and other news from Today in Palestine:
Land and property theft and destruction / Ethnic cleansing
Settlers move furniture out of Jerusalem home
Israeli settlers ransacked the home of a Palestinian family in occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City early Sunday tossing furniture into the street. Homeowner Mazin Qirrish said Israeli police provided protection to the settlers as his family and neighbors tried to the prevent the evacuation of their home … The family’s home is not in Israel and its occupants are not Israeli citizens, but Israel considers East Jerusalem part of its capital.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=322542
Settlers prevent land reclamation in Al-Khadr
Dozens of settlers obstructed Palestinian farmers and workers as they attempted to reclaim agricultural land near the Israeli settlement of Newe Daniyyel, illegally built on lands belonging to farmers from Al-Khadr south of Bethlehem … Israeli forces and civil administration officials arrived on the scene and ordered the farmers to stop work and go to the civil administration offices in Etzion
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=322554
Israeli settlers start to establish new settlement south of Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM, (PIC)– Dozens of Israeli settlers on Sunday morning started to build a new settlement outpost on Palestinian lands in Al-Khader village, south of Bethlehem in the West Bank. Palestinian eyewitnesses said that Israeli settlers came to the area with bulldozers and embarked on digging the lands … In a separate incident, a number of Palestinian farmers in Qalqiliya and Salfit cities reported that all olive fruits in their fields behind the segregation wall were stolen at night by Israeli settlers.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7ImFGv0JXJ%2fo%2b5ApevlUV54pofT54f5oaKw0%2bNdZHQ%2fsJAMrk6vTNQkBo8Uw2xO8djq4OjwSZ3IkNubv43FAS%2f4znLJaM4RtVhXh7rGFCQdI%3d
Army demolishes Tulkarem playground
Bulldozers entered Far’un village supported by soldiers and carried out the demolition, while Palestinian children threw stones at them, villagers said. Residents said soldiers had ordered residents to demolish the area themselves within seven days. Further, they were told that the village would bear the cost of the demolition if Israeli forces carried it out. The play area had cost $150,000 to build, locals added … In an earlier raid by Israeli forces, seven families were ordered to stop building on the eastern side of the village, and told to demolish buildings under construction.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=322441
Jerusalem: Closure of local NGOs threatens Palestinian identity
…The Nidal Center has been closed since July 2009. Last month, it received its newest closure renewal from the Israeli authorities: the green door must remain sealed for one more year, at least. “We used to try to keep the children and youth away from the streets. Now they are once again in the streets,” said Mahmoud Jiddah, the Co-Founder of the Nidal Center. “That’s the way [the Israeli authorities] like to see us: without any education and in the streets, making bad things. They don’t want to see Palestinians well educated,” he said..
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1560
Israeli plan to build a new Jerusalem gate condemned by Palestinian government
(The Telegraph, 10 Oct) The Palestinian Authority has denounced a potentially explosive Israeli plan to build a gate in the Ottoman walls of Jerusalem’s storied Old City as a provocative move that could undermine peace talks.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/8053958/Israeli-plan-to-build-a-new-Jerusalem-gate-condemned-by-Palestinian-government.html
Row over Jerusalem tourism meeting (AJ)
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has threatened to cancel a conference in Jerusalem after the Israeli tourism minister said the meeting proved the disputed city is recognised as Israel’s capital … Israel proclaimed Jerusalem to be its capital in 1950, but that position is not recognised by most countries, and the United Nations has proposed that the city should have “international status”, which would separate it from the direct control of just Israel. Foreign governments have their embassies in Tel Aviv, the country’s financial centre.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/10/201010108352560267.html
Activism / Solidarity
Bil’in’s Abdallah Abu Rahmah to be sentenced tomorrow
Tomorrow, Monday, October 11th, the sentencing of Bil’in organizer Abdallah Abu Rahmah will be pronounced at the Ofer Military Court. Abu Rahmah has been convicted of incitement and organizing illegal demonstrations, a conviction harshly criticized by the EU, the Spanish Parliament and human rights organizations. At the previous hearing the military prosecutor explained that the prosecution requests an exceptionally harsh sentencing in order not only to deter Abu Rahmah himself, but also to intimidate others.
http://josephdana.com/2010/10/bilins-abdallah-abu-rahmahs-to-be-sentenced-tomorrow/
Undercover soldiers violently arrest eight unarmed demonstrators in Beit Ummar
[with video] Weekly unarmed demonstration in Beit Ummar attacked by undercover Israeli soldiers disguised as Palestinian demonstrators. Soldiers arrested a total of eight non-violent demonstrators under a blanket of tear gas and percussion grenades.
http://josephdana.com/2010/10/undercover-soldiers-violently-arrest-eight-unarmed-demonstrators-in-beit-ummar/
Nabi Saleh demonstration met with live ammunition; six demonstrators injured
[with video] Army invades Nabi Saleh with live fire and tear gas. Six demonstrators injured during clashes which last into the night.
http://josephdana.com/2010/10/nabi-saleh-demonstration-met-with-live-ammunition-six-demonstrators-injured/
Government in Gaza launches olive planting campaign
The government of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh launched a campaign yesterday to plant a million olive trees in the Gaza Strip. He paid tribute to the steadfastness of the farmers in the territory, despite the lack of resources and the siege. Several deputies in the Legislative Council and government ministers attended the ceremony which included the picking of olives and dates.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/1610-government-in-gaza-launches-olive-planting-campaign
In photos: Palestinian PMs harvest olives
Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Gaza visits an olive press on 9 October 2010, the start of the annual harvest. Near Nablus, meanwhile, Ramallah-based premier Salam Fayyad harvests olives in the Iraq Burin village. For Palestinians, olives are an important agricultural product, and olive trees symbolize attachment to their land.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=322523
Detention
Israel releases teen who put army on alert
Israeli forces released on Sunday a Gaza Strip teenager they detained the evening before. The boy is believed to have unintentionally caused the Israeli army to fire flares and send warplanes over Gaza on Saturday evening. Fourteen-year-old Isma’il Abu Jazar was detained after he was found hiding near a greenhouse in northern Gaza. He told interrogators he planned to collect crushed stones to earn some money in light of the poor financial conditions under siege. Israeli forces were put on alert as they thought he was an operative who infiltrated from Gaza to Israel near the Erez crossing to carry out an operation against Israeli targets.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=322647
Hamas MPs in W. Bank slam PA for arresting ex-detainee Barghouti
WEST BANK, (PIC)– Hamas lawmakers in the West Bank strongly denounced the Palestinian Authority’s security apparatuses for kidnapping ex-detainee and noted national figure Omar Al-Barghouti and held them fully responsible for his life and safety. In a statement on Saturday, the lawmakers said that the kidnapping of Palestinians released from Israeli jails is a mockery of the sacrifices and struggles they made for Palestine and gives a free service to the Israeli occupation … In a separate incident, the PA security militias kidnapped nine Palestinian citizens thought to be affiliated with Hamas in Al-Khalil city, according to local sources on Saturday. They also summoned dozens of other citizens after they participated in the funeral processions of the two resistance fighters who were assassinated at an early hour Friday by Israeli troops.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/en/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7VZX%2bAQ19BH%2bWN4KiFj0j1qBx3lyHeG4W8%2bNEUXSQ%2f1wR4I2MP%2bqS2AdcnCp4bT01tpW2i6INfEtD%2bloWcCqivsnE8%2fcXWz9YxwYwxog1PiU%3d
Reprisals
Palestinian resistance repels Israeli military infiltration North Gaza
GAZA, (PIC)– Salahuddin Brigades, the armed wing of the popular resistance committees, claimed responsibility for firing two mortar shells last night at an infiltrating Israeli force in northern Gaza Strip. In a communiqué, the Brigades said that a group of its fighters fired two mortar shells at a special force of Israeli troops as they were trying to infiltrate into the north of Beit Lahia district and forced them to retreat.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7WkoPvdiFMSmwNQQd7XiCKgKp3aLWPPW5pb%2bDFDbWm348y3NiIgUydgex3d2n1tNl0oBZWHaUgew%2f9V3Zfi3VlVXKIeiLF7L0lhv3Oeb3Eeg%3d
Shell from Gaza lands in western Negev
…The An-Nasser Salah Ad-Din Brigades said its operatives fired at soldiers who entered the town of Beit Lahiya. Israeli sources, for their part, reported that a mortar shell landed in an open area in the western Negev.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=322504
Siege / Restriction on movement / Human rights / Humanitarian
Gaza teens brave IDF fire to collect salvaged building materials / Amira Hass
In the course of three months this summer Israeli soldiers shot and wounded 10 Palestinian teenagers who collect building materials from demolished structures in the former Israeli settlements and the Erez industrial zone in the northern Gaza Strip, dozens or hundreds of meters from the border.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/gaza-teens-brave-idf-fire-to-collect-salvaged-building-materials-1.318121?localLinksEnabled=false
Nablus checkpoint closed temporarily
Israeli forces shut down the Huwwara military checkpoint south of Nablus in the northern West Bank temporarily in both directions on Sunday morning and opened it again yet very slowly. Witnesses told Ma’an that soldiers manning the checkpoint scrutinized ID cards very carefully after the checkpoint was closed for a while.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=322532
More new cars headed to Gaza
Israel will allow on Sunday the entry of new cars into the blockaded Gaza Strip for the fourth time as 30 more cars are scheduled to enter via the Kerem Shalom crossing, a Palestinian liaison official said. Raed Fattouh told Ma’an that the Kerem Shalom terminal in the southeast of the coastal enclave would be open Sunday and about 210 to 220 truckloads of goods and humanitarian aid would be allowed in. [let’s see, a total of 100 cars since they started letting them in Sept 20, for 1.5 million people]
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=322513
How good news became bad for Gaza / Donald Macintyre in Beit Lahiya
Israel eased the trade embargo – but it’s bringing some Palestinian businesses to their knees. …for companies like the Abu Dans’ – whose decades-old, $1.5m factory was the biggest clothing enterprise in Gaza – the easing of the embargo had a perverse effect. With the ban on exports still in force, the family was now hard pressed even to sell to the local market, because of its flooding by — often Chinese made — cheap clothing coming through Israel. “They talk about easing the embargo but that means allowing in finished goods which we cannot compete with. Believe me, things are worse for us now than before it happened,” says Mr Abu Dan.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/how-good-news-became-bad-for-gaza-2102586.html
Bereaved father transports ailing Palestinians to Israeli hospital
Buma Inbar, whose son was killed in Lebanon, helps transfer Gazans in life-threatening condition to hospital just outside Tel Aviv. ‘Leaders from both sides don’t care about people,’ he says, ‘I feel I’m doing the peace.’ … Until July, about 65 children and teens from Gaza occupied the beds here, sharing the corridors with Israeli children. Now just 20 remain and there will be “much fewer” in the next several weeks, predicts Raied Baloum, a social worker who coordinates Gaza patients’ stays at the hospital. More are being denied from entering Israel at a time when hospitals in Gaza are buckling under a shortage of medical equipment, drugs and trained doctors, according to the World Health Organization. Many of those who do get through are now being sent elsewhere by the Palestinian Authority.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3963478,00.html
Extrajudicial killings / War crimes
In global hunt for hit men, tantalizing trail goes cold (WSJ)
DUBAI—Soon after the January assassination of a top Palestinian official here, Dubai police stumbled onto what looked like a big break in the case. They linked a white-haired man with glasses to several suspects caught on security cameras preparing for the murder. Most of the suspects in the case had carried forged passports, but this man had a real British one. It identified him as 62-year-old Christopher Lockwood … U.K. authorities found his London address. They also discovered that in 1994, he had changed his name from Yehuda Lustig. Mr. Lustig, they determined, was born in Scotland to a Jewish couple from what was then British-controlled Palestine. The findings raised hopes of nabbing one of the orchestrators of the hit, possibly providing proof for accusations by Dubai police that Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad was behind it. But just as quickly, the trail went cold … from the start, some international investigators and officials were concerned that politics might interfere. They wondered how much help would be forthcoming from countries with strong ties to Israel.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704652104575493883093318088.html
Hamas warned against visiting targeted operative’s Facebook page
…As early as Wednesday, two days before the targeted killing, a warning was issued on Hamas’ online forum, telling participants to stay away from a Facebook page created for Karmi. The message expressed suspicion that the creators of the page were in fact Fatah intelligence operatives, who created it in the hopes of getting closer to Karmi’s close circle, and through them, to Karmi himself.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3967193,00.html
Al-Natshe family: Man killed in Hebron was innocent
An unnamed cousin of Mamoun Al-Natshe, shot dead yesterday by Israeli soldiers, has denied his relative had any connection with Hamas or the killing of four settlers in August. “My cousin was a shopkeeper, he was not one of the militants”, he told us.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1561
The US must answer: role in and knowledge of attack on Gaza flotilla / Nahal Zamani
9 Oct – Yesterday, thirteen U.S. passengers from the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and Ahmet Doğan, whose son Furkhan was killed during the Israeli attack, submitted an open letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressing their anger “at the lack of any visible, active effort on the part of any agency in our government to conduct and release an independent investigation of the killing of one and assaults on other Americans by a foreign military force, the Israeli commandos.” In their letter, the U.S. passengers assert that “the State Department has allied itself with Israel, ignoring its responsibilities to its own citizens.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nahal-zamani/post_1032_b_755205.html
1 injured as Israeli ordnance explodes in Gaza
A resident of Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza was injured Sunday when an ordnance left by the Israeli army exploded, medics said. The 25-year-old was transferred to Kamal Adwan hospital in critical condition. United Nations Mine Action Service works in Gaza to destroy unexploded ordnance left behind by Israeli forces. In March, the agency began a program to destroy white phosphorus left behind during Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s three-week offensive on the Strip launched in December 2008.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=322765
Loyalty oath issue
Cabinet approves loyalty oath, but only for non-Jewish new citizens
Cabinet ministers on Sunday approved by a majority vote a controversial proposal which would require every non-Jew wishing to become a citizen of Israel would have to vow loyalty to “the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.” Twenty-two ministers voted in favor of the proposal, including most of Likud, Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/cabinet-approves-loyalty-oath-but-only-for-non-jewish-new-citizens-1.318212?localLinksEnabled=false
Rally against loyalty oath: Israel becoming fascist
…”Israel is deteriorating from the vision of a democratic state to a fascist state. Our children will either leave this terrible place, be put in jail or fight in the streets like in Iran,” Professor Yaron Ezrachi told the rally, which was held outside the Eretz Israel Museum.
httpw://ww.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3967277,00.html
MK Tibi: Israel is a democracy for Jews but not for Arabs
Israeli Arab MK Ahmed Tibi was quick Sunday to condemn the Cabinet’s approval of a controversial proposal requiring non-Jews seeking citizenship to pledge allegiance to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. “The government of Israel has become subservient to Yisrael Beiteinu and its fascist doctrine,” said Tibi. “No other state in the world would force its citizens or those seeking citizenship to pledge allegiance to an ideology.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/mk-tibi-israel-is-a-democracy-for-jews-but-not-for-arabs-1.318219
AlJazeera video: Inside Story — Israel’s new citizenship law
Critics of bill expect new freeze on settlement building as a payoff
http://palestinianpundit.blogspot.com/2010/10/al-jazeera-video-inside-story-israels.html
‘Peace talks’ / Political developments / Diplomacy
Arab League members at odds over role in Mideast peace process
Syrian President Bashar Assad in particular argued the Arab League’s monitoring committee does not have the authority to give the Palestinian Authority license to continue negotiations … He also said that Syria would not ask the Arab League for permission to enter negotiations with Israel, if and when the time comes. Abbas, on the other hand, argued that the Palestinian issue was one that affected all Arabs. If the Arab League refused to intervene, he said, it would mean that it was giving up on the matter.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/arab-league-members-at-odds-over-role-in-mideast-peace-process-1.318171
Arab summit fails to address issues (AJ)
Foreign ministers wrap up two-day meeting in Libya without consensus on reforms to the Arab League and ties with Iran — ….some Arab leaders, like Bashar Al-Assad, the Syrian president, warned against getting bogged down in details like settlement construction. “We sometimes forget that the main issue is that Israel is occupying the Palestinian land, now we’re just talking about settlements,” Al-Assad said. “This is wrong. We should be talking about returning Palestinian occupied land. When the land is returned the issue of settlements becomes a moot point,” he explained.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/10/201010100374795946.html
Abbas says dangerous challenges ahead
…Israeli violations against Palestinians were escalating with an intensity that had not been seen in decades, the president told leaders convened for an emergency session in Sirte, Libya. A process of ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem was being implemented, Abbas said, under which home demolitions, evictions, land confiscation, and settlement building had become daily occurrences.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=322479
Report: Obama wants delay for midterm elections
Israeli TV reported Saturday evening that US President Barack Obama asked Arab leaders for a month’s delay before he devotes his efforts to negotiations between Israel and the PLO. The delay Obama requested, according to Israeli TV, was meant to give him enough time to work on midterm elections. The report said Arab leaders agreed to the delay so the status quo would continue unchanged for one month.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=322494
PA’s Erekat mulls international mandate option
As Palestinians threaten to turn to US for unilateral recognition of independent state should talks fail to halt settlement construction, chief Palestinian negotiator takes plan one step further: ‘Should this fail, we’ll consider turning to UN to check possibility of imposing international mandate on territories’
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3967264,00.html
With talks at impasse, Palestinians seek other options (AFP)
The Palestinians would be highly unlikely to surmount a US veto should they demand drastic action from the UN Security Council, but a decision by Abbas to resign or dissolve the Palestinian Authority could deal a major blow to both the United States and Israel, who strongly support him. “The only serious alternatives are the unilateral ones,” said Yossi Beilin, a former Labour party minister who was involved in peace negotiations with the Palestinians throughout the 1990s. “A Palestinian threat to dissolve the Palestinian Authority is something they can do. They don’t need anyone to confirm this. This has been a threat for years now, and it’s a threat today,” he said. The dismantling of the Authority would potentially force Israel to take over the cost of governing the nearly 2.5 million residents of the West Bank and spell the end of the peace process launched with the 1993 Oslo accords.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101010/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestinianspeaceun
Council of Elders seeks meeting with Mishal
Palestinian sources in Damascus have reported that international contact with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) has widened recently and that the movement is pressing for the issue of the siege on Gaza to be at the forefront of discussions. Quds Press reported that the coordinators of the Council of Elders, which includes former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, are seeking a meeting with the Head of Hamas’ Political Bureau Mr Khaled Mishal in Damascus during a tour of the Middle East during the second half of this month.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/1609-council-of-elders-seeks-meeting-with-mishal
Report: France won’t rule out UN creation of Palestinian state (Reuters)
French FM Bernard Kouchner says that France prefers a two-state solution negotiated with Israel but the option of UN Security Council action remains on the table.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-france-won-t-rule-out-un-creation-of-palestinian-state-1.318228
Jewish leaders to gather in Jerusalem on future of peace process
Two-day conference on October 20 will discuss whether a compromise on Jerusalem will divide the Jewish people and bring about a national trauma affecting communities in the Diaspora … Another major question: Should the Diaspora take some part, if any, in determining the final outcome of the process?
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/jewish-leaders-to-gather-in-jerusalem-on-future-of-peace-process-1.318116?localLinksEnabled=false
PA cabinet meets in Jericho
Celebrations marking the 10,000th anniversary of Jericho’s founding will last several years and include activities throughout the Jordan Valley area, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Sunday … The prime minister’s comments came as he opened the PA cabinet’s weekly session, which was held in Jericho instead of Ramallah to mark the start of the city’s anniversary celebrations.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=322681
Protests in Ramallah demanding local elections
Palestinians erected a sit-in tent in the center of Ramallah on Saturday to protest the postponement of local elections and appointment of “municipal council members,” which has begun in the West Bank.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=322619
Pope opens Mideast meeting; urges peace, harmony
180 bishops to discuss problems including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and radical Islam — They come from local churches affiliated with the Vatican, but the relentless exodus from the region of all Christians — Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants — has led them to take a broad look at the challenges facing all followers of Jesus there.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/pope-opens-mideast-meeting-urges-peace-harmony-1.318237
French, Spanish FMs to visit region
Foreign Ministers of France and Spain will visit Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories Sunday to support peace talks, Agence France-Presse said. French minister Bernard Kouchner and his Spanish counterpart Miguel Moratinos will make a two-day regional tour, concluding in Jordan, AFP reported.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=322449
Israeli diplomacy: German development minister barred from entering Israel / Philip Weiss
Germany never criticizes Israel. It has no standing, evidently. That may be changing. Spiegel online, commentator Christoph Schult: … German-Israeli relations are in a state of crisis. The arrogance of the administration of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to blame … Israel has not just denied a visit by a German minister. For months it has also been blocking the entry of building materials necessary for the construction of the German waste water treatment plant.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/10/israeli-diplomacy-german-development-minister-barred-from-entering-gaza.html
Other news
Settlers demand El Al CEO quit ‘leftist group’
Settlers in the West Bank are calling on El Al CEO Elyezer Shkedy to resign from the company or to give up his membership in the organization Blue White Future. They say this group holds that the evacuation of settlements is in the national interest.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3966978,00.html
West Bank birthday for ‘world’s oldest city’ may disappoint (AFP)
JERICHO – Jericho’s 10,000th anniversary was intended to showcase the revival of the West Bank town: instead, it risks revealing how far they still have to go, say residents. When the Palestinian Authority announced the celebrations in 2007 it was to herald the completion of new infrastructure projects and highlight the economic recovery of the ancient town after years of unrest following the 2000 uprising. But the resulting low-key celebrations, as they enter their 11th millennium, have left even the town’s mayor underwhelmed.
http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/World/Story/A1Story20101008-241377.html
Jericho unveils massive ancient mosaic (AP)
Visitors to ancient Jericho are getting a rare glimpse at what archaeologists say is the largest carpet mosaic in the Middle East. The mosaic measures nearly 9,700 square feet (900 square meters) and shows patterns and flowers in blue, ochre and red. It covers the floor of the ruins of the main bath house of an 8th-century Islamic palace outside Jericho.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j7Aswir0oX11NQV9lMX1voIIw5pAD9IOSDKO3?docId=D9IOSDKO3
Gaza allocates $1 million for infrastructure purposes
…Implementation should start within two months. In a statement released by bureau of the Gaza cabinet’s secretary-general, the cabinet said it allocated $50,000 to improve post office services across the strip.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=322595
FPJ slams arrest of journalists in funeral of resistance fighters
RAMALLAH, (PIC)– The forum of Palestinian journalists (FPJ) strongly denounced the Palestinian Authority’s security apparatuses for arresting on Friday morning a number of journalists as they were covering the funeral procession of two resistance fighters assassinated by the Israeli occupation forces in Al-Khalil city. Reporters from Al-Quds satellite channel and Pal Media were among the journalists who were arrested.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7rODas9yv36sFAyoGwwPpBli9zRF%2btlCrR4Vq%2be7BVvRqB45SO9Cmd1FicEOcn18qxHJgSl3jFOJi5StACCiljE9vxGmvC6dFROXVesMsAOU%3d
HRW tells Egypt to stop shooting migrants (AFP)
CAIRO: Human Rights Watch urged Egypt on Friday to stop shooting foreign migrants who try to cross into Israel, as the Arab country began chairing the United Nations’ refugee agency. The New York-based rights group said Egyptian border police have killed at least 85 unarmed migrants trying to cross into Israel since July 2007. “Egypt today becomes chair of the UNHCR’s governing body, while back home it shoots unarmed migrants and blocks UNHCR’s access to detainees seeking the agency’s protection,” it quoted deputy Middle East director Joe Stork as saying.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=120156#axzz11vGUa4Dw
IDF Gaza division boosts its commitment to nature
The Israel Defense Forces will begin coordinating its routine activity around the Gaza Strip with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, as the organization signed a nature-protection accord with the commanders of the Gaza Division last week. It covers coordination of actions like ambushes and lookouts, engineering activity and the breaking of new routes … If landscape or nature [but not Palestinians or their property] have been damaged, the division will allocate forces for repairs.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/idf-gaza-division-boosts-its-commitment-to-nature-1.318114?localLinksEnabled=false
IDF soldier charged with stealing classified documents on Iran
The Southern Command military court last month charged the soldier, who had served in the teleprocessing department, for endangering the security of the state … The soldier claimed that she had taken the disc in order to prove security failures existed at the NSI.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/idf-soldier-charged-with-stealing-classified-documents-on-iran-1.318192
Israeli author David Grossman wins German peace prize (Reuters)
David Grossman awarded the peace prize of the German book trade for his efforts to reconcile Israel with the Palestinians … His son Uri was killed during the Second Lebanon War in 2006 by a Hezbollah missile just days after Grossman and other writers demanded a ceasefire between the two sides.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/israeli-author-david-grossman-wins-german-peace-prize-1.318235
Analysis / Opinion / Human interest
The force is with them / Avi Issacharoff
Olive season is upon the West Bank, and the IDF is deployed to protect Palestinian pickers — …The Palestinians cannot get to the grove alone. Soldiers escort them from the guard post to the olive grove. The land belongs to Jaber, but it is situated deep inside the settlement. “It has been our land for 80 years, 32.5 dunams” — just over eight acres — he says. “But this year I was able to get to the plot for only one day, on February 15. Since then they have not let me enter. On Sunday I came to the trees in the morning and found someone already had gotten to them. All the olives on the lower branches had been picked − my harvest was partly stolen…” He points to a well that was ruined − by settlers, he says − and to a tree that has been cut down. “This is how we found the plot on Sunday morning. We wanted to bring in two tractors, but the security officer of the settlement said only one was allowed. Who is he to tell me what is allowed and what is not? This is my land. They did not arrive here until 1982, and now they give me orders.”
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/the-force-is-with-them-1.317899
Twilight Zone: Straight to the heart / Gideon Levy
Palestinians constantly sneak into Israel to find jobs paying meager wages. Some are beaten and imprisoned. This week a 37-year-old father of five was shot to death — In the afternoon, while everyone was waiting for the body to arrive from the Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine, I asked the bereaved brother, Hasan Kawazba, to tell me about his last conversation with Izz a-Din, during what were the final moments of his life, just before he was shot to death by an Israeli Border Policeman.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/twilight-zone-straight-to-the-heart-1.317889
Israel’s persecution of Ameer Makhoul / Stephen Lendman
At any time, from 7,000 – 12,000 or more Palestinians are politically persecuted and imprisoned, including young children. The Addameer Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights Association explains that for over 43 years under military occupation, over 650,000 Palestinians have been illegally detained for wanting freedom on their own land in their own country … Ameer Makoul is one of many victims, a previous article about him accessed here. An Israeli citizen, human rights activist, and head of the internationally recognized Ittijah NGO for Palestinian empowerment, he also chairs the Public Committee for the Defence of Political Prisoners within the Arab Higher Monitoring Committee in Israel. Besides championing human rights, he also supports the global BDS movement, what many believe is perhaps the most effective nonviolent tactic against Israeli lawlessness, and another reason for his targeting.
http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2010/10/08/israels-persecution-of-ameer-makhoul/
The Jewish Republic of Israel / Gideon Levy
Swearing an oath to a Jewish state will decide its fate. It is liable to turn the country into a theocracy like Saudi Arabia — Remember this day. It’s the day Israel changes its character. As a result, it can also change its name to the Jewish Republic of Israel, like the Islamic Republic of Iran. Granted, the loyalty oath bill that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to have passed purportedly only deals with new citizens who are not Jewish, but it affects the fate of all of us. From now on, we will be living in a new, officially approved, ethnocratic, theocratic, nationalistic and racist country.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/the-jewish-republic-of-israel-1.318135?localLinksEnabled=false
A national economy — without the nation (TIME)
Ramallah — This city’s historic landscape of rolling hills and groves of knotty olive trees is undergoing something of a transformation. … Across the West Bank, similar scenes are unfolding. Building cranes pierce the sky. Outside Nablus, new car dealerships sell everything from BMWs to Hyundais … While there are promising signs of growth, economic development is no substitute for a political solution. The borders, airspace, water rights and communications are still under Israeli control; so is 60% of the West Bank. “We are not waiting for a political solution to move forward with economic development,” says one Palestinian banking specialist. “But the impact of these efforts is diluted when there is no parallel political movement. It is like a bird flying with one wing.” See photogallery.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2022572,00.html
The reality of Israel / Khalid Amayreh
On Sunday [3 Oct], five Jewish settlers from the Gush Itzion settlement south of Bethlehem slipped into the nearby Palestinian village of Beit Fajjar under cover of darkness in order to torch the Masjid Al-Anbiyaa (Mosque of the Prophets) … Before leaving the mosque, the attackers scrawled the words “revenge” and “price tag mosque”, on the building in an act that was the fourth time in as many months that Israeli settlers had set Muslim places of worship on fire. The settlers’ reasoning for carrying out these mindless acts is mind-boggling. Settler leaders call these criminal attacks “a price-tag policy”, in which Palestinian targets, for example mosques, are attacked every time the Israeli government decides to dismantle a settlement outpost or prevent settlers from seizing Palestinian property. In other words, the Palestinians are made to pay for decisions and policies made by the Israeli government and deemed unacceptable by the settlers.
http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2010/10/08/the-reality-of-israel/
One man’s journey from Youngstown to life as a businessman on West Bank: Sam Bahour
…It still astonishes me how a U.S. citizen can be treated like trash the minute he becomes associated with Palestinian residency, while an American Jew who has no family ties to this place whatsoever can leave Cleveland, land in Tel Aviv airport and freely go to one of the many illegal Jewish-only settlements spread throughout the West Bank. Not only will this newcomer be welcomed and encouraged by Israeli authorities, but actually have a “right” under Israeli law to automatically ascertain Israeli citizenship. All the while, my West Bank (not refugee) father is being torn apart every time his three-month visitor’s visa is up and he is forced to head back to Youngstown and wait another year before he can make another visit to his birthplace to see his granddaughters.
http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2010/10/one_mans_journey_from_youngsto.html
Fanning the flames / Tamar Rotem
Many of the violent and disruptive protests in the Haredi community are organized by a tiny group nicknamed the Sikarikim. Now members of more mainstream ultra-Orthodox sects are beginning to stand up to them
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/fanning-the-flames-1.317909
Iraq, other Mideast
Court acquits Iraqis of killing six British soldiers (Reuters)
BAGHDAD — An Iraqi court Sunday cleared two Iraqis accused of killing six British soldiers who were attacked by a mob during a protest in southern Iraq in 2003, saying there was not enough evidence to convict the men.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/10/10/world/international-us-iraq-britain-soldiers.html
Sunni-backed bloc bending on Iraqi premiership (AP)
BAGHDAD – The Sunni-backed political coalition that narrowly won the most votes in Iraq’s parliamentary election appeared Sunday to be giving up its demand for the premiership, boosting the Shiite prime minister’s drive to keep his job. The stunning turnabout is sure to inflame Iraq’s minority Sunnis, whose crucial support helped the secular Iraqiya movement edge ahead of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s political coalition in the March 7 parliamentary election.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101010/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq
Iraq broadcasts confessions by Al Qaeda insurgents (Reuters)
BAGHDAD — Two men arrested in Iraq over suicide bomb attacks on embassies and a foreign television office were shown on state TV Sunday confessing that they worked for al Qaeda. The confessions, broadcast widely on several local channels, were aired at a time when Iraqi forces are under pressure to demonstrate their ability to fight insurgents as U.S. troops prepare for a complete withdrawal from Iraq by end-2011.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101010/wl_nm/us_iraq_confessions
Iraqi police still struggle with insecurity as US departs
BAGHDAD — At Joint Security Station Loyalty, there are two schools of thought on the ability of Iraqi security forces to keep the peace when the U.S. military leaves. “They are more than ready,” said U.S. Army Capt. Rory McGovern of Haverhill, Mass., a company commander with the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, which has trained and advised Iraqi federal police at this joint military outpost in eastern Baghdad since January. “They’re making great operational and tactical strides. It’s great to see.” The Iraqi unit, however, wasn’t so sure.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/10/10/101823/iraqi-police-still-struggle-with.html
Lebanon prepares for Ahmadinejad (AFP)
Iranian security patrols southern region, film festival censors Opposition film in honor of official visit … A security source told the paper that Lebanese forces will secure the visit, however. The army is set to deploy throughout his route and at sites Ahmadinejad plans to tour. UNIFIL, the UN force in southern Lebanon, is not involved, the source said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3966922,00.html
U.S. and other world news
Torture victim sues Obama administration over ‘Kafkaesque nightmare’ / Carol Rosenbeg’
In a first for a former Guantánamo captive freed by a federal judge, a Syrian man now living in Europe is suing the U.S. government for damages from what he calls a “Kafkaesque nightmare.” The 44-page lawsuit by Abdul Razak al Janko, 32, described a decade-long odyssey of detention — first in Taliban-era Afghanistan, where he was tortured as an alleged pro-American Israeli spy, and later in U.S. military prisons that ignored or misdiagnosed his history as a torture victim.
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/10/10-0
Sound the sharia alarm! Campbell’s makes halal soups
Earlier this year, Campbell Canada introduced a line of halal-certified soups … To some people, that’s just more evidence that Sharia is coming to North America — this time, via the grocery store. “M-m-good for the Islamists. Not so yummy for the rest of us,” reads the blog of Scaramouche, which broke the news Tuesday, some eight months after Campbell’s launched the line … Park51 opponent Pamela Geller is now calling for a boycott of Campbell’s.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/10/right_wing_sounds_the_sharia_alarm_over_campbells.php
Outraged, and outrageous (NY Times)
…It is in this genteel setting that Ms. Geller, 52 and a single mother of four, wakes each morning shortly after 7, switches on her laptop and wages a form of holy war through Atlas Shrugs, a Web site that attacks Islam with a rhetoric venomous enough that PayPal at one point branded it a hate site. Working here — often in fuzzy slippers — she has called for the removal of the Dome of the Rock from atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem; posted doctored pictures of Elena Kagan, the Supreme Court justice, in a Nazi helmet; suggested the State Department was run by “Islamic supremacists”; and referred to health care reform as an act of national rape.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/nyregion/10geller.html
Anti-Islam MP backs new Dutch government (AFP)
THE HAGUE: Dutch Prime Minister-elect Mark Rutte on Friday started work to forge a new rightist, minority government that will rely heavily on the support of anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders. With Wilders’ support expected to come at the cost of a burqa ban and a halving of immigration, Rutte met his future vice-premier, Maxime Verhagen, leader of the Christian Democratic CDA, in The Hague.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=120152#axzz11vHD9YkM
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