Israeli soldiers get light convictions for shooting a prisoner and Libyan aid ship docks in Egypt not Gaza, these stories and more coming up, stay tuned.



An Israeli court on Thursday handed down its ruling in the case of an Israeli soldier and his commanding officer who shot a restrained and blind-folded Palestinian man with a rubber coated steel bullet at close range.

The attack took place on July 7, 2008. The soldiers accused Ashraf Abu Rahma of “disrupting the peace” before they bound and blindfolded him. The Palestinian man had been taking part in protests at Ni'lin, near Ramallah.

The soldier was convicted of unbecoming behavior and misusing his weapon. The officer was convicted of unbecoming behavior and attempted threat.

The attack, although filmed and clearly proves intention to harm, the illegal behavior of the soldiers apparently was not sufficient enough to file criminal charges against them.

One of the soldiers in an interview with Israeli television's Channel 2 said that, “when you serve in the West Bank, you see things that push you to carry out acts that, you will be glad were not filmed.”

The latest aid ship to the people of Gaza has caused much recent controversy and its sponsors, the Qaddafi International Foundation, stated that the ship changed its route to Egypt instead of Gaza after receiving guarantees that all of its cargo would be sent to the suffering inhabitants.

The ship is being unloaded Thursday at al-Arish port and all supplies, including cement and iron, were guaranteed by the Israelis to make it into Gaza in return for not landing in the Strip.

$50 million would also be entering Gaza, the fulfillment of a promised amount by the Arab League at last year's Arab Summit.

The Qaddafi Foundation slammed those that called for engaging in armed conflict with the Israeli navy and said, that such an act would not serve the Palestinian people and their cause, adding such a ‘request’ should be addressed to Arab armies and not to a “simple cargo ship.”

The group that launched the much publicized and attacked Freedom Flotilla, IHH, is being evaluated by the US State Department.

The evaluation is to determine whether or not it should be placed on a list of 'terrorist groups'. The group was bringing medical and school supplies to Gaza.

Although the Israeli-based Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center says the group is quote “a radical Islamic organization with an anti-Western orientation," the group has never been linked to any violent activities or groups

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights is reporting that around 2:00AM Wednesday morning a pair of men on a motorcycle threw a grenade onto the grounds of Gaza City's YMCA.

The shrapnel of the grenade littered the playground but no one was injured.

Thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem, you have been listening to Palestine Today from the International Middle East Media Center, for constant update, please visit our website at www.imemc.org. This report has been brought to you by Brian Ennis.