The Palestinian Volunteers Commission and the International Arab Social Development Union announced the start of a new campaign under the banner "Hand in Hand Towards Green and Clean Environment." The new campaign comes on the occasion of Earth's Day to express the notion that volunteering ties to the land.

According to local sources, Israeli troops have begun construction of a metal fence topped with barbed wire in the northern West Bank village of Azzun. Azzun, east of Qalqilia, is already nearly completely surrounded by the Israeli Annexation Wall, and the new fence will close off the village into an even smaller enclave.

Exactly two years after a massive sewage flood killed 5 Palestinians and destroyed an entire Bedouin village, another flood has overwhelmed the same village, located east of Jabalia, due to the collapse of an overloaded wastewater basin.

Israeli Army Radio reported that the eighteen Palestinians were arrested and transferred to a number of interrogation center in the West Bank.

A group of extremist settlers attacked on Tuesday a number of Palestinian homes in the southern West Bank city of Hebron causing excessive damage and terrifying the residents.

Shahir Sa'id, General Secretary of the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions, PGFTU, decried the arrest of 280 Palestinian workers on March 29, 2009 by Israeli police under the pretext of entering Israel without permits, 150 workers are from the West Bank who were arrested at Haifa and Ras Al Eien in pre 1948 Palestine.

On the occasion of Earth Day, Palestinian Health Work Committees organized an agricultural day as part of the community development program in Qalqilya where hundreds of olive seedlings were planted in each of Qalqilya and the villages of Azzun and Jayyos.

Ahmad Saud Basal is an eleven-year-old boy from Tuffah, a village in the middle of Gaza. He lives in a two room house along with five brothers and sisters, his parents and a grandmother.

The devastation left by the Israeli war on besieged Gaza means youngsters now make a living by sifting through piles of rubble. Children as young as five collect metal and plastic to sell to scrap dealers.

The Israeli military on Monday concluded their internal investigation of alleged misconduct by soldiers in their invasion of the Gaza Strip in January, finding that there was no misconduct by soldiers. This report comes despite thousands of eyewitness testimonies attesting to the misconduct, and video and photographic evidence documenting the crimes.

On the 35th anniversary of Earth Day, Palestinians are facing deteriorating conditions due to the continuous Israeli confiscation of Palestinian lands and to the ongoing policies of settlement, making it impossible to create a contiguous independent Palestinian state, especially in light of isolating, besieging, and decimating the Arab and the Islamic character of occupied Jerusalem.

The minister of the Palestinian Local Government and the special representative of UNDP program signed a memorandum of understanding to support development the local government which will be implemented through the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), through financial assistance from donor countries in the amount of $10 million dollars over the next three years.

The Israeli government is expected to endorse a new set of penal measures against the Palestinian prisoners especially those affiliated with Hamas following failure of the prisoners' exchange deal, Hebrew press reported on Sunday.

A report published Sunday in the Hebrew-language business paper 'The Marker', said 21% of Israeli exporters say that they have been directly impacted by a boycott of Israeli products since the beginning of 2009.

Palestinian sources in Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, reported Sunday that Israeli soldiers attacked a peaceful protest against Israeli settlements in the Old City of Hebron, and demanding the army to reopen Al Shuhada Street in the city; three residents were wounded, and two international activists were detained.

If there is a single act that characterizes the plight of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation, it is waiting: waiting in lines to pass through the hundreds of checkpoints scattered across the West Bank, waiting for Israel to issue an identification card, waiting for permission to travel to the next village or out of the country, waiting for loved ones languishing in Israeli prisons to be released -- waiting for peace, waiting for justice.

Many lawyers, representatives of agricultural organizations and fishermen associations warned of exacerbating conditions of the Palestinian fishermen in Gaza due to the continued attacks by Israeli occupation. Israel limited the fishing area to three nautical miles from the shoreline that it was used to be 20 miles after the Oslo Agreement.

Gazans are used to Arab summits. Every time a summit is held, Gazans pinned hope that as soon as the conferences are over, some of their dreams would be realized, which now seems to be just that.

Chairman of the administrative board of Attadamun Society in Nablus, Dr. Ala Maqbool, said that reports have been prepared for payments due to orphans sponsored by Almunasarah Charitable Committee for the months of July through December.

Responding to the Call of Palestinian civil society to join the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, we are an Australian campaign focused specifically on a boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions, as delineated by PACBI (Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel):

Many university students who lost relatives or whose homes were destroyed during the recent 23-day Israeli offensive are finding it difficult to cope, according to university officials and students.

In a letter to the Palestinian factions, a number of rights organizations demanded investigating human rights abuses in the West Bank and Gaza. The letter called for forming an empowered panel of experts to investigate the allegations of human rights abuses. The letter also called for apologizing for the victims of killings, torture, arbitrary arrests, and for other violations that affected the victims' human rights and liberties as guaranteed by the Palestinian law.

A minister in India's Gujarat state government has been accused of leading a Hindu mob who attacked Muslims during riots in 2002, in which more than 1,000 people died.

In an unprecedented move by a Western Christian leader, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has praised British Muslims for bringing back religion and ethics into public life.

The reportedly Israeli attacks on a convoy in Sudan prove Israel's preparations to hit targets far from its borders, including Iran's nuclear facilities, former Air Force officials say.

The Bulgarian government approved Thursday, March 26, a draft bill banning hijab and other religious symbols in schools.

Joy Ellison came from Portland, Oregon, US, last year to promote non-violent resistance to the Israeli occupation. Eventually, she ended up at the small Palestinian hamlet of At-Tuwani in the southern Al-Khalil (Hebron) hills where she, along with a number of mainly North American peace activists known as the Christian Peace-Making Teams (CPT), are now living.

The Palestinian center for human rights has categorically refuted Thursday the Israeli occupation authority's allegations that most of the Palestinian victims in the war on Gaza were Hamas fighters, stressing that the bulk of the victims were civilians.

Turkish media have revealed on Friday that an electronic mail was found at the personal computer of one of the members of the secret Ergenekon organization exposing an Israeli Mossad scheme to kill Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Mandela Institute for Human Rights and Political Prisoners said Israeli prison administration recently isolated prisoner Abdullah Ghaleb Al Barghuthi from Beit Rima in Ramallah, with Israeli insane and drug addicts prisoners.

When Gazans who had been stranded on the Egyptian side of the border were given the chance to return to Gaza, Yassir Okasha entered Gaza with them.

This month has witnessed a sharp increase in the number of Gazan patients who died because of lack of medical treatment.

A legal battle being waged by Palestinian families to stop the takeover of their neighborhood in East Jerusalem by Jewish settlers has received a major fillip from the recent souring of relations between Israel and Turkey.

Amnesty International alleges immigrants languish in detention centres without receiving hearings.

Despite insecurity, displacement and lack of many basic services, Iraqis see a glimmer of hope six years after the US-led invasion of their country. "Since 2003, I never took my children to parks or any other public place for enjoinment," Muminah Salam, a 37-year-old teacher and mother of three, told IslamOnline.net on Saturday, March 21.

From his small home, Mohammed Sadiq can see the barbed, wired border area separating the two sections of Kashmir, where he lost a leg to one of the many planted death traps.

The Hamas lawmakers in the West Bank said Tuesday that the report submitted to the UN on Israeli violations in the Gaza Strip and the testimonies of Israeli soldiers about war crimes published lately by the Israeli Haaretz newspaper were only a fraction of the atrocities committed by Israel on the ground.

A report by an international rights group has said that Israel's use of white phosphorus during its recent offensive on the Gaza Strip is evidence of war crimes.

Farmers and inhabitants of the villages and towns south of Tulkarem, in the northern part of the West Bank, appealed to the International community, the International Red Cross and human rights organizations to support them and pressure the Israeli government to rescind its decision to close the only farm gate, the main connection with their farms isolated behind the Apartheid Annexation Wall.

Thanks to the support of the Spanish local Council of Burgos, Clowns without Borders" (Spain) has been touring UNRWA schools in Lebanon, since 6 March 2009.

Palestinian sources in the Gaza Strip reported on Wednesday morning that the Israeli Navy attacked a Palestinian fishing boat, kidnapped the four fishermen who were onboard, and took over the boat, the Quds Net reported.

The Ramattan News Agency reported Tuesday that the prime minister, Ismail Haniyya, held the weekly meeting and decided to distribute 2 million US dollars in urgent aid to the families affected by Israel’s latest war on Gaza.

By late Saturday afternoon hundreds of heavily armed Israeli security forces on horseback and on foot had arrested over 20 Palestinians, assaulted a handful of people, and prevented numerous festivities from taking place.

When members of the National Socialist Party of America (the Nazi Party) declared their intention to march through the predominantly-Jewish Chicago suburb of Skokie in 1977, Jewish groups vociferously denounced the “attempted re-enactment of the Nazi nightmare.”

Israeli policemen, escorting a march for far-right activists in Um Al-Faham, on Tuesday fired rubber bullets and teargas canisters and opened water cannons at Arab citizens who blocked their way into the city.

A report released by Equality Center for the Rights of Palestinians in Pre-1948 Palestine confirmed that there is a rise in racist incidents against the Palestinians residents this year compared with last year.

West Midlands Palestine Solidarity Campaign welcomed the decision made by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council not to consider further Veolia’s bid for the 'Waste Improvement Plan' contract. A contract worth £1 Billion over 20 years.

The Israeli occupation authority on Monday detained Sheikh Ra'ed Salah, the head of the Islamic Movement in 1948 occupied Palestine, while attending a celebration marking Jerusalem as the capital of Arab culture 2009.

Mothers of 17 Palestinian prisoners from Balata refugee camp, whose sons are sentenced to life imprisonment, asked Gila'd Shalit’s captors to hold on their own terms through calling for releasing old and high sentenced prisoners.

Two days after Israel ended its 22-day invasion of the Gaza Strip, a friend and former clinical law professor in Jerusalem, Huwaida Arraf, asked me: "What do you think about organizing an emergency legal delegation to Gaza?"

The sentence seems ambiguous at best: Jerusalem is the capital of…what?

The Palestinian Ministry of Detainees and Ex-detainees Affairs said Israeli occupation authorities have arrested more than 1,000 Palestinians since the beginning of 2009, increasing the number of Palestinian detainees at Israeli prisons to more than 11,000 distributed throughout 25 prisons and detention centers.

In spite of orders and restrictions imposed by the Minister of Internal Security in Israel, and in spite of attacks and extensive military and police presence in Jerusalem, the Palestinians kicked off the festivities celebrating the city as the capital of Arab culture.

The European campaign to lift the siege on Gaza on Sunday strongly denounced the practices of Israeli occupation forces at the Gaza commercial crossings which are intended for humiliating the Palestinian citizens through expectorating in food transported into the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli Haaretz newspaper revealed that T-shirts and other clothing bearing images and slogans urging for killing pregnant Palestinian women, and bombing mosques are designed nowadays at the request of Israeli Occupation troops as a 2009 fashion in Israel.

The UN investigator into human rights in the Palestinian territories is set to present his latest report to the UN human rights council in Geneva.

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, and added that the number of patients who died due to the siege is now 311.

After visiting the Israeli prison of Al Damoun, Palestinian Prisoners' Society lawyer said that Palestinian female prisoners were facing extreme hardships.

The Japanese Ambassador to Syria, signed an agreement today with UNRWA Deputy Commissioner-General Filippo Grandi for a US$ 4.3 million grant for the Neirab Rehabilitation Project, Aleppo.

The life of the Palestinian refugees over the last 60 years has been unique. Unique and rich. Rich with suffering endured and rich with the capability to cope. Rich with a willingness to survive and continue, and to challenge all the circumstances.

Families whose homes were destroyed during the recent offensive in Gaza and are now living in tents face new misery as the heavy rains that have swept Gaza in the past few days have reduced tents to sodden piles of cloth and turned camps in to a quagmire.

As a unique part of the National Fundraising Campaign for the Children of Gaza, Syrian band Kulna Sawa performed three concerts in February at the Opera House, Damascus. All ticket earnings were donated for the campaign in support of Gaza.

Sheikh Ekrema Sabri, the head of the higher Islamic authority, stated Friday that 5,700 Israeli housing units are under construction in occupied Jerusalem and 73,000 in the West Bank in order to accommodate more than one million Jews.

Sheikh Ra'ed Salah, the head of the Islamic Movement in the 1948 occupied lands, reiterated Friday that the IOA plans to demolish and evacuate 1,700 Palestinian homes in occupied Jerusalem during this year, which means the displacement of about 17,000 Jerusalemites.

The Palestinian ministry of prisoners' affairs on Saturday strongly denounced the Israeli occupation authority for taking revenge measures against the Palestinian prisoners especially those affiliated with Hamas through bringing mentally ill Israeli detainees to stay with Palestinians imprisoned in solitary cells.

Economic affairs experts warned of an expected humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza caused by the crippling economic situation.

A field study conducted by the Applied Research Institute (ARIJ) reported that the Israeli state had significantly increased the illegal construction of settlements in the occupied West Bank with a percentage that reached 173%.

For months, the opponents of Operation Cast Lead – the assault on Gaza that killed 1,434 Palestinians – have been told we are "dupes for Islamic fundamentalists", or even anti-Semitic.

Israeli Army veterans reveal how they gunned down innocent Palestinian families and destroyed homes and farms.

An Early Day Motion, filed by MP Lynne Jones and co-sponsored by 30 British MP's demanding that Llyods Banks rescind arbitrary measures against Interpal.

Israeli army killed Palestinian civilians and intentionally destroyed their property during the Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip, according to the recounts of soldiers who participated the offensive on Thursday.

The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, issued its weekly report covering the period March 10 through 16, 2009. The report focused on the humanitarian situation - casualties, food, health, shelter, water and sanitation, electricity and fuel, access and crossings as well as priority needs .

A free drawing exhibition named "Suffering of Gaza's Children During the Israeli War" was organized in various schools throughout Gaza in cooperation with the Educational Activities at the Ministry of Higher Education and Lifeline convoy's delegations.

Salam Fayyad, Prime Minister of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, announced the increased of allowances for families of the martyrs effective the beginning of this year. He explained that the new increase will take effect as soon as appropriate data are submitted the Ministry of Finance. The decision was announced after a meeting with representatives of families of the martyrs.

In Western media, Iraq's Kurdistan is the land of glittering dreams, where democracy prevails and people lead prosperous lives.

Less that a day after the outgoing Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, and his cabinet decided to increase pressure on Hamas, the Israeli army kidnapped on Thursday at dawn a number of political leaders and legislators of Hamas in the West Bank.

The Israeli municipality in occupied Jerusalem issued orders to demolish 17 buildings and homes, some of them were built ten years ago in Al-Thawri neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Islamic resistance movement, Hamas, has held Israel responsible for the breakdown of Egyptian-mediated negotiations over a possible prisoner swap with the apartheid Zionist regime.

Volunteers from Relief International in Nablus visited the village of Tana which is under the immediate threat of extinction after the Israeli occupation authorities delivered notices of demolition for the residents of the tiny agricultural village.

Avigdor Lieberman, the controversial Israeli far-right politician, is set to become foreign minister of the incoming government, to the alarm of the country’s neighbours and allies.

Portugal on Tuesday urged the European Union to review ties with Israel if the Jewish state did not display its commitment to the Middle East peace process.

Israeli bulldozers demolished a house and three temporary Bedouin shelters in the West Bank town of Al-Eizariya, east of Jerusalem, on Wednesday.

On Thursday 4 March, which fell during Fair Trade Fortnight, Zaytoun launched its new product, the world’s first Fairtrade-certified olive oil.

Ehud Olmert, Israel's outgoing prime minister, has rejected a prisoner swap with Hamas for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who has been held in Gaza for three years.

Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man on trial for imprisoning his daughter for 24 years and fathering her seven children, has pleaded guilty to all charges against him, including murder and enslavement.

They were sitting in their desks when we visited one of the schools which was close to the suburbs invaded by the Israeli occupation forces in Gaza.

Never has an inter-Palestinian dialogue been more carefully followed than the one going in Cairo these days, where all Palestinian factions have been meeting for the past few days to sort out their differences under an all-Arab sponsorship.

Bulldozers belonging to the Jerusalem Municipality demolished a Palestinian-owned apartment, located in Beit Safafa neighborhood in Jerusalem city.

The Israeli army radio reported Monday that right-wing mayor of occupied Jerusalem Nir Barakat has issued 34 orders of demolishing Palestinian homes in eastern Jerusalem since he took office three months ago which indicate that there will be a significant increase in demolition orders this year compared to last year.

The campaign against violence towards women has been the focus of media attention in Morocco recently, in order to press for an end to gross abuses committed by men against women and make victims aware of the need to break the silence which allows it to continue.

As environmental experts, NGOs and government officials gather in Istanbul this week to attend the Fifth World Water Forum, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has drawn attention to the critical water situation in Gaza.

Germany's plans to resettle 2,500 Iraqi refugees got under way earlier this month when a young couple flew out of Jordan with their sickly son, who will receive urgent medical treatment in their new homeland.

A group of the world's most experienced judges and human rights investigators called Monday on the UN to open investigations into war crimes and violations of international law committed during the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

Two Palestinian citizens were injured on Monday evening when Israeli occupation forces fired at their car's tires and injured both of them in Jabal (mountain)Al-Khalil.

The Islamic Relief Association for Orphans ; Poor in the pre-1948 Palestine started a campaign named "Sponsoring Orphans of the Zionist Massacre at Gaza Strip."

For the past three weeks, Mohammed Hajaj (Abu Anas) was hospitalized at Beit Jala Hospital near Bethlehem, south of West Bank.

The continuing shortage of cooking gas due to Israel's border closures, along with the destruction of at least seven major poultry farms during the recent military siege, has made an important food item scarce and unaffordable for most of the Strip's 1.5 million residents.

We thank all who continue to remember Rachel and who, on this sixth anniversary of her stand in Gaza, renew their own commitments to human rights, justice and peace in the Middle East. The tributes and actions in her memory are a source of inspiration to us and to others.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health decided yesterday to give free medical insurance to patients of Thalassemia and Hemophelia. In the event the patient is the head of the family, the insurance would then cover the entire family.

Yaser Khraish, or Abu Sami, as he likes to be called, waits by the gate wet of the village to pass to cultivate his land.