Free Republic

A violent fight between clans in Khan Yunis in central Gaza on Saturday erupted into an all-out battle in which an officer of the Palestinian Authority (PA)'s new elite army was killed, according to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. Five children and 24 others were injured in the fracas, which broke out Saturday night between two clans. The newly-created Interior Ministry Executive Force, made up of terrorists from various organizations, tried to break up the fight and was drawn into an armed battle.

Three British citizens were kidnapped as they entered the Gaza Strip from Egypt through the Rafah crossing on Wednesday, Palestinian witnesses and security officials said. The hostages were thought to be a man, woman and child, according to reports. Security officials in Gaza said the woman was a human rights worker in the area, but gave no further details. According to a Channel 2 report the woman's name is Kate Barton. Witnesses said the three were driving in a car which was stopped at gunpoint as they crossed into Gaza from Eygpt and were then ordered to get into the...

Rival factions of the ruling Fatah party clashed in a shootout at party headquarters in the Gaza Strip Wednesday, shortly after masked gunmen took over the building, deepening a political crisis ahead of a key election deadline. Three people were wounded. The shootout was the latest - and most serious - incident in a rash of violence in recent days as the party prepares to announce its candidates for Jan. 25 parliamentary elections. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, along with rival parties, faced a midnight deadline to present the party's candidate list. Abbas held primaries in the West Bank and Gaza...

The Palestinian central election commission suspended its operations Tuesday after masked gunmen attacked electoral offices in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, endangering the first legislative elections in a decade. The decision came just a day before the end of a candidate registration period, and was the latest sign that chaos and violence could undermine the Jan. 25 election. In Tuesday's violence, masked gunmen stormed election offices in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, firing in the air, destroying computers and ordering workers out of the buildings - all with little or no interference by Palestinian police. There were no...

Tensions were mounting in the ruling Fatah party on Monday following reports that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas had decided to name his own candidates to run in next month's parliamentary elections. Fatah gunmen, who took to the streets in several areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, vowed to prevent the PA from holding the parliamentary elections. The gunmen raided a number of PA election offices to protest Abbas's decision to ignore the results of primary elections held for the party over the past two weeks. The elections saw representatives of the young guard in Fatah defeat most...

One person was killed and 15 wounded in a clash between warring clans in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. The fighting first broke out on Friday, when six people were killed and 15 wounded in a gunbattle between rival families. Tempers calmed earlier this week after Palestinian Cabinet minister Mohammed Dahlan appealed to both families to put down their weapons. But after two days of relative calm, gunfire erupted again on Wednesday. Hospital officials said a 70-year-old Palestinian woman was killed and 15 people were wounded in the latest exchange. Two of the wounded were in critical condition, they said....

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - With the spin of a numbered wheel, an Afghan child might land in an ambush by turbaned gunmen. Another turn could lead a young player to the safety of a health clinic or classroom. They are all scenarios 10- to 14-year-olds must confront in The Road to Peace, a colorful new board game unveiled Thursday by the United Nations in an effort to educate local youngsters about Afghanistan's troubled past and its hopes for the future. Some 10,000 copies of the game are being handed out nationwide to war-affected children, former child soldiers and refugee families,...

Was the recent Dick Locher political cartoon in the Chicago Tribune anti-Semitic? Lots of people think so. George Bush is down on one knee spreading dollar bills to entice Ariel Sharon onto a bridge leading to peace. A big-nosed Sharon, with a Star of David on his suit, peers down at the money and says: “On second thought, the pathway to peace is looking a bit brighter.” Most of the elements of classic anti-Semitic cartoons are there — the nose, greed, the invitation to laugh at the Jewish people’s alleged lack of principle. But I have a question. Suppose you...