A 200-lb. car bomb malfunctions and fails to detonate outside a shopping mall in Haifa, preventing what would have been the 1st car bombing inside Israel since 2002; the car was stolen fr. East Jerusalem; a little-known Israeli Palestinian group called the Free Men of the Galilee claims responsibility, but Israel says it is not certain the claim is valid and is still investigating. Israeli security forces break up several Palestinian events in East Jerusalem (including dispersing a children’s march and popping balloons at a school, dispersing a folklore show at a children’s center) marking the Arab League’s designation of Jerusalem as the capital of Arab culture for 2009, saying the programs violate the ban on Palestinian political activity in the city (see 2/21). The Israeli government has also banned several events planned by the Israeli Palestinian comm. inside Israel to celebrate Jerusalem, including an oud performance and soccer match, claiming they were initiated by the PA to “meddle in Jerusalem.” The IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, Jenin. (IFM, WP 3/22; WP 3/23; OCHA 3/24, 3/25; PCHR 3/26; Jerusalem Report 4/27)
Saturday, March 21, 2009