Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing

PA officials: Israel to confiscate 675 dunums of Nablus land

NABLUS (Ma‘an) 12 Sept — Israeli authorities issued orders late Tuesday to confiscate 675 dunams of land in Nablus, having issued similar orders earlier in the day to confiscate 800 acres of land in a western area of the city, a PA official said. Ghassan Doughlas, who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma‘an that the Israeli decision will confiscate land from Awarta and Burin villages in the center and east of Nablus. Confiscation orders were delivered to the villages late on Tuesday, Doughlas said, adding that the land set to be annexed consists mainly of olive trees.

Israeli forces handed confiscation orders to several farmers in the Nablus villages of Beit Iba, al-Naqura, Zawatta and Ijnisinya on Tuesday, which will see 800 acres of land annexed in order to build an Israeli bypass road. The dunam, a measurement unit dating back to the Ottoman empire, is equivalent to 1,000 square meters (1/4 acre).

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=519384

Settlers appropriate Palestinian land in Khader village

BETHLEHEM (PIC) 13 Sept — A group of Jewish settlers seized a tract of Palestinian land in Khader village south of Bethlehem and embarked on cultivating it. Coordinator of the popular committee against the wall in the village Ahmed Salah said the settlers appropriated an area of two dunums adjacent to Efrat settlement that was built illegally on Palestinian land. Salah noted that the Israeli occupation forces prevent Khader villagers from reaching their agricultural lands near Efrat settlement and demand them to get access permits from the security administrator of the settlement. Israel and its settlers have escalated lately the annexation of large tracts of Palestinian land in Khader village as they did in Daher Ein Masour and Khelat Al-Fahm areas of the village.

http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7IHwKp9nSTABXC4o%2bNk3EFep3HY1nQCXK3W7DKpTg6SBZY%2fQM0%2bHd4a738heG7xlY21YTjvktm9sLxOOneKl0hePboctrWXDODGgycAB8ydg%3d

Israeli court: Settlers can return to Hebron home

Jerusalem (Daily Star) 13 Sept — An Israeli court has ruled that Jewish settlers can return to a home in the West Bank city of Hebron from which they were evicted four years ago. The settlers claimed they had legally bought a four-story structure in Hebron, a city that has become a flashpoint in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. The Palestinian owner claimed the purchase documents were forged. The settlers had to move out in 2008. A district court in Jerusalem allowed them to return within 30 days. The decision Thursday requires a final approval by the Israeli defense minister.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Sep-13/187788-israeli-court-settlers-can-return-to-hebron-home.ashx

Israeli government asks High Court to expand 40 West Bank settlements

TEL AVIV, Sept 13 (WAFA) – The Israeli government submitted a request to the Israeli high court to allow construction in 40 West Bank settlements, which were built on private-owned land based on expropriation orders for private land issued for military purposes, reported the Israeli Haaretz newspaper on Thursday. This request came in response to a petition filed by the Yesh Din, Volunteers for Human Rights organization, demanding to implement the demolition orders issued for structures built in Beit El near Ramallah on private land, said Haaretz. Haaretz said that the Israeli government admits in its request that the 40 settlements were built based on military orders for security purposes and that the construction continued despite a high court decision that prevents building on private-owned land.

http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20672

Israel demolishes Bedouin village for the 42nd time

MEMO 12 Sept — The Israelis have demolished the Negev Bedouin village of Al-Araqeeb for the 42nd time, as security forces corralled its inhabitants in the local cemetery. Witnesses said that a huge number of police officers stormed the village with bulldozers in the early morning without notice, calling on inhabitants to leave at once. Police officers were reported to be acting under orders from the Israel Land Administration. In defiance of the Israeli measures, the villagers said that they will rebuild their homes yet again, despite Israel’s claims that they do not have the right to live on the land that they own … The Jewish National Fund plans to include the land in a new forest project in the Negev Desert.

http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/4300-israel-demolishes-bedouin-village-for-the-42nd-time

Israeli court to rule on fate of tire-school

JERUSALEM, Sept 12 (WAFA) – Israeli Supreme Court will rule on a petition by settlers demanding the demolition of the iconic car tire school, which is the only permanent structure in the West Bank Bedouin village of al-Khan al-Ahmar, according to a press release by the Jahalin Association. It said that Israeli Supreme Court will rule on a petition filed by settlers of Kfar Adumim demanding the demolition of a Bedouin school which is ecologically built of mud and used car tires. The school is attended by roughly 95 Bedouin children (grades 1-4), who are residents of the nearby hut village al-Khan al-Ahmar. This Jahalin Bedouin community has been residing in the area for over 60 years, long before the construction of the settlement of Kfar Adumim, which now resides alongside their huts, it said.

http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20670

Israel blocks agricultural project funded by Norway

MEMO 13 Sept — The Israeli occupation forces have blocked the preparatory work on an agricultural wells project funded by Norwegian People’s Aid in the occupied West Bank. The project was being implemented by the Union of Committees for Agricultural Work in the village of Al-Rahwa, south of Hebron. The union told Quds Press that Israeli soldiers stormed the village and prevented the machines and workers from continuing their work on the project. The excuse given was that the work was being done in so-called Area C, occupied territory controlled both politically and in terms of security by Israel under the terms of the Oslo Accords … According to the union, however, a nearby illegal settlement is being expanded at the expense of Palestinian land, and the latest disruption to the wells project is to try to displace the local population.

http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/4302-israel-blocks-agricultural-project-funded-by-norway

Palestinian farmers struggle to protect livelihoods, land

BEIT UMMAR (Reuters) 12 Sept — Once a mainstay of the local economy, agriculture in the rocky West Bank is in decline as farmers struggle to protect their livelihoods and their lands. Deprived of water and cut off from key markets, farmers across the occupied territory can only look on with a mix of anger and envy as Israeli settlers copiously irrigate their own plantations and export at will. The pressure to keep farming is strong, not least because Palestinian farmers believe that Israel and Jewish settlers will expropriate their farmland if they leave it uncultivated. But with restrictions on water use and land, what farmers produce often fails to match the lower cost or higher quality of what Israel supplies to the Palestinian stores.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=519608

Attacks / Raids / Arrests / Provocations

PCHR Weekly Report: 3 killed, 11 wounded by Israeli forces this week [6-12 Sept]

IMEMC 14 Sept — …3 members of the Palestinian resistance were killed in the northern Gaza Strip. In addition, 9 Palestinian civilians, including 5 children and 3 women, were injured by Israeli air strikes … Israeli attacks in the West Bank: During the reporting period, Israeli forces conducted at least 53 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During these incursions, Israeli forces abducted 25 Palestinians, including a child. Israeli forces abducted at least 5 Palestinian children at military checkpoints in the West Bank. Full Report

http://www.imemc.org/article/64242

Israeli navy boats open fire at fishermen in Gaza

GAZA, Sept 11 (WAFA) – Israeli navy boats Tuesday fired several missiles and opened fire at Palestinian fishermen while they were fishing in Gaza waters, northwest of Beit Lahiya, north of Gaza, according to the fishermen. They said two Israeli gunboats opened fire at the fishermen boats, chased them for an hour to the shore, destroyed their fishing nets and damaged their equipments, forcing them to leave the area. No injuries were reported.

http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20660

Palestinians injured as funeral attacked by soldiers

[photos] PSP 12 Sept — On the morning of September 11th 2012, local residents attempted to open the gates of Beit Ommar’s cemetery for the funeral of Maram Mohamed Mohsen Zaqiq, a twelve year old child who recently lost her battle against cancer. For a number of years, the Israelis have prevented access to the burial site, using large, heavy rocks to block the entrance and keeping the gate closed, but mourners who gathered in the morning attempted to haul the roadblock aside and reopen the gates. Israeli soldiers were dispatched to obstruct the funeral and tear gas was used to disperse the mourners.

The flagrant disrespect demonstrated by the use of armed soldiers to deny a child’s family the right to conduct a dignified burial for their daughter elicited an understandably angry response from those gathered and clashes broke out between local youths and Israeli soldiers.

http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2012/09/12/palestinians-injured-as-funeral-attacked-by-soldiers/

Palestinian beaten by Jews in Jerusalem: Attacks against us happen here every day / Aziz Abu Sarah

972mag 12 Sept — In the past few weeks, there has been a rise in attacks against Palestinians in Jerusalem. A few weeks ago, a Palestinian was beaten, almost to death, on suspicion that he spoke with a Jewish girl. A few days, later another Palestinian was beaten up for giving a ride to a Jewish female. Another attack took place last Friday, in a gas station, against a Palestinian worker. All of these attacks have one thing in common: groups of racist Jewish groups feeling safe enough to attack Palestinians without fear of being brought to justice. The Israel Police is yet to deal with this epidemic in the city, or work to protect Palestinians as it works to protect Jerusalem’s Jewish population.

http://972mag.com/palestinian-beaten-by-jews-in-jerusalem-attacks-against-us-happen-here-every-day/55676/

Witnesses: 9-year-old girl injured by settler car

BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 12 Sept — A nine-year-old girl was injured on Wednesday after being hit by a settler car near Tuqu‘ village in Bethlehem, witnesses said. Hayat Mahmoud Soboh was crossing a main road near her home when she was knocked down by the car, locals said. Soboh was transferred to hospital for treatment. [End]

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=519520

Israeli forces detain 8 people overnight

QALQILIYA (Ma‘an) 12 Sept — Israeli forces arrested eight people overnight Tuesday in the West Bank, locals and Israel’s army said. Adham Shraim, 17, Mahmoud Aqra, 17, Mamoud Mabsout, 17, and Ayman Iwaies were arrested at a checkpoint in Qalqiliya, witnesses told Ma‘an. An Israeli army spokeswoman said four people were arrested in the Ramallah area and four in Hebron.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=519379

Israeli occupation arrests Palestinian lecturer, raids several villages in Hebron

PNN – On Thursday 13th September, Israeli occupation forces arrested a lecturer in the University of Hebron, Dr. Mu’taz Sharif al-Ja‘bari, 50, from Qizoun area, after they searched his house and rummaged with the contents. Security sources said that Israeli forces also raided several villages in the city such as Halhoul and Yatta, set military checkpoints, stopped Palestinians and searched their IDs.

http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/politics/2655-israeli-occupation-arrests-palestinian-lecturer-raid-several-villages-in-hebron

Occupation kidnaps Raafat Shallaldah

AL-KHALIL (PIC) 13 Sept — Israeli occupation forces arrested at dawn on Wednesday, Raafat Yousef Shallaldah 26 of Sa‘ir in Al-Khalil after storming the neighborhood of Koazibh. Shallaldah had gone on an open-ended hunger strike after the PA intelligence’s refusal to release him as the Supreme Court of Justice had ordered. He was then released from PA jails under an agreement signed between clan dignitaries in the city of Al-Khalil and the PA security services.

http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7DGIGhxIrKssf98NqTNcnYFLHI8gnJH2zNY5w0OaBerpQ1TqGRcqlr3HXp9LTPfJWl5pynvwfdUDAL9Pg7bL4ENY9MAzLOuwaRSD30jQDPOk%3d

Mosque near Hebron vandalized

Ynet 12 Sept — Unknown vandals sprayed the words “Migron Price Tag” on a mosque in the village of Imrish near Hebron. IDF forces patrolling the area discovered the graffiti which was likely sprayed two days ago … Earlier this week, Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich announced the establishment of a new police unit to crackdown against Jewish terror in the backdrop of failures to address countless incidents of holy sites’ desecration.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4280517,00.html

Jewish settlers break into Al-Aqsa Mosque

JERUSALEM, Sept 12 (WAFA) – More than thirty Jewish settlers Wednesday broke into al-Aqsa mosque through Bab El-Magharbeh (Dung Gate) bridge, roaming its yard under the protection of Israeli police, according to witnesses. A number of Al-Aqsa guards said settlers broke into the mosque, protected by Israeli police, and performed Jewish rituals and prayers, provoking the Palestinian worshipers and almost causing confrontations that were prevented from erupting by the Israeli police who threatened to arrest and ban the Palestinians who intervene. They added settlers were accompanied by foreign tourists who performed deliberate acts of disrespect with no regard to the sanctity of the mosque.

http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20664

Video: Night raid – Nabi Saleh 11 Sept

2:58 uploaded by Bilal Tamimi - Story from Nabi Saleh Solidarity here — Popular Struggle Coordination Committee are reporting via twitter: “Shin Bet & Soldiers arrested 4 people in #NabiSaleh tonight during a raid at around 3am. Live ammo was shot in the clashes that followed” and “Two of those arrested in #NabiSaleh tonight were taken from inside an ambulance evacuating one of them to the hospital after being shot”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-40oIpgX0KE&feature=youtu.be

Occupied Lives: No justice for my son’s death

PCHR 13 Sept — On Tuesday, 16 August 2011, Saad al-Majdalawi, a 17-year-old mentally disabled boy, died when he was targeted with live fire by Israel’s forces positioned on the border between Nusseirat, in the central part of the Gaza Strip, and Israel. Saad was unarmed and posed no threat to Israeli soldiers when he was shot and killed. Abdul Rahim al-Majdalawi last saw his son on Saturday, 12 August … On 21 September 2011, PCHR submitted a civil complaint to the Ministry of Defense, which so far has not lead to a positive outcome. Additionally, on 25 September 2011, PCHR submitted a criminal complaint to the Military Prosecutor of the Israeli military, which has been rejected on 07 May 2012.

http://www.imemc.org/article/64229

Detainees / Court actions

Occupation renews the arrest of Anas Rasrs

AL-KHALIL (PIC) 13 Sept — …Moreover, the occupation forces issued on Tuesday, a decision to renew the administrative detention of the captive Anas Amir Rasrs, 47, from the city of Al-Khalil, for 6 months for the third time in a row. Sources within the Negev prison confirmed that the Negev prison administration handed the prisoner Rasrs the decision to extend his detention two days before his release, which caused anger among the captives. The prisoner Anas Amir Abdul Aziz Rasrs, from the city of Al-Khalil, has spent 14 years in Israeli jails, mostly in administrative detention. He suffers from constant back pain due to the torture practiced in the prisons of the Israeli and PA jails where he had spent 9 months in a row.

http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7DGIGhxIrKssf98NqTNcnYFLHI8gnJH2zNY5w0OaBerpQ1TqGRcqlr3HXp9LTPfJWl5pynvwfdUDAL9Pg7bL4ENY9MAzLOuwaRSD30jQDPOk%3d

Zakaria Zubeidi suspends fluids strike in PA jail

BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 13 Sept — Former Fatah fighter Zakaria Zubeidi said Thursday that he will suspend his refusal of all liquids in Palestinian Authority custody as he has strong assurances he will be released in coming days. Zubeidi announced on Sunday a hunger strike of all food and liquid until he is released from Palestinian Authority custody, after almost four months in jail without charge.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=520017

Lawyer: PA transfers hunger striker to hospital

BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 12 Sept — One of two men on hunger strike with former Fatah fighter Zakaria Zubeidi in a Palestinian Authority detention facility has been hospitalized, an attorney said Tuesday. Muhammad Turkman, a 25-year-old nursing student charged with involvement in a shooting at a police station, was taken to Jericho’s main hospital, attorney Farid Hawash said. The other hunger striker, Salim Masar, is in his late 30s and a laborer, has not been charged, the attorney said.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=519660

After seeing video footage, judge orders release of Palestinian detainee

IMEMC 14 Sept — Israeli daily, Haaretz, reported that an Israeli Military Court Judge ordered the release of a Palestinian man who kidnapped and detained by the Israeli army three weeks ago, in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, and ruled that the soldiers, dressed in civilian clothes, used unreasonable force. The incident in question took place on August 14, and was caught on tape by a foreign national, and the video was published by several Israeli media outlets. It showed the soldiers violently dragging a young Palestinian man into a stairwell near an Israeli military roadblock. The Judge, Maj. Daniel Kfir, said that the video clearly shows that the Palestinian man did not do anything wrong, and was attacked by a soldier wearing civilian clothes. Video of the incident

http://www.imemc.org/article/64241

PA asks UN to seek release of pre-Oslo prisoners

RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 13 Sept — The Palestinian Authority minister of prisoner affairs urged the United Nations on Thursday to intervene as detainees in Israeli jails prepare to go on hunger strike. Issa Qaraqe‘ said prisoners held in Israeli jails would launch strike action on Thursday to demand the release of prisoners detained before the 1993 Oslo Accord with Israel. The hunger strike coincides with the anniversary of the signing of the agreement. The prisoner rights group Addameer says 111 prisoners detained before Oslo remain in jail.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=519737

Israeli court rejects Daya family’s lawsuit

GAZA (PIC) 12 Sept — The Israeli Central Court rejected a lawsuit filed by human rights organization from Gaza, on behalf of Daya family which lost 22 of its members during the war on Gaza. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said in a statement on Tuesday that the rejection decision represents “a continuation to the series of denial of justice for Palestinian victims.” It pointed out that the occupation court justified its decision on the grounds that the martyrs had died during a military operation and that the occupation forces are not responsible for that.

http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7gF6yejkhT9C1xFVSAXOa4hs4Eg2EbduNLSE3n75595GrV5ixX8y77Rex3RXzvhAL8QtiQ2MsIr%2fXu7Q9fIzY90DO6PAeJacfI%2b2qj0P2Eh4%3d

6 Jewish teens indicted over Arab’s assault

Ynet 12 Sept — Defendants accused of aggravated battery, theft after beating, punching Arab in Jerusalem last week – Abu Ta’a suffered a fractured ankle which required surgery, scraped elbows and hard blows on all parts of his body. “The beatings were racially motivated,” the indictment noted. During the assault, the victim’s wallet, which contained NIS 350 and $200, dropped and was stolen by one of the defendants. Police said that during the interrogation the defendants tried to implicate each other.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4280647,00.html

Gaza

Gaza government gives new equipment to fishermen

MEMO 12 Sept — EXCLUSIVE PICTURES [about a dozen] — The Palestinian government in Gaza has given the enclave’s fishermen new equipment which has been donated by the Qatar Charity. The new net-pulling motors and other essential items were handed over in a small ceremony in the Port of Gaza attended by officials from the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture and Qatar. The help packages were funded by the Qatari Government under a support protocol signed between the Ministry and the Qatar Charity. The Charity agreed to upgrade the equipment used by the fishermen, as well as to provide assistance to the families of those killed or wounded by the Israeli gunboats which enforce a unilaterally declared 3 mile limit beyond which they won’t allow fisherman to sail. The international community recognises a 12 mile limit of territorial waters around the world, Gaza’s coastline included.

http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/4301-gaza-government-gives-new-equipment-to-fishermen

Israeli military vehicles enter Gaza Strip

GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 13 Sept — Israeli military vehicles entered the Gaza Strip on Thursday east of al-Maghazi refugee camp, witnesses said. Two bulldozers accompanied by military vehicles entered a limited distance into Gaza amidst gunfire, locals told Ma‘an. [End]

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=519730

Gaza tunnels not crippled in Egypt crackdown

RAFAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) 13 Sept — Egypt’s closure of scores of cross-border smuggling tunnels has affected the flow of goods into Gaza but has not dealt the knockout blow widely expected by traders and officials. Following an attack which killed 16 Egyptian border police in the Sinai on August 5, Cairo moved swiftly to block off or destroy many of the tunnels on suspicion that some of the assailants had used them to sneak in from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. The move sparked panic in Gaza with many fearing it would cut off a vital lifeline which brings in food, clothes, building materials and fuel into the impoverished Palestinian territory subjected to an Israeli blockade since 2006. Last week, the Egyptian military said its troops had destroyed 31 of the 225 main tunnels running under the border, although security sources in Cairo had earlier told AFP they had blocked or destroyed at least 120 of them. But initial fears that the closure would have a devastating impact on the territory have so far proven unfounded, with economy minister Alaa al-Rafati saying it had only “partially affected the economy.” “So far, we haven’t had any shortages,” he told AFP, saying Gaza’s dependency on the tunnels was far less than it was in the past when both the Rafah border and the Israeli-run Kerem Shalom crossing were closed.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jsVuVDdr4mRDnZCbHr2Vyiw2p0gA?docId=CNG.5eac773544bef77c221490c550cac9ef.431

Egyptian aid convoy makes it into Gaza

IMEMC 13 Sept — The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza stated Thursday that a convoy headed by Secretary-General of the Humanitarian Relief Committee, Dr. Khaled Abdul-Aziz, managed to enter the Gaza Strip to deliver urgently needed medical supplies … They carried several sorts of urgently needed medications, in addition to solutions used in Kidney dialysis, anesthetic medications, antibiotics, and several other medications and equipment used to help cancer patients.

http://www.imemc.org/article/64238

Convoy arrives in Gaza

GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 12 Sept — A convoy of 64 activists will arrive in the Gaza Strip on Thursday via the Rafah crossing on Egypt’s border, officials said. The group of 64 men and women, including artist Wajdi al-Awabi and Amal Khalifa, a professor in al-Aqsa Mosque studies, said Anwar Attallah of the government committee against the siege. They will tour the enclave, visiting youth groups and areas affected by Israeli bombing, and meet officials during the three day trip, Attallah told Ma‘an.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=519817

Algerian scientists make solidarity visit to Gaza

MEMO 13 Sept — A delegation of professors from Constantine and Khenchela Universities in Algeria along with scientists from the Centre of Astronomical Research, have arrived in the Gaza Strip for a solidarity visit. The five-day visit will include a series of lectures to be given by the visitors at Gaza’s three universities and public talks in other educational and cultural institutions.”The intention behind the visit is to express the Algerian scientists’ solidarity with their colleagues in Gaza who are subject to academic isolation because of the siege imposed by Israel,” said a spokesman. “The world community, including Arab countries, is being negligent about this issue.”

http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/4303-algerian-scientists-make-solidarity-visit-to-gaza

A delegation of prisoners’ and martyrs’ children leaves Gaza heading to Tunisia

GAZA (PIC) 12 Sept — A delegation of martyrs’ and prisoners’ children in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip leaves on Wednesday to Tunisia to attend several official and popular events under an official invitation of the President of the Republic Moncef Marzouki in a several-day visit.

http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7Cq%2bDxqU0ezy%2b3R%2fUUIqhTgDOf7e%2f6rE16%2fCHqfBf8TS%2bR9NdTCtImkIU0SwPjwfb%2bAx936J5pnzkdVimaiwvCmVfwoZvfUhT4qmVRpJXJpo%3d

Japan to fund private school construction in Gaza

IMEMC 13 Sept — The Japanese government’s Official Developmental Assistance program (ODA) has decided to fund the construction of a new building at a private school in Ad-Daraj area, in Gaza city.

http://www.imemc.org/article/64237

Gaza court sentences man to death for collaboration

GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 12 Sept — A 45-year-old man in Gaza was sentenced to death on Wednesday on charges of collaborating with Israel, Ma‘an’s reporter said. A Gaza court also sentenced the man’s 40-year-old wife to 10 years in prison for her part in the alleged collaboration charges. The court said the couple, from Beit Lahiya, provided intelligence to Israel which led to the assassination of two Palestinian leaders of the Al-Qassam and Al-Aqsa Martyrs brigades militant groups.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=519549

BDS

Video: Demanding boycott against Israel at the University of Michigan’s Central Student Government

What do you do with a violent, racist apartheid state? You boycott it until it’s abolished. Boycott “Israel”. This is the message that was heard by the University of Michigan’s Central Student Government on September 11, 2012.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF8pNDtLb4Q&feature=youtu.be

Earlham College drops Sabra hummus over involvement in Israeli human rights violations

Mondoweiss 13 Sept — Today, BDS Earlham sent out the following press release: …On the 5th of September, Earlham College’s dining service agreed to have Sabra Hummus removed from the coffee shop after being informed of the involvement in Israeli human rights violations in Palestine by Strauss Group Ltd., of which Sabra Dipping Company, LLC is a subsidiary. The decision comes after a group of concerned students and faculty approached Earlham’s dining services requesting the removal of the product from the college’s facilities. Strauss Group Ltd. provides financial support and supplies to the Golani and Givati brigades of the Israeli army, which is responsible for enforcing Israel’s illegal, 45-year-old military occupation and colonization of Palestinian lands, and other grave and systematic human rights abuses.

http://mondoweiss.net/2012/09/earlham-college-drops-sabra-hummus-over-involvement-in-israeli-human-rights-violations.html

Political and economic news and analysis



Report: Israel urges US, EU to send funds to Ramallah

BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 11 Sept — The Israeli government has appealed to Washington and the EU to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars to rescue the collapsing Palestinian economy amid mass protests in the West Bank, Israeli media reported Tuesday. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has said the Palestinian Authority is unable to pay August salaries in full or on time because donor funds have not arrived. He said last week the PA was waiting for the US Congress to approve a request by President Barack Obama’s administration to pay $200 million to the Ramallah government. The Hebrew-language newspaper Maariv said the European Union had reduced its financial aid to the PA due to economic crisis in Europe.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=519101

Israel takes cut of Palestinian tax revenues

RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 12 Sept — Israeli authorities have seized millions of shekels in tax revenue for the Palestinians to compensate for an Israeli company’s unpaid electricity bills, officials said Wednesday. Finance Ministry officials say Israel kept 35 million shekels ($9 million) of the 260 million shekels ($66 million) in customs taxes it collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority in September. The Israeli Ministry of Finance confirmed the deduction. The reduced transfer of 225 million shekels ($57 million) would still be an advance of about half the revenues Israel collects monthly on behalf of the Palestinians.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=519594

Palestinian leaders call for ‘liberation’ from Oslo Accords

BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 13 Sept — Palestinian leaders on Thursday called for release from the Oslo Accords, on the 19th anniversary of the signing of the agreements. The accords, signed Sept. 13, 1993, were meant to be an interim agreement leading to a final peace agreement and an independent Palestinian state within five years. Palestinian National Initiative leader Mustafa Barghouti said the accords turned out to be “a transition to nothing,” and had been used as a cover by Israel “to consolidate a system of apartheid.”

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=519812

Public transport union suspends strikes

NABLUS (Ma‘an) 12 Sept — Public transport workers will suspend strike action following “constructive discussions” with the Palestinian Authority, union chief Shahir Saad said Wednesday.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=519614

Watch: More protests in Ramallah, Bethlehem

BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 11 Sept, updated 13 Sept – A group of angry Palestinian governmental employees on Tuesday set fire to copies of the Paris Protocol, while protesters in Ramallah called to bring down the Salam Fayyad government. Protesters in Ramallah chanted against the Oslo peace accords and the Paris Protocol, a subsection of Oslo which binds the Palestinian economy with Israeli tax rates and trade.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=519332

Photoblog — West Bank: Our government is a traitor

12 Sept by Dylan Collins — On the morning of Tuesday 11 September, hundreds of protesters gathered outside PM Fayyad’s office in Ramallah. A larger demonstration was staged later that afternoon, as over 500 protesters marched from downtown Ramallah to al-Muqata (the Palestinian Authority headquarters), chanting against Fayyad, PA President Mahmoud Abbas, the Oslo Accords, and the Paris Protocol. The chant that resonated the loudest was “hokumitna khayna” (“Our government is a traitor”).

http://english.al-akhbar.com/photoblogs/west-bank-our-government-traitor

Video: Protesters win price cuts in the West Bank

Al Jazeera 12 Sept 2:06 — A week of protests in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank over high living costs has led to the government making some concessions. Among them is a cut in fuel prices: the state value-added tax will decrease by half a per cent next month. Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker reports from Ramallah

http://www.aljazeera.com/video/middleeast/2012/09/2012912181948137323.html

Activists call for Friday protests against rising prices

BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 13 Sept — Activists have called for demonstrations in cities across the West Bank after noon prayers Friday to protest rising prices and the Palestinian Authority’s economic policies. In a call spread on Facebook, activists said the protests would call for social justice, the cancellation of economic agreements with Israel and the resignation of PA premier Salam Fayyad.

Fayyad on Tuesday announced a series of economic concessions after a wave of protests across the West Bank turned violent on Monday evening. Several Palestinian factions and leaders said the measures were “insufficient” and would not calm the street. Activists on Facebook said youth committees had been formed to maintain security and safety at Friday’s protest.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=520000

Economic exploitation of Palestinians flourishes under occupation / Ali Abunimah

Al Jazeera 13 Sept — Despite claims to the contrary, the Palestinian economy is drowning in exploitation and debt — The Israeli-occupied West Bank has been rocked by protests over the past week. What is unusual is that the target has not been Israeli occupation forces, but the Palestinian Authority (PA). In Ramallah, Hebron, Nablus and other cities, people took to the streets to protest rising prices, and the economic regime imposed by the Israeli occupation that is faithfully implemented by the Palestinian Authority … As the unrest has grown, Israel has recognised the danger to the PA regime on which it depends, prompting Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday – no doubt on the advice of the Obama administration – to order the early transfer to the PA of $62 million in tax revenues Israel collects on its behalf.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/09/20129128052624254.html

An agreement on indefinite occupation / Noam Sheizaf

972mag 13 Sept — Regardless of the intentions of the people signing it, there is no denying what the Oslo Accords and the Paris Protocol have become: providers of the legal framework and international legitimacy for the oppression of millions.

http://972mag.com/an-agreement-on-indefinite-occupation-oslo-celebrates-19-years/55788/

Lieberman: Abbas on borrowed time

Ynet 13 Sept — Foreign minister says Abbas’ ‘corrupt’ regime cannot be saved, claims leader lost Palestinian people’s trust

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4281155,00.html

Abbas asked PA attorney general to step down

RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 12 Sept — President Mahmoud Abbas asked Palestinian Authority attorney general Ahmad al-Mughani to step down after he offered his resignation in August, Ma‘an has learned. Al-Mughani is expected to be appointed a judge in the Palestinian High Court of Justice, informed sources told Ma‘an on Wednesday … The resignation came four months after Ma’an revealed the attorney-general was forcing private Internet companies to block access to websites loyal to an ousted Fatah leader.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=519673

Few choices for voters in upcoming election

BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 13 Sept — The registration process for local elections ended Tuesday with 200 municipalities registering only one bloc of candidates, officials said Thursday. The West Bank has 353 electorates but 200 of them will not be contested in October’s municipal election because voters will only be able to vote for one list of candidates.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=519801

British MPs support UN recognition of Palestine

BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 13 Sept — Some 64 British MPs have signed a parliamentary motion to support UN recognition of Palestine as a state. The motion, tabled Tuesday, states “That this House supports recognition by the UN of Palestine as a state alongside the state of Israel.” It has garnered the support of MPs across the UK’s political spectrum.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=519734

Other news

UN: 250,000 Palestinian refugees need help in Syria

PNN — On Thursday, 13th September, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA, published on its website that 250,000 Palestinians need food, health services, and humanitarian assistance in Syria. The Agency also appealed to donors to provide 54 million dollars for helping Palestinians affected by the crisis in Syria, where more than half million Palestinians live in Damascus, Aleppo, and some urban areas. The Agency said that the majority need financial aid because their small projects were closed due to the crisis.

http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/human-rights/2656-un-250-000-palestinian-refugees-need-help-in-syria

Slain US envoy ‘understood Palestinian situation’

BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 13 Sept — Palestinian negotiators on Thursday remembered US ambassador Christopher Stevens as fair-minded and described his death in Libya as a major loss for American foreign policy. Stevens, who was killed with three colleagues late Tuesday in an attack on US institutions in Benghazi, served a decade earlier as a political officer at the US consulate in Jerusalem. “It’s just tragic,” said Hanan Ashrawi, a PLO leader and veteran negotiator with Israel. “It’s very sad. I thought he was a person who was not just intelligent but also caring.”

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=519983

US judge: Hamas financing case can proceed against Arab Bank

NEW YORK (Reuters) 13 Sept — A US man can proceed with a lawsuit seeking to hold Arab Bank liable for providing material support to Hamas, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. US District Judge Jack Weinstein in Brooklyn, New York, denied Jordan-based Arab Bank’s motion to dismiss the entire 2011 lawsuit filed by Mati Gill, a dual citizen of the United States and Israel who was wounded in 2008 by gunshots fired from Gaza into Israel. According to the ruling, a speaker purporting to represent Hamas claimed credit for the shooting that injured Gill. Gill is seeking monetary damages from Arab Bank under the US Anti-Terrorism Act, charging that the bank violated the law by providing financial support to Hamas.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=519754

Fence on Syrian border undergoes major upgrade

Ynet 13 Sept — The IDF has launched an unprecedented operation to increase security on the Syrian border in the wake of ongoing turmoil in the country. Fearing the Syrian regime will lose its grip on the country allowing Global Jihad and al-Qaeda cells to base themselves in the Golan Heights, the army has initiated a “facelift” meant to ensure that the barrier on the border, set up nearly 40 years ago, will remain impenetrable.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4281021,00.html

Upon Israel’s request, Germany to void submarine deal with Egypt

IMEMC 13 Sept — Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, personally vowed to Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to void a submarines deal its country signed with Egypt, and said that her government will not approve this deal with the Egyptian Army, the German “Der Spiegel” reported.

http://www.imemc.org/article/64231

Japan funds Birzeit water network rehabilitation project

RAMALLAH, September 11, 2012 (WAFA) – Representative of Japan to the Palestinian Authority Junya Matsuura, and Mayor of Birzeit Yousef Nasser signed a $114,958 grant contract of the project for ‘Rehabilitation and Extension of the Water Network in Birzeit City’, Tuesday said a press release by Representative Office of Japan in Ramallah. The project aims to replace around 1,570 meters of corroded and holed pipes in the old water network in al-Marj district and replace the current temporary plastic pipes of 1,330 meters approximately with permanent pipelines

http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20659

Growing figs in a place of war

Haaretz 13 Sept — In the second installment in a three-part series on Palestinian organic farming, Palestinian artist and filmmaker Mazen Saadeh takes on a new project organic farming in the cross hairs of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — Drive a mere 15 minutes south of Jerusalem, and you will enter another world. The separation fence runs over the hills, trailing the northern outskirts of Bethlehem. Soon it will swallow whole the village of Wallajeh. Roads in these parts are segregated, and at a former military checkpoint now outsourced to a civilian company, workers profile cars to make sure all the passengers are Hebrew speakers. But within this other world, known as the southern West Bank, there is yet another, smaller world. It is a tiny organic farm called Hosh Jasmin, which was renovated and reopened only this year by Palestinian Mazen Saadeh and his Canadian girlfriend Aidan.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/growing-figs-in-a-place-of-war.premium-1.464685#

Palestinians on the road to Damascus

Pulsemedia 7 Sept by Ahmad Diab — A Temporary People — One hot summer day in 2011, the residents of the beleaguered Homs neighborhood of Al-Khaldyeh were struggling to identify the bodies of two men. There was something unusual about the bodies even by the now morbidly gory Syrian standards. They were merely skeletons with worn-out fatigues, and a few personal belongings. The unearthing of their bodies was collateral damage to a stray bomb. They had been blown out of their unmarked shallow makeshift grave by the shells of the Syrian army against the rebellious neighborhood. The residents decided the belongings were clearly from the 1980s, the military fatigues were Palestinian. The story of Syrian Palestinians – like that of most Syrians – is one of many tucked-away skeletons that are thrown into the open, unannounced yet badly needing to be addressed.

http://pulsemedia.org/2012/09/07/palestinians-on-the-road-to-damascus/

Video: Gaza Hospital — Beirut

(47:51) Al Jazeera 13 Sept — Overlooking the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila, Beirut’s ‘Gaza Hospital’ witnessed the Lebanese civil war and the Israeli invasion first hand. Most notably the hospital and its staff dealt with the bloody impact of the 72-hour massacre that took place there in 1982. Hundreds of civilians in the camps were killed by Israeli-backed Lebanese Christian militiamen ... Returning to Beirut after some 30 years, the international medical staff who worked at ‘Gaza Hospital’ at the time of the conflict – Dr Swee Chai Ang, Dr Aziza Khalidi, Nurse Eileen Seigel and others – recall those traumatic times...



http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/witness/2012/09/201291212927584592.html

Israeli racism / discrimination

Driver who refused to transport women escapes trial

Ynet 12 Sept — Indictment filed against Egged bus driver, who left ‘immodest’ women at bus stop, canceled due to amendment to public transportation supervision law

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4280611,00.html

Israeli immigration authorities jailed a newborn baby in detention facility

Haaretz 13 Sept — Immigration authorities jailed a newborn baby at Saharonim prison last week. Following pressure, the authorities have promised to remove the Ivory Coast family of four, to the detention facility at Ben-Gurion International Airport until their deportation. The Ivory Coast family lived legally for years in Israel, under collective protection afforded citizens of that country, until a recent change of policy annulled the protection and immediate deportation began. The family was arrested last Thursday. The mother, less than two weeks after giving birth, her baby and 4-year-old daughter were separated from the father, who was imprisoned in the men’s section.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israeli-immigration-authorities-jailed-newborn-baby-in-detention-facility.premium-1.464603

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