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Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines ~ |
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Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing
Settlement museum bill might signal annexation plan
JPost 25 Nov -- The Knesset will soon hold its first reading of a bill that would place West
Bank settlement museums under Israeli law, but the legislation seeks much more
than that. On the surface of it, the bill is about museum funding and
allows those institutions to apply for government money on an equal footing with
museums within the pre-Six Day War armistice line. But the bill’s author,
MK Uri Ariel (National Union), has been blunt about his plan to annex Judea and
Samaria through a de facto legislative process, by which each Israeli law would
be amended to apply to West Bank settlements. At present, they are under
military law.
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=246950
Pushing Palestinians out of East Jerusalem, one family at a time
AIC 23 Nov -- In five days, the Sumarin family--who live in the East
Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan--will lose their home. For decades, the
Sumarins have lived in Wadi Helweh, at the entrance of Silwan, a
neighborhood in East Jerusalem. But one week ago, the family received an
order telling them they must leave. If they don’t, they will face
eviction by force. Himnuta, a subsidiary of the Jewish National Fund
(JNF-KKL), justifies the transfer by saying that the family lives in the
house illegally. Himnuta claims that the building belongs to them. "In
1984, my great grandfather Musa Abdullah, the owner of the house, died,"
Mahmoud Sumarin explains to the Alternative Information Center (AIC),
"He had a Jerusalem blue ID. His nephew and his family have been living
here since his death. How did this property became an absentee property?
How can it be confiscated?"
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/jerusalem/3925
Friday prayers held at the Samrin family home threatened with confiscation
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 25 Nov -- Dozens of local Silwan Palestinians
held the
Friday prayers today at the house of the Samrin family in the Wadi
Hilwa to the south of the Aqsa Mosque. The Samrin family home is
threatened with confiscation by settler organisations. The function was
called for by the Committee to Defend Silwan Real Estate ... [Lawyer
Ahmad Al-Ruwaidi] said that holding the Friday prayers there is one of
the activities
approved by the meeting of Jerusalemite activists to prevent the
eviction of the family from its home, in addition to following the
matter in courts of law through the family lawyer. Ruwaidi added that
the matter is not a legal one but a political one
through which the occupation forces are trying to control all the area
surrounding the old city, especially that which is adjacent to the Aqsa
Mosque.
Link to Palestinian Information Center
Stop the expulsion: a call to Americans and Internationals / Moriel Rothman
AIC 24 Nov -- Remember dropping pennies into those blue JNF/KKL boxes in
your synagogue and Jewish Community Center when you were growing up? On
November 28th, the pennies dropped into those blue boxes- and the
JNF/KKL under the guise of “Himnuta”- will begin the process of
expelling a Palestinian family, the Sumarin family, from their home in
the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.
What is Himnuta: According to this
article: "The JNF established Himnuta in the 1930s, mainly to
circumvent legal restrictions on its own land dealings. For instance,
Himnuta can buy lands as an investment or exchange lands with Arab
dealers, both of which are forbidden for the JNF." Over the past few
decades, Himnuta has purchased and continues to purchase territory over
the green line.
Another settler organization - what's the big deal? The big deal is
this: Himnuta is not an independent company. Himnuta is part of the JNF.
How is that possible? The JNF’s policy is that is doesn’t buy land over
the green line. Exactly.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/settlers-violence/3926
Hamas, Islamic Jihad rally for Jerusalem
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 25 Nov -- Islamic Jihad and Hamas
organized mass rallies in Gaza City on Friday demanding protection of
Jerusalem's Palestinian character and Muslim holy sites. After Friday
prayers, Jihad supporters marched from al-Abbas mosque in the city, and
Hamas gathered in Palestine Square, including Prime Minister in the
Gaza-based government Ismail Haniyeh. Jerusalem is in danger and the
Islamic community should stand together to support the sanctity of the
Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City, Islamic Jihad official Sheikh Nafeth
Azzam told the rally.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=439388
Israeli desert plan would uproot 30,000 Bedouin
AL-ARAKIB, Israel (Reuters) 23 Nov -- Bulldozed by Israel more than two
dozen
times, a village known by Bedouin Arabs as al-Arakib is one of many
ramshackle desert communities whose names have never appeared on any
official map. If Israel's parliament adopts proposed new legislation, it
never will ... The project is the most ambitious attempt in decades by
the government
to resettle Negev Bedouin and free up land in the largely open spaces of
southern Israel for development and construction of military bases to
replace facilities in the crowded center of the country. Some
Israelis argue the Bedouin have grown too dominant in the Negev, a
geographic area wedged between Gaza and the West Bank, and that they
pose a possible security risk ... For decades, Israeli governments have
tried to attract Jewish Israelis
to move to the Negev, offering mortgage and tax breaks, but the region
has fewer opportunities for employment than in the heavily populated
center of the country. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=438909
Operation Dove: Two Palestinian girls arrested during home demolitions
HEBRON
(WAFA) 24 Nov -- Israeli army broke in the village of
Umm Fagarah demolishing several huts and detaining two girls in the
village of At-Tuwani, southeast of Hebron, Thursday said a press release
by Operation Dove. It said two bulldozers arrived in the village,
escorted by five military
vehicles, and without showing any demolition order; the army demolished
two houses, a mosque, a barn and a structure containing the generator...
While the inhabitants rushed from neighboring villages to watch the
going
on, the two girls were kneeled on the ground by the soldiers. Ignoring
the request of the Palestinians to be able to rescue the
rabbits [often raised for food in the WB], the Israeli army tore down
the barn injuring and killing the
animals. After the demolitions, the army took away the two girls without
providing any explanation on the charges.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18123
IOF troops demolish mosque near Yatta, arrest two girls
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 25 Nov -- IOF troops on Thursday demolished a mosque after
storming Khirbat al-Mafqara to the east of the town of Yatta in the
southern West Bank district of al-Khalil [Hebron]. Local sources said
that the IOF troops raided the village and demolished the small mosque
which occupies a 50 square meter area. They also demolished a home
housing 10 people and another housing 14 people, 4 of them disabled. The
occupation troops also demolished a shed housing an electric generator
and an animal farm. The sources added that the occupation forces
arrested Amal Hamamda (17 years) and Sawsan Tahan (19 years) and broke
the leg of a woman.
IOF troops also handed a number of residents of Khirbet al-Deirat to the
east of Yatta demolition notices, and handed summonses to a number of
residents of east Yatta to attend interviews with intelligence officers.
http://realisticbird.wordpress.com/2011/11/25/iof-troops-demolish-mosque-near-yatta-arrest-two-girls/
Israeli forces demolish car shop in West Bank village
RAMALLAH
(WAFA) 24 Nov -- Israeli forces Thursday demolished a
car repair shop owned by two Palestinian brothers in the village of Um
Safa, north of the West Bank city of Ramallah, claiming it was built
without permit, according to witnesses. They said that Israeli forces
stormed the village in the early morning
hours, imposed a military cordon around the shop, which was owned by
Mohammad and Ra’aft Sbaih, before demolishing it. The brothers said they
had a permit from the Palestinian Authority. Mohammad Sbaih told WAFA
that soldiers beat him and his brother for
protesting the demolition of their shop, prevented them from removing
their shop equipment before it was demolished, and detained them during
the process of the demolition. He said Israel had demolished part of
his family home three years ago although it was also licensed.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18120
Israel 'demolishes wells, structures near Hebron'
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 24 Nov -- Israeli forces on Thursday demolished three
wells and part of a home west of Hebron, witnesses said. Haitham
Awwad, a resident of al-Bass near Idhna, told Ma‘an that an Israeli
force arrived with a bulldozer and demolished a well and three rooms of
a home belonging to farmer Abdul Hafith Awwad. The forces also
destroyed two wells belonging to Abdul Rahman Faraj Allah and Ahmad
Faraj Allah, he said. Awwad
said the wells were located near Israel's separation wall inside the
southern West Bank, in an area with many natural springs. Israel
confiscated water from the springs for use by Israeli citizens, he
added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=439099
Israeli forces
PCHR Weekly Report: 3 civilians wounded, 19 arrested in 68 Israeli invasions this week [17-23 November]
IMEMC
25 Nov -- Israeli attacks in the West Bank: Israeli forces conducted 66
incursions into Palestinian communities in
the West Bank, during which they abducted at least 19 Palestinians,
including 4 children. Israeli forces raided the houses of a number of
Palestinians who were
released recently from Israeli jails, delivered them notices to appear
before the Israeli intelligence and threatened some of them. Israeli
soldiers arrested at least 5 Palestinian civilians, including 3
children, at a checkpoint in the West Bank. There are approximately 500
kilometers of restricted roads across the
West Bank. In addition, approximately one third of the West Bank,
including occupied East Jerusalem, is inaccessible to Palestinians
without permits issued by Israeli forces. Such permits are extremely
difficult to obtain.
Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip: In the Gaza Strip, on 23 November 2011, Israeli forces positioned in
observation towers near Beit Hanoun "Erez" crossing, in the north of the
Gaza Strip, opened fire at a number of Palestinians who were hunting
birds in the ex-settlement of "Nissanit", 300 meters from the border, in
the northeast of the Bedouin village, north of the Gaza Strip. The bird
hunters were forced to flee but no casualties were reported.
[and much more -- see here for full report]
http://www.imemc.org/article/62559
Settlers
[Settlers attack Lubban village]
PIC 25 Nov -- ...Meanwhile, settlers from the Eli settlement attacked the village of
Lubban close to the settlement, assaulted property belonging the family
of Daraghma and uprooted a number of olive trees...
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/11/25/
iof-troops-arrest-a-number-of-palestinians-in-the-west-bank-and-jerusalem/
Settlers break into Joseph's Tomb in Nablus
NABLUS (WAFA) 24 Nov -- A number of Jewish settlers Thursday
at dawn broke into Joseph’s Tomb, east of the city of Nablus in the
northern West Bank, according to security sources. They told WAFA that about 14 buses carrying settlers broke into the Tomb
and performed rituals and prayers under the protection of the Israeli
army...
Security sources said the Israeli army raided Nablus,
searched
Palestinian homes and arrested one Palestinian from Ein Beit al-Maa'
camp. Witnesses said the army intensified its presence and military
operations
at checkpoints surrounding the city and inspected Palestinians’
identification papers.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18113
Yasam officer to face disciplinary trial for kicking settler
Ynet
21 Nov -- Police Investigations Unit recommends to try Refael Cohen for
striking female settler during outpost evacuation. Officer probed for
past offences, forced to pay compensation for slapping protester in 2002
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4151365,00.html
Police to compensate man hurt in anti-Gaza pullout rally
Ynet 24 Nov -- The Tel Aviv
Magistrate's Court on Thursday ordered a former cop, Eliran Avraham, to
pay NIS 7,000 (about $1,900) in damages to a protester
that he hit during a rally against the Gaza disengagement.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4152984,00.html
Occupation
VIDEO: Organized chaos and bare life (*): the non-story of the night raids . Noam Sheizaf
972mag
24 Nov -- There exists a general, intentional, cleverly constructed
misunderstanding surrounding the true nature of the Israeli occupation.
Some say it’s a simple dispute over land, like many others in the world;
other think the conflict is about national independence for the
Palestinians, prompting statements like, “The Basques and the Kurds
aren’t independent either, so why do people pick on Israel?” But the
occupation is something else. It is the ongoing military control over
the lives of millions, and everything that comes with it: The lack of
civil rights, the absence of legal protection, and perhaps more than
anything else, a sense of organized chaos, in which the lives of an
entire civilian population is run at the mercy of soldiers 18 to 20
years old. Most of the time, it’s almost hard to explain how bad it is
for those who haven’t seen it with their own eyes ... The army enters Palestinian homes as it pleases, day or night. No
warrant is needed, just like you don’t need a warrant to arrest a
Palestinian (even a minor). Once the soldiers are in the house, the
nature of the interaction between them and the family living there
depends on their good or ill will – and in the 44 years of the
occupation, we have had everything: from “polite” visits, to beatings
and cursing, all the way up to the murder of civilians in their beds. A
Palestinian is never safe – not even in his own home.
http://972mag.com/organized-chaos-and-bare-life-the-non-story-of-the-night-raids/28293/
Jeffrey Goldberg syndrome: downplaying the occupation
AIC
24 Nov -- It’s too easy to lose sight of what occupation means for
Palestinians. It’s especially easy when we focus on the splashier,
violent atrocities, to forget that military occupation is, above all
else, a permanent state of being. Even those whose days are 'uneventful'
for local reporters, are still living under a terrible burden. This is a
mistake commonly reinforced by the liberal, so-called 'pro-Israel'
crowd.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/israeli-society/3927
Gaza
Israel 'set new restrictions' on Gaza business owners
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) 24 Nov -- Israel has set new restrictions on business
owners
in Gaza, the head of Palestinian contractors said Thursday. At a news
conference in Gaza City, Osama Kahil said conditions were more
difficult despite a recent meeting between businessmen from Gaza and
Israeli officials. "Media reports said the meeting between
businessmen from Gaza and Israel resulted in facilitating the work for
the Gazan businessmen, but Israel implemented that in its own way.
"Israel
stopped issuing permits for businessmen, traders, and contractors to
Israel and set some new restrictions that prevented them from continuing
their work," Kahil said. He said Israel had permitted the import of
construction materials into the Gaza Strip "to recycle the blockade."
Allowing
construction materials, which are sold for a much higher price than
those sent through tunnels, was done after Israeli traders pressured the
government. They want to use us and keep the blockade on Gaza," Kahil
said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=439124
Video: Hamas looks for ways to raise revenue
Al Jazeera 25 Nov -- Gaza's summer tourist season is over. It is also the end of a taxing
season for the owners of the beach cafes who are being charged thousands
of dollars in fees - up to three times more than what they were paying
when the Palestinian Authority was in government. Analysts say Hamas appears to short of cash because of irregular
donations from donor countries like Iran and Syria. Now Hamas is
cracking down on banks and big business who have not paid millions in
taxes - because of a directive from Fatah. Al Jazeera's Nicole Johnston reports from Gaza.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/11/2011112518542850853.html
Detention
IOF troops arrest a number of Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem
NABLUS
(PIC) 25 Nov -- IOF troops raided the village of Beit Fourik to the
east of the northern West Bank city of Nablus and arrested a young man.
The family of the young man does not know where their son was taken to ... Local sources said that IOF
troops entered the village of Beit Fourik about 1:30 am last night and
raided the home of a resident from the Mulitat family and took away
their son who is in his twenties. The forces then withdrew from the
village without any further arrests or home raids, especially that the
village was subjected a few days ago to a campaign of arrests that
affected a number of its young people.
Furthermore, IOF troops arrested on Friday morning two Palestinians
from Beit Hanina to the north of Jerusalem and Silwan to the south of
the Aqsa Mosque. Local sources said that IOF troops raided the home of Haytham Shukri
Taha at dawn and took him to the Maskoubeyya interrogation and detention
centre in Jerusalem. IOF troops also arrested Talab Idris (46 years) from the Thawri
neighbourhood of Silwan to the south of the Aqsa Mosque after raiding
ransacking his home. They also confiscated his mobile phones.
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/11/25/
iof-troops-arrest-a-number-of-palestinians-in-the-west-bank-and-jerusalem/
IOA extends administrative detention of Palestinian MP
AL-KHALIL
(PIC) 24 Nov -- The Israeli occupation authority extended the
administrative detention, without trial or charge, of Palestinian MP
Mohammed Bader for four months for the third consecutive time. The
office of Hamas lawmakers in the West Bank denounced the step in a
statement on Wednesday, describing it as a systematic policy being
practiced by the IOA against the duly elected representatives of the
people ... Bader, 55, has spent more than 100 months in IOA jails in
separate
intervals. He has a doctorate in Islamic Sharia and worked as a lecturer
at
Al-Khalil University.
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/11/24/
ioa-extends-administrative-detention-of-palestinian-mp/
Israel detains 8 people in West Bank
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 24 Nov -- Israeli soldiers detained eight people in overnight
raids across the West Bank, the Israeli army said Thursday. A
military spokeswoman said soldiers detained four people in Nablus, two
in Nabi Saleh near Ramallah, one from Ramallah and one from Hebron.
Residents
of Ein Beit el Mai refugee camp told Ma‘an that soldiers detained Hamza
Abu Khamis, 24, and Jaafar al-Mabrouk, 22, from their homes after
soldiers ransacked several houses in the camp.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=439078
Israeli soldiers prevent Palestinians from preparing for the cold
JENIN (WAFA) 24 Nov -- Israeli forces prevented Thursday ,
under gunpoint, prisoners in Al-Naqab (Negev) prison from fixing their
tents, in preparation for the coming cold, according to witnesses. A
prisoner said that Israeli soldiers, under gunpoint, threatened to
shoot them if they continue to repair the tents, prompting the prisoners
inside the prison to declare a state of alert. Al-Naqab Prisoners’
families called on all humanitarian organizations to
stand by them and put pressure on Israel to allow them to set up new
tents, especially that they suffer from terrible conditions in winter
due to the cold weather and the lack of blankets.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18122
For one Palestinian, freedom is more dangerous than prison / Gideon Levy
Hani Jaber, a Palestinian convicted of murder who was released in the
Shalit deal, doesn't dare return to his home in Hebron: Settlers are
threatening to kill him -- ...In a country where a respected MK can
allow himself to preach murder
("Blessed shall be the hands that will kill the released murderers,"
said MK Aryeh Eldad of National Union the day after the prisoners'
release, and no one thought he should be put on trial ), Jaber is a
marked man. In a country in which settlers can take out a contract on a
released prisoner - a reward of $100,000 has been offered for
information on Jaber's whereabouts, and in Hebron there are posters in
Hebrew and Arabic urging people to come forward with information about
him - Jaber is apparently living on borrowed time.
Jaber has blood on his hands. Eighteen years ago, as a high-school
student who had undergone frequent abuse and attacks by settlers and
seen his family similarly treated, he took a kitchen knife and murdered
the settler Erez Shmuel who, he said, had attacked his younger sister.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/
for-one-palestinian-freedom-is-more-dangerous-than-prison-1.397675
Political / Diplomatic / International
Palestinian factions set election date
Al
Jazeera 24 Nov -- Abbas and Meshaal agree to hold polls in May
following meeting in Cairo to iron out Hamas-Fatah differences. Mahmoud
Abbas, the Palestinian president, and Khaled Meshaal, the
Hamas leader, hailed a new "partnership" after Thursday’s talks in the
Egyptian capital, their first working meeting since Hamas seized the
Gaza Strip in 2007. The two have agreed on releasing Hamas and Fatah
members held by the
other side, on the election preparations and on the reinforcement
of "the popular confrontations against the Israeli occupation", Azzam
el-Ahmad, a senior Fatah leader attending the talks, said. Abbas, who
heads Fatah, said: "There are no more differences between
us now. We have agreed to work as partners with joint responsibility."
For his part, Meshaal said: "We want to assure our people and the
Arab and Islamic world that we have turned a major new and real page in
partnership on everything do to with the Palestinian nation."
Al Jazeera's Nicole Johnston, reporting from Gaza, said the question
of how this unity government would be formed "remains the sticking
point". "[The leaders] said they will have a meeting on December 20 to
discuss that," she said. "Then on December 22, all Palestinian factions
will meet in Cairo to try to come up with a plan on how to reform the
Palestinian Liberation Organisation. "All these issues were on the table in May earlier this year and they
are still on the table now. But it does seem that there is a renewed
impetus to try to get some movement on the issue of the Palestinian
elections and to try to end this very long divide between Hamas and
Fatah."
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/11/20111124135824229170.html
Official: Fatah asks Hamas to free 47 prisoners
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 25 Nov -- Hamas has been given a list of 47 political
prisoners that Fatah wants the Islamist movement to release from jails
in the Gaza Strip, a top Fatah official said Friday. Zakaria
al-Agha says Hamas also produced a list of political prisoners to
President Mahmoud Abbas, who agreed to a request to free them during
talks with Hamas' Khalid Mashaal. The issue of political
prisoners has been a sticking point between the rival factions, with
each routinely accusing the other's security forces of making arrests
based on politics, not criminality.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=439420
Mashaal: Israel's threats on reconciliation 'don't scare us'
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 25 Nov -- Exiled Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal said
Friday that
Israeli threats after reconciliation talks with Fatah leader President
Mahmoud Abbas "would not scare us but rather assure us that
reconciliation is the right track for the Palestinian people." ...
Israel opposes the deal and warned that Abbas would have to chose
between peace with Israel and reconciliation with Hamas.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=439376
Resheq criticises US position on Palestinian reconciliation
CAIRO (PIC) 24 Nov -- Member of Hamas's political bureau Ezzat Al-Resheq
expressed his dismay at the US negative position towards the
reconciliation meeting slated to be held soon in Cairo between Hamas
leader Khaled Mashaal and de facto president Mahmoud Abbas.
link to Palestinian Information Center
Israeli minister seeks Palestinian clans rather than Palestinian state / Sergio Yahni
AIC 24 Nov -- Faced with the scenario of the dismantling of the
Palestinian Authority, Israeli Transport Minister Israel Katz heads to
the West Bank, with the Shabak in tow, to talk with local leaders about
the possibility of setting up village councils rather than an autonomous
state ... this means returning to the idea of 'village leagues', which
were established in the occupied territories with the encouragement of
Ariel Sharon and Professor Menachem Milson. The military government
adviser on Arab affairs in the West Bank, Milson, who later served as
the chief of the Civil Administration, assumed that the leagues would
replace the PLO.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/news/3931
Fayyad: PA close to breakdown after tax block
OSLO
(Reuters) 24 Nov -- The Palestinian Authority is "fast approaching the
point of being completely incapacitated" by Israel's refusal to hand
over tax revenues belonging to the authority, Prime Minister Salam
Fayyad said Thursday. Israel's freeze on the taxes and fees it
collects for the Palestinian Authority at borders has deprived the
government of two-thirds of its normal revenue since Nov. 1, making it
hard to pay salaries and fix infrastructure, Fayyad said. "This is our
money," he said. "It has nothing to do with donor assistance or anything
like that."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=439288
UK envoy warns Israel tax freeze a humanitarian risk
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 24 Nov -- The UK's top diplomat to the Palestinians said
Thursday that Israel's hold on Palestinian tax revenues could be illegal
under international humanitarian law. If Israel continues to
freeze tax payments, it will endanger services such as medical care and
programs for children, consul-general in Jerusalem Vincent Fean told
reporters. "Israel may face valid accusations from the
international community that through its (tax hold) it has violated its
obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention," Fean said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=439273
Palestinian flag to fly at UNESCO Thursday
NEW
YORK (Ma‘an) 24 Nov -- For the first time, the Palestinian flag will be
raised this week in front of the UNESCO building in Paris acknowledging
Palestine's admission, the ambassador to the UN said Wednesday. Riyad
Mansour says Elias Sunbor, the Palestinian envoy in Paris, will raise
the flag Thursday. Mansour
told Ma‘an the leadership in Ramallah was studying several options on
how to proceed with initiatives in the UN, including a request for a
vote on admission in the Security Council.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=439028
Other news
Sinai forces on high alert over Jihad threat
Ynet 25 Nov -- Egyptian security forces
on Friday raised the alert level to an unprecedented level in the
al-Arish area in northern Sinai after they received information that
Jihad [?] members are planning on carrying out an attack on the local
security headquarters, the Ma‘an news agency reported Friday.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4153109,00.html
Report: Saboteurs blow up Egypt gas pipeline
CAIRO
(Reuters) 25 Nov -- Saboteurs blew up a gas pipeline 60 km west of the
Egyptian town of al-Arish in northern Sinai on Friday, the latest in
series of attacks, state news agency MENA reported. The blast
caused little damage and did not start a fire because little gas was
flowing through the pipeline at the time due to repair work from a
previous attack, MENA said. The pipeline, which supplies gas to Israel
and Jordan, was last attacked on Nov. 10. No group has claimed
responsibility for the sabotage.
Egypt has a
20-year deal to export natural gas deal to Israel. It is unpopular with
the Egyptian public and critics say Israel does not pay market rates
for the gas.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=439367
A fence, not a solution / Shuki Sadeh
Haaretz 25 Nov -- The flood of media reports on the release of kidnapped Israel Defense
Forces soldier Gilad Shalit neglected one detail: The day before the
prisoner exchange went through, scores of African labor migrants that
had been detained in the Saharonim prison in the Negev appeared on the
streets of South Tel Aviv. In order to make room at Saharonim for Hamas
prisoners awaiting release in exchange for Shalit, the security
establishment had freed the migrants, who scattered around Israel. It probably won't be long until Saharonim
fills up again. It already has 80 new labor migrants who were caught on
Highway 10, near the Israeli-Egyptian border, a week after Shalit's
release. These kind of events occur daily, and are not reported in the
media.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/a-fence-not-a-solution-1.397627
Catholics, Muslims pursue dialogue in tense Mideast
BETHANY BEYOND THE JORDAN, Jordan (Reuters) 25 Nov -- Only five years
ago,
critical remarks by Pope Benedict about Islam sparked off violent
protests in several Muslim countries. Never very good, relations between
the world's two largest religions sank to new lows in modern times.
This
week, while protesters in the Arab world were demanding democracy and
civil rights, Catholics and Muslims met along the Jordan River for frank
and friendly talks about their differences and how to get beyond their
misunderstandings. The Catholic-Muslim Forum, which grew out of
the tensions following Benedict's speech in the German city of
Regensburg, was overshadowed by events in Egypt, Yemen and Syria. The
lack of any dramatic news here reflected the progress the two sides have
made since 2006.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=439469
UK says 122 million pounds set for Palestinians
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 23 Nov -- The United Kingdom has announced that its financial
support of the Palestinian Authority is likely to reach £122 million ($200 million) over the next three years. The British
Consulate in Jerusalem said in a statement Wednesday that this support
comes to help the government provide basic public services and to reduce
poverty in the Palestinian territories. The consulate pointed
out that the aid will support 7,500 children in primary school,
vaccinating 2,000 children under the age of 5 against measles, and
supporting 7,000 poor Palestinians through annual cash transfers.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=439019
State drops case against Carmel Fire suspects
Ynet 25 Nov -- The State Prosecutor's
Office decided Thursday to drop the case against two teens who were
suspected of accidentally causing the massive Carmel Forest fire
that claimed 44 lives ... The decision was
prompted by difficulties to indict the boys, aged 13 and 14, both
residents of the Druze village of Usfiya, as the prosecution found it
impossible to prove each suspect's actions during and after the
incident.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4152923,00.html
Analysis / Opinion / Interview
Alice Walker: 'going through Israeli checkpoints is like going back in time to American civil rights struggles'
MEMO 24 Nov -- American Pulitzer Prize winning author, Alice Walker, was a juror with
the Russell Tribunal on Palestine which took place in South Africa this
year. A prolific writer of novels, poetry and short stories her books,
fiction and non-fiction, have sold more than 15 million copies
worldwide. While she is most well-known for "The Colour Purple" she is
also a dedicated political activist and campaigner. MEMO's Dr. Hanan
Chehata caught up with Ms Walker in Cape Town to ask her why she has
been so drawn to the Palestinian cause. During the course of the
interview the similarities between the Palestinian struggle for
liberation and the African-American struggle during the Civil Rights era
is evident. She expresses her belief that "Americans have a duty to be
active in the defence of Palestinian people" and further proposes that
the illegal settlements paid for unwittingly by American tax payers
should be lived in by the Palestinians to whom the land belongs and who
should all "come home".
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/resources/interviews/3104
Israeli newspaper owner says Jewish lobby in US prevents Obama from acting against settlers' apartheid regime / Philip Weiss
Mondo 25 Nov -- Amos Schocken, owner of Haaretz, writes
in Israel (not here, no way) that the settler movement Gush Emunim is
building an "apartheid regime" in Israel and Palestine and that it is
supported by the "Jewish lobby" in the U.S. That lobby is "totally
addicted" to settler policies; and this explains Obama's collapse. In
trying to understand Obama's reversal of his declaration in Cairo in
2009, Schocken does what Walter Russell Mead of the Council on Foreign Relations swears never to do;
he ascribes political influence on the Democratic Party to American
Jews. Mead would classify Schocken as an anti-semite for saying this.
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/11/israeli-newspaper-owner-says-
jewish-lobby-in-u-s-prevents-obama-from-acting-against-settlers-apartheid-regime.html
Can moral nations abandon Palestine? / Stephen Robert
Haaretz
25 Nov -- The United States Congress is threatening to cut funds to UN
agencies
that admit Palestine as a state, along with roughly $500 million in
USAID funds to the West Bank and Gaza Strip. That’s on top of the $60
million the U.S. is withholding from UNESCO. The USAID mission for the
West Bank and Gaza is preparing to dismiss half of its staff. For its
part, Israel is withholding $100 million in tax receipts they collect
for the Palestinian Authority ... America is hurting itself. It is not
in the country’s interest to
weaken the United Nations or reduce its voice on environmental issues,
nuclear proliferation, the fight against AIDS, malaria, hunger, etc.
Much of the world no longer views the United States as a reliable or
effective force for Middle East peace. They have lost the moral high
ground which served them and the world so well over the last 60 years.
Though a superpower, no longer is America seen as a benevolent protector
of human rights. Can a moral nation withhold humanitarian aid from 4
million desperate people?
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/can-moral-nations-abandon-palestine-1.397705
Analysis: The king and Palestine / Daoud Kuttab
Ma‘an 24 Nov -- "Ziyara azima" (Fabulous visit). This was the description
President Mahmoud Abbas gave to the unexpected visit King Abdullah II of
Jordan made to the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority in
Ramallah. The king's visit on Monday was the first to Palestine in a decade. He didn't visit or meet any Israeli official. It
is not that the King and Abbas do not see each other. Almost every time
that the PLO leader leaves Ramallah to travel abroad he makes a stop to
visit his "brother," King Abdullah. However, what makes this
particular visit important is its public nature. The king wanted
everyone, especially the Israelis, to notice the visit and the
solidarity message behind it.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=439181
On the battlefield of gender separation / Rachel Azaria
Haaretz 25 June -- The people at the advertising agency were not
interested. As they put it: 'No pictures of girls on buses in Jerusalem.
Not a 3-year-old and not an 80-year-old.' ... Such exclusion and
segregation is contrary to Israel's Basic Law on
Human Dignity and Freedom, and is contrary to our aspiration to be a
democratic, permissive and tolerant society. This new phenomenon, and
the system's willingness to capitulate to it, fills me with great fear
for the position of women in the State of Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/on-the-battlefield-of-gender-segregation-1.397581
Israel is becoming a bullying and violent place / Ari Shavit
Haaretz
24 Nov --It's depressing. About two years ago MK Marina Solodkin
(Kadima ) proposed banning any national newspaper whose owner was not an
Israeli citizen. Although there were certain similarities between
Solodkin's bill and the one by MK Ofir Akunis (Likud ) on foreign
funding for political NGOs, hers was much harsher. If Solodkin's bill
had passed, it would have shut down a newspaper with a large circulation
(Israel Hayom ), dealt a fatal blow to the freedom of expression and
caused the dismissal of dozens of journalists. The law would also have
left Israel's center-right majority without a strong medium to voice its
opinions. Yet, although Solodkin's proposal was clearly antidemocratic,
dozens of Knesset members from the center and left supported it. So did
many journalists...
It's depressing. This week the Knesset passed on first reading a bill
sponsored by MKs Yariv Levin (Likud ) and Meir Sheetrit (Kadima )
designed to make it harder for journalists to publish in-depth
investigative reports.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/israel-is-becoming-a-bullying-and-violent-place-1.397383 |
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