Mr. Olmert says the Ariel settlement is part of Israel and will remain so forever. He says he hopes he will be able to insure that Ariel's territorial contiguity with Israel will be formalized in a border agreement by the year 2010.

At the same time Mr. Olmert says he intends to pursue negotiations based on the "road map peace plan," which calls on Israelis and Palestinians to reach a negotiated settlement towards a two-state solution.

Ariel which is about 60 kilometers north of Jerusalem lies in the heart of the West Bank. In recent days Mr. Olmert has said he intends to evacuate some West Bank settlements and move settlers who live in those settlements, to three large settlement blocs in the West Bank, including Ariel.

Akiva Aldar, a columnist with the daily Ha'aretz newspaper says the plan is popular with some Israelis who like the idea of unilaterally withdrawing from some Palestinian territory, and who do not see Palestinians as a reliable negotiating partners.

"I think you have all kinds of possible scenarios here that will be based on a platform that is suggesting interim arrangements and agreements and unilateralism, and the same kind of disengagement that does not require difficult decisions such as final status settlements, refugees and especially Jerusalem," he said.

Mr. Olmert says he has briefed U.S. officials about his plan to unilaterally draw Israel's final borders. The Israeli prime minister has said that since the militant group Hamas won Palestinian parliamentary elections Israel does not have a Palestinian partner to negotiate with. However, in a sign that Mr. Olmert may be softening his position, a key ally of Mr. Olmert, former Prime Minister Shimon Peres, held talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday in Jordan.

U.S. officials, including President Bush, say they believe Israel will hold onto some settlement blocs in any agreement with the Palestinians, but that Israel should halt any further settlement construction in the West Bank, including construction that links large settlement blocs like Ariel to Israeli territory.

The latest call escalates an appeal earlier today which advised British nationals against all travel to the Palestinian territories following what it said were "serious threats" against British and US nationals, according to the Jerusalem consulate.

"We are advising against all travel to the occupied territories following serious threats against UK and US nationals," a consulate spokeswoman said.

Britain had previously advised against non-essential travel to all the territories except for the West Bank town of Ramallah but the British cultural centre there was ransacked by hundreds of angry protestors.

The anger followed Britain's withdrawal of three monitors from a prison run with Anglo-US supervision in the West Bank town of Jericho just minutes before a massive Israeli assault.

Around 180 Palestinians were taken into Israeli custody during the raid on the prison compound in Jericho, a military spokesman said.

"We have detained around 180 people at this point. I stress that right now they're not officially under arrest," he told Agence France-Presse.

Israeli troops backed by tanks and helicopters stormed the prison compound to seize militants held over the assassination of an Israeli minister in 2001.

"We haven't arrested any of those we've come to arrest yet," the army spokesman added.

The raid sparked a wave of violent demonstrations against British and US targets in Gaza City and the West Bank town of Ramallah as well as the British consulate in the Gaza Strip and a branch of Britain's HSBC bank in Ramallah.

Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas has appealed for calm and urged Palestinians to refrain from attacking foreign and EU interests in the Palestinian territories.

"President Abbas calls on all Palestinian people not to turn the protest against the Israeli attack on the Jericho prison into violent action against cultural centres of the European Union or any other country," a statement said.

Abbas "regretted the violence in Gaza and warned against exploiting feelings of anger", the statement added, saying that the Palestinian Authority took all responsibility for protecting the foreign buildings.

Copyright AFX News Limited 2005.

The United States said it was not part of any plot. But U.S. officials told Reuters Washington had given Israel a copy of a March 8 letter it sent to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas saying monitors could be withdrawn at once unless security conditions were met.

Israel launched its surprise raid on the prison minutes after U.S. and British monitors abandoned the building.

A day-long Israeli siege resulted in the capture of Saadat and sparked attacks on U.S. and British buildings by angry Palestinians and several kidnappings of foreigners.

Israeli Major-General Yair Naveh said there had been no coordination with the United States and Britain, but that Israeli forces began preparing for the raid weeks ago, after learning that international monitors planned to leave.

Naveh said Israel conducted observation missions and pre-positioned enough forces in the area to mount the raid at short notice.

In the March 8 letter, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, the United States and Britain told Abbas that the monitors would be withdrawn "with immediate effect" unless the Palestinian Authority addressed their concerns.

They also expressed concern that Hamas Islamic militants, who won Palestinian elections in January, would free Saadat and the other prisoners after forming a new government. Abbas had also said publicly he would be prepared to free Saadat.

"The pending handover of governmental power to a political party that has repeatedly called for the release of the Jericho detainees also calls into question the political sustainability of the monitoring mission," the letter said.

Saadat was the leader of a Palestinian faction accused of killing an Israeli cabinet minister in 2001.

He was jailed in Jericho in 2002 under a U.S.-brokered deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority that called for the United States and British to monitor them.

The last of 11 foreigners kidnapped by Palestinian groups in response to Israel's destruction of the prison with tanks, bulldozers and missiles were released yesterday as relative calm returned to the occupied territories.

But there remained anger and suspicion among ordinary Palestinians and their leaders that Britain colluded in the Israeli attack to seize Ahmed Saadat, accused of masterminding the 2001 assassination of Israel's tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi in a Jerusalem hotel, and five other Palestinians held in the Jericho jail under international supervision.

British sources said yesterday the monitors were withdrawn after a "specific and credible threat" earlier this year against their lives. The sources said it was the most serious of concerns that included fears of roadside bombs, kidnappings and being caught up in a riot inside the jail.

But the Palestinian leadership accused Britain of using security as an excuse to pull out of the agreement to monitor the jail because it does not want to deal with a Hamas government, and of cooperating with Israel in its attack on the prison.

Touring the wreckage of the jail yesterday, the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, called the raid an "unforgivable crime" and suggested Britain and the US had coordinated their withdrawal so Israel could send in tanks as soon as the monitors left.

"I'm giving the facts. They [the monitors] left at 9.20am and the Israelis came in at 9.30am. How can we explain that?" he asked.

Israel says that on Friday the British and Americans told Israel that the monitors would be leaving but did not specify a date. Israel immediately put its forces on alert, ready for an assault on the jail.

Over the weekend the British consul general, John Jenkins, contacted Mr Abbas's office four times to press him to act on a letter sent a week ago by the US and Britain demanding their security concerns be addressed.

Mr Jenkins was unable to talk to Mr Abbas directly because the Palestinian leader was in Gaza negotiating with Hamas over a new government and then travelling to Jordan. But British sources say the Palestinian president's office assured Mr Jenkins that Mr Abbas understood the gravity of the situation.

The monitors were pulled out on Tuesday morning and Israel began its assault on the prison minutes later.

Mr Blair defended the timing and manner of the withdrawal of the monitors in the Commons yesterday. "The idea that this was precipitous or uncalled for or un-thought through is simply wrong," he said.

"For the past three months we have been warning the Palestinian Authority that the security of these monitors was at risk, that the procedures at this particular detention centre were not adequate and proper."

But Ghassan Khatib, a Palestinian cabinet minister, said the British pullout was not about security but to avoid the embarrassment of Hamas carrying through a pledge to release Mr Saadat and his men.

"We are going to have a Hamas government and I don't think Britain felt able to continue these arrangements. But Britain didn't say that. They tried to accuse the Palestinians of not fulfilling their obligations on security," he said.

The timing of the raid was also questioned in Israel by opponents of the acting prime minister, Ehud Olmert, ahead of a general election in a fortnight.

The strongest challenge to his Kadima party comes from the rightwing Likud party. Israeli commentators speculated that after Mr Olmert pledged to remove Jewish settlers from some parts of the West Bank he needed to appear to be tough on the Palestinians. They also said the acting prime minister could not risk Mr Saadat walking free just before the election.

Yesterday Mr Olmert said the captured Palestinians would be put on trial for Mr Zeevi's killing. "They will be indicted according to Israeli law and they will be punished as they deserve," he said.

Timeline

· March 8
US/UK write to Palestinian leader saying they will withdraw monitors unless concerns are addressed.

· March 9
Israel says it wants monitors to stay but if withdrawn it will capture men wanted for killing Israeli minister. UK and US tell Israel monitors will withdraw, but do not specify time.

· Weekend
British consul calls Palestinian leader four times seeking commitment to act on the UK and US warning.

· Tuesday
UK monitors pull out of Jericho jail without telling Palestinians. Minutes later Israeli troops move in.

Across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Palestinians went on strike over an Israeli operation that has boosted interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ahead of March 28 general elections.

Israeli security forces were on high alert after Ahmed Saadat's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Islamist militant group Hamas promised retaliation.

Israeli forces used tanks and bulldozers to tear apart the Jericho jail on Tuesday to grab Saadat, accused by Israel of overseeing the 2001 assassination of Israeli cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi claimed by the PFLP.

Speaking at the destroyed jail, Abbas accused British and U.S. monitors supervising the incarceration of Saadat and five other militants who were detained of complicity with Israel.

"What happened is an ugly crime which cannot be forgiven and a humiliation for the Palestinian people and a violation of all the agreements. Their arrest by Israel is illegal," Abbas said.

The United States and Britain, citing security concerns, withdrew the monitors on Tuesday and Israeli forces moved in minutes later. Both Washington and London denied cooperating with Israel.

Israel said it had to act once the monitors withdrew and it described the raid as a powerful message to Hamas, which is forming a government after winning a January election. Washington and London denied cooperating with Israel.

"We are not going to compromise with terror. We are proud that we have imposed justice on these killers without hurting unfairly any other person who was not involved," Olmert told reporters during a meeting with police chiefs in Jerusalem.

SECURITY CREDENTIALS

Political rivals and newspapers in Israel agreed the 10-hour operation was a success for Olmert, strengthening his security credentials before the election his centrist Kadima party is expected to win.

Abbas appealed to Palestinians not to abduct foreigners or damage international property in response to the raid, in which a Palestinian guard and a prisoner were killed.

A group of foreigners kidnapped in Gaza were released on Wednesday.

They included three journalists -- two French nationals and a South Korean -- and a Canadian whose seizure had not previously been known.

They were among 10 foreigners taken in Palestinian areas. The six others were freed soon after they were snatched.

In Gaza, shops were shuttered and many children returned home after they arrived at closed schools. Shops in major West Bank towns were also closed.

A Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, said the raid reinforced the group's decision not to recognize Israel and disarm.

"This crime will not pass without a reaction," Zuhri said at a news conference in Gaza with various Palestinian faction members and Hamas prime minister-designate Ismail Haniyeh.

The raid was another headache for Abbas, already shaken by Hamas's election win. Hamas is sworn to Israel's destruction.

Abbas demanded the return of Saadat and the five others. Olmert said they would be tried and "punished as they deserve".

Saadat, 51, was sent to Jericho jail in 2002 under an internationally-brokered deal that ended an Israeli siege that year of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah, where the PFLP leader was taking refuge.

The PFLP, one of the smaller groups waging a Palestinian uprising, said it shot Zeevi, a far-right former general, to avenge the killing of its top leader, Abu Ali Mustafa, in an Israeli missile strike.

Israel's seizure of the gray-haired Saadat followed suggestions by Hamas and Abbas that he might be freed.

"This crime, this attack, will cause retaliation", Hammad said, "Our people will rescue all of the detainees, they will rescue Sa'adat".

"The Zionist enemy chose to arrest Sa'adat, and his comrades, we will abduct soldiers to swap them with Palestinian detainees". Hammad added, "Hamas is capable of protecting all of the Palestinian factions, and the Palestinian people".

Also, Hammad questioned the U.S and British guarantees and intentions especially after the British and U.S guards in the Jericho prison compound left the area shortly before the Israeli army invaded Jericho and surrounded the prison.

"This is a conspiracy, a big conspiracy headed by the United States and the Britain", Hammad stated, "They conspired with Israel in order to arrest Sa'adat and his comrades".

Meanwhile, the PFLP announced that it launched the "Red Arrow" in retaliation to the attack and the arrest of its secretary general.

The Abu Ali Mustafa brigades, the military wing of the PFLP, fired several homemade shells at a military post, east of the Gaza Strip.

The Brigades said that the firing of the shells is part of a series of attacks against Israeli military targets in retaliation to the arrest of Sa'adat and his comrades.

"If they harm Sa'adat, we will retaliate hard, and strike back the same way we did after soldiers assassinated Abu Ali Mustafa", a statement released by the brigades reads.

Abu Ali Mustafa, Secretary General of the PFLP, was killed in a targeted assassination by two rockets fired from an Israeli helicopter as he sat at his desk in Ramallah on August 27, 2001.

He was one of the most senior Palestinian political leaders killed by Israel. The PFLP renamed their armed wing in the Occupied Palestinian Territories after him, as the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, while he was succeeded as Secretary General by Ahmad Sa'adat.

In September 1999, after 32 years of exile, Abu Ali Mustafa returned to the West Bank under a deal struck between Yasser Arafat and Israel's Prime Minister, Ehud Barak. In July 2000 he was elected as the new general secretary of the PFLP after, George Habash, retired.

Moreover, Head of Al Mezan Center for Human Rights Esam Younis said this US declaration is not new, especially when the American Administration always provides political and lawful protection and cover for the Israeli occupation's crimes against Palestinians in the occupied territories.

For his part, advocate and analyst Karim Nashwan said that this report is not authentic and silly. In addition, it contradicts with all international organizations' reports released that confirmed that Israel violated human rights laws and described the Israeli acts as a state terrorism.

He mentioned the Jericho jail raid as a clear-cut example that Israel violated human rights by storming Palestinian territories and arresting Palestinians from jails dominated by the PA, describing it as an Israeli violation of human rights, international law and all previous signed agreements.

For his part, Ashraf Al Ajrami agreed with Nashwan and said that US Administration is adopting a double standard policy. He said," By the time the US condemns certain countries for violations of human rights, it violates these rights and it ignored what is happening here in Palestine and the crimes committed by the last occupation state in the twenty-first century which is Israel."

"It is not difficult to show the Israeli violations of human rights against Palestinians because they are doing these activities on a daily basis by killings, land confiscation and arrests campaigns," he added.

Moreover, the Israeli newspaper Yedeouth Ahronoth quoted excerpts from the US annual report.

The report's writers mentioned Israel as regards the security forces crackdown on Palestinian detainees, bad circumstances in certain jails and detention camps, social and formal racial discrimination practiced against Arab-Israelis as well as personal and civil discrimination against citizens who are not Jews or orthodoxies, social violence, and discrimination against women. In addition, the report discovered women trade, persecuting foreign workers, discrimination against handicapped and governmental corruption.

Whereas, Israeli violations and preaches on the ground prove the contrary to the report's account that proved that Israel is clear and above suspicion and it is not included among countries that violate human rights and laws. Furthermore, a recent report about the Israeli violations of human rights and laws mentioned that Israel violated human beings, stones, and trees in the Palestinian territories since the outbreak of Al Aqsa Intifada on September 28, 2000 until February 28, 2006 namely 4298 Palestinians were killed by Israeli occupation forces (IOF), and 46353 Palestinians were wounded 8435 of them received field treatment. The number of children killed less than 18 years old was 801 children. In addition, the number of Palestinians who were extra-judicially executed reached 394 Palestinians.

Moreover, according to the PNIC's report released by the State Information Service (SIS), the number of the prisoners and the detainees who are still imprisoned reached 9200, 560 of them were imprisoned before Al-Aqsa uprising distributed among 28 detention camps. Whereas, the number of the school and university students prisoners reached 1389, and 319 children out of this number are held in custody.

1200 Male prisoners suffer from chronic diseases. The number of the Female prisoners reached 116, whereas, 67 prisoners of them are tried, 43 are on remand and 6 prisoners are administrative detainees.

The number of the buildings belongs to the public sector and the security facilities that were completely and partially are 645.

PNIC's report referred also that the gross total of the houses that were completely and partially damaged reached 71470. 7628 houses of them were damaged completely, 4785 of them locate in Gaza Strip. Whereas, the number of the houses that were damaged partially reached 63842, and 23622 houses of them locate in Gaza Strip.

While detained under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Ahmad Saadat and his four co-detainees have been held under the supervision of guards provided by the UK and US in accordance with an agreement reached between these states and Israel and the PA. They, together with a sixth Palestinian detainee, Fuad Shubaki, wanted by Israel on charges of smuggling weapons, are the principal targets of today's Israeli military action and are particularly at risk of being killed by Israeli forces.

This morning, after US and UK guards withdrew from Jericho Prison, Israeli forces moved in and surrounded the prison. They demolished its walls with armoured bulldozers and, using megaphones, called on the inmates to surrender. There are reports that one Palestinian guard and one Palestinian prisoner were killed as the Israeli forces moved in. Israeli officials say they took action in order to arrest Ahmad Saadat and his co-detainees because the PA was intending to release them.

The UK and US contributed to perpetuating an extra-legal arrangement over the past four years during which Ahmad Saadat and his co-detainees were held arbitrarily by the PA. The sudden departure of the US and UK guards today contributed to the escalation of the situation that we are currently witnessing.

Amnesty International holds the Israeli authorities responsible for the safety of the detainees and staff in Jericho Prison. The organization reiterates its call on the Israeli authorities to end their policy of assassinations and excessive use of lethal force.

"This project has received all the necessary authorisation and work on the foundation began several days ago," an unnamed official in the Israeli prime minister's office has been quoted as saying.

The decision to start building was taken by the Higher Zoning Council for Settlements, an annex to the Israeli Army's civil administration.

Demographic continuity

Israeli officials contacted by Aljazeera.net denied that the construction of the police headquarters was connected to the large settlement project.

"We are only planning to build a police headquarters and some roads, there has been no decision to start working on the settlement itself," said Mark Regev, spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry.

Regev said that Israel would start building sooner or later in order to create "Jewish demographic contiguity between Jerusalem and Maali Adomim."

"This is consistent with the pledges President Bush gave to Prime Minister Sharon a few years ago."

During Sharon's visit to the US in 2004, Bush said demographic realities ought to be taken into consideration in a final settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.

Since then, Israel has interpreted Bush's statements as giving it carte blanch for unrestricted expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, especially in the vicinity of Jerusalem.

Theft accusations

Israel calls the expansion "natural growth".

However, Palestinian officials say that Israel is embarking on a new phase of "large-scale theft of our land".

Khalid al-Qawasmi, the outgoing Palestinian Authority (PA) minister of local governance, said: "They are stealing our land in broad daylight. They are killing any remaining possibility for the creation of a viable Palestinian state. And they are doing it as America and Europe are watching passively," he said.

He told Aljazeera.net that the PA was in contact with the Quartet, which is made up of the UN, US, EU and Russia, over the issue, adding that if the international community allowed Israel to carry out the new settlement expansion plan, the two-state solution would be doomed.

Al-Qawasmi accused Israel of deceiving the international community.

"They say one thing to the foreign media, but does the opposite on the ground," he said.

Olmert vow

Israel has been saying for years that it intends to build settlements in the area between Jerusalem and Maali Adomim.

The settlement, says Khalil Tufakji, a settlement expert at the Arab Studies' Centre in East Jerusalem, will cut off Jerusalem from its Arab surroundings and kill any chance for a viable Palestinian state in the West Bank.

"This will also effectively cut off the southern West Bank (the Hebron and Bethlehem regions) from the central and northern regions," Tufakji said.

Meanwhile, Ehud Olmert, the acting Israeli prime minister, has said he will keep Ariel, the second largest settlement in the West Bank, "within Israel" in any prospective settlement with the Palestinians.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I want to be clear on this: The Ariel block will be an inseparable part of the State of Israel under any situation," he told settlers and supporters at the settlement on Tuesday.

Ariel was built in the heartland of the West Bank south West of Nablus.

Olmert visited the Ariel to inaugurate a water main that bypasses Palestinian population centres, which Israeli officials say underscores his determination to annex the settlement to Israel.

But while Salah eventually complained of the same treatment, the consular official said he never observed any marks or other signs of mistreatment, Priestad said.

The hearing was meant to determine whether Salah's statements to Israeli security forces following his arrest in 1993 can be used as evidence in his US trial for operating a 15-year racketeering conspiracy in which he provided material support to terrorists. Instead, "this is an attempt to put the government of Israel on trial," Assistant US Attorney Joe Ferguson told the court. Salah's lawyers have requested reams of documents from the Israeli government to support his claim that he was tortured and forced to make false confessions about his involvement with Hamas, which the US has designated a terrorist organisation.

Prosecutors have argued that while Israel has mistreated prisoners, Salah was given special treatment as an American and that his allegations of torture are nothing but self-serving lies.

Statement obtained through torture are inadmissible in US courts. In order to undermine Salah's claims, the prosecution called two agents of the Israeli security agency who took part in Salah's 1993 interrogations. The six-and-a-half days of testimony were held behind closed doors, but a transcript edited of classified information will be made available to the public in a few weeks.

Salah's defence team is attempting to undermine the credibility of those witnesses by showing that Israeli agents have a history of lying under oath to hide the fact that the use of torture is widespread. On Tuesday, they introduced their first witness, Jonathan Kuttab, a renowned Palestinian human rights lawyer who told the court that Israel's general security service has often lied about their use of sleep deprivation, humiliation, threats, isolation, hoods and other methods to break the will of political prisoners.

Kuttab said his group, Al Haq, had interviewed 700 Palestinian detainees and found that 94 per cent had been tortured or ill-treated.

Speaking to reporters outside of the courtroom, Salah's attorney said that regardless of whether the judge believes Salah was tortured, there are sufficient undisputed facts to show that his constitutional rights were not protected.

Israeli records show that Salah was interrogated for 53 days before he was informed of the charges against him was not given the opportunity to speak to a lawyer for 13 days after his arrest.

"The uncontested fact of the time he spent in detention and the fact that he wasn't given a lawyer should require the statements should be suppressed," Michael Deutsche said.

Murdered and wounded Americans by Israeli forces come from most major faiths, including Judaism. This places all of our citizens traveling to Israel at grave risk, especially our Jewish citizens who are more likely to travel to Israel than any other group. Government inaction and apathy toward the targeting of Americans endangers us all.

Whether the Roadmap to Peace, sanctioning Saddam for the same crimes Sharon also visited upon the Occupied Territories or fining Hamas for its 'terrorist' side when Israel's first leaders engaged in the same, the United States government demonstrates predictable consistency when dealing with issues or policies pertaining to Israel. Double standards permeate, including the same transparent hypocrisy applied to our murdered citizens. American lives do count if Palestinians kill Americans in Israel or the territories it occupies. American lives do not count if the murderer is Israeli.

The following six events illustrate this double standard:

How the US Government treats the murder of Americans when Palestinian or Arab people are responsible:

A) Three American contractors were killed and another wounded on October 15, 2003 when a roadside bomb tore through a van that was part of a diplomatic convoy traveling through the Gaza Strip. US Officials were on the ground investigating within 24 hours and several members of congress expressed outrage.

B) July 31, 2002 four Americans were killed when a remote-controlled bomb detonated in the Frank Sinatra Cafeteria at Hebrew University. The US Government issued an immediate statement and sent a team to investigate. The bombing was front page news.

C) August 9, 2001, Jerusalem, Israel. A suicide bombing at Sbarro's in Jerusalem killed American Shoshana Greenbaum and several Israelis. The US Government issued immediate outrage, teams were sent to investigate and this bombing stayed top of mind in the media nearly a week.

The list goes on.

How the US Government treats the murder of Americans when Israelis are responsible:

Contrast the above well publicized events and responses with the following crimes against Americans from an overlapping period, 2002 - 2004. You'll find two glaring differences.

1) Who is committing the crime.

Above it is Palestinians attacking Israeli targets. Below Israeli soldiers attacking American citizens.

2) Intimate knowledge of who is attacked.

Above, the American victims were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Americans were not specifically targeted.

Below, these are intimate attacks, meaning the soldier's knew they were attacking and killing Americans, not Palestinian militia or terrorists.

April 5, 2003: Israeli occupation forces open fire on a group of identified and unarmed peace activists wearing florescent vests, unarmed hands in full view standing beside the road and allowing them to pass. After passing, the IOF soldiers stopped, turned around and opened fire with machine guns on the international assembly, dispensing thirty rounds. American citizen and twenty-four year old peace activist Brian Avery was shot in the face and left for dead. Attempted contacts by Avery, his family and others to their congressional representatives elicited personal sympathy but publicly and politically each refused to address the issue. Little mention found its way into the US mainstream media.

March 15, 2003: Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old senior at the Evergreen State University in Washington State was murdered, crushed to death trying to save the property of a man, Rafahinian, Dr. Samir Nasrallah. The tactic of razing Palestinian homes in Israel and the Occupied territories is a form of collective punishment, a war crime according to International Law. Wearing a florescent vest and in full view of the D-9 driver as he ran his bulldozer over her body twice, crushing her to death. Several meters away, tanks and IOF soldiers watched. No one intervened.

Summary of
American Citizens Killed or Wounded By Israel
Still Awaiting Justice

Brian Avery
(Injured April 5, 2003): Israeli occupation forces open fire on a group of identified and unarmed peace activists wearing florescent vests, unarmed hands in full view standing beside the road and allowing them to pass. After passing, the IOF soldiers stopped, turned around and opened fire with machine guns on the international assembly, dispensing thirty rounds. Avery, shot in the face, survived.
Leon Klinghoffer (October 7, 1985)- killed on the Achille Lauro, a cruise ship hijacked by 'Palestinians'. Abu Abbas, the Mossad asset who shot Klinghoffer was apprehended in 2003 by US forces in Iraq. Interestingly in Gaza during 1996 Abbas, who was held up as a great 'terrorist' catch offered an apology to the family of Klinghoffer and was not apprehended at that time.

Rachel Corrie
(March 15, 2003) killed by a bulldozer in Gaza. Rachel Corrie was murdered trying to save the property of a man, Rafahinian, Dr. Samir Nasrallah. The tactic of razing Palestinian homes in Israel and the Occupied territories is a form of collective punishment, a war crime according to International Law. Rachel was attempting to prevent this from happening when the D-9 driver ran over her twice, crushing her 23 year old body beneath it.

Suraida Saleh,
(April 3, 2003) at 21 years old this Washington DC native and mother was shot dead by the IOF soldiers disguised as Arabs while sitting, stopped in her car holding her 9 month old baby in her lap with her husband Morad at her side. Morad, a journalist with the Palestinian Broadcasting Company was hit with five bullets: two in his head, two in his shoulder, and one in his hand. The Israelis, assuming that all of the occupants were dead, left the scene. Morad regained consciousness to find his wife dead, slumped over their child. Miraculously, little Muhsin was unharmed. To date, US State Department has done nothing.
Dr. Khaled Salah (54) and his son, Mohammed Salah (16) were murdered July 6, 2004, in their home at 3 AM in front of the mother and two siblings in the West Bank by Israeli Occupation Forces. The Salahs identified themselves as American citizens before being shot. Dr. Salah established the Department of Electrical Engineering at An-Najah University in Nablus. His eldest son was attending university in Boston at the time his father and brother were shot. The US State Department has done nothing.
The sailors and marines of the USS Liberty 34 sailors and marines killed and 171 injured of the USS Liberty (June 8, 1967) in an unprovoked attack on the lightly armed intelligence ship, sailing in international waters off the coast of Egypt. For nearly 39 years the survivors and families have attempted to seek justice and an official Naval inquiry into the attack. Attempts to tell their story through films and books incurred condemnation from US Government personnel, threats by groups loyal to Israel, slander and libel against the crew, calling them anti-Semitic for seeking justice. To date the US Government refuses to investigate this attack, an act of war defined by international law. Through several administrations congressmen, senators and presidents refuse to support the USS Liberty crew, its families and the survivors publicly, preferring instead to safeguard Israel's reputation. In June 2005, like the Corrie family, the survivors filed an official war crimes report with the Secretary of Defense. To date, the US State Department, US Congress, US Senate and the Bush Administration have done nothing.

Rachel is not the first woman killed under the blade of an American made and supplied Caterpillar bulldozer. Twelve days prior on March 3, 2003 another Caterpillar bulldozer driven by an Israeli soldier killed a nine-month pregnant Palestinian woman, Nuha Sweidan (33). Mrs. Sweidan bled to death under the rubble as she cradled her 18-month-old daughter. Inside of her womb, her soon to be born child was also squashed before it had its first breath of life.

Question: What threat could an unarmed pregnant woman in her ninth month possibly pose? She can barely move! Mrs. Sweidan was not a threat. Nor was Rachel.

Rachel's death was ridiculed in the Wall Street Journal's online edition and by several news commentators and comedians.

Following, a U.S. congressional resolution demanding an independent inquiry into Rachel's death was buried in committee for months before it expired at the end of the 108th Congress, leaving the Israeli military's investigation - which cleared itself of any wrongdoing - as the only official investigation. In March 2005 the Corrie family took matters into their own hands and filed a lawsuit against the State of Israel and Caterpillar. The US government remains silent.

July 6, 2004: Dr. Khaled Salah (54) and his son, Mohammed Salah (16) were murdered in their home at 3 AM in front of the Mrs. Salah and two of their children in the West Bank by Israeli Occupation Forces. Soldiers came to the door, woke the family up. Dr. Salah identified himself and his family as American citizens before being shot. Despite his American citizenship, he was murdered anyway. Dr. Salah was in Nablus to establish the Department of Electrical Engineering at An-Najah University. At the time, his eldest son was attending university in Boston.

Dr. Salah and his son were killed after the cessation of hostilities between the Israeli military and the local armed resistance. Family and medical volunteers on the scene that night report Mohammed Salah died because Israeli military officials refused to allow medical personnel access to the boy, who lay bleeding on the floor of the family home. Despite a call placed to the US consulate the night of the attack, neither Consul General David Pearce nor any other US diplomatic officials investigated the Israeli military's targeting of a family with US resident and citizenship status. To date, the US State Department has done nothing.

Question: If the US Consulate doesn't help citizens that have been shot, (how much more trouble can a person get in than life and death?) why do we have consulates?

Meanwhile: The Jerusalem Post reported in April 2005 the Israeli Navy awarded commendations to members of a military unit for their 'bravery' in Nablus including the July 2004 murder of Dr. Salah and his 16-year old son Mohammed.

Question: How much bravery does it take to kill an unarmed American man in the middle of the night and stand by while his son bleeds to death in front of you?

Is this a trend?

Does the United States give Israel a blank check to murder Americans? To date I have been unable to find an instance where the nation of Israel, its military or Israeli vigilantes responsible for murdering or maiming Americans have been held accountable. Consider the consequences.

Every American killed or harmed by Israel, not defended by the United States increases the chances that other Americans visiting Israel on business, pleasure or humanitarian causes will be murdered.

How many more American citizens must die before we, the American people take action? Based upon the e-mails I receive from Jewish readers, more and more are questioning what is happening in Israel. This has prompted many to bypass the approved tourist routes designed for indoctrination and careful viewing of the approved and choreographed 'realities on the ground' in favor of seeing for themselves what is really going on. By doing so, they place themselves at the mercy of the IOF. This threat of harm or death, actionable and never prosecuted, serves Israel's interests as a form of censorship through fear. But it doesn't serve the best interests of the United States which gives 40% of our entire international aid budget to Israel every year. Shouldn't we see what our money is being spent on and how our machines including bulldozers are used? Our government should be defending us, not protecting Israel's rice paper reputation from rain.

Without a penalty for killing Americans, what is to stop an Israeli soldier from taking out his bad day on any American in his path? Being an American is no protection in Israel. Dr. Salah's murder in July 2004 by Israeli Occupation Forces illuminates how little American citizenship means in Isreal. Knowing he and his family to be an American citizen with US residence, IOF soldiers did not hesitate to shoot him and his son. And even by off chance these murders were in error, the fact the IOF soldiers prevented and withheld from an American child medical help that may well have saved his life prove intent. They did not care that he and his family are/were American citizens. They did not care because the American Government provides no penalty, no consequence to Israel for killing our citizens. Adding insult to injury, the Israeli government awarded these soldiers commendations! Still, the US Government remained silent.

Had the US Government required Israel arrest and try the men responsible for the murders of American citizens Rachel Corrie and twenty-one year old mother Suraida Saleh in 2003, Dr. Salah and his son Mohammed most likely would not have been murdered. The cost to Israel and the soldiers pulling the trigger and preventing medical care would have been too high. These young women's deaths, a college student and a young American mother shot holding her nine-month old baby in her arms, lead to the conclusion, in Israel: killing Americans brings less retribution than mistreating a dog. Why, given the US government's actions, think otherwise?

how many have we sacrificed?

How many Americans have died at the hands of Israelis? My searched turned up 39 with 173 wounded. How many of these thirty-nine murdered and 173 injured have received justice from the US Government?

One, sort of.

Only in one case have the murderers been arrested or reparations made, though not by the responsible party. The blame, condemnation and reparations all came from those employed to carry out the plan, not the employer. The party ultimately responsible for the death, in this case, Israeli intelligence, (Mossad) has not been held responsible for the deliberate murder of an American citizen. Worse, our citizen died for a PR stunt and our government continues to perpetuate that stunt rather than the truth.


The Semi-Exception
The case is of sixty-nine year old American citizen Leon Klinghoffer who was murdered aboard the Achille Lauro, October 7, 1985. His family did receive a pseudo justice, reparations and scattered arrests throughout the years from those blamed. The catch here is 'those blamed'. Those ultimately responsible, the people who ordered, orchestrated and funded the hijacking, have not been held accountable by the US government for the murder of our citizen.

Why is Klinghoffer's situation different? Some will say because he's Jewish. It's possible but doubtful. The instructions from Mossad to the hijackers said "make it bad, to show the world what lay in store for other unsuspecting citizens if Palestinian demands were not met." Handicap, white and elderly, Klinghoffer made the perfect victim, plus he offer little resistance. Whether they knew his faith is inconclusive.

More likely, based upon the actions of the US in dealing with those killed by Palestinians, the reason the Klinghoffer family received attention is that the hijackers were Arab. To this day, politicians, (Delay in 2004 for example) still misrepresent the Achille Lauro as a PLO rather than Mossad operation and cite it as an example of terrorism run rampant(1).

The designated mastermind, Abbas was arrested in Iraq in 2003 and held up as an example of success in our "War on Terror". Other members were periodically arrested and some mysteriously escaped during the past twenty years. There is an inconsistency of course. Abbas gave an interview in Gaza covered by CNN in 1996 where he apologized to the Klinghoffer family. Plus, his 'terrorist' career appears to be in retirement since 1985. The PLO also made reparations to the Klinghoffer family, even though it had been public knowledge nearly four years that the hijacking was a Mossad operation. That inconsistency goes against what we're told is the modus operandi for terrorists...always planning their next strike leading many to believe that Abbas was arrested more to show a positive advancement in the war on terror than a dispensing of justice for Mr. Klinghoffer's death. The fact is, through much of the 1990's the American and Israeli governments knew his location and chose not to pick him up.

Questions

Contrast this with Israel's actions in relation to American's killed by Israelis. With the exception of a small payment to the US Government over the USS Liberty attack, none of the families whose kin were murdered by Israel have received compensation or apology bringing to mind the following questions.

1) Why does the American Government choose to protect a foreign nation rather than protect its citizens?

2) What kind of nation preaches equality, democracy, liberty and a respect for personal freedom with predictable regularity and then turns and abandon its own?

3) What type of people do we have running our government and our press that allow a young American mother, barely an adult, to be murdered at point blank range holding her baby in her arms and not do anything about it or report it? Democracy Now is the ONLY broadcast media to report Suraida's murder, still.

4) And with regard to the USS Liberty, what kind of leaders spout rhetoric about "Supporting our Troops" then turn around and treat those whom have given the ultimate sacrifice, their lives in service to their country, like criminals simply because their ship was attacked by the one nation on this planet with carte blanc powers to murder Americans and never answer for it?

Am I the only person in the United States who is outraged by these murders and wants our leaders to answer these questions and Israel held accountable for killing our people? Am I the only person who considers it the moral obligation of our leaders to protect our citizens when wronged? Am I the only person who doesn't give a damn what their religions are...who considers them all Americans?

Being an American did not stop the Israeli military and intelligence from targeting and killing Rachel Corrie, Leon Klinghoffer, Dr. and Mohammed Salah, the young mother Suraida Saleh holding her infant as they shot her, or the thirty-four men on the USS Liberty. It did not stop the Israeli military from shooting Brian Avery, disfiguring him permanently. American citizenship carries no value, no consequence in Israel. As an American of any faith, this fact should terrify you! It should infuriate you. Why doesn't it?

How our government treats the families of our citizens slain should alarm every single American, pro-Israel or not. My God, America, where is the support for our citizens? This is not about Israel. Israel is a foreign nation. They'll do what they can get away with. Had Israel's citizens been slaughtered in our nation, the Israeli government would demand action. Had any nation's citizens been murdered in our country as our citizens have been executed in Israeli controlled territories by Israelis, the outrage would be heard around the world. One would expect the same of the US government. Why is our government silent, not even a whimper?

This is about how the US Government is failing to represent and failing to protect its own citizens by promoting the agenda of a special interest, in this case a foreign nation. Americans should not have to go to court to get justice when we are murdered by a specific nation or any nation. Why is our government not defending us? Why?

Ulterior Motives for Government Inaction?

For what logical reason would members of the US government abandon its own, allow its citizens to die, choose not to protest or hold a foreign nation responsible for their murders?

Next month Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, former executives of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, (AIPAC, also known as the Israeli Lobby) go on trial accused of crimes defined under acts of espionage against the United States. This month, several members of congress, the senate and other government agencies including John Boehner, John Edwards, John Bolton, Evan Bayh, Susan Collins, Dick Cheney, Roy Blunt and Steny Hoyer attended the AIPAC convention, speaking, celebrating and proclaiming their support for this lobby representing the interests of a foreign nation, a nation suspected of espionage and a nation that has killed nearly forty American citizens and never answered for it. Logic says our officials should be avoiding this lobby suspected of betraying American interests. Many are not. Instead, many are going out of their way to support it, demonstrating a severe lack of judgment while raising the questions compounded by years of suspicious actions, bills and behaviors: Did our citizens die because of dual loyalties? Who's interests are our elected representatives representing?

Why else would our representatives protect Israel, represent its interests and sacrifice, humiliate and chastise our citizens? Not once, but multiple times over six separate occasions spanning thirty-nine years. What other reason makes sense?

These questions must be asked. Our nation deserves answers.

Taking a Stand

Using reciprocity shrouded as favors and donations, our tax dollars are funneled to Israel (or any special interest) and a pittance returned to individual campaign coffers for blind eyes, muted mouths and closed ears, the interest paid in the blood of our own. Much like a credit card that charges eighteen percent while returning two, necessity to our detriment via a negative balance is demonstrated. We lose more than we gain. Thus the loyalty of many in our government is effectively leased. Leased but not bought. Standing up for our slain citizens amends this contract, putting those not supporting Americans on notice. These murders and the apathy of our representatives illustrate symptoms of a greater problem, the influence of special interests, lobbies, corporations and others imposed on the American people, defying our best interests as a nation and often against our will.

As a nation we owe our thirty-nine dead and 173 wounded citizens justice. The best way to honor our slain is for us, the voters, to insist not one politician with blurred, disjointed definitions of constituencies, loyalties or responsibilities is allowed to serve our nation ever again.

We have the power to end this. As a nation we have the power to provide the families of the slain with justice and with closure. It is called voting. Let us use it.

They held candles and signs that read "Hate speech breeds violence" and "Say no to hate."

"There's real outrage in the community that the Resource Center for Nonviolence would sponsor such despicable hate speech," Rabbi Rick Litvak of Temple Beth El said. "It's a real stain on the Resource Center."

Finkelstein was invited to speak in Santa Cruz by the Resource Center for Nonviolence, a 30-year-old local peace group that promotes nonviolence through social change. One aspect of the center's work has been Middle East peace and support for a resolution to the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict.

Finkelstein, who cracked light-hearted jokes about his own Jewish heritage, is known for a pro-Palestinian stance and criticism of Israel.

Wednesday night he cited several Israeli scholars, including historian Benny Morris, when talking about the Palestinians getting kicked out of their homeland in 1948 by the Jews and what he says has been the "illegal" occupation of the land by Israelis.

"The Palestinians were ethnically cleansed," Finkelstein said. "It was not an accident of war."

Finkelstein supports a two-state solution to the ongoing Middle East conflict that would include "full Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories" and Palestinians recognizing the right of Israelis to live in security and peace with their neighbors.

Finkelstein criticized Israelis for currently building a wall that would annex a majority of the West Bank, saying, "Israel is destroying Palestine."

He's written several books, including "The Holocaust Industry," which explains his view of how Jewish people have exploited suffering by the Nazis during World War II for political and financial gain, and "Beyond Chutzpah - On the Misuse of anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History."

Finkelstein has drawn fiery reaction from American Jews for calling Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Elie Wiesel the "resident clown" of the "Holocaust circus."

Local Jewish members had called for the center to cancel Finkelstein's talk, based on what they say is hateful and inflammatory speech.

Max Hoff of Felton came to hear Finkelstein speak in Santa Cruz because he wanted to hear a different side of the issue.

"I feel his minority views need to be heard and broadcast far and wide," Hoff said. "He does represent a minority view that is perhaps stifled in this country."

For years, many area Jewish leaders have criticized the Resource Center, saying it is anti-Israel, and that its stated push for peace in the Mideast is actually thinly veiled support for Palestinians.

Center backers say Finkelstein's talk was merely a chance to hear an underrepresented viewpoint.