UN: Israel demolishes an average of 13 Palestinian homes a week; 136 houses destroyed so far this year

Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Interference with other religions / Restriction of movement

Activist: Israel begins settlement construction near Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 24 Sept — Israeli authorities on Monday began the construction of new housing units in an illegal outpost near al-Khader village in Bethlehem, a local activist said … Israeli forces took control of the area, called Um al-Mohamadeen, in 2000 and set up military watchtowers. Settlement expansion and land confiscation in the area prevent urban expansion in al-Khader, Salah said. Israel plans to transform 40 military posts across the West Bank into settlements and plans to link different areas of the Efrat settlement bloc south of al-Khader, Salah added … Strategically, settlement construction in the al-Khader area is a continuation of Israeli plans to link the settlement blocs of Gush Etzion, Efrat and Gilo, which surround Bethlehem.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=522943

OCHA: Israeli occupation destroys 13 houses weekly in West Bank
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 24 Sept — The report issued by UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Palestinian territories OCHA revealed that the occupation has razed 465 Palestinian structures in the West Bank, including 136 houses, since the beginning of 2012, at the rate of 13 buildings per week compared to 12 building per week during the previous year.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s712rZP9ptgo4poTmfkVKADtqkMpNS3h1y0xXr0iPcKUIFviOOsb4q4w6ZWBifcumPCEumNS0MhvmPm%2bEwHq62vhh7G%2fKwpLYxSLQYetGcYgc%3d

Israel to demolish 9 houses in East Jerusalem
JERUSALEM, Sept 23 (WAFA) – The Israeli authorities Sunday handed residents of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan notices to demolish nine private-owned Palestinian houses, according to the information center of Wadi Helwa in Silwan. The center told WAFA that Israeli forces, accompanied by a staff from the Israeli municipality of west Jerusalem, handed the residents notices to demolish nine houses in four different areas in Silwan.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20720

Governor: Israeli forces confiscate livestock in Jordan Valley
TUBAS (Ma‘an) 23 Sept — Israeli forces confiscated dozens of livestock in the northern Jordan Valley on Sunday, the local governor said. Troops seized around 100 cows from Palestinians in Ein al-Hilweh and al-Maleh, Tubas governor Marwan Tubassi told Ma‘an.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=522534

Occupation releases wild boars east of Jenin to destroy olive crops
JININ (PIC) 23 Sept — The Israeli Occupation forces released dozens of wild boars into Palestinian agricultural fields in towns of Aannin, Tura and Barta‘a, in Jenin district, in order to damage the crops and olive trees, the villagers reported. The Agricultural Assembly in ‘Annin confirmed, in a press statement on Saturday, that large trucks accompanied by Israeli military forces stopped yesterday evening near the wall areas and released wild boars towards the olive fields … The Israeli forces released the boars aiming to destroy the olive harvesting season which represents the livelihoods for hundreds of Palestinian families, the Assembly added. The Agricultural Assembly affirmed that the residents in the border areas near the wall were several times attacked by the wild boars, causing injuries to many of them.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s70Tt1hVhjquQ0%2bu0cYfkqoMf9Lx%2bZ3iJF6Tz9iEMpFORHEIXqKQzJDMu4MbJxRmPPOphzUahZq%2fng8ONz2NEBKdZp4oWaX8srvyDR1PjvrJA%3d

Deir Ibzi Community Voice
StoptheWall 24 Sept — Deir Ibzi’, a village located north west of Ramallah, is a village of 13,860 dunams, with only 250 dunams built upon, and with a little over 2000 inhabitants. The village has been called by the name Deir Ibzi’ since the Roman era, and means “place of the well-spoken”. It also has the Bubeen Spring that was established during the same Roman era. The spring is a public spring and its water is used by farmers to water lemon, pomegranate and other fruit trees, as well as to irrigate grape vineyards. Almost 25 families are dependent on its water for the farming of 35 dunams and other uses. In addition to that, local and near-by communities use it as a touristic entertainment site. However, lately this spring has become a target of settler violence. These settlers have attacked the surrounding lands, forbidden farmers from reaching their fields, destroyed water irrigation networks in the area, cut and uprooted trees, and finally blocked the road to the spring so people can’t reach it.
http://stopthewall.org/2012/09/24/deir-ibzi-community-voice

Two pipes for two peoples: the politics of water in the West Bank / Amira Hass
Haaretz 23 Sept — In a new series, Haaretz explores the inequitable distribution of drinking water in the West Bank, where supply for the Palestinian falls far short of that of their settler neighbors as well as the standard set out by the WHO — The IDF’s Civil Administration is preventing the Palestinian Authority from laying a water pipe that would alleviate the acute water shortage for more than 600,000 Palestinians in the West Bank. The reason given for preventing the pipe’s construction is that a section of less than two kilometers of it, laid on the margins of Route 50, would disrupt Jewish passenger traffic on the road … The district needs an additional 13 million cubic meters a year for domestic use, apart from farming. From May to October the water to the Palestinians in the area is severely rationed. Some neighborhoods have water for a few hours once a week, others twice a month or less.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/two-pipes-for-two-peoples-the-politics-of-water-in-the-west-bank.premium-1.466250

Water Authority report to ad hoc committee highlights water problems
RAMALLAH, Sept 23 (WAFA) – The Water Authority report, published Sunday, highlighted the severe water shortages and acute water quality problems which continue to negatively affect the lives and livelihoods of millions of Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. … It stated that these problems are not caused by environmental factors, but attributable to the discriminatory water policies and practices Israel has instituted across the occupied Palestinian Territory over the last forty five years. While  customary international water law calls for all such trans-boundary freshwater resources to be shared “equitably and reasonably,” Israel currently exploits over 90 per cent of these resources for exclusive Israeli use, including for use in Israeli settlements, and allocates less than  10 per cent for Palestinian use,” It said.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20724

Sustainability in the shadow of a West Bank settlement (Part 3)
Haaretz 23 Sept — Marda is a small village nestled at the foot of a tall hill. For generations, its villagers grew wheat and barley on the plateau at the top of the hill. Then came 1967 and the Israeli occupation. The land was confiscated and Ariel, one of the West Bank’s most populous Jewish settlements, was built on the same flat bed of fertile land. This wasn’t the only blow dealt to Marda’s farmers. Israel began pumping an underground aquifer running beneath the village, rendering its spring dry for much of the year. Sewage from Ariel pours down the slope into its backyards and arable plots, destabilizing the foundations of houses and killing off olive trees. In the midst of all this, one enthusiastic farmer finds not only hope, but a determination to plant his own future in the soil.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/sustainability-in-the-shadow-of-a-west-bank-settlement.premium-1.466384

PCHR statement regarding recent Israeli violations in Jerusalem
24 Sept — Continuing its Efforts to Judaize Occupied East Jerusalem, Israel’s Forces Close the Ras Khamis Checkpoint and Declare the Establishment of a Bridge between Silwan and al-Buraq Wall … PCHR emphasizes that these measures are part of the policies adopted by the Israeli occupation authorities to Judaize the city, cut it off from other parts of the occupied West Bank and perpetuate its annexation to Israel, in violation of international humanitarian law and international resolutions regarding the legitimacy of occupied East Jerusalem.
http://www.imemc.org/article/64286

Top Supreme Court justice blasts state’s system of legitimizing West Bank outposts
Haaretz 23 Sept — Israel’s Deputy Supreme Court President Miriam Naor on Sunday lambasted the government over its method of legitimizing illegal West Bank outposts slated for demolition. Naor took particular issue with the state practice that allows settlers to purchase just small portions of the land in the areas intended for legitimization. “What’s it worth to obtain a small plot of land?” Naor asked the state representative in a special session of the High Court of Justice, which centered on the postponed evacuation of the Givat Assaf outpost.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/top-supreme-court-justice-blasts-state-s-system-of-legitimizing-west-bank-outposts.premium-1.466395

Foundation: Israelis perform religious rites at Al-Aqsa
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 23 Sept — Three groups of Israelis were given a guarded tour of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, a religious foundation said Sunday. The Al-Aqsa Foundation for Heritage and Waqf (Islamic endowment) said 130 Israelis toured the holy compound accompanied by rabbis and soldiers, and performed religious rituals. It said the groups caused a state of tension with the several hundred students present in the mosque.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=522566

IOF closes the Ibrahimi Mosque to Muslims
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 24 Sept — The Israeli Occupation Authorities (IOF) closed the Ibrahimi Mosque to Palestinians and Muslims, under the pretext of Jewish holidays. Occupation authorities closed the Ibrahimi Mosque, and tightened its military actions in its environment under the pretext of celebrating Jewish holidays, preventing Muslims from performing their prayers in it, locals confirmed.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7ArE6hGAl1Y4Ru0ENwmjQjFXs5zxdeIdWswZR3td7qJ7D2Pu70FwQmvVhGquA8H7sqHAtisAdk0i6dxs2SZWBpuWh4arGHwt6DVBEqH483H8%3d

UN OCHA oPt West Bank movement and access update September 2012
…Palestinian movement into and within large rural areas of the West Bank has remained significantly restricted during the reporting period. Firstly, the agricultural livelihoods of farmers living in 150 villages, who own land isolated on the other
side of the Barrier, continued to be undermined by the permit and gate regime. Additionally, the access to basic services for communities located behind the Barrier (over 11,000 people), including civil defense teams and ambulances, remained of particular concern. While only very few new sections were constructed during this period, approximately 62 percent of the Barrier route is now complete …Secondly, some 94 percent of the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea area have remained off-limits for Palestinian use, due to their designation as closed military areas and nature reserves, or their allocation to Israeli settlements … Thirdly, access to private agricultural land in the vicinity of Israeli settlements has remained significantly constrained due to the fencing off of those areas, or due to settler violence. Palestinian farmers who own land close to 55 Israeli settlements have access only through ‘prior’ coordination with the Israeli army. Full Report
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_movement_and_access_report_september_exec_2012_english.pdf

Israeli attacks / raids / illegal arrests

Medics: Woman injured by Israeli fire in Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 24 Sept — A Palestinian woman was injured by Israeli fire in the central Gaza Strip on Monday, medics said. Turkiyya al-Hasanat, 50, was shot in the right hand as Israeli forces withdrew from a brief incursion near al-Bureij refugee camp, according to medics and witnesses. She was evacuated to a Gaza hospital. Earlier, locals said that military tanks and bulldozers entered Gaza between the camp and the neighborhood of Juhor al-Dik. They reported gunshots and smoke bombs being released, while Israeli helicopters hovered over the area.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=522864

Gaza: Israeli forces raid al-Maghazi refugee camp, open fire at fishermen
PNN — On Monday 24th September, Israeli military vehicles raided agricultural lands east of al-Maghazi refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, and opened fire toward Palestinians’ houses. Palestinian news agency WAFA, reported that two bulldozers, escorted by four tanks, raided around 300 meters of Palestinians lands, near the borders in Gaza.
The Israeli Navy forces opened fire toward Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of the As-Sudaniya area, north of Gaza. No casualties or injuries were reported.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/politics/2727-israeli-forces-raid-al-maghazi-refugee-camp-open-fire-at-fishermen-gaza

Israeli occupation arrests two young Palestinians in Hebron
PNN — On Monday 24th September, Israeli occupation forces arrested at dawn, Tareq Abu Hashem, 18, and Mohammad Abu Hashem, 17, from the village of Beit Ummar in Hebron governorate in the West Bank…
Dozens of Israeli soldiers raided al-Mantara area near Etzion settlement, broke into the house of Ramzi al-Alami and searched for his 15 year-old son Hussein, who was at his work in the plastic factory. The soldiers handed his father a notice to his son to come to the Israeli interrogation center in Etzion settlement to conduct an interview with the Israeli intelligence, knowing that Hussein was also released a month ago after spending six months in Israeli jail.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/politics/2726-israeli-occupation-arrests-two-young-palestinians-hebron

IOF raid several towns in al-Khalil, erect checkpoints
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 23 Sept — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) raided four Palestinian towns in the district of al-Khalil southern West Bank, and erected checkpoints, harassing citizens. Eyewitnesses told PIC’s correspondent that IOF raided at night the towns of Edna, Dahriya, Tarqumiya, and Samu‘, roaming in their neighborhoods and streets, no arrests were reported … The occupation forces detained on Friday evening Mohammed Zughayyar, an activist in Youth Against Settlements, for several hours, summoning him to the Israeli intelligence center.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7hO1J8m2mVenVMkrIdYUVUotsF6fEAsbvPxHmBydTxYzkZR%2fPoBaA3u4ptbUCEzkXpz4mUv90iDWfIBtlezfmeLh30e%2fqQmQKOJq90K6fDTI%3d

Beating and Abuse — Policeman tasers Palestinians at Meymadion Water Park, 21 August 2012
B’Tselem — On 23 August 2012, Haaretz reported that a policeman assaulted Talal a-Sayed, a resident of a-Tur in East Jerusalem with a Taser M-26. A-Sayed was a family visit to the Meymadion water park in Tel Aviv. The assault, which was partly documented by a bystander on video, occurred in front of a-Sayed’s family and other park visitors and continued even after he was handcuffed. A-Sayed subsequently lodged a complaint with the Department for the Investigation of Police (DIP). Testimonies collected by B’Tselem indicate that prior to the assault on a-Sayed, another young Palestinian resident of a-Tur was also assaulted with a Taser, as well as pepper spray. Here is an account:
http://www.btselem.org/beating_and_abuse/20120905_talal_a_sayad

Beating and abuse — Suspicion: Border police assaulted teen in custody, Abu Dis, 28 August 2012
B’Tselem — Testimony collected by B’Tselem shows that, during the evening of Tuesday, 28 August 2012, Sa‘id Qiblawi, age 14, chanced on an area near his home in Abu Dis where children were throwing stones at border police officers. On trying to leave, Qiblawi was stopped by a policeman who, he testified, dragged him on the ground and put him inside a jeep, where, lying on the floor, he was beaten by other police officers. More beating followed at the nearby border police base.
http://www.btselem.org/beating_and_abuse/20120911_qiblawi_assault

Gaza blockade

Rizqa: Haneyya’s visit to Cairo successfully addressed vital issues for Gaza
GAZA (PIC) 24 Sept — Political advisor to the Palestinian premier Yousuf Rizqa said Ismail Haneyya’s meetings with his Egyptian counterpart in Cairo positively addressed the problems of electricity and fuel as well as the proposal for establishing a free commercial zone … He stated that premier Haneyya’s visit to Cairo was for practical reasons and not political
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7drqYDzbBcPvz8MA3wy90nTcJyRUmYQN6OFSNwUqzMxw7pqCOz5hXmSpNVuP8TOaBwxH7gadoFw%2fqjDnh%2fVuivOQdPMZQQS266iZugqum6O8%3d

Gaza is self-sufficient in agricultural produce
MEMO 24 Sept — EXCLUSIVE PICTURES— As the Gaza Strip has self-sufficiency in vegetables and fruits, the Palestinian Agriculture Ministry announced on Sunday that it stopped all agricultural imports except bananas and apples. This decision, the ministry said, came after the domestic produce became able to fulfil consumers’ needs in the local markets with reasonable prices … Gaza produces about 70,000 tons of fruits annually; twenty five thousand of citrus, seven thousand of grapes, 20 thousand of olives, ten thousand of guava and five thousand of dates. It also produces more than 300,000 tons vegetable every year.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/4353-gaza-is-self-sufficient-in-agricultural-produce

New Irish ship seeks to break Israeli supplies blockade on Gaza
Irish Central 24 Sept by Kerry O’Shea — 79 Irish parliamentarians have signed a statement condemning Israel’s ongoing blockade of the Gaza strip and supporting a large humanitarian sailing ship, the SV Estelle, that is now on its way from Europe to the port of Gaza. Northern Irish Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has also signed his name to the statement that  expresses unambiguous support for the non-violent Gaza flotilla movement. Those who have signed their support to Gaza span both Northern and the Republic of Ireland, as well as an array of political parties. TDs, MEPs, senators, MLAs and MPs have signed, as well as many independents.
http://www.irishcentral.com/news/New-Irish-ship-seeks-to-break-Israeli-supplies-blockade-on-Gaza–170960861.html

Sailing returns to Gaza shores
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 24 Sept — Twelve-year-old Darin Kabariti says she feels completely free when she launches her sailboat off the Gaza coast. Kabariti, from Gaza City, is thought to be the youngest girl in the coastal strip to take part in a revival of sailing. The sport was popular in the 1960s and 1970s, but has dropped off in the intervening years
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=522891

Hunger strikes / Other prisoner news

Prisoners Safadi, al-Barq suspend their hunger strike
RAMALLAH (PIC) 24 Sept — The two Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jail Samer al-Barq and Hassan Safadi have suspended their long-term hunger strikes expecting upcoming release … The Prisoners Society lawyer has also appealed to the Israeli High Court asking for Safadi to be released immediately despite Israeli “assurances” he will be freed at the end of his current administrative detention term on Oct. 29, Boulus said. Samir al-Barq remained in Israeli civilian hospital Assaf Harofeh and will soon be transferred to Ramle prison clinic, Boulus said. Al-Barq suspended his strike after learning Egypt and Israel had agreed he would be transferred from jail into exile in Egypt, Boulus stated … Safadi has been on hunger strike for 95 days, whereas al-Barq has spent 125 days on hunger strike.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7GHBl5Zzs%2bZENg5ht%2bzQ09exSRfnnBm6xAErpsU%2fbL%2bvlY1VfpbqONUoIKm3jB9%2fCcmTJKXqgsAIJC5ciDMKhUF7YNNm1Cy0X2a%2bnZz6Hqz8%3d

Hebron protesters stage sit-in for hunger strikers
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 224 Sept — Demonstrators held a sit-in protest in front of Red Cross offices in Hebron on Monday in solidarity with prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails. Ayman Sharawna entered his 86th day of hunger strike on Monday. Samer al-Issawi has been on hunger strike for 55 days. Amjad al-Najjar, director of the prisoner center in Hebron, said the detainees were in dangerous medical conditions … Sharawna and al-Issawi were freed in the Oct. 2011 prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas, and then re-arrested. The prisoner rights group Addameer says Israel has detained a number of prisoners released in the deal by invoking a relatively new provision of Military Order 1651. The provision allows a special military committee to cancel amnesty for a prisoner based on secret information, usually without presenting any new charges.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=523123

Photos: Two suspend hunger strikes, two continue as Gazans rally
AIC 24 September
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/news/news/5336-photostwo-suspend-hunger-strikes-two-continue-as-gazans-rally.html

Gaza families visit relatives in Israeli jails
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 24 Sept — A group of Palestinians left the Gaza Strip on Monday to visit family members detained in Israel, a Gaza spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross said. Ayman al-Shehabi told Ma‘an that 50 family members visited 37 prisoners in Israel’s Nafha jail.  In July, families in the Gaza Strip visited relatives detained in Israeli jails for the first time since 2007.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=523049

Hebron man freed after 2 years in Israeli jail
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 24 Sept  — Israel on Monday freed a prisoner from Hebron after detaining him for two years without charge. Sufian Hashem Jamjoum, 40, was detained for the third time in 2010 during an arrest campaign by the Israeli military. He has spent nearly 20 years in Israeli jails and was shot by Israeli forces during a protest in prison … According to Addameer prisoners group, there were at least 25 administrative detainees in Israeli prisons as of August 2012.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=523081

Palestinian Authority in the Service of Israel

PA security arrest four in WB and summons others
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 23 Sept — The Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces in the West Bank continued its political arrests and summonses campaign which targeted 120 Hamas supporters since Wednesday morning. In Bethlehem, PA services arrested the liberated prisoners Osama Gado and Bilal Masaeed, from the Aida refugee camp. They both were former prisoners in PA jails. In Qalqilya, the authority forces detained the liberated prisoner Ahmed Bakir after being summoned by the General Intelligence Service. In Nablus, the liberated prisoner Hassan Qatanani, from the Askar refugee camp east of the city, was arrested by PA security services. In occupied Jerusalem, the Preventive Security Service summoned the liberated captives Mohammed Adnan Shamasneh and Mamoun Shamasneh, from the village of Qatana in Jerusalem.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7ech9VJWAjMoD56q9l3ikSLR21ZaAVUfSX984MzyLYcC%2fgWSCQmrCWOyj3uocA5b4ChyaXri0gV37p5LRR0gP88jD5kljnoVzkJdtwctCkmg%3d

PA’s apparatuses arrest 6 supporters of Hamas including a journalist
WEST BANK (PIC) 24 Sept – Palestinian Authority security apparatus arrested six supporters of Hamas Movement in al-Khalil and Nablus and summoned two liberated prisoners for interrogation in Ramallah. PA’s General Intelligence Service arrested in Nablus the journalist Sami Radhi al-Assi, after raiding his house. He was a liberated captive from Israeli jails and was previously arrested several times by the Authority security apparatus. The Preventive Security Service also arrested in al-Khalil two ex-captives from Yatta and two others from al-Khalil, in addition to a student at al-Khalil University and his cousin from the town of Beit Kahil.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s74t9RthfqQA%2f54j%2fyF5%2fl7aerl7H5h5DGYTpA%2fza3OUcPIt2jl9bOOuUBGEn6Yh29j50g%2bGguOujIqXV%2fI%2bxD71nUOY%2fKGgxoOi%2fx3TH6Hpc%3d

PA detains Quds Press’ reporter in Nablus
NABLUS (PIC) 24 Sept — Mohammed Mona, Quds Press’ reporter, was arrested by PA security forces in Nablus in the northern West Bank after being summoned to report to Preventive Security Service in the city. Quds Press news agency quoted the journalist’s family as saying that Mohamed Mona was summoned on Sunday while he was in the Magistrate’s Court in Nablus due to a former political arrest by the security apparatus itself.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7lZBKK59QspFKgA2Z6czS824iX9vMe5a%2bF1mESMp%2bMIYYvf%2bSZBDU%2fpZYvknVPC2myoJGvmYkb1K4erAzDWztSr9%2bTkIawJjhcNkq7W6seNQ%3d

MPS Abdel Razek and Abdel Jawad demand PA to stop detention campaigns
WEST BANK (PIC) 23 Sept — MPs for Salfit, captive Dr. Omar Abd al-Razek and Dr. Nasser Abd al-Jawad, denounced the arrest of ex-prisoner, journalist Walid Khaled, by Authority security apparatus which extended his detention for 15 additional days, demanding to immediately release him and all political prisoners. The two MPs said in a press statement on Saturday that the detention of the ex-prisoners by PA’s apparatuses in the West Bank represents “a stab in the back of the captives in the occupation jails, who sacrificed their youth to defend their country and their people.” The MPs considered the continuation of the political detention a proof of “PA’s doublespeak in dealing with the detainees’ files, as at the time when it denounces the occupation’s violations against prisoners, it pursues the recently released detainees from Israeli jails and arrest them” as is the case of Walid Khaled.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7FKjyD3vqLemb52RcaVeCEAeBztIB6%2fj1J1Tzb8hDCjkmb6Otc5E02eOflnAgMHs1Sc%2bVFonfb%2boTrNlmKdcMk6vBnEluTWugTotEvrVXDIU%3d

PA security says found underground Hamas bunker
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 23 Sept — Palestinian Authority security services spokesman Adnan Dmeiri said that forces on Sunday discovered an underground bunker used by Hamas members in the northern West Bank … A Ma‘an reporter said a secret entrance to the bunker was found under floor tiles in a restaurant bathroom. An underground tunnel several meters long ends in stairs which open into an apartment … The complex is connected to electricity and water network and contains a satellite receiver as well as other communications equipment. Palestinian officials insist the compound is used as a prison, but a Ma‘an reporter was not allowed into alleged prison facilities because security forces said investigations were still underway … Palestinian security sources told Ma‘an that hundreds of thousands of US dollars were seized in the bunker as well as flags, videotapes, documents and military uniforms of the Hamas’ military wing. The PA’s preventive security service learned about the bunker from members of Hamas military wing who are currently being interrogated in the West Bank, the sources said … Hamas spokesperson Salah Bardaweel said the whole story was nothing but lies and baseless claims made up by the Palestinian Authority to justify the recent mass arrests in the West Bank.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=522572

Hamas denies Dhameri’s accusation about prison in Nablus
GAZA (PIC) 24 Sept — Member of Hamas’s political bureau Ezzat Al-Resheq strongly denounced Adnan Addhameri, a Palestinian authority security spokesman, for falsely accusing his Movement of establishing a prison in Nablus city. On his Facebook page, Resheq described this accusation as sheer lies aimed at justifying the arbitrary arrest campaign which the PA security forces have been carrying out for days against Hamas cadres and supporters in the West Bank. He added that Addhameri also made his lies to cover for the security forces which violently suppress the angry popular protests against the PA government. For his part, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri condemned this accusation as “ridiculous.”
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7h%2b480pkp40vznHI3kXpm2BG975WPkbZxSbzSgE%2fN3fk2LjfsjQ%2fE6PA4mjW0elDkHCRO4f1dFdXfi7R7SeXpTu5f5tH1rf5UGGj7yOQ%2bTcs%3d

MP Halayka: W. Bank arrests a protest against Cairo-Gaza relations
NABLUS (PIC) 24 Sept — Palestinian lawmaker Samira Halayka said the frenzied arrest campaign against Hamas cadres and supporters in the West Bank is an actual translation of Mahmoud Abbas’s rejection of the growing convergence between the Egyptian leadership and the Palestinian government in Gaza.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7GlzNY8q9gMsYX1Dl%2fK0dCB9RFx3jxCelWb0AHlIFrzXCEdtla26kqGwBX6u%2brFPjCOe0bl1WK4lLRZDLfr93zzgCZKmD1Fio%2fjTbAgQJ7eQ%3d

A dismissed teacher goes on hunger strike in Nablus
NABLUS (PIC) 24 Sept — Ahmed Mustafa Wahdan, a teacher from Nablus in northern West Bank, launched on Sunday an open-ended hunger strike protesting his dismissal from his work and demanding to return to his job. Wahdan, a school teacher, had been dismissed from his job on December 1, 2011 because of political affiliation, together with hundreds of other employees who have been also dismissed from their jobs by Fayyad government, under the pretext of their affiliation with the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7I%2bRBAA2gMfh8HUWxGH%2bVQCAMug6ETwtLxfOLPts6zVf%2bcokDKKQ79gcLqFE3H1uzyWsYqpo%2bKOcIB3IooGZhNdMJj3bjUU8hXiJB%2bsfd%2byo%3d

Refugees

Palestinian refugees in Lebanon struggle for water
Al-Akhbar 24 Sept — The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which provides assistance to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, has come under attack for not providing adequate basic services, including the most basic of them all: drinking water — Baalbeck – “Even the water is used to humiliate us,” says Mona, clearly fed up and struggling to climb the stairs to her second floor flat in al-Jalil refugee camp in Baalbeck. Mona, in her fifties, climbs a few steps with her heavy water containers and stops to catch her breath … The saga of the contamination of the al-Jalil camp water well has gone on for years, but now the Palestinian popular committees say they have been forced to shut down the well after UNRWA’s own technical team discovered serious construction violations in the well itself that were causing raw sewage and other contaminants to pollute the water.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/palestinian-refugees-lebanon-struggle-water

Realmadrid Foundation, UNRWA sign deal to train Palestinian refugee children
Al Arabiya 22 Sept — The RealMadrid Foundation, of the Spanish heavyweight football team, joined forces with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to conduct training courses in Palestine. UNRWA released a statement on its website saying that the two bodies have signed a partnership agreement to promote sports programs in UNRWA schools to contribute in improving the education and wellbeing of Palestinian refugee children. “This partnership agreement will lead to the establishment of eight Social Sport Schools in the Gaza Strip and West Bank in which 10,000 Palestine refugee children will participate,” according to the statement.
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/09/22/239568.html

Political, economic, other news

Hamas official: Mashaal will step down as party chief
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 23 Sept — Hamas’ leader in exile, Khaled Mashaal, is not seeking re-election, a Hamas official said Sunday … “When Mashaal said he was not seeking re-election, a message was sent to him from the movement’s leaders unanimously asking him to change his mind,” Bardawil said. Serious discussions are ongoing within Hamas about a successor to Mashaal, Ma‘an learned from sources close to the movement. The only potential candidates would be current prime minister Ismail Haniyeh or deputy head of Hamas politburo Mousa Abu Marzouq, based in Cairo. The sources said that Abu Marzouq is likely to be the preferred choice.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=522725

Female candidate tops list to become mayor of Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 23 Sept — Having a woman compete for the municipal council of a city as famous and spiritually important as Bethlehem would have been seen as a pointless adventure a number of years ago. In 2012, however, fellow candidates of Vera Baboun are proud that she is leading a list of hopefuls to become the first female mayor of the city of Bethlehem … Baboun has a Masters degree in African-American literature and is currently working on a PhD about women’s literature. She is headmistress of the Roman Catholic High School in Beit Sahour and has worked as a lecturer at Bethlehem University, where she was also the dean of student affairs
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=522818

Palestine envoy: Jewish refugee meeting at UN aims for confusion
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 23 Sept — Palestine’s UN envoy said on Sunday that while Israel had the right to hold a panel discussion at the United Nations asserting the claims of Jews who fled Arab countries after 1948, the only purpose of the meeting is to distract attention from Palestinian refugees. Riyad Mansour told Ma‘an that all Arab countries with the exception of Egypt boycotted the meeting at the UN headquarters in New York on Friday. Arab envoys at the UN lodged unsuccessful protests to call it off.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=522535

PA threatens to sue union over transport strikes
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 24 Sept — The Palestinian Authority will go to the Supreme Court of Justice if the public transport workers union proceeds with strikes this week, a Palestinian minister said on Sunday. The union has confirmed it will proceed with planned strikes this week after it was not satisfied by the government’s response to their demands.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=522855

Fearing Palestinian ‘Arab Spring’, Israel issues more work permits
Ynet 23 Sept — Jerusalem to allow entry to additional 5,000 Palestinian workers as part of effort to quell social unrest in West Bank …  Israel has also decided to move up the first phase of the economic agreement signed between Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and allow the PA to immediately begin collecting customs duties and valued-added tax on goods delivered to the West Bank via Israeli ports.  The agreement also calls for building pipelines that will carry fuel from Israel’s ports directly to special warehouses in the PA. Fuel is currently delivered to the Authority aboard trucks. It appears that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government hopes the measures will help quell the protests against the high cost of living in the West Bank by showing the Palestinians that Abbas’ Western-backed regime has more economic sovereignty.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4284867,00.html

Thousands of new work permits for Palestinians only serve the status quo / Mya Guarnieri
972mag 24 Sept — Israeli officials will authorize 5,000 new work permits for Palestinian laborers. The move comes in the wake of the West Bank protests against the Palestinian Authority and the rising cost of living, and is meant to prop up the PA. The move is also a symptom of Israel’s hysterical reaction to foreign workers and African refugees … Just as foreign aid is intended to keep the unsustainable and overextended PA afloat — giving some West Bank Palestinians a sedating sense of normalcy — so are Israeli work permits. Along with checkpoints and restrictions on freedom of movement, work permits are intended to shape the behavior of the Palestinian population.
http://972mag.com/thousands-of-new-work-permits-for-palestinians-only-serve-of-the-status-quo/56407/

PA: Political, economic status quo unsustainable
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 22 Sept — A Palestinian Authority report to be presented to an international donor meeting on Sunday will present an action plan for safeguarding the two state solution … Palestinians must be given the right to “plan for and develop” all of the occupied territories, as the development of Area C is crucial to the viability of the two state solution, the report says.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=522432

Statistics: USD 793.6 million is the deficit in current account of Palestinian balance of payments
PNN 24 Sept — On Monday 24th September, Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) and Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) announced in a press release, the preliminary results of the Palestinian Balance of Payments in the Second Quarter 2012 The Balance of Payments (BOP) is an account measuring transactions between residents and non-residents in a given period.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/national/2731-usd-7936-million-is-the-deficit-in-current-account-of-palestinian-balance-of-payments

Department of alternate reality:
Ayalon calls donor states to stop aid to PA
PNN 24 Sept — On Monday 24th September, Israeli deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, called donor states to stop transferring financial aid to the Palestinian National Authority, saying that the PA transfers part of the money to Hamas government in Gaza, which supports terrorists and their family members – as he claims. Ayalon has warned in the Donor Countries conference that was held in New York, that Israel will stop helping the Palestinian economy if the PA continued to support terrorism and take bilateral steps in the international arena.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/national/2730-ayalon-calls-donor-states-to-stop-aid-to-pa

Israel’s policies hinder development, says Telecommunications Ministry
RAMALLAH, Sept 23 (WAFA) -The Palestinian Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology (MTIT) Sunday said that Israel’s aggressive policies are hindering the development of the Palestinian Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), according to a press release by MTIT … It said Israel has manipulated and violated all bilateral arrangements, turning its back to international legitimacy with continuous attempts to block Palestine from setting international law as a term of reference in its telecom relations with Israel. “Israel continues to employ a myriad of policies to sustain its control over the Palestinian telecommunications sector,” it said.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20725

PA minister announces price cap on basic goods
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 23 Sept — The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Economy on Sunday announced a price cap on basic household consumer items. Jawad Naji, the minister of national economy, made the announcement during a press conference in Ramallah, saying that the PA ministry is trying to protect Palestinian consumers from exploitation. Eight basic household items, including bread, oil, sugar, rice, eggs, milk and chicken, will have fixed prices.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=522771

Palestinians to lift West Bank import limits on Israeli goods
RAMALLAH (AFP) 24 Sept –  The Palestinian West Bank government said Sunday it was ending restrictions limiting the number of traders who could import Israeli goods into the territory, in a bid to reduce spiraling prices. “The system of exclusive agencies and exclusive distributors for goods and products manufactured in Israel or foreign goods imported through an Israeli agent is cancelled,” Economy Minister Jawad Naji told a news conference.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Business/Middle-East/2012/Sep-24/188987-palestinians-to-lift-west-bank-import-limits-on-israeli-goods.ashx

PA, Israel discuss developing gas off Gaza coast
JERUSALEM (Reuters) 23 Sept — The Palestinian Authority is negotiating with Israel for permission to develop natural gas off the coast of the Gaza Strip, Israeli and foreign diplomats said on Sunday. Mediterranean gas could be a windfall for the PA, which operates under Israeli occupation in the West Bank and has alarmed the World Bank by sinking into fiscal crises amid shortfalls in international aid. As envisaged in the exploratory gas talks initiated by peace envoy Tony Blair, the PA would alone levy tariffs on any eventual revenues from private pumping in Gazan waters, though breakaway Hamas Islamists govern the coastal enclave.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=522659

Israeli defense chief proposes West Bank pullout if peace talks remain stalled
JERUSALEM (AP) 24 Sept — Israel’s defense minister called for a unilateral pullout from much of the West Bank in published comments Monday, saying Israel must take “practical steps” if peace efforts with the Palestinians remain stalled. The comments by Defense Minister Ehud Barak appeared to put him at odds with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has resisted making any major concessions to the Palestinians in the absence of peace talks. Negotiations have been deadlocked for nearly four years. Netanyahu’s office declined comment. Barak’s proposal is unlikely to be implemented, at least in the near term. Netanyahu’s coalition is dominated by hardliners who would be reluctant to embrace the plan. ..
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israeli-defense-chief-proposes-west-bank-pullout-if-peace-talks-remain-stalled/2012/09/24/fc292af8-0631-11e2-9eea-333857f6a7bd_story.html

Meridor on unilateral move: We saw what happened in Gaza
JPost 24 Sept — Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor expressed disapproval of a plan proposed by Defense Minister Ehud Barak which includes unilateral withdrawal of dozens of settlements, outlined in an interview he gave to Israel Hayom published Monday.
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=286069

Israel won’t accept Egypt treaty changes: Lieberman
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (Daily Star) 23 Sept — Israel will not accept alterations to its 1979 peace treaty with Egypt, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday, as ties between the two countries continue to fray. “There is not the slightest possibility that Israel will accept the modification of the peace treaty with Egypt,” Lieberman told Israeli public radio. “We will not accept any modification of the Camp David accords.”
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Sep-23/188925-israel-wont-accept-egypt-treaty-changes-lieberman.ashx

Palestinian knife attack over anti-Islam film
AFP 23 Sept — A Palestinian woman tried to stab an Israeli policeman on an east Jerusalem street on Sunday, apparently in protest at a US-made film which denigrates Islam, an Israeli police spokesman said. “An Arab woman this morning tried to attack an Israeli policeman, who managed to control the situation and no one was injured,” spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP. “The incident took place close to Salah Eddin street. The women, aged 32, is from the Silwan neighbourhood. She was arrested and her knife seized,” he added. “Preliminary questioning revealed she was attempting to protest against the film,” Rosenfeld added
http://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/palestinian-knife-attack-over-anti-islam-film-122735689.html

The two sides of the Holy Land
Haaretz 14 Sept — The Mejdi Tours company take pains to present both sides of the reality in these parts – not without paying a price — With a Palestinian Muslim guide and an Israeli Jewish guide, it wasn’t a typical Jerusalem tour. Aziz Abu Sarah, 32, grew up in East Jerusalem throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers, the only Jews he had ever met. Student Shira Nesher, 24, had toured East Jerusalem as a military tour guide during her national service, teaching soldiers about the Arab enemy. On this summer afternoon in Jerusalem, they stood together in front of 28 tourists – Israelis, foreigners and two Palestinians – to describe what they had learned in the years since.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/the-two-sides-of-the-holy-land.premium-1.464983

U.S.

Report: [US] Jewish leaders cancel meeting with Abbas
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma‘an) 24 Sept — A group of Jewish leaders in the US cancelled a meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas under pressure from Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli media reported Monday. The meeting, organized by billionaire businessman Mort Zuckerman, was due to take place Monday in New York, the Hebrew-language daily Maariv reported.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=522987

New Mexico church pulled offer to host Palestine conference due to pro-Israel groups / Ali Abunimah
EI 23 Sept — On Friday, I wrote about the bullying and smear tactics of the Jewish Federation of New Mexico and its director Sam Sokolove, against the upcoming Friends of Sabeel-North America conference in Albuquerque on September 28-29 – tactics that I had experienced personally before a previous visit to New Mexico two years ago. Rev. Donald Wagner, the National Program Director of Friends of Sabeel-North America (FOSNA), has spoken out calling for an end to the “interfaith bullying” by pro-Israel groups, a matter, Wagner says “that has flown under the radar for too long.” In an op-ed in the Albuquerque Journal, Wagner exposes more of the pressure tactics and smears that Sokolove and his group had used to try sabotage the conference at which Naim Ateek, Nadia Hijab Miko Peled and I will be among the speakers. That pressure resulted in the church that initially agreed to host the conference withdrawing its offer.
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/new-mexico-church-pulled-offer-host-palestine-conference-due-pro-israel-groups

Stopping Palestinian unilateral action key goal at UN for Washington
WASHINGTON (JTA)  24 Sept – Halting Palestinian unilateral actions at the United Nations will be among the “broad priorities” of the U.S. government at the U.N. General Assembly meeting. “We will continue to oppose unilateral Palestinian actions in the U.N. on issues that can only be achieved through direct negotiations,” Esther Brimmer, assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs, told reporters on Sept. 21. This year, in the much larger General Assembly, the Palestinians are expected to receive the support of nearly all Muslim and Third World countries. That has set off a diplomatic flurry by the United States and Israel to make sure that Western countries do not support the bid, which they say will only hamper stalled face-to-face negotiations by entrenching hard-liners on both sides of the conflict.
http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/09/24/3107811/stopping-palestinian-unilateral-actions-key-goal-at-un-for-washington

Opinion / Analysis

The Palestinian Authority — devoid of any authority / Amira Hass
Haaretz 24 Sept — The Oslo Accords, initially intended to create Palestinian self-government, have in fact left them with autonomous pockets that only reinforce Israel’s rule.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/the-palestinian-authority-devoid-of-any-authority.premium-1.466457

Israel’s five ‘nos’ / Akiva Eldar
Haaretz 24 Sept — How long can Israel be the only country in the Middle East that enjoys a full exemption from nuclear inspections because of a conflict it doesn’t show any interest in trying to resolve? — At the height of its preparations for the holidays, Israel opened the new year with a new “no.” Until now, there were only four: no to withdrawal from the territories that we occupied in 1967; no to dividing Jerusalem; no to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; and no to the Arab Peace Initiative. Last Wednesday, Israel delivered another no – to the Helsinki conference on making the Middle East a nuclear-weapons-free zone, which was meant to take place late this year or in early 2013.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/israel-s-five-nos.premium-1.466453

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