Photostream: Building of the Wall in al-Walajah 28.09.2011
Foundation of a tunnel is seen next to the house of Al-Hajajleh family on the route of the Wall in Al Walaja village, 28.09.2011. The tunnel, which costs around 32 million dollars, will soon be the only way for the family to access the outside world.
Update: We are told by sources in al-Walajah that the tunnel will cost NIS 3 million (~ under $1 million).
And more news from Today in Palestine:
Land theft / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid / Exile
Attoun’s detention extended, court hearing delayed
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 29 Sept — The detention of Palestinian parliamentarian Ahmad Attoun was extended until 3 October by the Jerusalem Magistrates Court today, with the session delayed for Attoun’s defence team to prepare its case. Attoun’s lawyer Fadi Qawasmeh stated that the state prosecution presented a list of charges against his client at today’s session, including allegations of having entered the Occupied Territories. The prosecution also requested an extension of Attoun’s detention until all legal proceedings are concluded. Attoun is reported to remain in high spirit, though he continues to suffer physical pain from injuries sustained during his arrest.
http://silwanic.net/?p=20758
Human rights group warns of Israel revenge against Jerusalem residents for UN move
MEMO 30 Sept — A Palestinian human rights group has warned the residents of occupied East Jerusalem about “retaliatory procedures” by the Israeli occupation authorities in response to the Palestinian Authority application for recognition by the UN of an independent state of Palestine. According to the Jerusalem Centre for Social and Economic Rights, such measures include the abduction of elected parliamentarian Ahmed Attoun from outside the headquarters of the International Red Cross last Monday.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2884-human-rights-group-warns-of-israeli-revenge-against-jerusalem-residents-for-un-move
Occupation forces hand demolition notices to residents of ‘Ezbet Shufa
TULKAREM (PIC) 29 Sept — IOF troops handed on Thursday eight residents of the village of Izbet Shufeh, to the south of the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem, demolition notices within a week because it lies in area (C) … Hasan Shaar, a resident of the village told PIC correspondent that the demolition notices were issued despite the facts that the owners of newly built homes have planning permissions and ownership deeds for the land and that the homes are already built, but waiting for the doors and windows to be installed. He also said that the village, which lies south of Tulkarem, is surrounded from all sides by settlements: Avni Hefits from the west, Ennab from the east, a settlement block connected to Avni Hefets from the north and a settlement bypass road from the south. He also pointed out that residents are not allowed to reach their fields using any form of transportation, so they have to walk on foot to reach their fields and tend their plants.
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/09/29/occupation-forces-hand-demolition-notices-to-residents-of-ezbet-shufa/
Future of West Bank school under threat
JORDAN VALLEY (Reuters) 29 Sept — At the Kaabna Bedouin primary school in the Jordan Valley area of the West Bank, Palestinian Bedouin students prepare for a day full of classes. But their school may not be around for much longer. Israeli authorities say the school in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is illegal as it is in ”Area C”, the 60 percent of the West Bank where Israel exercises total control.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=424716
Condemnation grows against Israel’s settlement plans
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an/AFP) — Pressure is growing against Israel as Russia and Turkey added their voices to the international condemnation against the recent approval of 1,100 housing units in East Jerusalem … Europeans nations Britain, France and Italy also condemned the move, with China, Japan and Egypt also issuing statements.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=424611
Merkel questions E. Jerusalem housing plan
AP 30 Sept — German chancellor tells Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in phone call that decision to approve new housing units in east Jerusalem has ‘raised doubts that Israeli government is interested in starting serious negotiations’
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4129300,00.html
Arab League: Israeli construction in Jerusalem is violation of international law
DPA 29 Sept — Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi says Israeli plans to build new homes in neighborhood of Gilo is proof Israel does not desire peace.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/arab-league-israeli-construction-in-jerusalem-is-violation-of-international-law-1.387349
Israeli diplomat says Jerusalem was the Jewish capital when ‘London was a swamp’
MEMO 29 Sept — One day after Britain condemned Israel’s latest plans to build new illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem, the former Israeli ambassador to the UK said defiantly that Jerusalem was the capital of the Jewish people “when London was still a swamp”. Ron Prosor is the current Israeli ambassador to the United Nations.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2880-israeli-diplomat-says-jerusalem-was-the-jewish-capital-when-qlondon-was-a-swampq
Waters for life in Palestine / Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh
(BETHLEHEM) Salem-News 29 Sept — From its founding Israel as an apartheid colonial power has appropriated natural resources from native people to use for immigrants imported from around the world. Before 1967, Israel diverted waters that normally flowed into the Jordan river basin and also restricted water usage by the Palestinians who remained in what became the state of Israel in 1948. After 1967, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza were denied access to most of their water resources in a calculated process to impoverish the population and destroy the economy in the occupied Palestinian territories. Today, Palestinian are allowed to use an average of 72 liters per capita per day versus Israeli average of 280 liters versus settlers in the West Bank average of 400 liters daily
http://salem-news.com/articles/september292011/palestine-waters-mq.php
Settlers
Dozens of settlers attack village in Salfit
SALFIT (WAFA) 29 Sept – Dozens of armed settlers, under the protection of the Israeli soldiers, Thursday attacked the village of Yasouf, east of Salfit in the northern West Bank, firing their weapons into the air in an attempt to terrorize the Palestinian residents, according to WAFA’s correspondent.Witnesses said that dozens of Settlers headed from the settlement of Taffuh [Tapuah?] towards the north side of the village and fired automatic weapons into the air in order to terrorize the Palestinian farmers to force them to leave their lands, leading to confrontations between the village residents and the settlers, no injuries were reported. The attack took place while the soldiers were watching, who did not intervene to stop the settlers and simply surrounded the village and sealed it off …
In a related matter, a number of settlers from the settlement of Yitzhar, near Nablus, vandalized water pipelines in Madama, a village south of Nablus, according to the village council, Ihab Al Qut. He said that almost 30 settlers gathered near the village’s water spring and destroyed the water pipelines that provide water to the agricultural lands.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=17592
In Pictures: Israel arms and trains illegal settlers for rampage in occupied Palestine
dog pix are particularly frightening
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/09/18/israel-arms-trains-illegal-settlers-for-rampage-in-occupied-palestine-in-pictures/
Israeli forces
3 Palestinians suffer suffocation in confrontations in Yasuf
SALFIT (WAFA) 29 Sept — Three Palestinians suffered on Thursday from suffocation cases cased by Israeli tear gas in confrontations that erupted between the Palestinians and the Israeli soldiers in the village of Yasuf, east of Salfit in the northern West Bank, according to local sources. hey said that that Israeli soldiers raided the village after the settlers attacked it tonight, and started firing tear gas bombs heavily against the village’s residents ,injuring three Palestinians; Mazen Yaseen,18, Alaa’ Azzam, 18, and Osama Abdul Raziq, 21. he sources said that the injured were transferred to Yasser Arafat Hospital in Salfit.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=17597
PCHR weekly report: Palestinian civilian killed, 26 civilians injured by Israel forces this week [22-28 September]
IMEMC 30 Sept — Israeli forces conducted 36 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, during which they arrested 4 Palestinians, including a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. On Friday, 23 September 2011, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian civilian and wounded another 7, including a child, when they moved into Qasra village, southeast of Nablus, to provide protection to a group of Israeli settlers who raided Palestinian lands in the village … On Thursday September 22nd, at approximately 07:45, Israeli gunboats stationed opposite to Beit Lahia beach in the northern Gaza Strip opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats which were near the shore. At approximately 08:00, Israeli forces boats approached the shore and destroyed fishing nets owned by Palestinian fishermen and pulled some fishing nets into the sea.
http://www.imemc.org/article/62150
Army invades Jenin and other villages
IMEMC 30 Sept — …The Palestine News and Information Agency (WAFA) reported that a large military force invaded the city and Jenin refugee camp in addition to some other surrounding villages in the early hours of Friday morning. Eyewitness reported that twelve military vehicles swept most of their neighborhoods and streets for five hours and fired grenades and machine gun fire, however no injuries were reported. The Israeli military has also invaded many other nearby cities accompanied by military vehicles touring the streets and neighborhoods for several hours, no detentions were reported. [According to PNN, the villages invaded were Kufrdan, Yamoun, Zbuba, Alsila Alharithiya, Burqin, Qabatya, Zbabdeh, Musliyeh, and Sanour.]
http://www.imemc.org/article/62146
Gaza / Sinai
Israeli warplanes blast central Gaza
GAZA (PIC) 30 Sept — Israeli warplanes blasted targets in the central Gaza Strip in a pre-dawn raid on Friday causing only material damage, medical sources said. They said that the bombing targeted a training ground for the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, at the entrance to Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza…
Israeli army tanks and huge bulldozers had infiltrated 300 meters into central Gaza and bulldozed cultivated land east of Deir Al-Balah amidst random firing at a late hour on Wednesday night, local sources told the PIC reporter.
Link to Palestinian Information Center
Envoy: Israel plans to take control of Egypt’s Sinai
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 30 Sept — The Egyptian ambassador to the Palestinian Authority warned Friday that Israel planned to take control of Egypt’s Sinai. Yasser Othman told Ma‘an that the tone of recent remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other high-level ministers indicated “the presence of an Israeli plan aimed at controlling Sinai.” Israeli leaders were trying to show the world that Egypt could not control its borders with Israel, Othman said
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=424877
Egyptian forces detain 5 Palestinians
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma‘an) 29 Sept — Egyptian security forces detained five Palestinians during a security campaign in Al-Arish on Thursday, Egyptian security officials said. Egyptian police and the army have launched a security crackdown and detained Palestinian smugglers who entered through the tunnels, according to security sources. The sources added that they seized five Palestinians in one of the houses on the coast. The campaign is ongoing, they say. Earlier, security uncovered a warehouse in the Sinai containing explosives and missiles, security officials said. Egyptian forces received information about smugglers storing explosives in the Sinai warehouse for export outside of Egypt, security officials told Ma‘an.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=424802
Video: In Gaza, fishermen are under constant attack for trying to make a living / Sasha Gelzin
Mondoweiss — Today [28 Sept], the Oliva, a monitoring boat manned by the Civil Peace Service Gaza project, accompanied three hasaka boats (the size of small rowboats) and one trawler as they attempted to fish. The Israeli naval boats relentlessly pursued the Oliva, until the crew decided to retreat back to shore only three hours after they launched. The Oliva’s previous engine was destroyed by the Israeli navy in July and replacing the engine again is not an option given financial limitations.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/09/in-gaza-fishermen-are-under-constant-attack-for-trying-to-make-a-living.html
Medical staff in Gaza protest over shortages
[photos] MEMO — The Medical Trade Union has organised a sit-in outside the Dr Abdel-Aziz Al-Rantisi children’s hospital to protest over severe shortages in medical supplies; in over 100 classes of medicine, Ministry of Health warehouse stores and reserves have dwindled to zero … The Ministry of Health continues to deliver warnings about this crisis which is the result of both the siege, and the fact that the Ministry of Health in the West Bank has not sent Gaza its share of medicine.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2879-medical-staff-in-gaza-protest-over-shortages
GCC allocates $24.5 million to rebuild Gaza homes
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 28 Sept — The Gulf Cooperation Council will allocate $24.5 million to reconstruct homes in Gaza destroyed during Israel’s last military offensive on the coastal enclave, a council official said Monday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=424060
PRC celebrates 11th anniversary in Gaza City
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 30 Sept — The Popular Resistance Committees on Thursday held a festival in Gaza City to mark the group’s 11th anniversary. The event, entitled “Return and liberation,” took place at the Rashad al-Shawa cultural center and was attended by representatives of national and Islamic factions, ministers and supporters, a Ma’an correspondent reported.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=424901
The story of a forgotten borderline, declared open but hardly crossable / Gitta Rasmussen & Nanna Sejabo
Bikyamasr 29 Sept — …This is the first day of my attempt to return to Egypt. I made a short visit to Gaza to see old friends and do some research. It was my first time back in years. As I arrive at the border, a couple hundred individuals are already waiting by the fences. Their posture tells me that they have been waiting for long already. This is certainly not their first day here. This crowd, Palestinians, foreigners and those in between, have waited for days in the sun, the heat, and the dust for 10-12 hours daily. They are waiting for their lucky number to be chosen, if ever it happens … It does not feel like the rest of the world is feeling the despair of this place with us, but what can we do? Never go here, never visit our friends and forget that a place called Gaza exists? Children are overly tired and sobbing. There is pleading, negotiation and begging. The uniformed officers are strained and nervous, with sweat springing from their foreheads. As night falls, resignation arrives, and people give up to find shelter for the night.
http://bikyamasr.com/43936/the-story-of-a-forgotten-borderline-declared-open-but-hardly-crossable/
Activism / Solidarity
Video: Bil‘in takes art as a means of resistance
ISM 30 Sept — …The march began from the center of the village after Friday prayers, as participants marched through village lands liberated in June, waving Palestinian flags and banners of imprisoned leader Marwan Barghouti. They chanted patriotic slogans calling for the end of the Israeli Occupation, the destruction of the Apartheid wall, and the upholding of Palestinian rights. Upon the arrival of participants to the al-Thahar area, where Bassem Abu-Rahma was shot and killed in 2009, the Advisory Council for a Green Palestine announced the start of a new green project in the village of Bil‘in, which will involve olive tree-planting and the installation of solar-powered street lamps.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/09/20364/
Demonstration against land confiscation for new bypass road in Beit Ommar
PSP 30 Sept — Residents of Beit Ommar demonstrated against recent received land confiscation orders. 800 dunums of Beit Ommar and Shwoukh land will be taken by the Israelis for a 8km bypass road, starting from Gush Etzion. The settlers have already built a watch tower on a hill top in the area — the first step to establish a new settlement. The road to the planned settlement on Halhoul land will go through Beit Ommar and Shwoukh land and join in on the route 60 by Halhoul. The demonstrators in Beit Ommar marched from the centre of town towards the already closed down fruit marked and to one of the roadblocks close to Route 60
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2011/09/30/demonstration-against-land-confiscation-for-new-bypass-road-in-beit-ommar/
Kufr Qaddoum demands access
ISM 30 Sept — Israeli military forces mounted an aggressive incursion into the centre of Kufr Qaddum today, in response to the weekly demonstration against the closure of the main road linking the village to the nearby city of Nablus, in the North of the West Bank. The Israeli military fired tear gas canisters directly into streets crowded with villagers and international observers, causing many to suffer from severe gas inhalation. Murad Shttaiwi, spokesman of the demonstrations, confirmed that this was the furthest that the Israeli military had entered into the village since the weekly protests began on 1 July 2011. He also claimed that after the protest in Kufr Qaddum on Friday 23 September 2011, fires caused by Israeli military tear gas canisters burned nearly 200 olives trees.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/09/20359/
Video: Land demonstration in Yatta
Occ. Pal. 30 Sept — PSP joined residents in Yatta in a land demonstration
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/land-demonstration-in-yatta-sept-30-2011-video/
In Pictures: Israeli settler terror in Anata
Occ. Pal. 30 Sept — Jewish settlers clash with some 20 left-wing pro-Palestinian Israeli activists in the Anatot settlement in the occupied West Bank northeast of Jerusalem on September 30, 2011, after about 20 leftist Israeli pro-Palestinians arrived at the settlement waving Palestinian flags in support of an Arab who had put up a tent on land he claims is his. A Palestinian source said the Palestinian was from east Jerusalem, which was conquered by Israel in the 1967 Six Day war and later annexed.
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/israeli-settler-terror-in-anata-sept-30-2011-in-pictures/
Photos of the crowd at the opening of MECA’s ‘A Child’s View from Gaza’ exhibit
Mondoweiss 30 Sept — I didn’t hear about this exhibit until it was canceled, most likely many of the people that attended the opening didn’t either. I suspect that the Middle East Children’s Alliance and many Palestinian activists are secretly happy about the publicity generated by MOCHA’s decision to cancel the event. All photos taken by Youth Against Normalization. This exhibit will be at 917 Washington Street, Oakland for the next two months.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/09/photos-of-the-crowd-at-the-opening-of-mecas-a-childs-view-from-gaza-exhibit.html
Detention / Court actions
High Court rules Raed Salah is entitled to damages for wrongful detention
MEMO 30 Sept — Press Release — [UK] High Court rules Raed Salah is ‘entitled to damages for wrongful detention’ … Sheikh Salah’s solicitor Tayab Ali said ‘We welcome the Court’s finding that Sheikh Salah was wrongfully detained and that he should be compensated for that. We are however disappointed that the Judge refused the judicial review in respect of the statutory purpose and policy. This is a worrying first step towards a policy of preventative detention for acts that have not even been contemplated yet’.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/press-release/2885-press-release-high-court-rules-raed-salah-is-entitled-to-damages-for-wrongful-detention
Salah appeal postponed until Tuesday
LONDON (PIC) 29 Sept — A High Court in the UK held two prolonged sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday over an appeal against the deportation of Palestinian political leader Raed Salah. It was ruled that further hearings would be postponed until Tuesday to finish presenting witnesses and evidence. According to the British media, UK Home Secretary Theresa May sent emails in search of a reason to exclude Salah from the country ahead of his expected visit to participate in conferences.
Link to Palestinian Information Center
UK government conflates criticism of Israel and anti-Semitism in Salah trial / Asa Winstanley
EI 30 Sept — Renowned Palestinian activist and religious leader Sheikh Raed Salah was at the UK’s Sheldon immigration court in Birmingham this week … For the first time, the government named as a ‘principle source’ in its case against Salah the Community Security Trust (CST), a registered British charity with a record of smearing critics of Israel as anti-Semitic, and the only non-government source named in court. A day-one promise to check on further sources was not fulfilled on the second day.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/uk-government-conflates-criticism-israel-anti-semitism-salah-trial/10441
Abu al-Subuh: Captives are forced to go through daily humiliating strip searches
GAZA (PIC) 29 Sept — Dr. Attallah Abu al-Subuh, Minister of Captives and Ex-captives, said that Palestinian captives in Israeli occupation jails started their escalatory hunger strike on Wednesday and Thursday and will continue until Saturday, to protest the measures of the occupation authorities against them … He also pointed out that the occupation insists on denying the captives education, medical treatment, sleep and visitation by family and lawyers.
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/abu-al-subuh-captives-are-forced-to-go-through-daily-humiliating-strip-searches/
PA Security arrest two Hamas supporters and continue to detain journalists
Nablus (PIC) 29 Sept — PA security continue with its excesses in the West Bank arresting two Hamas supporters, raided the home of a Palestinian captive in occupation jails and continue to detain the two journalists Sayeh and Bisharat … PA preventive security men also arrested Muhammad Aseeda outside Najah University in Nablus. Aseeda hails from the village of Tal and is a former captive in occupation jails.
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/09/29/pa-security-arrest-two-hamas-supporters-and-continue-to-detain-journalists/
PA Security arrest three Hamas supporters including leader Dirar Hamadneh
WEST BANK (PIC) 30 Sept – The PA security is continuing with its campaign against the opposition in the West Bank arresting three Hamas supporters in the districts of Nablus and al-Khalil. They also continue to harass journalist Mu‘ath Mishaal. In al-Khalil district, the PA preventive security arrested Nasim Abu al-Jadayel, the brother of the Mayor of Sammu‘ from inside the Magistrates court in the city of Dura. In the Nablus district, the PA preventive security arrested Sheikh Durar Hamadneh and his son Usama after raiding their home in the Aseera al-Shamaleyya.
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/pa-security-arrest-three-hamas-supporters-including-leader-dirar-hamadneh/
Refugees
The psychology and coping of Balata refugee camp
ISM 30 Sept — Balata refugee camp, 2km east outside of Nablus, in the north of the West Bank, is a densely packed grid of permanent buildings and tight streets, many narrower than shoulder-width. Buildings rise higher each year as residents add extra storeys to cope with chronic overcrowding and lack of space. Having been founded in 1950, Balata was initially designed to house 5000 refugees forced from their homes during the 1948 Nakba [Catastrophe]. There are now more than 25,000 people crammed into the 1km2 camp and many residents live in extreme hardship with poverty, limited educational opportunities, poor health and mass unemployment added to overcrowded housing conditions. The Yafa Cultural Centre was founded in 1996 to address many of the problems faced by Balata’s inhabitants.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/09/20361/
Statehood bid
VIDEO: Israelis mock Palestinian bid for statehood / Dr. Ashraf Ezzat
From the group that brought you We Con the World, Latma proudly presents an ode to the Jewish state by the UN Choir singing Somebody to Hate.
http://salem-news.com/articles/september292011/israelis-laugh-ae.php
WATCH: Security Council discusses UN statehood bid
UNITED NATIONS (Ma‘an) 30 Sept — The UN Security Council’s admissions committee holds its first meeting to review and assess the PLO’s application for full UN membership.
The standing committee on the admission of new members to the world body is comprised of all 15 Security Council members, who are being represented by their UN ambassadors.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=424924
Fight for votes as UN meets on Palestine / Jared Malsin
UNITED NATIONS (Ma‘an) 30 Sept — Officials and experts say the United States is using diplomatic pressure to convince Security Council member states to vote no or abstain, with the aim of preventing the PLO from securing a majority in the 15-member council. “This is a huge diplomatic battle. It will be continued with massive pressure in the capitals of the countries in the Security Council,” said Riyad Mansour, the PLO’s ambassador to the UN … With diplomatic wrangling underway, particular attention from both sides has focused on three countries perceived to be swing votes: Nigeria, Gabon, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, all of which have recognized Palestine bilaterally but have not declared which way they will vote … To pass the Security Council all resolutions need nine votes and no vetoes from any of the body’s five permanent members: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=424939
PLO effectively rejects Quartet proposal to resume talks
RAMALLAH (Reuters) 29 Sept — …The PLO executive committee, meeting in Ramallah, noted the proposal but said, as expected, that Israel must halt all settlement building in the occupied West Bank before they will restart talks, as President Mahmoud Abbas has insisted. “The Palestinian leadership stresses clearly that it cannot accept holding negotiations that lack the minimum limits of responsibility and seriousness amid the continuation of settlements and stealing of land,” said PLO official Yasser Abed Rabbo.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=424776
Palestinians say committed to talks
Ynet 29 Sept — After Palestinian officials spoke out against the Quartet’s plan for renewing peace talks last week, senior officials in Ramallah changed their tone Thursday, lauding the proposal and saying they are committed to negotiations with Israel … In a statement issued following the meeting, officials in Ramallah said they examined the Quartet plan in detail and found several encouraging elements in it, such as a defined timetable that will not exceed three months for coming up with a detailed plan on the issues of borders and security.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4129118,00.html
Vice PM Moshe Ya’alon: Regime change in Ramallah will ultimately be necessary for peace talks to progres / Paul Mutter
Mondoweiss 30 Sept — Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Strategic Affairs Moshe “Boogie” Ya’alon (Likud), former head of Israeli Intelligence in the West Bank and the IDF Chief of Staff during the Second Intifada, told Arutz Sheva that he does not believe that peace talks will be possible with the current Palestinian leadership. He insists that Abbas is not someone Israel can deal with in good faith because he refuses to accept the existence of a “Jewish state,”
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/09/vice-pm-moshe-ya%e2%80%99alon-regime-change-in-ramallah-will-ultimately-be-necessary-for-peace-talks-to-progress.html
EU parliament: Palestinian bid ‘legitimate’
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 29 Sept — The European Parliament has called Palestine’s bid for statehood “legitimate” in a resolution passed Thursday, and said that a solution should be found within a year. MEPs believe, however, that Palestinian statehood should result from negotiations, during the current UN General Assembly session, a statement posted Thursday said. “The right of Palestinians to self-determination and to have their own state is unquestionable, as is the right of Israel to exist within safe borders”, said the resolution, which was adopted by a show of hands.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=424748
Turkey – Israel
Report: Israel scrambles IAF warplanes toward Turkish ship
Haaretz 30 Sept — Israel Defense Forces jet fighters were scrambled toward a Turkish seismic research ship in the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkish media reported on Friday, in what seemed to be a further escalation in the already fraying ties between the once longtime allies. According to the report, cited by the Turkish daily Today’s Zaman and based on a report by the Turkish Vatan daily, two Israel Air Force F-15s took off to face the Turkish vessel on Thursday night, flying through the airspace of both Cyprus and Turkish Cyprus.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-israel-scrambles-iaf-warplanes-toward-turkish-ship-1.387407
Erdogan extends special Rosh Hashanah greeting to Jews
Haaretz 29 Sept — Turkish PM wishes a happy new year to Jewish Turks, says the holidays and feasts of different faiths and cultures add color to Turkish society.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/erdogan-extends-special-rosh-hashanah-greeting-to-jews-1.387344
Political / Diplomatic / International
Hamas official: Abbas comments on unity ‘positive’
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 29 Sept — Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzouq on Wednesday gave a guarded welcome to President Mahmoud Abbas’ stated commitment to unity talks between his Fatah party and rival faction Hamas.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=424594
PFLP: Fatah, Hamas ‘deception’ unacceptable
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) — Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine leader Jamil Mizher said Friday the “deception and stalling” of Hamas and Fatah to reconcile was no longer acceptable … He stressed the necessity of building a united strategy in order to address the serious risks facing the Palestinian cause.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=424952
Egypt warns US not to link military aid to democratic transition
Haaretz/Reuters 30 Sept — Egypt has warned the U.S. not to pass a new Senate bill that aims to suspend military aid until Egypt certifies its full functions as a democracy, the Washington Post reported on Friday. According to the report, 1.3 billion dollars in aid for 2012 will be suspended until Egypt holds democratic elections and guarantees civil liberties.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/egypt-warns-u-s-not-to-link-military-aid-to-democratic-transition-1.387408
Jordan allows Hamas leader to visit ailing mother
DPA 29 Sept — It will be Khaled Meshal’s second visit to Jordan since the closure of the Hamas bureau in Amman and the expulsion of its officials from Jordan in 1999 … Meshal was permitted to visit Amman in 2009 to visit his dying father. …
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/jordan-allows-hamas-leader-to-visit-ailing-mother-1.387327
Other news
Elderly represent 4.4% of Palestinian population
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 29 Sept — Elderly people of 60 years of age and over in the Palestinian Territory represent 4.4% of the total population in mid-2011, said the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) in a press release on the Eve of World Elderly Day on October 1st … Life expectancy has increased about 4-7 years during the last decade as well as during the last five years. In particular, life expectancy increased for both males and females from 67.0 years in 1992 to 71.0 years for males and 73.9 years for females in mid-2011 … The Palestinian society is considered a young society where the percentage of youth is about half of society and the percentage of the elderly is relatively small.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=17584
Occupation nearly halves Palestinian GDP
Bus. Recorder 29 Sept — RAMALLAH: Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories cost the Palestinian economy an estimated $6.9 billion in 2010, around 85 percent of GDP, a report published on Thursday said. Produced jointly by the Palestinian economy ministry and the Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem think tank, the study said a slew of Israeli policies kept the Palestinians dependent on foreign aid by stifling economic growth.
http://www.brecorder.com/world/global-business-a-economy/29845-occupation-nearly-halves-palestinian-gdp-report.html
PA minister’s corruption trial postponed again
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 29 Sept — …Minister Ismail Daiq faces charges of corruption in public office at the newly instituted anti-corruption court in Ramallah. His defense lawyer has requested several delays of the hearing in order to give more time for preparation of the case, a Ma‘an correspondent said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=424712
English classes at the Center for Freedom and Justice in Beit Ommar
PSP 30 Sept — Lessons in English are now given at the Center for Freedom and Justice in Beit Ommar four days a week, Monday-Thursday. At the moment there are classes on three different levels — beginners, intermediate and more advanced.
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2011/09/30/english-classes-at-the-center-for-freedom-and-justice-in-beit-ommar/
Analysis / Opinion
Palestinian officials who decry Gilo colony in public offered it to Israel in negotiations / Ali Abunimah
EI blog 29 Sept — Palestinian officials in Ramallah have condemned Israel’s recently announced decision to expand by 1,100 Jewish-only housing units the illegal settlement of Gilo built on land stolen from the occupied West Bank villages of Beit Jala, Beit Safafa and Sharafat. But what they say in public is at odds with their private willingness to hand the settlement over to Israel in its entirety.
http://electronicintifada.net/blog/ali-abunimah/palestinian-officials-who-decry-gilo-colony-public-offered-it-israel-negotiations
Why should Israeli settlers influence an Irish election? / David Cronin
EI blog 29 Sept — Today, David Norris is a candidate for the post of Ireland’s president … Norris has tirelessly championed human rights at home and abroad. Together with a retired bus driver Tom Hyland, he made the situation in East Timor a priority issue for Irish foreign policy in the 1990s. And while the Dublin government accommodated the invasion of Iraq by allowing Shannon Airport become a de facto US military base, Norris called for George W Bush and Dick Cheney to be tried for war crimes. Yet it is his support for the Palestinians that has landed Norris in the most trouble. As I wrote last month, Norris withdrew from the presidential race because of a smear campaign undertaken by Zionist blogger John Connolly. (Happily, Norris has now returned to the contest and has been formally nominated as a candidate)..
http://electronicintifada.net/blog/david/why-should-israeli-settlers-influence-irish-election
Video: Young Jewish declaration
30 Sept — Following is a great new video by Young Jewish and Proud, the youth wing of Jewish Voice for Peace. The video also includes members of Earlham BDS and CODEPINK. “How do we reach Jewish young people?” has long been one of the central mantras of the organized Jewish community – as those of us who work as Jewish professionals can surely attest. But while we wring our hands over the state of the Jewish future, a remarkable new generation of Jews has been knocking insistently at our door.
http://blog.endtheoccupation.org/2011/09/young-jewish-declaration.html
Palestine, the UN, and lies at Rosh Hashanah / Bradley Burston
Haaretz 25 Sept — This year, in Jerusalem, show us what a New Year actually looks like. Avinu Malkeinu, hoshiyeinu. Rescue us from ourselves … because Palestine has been left undone, the same could be said of Israel. Left undone. Like all of us. We pray to the same God – all of us, we and the Palestinians who are our cousins and neighbors, we pray to the lord of the second chance - but our belief is flagging. We are undone and unmoving. We cannot shake our grief and our failure and our guilt and our instinct for blame. We are undone by politics and by bad politicians. We are undone by warped religion and bad clerics. We are undone by our belief that only from our side do people see clearly and speak the whole truth.
http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/a-special-place-in-hell/palestine-the-un-and-lies-at-rosh-hashanah-1.386627
Bibi: Israel will raise David’s sword against Iran / Richard Silverstein
Tikun Olam 29 Sept — While Yisrael HaYom may be the best paper Sheldon Adelson’s money can buy on behalf of his political fixer, Bibi Netanyahu (and Bibi may be the best Israeli politician Adelson’s money can buy), there are sometimes benefits to reading it. You do get to read the unfiltered Bibi, unfettered by concerns for the sensitivities of his western audience. For example, after his UN speech he gave an exclusive interview [Hebrew] to the newspaper in which he waxed eloquent on the imagined accomplishments of his UN speech. First, he (almost single-handedly to hear him tell it) stopped Palestinian statehood. Second, the rest of the world now “understands” Israel’s views on these matters.
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2011/09/28/bibi-israel-will-raise-davids-sword-against-iran/
Let Palestine be Palestine – open letter to President Obama from US Ambassador Charles Cecil
17 Sept — Just think for a minute — what would happen if the United States abstained when the Palestinian question comes before the UN Security Council in the next week or two? The resolution would pass. The world would be stunned. The United States would enter an entirely new era in our relations with the Muslim countries of the world … On the other hand, if the United States vetoes the Palestinian request for statehood, we will damage our position in the Islamic world — not merely the Arab World — for untold years to come. We will become the object of retribution throughout the Muslim world, and will give new energy to the lagging efforts of al-Qaida to retaliate against us. I served my country 36 years in the Foreign Service of the United States, ten assignments in ten Muslim countries. I know the power of this issue.
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/09/23/letter-to-president-obama-u-s-ambasador-charles-cecil/
The dangerous cult of The Guardian / Jonathan Cook
A Thought Police for the Internet Age — Counterpunch 28 Sept — …A good case study is the Guardian, considered the most leftwing newspaper in Britain and rapidly acquiring cult status in the United States, where many readers tend to assume they are getting access through its pages to unvarnished truth and the full range of critical thinking on the left … Nonetheless, it would be unwise to believe that the Guardian is therefore a free market in progressive or dissident ideas on the left. In fact, quite the contrary: the paper strictly polices what can be said and who can say it in its pages, for cynical reasons we shall come to.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/09/28/the-dangerous-cult-of-the-guardian/
Palestine is but one of many aspiring to the United Nations – James Langton
The National 1 Oct — …The Palestinians are not the only people caught in this diplomatic limbo. Around the world, there are at least 11 other nations seeking UN membership, many with just as little chance as the Palestinians, which at least has membership of the Arab League and a long list of supporters.Some are almost unknown outside their immediate borders. [Somaliland, Kosovo, Taiwan, Transnistria, Abkhazia, Western Sahara and so forth — and of course those nations sprawled across several borders like Kurdistan, the Tuareg people, etc.]
http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/africa/palestine-is-but-one-of-many-aspiring-to-the-united-nations
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