And other news from Today in Palestine:
Apartheid / Land, Property, Resource Theft & Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing
Palestinian Child Hospitalized After Being Violently Attacked By Israeli Policemen
A 7-year-old Palestinian child from Silwan neighborhood, south of the Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, was hospitalized Wednesday, after a number of Israeli policemen violently attacked, kicked and punched him. The child, Adam Mansour Al Rishiq, was taken to a Jerusalem hospital and was immediately sent to the Intensive Care Unit due to the seriousness of his condition.
http://imemc.org/article/60007
Israeli military court keeps West Bank protester in jail after end of sentence
His conviction for incitement and organising illegal demonstrations was criticised by Lady Ashton, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu on behalf of the Elders, a group of eminent global leaders. His conviction for incitement and organising illegal demonstrations was criticised by Lady Ashton, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu on behalf of the Elders, a group of eminent global leaders.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/24/israel-west-bank-protester-jail
Palestinians petition High Court to evict Hebron squatters
Two and a half years after a military panel ordered settlers forcibly removed from a Hebron neighborhood, the army has yet to take any steps toward implementing the ruling. This week, however, the buildings’ former tenants petitioned the High Court to enforce the order.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/palestinians-
petition-high-court-to-evict-hebron-squatters-1.326634
Israel pulls down West Bank mosque
Most of the demolition activity took place in the village of Khirbet Yarza in the northern Jordan Valley on Thursday where local residents said troops had razed a very old mosque and its much-larger extension, which was built last year. They also said troops had levelled “more than 10 buildings used for sheep”. The Israeli military confirmed knocking down what it described as “eight temporary structures” which had been built inside a military firing zone.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2010/11/201011251357498144.html
Sheep droppings sparks rift between settlers and Bedouin
Earlier this week, a four-by-four Land Rover belonging to the West Bank Civil Administration pulled up alongside the oven. An official jumped out of his vehicle to locate the perpetrator so that he could issue a demolition order. “This structure serves as a wood fire oven,” the official wrote. The Civil Administration issued the order in response to pressure from residents of the nearby settlement of Carmel.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/sheep-droppings-sparks-rift-between-settlers-and-bedouin-1.326633
RF urges Israel to prevent unilateral steps towards resuming talks with Palestine
the Russian diplomat said: “It is not the first time that the Israeli parliament focuses on the problem of the occupied Golan Heights and East Jerusalem. In 1980 the Knesset approved a law, which had declared Jerusalem the undivided capital of Israel. In 1981 the similar law extended Israel’s jurisdiction over the Golan Heights.” “Back then U.N. Security Council Resolutions NN 478 and 497, as well as the U.N. General Assembly resolutions, condemned Israel’s actions and named them as illegal.
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15711498&PageNum=0
Siege/Rights Violations/Restriction of Movement
Physically Challenged Child Wounded After Soldiers Pushed Her Mother While Carrying Her
One of the soldiers tried to tear the official document but Randa quickly snatched it from his hand and the soldier then pushed her despite the fact that she was carrying her daughter in a special baby carrier forcing it out of Randas’ hands. The child’s head bumped into a pedestrian iron gate causing bruises that required hospitalization.
http://imemc.org/article/60010
Israeli military destroys West Bank farmers’ road
The Israeli army on Wednesday destroyed a farm road built as part of a Palestinian campaign to assist residents, an apparent attempt to limit Palestinian efforts to extend their reach in the West Bank. The road was a small part of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s two-year program of building institutions for a state.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/24/AR2010112403282.html
Night-raid in Nabi Saleh
They left at about 3 am, but not without mocking the family and announcing they would “come every night” and cause further problems. It became clear that the soldiers target Bassem Tamimi because they consider him the main initiator of the weekly protests. It has not been the first night raid in the village.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/11/15868/
Dutch government secures limited exports for Gaza
Israeli officials approved the export of strawberries and carnations from Gaza for the second year in a row under a continuing Dutch government program to support farmers in the coastal enclave, officials confirmed Thursday, but said that approval for the export of a limited number of vegetables remained pending.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=335620
Jenin brothers summoned to Israeli intelligence
Israeli troops entered Ya’bad village southwest of Jenin shortly before noon on Thursday and entered two homes to deliver summons to their owners demanding they appear before Israeli intelligence officials for questioning, locals said. An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed that a summons was delivered. She said it was a regular military protocol.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=335921
Detention Policy
Activists detained in night raid on Beit Ummar
Yousef and Mousa Abu Maria were also ordered to stop a weekly land reclamation project in the neighboring village of Saffa, PSP said. An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed that four Palestinians were detained overnight. Two weeks ago, the Israeli army detained several Palestinians and international volunteers participating in the project.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=335955
U.S.-trained Palestinian forces accused
Allegations by West Bank Palestinians that their U.S.-trained security forces regularly torture detainees have risen sharply in recent weeks and threaten to erode Palestinian support for the faltering peace process with Israel — or worse. Human rights groups say just about all of them were arrested without proper warrants and held without the asset of judges or prosecutors under Palestinian law.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2010/11/24/
US-trained-Palestinian-forces-accused/UPI-53931290626686/
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions
Settlement boycotter: We’re not divesting from Israel, but from occupation
Pension funds in Norway and Sweden have divested themselves of holdings in some firms involved in building in settlements or helping to erect Israel’s contentious West Bank separation barrier. Israel accuses boycott advocates of trying to delegitimize the Jewish state.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/settlement-
boycotter-we-re-not-divesting-from-israel-but-from-occupation-1.326612
Gaza Photo Exhibition Attacked by the Jewish Defense League in Paris
Members of “The Jewish Defense League” attacked earlier this week a photo exhibition of the German photojournalist Kai Wiedenhöfer “depicting the massacres in the Gaza strip during the Israeli Operation Cast Lead” offensive. The exhibit is being held at the the Modern Art Museum of Paris.
http://imemc.org/article/60009
Palestine Liberation Organization donates US$2m for Nahr el-Bared reconstruction
On this occasion, PLO representative in Lebanon, Dr Abdallah Abdallah, said: “This donation reflects our commitment to our people in Nahr el-Bared and to their needs. It also demonstrates the support of the PLO and its President Mahmoud Abbas to the return of Nahr el-Bared displaced to their reconstructed homes as a first step towards their return to their free and sovereign country Palestine.”
http://www.unrwa.org/etemplate.php?id=845
Violence/Aggression
On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Let our Motto be: No to Silence on Violence against Palestinian Women
In recent years, Palestinian women have suffered severely due to the violence they are subjected to du to the exceptional conditions they are forced to endure. They are victims of the crimes committed by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) which create for them harsh and cruel living conditions. Furthermore, they are subjected to the local community’s violence, which is often a consequence of the IOF’s brutality.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/AZHU-8BJNCY?OpenDocument
Israeli police ‘mistreated’ east Jerusalem children
The allegations were detailed in a letter sent to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by a group of 60 Israeli professionals, among them experts in medicine, psychology, education, social work and law — all of whom work with children. The letter expresses concern about the growing number of testimonies submitted by Palestinian minors who have been arrested by police in occupied and annexed east Jerusalem, notably in the flashpoint neighbourhood of Silwan.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101125/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestiniansconflictjerusalemchildren
Political Developments
Erdogan: Turkey will not remain silent if Israel attacks Lebanon
“Does it think it can use the most modern weapons, phosphorus munitions and cluster bombs to kill children in Gaza and then expect us to remain silent?,” AFP reported Erdogan as saying. “We will not be silent and we will support justice by all means available to us.” Earlier this week, Erdogan warned Lebanese leaders in Ankara that Israel may be planning an attack from its northern border.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/erdogan-
turkey-will-not-remain-silent-if-israel-attacks-lebanon-1.326844
Setting Palestine’s borders
The Americans’ request that Benjamin Netanyahu mark the borders of a future Palestinian state – and state the percentage of the West Bank from which Israel would withdraw for the sake of its establishment – has yet to be answered publicly. It is a difficult question to answer, and one that gives rise to the question of just which principles should be adhered to when setting the border.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/setting-palestine-s-borders-1.326668
Olmert: Netanyahu should freeze settlements to advance Mideast peace talks
Olmert suggested the current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Obama administration are wasting valuable time by focusing on such a “marginal” issue, rather than tackling the essential issues at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/olmert-
netanyahu-should-freeze-settlements-to-advance-mideast-peace-talks-1.326855
Barak: Current government makeup hinders likelihood of peace talks
“We joined the government so it will go down the road of peace, and we are going down the road and have yet reached our destination,” he said. “This historic decision which stands before us necessitates the unification of all the centrist Zionist groups.” Barak also said that Israel is currently under the threat of delegitimization, which “isn’t less bothersome than Hamas and Hezbollah.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/barak-
current-government-makeup-hinders-likelihood-of-peace-talks-1.326835
Italy FM: Both Gaza and Israel are being held hostage by Hamas
“You unfortunately are victims because of this extremist entity that is taking hostages its own people and attacking you,” Frattini said while on a visit to the rocket-battered down of Sderot, after touring the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/italy-fm-both-gaza-and-israel-are-being-held-hostage-by-hamas-1.326602
Official: Abbas, Fayyad talking cabinet shuffle
Secretary-General of the Fatah Revolutionary Council Amin Maqboul said Wednesday that President Mahmoud Abbas informed the party’s highest body that he had begin consultations with his appointed Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on details of an upcoming ministerial cabinet shuffle.
http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=335825
Other News
Jordan summons Israel envoy to protest police ‘aggression’ at embassy
Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh summoned the Israeli ambassador in Amman and told him the Jordanian government “strongly condemned and rejected the aggression on the two embassy officials by Israeli security men”.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/
jordan-summons-israel-envoy-to-protest-police-aggression-at-embassy-1.326611
Netanyahu: Palestinian distortion of historical hurts Mideast peace drive
A Palestinian Authority report claiming the Western Wall was not a Jewish holy site and was, in fact, sacred to Muslims poses a serious question as to the Palestinian’s desire to reach a peace deal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-
palestinian-distortion-of-historical-hurts-mideast-peace-drive-1.326854
U.K. Jewish leader’s rebuke of Netanyahu sparks ire of British Zionists
Mick Davis, chairman of the UJIA and executive of the Jewish Leadership Council, warned in front of more than 160 people at the London Jewish Cultural Center that Israel could become an apartheid stateunless there was a two-state solution with the Palestinians, “because we then have the majority going to be governed by the minority”.
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/diaspora/
u-k-jewish-leader-s-rebuke-of-netanyahu-sparks-ire-of-british-zionists-1.326586
Work begins on new Gaza sewage plant
Thursday’s ceremony marked the start of the second stage of the project, which will see the construction of the actual plant — a biological treatment facility with a daily capacity of 35,600 cubic metres (1.25 million cubic feet) to serve northern Gaza. Construction of the facility will also protect groundwater sources from pollution by untreated waste water, the statement said, indicating the project would take three years to complete.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jOuqnp7P_-shOZ-HE74aMFPveazQ
Israel, India to sign free trade agreement
Israel currently has free trade agreements with the US, the European Union, Jordan, Egypt, and many of the Latin American states. It is the only country to have such an agreement with both the US and the EU.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3989862,00.html
Art as a bridge to peace
Several of the children’s paintings have already been sent to the 16th Kanagawa Biennial in Yokohama, Japan and others have been sent to France to take part in a world exhibition of children’s paintings for peace.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3988217,00.html
Analysis/Op-ed
Mohamed Khodr – President Obama Would Rather Kill Palestinian Children than Feed America’s Children
That a rogue illegitimate small war crime of a nation can bring this superpower to its knees is proof that our leaders, government, institutions, media, and academia can be bought, sold and intimidated by a few hundred thousand rich and powerful American Jews. Pity the American people who ignorantly pay and die for Israel’s wars while believing the lies
http://palestinethinktank.com/2010/11/25/mohamed-khodr-
president-obama-would-rather-kill-palestinian-children-than-feed-americas-children/
The Jordan valley – A dry bone of contention
YOU might have thought the Jordan Valley was already empty enough. After almost half a century of Israeli occupation its Palestinian population has shrunk from over 200,000 to fewer than 60,000. But UN monitors say that Israel is intensifying its efforts to curb residency for Palestinians. The space for them to roam has been squeezed by closed military zones, conservation areas, Jewish settlements and the building of grand-scale roads, mostly for the use of Israelis, that slice through the territory.
http://www.economist.com/node/17581571?story_id=17581571&fsrc=rss
Gaza: A love that knows no boundaries
When Nicole Hamdan, a Jewish Israeli citizen, failed to report for compulsory army service a couple years ago, the military police came knocking at the doors of her uncles in the Tel Aviv suburbs of Holon and Bat Yam. It is only possible to imagine the officers’ surprise at learning the following: that Ms Hamdan was now living with her parents and three younger brothers and sister in a two-room house in Gaza
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/gaza-a-love-that-knows-no-boundaries-2141140.html
Iraq
Maliki named Iraq PM for second term, urges unity
Nuri al-Maliki called for unity among Iraq’s factions on Thursday after he was named for a second term as prime minister, signalling an end may be in sight to an eight-month political impasse.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101125/wl_mideast_afp/iraqpolitics
Maliki to form Iraqi government within 30 days
With 30 days to name his cabinet, Maliki will need to assemble a team that comprises all of Iraq’s squabbling factions in order to break an eight-month political impasse that has fueled insurgent violence and widespread public dissatisfaction.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/11/25/104324/maliki-to-form-iraqi-government.html
3 Iraqi civilians killed, 15 injured in Talafar, W. Mosul
Three Iraqi civilians were killed with 15 others injured Thursday in a bombing near a market for selling poultry at Tel Afar city, western of Mosul, northern of Iraq.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2126915&Language=en
Two dead, 20 trucks ablaze after Iraq-Jordan border blast
“A tanker truck that unloaded the oil it was carrying from Iraq in the special zone located in ‘no-man’s land’ on the border between Iraq and Jordan caught fire due to an explosion, causing a fire that affected 19 other trucks,” a Jordanian security official told AFP. “Two people were killed, 12 others who were seriously injured were rescued and a number of others are missing,” the official said.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20101125/twl-two-dead-20-trucks-ablaze-after-iraq-3cd7efd.html
Other Middle East News
Russia Gifts Lebanon
Russia has offered a collection of weapons, for free, to Lebanon. This will include six Mi-24 helicopter gunships, 31 T-72 tanks, 36 130-millimeter artillery and 500,000 rounds of ammunition for artillery Lebanon already has. This comes in the wake of a 2008 Russian offer to sell Lebanon ten MiG-29 fighters, at a “large discount” (less than $5 million each). Lebanon in turn asked Russia to provide ten Mi-24 helicopter gunships instead, along with modern missiles to arm them. This made much more sense for Lebanon. The current offer is the result of subsequent negotiation.
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htproc/articles/20101125.aspx
Egyptian activists struggle to monitor upcoming election
Egyptians who witness any cheating, police intimidation or violence will be able to send messages via mobile phones, Facebook and Twitter to volunteers staffing a website called U-shahid.com, who will then post the location and nature of the violations on a map of Egypt.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/
egyptian-activists-struggle-to-monitor-upcoming-election-1.326728
Egypt: 156 detained over Christians riots
Egypt’s prosecutor general has leveled serious accusations against 156 Christians, including explosives possession and attempted murder, following clashes with police over the building of a church.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101125/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_egypt_riots
