UN: Israel cuts access to 85% of Gaza fishing waters

OCHA: Israel cuts access to 85% of Gaza fishing waters
JERUSALEM (WAFA) 18 Oct — A recent report published Tuesday by the Untied Nation Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) showed that 35% of Gaza’s farmland and 85% of its fishing waters are totally or partially inaccessible due to Israeli military measures … Despite measures taken to ease the blockade in June 2010 the humanitarian situation has remained extremely fragile. While imports have increased, they are still at less than 40% of the pre-2007 levels. Exports remain tightly restricted and are limited to agricultural produce to Europe, and Gazan businesses cannot access their traditional markets in Israel and the West Bank. Access to land and sea remains highly restricted.

And more news from Today in Palestine:

Video: The case of Al-Araqib
London 17 Oct — Demolitions & Discrimination against Palestinian Citizens of Israel: The case of Al-‘Araqib – Miri Weingarten – EU Advocacy Coordinator for Israel/OPT – Israeli Human Rights Consortium – The Bedouin village of al-‘Araqib in the Negev / Naqab desert in southern Israel has been demolished by the Israeli authorities more than 20 times since July 2010.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaDcN0p2gqQ

UN concern at fate of Palestinian detainees
GENEVA (Reuters) 18 Oct — The United Nations voiced concern on Tuesday that some of the Palestinian detainees released in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit may have not have been given any choice on where to go, which could constitute an illegal forced transfer … Under international humanitarian law, it is illegal to forcibly transfer war detainees or deport them to another country against their will.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=430446

Freed Palestinian prisoners arrive in Turkey and Qatar after captive swap
Dubai/ANKARA/Doha (Al Arabiya/Agencies) 19 Oct — Eleven Palestinians made V-for-victory signs as they arrived in Turkey early on Wednesday as part of the thousand-for-one prisoner exchange, television pictures showed, as fifteen other Palestinian prisoners arrived in the Qatari capital … A private plane flew the ten men and one woman from Cairo to the Turkish capital Ankara, where they were met at Esenboga Airport by the Palestinian ambassador to Ankara Nabil Maarouf and Turkish foreign ministry officials … Meanwhile, fifteen more Palestinian prisoners arrived in the Qatari capital on Wednesday, an official said. The freed prisoners landed in Doha on a specially chartered Qatari airplane at 3.00 am (0000 GMT) and were greeted by deputy prime minister Ahmad Abdullah Mahmoud, the Palestinian diplomatic official told AFP.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/19/172568.html

Prisoners deported under Shalit deal arrive in Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and Qatar
Haaretz 19 Oct — Forty-two released Palestinian prisoners arrived in Syria, Turkey, Jordan and Qatar on Tuesday after being set free as part of a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas. The prisoners are considered the most notorious of 1,027 Palestinians and Israeli Arabs being released by Israel in exchange for abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit. Of the 42 deported prisoners, 16 went to Damascus, Syria, 15 to Qatar, 10 Turkey, and one to Jordan.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/prisoners-deported-under-shalit-deal-arrive-in-turkey-syria-jordan-and-qatar-1.391000

Settlers, Israeli forces

A harvest of tears: Palestinian agriculture continues to suffer as a result of Israeli policies / Dr. Hana Chehata
MEMO 19 Aug — …Olives comprise “25% of the total agricultural production in the West Bank”i and olives and their by-products, including soap, olive oil, etc., are one of the most robust elements of the Palestinian economy. However, this source of income is being targeted ruthlessly and has become the focus of a concerted campaign by Israel to force Palestinians off their land and, in the process, degrade and demoralise them … The fruit of the olive tree is deeply symbolic to the Palestinian people; it is their most popular and enduring crop. The olive tree is connected to the land of Palestine historically, culturally and even spiritually, with the olive being mentioned as a blessed fruit in the Qur’an and the Bible.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/reports/by-dr-hanan-chehata/2959-a-harvest-of-tears-palestinian-agriculture-continues-to-suffer-as-a-result-of-ruthless-israeli-policies

Settlers prevent farmers from harvesting olive trees
SALFIT (WAFA) 18 Oct — Settlers and Israeli soldiers prevented Tuesday a number of Palestinian farmers from reaching their lands to harvest olive trees, according to local sources. Nathmi al Salman, mayor of Deir Istia, a village northwest of Salfit, said that a number of settlers from ‘Rafafa’ [Revava], a settlement built on Deir Istia land, forced Palestinian farmer Mohammad Abu Ali, from Deir Istia, from reaching his land in the area known as Sayda, which is close to the settlement, and prevented him from harvesting the olive trees…
http://www.wafa.ps/english/index.php?action=detail&id=17805

Day 6: DCO overrules Qordoba school
ISM 19 Oct — On 18th October 2011 teachers from Qordoba school stood in protest at checkpoint 56 for a sixth day of resistance against the increased ‘security’ measures imposed upon them by the Israeli occupying forces. In the past week this peaceful protest has been met with an alarmingly intolerant – and at times violent – response from the Israeli soldiers. On the first day, nine young children were hospitalized. By the third day of demonstration the international press had taken up the story. On the fourth day soldiers sought to quash the mounting pressure by using tear gas and sound grenades in the streets of Bab a-Zawyia.
The teachers are also facing pressure from the settlers. In an interview with ISM this morning, the head mistress, Ibtesam Aljondy, explained they had received warnings that if the school was left empty, settlers would occupy the buildings.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/10/day-6-dco-overrules-qordoba-school/

Israeli military fails twice in a day to escort children
At-Tuwani Project 18 Oct — On October 16th the Israeli military failed, twice, to escort the school children of Tuba and Maghair al Abeed past Ma’on settlement and Havat Ma’on outpost. Because Israeli settlers have attacked and harassed the Palestinian schoolchildren multiple times in the past, the Israeli army has committed to escorting the children each day as they walk to and from school. According to members of Operation Dove, and the schoolchildren themselves, the army failed to meet the children in the morning to escort them to school. Instead, the soldiers in the jeep stopped halfway along the route, then drove away as the children were running to meet them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBlm6YasTQI&feature=feedu

Detention / Hunger strike

Upon releasing the infamous 477 detainees, Israel kidnaps four West Bank residents
IMEMC 19 Oct — The Israeli Army detained four Palestinian residents from the southern part of the West Bank on Wednesday morning, the Palestinian News Agency Ma‘an reported … Israeli sources have stated that those arrested are from different regions- the city of Bethlehem, and the villages of Beit ‘Ummar and Yatta, in the south of the West Bank.
http://www.imemc.org/article/62317

Army kidnaps Dmitri Dalyani, member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council
IMEMC 19 Oct — The Israeli Army detained Dmitri Dalyani, Member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, on Tuesday morning. He was moved to al-Masqubia detention center for interrogation, the Palestinian news Agency, PNN reported. The Fatah movement in East Jerusalem has accused Israel of targeting Palestinian leaders, who are only performing their national duty towards their land, people and holy sites.
Palestinian Christians in East Jerusalem condemned the detention of Dalyani, and described the act as barbarous.
http://www.imemc.org/article/62321

Detainees suspend hunger strike ‘for 3 days’
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 19 Oct — Palestinian prisoners in Israel’s Ohalei Kedar jail have agreed to suspend their hunger strike for three days, representatives of the detainees said Tuesday. Detainees suspended the strike after prison authorities agreed to end the policy of solitary confinement, a statement said. Israeli prison officials also agreed to transfer Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine leader Ahmad Saadat to hospital for treatment. He will be returned to a normal cell at Ramle prison, after spending three years in isolation, detainees’ representatives said. The agreement also stipulated that prisoners would be subject to less stringent jail policies. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had worsened jail conditions to pressure Hamas to release Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who was released Tuesday after five years in captivity. If the Israeli prison authorities do not implement the agreement, the hunger strike will resume after three days, the statement said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=430438

UN official urges ban on solitary confinement
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) 19 Oct — Governments should ban solitary confinement for juveniles and for people with mental disabilities, a special UN envoy said. The UN special rapporteur on torture Juan Mendez told a UN General Assembly panel that solitary confinement “is a harsh measure which is contrary to rehabilitation, the aim of the penitentiary system.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=430608

Calls growing to release Palestinian child prisoners
IBTimes 19 Oct — In the wake of Israel’s historic release of more than one-thousand Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the freedom of soldier Gilad Shalit, one lawyer is highlighting the fact that dozens of Palestinian children under the age of 18 remain languishing in Israeli jails. Israel has thus far released about 500 Palestinian prisoners and will free roughly the same amount next month. But apparently, none of them will be children. Gerard Horton, an attorney at Defense for Children International, a child rights non-governmental organization founded in 1979, told Australian radio that 164 Palestinian children are imprisoned in Israeli jails, some on charges as minor as throwing stones at Israeli soldiers
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/234065/20111019/israel-palestinian-prisoners-children-hamas-release.htm

UNICEF appeals to Israel to release minors
Foreign Policy blog 18 Oct — As the Israeli-Palestinian prisoner swap got under way this week, the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) appealed late last night to the Israel military to ensure the release of 164 Palestinian prisoners detained as minors, mostly on charges of throwing stones at Israeli authorities. The minors were not included in a list of the first round 477 Palestinian prisoners who were released in exchange for one Israel soldier  … “As stated in the convention on the rights of the child, the detention of children should be used only as a measure of last resort for the shortest appropriate period of time,” said Jean Gough, UNICEF’s Special Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. “UNICEF calls on the Israeli government to release Palestinian child detainees so that they can be reunited with their families.”
http://turtlebay.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/10/18/unicef_appeals_to_israel_to_release_minors

Parliamentarians call on Israel to release lawmakers
BERN (WAFA) 18 Oct — The Governing Council of the International Parliamentary Union (IPU) condemned Israel’s incarceration of 21 Palestinian legislators and demanded their immediate release, according to a press release issued on Wednesday. IPU’s human rights committee issued a resolution following its 125th assembly in the Swiss capital, Bern, in which it expressed deep regret that the prisoners’ exchange deal between Israel and Hamas did not include release of all Palestinian lawmakers, mainly Fatah’s Marwan Barghouti and Ahmad Sa’adat, head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
http://www.wafa.ps/english/index.php?action=detail&id=17816

Abu Marzouk: Egypt exerting efforts to release remaining female prisoners
CAIRO (PIC) 18 Oct — Deputy political bureau chairman of Hamas Dr. Mousa Abu Marzouq has said that Egypt was exerting “big efforts” to secure the release of the remaining nine Palestine female prisoners in Israeli occupation jails. He said in a TV statement on Tuesday that most probably those detained women would be freed in the second batch of prisoners who would be released after two months.
Link to Palestinian Information Center

Hamas armed wing: Egypt to finalize swap
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 19 Oct — The armed wing of Hamas on Wednesday announced the second phase of a prisoner swap with Israel would be implemented with Egyptian oversight. The Al-Qassam Brigades will not be involved in negotiations over the list of prisoners, but it expects Egypt will ensure that its interests are carried out, a spokesman said. Abu Ubeida said the list of prisoners to be released would not include people who were arrested on non-security charges, and they should not have sentences which are approaching completion. In addition, priority will be given to the elderly and sick as well as anyone who spent more than 20 years behind bars, he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=430827

First phase of swap completed

VIDEO: Celebration of the release of the batch of prisoners of freedom / Haitham al-Khatib
18 Oct [personal and heartwarming video from the West Bank]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ-3KSV-ut8&feature=digest_refresh_tue

Gaza gives released prisoners rapturous welcome
Gaza (Al Jazeera) 19 Oct — Nicole Johnston reports
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szjKG30k73U

In pictures: Freed West Bank prisoners return
Al Jazeera 19 Oct — Eager to greet the newly released Palestinian prisoners, West Bank Palestinians gathered at Ofer checkpoint, near Ramallah — the agreed-upon location of the prisoners’ release into the territory. However, after waiting for hours, Israeli soldiers announced that the 110 prisoners due to be released into the West Bank were being taken straight to Palestinian Authority headquarters at Al Muqata in Ramallah.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2011/10/2011101817954542835.html

Famous sons of the West Bank return for hugs and harvest
The Age 20 Oct — THERE was no running water or electricity in the West Bank village of Kobar when 20-year-old Nael Barghouti was arrested in 1978 for his role in an operation that killed an Israeli soldier. Since then, most of his parent’s generation have died, friends and siblings have married, and their children have grown up and married. It is a life he has never known.
http://www.theage.com.au/world/famous-sons-of-the-west-bank-return-for-hugs-and-harvest-20111019-1m819.html

Nizar and Ahlam; Fatah and Hamas: from an Israeli cell to a marriage ceremony
MEMO 19 Oct — He was sentenced to life in prison and she was sentenced to 16 consecutive life terms. He is affiliated to Fatah; she is a member of Hamas. Today, however, Nizar Al-Tamimi, 38, and his cousin Ahlam Al-Tamimi, 31, are both free and are going to be married in Amman, Jordan.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2966-nizar-and-ahlam-fatah-and-hamas-from-an-israeli-cell-to-a-wedding-ceremony

Ex-detainee Muhammad Zidaya expels Israeli reporter from the reception tent
IMEMC 19 Oct …The reporter arrived at the tent for an interview with Ziyada, regarding the circumstances that he faced in the process of liberation in the first phase of the deal … Ziyada asked him about his identity, and the reporter responded that he is a correspondent for the Israeli’s Channel One.  Consequently, Ziyada responded with the following: “We [Palestinians] will not welcome nor make any interviews with you. We even do not accept you here in our tent for the reason that you’ve been calling us terrorists for years. How dare you think we might welcome you?…”
http://www.imemc.org/article/62320

In Ramallah Palestine tastes freedom at release of prisoners
West Bank (ISM) 18 Oct — It was the third time that Omar, 21, tried to write his name and cell number on a piece of paper in vain. His hands were shaking and the fingers, pale as the face, could barely hold the pen. On the fifth try he was able to write his name in capital letters. As for the mobile phone number, who noted it was his 17 year old brother, Jihad. 16 years ago one member went missing in Omar’s family, Khaled, his father.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/10/in-ramallah-palestine-tastes-freedom-at-release-of-prisoners/

Palestinians take their first steps to freedom
Euronews 19 Oct — On is his first day as a free man Palestinian Nafez Herez, had a chance to spend time with the son he has never met. A member of the Fatah movement had been given a life sentence in 1985 accused of killing a number of Israeli soldiers. Ismail Haniyeh the head of the Hamas in Gaza has authorised a 430,000 euro grant for the 294 freed prisoners in the territory. Family, not money is on the mind of Nafez Herez. “After 26 years of captivity, this was the first day when I woke up and found my sons and my grandchildren around me, kissing and hugging me. It’s a wonderful feeling. Its an experience I did not feel it for many years,” he said.
http://www.euronews.net/2011/10/19/palestinians-take-their-first-steps-to-freedom/

The Gilad Shalit deal: A Palestinian daughter’s long wait for her father’s return
London (AlArabiya) 17 Oct — In December 1998, former American President Bill Clinton was visiting the Gaza Strip with his then Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Together with late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Eriekat they listened to the story of a Palestinian girl called Nihad Zakout, whose father had been incarcerated in an Israeli jail for nine years. The meeting ended with a tearful Clinton handing his handkerchief to the crying girl, patting her on the shoulder, and promising to do his best to release her father within a month at most– a scene that irked the Israelis a great deal … last week Zakout, now 24 years old and mother of two girls, learned she would finally see her father Mohamed, now 48 years old, being released from prison.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/17/172286.html

Released Irena and her daughters meet in tears after 10 years
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 18 Oct — The released Ukrainian prisoner, Irena Sarhaneh, could not control herself when she saw her mother and daughter Yasmeen, who came from Ukrania, to see her and share her joy of being released after ten years of detention. Irena broke down in tears, according to witnesses … Irena was arrested from her house ten years ago. She said till this day she has no clue why she was detained, and she always hears the answer ““because you helped your husband.”
http://www.wafa.ps/english/index.php?action=detail&id=17807

Freedom is a move to a larger prison / Jillian Kestler-D’Amours
SHEIKH JARRAH, Occupied East Jerusalem (IPS) 17 Oct –  Rawda Odeh had mixed feelings when she heard the news that her son, 33-year-old Loai Mohammad Ahmed Odeh, was going to be released from prison [to Gaza] … “Up until now, I don’t know when I will see my son. Maybe the United States is closer (for us to meet) than Gaza,” Odeh said. “It was mixed, my feelings, because freedom is the most beautiful thing in the world. I think that my son got his freedom, even if Gaza is a big jail … Rawda Odeh said that despite the release of her son and over 1,000 other Palestinian prisoners, continuing to apply pressure on the Israeli authorities to improve prison conditions and to respect international law is crucial. “I’m not on hunger strike for only my son; all the prisoners are my sons,” Odeh said.
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105492

Failed bomber: Struggle against Israel must go on
GAZA CITY (AP) 19 Oct — A failed Palestinian suicide bomber released in a prisoner swap with Israel said Wednesday she has told well-wishers, including children from the neighborhood, that Palestinians must continue “on the path of struggle and resistance.” Wafa al-Biss, 26, was among 477 Palestinians released by Israel in exchange for Sgt. Gilad Schalit … She said prison was difficult, but that it “did not kill my feeling that martyrs and martyrdom are a humble thing to offer as a sacrifice for the homeland.”
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111019/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_palestinians_unrepentant_bomber

Hamas official claims that exchange deal ‘includes Israel lifting Gaza siege and not pursuing ex-prisoners’
MEMO 19 Oct — …Moussa Abu Marzouk made his comments to local media outlet “Palestine”. “This was made clear in our discussions with the German mediator,” said Mr. Abu Marzouk. “When we spoke about lifting the blockade it was emphasised in the context of the release of Gilad Shalit.” He also pointed out that some of the ex-prisoners released into the occupied West Bank still have security conditions imposed upon them, such as having to sign in at local police stations on a regular basis. Part of the agreement with Israel is that such ex-detainees will not be re-arrested and prosecuted again for anything they might have done in the past.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2965-hamas-official-claims-that-exchange-deal-qincludes-israel-lifting-gaza-siege-and-not-pursuing-ex-prisonersq

Public holiday in Gaza to celebrate prisoner release
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 19 Oct — The government in Gaza declared Wednesday a public holiday in honor of the release of hundreds of prisoners a day earlier, spokesman Taher al-Nunu said … Al-Nunu said in a statement that all public institutions, including schools, would close for the day so people could celebrate the prisoners’ freedom. The civil servants’ bureau had announced Tuesday an official holiday for all public institutions.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=430569

Day One of freedom for Mideast swap club
GAZA (Reuters) 19 Oct — Palestinians freed by Israel in a trade for soldier Gilad Shalit took their morning exercise on Wednesday around a luxury swimming pool overlooking the Mediterranean, instead of circling the prison yard as they have done for long years inside. There was none of the usual breakfast-room free-for-all at Gaza’s [only] 4-star Al-Mashtal beach front hotel. The 105 special guests, looking a little uncertain, lined up obediently to shuffle around the breakfast bar one by one, canteen-style
http://news.yahoo.com/day-one-freedom-mideast-swap-club-132508371.html

Israel threatens to recapture freed prisoners in West Bank
RAMALLAH (PIC) 19 Oct — The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) has imposed strict security measures on freed Palestinian prisoners and threatened to arrest them anew in the event they did not obey those orders. Hebrew daily Yediot Ahronot said on Wednesday quoted Israeli security sources as saying that almost half of the released prisoners in the West Bank signed pledges before their release. These pledges compelled some of them to remain in their hometowns for years while others were forced to appear before the army’s coordination and liaison directorates at least once monthly, the sources added.They said that if the freed prisoners did not comply they would be arrested and returned to serve their sentences in full even if they were life sentences.
Link to Palestinian Information Center

Ex-prisoner: Resistance the only way to free detainees
BEIRUT (Ma‘an) — Resistance is the only way to liberate detainees from Israeli jails, former Lebanese prisoner of Israel Samir Kuntar said Tuesday. Kuntar was freed in a 2008 prisoner swap deal between Hezbollah and Israel … He urged Palestinian resistance fighters to capture more Israeli soldiers to secure the freedom of all detainees held by Israel.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=430643

Exchange deals between Israelis and Arabs
MEMO 17 Oct — Freedom for Samir Al-Qantar in a 2008 exchange deal between Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Israel was one of the last of such deals between Israel and an Arab entity prior to the recently announced agreement with Hamas for the release of Gilad Shalit. The ongoing conflict between Israel and its neighbours includes a surprising number of prisoner exchanges, including the following: Post-1948 and Israel’s founding, the Zionist state agreed exchanges with Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, in which hundreds of Arab soldiers were handed over in exchange for hundreds of their Israeli counterparts.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/resources/fact-sheets/2952-exchange-deals-between-israelis-and-arabs

Egypt journalist defends Shalit interview
AFP 19 Oct — An Egyptian journalist under fire for interviewing Gilad Shalit as Hamas handed him to Egypt denied on Wednesday that the Israeli soldier had been pressured to give the interview. Shahira Amin, celebrated in Egypt for quitting her job as a state television reporter during the uprising that ousted president Hosni Mubarak in February, conducted Tuesday’s interview for the state-owned Nile Television … Amin told an Egyptian chat show that she asked Shalit to do the interview and he consented.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/19/172602.html

Political / Diplomatic

UN could vote on Palestinian bid by November 11
AFP 19 Oct — The U.N. Security Council could vote as early as Nov. 11 on whether to grant the Palestinians full UN membership as a state, a top Western diplomat said Wednesday … Following a “surprisingly harmonious” meeting on Tuesday, U.N. ambassadors will hold another meeting on November 3 on the issue, the diplomat said, followed by formal talks on November 11 that could conclude with a vote if the Palestinians want it to go ahead.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/19/172634.html

Palestinian UN bid moves step further in UN security council
DPA 18 Oct — Membership committee says report on Palestinian membership application to be presented by early next month — European diplomats said the committee had finished discussion on the issue of a Palestinian state, the first of three criteria demanded by the council before it would grant UN membership to the Palestinians. The committee will discuss in coming weeks the two other criteria, which call for a determination that it is a peaceful country making the application and that the country can fulfill obligations under the United Nations Charter, which is the world organization’s constitution.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/palestinian-un-bid-moves-step-further-in-un-security-council-1.390841

Prisoner swap reshapes Hamas-Egypt-Israel ties
GAZA CITY (AP) 19 Oct — The release of an Israeli soldier by Hamas as part of a prisoner exchange with Israel is reshaping complex regional ties, mostly in favor of Gaza’s once isolated Islamic militant rulers. The swap, mediated by Egypt, has strengthened Hamas’ bond with the regional powerhouse next door and removed a major irritant from its fraught relationship with Israel. Trading Sgt. Gilad Schalit for 1,027 Palestinians held by Israel also boosted Hamas’ flagging popularity at home, at the expense of its main domestic rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who was forced to watch from the sidelines.
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111019/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_mideast_after_the_swap

US voices concern to Israel over some freed Palestinians
AFP 18 Oct — The United States has voiced ‘concerns’ to Israel over some of the 477 Palestinian prisoners freed by the Jewish state on Tuesday as part of a deal to win the release of a captured Israeli soldier. “We have looked at some of these individuals and we’ve communicated our position… to the Israeli government,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said, adding he could not “get into the substance of our concerns too greatly.” He was asked whether the freed prisoners posed a threat, or whether the U.S. just objected to their release. “Both,” Toner replied, adding “we had concerns in both spheres.”
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/18/172478.html

US awkwardly welcomes Israeli-Hamas prisoner swap
WASHINGTON (AP) 18 Oct – The United States awkwardly welcomed Tuesday’s release of Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit after five years of captivity by Hamas, voicing concerns over some of the Palestinians freed in return and declining to say whether the prisoner swap between Israel and the Islamic militant group could help moribund Mideast peace talks in any way … Clinton and other U.S. officials avoided specifically addressing Hamas’ part in the agreement or the merit of Israel’s decision to free more than 1,000 Palestinians to secure Schalit’s release.
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111018/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_us_prisoner_swap

Diplomatic sources: Shalit deal hurt chances of renewing Israel-Palestinian talks
Haaretz 19 Oct — … In conversations with Haaretz, however, diplomatic sources in New York said that the prisoner exchange deal severely damaged chances of renewing peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the near future. A senior diplomat said that the prisoner exchange deal undermined Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ position as an exclusive partner in negotiations with Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/diplomatic-sources-shalit-deal-hurt-chances-of-renewing-israel-palestinian-talks-1.391036

Mideast mediators want border proposals: Blair
LONDON (Reuters) 19 Oct – International mediators will press Israel and Palestinians to table their ideas on security arrangements and the borders for a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict within three months, envoy Tony Blair said on Wednesday.
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111019/wl_nm/us_britain_blair_mideast

Palestinian envoy apologizes for controversial retweet
CBC News 19 Oct — The Palestinian envoy to Canada who is leaving her post after retweeting a video accused of being anti-Jewish has apologized for her action. “I regret the unfortunate incident and it was a retweet unintentional and very unfortunate,” said Linda Sobeh Ali in statement released Tuesday. Sobeh Ali said the incident was “intentionally magnified and misinterpreted by certain lobbying groups.”
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2011/10/18/palestinian-tweet.html?cmp=rss

Analysis / Opinion

Shalit deal offers brief respite from Israel’s dance of despair / Gideon Levy
Haaretz 19 Oct — Joy in Israel over Shalit’s return, and in Gaza over the return of Palestinian prisoners, was a commercial break from the dance of death and despair that accompanies this decades-old bloody conflict .. In a reality in which one side’s joy is inevitably the other side’s pain, and one side’s victory is the other side’s defeat, this moment in which happiness – however fleeting – prevailed among both peoples, is a moment that won’t be easily forgotten.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/shalit-deal-offers-brief-respite-from-israel-s-dance-of-despair-1.390895

Analysis: Flicker of hope for peace from Shalit deal
JERUSALEM (Reuters) 18 Oct – Palestinians and Israelis celebrating at the same time is a rare occurrence. Their simultaneous elation on Tuesday over a mass prisoner swap is raising a faint glimmer of hope for progress in ending the Middle East conflict. Veteran analysts greet any such optimism with a roll of the eyes. Inured to years of peace-making failure, few if any think it can translate into immediate gains elsewhere. Yet the deal may have the potential to loosen the state of siege that separates the two sides.
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111018/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel_hope

Heroes of liberal Zionists: A Palestinian who wouldn’t fire on civilians, and an Israeli who would / Lawrence of Cyberia
There was an ironic juxtaposition of stories in a post on Americablog last week. The post began with the story of former Fatah militant Mohamed Abu Mailek, who is reported to have been released from prison in Gaza. Abu Mailek is described as a former member of a rocket squad who “decided he was not prepared to fire on civilians”, and was charged as a result with collaboration and espionage … Then Americablog goes on to mention without comment that the BBC is reporting that a deal has been reached “for the release of Sgt Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held hostage by Palestinian militants for five years.” Let’s leave aside the question of why an Israeli soldier who is captured while on active duty enforcing a military blockade of the Gaza Strip should be called a ‘hostage’ rather than a ‘prisoner’. There’s a much more delicious – and no doubt inadvertent – irony arising from running those two stories together, and it’s this…
http://lawrenceofcyberia.blogs.com/news/2011/10/what-would-gilad-do.html

Israel on its way to legalizing theft / Talia Sasson
Haaretz 18 Oct — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman to establish a committee to recommend ways to legalize Israeli construction in the territories. In particular, the committee is to find ways to legalize the confiscation of land owned by individual Palestinians who had the bad luck to have illegal outposts built on their property. It is not by accident that the idea of establishing this committee arose now. A burning problem had been placed on Netanyahu’s doorstep: The High Court of Justice ordered the state to dismantle several illegal outposts by March 2012, among them Migron, which is built on private Palestinian land.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/israel-on-its-way-to-legalizing-theft-1.390546

From the West Bank: When brutality enters the mainstream / David Shulman
NYR 19 Oct — At Anatot the security forces — probably acting on their own initiative out of solidarity with the settlers — deliberately allowed the attacks to proceed unimpeded. Second, and even more important in my view, is the fact that the Anatot settlers are mainly secular, quite ordinary Israelis, whatever the latter term might mean. Many, including some present at the attacks just described, serve in the police. I meet them in classes at the Hebrew University; they see themselves as living in a northern suburb of Jerusalem and, no doubt, as part of the Israeli mainstream and the so-called “consensus” about the political future of the country. Some of these same ordinary citizens turned out to be capable of being transformed, within minutes, into what Elias Canetti called a “pack” — a rampaging, bloodthirsty mob that knows no limits.
http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2011/oct/19/From-the-west-bank-part-two/

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