Palestine Today 032309

Patients die in Gaza due to the continued siege while Israeli police invade a press conference in Jerusalem, attacking journalists: these stories and more coming up; stay tuned.

The News Cast

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip reported on Sunday that three patients died in Gaza hospitals after being barred from leaving the area for medical treatment abroad, adding that the number of patients who have died due to the siege has now reached 311.

The Ministry reported that the three patients died on Sunday due to the Israeli siege and Egyptian insistence on keeping the Rafah Border Terminal closed.

Meanwhile on Monday in the West Bank, during Israeli police forces crackdown on an activity organized in East Jerusalem on Monday afternoon to celebrate "Jerusalem Capital of Arab Culture 2009". Five were injured and eight kidnapped.

The activity was a press conference to announce events planned for the rest of this year, following the Israeli Interior Ministry announcement on Friday that it will stop the event from taking place in Jerusalem city and arrest anyone who takes part in it. Rima Awwad, a local organizer was there when the police attacked:



"This is typical, I mean typical behavior of the occupation authorities in Jerusalem, the media people were here and everyone was here, the press conference were about to start when the police attacked the protest tent, arrested eight people closed the press conference down, and physically assaulted member of the civil society and media people."

The commemorative event entitled "Jerusalem: The Capital of Arab Culture 2009" began on Saturday in nearby Bethlehem city. The Israeli authorities refused to allow the program of events that was scheduled to be held in Jerusalem, but a pre-recorded program of events was shown on satellite in the Conference Palace of Bethlehem.

Elsewhere, during early morning invasions targeting several West bank areas, the Israeli military kidnapped seven Palestinian civilians on Monday, local sources reported.

In Hebron city in the southern West Bank, Israeli troops searched and ransacked a number of homes in the city and a nearby village, kidnapping four men. Witnesses said that Israeli troops beat up four different men during the home search in the city. Meanwhile another three men were kidnapped when Israeli troops searched homes in Jericho city.

Conclusion

Thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem. You have been listening to Palestine Today from the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org. This report has been brought to you by Ghassan Bannoura.