Fighting between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen scared Palestinian schoolgirls in the West Bank city of Nablus as they crouched in the hallway while there was gunfire outside the school. One person on each side of the gun battle died in the fighting.
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(nydn) A member of the famed Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was forced to display his fleet-footed skills to convince Israeli airport security he was no Islamic terrorist. New Yorker Abdur-Rahim Jackson said he was detained Sunday at the Ben-Gurion airport in Tel Aviv because security officials were suspicious of his Muslim first name. Jackson, 31, who is African-American, said he was grilled about his name and asked twice to dance before he was allowed to enter the country. "It was really an embarrassing and unpleasant position to be in," Jackson said Tuesday. "To be greeted like this because of my name, it took me back a little bit.  More...

(ajz) Gaza's one-and-a-half million residents have been struggling to cope without electricity and other necessities on the fourth day of an Israeli blockade. As hospitals began to run short of power and sewage spilled on to the streets, Israel's prime minister said he would "not allow a humanitarian crisis in Gaza". On Monday evening, Israel said that it would allow some deliveries of fuel and medicine into the territory on Tuesday. Ehud Olmert promised that humanitarian aid would reach "hospitals, clinics, young children and helpless people", but did not say when. But Olmert also said that he had no intentions of letting Gazans "live comfortable and pleasant lives" until rocket attacks from the territory ceased.  More...