USA, UN express concern over Israel’s plan for 800 new E. Jerusalem homes
2/6/08
Shortly ahead of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s visit to the United States, both the White House and the United Nations on Monday expressed concern over Israel’s contentious plans to build some 884 homes in eastern parts of the Jerusalem municipality. “Our position on the settlements is that we don’t believe that any more settlements should be built, and we know that it exacerbates the tension when it comes to the negotiations with the Palestinians,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters at a press briefing. According to a transcript released by the White House, Perino also said that the expansion of existing settlements “is part of the problem in terms of Palestinians feeling that that is not acting in good faith when it comes to their negotiations.”
See; http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/989427.html
Court slams gov’t for preventing Gazan students from studying abroad
2/6/08
The Supreme Court on Monday criticized the government for preventing Palestinian students from leaving the Gaza Strip to study abroad and gave it two weeks to review its policy. The court heard a petition filed by a human rights group on behalf of two Palestinian students whose requests to leave Gaza to study in Britain and Germany have so far been rejected by Israel. On Friday, Washington pressed Israel to let seven Gaza Palestinians travel to the United States to study on coveted U.S. government Fulbright fellowships and Israel said it was working on the issue. The U.S. said this week that it was reinstating its Fulbright grants to the seven Gazans after they had previously been withdrawn because of Israel’s refusal to allow them out of the Strip. On Monday, the U.S. State Department said it had erred by not asking Israel sooner to help the seven Gazans leave.
See: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/989395.html
USA imam fighting deportation talks of torture in Israeli detention
2/6/08
A popular Muslim leader facing deportation asked that his children be removed from the New Jersey courtroom Monday before he broke into tears while describing graphic torture he said he was subjected to in Israeli detention. The issue of torture is at the heart of the deportation proceedings against Mohammad Qatanani, a Palestinian who has been the mosque leader of the Islamic Center of Passaic County in Paterson since 1996. It is one of the largest mosques in the northeastern state. The United States government has rejected his bid for permanent U.S. residency, saying Qatanani failed to disclose a 1993 arrest and conviction in Israel for being a member of Hamas on his green card application. Qatanani denies the charges, saying he was detained, not arrested, by the Israelis along with many Palestinians at the time.
See: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/989408.html