poorpalestinians kidnap American student in "West Bank"

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - A previously unknown Palestinian militant group has claimed to have kidnapped an American student in the occupied West Bank [Jews' holy city of Shechem, burial site of the Jewish patriarch Yosef, called Nablus by the Arabs] .

The group, Ansar Al-Suna, faxed a copy of the student's passport and his student identification card to security officials in the West Bank, a Palestinian security official told AFP.

The group said it had snatched the student, who was named as Michael Phillips, in the town of Nablus on Wednesday.

The US consulate in east Jerusalem said it was looking into the report....

No biggie, I imagine that if they don't behead him, they'll let him go as soon as he converts to Islam.

Other news of the poorpalestinians, from YNet:

[Israeli] security forces thwarted a second terror attack in 24 hours, this time at the Reihan Crossing near Jenin. On Tuesday afternoon, two Palestinians who arrived at the crossing raised suspicion with the local Border Guard policemen manning the checkpoint. Following a search of the two, soldiers found two pipe bombs, weighing about one kilogram each.... During an investigation of the incident, the two Palestinians said they intended [to throw] the devices on the local forces....

On Monday, a Palestinian man was shot and killed in the Hawara checkpoint south of Nablus after attempting to stab IDF soldiers who were manning the checkpoint.