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Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines ~ |
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Settlers / Right-wing extremists
Settlers break into Israeli military base, sabotage property
IMEMC
13 Dec -- Israeli sources reported Tuesday that a group of extremist
Israeli
settlers of the Hilltop Youth settler movement infiltrated, on Monday at
night, an Israeli military base near the northern West Bank city of
Qalqilia, sabotaged property and vehicles, and hurled stones at the
soldiers, wounding a senior officer ... The settlers also blocked a main
road in the area and hurled stones at Palestinian cars causing damage
to a number of vehicles. Israeli media sources stated that the attacks
seem to be motivated by
Israeli intentions to dismantle some random settlement outposts in the
West Bank by March of next year.
In related news, the Israeli Police
apprehended 17 extremist settlers
who barricaded themselves, on Monday, at the site of the baptism of
Jesus in the Jordan River. They settlers hung banners with photos of
the right-wing Jewish leader
Ze'ev Jabotinsky, who called for the "Jewish state to expand beyond the
Jordan river into the state of Jordan and all the way to Iraq.”
According to Israeli Yedioth Aharonoth, the settlers entered a closed
military zone behind the border fence with Jordan, and barracked
themselves in the site, very close to where Jordanian soldiers are
stationed. The site, 10 kilometers away from the West Bank city of
Jericho, is one
the most sacred sites for Christians after the Nativity Church in
Bethlehem and the Church of Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
http://www.imemc.org/article/62662
Jerusalem: Rightists clash with police
Ynet 14 Dec -- Right-wing activists clashed with police forces in
Jerusalem Wednesday during arrests made against suspected "price tag"
act perpetrators. The ensuing riot saw the suspects damage several
police cruisers, shattering the windshield of one and slashing the tires
of another ... Meanwhile, right-wing leaders were irked by Knesset
Member Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, who earlier slammed the IDF's lenience
toward the settlers who raided an IDF base in the West Bank overnight
Tuesday. Ben-Eliezer called the group "a bunch of criminals" and said
that the troops should have fired at them.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4161670,00.html
Right wing Israelis torch Jerusalem mosque
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 14 Dec -- Right wing Israelis set fire to a mosque in Jerusalem overnight, Israeli police said. "During
the night, there was an attempt to set fire to a disused mosque in the
city center," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP. "Police also
found graffiti on the walls. The police have opened an investigation." Vandals
sprayed the Star of David and racist graffiti including "Muhammad is a
pig" and "A good Arab is a dead Arab" in Hebrew on the mosque's walls. They also sprayed "price tag" on the building
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=444774
Jewish settlers set Jerusalem mosque, West Bank cars on fire
...Settlers
from Tappuah settlement in the northern West Bank attacked a
house that belongs to Mohammad Mousleh in the nearby Palestinian village
of Yasouf while setting his car on fire, according to local sources.
They said settlers attempted to set the entire house on fire by opening a
gas cylinder and igniting it, but residents were able to put off the
fire before gutting the entire house. The settlers had also written
“price tag” slogans on the house. In addition, settlers set fire to a
Palestinian-owned car at the entrance
of Hares, west of Salfit, and wrote “price tag” slogans on it. Settlers
also set fire to a water tank and a vehicle in Doma, a village
south of Nablus, and attempted to arson other cars in the town,
according to local sources. The settlers wrote graffiti on several
houses in the village, reading “a gift from Yitzhar [Israeli settlement]
to the Arabs."
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18356
Israel responsible for settlers' attack on church, says official
JERUSALEM (WAFA) 13 Dec -- Member of the Revolutionary Council
of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah), Dimitri
Diliani, Tuesday held Israel fully responsible for the settlers’ attack
on a church near the Jordanian border, under the watch of Israeli
soldiers. Diliani said in a press release that the Israeli army
evacuated the
church at one o’clock in the morning, after more than four hours spent
by the settlers in damaging the church and its contents. The attack on
the Orthodox church of St John the Baptist, located a few
kilometers east of Jericho, came after strong opposition from Jordan
against demolishing Magharbe gate ramp in East Jerusalem.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18342
West Bank road sees repeated stone attacks
Ynet 14 Dec -- Palestinian residents of northern West Bank villages
claim settlers regularly pelt their cars with stones as IDF fails to put
a stop to attacks ... Palestinians residing in northern West Bank villages do not understand the fuss over recent violence
by the Hilltop Youth. For them it's a daily struggle. Palestinian cars
driving on the road near Yitzhar and Havat Gilad suffer regular stone
attacks. Abu Zitun was forced to pay NIS 2,000 to repair his minibus.
"I'm afraid to go on that road now and do a detour to avoid it," he
said. He noted that while Palestinian vehicles driving on the "Gilad
artery" get pelted with stones, cars with Israeli license plates are
never attacked.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4161834,00.html
Neyanyahu: Jewish extremists not a terror group but will be given military trial
Haaretz 14 Dec -- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved Wednesday a
series of steps that would crack down on Jewish extremists responsible
for recent violent attacks on IDF soldiers and other targets, but
rejected a recommendation to label them a "terror group." Netanyahu
approved issuing administrative detention orders for the Jewish
extremists, as is usually done with Palestinians suspected of being a
security risk. Moreover, the prime minister approved trying the Jewish
activists in military courts, which would effectively expedite their
sentencing and make their punishment more severe.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/
netanyahu-jewish-extremists-not-a-terror-group-but-will-be-given-military-trial-1.401451
Rioting Jews to be tried in army courts like Palestinians
JPost 14 Dec -- Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu provided security forces and police with
several new legal tools on Wednesday designed to enable them to stamp out
radical nationalist attacks. According to one of the recommendations
Netanyahu accepted a day after the vandalism and rock-throwing incident at an
IDF base, Jews rioting in the West Bank will now be tried in military courts
like Palestinians ... The new steps include: • immediately
issuing administrative detention orders against rioters. • increasing the
number of Jews barred from entering the West Bank. • giving the IDF the
authority to detain Jewish rioters, and not having to wait for the police to do
so. • adding investigation teams from the Shin Bet, police, IDF and State
Attorney’s Office to deal with these incidents.
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?ID=249517&R=R1
Gov't mulls deeming far-Right violence 'terror'
Ynet 14 Dec -- Justice Minister Yaakov Ne'eman holds special meeting
following escalation in far-Right violence, as gov't explores legal
options against offenders ... The meeting's
participants stressed that the group in question was a small one, and
that their actions – which must be dealt with harshly – do not represent
the settlers' community. Such measures, however,
are bound to meet legal scrutiny, since no one knows at this point if
the violent acts are instigated by one specific group or are the work of
individuals.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4161468,00.html
IDF worried about settler informants in its ranks
JPost 14 Dec -- The IDF is looking into the possibility that soldiers might have tipped
off settler activists who stormed the Efraim Regional Brigade base late
Monday night. The IDF has launched an internal investigation into
the series of incidents that took place on Monday night including the
settler crossing of the Israeli-Jordanian border fence, the stoning of
Palestinian cars near Kedumim and the raid on the Efraim Regional
Brigade base and subsequent attack of IDF soldiers.
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=249458&R=R2
Does Baruch Goldstein's rabbi want violent settlers shot? / Larry Derfner
972mag
14 Dec -- Wel-l-l… Amazing headline in The Jerusalem Post today: “West
Bank rabbis: Allow live fire at stone-throwers.” Mind you, the whole
country is outraged today at the spectacle of that mob of settler youths
attacking that army base in the West Bank, throwing stones, hitting a
commander in the head, but now West Bank rabbis, of all people, are
calling to shoot them? Sure looks that way: “Anyone who faces a
danger, including being pelted by stones or other dangers, must be
allowed to open fire against attackers without having to worry about
being tried or having their weapon confiscated,” read a letter from the
rabbis to Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Barak.
http://972mag.com/does-baruch-goldsteins-rabbi-want-violent-settlers-shot/29884/
B'Tselem: Extremist Jews should be dealt with as criminals
TEL AVIV (WAFA) 14 Dec – B'Tselem, the Israeli Information
Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territory, stated that the
phenomenon of violence by Israeli citizens in the Occupied Territory
must be dealt with through the criminal justice system, Wednesday said a
press release published on the Center’s website.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18368
IDF to apply fire protocol to Jews?
Ynet
14 Dec -- Army to revisit procedure following violence directed against
Ephraim Brigade. 'A soldier must have no doubts as to how to act when a
Jew comes to throw a concrete block on his head,' military source says
... The army is considering taking a firmer hand against rioters
targeting the IDF. Among the options being explored is the use of crowd
dispersal means such as shock or gas grenades, water canons and in
cases of mass riots more advanced tools such as odor and noise weapons. The IDF is also
revisiting fire protocols in cases where soldiers' lives may be in
danger which involve the hurling of stones or glass bottles. IDF forces
refrained from using weapons in previous clashes with Jewish rioters and
physically blocked the assailants ... A soldier guarding an
entrance to a base is required to follow the fire protocol when
suspicious figures approach the base, but this is based on the
assumption that any such suspect is a Palestinian terrorist. "Tuesday's
event undermines this perception," the officer said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4161801,00.html
Chief rabbi: Rightist violence springs from 'genuine pain'
Ynet
14 Dec -- In weak condemnation, Shlomo Amar says settlers who raided
IDF base 'hurting their rabbis, teachers'; police chief vows to bring
those who are 'igniting the country' to justice ... Meanwhile, Police
Commissioner Yohanan Danino said Israel Police has "taken off its gloves
in the battle against the criminal phenomenon in which mosques and
state symbols are targeted." While visiting a police station in Lod Wednesday, Danino said
the police force would use all the means at its disposal to curb
right-wing violence and bring the perpetrators to justice.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4161842,00.html
MESS Report: Today they are outraged, tomorrow they will forget / Amos Harel
Haaretz 14 Dec -- When the wave of condemnation passes, everything will
be just as it was before: authorities will continue to act forgivingly
toward the extreme right, and IDF officers will continue to tread
carefully when it comes to settler violence.
http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/mess-report/
today-they-are-outraged-tomorrow-they-will-forget-1.401227
Rabbi Ronsky warns of "brothers' war"
Ynet 14 Dec -- Israeli religious leaders fear that a civil war is only a matter of time, following Monday night's settler violence
in the West Bank. Israel's
Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger on Tuesday strongly condemned the attack on
the Ephraim Brigade commander near the outpost of Ramat Gilad, which
left him and his deputy injured.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4161577,00.html
Jewish rock-throwers are more equal
Haaretz 12 Dec -- It is easy to imagine what would have happened had Palestinians invaded
an Israeli military base and vandalized vehicles, burned tires, thrown
rocks at the brigade commander and injured his deputy. It would have
ended in death, injury or arrest for many of them. But the perpetrators
of this week's incident were Jews, not Palestinians, and they threw
rocks at both soldiers and Palestinians.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/jewish-rock-throwers-are-more-equal-1.401263
Palestinian police fire on illegal Israeli pilgrims
NABLUS (AFP) 13 Dec -- Palestinian police shot at a group of Israelis illegally
visiting a West Bank religious site, injuring one, Palestinian security
officials said Tuesday. The police opened fire after shouting
warnings at the small group of Israeli worshipers who had entered
Joseph's Tomb near the northern West Bank city of Nablus overnight, said
the officials. The Israeli military said it had no comment on the incident. Israeli
public radio said the group was composed of seven ultra-Orthodox Jews,
who entered the site without the required coordination with the Israeli
military.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=444638
Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid
Israeli forces demolish old buildings near Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 13 Dec -- Israeli bulldozers demolished on Tuesday morning
three old buildings on the outskirts of Beit Jala, near Bethlehem,
known as Wadi al-Makhrour, after claiming they were built on Israeli
land. The mayor of Beit Jala, Raji Zeidan, said the buildings
were recently refurbished. The buildings, according to Zeidan, belong to
Fuad Qasasfa, Khadir Salamah, and Abed Audah. He also
highlighted that several landowners in the area recently received
warnings from the Israeli authorities warning them that reclamation of
land is prohibited. On Monday, the parish priest for Beit Jala, Ibrahim Shomali, said the
situation for residents of Beit Jala, which is predominantly Christian,
was deteriorating fast due to Israeli measures ... Shomali was speaking to reporters about Israel's plans to confiscate
land belonging to the Cremisan vineyard to make way for its wall.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=444622
Life next to the separation wall with Israeli soldiers on the roof / Mikaela Levin
AIC 14 Dec -- The Hassan family was only allowed to come back to their
house in 2010. For five years, after the Israelis built the separation
wall right through one of the walls of their home [see photos], they
were forbidden to enter. They waged a long legal battle to show that the
property was theirs. They won and today eight members of the family
live in the three-storey house. But they still can't access their own
roof-- Israeli forces constructed a surveillance tower on Hassan's roof
and visit it at least once a week. While the Hassan family offers an
extreme example, the wall has affected, to some extent, all of the 4,000
Palestinians that live in the village of Nazlat ‘Isa, which is 15
kilometers northeast of Tulkarem. The space between the barrier and the
houses in Nazlat ‘Isa is very narrow. In some parts, only two people
fit.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/news/3986
Palestinian village struggles against 'quiet transfer' / Emma Mancini
AIC 14 Dec -- Like other Palestinian villages, Al Aqaba is
endangered--95% of its buildings are under demolition orders, including
the kindergarten and the mosque. After 1967, Israel declared the area a
closed military zone and began using it for training, entering the
village, occasionally, to "practice." Residents say that it is part of a
plan to conduct a "quiet transfer" of the local Palestinian population
... “The oldest house in Al Aqaba dates back to 1930 [18 years before
the state of Israel was established]," Sadiq continues. "Nevertheless,
Israeli authorities accuse every single family of the village of
building their homes illegally. So, they carry out demolitions. This
year they destroyed Salam Street twice, in April and in September." 95%
of the buildings in the village are under demolition order. Among them
the health center, the kindergarten and the mosque.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/news/3984
Israel reopens access ramp to Al-Aqsa compound
JERUSALEM (AFP) 14 Dec -- Israel on Wednesday reopened a controversial wooden
access ramp to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound, just over 48 hours
after it was closed on safety grounds in a move which had sparked Muslim
anger. "It was opened this morning," police spokesman Micky
Rosenfeld told AFP. "It has been opened as normal for visitors, both
Christian and Jewish." He said no work had been carried out to
stabilize or alter the ramp, but pointed out that a fire engine had been
stationed nearby and other unspecified safety precautions put in place.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=444803
Israeli mayor 'willing to cede land beyond wall'
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 14 Dec -- The Israeli mayor of Jerusalem said Tuesday that
lands outside of the area allocated for Israel's West Bank barrier could
eventually be abandoned to the Palestinian Authority, Israeli media
reported ... Lands "owned" by the municipality, a unilaterally declared Israeli
administration, but which fall on the opposite side of the wall could be
handed back, while those inside the wall should be annexed, he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=445080
Restriction of movement
Video: Testing boundaries: We don't have a problem with you, we have a problem with students
14 Dec -- Mohammad’s story
isn’t necessarily heartbreaking. He is a 19-year old, outstanding
student from Gaza who wants to study mechatronics (an emerging
discipline that combines mechanical engineering with computer science
and other fields) so he can join his father’s business. Until now there
hasn’t been a mechatronics program in the Gaza Strip. Al Azhar
University opened a pilot program this year, but Mohammad prefers to
study at Birzeit University in the West Bank, in a program that already
has an established reputation. The Israeli army’s district coordination
office (DCO) for Gaza rejected Mohammed’s application to study in the
West Bank. It has nothing to do with Mohammed himself. He is not accused
or suspected of committing security offenses. It’s not personal, it’s
just that no students from Gaza are allowed to travel to the West Bank
to study. Again, this is not a heartbreaking story, just another small dream crushed by movement restrictions.
http://www.gazagateway.org/2011/12/
we-don't-have-a-problem-with-you-we-have-a-problem-with-students/
Israel to allow 600 Christians from Gaza to travel to Bethlehem, if they're between 35 and 40
PNN 15 Dec -- Khlil Faraj, the director of the Civil Coordination Office in the Gaza
Strip, confirmed that an Israeli government contact said they would
allow 600 Christians from Gaza to go to Bethlehem to participate in
Christmas ceremonies. Faraj told PNN that the one condition Israel imposed was that the
travellers must be between 35 and 40 years, the first time such a
specific age limitation has been in place. The Palestinian side rejected
the condition.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10966&Itemid=72
Run for Silwan marathon highlights checkpoint system from Bethlehem to Wadi Hilweh
Silwan,
Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 14 Dec -- The Run for Silwan marathon was held on
Monday, 19 September, and saw participants follow a route starting from
the Israeli military checkpoint at the entrance to Bethlehem, past the
Old City and ending in Wadi Hilweh district of Silwan. The marathon drew
local and international media attention in its highlighting of the
Israeli militarization of Palestinian land and its impact on local
children.
http://silwanic.net/?p=22811
Detention / Prisoner swap
Israel detains Hamas lawmaker in Ramallah
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 14 Dec -- Israeli forces on Wednesday detained a
Palestinian lawmaker in Ramallah. Hamas MP Ayman Daraghmah was detained
after soldiers ransacked his home, a Ma‘an reporter said. Daragmeh was
released in 2010 after spending 20 months in jail in Israel. Over 20
lawmakers are imprisoned in Israel. Most of them are held in
administrative detention, without charge or trial.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=444886
Israeli soldiers hold Palestinian responsible for any attacks against them
HEBRON (WAFA) 14 Dec – Israeli soldiers Wednesday held a
Palestinian, Eyad al-Halayqeh, from the neighborhood of Wadi al-Sheikh
north of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, responsible for any
attacks against them in the neighborhood. Al-Halayqeh said Israeli soldiers raided his home at dawn Wednesday. They
forced him to stand outside in the cold, searched his home and
threatened to kill him and his children, all under the age of three,
claiming that a number of youth threw rocks at their vehicles along the
road near his house.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18362
Israeli forces detain 7 across West Bank
HEBRON (Ma‘an) -- Israeli forces detained seven people across the West
Bank overnight Tuesday, Palestinian and Israeli officials said. An
Israeli army spokeswoman said that four men were detained in the
Ramallah area, one near Qalqiliya and two in Beit Ummar, Hebron.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=444896
Second phase of prisoner swap underway
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 14 Dec – The Palestinian Prisoners' Society said Wednesday
that the Israeli prison service has notified the detainees who will be
released in the second phase of the prisoner swap deal.The society has released a list naming detainees it says will be freed ... The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Wednesday that the remaining
prisoners would be freed on Sunday if the Supreme Court rejected any
petitions against the release. A high-ranking source told the
newspaper that the Israeli government selected which prisoners would be
released in coordination with Egypt. None of the prisoners to be freed
has been convicted of killing Israelis, the official said. The
list will not include any Hamas or Islamic Jihad affiliates. Most
detainees set for release are affiliated to Fatah, the Popular Front for
the Liberation of Palestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation
of Palestine, the official told Haaretz, adding that minors and women
would be among those freed.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=444858
Israel Prison Service posts list of 550 inmates to be freed in Shalit deal
14 Dec Pursuant to the Government of Israel's decision from October 11, 2011,
to approve the proceedings of the agreement for the liberation of
abducted soldier Gilad SHALIT, held by Hamas,550 prisoners will be
released on Sunday ,December 18th,2011 according to the second stage of
the agreement. The prisoners are as detailed in the following list. The
Ministry of Justice will operate an information center as of today and
until the date of execution of the agreement, where information
regarding prisoners on the list can be obtained and applications to the
MOJ Director General can be submitted [Click on green Excel icon to see the list]
http://www.shabas.gov.il/Shabas/KATAVOT_OLD/year2011/12-11/
Notification+of+Release+of+Security+Prisoners+14.12.11.htm
Separated as prisoners, reunited in Gaza on release / Pam Bailey
EI 14 Dec -- ...While imprisoned, Israeli authorities did virtually everything to
obliterate the detainees’ moorings to reality and their connections to
their culture, families and fellow prisoners -- from prohibiting visits
for months at a time, to forcing repeated moves to disrupt any new-found
friendships, to imposing solitary confinement, sometimes for years at a
time. Some prisoners crack. One freed prisoner I met during my recent
trip to Gaza had been isolated for 15 years; he seemed unable to sustain
a conversation with anyone else, instead muttering softly to himself
virtually nonstop. But what also stands out despite these
unimaginable hardships is prisoners’ tenacity in finding small, yet
powerful ways to resist and hold on to their sense of identity and
purpose. This is the story of Samer Abu Seir and Loai Odeh -- two men who
met in prison and have remained friends ever since -- but they speak for
so many others.
ttp://electronicintifada.net/content/separated-prisoners-reunited-gaza-release/10693
Gag order lifted years after undercover Hamas arrest
TEL
AVIV (Ma‘an) 14 Dec -- Israeli censors have finally lifted
prohibition on publishing the arrest by undercover forces of a Hamas
member allegedly involved in the capture of a soldier. An
undercover Israeli force seized Mahawash al-Qadi in 2007 on suspicion of
"indirect involvement" in the capture of Gilad Shalit, who was
exchanged in October for several hundred Palestinian prisoners ...
Haaretz says the arrest on Sept. 7, 2007 inspired Hamas to move Shalit
to an alternative location, perhaps fearing al-Qadi would reveal the
place he was held after a 2006 cross-border raid. He was released on
Oct. 18 as part of the prisoner swap mediated by Egypt.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=445023
Gaza
Gaza man shot by soldiers 'critically wounded'
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 14 Dec -- A man in his 20s is in critical condition after
being shot by Israeli soldiers east of Gaza City on Wednesday morning,
medics said. Medical services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya told
Ma‘an the man was shot in the thigh while hunting for birds in the
Shujaiyeh neighborhood.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=444882
Activists: Soldiers open fire toward Gaza demo
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 13 Dec -- Israeli forces fired toward Palestinian protesters
on Tuesday during a demonstration against land confiscation near the
Israeli border, activists said. Saber Zaanin, local coordinator,
said activists and internationals were fired upon while heading toward
the destroyed Dumra village north of Beit Hanoun, inside Israel's buffer
zone. Israeli forces fired at them and tanks headed toward the
wall. International solidarity activists got on a farming plow, which
was pushed inside the buffer zone by 200 meters, he added. Zaanin
pointed out that the activity is a message for the people in Nabi Saleh
that they "are not alone facing Israel and its walls", and that the
"seeds of resistance planted in the buffer zone area are for peace."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=444705
New report documents children under fire in Gaza
13
Dec -- Twenty-eight cases of children being shot at by the border fence
between Israel and the Gaza strip whilst gathering building materials
like gravel, or working by the fence, have been documented by Defence
for Children International in their latest report ‘Children of Gravel’.
The shootings reportedly took place between March 26 2010 and October 3,
2011, according to Defence for Children International (DCI)-Palestine
Section . According to DCI, the Israeli soldiers often fire warning
shots to scare off workers by the border. Their report also states that
‘these soldiers sometimes shoot and kill the donkeys used by the
workers, and also target the workers, usually, but not always, shooting
at their legs.’
http://www.ohmygaza.com/2011/12/new-report-documents-children-under.html
Hamas' Gaza anniversary draws tens of thousands
GAZA CITY (AP) 14 Dec – Tens of thousands of Gazans turned out Wednesday
for an anniversary rally of the ruling Hamas, a demonstration of
strength for the Islamic militant movement ahead of Palestinian general
elections tentatively set for the spring ... The crowd faced a huge stage in the shape of a ship, meant to symbolize
the Palestinian journey of return to all the land between the Jordan
River and the Mediterranean, including what is now Israel.
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111214/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_palestinians_hamas
Hamas frees 75 prisoners to mark anniversary
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 14 Dec -- The Hamas-run government in Gaza on Tuesday
released 75 prisoners to mark the Islamist movement's 24th anniversary. The
Interior Ministry said in a statement that the prisoners had served at
least two-thirds of their sentences and displayed good behavior in jail.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=444800
Israel govt adviser doubts Hamas control over Gaza
JERUSALEM (Reuters) 13 Dec -- The Gaza Strip's governing Hamas are incapable of
curbing smaller Palestinian militant groups in the territory, a senior
Israeli official said Tuesday. The remarks by Strategic Affairs
Ministry director Yosef Kuperwasser followed exchanges of fire across
the Gaza border for which Israel, in line with long-standing policy,
held Hamas responsible, though other factions were involved. Referring
to Hamas' seizure of Gaza in 2007 from forces loyal to President
Mahmoud Abbas, Kuperwasser told an Israeli security conference the group
"is not capable of implementing this responsibility".
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=444738
Egypt deports 17 Palestinians
RAFAH, Egypt (Ma‘an) 14 Dec -- Egyptian authorities on Wednesday
deported 17
Palestinians who were in the country illegally, Egyptian security
sources said. Security officials at the Rafah border between
Egypt and Gaza told Ma'an that 17 Palestinians were detained on the road
to Cairo and sent back to Gaza. In some cases, the migrants' visas had
expired while others had entered Egypt through underground tunnels, the
officials said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=444816
Bell peppers exported from Gaza for the first time in years
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 13 Dec -- The first two truckloads of bell peppers was set to
be exported from Gaza to Europe on Wednesday through the Kerem SHalom
crossing with Israel, in addition to four truckloads of strawberries. Israel
allowed 210-220 trucks loaded with aid and necessities to reach the
Strip. It is bound for the trade, agriculture and transportation
sectors, Palestinian officials said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=444860
Sinai
Growing wall of steel fences off Egypt
NETAFIM,
Israel (AFP) 12 Dec -- Far from the uproar of Cairo's Tahrir Square,
Israel has been doubling its efforts to erect a giant, impenetrable
security barrier along its 240-kilometer border with the Egyptian Sinai
... "In a month's time, we will have built 100 kilometers of the barrier
which by the end of 2012, will extend some 240 km along the border," a
senior military officer in the southern command told AFP. When
completed, the fence will stretch the entire length of Israel's desert
frontier with Egypt, starting from the Red Sea resort town of Eilat in
the south and ending at the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=444256
Egypt investigates Sinai 'abduction', army denies
EL-ARISH,
Egypt (Ma‘an) 13 Dec -- Egyptian authorities have opened an
investigation into a family's claims that their son was abducted by
Israeli forces in the Sinai desert, security officials said Tuesday.
Egyptian
authorities are investigating the abduction of a member of Hamas'
security services in the Sinai and are making inquiries with Israel to
determine how it happened, according to an Egyptian security official. A
close friend of the Gaza man, who asked not to be identified, told
Ma‘an that Israel's secret service had telephoned the family to notify
them of the incident and instructed them to hire a lawyer. After four
days, the family still had not heard from the man, the friend said. An
Egyptian military source, meanwhile, said the security forces had
received no information about Israel detaining a Palestinian in the
Sinai. Egyptian intelligence in Sinai do not transfer prisoners to
Israel, he said. Earlier Tuesday, however, the Palestinian
Authority liaison department confirmed that a Gaza resident had indeed
been detained by Israeli forces, but declined to provide further
details. ... An arrest of a Palestinian in Egypt by Israeli agents would
be the first known case of its kind.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=444691
Extrajudicial killings
Masked in Gaza: the untold story of Palestinian 'militancy' / Ramzy Baroud
Palestine Chronicle 13 Dec -- Essam Al-Batsh and his nephew, Sobhi Al-Batsh,
are the latest in a long line of reported Palestinian ‘militants’
killed by Israel. The civilians were both targeted while driving in a
car in downtown Gaza on December 8. According to an Israeli army
statement, “(They) were affiliated with a terrorist squad that intended
to attack Israeli civilians and soldiers via the western border”
(Reuters, December 8). Another ‘militant’ had been killed two days
earlier ...Israel’s excuses actually tell nothing of the history behind
the
phenomena of ‘militancy’. To know why some young men in Gaza decide to
mask their faces and carry arms, they need to abandon the media’s
reductionist characterization of Gaza’s armed struggle. This goes back
much earlier than Hamas and Fatah, the 2006 selections, the 2007 siege
or the 2008-09 war. The phenomenon began shortly after the Nakba –
The Palestinian ‘Catastrophe’ in 1948, which saw the destruction of
Palestine and the erection of today’s Israel.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=17315
The tale of the targeted killing / Uri Misgav
Ynet 13 Dec -- Op-ed: Operational strategy vis-à-vis
Gaza doesn’t work and is unfair, immoral; there must be another way ...
The targeted killing is here again. Reality as we know it is so
convenient. The language is familiar: The “target” is always a “senior
member of a military wing.” They have many senior members – apparently
it's an army of generals. He is always taken out moments before
launching a terror attack (“a ticking bomb”) or moments afterwards
(“retaliation”). It always follows an “imminent threat” and an
“operational opportunity,” and the consequences be damned. There is no resisting
the temptation of the “targeted killing,” even if the target's focus is a
little murky. A “surgical strike” may be executed at the heart of a
residential area or on a school's doorstep, and we'll leave the innocent
casualties to the surgeons at the Shifa Hospital. Just as long as the IDF
“settles the score,” as if this was a dusty noontime western and not
the defense force of a sovereign state, which is supposed to consider
the overall interests of its citizens.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4161124,00.html
Activism / Solidarity
Another attempt to silence us - night raid in Ni‘lin / Saeed Amireh
12 Dec -- I have spent the last 3 months in Europe, travelling to speak
at
numerous events about Palestine, about our suffering, about our dreams
and our hopes. I have learned so much and I have seen wonderful things.
But the most important thing that I have experienced was how it is to
sleep in safety and without fear and stress for 3 months. It was the
most amazing experience of my life.
Last Friday, 9.12.2011 after a long and arduous trip, I managed to come
back to Palestine – to my lovely village Ni‘lin ... Two days later, on
Sunday, 11.12.2011 at 1am, while I was sleeping at my
family house, the Israeli occupation soldiers invaded my uncle’s house,
which is close to my family house. Another group of the Israeli
Occupation forces invaded the house of my other uncle and they forced
him to come with them to my family house – I have no idea why?!? Then,
they started bashing the door of my family house and shouting at us to
open the door. I was sleeping when my elder brother woke me up: “The
soldiers are trying to break the door!” At first I didn’t understand. It
all felt so strange.
http://www.nilin-village.org/2011/12/12/another-attempt-to-silence-us---night-raid-in-nilin/
West Bank village steps up protests against Israel's theft of land / Ben Lorber
EI 13 Dec -- For approximately five months, the residents of Kufr Qaddoum have united
to demonstrate against the illegal Israeli settlement of Kedumim and
the Israeli military’s closure of their village’s main road. Kufr
Qaddoum, a West Bank village so old that, according to legend, Abraham
was circumcised there with an axe, has since 1976 been plagued by
Kedumim, a 3,000-inhabitant Israeli settlement that now surrounds the village on five hilltops. Kufr Qaddoum’s main road, which passes through Kedumim to link the village to Nablus, was closed by the Israeli military in 2003 ... Shttaiwa estimated that Kufr Qaddoum has already lost 58 percent of its
land to Kedumim, and will lose 80 percent upon completion of the wall.
Contrary to the Kedumim security officer’s statement, quoted in The Economist,
that “not one centimeter of Qedumim is built on land known for sure to
be private,” a 2009 B’Tselem map details that much of Qedumim is built
entirely on privately-owned Palestinian land (“Private Palestinian land in the built-up and municipal area of Kedumim,” B’Tselem, 2009).
http://electronicintifada.net/content/west-bank-village-steps-protests-against-israels-theft-land/10687
Political news
Poll: Most Palestinians want elections in May
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 14 Dec -- The results of an opinion poll released Wednesday
show that the vast majority of Palestinians in the occupied territories
support holding elections in May, state media said. Some 85
percent of Palestinians support the current election schedule, according
to the Arab World for Research and Development poll cited by Wafa, the
Palestinian Authority's news agency in Ramallah. Conducted
between Nov. 22-24, the poll showed that Palestinians continue to place
the highest importance on achieving national reconciliation, with 96
percent saying it was at least somewhat important. The poll also
showed that President Mahmoud Abbas, who has promised not to run for
any future term, would beat Ismail Haniyeh, the prime minister in Gaza
whose government was dismissed by Abbas....
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=445032
Zahhar: No elections in May
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 13 Dec -- Senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar said Tuesday it
was unlikely that elections would be held in May as scheduled. In
an interview with Egyptian media, Zahhar said a unity government and
security committee needed to be formed to ensure a transparent vote,
Cairo-based Al-Ahram reported. He questioned on what basis
elections could be held as neither of these prerequisites had been met,
according to the newspaper report citing the Middle East News Agency.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=444601
Video: Reactions to Palestinian flag at UNESCO
BBC 13 Dec -- Nice video of flag going up
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16170654
Mideast Quartet holds separate talks with Israelis, Palestinians
JERUSALEM (AFP) 14 Dec -- Representatives of the international peacemaking
Quartet were holding separate talks with Israeli and Palestinian
officials on Wednesday, diplomats said, with no breakthrough in sight. The
envoys, representing the United Nations, Russia, the United States and
the European Union, met the Palestinian team headed by Mohammed Shtayeh
on Wednesday morning at the UN headquarters in East Jerusalem, they
said. They were expected to hold talks with the Israelis at the same place in the early afternoon.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=445011
Israeli repression / racism / sexism
Israel's AG seeks to keep press from reporting criminal investigations
Haaretz 12 Dec -- Proposal would contradict fundamental principles of
democracy, says attorney representing Haaretz and other media outlets
protesting the proposal -- Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein plans to
impose a wide-ranging gag
on media reports of criminal investigations, including those of public
officials. Weinstein, who will hold a hearing Wednesday
to allow the press to respond to the proposal, has informed the media
that he is seeking to pass a law that would ban the public disclosure of
any information from ongoing police investigations - whether or not a
suspect has been indicted.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/
israel-s-ag-seeks-to-keep-press-from-reporting-criminal-investigations-1.400885
Israel earns another failing score on freedom of religion index
Haaretz 14 Dec -- CIRI ranks Israel on par with Afghanistan, China, Iran and
Saudi Arabia; indicates severe and widespread governmental restrictions
on religious freedom ... [Rabbi Uri Regev, president of Hiddush - For
Religious Freedom and Equality remarked] "What causes this shameful
situation is the practice of [political
parties] buying power in exchange for capitulation to religious
coercion, while ignoring the wishes of the majority of people in both
Israel and the Diaspora...."
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/
israel-earns-another-failing-score-on-freedom-of-religion-index-1.401257
Israel Adhan ban stirs internet outcry
PressTV 14 Dec -- The Facebook page of Anastassia
Michaeli, an Israeli MP and a member of Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel is Our
Home) party, has been inundated with thousands of comments, links and
audio/video files of Adhan after the Israeli official submitted a motion
to the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, urging a ban on the calls to
worship at mosques.
The Facebook users have cautioned that this is just the beginning of
the storm and that in case the broadcast of Adhan is prohibited, the
call to prayers will be heard from all over the occupied territories,
IRIB reported on Tuesday.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/215601.html
Haredim call Beit Shemesh girls 'prostitutes'
Ynet 14 Dec -- Not giving up: After two months of relative calm in haredi-religious tensions
in Beit Shemesh, a number of extreme ultra-Orthodox men have resumed
their protest against a national-religious elementary school for girls,
which they claim has brought "immorality" to the heart of a haredi
neighborhood.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4161211,00.html
Small group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocks Israeli women from voting in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (AP) 14 Dec — A small group of ultra-Orthodox Jews has
prevented some women from voting in local elections in Jerusalem. It’s
the latest step by the extremely pious Jews to try to force their
practices on others. Israel’s Channel 2 TV video showed the men
screaming at a few dozen women, demanding that they leave a voting
station Wednesday. Then the men pushed them away. The incident happened
soon after Jerusalem’s secular mayor, Nir Barkat,
left the station after speaking out against gender discrimination.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/small-group-of-ultra-orthodox-jews
-blocks-israeli-women-from-voting-in-jerusalem/2011/12/14/gIQA0dPKuO_story.html
Guests asked to 'dress modestly' for IDF ceremony
Ynet 13 Dec -- Parents of soldiers completing military medics' course
surprised to receive invitation with bold lettering instructing them to
arrive in 'modest clothing' ... Ada (who asked not to
disclose her last name), whose son is among the course graduates, told
Ynet: "I've had children in the military before, and I don’t recall
being instructed to come to a graduation ceremony in modest dress. I am
beginning to wonder whether I'm living in the right country. What is
this, Iran?" she wondered.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4161207,00.html
Ministers to adopt women's rights measures
JPost 13 Dec -- New guidelines for public ceremonies, a hotline for women hassled on so-called
gender-segregated buses and penalization for religious authorities if women are
excluded from burials are just a few of the measures the government committed to
adopt Tuesday during a special meeting of the Ministerial Committee on the
Status of Women.
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=249282&R=R2
NGO report demands end to segregation of Ethiopian students
JPost 13 Dec -- Creating parent-teacher committees, corresponding in their own language and
punishing local authorities that do not encourage integration are just some of
the suggestions made in a recent report by the Israel Association of Ethiopian
Jews to address what it believes is becoming institutionalized segregation of
Ethiopian students in the education system.
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=249226&R=R2
Other news
PA struggles to fund Bethlehem church renovation
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 13 Dec -- The Palestinian Authority is struggling to raise
funds for a planned renovation to Bethlehem's iconic Church of the
Nativity, a Palestinian official said Monday. Ziad Bandak,
presidential adviser for Christian affairs and head of the Nativity
Church restoration committee, says the PA has raised about $1.6 million
of the nearly $15 million needed for a major roof renovation.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=444727
EU launches water management project in West Bank
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 14 Dec -- The European Union has launched a 1.5 million euro
project to improve the livelihoods of poor and rural families through
improving agricultural water management, officials said Wednesday.
The project is being implemented by the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the UN and is expected to be finalized at the end of
2012, a statement from the EU sai
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=445016
Jerusalem to name street after Umm Kulthum
JPost 13 Dec -- Egyptian singer's name chosen as one of 86 new street
names to be given in east Jerusalem in first phase of plan to improve
quality of life. The
new Umm Kulthum street will be among 86 new street names authorized for
the east of the city: 26 in Tzur Bachar, 34 in Beit Hanina and Shu‘afat
and 17 in ‘Isawiya.
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=249257&R=R2
Palestinian director overcomes politics to screen love story / Nour Merza
DUBAI (Reuters) 13 Dec -- It took Palestinian director Susan Youssef 10 years
to overcome a political obstacle course before she was able to screen
her heart-wrenching tale of doomed romance in Gaza at the Dubai
International Film Festival this week. "Habibi" (My Beloved)
retells in a modern Middle East setting the ancient Arabian story of
"Layla and the Madman", a tragic romance similar to that of Romeo and
Juliet. The film tells the tale of two students in the relatively
liberal West Bank who are forced to return to their homes in Gaza,
stronghold of conservative Hamas. There they try to continue their love
affair in defiance of tradition. Youssef, a Palestinian-American
who moved to Gaza to write the script, says the project ended up taking
so long to complete because of local politics, which sometimes required
great sacrifices for people to support the film and at other times made
production impossible.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=445093
U.S., France
'If we lived in any other country we'd be honored for this work' / Ghassan Elashi of Holy Land Foundation
Mondo/Counterpunch 12/13 Dec -- Exactly three days following the tenth anniversary of the Bush
administration shutting down the largest Muslim charity in the United
States, the Fifth Circuit Court dismissed the appeal for the Holy Land
Foundation case, affirming the conviction of my father, the co-founder
of the HLF who’s serving a 65-year sentence for his humanitarian work.
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/12/if-we-lived-in-any-other-country-wed-
be-honored-for-this-work-prisoner-ghassan-elashi-of-holy-land-foundation.html
Israelis and Americans are invented peoples too: response to Newt Gingrich / Mitchell Plitnick/Souciant
AIC 14 Dec -- Former Speaker of the House of Representatives and current
Republican Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has been a virtual
geyser of hate and bigotry throughout his political career. This
weekend, in his latest example of hate speech, Gingrich repeated the
hackneyed line that “The Palestinians are an invented people.” The point
for Gingrich, of course, is to show his loyalty to Israel by demeaning
the Palestinians. The implication for his Christian Zionist and
smattering of Republican Jewish supporters is that he will allow Israel
to deal with the Palestinians in whatever manner it sees fit because the
Palestinians, collectively, are not entitled to anything. Whatever
crumbs Israel allows them are, therefore, huge sacrifices for the sake
of peace.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/news/3985
PLO official invites Gingrich to Palestine
BETHLEHEM
(Ma‘an) 12 Dec -- PLO official Hanan Ashrawi on Monday invited US
Republican Newt Gingrich to visit Palestine as her guest, after the
presidential candidate said the Palestinian people were "invented." ...
On Saturday, he added: "These people are terrorists." Ashrawi
invited the presidential hopeful "to re-learn his history and come to
Palestine to see for himself, not only the suffering the Palestinian
people face on a daily basis due to the Israeli military occupation, but
also to experience the rich culture and history of the Palestinian
people" She added: "it is unbelievable that Mr. Gingrich, who
studied history at two outstanding American universities and even taught
history, could make such a misguided comment, solely for the sake of
political pandering."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=444452
but it seems he's already been there- and learned nothing:
Newt Gingrich's literal embrace of Yasser Arafat
HuffPost 13 Dec -- On Monday, a political operative who has been working on
Palestine-Israel policy for the past 20 years sent The Huffington Post a
picture of Gingrich, then the House minority whip, grasping the hand of
longtime Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat immediately following the
September 1993 Oslo peace accords.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/13/
newt-gingrich-palestinians-palestine-yasser-arafat_n_1146132.html
French woman faces two years in jail for wearing veil
RS 14 Dec -- A 32-year-old mother in France could go to jail for two years after
she refused to perform 15 days of “citizenship” service for wearing an
Islamic veil. Hind Ahmas was arrested outside Elysee Palace
in Paris on April 11 after she disobeyed an order to remove her niqab.
Magistrates in the suburb of Meaux handed down the 15-day-sentence
Monday, but Ahmas was not even allowed to be present in court because
she continued to wear the religious veil. “There is no possibility of me removing the veil,” Ahmas said at a press conference
following the hearing. “I’m not taking it off. The judge needs
citizenship lessons, not me.” Ahmas also could be forced to pay a fine
of about $40,000.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/14/
french-woman-faces-two-years-in-jail-for-wearing-veil/ |
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