NOVANEWS
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Refusing to die in silence: Palestinians resist settler violence during the olive harvest
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The Israeli army shot at me and 3 Palestinian kids in Gaza today
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Israel to extend Ahmad Saadat’s solitary confinement, breaking agreement with Palestinian prisoners
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Israel threatens to demolish passage to Al-Aqsa Mosque
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2 reports say Israel may be preparing Iran attack
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Where occupy and tea overlap
Refusing to die in silence: Palestinians resist settler violence during the olive harvest
Oct 29, 2011
Ben Lorber
Olive harvesters watch Israeli soldiers after being told to stop picking olives in Burin. (All Photos:International Solidarity Movement)
As this year’s olive harvest sends Palestinian families across all of historic Palestine out to their olive trees, a new nonviolent resistance group called Refusing to Die In Silence is patrolling the West Bank, protecting harvesters from increased settler violence.
A woman picking olives in Qaryut.
The 2011 olive harvest, which began in early October, has seen a troubling rise in settler attacks. On October 20, OXFAM reported that Israeli settlers have already cost West Bank Palestinian farmers $500,000 this year in destroyed olive trees. In September alone,2,500 olive trees were destroyed, out of 7,500 destroyed so far this year (and a conservative estimate of 800,000 destroyed since Israel’s annexation of the West Bank in 1967). This is particularly damaging because this year’s olive harvest is expected to yield only half the oil of last year’s harvest, making each tree all the more valuable more farmers.
An interactive map released by the human rights organization Al-Haq illustrates the “alarming increase in violent attacks” throughout the West Bank in September. In response, Refusing to Die in Silence, launched on September 19 in anticipation of increased violence during the UN vote, has organized daily patrols in the regions between Ramallah and Nablus to protect farmers during the olive harvest. Incorporating Palestinian, Israeli and international activists, armed with cameras and guided by a commitment to nonviolent resistance, the group uses a coordinated system of car patrols, directed from a control room in Ramallah, to respond to settler attacks as they occur.
Israeli soldiers and olive harvesters in Qaryut.
Says Haifam Katib, a coordinator of Refusing to Die In Silence who has been integral to the group since its inception, “we made the group because the settlers attack the villages in Palestine, especially during the month of the harvest. Last year there were many problems and so we decided to protect our people and to help our people pick olives, and to make what is going on well known…to help them, to push them to continue, to not be scared about settlers, to save their land- this is our plan.”
Like September, the month of October has been rife with settler attacks. On October 1, armed settlers uprooted dozens of olive trees in the village of Madama south of Nablus, and settlers from Yitzhar burnt many olive trees in the Einabous and Huwwara villages, south of Nablus. The same day, olive trees were also uprooted and set afire by settlers in the villages of Nabi Saleh and Dier Nidham, in the Ramallah district, and as the trees burned, Israeli soldiers prevented farmers from extinguishing the blaze and salvaging their sole sources of income.
Israeli soldiers checking ID in Qaryut.
Refusing to Die In Silence maintains contact with West Bank Palestinian villages close to Israeli settlements, so that, in case of a settler attack, help is only a phone call away. “We went around to all of the major villages, and we gave our phone number to the local committees and to the popular committees, and to the people close to the settlements who want to pick olives. They have our number, and if they have problems they call us. We go there quickly to see what happened, and all our guys are journalists, they are filming. It’s their job, and they know how to do it.”
On October 6, settlers uprooted 200 olive trees just after midnight in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus, hours before their owners were to reap their fruit. Katib explains, “in Qusra we arrived in the morning, and saw that settlers had come in the night and cut the trees. The land is very important to the Palestinians, and especially the olive trees grow very slowly, and they take care of the trees many years, to take olives after they grow. So it’s very hard [when settlers cut the trees].”
On October 9, dozens of settlers armed with sticks and stones attacked Palestinians from the village of Awarta, east of Nablus, as they attempted to harvest olives close to the boundary of the Itamar settlement. Two days later, on October 11, settlers from the settlement Elon Moreh attacked olive harvesters near the village of Azmoot, east of Nablus, in a fistfight which occurred after a verbal standoff. The same day, settlers set fire to olive trees in the Palestinian villages of Ras Karkar, Beitillu and Deir Ammar, villages west of Ramallah.
Trees partially burnt by Israeli settlers in Burin.
“Always I see the same thing everywhere,” laments Haifam. “The settlers try to cut the trees, to burn the trees, to burn all the area, to stop the contact between the farmers and the land. And after, they can take the land. This is what the settlers do, this is their policy, to build more and more settlements.”
The list continues- on October 12, settlers from the settlement Havat Gilad attacked farmers from the village of Jit as well as Refusing to Die in Silence team members, injuring one; on October 21, settlers gathered to photograph and throw stones at farmers in Burin, as soldiers arrested two harvesters; on October 26, Yitzhar settlers blocked Palestinians from harvesting near the village of Huwwara.
In the midst of this flurry of assaults, the Palestinian Authority released a statement on the 24th condemning Israeli inaction, expressing that “Israeli violations against Palestinians and their property and livelihood continue to increase with little or no action by the Israeli authorities to hold people to account under the rule of law.” The next day, the Israeli human rights NGO Yesh Din released a new data sheet accusing the IDF of a “general failure to enforce the law” in failing to protect Palestinian olive trees from settler violence, noting that of the 127 cases under Israeli investigation over the last six years, only one has led to an indictment.
The most serious attack so far this year occurred on October 21, when masked settlers from the settlement Esh Kodesh, armed with metal poles and firearms, descended upon villagers harvesting olives in Jaloud near Nablus, injuring four, including a 12-year-old boy and an Israeli activist. Katib explains that the presence of cameras in Jaloud helped de-escalate a situation that could have turned lethal. “In Jaloud, one international group went to help the farmers to pick olives. When the settlers saw the farmers coming to pick olives they came with guns. But since there was a group that came with cameras, the soldiers came and tried to speak to the settlers, and the soldiers were very nice this time. But be sure, when we do not have cameras, we do not have a good day with settlers.”
By fixing an international eye on the actions of the settlers, the presence of the camera can halt their aggression and de-fuse their violent intentions. “I feel the camera can stop the violence,” says Katib, “because the camera is always a witness in the place…I think the settlers know now that if they want to come and do this, they will be filmed. Maybe they are starting to be scared by the camera, it is good. ” The camera can also force soldiers to actually adhere to their stated policy of protecting farmers from settler attacks. In the village of Jeet near Nablus, for example, Refusing to Die in Silence accompanied the farmers to their fields “because they were scared to pick olives. Some soldiers were protecting the area, we saw them but we did not care about it, and we started to pick olives. After half an hour the settlers came with covered faces, and they started to throw stones, they started to scare the farmers, and the soldiers did nothing. But when the group of settlers saw the cameras, in this moment they were surprised, and the soldiers and the police, when they saw the cameras, came very quickly and kicked the settlers out. This was because of the cameras.”
Thom, a British activist working with Refusing to Die in Silence, concurs that the camera can effectively counter settler violence as it occurs. “The idea [of Refusing to Die in Silence] came from there being a lack of media as settler violence is taking place. There are numerous reports of settler violence, you can find alot of media covering violence after it happens and reporting about it, but there seemed to be little or no media trying to cover the violence as it was going on. So we came to try and fill that gap, and also not just to have an observer role but also to use the international solidarity here in Palestine to try to deter the violence.”
The presence of internationals in the organization is crucial. Says Katib, “always we have internationals and Israeli activists to be with us, and it is very important. Nobody can believe Palestinians. Nobody, except sometimes the media here. When the media comes from outside, from CNN and the like, they do not believe the news when we speak about settlers killing two or three or four, and it takes time. But when we have an Israeli activist and international activists speaking about this and showing and writing about this, nobody can tell them it is a lie. This is a very important thing. If they see this from their own yes, they are a witness in Palestine and they can speak to their own country about this.”
The presence of internationals on the scene, however, can not always save the day for Palestinian olive harvesters. In what has unfortunately become a yearly ritual for the conflict-ridden area, Palestinian harvesters in Hebron’s illegal settlement Tel Rumeida could not harvest their 3000-year old olive trees on October 22 without constant harassment from extremist settlers- who taunted them by standing on the Palestinian flag- and Israeli soldiers- who joined in the harassment and blocked the path of international activists, present at the scene to protest the occupation and stand in solidarity with the farmers.
‘James’, from Britain, was one of these international activists. “We were there to support and show solidarity with the farmers,” he said, “because they are under siege, they are very beleaguered in that area. They are surrounded by four settlements, and they want outside support. It’s really important to them, so that internationals know what’s happening there.”
Haifam Katib, and the other coordinators and participants of Refusing to Die In Silence, are optimistic about the project’s present and future role in developing a coordinated response network, across the West Bank, to challenge and counter settler aggression as it occurs. “In Hebron they have popular committees also doing the same thing. We have many people in Palestine, doing this everywhere, in Jerusalem, in Bil’in, in Al Masara. Also B’tselem is doing the same thing, giving out cameras and going around to document.
“It is the beginning,” he says, “and we hope to continue and to collect more people, and to have cars all around the West Bank, but its really hard. We have some students, some people have another job, so some people can come today but they cannot come tomorrow, and other people continue, its like this. Hopefully we will continue a long time, and we will grow stronger, and continue to make a difference.”
Ben Lorber is an activist with the International Solidarity Movement in Nablus. He is also a journalist with the Alternative Information Center in Bethlehem. He blogs at freepaly.wordpress.com.
The Israeli army shot at me and 3 Palestinian kids in Gaza today
Oct 29, 2011
Radhika S.
After a lovely day of drinking excessive amounts of tea with a few families in South Gaza (Faraheen and Khuza’a, to be exact), an Italian colleague, Silvia, who used to live in Khuza’a, suggested walking down the road towards the local school. It was late afternoon, about 4:30 p.m. and dozens of children played in the area. We walked past slices of a giant concrete wall placed in the middle of the road. The slivers reminded me of Israel’s Apartheid Wall in the West Bank — 25 feet of reinforced concrete. The local villagers had apparently retrieved these sections from a former settlement and placed them there so that children could play outside while being (somewhat) protected from Israeli army gunfire.
Silvia pointed to a school farther down the road. “That’s where the children go to school,” she said. The sun was beginning to set and the area was quite beautiful if one didn’t look to hard at the Israeli military towers n the distance. I took some pictures, and even asked Silvia to take a photo of me. Kids played nearby and a donkey cart passed us. I photographed a house that looked like it had been bombed, but the bougainvillea had grown back in vibrant fuchsia. Two boys playing with a piece of plastic ran towards us from farther up the road and begged me to take a photo. I snapped a sloppy photo, and they eagerly checked their digital images on my camera. One in a green sweater thought it was terribly funny that the boy’s in a red hoodie’s head was missing in my photo.
They ran up ahead, and we walked for about 15 seconds when I heard a strange whiz, a whistle, eerily close to my ear. I paused, a bullet? Red hoodie and two younger boys up ahead hit the floor as I momentarily pondered the strange sound.
The kids turned around and yelled at us to stupid foreigners to get down. We bent down and started to walk away — fast — and they yelled at us to get completely on the ground. The Israeli army left us no time to be scared. No gunshots over our heads. No warnings. A second bullet whizzed past the three kids, and then us. The Israelis were shooting at us from the towers 500 meters ahead. This time, we were on the ground. I continued to look at these 9-year-olds or 10-year-olds or whatever they were for cues–walking towards their school under Israeli fire was clearly routine for them and they knew what they were doing. We waited on the ground for several minutes. As I still had my camera in hand, I snapped a quick photo of them from the ground.
A minute or two later a father and his toddler, also further up on the road came towards us and offered a ride on the back of his motorized cart. We jumped in and he “sped” back to behind the wall. Anyway, I got back to my apartment about an hour later, just in time for my Arabic class. Even though I had actually studied this time, I couldn’t concentrate. Why was the Israeli army shooting at our heads?
And I realized this is what Palestinian first, second, third, fourth graders experience daily in Gaza.
Radhika S. is a civil rights attorney and a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement.
Israel to extend Ahmad Saadat’s solitary confinement, breaking agreement with Palestinian prisoners
Oct 29, 2011
Adam Horowitz
Shahd Abusalama reports that Israel has extended the solidarity confinement of Ahmad Saadat. Saadat, the secretary-general of the PFLP, was rumored to be included in the recent prisoner swap, but Israel nixed it. The fact that Saadat is going to be kept in solidarity confinement breaks the agreement Israel just reached with Palestinian prisoners in order to end their recent three-week hunger strike.
Abusalama writes:
A friend of mine who had the sit-in tent as a shelter during the hunger strike of our prisoners and who himself joined the hunger strike in solidarity texted me that Ahmad Saadat, the PFLP secretary-general, is bound to serve one more full year of pain in isolation. They have ignored the worrying health condition of Saadat as a result of the carelessness of medical care along with his solitary confinement which started since March 16, 2009. Saadat was not allowed any visitations and even denied his right to write or receive letters from his family during his solitary confinement.
Saadat was sent to court ignoring his lawyer, who never received a notice regarding this court session. The Ad-Dameer, one of the human rights organizations, stated that by sentencing Saadat to solitary confinement for an additional year, the court violated promises by the Israeli Prison Administration to receive treatment that is guaranteed by the International law. No justification for this criminal and illegal decision has been provided.
My internal conflict and my worries reached its peak as I remembered when I was sitting with Loai Odeh, one of the released prisoners in Shalit’s swap deal and who participated in the hunger strike, and said that “the mental health of the prisoners who are in isolation should be expected to be in jeopardy after two or three years of isolation and that was the first motif for us to take that step; hunger striking till solitary confinement is no more.”
“It would be difficult for a prisoner in a normal jail to pass through his imprisonment without suffering psychological problems or at least depression, so imagine how difficult it would be for a prisoner in the solitary confinement for long time.” Loai continued. No wonder that is true; the mankind is a sociable creature, and if one is totally isolated from the outer world in a very narrow cell in which light could barely sneak, psychological and mental problems are hardly avoidable.
Israel threatens to demolish passage to Al-Aqsa Mosque
Oct 29, 2011
Kate
Israeli Municipality to demolish Dung Gate bridge
JERUSALEM (WAFA) 26 Oct — Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem said Tuesday that Bab El-Magharbeh (Dung Gate) bridge in Jerusalem’s Old City is in danger of collapse or fire and must be demolished within 30 days. Israeli authorities issued, five months ago, a permit to demolish the Dung Gate bridge and build another one in accordance with Israeli plans which aim to Judaize the area, but the police postponed the demolition for fear of the outbreak of protests by Palestinians. Israeli authorities are working to change the character of Jerusalem’s Old City, including the demolition of the Dung Gate bridge, which is used by Israeli police and security as well as the Jews when entering Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyards.
Al-Aqsa Foundation warns against demolishing mosque passage
JERUSALEM (WAFA) 26 Oct — The al-Aqsa Foundation for Waqf and Heritage in Jerusalem Wednesday warned of dangerous repercussions if the Israeli municipality proceeds to demolish Magharbe Gate passage to al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City. If implemented, it said, it would lead to the demolition of a section of the Mosque itself.
PLO appeals to UNESCO to prevent demolition of Jerusalem’s Moroccan Gate bridge
MEMO 28 Oct — The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) has appealed to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to provide international protection for places of religious and cultural heritage in Palestine. The appeal was made following Israeli approval for the demolition of the historic Moroccan Gate Bridge adjacent to the Al-Aqsa Sanctuary. The Israelis claim that the bridge is unsafe and must be torn down “within 30 days”. A statement by the PLO’s Department of International Relations called upon UNESCO “to take firm action on Israeli policies aimed at the destruction of the cultural and humanitarian heritage of the Palestinian people, especially Israel’s escalation of its Judaisation policy, which is damaging the heritage of the Old City.”
And more news from Today in Palestine:
Attacks on Palestinian culture, history / Land theft / Ethnic cleansing
East Jerusalem school textbooks are a war of words
LATimes 24 Oct — Israel says some passages incite violence. Parents and teachers are incensed …Two sets of textbooks are vying for the formative minds of thousands of Palestinian students in Arabic-language schools in East Jerusalem. One was written by the Palestinian Authority, and the other is a revised version reprinted by Israeli authorities. It’s a textbook war that underscores the long-running battle of narratives in the Mideast conflict, where the fight over the future is often rooted in understanding of the past, and schoolbooks can play a critical role .. Palestinian parents, teachers and officials, however, say Israel’s edits are politically motivated, essentially erasing all references and symbols relating to Palestinian identity, history and nationalism. [See also Jalal Abukhater’s article cited in Monday’s list]
link to www.latimes.com
Arab schools watchdog draws up educational plan for ‘Palestinian minority’ in Israel
Haaretz 28 Oct — Education Ministry: We will not allow the material to be taught in schools — Among the aims presented in the document: “To deepen the Arab-Palestinians identity as a national identity, taking pride in its culture, and maintaining constant and effective contact with its Arab and Islamic roots. This identity will be based on solidarity among members of the Palestinian people, on the strengthening of the Palestinian memory and narrative, on holding firmly to the historic and political rights of the Palestinian people and on cultural, religious and social pluralism. To instill the values of dialogue with the Jewish Israeli other and the search for a horizon of a joint life in a single homeland, without the control or supremacy of any side.”
link to www.haaretz.com
Palestinian culture driven underground: Al Quds Underground festival
27 Oct By Nigel O’Connor — The Al-Quds Underground festival that concluded in Jerusalem last Saturday, gave audiences a unique opportunity to experience musical and theatrical collaborations between Palestinian and international artists performed in Palestinian residents’ homes within the Old City. Advertised only by word of mouth, the festival – now in its third year – was the creation of Merlijn Twaalfhoven, from the Netherlands. He said the inspiration for the festival came when Jerusalem was named the Arab world’s Capital of Culture in 2009. “I really wanted to do something as part of the celebrations,” he told The Palestine Monitor. “However, Israel’s authorities did not accept that Jerusalem could be an Arab cultural capital and so potential donors and supporters were not willing to take the risk of supporting anything. The official events had to be staged in Ramallah and Bethlehem.” Undeterred, Twaalhoven conceived of the “underground” concept.
link to www.palestinemonitor.org
Elad can continue to operate City of David, court finds
JPost 26 Oct — The City of David Foundation can continue to operate the City of David Archaeological Park in Jerusalem’s Silwan neighborhood, despite a petition against the private organization’s right to manage a national park, the High Court of Justice decided on Wednesday. Left-wing group Ir Amim filed the petition in July 2010 to challenge an allegedly secret contract between the Israel National Parks Authority and Elad, a right-wing organization that supports Jewish residents in the predominantly Arab neighborhood of Silwan. Ir Amim charged that Elad’s political agenda was ignoring the Arab history of the site and creating a conflict of interest
link to www.jpost.com
Israeli occupation distributes demolition notices to Silwan residents
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 28 Oct — Occupation municipality employees on Thursday handed demolition notices to a number of residents of the Lauza neighbourhood in Silwan district to the south of the Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem … The sources added that the municipality employees and the accompanying IOF troops headed towards the Wadi Ysoul in Silwan and took photos of homes, open areas and fields. This new aggression on Palestinian property in Silwan comes after the Zionist high court gave Elad, a settler organisation, control of “government lands” and parks in Silwan.
Link to Palestinian Information Center
The land exchange project / Sawsan Ramahi
MEMO Briefing Paper 25 Oct — Zionist political thought continues to propose projects based on the eradication of the Palestinians as a people or, at the very least, their marginalisation inside the state of Israel. So-called ‘population transfer’ is a fundamental and unequivocally non-negotiable principle of political Zionism. It has been used to devastating effect for more than sixty years to carry out what historians have called the ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Palestinians from their land … the Zionist establishment has now added a new dimension to its concept of ‘transfer’. This has come to be known as ‘geographical transfer’ and is intended to destroy Palestine as a viable homeland while still referring to it as a land.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk
Trees before humans: Bedouins in the Negev (Part II) / Silvia Boarini
Pal. Mon. 26 Oct — When David Ben Gurion, from the southern Kibbutz of Sde Boker, declared: “It is in the Negev that the creativity and pioneer vigor of Israel shall be tested,” the first settlers rose to the challenge and the blooming desert became a post-war reality. Today, driving through southern Israel on the wide motorway that cuts through the barren landscape, what stands out is not the camels. It is the forests. Out of nowhere, hundreds of trees planted thick — within straight, geometrical borders — come into view, only to be replaced by the dry and mono-color scenery moments later. A forest in the desert is an awe-inspiring sight, but here it serves the same purpose — and has the same consequence — as an eight-meter high wall erected in the West Bank.
link to www.palestinemonitor.org
How not to solve the Bedouin problem / Don Futterman
Haaretz 28 Oct — As in the West Bank, the government’s legal firepower has been tasked not with helping citizens or getting at the truth, but with keeping land out of Arab hands by any means possible — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent order to Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman to find ways to retroactively legalize illegal outposts on privately held Palestinian land should surprise no one familiar with the coalition’s contempt for Palestinians and our legal system: If we can’t have Greater Israel, at least we can have Lesser Palestine. But the government’s legal arsenal is also being deployed against another target – Israel’s Bedouin citizens in the Negev.
link to www.haaretz.com
The Negev’s hot wind blowing / Jonathan Cook
MERIP 25 Oct — Over the past 15 months the dusty plains of the northern Negev desert in Israel have been witness to a ritual of destruction, part of a police operation known as Hot Wind. On 29 occasions since June 2010, hundreds of Israeli paramilitary officers have made the pilgrimage over a dirt track near the city of Beersheva to the zinc sheds and hemp tents of al-‘Araqib. Within hours of their arrival, the 45 ramshackle structures — home to some 300 Bedouin villagers — are pulled down and al-‘Araqib is wiped off the map once again. All that remains to mark the area’s inhabitation by generations of the al-Turi tribe are the stone graves in the cemetery … The struggle over al-‘Araqib has played out many times before in other Negev locations since Israel’s founding in 1948. Then, and in the early years of state building, all but 11,000 of the Negev’s population of 90,000 Bedouin were expelled to Egypt, Jordan, Gaza and the West Bank.
link to www.merip.org
Settler terrorism
Home near Nablus ‘firebombed by settlers’
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 27 Oct — A family in Nablus says Israeli settlers blew up a room in their home and firebombed their jeep early Thursday. Shaheer Hanini, 40, told Ma‘an the family was woken by two blasts at their home in Beit Furik at around 2 a.m. They found a room at the back of the house burnt out and their jeep, parked in front of the home, on fire … Palestinian Authority settlement affairs official Ghassan Doughlas said the attack marked an escalation in settler violence. He urged the international community to intervene. Palestinian People’s Party politburo member Nasr Abu Jaish told Ma‘an that the incident was an organized and provocative action targeting civilians. Abu Jaish said parties would meet in Nablus on Thursday to form committees to protect homes and guard communities from further attacks.
David Haivri, an advocate for settlements in the northern West Bank, said his community was unaware of the allegations and doubted their validity. “We think they’re making it up,” he told Ma‘an.
link to www.maannews.net
In South Hebron Hills, even sheep are not safe from settlers / Juwaid al-Tamimi
WAFA 27 Oct — The villages of al-Litwani and al-Jawaya, in the south Hebron hills, are suffering from settler attacks and even the sheep are not spared. Settlers from the illegal outposts of Ma’on, Susya, and Karmel, all built on land belonging to the Palestinian village of Yatta, made their latest attack on Thursday and killed 10 sheep. “As always, the settlers attacked the villages under the protection of the army,” said 31-year-old Kamal Ruba‘i. “They detain the citizens to give the settlers time to steal our homes and kill our sheep. And that’s not all, they drove 300 of our sheep to eat the crops we’ve been working in it the whole year.” Ruba‘i said the settlers then stole the sheep.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10814&Itemid=64
Suspected right-wing extremists uproot 20 olive trees belonging to Jerusalem Arab family
Haaretz 27 Oct — Twenty olive trees belonging to an Arab family in Jerusalem were uprooted on Thursday, and a sign saying “Price tag” was posted at the scene. The family, who lives near the grove in Beit Safafa, alerted the police who have launched an investigation. The Abu Dalu family is well known in the neighborhood and has lived there since the Six Day War. The father is a doctor at Hadassah Hospital in Ein Karem, and the family owns a number of assets in the neighborhood. The family members declined to comment on the incident.
link to www.haaretz.com
Kiryat Arba councilman calls for killing liberated prisoner
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 27 Oct — Kiryat Arba councilman Bentzi Goffstein has called for the killing of a liberated Palestinian prisoner in Al-Khalil, who was recently freed in the prisoners’ exchange deal between Hamas and Israel. Jewish settlers, from the Kiryat Arba settlement built in Al-Khalil city, recently circulated a statement in Al-Khalil in both Arabic and Hebrew calling for the murder of Hani Jaber, who was released after 18 years in jail, with a photo of him attached … Jaber was jailed for killing a Jewish settler who used to pester Palestinian citizens in Al-Khalil especially children on their way to school. The settler used to beat the children, pull the hair of schoolgirls, throw garbage on civilians and insult them, and throw stones at their homes.
Link to Palestinian Information Center
Israeli regime terrorism
PCHR weekly report: 13 abducted in 58 separate incursions this week; settlers attack olive harvest
IMEMC 28 Oct …In 58 separate incursions, Israeli forces abducted thirteen Palestinians. One of those abducted this week [20-26 Oct] is an organizer in the non-violent campaign against the construction of the annexation wall in Bil‘in village, west of Ramallah. 4 Palestinian civilians, including a child, were abducted at various checkpoints in the West Bank … During the last week, Israeli forces fired at Palestinian workers collecting scraps of construction materials in the northern Gaza Strip … Israeli has continued to construct the annexation wall inside the West Bank territory. During the last week, Israeli forces leveled large areas of Palestinian land in al-Walaja village near Bethlehem. Full report
link to www.imemc.org
Palestinian shepherd wounded in IOF shooting
RAFAH (PIC) 27 Oct — A Palestinian shepherd was wounded on Thursday evening when Israeli occupation forces (IOF) fired at him east of Rafah south of the Gaza Strip. Local and medical sources told the PIC that the 32-year-old shepherd was grazing his sheep when the IOF troops fired at him wounding him in his hand and foot. They said that the shepherd, Mustafa Ermaylat, was taken to hospital in Rafah where his condition was described as moderate.
Link to Palestinian Information Center
Press release: Israeli army raid
At-Tuwani, South Hebron Hills (Operation Dove) 28 Oct — In the early morning of October 26 Israeli soldiers in four jeeps entered the village of Jawwaya, raided one of the homes and took the eldest son. According to statements from the Shwaheen family, at 4:30 AM, 15 soldiers burst into their tent and accused them of stealing sheep from the nearby Israeli settlement of Ma’on. The soldiers threw some of the family’s belongings outside the tent, then released their sheep from the pen and drove them away … After the soldiers left, the family found that 21 of their sheep were missing, four more had broken legs, one was blinded, and one was killed. Additionally, two sheep suffered aborted pregnancies the next day. The loss of the sheep represents several years worth of lost income to the Palestinian family.
http://www.operationdove.org/?p=628
Asil Arara, 4, paralyzed in four limbs after being shot in neck by Israeli army
PNN 27 Oct — Specialized medical teams performed nerve surgery on four-year-old Asil Arara on Wednesday night in al-Makased hospital after she was shot in the neck with a bullet fired from the nearby Israeli army training camp of Anatot, near the Palestinian village of Anata, northeast of Jerusalem. … Sami Hussein, head of the neurosurgery department at al-Makased, confirmed she would be quadriplegic if she survived. “The bullet entered the left side of her neck and exited through the other side, above the shoulder,” said Hussein. “It touched the spinal cord, shattered the membrane, and clipped the fourth vertebra.” … The Israeli army’s official spokesperson claimed on Twitter that following an “initial investigation,” it believed the “child’s relative is an arms dealer who accidentally shot the child.” A story in the Hebrew-language edition of the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reported that the shooting may have happened at a wedding … Samiha, Asil’s grandmother, said Asil was playing with her 10-year-old cousin next to the wall near her Anata home, about a hundred meters from the Anatot military camp … The ambulance was delayed at the military checkpoint between Shu’fat refugee camp and Jerusalem for 15 minutes, Samiha recalled.
link to english.pnn.ps
Israeli navy detains two Palestinian fishermen off the coast of Gaza
GAZA (PIC) 27 Oct — Israeli navy forces detained two Palestinian fishermen off the coast of central Gaza on Thursday morning, the chief of Palestinian fishermen Nizar Ayesh said. He told the Quds Press that an Israeli frigate fired at the Palestinian fishing boat before steering it and two fishermen on board to Asdod port. The ministry of agriculture in Gaza condemned the incident and held the Israeli occupation authority fully responsible for the lives of both men. It said that the Israeli navy attacked the fishing boat while at work only one nautical mile off the Gaza coast. Israeli warplanes had earlier Thursday raided a container on the Khan Younis beach, south of Gaza Strip, and destroyed it and all fishing equipment inside it.
Link to Palestinian Information Center
PCHR: Israeli blockade limits Gazan fishing potential by 85%
PNN 29 Oct — The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) released a report on Friday saying Israel forbids Gazan fishermen from accessing more than 85% of their potential catch, a result of the Israeli blockade that limits fishing boats to an area of only three nautical miles.
The report comes one day after Israeli airstrikes destroyed a shipping container in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, which Israeli military sources said contained weapons. PCHR claims the container was used to store fishing equipment belonging to 56-year-old Mahmoud Abu Shamaleh. The airstrike took place shortly after the Israeli navy opened fire on a fishing boat, forced 21-year-old Ahmed Taneera and 42-year-old Musa Abu Jayyab to swim toward an Israeli gunboat, and arrested them. The fishing boat was confiscated.
In 2011, PCHR said it has documented 67 attacks against fishermen, injuring eight and arresting 18. Fourteen boats were confiscated and 40 fired upon.
link to english.pnn.ps
Funeral procession in Beit Ommar led to shooting of tear gas
PSP 28 Oct — Loads of teargas was shot into the town of Beit Ommar. Residents of Beit Ommar followed a funeral procession from the mosque in the middle of town to the cemetery close to Route 60 and the Israeli watchtower to bury one of the residents who died of cancer. When the procession arrived at the cemetery, Israeli soldiers surrounded it and Israeli jeeps gathered at the entrance of town. The Israeli soldiers closed the main entrance to town and at some point they started to shoot teargas … At 4:00 pm the Israeli army brought a bulldozer and blocked all the side entrances and exits of the town with cement blocks and closed the gate at the town’s main entrance as a part of the collective sanction policy the Israeli occupation usually imposes on the Palestinian population.
link to palestinesolidarityproject.org
Israeli soldiers raid Balata refugee camp in Nablus
NABLUS (WAFA) 27 Oct — Israeli forces Thursday raided Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus in the northern West Bank, according to the camp services committee. It said a number of Israeli military vehicles raided the eastern sections of the camp during the pre-dawn hours shooting in the air and throwing sound bombs around. The soldiers raided 10 homes, searching them and destroying most of their contents.
link to english.wafa.ps
Israeli forces declare area near Bethlehem closed military zone
BETHLEHEM (WAFA) 27 Oct — Israeli forces shut off the entire area of Um Rokba, an area south of the town of al-Khader, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, declaring it a closed military zone, Palestinian security sources said Thursday. They said Israeli soldiers patrolled all entrances of the area, setting up checkpoints and prevented Palestinians from entering or leaving the area. A resident told WAFA that the army brought a bulldozer and what appears to be special explosives machine to the area. The army prevented people from even looking out through their windows, he said. More than 15 Israeli military vehicles and three ambulances stormed the area of Um Rokba late Wednesday night after a large explosion was heard followed by a heavy gunfire, according to witnesses.
link to english.wafa.ps
Detention / Court actions
Israeli forces detain 3 children in Bethlehem village
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 28 Oct — Israeli forces detained three children in Bethlehem-district village al-Asakira on Thursday evening, a Ma‘an correspondent reported. Troops took Ahmad Hussam al-Moty, 9, Abdul Rahman al-Moty, 12, and Mutaz Asakreh, 13, to an unknown destination, the reporter said … A Ma‘an reporter said Israeli forces fired tear gas and sound grenades to distract families of the children who were trying to protect them from seizure. The boys were terrified and beaten by troops, he added.
link to www.maannews.net
Prisoner’s family ‘to file suit’ against Israel over isolation
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 28 Oct — The family of a released Palestinian prisoner is seeking to file a lawsuit against the Israeli prison administration after he became mentally unstable after 12 years of isolation in jail. Oweida Kallab, 48, was released after 24 years but he spent half that time in isolation, the family says. The experience has left him with severe psychological issues and unable to adapt to life outside. His brother Awad told UFree, a European prisoners’ rights network: “My brother has a problem sitting on a chair — he adjusts his body as though he is squatting — after more than a decade in isolation in a tiny space.” … The UN special rapporteur on torture Juan Mendez recently called for a world-wide ban on solitary confinement except in extreme circumstances.
link to www.maannews.net
Occupation renews Saadat’s isolation for another year
RAMALLAH (PIC) 28 Oct — Dameer Institute for welfare of captives said that the Zionist central court in Beersheba decided to extend the isolation of the PFLP Secretary General, MP Ahmad Saadat, based on secret evidence supplied by the Shabak. The organisation said. in a statement on Thursday that the so called secret evidence which was submitted to the court was actually issued last August, which means the decision to renew the isolation of Saadat was taken even before he went through the hunger strike.
By this decision, the Zionist court has annulled a promise made by the occupation prison administration to the hunger strikers after 22 days of hunger strike to end isolation, which means that the captives were deceived by the prison administration just to end their protest.
Link to Palestinian Information Center
Eight arrested in Tsur Baher raid
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 28 Oct — Israeli police, border guards and intelligence agents raided a home in Tsur Baher early Thursday morning, 27 October. Eight men were arrested in the raid on the home of the Attoon and Bkeerat families in the village just south of Jerusalem. They are currently being held at the Russian Compound. Family head Abu Ahmad Attoon told Silwanic that a huge number of Israeli forces stormed the house and arrested 7 members of his family … The Jerusalem Prisoners Committee and the families of the returned prisoners have condemned the arrests as a disgraceful attempt to sour a rare moment of celebration for the Palestinian people. The Attoon family’s experience has been particularly bitter-sweet, as Ahmad Attoon’s brother, Legislative Parliament member Mahmoud Ahmad Attoon, was amongst those free as part of the swap deal.
link to silwanic.net
Donor provides residential land for ex-prisoners
MEMO 28 Oct — A wealthy Palestinian has donated around 120 acres of land in the Gaza Strip where homes can be built for ex-prisoners freed in the exchange deal with Israel. The announcement was made in a statement from the Waed Human Rights Association, which looks after prisoners’ and detainees’ issues. The Association also mentioned that the Abdel-Al family from Gaza has provided the marriage dowry on behalf of freed prisoner Amer Abu Sarhan; he had been serving a number of life sentences before his release last week. These are just two examples of the many offers being made for the benefit of the ex-prisoners by families, individuals and institutions.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk
Israeli military court extends activist’s detention
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 28 Oct — An Israeli military judge on Tuesday indefinitely extended the detention of a protester from Bil‘in village near Ramallah, the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee reported. Israeli soldiers detained Ashraf Abu Rahmah on Oct. 21 at a weekly protest in Bil‘in. Abu Rahmah is charged with participating in an unauthorized procession and throwing stones, based on testimonies by two soldiers who claimed to have seen him from 150 meters, the committee says. An employee of the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem and a lawyer, both present at Friday’s protest, testified in court that Abu Rahmah did not throw any stones.
link to www.maannews.net
PA Security arrest 2 Hamas supporters and extend detention of others
WEST BANK (PIC) 28 Oct …In al-Khalil, the preventive security arrested Sheikh Muhammad Eskafi, who is an ex-captive in occupation jails and a well known preacher and Imam. The preventive security also arrested Muhammad Dhouqan, a student at the Najah University in Nablus and the son of prominent figure Ghassan Dhoqan … Preventive security in Nablus continue to hold political detainees despite court rulings that they should be released as in the cases of journalist Muhammad Anwar Muna, Osama Halawa and Awni Shakhshir.
Link to Palestinian Information Center
Hamas Security Forces arrest a reporter in Khan Younis
IMEMC 28 Oct — The Palestine News and Info Agency, WAFA, reported Thursday that the Hamas-run security forces arrested a reporter identified as Salah Abu Salah, 30, in Abasan Al Kabeera town, east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. WAFA added that Abu Salah was arrested after receiving an order to head to a security center for questioning, but the security forces went ahead and arrested him from his home after confiscating his computer, some books and documents. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate issued a press release denouncing the arrest of Salah, and the confiscation of his private property.
link to www.imemc.org
Activism / Solidarity
Israeli troops suppress West Bank weekly protests; five injured
PNN 29 Oct — Israeli forces suppressed Friday’s weekly protests against the wall and settlements throughout the West Bank, using tear gas canisters and rubber bullets that lead to at least four injured Palestinians and one injured international solidarity activist. In the central West Bank village of Bil‘in, 42-year-old Issa Abu Rahma was shot in the hand with a tear gas canister and dozens suffered from tear gas inhalation …
In al-Ma‘sara, south of Bethlehem, two Palestinians were injured when Israeli soldiers responded with close quarters assaults. Mahmoud Ala‘adin and Mohammed Brijiyeh, the spokesman for the Bethlehem governorate Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, both suffered heavy bruising.
In Kafr Qadum, in the northern West Bank, protesters focused on the closure of the village’s main road. In the ensuing demonstration, Palestinian official news wire Wafa reported that hundreds of Palestinians were joined by international solidarity activists in an attempt to walk down the road, whereupon they were fired on.
link to english.pnn.ps
Video: Turkey doubles down on Gaza development
AJ 27 Oct — Since the Israeli army’s attack on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara in 2010, Ankara has become increasingly outspoken in support of Gaza, the blockaded Palestinian territory the ship was trying to reach. The support has come in financial terms as well: the estimated $2m per year the Turkish government donated to Gaza before the flotilla attack, has now jumped to $48m. Al Jazeera’s Nicole Johnston reports from Gaza.
link to www.youtube.com
In Pictures: The Tent of Nations
PNN 28 Oct –Daoud and Daher Nassar have run the Tent of Nations, an “environmental and educational farm” on a hilltop near the village of Nahalin in the southern West Bank, southwest of Bethlehem, since 2000. Despite sustained pressure from neighboring settlements, lack of electricity and water, the Tent of Nations keeps its doors open to international volunteers, cultural exchanges, and pilgrimage groups throughout the year. On Tuesday, PNN photographer Lo Yuk Fai visited the Tent of Nations to catch a glimpse of what happens on the Nassar brothers’ hilltop:
link to english.pnn.ps
Political / Diplomatic / International news
FM: Bosnia-Herzogovina won’t support PA’s UN bid
Ynet 28 Oct — Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who is currently on a state visit to Sarajevo, met Friday with the prime minister of Bosnia’s Republika Srpska (RS), who assured him that “Srpska’s position on the matter is definite and will not change. We will oppose the move.Meanwhile, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki also arrived in Sarajevo in an attempt to sway Bosnia’s vote the Palestinian way.
http://www.r3g32.com/articles/0,7340,L-4140680,00.html
Bosnia presidents ‘cannot agree’ on UN bid
SARAJEVO (Reuters) 28 Oct — Bosnia’s trio of presidents said on Thursday they could not agree on whether to support a Palestinian bid for full UN membership, with Sarajevo potentially holding a key vote in the UN Security Council. Bosnia’s presidency has been shared by leaders of its Muslim, Croat and Serb communities since its 1992-95 war. In a statement after meeting Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in Sarajevo, the triumvirate said it had so far been unable to reach a joint position on the Palestinian application, reflecting the country’s own ethnic divisions … Given the constellation of Security Council members, Bosnia’s vote could be key and potentially force a promised veto by the United States. Thursday’s statement meant Sarajevo would likely abstain.
link to www.maannews.net
UNESCO to vote on Monday on Palestinian entry
PARIS (Reuters) 28 Oct — UN cultural agency UNESCO will vote on Monday on the PLO’s request for membership, part of a wider Palestinian campaign for recognition as a state within the wider United Nations system.
link to www.maannews.net
US handwringing plea to Israel: building settlement units will only help Palestinian statehood bid / Philip Weiss
Mondoweiss 17 Oct — I think they talk about this kind of scolding/enabling within families in the recovery movement… Unable to veto Israeli plans for anything (though happy to veto Palestinian aspirations), the U.S. has come up with a new formulation to try and beg Israel not to build out the East Jerusalem settlement/suburb of Gilo further on illegally-occupied land. From Haaretz (thanks to Ilene Cohen):
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/10/us-handwringing-plea-to-israel-building-settlement-units-will-only-help-palestinian-statehood-bid.html
Abbas says to discuss PA fate with Hamas
Reuters 27 Oct — RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – President Mahmoud Abbas plans to discuss the fate of the Palestinian Authority with his rivals Hamas next month, raising questions over its future with the peace process at a dead end.
link to news.yahoo.com
Fatah official: There is no plan to dismantle the Palestinian Authority
Haaretz/Reuters 28 Oct — Mahmoud al-Aloul clarifies that Palestinian officials simply regrouping and working to restore the PA to its former stature; denies reports of contingency plan to dissolve PA within a couple months.
link to www.haaretz.com
Envoy complains to UN over Lieberman ‘incitement’
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 28 Oct — The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations has complained to the Security Council that the Israeli foreign minister’s call for President Mahmoud Abbas’s removal constitutes “incitement” and undermines the peace process .. “We consider (Lieberman’s) statement to be the official policy of Israel,” Mansour’s letter stated, calling on the Israeli government to publicly denounce the comments. The foreign minister’s call for Abbas’s removal is “a clear threat against the life of (the president), whose commitment to peace is unquestionable,” the letter said.
link to www.maannews.net
Israel slams Abbas in letter to UN following Gaza rocket fire
Haaretz 28 Oct — Israel sent a letter to the United Nations Thursday slamming Palestinian President Mahmous Abbas for failing to condemn Wednesday’s rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-slams-abbas-in-letter-to-un-following-gaza-rocket-fire-1.392550
Abbas: Arab world was wrong to reject 1947 Partition Plan
AP 27 Oct — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says in interview with Channel 2, ‘it was our mistake, it was an Arab mistake as a whole,but do they (the Israelis) punish us for this mistake for 64 years?’ [Is he serious?]
link to www.haaretz.com
King Abdullah: ‘Netanyahu seeks the collapse of the Kingdom’
IMEMC 27 Oct — Media sources reported that King Abdullah of Jordan stated that Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is seeking the collapse of the Hashemite Kingdom by transforming it into an alternative country for the Palestinians.
link to www.imemc.org
Israel encouraged by Egyptian cooperation
Ynet 28 Oct — Jordan’s King Abdullah thinks likelihood of peace treaty annulment ‘very, very likely’, Egyptian media touts deal as ‘victory’ yet Israel believes direct negotiations over Ilan Grapel’s release, mediation in Shalit deal, mean Cairo is signaling firm interest in continued cooperation
link to www.ynetnews.com
Ilan Grapel lands in Israel
Ynet 27 Oct — US-Israeli national Ilan Grapel has landed safely back in Israel on Thursday as part of a prisoner exchange deal which saw the release of 25 Egyptian prisoners who were incarcerated in Israel.
link to www.ynetnews.com
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