Miryam Judah, 32, died yesterday of breast cancer in Gaza after being denied exit by the Israeli authorities to receive life-saving medical treatment unavailable in the Strip. She is the 37th Gazan to die because of the Israeli policy of denying access to life-saving treatment outside of the Strip since June 2007, when Israel imposed a siege on Gaza.

An Israeli military attack on the village of Qarara in the Gaza Strip today has killed nine Palestinians, five of whom were members of the same family, including two women. Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi MP, Secretary General of the PNI expressed his disgust at the killings and said that Israel had exceeded all limits in its violations of human rights and its attacks on civilians.

A statement by Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday that all roadblocks in the West Bank are to remain firmly in place is “yet another indication of Israel’s lack of commitment to achieving peace and its determination to continue dictating a fait accompli on the ground” said PNI Secretary General, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi MP today.

Khaldiyya Hamdan, 55, was murdered yesterday by Israeli soldiers at the Erez crossing on her way back from Mecca. This is but the latest crime in a string of grave human rights violations perpetrated against Gazan pilgrims by the Israeli military. From denial to exit the Strip to denial to re-enter, from arbitrary delays to random violence, Gazan muslims suffered grave infringements of their freedom of religion during this year's Hajj pilgrimage.

Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative, says vigorous efforts are being made to reconcile Palestine’s political factions and hopes that a resolution will be announced shortly.

"The further expansion and consolidation of Israel's Apartheid system in Palestine," is how Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, Secretary General of the PNI, today described the confiscation of Palestinian land for the construction of the Apartheid Wall in the village of Ni'lin, some 5 kilometres inside the Green Line.

Scores of peaceful protestors – Palestinians, internationals and Israelis – have been injured in separate demonstrations in Bili’in, Hebron and Nil’in since Friday. Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi MP, Secretary General of the PNI, stated that "the daunting prospect of certain violence, no matter how non-violent the demonstration, is a carefully thought out policy to discourage solidarity on the ground and isolate the Palestinians, leaving them to face the Israeli military alone."

Some five hundred people, including members of international and Israeli solidarity groups, turned out for a conference organised by the Palestinian National Initiative in Bethlehem yesterday to support the strategic choice of popular non-violent resistance against Israel's ongoing occupation and its Apartheid system, including the Wall. Speakers included Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi MP, PNI Secretary General, Luisa Morgantini MEP, Vice President of the European Parliament, Uri Avnery, Head of the Israeli Peace Bloc, Gush Shalom, and Victor Batarseh, Mayor of Bethlehem.

The Palestinian National Initiative will host a conference on Friday 28 December 2007 aimed at sharing experiences of non-violent resistance across Palestine, and at developing a national strategy of non-violent resistance to end the Occupation and Apartheid in Palestine.