Report: Hamas seeks ‘soft exit’ from Syria
NEW YORK (Ma‘an) 7 Dec — Hamas has ordered the departure of nearly all its staff at its Damascus headquarters by next week following pressure from Turkey and Qatar, a US newspaper reported Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal [subscription] quoted a Hamas official saying the two regional US allies were trying to isolate Syrian President Bashar Assad amid an eight-month crackdown on antiregime protests. Hamas will establish new headquarters in Cairo and Qatar to replace its operations in Syria, the official told the Journal, apparently on the condition of anonymity.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=443008
Abu Marzouk: Hamas is in Syria and will not change location
DAMASCUS (PIC) 7 Dec — Deputy political bureau chairman of Hamas Dr. Mousa Abu Marzouk has denied press reports that said his movement was relocating out of Syria and that it has severed relations with Iran. He told Quds Press on Wednesday that the reports were media speculations and contrary to the facts on the ground.
link to Palestinian Information Center
Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid / Exile
In legal precedent, Israel court stops demolition of unrecognized Bedouin village
Haaretz 6 Dec 23:12 — In an unusual and precedent-setting ruling, the Kirayt Gat magistrate’s court cancelled a demolition order for an unrecognized Bedouin settlement in Israel’s south on Tuesday. The ruling effectively calls off the demolition of 51 structures in the unrecognized settlement of Al-Sura, which would have left its 400 residents homeless. The ruling was reached following a petition by Adala – the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel … In his ruling, judge Israel Axelrod said that it was clear that the petitioners had been in breach of the law and that the state could act against the illegal structures. However, Axelrod added that the houses have existed at their current location for dozens of years, saying that the state presented no evidence that the evacuation was meant to promote any public cause, and adding that enforcement would leave the families homeless.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/in-legal-precedent-israel-court-stops-demolition-of-unrecognized-bedouin-village-1.399989
Israeli government approves first Bedouin ecovillage in Negev
12 Dec — Wadi Attir community’s primary objective will be to preserve and nurture traditional Bedouin agricultural know-how – After many years of supporting agricultural and ecological ventures in the Negev intended primarily for Jews, the government this week decided for the first time to also support an ecological-agricultural community for Bedouin.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israeli-government-approves-first-bedouin-ecovillage-in-negev-1.399751
Palestinians denounce Israeli decision to expel MP
MEMO 7 Dec — EXCLUSIVE PICTURES Palestinians have denounced an Israeli judge’s decision to expel MP Ahmed Attoun from his home city of Jerusalem. The Palestinian Legislative Council, the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc, and the International Campaign for Freeing Abducted Members of Parliament have all criticised the Israeli move. Mr Attoun, fellow MP Mohammed Tottah, and former Palestinian Minister for Jerusalem Affairs Khaled Abu Arafah, have been staging a protest at the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Jerusalem for eighteen months. The protest began following Israel’s decision to strip them of their Jerusalem identity cards on the grounds that they belong to an illegal organisation and they ran for the 2006 parliamentary elections under the Hamas list … In a press release, a spokesman said that the latest deportation will only strengthen the Palestinian people’s perseverance and make them hold on even more to their city of Jerusalem.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/3142-palestinians-denounce-israeli-decision-to-expel-mp
MP Attoun: Banishing me from Jerusalem oppressive, I will go back
RAMALLAH (PIC) 7 Dec — …He told the PIC on Wednesday that the Jerusalemites are the native inhabitants of Jerusalem and the Israeli occupiers are the aliens who should be expelled from the holy city … Attoun, who was deported to Ramallah in the West Bank, told Quds Press on arrival there on Tuesday that the Israeli authorities had tried ever since his abduction from the Red Cross premises two and half months ago to convince him to voluntarily leave the city at the pretext of his “illegal presence” in it but he refused … The Red Cross, for its part, urged Israel to revoke its decision, adding that Attoun was deported to Ramallah against his will.
link to Palestinian Information Center
Legal opinion: No obligation to raze outposts
Ynet 6 Dec — Activists fighting to legalize West Bank outposts present PM with legal opinion by top lawyer Yaakov Weinroth claiming there is no obligation to demolish outposts built on private land … The opinion states that there is no legal obligation to demolish structures built on private land, particularly if the land owners do not seek an evacuation. Moreover, if such a demand arises, the land owners can be compensated thus avoiding a demolition.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4158129,00.html
Israeli bulldozers demolish house near Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (WAFA) 6 Dec – Israeli bulldozers Tuesday demolished a house under the pretext of building with no permit in al-Khalayleh neighborhood in al-Jib village, northwest of Jerusalem, according to local sources … The 70 square meter house which was built 15 years ago houses nine family members. Witnesses said that soldiers also hung up demolishing orders on a number of other houses in the neighborhood. Giv’at Ze’ev settlement was built on lands in the area; Israel aims to displace the residents of al-Khalayleh neighborhood in order to link all settlements in the area with each other.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18256
Gas canister lands at mosque amid clashes near Hebron
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 7 Dec — Israeli forces fired tear gas Wednesday afternoon near a mosque in Dura, near Hebron, locals said, after a clash erupted with stone-throwers earlier in the day. Part of the gas canister burned carpets inside, preventing prayer. Soldiers had taken over a still under construction home in the same area hours earlier, and forbade workers from continuing their work. The soldiers then clashed with stone-throwers who gathered in the area.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=442991
PLO: 2,900 new settlement units and 8,900 stolen dunums in November
PNN 7 Dec — The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Department of International Relations said in its monthly report on Thursday that in November, Israeli forces confiscated 8,912 dunums of land (a dunum is about a quarter of an acre), demolished 39 buildings, uprooted 715 trees and arrested 181 Palestinians. In the same period, the Israeli government authorized 2,934 new settlement units. The Israeli army and Israeli settlers combined killed five Palestinians, four of them in airstrikes on the Gaza and one Palestinian struck in purpose by a settler’s car near Salfit. Thirty people were injured in November as a result of Israeli military assaults against peaceful marches against the wall….
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10940&Itemid=64
Israel finishes barrier construction in Jerusalem
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 7 Dec — Israeli forces will finish this week building a barrier around Shu‘fat refugee camp in north Jerusalem, Israel’s Maariv daily reported Wednesday. The 45,000-person camp will become isolated from the city and residents will only be able to enter through a new checkpoint.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=442999
Israel can never steal our heritage / Rana Baker
EI 6 Dec — We Palestinians have nothing to cherish more than our roots and ancestral identity. To us, olive trees and the shade in which our grandparents rested or lovers used to secretly meet weave together sweet pre-dispossession memories … Heritage of tolerance Walking through the roads of Palestine attests to a history of religious tolerance. With Christmas coming soon, Palestinian florists and gift shops, mostly owned by Muslims, are adorned with Christmas trees, Santa Claus costumes and glowing lights. Here, Muslims and Christians are neighbors and friends. Every Christmas, Muslims visit their Christian neighbors and offer warm hugs and outings together. I was educated in a Christian school; I clearly remember my Christian classmates fasting during Ramadan with us or at least, avoiding eating in front of us. Christians here, despite being a minority, celebrate Eid with us. They even go get new outfits every Eid as is the Muslim custom.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/israel-can-never-steal-our-heritage/10662
Israeli aggression
Settlers torch West Bank mosque
SALFIT (Ma‘an) 7 Dec — A mosque was set on fire on Wednesday by settlers in the West Bank village of Bruqin, near Salfit, local officials said. The governor of Salfit Isam Abu Bakr told Ma‘an that at 2.00 a.m. a number of settlers sprayed racist anti-Arab slogans on the mosque walls and torched a car belonging to local resident Muatasim Samarah. Abu Bakr said that the attack came “after Israeli forces issued demolition warrants against the mosque claiming it was built without a license.” Mayor of Bruqin village Accra Samara said a flaming tire was thrown into the entrance of the mosque, and that assailants scrawled the words, “Hero of Ariel,” The Associated Press reported … A bulldozer belonging to local villager Ali Nael was also set on fire by settlers, locals said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=442693
New ‘price tag’ mosque burning exposes identity of Shin Bet Jewish anti-terror chief / Richard Silverstein
Tikun Olam 7 Dec — Jewish terrorists rolled flaming tires into a West Bank mosque (Hebrew) in an attempt to burn it down. It was the second such price tag attack on a Palestinian mosque. They attacked the village of Burkina (or “Brukin”) near Ariel and also scrawled graffiti on its walls mocking the director of the Shin Bet’s Jewish anti-terror unit, Avigdor (Avi) Arieli (see accompanying image). In Israeli media, the name has been blurred as intelligence officials may not be publicly identified … It appears either intentionally or coincidentally, the settler arsonists were doing the work of the IDF itself as Josh Breiner reports in Walla that the army has told villagers it intends to destroy the mosque because it was allegedly built, as is all new Palestinian construction inside Israel and in the West Bank, without a permit (Israel routinely refuses to issue them).
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2011/12/07/new-price-tag-mosque-burning-exposes-identity-of-shin-bet-jewish-anti-terror-chief/
Settlers attack house near Nablus
NABLUS (WAFA) 7 Dec – Jewish settlers Wednesday attacked a house and damaged it in Asira al-Qibliya, a village south of Nablus, according to witnesses. The house’s owner, Um Ayman, said that a number of settlers surrounded her house and stoned it. She added that they smashed the windows and threw paint on the walls. She said that after the attack they withdrew to a mountain near ‘Yitzhar’ Settlement.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18274
Settlers ‘burn 3 cars’ in Hebron
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 6 Dec — Israeli settlers from the illegal Gush Etzion settlement attacked Palestinian houses in Beit Ummar and set fire to three cars overnight, a local activist said. Muhammad Awad said the settlers damaged cars belonging to Habes Hussein Baragheeth and Suheil and Yousef Muhammad Hussein Baragheeth. The settlers also wrote racist slogans around the area, he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=442564
Gaza
Fighter killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza
IMEMC 7 Dec — The Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, reported that one of its fighters was killed, on Tuesday evening, when the Israeli army bombarded fighters who clashed with Israeli soldiers invading an area east of Gaza City; several fighters were injured. The Brigades identified the fighter as Ismael Al-Ar’eer, 23, from Ash-Shujaeyya neighborhood in Gaza.
http://www.imemc.org/article/62621
Palestinian killed and five injured in Israeli raids on Gaza
GAZA (WAFA) 7 Dec — A Palestinian man was killed and five others injured in an Israeli air raid and artillery fire east of Shajaiyya neighborhood in Gaza City, said medical sources. An Israeli warplane targeted a group of Palestinians with a missile, east of Shajaiyya neighborhood, killing Ismail Salama Arir, 22, and injuring four others, two of them critically. Israeli artillery fire and penetration in the same area, previous to the air raid, had injured a fifth Palestinian.
WAFA correspondent also said Israeli forces razed barracks and poultry farms during their raid of the area, accompanied by heavy artillery gunfire at residential areas east of Shajaiyya and Zaytoun neighborhoods
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18268
Medics: 4 injured as tunnel collapses in Gaza
GAZA (Ma‘an) 6 Dec– Four Palestinians were injured Tuesday as a Rafah tunnel collapsed, medical official Adham Abu Salmiya told Ma‘an. They were reported to be moderately injured at the Yousef Najjar hospital. [End]
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=442639
Washington Post gives respectful treatment to Palestinian fears of Israeli drones / David Samel
Mondoweiss 7 Dec — Over the past five years or so, Americans have been bombarded with stories about the terror faced by residents of southern Israeli towns such as Sderot and Ashkelon because of rockets lobbed from Gaza. This past weekend, the Washington Post ran a surprising story by Scott Wilson about the “jarring effect on life in Gaza” from the menacing presence of Israeli killer drones. The article quotes a statistic from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights that since the capture of Gilad Shalit in 2006, Israeli drones alone had killed 825(!) people in Gaza, and that most of the dead were civilians. By contrast, Palestinian rocket fire during the same period had killed 16 Israelis. [Of course the number of Gazans killed by all methods is far higher.] Hamdi Shaqqura, the Center’s deputy director, is quoted: “For us, drones mean death. When you hear drones, you hear death.”
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/12/washington-post-gives-respectful-treatment-to-palestinian-fears-of-israeli-drones.html
UNRWA: Refugees’ situation in Gaza remains of concern
JERUSALEM (WAFA) 7 Dec – A new report by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, Wednesday found evidence that in spite of Gaza’s construction industry experiencing a period of relatively expanded activity due to the tunnel economy, the situation of some one million refugees registered with the Agency remains of concern. According to the report, comparing macro-economic indicators for the first half of 2011 with the first half of 2010, there was a decline in the refugee participation in the labor force following robust growth in the working-age population. The refugee unemployment rate remains high at 33.8 per cent.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18275
MADA condemns ‘flagrant violations’ against media freedoms in Gaza
PNN 7 Dec — The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) expresses its deep concern over the serious violations against media freedoms committed by security forces in the Gaza Strip over the past two weeks. The most recent occurred yesterday, 4 December 2011, when security services raided and halted the conference ‘The First Palestinian Conference on Social Media’ being held in the “light house” venue in Gaza City, in conjunction with a Ramallah event via video conferencing. Security services stated that the prohibition was the result of event organisers failing to obtain the necessary permits.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10938&Itemid=56
Gaza health minister will not meet WHO chief
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 6 Dec — The health minister in Gaza refused on Tuesday to meet the head of the World Health Organization in the occupied territories due to a WHO conference held in Jerusalem … The WHO position is not in line with the EU position that Jerusalem is occupied, he noted. It was not clear if the two were scheduled to meet.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=442590
Samoud [or sumud] and the Sea
[photos] In Gaza 6 Dec — As dire and emotionally draining as the situation and daily life in Gaza can be, I like to show its beauty, which does abound, when I can. Gaza doesn’t need pity, it needs strong, vocal, unhindered support and solidarity, recognition of the 1.6 million lives within who continue to be largely ignored by the corporate media and of the continued Israeli occupation and siege. There are people and voices and stories here, of tragedy yes and of amazing resilience as well.
http://ingaza.wordpress.com/2011/12/05/samoud-and-the-sea/
Detention / Court actions / Prisoner exchanges
Human rights paper exposes Israeli violence against detained children
NAZARETH (PIC) 6 Dec — Physicians for human rights (PHR)-Israel, Adalah center and Al-Mizan center for human rights have issued a joint position paper against the extraction of false confessions under torture and extortion from Palestinian children and adolescents. This position paper addresses the extreme vulnerability of Palestinian children to specific conditions and practices of detention, and the illegitimate and cruel interrogation methods to which they are subjected by Israeli soldiers and interrogators, which result in extortion and false confessions.
link to Palestine Information Center
Stone Cold Justice / John Lyons
[photos] The Australian — YOU hear them before you see them. The first clue that a new group of children is approaching is a shuffle of shoes and a clinking of handcuffs and shackles. The door to the courtroom bursts open – four boys, all shackled, stare into the room. Four boys looking bewildered. They wear brown prison overalls and they trail into the room where their fate is to be decided by a female Israeli army officer/judge, who is sitting at the bench, waiting. The look on the face of one of the boys changes to elation when he sees his mother at the back of the court. He blows her a kiss. But his mother begins crying and this upsets the boy. He begins crying too. We’re sitting in an Israeli military court which is attached to the Ofer prison in the West Bank, 25 minutes from Jerusalem.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/stone-cold-justice/story-e6frg8h6-1226202202928
NGO: Israeli army fails Palestinian complainants
JERUSALEM (AFP) 7 Dec — The Israeli army’s inquiries into Palestinian complaints against its soldiers are frequently flawed and less than four percent result in an indictment, an Israeli rights group said on Wednesday. In a report entitled “Alleged Investigation,” Yesh Din said more than a third of the 3,150 complaints against Israeli troops filed between 2000 and 2010, were dismissed without a criminal investigation. And of the 1,949 cases that were investigated by the Military Police Criminal Investigations Unit and the Military Advocate General’s Corps, only 112 — a rate of just 3.5 percent — resulted in indictments, the group said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=442806
Israeli forces detain 21 in West Bank raids
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 7 Dec — Israeli forces detained 21 people in home raids across the West Bank early Wednesday, witnesses and the army said. An Israeli military spokesman said 21 “wanted Palestinians” were detained and taken for questioning by security forces. Eight people were detained from Nablus. Locals told Ma‘an that troops ransacked many homes in the northern West Bank city, adding that Hamas leader Muhammad Ghazal and a senior member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Yousif Abdul-Haq were among those taken.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=442689
IOF soldiers kidnap Palestinian woman for allegedly trying to stab one of them
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 7 Dec — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) detained a Palestinian woman at a military roadblock in Al-Khalil city on Wednesday after claiming she tried to stab one of them. The Hebrew radio said that the soldiers manning the barrier controlled the woman when she tried to stab a border policeman. It said that the soldiers took the lady to Kiryat Arba settlement for interrogation.
link to Palestinian Information Center
Israel arrests troops for anti-Palestinian vandalism
JERUSALEM (Reuters) 6 Dec — Three Israeli soldiers were arrested Tuesday for suspected involvement in pro-settler vandalism and arson, the military said, following a series of attacks in the West Bank that have exacerbated tensions with Palestinians. Channel Ten TV said the three soldiers were suspected of damaging both Palestinian and Israeli military property … The arrests are a rare example of conscript troops’ involvement in the Price Tag campaign and a military spokeswoman declined to detail allegations against them, saying that an investigation was under way … Channel Ten TV said one of the three lived in an unauthorized settler outpost, adding that one was also a combat soldier.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=442653
Abbas should change his locks before next wave of Palestinian prisoners freed / Akiva Eldar
Haaretz 6 Dec — In the coming days, as the next wave of Palestinian prisoners are released as part of the Gilad Shalit deal, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas ought to change the locks on his house and car. Contacts between the Egyptians and Israeli mediator David Meidan, a representative of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have made clear that the vast majority of the 550 soon-to-be-released prisoners are car thieves and petty criminals.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/abbas-should-change-his-locks-before-next-wave-of-palestinian-prisoners-freed-1.399760
Military court postpones hearing for jailed MP
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 6 Dec — An Israeli military court has postponed a hearing deciding on the extension of a Palestinian lawmaker’s administrative detention sentence, his attorney said. Jawad Bals said the hearing for Hussam Khader was postponed for two weeks as the court agreed to hear more testimony against his client. Khader says his detention is politically motivated. The detainee’s brother, Ghassan, said that this is the 25th renewal of Hussam’s administrative detention and targets him personally because of his views on the Palestinian cause…
At times, Israel has held thousands of prisoners in administrative detention, without informing them of charges against them or prosecuting them.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=442582
Prisoners’ families appeal to allow entry of winter clothes into prisons
TULKAREM (WAFA) 6 Dec – The families of prisoners, detained at Israeli jails, Tuesday appealed to all human rights organizations, the international Red Cross and all organizations in solidarity with the Palestinian people to pressure Israel to allow the entry of winter clothes and blankets to prisoners in jails, according to WAFA’s correspondent.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18264
IOA strip search relatives of prisoners
GAZA (PIC) 7 Dec — The Israeli Negev prison administration has forced all relatives of Palestinian prisoners to strip for search before visiting their imprisoned next of kin, the ministry of prisoners in Gaza said on Wednesday. It added in a statement that the incident occurred on Tuesday and that all women and even children not more than one year old were forced to strip in full for the unjustified search. The ministry said that the unprecedented step crossed all red lines, adding that Israeli policewomen carried out the humiliating search.
link to Palestinian Information Center
Qaraqe‘ in Brussels to appeal for prisoners
BRUSSELS (Ma’an) 6 Dec — Palestinian Authority Minister of Detainee Affairs Issa Qaraqe‘ on Tuesday met with Member of the European Parliament Tokia Saifi in Brussels to discuss the plight of political prisoners.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=442421
Former prisoner, PFLP leader: Hunger strike ‘made revolution in the prisons’ / Ben Lorber
EI 7 Dec — …BL: How did prisoners resist the occupation from within the prison? Abdel-Alim Da’na: We had many hunger strikes, and were used to struggling inside the prison to make our life possible. For example, the first hunger strike was in 1970 — this strike was to put an end to Israeli mistreatment of our prisoners. The guard or the policemen said “Issa, come in!” He beat him. Why? “Because I don’t like him!” And when you speak to the guard, you had to say “please sir, ok sir” and you had to bend your head. We saw that they are treating us in a very ugly, very inhumane way. This was the first hunger strike. And we succeeded in this hunger strike in 1970, to put an end to the guards’ mistreatment of prisoners.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/former-prisoner-pflp-leader-hunger-strike-made-revolution-prisons/10663
Israeli repression, discrimination, racism, and sexism
Barak, IDF chief caught on tape joking about women; demand tape not be aired
Haaretz 6 Dec — Defense Minister and IDF Chief Benny Gantz joke about the controversial issue of women singing in the army; Gantz to Channel 2 reporter: If you air this, it will be your last piece … MK Ilan Gilon (Meretz) said: “It is a shame that the IDF chief of staff and the defense minister choose sexist jokes instead of fighting for real equality for female soldiers.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/barak-idf-chief-caught-on-tape-joking-about-women-demand-tape-not-be-aired-1.399939
Gantz apologizes for remarks on female soldiers
Ynet 6 Dec — IDF Spokesperson’s Unit issues statement saying ‘interpretation added to comments contradict the chief of staff’s world view, his proven acts to promote women in the IDF.’ Meanwhile, female MKs, women’s rights groups denounce ‘sexist remarks’
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4158101,00.html
Police disbanding of anti-women-trafficking upheld in court
JPost 6 Dec — The High Court upheld a police decision to disband a unit combating women-trafficking on Monday, and rejected a petition against the move … The petition raised objections to the police’s decision to shut down the national Sa’ar Unit, and spread out anti-trafficking duties to local police districts around the country. Petitioners said the change would significantly harm Israel’s efforts against human trafficking, and warned that it would tarnish Israel’s image as a world leader in combating human trafficking.
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=248280&R=R2
Israel lawmaker wants to force Palestinians to swear ‘Zionist’ oath
Ali Abunimah EI blog 6 Dec — Danny Danon, a member of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, is proposing that all Israeli citizens – especially the 1.4 million Palestinian citizens of Israel – should be forced to declare an oath of loyalty to the political ideology of Zionism as a condition for obtaining an ID card.
http://electronicintifada.net/blog/ali-abunimah/israel-lawmaker-wants-force-palestinians-swear-zionist-oath
Netanyahu shelves cabinet discussion on bill to limit foreign funding to NGOs
Haaretz 7 Dec — Sources in prime minister’s office say Netanyahu wants to mull over the proposal after Attorney General said he could not defend the bill in High Court; Britain says bill would undermine Israel’s democracy.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/netanyahu-shelves-cabinet-discussion-on-bill-to-limit-foreign-funding-to-ngos-1.400184
B’Tselem: Denial of compensation
International law requires all states to remedy the consequences of illegal acts carried out by entities or persons acting on their behalf, including acts that have violated human rights. One of the major remedies required is financial compensation of victims, or victims’ families, for damages caused them, directly or indirectly, as a result of negligent or unlawful violation of their rights. The obligation to pay compensation is explicitly set forth in international humanitarian law and in international human rights law. Until 2002, Palestinian residents of the Occupied Territories were able to sue the State of Israel for negligent or unlawful acts carried out on its behalf that caused them bodily injury or property damage.
http://www.btselem.org/denial-of-compensation
Political / Diplomatic news
Fatah central committee meets in Ramallah
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 6 Dec — The Fatah central committee met Tuesday and confirmed its position on waiting until Israel freezes settlements before reentering negotiations, in a meeting attended by the president … Abbas also informed the party of the outcome of his meeting with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, who he met in Cairo in line with implementing a reconciliation deal signed in May but so far unimplemented. Further meetings in Cairo will be held on Dec. 18 and 20, officials said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=442615
Fatah denies allegations on formation of new government
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 7 Dec — Azzam al-Ahmad, Fatah Central Committee member Wednesday denied allegations of an agreement to form the new Palestinian government after the general elections scheduled for next May. “It is illegal to conduct the elections under two governments,” he said. He told Voice of Palestine that the new government issue will be discussed in a meeting scheduled for December 20 in Cairo, which will include all factions that signed the reconciliation agreement.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18270
Quartet to meet in Jerusalem next week
AP 6 Dec — Mideast mediators set to gather in another effort to revive peace talks on December 14. Israeli, Palestinian officials to meet separately with Quartet representatives
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4158066,00.html
Abbas handed report on financial disclosures
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 6 Dec — Rafiq Natsheh, head of the Anti-Corruption Commission, on Tuesday handed President Mahmoud Abbas a financial disclosure report as part of his regular updates, officials said … The disclosures, to be released on Dec. 9, coincide with Global Anti-Corruption Day and will detail the finances of those working in high-ranking positions in the Palestinian Authority, as per the law. The release of the forms comes after the PA has taken action against two cabinet ministers suspected of corruption, Minister of Economy Hassan Abu Libdeh and Minister of Agriculture Ismail Daiq.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=442642
Former security officers ‘fired after entering Gaza’
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 6 Dec — The Palestinian Authority has fired 107 formerly Gaza-based security officers after they reentered the coastal enclave without seeking authorization from Egypt, officials said Tuesday. Several dozen of the fired officers protested in the Sinai town of el-Arish, outside a police station, while others joined a sit-in at the Palestinian embassy in Cairo, a protester said … Fatah leader Ashraf Juma said the PA was making a mistake by cutting off salaries for the officers, who have been stranded since June 2007 in the Sinai. President Abbas had agreed to postpone the order, he said. Juma told Ma‘an that Hamas had not replied to intelligence requests seeking guarantees that the former officers were free to enter the enclave in light of a reconciliation deal signed in May.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=442624
Jordan to Palestinians: Stay out of local unrest
JPost 7 Dec — Faced with chronic strikes, king Abdullah appeals to Abbas, Mashaaal to keep ethnic Palestinians away from protest … Palestinians play a key role in Jordan where by some estimates they make up as much as 70% of the population, but are often regarded as less loyal to the royal family than the East Bankers, as Jordan’s more veteran population is known. While East Bankers dominate the armed forces, the security services and ministries, most of the kingdom’s business leadership is Palestinian.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?ID=248553&R=R1
South Africa official says support for Palestine firm
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 7 Dec — South Africa’s deputy minister of international relations and cooperation, Ebrahim Ebrahim, stressed Wednesday his country’s unchanging position in support of the Palestinian cause.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=442956
Romney: My first visit as US president would be to the Jewish state of Israel
Haaretz 7 Dec — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says in a conference hosted by the Republican Jewish Coalition that the bonds between Israel and the U.S. are ‘unshakable.’ – Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney lashed out at President Obama’s policy toward Israel on Wednesday, saying all he has done is “chastise Israel” while saying nothing about Hamas “and thousands of rockets fired at Israel.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/romney-my-first-visit-as-u-s-president-would-be-to-the-jewish-state-of-israel-1.400185
American senators, state reps visit Israel
Ynet 7 Dec — A bipartisan delegation of prominent American state officials is visiting Israel for intensive dialogue and briefings this week through Project Interchange, an educational institute of the American Jewish Committee (AJC).
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4158347,00.html
Other news
Demographic threat? Not according to statistics
Ynet 7 Dec — The common perception that in a few years there will be more non-Jewish Israeli newborns than Jewish ones appears to be detached from reality. According to Immigration Authority data published by the Yedioth Ahronoth daily on Wednesday, the number of Jewish newborns in Israel has increased by nearly 20% since 2001, while during this time the number of Muslim and Christian newborns has dropped by five and 10%, respectively.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4158271,00.html
IDF uses ‘Black Swan’ to train cadets for Hezbollah battles
JPost 7 Dec — Concerned that training exercises have become too sterile, the IDF’s Bahd 1 Officer Training School has instituted a new regimen aimed at preparing future officers for the uncertainty and chaos that comes with war.
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?ID=248444&R=R1
Jewish, Arab teens stone buses
Ynet 6 Dec — Wrong kind of coexistence: Police arrested 10 Jewish and Arab teens aged 13-16 on Monday on suspicion of hurling stones at city buses in Jaffa.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4157530,00.html
Mysterious Jerusalem carvings leave Israeli archaeologists baffled
AP 7 Dec — Three ‘V’ shapes carved into ancient bedrock uncovered in City of David dig, a politically sensitive excavation conducted by Israeli government … Palestinians and some Israeli archaeologists have criticized the dig for what they say is an excessive focus on Jewish remains. The dig’s archaeologists, who work under the auspices of the government’s Israel Antiquities Authority, deny that charge
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/mysterious-jerusalem-carvings-leaves-israeli-archaeologists-baffled-1.400113
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