"Israel is outright inflicting a genocidal war against the Palestinians," Boyle

By Khaled Mamdouh, IOL Staff

CAIRO, May 17 (IslamOnline.net) - The Israeli Supreme Court's rejection of a Palestinian appeal against the occupation army's plan to destroy hundreds more homes in Rafah is not only illegal, but also a repeated condoning of war crimes against the Palestinians, according to law experts Monday, May 17.

As the media keeps us busy with reports on cease-fire, peace initiatives, and 'reduction of violence', Israeli crimes in the occupied territories continue undisturbed. To understand the extent of these daily crimes we should look at the injuries, not just at the rapidly growing number of dead. On Friday, November 3rd, CNN reported a 'relative calm' in the territories.

It has emerged that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has given the go-ahead for 600 new homes in the largest Jewish settlement in the West Bank.

Mr Sharon and Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz agreed the plan two months ago but it has only now been made public.

The new homes are to be built in Maale Adoumin, close to Jerusalem. It is already home to 28,000 Jewish settlers.

Israel has committed itself to freezing settlement activity under the international "roadmap" peace plan.

Under the terms of the stalled peace plan, the Palestinians are obliged to crack down on militant attacks against Israel.

THE ISLAMIC CAUSE OF PALESTINE

Palestine is a strategic land due to both its religious significance and geographic location. Throughout history it has been the center of the conflict and struggle between the Muslim World and Western Christendom. In the past century it has also become the center of the struggle between the Muslim World and the Jews.

by Mazin Qumsiyeh

A quick pop-quiz:

Which country in the Middle East has nuclear weapons, refuses to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, invaded and occupied other nations' territories, created hundreds of thousands of refugees and refuses to let them return, engages in ethnic cleansing, legalized torture and mass punishment on civilians, routinely violates nearby countries' international borders, sends assassins into other countries, is in violation of over 70 UN Security Council resolutions, engages in spying on the US, and attacked a US naval ship in international waters?

Hint 1: it is the same country that has the largest share of our foreign aid money and the second largest US lobby.

The Israeli justice ministry has recommended that the government should consider applying the Fourth Geneva Convention to the West Bank and Gaza.

The convention covers the treatment of civilians in occupied territory.

The proposal comes from a team set up by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to study the ramifications of a ruling by the World Court last month.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory ruling that the West Bank barrier is illegal.

RAMALLAH (AFP) A Palestinian woman was forced to give birth in a taxi on Tuesday after Israeli troops forbade her from passing a checkpoint to reach the hospital, a day after the army sealed off main towns in the violence-ridden West Bank.

After going into labour, 27-year-old Taqrit Asuri and her husband Amin Sayed headed in a cab from the village of Al Ram to the nearest main hospital in Palestinian-controlled Ramallah in the West Bank, the husband told an AFP correspondent.

Ramallah, along with seven other West Bank Palestinian towns, was sealed off late Monday after four Israelis were killed in drive-by shootings by Palestinian resistance fighters.

WASHINGTON, April 15 (IslamOnline.net) - President George W. Bush's support of Israel's claim to some of the Palestinian land occupied after the 1967 war would undermine peace prospects and infuriate Arabs and Muslims, leading U.S. dailies warned Thursday, April 15.

The American papers also argued that the move was also aimed at garnering the votes of the influential American Jews in the November presidential polls.

Breaking with a decades-old U.S. policy, Bush said after talks with Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon Wednesday, April 15, that Israel should be able to keep some Arab land captured in the 1967 war and Palestinian refugees should not be allowed to return to their homes in what is today Israel.

By Mohamed Khodr

For the last several weeks I've been reliving a difficult, sobering, and tragic time in my life. The time was the summer of 1982 in Beirut where I was training as a physician at the American University Hospital. That summer Israel besieged the city from the air, land, and sea.

Israel's objective was to drive out the Palestine Liberation Organization from Beirut at whatever cost. The war was heavy. Daily indiscriminate bombing with cluster bombs, shelling, and rockets destroyed anything standing or moving.

Important point: There is a noticeable confusion between 'Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa' and the 'Dome of the Rock'. Whenever there is a mention to Al-Aqsa Mosque in the local and international media, the picture of the Dome of the Rock appears instead. The main reason of this is the public ignorance, which is in line with the Israeli plans. Israel wants to vanish the picture of Al-Aqsa mosque from the minds of people, so they can destroy it and build their temple without any publicity. And if anyone condemns or complains, then Israel will show live the picture of the Dome' and reply that they didn't do anything. What a plan! It is shocking that some Arabs, Muslims and even Palestinians can't differentiate between the two holy sites.