Syrian President Bashar al-Assad held talks with two French envoys on Sunday and urged Paris and the European Union, currently headed by France, to work to lift the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

Israeli boats have obstructed the path of a Libyan cargo ship en route to the Gaza Strip.

The ship was said to be carrying about 3,000 tonnes of goods for residents of the Strip in defiance of an Israeli sea and land blockade of the territory.

Monday's scheduled docking was the first attempt by a foreign government to break the blockade.

Piles of sand and mud began popping up in front of houses in Rafah last week. The traditional signs of home renovations or construction, the neighborhood wondered about the reasons behind these piles, since no construction materials have come into Gaza for months.

On closer inspection it becomes obvious that the piles cannot be construction materials, since the sand is not the same color of the sand from Gaza’s abandoned settlements, from where most material has been salvaged.

The sand, in fact, is the same color as the sand beneath the homes of the southern area of the Gaza Strip.

Captured on film this week are the terrorists in action….. see for yourself with your own eyes who they are.

In a telephone interview with CBC News from outside the centre, freelance journalist Arun Asthhana said there are reports that some of the militants had stayed at a guest house there for up to 15 days before the attacks.

"They had a huge mass of ammunition, arms and food there," Asthhana said.

Fadiya Al-Zaher, 55, was supposed to return last Thursday to her house following routine kidney dialysis at Shuhada Al-Aqsa Hospital in the centre of the Gaza Strip. She used to go three times a week. Her son Amin, was with her when the power supply to the hospital was cut off and the backup generators, short of fuel, failed to kick in.

Following a barrage of mortar shells and Qassam rockets that wounded 8 Israel Defense Forces soldiers near the border with the Gaza Strip on Friday, a Likud MK proposed using Hamas and Islamic Jihad prisoners as human shields to deter future rocket attacks.

MK Gilad Erdan suggested Israel build an open-air, unprotected detention facility in the Western Negev, where the majority of rockets and mortars from Gaza land, and fill it with militants currently held in Israeli jails.

Israel is nearing a wide-scale operation in the Gaza Strip, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said Saturday, several hours after eight Israel Defense Forces soldiers were injured in a mortar shell attack on the Nahal Oz base in southern Israel.

"We must know that the only solution is reaching an understanding with the Palestinians. We must work with every element on the Palestinian side we can talk to, but in Gaza there's no one to talk to and the only language there is military power."

Following a barrage of mortar shells and Qassam rockets that wounded 8 Israel Defense Forces soldiers near the border with the Gaza Strip on Friday, a Likud MK proposed using Hamas and Islamic Jihad prisoners as human shields to deter future rocket attacks.

MK Gilad Erdan suggested Israel build an open-air, unprotected detention facility in the Western Negev, where the majority of rockets and mortars from Gaza land, and fill it with militants currently held in Israeli jails.

They accuse Israel of casting doubt on the effectiveness of their 'brave' Indian commandos, and claim that Israel has a bad record in hostage-rescue operations, aside from the successful Operation Entebbe in 1976.

Allah hu Akbar….. God is Great!!!!
Five times a day this is the start of the call to prayer for the observant Islamic community throughout the world….. EXCEPT in certain parts of Jerusalem.

It is ‘disturbing’ to the Jewish residents in the area, most of whom are illegally situated on Palestinian lands, so the loudspeakers of a local mosque were disconnected by local police.

According to an exposé in a national daily published from Madhya Pradesh and several other cities, in the aftermath of the arrests of Sadhu, Sadhvi, and other extremist Hindutvadis as involved in the Malegaon bomb blast, Intelligence agencies are now concentrating on foreign connections of the radical Hindutvadis.

What I've never seen, and don't recall ever hearing about, is the spectacle of a spy for a foreign country being hired by any organization that hopes to influence U.S. foreign policy. Well, here's one for the record books: the Middle East Forum has hired Steve Rosen, once the head of policy development for the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Rosen is accused of stealing highly classified information from the U.S. government and passing it on to Israeli government officials.

Ben Gurion on Pakistan, published in the Jewish Chronicle, 1967:

"The world Zionist movement should not be neglectful of the dangers of Pakistan to it. And Pakistan now should be its first target, for this ideological State is a threat to our existence. And Pakistan, the whole of it, hates the Jews and loves the Arabs.

"This lover of the Arabs is more dangerous to us than the Arabs themselves. For that matter, it is most essential for the world Zionism that it should now take immediate steps against Pakistan.

A group of American Jews urged president-elect Barack Obama on Thursday to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which the international community does not recognize as the capital of the Jewish state.

Israel routinely claims to be “civilized, and democratic.” However, in truth, Israel is neither civilized nor democratic. In fact, one can safely claim that Israel is actually a criminal, barbarian and utterly uncivilized state that lives and thrives on murder, theft and mendacity.

The following observations are an irrefutable proof showing that Israel differs very little from criminal states throughout history, past and present.

Unconcerned about arrest by the police or prosecution by the Israeli justice system, fanatical Jewish settlers in the Palestinian town of Hebron (Al-Khalil) have been attacking Palestinians, damaging and ransacking their property, exactly like Nazi thugs did to Jewish-owned property in Germany 80 years ago.

The settlers, who claim to be acting in the name of true Judaism, espouse a messianic doctrine advocating violence and terror against non- Jews in Israel-Palestine for the purpose of creating a pure Jewish kingdom that would be ruled by Halacha, or Jewish religious law.

MOSSAD, an Israeli intelligence agency, is cited as possible organiser of Mumbai train bomb blasts. Immediately after the blast, Mossad was reportedly engaged by Sai Baba Mandir trust to provide security to the famous religious shrine.

Israel sent a number of intelligence officers to India Thursday to assist in analyzing the major terrorist attack on Mumbai.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak Thursday offered India security, intelligence and humanitarian aid in dealing with the situation.

It appears the Indian government is not interested in high profile security assistance from Israel. Throughout the day, the Homefront Command prepared to send an aid delegation to India, but efforts were halted when it became clear that Mumbai was not enthusiastic about the prospect.

Not only do columnists and analysts openly accuse Israel of sponsoring acts of piracy that multiply off Somali waters, but they also do not hide their fears of an internationalization of security in the Red Sea, where Israel plays a decisive role.

“What is happening in the Horn of Africa is not a simple case of piracy. These acts of piracy raise various questions about the capabilities and equipment of simple outlaws who are seeking ransoms,” wrote Tuesday (November 25) Nawaf Al-Meshal Sabhan in the Saudi daily Al-Iqtissadia.

Local sources report that a group of Israeli-armored bulldozers and tanks invaded the al-Fukhari neighborhood east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Tuesday morning, and bulldozed a number of farms.

According to eyewitnesses, the bulldozers crushed a number of Palestinian greenhouses and razed potato fields belonging to Palestinian farmers.

No more pleading. There needs to be action. Israel should be treated in the same way South Africa under apartheid was -- with boycotts and isolation. Its government should be tried at The Hague even in absentia and its officials should be liable to arrest wherever they travel.

Israel with the backing of Washington believes it is inviolable; it can do whatever it likes and step on whomever it wishes without repercussions. If words won’t cut it, then the only way for the Palestinians to be heard is for the world to give Israel a small but bitter taste of its own nasty medicine.

A boat loaded with humanitarian aid has left Libya and will try to reach Gaza despite an Israeli naval blockade, a Palestinian lawmaker in Gaza said Wednesday, raising the possibility of a confrontation between an Arab vessel and Israeli sailors.

The father of seven toured Gaza City for hours trying to buy bread for his hungry children back home.

“I sought every single bakery around, and in each time the answer is the same: ’sorry no bread’,” he told IslamOnline.net.

“It was like searching for a hidden treasure.”

Bread has become something of a rarity in the impoverished Gaza Strip, home to 1.6 million, under Israel’s stifling blockade of fuel, power and food supplies.

If Israel were to attack Iran's alleged nuclear weapons facilities, its bomber aircraft would most likely fly through Turkish air space, a prominent neo-conservative U.S. columnist has said.

The UN General Assembly president sparked Jerusalem's ire after calling for international boycott on Israel.

Israel filed a formal complaint with the United Nations on Tuesday over statements made by UN General Assembly President, Father Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann of Nicaragua, who called for an international boycott of Israel after accusing it of being an apartheid regime. D'Escoto went on to decry the 'Our Greatest Failure' UN:

ISRAEL has assassinated wanted Palestinians in defiance of guidelines laid down by its High Court.

Operational briefings obtained by the newspaper Haaretz show that the Israel Defence Forces has approved assassinations in the West Bank when it could have arrested the men.

"Top-ranking army officers authorised the killings in advance, in writing, even if innocent bystanders would be killed as well," Haaretz reported yesterday.

Dr. Ashour added, "If there is a generator failure there is no alternative. The lives of those in intensive care will be at risk, along with the premature babies, heart and burn patients, and anyone on a respirator. The operating rooms will have to close in the event of power outages."

The most serious problem, says Dr. Ashour, lies in the lack of natural gas which is expected to run out within two days at the most. "Patients on oxygen will not last more than an hour without it."

In Washington, visiting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was asked about the ban. He replied, "The reason the passages are closed is completely related to security matters ... we didn't want to take responsibility for the safety of journalists passing through."

For nearly three weeks now, Israel has blocked media access to the 25-mile-long coastal territory in what journalists are calling a "mortal blow against freedom of the press."

On Monday, the Foreign Press Association (FPA) in Israel filed a petition to the Supreme Court asking it to rule on the issue, essentially forcing an overturn of the ban.

"We believe the Israeli government has an obligation to keep the Gaza border open to international journalists," says Steven Gutkin,

The associate of former Israeli chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon said the recent remarks by the military commander-turned-politician on the necessity of killing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have been taken out of context.

Gaza's sole power plant has shut down because Israel will not allow the importation of replacement parts needed for urgent repairs, an official in the impoverished Palestinian territory's energy authority said on Tuesday.

Human rights group B'Tselem films violence at demonstrations as police move in to destroy 'illegal' homes

Israeli war minister Ehud Barak decided late Monday to retain the Gaza crossings closed on Tuesday at the pretext of Palestinian rocket attacks, while the popular committee against the siege warned of an imminent health disaster due to the depletion of chlorine used to disinfect drinking water.

Israel has cut off fuel to Gaza and has illegally instituted collective punishment on 1.5 million Palestinians. Raw sewage runs in the streets, hospitals have no power and the world stands silent and MSM does not cover the story.

Half of Gaza's bakeries have closed down and the other half have resorted to animal feed to produce bread as Israel's complete blockade of the coastal territory enters its 19th day.

Karen AbuZayd, commissioner-general for the U.N.'s Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which supports Palestinian refugees, warned that a humanitarian "catastrophe" loomed if Israel continued to prevent aid from reaching Gaza.

Amid several bellicose comments about the possibility of an impending Israeli strike against Iran Israeli Defense Ministry officials say they have been contacted by US officials who have asked them to refrain from launching any attacks against Iran until after President-elect Barack Obama takes office in January. Likewise, the officials reportedly have cautioned Israel not to launch its long-reported ground invasion of the Gaza Strip until after the inauguration.

Consulates in North America report of flux of Israelis asking for help getting back to Jewish state after losing money in financial crisis; Absorption, Foreign ministries mulling forming possible airfare aid fund

Iranian state radio says an alleged espionage network with links to Israel's Mossad spy agency has been dismantled.

Monday's radio report featured the chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari. He says the Guards' intelligence unit recently discovered the network.

Jafari says the alleged network was trying to collect information on Iran's nuclear program and the Guards' military operations as well as details on military and security officials.

He says equipment was confiscated. He didn't specify who belonged to the network or whether arrests were made.

I first went to prison on September 23 of this year and served 35 days. By the time you read this, I will be back inside for another 21. This is going to be my life for the next two years: in for three weeks, out for one. I am 19 years old now and by the time the authorities give up hounding me, I will be 21. The reason? I refused to do my military service for the Israeli army.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President George W. Bush are wrapping up three years of close cooperation with hopes of leaving a Mideast peace legacy to their successors.

The Catholic faithful in Gaza had no mass on Sunday when Israel barred a senior church envoy and several priests from entering the Strip.

Switzerland is refusing to toe the West’s line on sanctions against Iran – and Israel is up in arms

A former Israeli commander says the West must consider assassinating Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to halt Tehran's nuclear program.

Former Israeli Army Chief of Staff Moshe "Boogie" Ya'alon told the Australian daily The Sydney Morning Herald that the West should consider all options to stop the Islamic Republic's nuclear drive, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Sunday.

"We have to confront the Iranian revolution immediately," Ya'alon said. "There is no way to stabilize the Middle East today without defeating the Iranian regime. The Iranian nuclear program must be stopped."

Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Mohammad Ali Jafari said Monday that the Iranian security forces have uncovered a Mossad espionage network. Jafari did not say how many suspects were arrested or under what circumstances.

"The Revolutionary Guard bureau of intelligence has recently located an espionage ring focused on the military," he told Iranian State television. "The ring was traced back to the Mossad and all of its operatives have been arrested." This act, he added, "is a severe blow to the Mossad."

Please see attached important appeal letter for people of Gaza. for wide distribution.

Prepare for war. Last week I met the Boogie Man, the former head of the Israeli Defence Forces, General Moshe "Boogie" Ya'alon, who is preparing the political groundwork for a military attack on Iran's key nuclear facilities. "We have to confront the Iranian revolution immediately," he told me. "There is no way to stabilise the Middle East today without defeating the Iranian regime. The Iranian nuclear program must be stopped."

Iran has executed a man convicted of spying for Israel in an "intensifying intelligence war" between the two countries, a high-level Iranian security official announced Saturday at a rare news conference.

The direful situation of Gaza strip reached the peak in last two days. More people are joining the harmed classes of Palestinians living under siege. Popular Committee against Siege PCAS warned today of decisive popular mass towards Israeli borders.

Politicians in the United States and Britain are made to pass under the yoke of the Zionist masters who control our leading political parties. By forcing our political leaders to accept the Zionist yoke our nations become subjugated and the pro-Israel agenda is forced upon the entire population. Zionist control of Britain's prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown is explained in this article, "How Mossad Controls our Political Parties."

The Israeli peace camp was born in sin and died because of a lie: It was born as the legitimate son of the sin of occupation, and died the illegitimate son of the lie that `there is no partner` with whom to negotiate on the other side. Between September 1967 and October 2000, it spent 33 years waging the brave and determined struggle of a minority against a majority, `traitors` against `patriots,` `defilers of Israel` against `lovers of Israel,` David against Goliath. Today, we must painfully admit that it was struggle that did not produce much.

Jonathan Pollard, the United States agent sent to jail for giving Israel information critical to the country's security, is entering his 24th year in prison on Friday. His wife Esther says now is the time to ask for clemency.

Virtually no food, medicine or other vital supplies have been allowed in to the territory that is home to 1.5 million people. The impact of the siege is most directly observed in Gaza's health sector.

Dr. Zaki Azzaq Zouq, an oncologist, explained, "There is a widespread shortage of essential medicines which we used to give to patients prior to the blockade. Currently, there are no tools for physicians to treat patients who suffer from lung, stomach, colon or brain cancers."