News Highlights:
- On Dec. 15th, Israeli forces invaded Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza, destroying 22 homes and leaving 25 Palestinian families homeless.
- On Dec. 13th, Israeli troops at a roadblock shot dead Kamela al Sholi, a university student and mother of two young children.
- Palestinian NGO condemns the murder of Ms. Sholi, calls for an international war crimes tribunal; meanwhile her village turns out for a huge funeral procession.
- Israel, for the third year in a row, has again barred Palestinian President Yasser Arafat from attending Christmas services in Bethlehem.
- Israeli advisers are training U.S. counter-insurgency forces in Iraq, including the use of assassination squads.
Feature:
A special edition of Eyewitness Palestine, the second in a series of monthly reports on the apartheid wall and its impact on Palestinian civilians in their daily lives. Local Palestinians, with Israeli and international activists, are setting up a camp in the village of Deir Ballut, near Salfit, to highlight the devastation caused by the separation wall. The camp starts on Dec. 19th and activities, such as a day of action at local schools and visits by journalists, are aimed at raising international awareness about this “new face of the continuing illegal occupation of Palestinian land”.
Focus on Zionism:
A statement by the leading U.S. anti-war group A.N.S.W.E.R. about the capture of Saddam Hussein and what comes next.