Israel plans military college on the Mount of Olives in occupied East Jerusalem

Land, property theft & destruction / Raids / Attacks by settlers and soldiers / Arrests

Group decries plans for army college on Mount of Olives
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 21 Oct — A Muslim-Christian group on Sunday decried an Israeli government plan to build a military academy in occupied East Jerusalem. Peace Now settlement watch director Hagit Ofran said on Sunday that notices were hung around the Mount of Olives, giving the public 60 days to file objections to the building of the eight-story military college. The Islamic-Christian Commission said the plan is part of Israeli authorities’ efforts to erase the Palestinian identity of East Jerusalem.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=530773

Settlers expand settlement in Jordan Valley
JORDAN VALLEY, 21 Oct (WAFA) — Jewish settlers Sunday began the construction work of new housing units in the settlement of Mikhola, in the northern Jordan Valley, according to witnesses. They said that they were surprised when they woke up in the morning to find new buildings in the western side of the settlement. He said this settlement was expanded several times in the last months.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20904

now this is surprising:
WATCH: Settler helps Palestinians acquire building permits
KHIRBET ZACHARIAH, WEST BANK  21 Oct – A group of Jews from the Gush Etzion settlement bloc worked for more than half a year to get building permits for their neighbors in the Palestinian village of Khirbet Zachariah. Recently, they learned they had succeeded. Israeli authorities announced they will issue new permits for the village, the first time since the 1967 occupation began … The effort was led by Eliraz Cohen, a poet and peace activist from the Gush Etzion, who has come out in the past against the two-state solution and in favor of a single state for Israelis and Palestinians with an equal federal system.
http://972mag.com/watch-settler-helps-palestinians-get-building-permits/58091/

Israeli forces demolish water well in Hebron
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 22 Oct — Israeli forces on Monday morning demolished a water well in Wadi al-Ghrous neighborhood east of Hebron in the southern West Bank. Eyewitnesses told Ma‘an that Israeli military vehicles escorted two bulldozers which demolished a water well owned by Muhammad Said Jaabari from Hebron. They highlighted that the demolition was in an area close to Israeli settlements of Kiryat Arba and Givat Harsina.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=531100

VIDEO: 3 arrested as Palestinians attacked by settlers and soldiers in Tel Rumeida
ISM 22 Oct Video from Youth against Settlements — Today, a group of settlers from the illegal settlement in Tel Rumeida arrived at Hashem Azzeh’s olive grove next to his house at around 12.30pm, whilst he and his family were harvesting their olives, yelling for everyone to get off of ‘their’ land. Hasham and his family were on their land harvesting olives for the first time in 5 years after being granted permission from the District Civil Liaison. He was accompanied by several members of his family as well as activists from the International Solidarity Movement. The situation quickly escalated as settlers pushed the Palestinians in order to try and enter Hasham’s house. Within ten minutes the soldiers arrived and began to separate the Palestinian family and internationals and siding with the Israeli settlers.  [Female settler: “You came from all over the Arab countries to take the Jews’ land…”]
http://palsolidarity.org/2012/10/3-arrested-as-palestinians-attacked-by-settlers-and-soldiers-in-tel-rumeida/

Settlers deprive farmer of right to access his land
NABLUS, 21 Oct (WAFA) — A number of Jewish settlers Sunday placed a barbed wire fence around 10 dunums of private-owned Palestinian land, preventing its elderly owner from entering it in Qarout village, south of Nablus, according to the land owner.  Sixty-six-year-old Mohammad Najim told WAFA that he was surprised when he reached his land in the early morning to harvest his olives to find it all fenced by settlers from a nearby settlement. He added the settlement’s security “warned us from coming near the land, claiming it was for our own protection from settlers’ attacks.”
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20902

IOF soldiers prevent farmers from harvesting their olive crops
NABLUS (PIC) 22 Oct — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) prevented a group of Palestinian farmers from reaching their land in Orta [Awarta?] village, south east of Nablus, to harvest their olive crops, local sources said. Eyewitnesses said that the farmers had obtained permits to reach their fields near the segregation wall surrounding Etamar settlement, yet the soldiers blocked their way and beat them up. The farmers were also blocked yesterday from entering their fields and were attacked by Jewish settlers.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7toKCZAcZQO7OAaQIAi5Nxsolv5eIj2OroqHCWcRW5Cda6MUiXIlkWNdCK73gu12Ujy54VoziQby6Ho4XNx9b1BBYExZnkubjIUpnUH9%2fcyg%3d

Jewish settlers attack Palestinian family, IOF arrests foreign activist
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 22 Oct — Jewish settlers attacked a Palestinian family in Tel Rumaida, Al-Khalil, on Monday, while harvesting their olive crops, local sources said. Issa Amre, the coordinator of youth against settlement, said in a press statement that the settlers came from settlement outposts near Tal Rumaida and assaulted the Ezza family. He said that Israeli occupation forces arrested two Palestinians and a foreign solidarity activist for defending the family during the attack.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s75QpPXPai%2fUCWwVAZvASI0vN4s2%2beYjTb8WyK9lYHFnldB%2bufXxwIxDKNX2Crdwr1hNmZBYVMYy1UrL3l3hAyxbUIkwrHlXbhzRGPomiNY8Q%3d

Settlers torch car, spray racist slogans in Hebron village
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 22 Oct — Settlers torched a car and sprayed racist slogans in the Hebron village of Abu al-Asja on Monday, a Ma‘an correspondent said. Villagers told Ma‘an that settlers from Susiya burnt a car and vandalized homes in the presence of Israeli soldiers, who were in the area prior to the attack. Israeli forces then harassed Ma‘an-Mix and Palestine TV crews who were reporting the incident, forcing them to delete the footage they had captured, Ma‘an’s reporter said … The owner of the torched car was questioned by Israeli authorities.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=531165

J’lem youth suspected of setting Palestinian taxi ablaze
Ynet 22 Oct –  Unknown vandals set a Palestinian taxi on fire on Sunday night at the entrance to the village of Daharia in the south Mount Hebron area. Graffiti slogans reading “Price Tag Susya” were found on the fence of a Palestinian family’s home.  Shai District Police have said that the family has filed a complaint and that the incident will be investigated. Police estimate that the graffiti referencing to the settlement of Susya has to do with the recent arrest of three right-wing activists by undercover police who were posing as Palestinian shepherds. In the incident, the settlers attacked the undercover police officers.  In a separate incident, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court extended the remand of two Jerusalem teens, aged 15 and 16, by four days, on suspicion they punctured the tires of several Palestinian cars. Police said that the acts were nationalistically motivated, and that the teens plastered stickers on the cars they damaged, explaining that their acts were in response to the eviction of settlements. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4295495,00.html

Sixty-three sheep poisoned near Peza’el settlement
JVS 15 Oct — Since Thursday, 10th October 2012, sixty-three sheep have died of poisoning after eating bread left out by settlers near Peza’el settlement. The herd of 44-year-old shepherd and father of ten, Akef Mahmoud Da’jneh, from Fasayil Al Fauqa counted ninety sheep before the incident. The lives of four of the twenty-seven remaining sheep are still at risk. On Thursday, 10th October 2012, two of Akef’s children were herding the family’s livestock. Around midday the sheep ate from bread that was left out in the land near Peza’el settlement. On return to the house in the evening, the family realised that their animals were sick, and called for a veterinary doctor from Nablus. The vet administered numerous injections and medication, but to no avail. That same evening, during the night, all through Friday and on Saturday, the vast majority of their sheep died.
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php/news-2/news2012/583-sixty-three-sheep-poisoned-near-peza-el-settlement

Israeli forces raid six villages in Hebron
PNN — On Monday 22nd October, Israeli occupation forces raided at dawn, six villages in Hebron governorate south of the West Bank. Security sources said that Israeli patrols raided Yatta, Samou‘, Tarkumiya, Halhoul and al-Thaheriya villages in Hebron and roamed the streets for several hours. Israeli soldiers deliberately set military checkpoints inside these villages, stopped the Palestinians, searched their vehicles and checked their IDs.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/politics/2921-israeli-forces-raid-six-villages-in-hebron

IOF troops arrest four Palestinians including Jerusalemite woman
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 22 Oct — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up four Palestinians on Monday including a woman in occupied Jerusalem. The Aqsa foundation said that Israeli policemen arrested a Jerusalemite woman while entering the holy Aqsa mosque in occupied Jerusalem. It said that the woman, attending seminars inside the mosque, was taken to an interrogation center.
The Hebrew radio earlier reported that three ‘wanted’ Palestinians were arrested in Nablus and Ramallah on Monday.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7XQ2vD1PnJ9LB%2fYurZlGpbpWBtfby%2fOrjtDoZfXlFZDgzQOQWQyw5zppnsT9Ft3byq1TePQY1MbA3NU6wMwzhq0BBtQHsHzzg19DlQc8oaGY%3d

Gaza

Health ministry: Gaza death toll rises to 3
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 23 Oct — Gaza’s Health Ministry says a 29-year-old man has died after he was hurt in an Israeli airstrike on Beit Hanoun. Khalil al-Kafarneh died in hospital after he was injured in an Israeli airstrike on al-Sikka Street, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said. An Israeli military spokeswoman told Ma‘an that forces had not bombed that area.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=531363

Airstrikes on north Gaza kill at least 2
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 22 Oct — Israeli airstrikes on the northern Gaza Strip killed at least two Palestinians on Monday morning, Gaza officials said. They said militants fired mortar bombs at Israeli troops spotted inside Gaza’s boundary fence, drawing airstrikes against a Hamas training camp and other targets. The first strike on Jabalia injured four people, and 26-year-old Abdul-Rahman Darwish Abu Jalalah later died of his wounds, health mnistry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said. Hamas’ military wing claimed him as a fighter. Later, warplanes targeted the nearby town of Beit Hanoun, killing 26-year-old Yasser Juma Tarabin and wounding another. Islamic Jihad said Tarabin was a fighter affiliated to their brigades.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=531079

Rizka: Israeli military escalation targets foiling Qatari Emir’s visit
GAZA (PIC) 22 Oct — The Israeli aggression on northern Gaza on Monday aimed at foiling the historic visit of Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad Al Thani to Gaza on Tuesday, Dr. Yousef Rizka, political advisor to Palestinian premier Ismail Haneyya, said. Rizka told Quds Press that the Israelis realize the importance of the Qatari Emir’s visit topped by breaking the siege on Gaza, thus they want to foil it. He said that Sheikh Hamad would open a group of Qatari-financed projects to the tune of one quarter of a billion dollars.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7Zy0gi2V7yrqz5S8kXJZejksnmSGAcyroTCMdOsR9jqxI0j1tuc5kpz%2bujqC0WFcsX93IdZkFJDmhRxkLofIjkRN9GKeqGA8NpAxqaBlIPZI%3d

Fatah ‘not invited’ to meet Qatari emir
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 22 Oct — Fatah has not been invited to meet Qatar’s emir who is due to visit the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, a Fatah leader said Monday. Yahya Rabah told Ma‘an that Fatah received no invitation from Qatar or the Hamas-led government in Gaza to meet Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=531281

Fatah calls for boycott of Qatari emir’s visit
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 22 Oct — Fatah on Monday called on Palestinians to boycott a visit of the Qatari emir to the Gaza Strip … Fatah said all aid to Palestinians should be channeled through the Palestine Liberation Organization and its leader President Mahmoud Abbas.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=531357

PA fears Qatar emir Gaza trip to end Hamas isolation
JPost 22 Oct — Abbas’s exclusion seen as blow to claim he is sole legitimate Palestinian leader; PA says move will solidify W. Bank, Gaza split — The Palestinian Authority leadership in Ramallah has not concealed its disappointment with the Qatari leader’s visit to the Gaza Strip, which is expected to take place Tuesday. PA officials expressed fear that the visit of the emir, Hamad bin Thani, would bolster Hamas’s standing not only among Palestinians, but also in the Arab, Islamic and international arena. This would be the first visit by a head of state to the Gaza Strip since Hamas drove the PA out of the area in 2007. The PA has since been working hard to convince the Arab and Islamic counties to boycott Hamas for carrying out a “violent and bloody coup” in the Gaza Strip.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=288806

Israeli forces arrest 4 Gaza fishermen
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 22 Oct — Israeli forces arrested four Gaza fishermen on Monday and took them to an unknown destination, Gaza’s ministry of agriculture said. Ramez Izzat Baker, Khamis Subhi Baker, Bayan Subhi Baker, and Omar Muhammad Baker were detained while fishing off the coast near Gaza City … Eid Mohssen Eid Baker, who witnessed Monday’s attack. told PCHR that an Israeli gunboat had shot randomly at his cousin’s boat.  “One of the soldiers ordered us to stop, but we kept sailing south in escape of the open fire. My cousin Ramez Baker’s boat suddenly stopped after a bullet hit the boat engine, and the Israeli gunboat approached it, to a distance of nearly 30 meters.  “I saw the four fishermen, Ramez, Arafat, Khamis and his son Bayan, take off their clothes [required by the Israelis], jump in the water amidst the continuous shooting, and swim towards the Israeli gunboat. The soldiers confiscated the fishermen’s boat and transported it towards the northern side,” he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=531264

Egypt delays Gaza fuel delivery until Tuesday
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma‘an) 22 Oct — Egyptian authorities have delayed fuel deliveries to the Gaza Strip until Tuesday, Egyptian sources said. Fuel donated by Qatar was scheduled to be pumped in limited quantities to Gaza on Sunday, a Gaza official said this week. Egyptian authorities told Ma‘an’s correspondent that the delivery will be postponed until Tuesday, in order to put in place stricter security procedures to transfer the fuel from Suez Port across the Sinai to the Al-Auja crossing. Around 450,000 liters of diesel donated by Qatar, to be transported in eight tankers, will be delivered to Gaza, Egyptian sources added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=531109

Egypt official says Israel may oppose Qatari aid to Gaza
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma‘an)  22 Oct — Egypt may refuse to deliver Qatari aid to the Gaza Strip if Israel objects to the transfer, an Egyptian military source said Monday. The military official, who asked not to named as he is not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said Israel was expected to oppose the delivery of construction materials donated by Qatar through the Rafah crossing on Egypt’s border with Gaza. He added that talks on the issue would be delayed until after US presidential elections on Nov. 6.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=531178

For some Israelis, Gazans receive 2,279 calories too many / Gideon Levy
Haaretz 21 Oct — Who came up with the idea of calculating the caloric intake for 1.5 million people under siege in Gaza? What train of thought even gives Israel the right to enter the mouths and invade the stomachs of the people living under its jackboots? So now it’s not just their bedrooms that are brutally broken into every night; now it’s also their digestive system. Even after the writing of this document, Israel continued to brazenly claim that the occupation of Gaza had ended. The very fact that such a document was composed, whether it was used or not, points to a satanic way of thinking … The reason the Israel Defense Forces was reluctant to publicize this document was because it would make Israel look even worse in world opinion than it already does. It’s a matter of image, you know; the goyim shouldn’t find out. It’s not nice for the goyim to know how low Israeli racism could sink.
https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/newprofile/HaStQCIyO2w

The Estelle

WATCH: Israeli commandos seize Gaza-bound boat
Ynet 22 Oct –  A video posted on YouTube shows how armed and masked Israeli commandos seized control on Saturday morning of the Finnish-flagged “Estelle” ship, which was headed to Gaza. 
On Sunday the remand of the three Israeli activists who took part in the pro-Palestinian sail was extended. Yonatan Shapira, Reut Mor and Elazar Elhanan are suspected of incitement, of knowingly aiding an enemy and of violating a legal order.  Judge Orit Hadad of the Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court defined the three as “peace activists,” but extended their remand nonetheless.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4295170,00.html

Exclusive: Photos from the Gaza aid boat intercepted by the IDF
972mag 21 Oct — The following are exclusive photos taken on board the Estelle, as the ship was sailing toward the Gaza Strip in an attempt to break Israel’s siege on the coastal territory … Huge efforts were made by the IDF Spokesperson’s Office to curtail media coverage of the story. The ship was brought into the Ashdod Port after dark, more than ten hours after the Israeli forces took it over. Later that night, the Israeli citizens under arrest were brought to a police station through a back door, to prevent media from covering their arrival. The IDF spokesman told Israeli media there was no humanitarian aid on the boat, as claimed by activists, but refused to release documentation to support his claims. The photos below shows the hours before the ship was intercepted, and minutes before the IDF takeover.
http://972mag.com/exclusive-photos-from-the-free-gaza-boat-intercepted-by-the-idf/58100/

Nordic protest after Ship to Gaza seizure
Radio Sweden 22 Oct — Swedish Radio News reports that the Nordic nations are planning a joint formal protest to Israel for its treatment of peace activists on the Ship to Gaza vessel Estelle. The Estelle was trying to bring supplies to the Gaza Strip by sea, when it was seized by Israeli forces in international waters Saturday. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt told the joint government-parliamentary Foreign Policy Council Monday that Sweden is not satisfied with how Israel has acted.
http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2054&artikel=5319527

Israeli Navy used tasers and beat passengers aboard the Ship to Gaza
Mondoweiss 22 Oct — The Israeli activists detained on board the Estelle were released    Elik Elhanan: excessive force was used against us, without any reason   Electric shocks by taser out of vengeful hatred   A Greek MP was beaten by Shabak Security Service interrogators
https://mondoweiss.net/2012/10/israeli-navy-used-tasers-and-beat-passengers-aboard-the-ship-to-gaza.html

IMEU: Israel’s siege of Gaza and attacks on humanitarian aid flotilla — legal background
26 June 2011 — 1. Why is Israel’s siege of Gaza illegal under international law? 2. Why does the international community continue to consider Israel an occupying power in Gaza? 3. If Israeli claims to have ended its occupation of Gaza were true would the blockade still be illegal?  4. Does Israel have the legal right to prevent the passage of the humanitarian aid flotilla? 5. Does Israel have the right to board the flotilla ships in international waters? 6. Can maritime blockades be imposed in international waters? 7. Would Israel’s threatened actions constitute self-defense?
http://imeu.net/news/article0019152.shtml

Restriction of movement

Occupation prevents a Palestinian from traveling to Mecca for pilgrimage
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 21 Oct — Israeli occupation authorities prevented Imam of a mosque in the town of Beit Ummar in the city of Al-Khalil south of the occupied West Bank, from traveling to Makkah for pilgrimage. Local sources said that the Israeli authorities refused to allow Sheikh Mohammed Ahmed Adi, 55, to cross the Karama Bridge on his way to Jordan and then to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj with his mother, and summoned him to the Etzion interrogation center on Monday. Adi is a liberated prisoner who had served eight years in Israeli jails.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s73vHzxjKfVHDPO4W49L2hxIYf06KeR1F46NBZQK6vrRXz8F911k52zbCnRGi6bemhoo4gNhDnDjSY3txnnysRKMmUnh60qwnx%2bFNq1uhr110%3d

Detainees

“Essence of discrimination”: Abdelateef wins leeway in military court
ISM 21 Oct — On Sunday, a military appeals court judge in Ofer prison decided that there may be merit to arguments of discrimination in the case of Abdelateef Obeid. The judge, who seemed doubtful of the prosecution’s case, has granted the Israeli military another day to address gaping discrepancies in the Obeid case. The defense argued that Abdelateef’s continued detention constituted “the essence of discrimination.” He said that the evidence in the case is weaker than that brought against four international peace activists arrested on the same day for the same charges. Abdelateef and his brother Majd were arrested on 21 September along with the four international activists on charges of stone throwing after a weekly demonstration in the West Bank village of Kufr Qaddoum.
http://palsolidarity.org/2012/10/essence-of-discrimination-abdelateef-wins-leeway-in-military-court/

Occupation renews Abu Salam Abu Hija’s administrative detention
JENIN (PIC) 22 Oct — The occupation authorities renewed the administrative detention of captive Abdul Salam Jamal Abu Hija, 28, for the third time … The family of Abu Haija told the PIC reporter that “the Supreme Court in Jerusalem extended the arrest of its son Abdul Salam another 6 months, after he had been expected to be released on 13 November.”
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7NU6DQy2V8SCBwGfFnjgXxCrNDArd7ENBPHGOfQ6SNm3JRXJL3rnfO%2bAXqKLN0QZtS8saVbC3mNfE8pJkKqDbhFEl0wgW2%2bZ0ebrj3dAZk%2bw%3d

Israel postpones hearing for hunger-striking prisoner
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 22 Oct — An Israeli military court on Monday postponed a hearing for a prisoner who has been on hunger strike for 83 days, the prisoners club said. Israeli police did not bring Samir Issawi to Ofer courtroom and judges did not set a new date for the hearing, his sister Shireen Issawi told the prisoners club. Issawi has been on hunger strike for 83 days in protest at his re-arrest in July. He had been freed in Oct. 2011 as part of Israel’s prisoner swap deal with Hamas.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=531293

PA rejects appeal to release the journalist Mona
NABLUS (PIC) 21 Oct — PA court renewed its rejection to the appeal filed for the release of the Quds press reporter in Nablus, Mohammed Mona, 30, on bail and decided to continue his detention which continues since 29 days. The journalist Mohamed Mona’s family told Quds Press that the Magistrate’s Court in Nablus has rejected the appeal presented by Mona’s lawyer for the second time.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7r9tMBxBavbEYiCz%2bYsy86kQUDmqjONz%2bTfQYP%2bUid0zn%2fUWx8I5mibLU20HiNGGbeO%2f1pBhHpE0P7572BBNzrfV2%2f9IcvlhQcHH%2flGo1G9k%3d

Political, economic news

Carter: Israel not committed to two-state solution
JERUSALEM (Reuters) 22 Oct — Former US President Jimmy Carter on Monday said the Israeli-Palestinian peace process had reached a crisis point and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was not pursuing a two-state solution. “That policy of promoting a two-state solution seems to be abandoned now and we are deeply concerned about this move towards this catastrophic so-called one-state choice … this is a major concern,” Carter told a news conference.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=531348

The Elders meet Abbas, discuss UN bid
RAMALLAH, 22 Oct (WAFA) — A three-person delegation from The Elders met Monday with President Mahmoud Abbas who briefed them on Palestinian efforts to get United Nations non-member state status. Chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said after the meeting that Abbas briefed the delegation that was made up of former US President Jimmy Carter, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Norway’s first woman prime minister, and Mary Robinson, first woman president of Ireland and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Right, on Palestinian reconciliation efforts. The delegation also met PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi and Fatah Central Committee member Mohammad Shtayyeh to discuss the latest political developments in Palestine, according to a statement issued by Ashrawi’s office.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20915

Union chief: Strike action by PA workers to go ahead
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 21 Oct — The Palestinian Authority’s public workers union will continue with strike action this week, despite an announcement by the PA that it will pay the remainder of employee salaries on Monday. The head of the union, Bassam Zakarneh, said Sunday that strike action on Tuesday and Wednesday will go ahead as planned, as the PA has still not responded to employee demands, and has not started any dialogue with the unions.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=530934

UNRWA staff to strike over cuts
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 22 Oct — UNRWA staff employed in schools, clinics and offices in refugee camps across the West Bank will strike on Tuesday in protest over cutbacks in services. UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, is cutting health services and other emergency programs, and firing 130 employees, a spokesman for refugee camps in the West Bank said Monday. Imad Abu Ismail said in a statement that medical operations had been canceled due to a financial crisis in the UN agency. He said a general strike will be held on Tuesday and protests will continue until the austerity measures are reversed.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=531340

Abbas meets Israeli delegation in Ramallah
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 21 Oct — President Abbas welcomed a delegation of Israeli military and political officials to the presidential headquarters in Ramallah on Sunday, official news agency Wafa reported. The delegation included Yisrael Hazaka party leader, and former Labor MK, Ephraim Sneh, retired Israeli army general Shlomo Gazit, and army official Eval Giladi. PLO officials Saeb Erekat, Yasser Abed Rabbo and head of preventative security Ziad Hab Al-Rih attended the meeting.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=530990

Analysis / Opinion / Reviews

Analysts: Despite Hamas absence, elections still Fatah failure
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) 21 Oct — The first elections held in the West Bank for six years reflect how frustrated Palestinians are with their political system and ruling party Fatah, political observers said Sunday … Preliminary results indicate that Fatah were beaten in Ramallah, Nablus and Jenin. In Hebron, Fatah and its opponents both claimed victory. The highest voter turnout was in the Salfit district, where 68.5 percent of people voted. Reflecting the clout of Hamas’ boycott call, voter turnout in Hebron, an Islamist political bastion, was just 33.7 percent. Political analyst Talal Okel said low turnout was a result of frustration with the parties and the government. The CEC said just over 54 percent of eligible voters cast votes on Saturday. Fatah has not benefited from the election, as they repeated many of the same mistakes that lost the party the 2006 parliamentary elections, including lack of consensus over candidates, he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=530867

‘Popular resistance’ becomes a clash of vision among Palestinian factions / Ramzy Baroud
Arab News 23 Oct — Apparently, “popular resistance” has suddenly become a clash of visions or strategies between the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah and its rivals in Gaza, underscoring an existing and deepening rift between various factions and leaderships … Abbas has little credibility as far as unleashing any form of resistance against Israel. Since its establishment in 1994 as a transitional body that would guide Palestinians toward independence, the PA has turned into an end in itself: dedicated to self-preservation, it means even conspiring with the Israeli government to manage the very occupation that has tormented Palestinians for over 45 years. Indeed, “security coordination” between both sides predicates on the common understanding of silencing any dissent that would imperil the PA standing or how it is perceived by Israel as a security threat.
http://www.arabnews.com/%E2%80%98popular-resistance%E2%80%99-becomes-clash-vision-among-palestinian-factions

The general from Jeddah must shout louder / Akiva Eldar
Haaretz 22 Oct — A retired general from the Saudi Arabian army went out of his way to praise the Arab Peace Initiative and wondered why the Israelis were ignoring a proposal that includes recognition of the state and normalization of relations with the entire Muslim world …  At the conference, after the general from Saudi Arabia concluded his lecture about the Arab Peace Initiative, an Israeli lecturer in international relations whispered in my ear that none of his master’s students know anything whatsoever about it. Someone should tell that to the general from Jeddah.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/the-general-from-jeddah-must-shout-louder.premium-1.471457

Should Palestinians boycott international aid? / Nora Lester Murad
Guardian 18 Oct — Aid is a huge global industry whose success is not at all obvious. Despite some gains, poverty has not been eradicated, climate change has not been halted and rights have not been respected. Yet poor outcomes are blamed on technical glitches, and fundamental deficiencies in aid policy remain unexamined. Palestine is an important illustration of this, owing to the high level of aid dependence, the many international donors involved and the millions of Palestinians who have suffered for decades despite billions of dollars being spent.  I’ve been disillusioned with aid-funded development in Palestine since I arrived in 2004 and found local NGOs chasing international funding by modifying their programmes, publishing information in English rather than in Arabic, and hiring extra staff to submit financial reports in foreign currencies.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2012/oct/18/should-palestinians-boycott-international-aid

Our security is at stake if Egypt walks away from peace treaty with Israel, Obama warns / Philip Weiss
Mondoweiss 22 Oct — Now you know how it feels to be stateless: the Palestinians didn’t rate more than a single mention in the foreign policy debate in Boca Raton, FL, tonight, even as both presidential candidates repeatedly tried to out-Israel one another. Romney mentioned the Palestinians once. Obama forgot that he visited Palestine. Both candidates repeatedly made pledges to Israel and its security. Not a word about Israel’s occupation, nothing about the two-state solution. In a shocker, Obama said he considered a breach by Egypt of its treaty with Israel a threat to U.S. security. NYT transcript:
https://mondoweiss.net/2012/10/our-security-is-at-stake-if-egypt-walks-away-from-peace-treaty-with-israel-obama-warns.html

Film review: How the [Northern] Irish view the Israel-Palestinian conflict / Nirit Andreman
Haaretz 19 Oct — In his debut documentary, Ithamar Handelman Smith captures the vociferous — albeit not surprising — views of Northern Ireland’s Protestants and Catholics with respect to the situation of Palestinians in Israel … “Shalom Belfast?” was screened last week at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque and will be broadcast tomorrow (Saturday evening ) on Channel 8 … “After the occupation in 1967, the Catholics became pro-Palestinian and there were close ties between the IRA and the Palestine Liberation Organization. So it’s very clear – they really were partners to the Palestinian struggle. On the other side, the Protestants, many of whom are evangelical Christians, are by definition supporters of Israel for religious reasons. Peterson explains that … in the Orange Lodges [an Irish Protestant fraternal organization], people believe they are descendants of one of the tribes of Israel, the lost 13th tribe. This feeling is embedded deep in their culture.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/how-the-irish-view-the-israel-palestinian-conflict.premium-1.471003

The Jewish-Arab Peace Song (with English subtitles)
uploaded to YouTube 19 Sept 2007 by Shamai Leibowitz and shared via Facebook by a Jewish friend . “A beautiful song with an inspiring message. There are many Israelis, Palestinians, and Arabs working for peace, and this Middle-Eastern jazzy song should be their hymn!” [Sometimes you need a little encouragement]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5d_i2F2LlF8

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