Palestine's 1-1 draw with Iraq in a World Cup qualifier in Doha gave soccer fans throughout the West Bank and Gaza a rare reason to celebrate on Wednesday.
The draw put Palestine top of Asian qualifying Group Two...
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/040331/7/x85.html
25 wounded at anti-fence protest south of Ramallah
Twenty-five demonstrators protesting the construction of the separation fence were wounded on Wednesday in clashes with Israeli security forces near the West Bank village of Kata'ana.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/410980.html
Israeli Colonizers Seize 13 Palestinian Apartments in Jerusalem
"In the early morning several armed colonizers stormed two buildings, owned by al-Rajabi and Mragha families. They banished the owners at gunpoint and assaulted women and children," eyewitness told WAFA.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=351
IOF Wounds Palestinians and Settlers Take Over Their Homes in Jerusalem
The sources added that Palestinian citizens in the Al Wosta Quarter in Selwan neighborhood in the holy city clashed with the Israeli soldiers as they were protecting a group of settlers trying to occupy 14 apartments in the Quarter. The soldiers severely beat the Palestinian citizens...
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_03/166.html
Land Day in Beitunia
For the past ten days bulldozers have been working in Beitunia, a town of 20,000 people four kilometers southwest of Ramallah. The path of the Apartheid Wall will confiscate 17,000 dunums (four dunums equal one acre): 2,000 dunums will be used for the construction of the Wall itself while 15,000 dunums will fall on the other side of the Wall.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/reports/writings/30Mar04_19_16_03RamallahPerlaandGabriel.htm
High Court of Justice debating fence route
The villagers are demanding that the route be moved from its current planned course. They are trying to make sure that it does not pass directly by the houses of Palistinians and does not come between the Palestinian residents and their agricultural lands.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/410821.html
Two Palestinians killed as they approached IDF post in Gaza
"Two bodies were seen in the area close to the outpost. We don't know yet whether they were armed," a military source told the Reuters news agency.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=410840&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
IOF Breaks into a Primary school
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) broke early Wednesday into a school of Sha'afat Camp in the northern Jerusalem , witnesses and WAFA said. They added that some students and teachers were transferred to the village' clinic for treatment.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=356
Israeli Bulldozers Raze Agricultural Land in Gaza
Security source confirmed that seven Israeli tanks and four bulldozers rolled into Western part of Gaza, near Nahal Oz crossing, and bulldozed vast agricultural land. Elsewhere, Israeli bulldozers razed, today at dawn, several donums in the central Gaza Strip city of Deir al-Balah...
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=352
Israel - Reporters Without Borders urges investigation after journalist student killed
Reporters Without Borders has called on Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz to open an investigation into the death of student journalist Mohammad Abu Halimeh, who was killed on 22 March 2004 while covering clashes at Balata refugee camp in Nablus.
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2004/31/c6459.html
IOF Arrests Six Civilians in West Bank
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested early Wednesday six Palestinian civilians in the West Bank cities of Jenin and Nablus, witnesses and security sources said.
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?field=tech_news&id=353
Rajoub, Dahlan agree to lower tension, share responsibilities
Palestinian sources, reporting on the reconciliation between the two former rivals, said Monday that the Egyptian plan, once the PA security services are unified, calls for the new command to take control of all the PA armed forces to take action against armed factions that try to continue an armed campaign against Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=410213&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
Qurie says Gaza pullout could help peace
Addressing parliament on the eve of a visit to the Middle East by U.S. peace envoys, Qurie made the most positive comments by any Palestinian official to date on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan.
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=4835867
Palestinian PM: Suicide attacks are wrong
He added, "Not only these attacks lowered the quality of the resistance to the Israeli occupation but also, it is being used by Israel to continue its offensive against the Palestinian People.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/March/week4/033104/qurie.htm
US, Palestine to meet soon over Gaza pullout
Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat announced on Wednesday that a US-Palestinian meeting is scheduled to be held next week to discuss the issue of the Israeli army withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. He insisted that the issue of settlements in Gaza is the same asin the West Bank, "both are illegal..."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-03/31/content_1394550.htm
Jewish settlement removal a 'big lie'
Sharon wants to give an impression that he is dismantling settlements ahead of his planned visit to Washington. "In fact, we are talking about the removal of a tent and two secondhand mobile homes from a hilltop south of Kiryat Arba. In any case, the settlers will move them back on to the same site tomorrow...
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/18CBDE5A-5813-4B12-AC8C-A1FE5ADCE175.htm
Java's Conference on Right to Return for Palestinians
Participants at the Conference of "The Right of Return and Just Peace" that was held in the Palestinian city of Java stressed commitment to the Palestinian people's right to return, asserting rejection to abandon this right.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/040331/2004033109.html
Palestinian Leadership Assures Continuity of the Inter-Palestinian Talks
The leadership also renewed its emphasis on the continuity of serious talk between the Palestinian national and Islamic factions. A paper has been made in order to reach a unified agenda to face the current various threats.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_03/163.html
Bank of Israel: Intifada cost at least NIS 30 billion
The intifada has cost Israel between NIS 31 billion and NIS 40 billion so far - not including defense costs - according to the Bank of Israel report for 2003, which was released on Tuesday. The amount comes to between 6.2 percent and 8 percent of the gross domestic product.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=410823&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
Progress on reducing hunger has stopped, UN expert on right to food says
He added that the situation in the Palestinian territory is also badly deteriorating, with more than half of Palestinians dependent on food aid and humanitarian access to the population often restricted.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=10262&Cr=right&Cr1=food
Demonstrations Continue Marking the Land Day
Demonstrations in several Arab countries, marking the 28th anniversary of the "Land Day" continued, as Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and Egyptians participated in large demonstrations and rallies marking that day.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_03/161.html
McKinney, seen as a foe of Israel, to run for her old seat in Congress
Jewish fund-raisers are looking for ways to prevent former Rep. Cynthia McKinney from returning to Congress. Jewish leaders were caught off-guard Monday when Rep. Denise Majette (D-Ga.) announced she would seek the Democratic nomination for Georgia’s open Senate seat, and would not run for re-election...
http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=13941&intcategoryid=3
Qorei to undergo medical tests after mini-stroke
Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qorei is to undergo tests for the second time this week after he suffered a mild stroke during Monday's cabinet meeting, parliamentary sources told AFP.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=18&u=/afp/20040331/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_palestinian_qorei_health_040331135117
Palestinian Children Dream As Well
Though they wake up to the sound of Israeli Apaches, the news of losing a beloved kin to an Israeli raid or the demolition of a nearby home by Israeli bulldozers, Palestinian children remain, nonetheless, "children" who dream of a better future.
http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2004-03/31/article04.shtml
When will Allah's pledge come to pass?
That can be answered by pointing out that there are ministers in the Israeli government who wholeheartedly believe in the divine promise that we, the Jews, will inherit the entire land, with one or both banks of the river, with or without transfer.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/410571.html
Justice and the Yassin Assassination
According to international law, the execution of any person in an occupied territory is not allowed. The Geneva convention, born out of the horrifying experience of the second World War, sets limitations on the use of force even in times of war.
http://www.counterpunch.com/reinhart03312004.html
Egyptian sentenced to 15 years for spying for Israel
An Egyptian who allegedly faxed military data to the Israeli Embassy was convicted of espionage Wednesday and sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/410933.html
Three British troops injured in blast in southern Iraq
The explosion followed a spate of clashes involving coalition troops serving in Iraq's second city of Basra and came the day after another three British soldiers were injured when they were attacked by stone-throwing locals.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=16&u=/afp/20040331/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_blast_britain_040331144708
U.S.: 4 Killed in Iraq Were Americans
Nine Americans were killed in Iraq on Wednesday, making March the second-deadliest month for U.S. troops since President Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1. Five American soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division were killed in a roadside bombing west of Baghdad, raising the month's death toll for U.S. troops to at least 48.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=1&u=/ap/20040331/ap_on_re_mi_ea/us_iraq