Israeli forces use Hebron home as temporary military post
HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israeli forces took control of a home in Hebron on Monday and used it as a temporary military post, the owner told Ma’an. Israeli soldiers raided the house east of Hebron and forced the family to evacuate the premises, owner Salim al-Salaymeh said. Seventeen family members inside the home were forced to stay on the ground and refrain from moving during the incident, he added.
On Tuesday 2nd October, since the early hours of the morning, Likud member Moshe Feiglin, escorted by 50 settlers performed their religious rituals, under the protection of the Israeli forces. Al-Aqsa Association for Waqf and Heritage reported that another group of 30 settlers entered to the mosque through Bab al-Magharbeh, and roamed in its yards. Israeli forces arrested four Palestinian Journalists, a TV photographer and a girl from inside al-Aqsa mosque. Dozens of Special Forces spread out in the mosque and forced Muslims, whose ages are less than 45, to go out of the mosque.
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Over 100 Israeli Jews entered the premises of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem on Tuesday to perform religious rituals, witnesses and a local group said. The group, which arrived at intervals from 9 a.m., was accompanied by Israeli soldiers, the Al-Aqsa Foundation for Waqf and Islamic Heritage said. Likud party candidate Moshe Feiglin also reportedly entered the mosque area. Clashes broke out between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers and 12 people inside the Mosque area were detained, locals said. An Israeli citizen was arrested after lying down on the ground and refusing to move, Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld told Ma’an. A Mosque security guard was also detained by Israeli authorities, witnesses said. The Al-Aqsa compound, containing the mosque and the Dome of the Rock, is the third holiest site in Islam and abuts the site where Jews believe the ancient Second Temple stood.
Report compiled by OCHA shows that international entities are covering costs of West Bank infrastructure projects – even though Israel is responsible for them.
IOF closes Ibrahimi Mosque before Muslims for Jewish holidays
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) decided on Monday to close the Ibrahimi Mosque before Muslim worshipers for two days under the pretext of Jewish holidays.
The Qalandiya Routine the Media Will Not Report, Tamar Fleishman
A long and sad line of woman, children and babies was passing through the checkpoint at the end of a day of prison visitations. From one stretcher to another stretcher, from one ambulance to another ambulance, in the back-to-back procedure, a young man was being transferred after surgery back to his home in Ramallah. Twenty five men, who were caught by the Border Police hunters at Zur Hadasa in the early morning hours, had been detained for the entire day. They had been taken five at a time to Qalandiya checkpoint (“they don’t have a vehicle large enough to contain them all, they said…”) and from there they were sent off to Palestinian territories. Among them were people whose homes are in Hebron and Bethlehem.
The South Hebron Hills: touring Israeli occupation
Ramallah— The Israeli government claims that it is committed to a peaceful solution with the Palestinians resulting in two independent states.
New Negev Bedouin leadership faces daunting challenges
Yeela Raanan – Council for the Unrecognized Bedouin Villages – The latest move in the escalating government offensive aims at erasing the Bedouin village of Im el Hiran, and building in its place a new Jewish community, ironically named “Hiran”. The 1,500 residents of Im el Hiran appealed to the courts, requesting that this decision be overturned, but their appeal was denied.
This week Jeff Halper of
the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions is in the States, and a lot of people are going to see him, so it seemed a good time to get up this video I made last July of Halper in the Old City, showing me the “Judaization” of East Jerusalem.
A new exhibit and project aims to collect testimonies from the aging and dying perpetrators of the Nakba, before it’s too late.
Israeli & Egyptian Siege on Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — One man was killed and another wounded Tuesday when a smuggling tunnel collapsed under the Gaza-Egypt border collapsed, civil defense crews said. Yahia Muhammad Akel, 23, was killed and another man was transferred to hospital. On Wednesday, Suleiman Ramadan al-Masri, 20, died and two men were moderately wounded when a Rafah tunnel collapsed, spokesman of Gaza health ministry Ashraf al-Qidra told Ma’an. On Sept. 22, Muhammad Ramadan Abu Armaneh, 33, died and earlier in the month Talib Udwan, 24, was killed in a similar incident. Medics say over 160 Palestinians have died in the network of underground tunnels since Israel imposed a siege on the Gaza Strip in 2006. Egypt started closing the tunnels after an Aug. 5 attack in Sinai when gunmen killed 16 Egyptian soldiers. Egypt suspects the tunnels were used by some of the militants. Hamas says no one from Gaza was involved in the attack. The tunnels have been used to import anything from food to construction materials, fuel and cars, and militants have also used them to import munitions used to attack Israel, which has targeted some of the tunnels with air strikes.
An infant dies because of her serious burns
Palestinian infant Tala al-Baghdadi died, on Monday afternoon, of her wounds caused when a candle lit amid a power outage burnt their house down, a week ago.
President Mohamed Morsy’s office on Monday confirmed that Egypt would not establish a free trade zone with the Gaza Strip in the border area of Rafah in North Sinai, after conflicting statements from both Egyptian and Palestinian officials. “There is no such project,” said presidential spokesperson Yasser Ali. “It was an idea suggested in the media but never formally discussed, and we will not accept any violation of our sovereignty over our territories.”
Bullshit: Morsi: Egyptians will not stand helpless facing Gaza siege
Egyptian President Dr. Mohamed Morsi confirmed that Egyptian position towards the Palestinian cause has not changed, and that Egypt will always support Palestinian people.
Egypt to raise Gaza power supply to 30 megawatts
Egyptian minister of electricity and energy Mahmoud Balbaa said on Monday that his country would raise during the next two weeks the electrical capacity provided for Gaza to 30 megawatts.
UNRWA to hand out stationery to Gaza students despite poor funding
UNRWA operations director Robert Turner said the agency would distribute on Monday morning school kits and stationery items to Gazan students in its schools.
PLC welcomes Miles of Smiles 16 Convoy
Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) in the Gaza Strip has welcomed the Miles of Smiles 16 Solidarity Convoy which was composed of 45 solidarity activists from Arab, Islamic and European countries.
The ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip, in place since the 2006 democratic election of Hamas, has been condemned widely by international figures, from British politicians to UN representatives. Some 5 years on, the blockade of Gaza remains very much intact. As the debate over peace and security in the Middle East rumbles on, one of the biggest stumbling blocks remains the siege, which has effectively imprisoned over 1.6 million Palestinians in their own land.
Israeli Terrorism
Israeli soldiers storm Ras Al-Amoud, clash with young men
Violent clashes broke out Monday evening in Ras Al-Amoud neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem between Palestinian young men and Israeli troops.
Report: settlers’ attacks increase and occupation approves new settlement plans
A Palestinian report noted the growing attacks by Jewish settlers in the West Bank, during the past week, and “the occupation’s attempt to complete “Greater Jerusalem” plan on Bethlehem territory.
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The PLO’s top negotiator and the Palestinian Authority on Tuesday strongly condemned racist and pro-settler vandalism on a Jerusalem monastery. ”Price-tag” and “Jesus is a son of a bitch” were sprayed on the gate of the Monastery of Saint Francis, just outside of the Old City, Israeli police and media reported Tuesday. ”After 45 years of Israeli occupation, a culture of hatred and racism has become mainstream among Israelis,” PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat said in a statement. Erekat called on the international community to “assume its duties and hold Israel accountable for its ongoing occupation and violations of international law.”
Suspected hardline Israelis scrawled pro-settler graffiti and religious insults on a monastery outside the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City on Tuesday, police said, in the latest of a series of attacks on non-Jewish sites.
Illegal Arrests
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Two people were arrested in Bethlehem overnight Monday, Israel’s army said. The unidentified men were taken for security questioning, an Israeli army spokesman said.
Soldiers Kidnap Three Palestinians Near Jenin
Israeli soldiers kidnapped, on Monday at dawn, three Palestinians from Azzoun village, east of the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia; the army also opened fire at random and installed several roadblocks.
Soldiers Kidnap A Child In Hebron
Israeli soldiers kidnapped, Sunday, a Palestinian child in the Old City of Hebron, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank. Soldiers also invaded several nearby villages.
On Monday 1st October, Israeli occupation forces three young Palestinians from Azoun village, east of Qalqiliya after they raided the village amid fire and gas bombs shooting. The villagers said that the Israeli soldiers broke into houses in the village and arrested Hassan Mohammad Abbas Badwan, 20, Anas Mustafa Odeh, 21, and Mohammad Rafe’ Tafesh, 24. Eyewitnesses added that the soldiers also broke into the house of Mohammad Abbas Badwan, searched it and rummaged with the contents.
Israeli arrests in WB and occupied Jerusalem
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested at dawn on Monday, three young men from the town of Azzun east of Qalqilya after storming the town.
IOF arrests a Palestinian Football player in WB, deports him to Gaza
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested at dawn on Saturday, a Palestinian football player from the Gaza Strip, who plays with Jerusalem’s Mount Scopus.
Other Prisoner News
Since September 2009, a number of amendments have been made to Israeli military law that affect the manner in which children are prosecuted in military courts in the occupied West Bank. This statement provides an update as to the impact of these developments from both a legal and practical viewpoint. It should be noted that Israeli military law technically applies to all those present in the West Bank, including Israeli settler children, however the latter are invariably processed under Israel’s civilian legal system, which contains far greater safeguards and protections.
On Tuesday 2nd October, Israel Channel 2 published a report on Television reveals the brutality and violence conducted by Israeli Prisons’ Service special Units Matsada. The report, translated by PNN, shows the breaking in, attacks and violations conducted by IPS (Matsada) against Palestinian political prisoners and detainees in Israeli Jails. In a report conducted by Ajras al-Awda blog show the same breaking in and violations in one of the Israeli prisons, and to be specific the Negev prison.
Occupation cancels visit of eleventh batch of prisoners’ families from Gaza
Palestinian Prisoners’ Center for Studies reported that the Israeli occupation authorities canceled visit of the eleventh batch of the prisoners’ relatives from Gaza Strip, scheduled for Monday.
Released prisoner displaced to Gaza Samer Abu Seir celebrated his wedding on September 25 following 24 years in the occupation prisons. Abu Seir married a woman from Gaza, saying that he “confirms that we are one people and one indivisible homeland, from Jerusalem and Gaza, this land and blood is precious and dear to all Palestinians.” He dedicated his wedding to the spirit of his mother who died only a few months prior after travelling to Gaza despite being ill to see her son Samer released from the occupation prisons in October 2011.
Protests / Solidarity / Activism / BDS
Our demonstration today comes as a result of the wide campaign of arrests carried out by the Palestinian Security Forces (the Intelligence Services, the Preventive Security, and the Military Intelligence), which began on the evening of Wednesday, September 19, 2012, and continues to this day. According to statements released by a number of Palestinian human rights organizations (Addameer, the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights, Al-Haq), the number of political arrests has topped 130. While some of those arrested have been released, more arrests have occured over the passed days, with the final number of those in detention still unknown. Some of those arrested have entered an open-ended hunger strike. Although political arrests is a phenomenon that accompanied the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, over the rescent years it grew at a rapid pace. Under the pretext of division between Hamas and Fateh, the most basic human rights have been violated, namely the freedom to express one’s opinion and to engage in peaceful opposition to the governing regime.
Around 200 people demonstrated in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday to demand the resignation of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas., Waving flags and shouting “Abu Mazen (Abbas) leave,” they marched from the central Al-Manara Square towards the presidential headquarters. They were blocked by police and there were some scuffles before the marchers dispersed., The march had been called to denounce the arrest in the West Bank, controlled by Abbas’s Fatah party, of partisans of the Islamist movement Hamas, and arrests in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip of Fatah sympathisers., But there was also social unrest in the West Bank last month, with Abbas’s Palestinian Authority coming under criticism for high inflation, particularly of petrol.
Palestinians living inside the Green Line on Monday called for justice over the killing of 13 civilians by Israeli forces in 2000 on the 12th anniversary of the massacre.At least 2,000 marched in the Galilee town of Sakhnin, carrying Palestinian flags and pictures of the 13 killed in October 2000 during the Second Palestinian Intifada which had just begun, an AFP journalist at the scene reported. Rallies were also held in Umm el-Fahm, Nazareth, Kfar Kana and other Palestinian villages in the Galilee.
TULKAREM (Ma’an) — Hundreds of Palestinian workers held a protest outside a northern West Bank checkpoint into Israel on Tuesday, slamming what they described as mistreatment by Israeli soldiers, a Ma’an reporter said. Workers blocked the crossing and demanded that Israeli officials allow them to cross at 5 a.m. instead of 7 a.m. as the checkpoint is always overcrowded. Palestinian workers, seeking better wages in Israel, must secure special permits from Israeli employers and regularly queue for hours at checkpoints to reach their place of work on time. Taybeh crossing is located in the northern city of Tulkarem.
Dismissed employees to stage a sit-in and open strike in Ramallah
A number of employees, dismissed from their jobs on political grounds, called for a continuous sit-in and an open-ended hunger strike on Tuesday.
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Security forces in the Gaza Strip dispersed a protest on Tuesday organized by the general union of Palestinian women, a rights activist said. Zaineb al-Ghnaimi, director of the Research and Legal Consultants Center for Palestinian Women, told Ma’an that the women’s union had organized a sit-in protest outside of the offices of the Palestinian Legislative Council to demand an end to political division. The group was informed by Hamas authorities that they must end their activities by 10 a.m, after which time security forces would break-up the rally. ”Five women were detained while they were leaving the sit-in, and we have called Huda Naeem, a member of the legislative council, to release them as fast as possible,” al-Ghnaimi said. The Palestinian Democratic Union, or Fida, denounced the incident, saying that Hamas should allow people to express their point of view and to protest peacefully, a statement said. The general union of Palestinian women held a demo last Tuesday, at which al-Ghneimi stressed the urgent need to establish a democratic political system which respects freedom and diversity.
Teacher dismissed from his job starts sit-in outside Fayyad’s office in Ramallah
Thamer Wahdan, a teacher dismissed from his job, announced that he will start on Monday an open-ended hunger strike and a sit-in in front of the Council of Ministers in Ramallah city.
A Foreign Ministry official in Jerusalem said the initiative is based on a decision by EU foreign ministers in May that was unanimously approved by all 27 foreign ministers.
Palestinian football player and former hunger striker Mahmoud al-Sarsak told a prisoners group on Monday he will not accept an invitation to the watch the world-famous El Clásico match between Barcelona and Real Madrid soccer clubs. Speaking to the Gaza-based Prisoners Center for Studies, al-Sarsak said he declined the invite because former Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who spent five years in captivity in Gaza, will attend the October 7 game.
GAZA, PALESTINE, September 24 – Following a weekly sit-in by families of Palestinian detainees held by Israel, national football player and former detainee and hunger-striker Mahmoud Sarsak held a press conference outside the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)’s Gaza Strip headquarters to announce that he would attend a separate FC Barcelona game at the invitation of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) group BDS Catalunya, rather than a “normalization” event with former Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Palestinian groups back Mahmoud Sarsak, tell FC Barcelona to reject “complicity with Israeli crimes”, Ali Abunimah
“FC Barcelona must reject any form of complicity with Israeli crimes by rescinding its official invitation to Gilad Shalit.
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Video: Gaza youth commend Mahmoud Sarsak on refusing Israel “normalization” at FC Barcelona match, Ali Abunimah
Sarsak: “I announce my readiness to meet Barcelona or any other Spanish club outside of the context of a joint invitation with Gilad Shalit”
On 6th September 2012, with the participation of residents, an international group of artists originating from Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and the United States, completed a series of murals in the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut. Spanning 2,000 square feet across the walls of Shatila Mosque Square, the murals commemorate 30 years since the 16th September Sabra and Shatila massacres and 64 years of Palestinian resilience. The initiative originated from a collaboration between Break the Silence Mural and Arts Project USA and Lebanon’s Al-Jana Arab Resource Center for Popular arts. Among the project participants was director of Break the Silence, Susan Greene, who has recently returned from Lebanon. Greene is a US interdisciplinary artist and clinical psychologist. She has led or participated in more than 30 public art projects worldwide. Here she discusses the initiative with The Majalla’s Cultural Connection.
The Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC)* is pleased to announce its participation in the World Social Forum-Free Palestine (WSF), which takes place from 28 November to 1 December 2012, in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil. This global event is a public space to share ideas and strategise ways to maximise the potential for solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Canadians stand in solidarity with Gaza’s besieged farmers, fishermen, Eva Bartlett
Stephen Harper’s complicity in Israel’s crimes is denounced by his compatriots.
The British-Danish security firm G4S is providing security systems to help Israel secure prisons and interrogation centres where Palestinian children are being caged and tortured. These include Ofer prison in the occupied territory where G4S provides the perimeter defense system and the central command control room for the entire facility, and the notorious Al Jalame interrogation centre in northern Israel with its Cell 36 where Defence for Children International reported children are locked in small filthy cells in solitary confinement, some for 65 days, with their only escape being the interrogation room where they are shackled by their hands and feet to a chair whilst being abused, sometimes for hours. G4S provides the security system that keep this torture den operational.
Roger Water joins the Russell Trubinal
Roger Waters, the legend, joins the Russell Tribunal on Palestine as a juror. Roger Waters, founding member of the British rock band Pink Floyd, has announced that he will join Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker, civil rights icon Angela Davis, and others, on the jury of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, taking place in New York City.
“Seeking Balance”: How Albuquerque Cathedral that slammed its doors to Sabeel helps Israeli oppression, Ali Abunimah
Episcopal Cathedral of Albuquerque offers weak excuses and effectively takes Israel’s side against Palestinians.
Veolia built the light rail system that connects East Jerusalem colonies to West Jerusalem. Here’s a great boycott anthem (set to the Kinks tune Victoria) from Dave Lippmann.
Political Developments / Other News
Israel’s Iran Policy Appears to Shift Further Toward More Sanctions
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel plans to travel to Europe before the end of the year to press for a toughening of sanctions against Tehran, Israeli officials said on Tuesday.
Syria’s state-run media have criticized the leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas – once a staunch ally of the Damascus regime – for allegedly turning his back on President Bashar al-Assad. Syrian TV in a late Monday broadcast described Hamas’ leader Khaled Meshal as “ungrateful and traitorous.” Meshal used to be based in Damascus but now spends most of his time in Qatar, which backs Syrian rebels battling Assad’s troops. Relations between Assad’s regime and Hamas have been disintegrating over since Syria’s uprising erupted over 18 months ago.
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal will address the congress of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development party, a Hamas official said on Sunday. The leader-in-exile is in Ankara for the AKP’s fourth party congress, at the invitation of Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq said. The AKP congress opened on Sunday, with Arab Spring heroes Yemeni Nobel peace laureate Tawakul Karman and the mother and sister of Tunisian Muhammad Bouazizi attending as guests of honor, according to Turkish newspaper Sunday’s Zaman. Erdogan saluted Mashaal in his opening address, alongside regional leaders, the paper said. Hamas announced last week that Mashaal will not seek re-election as party chief, amid a secretive leadership ballot. He has led the party since 1996. Hamas’ rivals, Fatah, held a conference in Turkey last week during an official visit to the country by Fatah leader President Mahmoud Abbas.
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The European Union on Tuesday condemned the use of capital punishment in the Gaza Strip and urged the Hamas government to refrain from executing prisoners. A joint statement from its missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah said the EU “considers capital punishment to be cruel and inhuman, failing to provide deterrence to criminal behaviour, and representing an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity.” The EU missions noted that “abolition of the death penalty contributes to the enhancement of human dignity and the progressive development of human rights.” The statement came as the Hamas government sentenced a Palestinian youth to death by hanging in mid-September after he was found guilty of two murder charges.
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) – President Mahmoud Abbas says he expects the UN General Assembly to vote on a resolution to admit Palestine as a non-member state “in less than a month or a month and a half.” Speaking at his Ramallah office during a ceremony to honor high-achieving students from Jerusalem, Abbas said he expected the vote to be successful. ”We will go back to the UN during this period to get recognition as a state under occupation. We have no problem with that title because it will be a state and not disputed lands.
CAIRO (Ma’an) — The Arab League called Tuesday on UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon and the international Quartet to respond to “threats” by Israel’s foreign minister. Mohammad Sbeih, assistant to the Arab League secretary in the Palestinian affairs department, said Avigdor Lieberman’s latest remarks against President Mahmoud Abbas were unacceptable. Reacting to Abbas’ speech at the UN on Thursday, Lieberman said Abbas was “the biggest obstacle to peace.” ”Everyone who heard Abbas’ speech understands that he does not intend, and does not want, to be a partner in a peace agreement,” Lieberman said. Sbeih referred to Lieberman as a “terrorist” and urged the UN secretary to respond to his “attack.”
The Ramallah-based Palestinian Foreign Ministry has requested international protection for the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas following threats made against him by Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman. The Ramallah-based ministry held the Israeli government responsible for these statements in which Lieberman warned Abbas that there would be “a price to pay” if the latter continued to pursue UN recognition of Palestine as a non-member state. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry also called on the international community and the Mideast Quartet to condemn Lieberman’s explicit assassination threats against Abbas and to hold the Israeli government fully responsible for Lieberman’s stances. The Ministry stressed that it is important for the world’s states, as well as the United Nations and its bodies, to provide “protection for the Palestinian leadership and public”, to accelerate recognition of a Palestinian state along the June 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, and to support Palestine’s request for non-member status at the UN General Assembly – “as a guarantee for the success of the Peace Process and any future negotiations.” In a press statement made by the Palestinian Ministry, it asserted that, “By intensifying the campaign against President Abbas, Lieberman is trying to escape the responsibility of the stalled peace negotiations by exporting his government’s political crisis and bankruptcy to the Palestinian side.”
Barak: Lieberman’s PA rhetoric harms Israel’s interests
Defense minister says foreign minister’s statements on Israel-PA relations impeding peace process.
Analysis: Obama, Netanyahu got what they hoped for at U.N. meeting
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to get what they hoped for at the annual U.N. General Assembly after closing ranks to send a message to Iran that it may face war over its nuclear program. Obama and Netanyahu did not meet with each other at the United Nations, where leaders and foreign ministers from the world body’s 193 member states have gathered since last week to give speeches and hold private talks to resolve conflicts and boost trade. But the two men left the U.N.
Turkey’s Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has appealed to the Turkish opposition party, CHP (Republican People’s Party), to change its stances and to refrain from siding with Israel which ‘kills innocent Palestinians’. He also called on CHP not to stand on the side of ‘Syria’s oppressive regime’. During the opening speech of the fourth convention of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Erdogan said that, “Israel is unjust toward the Palestinian people – we reviewed our policies regarding Israel in light of its injustice against the Palestinian people. And we will stand by the Palestinian people, as well as the oppressed peoples in Bosnia, Myanmar, Somalia and everywhere else in the world.” Erdogan asserted that Turkey would not restore its relations with Israel — which practices “state terrorism” — until it lifts the blockade on the Gaza Strip and apologizes for the attack on the Freedom Flotilla. He also stressed the importance of supporting the Palestinian cause and expressed his confidence that “all Palestinian cities will be liberated. We cannot change our position on the Palestinian issue.”
On Tuesday, media sources reported that the prominent Jordanian tribe, A-Obeidat , has vowed to disown one of its own – the diplomat Walid A-Obeidat, should he agree to take up his new appointment as ambassador to Tel-Aviv. After three years of diplomatic boycott between Jordan and Israel, Amman has decided to appoint a new ambassador to Tel-Aviv. The Jordanian Foreign Ministry has chosen the diplomat Walid A-Obeidat, who is scheduled to assume his new position in the 17th of this month. Diplomatic relations between Amman and Tel-Aviv came to a standstill during Israel’s 2008/2009 assault on the Gaza Strip dubbed ‘Operation Cast Lead’. Sources from the Foreign Ministry said that A-Obeidat is being severely embarrassment by his tribe’s stance towards his new appointment. The London based newspaper, Al-Quds Al-Arabi, describes him as being subject to “a double embarrassment”- by the Foreign Ministry and by his family.
On Friday 28th September, Voice of Israel claimed that the Minister of Jordan’s Information and Communication Technology, Samih Al-Ma’ayta, said that Jordan has appointed Waleed Obeidat an Ambassador to Israel. It’s worth noting that the post of the Ambassador had been vacant since the appointment of former Ambassador Ali Ayed as a minister in the government of Oman in 2010. Al-Ma’ayta explained that Jordan did not change its policies toward Israel and the new appointment came naturally; without any political reasons.
Palestine Participates In UNESCO Meeting As Member State
For the first time, Palestine is participating at the UNESCO meeting, held in Oman’s capital, Masqat, with the participation of secretary-generals of the national committees of the UNESCO in the Arab world.
The International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) ended its bureau meeting in the Gaza Strip yesterday, 30 September, with a declaration affirming that Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip constitute a form of collective punishment and “a precursor to genocide” which has resulted in war crimes and crimes against humanity. The non-governmental organization of lawyers which enjoys consultative status with the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) urged the international community to end Israel’s impunity and systematic violations of humanitarian and human rights law.
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education will comply with court orders to rehire teachers fired for “security reasons” as jobs become available, the minister said Tuesday. Lamis al-Alami said the ministry had not yet received most of the high court orders to rehire dismissed teachers. ”I received a court order on behalf of one teacher only, and I telephoned the head of the higher judicial council, who headed the high court asking him to send all the court orders,” the education minister told Ma’an. She said the cases of dismissed teachers were dealt with individually and not collectively.
HEBRON (Ma’an) — Palestinian Authority customs officers seized 20 tons of expired cleaning and hygiene products in Hebron on Tuesday, an official said. Fadi Abu al-Qaren, a customs control official, told Ma’an that officers stopped a truck in Hebron during a routine check and found that the driver did not have any identification papers. ”During questioning, the driver admitted that he has stores for cleaning products in al-Shuyukh village east of Hebron. We headed to the village and found large amounts of expired cleaning products and toothpaste,” al-Qaren said. ”The driver admitted that he had removed the label that shows the expiry date on the products, and was transferred to public prosecution,” he added. Director of the ministry of economy in Hebron, Maher al-Qaisie, told Ma’an that officials are undertaking regular checks to ensure market traders and shop-owners are abiding by sales regulations.
In an opinion for court obtained by Haaretz, Kasher says experiments on soldiers may be carried out for “building the military force.’ Medical experiments may be carried out on soldiers on condition that the experiment contributes “to building the military force,” declares leading ethicist Prof. Asa Kasher in an opinion for court obtained by Haaretz. Kasher, who authored the Israel Defense Forces Code of Conduct, and who was a member of the committee that permitted anthrax experiments on Nahal Brigade soldiers, maintains that this is…
Analysis / Op-ed / Human Interest
Dubbed ‘leftist’ by hawks in Israel, the High Court of Justice actually reinforces colonial policies, writes author.
Palestinian freedom fighter Mohammed Abul-Haija has dedicated his life to the Palestinian cause, but despite losing his home and many of his comrades in arms, he still believes that the liberation of his homeland can only be achieved through armed resistance. Abul-Haija was three years old in 1948 when he and his family were driven out of Haifa, eventually landing in Syria by way of Jenin in the West Bank and Jordan. “My father worked as a farmer in the city of Daraa [southern Syria],” Abul-Haija recalls. “Then we moved to Dummar in western Damascus. After that my older brothers found work in quarries and finally we moved to old Damascus when my father and brothers started working in the Hashimia Printing Press.”
Is this necessary? This is truly a disgusting clique sitting in the White House and State Department. The power of the lobby in the Democratic Party (no neo-con influence needed), but also insight into Obama. This says something about Obama, more than the lobby. He disdains and bullies the political weak wherever he meets them. He may want to level the playing field slightly, but he still wants all the spoils to go to the winners. And in his mind he is a winner. This article set me off because it seems to go beyond what the politics requires. The US could be opposed without using all its power to crush the Palestinian effort, and worse to take revenge on the Palestinian administration, which you would think it would want to support.
To a South African the two-state solution sounds like apartheid
Former South African deputy defense minister argues that while peace and justice can be achieved in Palestine, the plans currently on the table offer neither.
Arab Jews vs Palestinians, Jonathan Cook
In the shadow of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s theatrics at the United Nations last week, armed with his cartoon Iranian bomb, Israeli officials launched a quieter, but equally combative, initiative to extinguish whatever hopes have survived of reviving the peace process. For the first time in its history, Israel is seeking to equate millions of Palestinians in refugee camps across the Middle East with millions of Israeli citizens descended from Jews who, before Israel’s establishment in 1948, lived in Arab countries. According to Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, whose parents were originally from Iraq and who has been leading the government campaign, nearly a million Jews fled countries such as Iraq, Egypt, Morocco and Yemen. That figure exceeds the generally accepted number of 750,000 Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war.
Israel’s Hypocrisy on a Nuclear Middle East
When world leaders packed their bags and headed home last week, there was one lingering memory of the General Assembly’s high-level debate: Benjamin Netanyahu’s dramatic presentation of a cartoonish nuclear red line, which hit the front pages of most mainstream newspapers in the United States.
“…On Tuesday 2nd October, Israeli occupation forces seized a house in al-Baqa’a area, east of Hebron and converted the place to a military barracks. Soldiers forced the house inhabitants to live in the first floor and sentenced them to house arrest. The owner of the house, Salim al-Salayma, said that Israeli army always seize his house in the Jewish holidays. They have been seizing his house since four years and they stay there for 22 days…”
It’s those little touches. Israel, the Martha Stewart of oppression.