—Jean Genet, “Four Hours in Chatila.”

Soldiers Invade Tulkarem, Jenin And Hebron; Clashes Reported Israeli soldiers invaded, on Thursday at dawn, several areas in the northern West Ban districts on Tulkarem, Jenin and Hebron, broke into several homes and buildings leading to clashes with dozens of local youths, injuries were reported.

JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Worshipers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in Jerusalem’s Old City clashed with a Jewish group touring the holy site on Thursday, officials said. The Al-Aqsa Foundation for the Islamic Waqf and Heritage said around 140 Israelis toured the mosque, sparking physical and verbal scuffles with Muslims praying at the compound. Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said five Palestinian citizens of Israel were detained for attacking the group, who were on a security-escorted tour for the Jewish Sukkot festival. A Jewish Israeli citizen was also detained for refusing police orders to leave the compound, he said. After a similar tour on Tuesday, at least 12 people were detained by Israeli forces, witnesses said. The Al-Aqsa compound, containing the mosque and the Dome of the Rock, is the third holiest site in Islam and abuts the site where Jews believe the ancient Second Temple stood.

A Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court judge said Wednesday that the police should allow Jews to pray on the Temple Mount – an exceptional remark given that the High Court of Justice has ruled that policy on the Temple Mount is the sole purview of the police.

Israeli officer insults the Prophet Muhammad In a provocative act, Israeli soldiers have insulted the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, in the streets of the village of Barta’a in Jenin behind the apartheid wall.

EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma’an) — Egyptian authorities on Thursday detained three Palestinian students who entered Sinai through tunnels from Gaza, security sources said. Egyptian security officials told Ma’an the students were detained at a checkpoint in north Sinai and admitted under questioning that they entered through tunnels. They told police they wanted to visit relatives in Ismailia and faced difficulties crossing the Rafah border terminal.

An important question. My fellow Americans, our image is tanking in the world. And p.s. Gaza is not a humanitarian issue, it is a political issue. But that’s not the point here… Are these people just animals to us? Have we adopted that Israeli view?

Arrests in Jenin and Qalqilya The Israeli occupation forces stormed the village and arrested Mujahid Mohammed Jaradat, 22, of the town of Silat al-Harithiya and took him to an unknown destination, locals told PIC’s correspondent.

Hamas: PA security services arrest 184 citizens last month The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, confirmed the PA security services in the occupied West Bank has stepped up its arrest campaign against supporters and cadres of the movement during September.

The Council of Catholic churches in the occupied Palestinian territories has condemned the hostile graffiti scrawled on the main gate of a Franciscan monastery in Jerusalem yesterday. The attack was carried out by extremist Jewish settlers claiming to be a part of the ‘price-tag’ campaign. In a statement issued on October 3, the Council said that the “assault reminds us of the writings smeared on the walls of the Latrun monastery almost a month ago, and is a new attack on Jesus signed by the price-tag.” The Council called on the Israeli authorities to “arrest the perpetrators from the price-tag gang and bring them to justice. Prior to this, the entrenched forms of education must be changed otherwise the same reasons will lead to the same results.” The Council stressed that “this aggression is one chapter in a series of acts of intolerance that should not be accepted in Israel or anywhere else in the world.”

Other Prisoner News Deterioration in MP Sheikh Hassan Yousef’s health

The MP Sheikh Hasan Yousef, an elected Palestinian Legislator of the Change and Reform Bloc of the Hamas movement, detained since 11 months, is facing a deteriorating health condition. The MP Sheikh Hasan Yousef, an elected Palestinian Legislator of the Change and Reform Bloc of the Hamas movement, detained since 11 months, is facing a deteriorating health condition. http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7i4T7s3dElRQG1PbjpXLuVoncMeHLbM%2fLuQzrL0BvD1Z8%2bzoO1sdip38%2fQmBxHxFj%2f4%2bDpTTaG4HFrP3wF5NlX1aGW2FmuSycJH397wkzv3I%3d

Sharp deterioration of the prisoner Sharqawi’s health

The Palestinian prisoner Sharqawi, 23, sentenced to four years in Israeli jails, suffers from sharp deterioration in his health where he has liver and kidney failure. The Palestinian prisoner Sharqawi, 23, sentenced to four years in Israeli jails, suffers from sharp deterioration in his health where he has liver and kidney failure. http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s78MrIPS%2fG6Tb%2fxqfuY9x8VibdJnObmOF4Nonds485LAgJPANB21Cn6hGqdehiZob9i9Y76XJ%2bqlNKE1abvgViXlHPoMPupFIoL5Eo5N3NSN0%3d Israeli occupation release Palestinian MP Ahmad Haj Ali

The Israeli occupation authority released on Thursday morning the Palestinian lawmaker Ahmad Haj Ali (74 years) from Megiddo prison after a 16-month administrative detention, without charge or trial.

Protests / Solidarity / Activism / BDS



Thousands join Islamic Jihad rally in Gaza GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Tens of thousands of Islamic Jihad supporters gathered in al-Kateba square in Gaza City on Thursday to celebrate the 31st anniversary of the movement’s founding. The event also marked the 17th anniversary of the assassination of Islamic Jihad’s founder Fathi al-Shiqaqi. Islamic Jihad secretary-general Ramadan Shallah addressed the crowds and called for a new national strategy. ”The Palestinian project of establishing a state on the 1967 borders through negotiations has obviously failed,” Shallah said.

BDS key to a “just peace,” says Palestinian Christian boycott activist While much work is still to be done, the coordinator of the project that produced the landmark Kairos Palestine document reflects on its successes.

Issues of the day: Marty calls for boycott of Israeli products Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa is calling for nations to consider reviewing diplomatic ties with Israel and boycotting its products in solidarity with Palestine. Marty acknowledged that the situation in the occupied territories had grown unfavorable following unilateral Israeli moves. “There is an unbalanced situation and Israel should bear responsibility for the failure of peace negotiations,” Marty said on the sidelines of the 67th UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday.The foreign minister was commenting on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s pessimistic assessment of the peace process. “The door may be closing, for good, on a two-state solution,” Ban said in his speech to the assembly. “We must break this dangerous impasse,” Ban added.

Israel fears increasing boycott of settlement produce An Israeli media reported on Monday that the country’s foreign ministry has expressed concerns over the broadening of the Norwegian initiative to boycott Israeli settlement produce. The Norwegian Foreign Minister, Jonas Gahr Store, said last month that his country, which is not a part of the EU, is considering taking action against trade in settlement goods. During a visit to Jerusalem and Ramallah last month, the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, reported Store as saying, “The international community must consider how to relate to the import of goods that are produced in settlements, which we regard as illegal under international law”.

“Freedom Flotilla”ship to sail for Gaza from Naples The Estelle, the latest ship to try to break Israel’s blockade on Gaza as part of the “Freedom Flotilla” movement, will set sail from Naples in southern Italy on Saturday, a spokeswoman for the movement told AFP.“The Estelle will be leaving in two days time, probably towards sundown. We are ready,” Ann Ighe said by telephone. “We think it will take around two weeks to get to Gaza, but it will obviously also depend on the weather conditions,” she added. The Estelle, whose voyage is being organised by an international pro-Palestinian coalition, will be carrying humanitarian goods to the Gaza Strip. There will be 17 activists from around the world on board, including passengers and crew from Canada, Israel, Norway, Sweden and the United States. Israel says the blockade is necessary to prevent weapons from entering the coastal territory, which is run by the Islamist movement Hamas, and has used force to defend it in the past.

VANCOUVER – A ship built in Gaza will sail next year carrying Palestinian exports to international customers, and to challenge Israel’s blockade from the inside out, Canadian activists said Wednesday. The Gaza’s Ark project is building a boat using existing resources in the tiny Palestinian enclave to carry Palestinian goods to the outside world, former Canadian Member of Parliament Jim Manly. Manly held a news conference at Vancouver’s airport before flying for Naples to join the Estelle ship, which is scheduled to sail from Italy this month carrying humanitarian goods to the Gaza Strip, in another challenge to the blockade. The Estelle, coordinated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, will carry an anchor for Gaza’s Ark paid for by Canadians, he said.

Sold-out Russell Tribunal on Palestine within easy reach with live video, Twitter coverage, Abraham Greenhouse

Though tickets for this weekend’s Russell Tribunal on Palestine have completely sold out, the proceedings will be broadcast live on the web and live-tweeted.

Israeli Racism

More than a year ago Peace Now in Israel (Shalom Achsav) posted the above video in Hebrew, calling on Israelis to save Israel from “downfall” by giving up the territories and working to establish a Palestinian state– two states for two peoples. The video has lately been translated and reposted by leftwing Israelis critical of Peace Now. You will see that at :47 the video warns that if Israel annexes the territories, “Israel will become a binational state, without a Jewish majority.” At this point the wail of the muezzin, or Muslim call to prayer, is heard. So: A liberal group is employing Islamophobia. (The recent Nation issue on Islamophobia pointed out the connections between Zionism and Islamophobia.)

NGOs to court: Prohibit mass imprisonment of Sudanese migrants Asylum seekers and Israeli human rights groups petitioned a Jerusalem court to prohibit Interior Minister Eli Yishai from ‘hysterical and barbaric’ decision to round up and jail Sudanese citizens in Israel.

One of the more popular memes Jewish triumphalists use to prove religious-ethnic superiority is how many Nobel Prizes have Jewish names attached to them. This supports the claim of genetic and racial superiority of Jewish DNA, I presume. Pro-Israel advocates use the same technique to pump up the volume on behalf of their nation. Entire websites and organizations exist whose sole purpose is to trumpet Israeli achievements, whether deserved or not.

Political Developments / Other News

Israeli military: Armed Syrians approach border

Dozens of armed men gathered on the Syrian side of the cease-fire line in the Israel-controlled Golan Heights Wednesday, prompting authorities to close a tourist site as a precaution, the Israeli military said.