(My deep thanks to all of the hard-working people at Gush-Shalom and the International Soldiary Movement, who made all of these reports possible in the Israeli-forced media blackout in the territories. THANK YOU! Visit our collection of reports from the ISM here.)

Mossad To Become Less Tame: Under the new directorship of Major General Meir Dagan, a Sharon ally, the infamous Mossad intelligence service is switching its emphasis from intelligence gathering and analysis to operations such as overseas commando raids to try and wipe out "international terrorism".

"Most Astounding Web Page Of The Week": In what a University of Colorado professor rightfully classified as this week's most astounding web page (link provided), MSNBC posted a graphic - and kept it up, last I checked - detailing more about Israel's weapons of mass destruction than even most peace sites reveal. Theories as to why this could be are presented; normally mainstream journalists tow the government line, even more so on issues of Israel.

"You've Got (Fake, Hate) Mail: Another round of fake hate emails, proportedly originating with anti-occupation activists' email accounts, and sent to tens or even hundreds of thousands of addresses, has occurred. These people then get email that look like the activist is spreading racist, hateful speech.

Journalist Down: "Democracy Now" interviews a Reuters photographer who was standing next to an AP cameraman when he was murdered by an Israeli army soldier, in his bright fluorescent vest with a big "Press" sign on it. Shot right through the eye, collapsed all at once, when there was not any Palestinian resistance shooting anywhere at all nearby. The cameramen's crime was filming a tank shoot it's gun and wound children.

Stone Throwing And Prison: A Haaretz Daily reporter writes about the growing phenomina of longer and longer prison sentences for younger and younger stone throwers in the Occupied Territories. Includes description of the conditions that such children are held in and what their arrests are like.

B-Laden?: Dep. Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, recently stated that al-Qaeda was really the "B-team" of terror, while Hezbollah is the "A-team". A blogger presents dozens of links to news articles and governmental sites to show how ridiculous this assertion is.

23 Year Old American Bulldozed: While a large portion of the article wasn't very even-handed, the Associated Press has reported that a 23 year old American woman was run over by a bulldozer while trying to stop a home demolition (not mentioned: Illegal under international law). Most of the bulldozers used in home demolitions are Caterpillar D9s (made in the USA). To see a picture of a D9 in full armor, go here.

Even-Handed No More: Elliott Abrams - who was convicted for lying to congress to cover up atrocities during the Iran-Contra scandal, but pardoned by Bush's father - has fired three senior staff members regarded as even-handed on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, who will undoubtedly be replaced by hard-line pro-Israel staff members. Plus: The Abrams File.

Sabra And Shatila Victims: Terrorists?: Following a Belgian court's ruling that Ariel Sharon can be tried for war crimes once he leaves office, lawyers for the victims of the Israeli-sponsored Sabra and Shatila massacre respond to Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's comments about the victims of the massacre - people who were raped, tortured, and wounded, and witnessed the murder of their children, parents, husbands and wives - as being "terrorists".

Vowing Revenge: Tens of thousands of Palestinians vowed revenge at a Hamas leader's funeral for the recent incursion, which killed 30 Palestinians.

Settlements Costing A Storm: The group "Peace Now", which tracks Jewish settlement activity, released a report stating that Israel spent $450 million dollars in 2001 - $1500 per person.

Saying "No" To Attacks On Civilians: An Israeli officer has lost his job for obstructing an air raid that would have killed civilians "for reasons of conscience", saying that the orders were illegal under international law.

Partisan Lockdown: Israel locked down the West Bank and Gaza strip ahead of Tuesday's election. Plus: US charities funded Sharon's election campaign.

Disqualified: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recently disqualified an award winning Palestinian film from competing in the Oscars, despite its winning a special jury prise at the Cannes Film Festival, because '"Palestine" is not a country recognized by its rules.' (It has accepted entries from Taiwan and Hong Kong (neither are states), and Palestine is recognized by over 115 countries and has UN observer status).

He's Back!: Ariel Sharon has bounced back in opinion polls after falling due to several major corruption scandals, both in his personal life and in his party, Likud. So much for getting Mitzna - who wants a negotiated solution - in office.

Yoink!: Ariel Sharon got yanked off the air when he tried to use a government news briefing for what was clearly election propaganda, violating Israeli law - the first time ever an Israeli politician has been cut off the air. Does this bode well for Mitzna, the dovish former general, in the election he was expected to lose?

Sharon's Fingerprints: Steve Niva, a Journalist for Middle East Report, sees Ariel Sharon's fingerprints on the latest suicide bombing: "Since the last suicide bombing on November 21, escalating Israeli military assaults have killed over 60 Palestinian civilians".

"No More Drinking Stupid": "Mecca Cola", a soft drink produced by a French company that donates 10% of its profits to charities operating in the Palestinian territories and 10% to European NGOs, takes off. Its slogan? "No More Drinking Stupid, Drink With Commitment".

Can't Kill Animosity With Guns: A Guardian analysis discusses that there's not really much anything more Israel can do worse to the Palestinians without losing its US support, and yet the Tel Aviv bombing still happened - revealing the limits of Israel's militarism in keeping its citizens safe.

Stuck In Traffic: Haaretz Daily reports on Israel's flourishing trade in smuggled women from poor countries used as human property in the sex trade.

A Brutal Routine: While the Egyptian paper Al-Ahram calls on Palestinians to stop attacks against civilians, the Israeli army's rate of attacking civilians continues its climb, with the beating to death of an 18 year old high school student, the shooting death of an 11 year old boy, the death of a playing 9 year old girl, the shooting death of an 11 year old girl watching the funeral of a teenage boy....

Vote Buying For Likud: Analysts are predicting that Likud - the right wing Israeli party to which Ariel Sharon belongs - will lose seats due to scandal of kickbacks and political payoffs. Also receiving a brief mention is their efforts in disqualifying two Israeli Arab leaders for '[denying] the Jewish identity of the state and [consorting] with its enemies."

Ariel Sharon's Shakedown: Of all people, Pat Buchanan writes a surprisingly astute article commenting on the audacity of Ariel Sharon - when our nation is facing huge budget shortfalls and he himself just ignored Bush's calls to pull out of West Bank cities, in demanding $4 billion in new military aid and agreeing to pay off $10 billion Israel owes if they should default. Also mentioned is Israel's weaponry sales to China (he leaves out Israel's sales of technology and intelligence to the Soviet Union during the cold war), the use of spies on the US like Jonathan Pollard, and more.

Penalties Costing An Arm Or A Leg?: Some Palestinians have accused Israeli soldiers of forcing them to choose between having an arm, leg, or nose broken as punishment for violating lockdown. Contrary to what is typical, Israel is reportedly investigating the claims.

Under Fire For The Truth: Robert Fisk writes about how media companies more and more are deciding to stay in tune with Israel and the US government, from Fox News's Jerusalem bureau chief who coauthored Ariel Sharon's biography to Canada's vast journalism empire (over 130 newspapers) run by Israel Asper who tightly controls what his journalists can print about Israel and fires/writes sloppy op-eds when journalists stray from the path he sets.

From Lie To Law: Freelance reporter Paul Martin, previously discovered as having made up reports about Muslims killing and raping Christians in Bethlehem (actually, the level of solidarity between holy land Christians and Palestinians is quite strong, since Christians have been targeted by the occupation as well - even the Latin Patriarch of the Holy Land, Michael Sabbath recently stated that all violence on the part of the Palestinians is a justified result of the occupation, but that's off topic), now appears to be the source of a new, more effective lie. Martin made up quotes supposedly coming from Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, encouraging Palestinians to make attacks in the rest of the world. However, this time the lie was enough to get Canada to declare illegal even Hezbollah's social arm.

Patch Adams In The Holy Land: Dr. 'Patch' Adams, made famous by the movie bearing his name, journeyed to the middle east to try and raise the spirits of Israeli and Palestinian children during the conflict. He and his gang of clowns have toured war-worn areas across the world. Adams is also a "Not In Our Name" signatory against the war with Iraq.

Banning Contrary Reports: Israel's censorship board recently banned a movie by an Israeli propaganda the Jenin operation, stating that it was "propoganda that represents a biased view of the group with whom Israel finds itself at war". For those who aren't aware, the Censorship Board is considered a unit of the Israeli Army; also, the heads of Channel Two and the Israeli Broadcasting Authority are political appointments currently in the control of Ariel Sharon.

Food Warehouse Obliteration: The Israeli government has kept silent on the destruction of a warehouse that was used by the United Nations to hold enough food to feed 38,000 of Gaza's impoverished residents for a month (413 tons of flour, 106 tons of rice, and 117 tons of vegetable oil). So far, Israel won't even pay for replacing the destroyed food. Ah, war on "terrorists"... Funny how no one cares about wanton destruction of buildings until it hits one owned by the UN. Apparently making 4,000 people homeless in one part of Jenin in one operation alone doesn't cut it.

Israel's Demographic Obsession: Counterpunch runs an editorial which analyzes a report by a number of major Israeli academics about the "demographic threat" posed by the growing Palestinian population and the demographic crisis" posed by the world's decreasing Jewish population; how Israel is spending money on trying to encourage people to have more children; and the serious moral issues posed by this demographics focus.

Unemployment Skyrocketting: A new report places Israel's unemployment rate at 350,000 (13%), in contrast to the 10% reported by the government. For a comparison, the US just surged up again to 6%. The report talks about how much if this damage was caused by military spending and a state of constant war. Plus: Israel now #2 in social inequality (gaps in income, property, capital, education, spending, and the extent of poverty), second only to the United States, out of all first-world countries.

Destroying An Entire Neighborhood: Uri Avnery, a former member of the Knesset and current peace activist with Gush-Shalom, writes to current leadership about a document ordering the destruction of an entire neighborhood in Hebron so that the 250 Jews who live in the middle of the 130,000 Palestinian residents have territorial contiguity to the nearest (illegal) settlement of Kiryat Arba. In case you don't remember Kiryat Arba, that's the settlement that fought a (thankfully losing) battle to keep the shrine set up for Baluch Goldstein (the American-born Israeli who killed over 29 Muslims and wounded another 60, who were worshipping in the Cave of the Patriarchs, before being killed himself) that stated, "To the saint Baruch Goldstein... who gave his life for the Jewish people, its Torah and his country; of clean hands and a pure heart".

UN to IDF: Stop Targetting Us!: Dozens of UN Relief and Works Agency workers signed a petition condemning the IDF for its "continuing, violent acts against UN workers by IDF soldiers", etc. Cites as one example the destructruction of a warehouse holding 537 tons of food to be distributed to 40,000 Palestinians.

Burying The Deaf Alive: A British journalist is the only member of the media to show up for the funeral of a 68 year old deaf man whose house was blown up by the Israeli army while he slept inside, despite his family's pleading with them that he was still in there. The house was demolished in accordance with Israel's internationally-banned practice of collective punishments.

Caoimhe Speaks: An amazing report from Caoimhe Butterly herself (the Irish ISM activist who was shot by Israel recently, on the same day UNRWA's local project manager was killed). She mentions how when Hook was trying to evacuate the women and children from the UN compound (many children were there for vaccinations), he was told to "F*** off." by the Israeli army. After a 10-year-old friend of Caoimhe's was shot by a tank, she tried to evacuate the gathered children. When an APC arrived and started shooting at them, 3 children didn't run away; she was shot trying to get them away from the APC. Iain arrived in the hospital while she was there. All Palestinian resistance had stopped 2 hours ago. Plus: Unlike the US media, Haaretz Daily reports on how preposterous the Israeli accusations about why they shot Hook are - how he was shot in the back, how he had been talking to them the whole time, how they stopped the no oneance from reaching him, how tiny the compound was, how noone reported any Palestinian resistance in the area, etc. The UN calls the claims of the Israeli army "incredible". A quick news search shows, as of 4:30 on 11/26/02, no reports of the sort from the US media, only Israel, Palesine, Iran, and Britain. Reuters, however, does mention another incident where Israel held a U.N. staffer at gunpoint for 2 hours and arrested her husband, who was Palestinian.

A Dove For Office: The Israeli Labor Party elects Amram Mitzna, a dovish former general to run against Ariel Sharon. Mizna supports closing most of the colonies (settlements), and opening Israel to negotiations with the Palestinians again. Unfortunately, surveys show he has little chance of winning against Sharon.

Vanunu Up For Early Release: Mordechai Vanunu, the Israeli nuclear technician who revealed some of Israel's nuclear secrets to the world (Israel shamefully continues to deny that they have a nuclear program, despite widespread worldwide acceptance of it - read about Israel's weapons systems here.), and was lured away from Britain where he fled to, to Italy, where he was abducted and shipped back to Israel to be tried in secrecy, is now being brought up again for early release. His lawyers are making the argument that, as an example, Shimon Peres has revealed more about Israel's nuclear weapons now than Vanunu did. For more about Vanunu, read "Our Son, The Rebel".

Shoot the UN: Israeli soldiers shoot and kill Ian Hook, a senior manager of UNWRA in Palestine, who was in charge of a 27 million dollar project to rebuild Jenin from the previous Israeli incursion's damage. The army kept ambulances from reaching him.

Fear and Loathing in Hebron: Unlike the US media which tends to try and excuse away everything Israel does and demonize the Palestinians, the Israeli paper "Haaretz Daily" runs a well-written article on life in Hebron before, during and after the attack. Including the abduction of elderly, destruction of entire city blocks, looting, destroying of city services, mass destruction of agricultural lands, and other elements of mass-scale revenge against the Palestinians for attacking *soldiers*. Plus: Haaretz does bios of the dead (all soldiers and guards), and Sharon restarts the push to raze a strip into the middle of Hebron - home to 130k Palestinians and a whole 250 Israelis - to give them a sheltered walk to the nearest settlement. Never mind the people who live in the scheduled-to-be-destroyed area, of course.

Dutiful US Media: Notice how the US media in general didn't report on a single Palestinian death since the last suicide bombing, despite that many had been killed (as has happened many times recently)? Note that they didn't report on the US's and other countries' citizens who were beaten (and one tortured) to try and have their cameras stolen by the army (one of many times this has happened recently) for taking pictures of them shooting at Palestinians to drive them off from praying on their own land so that they can isolate it with a gigantic wall. Notice how they dutifully reported how "Worshipping Israelis had been massacred" by "Palestinian terrorists". Now, notice that the Israeli government has publicly admitted that the people killed were all soldiers and guards. Watch as the US media dutifully doesn't report the correction. Watch as both the Israelis and the US continue to call those who attack soldiers "terrorists". Sigh...

Everybody loves Arik: Yoel Marcus of Haaretz Daily writes, on the subject of Ariel Sharon's 20 months in office, "The economy is six-feet under. More Israelis have been killed in Mr. Security's day than under any other prime minister. The man has never come up with a peace initiative. We've been turned into untouchables in the eyes of just about the whole world." And yet, everyone loves him "no matter how much he fails." Sound familiar to anyone here?

Penalties For Boycott: The United States government threatens to fine any company that boycotts Israel to protest its human rights record and contining settlement policy, under rarely enforced anti-boycott regulations.

Targetting Iran: Prime Minister Ariel Sharon calls on the US to target Iran "the day after" action against Baghdad ends, and issues its clearest warning yet that Israel will strike back if attacked by Iraqi chemical or biological weapons, regardless of how much the US tries to keep them out of the war. Plus: Sharon's back door to Bush, and 9 days in Iraq.

Amnesty On Jenin and Nablus: Amnesty International issued a report recently documenting "clear evidence" that Israeli solders and their commanders committed war crimes against Palestinians - including unlawful killings and torture - during 3 months last spring in two cities alone. Read the original report here.

The History of Hizbullah: Many of us are already familiar with how Hamas came into being; however, the same is not generally so true for Hizbullah. The managing editor of the Daily Star weighs in to help fill this gap. Courtesy of The Yellow Times.

The Army Must Stop The Olive Thieves: A Haaretz columnist talks about how the military-allowed theft of this year's Palestinian olive bumper crop (olives being the core of the already shattered, 80% unemployment, Palestinian economy) which has largely been allowed by the military to go on appears to be pushing the population one step closer to a Transfer - the polite form for "ethnic cleansing". Plus: Picking olives is now a new form of resistance.

Palestinian Play: Palestinian actresses star in a new play based in symbolism about feminism, in in Gaza. No flying pigs sighted nearby.

Excuse Me?: A former CIA political analyst responds to the Israeli "We're just responding!" reasoning. Plus: From a referenced article, "Children have been shot in other conflicts I have covered - death squads gunned them down in Guatemala, mothers with infants were lined up and massacred in Algeria, and Serb snipers put children in their sights and watched them crumple onto the pavement in Sarajevo - but I have never before watched soldiers entice children like mice into a trap and murder them for sport."

Attacking Olive Pickers: Haaretz finally covers one of the ISM's biggest efforts right now - attempting to stop settlers from attacking, wounding, and killing people picking olives on their ancestral lands. They don't mention the fact that the IDF subsequently declared the area a "Closed military zone", which means that the Palestinians now have to choose between losing their entire harvest (i.e., becoming refugees at least for a year), or being arrested/shot by the IDF.

Shooting Their Own: 18 police and 10 settlers were wounded when settlers violently resisted the dismantling of their illegal outpost at Havat Gilad.

Settlers Attacking Reporters: Settlers of Havat Gilad, scheduled to be dismantled, attacked the unprotected reporters from several countries (including the US and Israel), pelting them with stones, damaging their vehicles and destroying equipment. And these are internationals and Israelis!

Full Gaza invasion is 'just a matter of time': According to Israeli officials (whose army just killed 14 and wounded over 100), an invasion of Gaza will happen; the question is when. Plus: Fatah and Hamas now fighting in what some fear may lead to civil war.

Settlement Product Boycott List: If it's illegal and you know it, save your cash (*clap* *clap*).

Arresting Caterpillar: Sustain Campaign, an organization focusing on justice in the occupied territories. Their top story: Activists from SUSTAIN organize a citizen's arrest on Caterpillar executives for War Crimes complicity.

Manufacturing Anti-Semites: Uri Avnery writes on how the inverse of the principles of Zionism destroying anti-targetedhave held true.

Condemned To Ignorance: UNICEF reports that 250,000 Palestinian children are being denied access to school by the Israeli military.

Trial Begins For Jewish Terror Cell: A Jewish terror cell who tried to blow up an Arab girls school (the first of many planned targets) begins. Who wants to take bets as to whether everyone they knew was rounded up and thrown into a detention center, whether helicopters and tanks attempted "targetted assassinations" on them, and whether their family had their house detonated in reprisal. Also: Compare to Hamas's policy on targetting children.

Israel's Media Now Under Sharon's Personal Control: Tired of people who keep mentioning that Israel is the Middle East's only democracy, and tired of pointing out how most of the middle eastern dictatorships are either propped up by the US or forced by the Israeli occupation? Well, now you can add that not only is this "democracy" run by one person who acts as the commander in chief, the defense minister, the prime minister, leader of the Shin Bet and Mossad, head of the National Security Commission, etc, now has exclusive control over Israel's broadcast media.

A Witness From The Past: Ariel Sharon, appearing on Israeli state-run radio of which he recently seized control of, attacks peace activists by invoking a person from 1900 years ago.

Selective Care: The US is facing flak for threating Iraq for violation of the UN sanctions while letting Israel get away in violation of UN resolutions for 30+ years

Perfecting the Violence of Curfew: A father in the occupied territories talks about trying to deal with curfew with young children.

Activists: Hide Your Email!: Israeli activists take the email address of Palestinian activists, and send out mass mailings from the stolen addresses of inflammatory remarks to thousands upon thousands of people.

Finally!!: Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer instructs the IDF chief of staff to launch an investigation on recent incidents of IDF killings. Any wagers on whether anyone will be punished? I'll offer 10 to 1 against. ;)

The International Solidarity Movement: Reports for the ISM, giving amazing reports from areas where journalists are cut off. To subscribe to regular ISM updates by email, contact palsolidarity-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

What Is Israel Hiding?: Israel turns away a group of US congressional staffers on a joint Jewish-Muslim fact finding mission they had been sent on.

Even Satan Has Not Invented The Revenge Of A Little Child: An open letter to the bomber of Salah Shehadeh.

Arafat's Men Fight Muslim Rebels: Well, that's something I didn't expect to hear...

Palestinian... Lutherans?: Some pesky facts lurk around the edges of the mindset of America's fundamentalist Christian groups who support Israel because they view them as pro-Christian and the Palestinians as anti-Christian. Most of them seem to forget that Arabs trace their ancestry to Ishmael, son of Abraham, who also received God's blessing, according to their own scriptures.

Damaging The Minds Of Babes: The disturbing mental health state of children in the Occupied Territories.

UN Report Word-Mangling: How Israel spun to the UN Report on Jenin to portray it as exonerating them.

The Lavon Affair: A pro-Israel PR firm tries to explain away an incident where in 1954, Israel sent a cell of terrorists to blow up American buildings in Egypt to frame on Egyptians, to (successfully) derail US-Egyptian relationships, which, when initially exposed was not believed for years; even Shimon Peres was involved in trying to cover up the affair, by framing Defense Minister Pinhas Lavon for the entire incident.

Speeches on black flags: Several Israeli speakers talk about how a soldier should recognize a manifestly illegal order, and when one should refuse to obey. Plus: (halfway down) "Objective: to attack the village of Kibiya, occupy it and cause maximal damage to life and property", signed by Major Ariel Sharon, Commander of Special Forces Unit 101 - October 1953.

Hamas: Likud's Little Secret: How Hamas, who Ariel Sharon and many other Israelis of all political boundaries see as one of their greatest threats, was brought into existence by Likud's nurturing.

A Man Worth The Lives Of Children: Read an interview with a man that Israel considered so dangerous that killing him while at the same time taking the lives of 15 other people, most of them very young children, was "one of our greatest successes" to Ariel Sharon. (UPDATE: Memri has pulled the article. Check out our cache)

'If you see a tank, just leave the car and run for it': The nature of the effects of a curfew on an entire population.

A Villa in the Jungle: An excellent article about Arabk's vision of Israel as an isolated pocket of culture in the middle of the barbarous arab world.

Two to three families?: Haaretz reports on the little known fact that many of the settlements being defended are only two or three families in size, some being little more than tiny, remote trailer parks.

Photographic Evidence: Gush Shalom posts pictures of vandalism and destruction of the various government offices in Ramallah.

Survey says:: Poll results on various topics in the occupied territories

Meet Kurdi-bear: A disturbing interview with an Israeli sports fan who was given a bulldozer with minimal training during IDF operations in Jenin, and "made them a stadium in the middle of the camp.
(note: Gush-Shalom refers to Yediot Aharonot as "Israel's most widely circulated tabloid paper"; this refers to the nature of the stories published, which are written more for emotional appeal instead of detachment; this should not be confused with the US use of the term, which generally refers to papers of fictionalized accounts like The Enquirer or the Weekly World News.)

Think Again: Think most suicide bombings are against civilians? Lets see what, of all people, the IDF has to say about it! Then, factor in the sort of fortified positions and defenses soldiers have. Plus: An interview with Salah Sh'hadeh, a man Israel saw as so horrible it was worth throwing away a Hamas cease-fire proposal that would have ended the Intifada, and killing 16 people, most of them very young children, over. (also from a very pro-Israeli site, MEMRI.org) (UPDATE: Memri has pulled the article. Check out our cache)