Islamic Jihad: Fatah security keeps arresting our cadres in Tulkarem - Haneyya calls for end to West Bank political arrests as unity deal culminates

[ 02/05/2011 - 03:05 PM ]

TULKAREM, (PIC)-- The Islamic Jihad Movement said the Fatah-affiliated security apparatuses still arrest its cadres in Tulkarem city, north of the West Bank.

In a press release on Sunday, Islamic Jihad added that this persistence in arresting its cadres raises questions about the future of national relations.

"The political detention and the security coordination [with the Israeli occupation] always aroused considerable controversy at the domestic level and were a major cause of the failed reconciliation efforts previously, the Movement stated.

According to an official from the Movement, the Fatah-affiliated intelligence apparatus has been holding a number of Islamic Jihad members from Ateel village in Tulkarem for the third consecutive time without allowing their families and lawyers to see them.

All detainees held by the Fatah intelligence spent some time in Israeli jails.

The official called for refraining from this policy which is detrimental to the Palestinian people's interests and their internal relations.

He also demanded the Palestinian factions meeting in Cairo to issue a code of ethics prohibiting the political arrest and the security cooperation with the Israeli occupation and protecting the national constants and rights.

Haneyya calls for end to West Bank political arrests as unity deal culminates

[ 02/05/2011 - 03:10 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haneyya has called for a halt on West Bank political arrests as the national rift is about to end in national reconciliation.

Haneyya reiterated while meeting with several newspaper editors and TV stations in the Gaza Strip on Monday that the government in Gaza is willing to pave the way for reconciliation and urged all factions to sign the deal.

The premier also called on the PLO to retract its recognition of Israel and aid the resistance movement.

The statements came as Palestinian Authority security agencies continue an arrest campaign targeting Hamas's men in the West Bank.

Chief security officials in the West Bank have openly rejected the reconciliation deal and vowed to continue arresting Hamas's men.

Several men were summoned Monday for questioning in Nablus in the north. Two were arrested in Nablus and Bethlehem including a university lecturer.
Both of the men were previously detained by Israeli security services.

Separately, in Al-Khalil, PA security militias released journalist Ahmed Mohammed Halaika from Shuyoukh hours after was arrested during an interrogation.

• PA to hold municipal elections despite reconciliation deal

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Egypt to Permanently Open Rafah Crossing, “Israel” Concerned

Local Editor

"Israeli" concerns escalated as Egypt said it will permanently open the Rafah border crossing as part of its plans to ease the blockade on Gaza.

According to Maan news agency, Egypt's Foreign Minister Nabil Al Arabi said his country would take "important steps to help ease the blockade on Gaza in the few days to come".

He said Egypt would no longer accept that the Rafah border - Gaza's only crossing that bypasses "Israel" -- remain blocked, describing his country's decision to seal it off as "shameful."

Egypt has largely kept Rafah closed, opening it exceptionally for humanitarian cases from the besieged Gaza Strip.

In Tel Aviv, a senior "Israeli" official said the Zionist entity is "very concerned" about the implications of the Rafah crossing being thrown open.

Speaking anonymously, the "Israeli" official said Gaza's Hamas rulers had already build up a "dangerous military machine" in northern Sinai which could be further strengthened by opening the border. "We are very concerned about the situation in northern Sinai where Hamas has succeeded in building a dangerous military machine, despite Egyptian efforts to prevent that," he told AFP, without giving further details. "What power could they amass if Egypt was no longer acting to prevent that build up?"

This step comes also on the backdrop of a Hamas-Fatah Palestinian reconciliation that alarmed the "Israeli" enemy too.

Soon after the Hamas-Fatah meeting on reconciliation, "Israeli" Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud Party, denounced the draft agreement of Palestinian unity, and added that "Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas chose peace with Hamas instead of peace with Israel".

Netanyahu said that peace with "Israel" and reconciliation with the Hamas movement cannot go hand in hand, "Israeli" daily, according to Haaretz.

Meanwhile, "Israeli" Foreign Minister Avigdor on Thursday Lieberman on his part expressed fears that Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip would eventually take over the Palestinian Authority-ruled West Bank as well, using, among other things, freed Hamas activists.

The two Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas -with Egypt as their medium- agreed Wednesday to reconcile and form an interim government ahead of elections, after a four-year period of conflicts, in what both sides hailed as a chance to start a fresh page in their national history.

'Rafah crossing to be permanently open!'

"Egypt's foreign minister said in an interview with Al-Jazeera on Thursday that preparations were underway to open the Rafah border crossing with Gaza on a permanent basis.Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi told Al-Jazeera that within seven to 10 days, steps will be taken in order to alleviate the "blockade and suffering of the Palestinian nation."

The announcement indicates a significant change in the policy on Gaza, which before Egypt's uprising, was operated in conjunction with Israel. The opening of Rafah will allow the flow of people and goods in and out of Gaza without Israeli permission or supervision, which has not been the case up until now. Israel's blockade on Gaza has been a policy used in conjunction with Egyptian police to weaken Hamas, which has ruled over the strip since 2007. The policy also aims to reduce Hamas' popularity among Gazans by creating economic hardship in the Strip. Rafah's opening would be a violation of an agreement reached in 2005 between the United States, Israel, Egypt, and the European Union, which gives EU monitors access to the crossing...."

Posted by G, M, Z, or B at 4:57 PM

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Abu Shabak seeks political asylum in Belgium

[ 28/04/2011 - 01:40 PM ]

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Rashid Abu Shabak and Sami Abu Samhadana, two chief figures in the security forces of Mohammed Dahlan, have submitted requests for political asylum in Belgium.

The men are wanted by the Palestinian Authority for involvement in a large-scale corruption ring.

Sources told the PIC that Abu Samhadana landed in Belgium some time back and is now seeking political asylum. Abu Shabak arrived Monday and has since been trapped at the airport amid a bid to get political asylum.

The PA has placed Abu Shabak under investigation and is demanding that he pay seven million dollars amid current investigations to find laundered public funds.

Abu Shabak handed in $150,000 and managed to flee the country to Belgium.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian