Akron professor says Israeli interrogators tied him to chair

By DIAA HADID
Associated Press Writer

¶ JERUSALEM (AP) _ An Ohio university professor freed after 22 days in an Israeli jail said Monday that he was tied to a chair and questioned for 60 hours after being detained on suspicion of spying for Iran and Hezbollah.

¶ "There were five interrogators. I had to sit on a chair, sometimes they tied my hands behind my back, sometimes they released them, depending on their mood," said Ghazi Falah, 53, a geography professor at the University of Akron.

¶ Falah, who was released Sunday, said he was routinely taken from his cell for questioning.

¶ Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld declined to comment on the conditions of Falah's detention, saying only that "based on the investigation and the evidence we had, he was released."

¶ Falah, who is known in academic circles for his writings on the borders of Israel and a future Palestinian state, was held after taking photographs close to Israel's border with Lebanon. One picture showed an Israeli military antenna.

¶ Falah said he was taking pictures along the border because he thought they would be of interest to an academic conference he was planning to attend and for a journal he edits.

¶ During his detention, his interrogators accused him of spying for "forces opposing Israel," Falah told The Associated Press.

¶ He was denied access to his lawyer for 21 days, and a media gag order was imposed on his detainment.

¶ Falah, an Arab with dual Israeli and Canadian citizenship, said he had only come to the area to visit his sick mother who was in a Haifa hospital to get a brain tumor removed.

¶ "She didn't know I was arrested. My family told her I was in Jordan. She asked about me all the time," he said. "She still doesn't know."

¶ Falah's family in Wadsworth, Ohio, was aware of his arrest but wasn't allowed to speak with him until Sunday. Falah's son Naail, 23, was relieved but shaken by their first telephone conversation.

¶ "I asked, 'How did they treat you?' And he got really cold and didn't want to talk about it," Naail said Monday. "I could hear the pain in his voice."

¶ Naail Falah said his father wants to stay in Israel a few more days to be with his mother after her surgery, then plans to go to Toronto later this week before returning to Ohio.

¶ The professor said he believes he was detained because he has written articles critical of Israel.

¶ "I think it was a political arrest, because of my writing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and about Israel's policies toward its Palestinian citizens," Falah said.

¶ ___
¶ Associated Press writer David Hammer contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.

Abbas says intense negotiations under way to free Israeli soldier; others deny release could be imminent

By DIAA HADID
Associated Press Writer

¶ JERUSALEM (AP) _ Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that intense negotiations were under way to free an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas-linked militants.

¶ However, a Palestinian lawmaker and a spokesman for the Hamas military denied that the soldier's release could be imminent.

¶ Abbas, who spoke in Rome after meeting with Italian Premier Romano Prodi, initially was quoted by an official Arabic-to-Italian translator as saying there could be an "imminent solution" for the soldier's release.

¶ An Associated Press translation found that quote was not correct.

¶ "I have told the prime minister regarding the issue of the captured soldier that we are undertaking intensive efforts to end this as soon as possible," he said in Arabic, according to AP.

¶ Abbas was referring to Prodi, who stood beside him at the news conference.

¶ In response to the initial translation, Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida said "from our side there is nothing new." Palestinian lawmaker Saeb Erekat said it was "premature" to say the soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, is about to be released.

¶ Israel launched attacks in Gaza after Palestinian Hamas-linked militants crossed from Gaza into Israel on June 25 and captured Shalit. As that conflict raged, Hezbollah grabbed two soldiers in a July 12 cross-border raid, sparking Israel's massive assault on Lebanon.

¶ Egypt's powerful chief of intelligence Omar Suleiman, who has broad contacts among the Palestinians and carries enormous influence among officials in Gaza, has been deeply involved in negotiations seeking the Shalit's release.

¶ Egyptian security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic, said Thursday there was considerable progress in the negotiations to free the soldier but no breakthrough.

¶ Saudi diplomatic officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information, said Abbas would be in Jiddah on Saturday for talks with King Abdullah on developments surrounding the soldier and escalation of violence. They also suggested the release was not imminent.

Hezbollah rocket attack fails to heal internal Israeli Arab rifts

By DIAA HADID
Associated Press Writer

¶ MUGHAR, Israel (AP) _ Three Hezbollah rockets killed a teen and wounded 10 people in this Israeli Arab village with a spectacular view of the Sea of Galilee, but the mutual tragedies failed to forge unity among the three squabbling religious factions.

¶ The rockets distributed themselves evenly among the factions, one each hitting Christian, Muslim and Druse houses Tuesday in the village of 11,000. Dua Abbas, 15, a Muslim girl, was killed by one. Manal Ibrahim, 16, a Christian girl, was wounded by another. The third injured nine members of a Druse family.

¶ "Hezbollah has a good sense of humor," Druse villager Amid Fawarsi observed wryly.

¶ Arabs make up about 20 percent of Israel's population. Many have relatives among the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, and some have family in Lebanon as well. With Israel identifying itself as a Jewish state, fighting repeated wars against Arabs, Israel's Arab citizens find themselves struggling with conflicting loyalties.

¶ In general, Israeli Arabs are more critical of Israel than of Hezbollah in the current conflict, blaming Israel for hitting back too hard for the cross-border Hezbollah raid, killing three Israeli soldiers and capturing two on July 12, that set off the latest fighting.

¶ In Mughar, made up of about 60 percent Druse, 20 percent Christian and 20 percent Muslim, the rocket attack evoked contrasting reactions and blame.

¶ Violence has broken out several times in the past year in Mughar, reflecting the mistrust and hostility among the religious sects. One recent round of scuffles, which led to attacks on houses and shops, was set off by an apparently erroneous rumor that a Christian resident had posted naked pictures of Druse girls on an Internet Web site.

¶ Now geography has dealt the tense village a blow. Mughar is in the green Galilee hills, 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the Lebanese border, well in range of Hezbollah rockets.

¶ Druse, Arabs who follow a religion with secretive practices and serve in the Israeli army because of their close identification with Israel, were more critical of Hezbollah, while Muslims and Christians, who are exempt from army service, placed blame on Israel.

¶ Standing in the wreckage of the house in the Muslim section where his young cousin was killed, Ahmad Abbas, 44, was mildly critical of the Lebanese guerrillas. "Hezbollah is firing rockets, and it doesn't know if it is hitting Arabs or Jews," he said, as sunlight streamed through the gash in the roof where the rocket smashed through, killing the girl instantly.

¶ Abbas felt the conflict would lead nowhere, and he had no kind words for Israel's massive military onslaught. "In another few months, they'll begin negotiations," he said. "In the meantime, we are paying the price."

¶ Christians in the village feel targeted by all sides, facing hostility from local Druse and Muslims while living in a Jewish-dominated state.

¶ Fadi Dawoud, a Christian, was standing with a group of his friends in the Christian neighborhood. They were wearing crucifixes on gold chains around their necks. "I don't think (the Israeli government) is concerned with us," he said. He came here from the hard-hit Arab-Jewish city of Haifa, hoping to escape the barrages, but they caught up with him on Tuesday.

¶ The girl who was wounded is his cousin, he said, and relatives were with her at the hospital, where doctors were trying to save her eye.

¶ Another Christian, who gave only his first name, Elias, buttoned up his shirt to cover his crucifix as he headed for the Druse house hit by a rocket. Otherwise, "they'd rip me apart," he said.

¶ In the Druse section, a rocket bounced off a wall and exploded in a square, wounding nine relatives of Shakid Ghalem, a Druse who said he is over 60 and served as a senior Israeli field commander in Lebanon during Israel's 18-year occupation that ended in 2000. He strongly backed the Israeli offensive.

¶ "Hezbollah is a disaster for the Israelis and the Lebanese," he said. "They must be removed from the border."

¶ Fawarsi agreed. Watching news on Israeli TV at a cafe, he complained that when it pulled out unilaterally in 2000, Israel "handed the area over to Hezbollah."

Flood of people head into Gaza from Egypt after Palestinians forcibly open border gate

By DIAA HADID
Associated Press Writer

¶ RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) _ Palestinian militants forced open a border gate between Egypt and Gaza on Friday, letting hundreds of people pour freely across the border, while Egyptian police and Israeli helicopter gunships tried to stop the flow.

¶ At least 600 people, most of them students and patients trapped at the border in the weeks the Rafah crossing was closed, passed freely between Gaza and Egypt. Six armed Palestinian militants stood by, periodically firing in the air, witnesses and Palestinian security said.

¶ Lugging suitcases, some of those passing through walked on crutches. Others walked or ran through the gate. A handful of Palestinian cars were seen crossing into Egypt.

¶ Fearful militants would use the open border to smuggle arms into Gaza or whisk a captured soldier into Egypt, the Israeli helicopters fired warning shots to prevent people from crossing the border, the army said.

¶ Egyptian police used tear gas and dogs to try to disperse the crowd, but the flow continued, police said. Three Egyptian police were injured by Palestinian gunmen, the police said.

¶ The militants from the ruling Hamas party said they opened border gate as a "gift" to the Palestinian people.

¶ Egyptian police Capt. Mohammed Abdel Hadi said masked Palestinian militants firing guns broke into the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, clearing the way for the trapped Gazans.

¶ One traveler, Yasser Abu Shaab, ran into Gaza from Egypt, carrying his suitcases. He said militants stormed the gate.

¶ "After that we heard shooting," Abu Shaab said. "We were in the hall, and we ran toward the door and pushed it open and we ran out."

¶ Umm Raed was there with her two children whom she lost in the mayhem.

¶ "The whole world forgot us, so we helped ourselves," Raed said, crying.

¶ Late Friday, security forces from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' presidential guard briefly clashed with the gunmen, security officials said. A brief gun battle erupted after the gunmen set off explosives near the wall. The explosions caused minor damage to the wall, and the gunfight died down quickly. There were no injuries, security officials said.

¶ The border, Gaza's main gateway to the outside world, has largely been closed since June 25 when Palestinian militants carried out a cross-border raid on a military outpost, killing two Israeli soldiers and capturing one.

¶ Rafah's closure left hundreds of Palestinians who work and study in Egypt stranded, while preventing hundreds of others from leaving the coastal area to receive medical treatment abroad.

¶ Last week, a 26-year-old Palestinian woman suffering from cancer died at the border while waiting to be allowed into Gaza.

Palestinians fleeing Israeli offensive in Gaza take shelter in empty school

By DIAA HADID
Associated Press Writer

¶ RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) _ More than 200 Palestinians who fled their homes because of an Israeli offensive in southern Gaza sought shelter in a vacant U.N. school Saturday.

¶ In a sign of the tensions, some of the displaced got into an argument over winning a spot at the shelter and gunfire erupted. Police said three officers were wounded in the melee.

¶ "Living conditions are at a new low. It's a struggle to survive," said John Ging, the new head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza.

¶ Ging warned that Israel's military campaign, prompted by the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier two weeks ago, has lead to a humanitarian crisis. "Water, food, electricity, sanitation; these are the problems. The situation doesn't get more basic than that," he said.

¶ On Saturday, UNRWA oversaw the transfer of 235 people _ or 36 families _ who were moved from Shouka, a largely Bedouin area close to Gaza International Airport, to an elementary school in the southern town of Rafah.

¶ Arriving with few possessions, the Bedouins crowded around a U.N. truck in the school's courtyard to receive mattresses. One group of men made tea in the courtyard, using a small gas canister.

¶ "We fled our home near the airport because of tank fire and air fire. At one stage we were told by Israelis over a loudspeaker at night to leave our homes for our own safety," said Jihad Abu Zakkar, 45, the father of six children.

¶ He said his children screamed through the night, and the family left home in the morning under a white flag.

¶ Umm Issam, 50, said her family of seven left home every night in the past week to sleep under a tree, further away from the fighting. Issam said she decided to seek U.N. help when she realized her husband, who is ill, could no longer walk such distances each night.

¶ The U.N. gave other Bedouin families who have livestock 18 tents to set up nearby so they could watch their cattle and sheep.

¶ Israel launched its military offensive two weeks ago, after Hamas-allied militants kidnapped an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid. Southern Gaza's long-closed airport was one of the first positions Israeli forces and tanks occupied. Gaza's borders with Israel and Egypt have been largely closed during the crisis.

¶ The closure and the destruction of Gaza's only power station by the Israeli air force have led to a humanitarian crisis in the area, said Ging, the UNRWA chief.

¶ He urged Israel to open supply routes at crossings such as Karni in southern Gaza, where he said 235 containers of U.N. food were waiting to cross.

¶ He said the border closure also was preventing the United Nations from shipping its empty containers out of Gaza to be refilled and returned.

¶ The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

Israeli military offensive strands Palestinian fishermen on shore

By DIAA HADID
Associated Press Writer

¶ RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) _ During five years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, Gaza's fishing boats were routinely grounded by the Israeli military. So when Israel withdraw from Gaza last year and relaxed its coastal restrictions, the fishermen here gleefully took to the sea to support their families.

¶ But a new Israeli offensive that started last week has forced the small fishing fleet here back to shore at the height of the summer season, leaving many fisherman scrambling to survive.

¶ Majid al-Nada, a 24-year-old fisherman from Rafah, said he and others used to go out six miles _ but now it's only five yards.

¶ "I'm living off my savings and, when that ends, I'll borrow money," he said.

¶ Israel, which maintained control of Gaza's coast even after its pullout last year, sealed off the sea with naval gunboats after a soldier was captured in a June 25 militant raid on an army post.

¶ The army says the coastal closure is crucial to stopping the militants from smuggling the soldier into nearby Egypt by boat.

¶ It has also stranded about 3,000 Palestinian fisherman on shore for 10 days, costing the local economy $250,000 in losses, said Tarek Saker, director general of fisheries at the Palestinian Agriculture Ministry.

¶ With about 43 percent of the Palestinian population living in poverty and unemployment at 23 percent, every fish caught counts. The fishing industry supports tens of thousands of workers, from the fishermen to those who make the nets and fix the boats, Saker said.

¶ The industry became even more important to Gaza's economy earlier this year, when Israel and the West started an international boycott of the Hamas-led Palestinian government, which has left 165,000 civil servants without salaries since April.

¶ Before Israeli-Palestinian fighting broke out in 2000, fishing accounted for almost 7 percent of agricultural output, said Saker. But last year, Palestinian fishermen caught half as much as they did in 1999 _ largely because of the Israeli restrictions.

¶ "When the fishing season is at its peak, this is the people's food and they eat fish for breakfast, lunch and dinner," Saker said.

¶ Gaza fishermen were caught off guard by the Israeli response to the militant raid that captured Cpl. Gilad Shalit. Al-Nada's boats were out at sea when Israeli naval boats suddenly began firing on the fishermen the morning of the raid. A small unmanned boat filled with lights to attract fish, which he drags behind his main boat, was hit with 38 bullets.

¶ "I wasn't in the boat," Al-Nada said. "If I was, I'd be dead."

¶ Israeli army spokesman Capt. Jacob Dallal said Israel is constantly patrolling the Gaza coast to prevent the kidnappers from moving Shalit to Egypt and to prevent Palestinian militants from smuggling explosives in, as they tried to do recently.

¶ Amran Miqzad, a 19-year-old Rafah fisherman, had been hopeful he could continue in his family's profession after Israel withdrew from Gaza last summer. For six months, the horizon was free of naval ships and Palestinians fished freely.

¶ But now Miqzad can only count on a few fish to feed his family, he said, as 23 small boats lay on their side in the sand nearby.

¶ "I have no other source of livelihood," said Miqzad, who usually catches tuna and sardines this time of year. Now, "we throw our nets into the sea from the shore, and we catch two or three fish for personal use."