the smoothing out process has hit a bump. I hope that neither side allows this to interfere with strides being made toward peace.

Apparently some Palestinian police were moonlighting as fighters against Israeli soldiers. The PA denied it at first but then admitted it. Israel in response went and killed 8 Palestinian policemen.

In other news Israeli settlers have been attacking and destroying homes of Palestinians. Israel needs to reign them in at the least. And move the settlers out at the best.

Israeli troops admit killing spree

Saturday 04 June 2005, 5:15 Makka Time, 2:15 GMT

Israeli soldiers shot dead 18 Palestinians in 'revenge' attacks

Israeli commandos murdered eight Palestinian policemen in "eye for an eye" shootings ordered to avenge comrades slain in an ambush on an army checkpoint in the West Bank three years ago, an Israeli newspaper revealed.

The report in the Maariv daily, confirmed by senior Israeli security sources, was the latest public challenge to the Jewish state's official insistence that its forces have abided by a strict code of ethics in battling a Palestinian uprising.

After gunmen from the Palestinian faction Fatah killed six soldiers at a checkpoint outside the West Bank city of Ram Allah on Febuary 20 2002, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon approved stepping up the scale and variety of retaliations.

"The feeling was that this would be 'an eye for an eye'," an ex-soldier who took part in the shooting spree three years ago told Maariv.

Tit for tat

Eighteen Palestinians were killed in various retaliatory attacks, including eight policemen shot while manning their checkpoints near Ram Allah and Nablus, another West Bank city.

"'We are going to liquidate Palestinian policemen at a checkpoint in revenge for our six soldiers that they killed'"

Ex-Israeli commando, quoting his commander

"'We are going to liquidate Palestinian policemen at a checkpoint in revenge for our six soldiers that they killed'," the ex-commando quoted his commander as ordering the troops.

At one of three checkpoints raided the Palestinians managed to return fire, but caused no Israeli casualties, Maariv said.

"Breaking the Silence"

"The moment we knew we were going to eliminate them, we no longer saw them as human," another former commando said.
Among Palestinian's killed, eight
policemen were liquidated

Maariv's interviewees, whose names were withheld for what the newspaper called legal reasons, said they decided to come forward as part of "Breaking the Silence", a campaign by former soldiers to expose alleged Israeli abuse of Palestinians.

The army said in a statement in response to the Maariv report that its forces attacked "checkpoints manned by Palestinian policemen who facilitated the passage and actively assisted terrorists".

The Palestinian Authority, which at the time denied that members of its security forces were complicit in attacks on Israelis, has since acknowledged some moonlighted as fighters.

Strategic planning

Reprisals have long loomed large in Israel's strategic planning, beginning in the 1950s when it answered cross-border raids by Arab irregulars in kind. After 11 Israeli athletes were killed by Palestinian armed groups during the 1972 Munich Olympics, Israel sent agents to assassinate that attack's masterminds.

But while Israel has openly assassinated leading Palestinian fighters during the current conflict, it rejected charges by human rights groups that this constituted illegal extra-judicial killing, saying the men targeted were planning imminent attacks.

In its statement, the army said that after it lost six soldiers in the 2002 ambush, it had been "instructed by the political echelon to change the mode of operation and adjust it to the harsh reality on the ground".

Soldiers were told to "hunt down all those involved in terror activities, including members of the Palestinian Authority security apparatus" until the PA prevented "terror attacks emanating from Palestinian towns and cities".
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/795A8D82-81CD-42A8-AF3F-63F319854B2C.htm
Click to expand...

Jewish settlers continue attacks on Palestinians
link to the story here. http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E4D19123-9DD3-11D1-B44E-006097071264.htm

There is another good/pro U.S. story at the same link, about the U.S. criticizing the human trafficking. That topic is another thread so I won't post the whole article. But I thought I would post the good with the bad.

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Palestinian and Israeli goings on.

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