Israel approves 227 new homes in West Bank settlement of Ariel
[Google Earth map] AP/Haaretz 15 Aug — Defense Minister Ehud Barak okays largest housing project in single settlement since establishment of the Netanyahu government … Barak authorized the construction in Ariel, the core of the settlement bloc deepest inside the West Bank. One hundred of the apartments will house Israelis evacuated in 2005 from a Gaza Strip settlement. The new housing units are set to be built in Ariel’s Noyman neighborhood. 100 homes are intended for evacuees of the Gaza settlement of Netzarim, while the rest of the housing units are set to be sold freely. The building permits for the homes were handed out a while ago, but marketing the lands to contractors was delayed due to diplomatic considerations until now.
US: Israeli construction in Ariel ‘deeply troubling’
Reuters 15 Aug — White House joins Palestinian criticism of Israel’s plan to construct 277 homes in the West Bank settlement of Ariel. The United States said on Monday it found reports of fresh Israeli settlement building plans deeply troubling and counterproductive to the U.S. effort to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Earlier on Monday, the Palestinian leadership sharply criticized Israel. Nabil Abu Rdainah, spokesman for Abbas, told Reuters: “This act is condemned and is an Israeli attempt to obstruct and destroy what is left of any effort to revive the peace process. “Once again, these Israeli settlement measures represent a strong reason calling on us to go to the United Nations and the Security Council to request membership for the State of Palestine and to halt these Israeli measures,” he said.
And more news from Today in Palestine:
Video: Land reclamation project in Bil‘in after the resiting of the Apartheid Wall
10 Aug — Following the resiting of the Apartheid-Annexation Wall in Bil‘in and the consequent return of 800 dunums (some 200 acres) to the village last June, hydrologist and project manager with the Palestinian NGO Palestinian Hydrology Group Abdul Raouf Abu Raheh explains the current situation in his village and his plan to alleviate the poverty of 20 of Bil‘in’s poorest farmers by constructing water cisterns on the returned land and providing seed, fertiliser and seedlings to them.
http://www.bilin-village.org/english/videos/8697-Land-Reclamation-Project-in-Bilin-After-the-Resiting-of-the-Apartheid-Wall
Increased Palestinian displacement as Israeli settler violence intensifies
AIC 15 Aug — As dozens of Israeli MKs petition Netanyahu to endorse increased settlement construction in the West Bank to address the Israeli housing crisis and the surrounding tent protests, Israeli settlement policy continues to perpetuate a housing crisis of a very different sort in the Palestinian territory.Over the past seven months, nearly 900 Palestinians have been displaced from their homes, as opposed to 606 during the whole of 2010. 755 of those were displaced due to home demolitions, while the remaining 127 were forced from their homes due to settler violence … While settlers are burning Palestinian crops, damaging property, and throwing rocks at shepherds and children, the Israeli government is using a system of permitting processes, military zones, and fines to prevent Palestinians from establishing any structural claim to their own land.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/settlers-violence/3744-increased-palestinian-displacement-as-israeli-settler-violence-intensifies
Israeli settler violence report, May-June 2011
AIC 15 Aug — By Ahmad Jaradat & Nikki Hodgson — During the months of May and June, settler attacks against Palestinian civilians continued, with most of the attacks targeting agriculture land in the northern West Bank. The attacks, including damage to agriculture property, burning of olive trees and destruction of wheat crops, appear to be systematically targeting land near settlements, and many Palestinian farmers fear that the settlers are organizing attacks in order to confiscate land for the expansion of settlements in the West Bank. Numerous attacks also occurred in Hebron, resulting in at least three Palestinians needing medical attention, including a six-year-old boy. Details:
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/settlers-violence/3745-israeli-settler-violence-report-may-june-2011-
Israeli forces
Israeli soldiers prevent Palestinians from accessing drinking water near Hebron
HEBRON (WAFA) 15 Aug — Israeli soldiers Monday prevented Palestinians living in al-Fawwar refugee camp, south of Hebron, from accessing and obtaining drinking water from the nearby water spring, said security sources. Three Israeli military vehicles set up a checkpoint at the camp entrance and prevented the Palestinian residents from reaching the spring.
In a related matter, Israeli soldiers raided several neighborhoods in Hebron and towns near the city, set up several checkpoints for “security reasons” and stopped Palestinian vehicles, which obstructed movements.
Israeli soldiers also fired gunshots and flares at dawn in al-Layyeh area in Edna, a town west of Hebron, under the pretext of military training.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16995
Kfir Brigade commander who condoned violence promoted
Ynet 15 Aug — Former Kfir Brigade Commander Itai Virob, who condoned violence against Palestinians during operational activities in his testimony in military court, will be promoted to the rank of brigadier-general, and will serve as chief officer of the infantry and paratroopers.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4109033,00.html
4 indicted in PA smuggling, bribery case
Ynet 15 Aug — Police Investigations Unit files indictment against Border Guard officer, 3 others for taking bribes, endangering public by allowing PA trucks into Israel with unchecked cargo
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4109237,00.html
Living hell in Tel Rumeida / Alessandra Bajec
[photos] PNN 15 Aug — …Guiding me along the path, Hashem stopped before the access to his house noting that, between 2000 and 2007, that passage was totally blocked by military order forcing him to go via a steep climb in order to reach his home. While his wife was pregnant, Hashem had to carry her from up down that climb and put her in an ambulance to make it to the hospital. Four years ago, the main path was opened under some interesting circumstances. At that time, Hashem’s father had passed away, and holding a funeral there or inviting relatives and friends was sadly out of question, given the obstructed access to his home. Hashem then called on internationals and media to join his family and help, some of the activists were prevented to go but others managed. After carrying the father’s body down the steep path to the main street, Hashem and his supporters proceeded to a checkpoint where Israeli troops detained him for an hour and a half, and scanned the dead body. When Hashem was then let through the checkpoint, an electronic device rang and the soldiers ordered him to turn back, so he was held up for another half an hour and his father’s body was scanned again. One of the soldiers finally noticed the father had a watch around his wrist so, with the back of his gun, he destroyed the watch and also broke the bones of the dead body. Following that incident the Israeli army, to stop Hashem from filing a complaint against the soldier, ‘awarded’ him by opening the regular access to his home.
[long article, much of it nearly unbelievable – in any sane place, that is.]
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10594&Itemid=56
Detention
Center: Prisoner’s wife and child detained
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 15 Aug — Israeli forces on Monday detained a prisoner’s wife and child in Ofer military prison near Ramallah, a detainees’ center reported. Suha Edeis was visiting her husband Tareq with their one-year-old child. Israeli forces suspected that was smuggling a cell phone into the prison for her husband, the center said in a statement. She was taken to Hasharon prison and will face court on Tuesday, the center said, adding that Israeli forces tried to take her child from her.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=413398
Blind prisoner held in isolation at Ramle prison
RAMALLAH (PIC) 15 Aug — The Israeli prison authority has reached new lows in despicableness after isolating a prisoner who lost his sight after medical neglect by the prison administration. “Isolation amounts to a tomb for prisoners while they are alive. All necessities of life are missing, and we are being put slowly to death every moment,” the Palestinian Prisoner Society’s lawyer quoted Ahmed al-Maghrabi, another isolated prisoner at Ramle prison, as saying. The statement came after the prison extended the term of isolation of blind prisoner Obadeh Bilal until 8 October. Bilal, from Nablus, was first arrested in April 2002 and lost his sight as a result of a retina disease that went untreated in the prison. Before his arrest, his vision was intact.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Fasting prisoners not given food on time, says official
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 15 Aug — Israeli prisons administration in Etzion provides Palestinian prisoners with their only strictly ascetic meal at 10 p.m. during Ramadan, the holy month of fasting for Muslims when they refrain from eating or drinking from sunrise to sunset, Monday said the Ministry of Prisoners. A ministry’s lawyer reported that the Israeli administration provides the prisoners with a loaf of bread, a tomato, a cucumber and a can of yogurt almost four hours after sunset, which sums up to nearly 19 hours of continuous fasting.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16998
Six taken, including 3 minors, in West Bank arrest sweep
WEST BANK (PIC) 15 Aug — On Monday morning, two men claimed to be wanted by the Israeli security were nabbed in random various military road blocks that were set up in Al-Khalil governorate. Several patrols were deployed in Al-Zahiriyya, south of Al-Khalil, and canisters were hurled by Israeli soldiers during the sweep.
A Jewish settler’s car was reported to have received damages after being stoned when passing by the main street near Al-Fawwar refugee camp south of Mount Hebron. Locals said Israeli forces went on a state of alert in pursuit of stone-throwers after several cars were reported to have been hit in the area.
On Sunday, IOF troops raided and carried out a widespread search operation in Al-Baqi’a village in the Jordan Valley. Locals said the measures targeted local farmers as the Israeli army uses the region to carry out drills.
In Jerusalem, undercover police officers arrested three minors in the Al-Bustan neighborhood of Silwan. Another 18-year-old was also reported to have been arrested while on the way to his home in Silwan’s Ain al-Lawza neighborhood.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd
PFLP leader: Prisoners should be on UN agenda
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 15 Aug — The imprisoned leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine on Monday urged Palestinian leaders to put prisoners on the agenda at the United Nations in September. Ahmad Saadat, Secretary-General of the leftist faction, said the UN should recognize Palestinians detained in Israel as prisoners of war and protect them under the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=413275
Hamas ministry condemns Israel’s treatment of sick detainees
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) — The Hamas Ministry of Detainee Affairs on Monday condemned Israeli authorities for their treatment of sick prisoners. Detainee Zakariyah Issa, from Al-Khader village near Bethlehem, has cancer which has spread throughout his body. He is in a coma but Israeli authorities refuse to release him, ministry spokesman Riyad Al-Ashkar said. Al-Ashkar said medics at Soroka prison hospital had described Issa’s condition as “critical” and said his health was deteriorating. The ministry official said Israel’s treatment of detainees was becoming “more brutal” and that detainees must be treated as human beings.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=413426
Gaza
Palestinians: Fisherman injured by Navy fire off Gaza coast
Ynet 15 Aug — Palestinian sources reported that the Navy opened fire on a fishing boat off the Gaza Strip coast. According to the sources, a Palestinian fisherman was moderately injured in the incident, and was transferred to a local hospital. The IDF stated in response that the Navy fired a warning shot in the air, in order to ward off the boat.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4109088,00.html
School building materials for Gaza don’t mean all children ‘educated for life’
Jerusalem/West Bank/Gaza (World Vision) 15 Aug — As building supplies for schools and houses trickle into the still blockaded Gaza Strip, three months after Israel agreed to allow the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to bring in 100 million worth of building materials, the outlook for children here is still bleak and far from World Vision’s goal of ensuring all children are ‘educated for life’. The materials could mean 18 new schools and 1,200 houses for children and families in Gaza, yet an estimated 260 new schools are needed over the next three years to accommodate new students and to reduce or eliminate the need for the double or triple ‘classroom shifts’ that are commonplace in Gaza’s schools.
http://meero.worldvision.org/news_article.php?newsID=2308&countryID=15
Why Gaza doesn’t need Monsanto’s Wonder Seeds
Mother Jones 15 Aug — …So what are Palestinian farmers doing? According to The Guardian, they’re turning to a technology that has been proven to conserve water, recycle crop nutrients, and generate robust yields: diversified organic agriculture …Already, concrete steps are being made. According to The Guardian, Palestinian farmers are barred by the blockade from buying synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, which could be used to make explosives. All they have access from the import market is “fertilisers made from Israeli waste water run-off,” which is expensive—$200 per metric ton—and of “uncertain safety.” But a local initiative called Palestinian Environmental Friends (PEF) is generating a homegrown fertilizer from manure and crop waste collected from local farms. It costs just $100 per metric ton to make, and profits from it stay within Gaza. Farms are also solving the fertilizer problem by setting up closed-loop aquaculture/crop systems that recycle nutrients and generate bounties of food
http://motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2011/08/gaza-monsanto-wonder-seeds
Paltel supplies to enter Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 15 Aug — Palestinian officials said limited goods, including construction materials and aid, would enter Gaza’s sole crossing with Israel on Monday. Crossings liaison official Raed Fattouh said the southernmost Kerem Shalom crossing would open for 290 trucks, including four trucks of equipment for the Palestinian telecommunications company. Paltel faced an unprecedented 12-hour outage on Wednesday, which managers blamed on Israeli bulldozers striking several of the company’s cables underground.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=413202
Gaza youth movement fears for missing activist
GAZA CITY (AFP) 15 Aug — Members of a Gaza youth movement said on Monday that they feared Hamas forces had arrested one of their leaders who went missing two days ago in the Palestinian territory. The Gaza Youth Breaks Out group said the man, identified only as Abu Yazan, had gone missing shortly after being called in for two separate interrogations by Hamas forces after his return from a speaking tour in France. They declined to give his name, citing the security of his friends and family. The 25-year-old was a founding member of Gaza Youth Breaks Out, which grabbed attention with its December 2010 manifesto condemning Hamas, Fateh and Israel, and calling for freedom, “a normal life”, and peace.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=413439
Rocket explodes near Beersheba; no injuries
Ynet 15 Aug – Video – A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip exploded in an open area outside Beersheba on Monday. No injuries or damage were reported. Many residents rushed to shelters as a siren sounded throughout the city.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4109326,00.html
Refugees
Over 5,000 Palestinians flee Syria refugee camp in Latakia
AP 15 Aug — More than 5,000 Palestinian refugees have fled a camp in the besieged Syrian city of Latakia after President Bashar Assad’s forces shelled the city during a broad military assault to root out dissent, the UN said Monday. UNRWA, the U.N. agency that aids Palestinian refugees, said the Palestinians fled after Latakia came under fire from gunboats cruising off the coast and ground troops attacking the city over the weekend. It was not immediately clear where the refugees were seeking shelter.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/over-5-000-palestinians-flee-syria-refugee-camp-in-latakia-1.378782
Activism / Solidarity
Video: Iyad Burnat on Bil‘in’s resistance to the Occupation and Apartheid Wall
Retracing the route of the Friday protest marches and on the land regained by Bil‘in by the resiting of the Apartheid-Annexation Wall closer to the Haredi Israeli colony of Modi’in Illit, head of Bil‘in’s Popular Committee Iyad Burnat discusses the changing situation in his village, Israeli blood diamonds, CRH, Veolia and the terrible damage in murders, maimings and serious injuries done to his people in nonviolently resisting the Wall and occupation.
http://www.bilin-village.org/english/videos/8698-Iyad-Burnat-on-Bilins-Resistance-to-the-Occupation-and-Apartheid-Wall
VIDEO: Al-Walaja villagers rally to save oldest living olive tree from destruction by Israeli forces
IMEMC 15 Aug — On Saturday August 13, 2011, a show of nonviolent popular resistance occurred in Al-Walaja village, west of Bethlehem. The Israeli army had mobilized in large numbers, anticipating the villagers’ weekly protest. They watched, but did not intervene as Al-Walaja landowners and supporters cleaned and pruned the olive grove that is slated for partial demolition and full annexation by the Israeli military … In addition to imprisoning 2,500 people inside a ghetto and separating them from their land, which is their only source of livelihood, the Israeli construction of the Wall in Al-Walaja is also slated to destroy the oldest living olive tree in the Bethlehem area, dated at between 3,600 and 4,000 years old … Abu Wajih’s sad face and story is told in this short clip [second video]. All but two of his olive trees will be behind the wall as will the old house where his wife was born and that belongs to his family.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61839
Flotilla captain wants to visit Israel
Ynet 15 Aug — The captain of the Gaza flotilla’s Irish vessel, who was expelled from Israel for 10 years, is asking to visit the country for the sake of “promoting peace.” Shane Dillon was captain of the Irish ship in both flotillas … Sources in the Foreign Ministry, however, said that the chances that his request would be granted were slim. “The promises to promote cooperation between the peoples are insane, naïve, stupid and impertinent,” one source said.
Meanwhile, weekly protests against Israel in front of the embassy in Dublin have been escalating in recent weeks. Dozens of activists wave signs saying “Honk for Gaza” and make noise that disrupts the embassy’s work.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4108981,00.html
Racism
VIDEOs: Israeli ministers promote racist vision for Israel – and Judaism / Gangreentv
Mondoweiss 15 Aug – -In June of this year, Israeli President Shimon Peres convened a conference in Jerusalem called “Tomorrow 2011“, which was attended by intellectuals
and industry leaders from all over the world. At one of the conference’s most well-attended panel discussions, two of the highest-ranking government ministers presided: Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Eli Yishai and Justice Minister Ya’akov Ne’eman. The two Israeli ministers who spoke on the panel, Yishai and Ne’eman, made scandalously racist remarks. Yishai touted non-existent scientific studies that purport to prove there is a ‘Jewish gene’, echoing eugenics theories first proposed by the Nazis. Ne’eman then warned that Africans must not be allowed to convert to Judaism, and repeated the disgusting refrain that Jews who assimilate are perpetuating a second Nazi Holocaust.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/08/israeli-ministers-promote-racist-vision-for-israel-and-judaism.html
VIDEO — Nurit Peled-Elhanan on Israeli textbooks: ‘I didn’t know I would fall on so much racism’ / Annie
Mondoweiss 15 Aug — Kelly James Clark interviews Nurit Peled-Elhanan on her new book Palestine in Israeli School Books: Ideology and Propaganda in Education, to be released 22 Nov.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/08/nurit-peled-elhanan-on-israeli-textbooks-i-didnt-know-i-would-fall-on-so-much-racism.html#more-49475
Prisoner swap
Shalit activists harass relatives of prisoners
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 15 Aug — Dozens of Israeli protesters harassed a bus on Monday carrying relatives of Palestinian detainees to visit Ramon prison in Israel, witnesses told Ma‘an. The bus was halted by a roadblock and then boarded by protesters who berated the families for what they deemed an illegal visit, detainee’s mother Um Muhannad told Ma‘an.
The Israeli protesters reportedly said that they consider all visits to Palestinian detainees illegal as long as captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is not allowed visitors. None of the Palestinian families were hurt and Israeli police arrived to prevent clashes, Um Muhannad added … Since 2007, Israeli authorities have suspended family visits for Palestinians from Gaza who were being held in Israel. According to the ICRC, in the past four years, over 700 families from Gaza have been prevented from seeing their detained relatives.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=413262
Report: Shalit talks renewed in Cairo
Ynet 15 Aug — Al-Hayat reports Hamas military wing chief, Israeli envoy in Egypt for second round of indirect talks – A second round of indirect talks between Israeli and Hamas teams negotiating the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit has been scheduled to begin Monday in Cairo, the London-based al-Hayat has reported. According to the report, the first round of talks, mediated by Egyptian officials, took place last week, effectively ending a lengthy stalemate.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4108954,00.html
Political / Diplomatic / International news
National figures urge alternatives to UN bid
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 15 Aug — A group of well-known Palestinian figures released a statement on Sunday calling for Palestinian leaders to continue considering other options besides the bid for UN recognition in September. Writers, intellectuals, journalists, parliamentarians and civil society leaders signed the declaration which states that the approach to the UN “should not be an alternative, but a natural and continued effort besides all other possible options.” The statement continues: “We the signatories entirely see that going to UN Security Council is risky, and that there are huge obstacles facing the request for membership” of a Palestinian state at the UN
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=413147
Abbas makes Arab aid appeal, sees risk to UN bid
RAMALLAH (Reuters) 15 Aug — President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday appealed for Arab financial support to help the Palestinians deal with “pressures and threats” from Israel and its allies which he said were a risk to his plan to seek U.N. approval for statehood in September. The Palestinian Authority faces a financial crisis which forced it to cut wages by half in July. Policymakers have identified a shortfall in Arab aid as the main cause.
http://news.yahoo.com/abbas-makes-arab-aid-appeal-sees-risk-u-133521804.html
Abbas expects Bosnian support for Palestinian UN bid
SARAJEVO (AFP) 15 Aug — President Mahmoud Abbas was “very satisfied” Monday with meetings in Bosnia, a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, to seek support for the Palestinian bid for UN membership. “I was very satisfied with two meetings… We expect all the support from them [the Bosnian authorities] as they told us and we believe [them],” Abbas told journalists after his meeting with Bosnian Foreign Minister Sven Alkalaj.
He would not say if he was specifically promised Bosnian support for their UN membership bid.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=413356
Palestinian Christian leaders call upon Honduras to recognise Palestinian state
Bethlehem (PNN) 15 Aug — …The message was delivered in a letter to the Honduran Foreign Minister Mario Canahuati, signed by the mayors of Bethlehem (Dr. Victor Batarseh), Beit Jala (Raji Zeidan), and Beit Sahour (Hani Hayek) as well as members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Fayez Saqqa and Fouad Kokali and the head of the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Samir Hazboun … The letter included background information on Bethlehem district saying “We have control over less than 14% of our district. The rest has been occupied for the expansion of illegal settlements and Israeli military bases…” The letter concluded by inviting the Honduran Foreign Minister to spend the first Christmas in the independent state of Palestine this year.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10596&Itemid=61
Gaza wounded issue demands to Palestinian Authority
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 15 Aug — A group of Gaza residents wounded during the second Intifada demanded Monday that their status and rights be recognized by the Palestinian Authority. In a press conference held in Gaza, the group demanded that the Ramallah government recognized them as the “Second Intifada wounded,” a status applied to those injured in the West Bank. They also demanded that their physical and social needs be met as stipulated in the Palestinian constitution.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=413320
Palestinians gather to call for Assad departure
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 15 Aug — Hundreds of Palestinians streamed into the streets of Ramallah on Sunday evening to demand Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad stand down. The mass demonstration in support of the Syrian people came hours after news broke of Syrian military shelling the port city of Latakia, killing 26. Human rights groups said Palestinians living in a refugee camp in the district of Ramel were among the dead.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=413182
Egyptian army detains 6 in Sinai
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma‘an) 15 Aug — The Egyptian army carried out a series of security raids in the northern Sinai town of El-Arish early Monday, detaining six men suspected of affiliation to an extremist group. Egyptian security sources told Ma‘an that the military has a list of 15 men wanted for membership of Al-Qaeda style-organization “Army of Islam” in El-Arish. The six apprehended overnight are suspected of trying to establish an Islamic emirate in the Sinai peninsula, and were taken to the Security Directorate in northern Sinai for questioning. The sources said the army also has a list of 17 people wanted in the border town of Rafah, abutting the border with the Gaza Strip. That list includes seven Palestinians affiliated with the “Army of Islam” through a Gaza group Jaljalat (Thunder).
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=413238
Other news
Palestinian teen killed on Israeli construction site
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma‘an) 15 Aug — A 15-year old Palestinian construction worker was killed after falling from scaffolding on a building in Israeli village Tzur Hadasa, Israeli news site Ynet reported Monday. A survey by the Palestinian statistics agency in early 2011 said 11 percent of Palestinian workers are employed inside Israel or Israeli settlements.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=413187
MP Abu Juhaisha: 800 orphans threatened with loss of shelter
AL-KHALIL/HEBRON (PIC) 15 Aug — MP Mohammed Abu Juhaisha has warned that 800 orphans in Doura orphanage were threatened with losing their shelter due to lack of funds. The lawmaker appealed in a statement on Monday to benevolent people and concerned parties to rescue the shelter from collapse. He said that 300 poor families were depending on financial assistance paid by this society in addition to 47 employees, who have no other salary. The MP expressed surprise at the fact that allocations for the society were not paid since 30/11/2010, which threatened an acute financial crisis threatening the livelihood of hundreds of orphans and needy families.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2
Appeals court lets contractor’s family sue Palestinian Authority over his death
FoxNews 15 Aug — An appeals court ruling allows a case to proceed against the Palestinian Authority by the family of a contractor killed by a roadside bomb while providing security to State Department employees during an October 2003 trip to the Gaza Strip … The decision overturns part of a lower court’s summary judgment in favor of the PA. “Although we agree with the district court that the family’s conspiracy claim theories are too speculative to survive summary judgment, we believe a reasonable juror could conclude that Palestinian Authority employees provided material support to the bomber,” reads the ruling.
http://politics.foxnews.mobi/quickPage.html?page=23888&content=55064104&pageNum=-1
Analysis / Opinion
Israel will use Palestinian UN bid to restore status quo / Akiva Eldar
Haaretz 15 Aug — Even MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union ), the professor of the extreme right, is not particularly upset by the fact that the United Nations General Assembly may recognize a Palestinian state. He sees no legal difference between the decision that is expected next month and the decision that was made there – with a huge majority of 104 to 2 – following the Palestinian declaration of independence in Tunis 22 years ago. And to be honest, what is the difference? This time, too, Israel will accuse the Arabs of unilateral steps, ignore the United Nations, expand settlements in the West Bank, and build more neighborhoods for Jews in East Jerusalem.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/israel-will-use-palestinian-un-bid-to-restore-status-quo-1.378664
The freedom-seekers America ignores / Rashid Khalidi
Salon 14 Aug — With Washington’s bipartisan blessing, Israel is sabotaging a Palestinian plea for U.N. recognition … Today, the PLO proposes that the United Nations recognize a state within the 1967 borders whose creation has already been preempted by systematic Israeli actions that were intended to prevent just such an outcome. President Obama, Congress and other unwavering supporters of Israel insist that the Palestinians refrain from seeking a U.N. resolution recognizing such a state and that they can only accede to statehood through negotiations with their occupier and tormentor. In this regard, it is worth recalling further the events of 1947-48. Then no one demanded that the Jews in Palestine refrain from going to the U.N., that they negotiate with the Palestinians or jump through any other hoops in order to obtain statehood: indeed, their state obtained its legitimacy through a General Assembly resolution (the 1947 partition decision), and in 1949 was accepted as a member state by the General Assembly, just as the PLO currently proposes to do.
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/08/14/khalidi_israel/index.html
‘Israelis must join Palestinian cause’
PressTV 14 Aug — “The struggle in Israel that is emerging amongst Jewish masses will not move forward beyond this unless it finds its way to link up with the Palestinian struggle and with the Arab masses,” said Ralph Schoenman, political analyst and author of the Hidden History of Zionism, in an interview with Press TV on Sunday. Shoenman said the uprisings in the region are “against country-selling regimes that oppress and exploit on behalf of imperialism and are linked to Israel itself.” “There is a tiny little oligarchy that is in control of the wealth; something like ten families in reality in the Zionist settler state,” Shoenman added.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/193944.html
groups.yahoo.com/group/f_shadi (listserv)
www.theheadlines.org (archive)
