Was this the first casualty of Lebanon's new civil war? UK Independent 05/12/2006 A poster of Ahmed Ali Mahoud looked down on the wailing crowd who had gathered to mourn his death. Written underneath the photo of Ahmed, 21, were the words "a martyr for national unity". But many of the people who gathered outside the Husseiniyah, the traditional Shia building of mourning, were fearful of the implications of his death - that Ahmed Mahmoud might have been the first victim of the next Lebanese civil war. Receiving condolences from the large crowd was Ahmed's brother-in-law Haitham. A tall, quietly spoken man, Haitham, 34, said he believed Ahmed was murdered by Sunni Muslims who were out to kill Shia. "They see we are many and very strong," he says. "And they are very few, those of Saad Hariri's [Sunni] movement." "We stood against Israel and we will stand against the ones in charge now," screamed an old veiled woman outside the mourning room. "If Saad Hariri wants to make it a sectarian issue, let him come here to Dahieh and we will show him our men". Inside, the women were sobbing while the men sat quietly with their heads in their hands. "Where is Ahmed, where is Ahmed?" shouted Ahmed's girlfriend, Ishan, 20, as she threw herself to the ground. The young couple were to be engaged this week. A supporter of the Hizbollah-allied Amal movement, Ahmed and his teenage brother Hassan were returning home late on Sunday night from the large anti-government rally when they walked into a confrontation between Sunni and Shia youths. "We saw people coming down towards us throwing stones," said Hassan. "So we started to run away - but while we were running, the shooting started and that's when my brother was shot in the back." Hassan did not see who fired the shots, but he said he believed it was young men from the Sunni Future Movement, led by the murdered ex-prime minister Rafik Hariri's son Saad, who shot at them. "It was the Future Youth," said Hassan. "The shots came from their direction." The second eldest of eight brothers and sisters, Ahmed had finished his compulsory military service and had spent the past two years working in the local mechanic's shop. "They killed a child, just look at his picture," said Ahmed's boss Mazen. "He never hurt anyone." Ahmed's was one of the very few Shia families in the predominantly Sunni neighbourhood of Tareeq Aljadida. All over the neighbourhood are pictures of the murdered former Sunni prime minister Rafik Hariri and his son. "God be with you, Saad Hariri!" shouts a young man riding past on a motorbike. Amid the mourning scenes yesterday came the announcement that Ahmed's funeral had been postponed for 24 hours as rumours circulated that another Shia youth had been killed in sectarian violence. Security remains tight in downtown Beirut, where thousands of anti-government supporters are camped out for their fourth day of protests. But the man whose resignation they are demanding is refusing to make any compromises. Bolstered by Western and Arab support, the Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has insisted that his government will not be affected by the protests. Following a meeting with the embattled Mr Siniora, the Arab League Secretary general Amr Moussa said that "national consensus is the basis for any Arab action, we are working for Lebanon and must work things out on the basis of national unity." Mr Moussa also held midnight talks with representatives of the Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. In southern Lebanon, the Israelis agreed to withdraw their soldiers from the last part of the village of Ghagar, a Druze hamlet, and allow UN troops to take control. But their overflights continued above Lebanon, despite French protests, and Israel still claims Hizbollah is importing arms from Syria in contravention of UN Security Council resolutions. The UN has stated that it is not mandated to search for guerrilla weapons in southern Lebanon. Comment: A little "golden rule" to remember when considering events in the Middle East. Israel and the US want to force the Middle East into the throws of "childbirth" so that a "new" Middle East can be "born". This process requires massive upheaval in Middle Eastern society and massive death and destruction. Naturally, the people of the Middle East are reluctant to engage in such a process. It is logical, therefore, to assume that any major civil or "sectarian" conflict in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Iran etc will not be the work nor the will of people in those countries but rather the work of agent provocateurs working for Israel and/or the US.

Israeli Arab-lookalike Team Murders Palestinian Man and Boy in Tulkarm Ynet 05/12/2006 Palestinians say special IDF force raided café in town, shot to death Mahmoud Abed al-Al, Fatah activist from Gaza; witnesses report 12 year-old child critically injured A special Border Guard police force killed a Fatah activist in the West Bank town of Tulkarm Monday evening. According to witnesses, the man killed is Mahmoud Abed al-Al, a Fatah member from Gaza who is currently residing in Tulkarm. The Palestinians also reported that 12 year-old Muhammad Abu Shweish was critically injured in the operation, and that a seniorFatah activist - Annan Yaish, sustained moderate wounds. Immediately after news of the incident broke out, hundreds of the town's residents arrived at the hospital and gathered outside. The IDF reported that the force encircled a house and called on gunmen hiding inside to come out. During the operation two suspects tried to escape and were fired at. One of the suspects was killed, and the other one was evacuated to an Israeli hospital. A senior al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades official threatened in a conversation with Ynet that the group's members will not responds with restraint to the killing. "Despite the Brigades' commitment to the calm, although it has only been declared in the Strip, Israel continues to kill the organization's members," he stated. The Islamic Jihad's military wing announced Sunday that in light of the IDF's continued operations in the West Bank, the group will resume rocket attacks against Israel. A senior member of the organization told Ynet that his men will also carry out suicide bombings inside Israel. The commander of the group's military wing, the al-Quds Brigades, Walid Abeidi, declared that his operatives will soon carry out suicide bombings inside Israel, in response to the escalation in the military's strikes against the Palestinians in the West Bank. Comment: This is the work of the well-known Israeli military team who are called "musta'ribeen", i.e., "those who appear to be Arabs" by Palestinians. Ask yourself, what is to stop such teams firing rockets from Palestine into Israel and allowing the blame to fall on Palestinians? You think Israeli politicians would not sanction the murder of Israeli citizens to further their political goals? Time to get real!

Flashback: PA police fire on undercover IDF unit in Bethlehem Ha’aretz 11/30/2005 Palestinian policemen opened fire at undercover Israel Defense Forces soldiers during an operation in Bethlehem yesterday. No soldiers were hurt during the incident, and the IDF said its inquiry revealed that no policemen were hurt. However, the Palestinians said one policeman was wounded. According to the army's initial inquiry, the Palestinian police had not been informed about the army operation. Thus, when the soldiers, who were disguised to look like Arabs, came to arrest a wanted man not far from City Hall, the policemen took them for members of an armed Palestinian gang.

Flashback: Portraits of Palestinian Resistance Electronic Intifada Rima Merriman 8 June 2006 Rima Merriman, a Palestinian American living in Ramallah, wrote this series, "Portraits of Palestinian Resistance", telling the stories of the four Palestinians killed and one of the 57 wounded in Ramallah on 24 May 2006, as they struggled to protect a Palestinian activist and political prisoner from an Israeli undercover unit. Palestinian men at Alsa'a Square, a few hundred yards from Al Manarah Circle. (Al-Quds Newspaper) Palestinian resistance to the occupation comes in many shapes and forms, some of which involves armed resistance undertaken by organized groups with various ideologies. These groups are composed of barely trained young men who pit their meager and crude resources against one of the best trained and best equipped military body in the world, the Israeli Occupation Forces. Of the 76 Israeli soldiers who died in 2005, only six were killed as a result of Palestinian attacks. The rest died of illness or accidents. Thirty of them committed suicide. The imbalance in the resources between the two sides of the conflict predictably yields a steady mowing down on the part of the Israelis of one young Palestinian martyr after another. Most Palestinian deaths, however, are of civilians (and children) simply going about their daily lives, getting caught up in Israeli ground and air attacks, Israeli indiscriminate fire and Israeli raids. Israel's control of and entrenchment in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, its continual attempts to stamp out Palestinian resistance to the occupation at any cost, relies heavily on intelligence gathered by Shabak, the 5,000-strong Internal General Security Service of Israel, whose motto is "Defender who shall not be seen". Lu'lu'a Building, which houses the Internet Café on the sixth floor. (Rima Merriman) With a cadre of well-trained, Arabic-speaking Israeli informants who are indistinguishable physically from the Palestinian population, Shabak has little problem gathering intelligence on a people whose every movement is regulated by hundreds of check points and by total Israeli control on their borders. These infiltrators prey on Arab innate hospitality and friendliness. The Palestinians call them "musta'ribeen", i.e., "those who appear to be Arabs". Palestinians are not surprised when someone, somewhere comes up to them and says: Got you! The interior of the Internet Café. (Rima Merriman) On May 24th at about 2:30 in the afternoon, three musta'ribeen walked into the Al Karmi Internet Café on the sixth floor of the Lu'lu'a (meaning "pearl") building on Al Manara Circle in downtown Ramallah. They went up to the snack bar and ordered juice and then coffee. Their quarry, Mohammad Hamed Al Shobaki, leader of Islamic Jihad in Qalqilya, was at one of the computers of the Café. In the meantime, a white van with tinted windows and a Palestinian license plate came barreling down the street against traffic, parked at the entrance of the building and disgorged 10-15 Israeli soldiers in full gear, four of whom had on black clothes and black caps. They stormed up the stairs and into the Café, herded everybody into a corner and arrested Al Shobaki. They also "arrested" the three musta'ribeen and covered all four with the black garb. Palestinian man trying to prevent Israeli Jeeps from getting to Al Manarah Circle. (Al-Quds Newspaper) The outcry on the street was immediate and spontaneous. Palestinian youth who were in the area started gathering stones and rocks and whatever else they could get their hands on. Someone drove the white van away and was stopped by a hail of stones. The van was promptly set on fire, as the driver, shouting that he was a Palestinian, jumped out. Palestinian men running towards Lu'lu'a Building. (Al-Quds Newspaper) Soon, Israeli reinforcements arrived on the scene, though not without being challenged on the way by crowds of angry Palestinian youth, who tried to block their passage. A handful of young Palestinian men who had weapons used them in the attempt. To get their quarry and retreat, it took the Israelis more than two hours, fifteen Israeli armored vehicles, two helicopters and an arsenal of weapons that included tear gas, sound bombs, rubber and specifically designed live bullets that explode inside the victim's body causing severe harm and tissue damage (called dom-dom bullets). Four young Palestinians were shot dead and scores were wounded. Israeli live fire was reported to be indiscriminate. Rocks, glass bottles and stones by the Lu'lu'ah Building (Al-Quds Newspaper) For the Israelis, it all must have seemed like a minor inconvenience, easily brushed off, with no loss of life on their well-armored parts. The Palestinian security forces, who are hugely out gunned (they are allowed nominal amounts of ammunition) and outnumbered by the Israeli forces, understand in military fashion the terrible consequences of any engagement they might choose to conduct with their occupiers. Their orders are always to withdraw from any confrontation. But for the young men who spontaneously rushed to defend Palestinian freedom on May 24th, there was no question of looking on helplessly as the Israelis marched into their town in broad daylight to pluck off one of their leaders. The incident was a battle that showed off their mettle, the battle, as they are now calling it, of endurance and defiance. Ja'far Khaled Betilla, one of the martyrs. (Al-Quds Newspaper) Already, the events are slipping into legend, the courage and numbers of the participants expanding with every telling. The men and boys proudly recall how fearlessly they fought, what damage they inflicted. They admire the courage of their fallen comrades whom they commemorate with posters and slogans that convey the spirit of their resistance: "The National Liberation Movement 'Fateh' does not forget the blood of its men. Tomorrow, giant-like men will avenge me." So says the legend on Milad Atallah Abu Al Arayes's commemoration poster. He is one of the four young Palestinian men who lost their lives at Al Manarah on May 24th. [NEXT...] Rima Merriman is a Palestinian-American living in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

Flashback: Confusion in PA: Who launched Qassam? Ynet 27/11/2006 There has been general confusion in the Palestinian Authority after a Qassam rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip into the western Negev. One of the cells of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Fatah's military arm, has taken responsibility for the firing. However, Abu Ahmad, one of the group's senior officials in the northern Gaza Strip, said to Ynet that he had no knowledge that his people carried out the shooting. "As of now, we continue to be committed to the truce, but are reserving our right to respond to Israeli infractions," said Abu Ahmad.

Flashback: Israeli agents accused of creating fake al-Qaeda cell Sophie Claudet in Gaza City AFP December 9 2002 A senior Palestinian security official says his services have uncovered an Israeli plot to create a fake al-Qaeda cell in the Gaza Strip, a charge Israel has dismissed as absurd. The head of preventive security in Gaza, Rashid Abu Shbak, said Israeli agents posing as operatives of al-Qaeda recruited Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. "Over the past nine months we've been investigating eight [such] cases," Mr Abu Shbak said. His claims came after the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, said al-Qaeda militants were operating in the Gaza Strip and in Lebanon, raising fears of an intensification of Israeli military occupations. A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry branded the Palestinian claim as ridiculous and "some kind of propaganda campaign", adding that "the Palestinian territories have become a breeding ground for terrorism". "There is no need for Israel to make up something like this because [the hardline Islamic movements] are all the same as al-Qaeda," the spokesman said. Mr Abu Shbak said three Palestinians used by Israeli intelligence had been arrested, while another 11 were released "because they came and informed us of this Israeli plot". Mr Abu Shbak said his services had traced back to Israel mobile phone calls and emails - purportedly from Germany and Lebanon - asking Palestinians to join al-Qaeda. One email had even been "signed" by the al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden. "We investigated the origin of those calls and found out they all came from Israel." The Palestinians recruited were then paired, unbeknown to them, with Israeli collaborators in Gaza, and received money and weapons, "although most of these weapons did not even work". The money was provided by "Palestinian collaborators with Israel" directly to the recruits or "was transferred from bank accounts in Jerusalem or Israel", said Mr Abu Shbak, who did not dispute that as many as 11 Palestinians had welcomed the call to join al-Qaeda. "Those who accepted were mostly members of the military wing of Palestinian organisations," he said, adding that although he could not say "there will never be al-Qaeda here, but at least not for now". The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, has called Mr Sharon's al-Qaeda claim "a big, big, big lie to cover [his] attacks and his crimes against our people everywhere". The Lebanese Government and Hezbollah have also dismissed the accusations. Mr Sharon's announcement marked the first time Israel has officially claimed that al-Qaeda was operating in the Palestinian territories, and came as a surprise because the Gaza Strip is virtually sealed off by Israeli troops. Israel has came under heavy international criticism for a raid on a Gaza Strip refugee camp on Friday that left 10 Palestinians dead, including two United Nations employees. The European Union and Arab states joined the UN in condemning the incursion into the densely populated Al-Bureij camp.