Congressman: US ready to veto recognition bid
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 10 Aug — US representative Steny Hoyer said Wednesday that the Obama administration would use its veto at the UN Security Council if Palestinians move forward with a bid for recognition in September. Hoyer, the Democratic Whip of the House of Representatives, is in the region leading a congressional delegation sponsored by a pro-Israel lobby group, the AIPAC-backed America-Israel Education Foundation.
Marwan Barghouti warns of protests if US wields veto
CAIRO (AFP) 10 Aug — A Palestinian leader jailed in Israel has warned Washington that vetoing a Palestinian state at the United Nations would spark huge regional protests, Egypt’s official MENA news agency reported Wednesday. Marwan Barghouti, a leading member of the dominant Fatah party convicted of organizing attacks against Israelis during the second intifada, gave an interview to MENA through his lawyer from an Israeli prison. “Voting against the Palestinian state would be a historic, deadly mistake in the record of US President Barack Obama, in whom there was hope for change,” he said of Palestinian plans to ask the United Nations for state recognition.
IDF chief joins brigade’s surprise inspection
Ynet 10 Aug — Army tests readiness of Binyamin Brigade, deployed in Jerusalem and Ramallah vicinity areas, ahead of September as Palestinians plan to take statehood bid to UN. Chief of Staff Benny Gantz joins troops to get first-hand impression … Last week it was revealed that an internal Israeli parliamentary report showed that Israel doesn’t anticipate violence in September, but it proposed reserve soldiers be called up just in case.
Palestinians plan for calm protests
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) 10 Aug – Palestinian leaders have drawn up a plan to keep their rallies in September peaceful, officials said Wednesday, hoping that violence-free demonstrations would boost their drive for a U.N. recognition. The rallies, set for Palestinian territories and abroad, are to coincide with a hoped-for U.N. endorsement of a Palestinian state.
Western diplomat: UN statehood bid will harm US-Palestinian Authority ties
Haaretz 10 Aug — …”If the PA will go to the UN in September, it will make it harder for us to have the same relations with them as we had before when it comes to aid and security training,” the diplomat said. “We want that to continue that cooperation but it will make it harder for us. It is easier to work together as partners.” According to the diplomat, the U.S. is trying hard to prevent a confrontation at the UN in September.
And more news from Today in Palestine:
Activism / Solidarity / Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions
Video: Tear gas, sound grenades and rubber-coated bullets at Nabi Saleh
The Israeli Occupation Army attacked Nabi Saleh Village once more on Monday [8 Aug] causing injuries and suffocation among the villagers. This is the third day of attacks since Friday 5 in an apparent attempt to quell the resistance of the village.
http://palestinevideo.blogspot.com/2011/08/tear-gas-sound-grenades-and-rubber.html
Video: Al-Walaje demo August 10 2011
Dozens of olive trees were uprooted in Walaje. and it seems many more will be uprooted.
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/08/10/%E2%80%AAal-walaje-demo-august-10-2011%E2%80%AC%E2%80%8F-video/
11 detained at rally near Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 10 Aug — Israeli forces detained 11 protesters Wednesday afternoon during a rally in the village of Al-Walaja, near Bethlehem, the village committee and Israel’s army said. Alaa Darras, a member of the village’s local committee against the wall, said Israeli troops dispersed the rally using tear gas and stun grenades. Soldiers also physically attacked protesters before detaining four internationals, six Israelis and a Palestinian man identified as Hisham Khalid Al-Atrash, Darras said … The activists were protesting the Israeli separation wall, which annexes village land … The village of Al-Walaja was, in 1948, the second largest land area after Jerusalem but was cut down to one third the size when Israel declared statehood that year. Now a border village, Al-Walaja is edged on its eastern flank by an expanding bloc of settlements and is being reduced in size by the path of the wall, which annexes between two to three kilometers of village lands from the pre-1967 border.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=412212
VIDEO: Al Walaja: A kid’s view
My town of Bedford, England has a friendship link with Al Walaja, a Palestinian village. Here is what I made of our visit there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlMeobnrL3E
Throwing rocks / Linah
4 Aug — I had denied it for too long now, but for a Palestinian, my rock throwing is shockingly abysmal. On one of the Fridays I spent in Nabi Saleh, I had grumbled out loud at this particular incompetence of mine, and I suddenly found myself surrounded by eager teachers. It was the Friday of the flotilla model. That day was mostly spent indoors as after the first couple of hours of the protest, the Israeli army aimed and fired tear gas at whoever so much poked their heads out the door … Earlier that day, as activists were cooped up in Bilal and Manal Tamimi’s house, one Israeli activist, a first-timer here, was standing in the middle of the room drawing attention to himself as he loudly asserted that throwing rocks automatically cancelled out a “non-violent protest.” Another activist was arguing with him, pointing out that the rocks were barely the source of bodily harm, but to me they were missing the point completely.
http://lifeonbirzeitcampus.blogspot.com/2011/08/throwing-rocks.html
Victoria, Australia threatens further crackdown on boycott activists / Annie
Mondoweiss 9 Aug — Things are heating up in Australia. The turmoil over boycott arrests previously covered here has escalated. A group called Defend the boycott Israel 19 has issued a press release today announcing Pro-Palestine activists arrested in dawn raids calling this “the most severe crack-down on civil liberties in decades”. Protesters were arrested on the pretense of “breaching bail conditions”, and it is said that they will be held until September 5th. This is just days after the Victoria government issued an unprecedented request by calling in the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission to investigate citizens who have joined the BDS campaign.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/08/victoria-australia-threatens-further-crackdown-on-boycott-activists.html
Australia’s repression of BDS movement coordinated with Israel / Kim Bullimore
EI 9 Aug — …Charged with ‘trespassing’ and ‘besetting’, those arrested are now facing fines of up to AUD $30,000 (approximately US $32,300). The 1 July action, organized by the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, had sought to highlight the complicity of two Israeli companies, Jericho and Max Brenner Chocolate, with Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies. The action was the fourth protest against both companies since December 2010 … Max Brenner Chocolate, the other Israeli company subject to BDS protests in Melbourne, is owned by the Strauss Group — one of Israel’s largest food and beverage companies. On its website, the Strauss Group emphasizes its support for the Israeli military, providing care packages, sports and recreational equipment, books and games for soldiers. [this article doesn’t prove coordination with Israel, as far as I can see; headline may not have been written by the author]
http://electronicintifada.net/content/australias-repression-bds-movement-coordinated-israel/10247
Gaza
Internet, phone service restored in Gaza
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 10 Aug — The Palestinian telecommunications company Paltel said Wednesday technicians were working to renew services to the Gaza Strip following an unprecedented outage overnight. Paltel executive manager Ammar Al-Aker told Ma‘an that Israeli bulldozers destroyed a fiber-optics cable near the border that cut mobile, Internet and international landline services for over 12 hours beginning late Tuesday. Al-Aker said bulldozers struck several cables, the first of which was located eight meters [26′] underground. Backup cables 20 meters [65′] deep also sustained damage, eventually taking the entire network offline. Jawwal towers receive signals from the cables, he said, so mobile services shut down … An Israeli military spokeswoman denied involvement in the incident that damaged the wire
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=412107
Population of Gaza fears invasion in midst of communication blackout
IMEMC 10 Aug — Late Tuesday night, residents throughout Gaza lost internet, cell phone and landline phone service, creating a communication blackout similar to one which occurred just before a massive Israeli invasion in 2008. The blackout sparked fear among Gaza residents that an Israeli invasion might be underway … During the 2008-9 invasion of Gaza, Israeli forces bombed the main power plants, plunging Gaza into a sea of darkness. Due to the ongoing Israeli siege, the electricity infrastructure of the Gaza Strip has been unable to fully recover,
http://www.imemc.org/article/61819
Gaza blackout / Linah
10 Aug — When I finally got home yesterday it was already around 1 am. After having iftaar at a great aunt’s house, we then went to another aunt’s house to welcome back her son from the ghurbeh-six years spent studying in Russia. I was dying for internet access. I’ve become somewhat of an addict, and for some reason the internet in my aunt’s home wouldn’t work on my laptop. The hours spent drinking tea and coffee and eating qatayif were a bit marred by the black looks I was shooting my mother. Yallah Ma are we planning on sleeping over? I had planned on cobbling another informal post about the second PalTweetUp meeting. Instead, news across Twitter quickly spread about a mass communications cut in the Gaza strip, entering its seventh hour. My heart dropped somewhere between my toes. The first thought I had was “Ground Invasion. Air Raids. Naval Attacks.” In short, another Operation Cast Lead.
http://lifeonbirzeitcampus.blogspot.com/2011/08/gaza-blackout.html
Palestinians blame Israel for Gaza blackout
Al Jazeera 10 Aug — Internet and phone services were shut off in Gaza late on Tuesday night, putting the blockaded territory into an information blackout for around 12 hours. Palestinian telecommunications officials blamed Israeli bulldozers for severing fibreoptic lines into Gaza, but Israel denied its army had any connection to the problem. The Israeli Coordinator of Government Activity in the Territories said the outage was likely an internal Palestinian problem, and a spokesman for the Israeli army wrote on Twitter that bulldozers had not been digging at Nahal Oz, where the cables cross into Gaza. Officials from PalTel, which operates Internet and phone networks in Gaza, told Al Jazeera that Israeli bulldozers cut the cables at Nahal Oz two weeks ago, forcing the company to use another set of communications lines at the Erez crossing, which were then cut on Tuesday. PalTel needed permits to repair the lines but had not yet received them from Israel, chief executive officer Ammar al-Aker said.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/08/201181074126325124.html
Gaza crossing unaffected by telecoms shutoff
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) – The coordinator of the crossings authority Raed Fattouh said Wednesday the Kerem Shalom crossing would open partly for 300 trucks containing aid for the trade and agriculture sectors. He added that 99 trucks of gravel for UN projects and cooking gas would enter. On a related note, general-director of the Palestinian crossings authority Nazmi Mhana said that the unprecedented cutoff in communication would not affect daily quantities of goods entering the enclave.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=412104
Hamas: No improvement at Rafah crossing
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 10 Aug — Gaza Interior Ministry deputy Kamel Abu Madi said Wednesday there had been no improvements at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. “The working procedures at the Rafah crossing are as usual and no improvement has occurred,” Abu Madi said. He added that Egyptian authorities were still preventing Palestinians who had fled Libya from entering the Gaza Strip. The official said there were serious discussions with Egyptian authorities over ongoing issues which he hoped would be resolved soon.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=412142
Health ministry: Cancer patients are exposed to pharmaceutical piracy
GAZA (PIC) 10 Aug — In a press release, spokesman for the ministry Ashraf Al-Qudra stated that one third of the total medicines, about 62 types, used by cancer patients are out of stock. Spokesman Qudra affirmed that Gaza hospitals have not been provided with these vital medicines since the crisis of medical supplies started to worsen last July.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
National Assembly for Democracy calls for stopping Israel’s arbitrary measures against sick Palestinians
RAFAH (WAFA) 9 Aug – The National Assembly for Democracy Tuesday called on human rights organizations worldwide to intervene to provide a safe passage to sick people from and to Palestinian or Israeli hospitals in the West Bank, in light of the Israeli interrogation and extortion measures, according to a press statement issued by the Assembly
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16941
Crippled terrorists back in action
Ynet 10 Aug — What PR value is there in a military display that includes crippled and injured operatives? According to the Islamic Jihad’s website, the military wing recently held maneuvers in which veteran members of the Jihad who had been injured over the years in battles with Israeli forces had a starring role. The maneuvers included sights not usually seen on the battlefield, one-legged men carrying Kalashnikov rifles or RPG launchers while leaning on crutches or sitting in wheelchairs … Based on the photos, it is extremely doubtful that the maneuver participants are capable of fighting, but through the images and the maneuver itself the Islamic Jihad is looking to show the Palestinians their tenacity. “The injury has damaged my body but not my will,” summarized al-Rahman. [apologies for the word ‘terrorists’; would have preferred ‘fighters’ but not my headline]
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4106980,00.html
Revived Mujahidin faction emerges in the Gaza Strip
GAZA CITY (JPost) 10 Aug — Ansar Al-Mujahidin says it wants to bridge divisions between Hamas and Fatah; “rise of jihadist groups in Gaza creating headache for Hamas.” A new break-away armed faction with declared links to Fatah has emerged in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip claiming to have thousands of members. At a press conference held after evening prayers in Gaza this week, a trio of masked men dressed in camouflage and toting assault rifles said they were the Ansar Al-Mujahidin [all of it?], an independent Palestinian political armed faction in Gaza and with roots in the Fatah-held West Bank.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=233215
Detention
Number of West Bankers who refuse to comply with summonses on the rise
RAMALLAH (PIC) 10 Aug — The number of Palestinian citizens who jointed the youth campaign against summonses issued arbitrarily by the Palestinian authority security apparatuses in the West Bank has risen since the signing of the national reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah factions. A Palestinian youth campaign active in the West Bank has documented about 100 cases in which Palestinian citizens refused to comply with wanton summonses issued against them to go to headquarters of security apparatuses for interrogation
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Witnesses: Israel army detains 2 teens in Beit Ummar
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 10 Aug — Israeli forces detained two Palestinian teenagers overnight Tuesday in the West Bank town of Beit Ummar, locals said. Soldiers detained Ahmad Jawabreh, 15, and Muhammad Eqtet, 16, after raiding their homes, popular committee spokesman Muhammad Awad told Ma’an. Awad said a Molotov cocktail had been thrown at an army watchtower at the entrance to the town but caused no injuries.
A military spokeswoman said there were no arrests in Beit Ummar overnight. She said three Palestinians were detained in Idhna, west of Hebron.
Meanwhile Yousef Abu Maria, a member of the national committee to resist the wall and settlements, said Israeli forces raided the Al-Mantara area. Soldiers fired stun grenades before entering homes, she added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=412128
Rights group condemns Israeli arrest of Al-Jazeera journalist
RAMALLAH WAFA) 10 Aug — The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) Wednesday condemned the Israeli authority’s arrest on Tuesday of Samer Allawi, Al-Jazeera bureau chief in Afghanistan. The center considered the arrest of Allawi, as he was leaving the West Bank to Jordan through Al-Karama (Allenby) bridge after spending a vacation with his family in the city of Nablus, “a blatant violation of freedom of speech and international law.”
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16949
Prisoner transferred to hospital in critical condition
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 10 Aug — Sick Palestinian prisoner Zakaria DAwood, 42, was transferred on Wednesday from Naqap prison to Soroka hospital, near Beersheba in southern Israel, in a critical condition, according to Minister of Prisoners’ Affairs Issa Qaraqe‘e. Qaraqe‘e told WAFA that Dawood, from Bethlehem, who has served nine years of his 14-year sentence, was transferred from Naqap prison after he lost consciousness and the ability to speak. Dawood, who has been sick while he was imprisoned, did not receive any treatment and lost a lot of weight in one month, weighing now 35 kilograms, to be discovered later that he had head tumors.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16953
Prisoner granted access to medical equipment
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 10 Aug — The Israeli prison administration will allow a Palestinian prisoner suffering from severe diabetes access to vital medical equipment, the Palestinian prisoners’ society said Wednesday. Ahmad Asfour, 23, will be connected to a machine which injects insulin into his body. The decision came after the prisoners’ society sent a letter to prison authorities informing them of Asfour’s condition. Asfour was seriously injured during the war on Gaza … He was also severely wounded in his stomach and chest, undergoing an operation to remove part of his intestine and pancreas.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=412184
Prison service raids Nafha jail cells
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) 10 Aug — A representative of the Palestinian prisoners society said Tuesday after visiting Nafha prison that the Israeli prison’s administration raided a cell area during dawn prayers. Forces searched the detainees “brutally” during the raid on section 11, room six, he said. According to the rights group, detainees went on hunger strike even after breaking the fast because the prison service had agreed not to cause any “escalations” during the Muslim holy month.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=411956
Apartheid
B’Tselem: Map of the restrictions on Palestinian movement in Hebron, August 2011
Map [download PDF] showing the restrictions on movement of Palestinians and opening of businesses in Hebron’s center. More on the topic
http://www.btselem.org/map/restrictions-palestinian-movement-hebron
Political / Diplomatic / International
Campaign for UN bid launched in Ramallah
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 10 Aug — The national campaign to support Palestine’s bid for membership of the United Nations was launched Tuesday in Ramallah. Representatives of civil society, unions and youth activists met for the first meeting of the campaign’s preparatory committee.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=412126
Israel denies it agreed to discuss a nuclear-free Middle East
Haaretz 10 Aug — Israel said Wednesday there has been no change in its position regarding a nuclear-free Middle East, and that it has not received an invitation to a conference on the matter, sources at the Israeli Nuclear Agency told Haaretz. Their statement comes after the Associated Press reported Israel and Arab countries agreed in principle to attend a conference hosted by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Israel has said for more than a decade that it is ready in principle to hold an unbinding discussion, but not negotiations on “learning from others about the experience of establishing of a nuclear-free zone.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-denies-it-agreed-to-discuss-a-nuclear-free-middle-east-1.378025
Hamas official: Internal Israeli pressure will spark movement on Shalit deal
Haaretz 10 Aug — Moussa Abu Marzouk tells London-based Al-Hayat that Hamas is interested in deal on captured IDF soldier, but group’s stance unchanged — Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk believes that internal pressure in Israel and changes in the composition of the Israeli negotiating team will lead to positive movement toward reaching a prisoner exchange deal that will include the release of captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/hamas-official-internal-israeli-pressure-will-spark-movement-on-shalit-deal-1.377978
UN: Israel, Lebanon hope to avoid maritime border dispute
Reuters 10 Aug — Both countries claim an 850-square-kilometer stretch of sea off their coasts, close to an area where U.S. and Israeli firms have discovered two massive natural gas fields.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/un-israel-lebanon-hope-to-avoid-maritime-border-dispute-1.377891
Other news
Palestinian university ranks seventh in Arab world
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 10 Aug — An-Najah University in Nablus ranks seventh in a list of the top 100 universities in the Arab world, according to findings published by Spanish public research body CSIC. An-Najah is ranked as the top Palestinian university and is among the top 5% of 22,000 universities worldwide, a study published by the group in July 2011 found.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=411970
Analysis: Ambitious plans to boost oPt transport, trade infrastructure
RAMALLAH (IRIN) 10 Aug – Developing transport and trade infrastructure in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) is the focus of a growing number of proposed donor and Palestinian Authority (PA) projects, but it remains to be seen how many of them will ever come to fruition … Donors and the PA have been struggling to develop transport infrastructure like roads and international crossing points essential to move goods and people, due to access and building restrictions in the West Bank, mainly in Area C. Over 1,000 Israeli checkpoints and physical barriers hinder the movement of goods and people in the West Bank, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=93474
Clergy welcome scholars at annual theological conference
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 10 Aug — The sixth international theological conference opened Monday in Bethlehem, as theologians and intellectuals gathered from more than 17 countries and various Christian denominations.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=411850
West Bank: Not everyone’s laughing at Palestinian TV comedy
LA Times blog 10 Aug — Imad Faragin last year launched a political-social satirical TV show called “Watan ala Watar” (“Country on a String”). The short series, which was sponsored and aired daily on state-owned Palestine TV during last year’s fast month of Ramadan, was a hit mainly because of its harsh and funny criticism of Palestinian political, social and civil society leaders and organizations. Happy with the positive reviews he got, Faragin, the writer and main actor of the show, decided to do it again for this year’s Ramadan. Following the same style, he hit hard in a comical and sarcastic manner at more or less the same officials and groups. However, this time the reaction was different … “Officials are more tense this year than before,” Faragin said. “I imagine the reason is because of the Arab Spring. They are afraid that too much criticism may lead them to the same fate as other Arab officials.”
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2011/08/west-bank-palestinian-tv-show-frightens-officials.html
Analysis / Opinion / Human interest
The people want a reset / Amira Hass
Haaretz 10 Aug — As the movement grows, some will continue to think and demand “justice” within the borders of one nation, at the expense of the other nation that lives in this land. Others will understand that this will never be a country of justice and welfare if it is not a state of all its citizens.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/the-people-want-a-reset-1.377919
Feeling the pain of ‘others’: humanity lives on / Ramzy Baroud
ArabNews 9 Aug — Could Gaza under the Israeli siege really be sending aid to famine-besieged Somalia? …Ramadan in a Gaza refugee camp is an entirely different experience from Ramadan anywhere else. A malnourished population of impoverished refugees abstains from food and gives endless thanks for life’s fortunes. The irony didn’t escape me then, as it doesn’t escape me now. The imam of our refugee camp’s Great Mosque would spend much time thanking Allah for his numerous gifts. Hands extended to the sky, and faces lowered to the ground, the faithful would repeat in impressive unison: “Amen.” Even as Israeli helicopters buzzed above their heads and military vehicles sped nearby, the faithful kept their faces lowered. Even as the smell of gunpowder and teargas poisoned the atmosphere, their hands stayed extended. “Alhamdulillah,” said the Imam. Thanks to God. And the crowd repeated, “Amen.” … I tried to make sense of all this as I struggled with my hunger pains. I questioned the wisdom of the whole endeavor. At times, I even challenged my mother. Fasting herself, she had no room for a self-indulgent, sacrilegious eight-year-old. “We fast to feel the pain of others,” she said simply.
http://arabnews.com/opinion/columns/article486218.ece
Israel’s manipulation of soccer violence dissected in new book /Steven Salaita
EI 8 Aug — Magid Shihade’s new book Not Just a Soccer Game is a thorough exploration of internecine conflict among Palestinian citizens of Israel, using a series of violent events in 1981 as a foundational point of analysis that leads to a wide-ranging assessment of failed Israeli state policies vis-á-vis its Arab minority.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/israels-manipulation-soccer-violence-dissected-new-book/10239
groups.yahoo.com/group/f_shadi (listserv)
www.theheadlines.org (archive)
