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(IsraelNN.com) Muslim fundamentalists, aligned with Al Qaeda, bombed a Christian bookstore and two Internet cafes in Gaza on Saturday following previous attacks on churches as part of its religious crusade to replace the secular Fatah faction. The "Sword of Islam" terrorist group took responsibility for the bombings of Internet cafes and music stores, which they consider an offense to the Muslim religion because they represent Western society. The same group has issued warnings to Gaza women not to hang out in Internet cafes. The Swords of Islam has bombed more than a dozen Internet cafes in several weeks and destroyed...

Available data suggest that genetic and congenital disorders are more common in Arab countries than in industrialised countries; recessively inherited disorders account for a substantial proportion of physical and mental handicap. Several factors may contribute to the high prevalence of genetically determined disorders: High consanguinity rates 25-60% of all marriages are consanguineous, and the rate of first cousin marriages is high. In addition, isolated subpopulations with a high level of inbreeding exist. Furthermore, in many parts of the Arab world the society is still tribal. This has made the epidemiology of genetic disorders complicated, as many families and tribal groups...

Israel Defense Forces tank shells struck houses in the northern Gaza Strip early Wednesday, killing at least 18 Palestinians and wounding dozens of others. According to witnesses, the 18 victims, most of them women and children, died in their sleep. Khaled Radi, a Palestinian Health Ministry official, said all the dead were civilians. He said seven children and four women were among the dead. Radi also said a least 40 more were wounded, all civilians. Four hospitals are treating the wounded across Gaza. The Israeli military said it was not immediately aware of any shells being fired in the area....

Enraged by the failure of the Arab countries to help Hizbullah and Hamas in their confrontation with Israel, one of the major Palestinian militias announced on Tuesday that it had recruited dozens of women to join the fight against Israel. Dressed in military fatigue and armed with rocket-propelled grenades and Kalashnikov rifles, the women were sent to march in the streets of Gaza City, chanting slogans in support of Hizbullah and Hamas and calling on all Arabs and Muslims to launch a war against Israel. Some of the women fired into the air as they passed near the offices of...

The day after I visited my niece in Tel Aviv, a young man named Sami Hamad blew himself up at a restaurant there. I had no particular reason to think my niece was anywhere near Mayor's Falafel at 1:30 p.m., but I called her anyway, just to make sure. She was on her way to a concert in Jerusalem. Others calls that day resulted not in reassurance but in concern escalating to panic and culminating in grief. Hamad, who was from the West Bank village of al-Gharakah, killed nine people who were working in the restaurant, waiting in line for...

Russia said Tuesday that Hamas could consider supporting the "road map" as well as a land-for-peace Arab proposal, while President Mahmoud Abbas said that he opposed the creation of a Palestinian state with temporary borders and further unilateral withdrawals. Stepping up pressure on Hamas, Israeli leaders warned they'd assassinate the incoming Palestinian prime minister and other Hamas politicians if the Islamic group resumes attacks. With Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at his side, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov defended Russia's invitation to Hamas to visit Moscow, saying it was important that the Quartet position be conveyed directly to the Palestinian...

Three weeks ago, Israeli police found a mosaic floor in an Arab car. The Antiquities Authority has confirmed that the floor be belongs to a previously undiscovered synagogue in the Ramallah area. Researchers from the Israeli Antiquities Authority believe that the mosaic formed part of an ancient synagogue floor because it contained depictions of Jewish symbols, such as the base of a menorah (a seven branched candelabrum), a lulav (palm branch), and dates. Another, no less interesting feature of the mosaic, are the words “Shalom (peace) on Israel” which are inscribed on it. At first, researchers thought the thieves had...

When asked by the media for his thoughts on the Hamas triumph in the Palestinian parliamentary elections, former President Jimmy Carter replied that while they have a terrorist past, at least they're not corrupt. One of the complaints by many in the Middle East was the corruption within the Palestinian Authority and Yasser Arafat's Fatah Party. Arafat himself squirreled away millions of dollars from aid packages that were intended to help the Palestinian people. However, Carter's comment appears to dismiss the years of death and destruction perpetrated by Hamas on the Jewish State. One of the first statements made by...

Excerpt - Officials in the ruling Fatah Party said Thursday that Hamas captured a majority of seats in Palestinian legislative elections, shortly after the militant group claimed victory. The Fatah officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they expected Hamas to win about 70 seats, which would give the Islamists a majority in the 132-seat parliament. They spoke on condition of anonymity because counting in some districts was continuing. [snip]

A prominent politician from the moderate Labor Party joined Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new party Wednesday, the first such defection, adding impetus to a movement that could break a decades-long electoral stalemate over peace policies. The move by Cabinet minister without portfolio Haim Ramon came hours after President Moshe Katsav signed a decree for the dissolution of Parliament, paving the way for a general election on March 28. For procedural reasons, the order will only take effect on December 8. Sharon will stay on as prime minister until elections and should have a free hand to change his Cabinet before...

Has al-Qaida started operating in the Gaza Strip? A leaflet distributed in Khan Yunis over the weekend by al-Qaida's "Palestine branch" announced that the terrorist group has begun working towards uniting the Muslims under one Islamic state. "The Muslim nation has been subjected, through various periods, to conspiracies by the infidels," the leaflet said. "[The infidels] have brought down the Islamic Caliphate, dividing the nation into small and weak states. They also managed to dilute the Islamic and character of the nation."

The Palestinian parliament will debate a no-confidence motion against the government next week for failing to quell a wave of chaos in Gaza spurred by Israel's withdrawal, a legislator said on Monday. If passed the motion would force Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to name a new cabinet and heighten pressure on him to impose order in Gaza - seen as a proving ground for Palestinian hopes of statehood - in the run-up to long-delayed parliamentary elections set for January. Sixteen lawmakers, many from Abbas' Fatah movement, submitted a request last week to hold such a vote on September 26,...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Palestinian authorities carried out their first executions since 2002 on Sunday, killing four convicted murderers in a campaign meant to halt a growing wave of lawlessness but which drew swift condemnation from human rights groups. The executions reflected the tough challenge that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas faces as he tries to impose law and order in the Palestinian areas. Abbas has made public order a top priority, but his forces have been severely weakened by internal rivalries, a lack of resources and years of fighting with Israel. Despite Abbas' efforts to revamp his security forces,...

A crisis erupted in the Palestinian Authority on Monday when Palestinian legislators attacked Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, accusing him of retaining corrupt ministers and including only a few new faces in his new cabinet. Qurei was supposed to present the new lineup to the Palestinian Legislative Council on Monday for approval. However, the vote was delayed until Tuesday following a stormy debate during which many legislators threatened to vote against the proposed cabinet. "The government represented by the minister of the interior is committed to paying utmost sincerity and seriousness to the issue of security. We are determined to go...

                    We’re seeing signs of freedom throughout the Middle East. Unsung VictoriesThe effects of American policy throughout the Middle East are gradually being felt. Last week, Mr. Abbas ordered the ruins of Yasir Arafat's Gaza headquarters cleared away. The Israelis had destroyed the building in 2002, and Mr. Arafat had kept the ruins as a kind of memorial. Suddenly, in a day, it was gone." — New York Times, Sunday, February 13, 2005. In the war against the Islamic fascists and their supporters there have been a number of unheralded victories that have played some role in changing the landscape of...

Abbas integrates brigades Al-Aqsa in the services of safety The president of the Palestinian Authority ordered the integration of the brigades of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs within the Palestinian services of safety, indicated to Monday a person in charge for these services. "The decision was taken to integrate the members of the brigades of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs in the Palestinian services of safety. Abou Mazen (name of war of Mahmoud Abbas) required of us to make it as quickly as possible ", declared with the AFP this person in charge under cover for anonymity.

<p>Many organizations who say they struggle for peace and justice operate in areas being affected by the fighting between Israel and Islamic terrorists every day. These are entities which, among other things, hold dear to themselves the rights of women, children, journalists, minority, ethnic, religious groups and gays. The fact of the matter is that they fight for none of these people. Point of fact, they do not advocate peace but advocate war on the human rights of these mentioned groups of Palestinian Arabs – war continued not by Israel, but by the Palestinian Authority (PA).</p>

Secrets, Donors and the Edward Said Chair Columbia University’s newly established Edward Said Chair in Middle East Studies is noteworthy for several reasons. The position is named for the recently deceased professor best known for his defense of Palestinian “resistence.” And Rashid Khalidi, an overt supporter of Palestinian violence and – according to a just-published biography of Yasir Arafat from Oxford University Press – a former PLO press spokesman[i], has joined Columbia to fill the post. But there is something even more objectionable about this chair: It is anonymously endowed and Columbia University – perhaps against the law – refuses...

The new leader of the ruling Fatah movement is an al-Qaida sympathizer with close ties to such terrorist sponsors as Iran and Syria. Farouq Qaddumi is largely unknown to the 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He hasn't stepped foot in these areas for nearly 40 years. But Qaddumi represents powerful Middle East countries, including Iran and Syria, which regard him as a means to expand their foothold in the Palestinian Authority. For the last 30 years Qaddumi has headed the Palestinian Liberation Organization Foreign Affairs Department. He has made it clear that he sees terrorism...

The World Bank announced Tuesday that it was establishing a fund to aid the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority. In a news release, the World Bank said the "Public Financial Management Reform Trust Fund" was set up with the aim of "sustaining public services in the face of a severe fiscal crisis." More than three years of Mideast violence have devastated the Palestinian economy, but donors are wary of contributing additional funds to the Palestinian Authority, charging widespread corruption and inefficiency. The current Palestinian budget has a huge shortfall, and without foreign aid, payrolls will not be met, Palestinian officials warn. Palestinian...